A New Moon Rises

[Acronis]

[27/2 4:11P WTT] BREAKING: Defiant Prime Minister: “Our Democracy Will Not Be Cowed”

NUVRENON– In the wake of four bomb blasts in Nandrat, injuring 3, Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar issued a defiant statement saying “We will not be intimidated and our democracy will not be cowed. I am ordering the deployment of an additional 1,500 Marshalls to the city and surrounding areas to increase security. I will not hesitate to send more. I will deploy 10,000 soldiers to Nandrat. I will give every single voter in the city an armed escort if need be. You will not win. Stand down and come to justice, or I will strike you down with unimaginable force.” One voter in line at the Ward 3, Precinct 26 polling place—the one nearest the most recent blast—said “The Prime Minister should have sent the Army in hours ago.” Another asked “How can this happen? How have we not found and destroyed these terrorists yet? How can there be such horrendous violence in what is supposed to be a major city in a developed country?”

[Acronis]

[27/2 5:36P WTT] BREAKING: Major Military Deployment to Nandrat Secures Downtown, Delivers More Polling Machines

NANDRAT– Arriving in jeeps, trucks, and even by helicopter, hundreds of Marshalls have arrived in Nandrat, with their first priority being the securing of the downtown district that has seen the most threat from terrorist activity. “Our first concern is the lives and safety of the people. Our second concern is that many buildings containing thousands of people have been placed on lockdown downtown and therefore they can’t vote. We have swept and secured downtown and have arranged for three protected corridors so that voters can make their way to polling places safely,” reported Marshall spokesperson Maj. Endra Vakani Ženvradar.

Additionally, several polling places have been issued voting tabulation machines from “emergency reserve,” many of these redirected from Ranat and delivered by helicopter. The Prime Minister reported that “In Nandrat, all voters may now vote at any precinct, not just the one in which they are registered, and we are extending polling hours to 10pm local time.”

[Acronis]

[27/2 6:16P WTT] BREAKING: Marshalls Report Arrest of Several Terrorists, Including Suspected Leader

NANDRAT– In a major victory in the fraught fight against violence in today’s election, the Royal Tavari Marshalls have announced the arrest of sixteen individuals suspected of terrorism, including Vedra Rocani, the suspected leader of the Fist of the Moon terrorist organization. “These individuals were detained due to the skillful investigatory actions of the Marshalls. Tracking several suspicious individuals who made a peculiar purchase of significant amounts of alcohol at a liquor store and then walked into a building that appeared abandoned, the Marshalls executed a flawless operation to detain every individual in the building, who appeared to be celebrating the violent events of the day,” said spokesperson Maj. Endra Vakani Ženvradar, who added “Their actions, which were not only evil in nature but also stupid, directly caused the deployment of additional security to the city and therefore their own downfall.”

[Acronis]

[27/2 8:01P WTT] BREAKING: Polls Have Closed in Most Areas, But Lines Remain

Polls are now officially closed in every jurisdiction except Nandrat Province, where polls will remain open an additional two hours due to the violent events that occurred this afternoon. However, voters in Ranat, Anara, Indar, and Crystal Provinces, as well as the East Pacific Isles, report lines still in place, with many voters still waiting to cast a ballot. All individuals who were in line before the clock struck 8pm will be permitted to vote despite the poll closure. In Ranat Province, where significant technological errors caused major disruption to voting, one voter said to TV that “poll workers have told us waiting that we could be here as late as 1am.” Ranat Province officials have not yet responded to requests for comment.

In Crystal and Anara Provinces, officials have reported they expect lines to be cleared “within one to two hours,” with Anara Province spokesperson Ketra Navono saying “lines here are actually not of a particularly unprecedented length and we are operating under completely normal procedures.” Officials in the East Pacific Isles, however, report “longer lines than we have ever seen” and were not able to provide an estimate of when the lines could be cleared.

[Acronis]

[28/2 1:47A WTT] BREAKING: All Polls Reported Closed

DÓVRÕ TWP., Ranat– The last open poll in the Kingdom closed at approximately 1:45am, West Tavaris Time, in Dóvrõ Township, an inner-ring suburb of the Ranat Metropolitan Area with a proportionally higher Akronist population than neighboring communities. Township election coordinators reported that they will begin tabulating the votes “immediately” but could not estimate a possible time of completion. Officials noted that the turnout in the township was a whopping 98% of registered voters.

With the final poll closure, TV and other media agencies can report on the actual results of the election. Other jurisdictions in the Kingdom have been tabulating votes already. Stay with us, as our coverage of the election results will follow.

[Acronis]

28 February 2022

In Vote Plagued by Violence and Errors, Crystal, Anara, Indar, Elatana, and the East Pacific Isles Decide to Leave Tavaris

Unofficial results from the Acronis Independence Referendum, with green indicating a majority vote in favor of secession and red a majority vote opposed.

CRYSTAL COAST– Seven hundred and seventeen years, ten months, and six days of Tavari unification have come to an end early on Monday morning after an unprecedentedly violent referendum that will likely go down as one of the worst-administered in Tavari history. In three provinces, a majority of voters elected to leave the Kingdom of Tavaris and become the People’s Communion of Acronis, the world’s first explicitly Akronist sovereign state. Joining them will be two territories, Elatana far to the east, and the East Pacific Isles far to the west. Every jurisdiction in Tavaris with an Akronist majority voted to join Acronis, save one: Ranat Province, whose election administration was particularly fraught with technical errors that kept polls open nearly six hours beyond their scheduled closure.

The results of the referendum are certain to be challenged in court. Hours before polls in Ranat closed, Tavari Communist Party (TCP) leader Atra Metravar—who stands to become the head of government of the new Acronis—issued a statement condemning the administration of the vote in Ranat and promising to file a legal challenge “the minute the ink is dry on the order to certify the alleged results of this stupendously fraudulent election.” While results have not yet been officially certified, the provisional results indicate a lead for the “no” side in Ranat of 15,400 votes, or 51% compared to 49% for the side of “yes.”

“The results of the vote in Ranat Province simply cannot be trusted, and no one who claims to believe in free and fair elections could possibly believe that they are. The facts that this occurred in the Akronist-majority jurisdiction with the slimmest majority, and that Ranat is considered an economically crucial province to the Tavari government, certainly have not escaped our attention,” said the TCP leader. After results became known, Ms. Metravar again condemned the vote as “fraudulent” and said “the only viable option to go forward from this is for these results to be voided and for the vote to be held again.”

The “yes” side has also said it will legally challenge results in Nandrat Province, where they lost, and in Elatana, where they won. “Our commitment to free and fair elections is absolute, and we will not be accused of being hypocritical. We are challenging the results in every jurisdiction where extraordinary circumstances occurred, even in one where provisional results show we won,” said For our Future: Acronis spokesperson Nadra Ventovat.

The provisional results are something of an unexpected victory for the “no” side, led by Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar and the organization TavarisTogether. The commitment of Ranat, an Akronist majority province, to stay within the Kingdom—presuming that result is confirmed—is a particular relief to TavarisTogether, as well as a surprise. Nearly every poll conducted in the lead-up to the vote showed a lead for “yes.” Ranat, while sparsely populated, is the agricultural heartland of the Kingdom and the producer of some of its most internationally prestigious exports. Traditionalist Tavari feared the loss of the region where chocolate, coffee, and rum all have protected origin labels.

“The people have spoken, and their choices should and shall be respected,” said the Prime Minister in remarks on Monday morning, having postponed her speech due to the unexpected length of voting and tabulation time. “The Kingdom of Tavaris welcomes and celebrates the birth of the People’s Communion of Acronis. This is a historic and special moment for Akronists the world over.” The Prime Minister did not mention specific areas of complication, but stated that “the normal, legal process of audits will take its course.” She did, however, make a specific call out to the Royal Tavari Marshalls, who she said “showed exemplary bravery and worked as a well-oiled machine to bring safety and security when terrorists attempted and failed to subvert our democratic process.”

Ms. Nevran Alandar also took time to speak to the community of Akronists who live in the provinces who did not vote to secede. While she did not mention specific provinces there either, she said “To those Akronists who live in places who chose to remain in Tavaris, I want to assure you that you will never again be ignored, and that this Kingdom commits itself to ensuring that your voices are heard, your needs are met, and that you are welcomed forever as people of Tavaris.” The “yes” vote in many jurisdictions was significantly lower than predicted due to an unexpectedly large contingent of Akronists in those jurisdictions voting “no.”

“These results appear to demonstrate a long-known tendency of people to, essentially, lie to poll takers about their vote because they fear negative reactions from their neighbors if their true opinion were known,” said Dr. Katai Dondru, professor of political science and scholar of Akronist-Traditionalist relations at the University of Nuvrenon. “Matron Vana Dandreal made it part of Akronist religious doctrine that the nation of Akronists is and should be Acronis. To me, this is very likely to have caused that effect. Would you want your fellow temple-goers to know that you were planning to vote against an Edict from your religious leaders?”

Dr. Dondru noted the especially low “yes” vote (compared to the percentage of Akronist people in the jurisdiction) in places like Elat, Dela, Ino, and Nuvo Provinces. “12% of voters chose yes in Nuvo Province, where 41% of people are Akronist. Elat has the same Akronist percentage and only 8% of people voted yes. These are places that never would have had any chance to secede, so people felt comfortable voting with their heart. It shows that not all Akronists are political Akronists, and not all Akronists hate Tavaris.” Zinia Province, where https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/viewtopic.php?p=252825#p252825 from public broadcaster TV showed a slim lead for secession, did end up having a relatively high “yes” vote when compared to those provinces—21%—but the result still vastly underperformed the Akronist percentage of 43% there.

In Crystal Coast, Matron Vana Dandreal also spoke to supporters on Monday morning in an address that was relatively brief, stating that “these results are not final, and this is not yet over.” However, she also said “The People’s Communion of Acronis is born today, the first country of its kind, a revolution that shows the world that countries can dedicate themselves to lifting up their most needy, protecting their most weak, and speaking firmly and finally that all people are equal in the eyes of the law. We inaugurate not just an Akronist country, but a country that stands not for empowering its elite or delivering economic value to shareholders but that stands for all its people.” The Matron, who will be head of state for life in Acronis by virtue of her religious office, also reached out to those voters in the future Acronis who are not Akronist. “There are those among us who did not vote for this outcome, and those among us who have not chosen to follow the path of Akrona. These people are still people, and these people have sacred rights to dignity and respect, and these rights will be maintained in Acronis. This I swear before Akrona and all the people in the world. People of all religions and none will be welcome here, forever and always.”

Despite the conclusion of voting, the question of Acronis undoubtedly continues to feel unanswered. The Nuvrenon Stock Exchange fell 2% immediately on open, indicating that uncertainty exists where certainty had been hoped for. One voter in Crystal Coast, who declined to give both their name and their religious affiliation, summed it up simply: “We were probably stupid to think we could have settled in a day questions that have been being asked for more than five hundred years.”

END OF PART TWO

[Acronis]

Part Two Postscript

Office of the Federal Premier
1963 Federal Way
Newport, Federation of Bana

28 February 2022
8:01 AM Banian Standard Time

“Oh. It’s you.” Ninalowo Abeo was surprised to see a familiar man sitting in front of her desk when she walked in. Her aides had not even yet briefed her on the day’s agenda, but apparently covert operations were at the top of the list. Mondays, she thought to herself bitterly.

“Yes, ma’am,” said the intelligence aide. He did not sound like he usually did—instead of confident and perhaps sly, he seemed… well, he seemed almost sheepish.

“How can I help you?” She set her purse on the usual shelf and sighed as she sat down in her chair. She wished she could have at least had a cup of coffee before dealing with this.

“I wanted to go over the Tavari referendum. There’s some things you should know.” Again, the aide’s voice was quiet.

Ninalowo narrowed her eyes. “Your tone does not inspire confidence in me,” she said flatly. “Go on.”

“Now that events are complete, I wanted to go over how things went.” He set a dossier on the Premier’s desk, this one bright red and much thicker than usual. Red was not a good color in government. “As you know, we have operatives in place in Tavaris and have been conducting various operations. We have arranged the transfer of funds, mostly cash in very small amounts, almost all less than $1,000 per event, to individuals in Tavaris we trust. The goal of this was distraction.”

“I remember very clearly,” said the Premier, whose eyes were still narrowed.

The aide shifted in his seat. “I also want to bring to your attention activities that we undertook in relation to the vote itself. In an operation conducted over the past few weeks, we successfully made minor changes to polling machines in Ranat Province that led to technical problems in voting and tabulation.”

Ninalowo’s eyes flew open and she stood up, slamming her hands on her desk. “WE WHAT?” She let her first thunderous question echo for a moment, but not long enough for the frightened aide to get a word in. “That is NOT what we discussed! That was NOT in your remit! You told me we were moving SOME money to SOME people for LITTLE DISTRACTIONS. I did NOT authorize you or ANYONE to TAMPER-”

The aide cringed and weakly motioned for the Premier to keep her voice down, lest she inform everyone on the third floor about the covert operations. “You… you asked me to come to you as little as necessary,” the aide offered lamely.

“ASKING FOR APPROVAL FOR AUTHORIZATION TO INTERFERE IN A FOREIGN ELECTION IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!” Unable to prevent herself from informing everyone on the third floor about the covert operations, the Premier bellowed at the top of her lungs in an outraged roar. From a side door, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Minister for Intelligence burst into the room with flailing arms.

“WHO IS THIS? I DON’T KNOW HIS NAME BUT HE IS FIRED. DO YOU HEAR ME? FIRED! DID YOU AUTHORIZE THIS? WHO AUTHORIZED THIS?”

“Ma’am, ma’am, please, please, please.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke in a hoarse whisper, his face also cringing. “Please, please, yes, I know, I know, this is a mistake, but please, please…”

“There is more that you need to know, ma’am,” said the aide. “And my name is-”

“I don’t want to know your name, just tell me what else you fucked up,” Ninalowo said.

“We conducted a similar operation in Elatana…,” began the aide, but he was interrupted.

“ELA-” The Premier began to scream once more, until the Deputy Minister of Intelligence ran over and physically clapped his hand over the Premier’s mouth. With an incredulous look on her face, she shoved the man away so hard that he stumbled and almost fell flat on his ass. Ninalowo looked him up and down with that same look fixed on her face. She did not speak any further, but her eyes very clearly said how dare you?

“I’m sorry, ma’am. But there are ears everywhere,” he said as he stood himself up.

“Apparently so! I certainly didn’t know we had ears in Elatana, and apparently hands as well! So we are the reason behind all those voting machine problems they had? I only barely scanned the news article on the way to the office… why did no one call me? Why did I just leisurely stroll into my office and happen upon this little debriefing? This is outrageous. I am the head of this government and here I am, being casually informed by my alleged direct reports of major international intelligence operations after the fact-”

“Ma’am, please-” The Minister of Foreign Affairs held a hand out.

“Stop ma’aming me! Ademar above! I’m used to men in government trying to walk all over me, but the very gall, the nerve…” The Premier stared deep into the eyes of the Deputy Minister with a gaze so angry it could have set the man’s hair ablaze. “How dare you touch me without my permission. Are you so used to just getting your way and doing as you please that you think you can… I… I… fla… flames… on the side of my face…” She gestured her hands at the sides of her face, no longer able to even enunciate words through her anger.

“Ninalowo, please!” The Minister of Foreign Affairs was pleading now, falling to his knees. “We have limited time and you need-”

“We funded the bombs,” the aide said simply.

Ninalowo Abeo froze in place, suddenly dead silent. Slowly, she turned and collapsed back into her chair. When she next spoke, her voice was a whisper. “We what.”

“We funded the Fist of the Moon,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “The bombings in Nandrat were also part of our operations in Tavaris.”

The Premier was unable to move. She stared directly down at her desk with hollow, empty eyes. “Ademar, their intelligence people really are shit,” she finally said.

“That’s true, but what’s more crucial is that, apparently, the Fist of the Moon are stupider. They got caught red-handed by a Tavari police soldier who saw them—sixteen of them, all at once—walk into a liquor store and get enough booze to run a liquor store themselves. And then they walked right into an abandoned building, from a door directly facing a busy street only three blocks down from a polling place, where the police followed them and discovered them celebrating in their hideout,” said the Deputy Minister, who had already been looking nauseous but who looked nearly dead by the end of his explanation.

A harsh sigh was all that Ninalowo could manage. “Do they—the Fist people—know that our government was the one assisting them?”

The Deputy Minister moaned. “They had a box labeled ‘Cash from Bana’ in their hideout.”

“And our ambassador has already been summoned to speak with Nevran Alandar,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“Does he even know anything about this?”

“No, ma’am.”

Ninalowo cradled her head in her hands. “All I wanted to do was build some goddamn housing. I said I didn’t want any Tavari bullshit. And now, I’m the one who just handed Tavaris the reason to continue being paranoid and armed to the teeth for another century. Ademar, we’ll probably be kicked out of the ANG, prices will go up… I’m fucked. We’re fucked. We’re doomed.” She pulled her hands away but her head still hung low as she looked down at her shoes. “Well, brief the Ambassador, I suppose.”

“We can do that,” said the Deputy Minister, “but if we don’t tell him, it will make his denial much more convincing.”

“We’re going to just… deny it? They put up a sign that says ‘cash from Bana’ and we’re going to just deny it?” The Premier lifted her head. The Deputy Minister took in a breath to speak again, but suddenly, Ninalowo raised her hand to cut him off. “Wait,” she said. “Yes. Deny it. In fact, I want him to deny it angrily. I want him to be as incredulous and outraged as I was. How dare they try to pin their security failures on us? Why would we ever be so stupid as to actively destabilize a nuclear power on our border? The Tavari want a distraction from their failures and are drumming up a pretext for making moves against us. The Federation will not tolerate slander and will not tolerate this ridiculous, petty charade.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs was rapidly texting on his phone. “I’m repeating you word-for-word to the Ambassador, ma’am,” he said. “This is a good cover.”

“There remains the issue of our informant. If they are captured, we will be less able to deflect,” said the Deputy Minister.

“Well, get them on a plane, they have flights to Bana now. For the moment, anyway.”

“That’s… not as easy as it sounds. You see, our informant is a player on the Tavari national football team.”

Ninalowo blinked. “I- Really? The football team? I- Huh. How about that. But I see the problem. He can’t leave right before the World Cup, which is, of course, in Tavaris.” She paused. “How long has this informant been with us? Was this really the best choice?”

“The Tavari are not the only ones who can make mistakes,” the Deputy Minister said sadly.

“Yes, I see that,” the Premier said flatly. “Now I want you to listen to me very carefully. This little ‘distraction’ project, and this entire project Maku Mtebe set up in Tavaris, are over. Done. Finished. Finito. As of now. Not next week, not next year, but now. I am washing our hands of Tavaris bullshit. The only thing we should be doing in Tavaris now is cleaning up the mess we have already made. Furthermore-”

She pointed at the Deputy Minister. “You are fired.” She then pointed at the aide. “You are extra fired.” Moving her finger one last time, she pointed at the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “And you are going to go down the hall and get me a cup of coffee. You will put in exactly three creamer thingies—the vanilla ones with the blue lid—and five sugar packets. The real sugar. You will stir it twelve times, counter-clockwise. And then you will bring it back here and, while I wait for it to cool, we are going to make a phone call to our friends in South Hills, because I have a different kind of distraction in mind.”

[Acronis]

Part Three

Crystal Province Legislative Building
250 Orange Avenue
Crystal Coast, Tavaris

1 March 2022
8:08 AM West Tavaris Time

“What I am about to tell you is classified top secret. If it gets out to anyone that is not presently in this room, it will be immediately, plainly obvious to the Tavari government who disclosed it,” began Atra.

Vana blinked. “What are they going to do, Atra? Fire you?”

Atra did not laugh. “They could throw me in prison,” she said flatly. “I am, for the moment, a sworn member of the Tavari Council of State, and I will be until the results of the referendum are formally certified.”

“That should be the fourteenth,” said Σavora Lašandri, the current First Councilor of the Tavari jurisdiction of Crystal Province, which would soon technically cease to exist. She was the only other person in the room, as she was slated to be appointed the first Acronian Minister of Internal Affairs.

“Right,” said Atra, “but there’s something important you need to know before we get to that. It’s about the individuals apprehended by the Tavari Royal Marshalls on Sunday, the Fist of the Moon people.”

Vana’s mouth stretched into a thin, flat line. Σavora did not know what Vana and Atra knew about the Fist of the Moon, and the Matron thought it quite imprudent to talk of them in such a setting. But objecting at this point would only look suspicious, so she had to remain silent and trust that Atra was not about to commit a grave mistake.

“The Cabinet has been made aware of information that indicates the Fist of the Moon were being funded by the Federation of Bana in an attempt to disrupt the election and weaken Tavaris,” said Atra.

“Bana?” The Matron cried out, incredulous.

“Bana,” said Atra, offering a single nod and a gesture to the Matron to keep her voice down. “Now, it’s up to the Prime Minister to decide how much national security information to disclose to the Leader of the Opposition, which I remain until I resign from the Diet. Strictly speaking, I don’t even have to, because of the Diet’s weird non-geographic constituency system. But my point here is this—Nevran Alandar deliberately chose to let me know about this, knowing full well that in two weeks I’m leaving to become her Acronian counterpart. She would only do so if she absolutely had to. The fact that the Akronist terrorists were funded by a foreign country, if made public, will take a significant amount of political pressure off the Church and Acronis. Any violence committed by Akronists anywhere is a black eye on our face, but now the black eye is on Ninalowo Abeo’s face. That strengthens us and weakens Tavaris, especially Nevran Alandar, who has spent the past five years telling everyone that Bana isn’t a threat anymore.”

“The Tavari intelligence community doesn’t seem to-” Vana began, but she was interrupted with a whoop of laughter from Atra.

“You have no idea. You cannot even begin to comprehend just how absolutely abysmal… I mean, just pathetically terrible… Žarís is planning on literally throwing out the entire Tavari intelligence establishment and starting from scratch all over again. I’m talking about hundreds, maybe thousands of people fired. Absolute bloodbath.” Atra was struggling to restrain further laughter. “But anyway, back to the actual point. The fact that Žarís took the plunge and disclosed this to me means only one thing: it means she’s actually scared of the threat posed by Bana here.”

Vana clicked her tongue in disappointment, or perhaps exasperation. “Isn’t that what the nukes are for? So we—er, they—don’t have to be afraid?”

“You can’t nuke spies in your own country. And she can’t even really nuke Bana, either. They’re chummy with South Hills and the Southern Coast. But here’s what the stakes are. The fact that Bana has been exploiting and downright inflaming sectarianism in Tavaris means that Bana is clearly willing to leverage anything to bring down Tavaris. And do you know what Bana’s first target is going to be after this? The massive, gaping hole we just blew in Tavari defenses.”

Σavora looked confused. “What do you mean? We didn’t blow anything.”

“We are literally a brand new country. We are going to be largely building a military from scratch, and absolutely no one in the high echelons of our government has ever had any experience in military or defense matters. We have already publicly announced that we are shunning the idea of a nuclear deterrent, we clearly won’t be able to afford an aircraft carrier, and however bad the Tavari intelligence establishment is, at least they have one. Except for the people and equipment we manage to negotiate out of Tavari hands, we’ll hardly have a military at all, and that makes us a tremendous security liability to Tavaris because we’ll be both their largest economic partner and an absolute sitting duck,” explained Atra in increasingly urgent tones.

“I’m about to say something that’s going to sound strange, because I probably don’t have the political acumen to explain myself in a way that sounds logical, so bear with me,” began the Matron.

“Of course, ma’am. It’s just us in here,” said Atra.

“How, exactly, is it a problem if Bana, er, leverages us to weaken Tavaris? I mean, if we benefit…”

“They certainly need a partner in the region. Ever since the ANG, Tavaris has essentially led the political agenda among most of the neighborhood,” added Σavora.

“Well, for one, if we—in one way or another—become a threat to Tavaris, then they have no choice but to heavily secure the border. And that’s going to be tremendously unpopular on both sides, because it’s going to add border checks and waiting queues and hassle for people who want to visit family or friends who just so happen to now live on the other side of an international border. Our campaign promised as few border checks as possible, but that has to be negotiated with Tavaris like anything else, and if we’re a threat, they’re going to treat us like one,” explained Atra. “For two, anything Bana offers us is a double-edged sword. We’re going to have to spend extra time and effort really looking at anything they offer us, even if it just seems economic in nature. While it would be beneficial to us if Bana decided not to make us inherit their rivalry with Tavaris, what we don’t want is to become a pawn.”

“I see what you mean.” Vana was nodding. “We’re a powerful religion, but a weak country. Bana is a strong country. I know enough to see where the problem is. I know how brutish and cut-throat international relations can be.”

“Let me explain it to you in an even simpler way,” said Atra. “I want to make it abundantly clear what the stakes are here. If Bana aims to make us a weapon to use against Tavaris, it isn’t going to be by building us up. The quickest, cheapest, and most effective way Bana can use us to fuck with Tavaris is by making Acronis collapse.”

The room was stunned into silence. Sheer curtains on the windows fluttered just slightly from the breeze of the air conditioner, making shadows dance on the faces of the occupants as they digested what they had just been told. “So… no matter what we might want, it seems we must be inheritors of the legacy of Tavaris and Bana. Or we will be destroyed,” said Vana.

“The sins of the mother are to be laid upon the daughter,” said Atra simply. “Whether she likes it or not.”

“So Bana is an enemy, then?” Σavora spoke softly, clearly uncomfortable with the words she was speaking.

“Bana is a threat,” Atra answered. “We cannot proceed under the assumption that Acronis can be friendly with everyone. We’re going to need to take national security seriously, and we already have forces trying to interfere with us.”

“We aren’t even a country yet,” said Vana. The room was silent for a few more moments. “Σavora, I need to ask you something. Could you do me a favor and get me some water?”

“Of course, ma’am,” said Σavora earnestly. “Atra, do you want anything?”

“Coffee?”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few.”

The moment the door had closed behind Σavora, Vana turned to Atra and leaned close to her ear. “Do they suspect us?”

“There’s no intelligence I’ve seen that indicates that. When they arrested them all, they had a box in the room that was labeled, literally, ‘Cash from Bana,” Atra whispered. “They’ve all lawyered up, and Bana is vehemently denying anything, that’s about as much as I know.”

“Do you think… was it Bana behind the blast in Elatana? The one we didn’t…”

“I don’t know, but knowing all this now, it’s certainly possible. And speaking of Elatana, the Alkari Tavari are pissed about the results. I mean just absolutely livid.” Atra was interrupted by Σavora returning with beverages.

“Σavora, thank you so much, you’re a gift. I don’t mean to make a pack jaguar out of you,” said the Matron loudly.

“Oh, no, of course, ma’am, of course.” Σavora smiled broadly as she walked over and handed the drinks each woman had requested.

“We were just discussing Elatana for a moment, I’m told the Alkari are displeased,” said Vana.

“Apparently they had expected Elatana to vote no. I’m told North Elatana also plans to object to the results once they’re certified,” said Atra. “So that’s just one more court case to gum up the works.”

“Do we expect the court cases and everything to delay Tavari recognition?”

“No,” said Atra. “Žarís flat-out told me she intends to recognize Tavaris as Crystal, Indar, Anara, the East Pacific Isles, and Elatana once the ink is dry on the certification. She said she wants Tavaris to be ‘the first one,’ to recognize us, in fact. She seems to think the Ranat and Nandrat ‘issues’ will just… evaporate.”

“Well, I suppose that’s a start,” offered Σavora, who seemed to be searching for something to be optimistic about.

“What are the odds, Atra? Be honest with me. About Nandrat and Ranat, I mean,” said the Matron.

Atra sucked a long, deep breath in through her teeth and then let it out slowly. She stared out the window, through the sheer curtains to the avenue and the white sand beach beyond, clearly deep in thought. “Well, there’s almost certainly going to be an audit. The courts have the authority to throw out the results, but that legal bar is incredibly high to clear, and even if they do, there’s no mandate on the Tavari government to hold a new election. Ultimately, if Tavaris decides not to hand over Nandrat and Ranat, there’s little to nothing that we can do as a country to make them.”

“Goddess above, what would happen then? If Tavaris just… just called it done and over?”

Atra took a long, deep drink of her coffee. She should have asked Σavora to make it Durakan-style. “Simple,” she said, still staring out the window. “War.”

[Acronis]

Tavari Ministry of Internal Affairs and Improvements
Government Center Two
101 First Avenue West
Nuvrenon, Tavaris

14 March 2022
10:41 AM East Tavaris Time

Avri Takanaš stared at the piece of paper in front of him. He had seen dozens like it in his time and had barely paid attention to any of them. It was a simple form that was really only a formality—an “official document” to get stored in the archives and gather dust for 12 years before getting turned into a microfiche and being forgotten forever. It was Form VHZ-2501, “Certification of Result of Election or Referendum,” a relatively simple form that would be used as a cover page on a sheaf of papers that listed officially canvassed and audited vote totals from every township and city in the country—the cover page only asked for top-level results from each province. A helpful aide had already filled that all out, which meant the only thing left was for Avri to sign his name.

”I hereby certify on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Tavaris that the results attached herein have been canvassed and audited as required by law and that the same shall constitute the legally certified, official results of the vote indicated on Line 1.”

Line 1 read, of course, “Acronis Independence Referendum of 27 February 2022.”

It would be the hand of Avri Takanaš—not the King, not the Prime Minister, not the Matron—that would bring about the birth of Acronis and the breaking apart of a country that was more than seven centuries old. And what made him feel sickest was knowing that the signature he was about to put to paper would only be the beginning of the most terrible political crisis of a generation.

The Minister checked his watch to note the time, clicked the pen in his hand, and did his duty. “It’s 10:41 AM on Monday, March 14th, 2022. The People’s Communion of Acronis is hereby officially independent and sovereign,” he said aloud, still looking down at the paper.

Cameras flashed. Lenses snapped frantically. The shuffling of feet and the occasional murmur or mutter filled the air. No one clapped.

Avri looked up and turned around to face Atra Metravar, who until approximately 20 seconds previously had been the Leader of the Opposition. “Congratulations, Chief Administrator,” he said, holding out a hand.

Atra shook it firmly, but did not offer a smile. “Thank you, Minister Takanaš,” she said in a voice that was overwhelmingly formal. “I would like a certified copy of the form you just signed, is that possible?”

Of course she did. It would be appropriate to have such a thing for the court case she was about to walk to the Supreme Court and file. Avri nodded to an aide, who took the form he had just signed and stepped over to a nearby copy machine. It was a bit awkward, considering the sheer number of press and various officials who had crammed into Avri’s normally quiet and understated office. “She’ll get it for you,” Avri muttered. Atra nodded and turned away.

Across the country, countless gears were now suddenly in motion, Avri knew. The entire Far Northern Defense District—which stretched from Mt. Avotro practically to the northern coast—was being evacuated. Flags were being lowered and raised at the border crossing in Idalan. Something like 380 resignations from the National Diet were now effective, the largest mass resignation in the legislature’s history. This number included three Ministers and the Director-General of Government Operations, the head of the entire civil service. Someone in this very office was sending an email to direct the Tavaris Internet Domain Registry to activate registrations for the top-level domain .ac, while his Deputy Minister for Telecommunications was working with the Telephone and Telecom Trade Association to enable phone networks to properly route calls with the new international extension +421. And from Avnatra to Elatana, more than 14,350,000 people now lived on land that the Geopolitics Faculty at Royal Bursil University now classified as “disputed.”

“Well, this is it, huh?” Avri spoke more to himself than anyone else.

“This is what?” One of his aides asked.

Avri gestured vaguely. “The new order. The new Tavaris. The future.”

“I’m not sure this is anything, sir. Still a lot more to get figured out.”

Avri laughed. Just once. “Yeah,” he said. “Tell me about it.”

---

The Sacred Cloister
Temple of the Emergence
Crystal Coast, Acronis

9:42 AM Acronian Standard Time

Once again, seven bells rang at the holiest temple in Akronism. Once again, Vana felt the pain in her hands and arm as she yanked down the massive cord to ring them. The atmosphere was jubilant, and all the Elders and everyone else in the room was clapping and cheering. It was rare that media were allowed into the Sacred Cloister, but given that it was now not just a religious sanctum but a hall of government, the additional transparency felt appropriate.

“The People’s Communion of Acronis begins now. The nation of Akronists stands free, independent, and in control of its future,” the Matron said aloud. There were more cheers and more camera flashes. Vana felt like she ought to say more, but it wasn’t like there was a Canticle of Secession for her to chant.

After a few moments, the applause and the camera flashes died down, and Vana put on her most gracious smile. “Members of the media, I’ll be making an address soon out in the East Garden. If you follow the docent in yellow, she will be more than happy to lead you there and show you where you can set up your equipment,” she said. Her tone was gentle, but she knew to hold her eyes open just a bit more than usual to get the urgency of her request across. It wasn’t quite get the fuck out, but it was close.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and Vana pulled it out to check it. “On my way to Sup. Court now,” said the message from Atra. She put her phone back away without responding. If she got too hung up in that issue right now it would throw her off for her speech later. Nothing that had occurred in the past two weeks had encouraged her about Nandrat or Ranat in the slightest. The Prime Minister had been all over television and the media saying over and over again that the results of the vote were valid, even if the voting itself had been fraught. She was really, honestly trying to stand on the most flagrantly falsified election results in Tavari history. There were dictatorships that held more convincing referendums. The more Vana thought about it, the more it incensed her.

She had gone so far out of her way to be respectful of Žarís Nevran Alandar, to make sure that she got across that she respected what the Prime Minister had to say and that she genuinely believed her efforts of outreach. What had that gotten her? Absolutely nothing. The Prime Minister had lied to the public and stirred up hate and when that didn’t work, she doubled down on the most abhorrent election the world had seen this century. Five hours to wait to vote in Ranat! Five hours! How could any self-proclaimed democracy stand by such a thing? Not to mention the absolutely appalling events in Nandrat.

That you arranged, the Matron’s conscience reminded her. Goddess above. She almost wished she could go back in time and erase the Fist of the Moon from existence. What a stupid idea it was. She should have seen they were unnecessary. She shouldn’t have let Atra egg her on. Vana did, of course, believe very firmly that the way the media talked about the Fist of the Moon was entirely overblown. Not a single person had died. Less than two dozen people injured, only one person in the hospital for more than a few hours. They had always targeted empty buildings, and most of the places they had blown up were active construction sites anyway—already prepped and ready to be repaired!

Well, that was in the past. It was time for the future. Vana took a deep breath and prepared to walk out to the East Garden when, very suddenly, no fewer than four Peacekeepers rushed over to her and practically pushed her into one of the back hallways. The sounds of commotion behind her told her that Peacekeepers were evacuating the other Elders, too—an operation that, for most of them, required physically lifting them off the ground and carrying them because they were too frail to run.

“What? What is it?”

“Bomb blast. Hotel Heartwood,” answered one of the Peacekeepers brusquely.

“Wh… what?” There was ringing in Vana’s ears as if she had just been bombed herself. The Hotel Heartwood had more than three hundred beds, and they were almost always booked. Check out time wasn’t for more than an hour. There could be hundreds of families—of any religion—at that hotel. They never used it for Church operations, or even to put up people who were in the city for Church business, they always used other places for that. The Hotel Heartwood was for tourists, for people who wanted a taste of history in their visit to the city. In fact, the Hotel Heartwood in Crystal Coast got the fewest guests asking for more information about Akronism than almost anywhere else in the world. The hotel in Packilvania got more interest, and they didn’t even try there. Had hundreds of civilians, hundreds of people from all over the world, just died?

Sudden screeching shocked Vana out of her thoughts. “HE- HEEEEEEELP!” The shrill, terrified shriek could only belong to Vreila. Vana wheeled around on her heels to see the oldest Elder clutching at her chest with heaving breaths, making choking motions with her feeble fingers. Her eyes were practically bulging out of her face, and tears were streaming out of them.

“Oh, Goddess. Oh, sweet Goddess, not now. Not like this,” Vana prayed. “Don’t take her like this.” She was whispering to herself, eyes shut and burning with tears. The rapid sound of rustling feet assured her that the Peacekeepers were getting Vreila to the clinic, which was only two doors down the hall. This particular back hallway had been built about ten years previously and had cut through some centuries-old masonry—people had been furious—to allow for rapid escape in emergencies. Vana had had her doubts about it then, but she was thankful for it now.

“O Goddess, O Goddess, thy blessings are many, thy wisdom and grace know no bounds,” Vana began, still whispering to herself. The Canticle of the Benefactor was her favorite prayer. She had said it a million times, but now, she found her mind struggling to remember the words as she said them. All she could do was repeat the first line over and over again.

“O Goddess, O Goddess, with my heart I beseech thee, through You let our hearts be found.” The Elder Anda found Vana’s hand and squeezed it as she gently offered the Matron the second line of the Canticle. The Ekvatoran’s Tavari was exquisite, absolutely perfect.

“Joyous… and praising… and love overflowing…” Vana’s own chest began to heave as she tried to force herself through the prayer. The other Elders were looking at her now, as were many of the Peacekeepers that were crammed in the hallway with them. “And g-gifted… and h-honest… and true…”

You did this, the dark voice in the back of Vana’s head told her. You brought this evil into the world. It’s your fault. The voice was spitting at her, as if even her darkest instincts were ashamed of her. And the voice was right. It was her fault. She had done this.

“Let all those among us… and all those outside… know peace and know kindness through You,” Vana cried out, her voice finally giving out at the last word of the line and turning it into nothing but an incoherent sob. She couldn’t finish the prayer. All she could do was slide down the wall and fall into the floor, her knees at her chest, and bawl at the top of her lungs.

It may have been Tavari nationalists who set off the bomb—actually, she didn’t even know if it was—but it didn’t matter, because it was Vana who had brought them here. It was Vana who had brought such evil into the world that had led them here, like moths to a flame. She had sanctioned crimes against life with the blessing of the Church. She had wounded the Goddess with the Goddess’ own hand. Of course such evil would follow. It was an infection, a virus, eating away at the sanctity of the Church and of the entire nation of Akronists that Vana had just welcomed with peals of bells. She had done this.

The Matron cried into her knees for what felt like a thousand years. It might have only been a few seconds. It might have been three hours. Her ears were still ringing. The tears wouldn’t stop, and her breath would not calm. Her throat hurt, her lungs hurt, her heart hurt. Other people in the room might have been crying too, but she couldn’t really tell—all she could hear were her own sobs and that dark, despicable voice in the back of her head reminding her that it was all her fault.

A tap on her shoulder made Vana’s head snap up. It was some communications staffer. “I have Žarís Nevran Alandar,” she said, holding out a cell phone.

“Zh… Žar-” Something snapped inside the Matron at that moment and she snatched the phone out of the staffer’s hand with immeasurable rage.

“Matron, I wanted to-” began the Prime Minister, but any attempt on her part to speak would be hopeless.

“WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?” Vana screeched at the absolute top of her lungs, feeling a blood vessel in her neck bulge. “HOW CAN YOU KEEP LETTING THIS HAPPEN?”

There was no response on the other end of the line. There couldn’t be.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING… S-SECURITY… APPARATUS AT ALL?” Vana struggled to even think. In fact, she gave up thinking entirely and just let her fear, her absolute terror, take over. “YOU JUST KEEP LETTING THEM MURDER US! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM US? YOU DIDN’T WANT US, YOU MURDERED US, SO WE GOT UP AND LEFT AND MADE OUR OWN COUNTRY AND YOU STILL KEEP MURDERING US! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM US?”

“I’m so-”

“I DON’T FUCKING WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS WOMAN,” the Matron shouted before summoning all the strength in her body and throwing the cell phone against the wall. It shattered into a hundred pieces and fell to the floor like confetti of plastic and glass.

And then it was as silent as the grave.

---

Office of the Prime Minister
Government Center One
2 Palace Square
Nuvrenon, Tavaris

11:06 AM East Tavaris Time

Žarís listened to the absolute silence on the other end of the phone line and felt her heart fall through her body and into the core of the Urth. Unmoving, unblinking, she stared forward, out across the room. Everyone in the room was as silent as her, jaws to the floor. No one moved. The entire world was frozen in stone.

“No more,” the Prime Minister whispered to herself. “No more.” She forced herself to take a sharp breath, and then spoke more loudly to whichever aides there were on the line. “Get me IntAff and the Attorney General,” she said.

There were two clicks on the line within ten seconds.

“Ma’am.”

“Ma’am.”

“Effective immediately, I am declaring a national emergency and that the Kingdom of Tavaris is under the active threat of internal insurgency. I am raising the national Threat Readiness Level to Three. I am invoking the National Security Act of 1975, Article VI of the Defense and Civil Order Act of 1908, and Article III of the Telecommunications Network Security and Surveillance Act of 2006. I am placing the Royal Marshalls under Internal Affairs and calling up the reserves. I am ordering this for all areas that are in the Area of Responsibility of the Royal Tavari Armed Forces, including in Acronis, under the terms of Section IX of the Acronis Independence Referendum Act of 2022. I want a report on my desk within three hours that outlines any other emergency powers I haven’t mentioned that will provide the government with any additional emergency power in relation to maintaining internal order. I want to have someone from ICAF in my office or on a call with me by the end of the day. And under the terms of Attorney General Memo C-1 of 2022, I want the Fist of the Moon suspects, the Višara temple fire suspects, and Devran Oren Tavandra transferred to the military justice system and placed under interrogation by the Bureau of Intelligence and Security immediately, with all measures authorized by that memo cleared for use. Am I understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Žarís hung up the phone. Somehow, impossibly, the room around her was even quieter. The Prime Minister had, in all but name, just placed the country—two countries, technically—under martial law. The powers she just invoked had never once been activated by any Tavari government. They had never even been considered by the Tavari government. The National Security Act of 1975 had been written in panic after Aurorans put nuclear weapons in space. The Defense and Civil Order Act of 1908 had been written in the Great War. She had just ordered the Tavari government to actively surveil internet traffic and phone lines without warrants. Every single inhabited area in the country with a population of greater than 50,000 was about to see fully armed soldiers in formation on the streets. Tens of thousands reservists—of ordinary, working Tavari women and men— were about to be called into military service and told that the enemy was made up of other working Tavari women and men.

There were no other options. There hadn’t been for a long time and Žarís had been a fool for thinking otherwise. At least two hundred people in Crystal Coast were dead, and it was her fault. She had let it happen. It was her government that failed all those people. Her government that failed to see the threats right in front of them, out in the wide open. Her government that had let terrorists waltz across the country and do as they please, out of some fear that doing “too much” would make people “afraid.” The whole time—the whole time—she had been plugging her ears and shutting her eyes to try to ignore the realities in front of her, and her denialism had just cost hundreds of lives.

No more.

“Is Atra Metravar still at the Supreme Court?”

“Actually, I’m right here.” Flanked by two Akronist peacekeepers in bright yellow uniforms as well as by a handful of aides and Royal Marshalls was the Chief Administrator of the 25 minute old People’s Communion of Acronis.

“We need to discuss the National Emergency Act in the context of Acronian independence,” said Žarís.

“Yes,” said Atra flatly, staring a hole through the Prime Minister’s face. “Yes, we certainly do.”

[Acronis]

[OOC: This post was written with [mention]Tuva[/mention]]

The Strait of Vaklori
Approximately 179km N of Good Harbor, Tavaris

16 March 2022
11:18 AM East Tavaris Time

The ship was making its way down the straight exceptionally slowly, as if it wanted to be noticed. They would have paid attention to the ship anyway, of course—any South Hills naval vessel got the attention of the Royal Tavari Navy—but this one was different. This was not some regular transport bringing people or supplies to the South Hills base in Ranisport. This slow moving vessel—the SHBS Baldwin according to its bow—had an entirely different kind of cargo on it, and they weren’t even trying to hide it.

There on the deck of the Baldwin, strapped down with a contingent of armed sailors flanking their sides, were two identical intercontinental ballistic missiles proudly bearing the initials UCCS on their fuselages, and nuclear warheads at their tips.

“They’re out of their fucking minds,” said the Captain to no one in particular as she looked through the binoculars. “They have absolutely gone fucking insane.”

“Ma’am? I have MoD on the horn.” A sailor was holding out a cell phone, and the Captain took it without moving her eyes.

“Minister, ma’am? You get the pictures we sent?”

“Yes,” said the cool voice of Nama Oren Kantoreš, the Minister of Defense. “We’ve been tracking it on satellite, obviously. Do they look any better up close?”

“No ma’am, they do not,” said the Captain. “Spirits above. They’re just daring us. I swear some of those damned humans are smirking. Just… moseying on down the Strait, making sure we get a reeeeeeal good look at what they’re delivering.”

“Your orders are to follow them as far south as they go, within their eyesight for as long as possible. Match their speed. Remain in Tavari waters at all times. You’ll be seeing aircraft sweep overhead, they’ll be ours. We intend to make it quite clear that we see what they’re showing us.” The voice of Nama Oren Kantoreš could cut glass, the kind of sound that sunk down into your spine and made your skin crawl. Speaking to the Minister at times like this made the Captain want to go take a shower. She was the single most intense person the Captain had ever known, and after more than 20 years in the military, that was saying something.

“Yes, ma’am,” the Captain said. The line went dead. The Captain continued to stare at the vessel across the Strait, not taking her eyes off the missiles for a second. “The world has just gone absolutely fucking insane. Spirits help us. Fuck it, Akrona help us. I don’t care who, but it’s gonna take divine fucking intervention to get us out of this one.”

---

Conference Room B-2
Government Center One
2 Palace Square
Nuvrenon, Tavaris

11:47 AM East Tavaris Time

“Pardon my Asendavian, Ambassador, but are you out of your fucking mind?” River Serrano, the Ambassador from South Hills, jumped only slightly as Žarís Nevran Alandar entered the room with her hands thrown up in the air.

The arched eyebrow from the Ambassador seemed to suggest that they thought it was someone else in the room who was out of their mind.

Facing silence, Žarís continued. “I speak three languages and I’m learning a fourth and I don’t have words in any of them to describe how absolutely incredulous I am that your government would take such an astounding escalatory action. This is absolutely insane.”

“If the Tavari government were not itself acting with such astounding insanity, then we would not have to answer as such, but nevertheless, here we are. The United Confederation of Concordian States stands behind our allies in the Federation of Bana. Your development of nuclear weapons at all, despite our defense agreement with Bana, was a blatant escalation. Our agreement to defend Bana from outside aggression is public information, and when you chose to bring nuclear weapons into the situation, it was you who upended the status quo, not us. The fact that we have waited so long to answer in kind was a concession.” The Ambassador stood firm. “You are a nuclear power and your country is quite literally collapsing. You’ve thrown completely unwarranted accusations at our ally, claiming that they are the ones who are causing all your problems. Given your history with Bana, it’s quite clear that there needs to be a change in our commitment to Bana’s defense, because the way you are lashing out simply can’t continue. It jeopardizes the stability of the entire region. We are doing what we feel to be necessary to ensure our ally’s security.”

“Your decision to guarantee the defense of Bana came after we joined the UCA, Ambassador. You chose to stick your nose in this after we aligned ourselves with the likes of Norgsveldet. You don’t get to complain that we snuck nukes in on you. And you and I both know perfectly well how capable the conventional weapons systems in Ranisport are of inflicting damage on Tavaris. You didn’t need to bring nukes into it.”

“Nor did you need to cast lies at the feet of Bana to cover your own domestic security failures,” the Ambassador responded plainly.

“Do you wanna see the report, pal? I will show you the report we have on Banian involvement with the Fist of the Moon if it will actually change your mind.” Žarís pointed at an aide beside her, who carried a bright red dossier. “You wanna see it? I will sit here and read it to you word for word if you want me to. You can take a copy with you, if you want!”

The Ambassador was silent for a moment. “It is unlikely to change our political calculus at this stage” was the eventual reply, Serrano adding, “Though if you wish, you may arrange it be sent through the proper channels.”

“You didn’t need to do this,” said Žarís. “You really got suckered into something, you know that? They are leading you on, hook, line, and sinker, Ambassador. South Hills wants to get involved in Gondwanan business? Well congratulations, you’re sure in it now.”

The Ambassador scowled for a moment, breathing sharply out through their nose, before recompsing their expression to something more professional. “Prime Minister, I’m sure you have more important people you need to be reaming, do you have anything substantive to tell me?”

“You have 48 hours to shut down your embassy in Nuvrenon and your consulate in Nandrat and to evacuate your diplomatic staff. The Kingdom of Tavaris is terminating relations with the UCCS, immediately and indefinitely.”

The Ambassador’s eyes could have shot out of their skull. “You’re terminating- You can’t be serious! Our entire diplomatic staff?”

“Your entire diplomatic staff,” Žarís repeated. “Your actions are unacceptable and have inserted an immeasurable amount of instability into an already unstable situation. Once again, Ambassador, South Hills did not have to take this step. Nothing in your defense agreement with Bana mandates this. You have deliberately chosen to take the single most escalatory step you could have taken short of a land invasion, and Tavaris will not sit idly by and let you threaten us like this without an answer.”

“It is incredibly foolish to cut off lines of communication at a time like this,” the Ambassador said, their eyes not yet back to their normal position.

“If you have something to say to us you can say it to the Asilican embassy. They’re more than happy to ferry the message across.”

“You are making a grave mistake, Prime Minister,” the Ambassador warned.

“I guess that makes two of us then, doesn’t it?”

“I am serious, Prime Minister, South Hills isn’t going to simply forget this, this is going far beyond this little spat over election interference.”

“Ambassador, I am going to have to put my entire country on threat level 2 for the first time in history because the world’s third largest country is putting nukes on our border. And spirits help you once Johanna Svedrup gets wind of this, because you have taken this far beyond a little spat.” To emphasize her point, the Prime Minister pointed vaguely to the east.

“Is that a threat?”

It was Žarís’ turn to bug her eyes out of her head. “A thr- have you met Johanna Svedrup? It’s a statement of fact! You… you come in here after putting nukes on my border and you want to get offended that I’m threatening you? How many Tavari nukes are on your border, Ambassador?”

The Ambassador scowled. “I don’t see much use in extending this meeting any further, if this is how you choose to proceed.”

“For the first time today, I think you’re right. Good day, Ambassador.”

“Good day.”

[Acronis]

Office of the Administrator
405 High St North
Arktorís, Elatana

17 March 2022
3:18 PM Elatana Standard Time (UTC)

“Er, well, yes, but-” Tevri Kantõši Nolandar was not having a very productive day. “Crystal Coast isn’t answering my calls, and I was hoping that…” He sighed. “Right. Got it. Thanks.” With a frown on his face, Tevri set the phone back down and stared at it for a moment.

The Administrator of the Unprovinced Territory of Elatana had no idea who his boss was.

For most of his career, he had reported to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Improvements and, through them, to the Prime Minister. Or rather, he reported to the Tavari Minister of Internal Affairs and the Tavari Prime Minister. But according to them, on March 14th, his boss changed because his jurisdiction had seceded from the Kingdom of Tavaris to form part of what was, for the moment, the world’s newest country.

But Acronis had filed a court case disputing the results in Elatana, asking for a recount or even a re-vote. There was supposed to be an Acronian Minister of Internal Affairs, but he couldn’t find her contact information anywhere, and the Acronian Chief Administrator never answered the phone.

Tevri would have preferred getting fired to whatever status this was. He existed in some kind of legal gray area, where two jurisdictions had some sort of claim on him but neither wanted to. The Tavari kept telling him they “legally” could not provide him direction. The Acronians wouldn’t direct him at all.

So he was on his own, apparently.

In exasperation, Tevri pulled up the government directory—the Tavari government directory—and looked up his counterpart on the other side of the world in the Tavari East Pacific. They, too, had joined Acronis, but their results weren’t in dispute. Maybe the folks out west would at least be able to tell him what the Acronians had told them to do. Allowing himself to feel a glimmer of hope, he dialed the number and prayed.

“This is Kala Udrovi Navradan,” came the voice on the other end.

“Hi, Kala, this is Tevri Kantõši Nolandar in Elatana, I was wondering-”

“Oh, thank Akrona you’ve called. Have you been able to get in touch with the new IntAff ministry? I can’t get anyone to do anything except ‘take a message.’”

Tevri could not contain a groan. “I was calling to ask you that,” he said. He could practically feel himself deflating like a balloon.

“Yikes,” said Kala. “I’m beginning to think that this whole independence thing wasn’t exactly thought the whole way through.”

“I heard a rumor that the Church didn’t even think they’d let the territories vote. Apparently they don’t even want us.” Tevri felt worse with every new word that came out of his mouth. This was really how it was going? This was really how it worked when countries split apart? All this uncertainty and confusion?

“We were due for a Treasury Support Payment on Tuesday, we get them twice a month, and it didn’t come through. I called the treasury and they said they can’t help us, we’re not part of Tavaris anymore. We can’t miss more than three or four of those before we have to stop paying salaries,” said Kala. “I have no idea who the Acronian treasury is supposed to be. It’s not like the spooky Church Treasurer or whoever has a public number.”

“I’m desperately trying to figure out who I should talk to about the military. We’re supposed to be at Threat Level Two now and the manual says that if they move it to level two we’re supposed to get disbursements from the Emergency Defense Readiness Fund and a designated UCA attache.”

“Are we even still in the UCA?”

“I don’t know!” Tevri cried out. “At least you know which country you’re a part of. Tavaris and Acronis both say that it’s the other one who has Elatana.”

“Akronanar mani,” said Kala. “Shit, have you tried calling the Alksearians? They’d help you guys out, right?”

“Don’t even get me started on the Alkari! North Elatana is practically shut down, they’ve had to close their schools today because there are so many people out in the streets protesting. Something like two thousand people or less out of the 2 million people up there voted to join Acronis, so they’re all just pissed. And, to top it all off, none of us are even certain if the North Elatana Autonomous Zone even still exists! There wasn’t a treaty to sign like they did with the Rodokans, so we don’t know if the North Elatana Autonomy Statute is still in place.”

“This is an absolute disaster,” said Kala after a moment of silence. “I mean this is just… I can’t believe this.”

“Right? Honestly I don’t know if all of this makes me wish this referendum never happened, or if we ought to just declare independence ourselves.”

Kala laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh, but it was certainly one with a lot of feeling. Mostly disappointment, if Tevri had to guess. “Honestly, from what you’ve told me, it sounds like you guys are independent already. If I was you, I’d stop calling around to ask and just start doing, y’know?”

Tevri thought about it for a moment. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I guess you’re right. They don’t want to give me an emergency defense grant? I’ll just have the territory take out a damn loan and whichever government has to end up paying it? Sounds like that’s someone else’s problem right now.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Kala. “Let me know how it works, I might just have to join you if things keep up like this for much longer.”

With a round of more disappointed laughs on both sides, the two disconnected the call. Tevri did, actually, feel a bit better, though. It was nice to have someone on his side. Glancing once more at the government directory, he scrolled a bit and selected a phone number he had never dared call before.

“Reserve Bank of Tavaris, Director’s office” came the response at the other end of the line.

“This is Tevri Kantõši Nolandar, Elatana Administrator. I can’t get a hold of anyone at Treasury. We’re at Threat Readiness Level Two and the law says we’re owed a grant from the Emergency Defense Readiness Fund. I need you to get me in touch with whoever has the authority to issue the Territory of Elatana a loan, because we need this money yesterday. Your collateral is Article VI, Section 3, subsection b of the National Security Act of 1975,” Tevri said in the most authoritative voice he could muster.

There was a brief silence, and then a click. “Administrator, this is Žantra Venova Nakrat. I certainly understand your concern, but we aren’t sure that we have the juris-”

“Does the MoD have an account with the Reserve Bank? Because it doesn’t matter what country we’re in, we’re in the Area of Responsibility of the Royal Tavari Armed Forces, and if you can’t get me the money we are legally owed then my next move is to walk down to the ŽBMardan branch on the corner.” He paused. “We will not be hung out to dry here,” he added, puffing out his chest.

Another few moments of silence elapsed. “Alright. I can have the funds transferred by the end of the day in Nuvrenon. Do you have contact information for your finance department?”

Tevri gave her the info for his Deputy Administrator for Treasury and Finance and hung up the phone with a grin on his face. He had done it. He had actually done it. He wanted something, he picked up the phone, acted like he knew what he was talking about, and he got it. What a feeling it was! He really was genuinely feeling a thrill, it was exciting. Territorial administrators historically didn’t do much unless they were told do it by on high. He couldn’t even veto Assembly bills without permission. Or at least, he couldn’t before. If things kept turning out like this when he started ending his sentences with periods instead of question marks, then by the spirits he was going to do it everywhere he could.

His next call was to a person he had never called before, because they always called him. “Adjutant-General’s office,” a bored-sounding intern said at the Elatana National Guard office. Too bored, if Tevri had anything to say about it.

“This is Tevri Kantõši Nolandar, Elatana Administrator. I need the Adjutant-General in my office as soon as possible for a SitRep report on the activation of the reserves and what we’re doing to raise the threat readiness level to Two.” Strictly speaking, Tevri wasn’t in the “chain of command” for Elatana—defense wasn’t a matter that the territorial government had competence in, and the Adjutant-General was answerable to the Prime Minister’s office, not his. But it was almost certain that the Adjutant-General was having just as difficult a time as he was in terms of figuring out which Prime Minister was the one to listen to. Tevri intended to make himself the Prime Minister to listen to.

“She’s on her way now,” said the considerably less bored intern.

Tevri’s smile only grew. He had to admit that it was quite a feeling to actually… well, administrate for once. “Anadra!” He called out to the aide in the outer office. “Get me the Alkari Consulate on the phone!”

“Yes sir, right away.”

Yeah. He could get used to this.

[Acronis]

[OOC Content Warning:This post contains a depiction of torture and a hallucination sequence. Reader discretion is advised.]

RTAF Joint Defense Facility [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]

20 March 2022
3:06 AM [REDACTED] Time

“IF YOU WANNA RUN AWAY WITH ME I KNOW A GALAXY AND I CAN TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE!”

BANG

BANG

“I HAD A PREMONITION THAT WE FELL INTO A RHYTHM WHERE THE MUSIC DON’T STOP FOR LIFE!”

BANG

BANG

“GLITTER IN THE SKY, GLITTER IN MY EYES, SHINING JUST THE WAY I LIKE!”

BANG

BANG

“IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU LIKE YOU NEED A LITTLE BIT OF COMPANY, YOU MET ME AT THE PERFECT TIME!”

BANG

BANG

“YOU WANT ME!” BANG “I WANT YOU, BABY!” BANG “MY SUGARBOO!” BANG “I’M LEVITATING!” BANG

This was, by Devran Oren Tavandra’s count, the thirty-seventh time in a row that the soldiers in the room had performed their rendition of Oda Lita’s “Levitating,” the Tavari entry at Urthvision XIV. It had been fine, but not outstanding, at the time. After thirty-seven times accompanied by rhythmless soldiers clashing pots and pans together in discordance on what was allegedly the beat? If he ever heard it again in his life, it would be too soon.

It had been… a week? Three days? He didn’t know how long he had been here, or even where here was. But however long it had been, he had gotten perhaps an hour of sleep in total. His muscles ached. His bones ached. He was constantly disoriented. Never in ten million years would he have guessed that something like this could have happened to him.

Not too long ago, Devran had been having the time of his life. He was the first Tavari Nationalist to be elected First Councilor of any province in Tavaris. His party had swept into power in Motai and he was going to preside over the most successful provincial government in Tavari history. He was going to shut down the crematoriums, put surveillance at the temples, and make a Tavaris that his ancestors could be proud of instead of ashamed of.

But then he had to go blow it all up and give a stupid speech at a stupid protest rally.

Devran didn’t know a single one of those damn kids that had burned down the temple. He had never seen any of them in his life. They had never attended any party meetings. He had never seen them at the shooting range, or even at a shrine for a festival. And he certainly hadn’t told them to burn anything down. He was a political prisoner in his own country, thrown in jail and now being tortured simply for having a belief system. Outrageous. Things like this were supposed to happen to scummy treasonists, not real people like him.

All he wanted was to keep Tavaris together, and look how they treated him.

The kids who burned down the temple weren’t in the room with him, because all of them had collapsed like crying babies within hours. Wherever they were, it wasn’t here. Maybe the soldiers felt guilty, or maybe it was just that the kids didn’t have anything interesting to say. All they ended up doing was screaming about the names of useless twits at their old secondary schools who they thought might have been nationalists.

No, the only other people in the room with Devran, besides the torturers, were even worse: the Fist of the Moon. He couldn’t even complain that the government was discriminating against patriots, because they had dragged a bunch of Akronists into this too. But the Akronists were extra insufferable because they had refused to say a single word. Not a peep. Not a single thing since they had been dragged in here with him.

Obviously, they were the guilty ones. All Devran had done was pick up a megaphone and make a speech. He had exaggerated some things, admittedly. He shouldn’t have said some of the things he said. “We will not tolerate them” was a bit strong. “Resist, they will never be Tavari” was a poor choice of words when everyone had started running. But how was he supposed to know where they were running to? He could barely see any of them anyway, he had been around a corner because his sound equipment needed to be plugged into an outlet and all the useless libs who had businesses on the protest route wouldn’t let him use theirs. It wasn’t like he had picked up the microphone and told everyone to go burn down the local Akronist temple.

“I GOT YOU, MOONLIGHT!” BANG YOU’RE MY STARLIGHT!” BANG “I NEED YOU!” BANG “ALL NIGHT!” BANG “COME ON DANCE WITH ME!” BANG “I’M LEV-”

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH,” Devran shouted. “I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING! I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING! COME ON!”

“Bullshit,” said one of the soldiers. He had a huge smile on his face, clearly enjoying himself. “We all know that the former leader of the Tavari nationalists in Motai Province has contacts who like to blow stuff up. Why don’t you tell us who blew up that temple in Nandrat, buddy?”

“I don’t know anything about that stupid temple in Nandrat! I don’t know anything about the Hotel Heartwood, either!”

“You know, boss, I think what Devvy here needs is some peace and quiet, what do you think?”

The other soldier in the room put down his pots and pans and walked over. “I think you’re right! Maybe Devvy is shy in front of all these nice Akronist ladies over here. I think he could use a change in scenery!”

Devran said nothing. He hated these soldiers—they were disgusting degenerates, and they insisted on talking to him like he was 4 years old. He was older than they were! The fact that soldiers of the Royal Tavari Armed Forces could be so disrespectful made him nauseous. He was going to get out of here, run for Prime Minister, and sweep this trash out of the military. You didn’t do this kind of stuff to Tavari citizens.

The two soldiers graciously pressed the stop button on their music, and the sudden silence felt like a physical relief, as if a weight had come off of his shoulders. Devran didn’t bother resisting when they picked him up—his stomach and face were still sore from them smacking them for hours after he had done that the first time. “Don’t worry little buddy, we’ll hold your hands so you don’t get lost,” said one of the soldiers that was currently yanking him up by his upper arms and setting his shoulder blades on fire. His voice was syrupy and over-exaggerated to the point that even a child would be offended to be spoken to like this. He hated them. He hated them.

Devran hadn’t been anywhere except for the one big room his entire time here. Once the kids had been taken out, it had been him and the sixteen Akronists who refused to ever speak a word all in one big concrete room with metal cots for beds that would have made it impossible to sleep even without Oda Lita’s greatest hits. There was not anything interesting or inspiring to greet him when he was dragged out of the room, just a concrete hallway. The soldiers didn’t take him far, only down a few doors.

When one of the soldiers opened the room, Devran couldn’t contain a moan. The room was a windowless concrete cell with a pair of shackles chained to the floor. “It’ll be nice and quiet in here for you, won’t it Devvy?” A soldier said.

“Fuck you,” Devran spat back.

“Ohhhh, someone is cwanky,” said the other soldier. “Did someone not get much sweepy-time?”

Someone put a pair of handcuffs on Devran’s wrists, holding his hands behind his back. The other soldier put his ankles in the shackles, and it was then Devran noticed how short the chains were—he would hardly be able to move his feet at all.

“Okay, widdle Devvy, we go bye-bye now. If you need us, thewe’s a micwophone on the waw so we can heaw you.” The soldier was holding back laughter, but poorly.

“Teww us if you need to go potty, okay? We don’t want you to have an accident wike wast time, do we widdle guy?”

“FUCK YOU,” Devran screamed at the top his lungs. Almost involuntarily he struggled with his arms and legs in a vain attempt at getting free so he could lunge at that fucking asshole of a soldier. The pair only laughed as they walked away, closing the door behind them with an ominous scraping sound.

It had never been this dark anywhere Devran had ever been. He didn’t know a place could be this dark. There must have been a metal plate on the bottom of the door so not even a sliver of light could come in from the hallway. It literally made no difference whether his eyes were open or shut, and it quickly became so hard to tell which it was that he started to hyperventilate.

A wave of fatigue crashed over him like a tsunami. It was a physical sensation that he felt in his eyes and in all his muscles, almost like some kind of jolt. He was so, so fucking tired. His arms and ankles hurt from his struggling earlier, and he knew the rest of his legs would be next. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what the game was here. They were going to make him stand for a really long time until his legs hurt. Well, he wasn’t some loser kid two years out of secondary school like the other guys had all been. He wasn’t going to crack.

Devran could still hear that terrible song in his head, over and over and over again. It made him sick. Actually, he probably just was sick, considering he had barely eaten, had anything to drink, or slept in spirits only knew how long. His soreness and fatigue were beginning to morph into sheer pain that throbbed and made him hurt everywhere. It was all he could think about, just the pain and Oda Lita. Everything he had ever done, he had done for his country. How could they treat him like some low-life criminal?

Suddenly, something moved. He could see it. Through the darkness, he could see it. Whatever it was, it was just as dark as the background, but he saw it move.

And it skittered.

No, he thought. The soldiers are playing tricks on you, Devvy.

Devran! His name was Devran. His name was Devran Oren Tavandra. His first cousin was the damn Minister of Defense! How could she do this to him? How could she let them treat him like this?

Another wave of fatigue crashed over him. It was a wave made of darkness and the… the whatever-it-was that was moving around had pushed it on him. It was still skittering around, making terrible little tapping noises like it was walking on claws just at the edge of his hearing. But it was getting closer, circling him and closing in on him. The sounds were getting louder and louder… and then they stopped.

“Ha ha,” he said out loud, forcing his voice to be annoyed and not scared. “Very clever little trick,” he told the soldiers through their microphone. Obviously there were speakers somewhere that they could use to mess around with him. “You guys are really uncreative, you know that?”

There was no answer. Just silence and darkness. His feet felt like they were on fire, and so did his knees. He had already felt so weak from the lack of sleep and now they were making him stand and it hurt so, so badly. He had never felt pain like this in his life. He was an orc! An orc! He was stronger than this!

“It’ll take more than this to break me!” He said it out loud, but he didn’t know if he was saying it to the soldiers or to himself.

Skitterskitterskitterskitter. It circled him again, closer and closer still. He saw it this time, it was some kind of massive spider thing that matched the darkness of the room. It couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be real… could it? Was the government breeding spider monsters? He could hear it breathing and its breath sounded like harsh whispering. He could almost make out words, but before he could focus he was wracked with another jolt of fatigue.

“If you wanna run away with me I know a galaxy and I can take you for a ride,” Devran sang to himself in a small voice. He wasn’t hearing anything. He wasn’t seeing anything. He was just hallucinating. It wasn’t real.

It wasn’t real.

It wasn’t real.

But then the darkness lunged at him and Devran had to flinch and duck away to avoid it. “OWWWW,” he moaned, partly from fear and partly from the terrible pain of the shackles cutting into his ankles as he tried to move. Even at the slight distance he had crouched, trying to move himself back up with his arms behind his back hurt like hell. The jolts were coming more quickly now and he couldn’t take it anymore. Everything was just pain on top of pain on top of pain. Everything made him hurt, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t stand still, and he was getting smothered by darkness and attacked by some kind of monster.

“P-Please…” he said. “Please, I don’t know anything.”

The darkness answered with more harsh whispers, louder now but still indistinguishable. He could feel the breath of the terrible monster on the back of his neck, making his skin crawl. He ducked again but he was too weak to control his movements and he ended up in a half-squat that made the shackles dig into his ankles even more. “AAAAAAHHHHHH,” he shouted, half-hoping the loud noise would scare the monster away. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!”

“No,” the darkness answered.

“FUCK YOUUUUUUU,” Devran screamed with tears streaming down his face. “FUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOUFUCKYOU! YOU CAN’T BREAK ME! YOU CAN’T… you can’t… you can’t… aaaaaaargh.” He forced himself back up so the shackles would stop digging into him but the moment his legs were back to standing up, his feet and knees caught fire. He was still crying; whimpers escaped him with each breath.

And then the darkness lunged at him again and he could feel its spittle on his face.

“IT’S THE MARSHALLS IN MOTAI!” He bellowed at the top of his lungs. “AT THE VIŠARA BRANCH OUTPOST! WE TALKED TO THEM WHENEVER WE WANTED AKRONISTS TO GET SCARED!”

Skitterskitterskitterskitter.

“MAJOR KENDRA NARAI DALONAR! SHE’S THE ONE I TALKED TO THE MOST! AND… AND… CORPORAL… CORPORAL RANTOR VENKAVI UDRAKAT! HIS DAD RUNS A HARDWARE STORE THAT SELLS GAS CANS AND DOESN’T ENFORCE THE QUANTITY LIMIT!”

The monster was still circling him, still breathing on him. It wanted to tear out his throat with his fangs, he could feel it. He could hear it thinking.

“THEY’RE THE ONES WHO SET UP THE BOMBING AT THAT TEMPLE IN NANDRAT! THEY GAVE THE BOMBS TO THE GUYS WHO BLEW UP! THEY GIVE BOMBS TO ANYONE WHO ASKS, THEY’RE MILITARY EQUIPMENT! THEY TELL THEM WHAT TO DO TO AVOID GETTING CAUGHT BY OTHER MARSHALLS!”

Still wracked with pain, Devran fell sideways to the floor, crashing on his side and practically yanking his feet off of his ankles. Only his arm hitting the ground before his head prevented him from getting knocked out. He wished it hadn’t.

“SOME MARSHALLS IN OLARA ARE IN ON IT TOO, I THINK! I HEARD THEM TALKING ABOUT IT! THE MARSHALLS ARE FULL OF NATIONALISTS! FULL OF ‘EM!”

There was a sickening grinding sound and suddenly Devran was blind. He tried to roll away from the light but only succeeded in practically dislocating his shoulder.

“Awwww, what a good boy you are! Such a good boy,” said one of the soldiers. One of them unlocked the shackles at his feet.

“Widdle Devvy is a good boy, isn’t he? Now he knows what to do next time!”

“N-Next time?!” Nonononono. They couldn’t do this to him again! “No! NO PLEASE! I WANNA GO HOME! PWEASE! PWEEEEEEEASE!”

But all the soldiers did was laugh.

[Acronis]

21 March 2022

Farmers in Ranat Report Confrontations With Akronist Activists

ZANKOR TWP, Ranat– Tensions were running high in the disputed territory of Ranat on Monday as at least three farmers in the area of rural Zankor Township reported “aggressive behavior” from “Akronist activists,” according to the local branch of the Royal Tavari Marshalls. While the province is claimed by both the Kingdom of Tavaris and the People’s Communion of Acronis, in general the Tavari administration has continued to govern the province without interruption. The conflicts at the farms in Zankor, however, bodes ill for what may be to come in the future.

“We’ve received three reports within the past 24 hours of some aggressive behavior from Akronist activists at farms in Zankor Township, in the far northwest of the province,” said Cpt. Takenda Vantor Nežóri, public information officer for the Marshalls in Ranat’s western sector. “In two of these incidents, the behavior included making threatening gestures with weapons while standing at or near the property line, while in one there was a physical altercation. We have made one arrest and have several more suspects. While it remains uncertain why these farms were targeted, it was noted that in all three cases, the farm owners had Tavari flags and ‘vote no’ signs from the referendum on their property.”

Venekar Dažran Tolobran, 64, has operated a coffee farm in Zankor Township for more than 30 years. He notes that his buyers include both Royal Rodokan Coffee Co., based in Crystal Coast, as well as Nuvrenon-based KokoVoi. “I’ve never hated anyone in my entire life. I put up that sign because I wanted our country to come together, not be torn apart. Now I’m seeing angry Akronists come to my property and point guns at me. Is that what Akrona wants?” While he says they did not actually cross onto his property, Mr. Dažran Tolobran said of the incident “it was the first time in a long damn time that I felt afraid for my safety. Now, did I go and point my guns at their temples or crematoriums? No, I did not, but here they are threatening me. This isn’t going to win them any hearts and minds.”

Less than two avnai from Mr. Dažran Tolobran’s farm is Mandobi Distillery, a sugarcane farm and rum distillery founded in 1584 that is on the historic register. Žakani Nuvo Mandobi, 59, is the family business’ 14th-generation owner, and she says that the Akronists crossed into her property and threatened distillery employees. “They crossed through that gate and pointed their guns at my people, and I do not tolerate that. I do not tolerate that at all.” Mrs. Nuvo Mandobi was involved in a physical altercation with one Akronist that she described as “a fist-fight” that ended with her “taking that sucker down.” The other individual in the altercation was identified as Naldra Σendoqa, 29, of nearby Telvor Township, who is currently in Marshall custody and charged with assault.

“The Church of Akrona deplores violence in all circumstances and these individuals were acting without leave of the Church and contrary to our values and beliefs. While the Church had nothing to do with arranging these criminal events, we will cooperate with law enforcement where needed,” said the Church Media Office in a written statement. The Church of Akrona did not respond to questions about which justice system—the Tavari or the Acronian—it would expect individuals in Ranat to be placed in given its disputed status.

[Acronis]

23 March 2022

Military Forces Break Up Protest Against Government Overreach in Tavaris

NUVRENON, Tavaris– A massive demonstration in Nuvrenon on Wednesday was broken up by Nuvo Province National Guard forces along with Royal Tavari Marshalls after being declared an “illegal assembly” under newly imposed emergency restrictions. The protest, which saw more than 30,000 people assemble on Tavaris Avenue and march toward the Palace Square, was called to protest the very regulations that were used to end it, after the Tavari government declared a state of emergency and “active threat of internal insurgency” in the entire Area of Responsibility of the Royal Tavari Armed Forces, which includes Acronis.

“At approximately 1310 hours, local time, the Nuvo Province National Guard and Royal Tavari Marshalls working in concert declared the march on Tavaris Avenue an illegal assembly due to the number of people far exceeding the event’s demonstration permit and therefore presenting a security hazard during a moment of incredible uncertainty in these current times,” said Maj. Devra Kantor Devlonar, spokesperson for the Nuvo Province National Guard. The National Guard—which is formed of activated members of the armed forces reserve—was stationed along the route on Tavaris Avenue.

Since 2004, much of the central business district of Nuvrenon, especially along Tavaris Avenue and Palace Square, has been designated a “special security zone” that requires the issuance of permits from the Royal Tavari Marshalls to hold demonstrations in. While the law does permit the Marshalls to shut down a protest if it exceeds its permitted size—a number estimated by organizers before the event is held—it had never done so until Wednesday. The Marshalls estimated the crowd to be “at or near 30,000 people” when they shut down the event, compared to the permit’s estimate of 5,000-10,000 people. However, protests with greater differences in actual and estimated size have occurred as recently as last year, during a protest at the Embassy of the Federation of Bana that saw more than 90,000 people attend an event whose permit had listed 3,000.

“This is a deeply, deeply concerning turn of events,” said Qavani Taštoni Nakaran, the director of the Tavari Association for Protecting Civil Rights, who was at the event. “I was near the head of the crowd, so I know what the soldiers were looking at when they declared it unlawful, and there was absolutely no sign of violence in the slightest. People were chanting, some people had signs, there wasn’t so much as a scuffle. But suddenly out of nowhere the soldiers moved in on the crowd and started shoving them as if they were trying to physically remove them from the route.”

“There were soldiers at every single street corner. Every single one,” said Badra Išdašt Nekoran, 24, who said she was pushed by a soldier who yelled at her to get off the street. “I don’t know how they could claim that the crowd was too big for them to secure, or that we were some kind of security threat. There had to be just as many soldiers as there were protestors. This was just a show of force. They wanted people to be scared. It’s just theater.”

Large street protests like this have been relatively rare in recent decades in Nuvrenon, despite its status as the Tavari capital. There were no demonstrations in the city larger than 10,000 people from 2005 until 2020. However, since then the number of large protests has increased dramatically, and Director Taštoni Nakaran believes law enforcement “simply was not prepared and did not know how to respond.” “Thirty thousand people isn’t really that much at all if you compare it to the kinds of demonstrations you see in other countries. And there was a protest last year that hit nearly 200,000, against the nuclear program, without a single security incident. There is just no justification for the military responding this way today. No justification at all. It’s suppression of free speech, plain and simple.”

[Acronis]

[OOC: This post was written with [mention]turtle[/mention] ]

Municipal Parking Garage H-3
Khiyev, Vaklori

26 March 2022
5:13 AM West Vaklori Standard Time

This was, technically speaking, the first time a Matron had ever visited the Commonwealth of Vaklori. No one would ever know, of course, and it was a shame that such a historic moment had to be wasted on a conversation like this. But Vana Dandreal was damn tired of things getting out of control, and it was time to get serious. If that meant taking an unmarked car across the border and arranging a meeting in some grimy parking structure, well, so be it.

The door of the black van slid open and the security guard stood just beside it, facing out toward the rest of the garage so no one could see behind him. People would be curious if they saw him, to be sure, but if they were smart they wouldn’t bother him. A few nai across from Vana, also in an unmarked van, was the woman who until yesterday was named Isis Gay. She had pleaded desperately for a meeting, and if it were anyone else she would have said no, but someone had to explain to her what the hell happened in Aponivia yesterday.

“You have ten minutes,” Vana said flatly.

“Your Beneficence, Madam Matron, I am just so, so incredibly sorry, we had no idea they would do such a thing, the League and Aponivia are absolutely at fault for failing to see the risks, for not vetting them properly, for-”

“I don’t really need your lamentations. I need to know what the fuck happened yesterday.” The Matron was not in much of a mood for more sob stories.

“Androcat Zandovi was our security firm. The League of Novaris contracted them out, they’re from Metradan. We knew some of them were Akronists, we didn’t think anything of it, but they turned out to be… to be… some sort of… crazy, ultra-nationalist terror cell. One day—yesterday—they just… came into the meeting room and told us we were being held hostage. They wanted us to recognize Acronis, kick out Tavaris, and give you their seat and full voting membership.”

Vana clicked her tongue and scowled just thinking about it. Of all the absolutely idiotic things people proclaiming to act on behalf of Akronism had ever done, this was the very worst. Just absolute stupidity. The word Novaris had not crossed Vana’s mind even one time throughout the entire process of Acronian secession. The only business she had with the League of Novaris was asking the Tavari ambassador to represent Acronis in the IF. What an absolutely terrible last day in Klippezackt she had had. “Just stupid,” Vana muttered to herself.

“I… I know, ma’am. It… it was…”

“What else can you tell me about these Zandovi people?” Vana interrupted Isis before she could go on another sob story tangent.

“Well, they’re good at their jobs, by which I mean they’re well armed and they know how to use their weapons. They take everything seriously. It was why we hired them. But it turns out that the guy in charge is an absolute nutcase.”

Vana narrowed her eyes. “Who is this man in charge?”

“His name is Otan, and he runs the entire operation with an iron fist. We didn’t know it at the time, but the grip he has on these people is absolute. He’s a monster. No one can leave Androcat Zandovi or they’d get killed. He knows where they all live, who their families are… I guess he’s been doing all of this to build up his own Akronist army. He wants Metradan to join Acronis.”

Hmph. “Never in ten million years,” said the Matron bitterly. “What an absolute heap of garbage Metradan is. Really just the ugly stepchild of Akronism.” The Church of Metradan had been a thorn in her side for long, long before yesterday’s debacle. It was a den of corruption that had lost sight of Akrona decades ago. Their relative autonomy from the Church of Akrona was a mistake, but it was a mistake that was going to get corrected very, very soon.

“I promise you, Matron, these people don’t want to be doing what they’re being made to do. Most of them, anyway. There’s a few who are close to the top, but-”

“You’ve worked with these people at the top, I presume? When you contracted them? What information do you have on them? Names? Phone numbers, emails, work addresses?”

“I made copies of everything the League had on them,” said Isis, holding up a thick folder. With a nod from Vana, one of the guards still in her van reached over to take the documents from Isis.

“You’re going into hiding, I’m told? You and your… ah… partner?”

“Yes, ma’am. We’re going to lay low for a while. If you need to get in touch-”

“No,” Vana said quickly. “I don’t want to know anything about you or where you’re going. All over the world there are people licking their chops at the chance to attack me for being even in the same religion as your Zandovi idiots. It can’t be known that I’ve ever so much as seen you even once in my life, and the less I know about you, the less I have to lie.”

“If… if we find more information for you?”

“Find a temple somewhere and slide it under the door for all I care. If it needs to get to me, it’ll get to me.” Vana realized then that the muscles in her face were aching from all the frowning she was doing. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be going. There were Akronist terrorists in Tavari military custody, Akronist farmers going around waving guns at people, and now Akronist paramilitary ultranationalists trying to fight a war for Acronis without even considering how it would work out for the Church. Acronis desperately needed partners in the world, but all it could seem to make was enemies.

“Madam Matron, I promise you, there are good people in that organization, good people who are trapped. Once the evil at the top is gone-”

“Don’t promise me something you can’t back up, Ms. Gay. What I need you, and especially your partner and all the other ‘good people’ involved with Androcat Zandovi is keep your heads down, shut up, and stay out of sight. I can’t begin to tell you how much damage this stunt has done. But I appreciate your candor. If I do need to find you, I’m more than capable of doing such.” Turning away from the other car, Vana reached out and slammed the van’s door shut. “Get us somewhere else. I need to make a phone call before we go back to Crystal Coast.”

The car ride to wherever it was was short, and Vana didn’t pay attention to where they had gone. It was dark, so probably some other parking garage. Such wastes of space parking garages were, but at least they came in handy now. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she dialed a number she had memorized the night before.

“I trust you were told to expect my call?” Vana asked.

“Yes,” said the voice.

“I’m going to send some information to you about some people that we need taken care of. They aren’t pushovers, they’re well armed and well prepared, but it’s crucial that they be taken care of quickly and effectively.”

“It’s what we specialize in,” said the voice.

“Did my people explain to you what we’re prepared to offer?”

“Yes.”

“Is it acceptable?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Consider the deal made.” Vana was no stranger to deals that needed to be kept quiet, but somehow this one felt different. Perhaps it was because she was acting on behalf of a state now. A state, she noted, that was not yet party to almost any international law.

“If you need anything else, you get in touch with me or with my team,” said the voice.

“How shall I call you, if I want to speak to you directly?”

The voice was quiet for a moment. “Call me Sleve,” they finally said.

“Very well, Sleve. I’ll be in touch.”

The call dropped and Vana put her phone away. “Get me home,” she said to her driver. “I’ve got a load of political bullshit to start writing.”

---

On behalf of the People’s Communion of Acronis and the entire global community of Akronists, we want to express our deepest sympathies in regard to the events of 25 March at the League of Novaris headquarters. We want to emphasize that the People’s Communion has never had any desire to displace Tavaris in the League or to assume any membership, voting or otherwise, in an organization in which we acknowledge we, as a nation on the continent of Gondwana, have no right to participate. The People’s Communion of Acronis is not a successor state to the Kingdom of Tavaris and makes no claim to any seat in any international organization or agreement currently held by Tavaris.

The actions committed by the agents of Androcat Zandovi, purported to be done in the name of Akronism, are reprehensible and unacceptable. The Church of Akrona deplores violence in all forms and teaches that, above all, life must be cherished and protected. The behavior of the violent thugs who overtook the process of democratic governance and international cooperation stand against the values of the Church of Akrona as a faith, the People’s Communion of Acronis as a state, and against the values of the Goddess Herself. It is our tremendous regret that our lessons of peace did not reach the hearts and minds of the terrorists who assaulted you.

While the People’s Communion of Acronis played no part in planning or executing the events of 25 March, we feel it is our responsibility to make amends on behalf of the people who claimed to be acting in the name of our faith. We wish to cover all medical costs incurred by victims of the attack, including the costs associated with ongoing mental health care, no matter how long and no matter how much money it may take, for as long as even one person who was affected needs it. Additionally, the Church will be devoting ŋ250 million našdat into the development and rollout of a worldwide educational program in our temples, “Akrona Means Peace,” that will reinforce our faith’s longstanding dedication to non-violence and to the respect and celebration of life in all its forms to our members all across the world. Should the League of Novaris wish to discuss further measures to make amends for these events, we urge you and welcome you to contact us at any time.

It is our hope that, as the People’s Communion of Acronis finds its place and begins to make its way among the community of nations on Urth, we can work with the League of Novaris and all its member states as friends and partners. While we are deeply sorry that such a reprehensible event has caused so much damage and distress in our name, we hope that as we all move forward, we can prove to you and to the world that Acronis wishes for nothing more than peace and love on Urth.

In Love and Sincerity,

Vana Dandreal
Head of State of the People’s Communion of Acronis
Matron of the Church of Akrona

Atra Metravar
Chief Administrator of the People’s Communion of Acronis

[Acronis]

[OOC NOTE: Due to events occurring in real life, I have decided to change my plans for A New Moon Rises and use news articles for all or most of the remaining posts. While I had originally planned (as you may have read) both news article-style and prose narrative-style for the whole story, in recent times I have had significantly less energy available. Switching to entirely news articles will result in a shorter and more condensed story, and while I regret the loss of detail and nuance I am eager to get the rest of the story to you—and move on to my future plans!

Thank you for reading thus far. I hope you enjoy the conclusion.]

26 March 2022

Massive Brawl Breaks Out At Ethnic Alkari Demonstration in Arktorís

ARKTORÍS– What started out on Saturday as an already charged protest by ethnic Alkari residents of the North Elatana Autonomous Zone against transition to Acronian administration turned violent after a confrontation with Akronist counter protestors. The Royal Tavari Marshalls report making 64 arrests, of whom 30 have been transferred to the custody of the North Elatana Public Safety Authority (NEPSA), an independent police agency under the control of the Autonomous Zone. At least 12 people were sent to area hospitals, with five of those listed in critical condition.

Tensions have exploded in Elatana after the chaotic and unprecedentedly-poorly administered Acronian independence referendum which—while ostensibly showing a clear majority in support of joining Acronis—has only rendered the situation more confused, and more hostile, than anyone predicted. North Elatana residents in particular have been consistently and vocally opposed to joining Acronis. Unlike anywhere else in Tavaris and its territories, the majority religion in North Elatana is the Church of Xathos, an international faith based in Alksearia. Out of more than 2 million residents of the North Elatana Autonomous Zone, only 1,004 voted “Yes” on the referendum.

“This is an outrageous violation of not only the public peace but the fabric of the country itself, and it absolutely will not be tolerated. Individuals anywhere in Tavaris—even those in autonomous regions like North Elatana—who inflict violence upon another person because of their religion will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar. “We may have disagreements—we may even have very, very strong disagreements—but violence is never the answer. This is not who we are.”

“I’d sooner be a dead Balistrian than a living Acronian,” said one protestor who declined to give his name. He added, “No Alkari person feels safe under an Acronian administration. We simply do not trust them to leave us alone and let us retain our culture. My family has lived on this island for three hundred years and my way of life is in immediate, existential danger. You better believe I’m ready to hurt people and break s–t.” The protestor’s interview with T.V. was cut short by a Marshall, who took the man aside for questioning.

Witnesses at the scene report that, while the atmosphere had already been tense with the Alkari protestors shouting expletive-laden chants and knocking over trash cans, things immediately changed upon the arrival of a group of black-clad counter protestors wearing Akronist diamonds on armbands, of approximately equal size to the Alkari group. “For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop as the Alkari noticed they were there,” said Kedra, a business owner who had locked herself inside her shop located on the street of the protest. “And then, just as quickly, absolute pandemonium broke loose.”

“I could hear the crunching of bones as I fled,” said Attavi Omantar Kelkaraš, a delivery driver who exited a building and found himself at one of the most violent scenes in the entire riot. “I don’t know who was hitting whom, and I didn’t care, but people had baseball bats or something like that and I didn’t want to be one of the guys getting beat with them.”

There has been “no particular historical animus” between Akronists and Xathosi, according to Dr. Nela Elvadri, a University of Ino professor of religious studies who studies the Church of Xathos. “While the Alkari are said to have taken to Tavari traditionalism much more than Akronism, to my knowledge this is the first documented major outbreak of inter-religious violence between Akronists and Xathosi in the history of the country.” However, Dr. Elvadri says it’s likely that religious beliefs have less to do with the situation than it may initially seem. “It isn’t like the two groups are in some theological dispute, and crucially, the protestors in Aktorís seem to have said nothing about any actual Acronian beliefs they dispute in the way that, for example, some Tavari traditionalists oppose cremation. This is a political conflict disguised as a religious one which, I suppose, is at least somewhat emblematic of the whole Akronist-Traditionalist conflict.”

The question of ensuring future safety and stability falls on the officials administering Elatana. However, it is not currently certain who is in charge of Elatana, because in a strange quirk of the disputed results, both Tavaris and Acronis claim that Elatana is not theirs. The Tavari-appointed official in charge of Elatana, Administrator Tevri Kantõši Nolandar, has largely been acting without intervention by higher authorities. According to a Royal Tavari Marshalls spokesperson, it was Mr. Kantõši Nolandar who ordered the Marshalls to respond to the protest on Saturday and not the customary official, the Tavari Minister of Internal Affairs and Improvements.

“As lawfully permitted by the Safety in Home Rule Act of 1960, Elatana Administrator Tevri Kantõši Nolandar called and activated the Royal Tavari Marshalls detachment at Aktorís for purposes of civil law enforcement at approximately 11:07 AM, local time (2 AM ETT/1 AM WTT),” said Maj. Tanalo Kantri Ventakat, who noted that while this was Mr. Kantõši Nolandar’s first time making such an order, Administrators in Elatana and other unprovinced territories have done so in the past.

Administrator Kantõši Nolandar was not made available for media questions by press time. However, in a written statement, the Office of the Administrator said “The Administrator of Elatana is now and will continue to administrate Elatana, including and especially the matter of public safety. The Administrator has no current plans to impose a curfew, but will increase the number of Marshalls on the streets and will maintain that level for so long as the current tensions cease.” In response to questions about the Administrator’s legal authority, the Office said “Administrators of unprovinced territories have broad legal authority in the realm of public safety, which is one of the primary mandates with which they are tasked by the national government. Any unlawful action by an Administrator would be void and overruled by the Cabinet or the Prime Minister, who remains the Commander-in-Chief of our military and law enforcement forces.”

[Acronis]

27 March 2022

Concerns Arise Among Native Rodokans on Vaalsaar: Can Acronis Protect Native Fishers?

VAALSADAM, Tavari East Pacific Isles-- Native Rodokan whalers and fishers have spent more than three centuries in the waters around the island of Vaalsaar, which is under the autonomous jurisdiction of the Rodoka Native Tribal Authority (RNTA) but administratively considered part of the Tavari East Pacific Isles. With the results of the referendum showing a clear choice of becoming part of Acronis, the Acronian government has vowed to recognize and protect Native Rodokan rights and self-governance. However, fishers are now raising an early alarm, claiming that native fishing rights around Vaalsaar are already in jeopardy from illegal foreign fishing.

Under the Tavari law, which is still legally in force for the time being, resources in the waters around Vaalsaar (except for a small strip along the Tavari maritime border with Tuvaltastan) may only legally be used by RNTA-enrolled Native Rodokans. In particular, the waters are rich in several species of whale—an animal considered sacred by Native Rodokans—that are central to both the tribal culture and the RNTA economy. Hunting whales is central to the Rodokan coming-of-age ritual, and while not every Rodokan goes on a whale hunt, the ability of Rodokans to do so now and in the future is of major importance to the community of natives on Vaalsaar. Commercial whaling, also undertaken by natives, is still a central part of the economy as well.

Under international law, it is illegal for foreign-flagged vessels to fish in a country’s EEZ. And while no country can have their navy be everywhere at once, illegal fishing can still be reduced by regular naval patrols and other measures to make authorities visible and capable of enforcing the law. What concerns the fishers and whalers of Vaalsaar is that, under Acronian administration, the navy will be weaker and illegal fishers will feel bolder, placing stocks in native waters in jeopardy. Some have already noticed an uptick.

“In the past week alone, I’ve seen ships from several Auroran countries, and I even saw a ship with a damn Reijian flag,” said fisherman Koit Puna Lõhmus, 68, who has been fishing in Vaalsaar’s waters for more than forty years. “More than two would have been extraordinary in normal times, but there’s no way that we’re going to stop at this few unless something changes.” What Mr. Puna Lõhmus and others find most concerning is that, at the moment, the People’s Communion of Acronis has literally no navy at all. While the Royal Tavari Navy is still present in some places, such as the border with the Tuvalt archipelago of Didi Zghvis K’edeli, according to Mr. Puna Lõhmus the presence has been “significantly, almost entirely, reduced.”

The Royal Tavari Navy declined to comment on the specifics of its deployments in the region, noting that such information is classified. However, a written statement from the Navy said “It is true that, since the legal establishment of Acronis on 14 March, the Navy has begun a process of withdrawal, since the waters are legally part of Acronis, not Tavaris. Negotiations with the Acronian government are ongoing, and Tavari vessels will remain in areas considered to be of critical importance to both governments until such time as Acronian authorities give the order for our complete withdrawal from their territory.” An Acronian official charged with military affairs, T.E.P.I. affairs, or Native Rodokan relations could not be determined or reached by press time.

For the fishers of Vaalsaar, the status quo is unacceptable, and according to Mr. Puna Lõhmus, “the future under Acronis doesn’t look good either.” He noted that the RNTA very closely monitored stocks of fish as well as the whale population and that keeping them at a healthy, sustainable level and that their efforts “depend, absolutely, on a strong, powerful, forceful law enforcement presence in the waters. And even a year from now when Acronis has maybe a handful of ships, they still won’t have enough to patrol all the isles. It could take years and years to get back to a workable level of military presence, and if we can’t keep away these illegal fishing vessels, then in that same time our fish stocks could be halved and our whale population will almost certainly be devastated beyond restoration. And that’s just unacceptable.”

While no RTNA official has confirmed the reports, rumors have been abounding for several days in Sinajärv that Native Rodokan independence could now be on the table, a prospect that Mr. Puna Lõhmus says he would support. “Personally, I’d sooner go back under Tavaris, but if we can’t have that, then I’ll take independence, because we can’t have what we’ve got now. And I’m sure the tribal council will happily throw money at Tavaris to patrol our waters, because unlike the Acronians, we aren’t stupid enough to shoot ourselves in the foot to spite our face.”

A newly-formed political party in the RNTA, the Sovereignty Party, has been leading calls for independence, which while never entirely absent from Rodokan politics has come back in full force since the announcement of the Acronian independence referendum. While the party was initially seen as a niche movement without support, several tribal Chiefs have publicly commented on having met with Sovereignty Party officials, including Chief Luule of Moenarr, the Deputy Chair of the Council.

The RTNA declined comment regarding independence, but said in a written statement that “protecting the treaty rights of Native Rodokan fishers and whalers is the absolute top priority of our administration. We acknowledge the current lack of presence due to the government transition in Vaalsaar and are committed to getting as many resources to them as possible to rectify the situation.”

[Acronis]

1 April 2022

ANARA ON LOCKDOWN: Massive Riot Tears Through City, 3 Buildings Lost to Fire

ANARA, Anara-- The entire City of Anara has been ordered to shelter in place and placed under immediate curfew until 6:00 AM WTT Saturday morning after two large, violent demonstrations against Acronian rule brought thousands of agitators into the city center on Friday. Neighboring Anara Township has also issued a curfew, ordering all citizens to remain inside except for emergencies. Fires started in two different locations in downtown Anara burned 3 buildings to the ground and caused major damage to at least 4 others, according to the Anara Department of Fire and Building Safety.

The Royal Tavari Marshals report that there were “between ten and fifteen thousand demonstrators in the CBD” at the peak and while events did not become violent until the evening hours, Marshals made more than 50 arrests before 6:00 PM WTT. Total arrests made total more than 500, with more than 100 still being processed as of the time this article went to press.

Anara’s primary shopping district, located on King Utor Avenue, saw the most damage in the riot. Located just a block from the Legislative Council building, after Marshals pushed protestors away from government property the crowd rushed to the shopping thoroughfare and almost immediately began breaking windows. Per the Marshals, 90% of all ground-floor windows on King Utor Avenue between First Street and Sixth Street have been shattered. Several businesses were looted, including a Duvrai and Company jewelry store that is the company’s largest outside of Nuvrenon. A Duvrai spokesperson declined to give a našdat value for the lost goods, “the loss of product during this riot is a significant one that may even be too expensive for the company to bear” and said that the storefront is expected to remain closed indefinitely.

The Anara Department of Fire and Building Safety reported to two locations during the riot: the 400 block of Seventh Street and the Old Wharf Pier along Ocean Avenue. While the pier—some miles from downtown—saw little damage, the density of people in the city center slowed the fire response at Seventh Street. As a result, the blaze had spread significantly when they arrived, and as of press time the blaze was “contained but still burning,” per Department spokesperson Daladra Bomai. Only superficial injuries have been reported, and the Anara Evening News reported that all buildings in the block were successfully evacuated of all residents and pets. Two three-story apartment buildings and a pharmacy burned to the ground, but nearly every building on the block has been rendered uninhabitable.

The riot initially began as two separate demonstrations, one having been permitted and scheduled for downtown Anara by a group of rural Indar traditionalists and the other a spontaneous march beginning in the city’s Fourth Division, home to the majority of the Ayaupian refugee community in the city, headed toward the Anara Province Legislative Building where they met the first group and joined them. Witnesses report an initial atmosphere of camaraderie as the two groups realized they shared a common cause and decided to join one another. Dava, 21, of rural Veσicai Twp on the border with Ranat Province, came with her entire family to the city for the protest and said “When the elves and the felines showed up, at first we were a little confused, but when we realized who they were and what they stood for, we knew we had to team up. We’re stronger together.”

While western Tavaris—or rather, the former western Tavaris—has had an Akronist majority for centuries, there are still millions of followers of the Tavat Avati living there, with 2.7 million in Anara Province alone. While most traditionalists live in the cities—like most people in the province in general—there has been a community of very strict, conservative Avatidar known as “Old Way traditionalists” present in the northernmost regions of Anara for more than a thousand years, far longer than Akronism has even existed. An extremely undeveloped rural area that consists primarily of cocoa, coffee, and fruit growers, Anara’s far north has never been a major political player in the province, but more than ten thousand of them—believed to be half the population of the townships that border Ranat—came down to the City of Anara to protest against what they decried as “Akronist theocracy.”

“It isn’t like they’re hiding it. The Akronists have been very clear that they intend to govern this state as an explicitly Akronist state with no division between church and state. Now, they tell me they have nothing against us, but how am I supposed to believe that? How am I supposed to believe I’ll get fair treatment in a country where everyone thinks I’m atheist scum? Am I going to be able to still get burgers? Am I going to be able to bury my wife? One way or another, I simply will not live in a place where the answer is no, and I’m certainly not leaving,” said Marqani Devatra Velõn, 70, of Níkatti Twp, who added “We were here first.”

The Ayaupian refugee community—which today consists mostly of descendants of the first Ayaupian refugees to reach Anara and claim asylum after that country’s 1928-1948 civil war—has historically enjoyed very poor relations with Akronists and has been one of the most vocally opposed groups to Akronist rule. Early efforts by the Church of Akrona to provide sapientarian aid to war victims and refugees—something they have done regularly for centuries around the world—were rebuffed by the Ayaupians because of heavy Akronist proselytization and conditioning much of the offered aid on attending monthly worship at temples. A vast majority of the approximately 40,000 Ayaupian refugees (including their descendants) in Anara Province are practitioners of Vatoral, the indigenous religious tradition of what is today Ayaupia. Akronist pressure to convert, which persisted for decades, led to significant ill will on the part of Ayaupians toward Akronists.

Relations with the Ayaupian community and the Anara public at large have been especially strained since 2018, when Vrapaal Costel, a 26 year old Tavari-Ayaupian, https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/viewtopic.php?p=243566#p243566 while in the act of vandalizing a building. While Marshals initially claimed that Costel had been holding a weapon and acting in a threatening manner, video footage released later revealed that Costel had never made any threatening moves toward the Marshal and that the object in his hand was a can of spray paint. Costel’s death outraged his community, and the slow Marshal response to investigating the events—an investigative report that was due to come out in 2019 is still unreleased—has only furthered their anger. Famously, Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar was https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/viewtopic.php?p=243716#p243716 about the situation when the two met in 2021.

Of particular concern to Ayaupians is the absence of a guarantee from Acronian officials that Acronis will continue to recognize their legal status. The Ayaupians now in Acronis were never Tavari citizens and lived in a legal grey area for decades after the Tavari government cancelled the Ayaupian refugee visa program in 1969—technically undocumented aliens, but tacitly permitted to stay by Tavari authorities. In 1974, the Supreme Court case Ocrapaal v. His Majesty the King granted them the status of “non-citizen nationals” which legalized their continued presence in the country. While the Acronis Independence Referendum act states that Tavari citizens lawfully resident in provinces that vote to secede automatically became Acronian citizens, the law is silent on non-citizen nationals, and Ayaupians say that Church authorities have refused to answer their demands to be granted lawful status to remain in their homes.

“I can’t trust these Akronists. I know these guys [Old Way traditionalists] can’t trust the Akronists,” said Ayaupian activist Ulyon Naast, 35, of Anara, who then paused and said “I’m sure that most Akronists are perfectly fine people. I’m sure most Akronists live their lives and have pretty much the same problems and worries as I do. But Anara is my only home. I don’t even speak any Ayaupian language. My religion is all I have that connects me to the land of my ancestors, and I just cannot trust this Church of Akrona to leave me and us alone. They bothered us enough when it wasn’t their country. Just imagine what they can do now that it is.”

[Shadow]

(OOC: This was published with permission from Ben)

27 March 2022

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CROWN

To the Right Honorable Tevri Kantõši Nolandar of Elatana,

As a faithful ally of Tavaris and with vested interests on the island of Elatana, the reports of riots and fights breaking out between native Alkari and Akronists deeply troubles me. The island of Elatana has been the epitome of Tavari and Alkari cooperation and a show of unity between our two great nations. The results, or more accurately the lack thereof, of the Acronian independence referendum have been a cause for concern in my office.

I know that it is difficult trying to operate and maintain peace on the island without any formal government above you until such a time that the results are fully verified. I write to you today asking that if you need support or need some extra support on the island, that the Alkari military and the Alkari Royal Police are willing to lend support and to try and help quell any tensions on the island. I pray to Xathos and to the High Ones that a peaceful resolution is coming, and I pray for the safety and protection of all the Marshalls trying to keep the peace.

In Peace and In Unity,

Queen Dorothea, Queen of Alksearia, Queen-Protector of Balistria, Protector of the Alkari

[Acronis]

4 April 2022

Once Unthinkable, Tribal Council Agrees to Place Independence on the Agenda

JÜRJO SQUARE, Sinajärv-- As the chaos surrounding Acronian independence shows no sign of slowing down any time soon, the Tribal Council of the Rodoka Native Tribal Administration (RNTA) voted on Monday to hold an extraordinary session on April 12th with only one item listed on the agenda: “Rodokan independence.” The motion passed without objection or discussion at the end of the Council’s Monday morning regular session, which otherwise discussed other business. Most of the meeting was dedicated to fishing rights in the waters around the RNTA jurisdiction of Vaalsaar in the Tavari East Pacific Isles.

“We’re sitting deer out here. It’s really that simple,” said Aaro Karjakas Tinn, the non-voting delegate representing Vaalsaar. “Fishing vessels from all over the world are literally already poaching fish and whales in our waters. We have a responsibility to our culture and our planet to do something. Right now.” Because Vaalsaar was legally part of the Tavari East Pacific Isles, it became part of the People’s Communion of Acronis on 14 March. While the new Akronist state has signed onto the Treaty of Sinajärv and Matron Vana Dandreal has pledged to protect Native Rodokan autonomy, tensions are running high in Vaalsaar because of concerns much closer to the heart: their livelihoods.

Del. Karjakas Tinn read the Council a statement given to him by a resident of Vaalsadam, fisherwoman Külli Silmaring Vint. “Fishing is a cutthroat business. It is a brutal business. People don’t know that, but it’s true. Boats illegally cross borders all the time, but now, with absolutely no help from the Navy, we have absolutely zero deterrent. Because of this, the very delicate balance we have maintained as responsible stewards of these waters for three centuries is under existential threat. Everything we built could be destroyed in less than a generation. I urge the Council to take action now and do whatever it takes to get someone patrolling and defending our waters and our culture.”

The statement appeared to move Presiding Chief Ivi Puna Laar, who took several moments to collect her thoughts before speaking after the statement was read. “This has become very severe, very rapidly. Things are really, very clearly unraveling, and I agree with [Ms. Silmaring Vint], we cannot afford to wait. We need to take real action immediately.”

According to the Presiding Chief, her requests to the Tavari government to restore patrols in the waters of Vaalsaar have been mostly rebuffed. “What I am told is that the current level of naval presence in the Isles is the maximum Acronis is willing to allow,” she told the Council to a chorus of audible groans from both Chiefs and those in the gallery. “And when it comes to Acronis, it has been almost impossible to contact anyone who is in the actual Acronian government.” Chief Laar remarked that she had resorted to “looking up the names of legislative councilors on Pigeon” in a desperate effort to find someone “with actual responsibility” over Acronian affairs in the East Pacific Isles—efforts that have so far been unsuccessful.

“I’m not convinced there’s an actual Acronian government at all, to be honest with you,” said Chief Raivo of Silmaring, who earned a chorus of sarcastic, perhaps even bitter, laughter.

Also discussed at the Monday meeting was the RNTA Sovereign Wealth Fund, the authority’s international investment portfolio, which like almost everything else in the world of Tavari finance has seen significant decline in the past few months. The fund’s total balance as the end of Q1 2022 was SHD $49,465,228,919, down from $52,433,142,654 as of Dec. 31st, 2021, a loss of $2,967,913,735 or 6% in just three months. This loss comes after the fund took a hit late last year https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/viewtopic.php?p=250844#p250844, the company undertaking controversial lithium mining in Nandrat Province that is highly opposed by Akronists, at a loss of 15%.

While no member of the Tribal Council commented one way or another about the merits of independence at the meeting, Deputy Presiding Chief Luule of Moenarr made remarks to press outside the meeting chamber that seemed very receptive to the idea. “I think it’s certainly an interesting idea to consider, and I think it does present an elegant solution in some regards. Or, at the very least, it presents what may just be less chaos than there would be if Native Rodoka remains straddled between two countries. And less chaos is what we desperately need.”