The Chronicle

of the month of Heliora in the year 141

There were dramatic events in the Witanmoot this month. Cllr Neville Vincent, the Treasurer of the Watermen, had just tabled a motion calling for an emergency debate on the raiding of the Watermens Guild by the Witanmoot Guard, when Cllr Derwent rose and, amid a general uproar, charged Cllr Vincent and the Watermens Guild with Embezzlement, Conspiracy and Evasion of Taxes. Sheriff Cox ordered in the Guard to arrest Cllr Vincent and the Watermen faction rose to meet them. Lord Courtney was forced to suspend the session, and the Witanmoot guard, with swords drawn, cleared the hall and forced their way through to Cllr Vincent.

Our reporters have discovered that investigations by Cllr Derwent into the death of Baldwin Underwood and the disappearance of Cllr O'Leeny had led her to suspect the Watermen's Guildmaster Denys Spittle of corruption. In a midnight raid members of the Witanmoot Guard seized the Guild Offices and arrested Guildmaster Spittle. The next morning Guildmaster Spittle and 'a wagonload of books' were taken under a very heavy guard to the Witanmoot, where Cllr Spittle confessed that he, Gus O'Leeny and most of the Watermens Guild had been defrauding the city of a vast amount of tax for the last 5 years. Lord Courtney has ordered the assets of the Guild and all its senior members seized and it is believed that he is considering revoking their Guild Charter. A number of the more cynical members of the Council have commented that, given Lord Courtney's need to raise extra revenue this year, the chances of any of the Watermen's assets avoiding forfeiture to the city are pretty minimal.

The violence in Levestone has broken out into open warfare with supporters of the exiled Roland Dixon attempting to storm the Perignon household. Alderman Mowbray called in the Witanmoot Guard and a number of people were killed in the ensuing fight. Alderman Mowbray has now become a target, following his suspension of the ward council and watch. Only the presence of two squads of the Witanmoot Guard acting under his direct control is preventing further violence. Cllr Perignon appears to have collapsed during the attack on her house and was rushed to the Torian Temple, where her condition is described as serious.

The Witanmoot Guard seem to have been excelling themselves this month, earlier in the week two members of the guard captured an assassin after a dramatic chase through the streets of Portsoken and Bridge. The patrol leader, Sgt Mugge, has refused to comment on rumours that the target of the assassination was Cllr Olnorth Dexter.

Alderman Elliot Anderson of Ishtan must be Linrodeth's least happy man this month. Not only has one of the major guilds in his ward had most of its assets seized, and half of its councillors arrested, but he himself has been called to appear at a hearing before Sheriff Samantha Cox charged with a seditious involvement in the Levestone riots.

In perhaps the only light event this month, Cllr Dexter was almost arrested when he was found in the rear garden of Maud Blessop's restaurant in Levestone at three in the morning. A sheepish Cllr Dexter explained that he had been up all night with Aralan Derwent and Sam Cox and he needed to obtain a rose before he went back to Miranda. The watch sent him on his way and wished him luck – he was going to need it.

Amid rumours that the King was considering sending in troops to seize the accounts of all the guilds, Lord Courtney and Sheriff Cox have been summoned to the Citidel. Lord Courtney dismissed the rumours as unfounded, and stated that His Majesty was merely concerned about the situation in the Wards of Ishtan and Levestone, and he was at pains to assure the city that at no stage had the King threatened to send in his regiments unless the city failed to sort out its affairs.

STOP PRESS

The Witanmoot was rocked yesterday by the shock announcement of the deaths in prison of Denys Spittle, Neville Vincent and Tony Walker, all of whom were under investigation over the Waterman scandal. Unconfirmed reports suggest that they were deliberately poisoned.