I hereby request a founder's ruling on Meridia's Canarto region religion and how he insists that all 6 million people there would believe in the faith to the point of fanaticism. I'll submit my argument against the matter if the request is accepted.

Meridia has outlawed torture in Canarto. Outraged Canartese civilians are protesting in the streets.

13 October 1895
Safien, Boudereaux

War has broken out in the Terres de l'est. Some place called Transnura has launched an invasion of our allies in the Arari. I don’t know if we should be over there though. I mean we are literally thousands of kilometers from those lands and the Archon says that it is to protect our “allies” but the boys and I don’t think so. Probably money. It’s always about money and at least from down here the men at the top seem to not be able to get enough of it. Funny how they send us to die for their gain.

Anyway, I arrived in Safien today. Never been here before. Beautiful city with even more beautiful girls than back home though so I guess that’s a perk of being a soldier. The number of ships is beyond belief though, I counted at least thirty when I arrived on the train but there has to be twice that many now. I talked with Phillipe and he says that when he arrived from Valastice that there had been nearly that many in their port too. Another boy from up north says there had to have been two or three times that many there too. Sounds like they’re really going for it.

The officers gave a briefing when we arrived saying we were all being shipped out to the Arari Kingdom, our ally in the east. We would be fighting a force of nearly two million enemies from the Transnuran Dominion. Though they just called them the “Dominion.” Supposedly they’re just some lackeys for the Mattoran Empire. Enemies of ours. Chatter is that this war was a while in the making.

Mom said it would be good to keep a journal. Not sure if I agree but we’ll see I guess. She tends to be right about things, least that’s what dad would have said about it. I miss him. Charles said he’s proud of me and that he thinks dad would be too. Volunteering… not something many boys back home are doing. I don’t blame them.

Officers say the journey will take a couple weeks if the weather is good. I hope so, sea sickness is supposed to be rougher than the waves that cause it. Guess I’ll write more later.

The Meridian Foreign Ministry has said "Do you want us to shoot ourselves in the foot? Will our soldiers fight a war just so you may have the elitist pleasure of eliminating torture for convicted rapists which are not your own, at the cost of the priceless lives in the thousands of our citizens? Our soldiers will, instead of fighting their brothers for the sensibilities of foreigners and for the comfort of rapists, desert in the thousands! Canarto is certainly insane, but you are leagues ahead! Before criticizing us for keeping the peace that makes the economy and our citizens survive, offer a bloodless solution! We are all ears"

Congress Building,
Altenburg, Adler


The full congress had assembled for the speech that was to be delivered by Chancellor Wolf. With the war in favor of the Republic, the national morale high, it was a mere formality when the main opposition leaders protested the waste of time and money that would go into assembling the full government. Assemblies like this only took place at the State of the Union, Extraordinary sessions such as the Declaration of War just a few weeks prior and sessions to honor visiting Heads of State or Government.

With the war ongoing, security was higher than usual at this kind of gathering, which is to say quite a bit as the Republic’s security protocols for such an event was already quite high. Flags fluttering and the speech ongoing, the broadcast suddenly stopped. Security Klaxons began their errie wale across the capital as smoke billowed and rubble collapsed where the Capitol Building once stood. Emergency personnel and military vehicles rapidly made there way to the site. Smoke billowed out and the sky turned a fiery orange grey as a haze seemed to settle over the city. Martial law was quickly declared and the nation seemed to hold its breath.

It was near instantaneous that the military began to order a complete halt to their advance in Nolvik. No word had come out of the Foreign Department. It was a total blackout with the media in a frenzy and the nation wondering who, if anyone, had survived. Reports looks grim though as the rubble of the House Chamber was completely collapsed and the windows in a fifteen block radius shattered. All members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches had been present save for the designated survivor, the Secretary of State who happened to be in Drakhma on a last minute visit ordered by Chancellor Wolf, and one of the five Joint Chiefs of the Defense Staff.

It would be three hours before the nation would have its answer. The acting chancellor was to be Alphonse Lehardt, designated survivor of the Executive Branch and now former Undersecretary of Defense. As Acting Chancellor Lehardt announced to the nation that the government had been destroyed and that the Governors of the States were to be assembled in the capital to pick new senators post haste, he also informed the nation that the war effort was to be halted until further notice but forces were not to withdraw.  Secretary of State Eindhoven was directed to fly to Nolvik under a flag of truce to discuss a ceasefire.

Martial law was declared across the nation and under a little known clause of the Constitution, Acting Chancellor Lehardt declared that rights to assemble, freedom of the press and freedom against unlawful detention suspended as the suspects of the attack were to be hunted. A national call to arms against the enemies of the republic has gone out. Surprisingly enough though the Acting Chancellor and what is left of the national government has made no attempt to blame any organization or state for the attack at this time. Adler is on high alert and their enemy would do well to take heed that a caged animal can be the most dangerous.

Palácę di Argént
Roitálę, Kingdom of Ardinat

A glamourous gala. The seat of power. All the powerful men and women of the realm would be there.

One of them was Maríę, Countess of Arschént. She was related to the prestigious house of Avengnon, a powerful kingmaking noble house that had a stake in Ardinatan politics for the last few centuries. However, she was not of that house, but of a branch, the Avengnon-Arschent noble family.

The branches listened to their parent house. For this case, she nominally answered to the Avengnons, which ruled the County of Avengnon. However, every branch also held their own political influence. After all, the Avengnons may rule the Avengnon voting block at the Council of the Realm, but if they displeased their cousins, they all knew they could, when the head died, elect a rival Count in the house to succeed them, or boot them out of the job.

Technically, the House of Avengnon chooses their heir. But the voting block can choose its own leading branch. So, if they don't elect a Count that aligns with the rest of the family, a branch like, for example, the House of Avengnon-Arschent, could lead instead. Thus, if they ordered their family like Kings accepting nothing short of silence, the Avengnons would lose their influence over their family.

Being the Kingmaker requires to be made King of your realm in Ardinatan politics. Maríę knew this all too well. So did every other Count or Countess.

The ball had been thrown by King Loúis XIII, the monarch of Ardinat. This was to gain favour with the noble houses so they could support his successor to the throne once he died. The houses were uneasy, especially the more conservative ones, as Princess Luciánę had studied abroad, and her political leanings were largely unknown. Had she heard political activists at her time in Florenzei, the capital of that wretched Republic? Or had she remained steadfast in the rightful tradition of the monarchy, and did not bow to the rabble? Certainly she was part of the class that was designed to rule, but she could not rule to listen to the mob. "Democracy" is an abomination, after all. It produces weak, corrupt leaders who only listen to the stupidities of the crowd and leave the nation in ashes. They were not born to rule. They might not even know how. They just have to listen to the peasants.

Some suspected that she was a liberal, or even a communist. And that was unacceptable. Here, all the noble houses expected to hear her politically, as if the King wants her as his heir, she'll need to demonstrate her worth. Her thoughts and ideals on the nation and the ruling system.

Maríę was an Avengnon-Arschent, a powerful branch in Avengnon insider politics. They supported their parent house, the Avengnons, who were steadfast, monarchist conservatives. So was she.

As she saw the Princess, she proceeded to speak with her. Of course, she bowed, as was formality.

"Salutations, Your Highness. I hear that His Majesty intends to make something out of your person?"

"Greetings. You are the Countess of Arschént, if I am not mistaken?"

"As correct as the rightful reign of our King"

"Excellent. I am glad to have met you, Countess"

"It is only my pleasure to be acquaintanced with your person. As the representative of the Avengnon-Arschent family, it is my desire that you live with intellect and truth, as the nation has remained in its steady and righteous course"

She couldn't say that she was to rule yet. That would mean an official endorsement. In that case, the language of the nobility and of the royalty replaced the word "rule" with "live". It was a subtle sign that, if Luciánę wanted her endorsement, she would have to maintain the status quo.

Luciánę knew this. But she was, secretly, a reformist. Not a democrat, no, democracy is foolish. She believed in absolutism, as her time in Meridia had made her see a democracy that worked for the politicians, not the people. Competence is overruled by political tricks and deception, breeding incompetence and corruption. The people only got a hatred for their own kin, and a national division that sometimes escalated into bloodshed. However, she did not share the "tradition" and "we are the only ones fit to rule" thing. For her, that was outdated. No longer a necessity.

She wanted to be the Queen of Ardinat, but she wanted to implement reforms. She wanted the counsel of the people, and wished to call forth an assembly, where the various classes: farmers, industrial workers, nobles, merchants, bankers, company executives, soldiers, employees of the state, etc. would air their grievances and, with her own research, take them into consideration. She would solve her people's problems, and reform the caste system to serve all, not just some lucky souls selected by lottery. "If that noble house does not improve the lives of the people and only serves as a corrupt elite, I'll even put a peasant family as the new noble house if they demonstrate their talent"

She would permit a moderate amount of free speech, and freedom of the press. To hear her people, their valid criticisms would need to be heard. But not any call for a "Republic" or "Democracy" or some other radical overhaul of the system. No killings of anybody either. That would not do. Protests also clogged the streets, and their violent attitude was an affront to authority, so she would not permit them. She would allow political societies and parties to form, but they would have to be peaceful, or face the axe.

An orderly society working for all. A happy nation, a truly righteous country. That is what she wished to accomplish. An absolute monarch not just working to please their nobles, but the entire realm. Meritocracy would play a role in her reign as well, as she seeked not only the expertise of the well-educated noble, but perhaps even of the peasant, for if educated well, they could serve their motherland better than the most noble of the nobles.

But before she had any illusions to implement her grand dream, she will need to play the game. Even if she had to bite her teeth by agreeing with her.

"May the glorious days of the realm remain so long as I live"

"All in due time, Luciánę. All in due time"