Midlonia
11-03-2005, 23:45
OOC: ok, this is my “pilot episode” of an idea of mine, if you want me to do something, please TG me, or find me on the irc.esper.net channel #nationstates.
In fades a lush beach, and a man in a tweed suit and a balding head creeps into the camera, stage right.
‘I am here, in the former Midlonian Colony of The Island States, back then referred to as the island chain of Birchester,’ as he says this, some archived footage, fades in, the man still talking, and visible underneath the “daily life” being shown. ‘In 1888 the Nation of Midlonia invaded and conquered these islands. Seizing them from their former owners, and installing a simple government, filled with “Midlonian approved” Nobility and tribal leaders, things were remarkably content, and the people of Birchester enjoyed freedoms and prosperity, as well as a technological boost that would have taken them centuries to reach, yet, by 1940, this nation had turned to chaos, and just a under a decade later, the Midlonian rule was all but finished, in a brutal and bloody showdown.’ The man now walks towards the sea behind him, as he does this the camera fades to black.
Words, silver and three dimensional now slowly rotate and appear from the top left, eventually they settle in the middle of the screen.
Islands, Insurgency and Imperials.
The camera has now changed to an oak panelled room, around it is various curtain and drawstrings, the same presenter appears, his name in similar writing as the titles appear beneath him.
Daniel Carrington.
‘So, we turn our attention to the last twenty years of Midlonian rule in “old” Birchester,’ he pulls the first string revealing a map of the Haven region at the time, “Birchester” is written in black gothic writing, while the islands themselves are coloured purple. ‘As you can see here, the colony was a vital part to Midlonian merchant shipping, it was also used as a strangle hold on the southern Haven straights, with the luxury of restricting the shipping lanes when it felt it was necessary, the tariff imposed on foreign vessels travelling through Birchester waters, also swelled the coffers of the islands, as well as the Imperial ones in the homeland.
The Camera now cuts to an ornate building in Freeport, the Bay stands behind our host.
‘It is here where it all began, the Midlonian ships landed here in 1748,’ He motions to the bay where a super tanker rather lazily chugs in. ‘Captain Thomas Graham strode onto the beach and placed a Midlonian flag into the ground and declared that this was “For Midlonia, the King, and The Empire.” This was echoed in the painting “The Great Landing” (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/Characters%20and%20Soldiers/CaptainGraham.jpg)’
He now turns from the bay and takes goes up a couple of steps of the government building.
‘So the age of the Midlonians began, this mainly involved what they deemed as a policy of “civilisation”, fascinatingly, the citizens of the newly renamed colony accepted this sudden surge of peace, autonomy and technology. With the superior technology of the Midlonians, the colony settled greatly into a time of great prosperity. The Government was mainly compromised of the former tribesmen and nobles of the West islander Empire, with only one “Advisor” from Midlonia who, for all intents and purposes aided in keeping the relations between the colonial government and the home government sweet, and this process would continue for nearly 200 years.
The winds of change arrived on the shores of the colony on December 23rd 1939 a new Administrator took power under the orders of King Harry.
Daniel Fatherton is a name cursed by both the Midlonians and the people of The Island States; it is his so called “sweeping reforms” that sparked a bloody revolution, that would kill hundreds of thousands of people.
The presenter has now changed to the remains of a tank on a plinth.
‘Daniel Fatherton did two things in his decade of Administrator, the attempt at systematic destruction of the native islanders, and the boosting of the colony’s military, which undoubtedly caused the conflict to drag on for so long.’ He coughs and clambers up onto the turret of the tank and speaks down to the camera. ‘Administrator Fatherton tried to rule the colony like a king, he abolished the colonial government, and had the members imprisoned, he then imposed harsh taxes that went into his own pocket, imposed a curfew and banned any traditions and general liberties the Islanders used to enjoy. This was an explosive cocktail for disaster.’ He jumps rather athletically off of the Tank turret and the camera immediately changes to a street.
‘The Man to light the fuse was Rick Rivera, the son of an electrician from the West Island. He railed the colonials to a banner and the beginning of the 10 year war began. Initially it was a complete disaster, the colonials had armed themselves with swords and shields and looked like they had come from the Roman era, the rebellion was soon crushed, and the remnants scattered eastwards in small boats.’
The Camera yet again cuts to a boat; our presenter is sitting in a raincoat.
‘The flotilla was harassed by the Midlonian Navy; by the time it had reached the safety of what became Rivera Island.’ The camera is angled so a pair of boots squelches heavily into the sand. ‘There weren’t many of the rebellious colonists left!’
Daniel Carrington is now back in his suit and in a room full of guns.
‘The annuls of history simply refuse to tell us what happened in the four years between the crushing of the first two year rebellion, and the second, which lasted six years and resulted in the Midlonian government completely collapsing. What we do know is that the rebelling colonials returned with a vengeance, and they were kitted out to kick some arse.’ Some rock music, very heavy on the bass has now piped up, boots fade over the presenter. A soldier now comes into clear view of the Camera and stops; our faithful presenter now enters from the left. ‘As you can see this is no longer some common citizen at arms, he is well equipped with rifle, grenades and a compass; he wears a helmet to protect him, and he is well trained.’
A map of The Island States abruptly appears, the marching boots are overlaid on this, one small yellow dot represents the colonial uprising, the purple, the Midlonian, it rapidly shrinks to a small area around the blob “Freeport”.
Our Presenter is now riding in a tank, he is wearing a leather helmet and mic, he turns uncertainly towards the small Camera near him, he yells and his microphone crackles.
‘So it came to the end of the line for Midlonian rule, the Imperials were defeated, and a last ditch attempt to hold off the islanders was set, in the hope that they’d be able to stave off the “savages” and a call for massive re-enforcement could arrive.’
A computer map of Freeport is brought onto the screen; Daniel’s crackly voice is still heard under the map.
‘So, with a single tank regiment, and three rifle regiments the Imperials set up a last stand against the Islanders, the Islanders themselves had managed to capture some tanks as they had wrestled the soil from the Midlonian defenders, now by this time what remains of the army is in massive disarray, and eventually most of the tank regiment is destroyed, with wild reports of “hundreds of the bloody things” coming back to a panicking Fatherton, he cracked, apparently lost his sanity, if he had it to begin with, and leapt from the balcony of the government building.’
Daniel is now back ontop of the Tank seen earlier in the program.
‘So, that was simply it, with the Midlonian Army soundly beaten, they had no choice but to finally abandon the colony. The nation itself became known as the Island states in 1950, and since has evolved with its own stamp on history, but this is perhaps left for another time.’ Daniel simply nods to the camera and turns to look off somewhere into the distance, the Midlonian and New Haven Socialist Republic flags fade in and the end credits role.
OOC: and that is about as much as I can possibly write on the subject without loosing my sanity! Sorry if it is a bad read, it’s just a pilot run, I’ll get better! And Comments are really welcome. :)
~James
In fades a lush beach, and a man in a tweed suit and a balding head creeps into the camera, stage right.
‘I am here, in the former Midlonian Colony of The Island States, back then referred to as the island chain of Birchester,’ as he says this, some archived footage, fades in, the man still talking, and visible underneath the “daily life” being shown. ‘In 1888 the Nation of Midlonia invaded and conquered these islands. Seizing them from their former owners, and installing a simple government, filled with “Midlonian approved” Nobility and tribal leaders, things were remarkably content, and the people of Birchester enjoyed freedoms and prosperity, as well as a technological boost that would have taken them centuries to reach, yet, by 1940, this nation had turned to chaos, and just a under a decade later, the Midlonian rule was all but finished, in a brutal and bloody showdown.’ The man now walks towards the sea behind him, as he does this the camera fades to black.
Words, silver and three dimensional now slowly rotate and appear from the top left, eventually they settle in the middle of the screen.
Islands, Insurgency and Imperials.
The camera has now changed to an oak panelled room, around it is various curtain and drawstrings, the same presenter appears, his name in similar writing as the titles appear beneath him.
Daniel Carrington.
‘So, we turn our attention to the last twenty years of Midlonian rule in “old” Birchester,’ he pulls the first string revealing a map of the Haven region at the time, “Birchester” is written in black gothic writing, while the islands themselves are coloured purple. ‘As you can see here, the colony was a vital part to Midlonian merchant shipping, it was also used as a strangle hold on the southern Haven straights, with the luxury of restricting the shipping lanes when it felt it was necessary, the tariff imposed on foreign vessels travelling through Birchester waters, also swelled the coffers of the islands, as well as the Imperial ones in the homeland.
The Camera now cuts to an ornate building in Freeport, the Bay stands behind our host.
‘It is here where it all began, the Midlonian ships landed here in 1748,’ He motions to the bay where a super tanker rather lazily chugs in. ‘Captain Thomas Graham strode onto the beach and placed a Midlonian flag into the ground and declared that this was “For Midlonia, the King, and The Empire.” This was echoed in the painting “The Great Landing” (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/Characters%20and%20Soldiers/CaptainGraham.jpg)’
He now turns from the bay and takes goes up a couple of steps of the government building.
‘So the age of the Midlonians began, this mainly involved what they deemed as a policy of “civilisation”, fascinatingly, the citizens of the newly renamed colony accepted this sudden surge of peace, autonomy and technology. With the superior technology of the Midlonians, the colony settled greatly into a time of great prosperity. The Government was mainly compromised of the former tribesmen and nobles of the West islander Empire, with only one “Advisor” from Midlonia who, for all intents and purposes aided in keeping the relations between the colonial government and the home government sweet, and this process would continue for nearly 200 years.
The winds of change arrived on the shores of the colony on December 23rd 1939 a new Administrator took power under the orders of King Harry.
Daniel Fatherton is a name cursed by both the Midlonians and the people of The Island States; it is his so called “sweeping reforms” that sparked a bloody revolution, that would kill hundreds of thousands of people.
The presenter has now changed to the remains of a tank on a plinth.
‘Daniel Fatherton did two things in his decade of Administrator, the attempt at systematic destruction of the native islanders, and the boosting of the colony’s military, which undoubtedly caused the conflict to drag on for so long.’ He coughs and clambers up onto the turret of the tank and speaks down to the camera. ‘Administrator Fatherton tried to rule the colony like a king, he abolished the colonial government, and had the members imprisoned, he then imposed harsh taxes that went into his own pocket, imposed a curfew and banned any traditions and general liberties the Islanders used to enjoy. This was an explosive cocktail for disaster.’ He jumps rather athletically off of the Tank turret and the camera immediately changes to a street.
‘The Man to light the fuse was Rick Rivera, the son of an electrician from the West Island. He railed the colonials to a banner and the beginning of the 10 year war began. Initially it was a complete disaster, the colonials had armed themselves with swords and shields and looked like they had come from the Roman era, the rebellion was soon crushed, and the remnants scattered eastwards in small boats.’
The Camera yet again cuts to a boat; our presenter is sitting in a raincoat.
‘The flotilla was harassed by the Midlonian Navy; by the time it had reached the safety of what became Rivera Island.’ The camera is angled so a pair of boots squelches heavily into the sand. ‘There weren’t many of the rebellious colonists left!’
Daniel Carrington is now back in his suit and in a room full of guns.
‘The annuls of history simply refuse to tell us what happened in the four years between the crushing of the first two year rebellion, and the second, which lasted six years and resulted in the Midlonian government completely collapsing. What we do know is that the rebelling colonials returned with a vengeance, and they were kitted out to kick some arse.’ Some rock music, very heavy on the bass has now piped up, boots fade over the presenter. A soldier now comes into clear view of the Camera and stops; our faithful presenter now enters from the left. ‘As you can see this is no longer some common citizen at arms, he is well equipped with rifle, grenades and a compass; he wears a helmet to protect him, and he is well trained.’
A map of The Island States abruptly appears, the marching boots are overlaid on this, one small yellow dot represents the colonial uprising, the purple, the Midlonian, it rapidly shrinks to a small area around the blob “Freeport”.
Our Presenter is now riding in a tank, he is wearing a leather helmet and mic, he turns uncertainly towards the small Camera near him, he yells and his microphone crackles.
‘So it came to the end of the line for Midlonian rule, the Imperials were defeated, and a last ditch attempt to hold off the islanders was set, in the hope that they’d be able to stave off the “savages” and a call for massive re-enforcement could arrive.’
A computer map of Freeport is brought onto the screen; Daniel’s crackly voice is still heard under the map.
‘So, with a single tank regiment, and three rifle regiments the Imperials set up a last stand against the Islanders, the Islanders themselves had managed to capture some tanks as they had wrestled the soil from the Midlonian defenders, now by this time what remains of the army is in massive disarray, and eventually most of the tank regiment is destroyed, with wild reports of “hundreds of the bloody things” coming back to a panicking Fatherton, he cracked, apparently lost his sanity, if he had it to begin with, and leapt from the balcony of the government building.’
Daniel is now back ontop of the Tank seen earlier in the program.
‘So, that was simply it, with the Midlonian Army soundly beaten, they had no choice but to finally abandon the colony. The nation itself became known as the Island states in 1950, and since has evolved with its own stamp on history, but this is perhaps left for another time.’ Daniel simply nods to the camera and turns to look off somewhere into the distance, the Midlonian and New Haven Socialist Republic flags fade in and the end credits role.
OOC: and that is about as much as I can possibly write on the subject without loosing my sanity! Sorry if it is a bad read, it’s just a pilot run, I’ll get better! And Comments are really welcome. :)
~James