The Last Days of Liv

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Continuator
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The Last Days of Liv

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The convoy of pinnaces and Jackalopes had arrived over Teldrin with the dawn, their presence announced by the demonic thrumming of four dozen gravimetric repulsors. Wearily, and with the ill-grace of reluctant early risers, many denizens of the city peered out from behind the gun-slit windows of their looming properties, whose upper storeys over-hanged the still darkened streets below, trying to catch a glimpse of the source of the omnipresent humming that rattled the adobe walls of their homes, the furniture within, and seemingly reverberated through the flesh and bones of all within audible range.

For a convoy of grav-vehicles to be making this much of a damned noise, and to have come from the north in doing so, had to mean Imperials, a lot of Imperials by the sound of it. Prudent fathers and husbands spared a moment to recall which draw on the dressing table hid the ubiquitously purloined ex-service revolver, whilst attentive mothers memorised the quickest route to the nearest communal shelter – all whilst scolding the servants as they prepared the breakfast porridge. In the streets, where Loyal Subjects and Community Servants scurried at a rapid pace in order to reach their assigned work stations before the dreaded duty whistle sounded, the wretched assortment of Lunatic and Octalune street-cleaners, and beggars, credulous vermin all, gibbered, capered, and clapped their hands in anticipation. Twenty-years had passed since the last siege and some excitement was overdue.

Teldrin was noted for four things, the shell scarred and time worn castle of Fort Erutirn with its garrison of state “Regulars”, the quay and boatyards – a once mandatory stopping point for river trade between Shirekeep and Musica, the Mint with its jealously guarded liberty of striking its own currency, and lastly – the Sanatorium, the fortified residential cantonment for employees of the ESB-Jörmungandr Group.

No-one who had ventured outside to witness the aerial armada was unduly surprised when they saw the pinnaces bank hard to the left and begin to circle around the monstrous edifice of poured concrete and carved limestone, formed into a giant stepped platform beside the sleepy and vast waters of the Red Elwynn, which loomed over the city to its immediate south. As the Jackalopes began to eject volley after volley of flares, two of the gravimetric pinnaces began a sharp descent towards the long platform that projected out over the waters before levelling out and lowering gently towards a landing pad where an assortment of ground crew, security officials, and a welcoming committee of sorts, had assembled.

Continuator
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Re: The Last Days of Liv

Post by Continuator »

After several weeks of agreeable debauchery, the moment came for the Imperial Mother to don her finest attire and welcome a delegation of Batavians to the inner sanctum of the ESB cantonment in Teldrin, which was to play host to the signing ceremony for the transfer into joint sovereignty of the Imperial Dominion of Batavia.
Treaty between the Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States on the Imperial Dominion of Batavia

The Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States, believing in furthering the cause of Benacian peace, prosperity, and cooperation, and desirous of fulfilling the dream of the Batavian nation to secure a homeland under one government, have agreed to set up the Batavian Condominium out of the Shirerithian Imperial Dominion of Batavia, and for those purposes, appointed as their plenipotentiaries, for the Government of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, Her Imperial Highness Liv Dravot al-Osman, The Imperial Mother, and for the Government of the United Batavian States, Joachim Mackay, who have agreed as follows:


Article 1: Preliminary Provisions
  1. The Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States, being the High Contracting Parties to this Treaty, agree to share the sovereignty over the territory of the Imperial Dominion of Batavia in a manner consistent with this Treaty.
  2. The Imperial Dominion of Batavia is reorganised as the Batavian Condominium, which is a protectorate of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth under the Imperial Charter for the Governance of Shireroth, ruled otherwise by the law of the United Batavian States.
  3. The territory of the Batavian Condominium (Imperial Dominion of Batavia) is defined according to Appendix A.

Article 2: Government of the Batavian Condominium
  1. The Batavian Condominium (BC) is governed by the law and administration of the United Batavian States (UBS) to the extent possible of its status as a protectorate of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth (IRS).
  2. The defence and security of the Batavian lands shall be vested jointly in the Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States.
    1. The Imperial Republic and the United Batavian States may both maintain garrisons in the Batavian lands under their respective command structures.
    2. The garrisons of the Imperial Republic and the United Batavian States shall liaise to coordinate their actions.
    3. The United Batavian States will commit to a policy of neutrality and in return the Imperial Republic will not use the Batavian lands as a base for any offensive action against a third party.
    4. A more comprehensive treaty of non-aggression and cooperation shall be negotiated between the Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States in due course for the finalisation of operational details and to confirm the relationship of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States outside of the context of the Batavian lands.
  3. The IRS establishes in the BC an Imperial Court of Justice for the Batavian Condominium (ICJ). The ICJ has jurisdiction only for matters arising under the IRS prerogatives. The IRS may, through its Imperial High Commission in the Batavian Condominium (IHC), make such appointments and employments necessary for the functioning of the ICJ.
  4. The IHC exists to represent the IRS prerogratives and interests in the BC and shall be the main line of contact between the IRS, UBS and BC governments. The UBS shall also establish an embassy in the IRS.
  5. The BC government shall furnish the IRS with an annual fund necessary for the execution of the IRS prerogatives in the BC.
  6. Residents of the BC shall not participate in IRS elections and the BC non-noble population shall not be counted as IRS denizens.

Article 3: No Jingdaoese presence

No garrison, ministry, agency, or presence of the Jingdaoese Empire will be permitted in the BC.


Article 4: The Confederation of Puritanian States

A constituent state of the Confederation of Puritanian States may elect to be assumed into the BC by informing the Steward of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth who shall communicate the decision of the state to the BC and UBS governments and to the Council of Micronational Cartography Society.


Article 5: Implementation
  1. When the UBS has successfully adhered to this treaty for a period of 12 Norton Years, it may request to be granted sole sovereignty over the BC or to continue the regime of BC under Article 2, subject to preference.
  2. The request must be debated in the Landsraad and shall require a majority in favour for the cession of the BC to be enacted.
  3. In the event of electing to choose sole sovereignty over the BC, the Transbatavian region will be ceded to the IRS in recompense (see Appendix B).
  4. As an honourable treaty partner the IRS undertakes to support the UBS before the Landsraad if the UBS choose to pursue sole sovereignty over the BC.
  5. If the Landsraad rejects its moral obligation under this treaty and votes against the recommendation of the IRS, the provisions of this treaty concerning the BC shall remain in effect and the matter referred to consultations within the Benacian League.
  6. If the government of the UBS shall fail to meet its duties as described in this treaty, or shall be in a state of inactivity for a period of 2 Norton Years or longer, the IRS shall be granted sole and perpetual sovereignty over the BC.
  7. In the event of any violation of this treaty, the BC shall revert to the sole sovereignty of the IRS.
  8. The Imperial Republic of Shireroth and the United Batavian States agree to support the establishment of a Benacian League, and agree to refer matters of disagreement between themselves concerning the implementation of this treaty, and any other point not otherwise covered by the Treaty, to the appropriate organ of the Benacian League for arbitration upon its establishment.

Article 5

This Treaty enters force upon the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty which shall occur in the forum of the Council of the Micronational Cartography Society.



Done at Teldrin, this 22.VIII.1663.

In witness whereof the above-named plenipotentiaries have signed their names:

For the Imperial Republic of Shireroth:


For the United Batavian States:



APPENDIX A:
Image


APPENDIX B:
Image
Image

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Castrigo
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Re: The Last Days of Liv

Post by Castrigo »

The Batavian foreign secretary, Mr. Joachim Mackay, entered the Sanitorum. How times had changed, long ago he had been a freedom fighter for his people and was branded a terrorist by the same people who now welcomed him...

Joachim greeted the Shirithian dignitaries, and the Queen Mother. She doesn't look well he thought worried almost, I wonder what is going on in this scheming country...

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Re: The Last Days of Liv

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Whatever thoughts the Imperial Mother may have had concerning the gentleman of advanced years, stood before her with his painfully provincial starched collar and cravat, she kept them to herself but instead smiled as she bid the Batavian Foreign Secretary and his entourage welcome. A mixed company of ESB security and the Goldshire Regulars had been rustled up to form an honour guard at the entrance to the Sanitorium's reception hall, and Liv was pleased to note that not only were the jackboots and brass belt buckles polished to the point of luminescence but the creases of the trousers and tunics for the green and field grey uniforms were aligned to the the very millimetre specified in the regulations she had introduced for the garrison upon her arrival in Teldrin. Fondly she imagined how the ESB's own battalions of community service workers, now confined in the subterranean portions of the cantonment until the day's events were over, had worked their fingers to the bone ensuring that everything was just so. The Imperial Mother insisted upon perfection. Lives were at stake - theirs specifically, if the minutest flaw was detected.

A small press contingent, comprised of reporters from the more 'on-message' periodicals had been assembled in a roped off area by the steps leading up to the colonnaded entrance to the reception hall, it was for the benefit of these journalists, and the ESB's corporate events photographer, that the Imperial Mother welcomed Secretary MacKay and bid him to stand beside her as she firmly grasped his right wrist in the firm grip of her own heavily bejewelled hand whilst smiling with apparent sincerity for the cameras.

After the photos, and before entering the hall, Liv released her grip of the old man's hand as all present stood rigidly to attention whilst the honour guard presented arms for the playing of the respective national anthems, beginning, as probity demanded, with the Imperial anthem - the new one mercifully - before the sound system played what the protocol officer had assured Liv was still the Batavian 'state hymn'. For the officer's sake it had better have been the right choice, otherwise he would soon find himself obliged to a short walk off the top of a tall flaktower.

With protocol taken care of, Liv gestured with her right hand towards the awaiting doors of the reception hall, to which a pair of flunkies dashed ahead to promptly pull open, permitting the now intermingled Sxiro-Batavian delegations to enter. The reception hall itself was an obscenity of white marble tiling, gold leaf, and yet more marble columns partitioning the central hall from two flanking halls which ran along the length of the building in parallel. This central hall was about fourteen metres wide and eighty metres in length, illuminated by three chandeliers suspended above their heads. The centre of the hall was dominated by a vast polished ebony table, inlaid with silver and lacquer. The wealth of three continents had poured into the coffers of the ESB Group and, as Mackay was now discovering, the organisation was not shy of advertising the fact.

As the Batavians took in the almost Vanic excess of the hall, three young blonde maidens in white and red bunads stepped forward carrying trays of shot glasses and champagne flutes. As they approached the delegation the three girls made a deep curtsy, and impressed by not so much as spilling a drop or even permitting a glass to slip out of position on their trays as they did so.

Liv beckoned one of the girls forward and took two flutes from the proffered tray, offering one to the Batavian Foreign Secretary in turn.
  • "Adorable aren't they? You wouldn't believe the paperwork it required to secure their transfer from the workers colonies but it was a gesture I could not resist. These three were chosen specifically from Froyalanish families that stolen lands in Batavia before the Auspicious Occasion. I thought it appropriate that they should be on hand to witness the moment when their former slaves now become the masters of their own destiny. If you like them, you can keep them. Their training as a matter that I attended to personally."
The Batavian looked to be somewhere between bemusement and horror at the thought of being offered his own set of Vanic servants. Whilst this scene unfolded, drinks - the finest produce of Goldshire in liquid form - were passed around amongst the guests.
  • "A toast then." She added. "To the restoration of a great and noble nation, to Sxiro-Batavian friendship, and to Greater Benacian Cooperation and Prosperity."
And with that she clinked glasses with Mackay and the other Batavian guests. As an aside to Mackay she added:
  • "Of course, the King would have attended today if he had been able - his various procedures play havoc with scheduling, alas - but he is quite keen to discuss the future of the Transbenacian railway in the era of joint-sovereignty and home rule in the Condominium."

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Re: The Last Days of Liv

Post by Joseph B. Windsor »

"Of course, the King would have attended today if he had been able - his various procedures play havoc with scheduling, alas - but he is quite keen to discuss the future of the Transbenacian railway in the era of joint-sovereignty and home rule in the Condominium."
OOC: I would change 'King' into 'Stadhouder' (our elected 'prime minister'), as the Throne is currently sede vacante (a lot like Hungary after the First World War). :doc:
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Ryker
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Re: The Last Days of Liv

Post by Ryker »

I think it was Liv refering to me.
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Re: The Last Days of Liv

Post by Continuator »

August Baerdemans wrote:
"Of course, the King would have attended today if he had been able - his various procedures play havoc with scheduling, alas - but he is quite keen to discuss the future of the Transbenacian railway in the era of joint-sovereignty and home rule in the Condominium."
OOC: I would change 'King' into 'Stadhouder' (our elected 'prime minister'), as the Throne is currently sede vacante (a lot like Hungary after the First World War). :doc:
(OOC: Duly noted but the King in question is the King of Goldshire. :wink: )

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Castrigo
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Re: The Last Days of Liv

Post by Castrigo »

Only a few moments after Joachim Mackay had recovered from the shock of three young girls being offered to him, a messenger arrived. Joachim's face turned pale when he read the words. He turned to Liv "I am terribly sorry, Your Grace, I have to go"

He turned around and speeded out of the room, leaving the Shirithian delegation behind in bewilderment.

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