The Semelberg Situation

[DaveIronside]

The news of the attack on the construction site in Semelberg belonging to the Sisterhood of Helus reached the King. "Quinn can you get me Redfern, both the Yacobs, Sir Harry and my cousin Orlaith please. Its high priority" he buzzed on the intercom to his outer office. Almost instantly his Head of Household buzzed back informing him she'd get on it. The King spun in his chair and peered out across the parkland and lake. This winter morning their was just the hint of a frost across the grass and a mist hung over the lake on which the swans still glided. He savoured the view for a moment or two and then swung himself back to his desk to focus his attention on some proposals from his Prime Minister for tweeks to legislation on internet safety, if he was honest he didn't understand a lot of it so he'd have Olivia Cole his Minister for Science and Technology prepare a brief for him. As he'd finished highlighting the document for the bits he needed more detail on Quinn informed him the people he requested would be here at 2pm and that she'd put two hours aside, she'd had to cancel his visit to an art gallery and a meeting with the Chef about a menu for a banquet would now take place with Princess Freya, something David knew she'd be thrilled about.

At 2pm there was a knock on his office door and the five guests walked in. Major Alex Redfern was David's closest friend and a valued source of military wisdom for the crown having served in the military and the intelligence communities. His protege at one point had been Grace Yacobs who while still a relative unsenior member of the National Intelligence Agency was heavily trusted by David because of Redfern's recommendations. Her mother Katie was the most senior officer in the Army and another well trusted friend. Sir Harry followed them in, the Minister of Defence and a man David knew likely to tell him things he didn't want to hear, his advice over the years had always been valuable. Finally his cousin, Duchess Orlaith Kade, his foreign minister arrived. "Thank you all for coming."

"Freya says your toast" Alex said as he took a seat on one of the leather sofas surrounding a glass topped table made from a jet engine used in the SSC Honeybadger. She hated the more formal elements of royalty and couldn't imagine anything worse than banquet preparations.

"Tell her I'll make it up to her, infact you may have something in a few minutes" David said as the others actually waited to be motioned to sit. David took a seat at the head of the table in an arm chair made from others parts of the SSC Honeybadger. "I've asked you to come here as I want us to try and get ahead of something, and frankly I don't like it." He passed each of them a map of the Charterlands. "Like it or not we've found ourselves tied to a patch of dirt in the Charterlands called Semelberg." It was clear they all knew that much but it didn't hurt to go over things. "I'm not thrilled and would have happily sat back and let my in-laws at the Pelagiya family manage the situation, at least until Llewellyn got a little older in the hopes they'd get bored and we'd be shut. Problem is this anti-Sisterhood movement seems to be spreading. While they may not be the Cult they worship the same God....kind of." David wasn't fond of the Sisterhood, mainly because of bumping heads with the leader Jinny Denman in the past, but his wife was a devotee and so that meant he had to take an interest. "We've made a point that we will not accept Cultists being victimised, and I suppose now by extension this has to be applied to the Sisterhood." Alex and the Yacobs nodded in agreement, Sir Harry couldn't care less while Orlaith looked concerned.

"I'm worried that protecting the Sisterhood could piss off the Cult." Orlaith said, "We've always relied on their backing and while your popular you aren't Helus popular. Shouldn't we talk to the High Priestess about this?"

"No." David said firmly, "We've got seperation between Cult and State for reasons, our creed is to defend those who can't defend themselves and it doesn't state only Cultists. Beside at the moment I sense terrorist not rebellion." Orlaith conceeded and the King prepared to inform them of why he called them. "I've been checking things out and the Cult and the Sisterhood have no real presence in Semelberg. Their Norse Pagan, while that faith has its extremists in the Gungnir I know that these attacks where going on here long before my wife essentially created our mini-Empire. I have two things I want to happen. First is I want us and the Alanders to pay Semelberg a visit for military manouvers. Low numbers, spec op type stuff. This will help us test the waters of what the locals will think of us being more directly involved. The Principality has a small militia, some 600 or so men, I want them included." The King turned to Alex, "This is where you and Freya come in. I want to make sure these 600 men are good. If the Sisterhood thing turns into something more I want people I can rely on, and I want them to be damn good at their job. We're creating the Semelberg Legion, name pending." The King smiled, "We'll ship in older stocks of equipment and I want a training programme that makes them more of a Commando force than a militia. I want them to fulfil two criteria, priority one is to be able to respond to attacks like the one on say Princess Asuna, without losing a Princess. The second is I want them to work seamlessly with our forces if the situation ever requires a Seleucid scenario."

"I can do that." Alex nodded, "Freya will be pleased that having planned your menu she doesn't get to eat it. I've a few lads I'll take with me. We'll need 48 hours minimum but we'll wait for your green light."

"Your Majesty" Grace sat forward. "We've no idea who are behind these attacks, while I like the idea of ensuring we've people on the spot to stem the tide in the worst case situation. Well shouldn't we speak to the Reenburg's?" She quizzed.

"That is next on my agenda. I just wanted to know whether its feasible first." The King looked around the table with each nodding until he reached Sir Harry.

"I'm of a mind to say yes but I think we should be spreading the Cult much more than we are anyway. I know you believe we are the Holy Land and that's all we need but I've always believed the world would be a better place with more Cultists, at a push I'd take the Sisterhood. If we can have influence in this Charterlands system we should embrace it. I'd call them the Semelberg Legion and I'd make it like a Foreign Legion, pack it with ex-Legionnaires from here, make it the best militia force in the Charterlands. I know I'll not change your mind but I'm for this if you don't think we can go as far as I'd like." David nodded his acknowledgement, he was well aware of Sir Harry's views on the faith and while they disagreed he knew Harry would never disagree with the King in public.

"Very well, begin the preparations. I'll summon their ambassador"


The invite to the Reenburgs representative was dispatched and the next morning David waited eagerly in the office. "Welcome Ambassador. I have a few questions I need some help with." The King briefed the ambassador on the talks yesterday as much as he could. "What I need to know is two things, first is their any legal reason I can't do what I'm hoping to do. The second question is what do you think the reaction would be?"

[Lauren]

The position of ambassador to East Moreland had seemed a rather cushy deal for Mathias Byrammer. He was a distant cousin of the Reenburgs and after 20 years of military service had requested a positing somewhere interesting for the next few years. He and his wife had been rather pleased to get East Moreland and their seven year old son Eduard loved the place and was in a rather good private day school. For the past two years he had practically flown under the radar thanks to the Chaterlands minding its own business when it came to international affairs. From the small diplomatic house on embassy row he had often seen other ambassadors summoned to the Palace following news of some horror or other. Meanwhile he dealt with the odd stupid Chartist who had lost a passport or run foul of the East Moreland police on a drunken night out in Silverhills. Of course there had been invites to things such as feast day events, balls and charitable events but he would never consider himself a regular to visit the Palace, not like the ambassadors from places like Lodja or Ui Cenneslaig. He had part expected that could change with news of the Ironside's now owning Semelberg but he hadn't expected a call so soon.

"Do I take a gift" he asked his wife as she double checked his tie.

"I doubt it Matty. It would look awful if you were called there for something horrible and you turn up with a bottle of wine or something. No...its best you just go as quickly as possible and see what has happened." The ambassador nodded in agreement as he kissed his wife goodbye and headed down to the motor pool where a car was waiting. The fact the row was so close to the Palace meant he was soon flashing his credentials and the letter from King David to the men on guard at the gate and not long after that he was being shown into the Kings office.

"Your Majesty" he bowed. "I'm hoping that this is not some serious issue?" he said hopefully. He took a seat only when offered and listened carefully to what the King said as he explained their plan. "Your Majesty first let me offer my hopes that this attack on the construction sight is an isolated incident. The Charterlands is perhaps the most diverse place on Mundus and we've always tried to be welcoming of differences. If we can do anything to help I am confident I speak for Lady Charlotte when I say we will give whatever support we can." Next his thoughts turned to the military matters he'd been questioned. "As for your questions. The first has a simple and a more complex answer. The simple answer is that there is no reason why you can not carry out military exercises in Semelberg between you and the Alanders. The more complex answer though is that it would perhaps be sensible to also include the Charterlands military. There exists a friendly rivalry between most militia forces and the main military, perhaps a East Moreland and Semelberg against Nya Aland and the Charterlands forces could be fun. I think it would also be a gesture Lady Charlotte would appreciate." The second matter was a little more sensitive. "The creation of the Semelberg Legion again is something legally you can do. You are, on paper at least, the Commander in Chief of the Semelberg Militia, so they are yours to train and where you buy equipment from is your business. Now one issue though would be that in times of crisis you are expected to make troops available to the central Charterlands forces and many Semelberg militia members are committed Norse Pagan, as such a culture around that has been shaped in their ranks. I suspect it would be difficult to break that down, but on the flip side we know the Odinists like the thought of Valhalla and the like so perhaps a high prestige in the military would be welcome. I would urge you though that Prince Bartholomew should be included in your plans. He is a good honest young man dedicated to his people. I am confident he would be an asset to you if you can convince him this plan of yours is a genuinely good idea for the people of Semelberg. I think if you carry out any actions that his people would see as an insult to him you could have problems." He thought on for a moment or two. "Might I recommend inviting him to observe the exercises and if as you say your sister is visiting that they ensure a very public meeting."

[DaveIronside]

The King thanked Mathias for his time and packed him off back to his home embassy with a nice bottle of red wine from the Palaces collection. Of course the man was right. It was only proper that he consult Prince Bartholomew, the issue was how he could achieve that without being seen to be ordering this young man about. This was a situation he wished that he hadn't found himself in but sadly his wife's ambition had outstripped her common sense. He would need to think how best to handle this. After some hours busying himself with a variety of other jobs he had made a decision. He would have to see the place for himself and so his Head of Royal Household was tasked with making another round of phone calls. The next day King David was scheduled to pay a surprise visit to Semelberg, with him Alex Redfern, his sister Freya and Air Commodore Edward Briggs. The press had not been informed and Ironside One had left from Ostlake in the middle of the night. By morning they were in Semelberg and having first visited the site of where the new Sisterhood of Helus' temple was to be built the group made their way to meet the long suffering Prince of the region, Bartholomew.

[Lauren]

Prince Bartholomew might be a royal but his life was very unroyal compared to the grand Palaces and estates of the great houses of Mundus. Instead the families "Palace" was just a rather large and comfortable old Farmhouse. He had felt saddened at first about the fate of Semelberg but now he was rather pleased with how things had worked out. He'd had no real change to his day to day existence but his people had security now with East Moreland underwriting them. Having got up and been running he next settled down to try and put together a set of candidates to replace one of the Charters three senior judges. Normally he would have just selected them himself but now either of the two Morelander monarchs, most likely Queen Stasya, would have to rubber stamp his choice. He had gone through about four of the candidates when Otto Spelke, his personal assistant entered. "Your Highness" usually Otto was serenely calm but now he was seemingly in a slight panic. "Your Higness I have been informed that King David of East Moreland has arrived in the Principality and is heading here. He had word sent from the construction sight of that Temple." Bartholomew was sat in work clothes not any finery, he had intended to finish this paperwork then go and spend an hour tending to some woodchopping. There was no time to change before the Royal vehicle pulled into the farmyard.

"Your Majesty" Bartholomew said nervously wondering what exactly had brought David here on a surprise visit. He had always dealt with Stasya and had the impression that David didn't want much to with Semelberg but now he was standing in the front of his rather unroyal looking house. "Please come inside and tell me what I can do for you."

[DaveIronside]

The sight of the Prince's Palace brought a smile to King David's face. Not for any other reason than it reminded him of the 18 months he and his daughter Rhiannon had lived in an old converted windmill farmhouse It had been a time the family needed some privacy, the King was still coming to terms with his divorce and the death of his son Caspian. He felt bad for springing this on the Prince but his security details had made this suggestion and he was happy to go along with it. "Prince Bartholomew I'm sorry to spring this on you and thank you for meeting us." They headed inside and David explained why he was here.

"I'm going to be frank with you. I never intended to get involved in Semelberg and please don't think I'm being rude but until my wife signed that agreement with Lady Charlotte I'd never heard of Semelberg. There is though not much I can do about it now, the situation is the situation. One thing that people can guarantee though is that I will take a great interest in matters when followers of Helus, be them Cultists, Helusians or members of the Sisterhood, are targeted. The fact you've experienced problems with the Sisterhood construction kind of forces my hand. I have no intention of interfering in how you think Semelberg should run, after all its your country but if its being tied to the Ironside name now we better put you in a strong position. Let me begin by saying I have no intention of changing your lands to a Cultist nation, we respect the Norse Pagan traditions and I have something that will demonstrate to your people that we support that. I plan on the Semelberg milita force being the best in Reenburg, I want it to be better than the Reenburg military and we have the tools to achieve that. My experience is Norse Pagan men value a warrior ethos and we'll support that. I want to put in place a training package that will turn your force from a militia into what would basically be a special forces unit. I'll bring in the best instructors but they need to know what their working with. I'd like to run a training exercise of your forces against a combined force of Alanders and Morelanders. I'd like your team to spend some time with some battle tested Norse warriors." The King hoped that would appeal. "I know you yourself would have joined the Reenburg military if required to keep the Charter but I have to ask do you have any military experience? Also I'd like to know if there is anything else you need me to do, or possibly not do?"

[Lauren]

Bartholomew had moved them into his living room. The heavy timber cross beams that ran across had various coats of arms nailed to them and family photos hung on the walls. This could have been any farmhouse in Semelberg and it made Bartholomew feel a little uneasy having one of Mundus most respected royals sat with him on his sofa. He listened carefully to what the Morelander explained. "I do not blame you for not hearing on this little patch. After all I suspect there are even members of the Charterlands who couldn't find us on a map. I am actually pleased with the arrangement that is taking place, my family have run Semelberg for a long time now and we've always struggled to do much more than what we do know, farm the land, manage the forests and mine the deep. We have a reputation for sending perhaps more than our fair share to the military as the young see it almost as a right of passage to serve five years and then leave. Sadly I was not permitted taking the reigns here at such a young age so apart from being an Army Cadet as a teenager I have no real experience of a life in the military" As a follower of Odinism he was sad that he'd never been a soldier but as his father had told him sometimes you serve the Gods in other ways and his way had been to secure the future of Semelberg. "We'd be honoured to welcome the Alanders here, I suspect back in the depths of time that our families likely in part came from there and so we see them as kind of long lost brothers. I'd love to host the exercise you talk of and I know that the men in our militia are good men who take pride in their service, we though lack real equipment, our service rifle is from the 1960's, our workhorse of a mobility vehicle is little more than a glorified car and a helicopter that doubles as the regions air ambulance. What I would ask is that we remain a volunteer force. I know you practice national service in East Moreland but I believe the military here is so small it should be made up of the willing."

[DaveIronside]

David agreed with a lot of what Bartholomew had to say, it seemed like the Prince had a decent head on his shoulders and this went a great way to put David's mind at ease. "If you think the people of Semelberg wouldn't accept national service then Semelberg won't have national service. My intention is to support you and your people in their lives, we don't want to impose our systems on anyone." David considered what else needed to be discussed. "I am concerned too about the future. My wife, in her infinite wisdom, has seen fit to give myself and her titles of High Prince and High Princess of Semelberg, furthermore that in 17 years time our son Llewellyn will become the High Prince of Semelberg. I have concerns about how the people of Semelberg will take that. I know East Moreland at first struggled to accept a Lodjain as Queen but I think that now has settled down and Stasya seems rather popular. What is your view of where the future will take us?"

[Lauren]

The arrangement between the Pelagiya's, and by extension East Moreland, and his own mini nation was still fresh to Bartholomew. It meant that as a result he hadn't really given much thought to what the future was holding between them. Just a few weeks ago he was considering how best to try and save the nations charter with the Reenburg family and now he had the King of East Moreland in his humble farmhouse offering to make the small militia that served his nation one of the best trained in the world. It was an exciting prospect. "I have little idea beyond the next few weeks what our futures will hold. First get through the training you have outlined, then just do my best to try and make sure that we have a good year of harvesting and felling. Once that is out the way we can begin more long term planning. One thing I would hope we can do is have Prince Llewellyn come frequently to Semelberg after all one day he will be our High Prince, our Head of State so to speak." He suddenly felt some panic. Had he insulted David by ignoring the older child, "Naturally Princess Rhiannon is always welcome here too. The sister of our future Head of State is someone we look forward to getting to know." Bartholomew held a secret hope that if they were going to have Llewellyn as their High Prince perhaps on any visits they could swing him to support their Odinist faith but that was likely to be a long shot, but occasionally those landed. If they couldn't convert the young Prince then at least they could make sure that he had a healthy respect for the way of life in the small nation.