Valinon
06-12-2003, 03:50
Regular programming across the United Star Empire of Valinon is interrupted. The United Valinon News Network logo appears identifying the interruption as an emergency broadcast. The view changes to that of a newscaster at a desk, the man is visible in a state of just recovering from shock.
“Hello I am David Wensescals, UVNN, and we apologize for interrupting you’re your programming but we have most somber news from the Imperial Palace tonight,” Wensescals takes a deep breath. “It is my sad duty to inform you that at 8:00 PST (Proxima Standard Time) His Majesty, Emperor Gustav Alderman I, passed away of natural causes,” he puts a hand to his ear.
“We are taking you now to the Palace,” with that Wensescals is replaced by a view of Duke Leo Sterling, Prime Minister and Minister of Imperial Affairs sitting at a desk.
“People of the Five Worlds, after 80 years of guiding us through the tribulations that have faced the Empire in the past, His Majesty has passed away. The man who has seen two generation of Valinon grow to maturity has now, sadly, left us. We will honor his spirit, and his memory, and in true Valinon spirit, will remember him as the great leader he was, is, and will remain for year to come, in the memory of our elders and children if nothing else. We commit his name to history, that he may live on in greatness, though his body lies in the soil of the nation he loved so dearly. I speak for Crown Prince Rowald, Princess Ami, and young Prince Dozle when I say that this is a time of great introspection in our nation. Let us all give respect to the passing of an age,” with that Sterling’s image changes back to Wensescals.
“This is David Wensescals with UVNN, and for those of you just joining us. Emperor Gustav Alderman I has passed away this night, after a life that spanned 137 years,” he puts his hand to the ear again. “And now we take you outside the Palace for something that has not happened in 80 years.”
With that the view switches back to outside the Palace, the silence chokes the night. Then suddenly a steady mournful tone is played by a lone horn, followed by the sound of a snare drum. The Imperial Sovereign Protectors flanking the gate of the Palace’s outer wall in a time-honed tradition take off their ceremonial helms and bow their heads. The Protectors along the wall do the same. Then suddenly the bell forged by the Imperial smiths at the Palace begins to toll in a slow, mournful clear pattern. The bells of the Imperial Congressional Building join the chorus. St. Millicent’s Cathedral, which has rejoiced in the crowning of the Alderman Emperors and mourned in their deaths, joins next. Closely following comes the chimes and bells of the Imperial University, the buildings that fill the Comerica, and then the mournful chorus spreads across the capital of New Koln.
The view switches to the other major cities of Valinon on Proxima: Valprieza, Augustgrad, Durandel, Talbot, Erewhon, Casca, and Grendelsbane. Then it moves to the capitals of the rest of the Five Worlds: New Kiel on Pholus, Brisbane on Proxima III, Antioch on Nessus Prime, and the distant orbital city of Caledonia lazily moving across the skies of the gas giant Prometheus. Night, day, evening, or morning the plaintive call is issued across the Empire. Before long it will be carried to the Empire’s treaty ports on Earth and Mars.
Wensescals reappears, “As Duke Sterling said, this is the passing of an age. UVNN will keep you informed as the plans of Crown Prince Rowald concerning…..His Majesty’s funeral are made. This is David Wensescals, United Valinon News Network,” and with that the broadcast ends.
“Hello I am David Wensescals, UVNN, and we apologize for interrupting you’re your programming but we have most somber news from the Imperial Palace tonight,” Wensescals takes a deep breath. “It is my sad duty to inform you that at 8:00 PST (Proxima Standard Time) His Majesty, Emperor Gustav Alderman I, passed away of natural causes,” he puts a hand to his ear.
“We are taking you now to the Palace,” with that Wensescals is replaced by a view of Duke Leo Sterling, Prime Minister and Minister of Imperial Affairs sitting at a desk.
“People of the Five Worlds, after 80 years of guiding us through the tribulations that have faced the Empire in the past, His Majesty has passed away. The man who has seen two generation of Valinon grow to maturity has now, sadly, left us. We will honor his spirit, and his memory, and in true Valinon spirit, will remember him as the great leader he was, is, and will remain for year to come, in the memory of our elders and children if nothing else. We commit his name to history, that he may live on in greatness, though his body lies in the soil of the nation he loved so dearly. I speak for Crown Prince Rowald, Princess Ami, and young Prince Dozle when I say that this is a time of great introspection in our nation. Let us all give respect to the passing of an age,” with that Sterling’s image changes back to Wensescals.
“This is David Wensescals with UVNN, and for those of you just joining us. Emperor Gustav Alderman I has passed away this night, after a life that spanned 137 years,” he puts his hand to the ear again. “And now we take you outside the Palace for something that has not happened in 80 years.”
With that the view switches back to outside the Palace, the silence chokes the night. Then suddenly a steady mournful tone is played by a lone horn, followed by the sound of a snare drum. The Imperial Sovereign Protectors flanking the gate of the Palace’s outer wall in a time-honed tradition take off their ceremonial helms and bow their heads. The Protectors along the wall do the same. Then suddenly the bell forged by the Imperial smiths at the Palace begins to toll in a slow, mournful clear pattern. The bells of the Imperial Congressional Building join the chorus. St. Millicent’s Cathedral, which has rejoiced in the crowning of the Alderman Emperors and mourned in their deaths, joins next. Closely following comes the chimes and bells of the Imperial University, the buildings that fill the Comerica, and then the mournful chorus spreads across the capital of New Koln.
The view switches to the other major cities of Valinon on Proxima: Valprieza, Augustgrad, Durandel, Talbot, Erewhon, Casca, and Grendelsbane. Then it moves to the capitals of the rest of the Five Worlds: New Kiel on Pholus, Brisbane on Proxima III, Antioch on Nessus Prime, and the distant orbital city of Caledonia lazily moving across the skies of the gas giant Prometheus. Night, day, evening, or morning the plaintive call is issued across the Empire. Before long it will be carried to the Empire’s treaty ports on Earth and Mars.
Wensescals reappears, “As Duke Sterling said, this is the passing of an age. UVNN will keep you informed as the plans of Crown Prince Rowald concerning…..His Majesty’s funeral are made. This is David Wensescals, United Valinon News Network,” and with that the broadcast ends.