Realpolitik of the Smoky Skies - The Reboot

[cpm4001]

((Based upon the fact that the in-game calendar says 1833 and the last election was in 1822 I'm guessing the election campaign takes place right at the end of 1832 and that the new Senate will be sworn in at the start of 1833. If that's wrong let me know. I'll keep it vague in-character until I hear one way or the other.

You guess right. You can assume that, for the purposes of RPing, the final screenshot shows the state of Pulias during the 1832 election campaigns, or the beginning of the 1833 turn.

Percy Huggins sobbed when he read the news, but he couldn’t wallow in grief, that wasn’t his way. He quickly gathered recycled paper and environmentally friendly paints and got to work. He peddled his bicycle furiously through the streets (although still careful to always use his hand signals). If any citizens were curious enough to read any of the signs he posted would have seen:

Luddite Conversion Society, eh? This could be an interesting development.

Early this morning, Senator the Honourable Gustavus Gurra died at age 57 after experiencing severe chest pains. His daughter rushed him to the nearby Pulias City Hospital with the help of neighbors but there was sadly nothing the doctors could do to save him. A funeral will be held next week.

May the Honorable Senator rest in peace.

The Honourable William Melda, President of the Pulias People's Party, former Senator for Haven of Peace and former Acting and Deputy Prime Minister of Pulias --- now a private citizen --- has written to His Majesty the Grand High Exalted Majah of Pulias to arrange for flags to be flown at half mast.

His requested included the following ". . . while we grieve for the loss of the founding leader of government in this modern Pulian nation. He was the first Prime Minister, the founder of my party, and he will be sorely missed. For the twelve years of loyal service as your Prime Minister, and the ten years of loyal service as your Minister of the Crown I hereby request that all Government buildings with flags have such flags lowered to half-mast in honour of a man who dedicated more than two decades of his life to public office, for the betterment of all Pulians, in pursuit of a . . ."

It goes on for quite a bit. Trust me, I'm doing you a favour by abridging it.

The Grand High Exalted Majah approves the request, and adds that "this is all that could be done for such a loyal Pulian."

((Completely out of character post here --- so hopefully no-one will try and use this against me in the campaign, "Minister has no clue!" --- but since the ten years whizzed by so quickly, can you provide information on what is causing the treasury deficit?

In addition to the usual 'what the cities can build', etc. screen when you get a chance.))

Magnive's right; it's the railroad network. It should be completed within the next turnset, assuming the incoming government approves its completion.

((Does any fraction of a POPs opinion of a character pass on to his succesor?))

As others have pointed out, the opinions are linked to the player, not the character, so you're fine. RIP the other Honorable Senator!

It does dawn on me I have to figure out if we're ever going to have a change of Majah around here...

 

[Et_Absoluti]

He looked at his reflection in the pool. Augustus was always older but his time in office had affected him so much his hair was completely white. He had accomplished much in his political career, being lifted out of obscurity when given a ministry, becoming a party leader and first Opposition leader in history, and the last act of career was to eliminate a major threat to the Pulian people. He could die proudly knowing he served his nation and his people with dignity and honor.

Spoiler :

Leader of Pulian Imperial Party found dead in home
By Jacob Thorn
Earlier this evening Augustus Absoluti leader of the Opposition and the Pulian Imperial Party was found dead in his bedroom earlier this morning. He is survived by two sons Micheal and Henry and his wife Katrina. Respected and admired by men all classes he was a defender of faith and country. With his life and career cut short at 52 years old many in Coventry and the PIP wish to see his eldest son William follow in his footsteps. The family has seen fit to publish his will as follows:

I Augustus Absoluti write these words without coercion and in sound health.
To my oldest son Henry, I bequeath all estates and land that I legally own on the condition that the family manor is never demolished and or sold. Additionally you shall receive ten percent of the family fortune. Seventy percent is to be given to Micheal to be spent as he wishes. The remaining ten percent is to be given to the city of Coventry to feeds its poor and pave its roads. To my earnest supporter and friend Mr.Bazil I give you my deepest gratitude and thanks as our oldest and most trustworthy family friend. To my comrade and leader the Prime Minister I give you my respect and thanks.Your leadership has always been sound whether in the debate hall or on the battlefield. While we may not always see eye to eye I care for you as I would a brother. And last but not least William Melda. While we may have had passionate debates I have always respected and admired you(even if you are a socialist). The future of our country is in great hands if it is filled with men with as much virtue and fortitude that you have.

Spoiler :

Address from Henry Absoluti
The nation has lost a great man today. A city and a family weep for his untimely passing. My father was always fond of a particular quote, "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know whose shade they will never sit in." That is the essence of governance and politics. We live in a time of turbulence, and great change. My grandfather never lived to see the invention of the railroad, now one will be constructed in my lifetime. We live in a time where control has been taken from the hands of tyrannical dynasties and given back to the people! Who knows what we can accomplish tomorrow? Or the day after that? But if we stand together as Pulians we can touch the very heavens themselves! This is why I am announcing my candidacy for the Coventry elections during the upcoming election cycle. While I am young I know I can serve this city and country just as well as my father did. While my brother Micheal has gone abroad to study, I will stay with the country and people who raised me. I was born in Pulias and I will die here! For Pulias and for the PIP I am Henry Absoluti.

 

[Melda]

The Honourable William Melda was feeling very old. He wasn't really, he was only forty-eight, but the last week felt like it had aged him more than his previous forty-eight years had.

The deaths of two of his colleagues in mere days had left him shaken. When he'd wondered which colleagues would return in the Fourth Senate, he'd thought some would not be successful in their reelection bids or perhaps retire. It seemed inconceivable that two Senators of the Third Senate lay dead so soon and so suddenly.

Losing his friend Gustavus was like a dagger through his heart. The first Prime Minister of Pulias. The founder of the Pulias People's Party. His colleague and comrade. It was devastating to him. He hadn't seemed unwell at all.

Then to lose Augustus too, so soon afterward. The two had never been friends, and had widely different world views and clashed on the campaign trail and on the Senate floor, but he respected his ardour and never would have expected him to die so soon. He always seemed to burn with an intensity that seemed to hint that he would live forever.

This combined with the guilt at the news of the deaths of the Luddites at the hand of his nation, the forces of the government he was acting as leader of. He'd pushed the Cabinet to make a decision on this matter. He'd tacitly approved the Anti-Luddite Task Force. He'd bought into the fear that the Luddites were coming to get them all. Whether they were, or whether they weren't, he couldn't unread what he'd read. The reports of deaths. Slaughter, really; the poor devils faced down metal landships with axes! And then there were the refugees: the innocents, the women, the children. Surely they deserved better than this? There had to be a better way.

He'd seen the fliers for the Luddite Conversion Society. And that just intensified his guilt. He would need to contribute to that worthy cause in whatever way he could, since he was part of the reason they were now suffering. He had been in Cabinet. He could have spoken out against it. Instead he did the opposite and supported the move.

It was in this fragile state, with the deaths of two people he'd spent more time with than his own family over the past decade on his mind, that he penned the letter.

It began:

Fellow comrades,

It is hereby my intention to resign as President of the Pulias People's Party effective immediately. I feel I have let you down and allowed fear and militancy to cloud my judgement. Innocent blood is effectively on my hands. Our party stands for peace and goodwill to all civilised peoples. That is all well and good and proper, but the actions that have been done in our name these past years against uncivilised peoples truly shows the ugly, uncivilised character of our nation's soul. We need to be better than this if we want to call ourselves a civilised people.

With the death of our comrade, the party secretary position is vacant. I urge all party members who think they can make a difference to nominate for the position. As I have failed you and allowed us to go down this path of militancy, I hereby tender my resignation as party president. It is my sincerest hope that a more worthy candidate than I will take up this position. If the party will have me, I still wish to recontest my Senate seat in Haven of Peace, but if you decide to disallow my preselection I will certainly understand given the circumstances.

Yours in solidarity,

The Honourable William Melda
Former Deputy Prime Minister of Pulias
Former Minister of Culture
Former President of the Pulias People's Party
Former Senate for Haven of Peace

He struggled to write "Honourable" because he decidedly didn't feel as much at this point in time.

The weeks ahead were going to be rough.

 

[Et_Absoluti]

((Melda speaking of your family do you have a daughter? The nation has been shocked to its core, perhaps a show of unity to rally the people?))

 

[Melda]

((Note: if you want to listen to the composition referred to in this article by the cultural reporter, the link to do so is here. Enjoy!))

Today's edition of the Haven Herald contained the following article:

Morose Melodies Made by Musical Melda
by Isaiah Meriwether

Spoiler :

No, the former Deputy Prime Minister has not taken to singing in the street. I am here to comment on the first publicly released musical offering of the politician's son, Mr. Charles Melda, who has graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in Pulias City. In an interview with Harland Godwin of the Haven Herald many years ago, the Honourable William Melda made mention that his son was musically gifted. I remember reading about it at the time and thinking nothing more of it. Little did anyone realise the former Senator's son would be entering the world of composition.

I had the pleasure of speaking with the young Mr. Melda about his work, the enigmatically named Darkness: Before the Dawn. It is a morose offering for a small ensemble of cellos. It slowly wanders about from here to there, with slight glimmerings of the possibility of hope shining in, before slamming shut the very idea as nothing so much as a silly notion. The work is short, and I don't mean that as a criticism because it means it doesn't overstay its welcome. Certainly a worthy offering from a young composer.

When I asked him what the piece was meant to represent, Charles tentatively explained that it was meant to communicate the loss of the light of civilisation after the Fall, and the lack of hope people felt before Pulias was reborn as a modern nation state at the Dawn. When I asked him how this period of history made him feel, seeing as though it ended before he was born he said it made him sad, and that he had heard his parents and other people who had lived through it describe it. He said even though he didn't experience it firsthand himself he felt their descriptions were visceral enough that he felt compelled to depict it as authentically as possible. Truth be told he seemed very saddened and my heart went out for him. Despite being born a year after the founding of modern Pulias myself, his melancholic work made me feel as though I, too, had lived through the Darkness even thought I hadn't.

I asked about the timing, that it was released not long after the death of the first Prime Minister, the Honourable Gustavus Gurra, a fellow party comrade of his father's. He looked incredibly saddened at this, and explained that his father had been distraught ever since the news had broken. He explained that he composed the piece prior to the Honourable Gurra's death, but that it felt somehow to be an appropriate offering in honour of the man.

When I asked him if his father, the former Deputy Prime Minister, was disappointed that he wasn't following in his career footsteps in the Museum or the Senate he seemed decidedly uncomfortable, as though I had asked an impertinent question. He carefully replied that his father was proud of his musicality.

So here we have it: the father, previously an academic, an historian, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture, and his son, a quietly spoken lad with an interest in times long past and a gift for composition. I am certain we will hear more from this budding composer and I intend to follow his potential career with great interest. And although he didn't intend for it to be, it really does feel like an appropriate accompaniment to the nation's mourning of a Prime Minister and a titan of the political sphere.




Portrait of Charles Melda, composer (1830)

 

[Melda]

((Melda speaking of your family do you have a daughter? The nation has been shocked to its core, perhaps a show of unity to rally the people?))

(lol: No, only a son, an only child I'm afraid.

But if you're looking to match-make, my fellow party member Aurora Gurra might be single! ))

 

[MiguelBazil]

(( Jesus, so much information from a couple of hours... And I can't even remember how old my character is at the moment... But I'm keeping him alive for now, that's for sure)).

 

[Melda]

 

[Et_Absoluti]

I must congratulate Charles Melda on his wonderful composition. It reminded me of the sadness in my fathers eyes when he would talk about those dark times. Perhaps you might like my brother, he is studying the arts and philosophies abroad hopefully not squandering the family fortune.

 

[Melda]

hopefully not squandering the family fortune.

((Incidentally, I've updated the election and senatorial summaries to reflect your character's surname.))

 

[Et_Absoluti]

(lol: No, only a son, an only child I'm afraid.

But if you're looking to match-make, my fellow party member Aurora Gurra might be single! ))

For some reason I don't see that working out

 

[Et_Absoluti]

((What is the deal with all these sympathizers? Some could say you are being unpatriotic))

Spoiler :

Luddite Sympathies in Pulias
Jacob Thorn

I have witnessed a disturbing trend in the youth, especially in the capital. Nonsense such as a "Luddite Conversion Society". This spits on the graves on the men who lost their lives in the initial attacks and attempts to marginalize the efforts of the men who risked life and limb eliminating the wretched hive of villainy they called a home! Are we witnessing a lost generation? A generation who's parents toiled to make this nation great and sacrificed everything to see their sons squander it? Time can only tell, hopefully the descendants of great men like Henry Absoluti can stem this tide of weakness and restore the strong and wise Pulias that once was.

 

[Melda]

((What is the deal with all these sympathizers? Some could say you are being unpatriotic))

((That, or the idea of running tanks over men armed with bows and arrows seems a bit, well, a bit like real life horrible regimes.

Not that he was armed at all, but think Tank Man in the 1980s.))

 

[Et_Absoluti]

((I would say in the instance we were clearly in the right, in real lie it gets a bit more grey. We were attacked first and apparently only armed men were killed, which is believable given this is the time period where we started to think about the rules of war.))

 

[Melda]

((Not necessarily. Real life Luddites weren't an armed movement necessarily, they just hated technology and societal change --- especially because automation led to unemployment --- so it makes sense that these encampments would essentially be a commune with armed guards. And sometimes these overzealous armed guards encroach on civilised territory, and clashes occur. ))

 

[Melda]

((Another point is: who knows who did what in the Darkness before the Dawn? For all we know our forefathers did terrible things to them, and they've remembered them.

Apart from the fact it's a Civ game and you know they're barbarians to be destroyed, from a story perspective we have no way of knowing who, if anyone, has the moral high ground here. We've only seen things from 1800 onward, not 1799 and before.))

 

[Et_Absoluti]

((Sins of the father and all that . But at the end of the day I am a Pulian not a Luddite so I will always support one against the other. Honestly if they don't encroach I am content to let them run rampant in ai lands))

 

[Melda]

((From an in-character perspective, perhaps we could agree to live and let live unless they attack us. Eventually (once civs take up all the available space) they will either integrate or die out as a movement.))

 

[Et_Absoluti]

((I can definitely agree with that. If I'm correct there is no major presence that requires attention near us.))

 

[Heerlo]

Saddened and grieved by the loss of two great Pulian leaders, the former Prime Minister Heerlo addressed a crowd of citizens of Capital Square.

Spoiler :

Men and women of our great nation, please lend me your attention for a few minutes.

I merely wished for us to gather here in Capital Square today to remember two of the greatest Pulians in modern history, who, sadly, recently passed away. As I'm sure you know, their names were the honorable Augustus Absoluti, and the honorable Gustavus Gurra. I just wanted to take a few moments to talk about their lives and commemorate their accomplishments.

The honorable Gustavus Gurra was probably most remembered for being our first Prime Minister after the Dark Ages. However, his accomplishments go far beyond that. He was also the founder of the People's Pulias Party, the first modern Pulian political party. His established party platform was to "bring Pulias into the future through means of peace and justice." And, to be sure, during the first thirty years of our modern history, he played a critical role in achieving this goal. Under his leadership, the Pulias People's Party was always dedicated to ensuring all Pulians have their voices heard in how our great nation is run. It was true that, because of some personal matters of which I do not know the details, he left Pulias for some years. But upon his return, he was ready once again to serve the people of Pulias, as he had done before.

The honorable Gustavus and I did have a few clashes in campaigns many years ago, but that does not change my opinion aobut him. He was a critical leader of our nation in these years following the Dark Ages, and he will be sorely missed.

Then there is the honorable Augustus Absoluti, who made history as the founder of the Pulian Imperial party, and the first opposition leader in modern Pulian history.

After the disappearance of one of our ministers during my first term as Prime Minister, I was left with an empty seat in my cabinet. I contacted the honorable Augustus, and he was ready and willing to serve. He became the minister of culture, and served faithfully for the rest of my term.

As I have already stated, he became the first opposition leader, and the PIP under his leadership proved to be a balancing factor in the government of our great nation. You may think it strange that I would speak favorably of the opposition to the government of which I was the head. But it would be foolish indeed to believe that anyone can be completely trusted while wielding power. That is why a healthy opposition is needed in our nation to ensure that the government does not abuse its power. With two parties in a coalition government that shared relatively similar philosophies, we needed a party that had a differing one. Having the PIP as the opposition ensured that our government would not lean too much toward one extreme. Senator Augustus filled that role to the best of his ability, as a true servant of the people of Pulias.

Senator Augustus also joined me in eliminating a threat to our country in the form of the Luddites, who have declared their hostile intentions against all civilized societies. Jointly comamnding a force of loyal Pulian soldiers, Senator Augustus and I overcame this threat to Pulias. He then spent the last few years of his life continuing the role of the opposition, and serving the people of Pulias faithfully.

As with Senator Gurra, Augustus and I did not always see eye-to-eye on every issue, but he was a true servant of the people of Pulias, and he will be sorely missed in the years to come.

My sympathies go out to both the families of these great men of Pulias. Neither of them will be forgotten, nor will their great accomplishments on behalf of all of Pulias.

Let us bow our heads for a moment of silence in remembrance of these two great leaders.