NationStates Jolt Archive

A brief OOC introduction.

The following shall be a storyline involving Taurenor, written with full consent of the concerned player (who, himself, is taken by non-NS things of late). The plot shall involve gunpowder and treason or their sci-fi equivalents, anyway. Well, not that there will be things blown up. All will be done with finesse.

So, I hope you shall enjoy the plot as it evolves.

Yours,
Jester


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Hrívecoa, Alyanórë, Taurenor

It was a calm winter night, not a cloud in the sky. Stars and moon shone brightly high in the skies, spreading their silvery light upon the snow covered plains and forests. It was quite a sight for those who were not asleep, or was it? Not for Captain Roquon nossë Periandion of Her Majesty’s life guards, who was rushing at full speed through the corridors of the abode, to where Her Majesty’s private apartments were. His ardours, however, were quickly paused by a maid who, regardless of what matters of state importance the Captain rushed to communicate to the Queen, did not allow him through the doors.

She went in herself, to wake the Queen up in a gentle way. Taurevanime blinked sleepily and stretched in the bed, proceeding to sit up.

“Your Majesty, Captain Roquon has some matters of outmost importance to communicate,” the main said with an apologetic tone.

The Queen only smiled in return, standing up from the bed and putting on a gown to look presentable in front of the subordinate officer. The latter was allowed in and, upon saluting hastily, proceeded immediately to communicate ill news.

“Your Majesty, we have lost the uplink with the military air traffic monitoring network. In addition, all our long range communications are being extensively jammed…”

“Are you sure they are being jammed, Captain?”

“Yes, it is the sole true explanation,” the face of the elvish male looked quite worried indeed, albeit remaining fully professional. “I have ordered the abode’s guards detachment to full alert and had your personal aircraft readied for immediate take off.”

“Do you suggest evacuation, Captain?” the Queen arched an eyebrow.

“Yes, your Majesty, I believe this is the best course of action to undertake in the current situation. However,” the officer paused for a second, “we shall evacuate by ground means. The aircraft and the escorts shall be a decoy. As we can no longer monitor air traffic and call in for clarifications, I deem it highly probable that any danger, if there is, shall come from there.”

“I understand. Leave me now, Captain, I have to prepare myself.”

The officer saluted and hurried outside to give further instructions to the domain’s guard detachment and other personnel. The Queen in the meantime quickly and diligently put on her warm clothes and directed herself to the exit of the abode, where she was already expected by her life guards.

All around, staff and guards were boarding ground vehicles. At a distance, the personal airship of the queen and the fighter escort took off.

“Your Majesty,” a life guardsman showed the queen to a waiting jeep.

And whilst the bulk of the ground convoy proceeded along the road to the nearest town, the jeep carrying the queen and an escort vehicle vanished in the woods. And, it appears, in time, for in a distance one could hear the sounds of approaching aircraft. It was not long before the mysterious enemy invested the domain and, finding none there, felt much anger. However, this did not mean that the Queen was out of trouble.

Whoever it was against her, they were able to cut the residence from the armed forces’ air traffic monitoring and jam the long range communications. This surely meant treason amongst the army, but who? And what were their plans? Apparently to take the Queen alive, for otherwise the abode would have been bombed into a smoking crater.

“We shall head to Cilyosto,” the Queen said as the mini-convoy halted in the woods. “From there, I fully intend to find out just what is going on. Can we not contact the locals, either?”

“There is always the standard radio, but even there the frequencies are being flooded with noise, your Majesty. Otherwise, we are totally jammed.”

Taurevanime frowned pensively as the chain of events did nothing to please her, quite understandably. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the sounds of a group of aircraft flying on low altitude in the direction of the town the Queen mentioned only a minute ago…

“Apparently, Cilyosto is out of the question now,” the Captain said with a tone of anger in his voice.

The anger would only accentuate when the group of aircraft turned around and came to hover above the spot at which the two ground vehicles were camouflaged. A bright ray of light hit through the snow covered tree branches and passed over the hidden vehicles. And then again. The aircraft hovered for a little while before the relative silence of the night was shattered by the loud voice through loudspeakers.

“Occupants of the two vehicles, throw your weapons out the windows and come out slowly.”

The guardsmen in the vehicles clinged to their rifles, but the Queen herself seized the weapons of those in the car with her and tossed them out the window.

“I shall not have you lot die in a senseless last stand defence,” she said with a touch of irony. “Moreover, they want us alive for some reason.”

And so those on the ground came out, to the mercy of those hovering above them. In fact, the number of aircraft was far from impressive: two VTOL assault fighters bearing the markings of Taurenor’s air force. Whoever it was against the Queen, they did not have the capacity to bring all of the army over it seemed.

An order to wait followed as the two fighters hovered high above, blinding those on the ground with their projectors. And eventually, another three aircraft came over, one of them a dropship. Ropes fell out from the hatches and a group of men came down, seizing the weapons lying in the snow and separating the guardsmen from the Queen, having the former down on their knees and hands on their heads.

Then came another figure, repelling in a way that could be qualified of “clumsy” in comparison to the professional drop of the soldiers preceding him.

“Lord Lámanon nossë Pendon himself, in flesh and spirit!” Taurevanime exclaimed with genuine surprise as she recognized the chief of the Air Force. “I would be tempted to dub this a pleasant surprise, but I admit that the context of our meetings begs certain explanations.”

“Of course… my Lady,” the man said without an ounce of emotion upon his face, avoiding styling the Queen by her formal title. “To make a long story short, I am here to offer you the chance to renounce the throne by… hm hm… free… will. But, pray, let us proceed to an opening and board my craft. We shall be able to discuss it all in a warmer setting than all this snow.”

The Queen gave a glance at her guardsmen and, sighing, glared at Lord Lámanon. The man’s face remained emotionless as he beckoned her to follow him with a polite gesture of the hand.

“What about my men?”

“Worry not, my Lady. We are not here to shed blood and it is my hope that we come to a result acceptable to all parties involved,” the officer said calmly. “Now, pray, let us proceed. The longer we wait in the snow, the longer our men do the same.”

Alyanórë, Taurenor

The interior of the aircraft was that suiting for transporting the highest ranked officers of the Kingdom’s armed forces. It was furbished with elegant furniture, albeit nothing in the excess and everything exactly where it was supposed to be, military pedantry obliged. Lord Lámanon invited the Queen to take a seat by the table, against one of the walls of the interior compartment. The illuminators were shut, all of them, isolating those inside from the world outside.

“I do hope you understand that your antics shall not go without consequences,” Taurevanimë said in a cold manner as she took a seat, the general following only then. Despite being a putchist and a traitor, he still remembered his manners.

“I fully expect my “antics” to have the consequences I intend them to have, my Lady,” Lámanon answered calmly. “I have to assure you, however, that I am far from being alone in this endeavour. I shall not reveal any names for now, but let us say that… everything is well organized and planned.”

“Ah, how chivalrous of you to serve as face and mouth for your mysterious friends, Lámanon,” the Queen said with an arch of the brow. “Fear repercussions should you somehow fail and I find out their identities?”

“Yes,” the general answered coldly. “But, pray, we are not here to exchange pleasantries.”

“Indeed, the bulk of my guards shall be here any moment, alerted by lack of communication. And how will they like it to see their comrades rounded up in the snow, gun barrels to their heads?”

“No longer in the snow,” the general sighed. “Trust me, my Lady, your private regiment shall not be here before quiet a while. Because we are those dispatched to check on things. Of course, eventually they will want to come and see for themselves, but we have all the time in the world to discuss…”

The Queen remained silent, frowning. It was indeed entirely plausible that the royal guard would be satisfied with whatever report Lámanon’s men had sent them, at least for some hours. However, they were bound to send a small unit to check on things for themselves. The unit would most certainly be intercepted and only then shall her regiments come in force. But until then, Lámanon was right: they had all the time in the world.

“What is it that you wish then, Lámanon?”

“Your abdication, my Lady,” the general said with a calm voice. “Your voluntary abdication. Upon which you shall convene a Regency Council comprising yourself, me and several other personas and this Council shall pick a new Taurenoro Tauretári.”

“Myself on the Council?” the Queen did sound a bit amazed. She expected demands of immediate abdication, exile, banishment…

“Of course, with your illustrious persona taking an active part in the selection process. At least, for public eyes. The potential candidate is already chosen, you understand…”

“Of course,” the Queen said coldly. “Allow me to guess, shall it be you? Or one of your little circle of traitors?”

The general frowned and shook his head. There was a moment of silence before he proceeded to extract a folder.

“Pray, we are not so blunt. Neither of us wishes political power, but neither of us wants this continued fraternizing with kinslayers and traitors, my Lady,” Lámanon said as he opened the folder. The Queen’s eyebrows darted upwards as she saw the photograph of the “potential candidate”. “We wish for neither violence nor bloodshed, we wish for the country to remain what it is and not be dragged along by foreign powers, my Lady. I trust the people to have the same opinion on matters.”

The Queen only half-listened, watching the photograph intently. She reached out for the file, the general letting it go, and then laughed lightly, with a sarcastic touch to her tone.

“And this candidate shall, of course, not drag Taurenor into anything, being a foreigner to begin with?”

“This is the point, my Lady. A foreigner, a well respected and serene foreigner who shall be able to muster only enough popularity and support as to remain a titular ruler and not enough to influence the domestic policies a single inch.”

The general spoke calmly again, not an ounce of emotion upon his face.

“Just so to make sure you have not missed it, to them kinslaying is a national sport.”

“We care not about what they do to their own kin as long as ours endures and prospers,” Lámanon cut coldly. “Here are our terms, my Lady. You shall abdicate and nominate a Regency Council as explained. Names shall be provided at a later date. You shall not be banished, exiled, arrested, executed or bothered in any way what so ever once everything proceeds as planned. You shall keep your estates and titles, except, of course, for that of Tauretári. And, finally, you shall press upon the candidate that accepting the title is in the interests of everyone, including you and us.”

“And what if she refuses?”

“I believe you are good friends. Convince her,” the general said. “Shall we have an agreement then?”

The Queen pondered the various solutions in her head. Lámanon was right, dissent was brewing amongst the population. However, a new monarch? It was preposterous. But as far as revolutions went, this one did not really change anything, for whilst deprived of the title, she would still be around. And who knew how many other plotters there were? She would need time to rout them all out and in the meanwhile, if she could no longer trust her own military… Would she refuse and wait for her guards to arrive? Shall she purge the command chain? This would be a complete public scandal, a move bound to cause quite some havoc and instability and hit many officers loyal to her. And how could she know? She’d need time… time…

And time would be what she’d get. On the one hand, she would still wield respect and popularity amongst her supporters. On the other hand, the proposed candidate was a friend and, whatever puppet plans the putchists had for her, the Queen knew that they had made one tremendous miscalculation: the proposed puppet never digested strings and would rip any apart, along with wannabe puppet masters.

There was much ground to plot. There was much time to be gained. Losses were minimal. Alternative was bloodshed and civil war.

“We have an agreement, Lord Lámanon. Allow me to contact my regiments to assure them of my continued wellbeing.”

Lord Lámanon allowed himself a smile as, it appeared, things had gone his way. And much easier than he expected. The perfect victory. Or was it?

Arnatirios, Taurenor

The Queen appeared relaxed and smiling lightly during her address to the nation. Sitting behind an oaken desk, with heraldic flags of Taurenor behind her, on both sides of the kingdom’s arms, she was composed and calm. The address, however, came as shock to some and something that was to be expected to others.

In a soft voice, the Queen explained that the country needed an amended direction to best suit its people. That she no longer felt it wise for her to continue to hold the reins of power. Which was why she has decided to renounce the throne in favour of a candidate to be defined at a later date.

During the transition period, a regency council made of herself and Lords Atanvardo nossë Milyador, Envinyatar nossë Natson, Lámanon nossë Pendon, Erucolindo nossë Hequanor and Lady Lótiel nossë Vercando was to be established, upon which would be vested the responsibility of finding a suitable and worthy new Tauretori. The Regency Council would also be vested with the entirety of the monarch’s absolute powers.

No policy changes, whether domestic or foreign were to occur. The Kingdom would continue to live its daily life, its citizens unconcerned by the changes that were happening.