Esterlen

A letter arrives. “I cast my vote as an aye, in favor of the War Office’s document. Regards, George Kovachev MHC”

A letter arrives. ”Provided the nomenclature concerning the Home Office is updated, I vote aye on this bill. Regards, George Kovachev MHC”

THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD BACKGROUND A quick reference guide for the current members of the Imperial household and their correct titles, styles and forms of address, as well as the line of succession. THE IMPERIAL FAMILY HIM The Empress HIM The Emperor HIH The Princess Imperial The Rt Hon. The Count of Rosemoor Lord Jasper Basrid The Hon. Anthony Basrid HIH The Duke of Helena HIH The Duchess of Helena HIH The Duke of Crestfall HIH The Duchess of Crestfall HIH Prince Philip of Crestfall HIH Princess Josephine of Crestfall HIH Princess Anne of Crestfall HIH The Princess Juliette HIH The Count of Kaphro The Rt Hon. The Countess of Kaphro Lady Victoria Kaphro Lady Thea Kaphro HIH The Count of Aldersberg HIH The Countess of Aldersberg *The Pompourelian branch of the House of Sarkozy along with the Rochefortine branch of the House of Helvets are members of the Imperial household (on account of marriage), though not the Imperial family, as they do not descend from HIM The Empress. THE HOUSE OF NOVELLEN HIM The Empress Her Imperial Majesty Anne I, Holy Orenian Empress Anne Augusta r. 1784 – present Born in 1734 to Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor & Lorena of Cascadia. HIM The Emperor His Imperial Majesty Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor Joseph Clement r. 1784 – present Born in 1730 to Adrian de Sarkozy, Duke of Adria & Maria of Haense. THE PRINCESS IMPERIAL’S HOUSEHOLD HIH The Princess Imperial Her Imperial Highness Elizabeth, Princess Imperial and Countess of Rosemoor Elizabeth Anne Born in 1755 to Anne, Holy Orenian Empress & Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor. The Rt Hon. The Count of Rosemoor The Right Honorable Iskander Basrid, Count of Rosemoor Iskander Alexios Born in 1755 to Jahan Basrid, Count of Susa & Selene Sabari. Lord Jasper Basrid Lord Jasper Basrid Jasper Clement Born in 1787 to Elizabeth, Princess Imperial & Iskander Basrid, Count of Rosemoor. The Hon. Anthony Basrid The Honorable Anthony Basrid Anthony Alexios Born in 1789 to Elizabeth, Princess Imperial & Iskander Basrid, Count of Rosemoor. THE DUKE OF HELENA’S HOUSEHOLD HIH The Duke of Helena His Imperial Highness Prince John, Duke of Helena John Charles Born in 1757 to Anne, Holy Orenian Empress & Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor. HIH The Duchess of Helena Her Imperial Highness Princess Wilhelmina, Duchess of Helena Wilhelmina Beatrix Born in 1760 to Robert Helvets, Duke of Cathalon & Letizia d’Aryn. THE DUKE OF CRESTFALL’S HOUSEHOLD HIH The Duke of Crestfall His Imperial Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Crestfall Philip Augustus Born in 1759 to Anne, Holy Orenian Empress & Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor. HIH The Duchess of Crestfall Her Imperial Highness Princess Judith, Duchess of Crestfall Judith Alice Born in 1764 to Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort & Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort. HIH Prince Philip of Crestfall His Imperial Highness Prince Philip of Crestfall Philip Aurelian Born in 1784 to Prince Philip, Duke of Crestfall & Princess Judith, Duchess of Crestfall. HIH Princess Josephine of Crestfall His Imperial Highness Princess Josephine of Crestfall Josephine Augusta Born in 1787 to Prince Philip, Duke of Crestfall & Princess Judith, Duchess of Crestfall. HIH Princess Anne of Crestfall His Imperial Highness Princess Anne of Crestfall Anne Caroline Born in 1789 to Prince Philip, Duke of Crestfall & Princess Judith, Duchess of Crestfall. THE COUNT OF KAPHRO’S HOUSEHOLD HIH The Count of Kaphro His Imperial Highness Prince Peter, Count of Kaphro Peter Maximilian Born in 1762 to Anne, Holy Orenian Empress & Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor. The Rt Hon. The Countess of Kaphro The Right Honorable Safiye, Countess of Kaphro Safiye Stateira Born in 1758 to Jahan Basrid, Count of Susa & Selene Sabari. Lady Victoria Kaphro Lady Victoria Kaphro Victoria Clementine Born in 1787 to Prince Peter, Count of Kaphro and Safiye, Countess of Kaphro. Lady Thea Kaphro Lady Thea Kaphro Thea Augusta Born in 1789 to Prince Peter, Count of Kaphro and Safiye, Countess of Kaphro. THE COUNT OF ALDERSBERG’S HOUSEHOLD HIH The Count of Aldersberg His Imperial Highness Prince Joseph, Count of Aldersberg Joseph Leopold Born in 1765 to Anne, Holy Orenian Empress & Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor. HIH The Countess of Aldersberg Her Imperial Highness Princess Henrietta, Countess of Aldersberg Henrietta Maria Born in 1767 to Henry Pruvia, Viscount of Osterland & Angelika Ludovar. THE HOUSE OF HELVETS The Countess of Rochefort’s household. HIH The Countess of Rochefort Her Imperial Highness Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort Lorena Antonia Born in 1738 to Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor & Lorena of Cascadia. The Rt Hon. The Count of Rochefort The Right Honorable Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort Richard Victor Born in 1736 to Adrian I, King of Kaedrin & Annabelle of Castor. Lady Lorena Helvets Lady Lorena Helvets Lorena Annabelle Born in 1763 to Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort & Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort. Lord Adrian Helvets Lord Adrian Helvets Adrian Othodoric Born in 1765 to Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort & Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort. The Hon. Victor Helvets The Honorable Victor Helvets Victor Leopold Born in 1766 to Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort & Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort. Lady Theodora Helvets Lady Theodora Helvets Theodora Angelica Born in 1769 to Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort & Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort. The Hon. William Helvets The Honorable William Helvets William Linhardt Born in 1771 to Richard Helvets, Count of Rochefort & Princess Lorena, Countess of Rochefort. THE HOUSE OF SARKOZY The Count of Pompourelia’s household. The Rt Hon. The Count of Pompourelia The Right Honorable George de Sarkozy, Count of Pompourelia George Casimir Born in 1735 to Adrian de Sarkozy, Duke of Adria & Maria of Haense. Lord George de Sarkozy Lord George de Sarkozy George Ulysses Born in 1758 to George de Sarkozy, Count of Pompourelia & Henrietta of Alstion. Lady Amalie de Sarkozy Lady Amalie de Sarkozy Amalie Lovisa Born in 1758 to Godfric Alimar, Count of Alimar & Margaret of Cathalon. Ms. Amadea de Sarkozy Miss Amadea de Sarkozy Amadea Ulyssa Born in 1788 to George Ulysses de Sarkozy & Amalie Alimar. THE HOUSE OF FITZPETER Lord Leopold FitzPeter Lord Leopold FitzPeter Leopold Peter Born in 1766 to Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor & Renee de Rothesay, in illegitimacy. Lady Blanche FitzPeter Lady Blanche FitzPeter Blanche Therese Born in 1767 to Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor & Renee de Rothesay, in illegitimacy. Lady Heloise FitzPeter Lady Heloise FitzPeter Heloise Olympe Born in 1770 to Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor & Renee de Rothesay, in illegitimacy. THE LINE OF SUCCESSION HIM The Empress HIM The Emperor HIH The Duke of Helena HIH The Duke of Crestfall HIH Prince Philip of Crestfall HIH Princess Josephine of Crestfall HIH Princess Anne of Crestfall HIH The Count of Aldersberg HIH The Countess of Rochefort Lord Adrian Helvets The Hon. Victor Helvets The Hon. William Helvets Lady Lorena Helvets HIH The Duchess of Crestfall Lady Theodora Helvets *(1781) HIH The Princess Juliette (b. 1760) and any heirs or successors are explicitly excluded from the line of succession on account of her membership of the Cult of Xan. **(1786) HIH The Princess Imperial (b. 1755) and any heirs or successors are explicitly excluded from the line of succession on account of her morganatic marriage. ***(1786) HIH The Count of Kaphro (b. 1762) and any heirs or successors are explicitly excluded from the line of succession on account of his morganatic marriage.

A letter arrives. “I cast my vote, on the record, in favor of the confirmation of both nominees. Regards, George Kovachev MHC”

These are the last recovered political writings of the Viscount Rillsworth, dated approximately four years before his death in 1781 at age 94 and published posthumously. Unfortunately, Peter III, with whom Rillsworth presumably wrote these conventions in mind, did not outlive him by long, dying of throat cancer in 1784. Published with thanks to Riordain MacDroch-Armas, heir to the Viscount Rillsworth, on 16 Godfrey’s Triumph 1787. CONVENTIONS ON GOVERNMENT AND THE LEGISLATURE 1777 F. S. Armas PREFACE “One must never laud one’s knowledge on a particular topic to excess in one’s own writing, but I daresay that there are none who know the negative consequences of absolutist, personalist rule more than myself. I was a foolish young man of twenty-three when the Troubles began, with Emperor Anthony sacking his own country’s second city to the ground with reckless impunity. Chaos and bloodshed would ensue for nigh-on fifty years thereafter until the signing of the Treaty of Novellen of 1760. In that time, I have been at both the forefront of government and the peripheral. For the most part, this troubled era was brought about by the kind of personalist rule that centred the state around a single individual rather than established institutions and agencies of government. The Holy Orenian Emperor must be seen as a unifying force, an embodiment of the country and the country’s interests as a whole, rather than as a flag-bearer for partisan or ethnic causes. There is no act of greater filial abandonment for a sovereign to discard his subject’s greater good for his own personal interests, whether they be philosophical or ethnic or any such trifling topic. Charles Alstion, who would have perhaps been our ruler in another world, serves as a proof of that idea. When denied the Crown, he simply went over to the Nordling marauders. Nevermind that his treasured Pertinaxi kinsmen had been denying him and his family the Crown for the last eighty years - when they went practically extinct, he suddenly remembered that he might have some right to it. And upon the Orenian people rejecting him, he decided he would go native. It may seem hard to imagine a situation whereby the country’s interests become decoupled from a monarch’s whims, but it has happened countless times over the last century. I have cited the Burning of Ves and the Alstionish pretender, but the late Lord Protector would have gone that way had he ever achieved his wish of becoming monarch, which I graciously thank the fates for denying him. Serving as Holy Orenian Emperor is an act of self-denial and service, not self-worship and personalist idolatry. In the last several years, this country has undergone a bureaucratic revolution unlike no other. More and more instruments of government continue to be delegated to people, institutions and agencies. The days in which every administrative iota is determined by the Emperor personally are drawing down ever more. This is a good thing, not least because it leads to a longer lifespan for our rulers. Of the Johannian rulers, infamous absolutists, not one ruled beyond twenty-two years. His Imperial Majesty Peter III exceeded that milestone over fifteen years ago. It also means that the fate of the country is not irrevocably tied to the impulses, fancies, deficiencies and proficiencies of one single man. Can it run more efficiently? Of course it can - it always can. But we must continue to work towards the Emperor as the sovereign of man, the embodiment of the entire country, rather than as our supreme autocrat. The largest nation-state that the world has ever seen can not rest on a single set of Imperial shoulders. He must be the defender of Oren’s constitution, and may retain a wide breadth of executive authority in order to discharge that duty. But the realm must be able to operate without his frenetic daily participation. We must be governed by law and process rather than arbitrariness. No one who is not singularly demented would like to see civil war. So let us hypothesize that one has placed the Emperor above government - what, then, when that government must be changed? Imagine if that government could be defeated at the ballot box rather than with sabre and powder.” Sir Frederick Armas KHE The Rt Hon. The Viscount Rillsworth CONTENTS I. Ministers of the Crown II. A government III. Responsible government IV. Invitation and installation V. Confidence and no confidence VI. Dismissal VII. HIM Most Loyal Opposition VIII. Presentation IX. Advice X. Dissolution and summons XI. Elections XII. Competencies XIII. Imperial prerogatives XIV. The sovereign as a defender of the constitution Ministers of the Crown In theory all those who serve in a government body are agents of the Crown, so the most senior government officers are ministers of the Crown. As a collective, the ministers of the Crown form the core of the Council of State, or the Cabinet, the deliberative body which the Archchancellor serves as chair of as ex officio President of the Council of State. There may exist other Cabinet-level officials who are not ministers of the Crown, and who may hold informal seats upon the body by virtue of their role in the Imperial Civil Service, however as cores of the bureaucracy these officials must retain a level of permanence. Both of these sections of the Cabinet, formal and informal, receive their offices from the Emperor, which means they serve by Crown appointment, and they must be duly invested. A government A government is an Archchancellor and the ministers of the Crown who serve with him. It is also known as a ministry. The government is appointed by His Imperial Majesty and serves at his pleasure. As it is appointed by the monarch, it operates with the delegated executive authority of the Emperor. Accordingly, the government is the executive of the Holy Orenian Empire, deriving that authority from His Imperial Majesty. Cabinet-level informal officials who are not ministers of the Crown are not formally part of a government and are not accountable to the Imperial Diet in the same way, being part of the permanent bureaucracy. Responsible government Despite being appointed by the monarch, a government and its constituent ministers are responsible to both the Imperial Diet - particularly the House of Commons, as the elected chamber - as well as the monarch. This means that the Diet may summon members of the government and compel them to testify, among other things. Invitation and installation The Emperor typically invites a person to form a government. This person may hold a seat in the House of Commons, a seat in the House of Lords, or neither. If he is able to form a government, he would be Archchancellor, and his government (Known as a ‘ministry’, dubbed with his surname i.e the Basrid Ministry or his peerage if he has one i.e the Selm Ministry) consists of the people he has chosen in ‘forming a government’ to be ministers of the Crown. His ability to form a government is usually contingent on his ability to gain the confidence of the House of Commons. Confidence is expressed through a majority, or even a presumed majority, where a formal vote is not necessary. If the candidate is able to demonstrate that he is able to form a government with the confidence of the House of Commons, the sovereign should finalize his appointment as Archchancellor and that of his ministers through a formal, signed document and the accompanying ceremony. This appointment ceremony for the government consists of both the successful candidate for Archchancellor and all his chosen ministers of the Crown ‘kissing the hand’ of the sovereign, while pledging personal loyalty and fealty to both him and the country of Oren. The exact wording of the oath specifies that it shall supersede all other oaths or vows a person may have made in their lifetime to any other organization, group or entity. This is known as the installation of a government, and until this formal exercise of the Imperial prerogative occurs, a candidate is not Archchancellor, and his government has not begun. Just because the Emperor has invited a person to form a government does not necessarily mean that he must approve of each minister-candidate for each office. He may withhold appointment to offices if a candidate is for one reason or another unsuitable, and may recommend particular candidates to his would-be Archchancellor. If the candidate can not demonstrate that he has the confidence of the House of Commons, then the sovereign perhaps ought to re-evaluate the situation and move on to another candidate. Though the government holds office by virtue of the aforementioned Crown appointment, and holds executive authority derived from His Imperial Majesty, meaning that the Emperor could proceed and appoint the candidate and government he wanted regardless, that government would be operating on the basis of the monarch’s whim alone. Practically, this government may find it difficult to pass laws. Confidence and no confidence Because the government is responsible to the Imperial Diet, the House of Commons may express its confidence or lack of confidence in the government. This is done through a motion of confidence, or the corresponding motion of no confidence, both of which require a simple majority in order to pass. Confidence can be presumed and does not necessarily need to be voted on - for instance, it is presumed that a majority leader such as the Leader of the House, who already has a majority in the House, has its confidence. A government’s legislation being denied by the House of Commons could lead to a government shutdown, or could even be interpreted as a loss of confidence. The Emperor may also, from time-to-time, look to the House of Lords for their opinion on the formation of a government. Dismissal Because the government serves at His Imperial Majesty’s pleasure, he is the only one who can dismiss the government or its members. He could do this for many reasons. If a motion of no confidence is passed against an individual minister, that minister should resign. Likewise, if a motion of no confidence is passed against an entire government, the entire government should resign. If this does not happen in either case, the monarch could sack them to reflect the House’s view. Alternatively, he might support his Archchancellor and the government by refusing to dismiss them. HIM Most Loyal Opposition The opposition is supposed to act as a viable, alternative government to the standing ministry. They are expected to hold the government to account in the chamber, presenting themselves as the ‘other’ option. His Imperial Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition consists of all those members of the House of Commons who are not ‘with’ the government in the context of a confidence vote - that is to say, those members who do not offer the government their confidence, and would reject a motion of confidence were it to be held. The leader of this minority group is known as the Leader of His Imperial Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition, or the Leader of the Opposition in the shorthand. This is a de facto role derived from convention, with no officially enshrined standing. Similar to the Archchancellor, they may hold a seat in the Commons, the Lords or neither. Presentation If the House of Commons rejects a would-be government, passes a vote of no confidence in an existing government, or that government loses their majority in some other way, they must offer the Emperor an alternative candidate for Archchancellor to whom they are willing to give their confidence. This is known as presentation. The Emperor may then decide to invite that person to form a government. Likewise, a would-be candidate for Archchancellor who believes that they could form a government, for instance the majority leader, who is clearly able to demonstrate a working majority, might present themselves to the Emperor in an audience and suggest as such, instead of waiting to be invited. Advice In many instances, the Emperor may be advised by the Archchancellor, his prime minister, to do something in particular. The very forming of a government itself is done on the basis of advice given to the Emperor, as the members of the government such as the ministers of the Crown are, as previously mentioned, appointed by the Crown. Similarly, a serving Archchancellor might advise the Emperor to dismiss one of his ministers, which is technically the only way to sack a minister who will not resign. The Emperor may be advised by the government to grant or withhold Imperial assent to a bill. He may also be advised to dissolve the Imperial Diet. As part of the natural course of giving advice, it is expected that the Archchancellor have frequent meetings with the sovereign to keep them abreast of the affairs of the country. Dissolution and summons It is the sole prerogative of the Emperor to dissolve the Imperial Diet and to summon a new one, both done through special public writs. There is no fixed time period for a Diet, which may last a varied amount of time depending on the particular needs of the legislature. Elections National elections to the House of Commons are called when the Emperor summons a new Imperial Diet. They determine the composition of the House of Commons and implicitly, who may command a majority in that chamber. As such, the results of a national election might reflect the popular will, and so advise the monarch on the correct course of action when it comes to all the aforementioned, particularly the process of invitation. Thus, it can be said that governments may be indirectly elected. Competencies As per the Edict of Establishment of 1736, many statutes of which are still in effect, the Imperial Diet can not legislate on the military, including the appointment of generals and other commanders, the Crown, its authority or the Imperial household, as well as diplomacy and foreign affairs. These are reserved for the Crown, and from that, the executive. As executive competencies, the delegated executive authority of the Crown is required to manage them. Ministers of the Crown may in many cases (i.e as in the case of the foreign minister) possess this delegated executive authority from His Imperial Majesty, but generally the Emperor is expected to take a more active role in these matters. In the specific case of the military, His Imperial Majesty is the supreme commander of all armed forces of the realm. Imperial prerogatives Imperial prerogative refers to those powers that may only be exercised by the Holy Orenian Emperor. These are manifold, however in respect to these conventions there are two important ones. There is: The prerogative to appoint and dismiss the government, who serve at His Imperial Majesty’s pleasure. The prerogative to summon and dissolve the Imperial Diet. The sovereign as a defender of the constitution The Emperor’s chief role, aside from being the embodiment of the country, is to defend its constitution. This constitution, though not an explicitly written document, can be interpreted as an amorphous mass of several centuries of law and statute, both written and precedent, complemented by ample historical context. It is the ‘integrity’, or the body, of the realm we share. The sovereign’s duty as the defender of the constitution supersedes any other convention or law that may arise. As such, he may be inclined to contravene aspects of this document should it be necessary to protect that constitution - such as, for example, the event of the Imperial Diet or the government attempting to resolve something to an unconstitutional end.

A letter arrives. “I cast my vote on the record for George Galbraith. Regards, George Kovachev MHC”

Ah, but this is where the nodes come in – when it comes to these abysmal material prices. By introducing a sense of scarcity and limitation to resource gathering rather than unlimited resource pits at the Cloud Temple, the market will be far less saturated with these items and so their value will increase, allowing them to be sold at higher prices.

Thankfully, as the value of mina increases (When it is removed from the daily voting reward) it can be expected that prices on everything in terms of tax, etcetera will go way down. For me that is really the highlight of this announcement – actually stopping the hyperinflation and giving us an economy again! +1

CANDIDACY DECLARATION FORM _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ PERSONAL INFORMATION Surname: Kovachev First Name: George Address of Residence: 1 Silver Jubilee Fountain, Helena Age: 34 as of time of writing (b. 1750). Partisan Affiliation: Josephite ((Username: esterlen )) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONNAIRE Are you registered and eligible to vote in the Holy Orenian Empire? Have you filled out the census? Yes. Do you have any other title, peerage, or military assignment that may conflict with becoming a Member of the House of Commons, as per the Edict of Reform (1763)? No. If yes, do you understand that you will be required to resign or abdicate from this position should you be elected to the House of Commons, and if this does not occur your seat shall be considered to be vacant?: Yes.

The man, Fitzwilliam, burns in the splendor of Burning Bush (Peace Be Upon It). “And we say, verily, liberty? That we may worship freely?” he inquires, smoking flesh immolating off the bone. “Yes,” says Declan, “For that is the natural way of things.” “Just so, Declan,” offers Fitzwilliam, but a crisp as now, “I am most worried about the spread of negative stereotypes surrounding the Nordlings...” he offers, as his leg disintegrates in the fire, “For the greatest crisis to all humanity is our hatred between each other.”

(The Viscount Rillsworth, painted c. 1762) VALE FREDERICK ARMAS (1687 – 1781) 14 Godfrey’s Triumph 1781 The Right Honorable Frederick Armas, Viscount Rillsworth and former Minister of Intelligence, has died today after a long illness. He was 94 years of age. Born to a Harrenite merchant in 1687 and descended from an old but impoverished clan, who formerly held the status of advisors to the Elendil dynasts, Armas studied law and public administration at the Imperial Everardine College at Carolustadt, matriculating in 1708 at the age of twenty-one. Soon after, he achieved a position as an excise officer to the Kvenoman clans and later an actuary for the Saint Edmond Trading Company in Ves, in which capacity he became acquainted with Conrad de Falstaff, Count of Leuven. Becoming Leuven’s accountant and personal solicitor, he became entangled with the infamous Nenzing Conspiracy and the War of the Two Emperors that followed, on the rebel side. Armas had studied liberal ideas such as the concepts of the social contract and enlightened government, and believed the rebel leader Joseph of Marna when he promised to put these principles into practice, something he would later regret. Shortly following the formal outbreak of the war in 1715 he transferred his services to Richard de Reden, serving as the solicitor to his rowdy brigade of Owynist volunteers. In this capacity, he saw the horrors of war first-hand, becoming captured at the rebel defeat in 1716 and subsequently released by Franz Stefan de Arany-Bocsa, a loyalist general who showed him mercy. (The rebel defeat at Helena, painted c. 1750.) When Arany-Bocsa became Count of Temesch, Armas followed him to the frontier principality, serving as his majordomo. However, the Count later became ill and died of a wasting disease, leaving Armas in charge of the borderland settlement. The fields ran fallow under rumours of an elvish curse, and successive attempts at colonization failed, most notably one initiated by Adrian de Sarkozy, the Duke of Adria. Around this time Armas took a wife in his exile, Hildegard, but very little is publicly known of her. She died a few years later leaving no issue. Armas became acquainted with the chief minister to the new emperor, John d’Arkent, more commonly known as the Baron of Selm, in 1726, who had attempted to persuade him to allow the Duke of Adria to settle Temesch as part of a conciliation agreement between the latter and the nascent government. Armas relented and sold the land for a stipend, however, the settlement was a catastrophic failure on account of Sarkozy’s neglectful policies. Returning to the core Empire, by the turn of the year 1727 Armas found himself in the employ of the elected King of Kaedrin, Adrian, as his private legal counsel. In his service he undertook a number of civil and criminal cases on behalf of the Crown of Kaedrin, writing the realm’s constitution in 1730 as well as the king’s marriage contract. At this time, he purchased a farm in the western reaches of the Commonwealth, in an attempt to cultivate the ideals of a Kaedreni gentleman farmer. On account of his relationship with Selm, in 1730 Armas was empowered with the chairmanship of a project to reform the Empire’s defunct systems of governance. This was a failure on account of powerful reactionary interests within the country, who were committed to preventing much-needed reform to its weak institutions. At the emperor’s instruction, Selm sacked Armas not long after. In 1736, Armas was recalled by Adrian de Sarkozy, who had since become perpetual regent of the Empire as Lord Protector. As one of the foremost scholars interested in old liberal philosophy, Armas was tasked by Sarkozy to develop a legislature for the realm, and placed in control of the education of his heir, Joseph Clement. He would later stand in this legislature as the elected representative for Kaedrin, becoming president of the chamber over the period of 1738 to 1742. The solicitor personally disliked Sarkozy and saw him as little better than his Pertinaxi predecessors, and was eager to educate his son with liberal ideals to prevent the rise of what he saw as another reactionary despot. He was relieved when Sarkozy died in 1737, leading to the restoration of the monarchy in the person of Peter III. Though he initially distrusted the new emperor as the son of Emperor Anthony, who had burnt down the city of Ves in 1710, this mistrust turned to veneration when Peter reigned in the reactionary nobles and committed himself to enlightened government. Upon his departure from the legislature in 1742, Armas returned to Ves in Kaedrin, having successfully convinced his old war comrade Richard de Reden, now the Count of Kreden, to return to public life as the king’s viceroy. He assisted him in this capacity until 1749, when Kreden retired again. Around this time, the emperor’s chief minister, Simon Basrid, who he had become friendly with during his time in the Imperial Diet, offered him appointment to the cabinet. Armas refused, cognisant of his failure in reforming Selm’s cabinet nineteen years earlier. In 1750, King Adrian I of Kaedrin finally perished from the consumption that had crippled him for the preceding decade. Despite being named as an executor to the late king’s will, the same year he served as legal representation to his son, Leopold Helvets, who laid claim to his title of Duke of Cathalon. He would grow to privately regret this in his final years. That same year, the sixty-three year old Armas was inducted into the Most Excellent Petrine Order of Humanity and the Empire, the highest order of chivalry within the country, thus becoming a Petrine knight. This was done as part of the Basrid Ministry’s ‘half-century’ honors and was a reward for years of service to pan-humanist ideals. It was at a ball in Helena in honour of the Princess Imperial’s debutante that Joseph Clement de Sarkozy, his former pupil, brought up again the idea of his appointment to the Council of State. Reluctantly, Armas agreed, now unencumbered by his duties in the long-suffering Commonwealth. He was appointed to the Cabinet as His Imperial Majesty’s Secretary of State for Intelligence, known informally as the Minister of Intelligence, being confirmed unanimously by the Imperial Diet. (The 1760s Basrid cabinet, painted c. 1767.) As the Empire’s spymaster, Armas modernized the intelligence network available to the government, with a particular emphasis on foreign affairs. He imported his nephew Riordain MacDroch to the capital city to assist him with this task, simultaneously grooming him as his successor. Over the next years, the government would see the introduction of a number of enlightened institutions, the end of the war with the Nordlings, the introduction of the Pale of Settlement and the partnership with Valandos Elverhilin’s militia as well as the unprecedented economic expansion of the capital city of Helena. Many of his specific operations as minister remain classified to the public. In 1761, at the age of 74, he was created a peer by the emperor as the Viscount Rillsworth. Around this time and as part of an anti-clerical wave that had gripped high society, the minister attempted to prosecute the Bishop of Ves, Krisztian Karoly, for sedition. He failed, with the court finding Karoly not guilty. After this, he achieved rapprochement with Karoly and later his successor, Laurence Pruvia. In 1768, Rillsworth as he was now primarily known, retired from his position as the Emperor’s intelligence minister, with the intention that MacDroch succeed him. Earlier in the same year his other nephew, Veikko Harjalainen, had been sentenced to several years in a debtor’s prison and foreign exile thereafter. Aside from one term in the House of Lords, the Viscount Rillsworth led a mostly quiet life in the years subsequent. He infrequently emerged from retirement to comment on, in a characteristically ornery fashion, the various political crises of the day, much to the chagrin of his former colleagues within the Basrid ministry. He was extremely supportive of Basrid’s decision in 1780 to appoint Jonah Stahl-Elendil, an old friend of his from the war and a fellow Harrenite, to the position of Vice Chancellor. Rillsworth had fond words for many of his colleagues and successors, such as Franziska Vimmark, whose worth ethic he had praised publicly many times, as well as the foreign minister Godfrey Briarwood, an old colleague who had worked for him in his own ministry (despite his suspicions that Briarwood had accidentally burnt down his manor, Rillsworth House, in 1765). For others, though, he had rancor. In his last years, Armas had several strokes of varying severity, with worsening gout leaving him crippled and often wheelchair-bound. He passed away on account of a collection of these ailments on 14th of Godfrey’s Triumph in the year 1781, aged 94. He is survived by Riordain MacDroch-Armas, his sole heir.

“God save the Emperor,” murmurs George upon reading the publication detailing this occurrence, filing it back within his yellow jacket. He moves to leave his Helena pied-a-terre, grabbing his tricorne.

Candidacies for the House of Commons in the Eighteenth Diet. SURNAME: Kovachev FIRST NAME: George Stanislaus ADDRESS OF RESIDENCE: 1 Silver Jubilee Fountain, Helena DATE OF BIRTH: 1750 Are you registered and eligible to vote in the Holy Orenian Empire? Yes. Do you have any other title, peerage or military service that may conflict with becoming a Member of the House of Commons, as per the Edict of Reform (1763)? No. If yes, do you understand that you will be required to resign or abdicate from this position should you be elected to the House of Commons, and if this does not occur your seat shall be considered to be vacant?: Yes. ((MC NAME)): esterlen

The eighty-nine year old and increasingly eccentric Viscount Rillsworth strides into Vimmark’s office, cane held tautly in his left hand, newspaper folded under his right arm. “Morning, minister,” he says. “Good morning, Rillsworth,” she returns in kind. “Any sign of the papers?” inquires the elderly gentleman. “You’ve got it, Rillsworth,” she responds flatly, balance sheets and scrolls of census declarations long having soured her mood. “Have I?” he looks under his arm. “Oh yes, yes I have.” The Harrenite unfurls the thing, his unsteady gait leaning against a nearby wall. “Goodness me, is this one from New Reza? Union strikes yet again. The coal-workers, this time! Well, I say, I don’t think the King has a problem with Oren itself. Rather those damned strikers...”

The Viscount Rillsworth shakes his fist from his armchair, his worsening gout preventing him from attending the function. “Damned gout. It’s the mildew in this bloody house. Well, I really must sent madame Laraethryn and her husband-to-be a wedding present.”

You are a powerhouse.

I love it! Very proud of those who worked on this project for getting this ball rolling. +1

The elderly Viscount Rillsworth remembers the crone Helen Stiborovich, wringing his liver-spotted hands in his armchair as he reads the newspaper. “’We are a peaceful government’, she said. Ha! As if that fooled anyone. What happened to the kindly Savoyard regime that the pacifists demanded we break bread with, eh? Take the striped landsknecht hat off and you have a Nordling slattern playing dress-up.”

A letter is returned, by the post, to Tanith’s place of residence – in the admittedly rare event that the Imperial Postmaster-General’s department was operating as efficiently as it was supposed to. 18 GT 1770 To Ms. Tanith, I did read your open letter with interest, given the public discourse surrounding the topic. As an amateur student of history myself, I was particularly interested in the anecdote you presented about Lorin of Kaedrin. It is a topic that I have never undertaken much in the way of research on – I have a somewhat cursory awareness that she was the mother of Emperor Tobias, and that prior to that she had a husband, but I did not know that he was so much a terrible brute... I suppose that is an argument for maintaining more elven chroniclers in this country. Less would be forgotten that way, I should think. Regardless, as a solicitor by trade (albeit a venerable and retired one), I do feel compelled to write to you to defend arranged marriages. The first defense that I would have is that this anecdote that you have represented is, in addition to being an arranged marriage, a forced one, which I should think is a different matter entirely. It is a truly horrifying anecdote, but ultimately in this country the practice of a ‘forced marriage’ is already functionally outlawed. I shall explain my view: In the context of the Oren Revised Code, statute 301.032 and statute 301.033 state that, firstly, ‘men and women are those entitled to marriage in accordance to the Canon and these legal provisions’ and secondly that ‘there shall be no marriage without matrimonial consent’. However, there is an argument that that conflicts with the statute you cited, 301.0313, that states that ‘all marriages require the consent of the man and the legal patriarch of the woman participating in matrimony. If this patriarchal prerogative is withheld and the marriage proceeds, it is to be considered unlawful and null.’ To my view, they do not conflict, predominantly because ‘matrimonial consent’ is not explicitly defined in the code. It may well be the case that ‘matrimonial consent’ could mean the mutual consent, of man and woman, that you propose. The additional statute of the consent of the ‘legal patriarch’ is bizarrely worded, but in my opinion any court of law would uphold that this means ‘additional consent’, rather than ‘consent in the place of the woman’. This is supported by the fact that according to the Canon law of the Church, the sacrament of marriage is sacramentally valid only insofar as the man and woman provide their mutual consent. So, in essence, we have stumbled across the truly strange legal situation whereby many marriages may technically require the consent of three people, rather than two... Which, of course, is peculiar in itself, but from a legal standpoint it seems as if it were crafted to prevent elopement. I will touch more on that later. Nonetheless, at its core, both you and I (And most interpretations of the law) agree that any marriage ought to receive the consent of both the man and the woman. However, your open letter deals with the practice of ‘arranged marriages’. The issue here is that the overwhelming majority of arranged marriages are perfectly consensual. The Princess Imperial, who is to someday be Holy Orenian Empress in her own right, was herself betrothed to her husband in a match arranged by their parents when they were three and seven, respectively, and they grew up as great friends. In my role as an informal legal counsel to the late Lord Protector, I drew up much of the contract. The Emperor’s late wife was wed to him in an arranged marriage – she, in fact, rejected two candidates before him that had been arranged by her parents (proving that perhaps she did have some more agency than Lorin of Kaedrin). So, you could say that our country is in many ways built upon this practice. It is a way to encourage one to marry within their station and many such marriages are wonderful unions in any case. Nor is it true that every arranged marriage is as murderous as your anecdote, and any marriage independently contracted perfectly happy. I wish that mine parents had the good sense to arrange me a bride rather than allow me to marry the woman I did, which I undertook ostensibly out of some teenage love. She was a miserable old harridan and we are well rid of her! As to the legal conceit of the ‘patriarch’s consent’ – and I do detest the concept of the ‘patriarch’ as a primitive one perhaps as much as you do – for what is he patriarch of? Is he patriarch of a household or an Ecumenical Council? – there are practical and political concerns in the prevention of elopement. These are largely a byproduct of reforms towards the ability of women to hold property in the last seventy years. For example, prior to around 1710 (And this was the world that you knew) women were in all legal senses property of their fathers and husbands, an offshoot of their inability to own property in their own right. They were void from most systems of succession and it would be incredibly rare to see a woman as a peer, let alone a monarch in her own right. This is a sad consequence of dynasticism whereby those who developed our law and custom believed that the most important thing to a succession was a family name, which of course a woman can not pass on... we have made great leaps, since then, to move past this prism of thinking. Women are now entitled to more property in inheritances and a place in the succession of titles, peerages and thrones. For the first time in history, a daughter comes before her paternal uncle, which would have been unthinkable even a hundred years ago. But with these expanded natural rights must also come further responsibilities, and so the introduction of statutes to prevent elopement occurs. Elopement (or even marrying below one’s station without eloping) is a societal ill that could have grave consequences for the succession of title or property... and make no mistake, this is the case for both men and women. In theoretical terms, it would be just as bad for the majesty of the Imperial family for the Princess Imperial’s son to elope with a common courtesan as it would for her daughter to elope with a common lumberjack. Both of these actions would introduce unacceptable elements into the succession that would create a legal quagmire and in the worst case, a very bloody civil war. I understand that to be the crux of your ‘patriarchal consent’ statute. In short, I agree with you that none should be able to compel another to marry against their will, and I am perfectly willing to support you in any way I can as you lobby for the clarification of that, in the law. It is already the case that such a sacrament is invalid in Canon law without mutual consent. However, I disagree vehemently with your characterization of arranged marriages. For the most part, I believe them to be helpful for both individuals and in a more general sense, our wider society, and there are countless historical examples of this being the case. Yours sincerely, Sir Frederick Armas PC KHE The Rt Hon. The Viscount Rillsworth

Frederick Armas, by now in his eighty-third year, leers forward to his elvish comrade, the shepherd Avas, his pipe betwixt his withered lips. “Well, that’s quite the tricky question,” he says, liver-spotted hand tapping some tobacco into the whale-bone pipe, “I should think the land is cursed, as is any contention that its occupation is suddenly peaceful and loving-to-all. You are perhaps older than me – nay, indeed, you are older than me – so you surely you have not forgotten the death camps that were cultivated on the late Count of Leuven’s former land following his removal by the terrorist Rubernois. ‘We are but a peaceful sovereign, who seeks only good government,’ cries the crone Helen Stiborovich, who own father bequeathed her maidenhead to a war-band of rapacious Nordlings so they would aid him after he betrayed our good emperor. But this is but a fantasy. Forgiveness, as it were, can only really go so far. May then every government who invades our country simply abdicate itself and then be devoid of all responsibility? No. That did not work with Marius the Second in that terrible war of my youth, and so it shall not work here.”

“I have no conception,” offers another elderly administrator to an aide, reading Basrid’s public letter aloud, “Of neither Josephite nor Everardine soldiers, but only of Orenian soldiers.” “I do, however, have a conception of those who would readily betray their country to go over to the Nordlings, or the pillager-piasts of the great unwashed. The Everardine party, that I frankly support, should never be required to rely on the returning votes of ‘fair-weather’ Orenians.” “Your viewpoint is scintillating, sir,” says the aide with a hint of sarcasm.

The Viscount Rillsworth sends in his absentee vote from his study, hastily scrawled onto a scrap of paper. It reads: “To the Count of Metterden, To my view Lady Merentel has been remiss in her duties as a peer of the realm and I must vote aye, as my conscience directs me, to recommend the dissolution of her peerage. Yours, F. S Armas”

Lord Rillsworth looks up from his desk, having been forced to miss the coronation on account of a bout of pleurisy. He is feeling particularly senile today. “Peter the Second? Why, but of course, His Imperial Majesty is the second King of Kaedrin by that name, so that if there were a monarch of Kaedrin named Peter after him, he would be Peter the Third...” he offers to his aide, “But I should think that as he is emperor of all humanity, and the realm of Kaedrin is within the Empire, he is always to be addressed by the higher style and regnal number. I must write to Cardinal Albarosa expressing my displeasure with such a thing. What do you think, Fitzgerald?” The aide pauses for a moment before speaking, “I think you have far more important concerns, minister, sir.” The eighty-one year old man furrows his brow and grits his teeth, silently acquiescing.

Lord Rillsworth sends in his absentee vote after being issued a transcript in his study, having had to retire from the chamber after all this exertion – aye to investigate Lady Merentel further, and aye to a clerical peerage for the Bishop of Ves.

Frederick Armas (KHE, IG) rides past on his horse-bound carriage, looking a solid twenty five years younger than his true age. He winks to Peter de Sarkozy, Lord Pompourelia’s son. @Proddy The Lord Rillsworth enters into the hotel Owynsburg. @Draeris “Good morning, Sir Frederick,” says the servant, as Armas puts on the fat suit, in the service of the Bishop Albarosa. He looks fat as all hell, and out of breath, “These Vyronovs...a terrible disgrace, I ought to say. The worst examples of these cretins, hah!” He almost chokes, practically on a a prawn. The Viscount adjusts his outfit in front of the mirror, his obese gut taking up much of the screen’s space. He clips out his sideburns. A terrible creature prone to dementia, all things considered... “Who’s that fat bastard?” says HIH The Princess Imperial in passing, inquiring who is the creature who stalks Novellen. @DreamInSpace