[Royal Guard] Slave Ship Seized in Port of Drache

[Ayanula ...]

On the evening of [May 9th, 2009], I arrived at the BlkDragon Inn for a mug of coffee while on break from my duties at the Guardhouse.  It was here that I came across Armsman Hunter Grafsburg at the bar.  When I greeted him, he noted a small gnoll [Description of Aftershock follows] in the corner talking about a slave ship he'd just escaped from.  My initial reaction to the gnoll's comments were that they were rather inconsequential, however, Armsman Grafsburg took it upon himself to approach the creature and inquire more.

I followed the Armsman over merely to observe.  The gnoll spoke rather nonspecifically about this ship he'd come into the port of Drache on, but went further in saying he could locate it for members of the Royal Guard.  With somethin of a potential lead, I told the gnoll I'd take him to the port of Drache if he could lead us to the ship he was describing.

Accompanied by Armsman Grafsburg, we brought the gnoll to the port where he didn't spend much time hunting down the vessel he claimed was a slave ship.  After I made sure he was absolutely positive about the ID on the ship, I coordinated with the Port Authority of Drache to have the ship grounded from pushing off.  This bought us enough time to get in contact with the Wharf Garrison's watch commander and assemble a multi-juristictional boarding party.

With 6 other Armsmen total, including Armsman Grafsburg of the BlkDragon District, we boarded the ship and had the crew seize all operations.  I spoke with the Captain about his alleged cargo, informed him of the juristiction of being in Drache waters with a slave ship, and spoke with him about the potential felony charges he and his crew could face.

The Captain didn't seem alarmed by our boarding and claimed there was no such cargo on the ship.  I had the boarding party of Armsmen search the lower  decks and cargo hold.  It was Armsman Grafsburg who found the hidden hatch in the lower decks that was indeed hiding numerous slaves, some even who had died from the conditions down below.

The Captain and his crew were all immediately taken into custody and lead off the ship.  I spoke later with the Lieutenant on  duty for the Wharf District and it was agreed that the slaves would be temporarily housed at the Guardhouse in the Blk Dragon District for processing until we could find their points of origin for possible deportation.

I want to commend Armsman Grafsburg on his upstanding commitment to identifying and cracking this case as it literally happened.  It was due to his quick judgement calls and pursuit of justice that we were able to seize the slave ship and apprehend it's crew before further casualties resulted in the lower deck of the ship.

As it stands, the Captain faces charges of obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, smuggling, operation of a slave ship, and assault on a Crown Official..

The crew faces charges of smuggling and slaving.


Signed,
~Idelle Sarault, Arms-Sergeant of the BlkDragon District



      
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