Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska 3325 Popular Post Share Posted October 10, 2023 A LETTER TO AAUN KRUSAE ZWY KONGZEM Issued by the CROWN On this 11th day of Joma ag Umund of 498 E.S. MY CROWNED BRETHREN & HIS STEADFAST REGENT, Would that it were not contention that prompts my quill, but at least things are interesting, for a change. Well, it is hardly a secret that diplomacy with Whitespire has proven more difficult than growing fruit in the Haeseni winter, so it may be best that we speak plainly - leader to leader, men to men. If you have not learned already, the ties between Crowns are a strange creature; where once it was the oathmen of my royal father that stood beside Aaun when threatened by rebellion, now it seems like we have shifted on the battlefield. My father did tell me that there was no greater storyteller than history - I suppose he was right. Alas, history’s tales can be tragedies as well as epics. So, let us lay our misconceptions to rest, lest it is a tragedy in two acts we aspire to pen. It seems your Regency Council is out of a job! Mind you, it is a ruthless trade. I admit, I was most curious to hear that your royal mother, the Queen Adela, found herself placed under arrest two Saints’ Days past, but not as curious as when I learned she was arrested for ‘unauthorised diplomacy’ with my Kongzem. It was three members of your late-Regency - the Queen Adela, the late Prince Gawyn Tiber, and Ser Leopold Haverlock - that met with my leal bannermen Ser Arthur Gant and Duke Viktor var Ruthern four Saints’ Days passed; it was in Whitespire they met, and I am told Duke Viktor was rather partial to the local seafood. It was there, in your seat of power, that they spoke of peace; they spoke of friendship; they spoke of diplomacy. It was by your writ in the Proclamation of Ascension and that of your late royal grandfather - may the Skies keep him - that your mother and these two men sat as your Executors, to helm your ship until your eighteenth birthday. Authorisation enough, one might think, so I wonder - was the arrest the machination of some other councillor who was not invited to the affair? And yet the late Prince Gawyn and Ser Leopold were spared such scolding. Indeed, that was when the plot truly thickened. Ah, it matters not; after all, it is not my place to opine on the composition of the Aaunish regency. And yet, when Lady Haense was painted as the darkspawn beneath the bed - used as justification for the arrest of Queen Adela - it invited my rebuke. Most especially when this led to known bandits being sent to Valdev in the name of the Aaunish Crown. If the remnants of the Aaunish Court seek to use my Kongzem as a scapegoat for some courtly strife - or, God forbid, a spat between mother and son - then I ought to make myself clear. Do not. Then, in the hours following the arrest of the Queen Adela, we came to the colourful matter of my lady cousin Aleksandra vas Ruthern’s arrest. A part of me commends the boldness of the decision - my cousin always did have a peculiar brand of humour, and an unsettling brand of wrath. Alas, a much bigger part of me is intrigued by the rashness. You have veritably set my Court ablaze with your proclamation that she was to be arrested, that those who harboured her were enemies of Aaun - and you irritably set my Marshal to arms when known brigands claiming to be your oathman rode to Valdev, proclaiming that they sought my dear cousin’s arrest. It was only when the city bell rang that they dispersed before drawing steel. The charge? ‘Conspiracy against the Crown’ - it is, I cannot deny, a most intriguing headline, though ‘leaving Whitespire’ does not quite live up to that title. Sending bandits knocking to Valdev, and throwing the name of Lady Haense like a bone to yapping burgundy hounds, is, perhaps, not the way to go about it, my Aaunish friend. Modern diplomatic revelations akin to the ‘pen’ and ‘letter’ may have proved more fruitful for navigating this little ordeal. In any case, your Regency is no concern of mine so long as Lady Haense is not invoked so adversely. If you wish to be friends, then come and be bloody friends -- my diplomats have switched enough horses and spent enough ink to make my intent doubly clear. If it is escalation you seek - well, I can hardly begrudge you. Do be forthright about it, though, won’t you? Valdev will welcome you as a guest, my friend. Please bring some of that seafood if you do come - I must see what all the fuss is about. IV JOVEO MAAN, His Royal Majesty, Aleksander II, by the Grace of Godan, King of Hanseti and Ruska, Grand Hetman of the Army, Hochmeister of the Order of the Crow, Prince of Bihar, Dules, Lahy, Muldav, Solvesborg, Slesvik and Ulgaard, Duke of Carnatia and Vanaheim, Margrave of Korstadt, Rothswald and Vasiland, Count of Alban, Siegrad, Werdenburg, Alimar, Baranya, Graiswald, Karikhov, Karovia, Kaunas, Kavat, Kovachgrad, Kvasz, Markev, Nenzing, Torun, Toruv, Valdev and Werdenburg, Viscount of Varna, Baron of Esenstadt, Kraken’s Watch, Kralta, Krepost, Lorentz, Rytsburg, Buck and Astfield, Lord of the Westfolk, Protector and Lord of the Highlanders, etcetera. 85 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter 2470 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Henrik Amador preserves a copy of the King's Letter for its place among the annals of the Royal Library. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydegirl 1757 Share Posted October 10, 2023 "Aaunish isn't a word!" Cried the Baroness of Virdain (and also niche Aaun microcelebrity and playwright), Amelia. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanOfArc 4586 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Saskia van Aert showed her cousin, the Captain-General, the letter. She made some frankly crazy remarks, potentially about the total immediate destruction of Veletz by a Hanseti-Ruskan army numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Also obsessing over the clock once more. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncarr 2235 Share Posted October 10, 2023 "This is not what he would have wanted." spoke Adela with pursed lips, her eyes cast skyward as she perused the document no longer. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xarkly 12618 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Villorik glowered in a corner, as he was prone to do. He tapped his foot impatiently as he glanced about. He would give his life to protect Aleksandra, but that still not make him happy about being party to accursed politics. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanark 1946 Share Posted October 10, 2023 "What a long letter, this was. These events must have struck the dear King quite deeply." Sir Hannibal mused, gripping his reading glasses. "Surely their good friends in the Balianese government must have something to say about this, too?" 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franczhiz 4053 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Basik Uldarik showed his brother Andrik the missive with a grin. @poki"If this is not a threat to violence then I do not know what is brother. It would however seem that our visits to the mines for ferrum will pay off, if it happens to escalate eh?" He stated whilst being at the tower with his other fellow Bastards, knowing the tactics of the Haesenk regime to often use letters to instigate a certain situation to happen. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caedis 430 Share Posted October 10, 2023 (edited) Anatoliy Ilya Alyovich Godunov, Heir of Verskaya and the Founder of the Godunovian Lotus, grinned as he read the missive. As usual, his sense of pride beamed from the words of his King. "Ah- Ea wonder if they'll need weapons.." He mused, the merchant boy, as usual, already tasting the money of war.. And dreading the cost.. Edited October 10, 2023 by Caedis 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Office of Truth 471 Share Posted October 10, 2023 1 minute ago, sashimichopped said: Basik Uldarik showed his brother Andrik the missive with a grin. @poki"If this is not a threat to violence then I do not know what is brother. It would however seem that our visits to the mines for ferrum will pay off, if it happens to escalate eh?" He stated whilst being at the tower with his other fellow Bastards. In the course of their investigations, the BSK SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION uncover great potential for an optician's trade among Basik's kin. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReveredOwl 5332 Share Posted October 10, 2023 "Let us not forget, those same bandits who were dispatched from the Aaunic regency, laddered over our palace walls after being refused entry and only fled after they heard the bells toll." remarked Ser Andrik. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enlightenment 1470 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Emilio Varoche read over the letter, shaking his head, his gaze looking towards a sword mounted upon his wall, "All 'empires' come to an end... I wonder if Haense has realized that theirs has." 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yopplwasupxxx 5665 Share Posted October 10, 2023 "I pray for a de-escalation of violent tensions between the nations of Haense and Aaun, and I hope for the promulgation of a bilateral agreement towards peace in the lands of Man. Rampant intrigue and neurotic tendencies have led us on the path towards open conflict. This is entirely needless, and only through open dialogue can we rise above petty squabbles and false visions of grandeur. Perhaps a supergovernmental committee of representatives from the Canonist states would do well in formulizing a proper standard of foreign diplomacy and international law." says Amleth van der Grendok 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahbarah 5022 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Queen Amaya prepares her special brew of hot cocoa - lovingly dubbed the Queen's Cocoa, for any Aaunic diplomats who may wish to come visit in the coming days! 25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeylin 998 Share Posted October 10, 2023 11 minutes ago, Caedis said: Anatoliy Ilya Alyovich Godunov, Heir of Verskaya and the Founder of the Godunovian Lotus, grinned as he read the missive. As usual, his sense of pride beamed from the words of his King. "Ah- Ea wonder if they'll need weapons.." He mused, the merchant boy, as usual, already tasting the money of war.. And dreading the cost.. Cassian peered over Ilya's shoulder as he read. "That'd be a dobry business opportunity, komyn." 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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