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Diplomacy and Events / The Slippery Slope (Crisis in Mersch)
« on: July 25, 2023, 12:02:12 PM »
Chieftan Sylvia of Silverdale had been merely a teenager when the civil war in Academica had begun and she had been largely used as a puppet to try and create a cross Alba Karinyan Empire, it was a fools quest. She however had survived and had been smuggled out the tiny nation into Mersch. There she had grown into a woman who eagerly wanted to reclaim her homeland. The people of Silverdale had come so close to having a land of their own and now with many of the political refugees here in Mersch she saw no reason why the situation of that nations own civil war between the Monarchists and the Republicans ending couldn't be exploited. The so called Kingdom of Mersch still lacked a monarch and as such was relying on the Prime Minister, an inexperienced Hanna Dahl, to keep control. It had been a task that was not succeeding and in the last few months the Republicans and the refugees from Silverdale had switched from fighting an all out war to terrorist acts and today would be a key moment.
Should Mersch ever return to the point of having a stable royal family then the chances of achieving a new homeland for the people of Silverdale would be gone and so Sylvia had today planned something special.
Outside Holsbrukken a car waited in a side street. Duke Kristian Volk had been targeted before but here in Holsbrukken he felt safe. It was a small village where everyone knew everyone and he was well liked. As one of the outsiders in contention for the throne he was probably leat likely to be targeted which is why here and now was the perfect moment. The Duke had just a single security guard with him and as he walked to his favourite cafe for brunch, like he did every Tuesday the car turned onto the main street. Just as the Duke walked in and greeted the young girl behind the counter the car burst through the front window and with an ear shattering boom exploded killing both the Duke and the twelve people enjoying a quiet mid morning coffee.
Even before the news of the Duke's demise had been heard Duke Abraham Kristoffer, who had a slightly stronger but still weak claim on the throne, was attending a meeting with some investors. He'd planned to increase the size of his race horse enterprise and over the last year he'd formed a close bond with some investor from East Moreland. His team had conducted various background checks and it was clear Richard Marlon was someone in the know. He had twelve horses that had won well this past season and rumour had it he'd even trained a horse for Princess Freya. He was backed by millions from some lumber business and now the duo would team up. Marlon arrived with his team of staff and after a lovely early morning inspection of the Duke's facilities Richard was impressed. "I think I would be very happy to team up with His Lordship" Richard declared as the two men shook hands on a partnership. Richard turned to a young man, Stephen, who had been acting as his PA for the last few months. "Stephen can you grab my cheque book" Stephen placed the briefcase on the table between Richard and the Duke and took a rather odd deep breath.
"FOR SILVERDALE!" He yelled and flicked the case open. There was a large flash and boom as the briefcase, not containing paperwork but instead a block of C4 and several packets of nails. While those on the edges of what had been a cheerful moment now writhed on the ground a mass on blood, twisted bone and flesh. Stephen, the Duke and Richard had died almost instantly but by the time the situation had been dealt with by the emergency services there were two more dead and three people would require huge amounts of surgery to try and save their lives.
The final act of this bloody day came at Duchess Heidi Felds penthouse in Wahlstadt. She had perhaps the strongest claim on the throne but that mattered for little. The delivery intended for the floor below her penthouse was not the fridge that the packaging advertised, it was in fact a huge bomb. Placed in the lift and set to go to the floor below it had enough explosive force that it took out the top four floors of the building leaving a twist mess of metal and sending glass flying across the street injuring scores of people in the neighbouring office block.
By the end of the day three leading candidates for the throne were dead and along with them close to 80 Merschians.
Should Mersch ever return to the point of having a stable royal family then the chances of achieving a new homeland for the people of Silverdale would be gone and so Sylvia had today planned something special.
Outside Holsbrukken a car waited in a side street. Duke Kristian Volk had been targeted before but here in Holsbrukken he felt safe. It was a small village where everyone knew everyone and he was well liked. As one of the outsiders in contention for the throne he was probably leat likely to be targeted which is why here and now was the perfect moment. The Duke had just a single security guard with him and as he walked to his favourite cafe for brunch, like he did every Tuesday the car turned onto the main street. Just as the Duke walked in and greeted the young girl behind the counter the car burst through the front window and with an ear shattering boom exploded killing both the Duke and the twelve people enjoying a quiet mid morning coffee.
Even before the news of the Duke's demise had been heard Duke Abraham Kristoffer, who had a slightly stronger but still weak claim on the throne, was attending a meeting with some investors. He'd planned to increase the size of his race horse enterprise and over the last year he'd formed a close bond with some investor from East Moreland. His team had conducted various background checks and it was clear Richard Marlon was someone in the know. He had twelve horses that had won well this past season and rumour had it he'd even trained a horse for Princess Freya. He was backed by millions from some lumber business and now the duo would team up. Marlon arrived with his team of staff and after a lovely early morning inspection of the Duke's facilities Richard was impressed. "I think I would be very happy to team up with His Lordship" Richard declared as the two men shook hands on a partnership. Richard turned to a young man, Stephen, who had been acting as his PA for the last few months. "Stephen can you grab my cheque book" Stephen placed the briefcase on the table between Richard and the Duke and took a rather odd deep breath.
"FOR SILVERDALE!" He yelled and flicked the case open. There was a large flash and boom as the briefcase, not containing paperwork but instead a block of C4 and several packets of nails. While those on the edges of what had been a cheerful moment now writhed on the ground a mass on blood, twisted bone and flesh. Stephen, the Duke and Richard had died almost instantly but by the time the situation had been dealt with by the emergency services there were two more dead and three people would require huge amounts of surgery to try and save their lives.
The final act of this bloody day came at Duchess Heidi Felds penthouse in Wahlstadt. She had perhaps the strongest claim on the throne but that mattered for little. The delivery intended for the floor below her penthouse was not the fridge that the packaging advertised, it was in fact a huge bomb. Placed in the lift and set to go to the floor below it had enough explosive force that it took out the top four floors of the building leaving a twist mess of metal and sending glass flying across the street injuring scores of people in the neighbouring office block.
By the end of the day three leading candidates for the throne were dead and along with them close to 80 Merschians.