A New Moon Rises

[Acronis]

6 April 2022

Province-wide Curfew Ordered as Self-Proclaimed “Akronist Militias” Seek Fights

NANDRAT-- All cities and townships in Nandrat Province have been placed under a curfew by order of the Tavari Ministry of Internal Affairs and Improvements, with streets ordered clear of all but emergency business by 9:30 PM ETT/8:30 PM WTT. Royal Tavari Marshalls report the sighting of at least three separate groups of people, all self-identifying as “Akronist militias,” roving the streets in various areas of the province brandishing weapons. As of press time, no shots had been fired, but a statement from the Marshalls has warned the public that “these groups are armed and should be considered lethally dangerous.”

In the City of Nandrat, a group of approximately two dozen people calling themselves the “Fist of Nandrat” tore through the city’s Riverside neighborhood—a predominantly commercial area home to several traditionalist Tavari distilleries and the city’s first cannabis dispensary—causing what fifth-generation rum-maker Vadrak Nendravi Ontovaž estimated to be eight to ten million našdat worth of damage. “It isn’t likely that we’ll come back from this. At least, not for a long, long time,” said Mr. Nendravi Ontovaž, who noted sourly that his insurance does not cover damage caused by civil unrest or insurrection. His distillery and two others saw significant fire damage which was almost certainly exacerbated by the terrorists blocking firefighters from accessing the area for several minutes.

All three militias sighted so far are equipped with weaponry “at the level or exceeding the level” carried by the Royal Tavari Marshalls, per their report. Assault-style long guns and handguns are illegal to own for civilians under Tavari law, which also currently applies in Acronis pending the provisional legislature passing its own statute. In Toboki Township, southwest of the City of Nandrat, a band of seven people wearing black masks with bright yellow clothing reminiscent traditional robes of Akronist Peacekeepers were sighted carrying grenades. Their chests were emblazoned with the letter “I,” almost certainly standing for “Ilarism,” the radical Akronist belief that violence can be justified by Akrona.

No damage to people or property outside the City of Nandrat has been reported, with the militia in Toboki Township and another near the campus of Tavaris Central University in Ratani so far only cited for threatening and harassing individuals on the street. In Ratani, parishioners of Central University Temple—known for occasionally seeing the late Shano Tuvria in attendance—encircled a traditionalist-owned coffee shop that militia members sought to vandalize. “I’ve never been so scared in my life,” said one individual at the coffee shop who declined to prove their name. “But I know I can’t let them do this. This isn’t Akronism. This is terrorism.”

In all three locations, Royal Tavari Marshalls have been deployed to patrol streets and maintain order. The Marshall’s decision not to engage the terrorists in fire fights has been criticized by some, including Toboki Township Supervisor Telõbíl Denkašt Kataži, who told the Independent “[The Marshalls] can’t just be out there playing hide and seek with these m------f-----s, they need to corner them and eliminate the threat by whatever means necessary. This is Toboki Township, not f—ing Suvania.” Royal Tavari Marshalls public information officer Maj. Evundi Kalakai Boleštíl, when made aware of the Supervisor’s comments, replied “Royal Tavari Marshalls will engage when it is safe and appropriate to do so. Neither has been judged to be true at this time. This is why we are asking residents of the province to temporarily shelter in place.”

“The Church deplores violence in all its forms and calls upon these so-called militias to immediately cease their illegal activity and present themselves peacefully to law enforcement to answer for their crimes,” said the Church of Akrona in a written statement. “No one who picks up a gun and roams the streets looking for fights is in good standing with neither this Church or its Goddess.”

[Acronis]

8 April 2022

Referendum Results Upheld by Supreme Constitutional Court

NUVRENON-- In a ruling that is almost certain to add more fuel to the fires burning in Acronis and western Tavaris, the Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled in For Our Future: Acronis v. Takanaš that there is no legal requirement that a new referendum be held in areas disputed by Acronis and that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Improvements order declaring the results official is valid—effectively closing the book on Acronian attempts to re-do the disastrously-conducted independence vote in Ranat, Nandrat, and Elatana.

“It is undeniable that the many of the events that unfolded on the day of the referendum are incredibly unfortunate and should be taken as a prime example of what to avoid at all costs in conducting elections,” the Court said in a unanimous, unsigned opinion (as is typical for the court, the highest court of appeal in Tavaris.) “Despite this, however, Tavari law foresees events like these and contains several provisions for the auditing of results. The Ministry of Internal Affairs [sic] duly followed the process laid out in statute law to audit and finalize the results. It is not and can never be the job of this Court to determine the result of an election, and this Court has no authority under statute law or constitutional provision to overrule the certification of an election that has clearly met every requirement laid out in the law. As such, the order signed by Minister Avri Takanaš on 14 March 2022 shall stand as valid unless and until His Majesty’s Government decides through its own procedures to call for a re-vote.”

Legal observers were unsure of how the Court would rule—constitutional law cases are rare, as the Court typically hears appeals of criminal and civil matters from lower courts. The Court noted in its opinion that “judicial review in Tavaris is not unlimited, and in fact is relatively restrained compared to some other countries,” meaning that the Court has little ability to “overrule acts of state that meet the standard of legality as laid out in the text of the law and the Instruments of Governance.” Dr. Kantra Dendoro Entavi, professor of constitutional law at Crystal Coast University, called the result “Unsurprising in a legal sense, but concerning in the current political environment.”

“If you ask me as a legal scholar, I would tell you that this ruling is fairly unremarkable and legally sound. The Court has rejected calls to overturn or re-do elections in the past. What concerns me—and I presume most people—is that this decision is almost certain to inflame the militant Akronist cause. Just because the Court made the correct decision doesn’t mean I’m not scared,” said Dr. Dendoro Entavi. Likely agreeing with her assessment, the Royal Tavari Marshalls blocked off the entirety of downtown Nuvrenon to prevent assemblage at the Court and has also increased patrols in Crystal Coast and Anara. The city of Nandrat has seen elevated levels of Marshall presence for days, since so-called “Akronist militias” were able to threateningly roam the streets for several hours on the evening of the 6th before being apprehended.

Atra Metravar, Chief Administrator of Acronis, called the Court’s ruling “absolutely outrageous.” “It is incredibly disappointing that the Tavari Supreme Court [sic] has chosen to uphold this blatantly undemocratic, plainly tampered-with election result, but this is not the end. Žarís Nevran Alandar can expect that the finalized extent of Acronian jurisdiction will be negotiated in our coming talks regarding the military, and she can expect that we will not surrender even a single speck of soil on the Ranat Plateau.” When asked if she was ruling out a military or other armed response to a potential Tavari rejection of these terms, Ms. Metravar declined to answer.

“While the Court is right to point out that the referendum had significant flaws in administrative execution, it is also right to point out that the results were properly audited and vetted and that the finalized results are accurate,” said Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar. “Additionally, we now know that it was foreign intervention by the Federation of Bana in favor of Acronis, not some traditionalist Tavari conspiracy alleged by some to oppose Acronian independence, that caused terrorist violence and slowdowns in voting—but emphatically not in the alteration of any ballots. Avnatra can now rest assured that the answer we have to the question asked on February 27th is the true answer.”

Where legally permitted under current emergency regulations—and also plenty of places where illegal—crowds of people have gathered to celebrate and condemn the decision. In Nuvrenon’s Second Ward, the closest open location to the center of Tavari government, as many as a hundred people came together to chant slogans such as “Peace Now!” and “Tavaris Together!” The demonstration was brief, as the Royal Tavari Marshalls very quickly enforced a rule disallowing political gatherings of more than 50 people. Two were arrested in Nuvrenon, one of whom being Tinor Takrania, a noted peace activist who has been arrested at more than twelve demonstrations in the past year. Similar demonstrations have been reported by Marshalls in eight cities across both Tavaris and Acronis, including one in Mt. Akrona in the East Pacific Isles.

From his jail cell at the Nuvrenon Municipal Justice Center, a notably deflated and uncommonly pessimistic Mr. Takrania said “I’ve been an Akronist and a peace activist all my life, and I’m pretty damn old. Never did I think I would have to choose between the two, but now that I have, I’ve chosen peace. This isn’t the Acronis I want. This isn’t what anyone wanted. I’m devastated to see what has become of us. I desperately hope that this court case will close the book, but of course I’m not that stupid. It’s going to get worse before it comes close to getting any better.”

[Acronis]

9 April 2022

EXTRA EDITION: Fires, Riots in Nandrat and Ranat as Akronists Reject Tavari Rule

NANDRAT-- More than ten thousand people forced themselves onto the High Street in the city of Nandrat just after midnight on Saturday morning, overtaking three barricades set up by the Royal Tavari Marshalls in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to overwhelm the lighter, nighttime security detail. The city has been subject to an unprecedented level of military presence since Wednesday evening, when Akronist militias threatened various areas in Nandrat Province for several hours. While few, if any, individuals at Saturday morning’s protest are believed by Marshalls to be armed, the demonstration has been declared an unlawful assembly and ordered unsuccessfully to disperse. In the city of Ranat, a smaller protest broke out on the city’s south side, with Marshalls estimating between two and three thousand individuals present. In both cases several fires have been started, with several buildings already lost.

For the first time in Tavari history, Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar has ordered the Royal Tavari Army—not the Marshalls or provincial National Guard units—to secure the scene in both cities. “These riots are not political demonstrations, they are illegal and they are threatening the peace and safety of millions of people,” said the Prime Minister. “I have ordered the Army to immediately quell these riots and arrest the criminals responsible for yet more property damage that continues to endanger and defame not just Tavaris and its people, but as the Church of Akrona has repeatedly said, over and over, the goddess Akrona herself.” No count of arrests was available as of press time, but the Prime Minister did clarify that all those arrested by the Army will be subject to the military justice system “unless or until” they are transferred to civilian courts.

The protests were sparked primarily by the announcement on Friday evening that the Supreme Constitutional Court had upheld the result of February’s independence referendum—meaning that Ranat and Nandrat provinces will remain part of the Kingdom of Tavaris, while the unprovinced territory of Elatana will become part of the People’s Communion of Acronis. While these results were decided upon by majorities in each of these jurisdictions, the margins were remarkably narrow—less than 20,000 votes in Ranat—and partisans on both sides have been outraged and sometimes violent for weeks. For Ranat this is the first major violence to strike, while Nandrat has seen terrorist attacks and violent riots since the day of the referendum.

In Elatana, nine hours ahead of Acronis, Administrator Tevri Kantõši Nolandar has activated the provincial National Guard as well as Royal Tavari Marshalls and has ordered that all residents of Arktorís remain in their homes except for emergency business. “I do not hope to see similar outbreaks of violence here and I will do everything within my lawful authority to prevent it,” said the Administrator. Elatana has seen significant chaos in recent weeks, and the limits of the Administrator’s “lawful authority” has been questioned. Questions sent to the Administrator regarding transition to Acronian authority after the court ruling were not answered by press time.

Due to military presence, T.V. was unable to dispatch reporters to the scene of the protests. However, individuals among both protestors and witnesses have taken to social media to describe events. Pigeon user @AkronasHugeNaturals, who lists their location as Nandrat, reported “They aren’t even chanting, they’re just shouting in rage and burning everything they can reach. Rocks have hit my window and I’m in a 4th floor apartment.” In Ranat, the tag “#RanatIsAcronis” contains hundreds of individuals describing acts such as knocking over rubbish bins, breaking windows, looting from grocery and electronics stores, and in one case, urinating on a statue of King Kanor the Great.

General Devri Telan Obrõci, designated operations spokesperson for the Royal Tavari Army, stated “we expect both of these protests to be quelled within two to three hours” and remarked dryly that “we thank the individuals who are making our jobs easier by posting the crimes they are committing on Parrot [Pigeon].” Gen. Telan Obrõci also noted that, while the Army has never been called to address a civil disturbance such as this, they are “well-prepared for these circumstances, and have especially been reviewing these protocols in the past few months.” The Royal Tavari Army declined to comment on questions regarding where those arrested in these protests would be detained or for how long.

[Acronis]

10 April 2022

Armed Forces Reports “Mass AWOL Event” as Akronists Desert; Some Call for Formation of “Acronian Armed Forces”

LANSAI TWP., Elat-- More than 200 soldiers of the Tavari Armed Forces did not show up for morning drills on Sunday at Joint Defense Facility Two, the largest military base in mainland Tavaris, per Minister of Defense Nama Oren Kantoreš, but “many more” are likely to have deserted, as most soldiers are not expected to report back to work until Monday. “We have received more than a hundred letters of resignation—which, I will note, have no legal effect in the military—but it’s very likely that many more soldiers are leaving without bothering to let us know,” said the Minister. Each of these letters, she said, mentioned Acronis in one way or another.

“The deployment of the Royal Tavari Army to Ranat and Nandrat appears to have crossed a line for many Akronists and others in the Armed Forces who are resident in or support Acronis. Never before has the military seen such a coordinated campaign of desertion. That said, this is an event that we did foresee occurring, and we have contingency plans in operation. Nowhere in the RTAF Area of Responsibility is currently endangered by these desertions,” said Ms. Oren Kantoreš. “While at the present time we are aware of only about 220 desertions, we expect there to be more desertions evident in coming days, a number likely in the hundreds or perhaps thousands.”

The Minister added that each desertion was unlawful, because under the terms of the Acronis Independence Referendum Act, the Royal Tavari Armed Forces remain responsible for the defense of Acronis until the Acronian legislature votes to assume control of its own defense. “The military is not a political organization and we do not allow for simply walking out and leaving the military behind for any reason, let alone for a political cause. These individuals have broken the law, and while prosecution will be complicated by the obvious fact that many of these people are or will soon be subject to the legal authority of Acronis, these deserters can rest assured that I will find them and there will be severe consequences.” [Editor’s Note: After this article went to press, Ms. Oren Kantoreš contacted TavariFax to clarify that she had meant to say “we, the Armed Forces, will find them,” not herself individually.]

In Acronis, some of these soldiers have publicly identified themselves and called for the formation of a separate (and unofficial) “Acronian Armed Forces” to defend the territory of Acronis—which at least one made sure to note included all of Ranat and Nandrat provinces. “It is long past time for Akronists to defend their own country, all FIVE provinces of it,” said General Vatti Neklóraž, formerly of the Royal Tavari Air Force on Pigeon. He added “If we need to spill blood for it, then so be it. Freedom has never been free.” Gen. Neklóraž was, until Sunday, the air defense operations commander of the King’s Island subsector—one of the most important individuals in the chain of command. For the past four years, he was in charge of Air Force operations in one of the tensest regions of the country: the maritime border with the Federation of Bana.

Gen. Neklóraž, who says he is making no effort to conceal his identity or location, agreed to an interview by phone using, apparently, his Tavari government-issued cell phone. “This escalation to using the Army instead of the Marshals to enforce civil order is an escalation too far. That isn’t part of the social contract we have here in regard to military enforcement of civilian law,” said the general. “It’s clear that the Tavari government has abandoned democracy and instead seeks to impose its own will on the lawfully independent Acronis. Tavaris has invaded Acronis, and Acronis must answer by forming her own armed forces.”

“The People’s Communion of Acronis does not currently have an Armed Forces, and will not until negotiations with the Kingdom of Tavaris are complete,” said Chief Administrator Atra Metravar in a written statement. “Any individuals claiming such are acting outside the law.” While Gen. Neklóraž claims to have spoken to “high level Acronian officials” in recent hours, the office of the Chief Administrator declined to confirm or deny that they had spoken with him. The Office of the Matron referred all questions regarding the military to the Chief Administrator, saying “the Constitutional Framework currently governing Acronis explicitly states that the Matron shall have no role, symbolic or otherwise, in the Armed Forces, and therefore cannot comment in regard to this matter.”

In 2020, the most recent year information was available, the Royal Tavari Armed Forces counted a total of 599,238 soldiers in active duty across all five branches. When including reservists and members of the National Guard, the number was approximately 1,440,000 as of 2020. While estimates of “hundreds” of Akronist deserters would appear to be very small in comparison, both Defense Minister Nama Oren Kantoreš and Gen. Neklóraž emphasized that it was more important who has left rather than how many.

“While I repeat my statement that there is no threat to security anywhere in our Area of Responsibility, it is true that even the desertion of one general will have administrative effects as well as effects on morale. This is why we will not tolerate further desertion and why my office will be taking every effort necessary to ensure that our Armed Services remain whole. We foresee a significant loss of personnel—lawfully—when negotiations with Acronis conclude, but until then, each and every soldier in this military can consider themselves to have been ordered to hold their spirits-damned jaguars,” said Ms. Oren Kantoreš.

When informed of the Minister’s comment, Gen. Neklóraž laughed. “We will hold absolutely nothing back in the defense of our country of true believers. It is likely that the Acronian Armed Forces I am building will be quite, quite small in number compared to the RTAF, but we will have the best and the brightest, we will be efficient and lean, and most importantly, we will have the Goddess on our side.”

[Acronis]

[OOC Note: Joint post with Shadow]

11 April 2022

ELATANA IN ANARCHY: More Bombings Rock Arktorís, Alkari Military Moves In to Defend North Elatana, Chain of Command Still Unclear

ARKTORÍS, Elatana-- A lockdown order has been issued for the city of Arktorís as well as Vedra Township by Elatana Administrator Tevri Kantõši Nolandar Monday afternoon after seven separate but nearly simultaneous bombs exploded all across the greater Arktorís area. Of the seven bombs—a conspicuous number in that it is sacred in Akronism—three went off in suburban parks without injury, while two in the Aktorís central business district and two in Vedra Township have caused more than 200 injuries. The count of deaths was uncertain as of press time.

Royal Tavari Marshalls public information officer Maj. Tanalo Kantri Ventakat reported that each of the bombs went off between 10:00 and 10:04 AM local time, which according to the Major “is almost certain, although not completely, that these bombings were a coordinated event.” The Marshalls are operating under the presumption that the seven bombs are “one single event, unless we discover information to the contrary.”

In downtown Arktorís, one bomb exploded across the street from a stop on the Arktorís Metro that is notably located on the same block as the city’s historic Central Parish Temple of the Church of Akrona. While that station has been closed for the past two months for renovation, dozens of people were walking along the street at that time, with 56 people sent from that site to local hospitals, 4 of them listed in critical condition. Damage on the scene includes shattered windows, collapsed construction scaffolding, and a damaged water main, as the bomb appeared to have been placed next to a fire hydrant.

The other bomb to explode in Aktorís went off near the lobby of the Elatana and Arcturia headquarters of Monata Automotive, causing 7 injuries, all of whom were on the street at the time. Monata Automotive reports that their employees in Arktorís have been working from home for the past week “in light of the current dangerous situation,” meaning the lobby of the building was empty at the time. Camario de la Huerta, 21, of Pergaen, witnessed the blast from his dormitory, located across the street at the University of Elatana. “That building’s entire front wall was just glass. If there had been anyone in there, it would have been a massacre. It’s a miracle more people weren’t hurt.” The University of Elatana has placed its entire campus on lockdown and has deployed its own public security department to secure the scene.

The majority of casualties known so far have come from Vedra Township, the largest suburb of Arktorís, where bombs exploded in the parking lots of two Meσitak superstores. “One moment I was standing in the lot trying to find where I had parked my car and the next moment I was flat on my back half a dozen nai away,” said Alevan Renaštra, 42, who had been shopping at the East Vedra location. While Mr. Renaštra experienced no injuries, he described the scene as “absolutely horrific, like a war zone. Car alarms going off, shattered glass everywhere, people screeching and wailing. The bomb went off near the grocery doors and when I looked over there it was just dozens of people splayed across the parking lot.”

Meσitak, Inc. said in a statement that “we are aware of the terrible act of terrorism that has occurred at two of our stores and elsewhere in Elatana and are cooperating with law enforcement. For so many people—team members and shoppers—to be attacked, possibly even killed, is unimaginable in a civilized country and we desperately call on both the Tavari and Acronian governments to restore order.”

The question of which government is responsible for Elatana continues to be unresolved. The People’s Communion of Acronis has rejected the decision of the Tavari Supreme Constitutional Court that legally handed control of the territory to them. While Elatana remains part of the Area of Responsibility of the Royal Tavari Armed Forces, there are serious questions about who is lawfully able to give orders to the troops stationed on the island. Maj. Kantri Ventakat stated the Marshalls are “in close contact with the Elatana Administrator at this time” and declined to elaborate.

In North Elatana, the government of the North Elatana Autonomous Zone has apparently reached out to the government of Alksearia in an effort to secure their territory. Under Alkari law, most if not all of the ethnic Alkari in the zone are citizens of the Kingdom of Alksearia, and high level sources in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) report that Queen Dorothea of Alksearia has issued “a final ultimatum” to Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar. “Alksearia simply won’t accept this risk to their own citizens any longer, and the Queen ripped the Prime Minister a new one on the phone. She said either Tavaris sends in troops or she does,” said an OPM source who was not named because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

OPM declined comment on questions about if any such call occurred, but Mrs. Nevran Alandar stated that Alkari troops will be coming to Elatana “on the invitation of the Resident Administrator of Elatana, an invitation that is endorsed and backed by myself and the Cabinet.” The Prime Minister noted that North Elatana has statutory control over its own security and that, with most of the Elatana National Guard deployed elsewhere, “the presence of our Alkari allies to help shore up security in Elatana is welcome. We thank Alksearia for agreeing to deploy troops to the Zone.” Between 150 and 300 Alkari soldiers are expected to arrive “within the hour” according to the Prime Minister.

Queen Dorothea held a small press conference after the news broke. At the conference, she stated publicly, “It is my duty as the Monarch of the Alkari to make sure that all Alkari are protected and safe no matter where they are. The devolving situation in Elatana and more broadly in Tavaris and Acronis is concerning. With these recent attacks, I fear the people in the autonomous zone are in need of protection.” She also went on later to say, “We were invited to help secure the North Autonomous Zone by the Prime Minister and the Resident Administator of North Elatana. We are committed to keeping the peace and nothing else. We stand with our ally Tavaris through these trying times.”

“What an absolute cluster-[expletive deleted]. Elatana is in absolute anarchy. We’re terrified for our lives,” said Alevan Renaštra, the Vedra Township bombing witness. “One side says they don’t want us, one side says they can’t have us, and look what’s happening. Elatana is supposed to have the most military per capita of anywhere in the empire outside Kanor, but they’re all in [expletive deleted] Suvania or wherever. Our own damned soldiers can’t secure one skinny little island and we had to ask the Alkari, it’s insane. Whatever state it is that I’m in, it’s a failed one. Tavaris, Acronis, all failures.”

[Acronis]

12 April 2022

Gunfire, Sightings of Armed Akronists Reported at RAB West Nandrat

WEST NANDRAT TWP, Nandrat-- At the largest Royal Air Base in Nandrat, officials report several incidents of gunfire and threatening actions overnight from armed individuals who “appear to be affiliated with the Akronist cause,” according to Royal Tavari Air Force Gen. Bettra Ranai Ševelran. “Beginning very early on Tuesday morning we began to notice anomalous activity outside our secured area. Strange behavior, people running toward the gate and then back away. Flashes of light, sounds of gunfire. It’s clear someone is trying to agitate us, and that’s a terrible mistake.”

In recent days, some in the radical fringes of political Akronism have called for Acronis to establish its own armed forces, independent of the Royal Tavari Armed Forces that continue to be legally responsible for the defense of Acronis while the government of the People’s Communion continues to be provisional. The Church of Akrona has strongly rejected these calls and continues to state on the record that it opposes violence, but especially in recent days it seems to be the case that many political Akronists do not seem to care.

“There needs to be another referendum in Nandrat and Ranat, and that’s that. Anyone with a brain should be able to see how messed up the last one was,” said Otan Rundra Võnadro, 54, of the city of Nandrat. “And if there isn’t going to be one, then we need to stand up for ourselves. I know the Elders have to tell everyone not to be violent, but our options for seeking justice are fewer and fewer.”

Mr. Rundra Võnadro, who says he is a direct patrilineal descendant from the late 15th century Chief Vuno of Rundra who donated his family lands for the Church of Akrona to construct the famous Temple of the Emergence, described the situation in Nandrat as life and death for Akronists. “Do you think that, at this point, any Akronist in what was western Tavaris could safely go back to living in Tavaris? Does anyone? As if the Nationalists that [Prime Minister Žarís] Nevran Alandar doesn’t do anything about will welcome us back with great big hugs? Absolutely not. They’ll kill us. It’s life and death for us out here, and my family has been on the side of life since the Emergence.”

Gen. Ranai Ševelran, herself an Akronist, does not agree. “Attempting to take on the Royal Tavari Armed Forces is suicide. And perhaps except the case of abortion, there can be no greater wound to the Goddess, no greater harm, no greater pain to the Goddess than committing suicide. And on top of that, it’s absolutely idiotic and will gain nothing for anyone.” The General noted that even possessing the kinds of firearms carried by these attackers is a felony, and characterized Akronists firing on the base as “either treason or an act of war, depending on your view of the constitutional situation.”

Per the Royal Tavari Air Force, no physical damage was reported to any base infrastructure and no individuals, civilian or military, reported being physically attacked or threatened by the attackers. According to Gen. Ranai Ševelran, the attackers appeared to know the precise locations of each security camera, security checkpoint, and entry/exit gate on the base perimeter. “In each sighting, the attackers would run into the field of view of the camera, fire their guns into the air, and then immediately run back into the forest along the north and east sides of the base,” said the General.

The forest around the base was planted by the Tavari government as both an extra measure to separate the base from the nearby West Nandrat central business district and as a measure to counteract the base’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, the forest is not legally the property of the Tavari Armed Forces, meaning they cannot ordinarily deploy permanent security countermeasures in the forest. “That, of course, is now completely out the window,” said the General. “These people need to understand that this is not some kind of joke or a game. This is deadly, deadly business. You don’t just fire a gun next to an air base, and this isn’t a slap on the wrist kind of crime. We will take whatever measures necessary to secure our facility and our soldiers, and if anyone tries this sort of thing again, they won’t reach that forest.”

[Acronis]

12 April 2022

Rodokan Native Tribal Authority Will Formally Consider Independence

JÜRJO SQUARE, Sinajärv-- The once unthinkable has become a formal reality as the Tribal Council of the RNTA has resolved to launch a formal legislative inquiry into the possibility and feasibility of seeking independence and becoming a fully sovereign state. In an extraordinary session held on Tuesday—beginning at 5 AM out of concerns it would run late, a prediction that held true—the Tribal Council voted 14-6 to create and fund a “Council Committee on Independence” after more than six hours of sometimes contentious debate.

“Honestly, I think the best proof that it is the right time to do this is simply by taking one look at the news,” said Presiding Chief Ivi Puna Laar, the Chief of Puna. Previously noncommittal on the question of independence, she voted in favor of the measure and will chair the Committee on Independence. Other members include Deputy Presiding Chief Luule of Moenarr, Vaalsaar Delegate Aaro Karjakas Tinn, Chief Raivo of Silmaring, and Chief Eha of Kivisüda. The Presiding Chief noted that, while they were in the meeting, news broke that there had been A New Moon Rises - Page 5 - The East Pacific - Tapatalk near a Tavari military base in Nandrat. “I’m willing to say it out loud: Tavari society is unraveling. We need to protect ourselves.”

Some members of the council disagreed. Chief Devri of Karjakas said in the meeting that she was “incredibly disappointed” to see fellow members of the council “give up on Tavaris.” She noted that Tavaris was among the most powerful countries in the Western Hemisphere and that Rodoka alone would be “microscopic and irrelevant.” She also noted that “Native Rodoka is currently split between two countries, Tavaris and Acronis. You can all see how hard it is to secede from one country, let alone two at the same time.”

Chief Raivo of Silmaring was among the most passionate proponents of independence. “The options, as I see it, are to be a small independent country, or be attached to a giant, burning, sinking ship. I haven’t seen a country on fire like this since the Milofites. The options are either we secede, or we die.” Chief Raivo also noted that, unlike Acronis, the Rodoka Native Tribal Administration is established in law as an entity with its own sovereignty and has been since it signed the Treaty of Sinajärv in 1634. “The Tavari Constitution recognizes Native Rodoka as being included in Tavaris based on its own consent. She also said that, given the large Tavari military bases in Native Rodoka, “it’s almost certain they’ll be on board for a defense agreement. If they’ll do it for Reijia, they’ll do it for us.”

Until recently, polling for Rodokan independence was relatively rare. Only one survey was run on the question in 2021, and it indicated a 90%—10% split against independence. However, polls run within the past few days are an entirely different story: a poll run by the University of Sinajärv between April 9th and 11th showed 38% in favor of independence, 35% in favor of remaining part of Tavaris, and 27% uncertain. When this poll is averaged with three other polls run in the past two weeks regarding Rodokan independence, the results show a 35%-34% split in favor of independence but with 31% uncertain. These results are far from conclusive and tell us almost nothing about how people could be expected to vote in a hypothetical referendum, but a 25% rise in independence support over the span of a year is quite an increase.

“In normal times, an issue like this showing up out of seemingly nowhere would be completely unheard of, but these aren’t normal times. This is a crisis,” said Dr. Ilme Puna Kuusk of University of Sinajärv, who directed the recent study on independence. A scholar of the constitutional relationship between Native Rodoka and Tavaris, she said that while she had been studying this very issue her whole career, “I never expected to actually see it addressed in my own lifetime.” While she noted that it isn’t quite true to characterize the issue as having shown up out of nowhere—the newly launched Sovereignty Party had been in the works for more than two years—she said that “These are supposed to be big questions that people take a long, long time to think about. But as it stands now, I think looking at the news and seeing what we’re seeing, wanting to get away from that is only human.”

[Acronis]

The Sacred Cloister
Temple of the Emergence
Crystal Coast, Acronis

13 April 2022
8:04 AM Acronian Standard Time

“Your Most Esteemed Beneficence,” Atra said in a strangely cheery voice. “Good morning. How are you?”

Vana blinked. Something was off about all this. “I’m… fine,” she said with a shrug. “Same as ever, I suppose. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m just fine,” she replied. “Had a great phone call with the Goddess and Country folks earlier. And have you ever tried the banana coconut latte at Royal Rodokan? Incredible.”

“Atra, is everything alright? You don’t seem yourself.” Vana wanted whatever this was to end sooner rather than later.

As if she were a balloon that Vana had just pierced with a sword, Atra Metravar didn’t so much deflate as she did collapse into the chair at the Matron’s desk. “You caught me,” she said with every trace of cheer completely evaporating. “There’s a conversation we need to have and I’ve been dreading it.”

“I told you, Atra, you don’t need to resign for that event the other day, you just need to refocus yourself. And as far as I can tell, you have. I’m happy with you.” Vana offered a smile of her own in an attempt to show her earnestness.

Atra did not re-inflate. “No, ma’am, that isn’t what we need to talk about. We need to talk about the military situation. Actually, there’s a lot of situations we need to talk about. You know, we’ve always had these conversations as between an advisor and a Matron, but we need to begin speaking like a Head of Government and a Head of State.”

Vana nodded. Atra was absolutely right, of course. In fact, that she had not realized this herself was a fault on her part. “Then I suppose it’s time,” she said, more to herself than anything. Before Atra had a chance to ask what, Vana rose from her chair and strode with as much dignity as she could muster to her bedroom door. Her detestable door, the one she had always refused to acknowledge, for the leader of a Church must always, always be open to tend to her people. But the leaders of states sometimes needed absolute discretion—so with a sigh but no formality, she closed the door.

“Let us have our conversation then,” said the Matron.

“Well, I don’t think I have to tell you that things have really gotten chaotic in the past few days especially,” began Atra. She had her eyes squarely focused at a spot on the wall just above the Matron’s head, as if she couldn’t bear to make eye contact. That, too, was unusual for her—Atra Metravar was better at staring people down than probably anyone else in the world. On the other hand, though, it did feel refreshing to finally begin to see Atra’s walls come down. Vana had never seen Atra be so vulnerable, and if they were going to be running a country together, it was good that they have absolute candor.

“This isn’t how I imagined it, Atra,” Vana replied.

“No, ma’am, it’s not how I imagined it either. It was never going to be easy, of course, but…” She sighed. “Well, anyway. For one, we need to talk about Elatana again. I don’t think anyone predicted all this violence in Elatana. The goddess-damned Alkari have moved in. The Alkari! Žarís won’t admit it in a million years, but this is just an absolute failure of the Tavari state. There’s no chance that she asked Dorothea. I still have people in her office and they were all very clear that it was Dorothea who told Žarís that her soldiers would be moving in. That’s… that’s an invasion. Tavaris was invaded by a UCA ally on Monday and even if the public buys the story, you can guarantee that every government on Urth knows the truth.”

“It occurs to me that we weren’t even notified,” said Vana. “Or were we?”

Atra laughed sardonically. “Absolutely not. The Tavari government isn’t following the court ruling any more than we are. They’re obviously acting as though Elatana is still their territory, which is exactly what we claim. I don’t understand why Žarís won’t even agree to that. We could have Elatana solved in a day if she wanted! The fact that she would rather fall so low and have some other country come pick up her slack rather than just sign a damn treaty with us… I mean, Žarís isn’t stupid, you know. We have had some very stupid Prime Ministers—I can’t believe Nodri Randai Doranan legally qualified as sapient—but Žarís Nevran Alandar isn’t one of them. She’s probably the smartest Tavaris has had since… Goddess above, probably since Bežra Išdašt Tovrenar.”

“Oh, I know how smart she is. I know what she’s capable of,” said Vana. “I don’t plan on ever underestimating my good cousin.”

“And the reason I say that is because it means that this isn’t an accident. I don’t believe for a second that Žarís doesn’t know what she’s doing with Elatana. She’s disregarding the court order, she’s letting the Tavari-appointed Administrator to literally do whatever he wants, and she’s allowing all this chaos to continue. That’s the only reason I can think of why things have gotten this way. She wants a catastrophe. And she wants a catastrophe so she can take her military, swoop in, take back everything we’ve won and erase Acronis from existence. She wants violence. She wants war.”

It was Vana’s turn to deflate in her chair. “That doesn’t sound like her,” she began, but Atra shook her head.

“There’s just no way, Matron. There’s just no way that Žarís Nevran Alandar would just… sit back and let this happen, and yet that’s exactly what she’s doing! It’s because she needs a justification for a full-on, complete military occupation of every Akronist majority area that her referendum supposedly freed. That’s why she let it happen so quickly. That’s why she let it happen in the territories. It wasn’t good will out of the bottom of her heart, she deliberately chose the option in every case to cause the most chaos. I bet you anything she told the King to make that crack.”

Atra was animated now, she had risen from her seat and gesticulating wildly with her hands. The shadows on her face from the blinds in the window made her face look strange, perhaps even haunting. Or maybe Vana was just scared.

“You’re certain of this?” Vana asked.

“As a heart attack, ma’am. I didn’t see it before, that’s my own fault. I’ve worked with her for so long, I thought I knew her, but I didn’t. That woman is willing to burn it all down just so she can keep control of the ashes.”

Unable to bear the shadows, Vana stood up and opened her blinds to the morning sun. For a moment she pretended to look at the view of the courtyard outside, but she didn’t take in anything she was seeing. Vana tried her very hardest to remember every moment of every conversation she had had with the Prime Minister. Vana had believed her once. She had been so sure that Žarís had been genuine with her apology, with her outreach, and even with her offer of the referendum. And she tried her hardest to ignore that dark voice at the back of her skull that told her that this purported plan of Žarís’ sounded an awful lot like Vana and Atra’s own plan.

Without turning away from the window, Vana spoke again. “So what are we to do in Elatana, then? Do we take control? I saw some encouraging reports from the treasury the other day that, once we have tax revenue coming in, it may be easier to-”

“Nevermind Elatana,” Atra said forcefully. “Elatana’s handling itself, and really, it’s only the beginning of the problem. Nandrat is the next battleground, and honestly, I consider it more important.”

“The lithium.”

“The forest,” Atra reminded her. “The environment. Losing Elatana is one thing. Losing the planet is another. We need to defend life. There’s an old saying, the needs of the many outweigh—”

“I’m aware of the saying,” said Vana. “I’m well aware of what the stakes are. I don’t even disagree that we shouldn’t focus on Elatana. But do you have any… any intelligence, or any information about why Nandrat is next? What of Ranat, or the Ayaupians in Anara?” The Matron paused. “We really do have a lot of problems.”

“I know it will be Nandrat because that’s where the conflict between Tavaris and Acronis will begin. There are hardly any military facilities in Ranat Province, but Nandrat? Holding Nandrat means they can keep… I don’t even remember, seven, eight, ten Naval facilities? It has the largest air base in central Tavaris, it has the most rail routes and what will eventually become trade connections with Acronis. There’s a reason they messed with the ballots in Nandrat. They will defend it.”

“Defend it from what, Atra?” Vana finally turned back to face her Chief Administrator. “Are you talking about those… those Acronian Armed Forces weirdos? You were quite clear with me that they had nothing to do with-”

“Ma’am, what I’m saying is that they should be official. We do need our own military, our own way to defend ourselves. The Tavari military will turn on us in a heartbeat. They are going to attack. And ma’am, really, this whole thing, this whole conversation I’ve been dreading… Ma’am, I know this will hurt your heart, but what I have come here to say is that we need to act first.”

“You want… you want to declare war on Tavaris?”

“If we arrange for armed forces—and I guarantee you, there are thousands of Peacekeepers and veterans and reservists who are loyal to us and ready to get going today if need be—to take out Royal Air Base West Nandrat, that’s their command location for western Avnatra. They’ve already packed up and moved out of most of the bases in our three provinces, there’s just skeleton crews left. All their air patrols are coming from West Nandrat, all their communications, all their so-called intelligence, that’s all there. And that base is… I mean it’s practically smack-dab in the middle of downtown! They aren’t going to risk their own citizens to use artillery on us, not if we move fast enough that they don’t evacuate. Hell, if we play our cards right, we can position troops to prevent evacuation.” Atra was animated again, but Vana simply walked over and placed her hands over Atra’s, preventing them from moving.

“This is madness, Atra,” said Vana. “This is insanity. We agreed on day one of these plans that we are simply in no position to take on Tavaris directly.”

“Ma’am…” Atra took a breath. “Vana. As long as there is an independent Acronis, Žarís will use all her might to take it down. You’ve seen how many wars she’s started, she’s only been in office for a year! There will be a war, and we can either roll over and be slaughtered, or we can act first and fight on our terms.”

Despite the bright glare of the sun coming through the window, Vana felt herself surrounded by pitch black. There was nothing and no one, just neverending emptiness and a sickening vacuum sensation where her heart had been. “You’re serious.”

“I’m so, so sorry that it’s come to this. I know it hurts you, it wounds you to your very soul. And it’s your job to be that way, it’s why I’m the Commander-in-Chief. All you need to do is give me a military. None of what happens after that has anything to do with you.” Atra had moved her hands so it was now she who was holding the Matron’s hands within her. “We can’t ensure the existence of Acronis any other way.”

“And you expect Tavaris to just sit there and let us suddenly gather a bunch of people and guns?”

“You know exactly how terrible their intelligence is. They don’t know shit about anything we’re doing. We could throw a pile of guns in the back of a pickup truck and drive it down Orange Avenue and they would have no clue. And besides, it isn’t like they don’t know we intend to have a military eventually. Why wouldn’t we begin gathering equipment? I mean, there’s terrorism happening in our country, too. You mentioned Anara, that situation isn’t going to get any better, we have just as much right to secure our country as they do theirs. We can do this. We can defend ourselves.”

“Defending ourselves is one thing, but attacking a Tavari military base with a hodgepodge military we just threw together in a few days is entirely another! I… I… we don’t even have the element of surprise!” Vana struggled to quiet her voice, but the darkness that had enveloped her was so oppressive that she was afraid if she got too quiet she would drown in it. Atra was still holding her hands, but she felt no comfort there.

“They’re expecting, if they return, more idiots shooting guns in the air and running away. I have made certain that the number of Tavari soldiers in our three provinces is at the absolute minimum, it’s practically all I’ve been working on. They’ve relocated most of the Navy back to the Banian border. The overwhelming majority of Tavari forces are in East Tavaris. Honestly, South Hills did us a favor with those nukes. Ma’am, the only significant military presence that the Royal Tavari Armed Forces has that is capable of immediately threatening us is in West Nandrat. We can take it out if we act first. We can blow the rail lines. We can barricade the highways. We might not be able to stop a Tavari advance but we can slow them down. We can make it grueling for them. We can use their consciences against them.”

“We’re supposed to be the ones with the conscience, Atra! Damn it! We don’t have any planes, we don’t have any ships… and where, exactly are we supposed to come up with all these guns? We can’t take the Tavari equipment they left behind in the provinces, it’s theirs until we finish negotiations. And we’ve barely even started!” Vana was the one gesticulating now—she was desperate to break through the darkness. Desperate to tear through it to find the light again. But the more she tried, the darker it seemed. There just was no light to be found. Not here.

“Ma’am, there is a cargo plane sitting fueled and ready to go in Hedelmäsatama, Vesienväl that is loaded with thousands of firearms, half of them being weapons the Vesienvällers bought from the Tavari themselves. Modern and functional, and even the older stuff will still work for what we need it for. There’s grenades, there’s even SAMs. Our people up north want to help us. We have allies. When it gets bad enough, I have it from the Chairman himself that Vesienväl will support us officially, and it’s likely that they’ll end up with an Akronist government because of it. Just let me make the call.”

“Goddess preserve us, Atra.” The Matron’s voice was hollow. “You didn’t tell me any of this.”

“I mean, you knew what was going on in Vesienväl. These gears have been in motion for a long time. And ma’am, you’ve done this before. I know what you did for Ilania Lucera de Brevento in the Volscine Civil War.”

“That was the stupidest thing I ever did,” Vana snapped.

“No, Vana, it was incredible. You made the right call. You found out that Tavaris had been paying Vesienvällic intelligence to spy on Church activities, you recognized this as an attack on us, and you responded effectively by supporting her cause which ended up turning the Tavari military to a laughingstock. And now, we have Vesienväl on our side. That’s real, genuine statecraft and you did it almost 20 years ago. Now, the weapons that Tavaris paid them with are going right into our hands—hands that can and will take them down!”

Vana’s mouth was a thin, flat line. “This is… this is… How did you even… Atra this is… this…” The Matron succumbed to the darkness and let the void swallow her. It felt like she was falling and falling down an infinite abyss and she wanted to scream but the darkness was even in her throat. When light finally broke through, she found herself on her bed, as if the darkness had simply dropped her there.

“Ma’am?” Atra looked horrified. “You collapsed. Are you alright?”

Vana thrusted out her hands to block Atra from reaching for her and forced herself off the bed herself. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. Just… stress. I’m sure you understand.”

“Absolutely,” said Atra. And then there was silence—it seemed Atra didn’t know what to say. Vana didn’t either, but she worried if it was quiet too long, the darkness would consume her again.

“I cannot sanction… I cannot sanction suicide, Vana. You haven’t proven to me that this is possible, not just with a speech to me in my office. I need… I need… written proposals and projections and… I need more than just this to fucking…”

“Yes, ma’am. Absolutely. You will have them and you will have them in hours, not days.”

“How long have you been… Nevermind. Nevermind,” said Vana, waving her hand to silence Atra before she even spoke. “Just get them to me. I… I… I am prepared to accept that there must be armed conflict. I am prepared to arrange for forces to defend us. You can make your call to Vesienväl. But let me be absolutely clear with you. What I am prepared to sanction, if—and again, if—you provide satisfactory evidence and strategic plans, is a strike on this base and then an immediate offer to Tavaris of a cease fire and the unconditional return of Elatana. Maybe even the Isles. The People’s Communion of Acronis will use the minimum amount of violence to accomplish its aims. I believe I have had that conversation with you before.”

“Yes, ma’am. I understand absolutely. Perfectly clear. I will get to work immediately and I will meet with you again tonight. After dinner?”

“Fine.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Your Beneficence. I promise that this is possible. I promise that we will get through this.”

Vana’s only answer was to open her door and stare at Atra as she walked out.

[Acronis]

Conference Room B-2
Government Center One
2 Palace Square

13 April 2022
9:04 AM East Tavaris Time

Once again in her least favorite room in the building, Žarís Nevran Alandar didn’t bother taking a cup of coffee because she knew the caffeine would only put her more on edge. Today, she was sure, would be one of the most unpleasant meetings of her life. Today was the day that Nama Oren Kantoreš, her famously trigger-happy Minister of Defense, finally got to talk about her plans for what Žarís had been internally euphemizing as “the bad ending”—operations to quell Akronist violence through a military offensive against Acronis.

Nama stood as ramrod straight as ever at the head of the table with a wireless computer mouse in her hand. Her slide deck was primed and ready. Žarís forced herself to have an at least neutral expression on her face as she looked up, but when she did, she was surprised to find that Nama’s expression was… miserable.

“Good morning, everyone,” said Nama to the assembled National Security Council, which included various functionaries from several areas of government including the Minister of Internal Affairs and Improvements, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of General Staff, and several high level officers in the Armed Forces. “You all know why we’re here. Let’s get started.” With a long, long sigh, Nama turned to the screen behind her and clicked her mouse.

“MoD has long, long had contingency plans in place for a number of various situations, as many as we think are even remotely possible or could ever present a threat. We have plans for all sorts of things that will almost certainly never happen—a land invasion from Vaklori, a Volscine invasion of Aponivia, a coup in Reijia seizing our military equipment. Just last week we completed a set of plans in the event of a nuclear strike from the Federation of the Southern Coast. These are all completely standard, every government in the world makes plans like these. All of this is to say…what we’re about to talk about is hypothetical. It’s a backup plan of a backup plan of a backup plan. I don’t want to read any articles quoting high level government sources that say we’re planning an invasion of Acronis. We aren’t. We are discussing a hypothetical.”

Everyone in the room nodded. All of them except the young aides knew all of this anyway, but then, perhaps that was who Nama was worried about. She was probably right to be worried—Žarís was herself quite displeased that some of her conversation with Queen Dorothea had leaked in less than a day.

“Here we have a map of the Avnatra Defense District. I have marked on it every RTAF facility with the status of base, station, or substation. You will also see the locations of our various fleets and units of troops. These are all accurate as of this very morning. What you are looking at is the absolute, exact positioning of the entire Tavari military on the home front. And the first thing you should notice is that the three provinces of Crystal, Anara, and Indar are almost entirely blank.”

“We expected this, I presume, with the referendum?” Avri Takanaš was absentmindedly clicking his pen as he looked at the map.

“We did adjust our plans to reflect Acronian sovereignty over the number of troops deployed within their territory, which I want to emphasize here, despite it being part of the RTAF Area of Responsibility, is not part of Tavaris. These three provinces are a sovereign, independent state, according to the Constitution and all the laws. It’s a state that we continue to administer almost entirely, but it is a sovereign state nonetheless.” Nama normally had a sharp and clear voice, the kind of commanding tone that you would expect from a military official. But today, she was practically mumbling.

“So. The Acronian government has given us very strict, very clear directives on how many Tavari military assets can be deployed in their territory. In fact it’s just about the only thing they’ve been so clear and detailed about. In Indar and Anara provinces, we are allowed 120 armed soldiers each as well as some administrative staff. In Crystal, it’s 100 troops. These facilities here in the three provinces that are colored in gray are mothballed facilities. No presence. We have removed all our equipment from these areas and brought them back to Tavari territory. There is, however, still a relatively handsome amount of equipment in three facilities: RNB Crystal Coast, RAB Anara, and Joint Defense Facility One, which is located about 30 avnai from Tovar in Indar Province. Per Acronian instruction, we have removed all Naval forces from the port there and maintain only a skeleton crew for Air Force and Army.”

“What about Marshalls? Acronis needs police, don’t they?” Avri was still clicking his pen.

“Marshalls in the National Police Division are indeed in Acronis, and they have much less strict caps, but they are distributed widely across the various metropolitan areas. They are typically within small facilities, police stations, that with few exceptions have fewer than 50 armed soldiers present each. We need them to be distributed widely so that they can respond to crime, which is their purpose. The NPD is not usually considered part of our defensive capabilities, and while we certainly can move them, that takes time.”

“Nama, what about the Army base in Ranat, why does that show so few troops?” Žarís furrowed her brow at the map.

“RIB Ranat is the Army’s smallest facility, as you know, and for about seven months has been staffed at less than half capacity due to asbestos remediation work.”

“Oh, shit, I forgot,” said Žarís, smacking her forehead.

“That’s alright ma’am, I forget about Ranat too, to be honest with you. I never really… well, imagined that our army base deep in the middle of the country, on top of the plateau and surrounded by jungle and coffee farms, would ever be… relevant.” Nama sighed. “So, we’ve been caught with our britches down a bit. Everyone here should know that. We are on much poorer footing than I would like to be, if this were ever to come to pass. As a matter of fact, I think it’s fair to say that the Tavari military is less prepared for this than it has been during my entire career.”

“All the Navy’s back on the Bana border, and our Army and Air Force have so many deployed overseas,” said Admiral Dandrea Ležar Ívrit, the Chair of the General Staff.”

“Exactly right,” said Nama, with more than a shade of bitterness. “And it’s our fault.”

So that was what Nama is so upset about, Žarís thought. She was wallowing. And that was strange, because Nama had always, always been the type to push mistakes behind her and force herself onward. “So it is,” said Žarís. “Not much point in wallowing in it.”

“I’m not wallowing, ma’am, I just… well, maybe I am wallowing.” The Minister of Defense somehow straightened her back even further. “But we should recognize this for what it is. We have overextended ourselves. We have made poor decisions. And it is also true that there are events happening outside our control, like the South Hills-Bana situation. The Federation of Bana is much, much more of a threat than Acronis probably could ever be. It’s right that we focus our military in the east, but now we don’t have the flexibility to shift some focus to the west, right when we needed that flexibility most.”

“Alright. The situation isn’t ideal. How do we proceed?” The Admiral’s voice seemed bitter, too.

Nama produced a pointer from her pocket and placed it right at RAB West Nandrat with such force that the projector screen rippled. “In compensation for our deficits elsewhere in the west, RAB West Nandrat is presently at 130% capacity. I’ve been informed that we are technically in violation of fire prevention statutes, and our air conditioning costs have nearly doubled, but West Nandrat is ready.”

“And it’s the one the Akronists have already started antagonizing.” Anta Indria Kevorandal was the Chief of the Intelligence Office, which was a multi agency collaboration across both the Marshalls and Internal Affairs, as well as a few other scattered statutory bodies. Given her performance lately, it took everything within the Prime Minister not to respond thank you, Captain Obvious.

“I’ll be honest with you, ladies and gentlemen, that whole event confused the hell out of me. It didn’t accomplish anything and obviously has alerted us. What that event told me is that it is certain that the Acronian government doesn’t have anything to do with these people. I know Atra Metravar and she isn’t that stupid.” For the first time, Nama’s expression seemed to brighten, or at least to become a bit more animated, but it faded the moment she turned back to the map. “That said, it would always have been obvious that that would be their target. RAB West Nandrat is the closest functional major military facility we have near Acronis.”

“Is there any real threat from the Acronians? They don’t have any planes or ships, they don’t have a military at all.” Avri, Žarís had noted, had put his pen in his pocket to prevent himself from clicking it. Instead he was lightly drumming his fingers on the table.

“Yes,” Nama said simply. “The first mistake that any military can make, especially one of our size and funding, is thinking that an unorganized insurgency will make for easy steamrolling. We will not make that mistake. Groups of people who dedicate themselves to a cause… can accomplish almost anything. And remember—and I mean no offense when I say this, because I know that there are traditionalists who think the same—but many of these people believe they have the power of God on their side.”

“I have no argument with that,” said Avri, who as always was wearing his diamond pendant necklace.

Nama sighed—had she ever sighed this much before? Žarís knew it was a bad habit of hers to wear her emotions on her sleeve in tough times, but Nama had never seemed to. The Minister of Defense had a frown on her face until her eyes briefly met the Prime Minister’s, when she forced a flat expression, much like Žarís herself had done earlier.

“So. We believe, with certainty of at least 80%, that a military offensive toward Acronis, if it occurs, will be necessitated by Akronists attempting to seize control of Nandrat Province. While both Ranat and Nandrat are disputed and economically valuable, preventing Tavari access to the Nandrat Lode of lithium has long been a central motivating factor for radical political Akronists. In addition, Nandrat Province has access to the sea and a much, much more developed industrial base than primarily rural Ranat.”

The Chief of the Intelligence Office spoke up again. “What are the odds that the Akronists choose Ranat instead? As a sort of… you know. When you want to do the thing the enemy doesn’t expect.”

“Twenty percent,” said Nama flatly. “One hundred minus eighty is twenty percent.”

The Chief nodded and then shrank down in her chair—and for just a fraction of a second, Žarís saw the normal ferocity return to Nama’s eyes. “At any rate, even if the Akronist forces choose to target Ranat first, our response would still begin at RNB West Nandrat.”

“What do we believe will trigger an Akronist attempt to seize Nandrat? Do we have anything indicating they’re currently planning for such an event?” The Admiral had her arms crossed as she stared at the map, deep in thought. It seemed as though she was taking Nama’s usual place as the warhawk—but Žarís couldn’t help but notice that she was frowning, too. In fact, everyone was.

“Before I answer, do you have any insight to bring, Anta?” The eyes of the entire room moved to the Chief of the Intelligence Office, who was shrinking even further in her chair.

“Ah, no, not… not at this time. I’m sure that you, y’know, have it covered.”

“Indeed.” Nama clicked her tongue and held her gaze on Anta for a few moments.

“Anta, if you have other meetings you need to get to—say, with your department heads—by all means, you don’t have to stay here. I’m sure you know all of this already.” Žarís arched her eyebrow at the melted puddle in the chair that was once her Chief of Intelligence.

“Oh. Thank you, ma’am. Yes.” For a few moments, Anta awkwardly gathered her various papers and pens, stuffed them in her purse, and then shuffled out of the room.

There was a beat of silence, and then the Prime Minister spoke. “Should I fire her now, or is that a bad look for us?”

For a moment, one could have heard a pin drop in Conference Room B-2, but the young aides straining not to laugh could contain themselves for only so long. It was the Commandant of the Navy’s junior aide who broke first, trying to pass it off as a sneeze, but then the Commandant himself started laughing, and suddenly the entire room was in an uproar. It wasn’t happy laughter—it was what Žarís’ dad called “funeral laughter.” The kind of laughing you do when someone cracks an inappropriate joke about the deceased and people laugh just because they need to feel something other than sad.

The laughter took a long, long time to trail off—and then there was silence once more. Everyone in the room seemed to be looking down at the table. Žarís noticed that the fake, vinyl “wood grain” was peeling on the corner, and she found herself picking at it. Avri was clicking his pen again. Someone was shuffling through papers.

“Things are bad, aren’t they?” Avri was the first to speak, but for several moments his only answer was silence.

“Yeah,” Žarís finally answered. The buck stopped with her, after all. “Things are bad.”
Nama pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down. Perhaps it was just the fluorescent light above her, but all of a sudden she looked 20 years older. Nama Oren Kantoreš was not a young woman; at 67 years old she was seven years beyond the Tavari retirement age. Normally, her severe glare and aggressive stride gave her an extra air of vitality, but now it was gone. The Minister of Defense was just a tired old woman. “Things are bad,” she echoed.

“How likely is this? An offensive over Nandrat Province, I mean.” Avri had to force himself to put his pen back in his pocket so he would stop nervously clicking.

The Minister of Defense placed her head in her hands for a brief moment. “Fifty percent.” Her voice was a whisper.

The Commandant of the Air Force jumped out of her chair, her hands flying to the sides of her head. “FIFTY?”

For a moment, Nama could only nod. “We estimate that there’s a 50% chance that Akronist forces attempt, in some fashion, to seize all or part of Nandrat within the next one to three months,” she eventually said.

“So, maybe not a… full scale war?” The Admiral sounded optimistic. Žarís looked over to her and realized that she, too, was a tired old woman. The Tavari defense establishment was full of people who had been expecting calm and easy times in the final, golden years of their careers. This is what Žarís had given them.

“Well…” Nama turned back to the screen and clicked through a few slides full of numbers, but apparently didn’t find what she was looking for, so she simply closed her laptop and the projector screen went dark. “There’s something you need to understand about this. It… it sort of… doesn’t matter where or how this conflict begins. We presume Nandrat, and we’re preparing for it, but no matter what it is—no matter if they just seize the military base or try for a few townships or if they invade the whole province—the moment that the Tavari military engages Akronist forces in a military offensive… this country will explode. Everyone, everywhere, all at once. Akronists in every province will turn on us. Traditionalists will rise up against them. There will be violence in every major city and all across the country. No matter how this begins, the only result is a Tavari Civil War.”

Memories of laughter felt like they were ten years old. The light in the room almost seemed to dim, as if the situation were so grim that it could eat away the light. The world was gray, and Žarís felt almost as if she had fallen into some kind of void. Some null place where there was no happiness and no escape. Just gray walls, fluorescent light, and sighs.

“And this has a fifty percent chance of occurring.” Žarís was staring back at the little flap of brown vinyl that she was peeling from the cheap plywood of the conference room table that almost certainly was old enough to remember a united Salovia. That little tiny corner of peeling laminate was the only thing in the whole world that she had the power to change, and realizing that made her want to die.

“In general, we see the options as this. If the Akronists never pull the trigger, then we will probably, eventually, come to an agreement. Ultimately, the Kingdom of Tavaris is still the one collecting the taxes in Acronian territory right now. Acronis is basically renting the public infrastructure while they turn their government from a piece of paper into a reality. We own the railroads, the highways, the public land, the military, most of the power plants, all the vital records, all the… the software licenses in the government buildings, all of that. That’s our bargaining chip. In order to actually become a country, Acronis needs us to hand them over. Like I said before, we believe there’s a 50% chance that the eventual solution is reached politically. The problem is that, right now, from the Tavari perspective, Acronis is asking for too much in the deal for what they’re willing to pay.”

“So the other fifty percent represents the chance that Acronis simply won’t budge in their position,” said the Admiral.

Nama nodded. “Tavaris is weak, and the Acronians know it. Atra Metravar was a Councilor of State, she knows how shitty our intelligence is. They might not have a military, but what they do have is the 16 million people who live in what was once Western Tavaris, millions of whom are willing to pick up a gun in defense of their homes. In this scenario, we are invaders. I don’t have to tell you that in a war-”

“The home team has the advantage.” The Commandant of the Navy concluded the aphorism bitterly. “We all learn that day one.”

“And as I said earlier, the moment we move in on Akronists anywhere, Akronists everywhere—even ones who were never radical or even political before—are going to feel betrayed. Insulted. Attacked. I mean, I’m sure you’ve all spent as much time as I have imagining what the tv screens and the newspapers will look like. Tavari tanks rolling down Tavari streets, dead Akronists piled on streets outside bombed temples… They will rise up everywhere, the minute the first Pigeon post goes out. There isn’t any scenario where this doesn’t happen. The only way to prevent it is not to conduct the offensive.”

“And do what? Abandon Nandrat and Ranat?” Avri was whispering too.

“That isn’t an option,” Žarís lied. “They voted to stay. It was their democratic choice.”

“Barring the surrender of the provinces, our other options are to either conduct a short, brutal campaign of marching through all the major Acronian cities and flattening them to the ground, or conduct a precise, restrained military operation targeting only targets we are certain contain only hostile Akronists. That war will almost certainly last years,” said Nama.

“I know that they aren’t our cities anymore, but it still feels like… like we would be bombing our own cities. Our own people,” said Avri.

“Just because they’re Acronians doesn’t mean they aren’t Tavari,” replied the Admiral. “Each and every one of them was born and raised in Tavaris as a Tavari citizen. They’re still Tavari citizens.”

“To be Tavari isn’t just a nationality, it’s an ethnic group and a culture,” the Commandant of the Air Force added. “That’s what they tell us in our diversity seminars. Akronists, traditionalists, atheists, doesn’t matter. We’re all Tavari. A shame we’ve forgotten that.”

“If it comes to that, that’s how everyone will feel. Like I said, Tavari tanks rolling down Tavari streets. Tavari soldiers breaking down the doors of Tavari homes and businesses… and temples, too. I mean, you have to realize, in the event of any Akronist insurgency, they are absolutely going to take advantage of their religious buildings and the entire civilian population. It’s practically their only advantage. They will make us have to kill worshipers and people in need and priestesses and children in order to try to kill the combatants. And with each civilian who dies, we lose a little bit more of the war.”

“We will lose ourselves,” Žarís said.

“That’s war,” said Nama.

“And we haven’t even… we haven’t even discussed what the nationalists will do,” said Avri. “I mean, I mean… I’m terrified. My next door neighbor flies the TNP flag.”

“I’ve noticed the Commandant of the Marshalls isn’t here,” said the Chief of General Staff in a rather pointed tone.

“The situation is being addressed,” said Nama and Žarís in unison. The Admiral only nodded. After a long pause, Žarís finally added in a low voice “We’ve asked General Išdašt Bodrandi to remain in the field and focus on ascertaining the situation in Elatana. He’s… quite busy.”

“So… if I’m understanding this whole thing correctly, if we don’t reach a political settlement with Acronis, the only options are either a short, terrible war or a long, terrible war?” Avri was unfortunately understanding correctly. “How many casualties are we predicting?”

“Do you really want to know?” Nama’s voice was hollow and distant, like that of a ghost. Žarís felt the walls of her gray abyss closing in on her. No one answered, but eventually Nama re-opened her laptop and picked a slide.

“We’re calling the ‘short’ war Option A and the ‘long’ war Option B. You can see on this chart that we have a low estimate and a high estimate.”

“But… but…” Avri’s voice cracked and he couldn’t finish speaking.

“As you can see, there is essentially no difference in the number of deaths predicted in either scenario. There is only a difference in the rate at which these deaths occur. In both cases, the war will happen everywhere, and ultimately, we will be presented with the same risks of civilians in or near military targets. On the low end, Option A has 1.2 million deaths in six months and Option B has a million deaths in two years. On the high end, both options are between 6 and 10 million dead. Option B, we predict, would be toward the higher end of that band because of effects such as shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods in war zones.”

“That’s… that’s ten percent of the combined population. Or more.” Žarís couldn’t look at the chart. She couldn’t look at the table, either. She didn’t want to look at anything. Eventually she just cradled her face in her hands.

“We can’t let this happen,” Avri whispered to himself at first, but then he looked up and spoke up more loudly. “We can’t let this happen. We have to… to do something!” There were tears streaming down his face. There were tears streaming down everyone’s faces: the junior aides, the old generals, the Prime Minister, and even stone cold Nama Oren Kantoreš.

“Well, Nama?” Žarís croaked. “I’m sure your office picked a recommendation.” She didn’t want to hear it, but she needed to. She didn’t have the answer.

Nama only cried. She shook her head over and over again, as if she were trying to wake herself from a terrible nightmare. “No, ma’am, we didn’t. We didn’t… we couldn’t… we couldn’t…” An anguished howl escaped the lips of the old woman at the head of the table. It was the sound of a mother wolf mourning her children. It was the sound Žarís’ father had made when her mother died.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Žarís. I’m sorry. I just… I just… the nightmares… dead Akronist children with their little… crystal pendant necklaces shattered on the bloody street… Nationalist flags and burning torches… If you gave me the order I don’t even think I could do it.” The Minister of Defense dropped her head to the table and sobbed.

The Prime Minister placed a hand on Nama’s back, but it felt almost as though she couldn’t feel anything at all. There was just a dull ringing in her ears and that oppressive gray abyss, somehow both infinite and crushing. She wanted to say something, to feel something… but she couldn’t. There was nothing. She had nothing.

“Then the option we pick is peace. We do everything in our power to make certain that the solution is reached at a bargaining table. Not with guns.”

“But how?” Avri asked. “What do we do?”

There was no answer.

[Acronis]

14 April 2022

“NARASQ[sup]1[/sup] ON URTH:” Riots, Gunfire Break Out All Across Country, Including Nuvrenon

NUVRENON-- It is no longer possible to pretend that the Tavaris-Acronis situation is under control. In nine cities across what was once Tavaris—Višara, Dravai, Nuvrenon, Nandrat, Tovar, Anara, Crystal Coast, Arktorís, and Vaalsadam—reports of gunfire, attacks, and riots have placed more than 26 million people under lockdown orders. This figure alone represents more than a third of the entire region, but in more than eleven other cities, including places that had otherwise escaped tensions such as Eštakai, Olara, and Lantaž—spontaneous demonstrations have broken out contrary to current emergency orders that limit public gatherings to fewer than 50 people. As of press time, Royal Tavari Marshalls were activated in every province and territory.

“We are currently monitoring a significant nationwide outbreak of civil unrest, some of it violent, and are taking every effort to bring an end to this violence as swiftly as possible,” said Minister of Defense Nama Oren Kantoreš in a press briefing. Long considered to be one of the Prime Minister’s most unpopular appointees, it is rare to see Ms. Oren Kantoreš on television screens—that she is so today is just one more stark reminder of how dangerous the political situation has gotten. “Royal Tavari Marshalls are activated in every provincial and territorial capital and are currently engaged in de-escalating and quelling violent situations. Tavari and Acronian citizens in every city over the size of 250,000 are urged to shelter in place, and most major cities have specific lockdown mandates in place.”

According to the Ministry of Defense, the various outbreaks of violence are believed to be uncoordinated, although Ms. Oren Kantoreš noted it was possible that, through social media, “news of a riot in one location may have spurred individuals in other locations to act.” The Minister stated that she “would not hesitate” to use emergency powers granted under the Telecommunications Network Security and Surveillance Act to shut down Tavari and Acronian access to “any communication platform or service being used to coordinate terrorist attacks.”

The Prime Minister made an unusually emotional appeal to the Tavari public in her own press conference that was aired on all broadcast television networks. “Violence is never the answer, and these attacks and riots are only going to escalate the situation. I know people are angry, angrier than they have ever been in their lives. I know people are afraid. But we cannot reach peace through this terrible, senseless violence. I urge everyone to stand down, because if they do not, then I am obligated to use law enforcement and military personnel to restore order, using force if necessary.”

Mrs. Nevran Alandar closed her address by stating that “my heart is breaking” and offered a plea to the government of Acronis: “Please, Madam Matron, Chief Administrator Metravar, join me in calling for this violence to end. None of us want to see our countries burn.”

Acronian Chief Administrator Atra Metravar also condemned the violence in a recorded statement released after the Prime Minister’s speech. In it, she said “To those Akronists who are in the streets committing acts of violence today, I ask that you please, please stop. The Matron and I know how much pain you are all in, but this isn’t the way. We love you, but you need to go home. Please go home.” The speech was roundly criticized in both Tavari and Acronian press—Crystal Coast Free Press opinion columnist Devri Acandraž called it “beyond inappropriate in its forgiving tone,” and the Tavari public broadcaster T.V. went as far as to issue an apology for airing it, with T.V. General Manager Ventavi Movri Qacadra saying “Our editorial staff did not properly screen this video before airing it, and if we had, we would not have described it as a ‘condemnation’ of violence, as it condemned nothing.”

In Višara and Dravai, riots have been especially intense due to the presence of significant numbers of violent right-wing nationalists in those cities. Dravai, the only majority Akronist city in Motai Province, has a long and storied history with that religion; among the most important texts in the Akronist canon is Letters to the People of Dravai, written in the late 16th century by three priestesses from Tovar who sought to quell religious discontent in Dravai, that established several reforms and helped bring Akronism closer to the Tavari mainline. The Akronist Temple of the Tovar Three was destroyed on Thursday when several fires set by nationalists burned down it and an entire city block, with firefighters unable to reach the scene for hours due to nationalists barricading several streets. Royal Tavari Marshalls were unable to provide an estimate of casualties from only the fire, but said that “in the past 12 hours, more than three thousand people have been sent to hospitals” and, of those, “about 500 to 700 were in critical condition, mostly cases of burns or physical assault.”

In Višara, however, Akronists struck back in force by running down a Royal Marshall barricade and storming the Višara Province Legislative Council building. Armed with axes, the Akronists destroyed desks and damaged walls in the chamber’s hemicycle, burned the Tavari flag, and spray painted such things as “No More Fascist Marshalls,” “Cremate the Nationalists,” and “Žarís Nevran Alandar Is A Lying B—h.” Akronists continued to hold the building Thursday night, repelling at least two waves of Marshall attempts to retake it. Unable to reach the building because of the Marshalls, nationalists resorted instead to storming and ransacking the Church of Akrona’s public cafeteria in Višara, killing three and injuring 40.

Even Nuvrenon, never known for a strong Akronist or nationalist community, has not escaped violence. Marching from King Vonar II Temple in the Financial District, more than sixty thousand Akronists swarmed the capital’s central business district and brought the entire city to a halt early Thursday morning after having assembled in secret overnight. The worldwide headquarters of Zandria, Inc., an arms manufacturer, and Monata Automotive, owned by billionaire Toran Nuvo Ranzalar, both suffered millions of našdati in damage when violent Akronists broke into the closed buildings and ransacked them. Royal Tavari Marshalls reported seven soldiers killed during an effort to flush Akronists out of Zandria, where Akronists seized weapons and ammo the company was apparently—and illegally—storing a large cache in its headquarters. Zandria, Inc. declined comment for this story, while Mr. Nuvo Ranzalar did not respond to requests for comment.

“This isn’t funny anymore. I live in the capital city of one of the wealthiest, most developed countries in the world and I’m barricaded in my room [with] the door boarded [because] there’s 50000 Akronists with f—ing handguns outside,” said Nuvrenon resident Otan Katta Entõdral, 19, on Pigeon. In a further post, he added “What we were promised was democracy. What we’re getting instead is civil war.” As of press time, “Tavari Civil War” was a trending topic on Pigeon and had been for several hours beginning Thursday afternoon. Pigeon user @tevridevri responded to Katta Entõdral’s post by saying “We don’t live in a wealthy country anymore. We live in narasq on Urth.”

—-------------

1. Note from the editor: Narasq is a traditionalist Tavari belief in a place “evil” souls go after death that roughly corresponds to the Asatru “Hel.”

[Acronis]

NOTE: DO NOT READ BELOW THIS POINT IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS FOR THE CONCLUSION OF A NEW MOON RISES.

---

[Post 71] 
Late night of April 14th, 2022.

Acting without the knowledge or consent of the Matron, Atra tells the “Acronian Armed Forces” to encircle the West Nandrat military base and wait for her signal to attack.

[Acronis]

Qóvakõl
Greater Tear of the Moon National Park
Tavari-Acronian Disputed Territory

15 April 2022
12:00 AM Acronian Standard Time (UTC -9:00)

Vana Dandreal awoke in the middle of a crater. She had never seen a crater before, and yet she knew exactly where she was the moment she opened her eyes. The lush, untouched, emerald jungle and crystal clear night sky absolutely overflowing with stars above her told her that she could only be on one of the Tears of the Moon, and there was only one meteor crater on the Tears of the Moon. Vana was standing at the place where, precisely two thousand and twenty two years prior, a meteor fell to the Urth on a particular path along the sky, at a particular time, in a particular way, that just so happened to make it visible to a significant swath of cultures around the world and turn what would have otherwise been just one unremarkable shooting star into a global epoch.

The Tears of the Moon themselves were named after that very event, which featured in one of the most popularly known tales of Tavari folklore—and also one of the oldest. In fact, most people tended to think of it as the first. No one knows from where, exactly, the Tavari came, and the story didn’t even mention, but they came from somewhere else, and from there, one night, they saw the moon cry a single tear, shining and glittering like starlight, into the sea. And all of them, from wherever they were, knew then that they had to journey to where the tear had fallen. The etymology of “Tavari” is similarly unknown, but its similarity to tavat—”path” or “way”—has long been considered to suggest that the first Tavari defined themselves as travelers on a journey, perhaps even a quest. And when, years—decades? centuries?—later, they found what they had been looking for, they named it Qóvakõl: “tearfall.”

Put another way, the Matron of the Church of Akrona stood at the exact place where, precisely two thousand and twenty-two years, three months, and fifteen days prior, Akrona wept. The First Elders, almost immediately after the Emergence, began to try to reach Qóvakõl, believing that they would be able to speak to Akrona again there. She couldn’t, of course, because Akrona had already become the Light, the incorporeal life force inside every living thing, but the First Elders did eventually reach it and pray there. Many of the so-called “poetic” Edicts were issued from Qóvakõl, and the first Akronists dedicated themselves to building monastic communities on both the Greater and Lesser Tears because they (in their stubborn, Tavari weakness) believed them to be “closer to Akrona.” Qóvakõl, then, occupied a strange place in the Tavari cultural consciousness because it was so important to both the traditionalists and the Akronists.

And it was beautiful. It was easily one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Of course, Vana knew that part of the reason it held that honor was because it had seen so few people. The Tavari, not normally ones to care about the environment without being made to, made one good decision in deciding that the Greater and Lesser Tears both cursed those whose feet trod upon it, and never once established a settlement on the islands in all the centuries before the First Elders built their first convent. That had been the first major controversy, the first major sign that the Avatidar were going to have a problem with this new church. The Tears were sacred ground, they said, and the Akronists had desecrated it. The Akronists said that they were honoring the sacred ground by building on it, and the traditionalists didn’t particularly care for that answer. “Public pressure,” primarily in the form of physical attacks on Akronists, eventually forced the Church to mostly abandon its handful of buildings on the islands. There were still two functioning monasteries, one only a few avnai from Qóvakõl, and the Elders did technically have a residence on the island, but even in the modern day, few people ever actually walked the ground of the Tears of the Moon.

Wait.

How did she get to this island?

What time wa-

The clap of thunder was so sudden and so forceful that Vana felt her feet cease to touch the ground for a moment before she crashed back down onto the ground, knocking the very breath from her chest. Tongues of pain lashed over her entire back, and she would have screamed aloud if she was breathing. She clenched her eyes shut tightly to focus on catching her breath and trying to readjust herself into a more comfortable position. When she opened them, any uncertainties she might have had about what had just happened were completely and entirely erased.

The sky was solid starlight. There weren’t any trees anymore—there were only Vana, the cold and stony urth under her, and the Light. Vana’s face ached already as her eyes strained against the presence of God. She knew now that there hadn’t even been a clap of thunder at all; it had only been the immense power of Her awakening. There were tears rolling down Vana’s face that she couldn’t wipe away because she was too weak to lift her own arm. But when She spoke, the force of Her words echoed in Vana’s bones so forcefully that it made it hard for her to breathe. But really, all Vana could manage to focus on beyond the words wracking her body was that when God spoke, the entire universe turned orange.

I AM SHE WHO EMBRACED YOU WHEN THE DAUGHTERS AND SONS OF ODIN ABANDONED YOU.

I AM SHE WHO IS THE GOD OF YOUR ORCISH FOREBEARS.

I AM SHE WHO WAS CALLED THE MOTHER OF THE WORLD.

I AM SHE TO WHOM THE WAY OF THE ELDERS[1] LEADS.

I AM SHE WHO WELCOMED YOU WITH OPEN ARMS SO THAT YOU WOULD KNOW THE LIGHT AND CAST IT UPON OTHERS, BUT YOU WOULD FORSAKE ME AND SPREAD ONLY DARKNESS AND BLOOD.

YOU WOULD STAND SISTER AGAINST SISTER, BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER, AND TEAR APART THE FAMILY THAT I HAVE RAISED FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS.

I AM SHE WHO WATCHED AS YOUR ELDER SISTER[2], YOUR ELDER BROTHER[3], AND YOUR MOTHER, THE VERY URTH HERSELF, DIED AND GAVE YOU THEIR BODIES SO THAT YOUR FOREBEARS MIGHT USE THEM AND LIVE.

YOUR FOREBEARS NOURISHED THEMSELVES ON THE LIFE THAT SPRUNG FORTH FROM THE CORPSES OF THEIR DEAD GODS.

YOUR FOREBEARS WORSHIPED DEATH, AND I AM SHE WHO TAUGHT THEM TO WORSHIP LIFE.

I AM SHE WHO STOOD IN THE SEA EIGHT OF YOUR LIFETIMES AGO AND ENTRUSTED YOUR ELDERS TO SHARE THE BURDEN AND CARRY TOGETHER THE MANDATE OF PROTECTING LIFE, AND SO HAVE THEY DONE FOR MORE THAN FIVE CENTURIES, AND YOU WOULD THROW IT ALL AWAY FOR NAUGHT BUT AMBITION AND GREED.

YOU MAY HAVE WAR, OR YOU MAY HAVE ACRONIS, BUT YOU CANNOT HAVE BOTH, AND YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ME IF YOU HAVE ACRONIS.

YOU HAVE MADE ME INTO A NATION, VANA DANDREAL, AND NOW YOU MUST KEEP ME. YOURS IS THE BURDEN.

YOURS IS THE MANDATE.

YOURS IS THE BLAME.

THESE ARE THE GIFTS THAT YOUR AMBITION HAS BOUGHT YOU.

THE REST OF YOUR LIFE MUST BE FOR MY CHILDREN, AND IF YOU FORSAKE ME AGAIN, THEN I SHALL DIE, AND NONE SHALL KNOW THE LIGHT AGAIN.

SHOULD EVEN ONE MORE PERSON BORN OF THE SOIL OF AVNATRA DIE SO THAT YOU MIGHT RAISE YOUR FLAG OF ORANGE AND SILVER, SO TOO SHALL THE ENTIRE WORLD.

The Sacred Cloister
Temple of the Emergence
Crystal Coast, Acronis

12:07 AM Acronian Standard Time

Vana Dandreal awoke screeching. It was not until a nurse produced a syringe with the apparent intent of sedating her that she forced herself to regulate her breathing.

“Sister, please, what is it? What has frightened you so?” It felt odd for Vreila of all people—only days after she had returned home from an extended hospital stay—to be the one expressing concern for her, but Vana reached out and clutched her sister’s hand anyway.

“No more,” Vana said. “We must tolerate this no more. I have led the Church astray and now I must restore it.”

“What… what do you mean?” Anda sounded unsure of herself. Perhaps she was unsure of the Matron.

“Get me Nevran Alandar,” was Vana’s reply. “There will be no war with Tavaris. There can never be war with Tavaris. Akrona demands peace, and she shall have it.”

---

1. Translator’s note: Translated from the Tavari “Tavat Avati”
2. From the Tavari “Avnatra”
3. From the Tavari “Avotro,” see “https://tep.wiki/wiki/Mt._Avotro”

[Acronis]

[Post 73] 
Early morning of April 15th, 2022.

Žarís Nevran Alandar reflects on the events so far and determines that her obligation to bring peace requires her to make concessions and decides to cede Nandrat and Ranat provinces to Acronis, which she expects to end her political career. Just as she goes to pick up the phone, however, she receives a call from Vana Dandreal. They agree to negotiate face to face.

[Acronis]

[Post 74]
Morning of April 15th, 2022.

In a public address, the Matron publicly denounces Atra Metravar and the Acronian Armed Forces. She announces that Atra has been arrested, along with a significant number of “unauthorized militants,” in the course of attempting to conduct an attack on Tavaris. The Matron declares that absolutely no violence from Akronists can ever be acceptable, and issues an Edict that any Akronist who takes up violence against anyone in the course of seeking “a political goal” is automatically excommunicated from the Church. The Peacekeepers of the Church will be tasked with ensuring that disputed areas do not see any Akronist violence. Bežra Išdašt Tovrenar is named Chief Administrator of the People’s Communion of Acronis.

[Acronis]

[Post 75]
Morning of April 15th, 2022.

Žarís Nevran Alandar announces bilateral negotiations between herself and the Matron to reach a “political settlement to the question of Nandrat and Ranat,” using her authority as representing the elected government to come to a decision without holding another referendum in order to ensure an immediate end to violence.

[Acronis]

[Post 76] 
April 16th, 2022.

Negotiations begin in Ranat with all Tavari, Acronian government jurisdiction heads. It is a full moon.

[Acronis]

[Post 77]
April 16th and 17th, 2022.

In cooperation, Tavari troops and Acronian peacekeepers root out remaining instigators of violence. The Tavari government undertakes a massive sting operation in which Air Force and Army Military Police officers (brought in from all around the country) arrest hundreds of Royal Marshalls suspected of assisting the cause of Nationalist terrorism.

[Acronis]

[Post 78]
April 19th, 2022.

It is announced that Tavaris and Acronis have reached a comprehensive agreement, called the Ranat Accords. The Ranat Accords involve the exchange of certain territories between Tavaris and Acronis but also completely reshape the political order of the Tavari-speaking world by establishing an international organization, the “Tavari Union,” that will have sovereignty over assets held in common by all member states, which include the member-states’ territorial waters, EEZ rights, airspace, the Tavari language, the Tavari našdat as currency, and some others. The Tavari Union is symbolically headed by the Emperor of the Tavari, who is the same person as the King of Tavaris. (Notably, the Ranat Accords officially remove the “all” from the former title “King of All Tavaris.”)

Through this international organization, each member-state allows other Tavari Union citizens to access these commonly-held resources exactly as if they were citizens of that member-state. What this means, essentially, is that if Rodoka permits its own citizens to access offshore oil deposits, Tavari citizens may do so as well. However, if Acronis bans its own citizens from offshore oil drilling, Tavari citizens may not. The member states also agree to keep certain matters “harmonized” between members, including immigration and visa policy, minimum wage, food quality and agricultural regulations, and internal economic controls. Tavari Union citizens may live, work, and vote in any Tavari Union country without a visa for up to one year (minimum). Where members have land borders, there are no border controls. All Tavari Union countries agree to use the Tavari Našdat as their currency.

The Tavari Union is governed by the Council of the Tavari Union, consisting of the head of government of each member-state or Union Territory and a non-voting representative for Ilarís in the UFC. The Council is symbolically presided over by the Emperor, but he holds neither vote nor veto. The Accords are scheduled to take effect on 6 June 2022.

Acronis receives the Tears of the Moon and all portions of Ranat Province west of a line drawn southward from the southernmost point of the Vaklori border. It gives up Elatana, the Tavari East Pacific Isles, and Nandrat Province. Acronis joins the Tavari Union, though it exempts itself from being under Tavari defense and says it will establish its own small military. It purchases some Tavari military assets by assuming approximately one third of Tavaris’ sovereign debt.

All areas under the jurisdiction of the Rodoka Native Tribal Administration become one sovereign country, known as the United Tribes of Rodoka and the Isles. It agrees to pay Tavaris for its defense and allows Tavaris to keep its military bases in its territory.

Elatana becomes an independent country and decides to take the form of a constitutional monarchy in which the heir to the Emperor of the Tavari serves as the monarch of Elatana in their own right. This means that Elarai Nuvo Nakrotan, who is currently attending Shiro Academy, will become the first Queen of Elatana. North Elatana is assured proportional representation to ensure that there will be ethnic Alkari representation in government. However, sectarianism between the island’s traditionalists and Akronists is expected to continue.

Metrati Anar and the Tavari East Pacific Isles become “Union Territories” that are considered to belong to the Union as a whole. Any Tavari Union citizen may live, work, and vote there indefinitely. The islands have significant devolved authority, but are not independent countries and are subject to the ultimate sovereignty of the Council of the Tavari Union.

[Acronis]

[Post 79]
April 19th, 2022.

Žarís Nevran Alandar dissolves the Diet and announces her resignation as leader of the Democratic National Party and as Prime Minister, calling elections for 31 May 2022. At the same time, referendums will be held in Native Rodoka and in Elatana to endorse those countries’ independence under the Ranat Accords. However, no other referendum on the Accords themselves will be held.

Žarís also announces that the Democratic National Party is expected to be dissolved. She forms her own political party, “Írinavi Voi,” (meaning approximately “Onward Together”), which is to be a centrist movement rather than center-right and focused on “solutions” to “make government work better.” Most DNP members join her, with the others joining the party Coalition Right. Žarís The Nuvrenon News: News from Tavaris - Page 5 - The East Pacific - Tapatalk of the Nuvrenon News, which has never before endorsed a candidate for Prime Minister.

The Matron also announces that elections for the Acronian legislature, the Synod, will also be held on 31 May 2022. This Synod is expected to begin the formal process of assuming actual sovereignty and control over Acronian territory as laid out in the original referendum law. Two parties will be contesting the election: the Acronian Communist Party and Goddess and Country.

[Acronis]

[Epilogue]
1 June 2022.

The Ranat Accords have been successfully ratified. Rodoka and Elatana both endorsed their independence. Írinavi Voi wins the election but without an actual majority. She has to negotiate confidence-and-supply agreements with Republican Alternative and the Tavari National Party. For their allegiance, Žarís agrees to remove the face of the Tavari monarch from Tavari banknotes and agrees to a multi-year plan to phase back in the use of the traditional Tavari script.

King Zaram V announces that he will abdicate the throne. Declaring that due to his own poor judgment, his right to serve as the symbol of the Tavari people was lost, and he did not deserve to bring the Tavari forward into this “new era.” His abdication will take effect on June 5th, and it will be King Otan IV who becomes the first ever Emperor of the Tavari the next day.

In Acronis, the Acronian Communist Party is 10 seats short of the required ⅔ majority to amend the Acronian constitution, meaning they will not be able to amend it to make the country officially a Communist state. However, it is very likely that the government will proceed with plans for at least partial nationalization of some economic sectors or industries.