Solid blackfish action expected this week
BY Iane Foultan, Correspondant
Some impressive blackfish caught this week and last week have encouraged anglers to expect solid action when wind and weather cooperate. The water temperature off Eyrie Shoal has been bouncing between 56 and 59 degrees this week, and dipped as low as 54 degrees last week. Blackfish will remain on the shallowest inshore grounds until the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. Any of the wrecks in water from 15 to 60 feet deep should have blackfish on them this weekend.
Usually big blackfish are not particularly aggressive until the water temperature sags below 52 degrees; so the bulk of the action on these fish lies ahead. However, the fact that fish like the 12-pounder caught on Capt. Tristan Lindell's Rambler, Azure District, recently, and fish in the 9- and 10-pound class landed on other boats, proves the response will not be only from small and medium-sized blackfish.
A sharp hook is a must for blackfish. The point of an old hook, if that is all one has, might be improved by running a file along the two top edges and the bottom to form a razor-sharp triangle, but with new hooks like the Sacandaga or Minerva today, filing is a step backward.
While the blackfish is a relatively difficult fish for beginners to catch because of its feeding habits and the presence of the more abundant bait-stealing bergalls, the angler who pays attention can usually acquire the knack of catching them fairly quickly. Veterans recognize the distinctive bump of the blackfish, and respond to it while the beginner is striking at bergalls and repeatedly losing bait.
Sea bass and porgies will still dominate the catches on the rough grounds for awhile.
A fancy rig is not needed for sea bass. They are not shy. Squid and clams are the most popular sea bass baits. The squid can be cut in a thin triangle about a half-inch wide at the base and three to four inches long, and clam baits kept to a small strip or gob, enough to cover the hook with some excess.
Capt. Niklas Nyugen, Deep Sea Tours, is scheduling special sea bass, ling and blackfish trips to the grounds in deeper water.
"The wreck trip produced good action with larger size sea bass up to 4.5 pounds," he said. "There were also a few blackfish and ling mixed in.
"The size of the sea bass was larger than on previous trips," he added. "High hooks caught around 20 bass."
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's soures for news!
These are great -- could you compile them somewhere and put a link to them in your sig? I'd love to get them all by I can't seem to be able to access the archive threads.
Sorry, I don't know where they all are. I tried to remember to but an (S&S) in the topic, but I forot to do it sometimes. Try searching the archives for "Saints & Sinners." I believe each one has that at the bottom.
And, I can't compile them b/c I don't remember them. They are "fire and forget." I post them but don't same them. Sorry.
Sorry, I don't know where they all are. I tried to remember to but an (S&S) in the topic, but I forot to do it sometimes. Try searching the archives for "Saints & Sinners." I believe each one has that at the bottom.
And, I can't compile them b/c I don't remember them. They are "fire and forget." I post them but don't same them. Sorry.
Sasserine opts not to cement military ties with the Brotherhood
CHAMPION'S DISTRICT - Sasserine's decision to refuse diplomatic immunity to Brotherhood troops and not to enter into a military cooperation pact sparked debate Godsday, with analysts calling the developments a blow to Brotherhood attempts to improve regional ties.Councilman Knowlern said Moonday that Sasserine and the Brotherhood would not sign a defence-cooperation agreement for next year over the city's refusal to grant Brotherhood troops inside Sasserine immunity from prosecution by local courts.
Ambassador Alresian has stood tough against local jurisdiction over Brotherhood troops since the issue first arose four years ago. He has stated that without such an immunity agreement, military personnel, diplomats and ordinary citizens of the Brotherhood could be subject to politically motivated prosecutions.
Last Flocktime, Sasserine approved the entry of some 40 Brotherhood troops for joint military exercises, such as programs on fighting pirates, public security and humanitarian assistance.
Knowlern said the Council determined that under Sasserine law, exceptions to immunity can only be made in cases of foreign diplomats and administrative personnel. He said the Brotherhood military exercises scheduled through Sunsebb 1 would continue. The Scarlet Embassy had no immediate response to the Council's announcement.
Citizens debated on Godsday whether the Council should have gone along with the Brotherhood's requests. Supporters cited the advantages of a good military relationship with the Brotherhood, while others argued the Brotherhood hadn't helped Sasserine in the way others had, such as with infrastructure projects.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Fire Ravages Kazak village, leaving 3 dead
CAULDRON - Strong winds blasted a fire through a village in the eastern Amedio Jungle, destroying almost all the houses and killing three people, officials said Waterday.
The fire engulfed the village of Begenaty on Godsday evening and razed 92 of its 110 houses, Pathwarden Alma Nevskiy said in a statement.
Ten people were injured and more than 400 residents of the village, about 100 miles south of Redgorge, were evacuated.
A similar fire claimed the village of Astana last Coldeven 11th, flooding the Cauldron area with some 240 refugees.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Watch officer nabbed in Merchant District sting
MERCHANT DISTRICT - An officer of the Watch lost his job and was jailed Freeday after being nabbed in a Merchant District sting operation, authorities said.
An investigation was started after complaints had been lodged against Baptald Doniste, 37, alleging he had been taking money from citizens.
Late Earthday, authorities used a confidential Olman informant who pretended to speak very little Common and to be intoxicated.
Doniste was dispatched to the scene to handle a disturbance and allegedly confronted the informant and took several hundred nobles that had been given to the informant by the Watch.
The officer was arrested after his shift and resigned from the Watch before being booked with armed robbery and malfeasance.
Doniste had been with the Merchant's Watch for nine years.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Watch Team Works Under the Water
AZURE GARRISON - When Chief Jaeran West tells people he's a diver in the City Watch, the response is usually one of surprise: "'I didn't know the Watch had divers.' That's our most common response," he said.
West, 30, of Churl Street, AD, is one of about 12 divers with the Azure Watch. As the only team of its kind, the divers are often called for missions such as body and ship recovery.
"Anything that can be done on the surface we can do in the water," said Captain Dirian Ruseau, 25, the Team commander, from Wall Street, AD.
In their 10 months of active service, the divers have removed a pier as well as destroyed old bridge sections. They have performed maintenance on wharfs and docking platforms in Sasserine harbour and inspected bridges spanning the Thunder and Emerald Rivers to ensure they're safe for travellers. They have also salvaged a wreck after it sank into a shoal off Freeman's Point.
"We're limited to shallow water," West said, "but that's also where the majority of the work is."
Three times the divers have searched for missing merchantmen and whalers.
"This is the most honourable mission we can conduct as well as the grimmest," Ruseau said.
The team's most challenging mission has been recovering the crews of two merchant vessels from a remote lake in the Amedio, Ruseau said. The seamen were trapped in the frame after their ship was holed and sank during a research expedition in Flocktime. The dive team searched for 72 hours before finding them and needed five more days to salvage the craft, Ruseau said.
"One of the seaman's wives was on the shore of the lake when the divers were searching for her husband," Ruseau said. "It was very meaningful for the divers to see how their efforts impacted the seaman's loved ones."
Recovering the ship was difficult, Ruseau said. The team had to put a rig on bridge sections and float it to the middle of the lake in order to lift the ship out of the water.
"The water was a cloudy clear about 30 feet deep," Ruseau said, "and the team was using air incantations to bring the craft off the bottom. The biggest danger is the ship suddenly getting too buoyant and accelerating to the surface with the diver attached, which could possibly kill the diver."
The Azure Divers also searched for a marine and sailor who went missing after their skiff flipped in a river on Planting 2 after a flash flood near Whitethorn Plantation; six marines drowned and were found the next day.
Divers searched for the missing for eight days, covering more than 12 miles of river. The bodies were found more than 75 miles upstream by local tribesmen and returned to local authorities, Ruseau said.
Ruseau said the Azure Divers are a proud, tight-knit group, with only a dozen members in the service.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
More than a dozen members of caravan get sick on trip
HOLLOWSKY - More than a dozen Elvin employees of Krexin Imports were taken to area clinics after becoming ill while returning to Sasserine, officials said.
Hollowsky residents responded yesterday evening when the caravan pulled into town after four members had symptoms including nausea, vomiting, weakness and fainting, according to Haled Windstream, Keeper of the shrine of Fharlanghn.
Pelorite clergy treating members of the stricken expedition said several more reported having the same symptoms.
Investigators did not find anything wrong with the carts or cargo. None of the human members of the group got sick.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Doctor: Spoiled food sickened Shadowshore watchmen
SHADOWSHORE - Spoiled food served at a mess hall was the cause behind the poisoning of a dozen Shadowshore watchmen, according to the head of a clinic that treated many of the men.
Dr. Mirjana Budiljev, the head of the Hent Centre, said samples of the yogurt and of the meat served for the Sunday evening meal at the Garrison had been sent to an alchemist lab to determine which of them were contaminated.
"It was either spoiled meat, or spoiled yogurt," he said.
The Hent Centre admitted 12 watchmen for treatment, administered purgatives and immediately released many others, Budiljev said. They were suffering from severe vomiting with traces of blood, dehydration and diarrhoea - typical symptoms of food poisoning, according to the doctor.
The final watchman treated was discharged Godsday morning, Budiljev said.
In addition to sending the food for tests, blood samples from the victims of the food poisoning were also being examined, he said.
The question remains whether the watchmen were knowingly served spoiled food or if it was accidental.
On Moonday, Lt. Urgell Skoss, acting spokesman for the Shadowshore Watch, said that the man in charge of the mess hall had been arrested along with several others and that an investigation was ongoing.
At that time he said investigators were pursuing the theory that spoiled food could have been served as part of a corruption scheme by the contractors or officers at the Garrison to skim off funds for the food. He suggested that it was more likely, however, that the food had been poisoned as part of a "sabotage" attempt.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Acquittal raises questions about prosecution in Noble stabbing case
By Ayala Cardinas, Staff writer
NOBLE DISTRICT -- Gosho Krunchev and Lazar Ginchin didn't get along.
So on Wealsun 11, when Ginchin broke into Krunchev's North Street home, it wasn't a surprise that the two fought. The surprise came when Ginchin lunged at Krunchev - and impaled himself on a kitchen knife the man was holding, according to Krunchev's defence attorney.
But after Ginchin was revived by paramedics, the now-22-year-old Krunchev was charged with assault, indicted and headed to trial, facing up to 25 years behind bars.
This, he said, after he told prosecutors and police he was only defending himself from an attack in his own home.
Late Moonday, a jury agreed and acquitted Krunchev of all charges.
The case raises the question of why criminal charges were brought at all and also renews the age-old debate about whether a home is, well, a person's castle.
"Even the Watch investigator said, 'this is self-defence, everything is going to be all right," said defence advocate Billiana Sober, during a jubilant news conference in her Bastion Street office.
Krunchev was cleared of all charges at 8:30 p.m. Moonday after a Noble District jury deliberated about two hours.
Nodding to Krunchev, the relieved 22-year-old by her side, Sober added, "I believe the Noble District Judge's Office prosecuted this case in bad faith."
Krunchev and Ginchin had argued one night before the incident, Sober said. Bad blood spilled into the next day as Ginchin arrived at the Wren Row home to pick up where they'd left off, she said.
"This wasn't the first time Lazar went after Gosho," Sober said. "That's why Gosho went into the house and locked all the doors. He was trying to get away from Lazar."
But then Ginchin broke into the house, the men fought, and Ginchin impaled himself under his ribs on the kitchen knife in her client's hand, Sober said.
Rescue workers were able to resuscitate Ginchin, after a friend who was waiting outside rushed him down the street to a fire department for help.
Shortly thereafter, the Noble Watch filed charges.
Sober had harsh words for Assistant Inquisitor Cohen Olmos, who tried, but failed, to persuade a grand jury to indict Krunchev on a charge of attempted murder. They instead voted to indict on assault.
"He just would not listen," she said. "And he offered a plea deal of 12 years in state prison."
Olmos was not available for comment. But Noble District Inquisitor Soarin Dew responded to Sober's criticisms, saying he has a legal and ethical obligation to pursue a case when he believes a crime has been committed.
"A court indicted, a defence advocate defended, a judge ruled and a jury deliberated and decided not to convict," Dew said. "We have all fulfilled our obligations."
Krunchev, who faced up to 25 years if convicted, calmly admitted he was painfully aware, every step of the way, of the risk in going to trial.
"I never thought I'd have to deal with anything like this," said the man, who has since given up his Wren Row apartment and gone back to live with his father.
"It was a lot to take," he said. "I was pretty numb much of the whole time."
Friends and family members who supported Krunchev were elated Godsday.
The sign outside Everydays tavern on Scarlet Street, owned by Krunchev's uncle, Eimig Roux, was quickly changed to read: "Congratulations Gentle George."
In the early days of the case the banner, and specially designed armbands, instead displayed the more plaintive plea, "Free Gentle George."
The case renews a debate about the right to self-defence and Sasserine's Castle Doctrine, a legal concept based on ancient Suloise common law that says a person's home is their castle, a place they can feel free from attack.
In some realms, including, most recently Cauldron, residents can stand their ground against assailants without fear of prosecution in homes, ships, businesses and other places where they have a legal right to be.
Critics say such "stab first" laws open the door to taking potentially lethal action any time there is a threat. Other realms, including Molk of Urnst, have a "Duty to Retreat" law, which means protections from prosecution only take place within the confines of the dwelling.
One local defence advocate weighing in on the trial, Regnal Coffen, said the fact that a jury returned a verdict within about two hours, including time spent over dinner, speaks volumes for the district inquisitor's case.
"It was DOA," he said, questioning why charges were filed in the first place. "That's what they said about this indictment."
Its likely jurors returned the acquittal with their own homes in mind, Coffen said.
"It's a classic case of over-indicting a classic case of self-defence," he said.
Now that he's been cleared, Krunchev said his plans are still uncertain. He knows he needs a job. And, he joked, "I'm going to go to the Free City.” As humour faded, Sober said, "This was something a lot bigger than the Champion's Cup."
"Yeah," Krunchev added. "My life."
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Dawn Council Says No To Pye and Yes To Worms For Upcoming Festival
By Korin Shortleg, Staff Writer
NOBLE DISTRICT --
The Dawn Council has announced that Lucius Pye, famed Greyhawk performer, will not be retained to perform at this year’s market festival. Instead, the Dawn Council has announced that this year’s festival will be a new yearly holiday celebrating the fall of the worm-god Kyuss.
"We decided that this festival has grown beyond the scope of a market festival. Last years festival was marred by the attacks of Kyuss-spawn from the Spire of Long Shadows. We wanted to honour those who defended Sasserine, and to remember those who lost their lives. We feel the Festival of Worms will be a great way to remember Sasserine's heroes and those that fell that fateful day.” said Lord Worrin Lidu, speaking on behalf of the Dawn Council.
When asked about why Lucius Pye was not retained for the Festival of Worms, Lord Lidu said, "Pye's morose style of performance isn't what we are looking for. The Council is interested in a more upbeat performance.”
Some people are against the festival. Dhalven Miomar, Lord of the Merchant's Guild, is an outspoken critic of the new Festival of Worms.
"This festival has always been a market festival, funded and run by the Merchants Guild since Sasserine’s liberation. The discounts offered by Sasserine’s Merchants on this day are a boon to the people of this city. Distracting the people with songs, performers, and food will keep people out of the shops that keep Sasserine’s economy alive.” said Dhalven Miomar at a gathering at the Merchants Guildhall soon after the Dawn Council made its announcement.
The Dawn Council has already begun making preparations for the Festival of Worms, the most noteworthy being the open call for performers. Sasserine’s natives will be given first priority for the few "stage" performance openings. Interested parties should inquire at the Sasserine Opera House, Noble District, where auditions are being held. Street performers can acquire a permit at the Watch Garrison of the district they wish to perform in.
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's source for news!
Solid blackfish action expected this week
BY Iane Foultan, Correspondant
Some impressive blackfish caught this week and last week have encouraged anglers to expect solid action when wind and weather cooperate. The water temperature off Eyrie Shoal has been bouncing between 56 and 59 degrees this week, and dipped as low as 54 degrees last week. Blackfish will remain on the shallowest inshore grounds until the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. Any of the wrecks in water from 15 to 60 feet deep should have blackfish on them this weekend.
Usually big blackfish are not particularly aggressive until the water temperature sags below 52 degrees; so the bulk of the action on these fish lies ahead. However, the fact that fish like the 12-pounder caught on Capt. Tristan Lindell's Rambler, Azure District, recently, and fish in the 9- and 10-pound class landed on other boats, proves the response will not be only from small and medium-sized blackfish.
A sharp hook is a must for blackfish. The point of an old hook, if that is all one has, might be improved by running a file along the two top edges and the bottom to form a razor-sharp triangle, but with new hooks like the Sacandaga or Minerva today, filing is a step backward.
While the blackfish is a relatively difficult fish for beginners to catch because of its feeding habits and the presence of the more abundant bait-stealing bergalls, the angler who pays attention can usually acquire the knack of catching them fairly quickly. Veterans recognize the distinctive bump of the blackfish, and respond to it while the beginner is striking at bergalls and repeatedly losing bait.
Sea bass and porgies will still dominate the catches on the rough grounds for awhile.
A fancy rig is not needed for sea bass. They are not shy. Squid and clams are the most popular sea bass baits. The squid can be cut in a thin triangle about a half-inch wide at the base and three to four inches long, and clam baits kept to a small strip or gob, enough to cover the hook with some excess.
Capt. Niklas Nyugen, Deep Sea Tours, is scheduling special sea bass, ling and blackfish trips to the grounds in deeper water.
"The wreck trip produced good action with larger size sea bass up to 4.5 pounds," he said. "There were also a few blackfish and ling mixed in.
"The size of the sea bass was larger than on previous trips," he added. "High hooks caught around 20 bass."
(c) Saints & Sinners, Sasserine's soures for news!
... and there it is. I don't think I wrote all of those, but I think all the ones I _did_ write are there.
