Event 6
House of Cards
26 Oct - 21 Nov, 2015
Introduction
Juggling the responsibilities of the past few months has not been an easy task for the Koben Empire. Between keeping the northern continent safely subjugated, moving its naval base to Song-Lu and now maintaining order in Linhythe, both Koben’s attention and military have been stretched precariously thin.
In the midst of all this, a corner of the Empire has been going severely neglected. Since the fall of the Tusa Scrying Tower, news from Tusa and Iadlain has been slow to reach the capital and unrest in the two regions has been growing, unabated. Revolutionaries openly shout and hold protests on the streets of Tusa, calling for change and the heed – or head – of their Yazgur. A constant danger hangs over Iadlain as Wispwood snaps and stirs discontentedly after its over-harvesting. Things are not well.
As the month of Rains ends, the situation finally collapses. Iadlain’s Harvest Eve goes violently wrong as their forest lashes out at them and a protest in Tusa escalates into a near revolution. In an act of both bitterness and self-preservation, Iadlain completely ceases its supply of alchemical materials to the Empire. Meanwhile Tusa, locked in a struggle with its own people, looks to the capital for military aid to prevent a civil war.
Koben is finally forced to look to the two regions and the balance of the entire Empire teeters hazardously. Can it afford to send its military to Tusa; can it afford not to? What should be done to repair relations with Iadlain; what should not? Decisions must be made, but a single misplaced card could bring the whole house crashing down.
After months of struggling by themselves, Tusa and Iadlain have run into troubles that can no longer be ignored. Disaster and uncertainty lurks on every decision the Empire can make, but ultimately choices must be made – so which will it be?
Event Details
House of Cards
Two separate crises have unfolded, one each in Tusa and Iadlain.
First, on the night of the 31st Rains, the iconic Harvest Eve celebrations in Iadlain descend into a bloodbath as their Wispwood guests abandon their usual truce and begin to slaughter people in wrath over the forest’s recent treatment. Iadlain’s revelers are forced into a brief but grisly fight before the creatures are driven out and, for the first time in centuries, Harvest Eve is ended early.
Deeply shaken, Iadlain restricts access to the forest, ends its alchemical exports and places the blame bitterly on Koben’s shoulders. It was the Empire’s demands that caused the angering of Wispwood, after all, but the Iadlish who suffered for it. The news, for once, travels quickly to the capital and on the 3rd Gifts, the politically influential Schiltenbrandt family suddenly extends a peace offering in the form of a marriage pact. Should Iadlain’s Count be wedded to their daughter, they promise that great care, concessions and the family’s own substantial power in Koben will be granted to Iadlain. Taken aback by this unexpected and generous offer, both the capital and Iadlain waver. In the end, the Schiltenbrandts' daughter and the capital’s ambassador each travel to Iadlain for direct negotiations.
Only days later, on the 8th Gifts, a silent protest in Tusa erupts into violence. What began as a peaceful protest for an end to the deepening class rifts and rising poverty ends terribly - their ranks overly swelled with the poorly educated lower class and criminals, the demonstration escalates out of control and becomes an outright, angry storming of the Tusar Prison Tower.
Tusa’s local military clashes with the protesters but are pushed back by sheer numbers, until finally the situation settles into a tense siege – the rebels become both trapped and protected within the prison and surrounding buildings, while around them the Yazgur’s forces prowl, unable to force their way in without heavy casualties to both sides. The city grinds to a terrified standstill in the grip of the siege. More military power is needed to successfully bring the rebels to heel and Tusa looks to Koben for aid.
Decisions now hang in the balance. Should the Empire press the marriage with the Schiltenbrandt family as a swift solution for Iadlain, or should it let its ambassador handle things more slowly? What will Iadlain accept and how long can the Empire – especially its airships – go without its primary supplier of alchemical materials? Should they pull the military out of Linhythe and send them to maintain peace in Tusa instead, thus returning the port city to chaos? Or is it better to keep Linhythe under control and expect the local Tusar military to handle the rebels themselves? Benefits and costs are weighed, opinions run amok, but ultimately only one path can be chosen.
Story
Activities
Event Outcomes
The event outcome will be determined by member votes on the decisions that the Empire can make. Every member with a main character who is a current citizen of the Koben Empire will be allowed 1 vote by default. A further 5 votes will be given for participation in each of the two event games, and another 10 votes for a finished art entry.
The decisions themselves involve:
For Tusa, whether to send military aid or keep the military in Linhythe
For Iadlain, whether to proceed with the marriage or leave relations to the ambassador
For more information on how to vote and the voting options, please see the link below:
❖ Vote here! ❖
Event Participation
Event Art
Draw, write or in any way depict your character's involvement in the main event to affect the outcomes! Art or literature entries will receive a bonus 30 EXP. Only main characters are eligible for the bonus EXP and the outcome.
Event Participation
Prompt Art
For characters who cannot be directly involved in the event, you can use this event as a prompt (e.g. reacting to the news from another city). Prompt submissions will get a bonus 10 EXP for the submission but will not count towards the event outcome.
Event Participation
Action Statement
If you don't have time to make an art piece, you can get 5 EXP by simply stating what your character is doing for the event via a post in the #event-board Discord channel. This applies to main characters only and there must be direct involvement with the events to get this. Side characters' involvement can be described to contribute to the event canon however no points will be given. If you go on to enter an art submission later, the EXP received for this will be replaced by the art submission points.
Special Role
Martin Marienkäfer
Envoy of the Court
Tensions and resentment are at an all-time high in Iadlain and, in order to make progress in negotiations, Koben must tread carefully and create a good impression. With this in mind, the Marquess of Alden’s daughter, Marianne Schiltenbrandt, personally chooses a number of peers to accompany her, and among them is the Baron Martin Marienkäfer. It is a prestigious and hefty position to be in – while Martin is and will be treated as an important guest in Iadlain, he will also represent the face of Koben’s nobility and court and may, with his behaviour, sway the opinions of both Iadlain and Koben in either direction.
Special Role
Iollan ó Tadhgán
Eve's Executioner
As the bloodbath sweeps across Iadlain on the night of the 31st, Iollan is called to his duties as one of the secret overseers of the city, the Grey Coven. Shrouded in the Count’s illusions to protect his identity, he is tasked with piercing the tumult of monsters in the centre of the town and reaching the Bell Tower, from which the Midnight Toll – the official marker of Harvest Eve’s end – can be rung. It will signal the smoking out of the forest creatures throughout the city and, effectively, bring the disaster to an end. Although none recognise him, many will remember him as the mysterious, violent entity that executed the night.
Special Role
Lentia Renova
Ghostly Witness
Following the chaos of Harvest Eve, Lentia of the Song-Lu Peacekeepers – originally off-duty and only in Iadlain for the celebrations – takes it upon herself to report the terrible incident to her headquarters. Through a whisper tree she brought for her travels, the news reaches Song-Lu almost immediately and from there, is swiftly brought to the capital’s attention. Thanks to this, Koben reacts quickly instead of being hindered by the Scrying Tower’s absence. Recognising the importance of keeping a direct and impartial communication line in Iadlain, the Peacekeepers promote Lentia to a full-time Peacekeeper and authorise her attendance in all of Iadlain’s negotiations. She will, now officially, act as a third party witness and reporter of Iadlain’s fate for the rest of the Empire.
Conclusion
As the negotiations in Iadlain and siege in Tusa stretched on into the Week of Kin, decisions were finally made to end the situations once and for all.
In Iadlain, the week of dual negotiations ended with the capital calling back the Schiltenbrandt family. The Schiltenbrandt faction withdrew promptly and with good grace, thus ending their proposed solutions and marriage offer. Upon their departure, a conclusion for Iadlain’s fate was sought with Koben’s Ambassador Bergmann. On the 20th Gifts, he announced his final decision – Koben, especially in its current state of war, could not afford to give Iadlain the concessions it asked for. Harvesting of the forest and alchemy exports would resume for the greater good of the Empire, by force if necessary. At this, the Count of Iadlain declared the Ambassador a threat to all of Iadlain and, in accordance with Iadlish law, executed him.
There was an uproar in the capital when the news reached them. Killing an envoy has never been a diplomatic move in anyone’s eyes but Iadlain stood unrepentant, their anger only reinforced by the Ambassador’s actions. Koben, recognising that some fault did lie in their ambassador’s incompetence, finally conceded a small grace period for the region – until the end of the year, it would accept Iadlain’s export restrictions in their entirety. The Empire would suffer for it, as alchemy costs skyrocket and airship travel grinds to a halt, but in the new year Iadlain’s Count will be called to the capital to resolve the consequences of both his murder and Iadlain’s trade.
At about the same time, Tusa saw no military aid from Koben despite their urgent requests. War hung too heavily on the capital’s mind and, in the end, it was decided that Linhythe could not be left vulnerable to the Kingdom again. With the damage that Miras had inflicted in its first attack, the port city would surely, in its current state, not survive a second one. Koben’s military was thus retained in Linhythe, ensuring its continued recovery and also the hope that it would eventually be able to serve as a naval base again in the conflict against the Kingdom.
Tusa was left with nothing but the silent expectation that its own local military was – and would have to be – sufficient to handle the civil unrest. With no choice, Tusa amassed its local forces and, on the 14th Gifts, launched an all-out attack to end the siege in the prison tower. It was a long, bloody and ugly fight. Ultimately, Tusa’s military did prevail, expelling the rebels and seizing back control of the tower, but the cost and casualties on both sides were horrendous. Disillusioned by Koben’s abandonment of them, a new, savage resentment rises across all of Tusa – civilians and soldiers alike – directed this time at the capital. Similarly angry, Tusa’s Yazgur turns her back to Koben and looks now only at her region. Communications outside of Tusa, already hampered by the Scrying Tower’s absence and the now-crippled airship routes, become cut off. Together, Tusa and Iadlain grow silent, cold and distant, just as the Empire has been to them.