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THE BERENY BUGLE BIG INTERVIEW
DUKE DIRK STRIKES BACK -
By Rebekah Seyke, Editor-
Dateline: 9-
Q: Your Grace, thank you for agreeing to this interview on a subject of great concern to your subjects.
Dirk Steadfast: You are more than welcome, Rebekah. Fire away.
Q: The Derwentian refugee camps remain under exclusively Derwentian control, with Berenians excluded. Have you any plans to force them to open up their camps?
DS: That is not entirely the case. It is true that, when I investigated the matter recently, I found that the refugees had been allowed considerably more autonomy than I am comfortable with. I believe this policy began due to the state of quarantine which prevented anyone from entering or leaving the camps, and therefore required them to be self governing. The status quo was then unaccountably allowed to continue after the quarantine was lifted.
However, at no point have I authorised any exceptions to the laws of the land. The Derwentian leadership in exile have had no more authority than, for example, senior Berenian noblemen have in governing the lands they hold for the Crown. Any act which is illegal outside the refugee camps is and always has been equally illegal within the camps.
What has been lacking is a proper framework to coordinate between the Derwentian leadership and the Royal Courts. This is now being put into place. Crown officials and officers of the law have full and unconditional access to the camps. There will also be regular inspections, and I have placed a permanent legal staff on site to liaise with the Derwentians and ensure there are no misunderstandings as to the nature of Berenian laws.
Finally, a thorough search of the camps is currently underway for Antithetical agents,
due to documents found recently by adventurers in the so-
I have not, however, insisted on access to the camps for all. The refugees do not
wish to be gawped at by every passer-
Q: Although Berenians are not permitted within the camps, Derwentian soldiers roam the surrounding countryside, apparently without constraint. Isn't this a threat to Bereny's sovereignty? Indeed given the historic antipathy of Derwent to Bereny, possibly even a threat to our security?
DS: I understand your concern, but frankly, the Derwentians have far more to lose from any potential conflict than we have. The 2,000 or so survivors within the camps have suffered immensely from the events which caused them to effectively lose control of their homeland.
That is not to say that I do not share your concerns. I take any potential threat
to Bereny's well-
In the event that a rogue Derwentian faction were to take more covert measures against Bereny, that will be dealt with in an appropriate manner.
Q: These soldiers include many of the enslaved dwarves known as 'Lobos' -
DS: The practise of lobotomising dwarves is one I find abhorrent, and I make no bones about that. Diplomatic niceties aside, I find the practise utterly vile and despicable, and I WILL NOT tolerate it upon Berenian soil. Neither will I permit elves or anyone else to be enslaved within the Kingdom.
I am less certain, I confess, what can best be done for the dwarves who have already undergone this procedure. Simply freeing them might not be in their best interests, given they are unlikely to be capable of looking after themselves (certainly in the broader sense, of being able to find work and earn a living). I would consult the Dwarven King, but he has been incommunicado for some time, and it seems all may not be well in his realm. But quite simply, I'm not sure that the life of a soldier is any worse than the life these poor unfortunates would have anywhere else.
Q: What guarantees have we that, within the camps, the Derwentians are not continuing their vile mutilations upon hapless elf and dwarf captives?
DS: If that is the case, the perpetrators will be executed. Slavery is illegal within Bereny, and there are no exceptions.
Q: We have heard eyewitness accounts of outbreaks of fighting between Derwentian soldiers and D'Agrillac Estate militia. Shouldn't the Crown intervene to stop this fighting?
DS: Good lord, why did your reporter not immediately report this to the Royal Courts? What you are alleging is murder on a grand scale.
As it is, by the time I heard rumours that this may have occurred, it was too late to mount an effective investigation and all that was found were bodies riddled with arrows, with no sign of who was responsible. The locals put it down to goblin attacks.
I am monitoring the situation, but as with all cases of murder, what is required is for an eyewitness to report the matter in sufficient time for the Courts to scry the area and determine guilt.
IF it should transpire that the D'Agrillacs have been slaughtering our allies and doing their best to start a war, not only will Baron D'Agrillac be hung, drawn and quartered in front of his own estate gates, but I will personally see to it that the estate is removed entirely from his family's control.
Q: On a more general note, Your Grace, have you any words to the new First Royal Adventurer? Lady Abbi is a rather controversial choice because of her previous membership of the Way of the 5 Paths, and we note that you have yet to confirm the award of a Barony that is traditional for the FRA.
DS: Then I am happy to do so now! Baroness Selas could not have volunteered for the position at a better time. The RGA has been suffering from a lack of leadership for far too long, and I look forward to seeing the guild rise to its former prominence. I can only wish her, and the Royal Guild as a whole, well.
Q: Finally, do you now think that the War against the Goblins has been won?
DS: No. The war will have been won when every last goblin has been put down or driven back into the depths of the Great Forest and King Slime's head adorns a spike outside Crownheart Palace.
The war is proceeding satisfactorily. Many goblins have been killed, and the losses, while grievous, have been fewer than we might have expected. But I can't help feeling that the conspirators have not played their last card yet.