Art of Warfare (AOW): 2

[POMC S117]

"And I will say it one more time. I am not forced nor inclined to answer you. I do not care if you manipulate my silence, but, in doing thatm you will merely be showing yourself to be a terrible and dishonest news reporter."

[Arch-Mage Matt]

"You do understand how an interview works, don't you, Emperor? You're supposed to answer questions. Frankly, I'm not surprised why you haven't switched to a democracy. The way you rule, I doubt you'd even get a fraction of the public vote." Dolores stated icily. Cathmore felt a pang of nervousness. Eliwer's getting mad, and that means one dead news team.

"In my opinion, of course. I'll ask another question, then. Why did you choose Drascia over Zorya? In fact, why did you get involved at all? Enaline is the only country to get involved with the Zoryan-Drascian war. Doesn't that seem off to you?"

[King Acunasti]

Spoiler:

Cities in the province of Harsul:

-Hussar (provincial capital of Harsul)
-Kenalia (largest city in Harsul, "cultural capital" of the province)
-Qinthar
-Nachrid

There are currently eleven Al-Klarest bases scattered throughout the dry deserts of Harsul. The Hessian military continues to raid these bases one by one.

As promised, a black limousine and two black government vehicles (each filled with secret service agents) arrived at Jalil's apartment building around 8:45 PM.

__________

A request for a video conference was sent to Drascia.

[Sav]

Tim entered his conference room, and switched the video conference on. "Hello." Tim said, looking at the screen.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

Spoiler:

A bunch of history.








Early Zoryan History…

In 1353, there were several native tribes occupying Zoryan space. The major tribes were the Porvata, Devana, and the Berstuk. They had been at war since the year 1102. The leader of the Porvata tribe, Marko Zorya, famously held the high council of peace between the warring tribes. It is believed that he did this because his daughter was killed in a blitz attack while traveling between cities. The Porvata and Berstuk agreed to ally with each other. Devana, however, disagreed and continued the war.

Porvata-Berstuk forces were quickly able to lay siege to the capitol of Devana and the tribe crumbled shortly after. The remaining Devana tribe members were adopted by Porvata. There was finally peace.

100 years later, Marko’s descendent and King of the Porvata, Ivan Zorya, decided to unify the tribes to fare against enemy nations. Porvata, Berstuk, and eighty five other small tribes joined together and became The Tribal Legion.

A civil war broke out around five years later, when 11 of the 87 tribes rebelled. They weren’t put down easily, and the civil war continued for 35 years until finally the rebelling tribes admitted defeat. The original 11 Tribes that rebelled separated and became Sorex.

Frightened about the prospect that another war would break out, the current leader of the former Parvata tribe, Sadko Zorya, began to erase the cultural borders between tribes as The Tribal Legion slowly melted into one unified state. In honor of everything the Zorya Clan had done to form the new state, the Tribal Legion became Zorya.

It was about 1500 when Zorya got into a war with an old foe, Sorex. A terrorist attack on the capitol building killed Zorya’s King, Seo Ediak, and his family. After an invasion of Sorex, the nation was destroyed. Even though Zorya couldn’t defeat Sorex in the past, the current King of Sorex was a fool and made horrible military choices. Apollo Zorya, a very important political figure in the country, rose to the title of King after Seo Ediak died, but rejected it soon after. Instead, he created a new constitution and made Zorya a democratic state. Elections were held soon after and Apollo was elected president. He ordered the construction of what would later be called the Apollo House, the capitol building of Zorya. The pre-existing town of Danica quickly expanded with the technology boom, becoming a sprawling city.

Sadly, Apollo Zorya never married, and the Zorya line ended with him. From then on, Zorya was on its own…

IMPORTANT PRESIDENTS OF ZORYA SINCE 1500 (TEN YEAR TERM LIMIT, 65 IN ALL)


Apollo Zorya (Served 1502-1512, Lived 1452-1530)
• Apollo Zorya was the man who started it all. Under his command, Zorya was finally able to defeat Sorex.

Fred Antonio (Served 1643-1645, Lived 1595-1645)
• President Antonio led a relatively peaceful country but made a mistake in assigning all of the military power to one general.

General Hal Arnold (Served 1645-1663, Lived 1593-1680)
• General Arnold led a military coup on President Antonio and took over the country, killing the President. Zorya lived under a harsh totalitarian state for 18 years.

President Jeannie Oliver (Served 1663-1673, Lived 1621-1706)
• Jeannie was the first woman president and the one who overthrew the rule of General Arnold, where she gathered a huge rebel force consisting of 30% of the entire population, and lead a revolt in Danica. There were just too many rebels to contain. 300,000 people died that day, but Jeannie Oliver successfully overthrew Arnold and placed him in prison for the rest of his days.

President Hendrix Hinkerhoff (Served 1876-1886, Lived 1840-1935)
• Hinkerhoff is truly considered the worst president in Zoryan history, excluding General Arnold. He made extremely poor economic choices and brought the country into a great depression.

President Jane Davi (Served 1906-1916, Lived 1850-1949)
• The third woman President, Davi was the one who managed to pull Zorya out of its economic depression.

President Vincent Arlington (Served 1916-1926, Lived 1877-1960)
• Robert Arlington’s great-grandfather and the man responsible for nearly doubling Zoryan territory in the invasion of Aztan, Zorya’s neighboring country. It is speculated V. Arlington’s success helped R. Arlington into the Apollo House.

President Jacob Van Cal (Served 1926-1936, Lived 1890-1976)
• President Van Cal was the man who created the SMC in 1930.

President Phillip Trap (Served 1961-1971, Lived 1920-2000)
• It was President Trap’s decision to withdraw from foreign politics. Diplomats were called in from dozens of nations, communications were all but cut off, and Zorya withdrew into itself. This was continued until 2012.

Ethnicities in Zorya:

Porvata: Originating from the original Porvata tribe, these people generally have light skin and any color hair. In-RP Examples: President Arlington, Percy Davidson, Dolores Montgomery, William Cooke. Real life comparison: White

Berstuk: Originating from the Berstuk tribe, these people have dark skin and generally brown or black hair. In-Rp Example: Virginia Hoffman. Real life comparison: Black

Devana: Originating from the Devana tribe, this race is in minority because of the defeat and collapse of the tribe. These people have tan skin and thin-shaped eyes, and generally have black hair. In-RP Example: Miranda Edwards. Real life comparison: Asian

Sorex: after the defeat of Sorex, many Sorexian civilian refugees were taken in by Zorya. These people have tan to light brown skin, and brown or black hair. In-RP Example: Seth Howe. Real life comparison: Hispanic

The Zoryan State Media Channel:

President Van Cal always was a diplomatic person. It was his idea to create a indirect way to combat enemy forces. To do that, he made the SMC. Because the President is always the head of the SMC, he or she decides everything that the SMC reports. Typically, Presidents command the SMC to launch slanderous and degrading news stories against warring countries. The SMC has the perfect combination of civilian employees and government guide to avoid any kind of negativity for the Zoryan Government. Typically, there is a Head Reporter who has connections in high places and gets the best stories. Usually this person handles day to day affairs in the SMC as well as report on the hottest stories. The Head Reporter is usually one of the biggest celebrities in the country. In 2012, that person is Dolores Montgomery.

[King Acunasti]

Spoiler:

Sh*t! I forgot real-life comparisons of my ethnic groups!

Hessian people - French, Germans, and English

Norholmic people - Scandinavians

Vladinese and Harsuli peoples - Mixture of Africans/Blacks and Middle Easterners (the Vladinese are more based on Africans/Blacks, while the Harsuli are more based on Middle Easterners)

Vanian people - Russians/Eastern Europeans

Oriental people - Asians (obviously)

[POMC S117]

"This interview is over. Feel free to stay at the palace indefinitely. Dinner is at 6, I invite you to ask me questions there, off camera." And with that he walked down the corridor.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

"Mr. Eliwer! Wait!" Dolores struggled to run after Eliwer in her high heels. Cathmore scrambled after them, trying to keep the camera steady. "Why do you refuse to comment on the war?" She asked excitedly. "Also, earlier today, you mentioned Drascia sent you an encrypted message that lead you to ally yourself with them. Do you care to share the content of the message with the people?"

[POMC S117]

Eliwer sat down on one of the many chairs that dotted the corridors and began to read a book that was sitting on the table.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

Spoiler:

Damn you, Monkeyboy. Giving POMC ideas.

"Emperor!" Dolores said excitedly. "If I were to turn off the camera, would you be more inclined to answer my questions?"

[POMC S117]

Spoiler:

King A is the best!

"It's a possibility." He said, engrossed in the book.

[King Acunasti]

Spoiler:

I'm not Monkeyboy. I'm MONKEYMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! (Hey Arnold was the best kids show ever created. Let's not argue about this one. I watched it until I was, like, 12 or 13.

I'm a political genius, Matt. What did you expect? But you won't be getting any more advice from me, Mister Pomcey.

[Ilikeskooma]

Akelin sent the queen of hessia, a simple message stating that'll he'll be sending someone over next week.

[King Acunasti]

Spoiler:

Damnit! I forgot to reply to Sav! I'm sorry, Sav.

Aurore appeared on Erickson's screen. "I trust you know what I have contacted you for." she said sternly.

[POMC S117]

Spoiler:

Thanks a bunch Acunasti! If I every become a PM you can get a position in the Cabinet!

[Arch-Mage Matt]

Dolores turned to Cathmore. "Shut it off, Paul." She said. Cathmore couldn't understand what Dolores was up to. A report without any proof could easily be called a lie, but he shut off his camera anyway and set it down on the table. He could see the fire of determination in her eyes, though... maybe a hint of an evil glare. What the hell, Dolores? He wanted to ask, but knew she'd snap at him for interrupting.

"So, Emperor Eliwer." Dolores started. "Care to explain why you chose to involve yourself in the war?" She didn't sit, but instead stood close to the Emperor. Paul Cathmore, not knowing that to do, sat in an opposite chair.

[King Acunasti]

Spoiler:

A place in the Cabinet? No! I'd rather be your private receptionist.

[Ilikeskooma]

Spoiler:

A PM POMC? really? I'd never thought that you'd want to be a 'PM'

[POMC S117]

Spoiler:

Prime Minister, not a Private Message.

"I said it was a possibility."

[Arch-Mage Matt]

"Are you going to answer?" Dolores asked impatiently.

[Ilikeskooma]

Spoiler:

I was joking

[POMC S117]

"Possibly." He said. There was a crash and a messenger ran down the hallway.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

"I don't need to be here, with you. Answer my question and stop stalling, or I walk." Dolores stated. "And I promise you, I will make the SMC run the worst report on you that it can."

[POMC S117]

"I care not for the lies that you spread on your news." He said, slamming the book down.

"Sir! Sir! Rebels are attacking the city."

"Just what I needed. Dolores, I would advise you to stay until the rebels are dealt with. How many are there?"

The messenger panted. "About two hundred."

"They're feeling lucky. Get the townspeople out of the street. Send tanks in. Tell them only to shoot if they have a clear shot and no civillians are in danger."

[Sav]

"Yes. And before we get into a conversation, i would like to assure you it is a peaceful scouting mission." Tim said.