garentoft

“We should vote for people based on competency, not gender.” Mumbles Lauritz as he reads the missive that was mailed to him by Vivaca.

Franz taps his pocket, which is surprisingly large for a nine year old. It’s never too early to become a shopaholic after all.

“Isabel has cooties.” Franz remarks to his older brother, whom also read the invitation out loud for him. @Xarkly

Lauritz signed the Lorraine over his chest, sighing at the passing of the only Emperor he had ever known. “Long live the Empress.” He said with a firm nod, before returning to his work.

A letter is delivered to the President of the House of Commons, bearing the Swans of Kalden. “To the good President of the House of Commons, Lukas Rakoczy. I do apologise for being unable to attend the session today. My mind and body have been preoccupied with work elsewhere, as well as my moving to the countryside for my soon-to-be retirement, which I seek to enjoy the fullest. Alas, I must still send in my vote for the House of Commons, as to be expected of a proper member of such an institution. Thankfully, my mind is as sharp as ever and I have duly considered the votes in question. But first, I must tell you a story from my youth. You see, back at home, Miss Belinda would milk the cows every day. We had plenty of cows, twenty at least. I’m sure that there was a certain comfort in knowing what to pre-occupy your day with, for Miss Belinda surely had enough to do. Anyhow, one night while Belinda was milking the cows, she got to the eldest of the cows, Old Doris, as we called her. Old Doris, being up in the years, was also the rowdiest of all the cows, and kicked Belinda square in the face! My! Belinda was disfigured for the rest of her life, her head half-tilted to the side. It was a horrible sight, so we had her replaced with a new milkmaid that we could bear look at. Of course, this leads me directly to my votes on the two motions in question. I shall vote aye for both. Sir Lauritz Henrik Kalden Christiansen KM MHC.”

what’s the square root of 582 divided by 5 plus 6 minus 11,38 times 87,3?

Name: Franz Leopold Barbanov Age: 6 Areas of Study: Culture [MC Name]: gusanoarentonio [Discord]: garentoft#1980

The young Franz stares intensely at the invitation that he was so courtesely delivered by a courier. However, upon the conclusion that he cannot read, he runs off to ask his older brother Aleksandr what it says. @Xarkly

A letter is mailed to the President of the House of Commons, Lukas Rakoczy, bearing the Two Swans of Kalden. “Dear President of the House of Commons, This is a most prudent matter that must be dealt with immediately, therefore I vote AYE on this matter. - Sir Lauritz Christiansen KM MHC.”

A letter is mailed to the President of the House of Commons, Lukas Rakoczy, bearing the Two Swans of Kalden. “Dear President of the House of Commons, Recent appointments made by the nominated and acting Secretary of the Civil Affairs have made my reconsider my vote on the matter. And while I still remain sceptical of the candidate in question, it is prudent (as it is with all Secretaries that we have confirmed in our time) that we let time tell the true picture of it all. Therefore, I do with this letter announce that I am changing my vote to an AYE on the nomination of Victor Halcourt as Secretary of Civil Affairs. Which, as such, would pass the nomination. I do hope that this act of good faith is noted by the Josephite bench, and that the Secretary in question continue to work to the best of his abilities. Signed, Sir Lauritz H. Christiansen KM MHC.”

Franz stares at the poster with a lack of understanding, however his debut act may very well be the start of a long and successful acting career for the youth.

A letter is sent in, sealed with the two swans of Kalden. “I write this letter to hereby state my support for the current motion, that being Jonah Stahl-Elendil as Leader of the House, and Lukas Rakoczy as President of the Commons. - Sir Lauritz H. Christiansen KM MHC.”

TOMORROW, FOREVERMORE! VOTE LAURITZ CHRISTIANSEN 1780! Hail to thee, Citizens of Helena, Reza and Owynsburg. I am Lauritz Christiansen, and I am running for House of Commons in the 1780 election. An Introduction to Sir Lauritz H. Christiansen The most experienced politician in the House of Commons last term, having served a total of fifteen years in the country’s legislature as both a Senator and a Member of the House of Commons, as well as being the President of the Senate for eight years. I have also spent nine years as a judge, practicing the law of the Empire for various trials, such as Crown v. Corbish. On top of this, I am also an influential entrepreneur, owning the three companies Christiansen & Wick Solicitors-At-Law, Christiansen Publishing, and most recently, Christiansen Lemonade. Besides all of this practical work, I am also an author, political theorist, and possesses a Doctorate in Judicial Studies. I was also awarded a Knighthood in the Order of Merit in 1773 for his political and legal work. The Path for Tomorrow My main ambition has and will always be the prosperity of every man and woman in this nation. I will continue to work towards this end with whoever shares this vision in the House of Commons. Additionally, I shall make a few pledges to you all. The Independent Candidate - To be an independent candidate, without influence from the Josephites and Everardines, instead only being a servant to the men and women of the nation. My mailbox will always be open to the letters and ideas of concerned citizens, no matter which part of our country they are from. Continued Legal Reform - Last Diet, I proposed and passed multiple reforms to the Oren Revised Code, which serve to improve the status of our legal system to the best of my ability. I will continue to tirelessly write legal reforms to make our law fairer and simpler, allowing everyone in this nation a chance in the eyes of the law. An Active Candidate - Last Diet, I proposed and passed more bills through the House of Commons than any other candidate, even more so than both the Everardines and the Josephites. I pride myself on being the most active and prolific candidate in the House of Commons, and will continue to work as hard as possible in the next Diet, should I be elected once more. A Father to the New - I suspect there will be many new Members of the House of Commons next Diet, as many have decided to retire, particularly in Everardine circles. Therefore, I will, as the most experienced candidate, promise to do the best I can to make sure that every new Member of the House of Commons settles into the House of Commons properly. Endorsements My first and foremost endorsement is to those who will run independently of the Josephites and the Everardines. I know that there are many in this category, such as Lukas Rakoczy, who was the only other independent last Diet. I do believe that there are many independent candidates, such as Sigmar Baruch, and Edward Galbraith, and I will always encourage you to vote vote for an independent. If you are more for the Josephite agenda, I encourage some of their good candidates, such as Konstantin Wick and George Galbraith, who I also believe to be good candidates.

SURNAME: Christiansen FIRST NAME: Lauritz H. ADDRESS OF RESIDENCE: 7 Silver Jubilee Fountain DATE OF BIRTH: 1733 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)): gusanoarentonio

It had been a long day in the office at Christiansen & Wick, which was conveniently also the home of Lauritz. He had awoken at sunrise, cooking a healthy meal for himself and his five children, Margrethe, Jens, Edith, Francis, and Viktor. The breakfast consisted primarily of bacon, eggs, and bread. Afterwards, he had headed to the markets to acquire more flour for his baking, as well as some cocoa, for today he was baking a cake to celebrate Jens and Edith’s 15th birthdays. He returned from the markets at around noon, and thus began on his endeavour to bake the chocolate birthday cake for his two twins. Oh how they smiled with glee once they saw the finished product, a most delicately constructed cake with a bountiful chocolate taste. Truly, this was a birthday to remember for the two. He spent the rest of the day in his office, tirelessly drafting bills for the Commons, overseeing the development of new lemonade tastes, making sure that there was no man or woman within the Empire without a lawyer, and ensuring that the printing presses were publishing the newest literature to the nation. It was near midnight as he laid in bed, for he jolted awake with a sudden realisation. He had forgotten to vote on the nomination of Farooq Gray to the Supreme Court. It was frequent that the due to the buzyness of his everyday life, the veteran statesman would forgot a thing or two during the day. Tiredly, he slumped out of his bed, making his way towards his desk. There, he sat himself down and penned a letter addressed to the President of the Commons, Sir Konstantin Wick. “Dearest Konstantin, and thus by proxy the House of Commons, I write to you with earnest love of this institution and the nation, and to finally submit my vote on the nomination of Farooq Gray to the Supreme Court. Mister Gray is a fellow veteran statesman, and a good friend, whom I believe to be more than capable of sitting as one of the members of our Supreme Court. It is my hope that the retired Solicitor-General can bring newfound diligence and haste to an institution which has slowed over recent years, as you have so personally spoken to me about. It is therefore that I have decided to vote aye on the nomination. Signed, Sir Lauritz Christiansen.”

Hearing the news of the death of his once mentor and close friend, Lauritz broke into tears within the confines of his home, weeping for one of the heroes of the modern age.

Lauritz signed the Lorraine over his chest, releasing a sigh at the news of the passing of his former colleague, Sir Konrad. “He was a good man, a capable politician. He will be missed, surely, his work for the Diet will always be remembered.”

Lauritz reads the missive and smiles, “How very curious, this!” He proclaims, before considering the birthstones of his children, and their destinies.

@Piov @Xarkly Three letters are sent by Lauritz Christiansen, one to Sir Terrence May, another to Sir Konstantin Wick, and the third to the print at Christiansen Publishing. “To my friends, Terrence and Konstantin, I hope that you are both doing well, and that your households prosper. I have not spoken to you in many years, Terrence, perhaps even a decade. I hope that your return to your familial career of fishing has gone well up in Valwyck, and that you receive this letter in due time. And while I did see you just the other day, Konstantin, I must once more congratulate you on engagement and soon to be wedding. Of course, I do intend to attend it myself, as both you and HRH are good friends of mine. Nevertheless, I must endure into the content of this letter! I assume that we have all had our issues with the Diet, yet I have always found the most pressing and most concerning to be our two parties, or factions, the Josephites and the Everardines. This is not because I am against the idea of parties altogether, no, but it rather has to do with the title of this letter, their origin. The Josephites and Everardines are artificial concepts, produced for the Edict of Reform of 1763. The ideas of these here Josephites and Everardines did not exist until then, and likely would have not come into existence in the first place, had it not been for their artificial creation. This striking lack of natural progression into the development of these parties has created an environment in which neither party truly prospers. While it is true, in my opinion, that what would now be described as Josephite thought dominated the Senate of yesteryear, there was still plenty of room for disagreement amongst ourselves, and there was certainly no party leader to tell us what was to be and what wasn’t to be. I do find the lesser of the two evils to be these Josephites, and the Everardines to be the true abomination. The ideas of the Everardines were never much present in political establishments prior to the Edict of Reform, and the three elections since have come to show that Everardine ideology is nothing more than a propped up scarecrow for the Josephites to beat in elections and proclaim victory over. Where one party can barely hang onto what few seats it has in the Commons, due to the lack of ideological precedence among politicians and the general population. The other party, however, has an ideology so varied among established politicians and the populace, that it could easily be split into a parade of other parties. I know that you, Terrence, fundamentally disagree with many of the beliefs of Arthur Callahan, but are you both not Josephites in our current system? This once more brings me back to the natural development and progression of parties. For I firmly believe that had the Edict of Reform not mandated the creation of these two arbitrary factions, such factions could have formed in their own time. If such had been let happen, we could have a truly competitive system in which the control of the Diet can actually vary election to election, unlike the Josephite dominance shown in the present day. Alas, I can only dream to see what the Diet would’ve been like without the artificial and arbitrary creation of the Josephites and the Everardines, though I suspect that a mirage of different ideologies could have flourished there. Yet, it is my desire to work towards the disestablishment of these creations that plague the House of Commons, so that we may truly reach another golden age of the legislature and the Diet. The Amendments to the Edict of Reform were a step in the right direction, allowing people like myself to run independently of either party. The Josephites and Everardines must become a thing of the past, the failed experiment that they are, and we must move on to achieve greater things by allowing the natural development of parties and ideologies within the Diet. And I do so earnestly hope that the two of you, one which I view as a mentor to myself, and the other that I view as my protege, can help me achieve this goal. With earnest love, Lauritz.”

Lauritz reads the ethnography and smiles oh so brightly for the people of the city he calls home.

this also

“She was the best sharpshooter I’ve ever met.” Lauritz mumbles to himself, no doubt saddened to hear the news. He buttons up his coat and heads out to find Isabel.

SOLO REGISTRATION: Competitor’s Name: Lauritz Christiansen Competitor’s Age: 44 Username: gusanoarentonio