View source for UO:2001-05-23: Former BNN Reporter Interviews Baron Malek Nocturnis

{{InfoHeader UOFiction
| shard = Catskills
| title = Former BNN Reporter Interviews Baron Malek Nocturnis
| author = Seer Imladris
| type = Player Seer Event News
}}
<i>OOC: The following article follows up on BNN posts and in-game events conducted by [[UO:Seer Imladris]]. It is written by the former seer himself.</i>

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Our longtime colleague Eric Valstrom, crime reporter for the Britannian News Network, sent us this letter:

I could not believe what I was reading. Having decided weeks ago to take a sabbatical from my storywriting, here I was at home feeling anything but comfortable. Before me on the table lay a parchment demanding my presence before the Grand Inquisitor, a man whom I had never met before but had heard rumours about. His office, if ye could call it that, consisted of apprehending citizens whom he, or others higher up, deemed "threats to the realm," questioning them at length, and then judging their innocence or guilt to whatever charges had been laid against them. I was petrified. Knowing I could not resist the summons, and since he bade me arrive at our Lord's Castle within an hour of receiving the note, I elected to present myself before him early, in hopes that my conscientiousness might leave a more cheerful impression of me in his mind.

Alas, it did nothing of the sort.

I found the Inquistor's office, smiled, bowed and introduced myself. He was alone, save for a scribe standing beside him as he sat at a rather oversized table and for a single guard who stood beside the door, halberd at ready. I could barely see the Inquisitor's face as it was hidden by shadows formed by the expansive hood he wore.

"Ye are Erik Valstrom, Chronicler. Is this true?" he asked in a nasally and monotonous tone of voice, devoid even of the slightest wisp of cordiality.

"I am good sir. How may I assist thee?" I replied kindly enough.

"There are reports that ye have been involved in activities which, at one time, may have been deemed necessary and acceptable by standards that once existed in the realm, but which are now proscribed by law. Ye are here so that I may take thine oath that ye will cease and desist from these activities immediately."

I was dumbfounded. "What activities might these be, sire?" ...the question was invoked quite apart from mine own will.

He laid before me a parchment to sign which read:

"Thy services as an official chronicler for criminal activities within the realm of Sosaria are officially and hereby at an end. We no longer share the interest in these tales as the bulk of these miscreants of whom ye write have been arrested and some executed. We do not wish to make them the focus of public attention as that may make martyrs of them in the eyes of their ilk. Therefore, any official publication of their exploits is henceforth terminated. If ye continue to publish thy tales it shall be without the official sanctioning of the Crown and such tales will be subject to our scrutiny for content. If the content bears anything deemed harmful or detrimental to the welfare of the realms, or if ye choose to spread rumours, lies, and mischief of any kind, whether verbally or in printed form, ye shall reap the consequences reserved for such miscreants and criminals."

In a more positive vein, it did go on to say:

"Thy services have been appreciated in the past by the Crown, and a monument in tribute to thy efforts as well as that of others, has been erected for all to see. It is hoped ye will not see this dismissal as an offence, or any unfairness, but that ye will trust that certain policies within the realms have made this and other policy changes quite necessary. May the Virtues guide thee always."

What could one say to that? I nodded and signed the paper without a word. "Is that all, sire?" I asked pushing the paper in front of him.

The Inquistor nodded, took it, and rolled it up. "Pray that it is," he said, under his breath.

I looked at the scribe busily recording the conversation and then to the guard who stepped away from the door and opened it. I bowed slightly to them all and walked quickly out of the office and into forced retirement from an official and quite satisfying position within the government. I was greatly pained by it as were the many others who found themselves in my place, wondering what had happened and why it was so sudden. Perhaps that was a story in itself. Something worth looking in to.

I decided it would not be the end of my work, and went at once to seek an acquaintance who might still publish my stories.

Erik Valstrom

Former Chronicler for BNN
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