It has been a remarkable day in the Seaforth controlled city of Troyes. The city has been the scene of a number of protests over the last few months and today the newly formed ADSN released a statement on the situation.

CONCERNED about the current situation within the city of Troyes

MINDFUL that a clear message has been sent from the citizens of the city regarding their future

COMMITTED to the notion of people being free to shape their own future.

DETERMINED that the Seaforthian citizens of Troyes deserve dignity, respect and safety

The nations gathered on this date in Rokkenjima believe the following.

1. The City of Troyes should return to the nation of Marseilles.

2. The Kingdom of Seaforth should remove, by no later than 30th April 2024, its armed forces from the region.

3. The Kingdom of Seaforth should be permitted to remove any sensitive or classified materials from its military establishments.

4. There should be no action taken to impede any citizen of Troyes relocating to Seaforth taken by the Republic of Marseille.

5. Any Seaforthian citizen remaining in Troyes should be given the option of becoming a Marseille citizen.

6. Should any action be taken to deny Seaforthian citizens remaining the same rights and freedoms of a Marseille citizen the signed nations shall undertake action to protect those people.1a

OOC- The original date for Article 2 was end of November giving that it was originally 4 months from statement to deadline I've changed it to End of April 2024

Within a few hours a pre-planned protest took place where an estimated 200,000 people marched through the steets of Troyes, a number organisers say is a "gross underestimation." as they put the number closer to 500,000. The large group assembled outside the Fort of St.John and then marched through several of the key boulevards bringing the city to gridlock. Several groups broke off in a clearly agreed tactic to essentially take over key junctions in the city. As the group arrived outside the Troyes Military Base run by the Seaforthian military. The leader of "The New Real Marseille" is Alain Doucare who explained in a leaflet distributed by the crowd that "The city of Troyes wants to be Marseille and identifies with that nation as our true and legitimate government. Now we have nations that are native to this region supporting our cause. The protest today and the ongoing strikes that bring the city to a standstill show there is no way to maintain Seafothian activity here."

Later in the day both Empress Serena of Aosta and Empress "Sutāraito of Rokkenjima both were seen in the city helping distribute food and clothing packages to those on strike at places such as the cities train and bus stations. A spokesperson for the group New Real Marseille said "We had been contacted about the pair visiting the city to show support. This protest though needs to be carried by the people of Marseille. As a result we asked that the two Empresses attend in a lower key manner than some kind of official trip." They were joined at one point by Jean-Pierre Cantona, the first President of Marseille who said, "While I may be the first President of Marseille it will be someone else who will have the honour of being the President of the whole of Marseille as without Troyes we are not complete."

There has yet to be any word on the statement from Seaforth.

Born in 1993 Rebecca hails from the town of Keepton in the Alps. Her father was a local GP and her mother ran a florists. She has an older brother Simon and a younger sister Megan. The family would often spend summer holidays in different countries with her father encouraging the youngsters to get involved in adventurous activities.

At the age of nine Rebecca was considered to have significant potential as a cross country runner and was beginning to gain offers from prestigious private schools for scholarships.  By the age of 11 her parents had made the decision that they would send her to Northfort Girls Academy as a boarder. While Rebecca seemed to plateau in running she did become an excellent science student and in 2011 graduated with top grades in Chemistry, Biology and Maths. She was accepted into the Army College of Higher Education to study medicine.

While at the College she was attached during her training to a unit attached to the Alpine Cadre at her request as it had ties back to her hometown of Keepton. She represented Duke Legion at several of the Ostlake Games with her best performance coming in 2013 when she won a Silver in the Triathlon. In 2018 she graduated as a doctor and as all students at the Army College do entered military service on a minimum ten year contract. She was made, rather unsurprisingly, a member of the Army Medical Corps but was attached to the Alpine Cadre after passing their specific training tests. She has since seen service in Seaforth, Academica and Mavrosia.

In 2022 she passed the various tests required to be a member of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing and has her winged dagger as a result. She has however not been permanently placed with the JSFAW but has served as a member of their teams who accompany the Royal Family on overseas visits, mainly as after the first sortie on Ironside One the King discovered her connection to the Alpine Cadre.

As of November 2023 she had just gained promotion to the rank of Captain.

She has served as a medical officer in the Cadre since 2016 and

There were many day to day things that King David had staff for but as far as possible he had always ensured he packed his daughters bag for school and despite having told her most evenings since the school year began in September she had failed to empty it. David had picked up the backpack next to the door that lead to their rooms within the palace at Northfort and headed towards the kitchen, no doubt Rhiannon would have stuffed her half eaten bag of oatcakes into a pocket into which they would have disintegrated into crumbs over the course of the rest of the day. David unzipped the side pocket and the offending crumbs tumbled onto the kitchen floor, today they had been particularly squished into nothingness. He cleaned them out and was thankful they'd opted for a backpack that had an easy clean interior. He went through the other pockets and found the detritus of the day, a Capri-Sun packet, three pencil crayons and a battered and torn envelope. It wasn't uncommon for his daughter to be given letters for trips, reports or even for school events but normally the assigned Security Detail would make sure word got back to David that such a message had been handed out. The King looked at the envelope and immediately realised it wasn't any of those. On the front of the white envelope was his own handwriting, "Shelly Madden" written onto it. The name didn't mean anything to David, nor did he remember writing on the envelope but he opened it anyway. It was an invite, David had written them for all forty of the girls at the school who were members of the Swordsmanship Club. For the New Years celebrations they'd planned a small tournament in the Palace grounds and David had invited the club members and their families to come as his guests. He'd told Rhiannon to hand them out and it appeared she'd done so, all with one exception. The way it had been crammed at the bottom of her bag though had surprised him and so after he'd finished chopping the carrot sticks for tomorrows snacks and then packed the bag ready for the morning he'd made his way into his daughters bedroom with the letter in hand. His daughter was laying on her bed as her small pet Fennec Fox, Goldie, was curled up next to her. Rhiannon gently petted her as the fox contendly munched away on pieces of boiled egg it was offered periodically. Rhiannon was focusing on a book she'd brought from the school library.

"What you reading?" David asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed and gave Goldie a gentle head rub much to the foxes delight.

"I got a book about Neu Urburzis." The Princess said, "I know Augustin told me about some thing with his uncle but it didn't make sense to me. I then heard Stasya talking about the same thing on the web with someone. I got even more confused. So I got this." She rolled onto her back showing her father the glossy front cover of a popular book series called "Young Traveller" which was designed to teach youngsters about foreign culture. Rhiannon enjoyed reading and knew that when she asked questions about other countries more often than not her father would just give her a book. The King was happy his daughter had been trying to find out about the upcoming bride competition herself but sensed he'd have to explain it himself to her, but that was for another day.

"Well once you've finished the book we'll explain anything you still don't understand" He smiled at his daughter who remained on her back so she could see her father. Goldie left her spot and went and sat on Rhiannons stomach curling into a warm ball of fuzz that Rhiannon ran a gentle hand through. "I found this in your bag." David held up the letter and saw his daughters eyes look away slightly nervously. "Was..." David had to look at the name again to refresh his memory, "Shelly not at school today?" he asked. He noticed his daughter didn't answer straight away and seemed to shift uneasy on her bed. "Rhiannon, why did you not hand out the invite to this girl?" He sensed something was not quiet right.

"I didn't see her at practice" She lied. Shelly had been there and in the changing rooms after Rhiannon had almost taken delight handing out the invites to everyone else, even the girls she didn't really know that well, and almost skipped her way past Shelly empty handed. Rhiannon had been pleased that it looked like Shelly was upset because she'd been left out of something and as the other girls opened their envelopes and then talked excitedly about the invite to see a big competition in the Palace grounds Rhiannon saw Shelly look at her forlornly in the hope that Rhiannon was rummaging around in her bag to find the obviously missing invite. Instead the Princess produced a silver packet of Capri Sun, threw her kit into the bag and almost triumphantly thrust the orange straw into the packet before striding out. The invite now lay crumpled under her blazaar and skirt, left there until discovered by her father now. She'd actually considered ripping the envelope up in front of Shelly as revenge for her managing to steal one of Rhiannons strawberry laces as they'd been sat in the bag next to her on the bench she liked to sit and read on under the tree. Shelly had made a grab for the whole bag but Rhiannons attention had been off the Neu Urburzis book just long enough for her to spot and with speedy reflexes from several years of sword training she'd managed to grab the bag and save all but one lace which was protruding from the bag and taken as a kind of spoil of war by the victorious Shelly. Rhiannon had yelled after her drawing the attention of one of the security detail who, wearing a high-vis jacket to blend in with the break time duty teachers glanced over. Seeing the Princess was not in any actual physical harm they let the matter slide, their instructions were to let Rhiannon be as normal a student as possible.

"So if I go and see your security detail they'll tell me the same right?" David asked sensing Rhiannon was not being entirely honest.

"I...maybe" Rhiannon squirmmed. She sighed and put Goldie on the floor. The fox sensed its comfy time with Rhiannon was over and so trotted over to its crate where it slurrped at the water bowl before snuggling into its bedding disappearing beneath the folds of a warm blanket. Rhiannon sat facing her Dad crossed legged. "She's mean Dad." Rhiannon almost pleaded as though the explanation would make her father agree and bin the envelope.

"Thats not fair" David explained. He shook his head wondering exactly what he should say next. "Look, I'm not saying you have to like everyone. You don't even have to be friends with everyone, but it would be good to. Sometimes in life there are people that we just won't get along well with and thats OK. Just because you don't like someone though doesn't mean its OK to be disrespectful to people. This girl is part of your team and that means you need to stick together and help each other. You can train together, you can compete together but then just go seperate ways but it doesn't help the team if you leave someone behind. I need you to give her this tomorrow." David held the envelope out towards Rhiannon who looked glum.

"But she doesn't respect us" Rhiannon said, "Today at practice she took Millie's chalk bag without asking, she hid Alana's gloves so she was late getting out the changing room and had to run laps and every single break time she tries to steal my strawberry laces." Rhiannon sounded extremely angry at the thought of the beloved confectionary being stolen.

"Is this the same girl you got detention for kicking last month?"

"Yes" Rhiannon admitted but leaving out the fact that the swift kick to the shin had seen Shelly all but double over and Rhiannon was about to reign an absolute haymaker of a backhand across her face before she was stopped by a teacher yelling at her. "I'm just fed up of it Dad." Rhiannon began to cry. "She's a bully and always stealing people's things but she gets away with it because she's sneaky and never gets caught." Even though David should probably be reprimanding his daughter he in a way felt a little bit of pride that she was standing up for people and couldn't resist giving her a hug.

"You have to remember sweetheart that one day you're going to be a Queen dealing with real bullies. Shelly stealing strawberry laces is nothing compared to Stalin invading Safraen and even though I'd have loved to send my army into Rodinha and destroy him I knew it was the wrong thing to do because it would have caused so many more problems. We have to do the right thing, not the thing that we think will make us happy. For the sake of my soldiers I didn't send them to Rodinha, for the sake of your team you can't leave someone out." Rhiannon pulled away and looked up at her Dad.

"But you do those sancty things when people upset you. Like you did that time you told everyone they can't buy stuff from like Smellycuid because they'd hurt our religion." David couldn't help but smile at the way his daughter had used her nickname for Royal Seleucid after she'd learned a little about the genocide attempt there. "This is my sancty.....no strawberry lace thieves shall set foot on royal palace grounds" She said rather regally making her father chuckle.

"Sometimes bridges need to be built and that means someone has to make the first move. You are a Princess, you are a noble and nobles act nobly that means they do what is best for the most people. The team would be a happier place to be if everyone came to the party." He was about to unleash his secret weapon, his daughters own competitive streak. "Look, if Shelly feels she's not part of the team you're going to have someone in your melee team that feels like they aren't part of the team, a shield wall needs to act like one living being. You don't make that leaving her out." Once more he held the envelope towards his daughter and this time as she used one hand to wipe away her tears she took the envelope. "Thank you" he kissed her on the top of her blonde head.

"But she doesn't get to sit near me!" Rhiannon said adamantly. "She can come but she stays away from me and Millie." David nodded that he would concede to these terms. He looked at the large clock on her bedroom wall.

"Its getting close to bedtime. Twenty more minutes with your book, put Goldie to bed, brush your teeth and then come and say goodnight. OK?" Rhiannon got back to book reading position as her father headed towards the door leaving the envelope on the bed, Rhiannon was in half a mind to just slide it into the folds of her book and forget about it but she knew her father would check up on it and so resisted the urge. Just before her Dad left he stopped and turned back. "And tomorrow try not to leave half eaten oat cakes in your bag." His daughter cracked a smile.

"I'm hoping if I half eat them you'll give me some of that chocolate flapjack instead" Her father simply shook his head and made his way out the room. He gave her bag a final once over, slid a new pen into her pencil case which was as well stocked as any in the Kingdom, and then went to the fridge and broke off a small slice of the flapjack and put it into the plastic lunch box. His fatherly duty done for the evening David made his way to the lounge. Stasya was sat on the sofa her feet half up on the black leather flicking through a book of various designs, already picking out her outfit for the party from those various designers had offered her. A baby monitor sat on the table next to her the other end in the happily sleeping Llewellyns room. David sat down and picked up his wife's feet placing them on his lap eliciting a satisfying purr as he gave them a gentle rub.

"Rhiannon OK?" Stasya asked turning her gaze away from fashion.

"Yes" David said, "I think she may have her first enemy" chuckling.

"Girls schools can be like that sometime. Unless she's trying to send Red Legion in just let them get on with it." Stasya offered her advice. "Beside I can't see Rhiannon not being very popular. The girls just jealous." The Lodjain side of his wife clearly coming out.

"I think it'll be sorted tomorrow but just do me a favour, next time you go shopping don't bring her any of those laces." David asked, "Think of it as a peace strategy."   

The two young royals hit the dockside with a slight bump, the thick black rubber that surrounded the boat stopping it causing much of a problem. A pair of Rhiannon's security detail helped them back ashore. "Why would girls fight over a boy?...whats a Gay Emperor?" Rhiannon asked a little confused, "I mean you fight because people are mean, or they steal your strawberry laces" For a moment her eyes narrowed as she thought of Shelly Madden, the girl in the year above who always tried to grab her small paper back of strawberry laces while Rhiannon was sat reading at breaktime. She'd got in trouble for grabbing them back of her and when a tussle started Rhiannon had kicked her in the shin and was about to backhand her before her security detail stopped her. Since then Shelly had stayed clear of her but to Rhiannon she was now a nemesis on the scale of how her father saw the Borlanders.

"I'd love to come and visit again, but Lew is a little small and well....Oliver isn't really able to travel far without some doctors with him or people like that." What with his wheelchair, various emergency bits and pieces it was like he was followed constantly by a private hospital. Rhiannon had been on the Royal Airship their father had, she rather liked it. "I like airships, we've one with a big dining table in it. I like having burgers there while we float over the Alps. If you get lucky you even see things like eagles flying around in the hills. Do you see things like that on yours?" She asked. As Augustin prepared to go Rhiannon gave him a big hug. "Tell all your family I hope we can all get together soon and tell the people on your boat to look after the big rabbit." She smiled and hugged him again, "I hope you enjoy the festival and we don't wait ages to meet again."

Yesterday morning Queen Stasya was seen leaving the Temple of the Sisterhood of Helus. The Queen later confirmed that she had spent the last two days there undergoing various religious "rites". The Queen's Head of Household, Alexander Samuel, said "Her Majesty has spent the last 48 hours at the Temple, praying, fasting and offering gifts to Helus in the hopes that she will bless her with another child. The King and Queen have been trying for some time to conceive and so far been unlucky. The Queen determined that asking the Goddess Helus for help was important." The ritual itself was not explained however other followers of the Sisterhood of Helus who have undertaken the ritual explained that the ritual begins with a fast of 24 hours at the end of it offerings of fresh meat, vegetables and flowers are laid on the alter and prayers said. The participant then smears blood from the meat on their face and eat a small meal made of the same items left as an offering. Once eaten the participant then begins a vigil for the final 24 hours during which they pray and must stay awake. It is believed that by showing such devotion to Helus that she will bless the participant with a child. Queen Stasya was guided through the ritual by High Priestess of the Sisterhood of Helus Jinny Denman.

Jinny Denman explained that she was now confident that the Queen would be pregnant soon. "Her Majesty has, since her fortunate conversion to Helus, been an incredibly pious woman. She attends prayers, has lead rituals, supported our social programmes such as establishing faith schools and acts as a fine example for others. Today she has again shown her devotion and with the bloodline of Unasson in the King the two will combine to make a child very soon I feel. We are fortunate that the King has seen fit to take a beautiful and healthy woman as his wife following the betrayal of his first wife. Young Prince Llewellyn is threiving and I am praying that the Queen will have a daughter too to help carry on the holy line." Originally Denman had been critical of the King's relationship with Queen Stasya believing that the King should wed a follower of Helus however once she converted away from Sessifet Denman embraced the relationship and has been very supportive of Queen Stasya since describing her once as " a great pillar of our blossoming faith" The Sisterhood of Helus is a relatively new religion having seen Jinny Denman split from the mainstream Cult of Helus about a decade ago. The religion now boasts around a million followers in East Moreland. Its main difference is that it views Helus as female not male and that the various Gods are more like avatars of Helus rather than seperate Gods.

Later that evening Queen Stasya attended a performance of the Royal Ballet in Silverhills at an event that she had sponsered. She was not joined by the King who was involved in "meetings in Northfort". The Queen posed for photos and answered a few questions from the media saying, "I've loved being a Mum to Llewellyn and would like him to have another sibling. He's very lucky to have Rhiannon but I think someone similar in age is important. I would love to have a daughter and now with Helus' blessing I'm certain it will come." The Queen also commented on her recent flirtation with foreign affairs having signed an agreement to make Semelberg, a part of the Charterlands the Pelagiya family have taken leadership of, a member of the newly formed Council of Small Nations. "It was not my decision. Prince Bartholomew believed it was a policy that would help the small Principality and so as a result I was delighted to sign the agreement for him. This has zero impact on East Moreland, it just gives Prince Bartholomew a chance to have his people's voice heard on a global scale." The King has declined to comment on the matter other than by saying he wishes the newly formed Council "all the best". Prince Bartholomew is set to visit Ostlake soon where it is believed he will view military equipment that his nation may be buying in the near future. 

David sat as Queen Natalya spoke to him "It is never too warm for a good green tea." David responded as he cheerfully settled in. He'd yet to fully get to know Natalya other than a few CNN meetings and the odd conversation from when they'd been to the Iwi but there had yet to be a state visit between the two. Stasya that had spoke highly of her and while even the Queen didn't consider her a good friend they were at least in some of the same WhatsApp groups. He thanked the steward who appeared with the beverage. The King scanned the letter, it wasn't a million miles away from one he'd received several years earlier from Queen Viktoriya. David was aware with Peter's dalliances with Jasmina but was not too sure where that was heading. It was a little bit different though as last time the letter had been presented he could speak on his own intentions, but today it was his cousin. "I'm sorry that this has put you in an awkward position. I will speak with Peter and make it clear to him that on his return to Lodja he needs to come and speak to you. I'll explain once he returns to Lodja he has three days to come and see you or he'll be getting replaced as our envoy to Albion. That way one way or another you have your response to Jasmina and his situation. Again I can only apologise if we've called you any offence. " The King had felt himself fllush as the discussion had gone on he'd always found talk of relationships and romance a little awkward and counted his lucky stars he'd now found the woman of his dreams. "I hope that satisfies you?"

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Rhiannon was more than happy to get peddling. She enjoyed being active and figured this would be good for the legs, after all Sir Charles kept telling her that a strong stance was ideal for a swordswoman. "Lodja was OK" Rhiannon said once the initial effort of getting the boat moving was over, there was no risk of going fast as Augustin feared as the boat was designed for two people peddling but with just her tiny childs legs it was going much slower than all the others. "My Dad think seeing other countries is a good idea and Stasya is from there and so Uncle Tobias and Auntie Anuoshka visit a lot so I'm staying with them. I've been practicing my Lodjain too." She spoke a few words and then chuckled, "That means my name is Rhiannon and I'm in a boat" her accent was terrible and the words came out in bursts as she tried to remember certain words. "Its like a mix of a holiday and school. I'm not sure if I'll have much spare time but they'll let me chat I think, I'll send you some picture. What's your school like? I'm excited as I'm going to big school after the summer, the Northfort Girls Academy, Auntie Freya went there and my cousin Sophie. Its a board school but I won't be staying there." She explained. She sensed that he was a bit sad when he asked about friends and that rubbed off on her. "I did" she began, "My best friend Evie was at my old school but she can't go to the Academy so she'll be going to a different school. I don't know anyone else there as the rest of my little school are going to The Parkland Grammar School. Dad says its a chance to make new friends but I just want to play with my old friends like Evie and you." she gave him a smile. "But the Prince is a really nice human bean and the Bunny is brilliant" she concluded, "They'll be lucky if they get to be your friend." with that she stopped peddling and let the boat drift a bit "I'm poooped" she said. She heard Tillie shout if they were ok, "Just having a rest" she yelled back "Bunnies are rubbish engines" she continued giving Augustin a playful dig in the ribs. After some floating the Princess resumed propulsion and Augustin used the hand held rudder to get them back to shore. Staff helped them both out. "Do you think you could come visit our school in December, we've a music festival and I've got an afternoon to be in charge. I could make sure your favourite plays?"

With the East Moreland womens team making their squad for the upcoming world cup public eyes were raised with one name among the squad. Along with the 23 women who are part of the squad a list of extra backroom staff have been declared with Archduchess Sophie Harrison-Ironside being listed as "Fitness and Conditioning Consultant". The 23 year old niece of King David is a serving member of the Royal East Moreland Air Force and has over the past few months been undertaking secondary training to be a Physical Training Instructor within the Air Force alongside her current role as a Force Protection K9 Officer. The Archduchess has been working on her portfolio of coaching in order to claim her instructors qualification and has been working with Roberton AFC's womens team for several months. The Archduchess is a world class athelete in her own right having been the first person to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Games, she is also the current national record holder in several distances for speed skating. Alongside Daisy Greechan she also rowed the Mhorish to raise funds for charity and has trekked to the North Pole. National team coach Sarah Whiteman said "Having someone of the calibre of Sophie to work with us is great. Unlike many teams in the tournament we don't have a professional league back home, often are facilities are not world class and most girls play just for the love of the game. Sophie is an athlete who has experienced pressure at the very top of the pyramid of sport and that experience, regardless of sport, can only help the girls as we move into this tournament. All the girls from Roberton have reported for training in tip top condition and we hope that means in the short time we have before the tournament begins we can get everyone to an even higher standard. We've seen at big tournaments the smaller teams often end up getting torn apart in later stages mainly as a lack of fitness kicks in against the professionals, we're seeking to make sure that doesn't happen."

The Archduchess has kept her involvement to now low profile saying "I'm proud to be involved in the team. The girls in the actual squad though are the ones who are going to make the difference. I can only support. They're the ones who for 90minutes have their fate in their hands. I'm just privledged to be along for the ride and if Sarah things I can be of any help beyond coaching then I'll do what I can."

Leanne Williams is the captain for the tournament and an AFC Roberton player, she is also a tattoo artist. "We all go into the world cup nervous. We're right down the list in terms of bookies favourites and we understand why. We go out though thinking we can get a result everygame. If we can get through the group stages then anything is possible in knockout football. We saw that in the first Mundus Champions League tournament when Northfort United, a team like ourselves full of post men, butchers and a bank manager, nearly got a result in the final. Lots of us have never played in big tournaments so having a Mundus Games champion alongside us will hopefully mean we've someone who can help us cope with the added pressure. I think we're all ready and excited to get to Abertone and try and get the job done."

Meanwhile a crisis has hit the mens team as star striker, Leo Jenkins, was seen being helped into an ambulance yesterday following an accidental clash of heads in training. The 22 year old has been red hot for AFC Roberton so far this season scoring six goals in eight games. Team manager Gary Northgate confirmed the hospital trip saying, "We think he'll be fine for the World Cup, maybe not the first few games. We'll have him assessed for concussion and obviously his safety and health is first in our thinking. If he needs a bit of extra time we can probably work around that. I've been frank with him though if the doctors timeline for his return mean he will miss two games then sadly he'll be staying in Roberton."

The blind football teams have already left for Abertone. The teams had been attempting to raise funds for their visit as the sport receives very little governing body funding. This saw a "Go Fund Me" set up to try and support their competition efforts. The teams exceeded their hoped for $50,000 when OsmanTech's CEO Joanna Osman stepped in and said the company would ensure the team were "well looked after." With the blind teams not playing together regularly at all the extra time in Abertone is being used to get match practice in with the teams playing several games against Abertone City's Universities teams. Joanna Osman said, "Its a shame that our government can't fund disability sport better. Quiet rightly when someone in the military gets permanent injuries the government throw money at oppurtunities for them to get active again and in no way do I dispute the fact they deserve it. Where East Moreland falls down though is supporting other disability sport with the same passion. If that means OsmanTech has to step in then so be it. We're proud now to say we sponser the Blind Football teams and this will not be a one off package, we're talking to the EMFA about a long term deal for a whole host of different ability teams."

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The Royal East Moreland Naval Service today took delivery of the prototype of an joint East Moreland Aircraft Company (EMAC) and Portworth Royal Dockyards (PRD) project. Known at the moment simply as Project A-1 the partnership is the first of its kind between the two companies that have long all but monopolised the procurement process within East Moreland. The Project is advertised as an "air transportable hybrid-electric powered insertion vehicle capable of operating in three states." The vehicle is to be utilised by the Royal Marine Commando for the next few months to asses its full capabilities.

From details given to the media the vehicle is capable of being dropped from a cargo plane by parachute as its crew parachute seperately. Once in the water the vehicle can carry up to eight people and be fitted with a variety of remote controlled weapons systems. On the surface its acts like a traditional speed boat capable of reaching up to 30knots while capable of covering 150 nautical miles however it can sacrifice two of its seats for an additional fuel bag extending the range to 300 nautical miles. The vehicle  can then be put into "stealth" mode which makes it semi submerged, this however limits it to a 5knts. Finally if required hatches can be shut and using pre-installed breathing equipment the vessel can travel fully submerged at a speed of 4knts for up to 30nm, however again two crew spaces can be sacrificed for additional 30nm of range. In terms of weaponry two .50cal machine guns with the potential to be remotely operated can be fixed and the consortium believe in future heavier weaponry can also be utilised.

The Royal Marines are duo to head to Lodja soon for training and it is expected Project A-1 will go with them.

The East Moreland F.A votes for Abertone

While the arechecture reminded King David of his time in Lijiang the protocols were very different. He remembered entering the Golden Enclave of Lijiang and the Dragon-Empress clearly telling him that it was considered important that he enter with his left foot first while Stasya enter with the right. He smiled to himself as he remembered Tielin reinforcing his wife's words of advice. "Its easy to remember" the Dragon-Emperor had begun, "Men step with their left foot as we remember women are always right." Here the doors seemed reversed and he ensured he did as instructed. This morning David and Will stood waiting and when the King's name was called he took the long leather tube from his security agent and despite not even being in Lijiang stepped in through the gate he'd been directed to with his left foot. He made his way towards the Grand King. "Your Majesty its wonderful to meet you" The King said after giving a brief respectful nod of his head. He carefully unhooked the silver metallic catch that held a leather cap over the rich brown leather tube. With a deft tilt the King caught a milky white scroll of parchment as it emerged from the tube. "I am sad to say I missed a chance to deliver what has become a traditional gift on your coronation but I hope you can forgive the lateness" The King Unfurled the document, it was brightly decorated down one edge with images of peacocks, brightly coloured fish and tigers. The text was beautifully formed calligraphy. "I am told by Dr.Maddie Howard that this is an attempt by a Morelander in the 1600s at translating some philosophical texts from this region, sadly I'm told that the text is not exactly well translated but I believe it shows the oldest confirmed connection between our nations in terms of culture. I hope that the messages it badly translates can somehow help guide our nations towards a better friendship in the future." Having held the scroll which while a translation nightmare was very pretty so the host could see it the King expertly rolled it back up and placed it back in the tube clipping the silver clasp back in place." It had become somewhat of a tradition of King David to present a book, or in this case a scroll, to new monarchs on their coronation. He'd been inspired by Dr.Marcus Merriman who had given him an old 12th century manuscript in which the then High Priestess had written what virtues a good King should have. While he couldn't have said he'd followed all the advice it had been proudly hanging on his own office wall as a reminder ever since. The King's gift delivered and hopes of friendship made the King left to await whatever happened next. As he returned he checked he'd departed through the correct gate and then made his way over to the others waiting.

As soon as an invite arrived and said "rarely allowed" it was always obvious to the Chief of Royal Household, Quinn Germaine, that the King was going to be attending. He had little idea about the hosts culture but that was what excited the King, yet another chance to go and see places you'd normally only read about it books. He'd flown over a few days early and visited some friends in the Commonwealth of the Iwi meaning a quick helicopter ride the next morning would leave him fresh and ready to learn and enjoy the day in what he hoped would be equal measure. He was unsure exactly where he was meant to be going and after various phone calls by his security detail and a few cross words between his chief agent, Will Buckley, and a driver they found themselves at Inner Hwangjin.

The 28th September has seen the Kingdom of East Moreland celebrate one of its major festivals of the year. Honeybadger Day marks the date on the time when the first Honeybadgers arrived in East Moreland, the creatures were brought from Kermah as King Sven the Grey had seen the animals there. During his stay the King believed that the animals had the characteristics of the perfect Morelander, bravery, intelligence, resilience and a love of family. The King purchased eight of the creatures from the Mombaka Tribe and brought them back to East Moreland where they were released on the royal estate in Rockhampton. Soon after several other nobles had imported the animals in order to be seen as fashionable and the animals soon became acustomed to the nation. Today the creatures are found in several of the forests of East Moreland and even have become a popular TV character.

Festivities across the nation have seen millions of people taking part in street parties and organised musical events. The King began the day at Northfort Palace following a visit to watch the world premier of "Adventures of Stoffel Two - The Magic Music" the night before. There he meet with the extended Ironside family for breakfast, one of the few occasions the whole Kade family have joined with the Ironsides in recent years as many of the family serve in overseas duties. The King then said goodbye to his daughter Princess Rhiannon who was travelling to Portworth to spend the festival with her mother, Lady Matilda Osman. King David then visited Temple and joined in celebrations at the Palace with guests invited by the family. Ambassador Ullah Teshiba from Kermah was the honoured guest at a large BBQ which is said to have featured six cows, four hogs, eight deer and a bear among the feast. The party also included several of the Mundus Games medal winners, while all those winning a medal were offered tickets some preferred to spend the festival with extended families back in their hometowns were many were guests of honour in parades through their neighbourhoods.

The evening was rounded off with a free concert in People's Park headlined by Mumford and Sons. Around 120,000 people are thought to have attended with large numbers also watching on TV. Globally embassies hosted their own events inviting their local community to join in. In Kermah the Embassy invited the descendants of the Mombaka chiefs who sold Honeybadger to a feast at the embassy while in Lodja a charity rugby game between the Embassy and staff from the Isle of the Goddess took place followed by a large cocktail party. The proceeds from the game went to the Global Childbirth Initiative.

Tomorrow King David and Queen Stasya are expected to depart, hangovers permitting, to visit Medusalin in the first visit by an East Moreland monarch for several generations. It is thought King David will observe the annual festival of the island nation.

With the annual Honeybadger Day celebrations just four days away one of the most eagerly awaited events for the day is the release of "Adventures of Stoffel Part 2-The Magic Music". The follow up to 2022's box office smash see's the nations favourite cartoon character return in an adventure taking him to a "far away Kingdom" inhabited exclusively by Bunnies. While EMTV's film division have released numerous trailers and clips they have only today released some details of the films cameos. Speaking to assembled press the shows creator Emilia Benson said, "After the success of the first film we actually had people contacting us asking to be in the next one, mainly people who had kids who loved the film. We were also able to take the opportunity to include some interesting appearances from others." Princess Rhiannon returns in her role as "Princess Bunny" who hears of a problem in a "far away Kingdom" a friend has told her about and Stoffel and his friends head off to investigate. The far away land is inhabited entirely by rabbits which coupled with the cameo from Neu Urburzis Prince Augustin as a kind wizard has lead many to believe it is a veiled reference to one of East Moreland's overseas friends. Stoffel discovers an evil doer has acquired a magical musical instrument that can stop children dreaming and through team work and adventure the worlds favourite Honeybadger must get it back for it to be destroyed forever. The evil character is voiced by actor Ben Gilmore who has previously played King Robert in EMTV's epic historical drama "Ironsides". The role is his first voice work, the 49 year old said, "It was a lot of fun and I'm amazed at how the animated characters take on some of the form of the actors, spend ten minutes with Princess Rhiannon and you can see Princess Bunny. My career has always seen me play heroic good guys and I guess I'm slightly type cast for that, no bad thing. It was though fun to be the bad guy for once." Other cameos include a dolphin that helps Stoffel who is voiced by Daisy Greechan, a eagle that helps the team when they get lost voiced by astronaut Rachel Dixon and a rabbit band performed by Mumford and Sons. The film is expected to be a box office smash with the world premier taking place in Northfort the evening before Honeybadger Day with the Royal Family due to attend. Emilia Benson has also confirmed that the TV show will be back in the spring for its tenth series and that already a third film is being worked on and is hopeful of being ready for 2024. She also confirmed that TV rights have now been sold to several countries and therefore we shouldn't rule out in universe mentions of new places for Stoffel to visit.

With Honeybadger Day approaching several other key events are taking place. On the day itself street parties will be held across the nation and a huge free concert will take place in People's Park with Mumford and Sons expecting to headline. The King has confirmed that he will be spending it in Northfort while this year marks the turn of his former wife Matilda Osman to take Princess Rhiannon who will be spending the day with her mothers family in Portworth. The King has also confirmed that the Kermah ambassador will be his guest of honour at a garden party with royal press secretary Malcolm Tucker explaining. "A long time ago the first Honeybadgers arrived on a boat from Kermah and now its become our symbol. The King thinks it important to mark this bond between our two very different nations and as such it is only right the people of Kermah are included in our celebration in some way as because without them this celebration wouldn't be taking place."

Lodja squared away being "Rus" this way

"The Divine Queendom of Lodja is a non-heriditary monarchy. Its earliest origin can be found in the 10th Century when the city of Gaia was claimed by raiders from the "Rus" originating Lodjain tribe. These people had mirgated steadily south from Aranye over the proceeding centuries and claimed various islands in the Alucard which brought them into clashes with people from Paracambi, the Alanders and what were to become the Bakkermayans. The original Lodjain tribe were persecuted in the Rus homeland for worshipping the Goddess Sessifet and under the guidance of the Priestesses sought out where Sessifet had first begun to inhabit a human host in the form of Miriam. It was believed here the people could have a home. Evidence suggests it was Queen Rosanna, who was one of multiple Lodjain Queens who inhabited the islands and claimed to be High Queen of Sessifet, who launched a raid on the mainland of Albion. There her Priestesses, while inspecting for slaves, discovered a cave on a tidal island and "evidence" of this being the location of Sessifet and Miriam's joining. Rather than leave the mainland as had happened in other raids the Lodjains remained, fortified the island and then began claiming the land. This finally saw all Lodjains declare loyalty to Rosanna and thus the modern day version of the nation was born."

The Archduchess couldn't help but find the young Crown-Prince's manner amusing. She though was partly constrained today by the fact she was here representing her Air Force colleagues. "Well Your Highness every nation will have their own way of doing things, here in East Moreland you out rank me in two ways, first my noble title is merely an Archduchess compared to your Princehood, the second way is as a Flying Officer a Prince is like way above me." She smiled. "Had I got my hat on I'd have thrown up a salute and no doubt had you not been dressed as a rabbit you'd return it with a nod or simply a thank you, but your homeland will do it all its own way. She wondered if this rabbit suit was more high tech than an astronauts as a cooling pact was exchanged before her eyes.

"Now as for Goldie the little fox is still hanging out at the Palace, to be honest though its been about six months since I've been to Northfort Palace but I know Rhiannons got some kind of big outdoor pen for her." Sophie spent much of her time now at Ostlake West, between doing her duties as a "Force Protection Officer", taking part in exercises and doing the odd bit of PR for the military she found her time to get back to the capital limited. In truth she'd made some good friends in the Air Force and often they'd head off on adventures when off duty, she'd recently discovered the joys of paddleboarding on the River Ost, rumours were you could paddle from Ostlake to Portworth on the river but so far she'd yet to meet anyone who had even tried this.

"Now as for Rhiannon she's around somewhere. I think you'll have seen she was Protector of the Sword for her little brother. Last I saw though she was heading off with her half brother Oliver and Matilda. I'm sure though we can find her." She had a quick conversation with Tillie who speaking into a microphone on her wrist got in touch with Rhiannon's detail in the field. "Can we offer you some cooler attire first?" Rhiannon asked knowing that they kept various sportsware around for if any of the guests went into some of the more watersport related activities and needed a change. Once the Prince had made his mind up Tillie acquired a group of Royal Marines to help them make their way through the crowds and down towards the historic ship section of the festival. Rhiannon was explaining to a Viking why the axe was a pointless weapon and that a sword was far superior while Oliver was merely happy to watch a woman singing and dancing a traditional Alander folk song. Rhiannon spotted the Prince approaching and after a bit of puzzled looking put the sword she'd been demonstrating with down and scurried along the dockside giving Augustin a big hug. "Its been ages" she said as she let him go. "How are the rabbits?"

David and his security entourage headed off along the quayside with Serenity in search of ice cream. They walked past a number of vans selling ice cream and lollypops to the waiting crowds but David ignored them. At the far end of the quay was a quaint little shop made of green wooden boards with a giant motif of a seagull on top. It had a sizeable line outside but David headed round the back as one of his security detail pushed through the front of the small cafe. David wrapped on the back door and it opened, a young teenage girls face appearing. "Good Morning Your Majesty" the girl said not surprised at all until she noticed something was different, "No Princess Rhiannon today?....oh Empress Serenity" she added spotting David guest.

"No Millie she's with her mother but I have no doubt that she'll appear at some point." David replied as the young Millie pushed the door wider and allowed the King and the others inside. They now stood in a white tiled kitchen with stainless steel kitchen appliances everywhere. The Seagull Cafe was during most summers a place to get an ice cream after walking down the beach or even grab a slice of cake and a coffee. During the Festival though it became a takeaway serving more or less everything through the hatch at the side. Millies Mum hastily was serving through the hatch while her 10 year old brother Josh was bringing her things she yelled for.

"Well we've put a tub of her favourite mint chocolate aside so we won't run out." Millie spotted that the Achkaerin Empress was accompanied by her own brood and she addressed the children with a kind smile. "I assume though you'd like some?" She asked before standing to look at Serenity. "Can we get you something Your Majesty?" She asked handing Serenity a card showing at least twenty varities of different ice creams, all made using clotted cream. While Serenity was making the decisions David bid her good bye for now and having earlier seen Besarian lurking figured he should head over to the Lodjain vessel. As he arrived he saw Emperor Marco already in audience with the Queen and so opted instead to have a chat with some of the festival goers until he had a chance to speak with the Lodjains.

---

Sir Charles pulled a map of the festival grounds from his inside blazer pocket and headed off with the Gusano leader in tow to find the SmartWar stand. They had a stall in one of the naval hangers showcasing some VR headsets and a few small unmanned vessels guests could have a look at up close. Martin Dawson the companies CEO was busy chatting with some man dressed in a sharp looking suit, apparrently some journalist and when it was clear Sir Charles wanted to see him he wrapped things up. "Sir Charles, what brings you here, we don't have any remote control swords?" he shook the mans hand and then noticed the huge man in bear fur and the silver masked girl. He looked a little puzzled his mind trying to place the image he was seeing. "Gusano.....Masked...no Veiled One." he snapped his fingers seemingly pleased, his momentary excitement leading to slight horror as he realised he may have offended the woman. "I'm sorry Your Ladyship....is that right? I must apologise but I don't know the finer details of your nation but I am happy to see you and hope your enjoying Portworth. I am though a little surprised to see you here, is there anything I can help you with?"

---

Freya was pleased it at least seemed like Asuna had heeded her advice but she knew people would all be pouring their own interpretation of what was best into her ears and from all corners of Mundus if the Rokkenjiman government remained the same. "Look" Freya began, "Its important you are seen to be and act the proper Empress, its what your people expect. Remember though your still young and there is more to life than service. Diplomacy isn't just a formal conference table, you've a position in the world that will open up oppurtunities and experiences most people on Mundus can only dream of. Go visit places the muggles can't, Isle of the Goddess in Lodja, go see it. Walk the streets of the Golden Enclave of Lijiang. Have an adventure or three." She had to be honest with herself even though she knew she had these same privledges she didn't perhaps make as much of them as her brother did but in her eyes he was the ultimate history nerd and so perhaps those things appealed more to him but that nerdom had served East Moreland well so far. "Anyway thank you for the tour."

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Tucker flicked his phone shut after a very respectful conversation with Kurt. "OK people listen up we've some Ubruzian wandering in a giant bloody bunny costume on one of the hottest days of the year. One of your morons is for the chop because nobody told us it was the Crown Prince of Neu Uburzis.  Now go out find the damn rabbit and make sure he's looked after and take him a carrot or two." The media team looked at each other unsure whether Tucker was being serious. "Piss off and find Prince Rabbit boy" he yelled and the team hurried off each taking a member of the royal security team with them. Tillie Breckenridge had left Stasya enjoyed a mojito with some Lodjian friends in the VIP area and was heading out to look for Augustin. They had made it only a little way from the entrance when Tillie pointed along the quay road.

"Bunny at 10 o'clock" she said to the media handler before checking in on the Royal Protection channel. She began leading the way through the crowd, the sharp suit and forceful body language parted the crowd easily and soon they'd found Augustin. "Your Highness" she reached beneath her waist coat and brought out a leather fob with a emblem on it. "My names Tillie, I'm with the Royal Protection Agency" she introduced herself, if you and your team would like to follow me. She turned and with no hint of ceremony pushed people out the way making a way for Augustin until they reached the barrier to the VIP area, standing between the press and the entrance she waited for Augustin to be allowed in and then followed. She looked around unsure who would actually be there of interest to the Crown Prince and spied Archduchess Sophie Harrison-Ironside, King David's niece. "Your Grace, Crown Prince Augustin of Neu Urburizs" She introduced her furry follower.

The Archduchess was in Air Force blues and had been chatting with some Air Force friends. She turned pausing slightly surprised at the attire and checked her K9, a black masked Husky called Bandit remained lying under the table. "Oh...erm...Good Morning Your Highness" she said giving a small bow. "Its good to see you here." She thought for a moment about the reason anyone in their sane mind would be wearing such an outfit on a warm day and then recalled. " I trust your event went well?" She enquired. "I know my uncle will be pleased your nations attended. He should be back after he's meet with the Lodjians, in the mean time is there anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable." She fought the urge to ask if he wanted a carrot but waved over a Naval steward who now had a pen and paper ready to jot down any requests.