THE PROCLAMATION OF 571

[garentoft 9265]

 

 

PROCLAMATION OF 571

 

 

KRUSAE ZWY KONGZEM

 

Issued by the 

LORD REGENT

Naf zwy 10th hag i Wzuvar ag Byvca i 571 E.S.

 

---

 

VA VE EDLERVIK,

 

A dark time is upon us,

 

On the eve of the 6th day of Wzuvar and Byvca, a letter arrived from the distant land of Nilbud, delivered by a foreign courier. It had been some since I had last received a letter from His Royal Majesty and his entourage.

 

And so, it is with heavy heart that I must announce that His Royal Majesty, King Karl IV, our Pious King, has passed away while travelling abroad in hopes of finding a cure to his ailment. 

 

As His Royal Majesty and his entourage set sail from Nilbud, continuing their travels westwards to pass through the Thousand Isles, a heavy storm descended upon the oceans. With the fury of the skies upon them, HMS Amyas made an attempt to return to port. Here the King’s health deteriorated further and the final rites were administered before he passed on that very evening into the arms of our Lord. 

 

King Karl IV was only a young man, graced by GOD with a natural aptitude of leadership deserving of a Monarch of our Kingdom. And yet, he has been taken from us unexpectedly and far too soon than any of us would have ever dared to think. I shall mourn him forever, for he was my best friend, and I know that all of you reading this shall mourn him too.

 

In line with the Haeseni Laws of Succession, I must proclaim that His Royal Majesty’s eldest brother, His Royal Highness, Joren Manfred, the Duke of Alban, shall ascend to the Haeseni throne. Invitations for a funeral procession shall be sent to our allies and the public as soon as possible.

 

Even in the darkest of times, remember this: I would have perished had I not persisted.

 

KRUSAE ZWY KONGZEM

 

---

 

VE EDLERVIK, MEA LIFST AG MEA ZALIBA OVARE DLUM TEAM

 

HIS EXCELLENCY, Tomasz van ve Karoswald, Lord Regent and Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska

[sarahbarah 7105]

NADYA SAT IN STUNNED SILENCE as the messenger’s words settled over her like a heavy shroud. Karl was dead. The man who had worn the crown with such certainty, whose presence had always seemed immovable, was gone. She gripped the arms of her chair, knuckles white, as her mind struggled to reconcile the news with reality.

Her husband – the spare son, the one never meant for a crown – was now King. 

A sharp breath caught in her throat. She had not been raised for this, had never envisioned herself upon a throne. Fear curled in her stomach, cold and unrelenting. She thought of the weight of the crown, of the expectations, the dangers, the unknown. 

Grief and trepidation warred within her, but duty loomed taller still. She straightened her shoulders, even as sorrow stung her eyes. Whether she was ready or not, the realm would look to her now. And she could not – would not – falter.

[erictafoya 3276]

Spoiler

 

 

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’d rather look at your eye than his second, third, and fourth chins!”

 

Joren recalled the memories fondly as he thought of his brother then. Simple times. . . Simple times indeed. Back when they were both young and ambitious Princes. The times when even though they had parents, they really could only rely on each other.

 

The last few months have been troubling for him. Afterall, he’d been dreading the next task ahead of him. Of how his Scyfling mentor demanded he faced his greatest fear yet in front of the judgement of a seer. However, what happened next could not have been imagined from the worst of his nightmares.

 

Three knocks pressed against the Lord Regent’s office. . .

 

“Tomasz, are you in there?”

 

Diplomacy had been a recent passion of his. The pressures of keeping up with his brother's legacy slowly crept up on him as the days continued, and his elder siblings' absence looming large by the day. He stepped in the office, asking the Regent if he could partake in the summit that was soon to be held.

 

And then, he was told. . .

 

“I don’t think you have much of a choice, Joren.”

 

“What do you mean? Are you ordering me as Lord Regent?”

 

“No, I am ordering you because you are the King”

 

Spoiler

I'd like to take this moment to thank Nolan for all of his hard work and dedication throughout the years not only to the community of Haense, but also to many communities throughout the server. The ending was certainly not ideal, but the stories made prior are some of the best I'd ever seen.

I'd like to thank him, our predecessors @Dogged @annabanana1014, and the community of Haense for giving me the opportunity to lead the first nation that I joined (and stayed within).

 

[ContestedSnow 1435]

The Oracle let out a terse breath, as he scanned over the Proclamation. He lifted a hand to grasp his forehead, no words or murmering forthcoming this time.

He simply mourned, in silence.

[prophetisms 982]

First, it was Juliya. Second, it was Marius. Third, Mahaut did not want it to be Karl, but it was. Sparsely, but surely, she watched the boy that sat in and listened at the Aulic Council meetings turn into the man that led them. Mahaut noticed the weight of a circlet turned into the weight of a crown, and how it was still held high. He was meant to hold it high as she stepped down and found peace, likely off in the countryside. There was no peace to be found yet, no countryside to see now. There was still work to do, so Mahaut shed her stasis instead of tears. 

. . .

 Meanwhile, Dszamila found herself within the walls of Xéniavaros when the news broke. Her eyes took in every word on the paper, every dot and dash too, like it would ensure Dszamila her eyes weren’t deceiving her. They never have, and never would in this. Similarly, Dszamila could not deceive her own heart. She knew Karl more as a prince than a king. He was the prince that chased the others around Vidaus, guided crows from pecking girls’ faces to bits–Dszamila’s included–and nearly turned his face a different hue from trying the horn she gifted him. More often than not, Karl was the king that Dszamila watched sit upon the throne, or hover in the royal box. It was a misfortune that they did not cross paths more. 

As Dszamila’s hands searched for her flask, she discovered a new truth: She would mourn the prince that she knew, and mourn the king that she would never know.

[Frawlic 1602]

Dima crumpled a now-read parchment in her hold, somewhere among Aevos atop her steed in search of someone. In trying to prevent one loss, she was greeted with another, from a time long ago.

"You may have two cakes before dinner if there is duck served,"  Karl had once said to her as a boy.

The wheezing girl could only imagine how great of a King he would be, considering cake could be had for dinner and it was his idea. She was never sure if she'd live to see the day he became King, she thought whatever plagued her would come and bring ruin before then. It didn't, and with a crown weighing upon Karl's head, she could only remember him as a prince with his crows and a hidden cough. Dima never saw him as anything more, and so it pained her to imagine the prince with his crows, and his cough now gone.

[Pureimp10 5691]

Duncan had not wept when his father had gone missing many years ago. He had not wept when his friend Dmitry died in the prime of his youth, nor had he wept when his cousin took his own life.

 

But now, confined to his bed and far from the capital, Duncan wept.

Edited February 26, 2025 by Pureimp10

[critter 2812]

Sabine Weiss sets a lone candle aflame in the window of Novkursain, hands planted on the sill.

She stares into the night, and she mourns for a young life.

[Gandhi 3225]

Andrei sat within the vestiges of his estate - better understood as Emsgrad, the former lands of his parents. A cigarette hung by his lips, and the news arrived within hours of the Lord Regent's proclamation.

 

Karl was his best friend; he had been since they were just dumb youths, before the Grand Prince took up his throne, and Andrei took up his sudden obligations. He bore witness to Andrei's faults, to which there were many - but never was he shunned, or rebuked by the King. When they spoke within that Lesanov chapel, Andrei swore that to receive that pardon, that he wouldn't ever falter in his duty to defend Karl, his kin and Kingdom.

 

But those memories wore away in idleness as the King was sent to Ba'as, and Erika fretted about his fate - he believed that whilst it was sickness that took Karl; perhaps something could've been done, an effort taken by the Knight Paramount to ensure his liege and confidant wouldn't succumb to something so fickle. A reign which should've stood the test of time, washed away in only a few months. It felt like a sickening twist, Karl had only taken one life, and it clearly bothered the man deep down - but now, at least there wouldn't be another to weigh him down.

 

And for that - the Paramount wept, with duties fallen onwards to the leal Prince Joren and his cousin Nadya. His faith never waned in them, but instead in himself.

[MunaZaldrizoti 8037]

All that was heard in the evening following the announcement of the young King's death were wretched wails from the central holdfast of Kastell Lesanov, echoing throughout those reddened and cavernous halls. Princess Milena had been rent asunder, her life's work torn apart and the infant she had raised lost to the illness he had so long triumphed over.

 

She had failed him.

 

For the days and months that followed, she was locked within her chambers - sick and bedridden over the loss of one who had been like her own child.

 

 

[Herod 1417]

The desolate Lord of Kovgrad viewed the proclamation with a solemn expression. Usually indifferent of feelings to others, it hurt him to see another man struggle in such a way with his birthright and let it consume him. For once in his life, he mourned.

[MissToni 3565]

Kareena Nasrid could not do much but watch and comfort her princess, no... her now Queen Consort, to the best of her abilities after she had given her the news. What a terrible day. She ordered a triple of the amount of chamomile tea than she had usually been getting for the palace once she arrived to the royal kitchen. She would do her very best to be a small support that she could be as a servant to the now Queen. 

[HogoBojo 4725]

Hogmund Jakob would weep upon the passing of his dear brother, crying out to the night sky. “Oh Godan why?” He’d yell out, another one of his kin lost too soon. “First my parents, and now my dear brother— Why does death plague my family so, especially before they even reach their elder years.” 

[Gridlock 1033]

Hangman Karl Othaman was waiting for the King in the seven skies with some unfinished business......

 

Spoiler

o7 King

 

[Andustar 4143]

"My friend... You were taken from this world too soon," John II muttered softly to himself. "We both sought a lasting peace. A world in which sense and justice triumphed over fanaticism and cruelty." He laid aside the missive. The King had stepped out and on to the palace balcony, watching the clouds roll overhead. "I pray that you've found that peace, Karl."