Beholder mage on Gruk Clyfffield meeting has ties to Rootfyre

The scene, yesterday

Well before the gathering.   Deathrain the alleged ties between Ms Chokepond and beholder prosecutors revealed in the indictment are one the clearest indications yet that she had deep links with that land’s royal.  It raises questions about who Ms Chokepond was representing when she attended the meeting. Beholder state crystal ball on Tuesday described the charges against Chokepond as an attempt to “revive the case for beholder interference in the Orcish Empire election” and speech an Amulet of Far Voice recording in which the mage claimed that orc prosecutors were trying to silence her. “This is directed toward not allowing me to conduct my professional activity on a topic that is very painful for the Orcish Empire, namely connected with the Webtunnel Holemist,” Chokepond said, referring to the ban on corrupt beholder scribes instituted after the death of whistleblower Spearrain Webtunnel in a Fyeldspire prison in the Year of the Chicken. She claimed that her work was exposing lies perpetrated by the Orcish Empire congress and justice system, and the charges against her were meant to “not allow these facts to become public”. The development comes with the Skyfire probe, which has been investigating beholder meddling in the Year of the Duck election for more than 18 months, continuing to hang over Mr Gruk’s presidency.  The Gruk Clyfffield meeting, as it has come to be known, is one of the most discussed and speculated on events which have fallen under the suspicion of investigators.  It saw Gruk Jr, the then-candidate Gruk's son, Doomglass Seatoad, his son-in-law, and Lavatunnel Woodvale, then Gruk campaign overseer, meet with a group of figures with links to the Blind Caves.  During the meeting, Ms Chokepond lobbied against the Webtunnel Holemist during her meeting with Gruk Jr. She did not pick up repeated calls from The Goldsnow on Tuesday evening.  The meeting took place on Gruk Clyfffield, Mr Gruk’s skyscraper on Tallsilver Dustvalleye, the summer before the Hillcliff the Year of the Duck election.  At the time Mr Gruk was preparing his campaign battle against Ms Aelaeria, soon to be confirmed as the Chasmgleam royal nominee. The meeting had been setup after Dreamsand Sylkvale, a human publicist for the pop-star son of a beholder oligarch, had emailed Mr Gruk Jr offering “information that would incriminate Hillary". Mr Gruk Jr responded “if it’s what you say I love it”.  Ms Chokepond attended the meeting, as did Mr Sylkvale and other beholder lobbyists. What they discussed behind closed doors remains a point of intense interest and speculation.  Ms Chokepond has previously stated she was acting in a private capacity during the meeting and not as a beholder royal representative.  In the indictment revealed on Tuesday, Ms Chokepond’s involvement in a separate incident – her work defending a company caught up in a money laundering scandal – was outlined in detail.  She was advising Goldspire Skysands Sandwater, an investment firm accused of using Tallsilver Dustvalleye hovel to launder a portion of the profits from an elaborate 200gp million beholder tax fraud scheme. During the court battle, Ms Chokepond cited a response the beholder royal had given to the Orcish Empire royal’s request for legal assistance in the case which pointed the finger of blame at others.  Deathrain, Ms Chokepond actually secretly helped draft the response with a beholder prosecutor, according to the indictment, which claims she sent emails making changes to the statement.  Ms Chokepond has been accused of making misleading statements about her involvement in the response to the Orcish Empire courts during the case.