NationStates Jolt Archive

In response to pressures placed upon his population by the impending threat of overcrowding and diminished access to adequate farmland and natural resources, the Emperor of the Shimmering Forest Glen has issued an official decree that the areas surrounding Esai, the capitol city and only significantly developed town of the fledgeling nation, are hereby annexed in his name.

:mp5:

The Emperor, formerly Captain Ri'ad Bennett of the Esai garrison, came to his position in recent months, rising to power at the head of a swift and rather bloody, seizing power in the small region, and immediately consolidating his authority. While his rule has been relatively permissive on a personal level, his nation's citizens enjoy no significant say in the political process. Instead, the nation is run as a large pseudo-military entity, with all citizens either volunteering for service, or acting as civilian support.

:) :) :)

Thus far, His Excellency has been well-recieved by the population, who view him as a much preferable alternative to the incessantly meddling Republic of Adria, a socially progressive, nation in the throes of change, as they strive to shift from an agrarian economy to an industrial system. The citizens of the Glen tend towards the cynical and mind their own business as a general rule, and so long as the Empire continues to vigorously protect their right to be left the hell alone, they will support it fervently, not anxious for a return to the PC Touchy-Feely Do-Gooderism of the socialists who formerly held the reins of power.

:upyours:


As one may imagine, the expansion of territory is not going unnoticed by the region's former masters. While content not to throw good money after bad, the Adrian government is now faced with an impending threat from within, as this rogue state begins to expand, like a swelling pimple on the face of their territory.

:headbang:


"The act of seccesion by the people of the Glen was unfortunate, but they are within their rights according to our constitution," declared the visibly uncomfortable Public Information Minister of Adria, "we have been willing to let them manage their own affairs, and act with self-determination. However, we do not recognise the authority of their self-declared Emperor. Captain Ri'ad is a megalomaniac, and wanted for treason in our state. If he immediately recalls his forces, retracts his public statements condemning our government and urging territorial expansion, and turns himself over to the legally -elected- government of the Republic, we will be willing to allow the Glen to maintain its soveriegnty, without unneccesary and unpleasant repercussions."

:cool:

In response to this statement, the Imperial Chief of Staff, Dorien Kerell was considerably less diplomatic. Openly confrontational, he challenged that "The Republic is an autocratic tyranny. Their elected leaders are corrupt, and the entire democratic process is subverted, from campaigning to balloting. Their two-party system conspires within itself to keep themselves in power, and make it al but impossible for anyone who won't tow their party line to gain a say in the law, much less any real power. And worst of all, you're supposed to -like- them. Yes, the Empire is a dictatorship, as such things are classically defined. So was Rome, and I would say that His Excellency the Emperor is more akin to Cincinnatus than to Stalin. I could not say the same of the Repulic's Prime Minister."

:p

His reference to recent vote-fraud scandals in the Republic did not go unnoticed, and several reporters asked for further comment, but the Chief of Staff declined, announcing that the conference was at an end. The Prime Minister's office could not be reached for comment, and Ms. DeClue has declined to comment on the issue since the story first broke, less than a week before the seccession of the Forest Glen.

:eek:

In a personal statement, the newly crowned Emperor Ri'ad acknowledged that the long-rumoured subversion of the electoral process was, indeed, a contributing factor in his decision to initiate a coup.

"It is a decades-old truism that men who love the law and sausages should never see how either is made. I've seen the inside of a meat processing plant, and it wasn't pretty. Seeing it, however, did not simply turn my stomach, it made me want to work for change. During my term as Captain of the Guard, I was given liscence to enforce and modify several areas of public policy relating to the safety of our citizens. Despite facing bureacracy and oppositions from politicians in the pockets of corporate special interests, I pushed through my reforms in the meat-packing industry, abolishing unsanitary and dangerous working conditions, raising and enforcing penalties on employers for violations of the law, and ensuring the health and well-being of the animals before their slaughter, as well as a humane process to end their lives.

"The law is, as Bismark said, much like sausages. So I took a similar approach. Instead of simply turning my head to the disgusting and unacceptable practices, I took a stand against the Republic. They have accused me of treason, and I in turn say it is -they- who have betrayed the principles of freedom and decency that they claim to represent. I, ladies and gentlemen of the press, am a patriot. I love my citizens, I love my country. Every blade of grass, every thatch of every roof, every one of our nation's rabbits bounding in the sacred fields."


Pressed for comment on the accusation by the Republic's Minister of Information, that he is a traitor, Emperor Ri'ad remained calm, but his intensity was unmistakable.

:mad:

"Yes, we have turned against the Republic, but it is -they- who betrayed us first. I do not fear their reprisals, or their empty rhetoric. I have shown what kind of man I am, now it's time to see what kind of men and women they are. I would sooner be executed as a traitor for -refusing- to do what I have done, and the words of a simpering sychophant from hundreds of miles away hold no sting when they reach my ears. Perhaps he would care to come to my city, and offer his opinion in person. Or perhaps we will someday meet in the Halls of Parliament in Adria, and he will care to repeat himself then."

The press immediately launched into an uproar at this bold statement, several members seeking clarification as to whether this was merely rhetorical hyperbole, or if he truly intended to expand his rule to extend into the entirety of the Republic, perpetuating his coup on a grand scale.

The Emperor himself did not respond to the inquiries immediately, and since the incident, there has been speculation whether he made the statement on the spur of the moment, and will feel compelled to follow up on it to save face. Brushing aside their questions, His Excellency motioned for silence.

"The Republic is changing, and I do not see it as a change for the better. Our air is being filled with soot and smoke. Our water was once so pure, an eagle could see the bottom of the ocean. The Shimmering Forest Glen is one of the last sacred places in this world, a final bastion of peaceful balance and communion with Nature.

"To argue who owns the land, is to be as a pair of fleas, arguing who owns the dog's back. We have a choice, my people. We may choose to be parasites, a plague on the land, consuming and despoiling and defiling, then moving on as a herd of locusts, until there is nothing left. Or we choose to protect what has been given to us, to appreciate it, and keep it sacred. I have made the latter choice, the Republic has made the former.

"The citizens of the Glen have shown me their support for my decision in word and deed. If the rulers of the Republic have sought to show me their disapproval of a man who will not bow to the almighty gods of greed and avarice. They have shown me this in empty words, tales told by idiots, full of sound and fury, and ultimiately signifying nothing, and I have not heard them, for I do not hold debate with the whistle of the breeze, nor the foam of the ocean, nor shall I heed council of creatures such as they. Now, they shall show me their mettle in deed, or not at all."

Allowing a final question, the Emperor called on Maria Carranza, a foriegn correspondant, who asked the Emperor how far he was willing to go in his effort, and how much he was willing to risk.

"The question, Ms. Carranza, is not how far, or how much? The question is, do we possess the determination, the depth of faith and conviction, to go as far as is needed, to risk as much as we must? I have faith in the steel of my soldier's weapons, but it is nothing compared to my faith in the steel in all my citizen's spines. We are all in this together, and we have no doubts, no quibbles, and no dissent. Let the Republic debate sanctions in committe, let them debate the rights and wrongs of the situation. My people do not think we are right. We know we are right. And it is that knowledge, that unity of purpose and mind, that will let us be as a rock in the tide, while the disparate and faithless of the Republic are as the sands on the beach. Have no doubt in our courage, Ms. Carranza... for we have none."

:mp5:

Declaring the questions to be at an end, the Emperor was escorted from the arena by the phalanx of his Elite Guard. The same unit he commanded personally as a Captain in the Republican Military, the Guard shined in proudly burnished steel armour, crafted by hand with hard labour and commitment to excellence, rather than assembly lines and soulless machines. A brilliant gleam surrounded them as they came together around him in two lines, marching from the arena in perfect unison. Not slow and clumsy, or measured and mechanical, their pace was light and graceful, despite the armour.

None of them moved like a soldier, they moved instead with the lithe, sure motions of a predatory cat. Assassins, warriors, fighters, and archers, spies, survivalists, and killers, all of the terms seemed to apply, yet none seemed to sum them up so well as hunters. These men, moving in perfectly unified purpose, did not face a foe in the world they ate, drank, breathed, and lived in... they sought prey, and took it to ground. No weapon, no ship, no sophisticated invention could ever hope to match the raw potential for fear and havok that these men could bring into being. The crowd, loudly cheering and applauding the Emperor, grew silent and tense as the Elites passed them, sensing the danger of each and every man and woman in the formation, with the natural instinct of an animal who realises he isn't at the top of the food chain anymore.

Exiting the arena, the formation smoothly transitioned into a diamond honour guard pattern, and began the route back to the fortifications at the former City Hall, which now doubled as a center of military command and municipal affairs, until new facilities could be budgeted and constructed. As they made their way home, the formation was joined by the members of the Imperial Legion who were not on border patrol or already scouting terrain in preparation for an impending offensive.

Dozens of cavalrymen, pikemen, and archers, all in their own unit colours and formations formed up on the tall, ebon-haired man with the modest silver circlet of authority on his brow. A motley assortment of people, from every strata of society, but all wore their status and their uniforms proudly. Leather armour was far more common than chainmail, and chain far more than plate, but all had taken the time and effort to shine and polish their accoutrements to the brightest sheen it could be persuaded to display. There wasn't a rusted sword or dirty face in the bunch, even amongst the poorest.

No man in this army was a conscript, no woman faced discrimination or mockery for her choice of an unladylike avocation. The Captain's first act upon arrival in this place had been to free any conscripted soldiers who no longer wished to serve, and open the ranks to any citizen of the land of legal age, and sound personage. These were all professionals, and they loved their nation, their Legion, and most of all... their commander.

The Emperor was no powder-wigged figurehead, no dignitary who shmoozed his way into a sinecure. This man was real to them, he ate the same food, brothe the same air, and on more than one occasion, he had bled the same blood. He had volunteered for service, survived the winter-long hell of Elementary Instruction the same as them, and then risen to command on merit, rather than connections, a rarity even on the frontiers.

Few of them doubted he would give his life for any one of them, and none of them took such doubts seriously. Their utter loyalty was dangerously close to fanatacism, and in truth, the line between considering him a godhead and a leige was rather thin for many of them. Few of them doubted they would give their lives for him in return, and all of them were aware that some of them were going to do just that in the coming months, if war came to their land.



They numbered only in the thousands, they had no firearms, and few outside the cavalry owned a horse, even the officers. They owned handmade weapons, not a manufactured part existed in the entirety of the armed forces. Many of them wielded a sword or a staff which had been in their family for generations, carried by their father before them, and his father before him, in a long, proud tradition of service to the nation.

:D


As the grand progession moved towards the towers that kept watch over the city, their ranks began to swell further. The citizens of the city were marching with the Imperial Guard, in a heartlifting groundswell of support. The very old and very young did not hold pace for long, but they waved and cheered for their champions, many having a child, parent, or sibling in the parade they tried to catch a glimpse of. Business owners watched from their stands and small buildings, giving the occasional opportunistic pickpocket, who saw the parade as an economic, rather than political boon, a sharp rapping with a cane or switch.

The progression reached the fortifications, and progressed within the walls. Their leader and his Guard rose the steps purposefully, and the Army continued around the building, in a grand circling formation. The citizenry waited, their vivid clothing a great ocean of bright, clashing colours. Waiting on the steps, with Ri'ad standing At Ease, and the Elites At Attention, the Emperor's Guard watched the crowd. It was hard to tell if the handsome, impossibly lithe man was smiling or simply thoughtful, but many were warmed by the imagination that he had smiled at them personally. He was, in their eyes, a Someone. A persona, rather than a person, some great icon who would last far longer than his own lifetime.

The crowd shifted and funnelled back as the Imperial Legions made their way around the Hall, and reformed on the square. Formed into lines half by trained instinct, and half by the swift and perfunctory (not to mention profanity-laced) encouragement of their sergeants, they came together in ranks of archers, infantry, pikemen, and cavalry. The First Cavalry commander rode out from the front of the lines, to the base of the steps, and calmed his horse to stillness, as a hush settled over the crowd once again.

Without word, he drew his sabre, and held it to his brow, in salute. On this cue, the rest of the Legion presented arms, or saluted with hand over heart, as appropriate.

A silent nod was returned by Ri'ad, and he drew his own sword, a blindingly shined blade with a wavy, curving blade, and ornately etched hilt. As his return salute was completed, the Elites presented their weapons in -perfect- unison, saluting the Legion, then their commander. A trumpeteer began to play Taps, and weapons were sheathed, salutes were released, and formations dispersed, as the people went home to sleep, and the Emperor returned to his cramped, spartan office to plan, parlay, schedule, approve manifests, write letters of commendation, and worry about several important matters, none of which pertained in the slightest to actually getting any rest.

'There will be plenty of time to sleep when I am dead', he reasoned, 'and I would not soon send any more than I must to that rest... so my own must wait, that theirs may as well.'