Nordika Craviter [closed RP]

Prydania

Það er alltaf sólríkt í Býkonsviði
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Pronouns
He/His/Him
TNP Nation
Prydania
Discord
lordgigaice

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Gade's interview with His Majesty was not originally scheduled to focus on politics of the Malor-Kanadian Empire. It is natural, sometimes, for an interview to change course. The Editorial Board at RÚV.pr, respecting His Majesty's assertion that he stood by everything in the interview, has elected to publish the unplanned discussion between the King and Mr. Gade in full.

My Time With the King, Part II
by Torkild Gade

HM Tobias III:
I don't believe, for example, that Ms. Ulburg has the best interests in mind for the people of Kanada. Or Maloria for that matter.

Torkild Gade:
Really? That's a bold statement Your Majesty. Unusual to comment on the internal politics of an ally...

HM:
*chuckles* There hasn't been a "usual" way for a King of Prydania to act since at least 2002. Probably earlier. My uncle Anders wasn't a good man. I'm trying to rediscover what "usual" is in peacetime just like every other Prydanian of my generation.
But I think I have a duty to speak out when I see injustice.

TG:
You would classify Ms. Ulburg's movement as an act of injustice?

HM:
Yes.

TG:
It seems to like she has the ear of quite a lot of people.

HM:
So did the Syndicalists in this country, at one point. Maybe Ms. Ulburg would like to talk to the soldiers and officers of the Kanadian Army that helped liberate eastern Prydania. She can ask them about the Syndicalist injustices they witnessed. And maybe, just maybe, it will be enough to convince her of the folly of her rhetoric.

TG:
So you see her movement as mirroring the Syndicalists? Isn't that a dangerous precedent for you to set, Your Majesty?

HM:
Whether she admits it or not, her attacks on the institution of the Malorian-Kanadian monarchy push her in that direction. She can't pretend she's only interested in restoring Parliamentary power. She's attacking the basis of the state itself. She's crossed the line that separates reformer from revolutionary. And in the wake of what happened in this country? Right next door? It's irresponsible of her.
She recently threatened Emperor Marten and Empress Grace with a repeat of the 1927 revolutions. She's kidding herself. She's not the heir to 1927. She's the heir to Thomas Nielsen and 2002.

TG:
Your Majesty, do you consider it in any way inappropriate to comment on the internal affairs of Malor-Kanada? Ms. Ulburg was elected by the people of Kanada after all.

HM:
Yes and Thomas Nielsen sat as an elected member of our Alþingi for a decade before he seized power.
I'm speaking up because I believe in democracy.
*chuckles* I know Ms. Ulburg would deny that, but I promised free and fair Alþingi elections in three years when I took the throne. When it became obvious our nation could handle them in only one year? I shortened the timetable because I believed we needed a democratically elected government as soon as possible. So Ms. Ulburg's simplistic world view of monarchs as evil unelected leaders is already flawed.
It just isn't her though. We saw something similar in Sil Dorsett with the NDF. Another movement that used a radical approach to gain supporters. Northway's a criminal. We know that now, and I feel I have a duty to speak up to protect democracy from criminals like that who would hijack it.

TG:
Are you saying Ms. Ulburg is a criminal?

HM:
No, but I do believe she's engaging in radical revolutionary politics for her own ends. And that's what I have a duty to call out, because we saw what happens when people don't take action.
My father trusted Thomas Nielsen. Nielsen shot him, and my mother. How many times could my father have averted that if he had been more willing to challenge that tyrant?
That's why I believe in speaking out against Ms. Ulburg. Or Mr. Northway. Or any other would-be tyrant who weaponizes the democratic process for their own ends.
Ms. Ulburg chose to cross the line from calling for Parliamentary reform to calling for revolution. She made that choice. And in doing so she accepted the mantle of the Syndicalist Revolution that crippled our nation. I won't stand by silently as she continues to weaponize populism to her own ends.

TG:
Some would say you're taking a keen interest in this because of your recent marriage to Empress Alycia of Norsos. The Severyns of Malor-Kanada are your in-laws now.

HM:
Yes. What? Did you expect me to say something different? I lost my family young. I have another family now, through my wife. I love her with all my heart, and my in-laws have been nothing but accepting. Are you going to tell me I'm somehow in the wrong or out of line to not defend my family? After what I bared witness to as a child? Goddamn. The expectations some people place on others.

TG:
Surely Your Majesty, you could understand how some see that as conflating personal and political matters.

HM:
How Emperor Marten and Empress Grace manage their affairs of state is none of my business outside of shared BP and PGU projects. With that said? Yes. I support democracy, and freedom of conscious and association. If there are those in Malor-Kanada who believe in change and wish to express a desire for change to my in-laws then they have the right to do that.
But when someone takes an earnest desire for reform and weaponizes it, uses it as a means to justify violent uprising? Then they have abused democracy.
I lived through the Syndicalist regime in Prydania. I am not as child of privilege, as much as the Ulburgs and Northways of the world wish I was. I lived in the dirt and the wilderness to survive. And I will not let the calamity that was the Syndicalist Revolution repeat itself. Not without resistance.
So I would say to her to forget 1927. Focus on the here and now. Recognize the cliff you're teetering on. And step back before you truly let yourself fall into the moral abyss that is violent insurrection.

TG:
Do you feel as if there is room for Ms. Ulburg in the political sphere of the Malor-Kanadian Empire?

HM:
As a reformer, yes. Reform is the lifeblood of democracy. It's the lifeblood of monarchy too, if I am being honest. I hope she realizes the good that she can do in that regard.

TG:
Well Your Majesty, I thank you for an interesting and frank diversion. But if we could, I would like to get back to our earlier discussion.

HM:
Of course.

continued on in the second half of Part I
 
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Beaconsviði, Prydania

"You shouldn't have done that, the RÚV shouldn't have published it, the whole thing is a mess. We need to find a way to mitigate...Your Majesty?"

Tobias wasn't ignoring Magnus, but he was intentionally trying to seem disinterested at his desk.

"The RÚV won't be apologizing. I'm the one who said it. They shouldn't apologize for me."

"So you'll apologize?" the Prime Minister asked hopefully.

"No" Tobias replied, holding a pen tightly.

"Your Majesty" Brandt replied, sounding a bit exasperated, "I urge you to reconsider. Your position as our head of state, as King of Prydania, requires a certain degree of..."

"Enough, I don't want to hear it."

"Your Majesty, with all due respect you do need to hear..."

"NO! No I don't!" Tobias yelled, shooting to his feet as he tossed the pen clear across the room, smacking into a book shelf opposite his desk. Magnus looked on in shock. Tobias did too, a bit taken aback by what he'd done. He closed his eyes, but he didn't feel himself get calmer.
"All I wanted, for the longest time, was revenge. To hurt the people who hurt me. But Thomas Nielsen killed himself. William...William convinced me to pardon most Syndicalists...and you. You Magnus..." he was fuming. Magnus, for his part, stood like a rock. He knew full well what was happening now that the shock was worn off. The King had let this build up. In retrospect? This was a long time coming.
"You, Magnus, you convinced me to condemn those Goyanean-Prydanian soldiers. Who actually did what I wanted to do for all those years...they killed bad people Magnus. People who deserved to face justice...and you...you convinced me to condemn them. To insist that Goyanes punish them." He shook his head.
"I should have given them all Knighthoods" he muttered.
"The only person I have ever gotten a measure of revenge on was Jannik Lieftur. It felt good Magnus. It really did, to deny his plea for mercy. To know I sent him, personally to his death. That's fucked up right? That's fucked up, but it felt good because...because men like him put me through hell. Put me through what no one should have to go through. So yeah. Fucked up or not, I enjoyed it. Knowing I sent him to die. But it didn't make me feel any better."

Magnus breathed deep, and spoke. Calmly.
"Maybe, Your Majesty, because revenge rarely, if ever, helps. It rarely makes one feel better."

"Or maybe" Tobias replied, "it's because aside from him? I was denied every chance at vengeance. Every time. I was told 'you need to act Kingly' or 'you need to show them a better way.'" He shook his head.
"Why? Why am I constantly being told I can't feel? I can't be mad? I can't show anger at the people who hurt me?"

"Anne Ulburg never wronged you, Your Majesty" Brandt explained calmly.

"No" Tobias said, breathing deep. Calming down himself after he'd let that explosion out.
"No she didn't, but she's cut from the same cloth as the people who did. And I'm tired of holding back because of my 'station.' I'm going to say, and do, what's right. What's 'proper' be damned. My father might even be alive today if he bothered to do that."

"Your Majesty" Brandt replied, "I don't presume to know how you should best deal with what you went through. You can howl and yell to your heart's content. I mean it, you have every right to be as angry as you are. More so even. We have to deal with the consequences of speaking out like this though. Tobias. I know you, and I know William Aubyn. You're a bright young man, and he wasn't the sort to raise a fool. Tell me you understand that."

"Anne Ulbrug..." he began, thinking on his words as he sat back down at his desk..."threatened my in-laws. She can live with the consequences."

Magnus just nodded, knowing when to concede for the evening.
"We haven't always seen eye to eye, Your Majesty. If you ever want to talk..."

"Yeah, of course" Tobias said softly as he felt himself sink into his chair. Magnus just nodded, patting the King on the shoulder. Tobias, without even thinking about it, patted his hand back.

"Goodnight Magnus."

"Goodnight Your Majesty."
 
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MP Ulburg Responds to King Loðbrók

Following King Tobias Loðbrók of Prydania’s interview on RÚV, Minority Leader of the First House Anne Ulburg has come forward to respond. In the Prydanian King’s interview, he made several claims which Ulburg has called “False”. In front of a small group of reporters, Ulburg began,

“Thank you to everyone for coming. I’m here to speak about some of the claims the Prydanian King made in his interview yesterday. Let’s just begin,”

“Firstly, Tobias tells me that I should speak to those veteran Kanadian soldiers that helped liberate cities in Eastern Prydania, and ask them of the injustices they saw at the hands of the Syndicalist forces. I have no need to trouble these heroes by asking them about the acts they witnessed, I am well aware of the atrocities committed. Tobias wishes to portray me as a Syndicalist sympathist, and I find this disgusting. The Syndicalists who murdered thousands without conscience, who hung congregations in their churches, and who held pogroms against Shaddaists. Syndicalists who suppressed the free press, and who destroyed the lives of those who they even only thought to be sympathetic to their opponents. Tobias, the Syndicalists are as politically distanced from me as I am from you.”

“Also, I would like to add that the soldiers you mentioned, the ones who volunteered to fight against the Syndicalist menace, were from a different Kanada. A Kanada under Queen Grace II, who was very different from her daughter. Grace II didn’t interfere in the government where she didn’t belong, and didn’t arrest dozens of members of Parliament for dubious claims of corruption.”

“Next, I would like to apologize. In my previous speech, I promised a repeat of the uprising of the Fascists and Communists in 1927. I would like to refine my previous statement. Rather than a promise that 1927 would repeat itself, I should have stated it as a warning. I do not want the Royal family to be unnecessarily harmed, just as I don't believe any other person should be unnecessarily harmed, for they are just people like ourselves. They have a child. We do not need a repeat of the Syndicalist coup Prydania.”

“I was not calling for revolution. I was calling for reform, lest a revolution comes and takes our nation down the same path of destruction that the Syndicalists did in Prydania”

“Also, I should have compared an uprising of the Kanadian people not to the extremists of 1927, but rather to the freedom fighters in the Hær av det Forenede Riket Kanada, who fought for a parliamentary government, with a Monarch as their figurehead.”

A brief pause.

“Tobias, I understand that you had to go through a very difficult childhood, and I’m sorry that it had to happen. However, you cannot go and compare someone you disagree with to authoritarian murderers. As long as you do not fully understand what my partners and I are fighting for, you should avoid making such bold claims.”

After a moment of silence, an assistant walks to the podium and whispers something inaudible to Mrs. Ulburg. Ulburg continues her conclusion,

“Of course, if you would like to know more about the intentions of my campaign, I would be obliged to tell you.”

Several reporters stood up for questioning, but the MP had already left the podium.
 
15 February 2020
4:08 pm
On a Saturday

Býkonsviði, Prydania

He'd seen more than he ever wanted to see during the Civil War. More than he could share, or find comfort in. The death, the destruction...but the otherworldly as well. He still didn't fully believe what he'd seen or heard, but it was with him. It was always with him. And the dead? Jörn had made it clear. The dead were dead. The living were living. The planes they inhabited could not be crossed in any significant way. He'd gotten glimpses the few times he'd been privy to the fantastic. Voices or brief visions of his mother and father, or Krista. That was all though. Not due to a cruel twist of fate but because...that was just how it had to be. The dead and the living....bound by cause and effect but separated by cosmic vastness.

And yet Tobias swore he could hear voices. Not really, of course, but...Anders, Robert. His uncle, his father. He never knew them beyond the way a young child knows their adult family. Still, he felt like he knew them. Or at least what they stood for. What others told him they stood for. His imagination ran wild, but he let it run. Let himself hear what he imagined each would be telling him.

"You're the King. Like me, Vortgyn and Hróarr's blood flows through your veins. This malcontent threatens everything you've built. Everything you've done. You think she'll stop at Kanada? She's a spark, looking to set blaze to a wildfire. It will burn you alive if you let her. Like the Syndicalist spark burnt me. Speak to Marten and Grace, you're their family now. Use them. Crush her."

"You're not the sort of man to 'crush' anyone. You didn't inspire a movement through fear and intimidation. You helped people. The simple act of talking to people, of personally handing out supplies and food to those who needed it....people saw you. They believed in you because they saw you doing good. You fought for people to have a voice. Not to silence the ones we don't want to hear."

"I left Thomas Nielsen alive. I could have snuffed him out, but he did that to me. Don't make that mistake, Tobias. Your father, well meaning as he was, was even more trusting. You cannot trust a scorpion not to sting, it's in their nature. Eventually Anne Ulbrug will become too big for you, Grace, or Marten to deal with. End her."

"There's a reason your mother and I arranged for you to come to William if anything happened to us. Not any of your uncle's handlers. We wanted you to be better. He ruled through the appearance of strength, but a strong King shouldn't fear a renegade voice. I know you've been raised to recognize your uncle's shortcomings. Don't lose sight of everything just because you're afraid and angry now."

"She'll destroy you. She will. If not her then some fool inspired by her. Everything you've done. Your in-laws. Your wife. God forbid your children. Imagine if she festers like the plague she is, and she comes for you after you've had children. My daughter, your cousin...I know you remember Astrid..."

A loud clap echoed through the room and the dialogue between his uncle and father he had imagined stopped. His hand stung, having brought it down on his heavy wooden desk. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples, Anne Ulburg's response to his interview on his desktop monitor. He couldn't force himself to finish it. Half of it was anger. The rest was shame, passion....his head was swimming, and had been since this issue came to a head.

The fact was he had no idea what his uncle, the late Anders III of Prydania, would say. It was all in his imagination. It was born from real fear though. He had brazenly told Magnus that he stood by what he said, that he would stand up to those he saw as threats. Ulburg's response, however, had raised the spectre of his uncle. The last fascist King of Prydania. And he couldn't help but shake the idea that he'd been sorely mistaken. Had he allowed himself to fall down the path of his uncle? The idea was almost terrifying. He'd told himself, as he was growing up in the war, that if he ever got to be King he'd be a "good king" and not the sort Anders III was. And yet he clung to this headstrong position out of youthful stubbornness, despite the creeping feeling that he was following in Anders' footsteps.

The fact was that he was so turned around in his own head, so angry and so full of self-doubt, that he couldn't think straight.




A day earlier

14 February 2020
6
:46 pm
On a Saturday

Býkonsviði, Prydania

Magnus, for his part, had pondered his options. He had considered reaching out to Ulburg but he couldn't. To speak with her behind Tobias' back? That would be a breach of his Sovereign's trust and a massive overstep in his role as Prime Minister. He couldn't do that to Tobias, even if he felt the King was making a mistake. He'd considered a number of options for getting through to him, but the one that seemed the most appealing was perhaps the least conventional. Reaching out to Anne Ulburg was a non-starter, but someone else...that was possible.

Alycia was his first thought, and he'd confided in Adriaan Högh, the Minister of Culture. Adriaan, however, raised a good point. Would Empress Alycia provide the right sort of council? She had been pushing her husband to be more assertive. Maybe this was what she wanted? Or at the very least was something she didn't see as a problem? Norsian politics often required a firmer hand, but Magnus knew this wouldn't work with Anne Ulburg.

"Who else, if not Alycia then?" Magnus had asked.

Adriaan thought for a moment.
"You know who might work..." he said, a light bulb going off in his mind. Magnus just shrugged.
"Alice Dorsett."

Magnus looked a bit shocked.
"Why her?"

"Well she and Tobias...they had a date of sorts."

"What? When?"

"The trade deal. Back before the election. When the Silien came to negotiate. His Majesty took Her Highness on a date. To the rose gardens. This was before he and Alycia really began to grow close, of course."

"I just assumed that was tabloid fodder" Magnus mused.

"No. The lad had something of a crush on the younger Dorsett sister."

"You think he might still have feelings for her?"

"I don't know Magnus. I really don't" Adriaan replied with a shrug.
"I know that the BP poker game went off without a hitch though. She was there. He was there. And Princess Alice's own views have been...evolving. If you care to follow the Silien press."

"I didn't know you did."

"I don't, but William Aubyn does. He's enjoying Norvalle by the way."

"You asked William about this didn't you?" Magnus asked, a bit guarded.

"Yes" Adriaan replied matter of factly.
"You know Tobias. William raised him. That's a huge difference. If anyone is going to know how to get through to His Majesty it's William Aubyn."

"So why doesn't William talk to him?"

"Because he raised him" Adriaan chuckled.
"Magnus, you've got two children and two grandchildren. You should know at a certain point young men don't want to be lectured by their parents, even if they know what's for the best. If you want to convince Tobias he's making a mistake? Well, we need to listen to William. He's our Ambassador to the Princely court in Norvalle. He can arrange a phone call between Alice and Tobias. We don't even need him to have romantic feelings. He just needs to trust her. William thinks he will."

Magnus ran his thumb over the orb at the end of his cane as he thought for a moment.
"Have William make the arrangements."




15 February 2020
4:27 pm
On a Saturday

Býkonsviði, Prydania

Elo Daugaard, chief steward of the Prydanian Royal Household, knocked twice on the door to Tobias' office.
"Come in" a worn voice murmured from behind the heavy oaken doors.

"Your Majesty" Elo said with a respectful head bow.

"Elo..." Tobias replied softly as he sat at his desk.
"What's happened?"

"A phone call, Your Majesty." Tobias looked to his side. He'd taken the phone off the base. He'd done it so he could be alone with his thoughts. His angry, confused, self-doubting thoughts.

"Who is it?" Tobias asked, ready to tell Elo that Magnus could wait.

"It's Alice Dorsett, Your Majesty" Elo replied.

"What...why?" Tobias asked, not expecting that answer.

"I couldn't say, Your Majesty, but she is expecting you. It's line one, I believe."

Tobias nodded, a bit unsure of himself. He'd not spoken to Alice since the poker game and that was...not bad awkward of course, but still...
"Can I have some privacy?" he asked, still of the mindset that he had to ask for that sort of thing. A habit when you grow up surrounded by soldiers in tight places.

"Of course, Your Majesty" Elo replied, leaving the King's office and closing the thick wooden doors behind him.
Tobias breathed deep, his heart racing with nerves. He was married! Why was this so nerve-racking? He set the phone back on the base and sure enough the red light for line one began to flash. He nodded to himself and picked up the receiver as he pressed the line one button.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Your Majesty. It's good to talk to you again."

Tobias smiled. It was good to hear the sound of her voice again.
“Alice” he said, feeling a bit more relaxed, and wanting to drop formalities.
“It’s good to hear from you.” His interview on Ulburg was published by RUV, could she be calling about that? He didn’t know. He tried to prepare himself for it, but to his relief? She didn’t mention it. At first.

"I hope you and Alycia enjoyed the poker game. My sister's thinking about making that a frequent thing. She thinks it's a breakthrough in casual diplomacy."

“Heh” he chuckled. “We did...it was good to see everyone. I’d like to do it again.” he said. And then Alice brought it up…

"I've been watching all the news out of Malor-Kanada, especially about Ulburg. She's a mirror image of Northway, just less grandiose and stupid, if you ask me. You heard about his sentencing hearing, right?"

He knew it. It was the only thing anyone wanted to talk to him ever since he’d consented to the RUV publishing that interview. What kept him calm, however, was that he didn’t know why Alice had chosen to call him over it. And then she brought up Northway…

“Yeah, I heard” he replied, his voice generally cheerful, if sounding a bit beleaguered.
“I had him on my mind actually, when Anne Ulburg came up. I couldn’t get his cocky grin out of my head” he chuckled softly.
"Yeah, when I was sitting in the chamber I kept thinking to myself 'Just put him away, Sis.' But, she stuck to the law, and I realized she was right to do that."

“Claidie did the right thing, I think. It worked out in the end.” He paused for a moment, as if he had a moment of clarity. Simply speaking to Alice had allowed his mind to break free from the single track it had been on since this whole thing started.

"Now, when I say Ulburg is a mirror image of Northway, remember that mirrors only show reflections of our outward appearances. They don't show what's inside. Northway was an idiot because he did what he did, probably, for personal gain. Does Ulburg fit that model?"

“I honestly have no idea,” Tobias replied. He didn’t. He knew nothing about her, other than what her current crusade was and whatever the ÖSU could give him. Which pretty much painted her as an unremarkable politician before her current rise. A standard family life, nothing incriminating, nothing even to suggest a radical bent. She was just...normal. And apparently she had found a cause.
“I really don’t know Alice,” he repeated. “But I’ve already lost one family to people…” he almost said “like her” but he stopped himself.
“...people who weaponize the idea of democracy.”

"If what Ulburg is saying is true about arbitrary arrests of opposition parliamentarians, couldn't she have a case to make?"

Alice raised a point, one he’d danced around in his fielding questions about the issue. He’d constantly insisted that what Grace and Marten did in Maloria-Kanada wasn’t his business but the fact was that Anne Ulburg could be telling the truth, or at least some truths. He remembered what he’d said to the world back during the Battle of Beaconsviði. How he promised he would act for the cause of freedom. He didn’t answer Alice right away. Not because he didn’t know what to say. He knew what the right answer was, but he needed time to accept it. Even if it was only a brief moment of hesitation, he needed it.
“She would have a case, yeah. More than that actually.”

"I know you don't want to see a return of syndicalism. Nobody does. And, you are well within your right to seek revenge. You know what would be the ultimate way to get that? Rule justly -- and I know you will -- so that no one even wants to think of anything like it again."

He smiled faintly.
“Thank you Alice,” he said softly. It was a lesson all rulers- regardless of political system- had to learn. And it was one that was instilled in Tobias at a young age- that should he ever be King he couldn’t be like his uncle. He thought back. To when he imagined what his uncle and his father would say to him.
“I’m…” he paused, wondering if he could open up to her? He’d taken the call though. He trusted her.
“I’m scared. I really am. My father was once friends with the man who killed him. I don’t want to think I’m doing the right thing only to let this grow and get worse.”
It felt good to say it like that. He’d worried that paranoia about that was very Anders-like, but if he could just be open about his fears? Well they seemed less terrifying.

"I wish I could say I know how you feel. Truth is I can't. I didn't survive a civil war and being hunted for most of my childhood. But, when I learned the truth of my father's death, I was scared too. I wondered if I'd be next, or my sister. But, we all have to press on and do the work we're responsible for. "

Tobias nodded. She was right. Of course she was right. He looked across the office to the bookshelves on the far end. God he was tired of looking at them. He turned around, and looked out the window. Býkonsviði was laid before him. Maybe it was the romantic notion of the city, that he was born here but had to wait so long to return. Maybe it was the fact that the capital, having received much in the way of aid and attention in the aftermath of the War, was mostly repaired, and so it seemed like a symbol of what Prydania could be. Peaceful.
Maybe…

“Alice…” he began. The fact that she was right made him want to ask her this. The fact was she was someone he trusted a great deal.
“Do you think Anne Ulburg has her heart in the right place? Do you think she’s being sincere?”

Alice paused for a moment, knowing she was about to walk a tightrope. The more she thought about what the news showed of Ulburg's speech, the more she was concerned about how the situation compared to recent Prydanian history; the war, syndicalism, Nielsen. "Could Nielsen have been sincere?" she thought to herself. "Would it matter?"

"Compared to Northway," Alice said over the phone, "I think she's sincere, but I don't think that's the benchmark to worry about. I think you know who and what is. I hate to bring up old wounds, but this is important... Nothing excuses what Nielsen did to you, your family, and your country, but someone like him was either so twisted and evil, or so desperate for something he thought was better. Maybe - nah, probably - both. I know you see the parallels, but I don't see Ulburg as twisted and evil. What worries me is whether or not the Severyns are pushing her towards desperation."

Tobias breathed deep. He closed his eyes as he tried to think straight. He didn’t get mad...he knew Alice didn’t mean to dig up old traumas… it was his trust in her that helped a good deal. Still, his mind raced. No, that wasn’t right. It was zooming in every direction, but not in a straight path. He tried to think on what Alice was calling to mind, but his mind was speeding through it, so as to spare him the pain of fully remembering.

His mind raced through the memory of his parents’ execution but that brought...things into focus, almost. Was Anne Ulburg capable of that? He felt a nervousness within him, that the answer might be “yes,” but if he truly thought about it? The answer was no. No she was not.

The Severyns were another matter. Was his new family culpable? He knew Alycia didn’t like to speak much of the Severyn legacy in Norsos. She’d taken his name for a reason, even with all the baggage it had.
The Severyns though….he couldn’t stand against them. For many reasons. Many practical, many sentimental. At the end of the day he couldn’t bring himself to attack them. What he could do though, was be an example. That’s what he’d been so far. It’s what William had told him he had to be. He’d gotten used to it. Maybe Anne Ulburg could be radicalized out of desperation...but she didn’t have to be. Not if she felt there was a chance at a better way.

“Alice…” he began, his voice showing just a hint of strain as he pushed the painful memories out of his mind, “thank you. I can’t...I can’t do anything about the Severyns, but maybe I can...reach out to her. I think...I think I can do that” he said, his lips cracking into a smile for the first time since this Ulburg business began.

Alice and Tobias ended their conversation on a high note, with Tobias telling Alice he was looking forward to seeing her and her sister again when the E-Series came to Býkonsviði. That too was a first, the first time he’d thought about something pleasant since this Ulburg business began.

In the end Alice and Marc-Thorsteinn Gausserand-Landet echoed in his mind. Thorsteinn musing about people all doing what they can to make the world better seemed very relevant, but it was Alice’s advice from just before they hung up that made Tobias confident in what he had to do. Could he actually be a force for positive change, not just in Prydania but beyond? Could he play a role in keeping things in Maloria-Kanada from taking a dark turn?

“I think you can too, Toby” Alice had said.

OOC Note: Post co-written with @Sil Dorsett
 
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2020 Nordika Craviter Summit Has Intrigue
by Torkild Gade

Býkonsviði- The Nordika Craviter Summit has been held between Kanada and Prydania every years since 1956 to both celebrate shared history and culture and promote shared values and initiatives. The Summit was not held from 2003-2017 as a result of the Syndicalist Republic government withdrawing from the proceedings, but it has been re-started over the past two years. This year sees the event return to Prydania as the Summit is hosted in the capital.

Yet the event will have an additional bit of intrigue to it this year. His Majesty's comments concerning Anne Ulburg have resulted in Ms. Ulburg responding. Where the back and forth went from there was a mystery until today. Absalonhöll has confirmed that His Majesty has invited Ms. Ulbrug to Prydania to take part in the summit, and to meet with him to discuss recent happenings between the two countries.

"His Majesty extended a hand to Ms. Ulburg in the name of good will and mutual respect" a spokesman for Absalonhöll stated.
"Ms. Ulburg has accepted."

The discussion will be held in private but is sure to raise interest. Kanada's unification with Maloria means that what is discussed could affect Malorian-Kanadian affairs. Absalonhöll has insisted that His Majesty is not interested in involving himself in Malorian-Kanadian affairs, and is merely interested in discussing broader issues.

The 2020 Nordika Craviter Summit is scheduled to begin 20 February 2020.
 
“Annie!”

“What?” Anne gasped, looking up from her desk laden with books and notes. Crouched atop the roof tiles outside her dormer bedroom window was a girl and boy about her age. The girl was smiling, and the boy stared emotionless, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

The girl responded, gesturing for Anne to come along, “Nikolas got out of work early, and we’re taking a ride up K-1. Wanna come?”

Anne hesitated, “I don’t know. I’ve got work to do.”

“It’ll only take an hour or so. Come on.”

Anne was easily convinced, at least at this point in her life. She grabbed shoes from the foot of her bed and went out the window.

It was the Fall of 1993. Nikolas’ gray shitbox tore away from the curb, out of the aging suburbia of Marpina, a dying industrial city on the Kalajoki, the largest river in Kanada. The nation’s industrial sector had slowly been leaving for cheaper markets, and it left behind a shrinking middle class, an emerging meth problem, crumbling homes and infrastructure, and a lost generation of high school graduates, which would soon include Anne Ulburg. The government was too busy with their deadlock and partisanship to offer any real help to the heartland of the country.

Passing by at 110 kilometers per hour, the rundown houses and emptying mini-marts turned to empty, post-harvest fields and trees with leaves like fire. The K-1 was flanked by the Kalajoki, the bright blue and choppy river that cut through farmland, and a series of railroads. All three used to be full of trucks, barges, and trains, taking raw goods to the factories, and Kanada’s finest products out to the harbors on the coast. Now, they were all as dead as the industry they relied on. The radio blared with heavy punk rock, the disc jockey cutting in between songs to spout some anarchist slogan or nihilistic observation about the world.

This is the environment that Anne Ulburg grew up in, the one that molded her views. As her father lost his job and any hope for a pension, and the educated fled to the cities, she watched as Parliament focused on its vanity projects and petty squabbles. The extremists spoke to her, and the many like her, promising change. She would end up joining the brain drain one day, moving to the coast, but her ideals would stick with her as she moved up in local governance, and eventually, won the seat of Karonpuro, Solvang, in 2014.



Ms. Ulburg kept up her stoic and self-righteous facade always, especially as she stepped off the airstair and was immediately greeted by a small group of reporters, some Kanadian, some Prydanian, and all seemingly asking different variations of the same question.
“Ms. Ulburg, what will the meeting with His Majesty be about?”

“Madam Ulburg, what will you be discussing with His Majesty?”

Intending on moving past the media and preparing for the Summit the next morning, Ulburg spoke, not as an answer to any one question, but as a general response to the group, “I am honored to have been invited to the Summit as a whole, and will graciously accept the King’s offer to speak in private. As I see it, he knows that diplomacy and debate must be done politely and with respect, and that bodes well for the meeting. I’m not completely certain what we’ll be speaking on, but I will be respecting his privacy, and will not reveal what we discuss unless he thinks it necessary.”

The MP walked through, trailed by an assistant who provided a barrier between her and the media, and she climbed into the state-provided car sitting on the tarmac, complete with little Prydanian and Kanadian flags pinned on the hood.
 
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