SINISTER GOINGS ON IN DROUGHT CAUSE

Crushing names names!

Organized Crime Tied to Local and National Governments in Conspiracy

by Caelron Crushing

[Editor's note: The DAILY received this report anonymously in the mail on Tishar 19, a week and a half after the unfortunate death of Mr. Crushing. Outside expert opinions were sought to verify its veracity: see PACKAGE IS LEGITIMATE, pg. A2. The product below is the unfinished and therefore rough report Mr. Crushing had prepared for presentation to Congress. Excuse any errors and factual vaguery--we left it in its own state out of respect for a true hero.]

Two years ago, the last rain fell on Belle Point in a gushing downpour that was once fairly typical for the season. No one noted its departure, the finality of that storm, for none knew that it would not be coming back. At first, the drought brought little comment save from farmers and fire-preventionists. As time passed, and the drought spread--first nationally, then internationally--the world began to take notice.

What is now known is that the last rain to fall on Shem occurred on Quathry 13, 1933 in Obusingye--a jungle nation noted for its monsoons--and that rain was a light sprinkling. For five months, the entire world has not seen rain. Belle Point has not seen it in two years. The savanna, our beautiful expanse of wildlife and open plains, is drying up. Without the efforts of various faithful and magical individuals, it would likely now be a barren, burnt out desert.

Already, the Windkin tribes are struggling in their deserts, on the brink of civil war. The other desert nations of northern Taggarus are already fighting, some subtly, others openly. Inisel, the sand elven nation between our continent and Ailanea, is officially without a stable or usable government. The elven forests are failing to flower this year for the first time ever. The wastelands of Ansulym are said to be watered more now by blood than by water. Dabusen is dissolving under the weight of belligerence and thirst. The ever warlike Agikaanis are looking again to take advantage of the situation. On Palhur, the Guardians of Mortality blame the gods for this, and the god-loving blame the Guardians. The goblin tribes are going underground, where they say water is more abundant, and the trolls are rejoicing the coming of the end. Kerupen has seen the rise of National Socialism, and these radicals are blaming Roma and the "unpure."

Here in Belle Point, some have sought to politicize this emergency. The Hawks are calling for war against those they think steal our water. The Doves are calling for easier trading rules. The growing strength of the Socialist party is due in large part to a blatant favoritism in water rationing--that the movie studios and railroad industries have no lack of water is a noticeable affront to the hard working men and women of this city. And those hatemongers in the National Socialists are beating the same angry drum here as elsewhere. In the end, they are all wrong, confused by their own narrow views, driven by, for the most part, good intentions, but driven unto madness in the course of what's at stake. I once stood with the Doves, but in recent years, even their moderate sensibilities have been warped by the extreme circumstances before us. My new-found political independence stems from my belief that ideology only serves to close the mind.

I am not one to look for someone to blame. I began my investigation into this drought in an effort to find a way--be it magical, religious, or scientific--to end it. What I have found instead is that the end to it has been possible all along, but that certain individuals in powerful positions have chosen to extend it regardless.

On Llevemanya 26, 1931, Alsanbradieser (check spelling) Ipanym released a film that many perceived to have failed commercially because of its capricious take on a current scandal at the time. The film, CITY FATHERS, told a fanciful and humorous tale of political corruption. If released at any other time, it would, perhaps, have done well, but at the time, local city councilman Adderly Maxwell had been caught not just using his position to make money, but also using it to rip off the public in favor of a foreign national. Not fifteen years before, we had been at war with Agikaan and its allies, the eternally invasive and angry nation still to this day seeking to bring battle and conquest. The councilman was disgraced, the film collapsed, and Dir. Ipanym never worked again [ed. note: see pg. B5, NEW IPANYM FILM COMING].

But in the film, Ipanym inadvertently got one thing right: the archvillain of the film is described in one fleeting joke by an underling as "making his fortune selling rain to farmers." I have here evidence [ed. note: see pg. A2, MISSING EVIDENCE IN CRUSHING CASE] that in some cases proves and in other cases strongly leads to the complicit involvement of nine figures in an ongoing plot to prevent the world's rain cycle.

The names I now speak I speak with no title or reference, for they deserve no respect from me or any of you:

Anwar Murabi [ed. note: Vice President of Ienova]

Bartholomew Crow [ed. note: Belle Point businessman, suspected in organized criminal activity]

Armande Green [ed. note: now president of Aurdog Studios]

Roh Meritas [ed. note: Last Guardian of Mortality]

Marshall Ironhook [ed. note: head of Continental Railroads, whose operations span Ranu and Ailanea]

Aredheven Malloras [ed. note: Srisian archduke]

Joellenne Mauritaine [ed. note: Galdunic senator]

Unwal Hansu [ed. note: Agikaani chancellor]

Victor Ross Jamison [ed. note: completely unknown--twelve exist in Ienovan registers]

That this conspiracy began in Belle Point I also have proof. Over half of those I mentioned have strong connections here, and the others have all been here in the past two years at the same time. Boarding passes, passport records, and photographs will show that these nine people had opportunity to meet and discuss.

But before I go on, I must answer the question you are all surely asking: why? Why would nine people with no love for each other and no clear reason to do this commit to such a horrible offense? Why would they commit to what essentially amounts to genocide on a scale not seen since the Hand of God?

The underpinnings of their motives I can only speculate on: greed, ambition, twisted moralities and deep seated hatreds. But the one common cause all of these people have is obvious, if you know where to look. Each and everyone of these people [ed. note: due to the unfinished nature of this report, we cannot confirm or verify this, especially regards the ninth name on the list] have an open disregard for the gods:

Murabi's campaign was filled with veiled references to the independence of mortality, a stance that nearly lost him his place at President Wallace's side. Crow is a known gangster without the morality of an errant school child. His disregard for law and order is as wanton as his disregard for the laws of the gods. Green's little known first film, IN THE LAND OF KINGS, was a thinly veiled diatribe against the clergical aristocracy of his hometown of Garden City. Meritas is the leader of an otherwise fine organization, one that has done much good in this world, but has its share of darkness in its past. The central tenant of Mortalism is mortality above divinity. Ironhook is a noted objectivist whose anti-government stance has served him well as an industrialist, but his lesser known anti-faith stance has sometimes caused him embarrassment. Malloras is under investigation in Srisia for heresy against the Webweaver, a status that has recently made him darling to political entities on this side of the Wyren that seek to garner his support. Mauritaine lead a campaign to limit the power of the Love and Dream churches in her homeland. Hansu is a believer in the demented One True God of Agikaan. And Victor Ross Jamison is the most obscene member of all, a fell high priest of certain obscenities. I say not that the blame lies with the Guardians, who, as I have said, have done their share of good in this world. No, I speak of a sinister cousin to Mortalism."

[ed. note: Here the report ends. The DAILY will continue to follow this story as it develops. For now, we show you the words of a national hero stand before you as a fitting obituary.]