News From Weißenwald (Das Eulennest)

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WINTER GAMES TARGETS SET FOR 2025

As the 2023 Winter Games have come to a close Queen Hildegard visited the final day to watch the closing of the ceremony with a warning to those nations who took part. "Weißenwald have yet to enter the fold of the Winter Games community, next year we will and we intend fully to dominate the games. We are a nation born literally with ice in our veins and skis on our feet. There is no reason why we should not top the medal table despite our relative small size. Our national championship produces two or three people per event that could push the medal winners all the way. By 2025 we'll have to top the table and I believe that this should take place in Reinsberg. Unlike many nations we would not have to do much to prepare." The Queen was a member of the national youth team in her teenage years and only gave up donwhill skiing because of an ACL injury. She has since taken a keen interest in promoting involvement in winter sports. The Queen also announced that a significant investment will be made into Summer sports, "While we don't get the sunshine many nations enjoy we will hopefully compete in the Summer Games, we have very little chance of ever hosting such an event, after all the average Weißenwaldian doesn't even known what beach volleyball is yet alone play it."

The Games also saw the royal family begin their first international diplomatic steps. During the Games Queen Hildegard was in the royal box with King David of East Moreland. During watching the games it was agreed that the King and Queen will host the East Moreland monarch in the coming weeks. The Queen said "I was pleased to have been able to meet King David. While we were both at the Games to enjoy the spectacle we spoke also about the lack of diplomacy between our nations. It is something we shall look to move on in the next few weeks. We also are keen to form closer bonds with our neighbours."


 

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KING URGES AOSTAN EMPRESS TO COOL RESPONSE

King Aldwin VI has today used his visit to a naval base to speak about the current situation in Troyes. With the Seaforthian enclave in Marseilles being the current focus of a series of protests designed to remove Seaforthian influence the Empress of Aosta has given the group "New Real Marseilles" support and sought to circumvent Seaforthian economic measures. King Aldwin VI stated in a statement given at the base, "Troyes has the potential to become a conflict already and with Aotsa emboldening protestors it can only get worse. The city has been peaceful since the end of the conflict in Marseilles and only recently has seen turmoil as agitators stoke fires that did not exist. These flames should not be flamed, ironically by an Empire. I would call on the Empress to end her involvement in the crisis for the sake of Albion stability." Many in Weißenwald have supported the Kings stance with one statement from social media saying "The world needs order and order comes from hierarchies. The Aostan Empress is seeking to topple that and that brings disorder for all concerned."

As of yet there has been no response to the Empress from Seaforth but King Aldwin VI has stated that he would be willing to meet with the King of Seaforth to discuss a way forward as a mediator.

CONSTRUCTION OF LOTHAR VIII BASE BEGINS

In 1981 King Lothar VIII travelled to a small corrugated iron and wood building in Hygelac to fulfil a long standing desire to see Penguins in the wild. The King spent three weeks in Hygelac supporting teams from Weißenwald taking various environmental and zoological data. Now just over 40 years later that building is being replaced with a state of the art research base which will bare the current Kings grand-fathers name. The first supplies for construction were flown in today and, with thanks to the Nya Aland research station advisers, will be used in the construction expected to take six weeks. Dr. Matthias Dunelwald is the current leader of the existing team in Hygelac and stated., "When we sought to establish a base we looked at the existing ones, the Alanders have a good track record of work in this region and so we simply went to them and said we'd like the same. Thankfully it comes in prefabricated bits, essentially like flat pack, so construction should be pretty quickly. We are excited about what the future holds for the research teams. We've metaphorically planted a flag in trying to improve the standards of science in the region, we've formulated the Southern Ocean Initiative and now a state of the art base here will open up huge possibilities." Once construction has been completed King Aldwin will visit and officially open the research base. 

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RESEARCH BASE OPENED

Yesterday marked a land mark moment in the scientific history of Weißenwald. Following months of construction of prefabricated pods the King Lothar VIII Research Station has been completed and was officially opened by King Aldwin VI. The station will feature permanent facilities capable of housing up to 12 scientists as well as workshops for maintaining equipment and conducting a wide range of experiments ranging from monitoring the weather to historic climate research. King Aldwin flew into the base early in the morning and was given a guided tour of the facility before conducting an official opening. Once the station was opened the King hosted a webchat with around 100 schools in Weißenwald that allowed students to ask questions about the work scientists do as well as the way the base will operate. The King then was taken out to see the penguins that reside near the station before returning to the station for an evening "banquet." The King then stayed the night at the base before leaving this morning. During his stay the King said, "My grand-father became the first monarch of Weißenwald, and I think maybe in the whole of Mundus to visit Hygelac. In 1981 he had a dream of seeing Penguins in person and it saw him spend several weeks out here enthralled by the beauty. The teams then risked great hardships to research this icy wilderness but the work they undertook was important. My grand-father always spoke fondly of the experience and had it not been for his failing health I am certain he would have spent much more time on the southern continent. We as a nation have a deep connection to the Southern ocean, the snow and ice that we reside in and so it makes sense we have a station here committed to preserving the wilderness as we learn as much as we can. I am delighted this project is now up and running and hope that along with our fellow Southern Ocean Initiative members we can have many successful years here. This short visit confirmed to me why my grand-father fell in love with Hygelac and while I may not have his desire to spend so much time here I will certainly be back at some point."

The King was joined on his trip by his sister Princess Elke who will stay on at the base until the weekend. Over the coming days she will be taking trips to visit further Penguin colonies as well as go whale watching.

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KING ANNOUNCES NEW "ICE COMBAT VESSEL"

King Aldwin has today announced that the Navy will purchase two "Ice Combat Vessels" by the end of the year. The two ships will be constructed in Weißenwald but will utilise nuclear propolsion built by an Altonan company. The vessels will be used primarily for patrolling the southern oceans and maintaining supply routes and will be capable of operating as an ice breaker if required. While the exact nature of the ships is yet to be confirmed the released conceptual images shows a ship expected to be similar in size to a frigate with a seperate rear deck area that our outlets experts say seems to be "mission specific" as it shows "what appears to be some form of containerised missile system, probably likely to mimic VLS systems. This suggests that there is an oppurtunity to add and replace modules based upon the exact mission profile." There is also a  flight deck capable of carrying a helicopter and some side vents suggest that Ship to Ship missiles could be utilised on a pop out basis. A large gun completes the armament phase of the project with images showing it mounted on the bow f the ship.

The cost of the project has yet to be confirmed but marks the first southern ocean specific vessels to enter the Navy.

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KING'S POLE TO POLE JOURNEY

King Aldwin VI has today returned from a visit to the Kingdoms Hygelac research station and has confirmed he will spend less than 48 hours back home before going to the Northern most pole. The King will journey to visit the East Moreland Mobile research base in the Northern hemisphere. It will mark the first visit by a Weissenwald monarch to that continent. The King explained the purpose behind his visit. "Our faith tells us that in ancient times a pact was formed between mankind and the Moosleute (moss folk). That agreement saw this realm of existence left to mankind with an expectation that we care for it and prepare it for their return. Old folk tales tell us that a place of transition between the Moosleute and ourselves will come in the frozen north and south of this planet. As such there has always been a tight bond between our nation and nature, in particular the coldest and most barren part. Traditionally Hygelac was where our gaze rested and we've done a great deal in the past few years to study that place and hopefully do our part in what is a global mission of protecting it. Now though we can turn an eye to the North. I am thankful East Moreland's Professor Williams has extended his hospitality to come and see their base there as it settles into a new location. I'm intrigued to see the differences between that and our own centre. After all the Morelanders base is nearly a decade older than our new state of the art one in Hygelac. For us though it may provide an interesting way to help us conduct scientific operations at both icey wastelands. If I like what I see I'll be exploring our options to have a similar set up."

The King has been a frequent visitor to Hygelac and his recent visit was described by his press secretary as "Uneventful". It was also confirmed that the King hopes to pay his respects in person to King David in Northfort for allowing him to visit the centre. "We began a diplomatic effort last year with several nations and one of those has yielded a rather strange connection between Weissenwald and Queen Stasya, or perhaps in the context of our connection I should refer to her as the High Princess of Semelberg and King David as the High Prince. We have though yet to meet King to King so while accepting the hospitality of his kinsmen at their base it would only be proper for me to say thank you on my way home." The meeting would mark the first meeting between the two nations monarchs in living memory.