This poster is put up next to the 'Mandates of Filth'. The same young redhead is seen doing this

This is an open letter of warning to the people of Lower, and a plea to Lucius Westmore and Winston.

Lucius Westmore and Winston, if you value the fraternity and respect of your Lower brethren, you will stop giving your unilateral 'support' to any initiatives of theirs down here. Not because we have the right to tell you not to, but because the people of Upper don't know the difference between your support and the support of 'all of Lower Sanctuary'.

Every time either of you tells someone like Allivarn Fireheart that you give them 'your support', they take it to mean that some analog of the Upper Council has given them their go-ahead. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You are both respected and goodly people, and I am sure Lower's interests are at your heart of hearts. But you must not allow yourselves to be deceived. Allivarn may not be an evil man, but he would come down here and begin something which is not our way. Lower is free, but none are free to make it less free. And helping a man of Upper set up his 'trade empire' in our building, with the help of our children, simply because he swims in coin is not our way. Whoever wishes coin, is free to go to Upper. There is plenty of space up there.

Every time you tack your name onto something, Westmore, you help further the notion that you are somehow entitled to leadership down here. Remember Ubel. Remember Lysik. Remember Bresley. They were leaders, but never donned the guise of leadership. The people followed their words and their courage, not their titles or their ranks. Even as they pass, we continue to follow their legacy - but those who would claim their 'leadership' by means of blood bond or close association will have those claims denied. Because we follow leaders, not leaderships.

Today, the Army of Filth rose and saw to its duty in protection of our soil. Our decision was not made because a single voice rose above all others, but in the spirit of Lower - after a long and belated battle of screams, shouts, cries, squeals and grunts, one cry stood alone: Leave. Those who thought otherwise were thinking with the mind of an Uppersman.

Who am I to stop you from doing what you wish to do to better the lives of our people? Certainly I am no one. And certainly I shall not do that. But you must think, that with the respect of the community comes the responsibility of measuring your words tenfold before offering them. Allivarn Fireheart offered the easy promise of coin and comfort down in the depths.

Lower Sanctuary offers another promise. The promise of freedom. The promise of the Surface. Let us not see sold down here the empty assurance of a 'better life'. Let us work together to keep our people free, and so that this freedom is one day the true freedom of the Surface.

For those who want coin and comfort, Upper is but two flights of stairs away.

For those who want freedom,

A simple signature foots the poster,

Clarion

A simple, well printed response is pinned below

Miss Clarion,

I sincerely implore you to have some clue as to what you're talking about before you further strain your pen-arm.

Winston

A new poster is raised beside the first.

Miss Clarion,

I do not understand your concern over who I do or do not support in Lower Sanctuary. By writing this letter, you do the very same thing that I have done.

Additionally, I told Mister Fireheart the boundaries of my support. He understands that he must make amends; this I stressed to him, over and over. He says that he will do so. I am a patient and forgiving man, so I believe that he should be given another chance. It is an undeniable fact that Lower's market has been ravaged, its merchants slain. Mister Fireheart can do little harm to it, I believe.

Few men believe wealth itself, of great or small measure, to be an innately immoral or undesirable thing. If this were so in your case, you ought throw all your coins away, melt them down and cast! It is the means by which wealth is used that is the problem. Allivarn should have the freedom to make this decision for himself, should he not? And then, we shall always have the freedom to accept his use and tolerate his presence based on his actions.

I will not deny that I have voiced myself as a figurehead of the state of Lower Sanctuary. This is the nature of my task and duty, as a Painbearer of Lord Ilmater. I am doing what I do in order to keep Lower from losing its mastery over itself, by bringing peace, and hopefully by bringing the jobs and the gold to Lower so that our men can work and our children eat.

Regardless of claiming authority, holding it, or keeping it, I speak my peace for a better Sanctuary. I have never demanded respect. If I ever do, I would hope that my fellow Lowersmen will reveal my flaw and it can be corrected.

The matter of Lower improvement is terribly important, and I cannot understand why you believe otherwise. I see no logic in the notion that we should do nothing to better the lot of our people until we shall find the Way to the surface. Better living is not an "empty assurance", but a real and occurring possibility.

The Surface will be a great and wonderful thing, but we must create a bastion of men here in Sanctuary so that we may be better able and equipped for the sojourn when the Way is found. There is no reason to rest idly by to wait for destiny to do us a good turn; Fate has thus far proven quite unkind to our people! We must take our lives into our own hands, seek and earn our brighter futures!

As always, if you wish to speak further about any of this- Allivarn's support, the Way, or our home here in Lower, please seek me at the Pissing Crone where we can sit and converse.