--This lengthy post will likely be of interest only to members of the city of Ashtan, and the Knights of the Iron Citadel. It is placed here in the public record to prevent misrepresentation of my words, and to prevent me from having to re-tell the story multiple times. Anyone without a vested interest in recent events within the city of Ashtan or the Iron Citadel are encouraged to skip this epistle and move along.--


I write this day to refute Lord Sartan's charges of Treason against me.

As Master of the Iron Citadel, it has been my opinion for the past two years that recent events dinnae bode well for the Iron Citadel. Since the first notice of the tome entitled "The Occultist and the Priest", I have been personally (and with the assistance of a diligent and resourceful group of Infernals, to whom I am indebted) investigating recent events, and have reached the following conclusions:

Teneb, the Lich of Darkness, works in direct service of Twilight, who has a history of attempting to usurp Patronage of the Iron Citadel by any means neccesary. Therefore, Teneb must be stopped at all costs. Any success of the Darkness brings the Iron Citadel that much closer to being under the control of the Realms of Darkness and Deciet, and these Realms (particularly the latter) are not at all in keeping with the Ideals of a Knight.

Kroul and his minions work toward not only the destruction of the Basilica Chrysalis and the Tsol'aa, but also towards the subjegation of the whole of Sapience, and may even be in direct league with the Lich and his Master. If, in fact, Kroul is working toward the destruction of Sapience as a whole, it is in the best interest of the Iron Citadel to stop him at all costs.... To say nothing of the fact that I'm quite irked to have my favorite cattle (the Aalen Tsol'aa) routed out from under my nose, nor do I relish the idea of this "Kroul" gaining the glory in a mission which has long-eluded the Iron Citadel -- the destruction of the Basilica Chrysalis.

These investigations and conclusions led myself and several of my Knights into contact with Paladins of the Basilica whom were investigating the same occurences, and apparently, reaching many of the same conclusions. It was thus that Aldair d'Vast, Guildmaster of the Paladins, and myself did agree to temporarily set aside personal differences to exchange information on the afore-mentioned subjects.

As we privately pooled information, it became apparent (quite some time before the rest of Sapience began to reach this conclusion, I might rather smugly add) that the threat before us might possibly be great, indeed (though I still personally lend no credence to the doomsayers running around crying about some "Black Wave" fairy-tale). Operating under this presumption, d'Vast and I did begin to lay plans for a temporary cessation of hostilities between our guilds, to be formalized by negotiations between the Iron Citadel and the whole of the Basilica Chrysalis.

Unfortunately, events progressed much more quickly than anticipated, leading to the postponing of the scheduled negotations, and the formulation of a less-thorough temporary plan of action was thus quickly agreed to earlier this month (ref public news 6749).

It was through this plan of action that the Paladins Tarlin, Cyre, and Shenna were given into the temporary service of the Iron Citadel, to faciliate coordination of efforts between the two guilds. Upon my request that Ashtan respect the committment of the Iron Citadel in the matter by removing the city enemy status of Tarlin, Cyre, and Shenna, and by regarding them as they would any other Knight of the Iron Citadel for the duration of the crisis. The enemy status was removed, and most seemed content to entrust the situation to my responsibility, and respect the request of the Iron Citadel... Save for one Archon whom, after a heated debate on the Ashtan CT, did insinuate that he would not honour such a request, and would attack Cyre on sight if he came into Ashtan. I reiterated that for the duration of the agreement, that the Iron Citadel considered those three Paladins to be as our own soldiers, and would work with and *protect* them accordingly.

Upon entering the city with Cyre and Shenna in my charge, Cyre was immediately attacked by the afore-mentioned Archon, and I and the Infernal accompanying me did slay said Archon in defense of Cyre's life. It should be noted that the Infernal in question attacked at my direct order, not of his own volition, and that neither Cyre nor Shenna raised a hand against said Archon in their own defense. I gave the order to attack him, I struck the killing blow, and I accept full responsibility thereof.

It was later this day that I accepted an invitation to join The United Cities of Sapience, that the Iron Citadel might further coordinate her efforts against Kroul with the rest of Sapience's cities and guilds. I accepted this invitation, and it was thus that I became party to a discussion which paralleled an earlier discussion betwixt myself and d'Vast concerning the shrines.

It was agreed that in order for the Paladins and Priests to pull their fair share of the weight in the defense of greater Sapience, they required the placement of shrines in certain areas where shrines have historically been disallowed by the locals. The position of the non-Shallamites was that this would be allowed only if the Basilica agreed to allow the peaceful dismantling of these shrines after the crisis had passed. The Basilica countered that it hardly seemed to fair to expect them to work hard to erect shrines to benefit all of Sapience only to allow them to be destroyed as soon as the crisis was past. I solved the dilemna by volunteering to assist in the erection of these tactical shrines, provided that the Basilica would then agree to have them taken down at the end of the crisis.

This bringing us to the current point in time, I should now address the specifics of the charges against me:

1) That I did aid and abide the enemy, the Paladins, by entering into a cooperative agreement with them.

2) That I did slay an Archon of Ashtan within the city's walls.

3) That I did betray the Iron Citadel by assisting in the erection of a shrine on the Old Southern Road.

And my response is thus:

I did, in fact, engage in all of the above actions. Furthermore, I stand by my decisions as being in the best interest of the Iron Citadel, and in the best interest of Ashtan, and Sapience as a whole. I thereby refute the charge of Treason by the reason that the causes for my actions were and continue to be based upon sound reasoning, and that while under less extenuating circumstances, I would agree them to be opposing the best interest of my Guild... These circumstances place my decisions on a ground previously unexperienced by all involved, and thus, not to be judged by the same criteria.

To my detractors in Ashtan, I say thus: Long has the Iron Citadel been at the front of your cause. We have led the defiling, we have led the defenses and the attacks, and it is most often we who sacrifice our lives for the greater good of Ashtan. Cast dispersions at your own peril, Ashtan, lest you lose the loyal support of those soldiers who have sustained you time and time again.

To the loyal Knights of the Iron Citadel, I say thus: Knights, long have you served diligently and loyalty, and long have I been proud to be amongst you. As an apprentice, as a Knight, as an Officer, and now as a Guildmaster, I have enjoyed and appreciated that you have won for yourself, your Guild, and your leaders, both past and present. Since my election as Master of the Iron Citadel, long have I savored the knowledge that the Guild has had faith in me to lead, to maintain discipline, and to make the proper decisions to ensure the prosperous future of the Citadel. But now, a duty lies before each and every one of you which transcends loyalty to any one man -- is it the duty of loyalty to your Guild. If any Knight amongst you feels that my actions, decisions, and orders are not in the best interest of the Iron Citadel, it is your sworn DUTY to challenge my leadership via election, and replace me with a Knight whom is better suited for the task, and more capable of performing it.

And a Knight does NOT ignore his duty.

Challenge and Vote, Knights of the Iron Citadel.


-- R. Lucoster

Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Valnuary, in the year 258 AF.