Stormwind City, Monday evening.
The known members of the Tirassian Nationalist Army cell have now been sentenced, bringing, for now, a formal legal conclusion to one of the more grim and politically tangled investigations to have crossed between Stormwind and Boralus in recent months.
Private Joaseph Faulkson of the Stormwind Army provided this paper with copies of the sentencing orders shortly after they entered public record, fulfilling a promise made during an earlier interview to keep The Lion’s Roar informed once judgment had been passed.
The most severe sentence fell upon Charlie West, identified during the investigation as the gryphon rider responsible for the abduction and murder of Stormwind guardsmen and women. West was convicted on ten counts of Serial Murder, as well as Insurrection and Sedition.
His sentencing order states that, as part of the terrorist group known as the Tirassian Nationalist Army, West committed lethal attacks on military personnel and showed contempt for Crown law, for life, and for any opportunity at repentance.
West was sentenced to execution by hanging, beheading, or firing squad, to be conducted privately in order to avoid turning him into a martyr for future sympathisers.
According to Private Faulkson, that sentence has now been carried out.
“As for Mister West, he was executed this afternoon,” Faulkson said. “So you can be assured that the sentence was followed through on.”
It is an ugly sentence at the end of an ugly road, and while few will mourn a man convicted of throwing guards to their deaths from gryphonback, one should still pause before cheering at a gallows. Justice may require hard ends. It does not require applause.
The Bomb-Maker
The man identified in the sentencing documents as Jack Anker received ten years in the Stormwind Stockades.
Anker was convicted of Insurrection, Improper Manufacture of Military Grade Weaponry, and Endangering the King’s Subjects and Crown Personnel.
His order states that he constructed and placed explosive devices as part of the TNA’s terrorist activities. However, the court noted that those devices were easy to disarm, had been placed in low-traffic areas, and that Anker had shown remorse while greatly assisting investigators.
The sentence also notes that Anker suffers from a significant brain injury and a mood disorder that likely contributed to his actions.
For all counts, he was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, with the possibility of reduction within the Stormwind Stockades. Any such reduction may be tied to community service and hard labour in aid of the Crown.
In simpler terms: the court found him guilty, dangerous, and responsible, but not beyond all consideration.
The Cathedral Attacker
Rowan Mudaxle received a much heavier sentence: twenty years in the Stormwind Stockades.
Mudaxle was convicted of Insurrection, Improper Manufacture of Military Grade Weaponry, Arson, Endangering the King’s Subjects and Crown Personnel, Impersonating a Servant of the Crown, and Voluntary Manslaughter.
The court found that Mudaxle committed arson on a religious building, targeted military personnel with an explosive device while posing as one of their own, and indirectly caused the death of Jenny Salt.
Mudaxle had shown remorse and provided some details to investigators, which the court noted, but not enough to avoid a severe sentence.
Twenty years in the Stockades is the result, with the possibility of reduction for further cooperation.
This appears to refer to the attempted Cathedral attack previously described by Faulkson, in which one device set the altar aflame and another was brought toward the nearby guard station during Volunteer Guard Day. It was there that false uniforms, bad explosives, and worse judgment collided in exactly the sort of disaster Stormwind has grown distressingly good at producing.
The Safe House Connection
Adrius Banks was sentenced to eight years in the Stormwind Stockades with mandatory hard labour.
Banks was convicted of Insurrection, Sedition, Illegal Weapon Stashing, Forming Groups or Organisations for Criminal Purposes, and Failure to Report.
The order states that Banks knowingly associated with the terrorist group and, during planned attacks within Stormwind, failed to report or cooperate with authorities.
The sentencing document also notes that genetic material matching Banks was found at the Sallow property overlooking the harbour, the same property used by the group as something of a safe house or base.
This is the same harbour property previously described by Faulkson and Commander Connor Pickens as having contained manifestos, camo-green tabards, explosive materials, instructions, backpacks, bomb-drop plans, and the means by which the TNA’s propaganda was produced.
Eight years is no small sentence, though compared with West’s fate it may look merciful. That is the strange scale of cases like this: once murder, terror, and sedition enter the ledger, years begin to sound almost gentle.
The Lesser Participant
The final sentence provided concerned Serena Wright, who received three years in the Stormwind Stockades, with the possibility of reduction.
Wright was convicted of Insurrection, Member or Supporter of a Group Considered an Enemy of the Crown, and Failure to Report.
Her order states that she knowingly associated with the Tirassian Nationalist Army during planned attacks within Stormwind. However, the court noted that she showed significant remorse and cooperation. It also states that evidence points toward Wright only ever intending to cause a nuisance in the city, rather than significant harm to its citizens.
That distinction appears to have mattered.
Three years in the Stockades is still a sentence, not a warning, but it is clear the court viewed her role differently from those who built bombs, wore false uniforms, set fires, or took lives.
Justice Done, But Not Joyfully
When asked whether there were signs of new TNA activity, Faulkson answered plainly.
“Nothing of late.”
That is welcome news, though one ought to be careful not to mistake silence for healing. A wound can stop bleeding and still turn foul beneath the bandage.
Asked for a statement, Faulkson said:
“I am pleased to see that justice has been done upon those involved in the cell, but I am disheartened that it has come to this. I hope in future that strained relations between our nations and their common-folk can be resolved with diplomacy first.”
That may be the line worth carrying away from this whole grim affair.
The Tirassian Nationalist Army cell appears, by the reckoning of those who investigated it, to be broken. Its known members are dead, imprisoned, or awaiting years behind stone. Its propaganda has been seized. Its harbour base has been exposed. Its makeshift uniforms and explosive materials have moved from threat to evidence.
Assembly in Boralus
The sentences arrive just before the Second Assembly of Houses and Captains, scheduled for Wednesday evening in Boralus.
While the Assembly is not about the TNA, its timing gives it a certain relevance. The matters at the heart of the recent case, including jurisdiction, sovereignty, cooperation between allies, and the responsibilities of those who hold influence in Kul Tiras, are exactly the sort of subjects better suited to open discussion than whispered resentment.
If anything positive is to be drawn from this grim chapter, it may be that the proper forums for such conversations still exist. Houses, captains, officials, and citizens will have the opportunity to speak, listen, and perhaps do the slow, unglamorous work of preventing future grievances from being left to fester in darker corners.
The known TNA cell has been judged and West is dead while Anker, Mudaxle, Banks, and Wright are bound for the Stockades.
And speaking of murders? Thursday night The Groggery in Boralus hosts another murder-walk. This time in the Tradewind district. The staff will act as tourguides in the district and tell grim and gruesome stories.