Eternity RPC Board
10-14-2016, 04:06 AM
Alsace, New Galasia | Zechyr 28, 1579
Despite the economic situation of the country, Viceroy Arcturus Neretus funeral was arranged in an expensive even in muted ceremony. It was not a secret that the heir hadn't had a pleasant death, although the media was not allowed to describe and discuss in detail the attack in Eastmarch. The security was so strengthened in the capital city, that the presence of the Legion everywhere could not be concealed. A large crowd came to say the last goodbye to Arcturus Neretus anyway. He was not loved by his people, but respected as the future ruler of the nation. But rather than pity and sorrow for his death, a mood of concern and fear about the future in the country covered everything and everyone.
Although the reign of King Neberen had been rather austere regarding diplomacy, quite a few foreign diplomats and head of state had came to the funeral, some of them even lacking a nation anymore. That was the case of Kreshnik Mirditë, the last King of Arbere, who had lived in exile since the 1568 revolution. Since 1574, he had moved to New Galasia, offered asylum by King Nebetus.
Kreshnik saw suddenly a very familiar, even considerably changed, face. It was his younger sister, Princess Mimoza. It was the first time they met in a decade.
"How are things going in the East?", Kreshnik asked coldly.
"The East?", Mimoza replied. "Ah, it's alright, I suppose. Time goes much slower there, but without surprises".
"When are you leaving?", he asked.
"We're leaving tomorrow", she answered. "Fatos has some business to do in Magentina, so we'll spend the next two months there. Gezimë is delighted about it".
"I believe the ceremony is over", he said. "It's time to leave".
The Galasian leadership was paralyzed after the death of the Viceroy. With King Neberen in his unofficial death bed, and his grandson, heir of the throne, only eight years old, the planned succession had been destroyed in a time of political and social crisis. Retaking control of the province of Kevir took more than a week. But the first findings from the investigation of the Eastmarch terrorist attack resulted much more serious.
After hours of torture, the surviving terrorist gave information about the person who had allegedly given them access to the ammunition outside the military safety rules. That person was a certain Captain Pêlavan, who was a military officer of the Galasian Legion in Eastmarch. Galasian authorities couldn't find him, as he reportedly left the country the same evening of the terrorist attack. Pêlavan was an ethnic Rojavadi, as they were all the soldiers who perpetrated the attack. Only a hour after the attack, the terrorist attack had been claimed by an obscure Akhadist terrorist organizations, known as Leḉkerên-Akhadi, which aimed to destroy Galasian monarchy and proclaiming an Akhadic theocratic government. But the police could find more damning evidence after registering the homes and cars of one of the terrorists. Not only to their adherence to a radical interpretation of the Akhadic faith, but serious evidence that it pointed out to a circle associated with Lieutenant-Colonel Tarîk Tarquinn, a retired military intelligence officer.
Prime Minister Pelleas Oberus met for hours with the military leadership and members of the Royal family, and they decided that best decision would be that Duke Ambrosius, King Neberen's younger brother, to become Regent until Prince Tristanus was old enough to be crowned King. A man with very conservative leanings compared to his brother, Ambrosius was however respected by the military leadership and the Galasian elite. His first decision was to keep in secret the health situation of his brother, even keeping him artificially alive for a while, in order to give some stability to the country and not demoralize the people and the armed forces.
In his first public appearance after his nephew funeral, Ambrosius came to the Senate, in order to ask for approval for the parliamentary decree which confirmed him as Regent of the Kingdom and Viceroy of Eastmarch until Prince Tristanus reached the age of majority. The decree was approved by more than two-thirds of the Senate as it was -by a slightly minor majority- a second decree giving the Regent and government special powers for six-month, to fight the terrorist menace and any conspiration against the state.
Prime Minister Pelleas Oberus was replaced by Marius Calpurnius, a former Minister of Defense, under a new National Unity government. A nationwide state of emergency was declared, and many governors were sacked and replaced by military officers. Ambrosius ordered a crackdown of the activities of the Akhadic Society in the country, and closed the Senate of Eastmarch. He started a large purge inside the Legion and Armed Forces, with thousand of officers and soldiers expelled from its ranks, most of them non-Galasians.
Eastmarch, New Galasia | Elva, 1579
The last day of Dein, it was announced that Grand Kuzhe Rîsep Gûndî had been murdered. A neighbor had found him dead, along his wife and one of their daughters. Gûndî, who had been Kuzhe of Eastmarch for thirty years, was the only living Grand Kuzhe in Galasia. He was considered a moderate Kuzhe in a very conservative region, but respected by all the members of the community as a wise man and a spiritual leader. Gûndî had denounced Arcturus Neretus' secular legislation but avoided direct confrontation with the government. His elder daughter revealed that Gûndî had been visited five days before his murder by two policemen, who had talked with his father for two hours. The Galasian authorities promised to investigate carefully Gûndî murder, but this did not satisfy to many, who felt that since Ambrosius became Regent the East was being even more marginalized, combined with increasing poverty and unemployment.
Gûndî turned into a political rally in which Akhadic students called for "real freedom of religion" while other demonstrators called for the end of the state of emergency and the reopening of the Eastmarch Senate. The next day, a group of Akhadist activists met with Rojadavi nationalists in front of the square nearby the Eastmarch Senate, discussing about politics and religion. They agreed to redact a joint manifesto calling for "real democratic elections in the East". Although Akhadic believers were only a large minority in Eastmarch, and most of the population remained indifferent.
In Nova Tairal and in Sermîyan, the third Eastern town and with a larger Akhadic population, the reaction was more virulent, and the protest turned into riots against the Galasian authorities. Government buildings were attacked and burned down, and bazaar merchants and peasants supported openly the protest calling for a "Eastern inclusive government". The police attempted to repress the rioters with brutal violence. While in Nova Tairal the situation was more calmer after four days of protests and riots, in Sermîyan the town felt into chaos, with more violent clashing between security forces and rioters. Unconfirmed reports of Galasian opening fire against unarmed protestors and summary executions started to spread, and soon the nearby towns and villages joined the protests. A week after the first protests in Sermîyan, the government forces were forced to withdraw. The Galasian government ordered the mobilization of the Legion the next day.
After a protestor was killed in a second protest in Nova Tairal, a crowd surrender the nearby police station, setting fire to the building, killing twenty security officers, and then overran a second police station, seizing weapons from it. They protestors, now without opposition, took control of several government buildings. Violence continued and escalated over the following days. A week later, news came to Eastmarch that a portion of the security forces in Nova Tairal defected after rumours that secret police in that city had executed soldiers who had refused to fire on civilians, later reported as untrue.
The Governor of Eastmarch was ordered to end all political activity and hundreds of activists were detained. Many took refuge in the local sakakes. The largest association of Akhadic students called for an end of the government crackdown and opening negotiations between the protesters and the Galasian authorities. On Elva 10, government forces were expected to retake Sermîyan but the operation was cancelled after more soldiers defected, and military officers were afraid of a mutiny. Two days later, a group of local commanders and officers issued a joint declaration of "ceasefire between demonstrators and security forces", calling for more autonomy and rejecting to follow "unlawful actions" from Alsace. Meanwhile, in the western triangle along New Galasia-Ustyara-Angiris border, Akhadist militants attacked Galasian security forces, killing dozen of soldiers and policemen.
On Elva 15, a group of officers proclaimed in Sermîyan a "Provisional Council for the National Resistance" and promised "free elections" with the aim of creating a "federal state...with autonomy from Alsace to approve our own laws" in front of an exalted crowd. Finally, the Galasian Armed Forces withdrew to either Eastmarch or the safer northeastern provinces, fearing a general insurrection. The protestors and revolutionary activists took control of government buildings, police station and military headquarters along the region, taking control of a good amount of weapons and resources. Regent Ambrosius announced the destitution of the Chief of the General Staff, and promised to restore order.
Prime Minister Marius Calpurnius denounced that military officers had attempted a coup d'etat in Eastmarch against the Kingdom, and denounced the Sermîyan council as a "bunch of bandits and terrorists". An urgent meeting was called in Alsace, headed by Regent Ambrosius, along the government and the military leadership. The Regent supported Calpurnius' idea that no negotiation was possible, and that it was need to act quickly, destroying all material means that the enemy could turn into a serious opposition to the Galasian Armed Forces, in order to avoid the revolt turning into a civil war.
The next day, an air bombing campaign against military headquarters, airports and air force under control of the Provisional Council, or those areas considered untrustworthy or likely to fail under control of the enemy. Regent Ambrosius gave authorization to send paratroopers to Eastmarch, to secure the city and prepare a quickly offensive as soon as possible.
Despite the economic situation of the country, Viceroy Arcturus Neretus funeral was arranged in an expensive even in muted ceremony. It was not a secret that the heir hadn't had a pleasant death, although the media was not allowed to describe and discuss in detail the attack in Eastmarch. The security was so strengthened in the capital city, that the presence of the Legion everywhere could not be concealed. A large crowd came to say the last goodbye to Arcturus Neretus anyway. He was not loved by his people, but respected as the future ruler of the nation. But rather than pity and sorrow for his death, a mood of concern and fear about the future in the country covered everything and everyone.
Although the reign of King Neberen had been rather austere regarding diplomacy, quite a few foreign diplomats and head of state had came to the funeral, some of them even lacking a nation anymore. That was the case of Kreshnik Mirditë, the last King of Arbere, who had lived in exile since the 1568 revolution. Since 1574, he had moved to New Galasia, offered asylum by King Nebetus.
Kreshnik saw suddenly a very familiar, even considerably changed, face. It was his younger sister, Princess Mimoza. It was the first time they met in a decade.
"How are things going in the East?", Kreshnik asked coldly.
"The East?", Mimoza replied. "Ah, it's alright, I suppose. Time goes much slower there, but without surprises".
"When are you leaving?", he asked.
"We're leaving tomorrow", she answered. "Fatos has some business to do in Magentina, so we'll spend the next two months there. Gezimë is delighted about it".
"I believe the ceremony is over", he said. "It's time to leave".
The Galasian leadership was paralyzed after the death of the Viceroy. With King Neberen in his unofficial death bed, and his grandson, heir of the throne, only eight years old, the planned succession had been destroyed in a time of political and social crisis. Retaking control of the province of Kevir took more than a week. But the first findings from the investigation of the Eastmarch terrorist attack resulted much more serious.
After hours of torture, the surviving terrorist gave information about the person who had allegedly given them access to the ammunition outside the military safety rules. That person was a certain Captain Pêlavan, who was a military officer of the Galasian Legion in Eastmarch. Galasian authorities couldn't find him, as he reportedly left the country the same evening of the terrorist attack. Pêlavan was an ethnic Rojavadi, as they were all the soldiers who perpetrated the attack. Only a hour after the attack, the terrorist attack had been claimed by an obscure Akhadist terrorist organizations, known as Leḉkerên-Akhadi, which aimed to destroy Galasian monarchy and proclaiming an Akhadic theocratic government. But the police could find more damning evidence after registering the homes and cars of one of the terrorists. Not only to their adherence to a radical interpretation of the Akhadic faith, but serious evidence that it pointed out to a circle associated with Lieutenant-Colonel Tarîk Tarquinn, a retired military intelligence officer.
Prime Minister Pelleas Oberus met for hours with the military leadership and members of the Royal family, and they decided that best decision would be that Duke Ambrosius, King Neberen's younger brother, to become Regent until Prince Tristanus was old enough to be crowned King. A man with very conservative leanings compared to his brother, Ambrosius was however respected by the military leadership and the Galasian elite. His first decision was to keep in secret the health situation of his brother, even keeping him artificially alive for a while, in order to give some stability to the country and not demoralize the people and the armed forces.
In his first public appearance after his nephew funeral, Ambrosius came to the Senate, in order to ask for approval for the parliamentary decree which confirmed him as Regent of the Kingdom and Viceroy of Eastmarch until Prince Tristanus reached the age of majority. The decree was approved by more than two-thirds of the Senate as it was -by a slightly minor majority- a second decree giving the Regent and government special powers for six-month, to fight the terrorist menace and any conspiration against the state.
Prime Minister Pelleas Oberus was replaced by Marius Calpurnius, a former Minister of Defense, under a new National Unity government. A nationwide state of emergency was declared, and many governors were sacked and replaced by military officers. Ambrosius ordered a crackdown of the activities of the Akhadic Society in the country, and closed the Senate of Eastmarch. He started a large purge inside the Legion and Armed Forces, with thousand of officers and soldiers expelled from its ranks, most of them non-Galasians.
Eastmarch, New Galasia | Elva, 1579
The last day of Dein, it was announced that Grand Kuzhe Rîsep Gûndî had been murdered. A neighbor had found him dead, along his wife and one of their daughters. Gûndî, who had been Kuzhe of Eastmarch for thirty years, was the only living Grand Kuzhe in Galasia. He was considered a moderate Kuzhe in a very conservative region, but respected by all the members of the community as a wise man and a spiritual leader. Gûndî had denounced Arcturus Neretus' secular legislation but avoided direct confrontation with the government. His elder daughter revealed that Gûndî had been visited five days before his murder by two policemen, who had talked with his father for two hours. The Galasian authorities promised to investigate carefully Gûndî murder, but this did not satisfy to many, who felt that since Ambrosius became Regent the East was being even more marginalized, combined with increasing poverty and unemployment.
Gûndî turned into a political rally in which Akhadic students called for "real freedom of religion" while other demonstrators called for the end of the state of emergency and the reopening of the Eastmarch Senate. The next day, a group of Akhadist activists met with Rojadavi nationalists in front of the square nearby the Eastmarch Senate, discussing about politics and religion. They agreed to redact a joint manifesto calling for "real democratic elections in the East". Although Akhadic believers were only a large minority in Eastmarch, and most of the population remained indifferent.
In Nova Tairal and in Sermîyan, the third Eastern town and with a larger Akhadic population, the reaction was more virulent, and the protest turned into riots against the Galasian authorities. Government buildings were attacked and burned down, and bazaar merchants and peasants supported openly the protest calling for a "Eastern inclusive government". The police attempted to repress the rioters with brutal violence. While in Nova Tairal the situation was more calmer after four days of protests and riots, in Sermîyan the town felt into chaos, with more violent clashing between security forces and rioters. Unconfirmed reports of Galasian opening fire against unarmed protestors and summary executions started to spread, and soon the nearby towns and villages joined the protests. A week after the first protests in Sermîyan, the government forces were forced to withdraw. The Galasian government ordered the mobilization of the Legion the next day.
After a protestor was killed in a second protest in Nova Tairal, a crowd surrender the nearby police station, setting fire to the building, killing twenty security officers, and then overran a second police station, seizing weapons from it. They protestors, now without opposition, took control of several government buildings. Violence continued and escalated over the following days. A week later, news came to Eastmarch that a portion of the security forces in Nova Tairal defected after rumours that secret police in that city had executed soldiers who had refused to fire on civilians, later reported as untrue.
The Governor of Eastmarch was ordered to end all political activity and hundreds of activists were detained. Many took refuge in the local sakakes. The largest association of Akhadic students called for an end of the government crackdown and opening negotiations between the protesters and the Galasian authorities. On Elva 10, government forces were expected to retake Sermîyan but the operation was cancelled after more soldiers defected, and military officers were afraid of a mutiny. Two days later, a group of local commanders and officers issued a joint declaration of "ceasefire between demonstrators and security forces", calling for more autonomy and rejecting to follow "unlawful actions" from Alsace. Meanwhile, in the western triangle along New Galasia-Ustyara-Angiris border, Akhadist militants attacked Galasian security forces, killing dozen of soldiers and policemen.
On Elva 15, a group of officers proclaimed in Sermîyan a "Provisional Council for the National Resistance" and promised "free elections" with the aim of creating a "federal state...with autonomy from Alsace to approve our own laws" in front of an exalted crowd. Finally, the Galasian Armed Forces withdrew to either Eastmarch or the safer northeastern provinces, fearing a general insurrection. The protestors and revolutionary activists took control of government buildings, police station and military headquarters along the region, taking control of a good amount of weapons and resources. Regent Ambrosius announced the destitution of the Chief of the General Staff, and promised to restore order.
Prime Minister Marius Calpurnius denounced that military officers had attempted a coup d'etat in Eastmarch against the Kingdom, and denounced the Sermîyan council as a "bunch of bandits and terrorists". An urgent meeting was called in Alsace, headed by Regent Ambrosius, along the government and the military leadership. The Regent supported Calpurnius' idea that no negotiation was possible, and that it was need to act quickly, destroying all material means that the enemy could turn into a serious opposition to the Galasian Armed Forces, in order to avoid the revolt turning into a civil war.
The next day, an air bombing campaign against military headquarters, airports and air force under control of the Provisional Council, or those areas considered untrustworthy or likely to fail under control of the enemy. Regent Ambrosius gave authorization to send paratroopers to Eastmarch, to secure the city and prepare a quickly offensive as soon as possible.