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[Itannar]

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In the quietness, if not comfort, of his cell in Nujel'm, the Black Prince took the writing materials provided him. He doubted his word would be believed by the majority of humans and elves who would judge his actions, but that no longer mattered. The catharsis of confession had done its work. He felt healed, comforted even in the face of certain doom.

He breathed in deeply once and began to write...

Deposition of Dharzhal T'Ar

Regarding: Poisoning of Papua's Water Source

I freely, under no compulsion, do confess to the following:

1. I did, willfully, pour a poisonous substance into the fountainhead of the Gentle River, which is the main water supply of the people of Papua.

2. I did so without personal malice or intent to cause harm to anyone in Papua.

3. I did so due to death threats made against me and my family by Lord Thrax and his associates, the present governing body of Papua.

4. I did not poison the food given to the Empress Rryn Anyai.

Explanation of the Admissions:

It is needful that I present information about the relationship between me and Lord Thrax and the religion we once shared. That relationship, and the nature of his religion, brought about this unhappy state of affairs and the crimes I committed.

I was once the High Priest of the god of Lord Thrax, Oggaroth. When I left the service of that god, Lord Thrax assumed the mantle of the priesthood. Oggaroth is a god of destruction and strife who commissioned Thrax to take revenge upon me. One of the ways that is done is to sacrifice the victim to Oggaroth in a ritual called the Banishment. In it, the shade, or spirit, of the victim is sent into the part of the netherworld where Oggaroth resides. It is tormented by him there, forever. I know this to be true. I have witnessed it.

Lord Thrax threatened me and my consort with this fate if we did not do his bidding. He first asked me to produce a type of toxin that could not be cured by normal means. After many months of very hard labors, I produced it. I also created the only antidote for it, though I gave him only partial information on how to apply it. Thrax took these items and sent me away.

Before I left, however, I did poison him with it hoping to make him suffer as he had made me suffer. Unfortunately he was completely cured without using the antidote, though I do not know how exactly. (I did not, as he later claimed, poison Duke Kotare). He found me again and made a deal with me: I must create a stronger, more concentrated, toxin and pour a small amount of it into the fountainhead of the Gentle River far to the south of Papua. I privately scoffed at the idea, convinced that by the time it would arrive at the mouth of the river, where the people get their water, it would be so diluted it would have little or no effect upon them. What I did not reckon on was that my act was purely symbolic: Lord Thrax had found another person or persons to add the toxin closer to the mouth of the river. One of them, named Eric, confessed to the crime and was later tried and hanged, but he implicated me as an accomplice before his death. I had thus unwittingly fallen into the clever trap Thrax created, becoming a handy scapegoat should he ever need another. This he did when the Empress was poisoned and when I confessed to my part in these crimes.

Though the following information is irrelevant to this case, I deem it worthy of statement and want it to go on record:

When I had learned Duke Kotare had been poisoned (with the older, less potent variety) while incarcerated by Thrax, I visited Duchess Lilyth Noir and gave her enough of the antidote to cure him, though I learned he had managed that himself. I also gave a sample of the antidote to Maggy Malone for safekeeping when Thrax destroyed my home looking for supplies of the antidote. She later returned this to me and I was able to get it to Duchess Noir for her husband.

This poisoning of the water supply was and is nothing more than a plan hatched by Lord Thrax and his associates to control Papua. He had the water supply poisoned and then came along with the remedy, both of which I, at his behest, produced for him. Appearing to be the town's "savior" and by machinations including bribery, extortion, and murder, he became its "popular" ruler. He did not even give out the complete cure for the poisoning to the citizen-victims, only enough to keep them dependent upon him for their continued existence, at the price of their loyalty to him and his government. He is a tyrant and a murderer and a foe of all who hold the virtues dear.

I call as witnesses for my defense, as material or character witnesses, the following persons whom I pray the court will subpoena for deposition, if not actually to appear at the trial:

Itannar Darkanor
Lady Skirel
Duchess Lilyth Noir
Maggy Malone
Lady Molly

I ask them to substantiate my claims as well as any charges I have made against Lord Thrax to which they are privy.

Signed as a Truthful Witness to the facts of this case,

Dharzhal T'Ar
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-The bonds of fellowship are forged in the flames of adversity-