The New Federation

[Flo]

The Capital Building
The Capital District, West Brigidna
Elva, 1597


"Meeting adjourned." The knock of a gavel and everything was a shuffle of papers and coats and computers. The meeting of the executive council for the West Brigidnan Union had just ended and the various individual leaders were on their way along with their aides and orderlies. 

It had been nearly five years since the Union had been established, itself the product of decades of cooperation and effort by the governments of Florinthus, Galeae, Oslanburg, and Vienland. It had been a long process filled with pitfalls and triumphs, compromise and disagreement. Even now, five years in, things were still not entirely smooth on all fronts. 

The military, one of the more important parts of a government, was still not properly merged on all accounts, and leadership, both civilian and military, were still at an impasse of how to move forward. That had been the subject of this particular meeting of the executive council, presided by the Prime Minister of the Union, Klaus Ofthevek, an Oslanburgan who had been selected as the first to fill his role. 

Ofthevek was a curious choice, as he had no prior executive experience and was simply a rising voice in the Oslanburgan Democratic Party. What he lacked in experience he made up for in tact and prudence, which was why he was one of the prime choices from the  newly established legislature. His term, which was to be up in 1601, was frantic at times, as the establishment of an entire government was on his list, but he had settled into the groove well enough. 

There was opposition to his leadership, however, particularly from Florinthian union-sceptics who were unwary about an Oslanburgan being chosen to lead the new government. There were still occasional protests in the more conservative regions of Florinthus, though their frequency had died down in recent years. 

All eyes, however, were on 1600. The second general election in the new Union, and a critical one too, since the government could potentially change hands.

[Flo]

Meadowbrook Lane Secondary School
Wilmington, Florinthus

"Knowing multiple languages has always been valuable, Mr. Harper, but in the modern period it has become more than valuable. It is practically a requirement in the new Union. You will need to accept this." School board chairman Andrew Yates said with finality. "I am finished hearing about this matter. Move on."

Harper sat down, a look of consternation on his face. He had been at every school board meeting for the past two years, arguing against the new curriculum that demanded students begin learning a new language on top of Florinthian, either Lanlian or Oslanburgan. This was intended to help young Florinthians better integrate into the new Union, but for people like Mr. Harper, it was an affront to Florinthian culture and identity. He had forbidden his daughter from speaking anything other than Florinthian at home, but he was unable to convince the school board to make any changes.

He knew they couldn't change it for themselves, as it was a nationwide mandate, but they wouldn't so much as communicate his frustration, as well as the frustrations of many others, up the ladder, so to speak. Even worse, fewer people were even challenging it anymore. When it first was implemented, there were over three hundred angry people in the meeting. There had been protests. Now, several years later, he and a few others were the only ones still lodging complaints. It was exhausting.

But next month, he swore, he'd be back again, and nothing Yates said would stop him.