ZERCHEAN HIGH KING, GOVERNMENT ROLL OUT MORE REFORMSConsul Octavia Galanakis announced more reforms decreed by Rex Praetor Lysander II on the anniversary of his sixth month as ruler.
Funding has been extended to multiple mostly state-run institutions. The Zerchean Educator's guild, training of more teachers, and to general education. Technical schools have received some of the largest monies and training. Also to the Cult of Helios, the sun deity of the state religion Ekklesia Zaeyr, operate around half of all schools. Their overall curriculum is mostly secular but with more lessons focused on the state and training in the mysteries of the Gods. Finally, the State corporation in charge of oil processing and drilling, Utrana Goods International, has received more funding, training, and is hiring more engineers; three more spots on the eastern coast have were announced for drilling preparation also.
On the Island of Zercadia in the Matilda Channel, naval forces launched an offensive on a fundamentalist outpost. It was specifically targeted to either capture or kill a rouge priest who was Co-leader of the cult, Sextus Nabor. The encampment reportedly housed two hundred fifty-five disciples of the Cult of Midos, an trickster and fortune God. The group is known for its use of violence and piracy to fund themselves. The raid occurred after the seizure of a Zerchean freighter by cultists. Witnesses on each side and in nearby homes say gunfire erupted from the Cultists first. One Zerchean Navy Special force member was killed and three were wounded. The rouge Priest Nabor was wounded and captured in the raid when attempting to escape. The terrorist was flogged while still wounded, and hung from a Cypress tree directly after. Sixteen men, women, and children surrendered via escaping the settlement during the siege with no reports of further cultist survivors. Twelve of the sixteen were sentenced to slavery with four children being placed in foster care on the mainland.
Praetor Polemarch, Six star general and top commander, Kaeso Eleutherios, released an statement to reporters on the matter, "The military, specifically, from local militias to the navy has the Matilda Channel under it's protection, the Cult of Midos will no longer be a threat there as the Zerchean navy is now patrolling the entirety of the Matilda Channel so foreign ships may pass unhindered." It is believed the Cult is waning due to this sizable blow to its numbers and Co-leader; yet the anarchist terrorist group recruits internationally and has connections with so called 'water nomads'.
