[This message, written on a rolled-up zurkhwood scroll, has been unfurled and affixed next to the door of Town Hall, held in place by a steel dart wedged firmly between the stones. Other copies have been distributed around Upper and Lower Sanctuary, in less dramatic fashion. A copy each has been hand-delivered to both Iopnic Jum and Gran Ubel of Sewer Town. It is evident from the quality of the parchment, the language, and the penmanship that the messages were dictated to and subsequently edited by a professional scribe.]
FREEDOM FOR SANCTUARY, FREE THRALLS AND ALL
My name is Private Jaden Sarkish, and I was once a squiddy thrall for the Spellguard. I was set free because of the work of Private Agrael Lothor of the City Watch. When Lothor and the Watch gave me my mind and my life back, I put on Watch colors. I have fought for the city of Sanctuary ever since.
I spilled my own blood fighting back the formians at the gates, and I was with the Watch when we hunted down the giant Zovaldor and killed him in his cave. I saw my own Sergeant die that dark, a great and brave human named Kharl Khemed.
Disgraced former Councilor Horadin Delorin the Corrupted has littered this city with his slanders of Sheriff Azzam, the Watch, Councilor Varlam Nikitovich, and me. I put my own neck on the block when I talked about my slavery to a squiddy in a public trial. There are other squiddy thralls still at large.
The betrayal of Horadin the Corrupted has made my testimony a waste. Thanks to him, squiddies are still loose in the city, and I have lost my freedom a second time. I will not let this overcooked and flame-brained traitor take away my reputation, too.
Horadin the Corrupted says that I was the primary witness in the trial of Spellguard Agent Hector Best. That is a lie. Once he was confronted with the truth, Agent Best confessed to his own crimes. My words meant nothing after he was set free by Horadin the Corrupted.
Horadin the Corrupted says that Councilor Varlam proposed that Agent Best not be executed or exiled for working with a squiddy. That is a lie. Councilor Varlam only agreed to leniency in exchange for a confession. Varlam stood up against Best's sentence when it was handed down by Horadin the Corrupted and the Spellguard lackey Councilor Tayest Rusk.
Horadin the Corrupted says that Sheriff Azzam made the trial public to intimidate him. That is his own scaly yellow hide speaking. Sheriff Azzam is a surfacer who acts like he was born here, and he makes Horadin the Corrupted look like a piker. It was Private Tubbs who suggested to Sheriff Azzam that the trial be made public.
Worst of all, Horadin the Corrupted says that I should not be trusted because I was once a mind slave. He criticizes the City Watch for setting me free and taking me in as one of their own. And now he spreads these lies because he has been removed of his council robes.
My shame is out, so what should I do, turn in my badge and quit fighting for the city? If so, then I should turn in my citizen stone, too. What is Sanctuary if it is not a shelter for the free? Those of us who still have nightmares, who still look over our shoulders, who still cover up our scars, are we supposed to leave our only home?
I may be a former thrall, but I'm not the only one. At least I'm not a corrupted former Councilor.