Illarion.org

Discovered in Stephen's office in the Library of Trolls Bane are some long lengthy written parchments. They have not been published and shown to the public and perhaps they were written and were ment to be distributed before the invasion of the Alliance.

Herein lies all that has been brought up to question which many have added lies too or spun so as to change what truly occurred and to make them appear in the right.

Let us first start with Silverbrand and Trolls Bane and where the friction began. It did start with me, when I looked at Trolls Bane as only a Knight; defender of Trolls bane I saw it as simply a nomad outpost. There was no one steadily living there, no one helping Eliza rebuild, no one building it. When I became Governor I promised the people of Trolls Bane and myself that I would make Trolls Bane into a city, like the other lands, Sovereignty led and actively worked on by its own citizens.

Thus my first major act as Governor was to make Trolls Bane a city, I established a new citizen list, and I added benefits to being a citizen and made it a rule you had to be a citizen to vote in Trolls Bane, or serve in its military. I began to pay the town guard so as to make it a more professional military force and less a simple militia, I also established an armory that is open for every member of Trolls Bane’s military for free. I was proud of these accomplishments and I still am, and my next step was to stop the treaty that had been signed by Pendar Fayed that gave Silverbrand a distinct advantage over Trolls Bane.

Here are a few excerpts from the treaty; you can find the original document on the other side of the board. Located in the Convention of Sovereignty, in rather small print is the follows;

The towns also confirm and accept that every citizen of Silverbrand will be judged and punished by, and only by, the legislature or reign of Silverbrand for anything for which the dwarf gets accused in the realm of Trolls Bane.

This in essence states that a citizen of Silverbrand can commit a crime within Trolls Bane and Trolls Bane has no right to punish the citizen.

I could not let this remain, it truly put our citizens at a disadvantage over their citizens and how would I be a good Governor if I let that remain. So I abolished the treaty because the dwarves were not interested in adjusting it, naturally why would they agree to lose the advantage they have over Trolls Bane. And this is where serious friction began, they were very angry that I would dare get rid of the treaty, and their anger only grew when I said I may start to tax the Tavern of Trolls Bane, as I was taxing the Sea Horse Inn and was going to continue to tax, to pay for the town guard and the armory of Trolls Bane.

This went on for a while, and my mind was made up for me when Gloin and Negyth attacked Arameh, a lizard I believe to be Taliss and myself. Gloin and Negyth fled to Silverbrand after their failed attack. I then contacted the leaders of Silverbrand telling them what their subjects had done, and that Gloin was still doing, (indeed he continued to attack town guards and citizens throughout our lands). Still Silverbrand gave them safety, refusing to give them up so they may serve punishment for their attacks. We offered them much; it was not as if we demanded their release, we compromised, we even offered the tavern tax free if they would only hand Gloin over. Still Silverbrand refused and not many weeks later did they declare war on my person.

There is not much else I could have done to prevent any of this from happening. Perhaps if I had not pushed for the tavern to be taxed, but at the same time that would mean Silverbrand would be able to own land inside Trolls Bane for free, something citizens could not do, and thereby giving the citizens another disadvantage.

Often times it is said that I, Stephen Rothman, gave the Temple of Bjolmur the time to build their strength. That is certainly not true. It was not long after the Temple openly declared their existance that I spoke with Jeremy Willowbrook, Lord of Varshikar and some others just outside our town shop. It came to a mutual agreement by all that the temple should be allowed to exist so long as no harm was done on our lands. It was not I alone who did not act on the Temple til the day they took a step over the lines, the Briar, the Grey Rose and Varshikar all refrained from taking official stances until much later. It simply remains that the other towns would rather fight behind Trolls Bane rather then the otherway around, it has always been so that Trolls Bane must bleed the most, otherwise no other town will lead the charge.

It is easy for us to blame the wrong and evils of this isle on one single person or being, by doing so we can shed our guilt and quickly point our finger and blame that person for everything and never fear it to burn us in the end. This is what has happened to myself I fear. For everyone who has said that I alone am the reason the Temple of Bjolmur grew to be the power it became are misleading, THEY had the opportunity and plenty of chances to hunt these creatures down on their own, but they never did. Instead they blamed me for not leading the charge, and when I did lead the charge, did any of these people whom cursed my name then aid when I did lead the charge? Nay, they did nothing, they only watched and still cursed my name for waiting so long to react.

These same people tend to say that I built an alliance with the Temple of Bjolmur, and for some time I could not properly defend myself because, it is my word against theirs. But now that Gryphius thankfully released the transcript it becomes perfectly clear what contract was made between myself and the temple of Bjolmur. No I did not tell them to attack my enemies, (Dwarves of Silverbrand whom declared war on me), No I did not tell them to give me their souls, No I did not tell them to pay me monthly for protection. The deal was simply leave Trolls Bane's people and lands out of whatever you do, any ritual you do will not be done on Trolls Bane and will not effect Trolls Bane in anyway. And this deal was not different from any other deal any other leader would have made, you leave our lands alone and you may go in peace. It is simple and it is fair. So I can now proudly and confidently say that anyone whom says I made an Alliance with the temple of Bjolmur is misleading, even go so far as to call them liars at this point.

It is often said that I, Stephen Rothman, did not do anything during the mutual neutrality era between Trolls Bane and the temple of Bjolmur. That is simply not true. I built up the armory and Military of Trolls Bane because I knew at the time of the temple's existance we had not enough might to be able to combat the temple alone, (as I knew other lands would not aid us, which was proven when we did go to war), and I knew that if we hoped to combat them we would need to know how to effectively hurt them and to find them. Thus during that era I gathered intelligence on the temple, I requested and was given a list of the members, I found out their weaknesses and I learned how to gain access to their temple of worship. It was only through these knowledges that we were able to defeat the Temple, if we did not know holy water would be such an effective weapon against them, Misjilah would still be around today. If I did not know the list of members, many more mortals, Like Galthran, would still be in their ranks secretly fighting against us. If I had not forcefully gathered gemstones they would still be in hiding and able to attack Trolls Bane from their temple. Saying I did nothing against the Temple is a misinterpretation of the truth, I did everything within my power to cripply the temple and was given little help from the Grey Rose, Vanima or Silverbrand. The only land who truly gave consistent aid in the form of a warrior (albeit a sole one), was Varshikar.

Enemies of my person, people who have made me their sole enemy often times do not like this truth to be told. They do not like to tell people that I dueled and slew Dravian, the lich, alone. They do not like to tell I was the one who gathered and gave holy water to anyone who asked for it, inturn effectively crippling the temple's attempt at stealing souls. They do not like to admit I am the sole person who gathered gemstones. And they absolutely hate to say that I won the war against the Temple, and furthermore hate to admit I am the only one who has a feasible plan to fight Negros. They hate to admit these things because of they admit these things then I am not the evil man they paint me as. I am then the honorable Knight many know me as, and they want to see me as this evil man because, as mentioned above, it is easy to blame everything on one person because YOU feel guilty for not acting.

I am happy I got these facts and truths out. Perhaps now those whom have mislead people will lose support, perhaps now people will understand how the temple fell. Perhaps now people will not follow blindly any longer to the words of heretics and zealous bigots.

Stephen Rothman
Warrior of Malachin
Owner of Silverbrand
Governor of Trolls Bane