Iron Rose

As the new year festivities wind down, Empress Renata embarks on the last leg of her inaugural tour of the Empire - to the farthest shore of Iadlain. Numerous other priorities have pushed the date of her visit from last year into the next - finally, though, her Imperial airship arrives south on the 13th Frost.

She meant it to be a low-key affair - stately rather grandiose - but the baseline opulence she considers necessary of 'stateliness' is still a stark contrast to the rough living conditions of the Iadlish. She spends the first day getting her contingent settled, and spends the next day touring the township, meeting people and holding babies (though failing to achieve the latter). It's only on the third that she gets to the real meat of her visit - a meeting with Acting Countess Ana. It goes on longer than expected, and both leave with sour faces when evening comes. There are whispers of unresolved business to be settled the next day... but there is no next day. In anticipation of a easy discussion, the Empress had already made other plans and so by the morning of the 16th, she is gone.  

After the airship leaves, two different stories emerge about the talks...  

A frustrated Ana delivers the news that the Empress had been unreceptive to the urgency and importance of their requests. Rather than consider giving them more support, the best she'd come to table with was an offer to resettle them in some unspecified area elsewhere in the Empire. The unspoken truth seems to be that she wants to abandon them as a waste of resources.

Meanwhile Renata's courtiers report that Countess Ana had levied unrealistic demands on the Empress with no willingness to negotiate or consider reasonable counteroffers. Renata in her endless kindness has agreed to take their demands to a committee, but must weigh the scale of their cost with the good of the Empire. True good takes time and mindfulness of the whole.

For Reluir the new year is a grim one of unchanged misfortunes. The peoples’ rejection of the Torc-led rebellion and the Ascension of the Queen and her nobility have left the nation without leaders, without stability and without help. Impoverished villages fend for themselves. Brigands roam the roads freely harassing whomever they please. Every day a new upstart crowns themself king or queen of a patch of dirt and starts quarrels over nebulous borders. And most alarmingly of all, humans have begun to migrate across the remains of the once-mighty Reign Mountains. Some are bandits taking advantage of the lawlessness and some are just seeking a place to settle or adventure - but to a Relan populace who has long seen them as dirty outsiders, they are all here to steal and taint their pure motherland. 

To the rulers of Reluir’s multitude of tiny fiefs, there is an urgent need to unify the Queendom - preferably under themselves - yet none are powerful enough to unify it alone. So they turn to past glory for guidance…

According to legend, the first people of Reluir lost their way after Saint Beitris' passing and fell to war - until the first Queen of Reluir arose from a gathering of chieftains called the Conclave of Swords. There, she demonstrated a miracle - reviving an upstanding young lord who was felled by a rival's foul play. When he knelt to her in heartfelt gratitude, a ray of moonlight bright upon her brow, all the warring chiefs were compelled to follow. Thus she was crowned as Atros’ chosen Queen and went on to bring an era of unparalleled glory to Reluir.

The new times call for a new Conclave of Swords, and a new monarch to be selected from their midst. The invite is sent through word of mouth - every would-be queen or king is to gather unarmed on the neutral ground of Connenbrig Abbey in the north, on the 11th Frost. Come the 18th, Atros-willing, a new Reluir will emerge.

____________________

Conclave of Swords Game

21 July - 3 August

While brows are furrowed in Iadlain, a brighter occasion is brewing in Bratkowice. It has been several weeks since the announcement first came from Empress Renata - in honour of her Drostian royal ancestors and their connected story leading to her own coronation, she will be hosting a Droste-themed masquerade faire at the Imperial family's palace in Bratkowice. There will be Drostian food and games, jousts, sled races and plenty more. Anyone from across the Empire - and Tusa as historically part of the Empire, nudge nudge wink wink - is welcome to attend regardless of social status. After all, the history of Droste is everyone’s history!

In keeping with the theme, the dress code is ‘Droste revival’ (Ref 1 | Ref 2 | Ref 3) - which means a trip to the tailor’s or a trip into great-grandma’s heirloom closet. And in order to make the event feel inclusive for everyone, attendees are directed to come in masquerade. The result is a fictional hodgepodge of historical and not-so-historical elements from varying points in time, but accuracy doesn’t matter all that much here. What really matters is drawing the Empire’s collective attention to the idea of Droste and, in turn, driving home the idea that the Koben throne is shaped for Renata.

The dates for the event are 21st to 23rd Frost. Free rail services to Bratkowice are planned for the days leading up to the event. All nobles furthermore receive an invitation to stay at the palace for the days surrounding the event. Renata will be at the palace to welcome these noble visitors from the 17th Frost - i.e. the day after she left Iadlain. Unfortunately for the Iadlish, she has completely forgotten to account for them - no invitation, no transport help, no notice that the Droste Faire is happening at all. If she remembered as she boarded the her airship back, then she made no mention of it - they’re probably too occupied with their own problems to come anyway so it counts as a mercy to leave them out.

In any case, the real movers and hitters of the Koben political scene will there, at least according to Renata's definition - and as much as she will be trying to win over the doubters and fence-sitters, the growing resistance to her rule within the court will also be on the move to win their support...

____________________

Droste Faire Roleplay

 1 - 21 September