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Diplomacy and Events / A War within a war (Borland Spat -Open RP)
« on: March 11, 2024, 12:45:15 PM »
It had been two weeks since the assassination of "King" Kyle Barren, the figurehead of the Borlanders, the group committed to what they aw as the restoration of the official bloodline of the throne of Northfort and more importantly the truest heirs of Raimond Unasson the most beloved of Helus' humans. There had been tense meetings across the Alps between the various cells that Barren had so carefully arranged and managed over his time as their leader and while some living intermingled with the Morelanders the vast majority of Borlanders preferred to live in the cold Alps close to the border giving them an escape route made up of hundreds of zig zag alpine roads to escape on. Today though was special, today the group found itself at Maresbrook, a small village high up in the foothills beneath East Moreland's highest peak Highmoor. The large castle that was imposing on the hill over the village was owned, at least if you dug around, by a Charles Menworth, a businessman who owned several large properities across East Moreland that were holiday lets and spas. It was a useful front for meetings, just block out the ability to book for the general public and the Borlanders had a useful meeting place. They also had an income stream to help support their actions against the Morelanders. There today several of the high ranking Borlanders had already gathered and in the large dining room it was clear there were two factions forming as each huddled to their side of the large wooden panelled walls. At the head of one was Robert Wallis-Campbell the brother of Kyle Barrens third wife Alice. His sister was not there today preferring to mourn in her hiding in Zimalia. Across the room from him was Thomas Edward, a tall square shouldered man who was a cousin of Kyle Barren. As Borlander, and also ironically East Moeland tradition dictated at the death of a King an appointed Duke would ensure the coronation of the next King, in East Moreland this was the Duke of Ostlake, for the Borlanders this would be the Duke of Keepton (OOC- Borlanders maintain their own nobility and so for some places there will be a East Moreland (official) and a Borlander (secret) Duke/Duchess etc).
Today that job fell to Richard Hollins, the 70 year old had fulfilled this sacred duty on a previous occasion, today though was different to those as he had no Priestess here as so far the High Priestess of The Cult of Helus (OOC- Also different to the "official" one) had failed to arrive and any communication had to now been impossible. It was a situation though he had considered and now he was prepared to start without her which was already bringing protests from Thomas Edwards and his supporters. "No King may rule unless authorised by Helus, and that needs the Priestess." He yelled across the room to cheers.
"Needs must" Hollins said as he climbed the steps to what at one point, and soon would again, be where a throne would have sat. "I'm sorry but we must press ahead. Helus has more than enough power to stop us if what I do is not his will." He retorted which saw the Campbell-Wallis' nod their approval. "Today we must crown a new King to ensure the connection to our ancestors is kept unbroken. As the appointed Duke I name William Barren as the new King of Borland and the Borland Folk, Duke of Northfort and beloved of Helus."
"He's not a Barren" Edwards yelled. "He's a bastard". There was a smartly dressed 7 year old boy clinging to a womans hand, almost trying to hide behind her white skirt. "Look at the boy" Edwards continued, "He can't lead us and the Campbell-Wallis lot haven't picked up anything other than their skirts to help our cause in decades." Across the room the woman, Alice Campbell-Walls stepped in front of her son.
"He is the rightful heir" The room fell silent, it was Beatrice Barren, the first wife of Kyle Barren. She looked ill, her face was pale and there were large bags under her eyes. Since the news of her husbands death she had not been eating or sleeping well. While first the young girl Rebekah had become a wife also to her husband that was only ever to father an heir, after her execution by the Morlanders there had been Alice and that too had been nothing more than a loveless convenience. Beatrice though was a devout follower of their cause and knew the bloodline had to be preserved so had both relented to her husbands involvement with both women but also supported young Williams cliam. "The blood of Unasson flows through those veins full bodily, deep in the love of Helus. Yours..." she scowled at Edwards, "Is merely a poor polluted trickle" there was another chorus of shouting. This shouting however soon stopped when the sound of a bugle filled the air.
Mary Sutton, the lady whom the Borlanders considered the true High Priestess had entered the room backed by a group of around ten men wearing ceremonial uniform in Black. "This is why we lose." She pointed first at Edwards then at Beatrice. "When things go wrong we shirk away, we hide, we point fingers and we rebuild. Kyle knew that and did his best to create permanence for us, you failed him and now you fail Helus. Kyle will be watching us, once he has paid his penance for turning his back on some of our laws, alongside Helus united with Unasson and he will feel shame." The room this time did not erupt. It didn't matter what side of the metaphorical, and in this case actual, divide in the room you supported this was the High Priestess and her word in the absence of the King was enough for most. "Both of you are right, but for very different reasons" She walked forward dressed in a red dress a black shawl over it with the hood pushed back. She was just the wrong side of sixty but was still a woman you could say was beautiful. Her face carried a kind of stern elegance and her piercing pale blue eyes scanned the room. She walked slowly and deliberatley as though trying to make eye contact with everyone in the room at least once and in her wake came the Black jacketed men, each with a sword at their hip and an assault rifle on their backs. "I bring with me the Black Riders, the men most loyal to the Barren cause. Each has dedicated their life to the pursuit of getting the Morelanders to be nothing but history. Each of these ten men are more important to our cause than anyone in this room at this moment for they don't stand around talking, they take action. Just like Kyle did." Mary took the steps up to the awaiting throne and sat down. "Duke Richard" She said turning to Richard Hollins who was still in a state of uncertainty. "You're task is done, get down" she pointed to the floor and the man poddled down to stand with the Campbell-Wallis group. "My decision is this, while not a true heir in the sense of the word, William is of the bloodline. He however has no chance of being King while simply a child, and he certainly needs some toughening up looking at him" the boy was still peering out from behind his mother. "Therefore I will be ordering a regent until the boys turns 18 years of age. That regent will not be the Campbell-Wallis." her glare silenced the protests even before they began. "That regent shall be myself and Giles Gedding." The room began to murmour again but by raising a sword and clanging it on the throne the room once more fell silent. Giles Gedding was something of a myth among the Borlanders, he had once been inseperable from Kyle Barren but an arguement 15 years ago had seen him leave the group, only to resurface in Bakkermaya five years ago as Giles Cameron, a rich IT tycoon who was investing left, right and centre in business there. All filtering money back to fill the "royal treasury" In truth he had lead several hacking attempts and was linked to many of the major hacks of the 21st Century. The door opened and rather like a scene in a movie in walked the 40 year old setting foot in East Moreland for the first time in 15 years.
Today that job fell to Richard Hollins, the 70 year old had fulfilled this sacred duty on a previous occasion, today though was different to those as he had no Priestess here as so far the High Priestess of The Cult of Helus (OOC- Also different to the "official" one) had failed to arrive and any communication had to now been impossible. It was a situation though he had considered and now he was prepared to start without her which was already bringing protests from Thomas Edwards and his supporters. "No King may rule unless authorised by Helus, and that needs the Priestess." He yelled across the room to cheers.
"Needs must" Hollins said as he climbed the steps to what at one point, and soon would again, be where a throne would have sat. "I'm sorry but we must press ahead. Helus has more than enough power to stop us if what I do is not his will." He retorted which saw the Campbell-Wallis' nod their approval. "Today we must crown a new King to ensure the connection to our ancestors is kept unbroken. As the appointed Duke I name William Barren as the new King of Borland and the Borland Folk, Duke of Northfort and beloved of Helus."
"He's not a Barren" Edwards yelled. "He's a bastard". There was a smartly dressed 7 year old boy clinging to a womans hand, almost trying to hide behind her white skirt. "Look at the boy" Edwards continued, "He can't lead us and the Campbell-Wallis lot haven't picked up anything other than their skirts to help our cause in decades." Across the room the woman, Alice Campbell-Walls stepped in front of her son.
"He is the rightful heir" The room fell silent, it was Beatrice Barren, the first wife of Kyle Barren. She looked ill, her face was pale and there were large bags under her eyes. Since the news of her husbands death she had not been eating or sleeping well. While first the young girl Rebekah had become a wife also to her husband that was only ever to father an heir, after her execution by the Morlanders there had been Alice and that too had been nothing more than a loveless convenience. Beatrice though was a devout follower of their cause and knew the bloodline had to be preserved so had both relented to her husbands involvement with both women but also supported young Williams cliam. "The blood of Unasson flows through those veins full bodily, deep in the love of Helus. Yours..." she scowled at Edwards, "Is merely a poor polluted trickle" there was another chorus of shouting. This shouting however soon stopped when the sound of a bugle filled the air.
Mary Sutton, the lady whom the Borlanders considered the true High Priestess had entered the room backed by a group of around ten men wearing ceremonial uniform in Black. "This is why we lose." She pointed first at Edwards then at Beatrice. "When things go wrong we shirk away, we hide, we point fingers and we rebuild. Kyle knew that and did his best to create permanence for us, you failed him and now you fail Helus. Kyle will be watching us, once he has paid his penance for turning his back on some of our laws, alongside Helus united with Unasson and he will feel shame." The room this time did not erupt. It didn't matter what side of the metaphorical, and in this case actual, divide in the room you supported this was the High Priestess and her word in the absence of the King was enough for most. "Both of you are right, but for very different reasons" She walked forward dressed in a red dress a black shawl over it with the hood pushed back. She was just the wrong side of sixty but was still a woman you could say was beautiful. Her face carried a kind of stern elegance and her piercing pale blue eyes scanned the room. She walked slowly and deliberatley as though trying to make eye contact with everyone in the room at least once and in her wake came the Black jacketed men, each with a sword at their hip and an assault rifle on their backs. "I bring with me the Black Riders, the men most loyal to the Barren cause. Each has dedicated their life to the pursuit of getting the Morelanders to be nothing but history. Each of these ten men are more important to our cause than anyone in this room at this moment for they don't stand around talking, they take action. Just like Kyle did." Mary took the steps up to the awaiting throne and sat down. "Duke Richard" She said turning to Richard Hollins who was still in a state of uncertainty. "You're task is done, get down" she pointed to the floor and the man poddled down to stand with the Campbell-Wallis group. "My decision is this, while not a true heir in the sense of the word, William is of the bloodline. He however has no chance of being King while simply a child, and he certainly needs some toughening up looking at him" the boy was still peering out from behind his mother. "Therefore I will be ordering a regent until the boys turns 18 years of age. That regent will not be the Campbell-Wallis." her glare silenced the protests even before they began. "That regent shall be myself and Giles Gedding." The room began to murmour again but by raising a sword and clanging it on the throne the room once more fell silent. Giles Gedding was something of a myth among the Borlanders, he had once been inseperable from Kyle Barren but an arguement 15 years ago had seen him leave the group, only to resurface in Bakkermaya five years ago as Giles Cameron, a rich IT tycoon who was investing left, right and centre in business there. All filtering money back to fill the "royal treasury" In truth he had lead several hacking attempts and was linked to many of the major hacks of the 21st Century. The door opened and rather like a scene in a movie in walked the 40 year old setting foot in East Moreland for the first time in 15 years.