The letter is professionally-penned,

Esteemed William Donrick,

I write to you with the true account of what took place in the Lowers, this dark of Marpenoth, the 18th by Surface Reckoning.

I first saw Parkus Swift todark when he was walking about Lower Sanctuary, angrily swiping his sword at the air - or perhaps a hidden person, intent on causing his ire. Whatever the case may be, a group of children approached him, and started pelting rotten fruit at him, and calling him "Swifty". As you no doubt are aware, Swift was extremely quick to anger. He drew his sword, and though he struck the first child of the line with clear intent to admonish, not kill, he still struck her with his sword.

The men of Lower were roused by this display, and quickly came to stop him. A red-clad sellsword and a few commoners brought him down after a lengthy battle. I was screaming for them to stop all the time, to no avail. When Swift was brought down, I positioned myself between him and the gathering mob. They decided to press on, intent on lynching him. This red-clad sellsword (an old man, missing an eye - and a faithful of the Red Knight) said that no more would be done unto Swift, for he had received a humbling beating already. Despite this, Swift kept provoking the crowd - he even threw to the ground the head of a kobold that was said to be a friend of some of those gathered. Swift provoked many of those gathered there by name, but the man in red stood fast and told the crowd to go away, for he would not have Swift slain - and since he'd indeed brought Swift down, that his fate was not for the crowd to decide upon. The crowd began to disperse, and we were about to bring him back into Upper, when a man, of unknown identity, shot him in the leg with an arrow. The tip ripped the vessels of his leg, and Swift, who'd been clinging to life already, succumbed.

The masses of Lower were quick to rip his belongings from the corpse, and some of those gathered there had been looking on for that very moment, simply to loot Swift. I was able to carry his corpse, however, back to Upper Sanctuary.

A few truths about what took place:

- The men of Lower were not opposed to having Swift among them, until he assaulted the child with the flat of his sword. - After he was subdued, the crowd was dispersed by my action and that of the red-clad sellsword. The crowd had no intention of murdering him, and this is clear to me as it is to any who may have been there. - The man of Hoar's temple, who is constantly posted on guard duty in front of the door, did nothing to stop it, despite having come to survey the commotion. - Swift was a good friend of mine. I asked him many, many times to stop provoking the people of Lower, and simply go back to Upper, where he might plan his next actions with more care. He refused to acknowledge my advice. - Two men, not of Lower Sanctuary, but who make berth there when they must, chased me to the stairs, clearly intent on 'taking their due' from Swift's corpse.

I hope this answers the questions you surely have about the incident. I am sorry for the loss of your guardsman.

I fully expect you to cross-check this report with the testimony of other witnesses. If any discrepancies arise, I stand by what I have written.

Signed,

Maia Gray