Erulen himself, god of production and harbinger of efficiency, could not have created a nation riper for the picking than the People’s Republic of Kireitarenu’a. It had a booming but independent economy, copious amounts of rare-earth minerals, and a hard-working population of three million mostly kirei elves who were more than used to doing exactly what they were told for tuppence.
Kireitarenu’a was run by the Elerist Popular Front, an authoritarian communist regime that prioritized production and autarky. If the rest of the world vanished (or imposed crippling economic sanctions), their economy was designed by the blueprint of philosopher and economist Amari Elera (1848-1901) to be completely fine. Although they had a few imports and exports, they by no means relied on them for their continued survival. Such a self-contained economy would be relatively easy to integrate into the Kyrlot production lines, should the opportunity arise.
And the opportunity was finally here.
In the past year, Sinter Tass had https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/t-a-r-a-t3631.html#p199047 in what would have been called a military coup if it hadn’t happened on a technicality and completely by accident following the murder of the previous prime minister Hefanira Tara, https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/t-a-r-a-t3631.html#p200142 that gave him the legal as well as practical ability to crack down on his political opponents under the guise of fighting terrorism, capitalized on https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/t-a-r-a-t3631.html#p207760 for popularity and political power, and used his hold over the police and army to https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/knc-kyrloth-news-central-t3211-s15.html#p208417.
Since then, Tass had been working mostly under the radar, replacing people in important political positions with his friends and allies. And although he couldn’t get rid of all of his problems - removing Gull Hughny, leader of his main opposition in the form of the Socialist Party, would be against the constitution of the Republic of Kyrloth, which couldn’t be changed without a super-majority of ninety-six seats that he didn’t have (yet) - Tass could certainly go a long way to make sure any opposition he could get his hands on was neutralized in one way or another.
Yesterday, the Mayor of Zlovskavaar, ostensibly a member of the Socialist Party but more than open to some gentle encouragement, had given him private understanding that, were Tass to want something done on the Island, he would turn the other way and not bring it up with any rival politicians whose names might happen to rhyme with Cull or Puny.
Elwin Arachne, the man who had ruled Zreiru’a from 1885 until its collapse in 1919 into several separate nations (one of which was the Republic of Kyrloth), had had an ambition - that all of Borea be united under one flag. Ideally, that flag would be Zreiru’an, and flown by Arachne himself. And although he was long dead, his ideals lived on. Specifically, they lived on in the form of Sinter Tass, who also wanted Borea united under specifically himself. He already had Kyrloth more or less under his thumb. It was time to start looking east. Even though it was certainly possible to fabricate some reason for declaring war on Kireitarenu’a, it was usually easier to take advantage of an already existing situation. And Tass had just been informed of one potential opportunity occurring just over the border in Farisóta.
A Kyrlot citizen, visiting some relatives in western Kireitarenu’a, had been arrested for being “drunk and disorderly”. This was a charge on which they had little proof other than the say-so of the officers and whoever had called the police on him, and a breathalyzer test that showed a near-lethal blood alcohol concentration of 0.26. Although the tsuri people of Kyrloth were infamous for their ability to hold their drink, the zrei elves were just as well-known for being lightweights. Clearly, therefore, this had to be (or could at least be plausibly said to be) a fraudulent test, and therefore a wrongful arrest. This on its own would not be such a big deal, perhaps a matter for a local consulate that would eventually end in the citizen’s deportation back to Kyrloth, but to Sinter Tass, it would be enough of a spark to sour relations.
If he could keep the flames rising, he could be at war within a week.
