The Public Servant

The Public Servant
Image
Written	802 BY
Country	Bormar
Author	Ortho Berukahs
Genre	Periodical

The Public Servant was an influential newspaper written and managed by Zietal Mar resident, Ortho Berukahs. It was the Outpost's longest-running periodical and would repeatedly become the center of controversy, drama, and criticism.

Catalog

Issue #1: Beginnings

The Outpost, by the grace of the Nation and Lord Voman Stoutheart has begun! May the Travelling God bless all our endeavours.

But this beginning means a different thing to every dwarf, and to that end we decided to interview the bold heroes who have come to form this Outpost.

Our first question: "What made you come here?"

Sigmarr Thovura: "I was touring the lands with fellow devotees to the gods, chronicling the Building God's wonders, when a friend contacted me and spoke of a new land. Being that no Bormar had been there before, I felt compelled to bring the reverence of the gods here too!"

Kadol was drinking in broad daylight when we spoke with him, but he was sober enough to answer: "Why, the jewels of course! Imagine how rich these will make me!", he said, holding a few to see.

Kyln, the Smith: "I joined to make a name for myself, and this seemed like a good way to do it." We here at The Public Servant wish Kyln the Travelling God's own speed in the attainment of that goal!

Datan Idokab, a might warrior, had a particularly riveting answer: "To seek riches... and to avenge my slain brother Urist, fallen to a troll. And of these, the latter I have succeeded in already." Upon our astonished question, Datan informed us that he had accomplished this doughty deed - alone! Truly, the Outpost is a safe place indeed if it has warriors such as this protecting us.

Our second question was: "If you had to pick ONE thing, what would you hope to see in the Outpost's future?"

Sigmarr the godly dwarf had a simple answer: "Community." May we all attain to such noble sentiments!

Kadol: "Why, I want to find the All-Gem for myself, of course!"

Kyln: "I wish to see craftsdwarves, stout defenders clad in metal, a prosperous people, a great and glorious town."

Datan: "A thriving economy!"

Such is life in The Outpost. May we all strive to be worthy of the trust of the First House, Good Lord Voman, and All Bormar.

But through whatever trials we may face, you the reader can rest in the surety of the knowledge that The Public Servant will keep the dwarves of this great colony safe, entertained, and above all, informed.

---

Issue #2: Unreasoned Aggression A Threat To The Outpost?

Our fair Outpost continues apace. The people are law-abiding, their works beautiful and the land peaceful.

Yet even here in the heart of our new dominion, not all is well!

Local troublemaker Aleford - they have hidden their surname, for unknown reasons, forcing us to refer to them by their first name - recently attempted to arouse the passions of the Outpost and to march north against the alleged grol presence there.

Many dwarves are concerned however that such an expedition against an unfamiliar enemy, led by as shadowy a character as Aleford can only serve to endanger the Outpost and more importantly, its people. The Public Servant does not deal in mere gossip however, and so we went to experts on the field of warcraft to ask their professional opinion on this controversial maneuver.

Sigmarr Thovura, noted godly dwarf, philanthropist, and ardent contributor to the Outpost's growth and prosperity has trained in the military matters, and he had this to say:

"I do not disagree the grols are a threat, but we are at a disadvantage here and must act accordingly."

Which is wiser - knowing your strengths, or knowing your weaknesses? The truth is, both are equally important, and it is a lesson we should all take from good Sigmarr!

Sigmarr continues: "They have been here far longer and know far more than we do."

Perhaps Aleford supposes he, a recent arrival, is more knowledgeable than the very grols he sees as such a threat. But do you, good reader, wish to wager your life on the expertise of the locals or on that of a newcomer?

That is no hyperbole. For Aleford has, with the same heavy-handed would-be-lordship he called the meeting, called for an "expedition" and for this has set up notice on the notice-pillar. And he asks for volunteers.

You read that correctly, I am truly sorry to say. Aleford wants you, the baker, to take up arms and fight against a grol armed with a hammer larger than you are. You, gentle, jeweler, he wants to fend off an opponent with your jewelling kit. And you, wordsmith, he wants to set against a legion with only your ineffable wit and trusty pen.

Now, The Public Servant is not a libelous publication; and so we would not imply that Aleford truly wishes to harm the great people of this Outpost, that he truly wishes to see hurt and pain - and even death - to come to its people. But that, we nearly weep to say, would be the likely end result of this "expedition" and its valient volunteers. Aleford would drag good, trusting dwarves to their deaths.

Sigmarr, when asked whether it is wise to send completely untrained dwarves against such a fierce, unknown enemy, spoke poignantly:

"It would be foolish to state that only those with previous training may take up arms here. With so few of us we must all do our part."

But here, he raised his finger and looked at me with such a stare as I am never likely to forget.

"BUT", he said, "To take volunteers to an almost direct assault on a grol stronghold, with no training, is absurd."

We also spoke with Zeb Burnsthewick. Burnsthewick is a scholar in the Outpost, though his recent studies have been hampered by the forced relocations ordered by Aleford. TPS extends its sincere well-wishes to Zeb and hopes for a quick recovery.

Being well-learned in military matters, we asked Zeb what his opinion was on Aleford's planned use of volunteers to supplement his personal expedition north.

"It's unwise to do anything with anyone who's untrained.", he said bluntly.

Before I could ask my next question however, he gave me the same stare I had recieved from Sigmarr: and now I may say that there are two, not one, stares that I shall never forget.

"And if anyone should die", he said, with all the quiet and power of a Deeptunnel, "Then it will be on his head, and his head alone."

The Public Servant's purpose is revealed in its name. We exist to serve the Public of this great Outpost. It is not pleasant, but there are times when we must single out one dwarf, to remonstrate with them, such that the collective is spared worse.

We much fear to say that that time has come.

We now address Aleford directly: please, reconsider. The will of the people and the wisdom of the experts are both arrayed against you.

If for no other reason, we stoop even to beg you, refrain from your planned course for the sake of those good, honest, trusting dwarves who would pay the price for it. No glory won in battle is worth the lives of your fellow Bormar.

Yours In Sincerity

The Public Servant

In our next issue: Is there a grol agent IN the Outpost itself? We investigate!

---

Issue #3: Strange Bedfellows?

NEW: TPS now offering house-delivery for 3 leather! Inquire at the TPS office!

It is with a heavy hand and a slow pen that this issue is written.

Usually, we write on affairs that are. We do not deal in hypotheticals, and even less in rumours and sensationalism. Yet times arise when there is an uncertain, but terrible threat to the Outpost, and to not warn of it, to leave it unspoken, would be as contrary to our mission as leaving current affairs undiscussed or spreading rumours.

Read what you read now not with fear, but with courage.

Three days ago (as of the time of writing this), the dwarf Aleford was seen sprinting out of the Outpost northward. This was a curious sight, made even mores by his complete lack of companions, armor or weapon, running into a forest known to be dangerous. For is there a dwarf in the Outpost who has not read Dame Ogrona's "Urrin's Fall", who has not seen the valiant hero's earthly remains laid in good Sigmarr's shrine? Is there any dwarf in the Outpost who is unaware that good Urrin was slain by a beastly trio of trolls in the darkness of our woods?

Now, The Public servant has been critical of Aleford's belligerence and other misdeeds in the past, but as has been well-established, we are not a libelous publication: it is our mission to deal criticism and praise both in deserved measure, and so we feel no contradiction in saying that Aleford despite his infamy is not an ignorant dwarf. He is clearly well-up-to-date on the current affairs of both himself and the Outpost. It is thus that we also feel sure in stating that good Urrin's demise and its nature could not have been unknown to him. And yet he ran alone into the very forest that slew Urrin, defenseless.

Aleford returned later than night. When local community hero Ortho Berukahs inquired where he had been, Aleford growled, shoved Ortho, and muttered that he'd just gone out to pick flowers. It was pointed out that it was bizarre that he would go out to "pick flowers" so far away from the Outpost, and for so long - indeed, as anyone here living can attest, the Outpost itself brims with floral brilliance. Aleford refused any further statements and retired to his recently-build mountainside mansion.

Now the TPS is not a journal of law-enforcement nor investigations of crimes. Nor does it strive to be: all things being equal, a dwarf's business is their own. Yet we remain the Public's Servant, and as such we felt obligated to investigate the matter further.

We hope the gently reader will suffer our intemperate choice of word, but what we found was frightening.

Many dwarves have expressed concern over Aleford's recent heavy-handed acts over the Outpost - most infamously his appointment of dwarves to official posts and his forced displacements of dwarves and their homes. Indeed, experts have warned that these acts have placed the Outpost's future development on a dangerous trajectory. The TPS makes no comment on any of this: we merely state that these acts and sentiments exist, and that there is a very real, palpable current of charged fear in the Outpost regarding these matters.

Of course, the obvious objection arises: "How? How could ony generally-disliked dwarf even attempt to establish power over a reluctant Outpost of heroes?"

Aleford has been the dwarf most intametely acquainted with the grols on the island from the very first days. It was Aleford who has returned to the Outpost with mounds of grol-crafted items, even a map he claims to be of grol make that shows the Outpost's location.

Indeed it is odd just how quickly and decisively Aleford puzzled out the grol presence - despite the fact the resources of the Nation and good Lord Voman did not even find the grols during their examination of the island!

The amount of grol paraphernalia Aleford has brought to the Outpost nearly defies belief: any dwarf may visit the yard of his mansion and examine his storage lockers to see the sheer mass of it! If Aleford did not procure them non-violently, he has to have single-handedly battled - and bested! - hundreds of grols, and come out the stronger party. Aleford is known for his brute force, but it strains credulity to even suppose that between him and an army of grols, he wins.

And the very speed at which he is to have accomplished this! The Outpost was a newborn, less than a week old and already Aleford had managed to not only defeat an army, but also discover it: for whatever else may be said of the grol presence on the island, we may say that it is nowhere near the Outpost. Is it possible, one wonders, that he knew exactly where to look? Or that the items he returned home were not taken by force?

The conclusion the evidence is leading us towards is ugly. But there is one more objection: if Aleford has dealings with the grols, how could he also be so ceaselessly and carelessly driving us to war against them?

We do not believe that we are incorrect in stating the grols on the island must be terrified of the Outpost. The evidence, as we see it, is two-fold.

One, are we not all heroes? Did not each one of us, everyone reading this, elect to leave the glories and comforts of home-Bormar and to serve the nation in an Outpost afar? And, being so, is not each of us a dread enemy, an insurmountable barrier to any would-be invader? If the grols came on in force, do they think they would stand a chance against the Outpost standing as one? They are not brutes or animals, and have reason. They know a frightful battle when they see it.

Second, if the grols are aggressive, outnumber the Outpost so severely, and even know where the Outpost is -- Where is the attack? Why does the Outpost remain? Why has there been no hint of this threat, save to Aleford and Aleford alone?

The conclusion the rational mind must draw from all this is that the grols know of us - but dare not attack.

But if they only faced a few dwarves at a time - perhaps lured by an agitator in the Outpost - would that not be perfect for picking us off, one-by-one? And when the Outpost is broken and withered, could not a callous, ambitious dwarf reign over what remains?

What did you do that day you ran north, Aleford?

The information presented there is much: indeed, this is easily our largest issue to date. To make things easier to 'digest', we have compiled a list of the facts relating to this matter.

- Aleford immediately knew where the grols are

- Aleford is either concealing something, or has single-handedly slain an army's worth of grols

- Aleford has made unexplained visits to the north of the Outpost - the same direction as the grols

- For some reason, Aleford wishes the Outpost's dwarves to throw themselves at the grols

- Aleford has been making overtures toward undue power and would benefit from less, or no resistance

- Aleford has unknown cause to conceal his surname

- Aleford feels safe venturing toward grol territory completely unarmed, unarmored and alone, for extended periods of time

The evidence is presented here, but the ultimate conclusion cannot be determined by us. We place absolute trust in the dwarves of this great Outpost, whose servants we merely are, to determine the truth for themselves.

---

Issue #4: The Outpost Aflame!

NEW: Now offering home-delivery for 3 leather - inquire at the TPS office!

Although the Outpost remains happy, prosperous and hardworking, some dwarves have recently drawn attention to a defect they believe to have spied in its make-up - in its buildings.

These several dwarves have voiced concern over the prevalence of wood used in buildings in the Outpost. Their grievances are chiefly that it is unseemly for a Bormar Outpost to be so largely wooden - "As though it were some human village" - and, more pressingly that the proponderance of dendrological material forms a hazard.

Now The Public Servant does not make any comment on the stylistic aspect of their statements - as that is a matter of opinion - but we felt it our duty to determine whether or not there is truly a risk to dwarven health in the wooden construction. To that end, we had the very great pleasure of interviewing good Zeb Burnsthewick, local polymath and Scholar.

We began: "Good Zeb, is wood a dangerous substance?"

The response was brisk: it was clear to us that this scholar had studied this matter well-deep.

"Yes, if it starts burning.", he said. "But you can't just start a fire from nothing. You need kindling, twigs, a spark."

It is at this point that good Zeb rose from his chair and looked thoughtfully out the window, stroking his well-kept black beard. "Or the great big trunks you see down there.", he said, gesturing to the dull-emerald wall of needles and timber that embrace the Outpost to the east.

It must be admitted that the implications inspired a twinge of dread in our correspondent.

"So", we said, "If the Outpost were to catch on fire," - a terrible thought - "The wooden parts of buildings would pose a risk?".

With the collected grace of a scholar, Zeb's answer was simple: "Yes."

Burnsthewick elaborated further, reminding us that fire is not dangerous merely for its voracious heat, but for the smoke which is produces. "It can be fatal.", he said.

Good Zeb also weighed in on wood's defects as a primary construction material, and it was noted that a wooden house is much more likely to collapse than one made primarily of stone. Although: "If a wooden house collapses, it's much easier to escape from."

To think that experts already foresee a need for dwarves to flee from their own homes!

Our next question referred to the theory that everything in the world has friction. And as is known, friction, such as from two sharp stones striking each other at great speed causes sparks. If everything has friction and can therefore cause sparks, we asked: "What do you suppose the odds are of conflagration in the Outpost at any given moment?"

Zeb once again looked out, this time at the Outpost, and after a few moments' calculations he admitted that it is not impossible.

To get some sense of how likely such a terrible scenario is, we asked Zeb how large a portion of such fires in the world are fed by wood. Unfortunately, good Zeb shook his head mournfully: the number of such fires was so high as to be incalculable: "I would have no way of even guessing that.", he sighed. One shudders to think of all the destruction uncontrolled fire is wreaking in our world - and at this very moment.

But a scholar's glory is not in the recognition of problems: it is in their solving. This is the noble spirit that good Zeb demonstrated in his answer to our next question.

"In your expert opinion, what do you think should be done regarding the construction materials at use in the Outpost?"

Zeb replied: "I say we're between two plentiful sources of building material.", in reference of course to the stalwart mountain in the foothills of which we and our fair Outpost dwell and the ominious forest that surrounds us. "So it could go either way, really: either we build our homes and workplaces from familiar, sturdy stone, or fall prey to the eae and convenience of wood -- to our peril."

The TPS extends its heartfelt thanks to good Zeb Burnsthewick for taking the time to sit down with us and answer our questions. The Outpost Is that much more safe because he did.

The Public Servant wishes also to emphasise that, as always, our intent is not to inspire fear but understanding. We do not deny that wood has its beauty and use, and indeed the floors in our office are made of soft spruce wood - we merely caution - along the lind of counsel gifted by Zeb - against using wood for mainline infrastructure, such as roofs, walls and pillars. And despite the risks such constructions pose, we are also not calling for them to be banned: as ever, in our capacity as Servants of the Public, we want only for the great dwarves of this Outpost to be informed and, being informed, prosper.

On an unrelated note, The Public Servant also extends its deep gratitude to good Ogrona - Librarian here in the Outpost. She has gone above and beyond to recompense the TPS for our copies for-loan in her library, and we wish both to highlight her generosity and her clearly well-deep respect for Writers' rights to their works. May we all be as wise and charitable!

---

Issue #5: A Menace Among The Businessdwarves!

The blissful peace so characteristic of our happy Outpost was recently breached in its southernmost reaches.

The area - which we may say represents the heart of the Outpost's commerce and industry - was disturbed by arrival of one Ilzar Goldspit, a dwarf who hitherto had lived a quiet, mysterious existence near good Sigmarr Thovura's temple.

The dwarves of the area welcomed the newcomer and their business with open arms - but were harshly rebuked. Ilzar, before he had even laid the foundations of his store, began abusing their neighbors, both verbally and commercially -- despite repeated polite please, Ilzar has unwaveringly continued their commercially disruptive activities, and we are sad to say, even more heinous practises.

The TPS set out to investigate the matter.

PLEASE NOTE: As per their request, the TPS has omitted the names of the dwarves we spoke to as to protect their persons from any potential retributive acts. We do not wish to say that Ilzar would do such a thing, but we felt it our duty and responsibility to honor the wishes of our sources.

The whole affair began when Ilzar established their "Ilzar Goldspit's Apothecary Shop" shortly after the deconstruction of Vodraes' smithy.

One of our sources, whom we shall refer to only as "K" describes the situation:

K: "I was out working when I saw Ilzar walk in with construction materials in hand. It wasn't that long ago that that Vodraes' shop was torn down, so I was happy for a new neighbour! I left the iron to cool in the water for a while and went to speak with him."

First impressions are important - but not always for the better.

"'Hello!', I said, and they turned their blood-red eyes to me. I was a bit startled, like they'd been drinking all night - for several nights - but like my dear ma always said, you shouldn't judge people by their appearance. He must have noticed my moment of apprehension, there, because he spat at my feed, and snarled "What are you looking at? I was taken aback, and apologized. In my nervousness I may have stumbled over my words some... but Ilzar just said: 'Where I'm from, we prefer to get our apologies ourselves.' -- and took out a wicked-looking knife from his pocket!"

"He pricked his own finger with the tip, and then watched the little line of blood run down his forefinger! Now I'm the brave sort, so I like to fancy meself, but that's when I excused myself and promptly ran for it. I couldn't see it, but I swear they smiled when I did."

The Apothecary Shop's construction finished shortly thereafter. We have an anecdote from one "H", who visited the store on its opening day:

H: "I entered the store. A nice enough place, but I could swear I smelt stale liquor from the lower floor!"

"There was no one at the storefront so I called Ilzar's name.", H continues, "Imagine my surprise when I heard the coarsest language from downstairs, followed by a "I'm coming, I'm coming, you - [unprintable]!"

"'What is it?', Ilzar said after he climbed up the ladder. 'I'm just here to look at your wares.' I said, but Ilzar didn't like that! 'This is a store, - [unprintable]. Go "look" somewhere else.', he said."

"Now", H said, "I am not the kind of dwarf to take this sort of thing, so I promptly excused myself and bid them good day. As I left" - and at this point H paused to make sure they remebered right - Ilzar threw a (thankfully empty) glass-bottle after them. "I heard it smack the wall just as I closed the front door. I think he must have been drinking before he came up. Lucky thing too, or I would have gotten off much worse!"

Now, while we should sooner perish than compromise the integrity of our mission and our Serivce to You the Public by being biased, we must admit that the TPS itself has not been spared the ravages of Ilzar. Their current establishment sits at an unfortunate position next to the road, blocking the view of our office. We sent them a letter of the utmost politeness, requesting that they move their (what we thought was, at the time) reputable establishment to another location within the Outpost.

We believe that the letter good Ilzar sent in response was written in haste, and so we will not publish its contents, or even details of it, as to protect both his reputation and the refined sensibilities of our distinguished readerbase.

However, there was one sentence in it that we feel the obligation to give public answer to: "What kind of [unprintable] cares about what goes on in the Outpost? We're here, we'll die here, or somewhere else, it doesn't matter. Who cares who knows what?"

Good Ilzar, we answer you in the completest sincerity when we say that we believe that an informed life is a happy life, and that an informed Public is a prosperous Public. We believe that when problems - and triumphs both - are brought to common knowledge, a holding (or settlement, in our case) and its dwarves benefit. It is how we, in our trifling, humble fashion, serve All Bormar.

We do not ask you, good Ilzar, to respect us, but we do ask you to understand us.

Our final account is perhaps the least damning of these three, but the dwarf who related it so us asked not to be named even by pseudonym. They say: "I was walking down the street, and I noticed what a charming building had risen next to good Guildmaster Kyln's smithy! It seemed quiet inside, so I peered in out of curiosity. The lower level was locked by iron doors, but there's windows in those, and I looked inside and saw a cobblestone room - with glass shards all over the floor."

The TPS can confirm, by the observations of our correspondent, this tale. We invite all the readers of this issue to examine the scene for themselves if Ilzar has not already cleaned it up by the time of this issue's publication.

Now the TPS remains a publication in good faith, and thus we do not deal in libel. As such, when Ilzar declined our request for an interview, we took it upon ourselves to learn more of him the dwarf from elsewhere and others in the Outpost, such that we and others may be fair in their evaluation.

Good Ilzar Goldspit lives in the eastern reaches of the Outpost, in a house somewhat oddly apart from everyone else. We do not begrudge a dwarf for their privacy of course, but we must point out the larg amount of wood in Ilzar's house. As per the topic covered in our last issue, the prevalence of wood in buildings remains a potential hazard to the Outpost's dwarves. If good Ilzar has not already read the issue, we encourage him to do so. Some of our sources supposed this choice of risk is due to Ilzar's perennial disregard for other dwarves, but we at the TPS do not wish to draw extreme conclusions save when affairs make them appropriate.

There is also the matter of Ilzar being clean-shaven. Now we at the TPS wish to emulate the aforewritten wise example of "K"'s mother, and not judge dwarves by their appearance. However, a beard is known to be of great important to a man's health. As ever however, we were not content merely with an amorphous 'it is known', and so we spoke with a local expert on the matter, Zeb Burnsthewick.

Our correspondent began: "A beard, being hair, of course keeps the face warm. As is known, exposure to cold can cause illness. It stands to reason, then, that a clean-shaven face is much more likely to fall to illness than a bearded one?"

Good Zeb: "I have to agree with your reasoning. Flus and colds are merely the best known of such ailments: much-worse ones exist. And that is merely accounting for their physical dimension."

Our correspondent was intrigued. "Their physical dimension? What else is there?"

Burnsthewick explained by saying that illness can have pernicious effects on the mind as well as the body, explaining how the prolonged physical stress can have severe effects on the mind. "Illnesses can be the reason for a lot of stress, yes.", he said. "But there's symptoms much worse than stress: inability to work or even function, pain, physical symptoms, and so on."

It is at this point that our correspondent asked candidly: is it possible Ilzar's rabid behavior is attributable to their bare face?

After a moment's thinking, stroking his own, respectable black whiskers, he nodded with that same scholarly, almost beatific certainty so characteristic of his illustrious profession. "I hate to speak ill of fellow dwarves, but I believe it does stand to reason, yes."

The TPS once again extends its sincerest thanks to good Zeb Burnsthewick - both for their time and expertise, but also for their willingness to be mentioned by name in this issue. He and the rest of the Outpost may rest assured knowing that this paper will not stand idly by should even the threat of harm come to good Zeb for this.

It was our intention to finish this issue here, but unfortunately, one more matter bears writing about.

Perhaps having realized that the TPS was about to write this issue, Ilzar recently put up copies of "The Public Guardian" at the notice pillar. What these were were essentially slightly edited versions of the TPS Issue #3 where we wrote on the Aleford-Grol issue of the time, written to accuse local journalist Ortho Berukahs instead of Aleford. The clumsiness of Ilzar's calumny may be noted in the fact that the first page of this issue of "The Public Guardian" still contains the offer for home-delivery -- and reads "Inquire at the TPS office!". We took the liberty of removing these libelous works (interest parties may inquire at the TPS office for proof of their existence).

The TPS is not calling for any specific punishments upon Ilzar Goldspit at this time (Though one has to wonder why a dwarf would be given such a disgusting cognomen). It is not in our authority to do so. However, as much as it pains us to do so of one of our own dwarves, we must issue a heatfelt warning to other dwarves to steer clear of Ilzar at present. Given their behavior and good Zeb Burnsthewick's analysis, at present there is reason to beleive that they are not entirely in control of their own actions.

The TPS expresses its wish for a speedy conclusion to the affair as soon as official leadership is established by a coming election.

We remain, Your Servants,

The Public Servant

---

Issue #6: Journalism Under Attack!

In our last issue, we discussed the rising threat of Ilzar "Goldspit". We knew, writing it, that such a dwarf would not suffer criticism, let alone the public sort.

And so it has proved. As of the time of the writing of this sentence:

- Our office has been broken into;

- Our designated boxes at the Notice-Pillar have been vandilised with calumnous signs and animal parts;

- The front of our office has been vandalized;

- Fictitious materials supposedly exonerating Ilzar have been inserted into our designated boxes at the Notice-Pillar in an attempt to mislead the dwarves of this great Outpost;

- Most horribly, Ogrona and Kadol have been interrogating dwarves in an attempt to discover the identities of the brave dwarves who agreed to speak with us in our last issue of their experiences with Ilzar.

We at the TPS urge the innocent dwarves of this Outpost to keep any sympathies they might have with the TPS hidden, and, if asked, even denounce us if it will satisfy the inquisitors currently running amok. The TPS holds no regret on account of any of the severe injuries we have suffered for our report on Ilzar - we are the Public's Servant, and so hardship is sometimes our lot. It is our duty. But the same cannot be said of the Public: and though Ilzar seems to think otherwise, having set his wolves (in the persons of Kadol and Ogrona) loose on the Outpost's people, it is not in turn right that the Public should suffer the slightest injury on our account.

Suffice it to say that despite this naked attempt by Ilzar to come the Outpost into Obedience , the TPS will continue our mission to keep the great dwarves of this great Outpost informed. We shall strive to do our utmost to maintain our current cadence of publication, but depending on if the efforts against the press intensify or not in the Outpost, an indefinable portion of our time may be taken up by having to defend the Public's right to refined, measured, and above-all, truthful journalism.

We will waste neither our own time, nor the precious moments of the hard-working dwarves of this great Outpost in responding to every calumny, untruth, libel, fancy, whimsy, lie, misrepresentation, misunderstanding, un-fact, deceit, bluff, misleading, defamation, fiction, falsehood, distortion, hogwash, poppycock, balderdash, fabrication and dishonesty laid out in Ogrona's and Kadol's rebuttals; but the final thing we will say, in rhetoric:

If all this is truly because of our writers, good Ortho Berukahs holds a grudge against Ilzar for building their store where they did - Why, then, has not good Haglier Germole (one of the dwarves subject to recent interrogations at that) not been subject to the same, and why has Ortho allowed good Haglier to maintain their distinguished storefront where they have - much closer to the TPS office than Ilzar's shop at that?