"Flight 28 you are clear for inbound" An Air Force Flight Sergeant who was acting as the airstrips air traffic controller cleared the latest flight for its descent. The aircraft had been coming in roughly every two hours, the pace having slowed as the flood of refugees had become a trickle and as such the flights had been more about bringing in supplies to ensure the mission to establish a camp if needed could continue.

The Red Legionnaires and their UC counterparts maintained their ever present patrol of the perimeter they'd established. Things had been quiet for the last couple of days, they'd seen in the distance various militia's but often it was impossible to tell whether they were the Hand of Emet or the Khalinz Brigades. Any that came too close had an express meeting with the Air Force and a few smouldering vehicles marked the landscape as reminders about what happened to anyone who threatened the camp.

The transport plane bounced as it touched down as came to a stop, as the rear ramp came down the troops on the ground scurried up the ramp and began unloading the supplies, boxes of dehydrated food, medical supplies, a few more tents, even a portable generator, all where stored away as the 38 refugees made their way onboard. The air loadmaster checked everyone was strapped in and settled before the pilot closed the rear ramp and prepared for take off. The aircraft took off effortlessly and climbed towards the clear blue sky, it was a routine operation right up until the horrible sound of metal breaking filled the air followed immediatley by flames and smoke. The pilot declared a "May Day" but there was nothing that could help him as the engine on the other side joined its brother on fire. The pilot did his best to hold the aircraft in the sky but before he could do much more the aircraft hit the three tops the wings breaking off as the aircraft was cartwheeled. A horrible sounds of an aircraft suddenly splintering wood filled the valley and a plume of smoke could be seen around three miles outside the perimeter.

"Bollocks" Tom Saxby hefted his webbing and rifle knowing some kind of medevac effort would be needed. No words where passed as a team of ten of Red's departed the refugee camp and began heading North towards the beacon like plume.

The following application has been submitted for consideration

AN APPLICATION FOR SITE REGISTRATION

Name of Site:- The Holy City of Seitch

Description of Site:- The city of Seitch has existed since the 7th Century and sits of the edge of the Holy Desert of Kaitaine. The city consists of a series of mudbrick buildings often considered to be the earliest skyscrapers. The mud bricks are made from the nearby wadi and most skyscrapers are recoated on a biannual bases with the mud. The city also has just outside its walls the Corrino Palace seat of the influential Corrino family. All buildings are in good condition although annual recoating work has not been carried out over the last five years.

Why is the site significant beyond its own nation:- The city of Seitch is significant for four reasons.

1. The city is where the earliest foundations of the Bene Gesserit faith were laid. The city is the most holy site in the world to the Bene Gesserit diaspora who live mainly in Bakkermaya, Ui Cenneslaig, Achkaerin and Cantabria (OOC - Maybe else where in regards to Cantabria as needs confirming). Therefore a significant number of people around the globe are connected to the site.

2. It is the only place in the world where the spice Melange is produced. The spice is made by harvesting the discarded skins from Sandworm growth, these creatures are "farmed" in giant sandfilled stone tanks which are emptied once a year, the sand sifted and the skins collected. The skin is then ground up to form a red powder which the faithful believe has significant power in worship. The non-faithful believe it tastes of cinnamon. Therefore Seitch is unique in producing this as well as maintaining centuries old production processes.

3. The city is quiet possibly the largest mudbrick settlement still inhabited today. The residents number some 50,000 and see themselves as custodians of the Bene Gesserit faith and the buildings that stand, much as they did 1000 years ago or so.

4. The Bene Gesserit faith places an emphasis on gaining knowledge. As such the city has many hidden depositories of books, scrolls, archives and other such objects worthy of study. These are being found all the time and come from centuries of Missionara Protectiva collecting them from around Mundus. As such the city may be the site of many great studies yet to be found and could be considered by many to be one of the longest still fucntioning archives in the world.


We hope that this organisation will see fit to add our Holy City to your Register of sites.

Signed

Lena Atreides
CETO Representative of the Theocracy of Kaitaine.

As such in accordance with CETO rules the application shall be on file until 10pm (East Moreland Time) on 4/7/2018 for questions or requests for further information.

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The Temple of Thiban was constructed in 1203 by the King of East Moreland known as Hugh of The White Horse. The God Thiban is the God of the Sea and Skies. The Temple in Stoneton is the highest temple to any of the Gods belonging to the Cult of Helus anywhere in the world. As well as being one of the oldest still standing Temples to this religion the Temple also uses a unique building technique. Its walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, or staves, hence the name "stave temple". The four corner posts were connected to one another by ground sills, resting on a stone foundation. The rest of the staves then rise from the ground sills, each stave notched and grooved along the sides so that they lock into one another, forming a sturdy wall. As a result no nails, no glues or any other fastening is used save carpentry. Clearly this is a structure requiring an incredible amount of skill to make.

The interior of the Temple contains several inscriptions to the Gods, in particular to Thiban. These inscriptions feature the languages of ancient Seaforth, Moreland and Transvaal. As such this makes it some of the earliest evidence of the pilgrims who journey to the Temple even today. The Temple was later extended with a stone tower which houses the archive of the Temple which contains records going back to the 13th Century.

The Temple is one of the few surviving stave Temples in existence and is certainly one of the best preserved using the ancient technique."

 It is a site that covers several thousand years of ancient East Moreland history. Essentially it is a system of caves which have been inhabited and used for various purposes from around 8000BC - 1000AD. Amongst this cave system sits what is called the God's Forge. An almost perfectly preserved blacksmiths forge which has been dated to around 1000BC has been found and we have evidence of iron workings from the same period.

The site has been extensively studied yet researchers have still not cleared the whole of it.



The site was first explored in 1801 and the initial discoveries were of a cave settlement, homes cut into rock. These showed incredible stonemason skill. Carvings of the various Gods and Goddess linked to the Cult of Helus.


As you venture further into the cave tannery pits have been excavated. This gives us evidence of ancient leather workings. This and the iron work found leads us to believe the site was a workers settlement for an ancient arms factory.

Once past the tannery we come to the forge itself. The forge was given the name The Gods Forge after the ancient East Moreland folklore legend that the Gods of Helus gave humans the secret of iron working, via his fellow God Jekar,  to help them create the first swords so they could defeat the evil Underlords. The forge was almost perfectly preserved by cave silt. Its fire pit is inscribed with the names of over 20 different Gods and mentions of ancient Kings. It is written in ancient East Morelandish and many of the Kings we are still discovering more about. The forge is one of the most holy sites to members of the Cult of Helus who honour the sword as a mark of faith and honour.



Once you reach the forge itself the age of the cave settlements begins to get older the further back we have excavated. Researchers have evidence of other industries taking place here the further back in time we go. One of the major industries seems to be pottery making. This has allowed researchers to take samples of  what goods where traded in the pots, these have ranged from wines to food stuffs giving us an excellent idea of what ancient East Morelanders ate and drank.


So far researchers have only explored around 70% of the cave system as the rest is blocked by centuries of cave silt. Reseachers are still finding older and older artefacts. Most resently students and staff from the Royal Merriman University found cave paintings which are believed to date to around 8000BC. They also believe once they move even further back into the cave system we could uncover a further 2000 years worth of History.



Gods Forge  is a prime example of how industry and settlement have changed over a period of almost 10,000 years of human habitation. It has allowed us to examine the changes to society for a period from before written sources. The Forge itself is the most intact Blacksmiths forge from the beginning of the Iron Ageon this record. It shows a pivotal moment in the history of mankind.

EM supports seaforth application.

East Moreland supports the quintelia and miteravia applications

Freya watched the faces of Amelia and Rebecca as Adriana spoke, there was still little reassurance on some matters and that raised a few eyebrows. Then came the matter of "decimating the Illumic fleet" and this was ground on which Freya felt very solid, after all she'd joined the military at 18 and seen service in several of her nations frontlines, she knew her way around amphibious warfare ships rather well. "ah the Megitsune" Freya smiled, "Nice ship.....helicopter destroyer or aircraft carrier in disguise?" she asked the question. "You see our armed forces insist that to gain promotion past Major you spend some time outside your unit, you know where I spent mine? The air force, I got my pilots licence when I wasn't much older than you and I've always kept it up. I wanted to get my hands on our Dragonbreath fighter, our newest toy but I got stuck with the Dragonheart but that was still a lot of fun and we did operate alongside our Dragonbreaths, you see they could operate off of something like the Megitsunes, make it a funky little aircraft carrier. The treaty we sign needs to be future proof and who is to say in years to come you won't be putting some VSTOL aircraft of sorts onto it. So here is what I suggest, some defence sources call it a helicopter destroyer, you can label it as one of those and it can count as part of your destroyer quota, the second option I suggest is that in addition to us setting limits of types of ship we stipulate that no fixed wing aircraft either manned or unmanned may be kept aboard a ship based in the Illumic. As for things such as tankers, hospital ships I have no issue with them its combat vessels I wish to see a hard limit on."

"You speak of coming together to rebuild what brought our nations together" Amelia spoke for the first time in the meeting, "Sounds very flowery and diplomatic but what do you think brought our nations together that needs rebuilding? I have my own view but I'm interested to hear yours and you've not said how that would be done?"

With rumours of King David having a relationship with a Lodjain Lady in Waiting having been started by Erin Osman a few weeks ago it seems the rumour may be true. This weekend King David, who has named as Baron of Hearthstone by King Andrew of Seaforth, was seen visiting his new property and in the afternoon was spotted about town heading into an exclusive restaurant. The King was seen chatting with locals and had a laptop tucked under his arm as he made his way inside perhaps for a working lunch to keep up with developments back home in East Moreland. However 20 minutes later Lady Stasya Pelagiya, Lady in Waiting to Queen Klara II of Lodja, arrived at the same restaurant in a slinky black dress. The pair could not been seen from the street leading many to conclude they were dining together and in a private room perhaps. The two were not seen leaving and perhaps staying late into the evening.

There have been rumours of the King dating several women since his break up with Matilda Osman, these have included swimming legend Daisy Greechan, the only woman he has admitted being in a relationship with, the two however called it a day because of her military commitments onboards REMNS King Robert. The King has also been seen attending events in the company of his former Professor Maddie Howard and Royal Court Artist Jocelyn Hopkins, who accompanied him to the Coronation of Emperor Orion. The buzz on Lodjain social media is that Lady Stasya is fluent in Morelandish and has been the King's translator on his visits to Lodja, which have been rather frequent since the appointment of Lady Stasya. The two have another link as Lady Stasya's father, Duke Tobias Pelagiya has recently been named as a special envoy to Alba Karinya. As Lodjain politics is famed for being built upon personal relationships this could be further proof of the King and the Lady in Waitings blossoming romance. The next day the King was seen attending a local rugby match while Lady Stasya was spotted in several exclusive boutiques in the nearby town.

The East Moreland monarch has been urged to marry quickly by many in his nation who wish to see the royal family enlarged. It would be doubtful that a non-Morelander would be welcomed with open arms but the King also defied convention by marrying a commoner in Matilda Osman.

---

It has been two years since the fugitive Prince James has been seen yet rumours still persist of him being free and roaming Mundus. Several reports have placed him at key incidents across the globe including the evacuation of Uppsala and the Cultist Genocide in Seleucid. The Prince fell from grace when he supported a terrorist overthrow of his cousin King David using the offer of pardons and large rewards to East Moreland penal army unit known as Blue Legion. This coup was defeated and King David returned to the throne, in the aftermath Prince James was disinherited and narrowly avoided the death penalty after a panel of international judges voted to not permit the execution. The 28 year old was instead sentenced to life imprisonment but somehow with the aid of his Borlander allies escaped, he has been on the run ever since but did find time to father a child with a 17 year old religious cult member. The fugative royal has never seen his son who is now two years old and called James Jnr, the child and his mother Charlotte are supported by King David and live in a lodge on the Palace grounds.

In recent weeks however James has been spotted first in Zimalia where one person claimed they had seen him working as a hotel manager, meanwhile someone else claims that James was seen working as a fisherman in Paracambi. In total it is thought the East Moreland Police, who are still officially searching for him, have received some 60 reports in the last two months alone.

It was the morning everyone was due to arrive and Brigadier Kelly liked to watch everyone come into the barracks. It was a well rehearsed scene and one he remembered from his own selection back in the depths of time. Those hoping to get selected would be meet at the gatehouse, signed in and issued some kit, they'd then be directed over to the Candidates Mess, a H shaped block that would be there home until they either messed up and got sent home or, for the very select few, they completed training. It was in a way demoralising as you were assigned a bed and over the weeks you saw the numbers dwindle after each day, it wasn't uncommon to be the only one in your little section of the H but you were still responsible for keeping the whole place neat and tidy. It was rather ironic as once in the elite Legion inspections and room cleaning became pretty much non existent. Kelly's office looked out onto the parade square the candidates would walk across as each arrived and went through the process, he'd stand there stiring his cup of tea served in a bright white china tea cup as though sizing them up. It was odd to see people's reactions, some would fix his gaze as though trying to show they were not intimidated while others would try and look anywhere but at him, he remembered one year he even had one candidate wave and drop all their gear, Kelly understood he failed the first day of selection but wasn't sure as he didn't involve himself in the selection process, that was why he had people like Redfern.

The first candidates would be allowed to arrive from 6am but at 8am the doors would be locked and no other candidates allowed in, Alex had already been for a run and weights session before making his way into the gatehouse. "Start the clock" Sgt. Olly Thomas said just as Alex walked in, there on the desk was a large digital timer which was showing the time down to 10th's of a second. The duty desk NCO, a veteran of the Legion with a hand missing unlocked the front door and already three men jumped to attention and made their way inside as Wolfe emerged from the Brig after his extremely early arrival.

"That's a good start" Alex perched on one of the back desks nursing a brew he'd just poured, they'd be expecting about 80 candidates, if they were lucky they'd get six, maybe seven Legionnaires from the selection course. The attrition rate was brutal but it had to be as the Red's believed they were honestly the most elite force on Mundus, even those who failed usually returned to their units as better soldiers and therefore the selection course improved the standard of the whole army. Alex nodded a friendly greeting to Wolfe as he was shown to the Quartermaster who began issuing the kit.

There was a steady flow of candidates over the next hour or so as people arrived in dribs and drabs, generally around ten minutes after the train had arrived. Some walked, some got cabs, Alex liked to tease those, "How much he charge you?" Alex asked one.

"Twenty Quid Sir" the Corporal from the Marines snapped to attention causing a few sniggers from the assembled Red's. They all knew the journey was no more than a fiver but in keeping with the idea of trying to keep a military base as secret as possible the taxi drivers always took a very circular route.  It was now getting close to the deadline and Alex had even found time to slip away and have a shower before returning with a slice of toast clutched in his hand.

"You got butter on that?" Barks asked him from his position sat on the front desk. "Butter's bad for you, wasted calories and you need to cut all the ones you can at the moment" The Corporal chastised his senior officer. "Fatty Redfern isn't a good example for these newbies" Barks shook his head walked over and quiet literally took the food from Alex's mouth as he went to take a bite of the fresh buttery toast. "You'll thank me" Barks said his mouth full of toast as Saxby and Thomas just stood laughing. Alex didn't have time to respond before they heard a loud roar of an engine outside. Alex and Saxby made their way outside and found a large black motorbike like a Harley Davidson being parked up. The rider carefully strapped his helmet to the back rest and unhooked his duffle bag from one of the hooks on the side of the tourer.

"Hi....I'm here for Red Legion selection" the man extended a hand and just got blanked by the pair of serving Reds. "That way is it?" the tall well spoken candidate asked.

"Erm...no....this is the rapid deployment exit.....you want to go left here, down the far end and left again" Saxby said trying to keep a straight face. The man thanked them and set off, as he turned the corner the pair went back inside and began laughing as they spotted three minutes left on the count. The group stood watching CCTV as the man realised there was no entrance, glanced at his watch and then sprinted back the way he'd just come, he bounced off the door as he barrelled into the office and fell onto the floor. "And.....he's.....safe" Saxby said mimicing a Baseball announcer as Thomas hit the button on the clock stopping it a just tick past the 8am cut off.

"Bastards" the panting recruit muttered.

"What?" Barks yelled at him lifting him up by the scruff of his leather jacket. "Listen here biker boy, you rock up last minute and act the idiot" he was leading him towards the door, "You capable of reading?" Barks pointed up to above the gatehouse where a list of various functions was listed one reading Candidates Sign In. "You miss the obvious then you get me killed....I don't like getting killed, tried it once and it was shite" He let go and walked back inside leaving the man outside wondering if this meant he'd been canned before even starting. He took a deep breath and made his way back inside.

He found a group of rather unmilitary looking types behind the desk, dressed in civilian attire he had no idea who any of them where until he recognised Alex Redfern, "Major Redfern, do I need to go home?" he asked nervously.

"Name?" Was all Alex said.

"Liutenant Tristan Rowe sir" there was a visible stiffening in the mans demeneur. Alex held a clipboard and scanned it as though reading the mans information determining whether it was worth keeping him, he even lifted up the first page, in reality he was reading the fire regulations but everything served a purpose. Alex was watching the man, did he seem concerned, did he seem like he would take being binned like a man or cry like a big girl.

"You Commander Rowe's boy?" Alex finally asked his brain having recalled a link with the name.

"Yes sir" Tristan's eyes didn't move from the spot he'd picked on the wall.

"Sure if you pissed off the Marines's would have a former aircraft carrier commanders son. They like family like that." Alex was onto page three of the fire regs telling him which extinguisher to use for different types of fire. "Say's here you have issues with time keeping..."

"Who said that sir?" the man interrupted, his eyes bulging immediately realising he'd probably just screwed up. It was far from the truth and the news had shocked Rowe.

"I did" Barks had vaulted the desk and was in the man's face, apart from Barks only came to the man's mid chest but the bulldog shaped NCO was still enough to force the recruit back on his heels. "Next time you get a time it could be to meet me to put effective fire on an enemy position while these retards conduct a strike. But your attention to detail sent you a few klicks the wrong way....now they're screwed and I'm screwed and that means I'd make it my mission in life to screw you......you'd like that though wouldn't you being a Navy brat." Barks turned and winked at his squadmates.

"Stand down Barks" Alex said calmly flinging the clipboard back onto the table behind the front desk. "Rowe I'll make this simple, I'll be running your selection. I operate a two strikes policy, first one you get a warning which Barks has just administered, get a second you can jump back on that bike and piss off......do we understand each other?"

"Yes sir" Rowe breathed a sigh of relief that he still had a chance. Redfern motioned for him to head through to the Quartermasters office.

As Rowe walked through the opening Saxby had lifted up on the front desk it was Barks who broke the silence. "Hey Rowe.....you watch the news yeah?" the nod confirmed that indeed Rowe did. "You know they say the camera adds ten pounds.....you reckon Alex here forgot to give it back now the cameras off him." The room burst out in laughter and a confused Rowe just put his head down and headed through to grab his kit.

Tim was concerned, there were things you just didn't do in life and one was to manipulate children for political means. "I have two conditions if I am to do this. The first is you realise that Matilda Osman can not and should not represent East Moreland in any official capacity. She lost that right once King David removed her title of Queen, she is a good woman at heart no doubt and has enough influence as an Osman and for the actions she has taken for charity to be able to act in this capacity as a private citizen. The second condition is that you will not have any kind of physical assault take place on or near her and Princess Rhiannon. Beside you'll have at least one royal protection agent with Rhiannon, the last thing I think you'd want is some actor being shot by accident. If you meet these two conditions I can make introductions to Matilda of course."

Martin was pleased that it looked like they'd be getting an order now all that was left to do was discuss the finer details. "We charge $600,000 per unit, however for orders of that size we'd be willing to reduce it to $570,000. Add to that the deal will need two further points, the first is that you do not seek to alter the software of the machines, the second being that we will provide software updates at no additional cost for the next five years." Martin knew Achkaerin were Uppsala signatories so getting an export permit would not be difficult. "We'll naturally throw in some kind of training package to get your operators up and running, I can't see it being an issue bringing them here what with the various agreements between our two nations. Does this sound reasonable?"

"Its certainly a fantastic representation" Freya said as she examined the small gift. "I'm sure my brother will appreciate the sentiment" she carefully handed the object off to Rebecca. Freya lead the way towards the waiting cars and opened the door for Adrianna and Cole before joining them in the back. "The city may looks rather old fashioned but its a hub of the modern high profile Morelanders, all the music stars, film stars, and the like live here. It's the fastest growing city in East Moreland" Freya watched the old stone buildings fly by as a Police escort allowed the Red Legionnaire accompanied convoy through all the traffic lights making sure they had no need to stop. Even the old medeival bridge that was a major tourist attraction had been kept free for their transit, the padlocks left by lovers decorating the mesh fencing that was the only modern addition. Once across the bridge they wound around the hill as though going to the castle but with what would be one lap left of the climb they stopped outside a large public building "This way if you will" Freya instructed more than asked as they made their way up the steps.

There was a bit of a cue at the entrance to the Museum of History but Freya lead them to a door off to one side marked staff and without ceremony made her way inside. She'd been here many times herself, usually dragged by her brother who always seemed to get the choice for family outings. She hadn't actually minded as the knights and weapons on display fascinated her. "We've this gallery to ourselves" Freya announced as she entered a long thin hall. Glass walls hung from beautifully painted roof to polished wooden floor, behind them hung hundreds of swords each bearing a number next to them. "The hall of steel" Freya said the words almost reverently gazing up at the walls. A series of comfy looking brown leather arm chairs made a circle in the middle of the room. Freya waited for her guests to be sat, "I thought here has less formal a setting than some stuffy palace, and it is a childhood favourite place of the Ironside's.....well I think the world knows big brother is a history nerd and well.....I had a thing for Number 27" Freya went and looked at the sword hanging on the wall at eye level, or at least from when she was 10 year of age. "The sword of Rhiannon the Fierce, she was my hero growing up. I loved Dad telling me the stories, and now I listen to David telling them his own little Rhiannon" She turned and took her seat, surrounded by so much steel she felt oddly comfortable with over 300 swords of show. " One day you and her will be the ones running the Kingdoms, and so I guess I should ask what kind of arrangement will she find when she inherits the throne?" and with that they were down to business. 

If you haven't found discord yet it's a great place to get settled in.

Oksana had grown up in a culture where gift giving was common but it always had some agenda be it part of a business deal, trying to earn the favour of certain nobles or a way of buying loyalty of the Plebs. It was only within families that gifts were truly without any meaning other than love. Being alone with Alya made her a little nervous because while she was used to diplomatic style talks as a mayor this was a different game, international politics brought much more pressure and she knew everyone in the room would be making judgements. "Your Majesty is too generous" she said as she accepted the gifts, "I hope that next year I can return your hospitality when you and your family come and visit the Jewel of the Desert Festival. I'm sure my family would be thrilled to see you there" She was confident that Akakois wouldn't make any objection after all these were his friends and having neighbours to visit was a vital part of international relations. "Perhaps you'd even consider a trip to my homeland, with my Mother's connections and my own I am sure the two families could take part in one of their many royal balls, they often say its not a weekend in Gaia unless the Island of the Goddess is hosting a ball." she explained as she examined the goods of the shop picking out a few items for her new step-children.

"I'd like to take my step-daughters" using the term still sounded odd, some of them were as old if not older than her but she was now their mother of sorts, "something to wear that screams tradition from your nation." she asked advice.

---

Speaking of the joint operations the King had been pleased with the answer, "Now, its rather bold but our nation is considering a new missile boat, fast response, packs a punch, rather small but deadly." Akakois began explaining, "Here" he passed his smartphone over with an image on the screen. "Its based of an existing hull of ours but the layout above is brand new, it'll cost us about $50million per vessel, not dirty cheap but much cheaper than fancy destroyers, strength in numbers so to speak. Would you be interested in sharing the development costs?" Akakois suspected the vessel could be rather handy if things with the Iwi continued for the next few years.

"As to the Cenneg soldiers, they leave in two years.....truth be told they have been a boon to the economy in that zone and without them I suspect we would have seen the Morelanders and Achkaerin military steam roll us and....well I would have been blamed for this genocide nonsense not my cousin.....whom they believe started a coup while I was out the nation. The Cenneg did us a favour and despite the fact they wear skirts you will find them a rather affable group. Two years is not long to wait in the grand scheme of it and they are not in big enough numbers to challenge us if push comes to shove, its more a symbolic gesture." Akakois shrugged, "Patience is a virtue so they say" he grinned.