19-10-2003, 05:47
OOC: This topic is sort of open. You're welcome to post your government's official responses to the assassination, but if you want to actually get involved - i.e., sending in troops or special agents or whatever - telegram me. I'm likely to say no, however.
Eisenstadt, Grand Dutchy of Eisenstadt, Kalenharn
"Look at it."
They looked, and saw the things they'd seen so often as to render them nearly invisible. The great stone mass of the Eisenburg, crumbling despite the scaffolding around it. The tall smokestacks of the factories, belching their pollutants into the miasmic air. The crowded, blocky high-rise tenements where Eisenstadt's population was crammed. The myriad maze-like little alleyways between the buildings, where nobody went alone.
"Disgusting, isn't it?"
Hoffmann turned to regard them, and they averted their eyes uneasily. There was something about Hoffmann's unblinking gaze that made the whites of his eyes seem larger, swallowing the grey-blue iris until only the black pupil was left in a sea of white.
"This is what happens when a nation goes astray, my friends," Hoffmann continued. None of them would have admitted to being his friend, of course. Hoffmann was the sort of man who was dangerous to his friends as well as his enemies.
"This is what happens when the ruler of that nation is an unprincipled hedonist, caring only for his palaces and his courtesans. This is what happens when that ruler hands control of the nation over to international megacorporations," - Hoffmann spat the words as if they were anathema - "When that ruler surrounds himself with blood-drinking demons as his bodyguards. Most of all, this is what happens when that ruler, as his ancestors before him, denies God's supreme rule!"
Hoffmann laughed, a sound that was more frightening than funny.
"Mark my words, my friends," he said, that snakelike stare flashing from one to the other of them, "There are many contaigons loose in Kalenharn. But they have one head, one voice, and that voice is the Kaiser. For the good of the nation, Xavier VII must die. The pagans and demons must be exterminated. We must return to the righteous days of Franz Wilheim III!"
For the good of the nation, Xavier VII must die. Although they'd arranged these meetings to discuss precisely that, it was the first time one of them had said it aloud. The first time many of them had thought of it so plainly.
"But how do you propose to do that?" One of them, Friedrich Richter, asked, daring to question Hoffmann. "The Kaiser is in Drachenstein, surrounded by Geheimdienst and Kaiserlichgarde and the Elfengarde."
"I have my ways and means," Hoffmann said, giving them that serpentine smile, "And one of those is a man in the Kaiserlichgarde who shares our views, our cause. I have already persuaded him to execute the Kaiser."
"When?" Richter asked, "And what if he's captured?"
"He has instructions not to be captured alive," Hoffmann replied, "Should he be apprehended, he will die" - even Hoffmann wouldn't call it suicide - "And God shall welcome him in Heaven as a holy martyr.
"When? In a week, my friend. That should give us enough time to prepare."
Castle Drachenstein, Grand Dutchy of Drachenstein, Kalenharn
One Week Later
David Kaesen shared little with his fellow Kaiserlichgarde officers, and that made him shunned by them. They were of pure Kalenharni blood, David was from the Northmark. They liked the red-and-white formal uniforms of the Kaiserlichgarde, David found them ridiculous. They were pagans, followers of the Church of Shadows, and David was a follower of the one true faith. That above all else seperated him from his fellows.
Very well, he thought, Let them despise me, and when they die their mistress shall greet them in Hell.
A few meters down and to his left, the Kaiser was dining with one of his many courtesans on a balcony, heedless of his impending death as he was heedless of his nation's troubles. The area was surrounded by officers from the Geheimdienst and the barbarian Elfengarde, but out of tradition the Kaiserlichgarde also served to guard the Kaiser.
Tonight, that tradition would serve to kill the Kaiser, and set Kalenharn back on the path that God had decreed for it.
Enough waiting, David thought, pulling the gun from his pocket. Now!
The Kaiser's death was unsatisfying, the hated enemy simply slumping forward into his meal as blood blossomed across his back. The courtesan leapt to her feet, screeching shrilly. From their concealed hiding places, the ineffective guards also yelled, turning to stare at him.
With his blood roaring in his ears, David fired a second bullet into the courtesan, and had the pleasure of seeing her look down, stupid with shock, at the red stain spreading over her dress before crumpling to the floor.
The blood pounded all the louder as someone else's bullet, aimed at him, screamed past. David threw himself back into his alcove to avoid any further bullets, and froze in shock as sharp claws dug into his shoulder.
"You killed the Kaiser," the Carandaequendi said in it's songlike accent. Somehow it had managed to get behind him, stealthy as a cat. "For that, you die," it continued. The elven barbarians had no comprehension of the legal system.
The elf's soulblade howled unnaturally as it slid from it's sheath, and was silent only when the elf had quenched it in David's blood, again and again.
Kalenharn Broadcasting Corporation Bulletin
The Next Day
Drachenstein, Kalenharn - It was a night of blood and tragedy in Drachenstein last night, as the Kaiser, Xavier VII, was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. While the Kaiser was dining with one of his several mistresses the bodyguard, David Kaesen, drew a gun and shot both the Kaiser and his mistress before being killed himself by a member of the elite Elfengarde.
It's suspected that Kaesen, a Christian, could have been associated with the militant Holy Kalenharni Liberation Army, centered around Eisenstadt in the East, or with the more diplomatic Northmark Independence Movement, where Kaesen was born.
"While we cannot doubt that Kaesen will be welcomed by God in Heaven," a HKLA spokesman, Friedrich Richter, said, "His act of sacrifice for God and Kalenharn was not orchestrated by the HKLA."
Earl Erik Hakkonsen, the one member of the nobility openly in the Northmark Independence Movement, also denied his organisation's involvement.
"We have always held that the way to the creation of an independent Northmark lies not in blood but through diplomacy and negotiation," he said from his estates in Norgard. "Xavier VII may not have been a good Kaiser, but Kalenharn has had worse, and he did not deserve to die for that."
From his sickbed in the Archprelatal Palace the leader of the Church of Shadows, Archprelate Ulrich Schmoller, condemned the attack, and called for the execution of the HKLA.
"This is a clear attack upon the Kaiser, divinely appointed by the Queen of Shadows, by the Christian pagans of the HKLA. This is obvious, no matter how they may deny it! To allow them to continue to survive after such an atrocity is a crime against Her name, and thus the HKLA - indeed, all Christians in Kalenharn! - must be exiled or executed. The Queen of Shadows demands nothing less."
Although it's unlikely that whoever succeeds Xavier VII will want to act militarily against the HKLA, as Kalenharn's military is small and has been neglected for many years, some citizens in Eisenstadt are taking matters into their own hands. Already lynchings of suspected HKLA members have begun, an act which can only lead to further bloodshed in crime-wracked Kalenharn, where most citizens own firearms.
Due to the prospect of widespread civil unrest in the nation, the Kaiserlichmuenzen has fallen massively on the international markets, as have the stocks of Kalenharn-based corporations.
Although it remains to be seen who will succeed Xavier VII or what the government will do next, one thing remains certain; things will get worse before they get better.
Eisenstadt, Grand Dutchy of Eisenstadt, Kalenharn
"Look at it."
They looked, and saw the things they'd seen so often as to render them nearly invisible. The great stone mass of the Eisenburg, crumbling despite the scaffolding around it. The tall smokestacks of the factories, belching their pollutants into the miasmic air. The crowded, blocky high-rise tenements where Eisenstadt's population was crammed. The myriad maze-like little alleyways between the buildings, where nobody went alone.
"Disgusting, isn't it?"
Hoffmann turned to regard them, and they averted their eyes uneasily. There was something about Hoffmann's unblinking gaze that made the whites of his eyes seem larger, swallowing the grey-blue iris until only the black pupil was left in a sea of white.
"This is what happens when a nation goes astray, my friends," Hoffmann continued. None of them would have admitted to being his friend, of course. Hoffmann was the sort of man who was dangerous to his friends as well as his enemies.
"This is what happens when the ruler of that nation is an unprincipled hedonist, caring only for his palaces and his courtesans. This is what happens when that ruler hands control of the nation over to international megacorporations," - Hoffmann spat the words as if they were anathema - "When that ruler surrounds himself with blood-drinking demons as his bodyguards. Most of all, this is what happens when that ruler, as his ancestors before him, denies God's supreme rule!"
Hoffmann laughed, a sound that was more frightening than funny.
"Mark my words, my friends," he said, that snakelike stare flashing from one to the other of them, "There are many contaigons loose in Kalenharn. But they have one head, one voice, and that voice is the Kaiser. For the good of the nation, Xavier VII must die. The pagans and demons must be exterminated. We must return to the righteous days of Franz Wilheim III!"
For the good of the nation, Xavier VII must die. Although they'd arranged these meetings to discuss precisely that, it was the first time one of them had said it aloud. The first time many of them had thought of it so plainly.
"But how do you propose to do that?" One of them, Friedrich Richter, asked, daring to question Hoffmann. "The Kaiser is in Drachenstein, surrounded by Geheimdienst and Kaiserlichgarde and the Elfengarde."
"I have my ways and means," Hoffmann said, giving them that serpentine smile, "And one of those is a man in the Kaiserlichgarde who shares our views, our cause. I have already persuaded him to execute the Kaiser."
"When?" Richter asked, "And what if he's captured?"
"He has instructions not to be captured alive," Hoffmann replied, "Should he be apprehended, he will die" - even Hoffmann wouldn't call it suicide - "And God shall welcome him in Heaven as a holy martyr.
"When? In a week, my friend. That should give us enough time to prepare."
Castle Drachenstein, Grand Dutchy of Drachenstein, Kalenharn
One Week Later
David Kaesen shared little with his fellow Kaiserlichgarde officers, and that made him shunned by them. They were of pure Kalenharni blood, David was from the Northmark. They liked the red-and-white formal uniforms of the Kaiserlichgarde, David found them ridiculous. They were pagans, followers of the Church of Shadows, and David was a follower of the one true faith. That above all else seperated him from his fellows.
Very well, he thought, Let them despise me, and when they die their mistress shall greet them in Hell.
A few meters down and to his left, the Kaiser was dining with one of his many courtesans on a balcony, heedless of his impending death as he was heedless of his nation's troubles. The area was surrounded by officers from the Geheimdienst and the barbarian Elfengarde, but out of tradition the Kaiserlichgarde also served to guard the Kaiser.
Tonight, that tradition would serve to kill the Kaiser, and set Kalenharn back on the path that God had decreed for it.
Enough waiting, David thought, pulling the gun from his pocket. Now!
The Kaiser's death was unsatisfying, the hated enemy simply slumping forward into his meal as blood blossomed across his back. The courtesan leapt to her feet, screeching shrilly. From their concealed hiding places, the ineffective guards also yelled, turning to stare at him.
With his blood roaring in his ears, David fired a second bullet into the courtesan, and had the pleasure of seeing her look down, stupid with shock, at the red stain spreading over her dress before crumpling to the floor.
The blood pounded all the louder as someone else's bullet, aimed at him, screamed past. David threw himself back into his alcove to avoid any further bullets, and froze in shock as sharp claws dug into his shoulder.
"You killed the Kaiser," the Carandaequendi said in it's songlike accent. Somehow it had managed to get behind him, stealthy as a cat. "For that, you die," it continued. The elven barbarians had no comprehension of the legal system.
The elf's soulblade howled unnaturally as it slid from it's sheath, and was silent only when the elf had quenched it in David's blood, again and again.
Kalenharn Broadcasting Corporation Bulletin
The Next Day
Drachenstein, Kalenharn - It was a night of blood and tragedy in Drachenstein last night, as the Kaiser, Xavier VII, was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. While the Kaiser was dining with one of his several mistresses the bodyguard, David Kaesen, drew a gun and shot both the Kaiser and his mistress before being killed himself by a member of the elite Elfengarde.
It's suspected that Kaesen, a Christian, could have been associated with the militant Holy Kalenharni Liberation Army, centered around Eisenstadt in the East, or with the more diplomatic Northmark Independence Movement, where Kaesen was born.
"While we cannot doubt that Kaesen will be welcomed by God in Heaven," a HKLA spokesman, Friedrich Richter, said, "His act of sacrifice for God and Kalenharn was not orchestrated by the HKLA."
Earl Erik Hakkonsen, the one member of the nobility openly in the Northmark Independence Movement, also denied his organisation's involvement.
"We have always held that the way to the creation of an independent Northmark lies not in blood but through diplomacy and negotiation," he said from his estates in Norgard. "Xavier VII may not have been a good Kaiser, but Kalenharn has had worse, and he did not deserve to die for that."
From his sickbed in the Archprelatal Palace the leader of the Church of Shadows, Archprelate Ulrich Schmoller, condemned the attack, and called for the execution of the HKLA.
"This is a clear attack upon the Kaiser, divinely appointed by the Queen of Shadows, by the Christian pagans of the HKLA. This is obvious, no matter how they may deny it! To allow them to continue to survive after such an atrocity is a crime against Her name, and thus the HKLA - indeed, all Christians in Kalenharn! - must be exiled or executed. The Queen of Shadows demands nothing less."
Although it's unlikely that whoever succeeds Xavier VII will want to act militarily against the HKLA, as Kalenharn's military is small and has been neglected for many years, some citizens in Eisenstadt are taking matters into their own hands. Already lynchings of suspected HKLA members have begun, an act which can only lead to further bloodshed in crime-wracked Kalenharn, where most citizens own firearms.
Due to the prospect of widespread civil unrest in the nation, the Kaiserlichmuenzen has fallen massively on the international markets, as have the stocks of Kalenharn-based corporations.
Although it remains to be seen who will succeed Xavier VII or what the government will do next, one thing remains certain; things will get worse before they get better.