Realpolitik of the Smoky Skies - The Reboot

[Heerlo]

It's amazing how much can happen while you're gone for a few weeks.

If I didn't say this already, I express my greatest sympathies to the family of Mr.Harland Godwin, and I sorely regret that I did not get to attend his funeral.

And it's hard to believe the Dawn Coalition is gone. I was getting prepared for a total speech war with Mr.Bismark.

I would like to congratulate Ms.Aurora Gurra on being the first woman to become Prime Minister of our great nation, and I look forward to working with her in the years to come.

As far as Heerlo goes, I was working on the assumption that he was a junior minister in the First Gurra Ministry (so early twenties?) which would make him mid-fifties at the youngest, and mid-sixties at the next election.

Not quite.

Spoiler :

Fifty-three.Fifty-three

The below is a biography of my character. It was actually written in March, and never posted, so it's a little behind-the-times. Still, if anyone is interested, it does provide a little backstory and more info as to how old my character actually is.

(Please note, a revolution being what destroyed the old nation of Pulias was just my speculation when I was writing this)

Spoiler :

Heerlo Antilles was born in 1779 during the Dark Age between ancient history and modern times. After a revolution all but destroyed the old Pulian Empire, the remaining Pulians wandered about the world until finally finding their new home, the site where Pulias stands today.

It was during the founding of the modern Republic of Pulias that Heerlo became interested in helping shape the destiny of this new nation. He began giving speeches about his political ideology to anyone who would listen.

The founder of the fledgling Pulian Advancement Union, Magnive, overheard one of Heerlo's speeches and asked him to join the party. The young Heerlo accepted, thus launchihg his political career at the age of 21.

Shortly thereafter, the Interim Government was formed, and Heerlo became appointed Minister of Science. This was mostly due to the lack of candidates, for the young Pulian had no prior experience in the field of science. Nevertheless, he proceeded to make his mark on the new Pulian government. He served in the capital as Minister of Science until 1812.

When the Interim Government was dissolved in that same year, Heerlo moved to the newly-founded Haven of Peace and ran for a Senate seat. He joined the Senate that year and went on to be elected as the second Prime Minister of Pulias. He served in that position until the end of his term in 1822, and was then reelected to the Senate.

 

[Gurra09]

Interesting to finally know more about two-times Prime Minister the Honourable Heerlo. I always just assumed Heerlo was his surname but I suppose we'll have to call you Senator Antilles from now on.

 

[Melda]

We have a surname! Woo!

And an excellent one, at that.

I will update my historical records when I get home tonight.

Two minor quibbles:

While originally in the thread there was mention that Pulias was a republic, however it eventually got retconned as a constitutional monarchy (under the Grand Majah originally, now the Emperor). When Gurra wrote up his 'demographics of the nations of Europa' thingy, he included the formal name for Pulias as the Pulian Realm, which I adopted into the constitution that I posted a few days ago (which we're pretending was here all along, and Senator Antilles would have presumably had a hand in crafting, even though it's not written in his personal dialect ).

And . . . we've had the convention of Pulian adulthood starting at twenty-one (remember when in my attack on Augustus Absoluti I referenced his age to be a smartass? ) which I recently formally included in the constitution (which we're pretending was here all along). So if Heerlo Antilles (love it!) were twenty-one as a Senator in the First Gurra Ministry in 1800, that would make him now fifty-three (fifty-four later in the year, but we'll probably timeskip past it unless his birthday is toward the start of the year).

Yeah, I'm a pedantic pain in the ass, I know.

 

[Heerlo]

Heerlo would've been nineteen in the year 1800, when starting his career.

Or are you saying that the constitution(haven't read it yet!) mandates that you must be twenty-one to serve in the government or the Senate? Indeed, it wouldn't make alot of sense if I immediately started my political career by violating the very constitution which I just helped write.

 

[Melda]

Yeah, sorry for ruining your backstory.

Section 10 of the Constitution states:

Section 10

Qualifications of Senator

Until the Senate otherwise provides, the qualifications of a Senator shall be as follows:

(i) he must be of the full age of twenty-one years, and must be an elector entitled to vote at the election of Senators, or a person qualified to become such elector;

(ii) he must be a resident of the City in which he is contesting an election;

(iii) he must be a subject of the Crown, either natural-born or naturalised under a law of the Pulian Realm.​

 

[Et_Absoluti]

Are there any luddite camps nearby? And can characters get funds by dispersing them?

 

[Heerlo]

Okay, how about I just run my birth year back to 1779 instead?

 

[Melda]

Works for me.

Again, sorry for wrecking your backstory!

 

[Heerlo]

No problem, and I edited the backstory to fit with this new birth year.

 

[Wyverncraft]

The Pulian Society of Cartography is proud to announce the first ever Post-Dawn Map of Europe!

Created over years of painstaking exploration and discovery, here is the final product:

Spoiler :

I realize its rather large now... Sorry. Anyway, I had some free time tonight and thought this could be interesting. I made it out of various screenshots of the current map. If you look in some areas you can see poorly-removed gui parts and white lines that I found very difficult to get rid of. If anybody thinks that they can make a better or updated version, by all means go ahead! You have the support of the Cartography society!
Edit: Now slightly better! I may or may not continue to improve the map, or maybe updated. However, considering how painstaking this is, I don't think I'll work on it much more.

 

[megamihime]

Nice job, Wyvern!

Also, Absoluti, there's a Luddite camp south of Milan that just about ever city-state wants to get rid of.

 

[Et_Absoluti]

Would anyone be willing to bring the issue up to the Senate?

 

[megamihime]

I did a little bit, and I thought we simply didn't have enough land units to go for it. Then again, I'm not Minister of Defense, so why don't you bring this issue to them?

 

[Gurra09]

I have compiled a short biography on the late Gustavus Gurra, first Prime Minister of Pulias and father of Aurora Gurra. You can read it in the spoiler tag below.

Spoiler :

Gustavus Gurra (11 November 1775 - 5 November 1832) was a Pulian politician and the first Prime Minister of Pulias. He was a founding member of the Pulias People's Party and served as Senator for Pulias City from 1800 to 1812, and again from 1822 to 1832.

Gustavus was born in 1775 to Carl and Gustava Gurra in the outskirts of what is today Pulias City. He came from a family of farmers but instead of walking in his parents' footsteps he moved to the city where he began working in a textile factory at age fifteen. In 1794 he began studying at the Pulias Academy of Engineering, where he received an engineering graduate three years later.

In the wake of the revolution commonly referred to as the Fall in 1800, Gustavus was essential in the forming of the socialist Pulias People's Party together with Pulian artist Silverman whom he had met during the fiery days of revolution. When the dust had settled, Gustavus was appointed interrim Prime Minister of Pulias in charge of setting the course for a new Pulias after the fall of the old empires. He served as such for twelve years, leading an interrim coalition with the Pulian Advancement union known as the First Gurra Ministry.

In 1805, Gustavus moved to the newly established city of Haven of Peace.

In 1812 the Pulian interrim government was dissolved and Gustavus became the Pulias People's Party's candidate for Haven of Peace for the upcoming general elections of 1812. However, he withdrew his candidacy before election day and left Pulias to travel Europa.

Gustavus visited all at the time known major nations in Europa on his travels - Dalmace, Eruch, and finally Orlin. In 1816, he adopted Eruch orphan Aurora as his daughter. When in Orlin he worked closely with the Pulias Ambassador to Orlin in establishing relations between the two nations, an experience he had much use of in his later work as Pulian Minister of Foreign Relations. Gustavus is also rumoured to have had a brief romantic relationship with Alexandre Alderdice, brother of Dalmacian statesman Clinton Alderdice, but this has been neither confirmed or denied.

In 1822, Gustavus returned to Pulias together with his daughter, where he rejoined the Pulias People's Party and ran for Senate in Pulias City. He was successful in the elections and Senator Heerlo Antilles invited him to be Minister of Construction, Intelligence and Foreign Relations in the Second Heerlo Ministry. He held this position, and his position as Senator for Pulias City, until his death in 1832 at age fifty-six.

 

[Heerlo]

I'm glad for Aurora that the Fascist party is gone, 'cause they would totally eat up a story of an Eruch orphan becoming our Prime Minister.

 

[Gurra09]

Before the elections of 1832, the Pulian Institute of Vexillology and Heraldry presented us with several suggestions for a national flag. Since then a closed pre-selection vote has been held where three finalists were chosen for a public referendum to choose one of the three to become the flag of Pulias.

This is how it will work:
- All players get a vote, including cpm.
- One vote each.
- Flag with most votes win.

This referendum is not binding, and if a tie occurs between two flags the Senate reserves the right to choose a winner internally. In the spoiler below you will find the three alternatives.

You will have three days to vote. Time left: [TIMER="2015/08/11 10:00 UTC;voting closed."][/TIMER]

Spoiler :

1. Pulian Trinity Flag



The Pulian Trinity Flag is based on the flag of Saint Pulius but incorporates elements of two local flags known as the White Flag of Peace* and the Coventry Saltire, representing Haven of Peace and Coventry respectively.​

*The White Flag of Peace is just plain white so no need to provide an image.

2. Stars and Crosses (Trinity version)



The Trinity version of the Stars and Crosses flag features the Pulian Trinity Flag in the upper hoist canton, and on a Pulian yellow background the Pulias Coat of Arms along with three seven-pointed black stars representing the three cities of Pulias.

3. Stars and Crosses (St. Pulius version)



The St. Pulius version of the Stars and Crosses flag features a Saint Pulius' Cross in the upper hoist canton, and on a Pulian yellow background the Pulias Coat of Arms along with three seven-pointed black stars representing the three cities of Pulias.​

Note to cpm: We purposely left out POPs of this referendum as I thought POPs don't have opinions on these kind of questions. But if it turns out they do, they will of course be allowed to vote on this.

 

[Heerlo]

I cast my vote for the Stars and Crosses(Trinity Version).

 

[Wyverncraft]

Stars and Crosses (Trinity Version) as well.
( I know this is different from my vote in the cabinet. I changed my mind).

 

[Et_Absoluti]

I cast my vote for the trinity flag.

 

[Melda]

I like the biography; very detailed.

I will wait a few days before answering the flag question. I will get in before the deadline, though (of course if I'm the last holdout I'll speed up my response).

With regard to what exactly the Fall was (and this partly responding to Heerlo's biography): we've never explicitly spelt it out, but it's implied to have been socially disruptive, devastating, destructive, caused a massive loss of life and infrastructure and ended many of the former Europan kingdoms. Oh, and allowed for the eventual reorganisation of Europa into new states, and Luddites exist now. William Melda the former historian held that it was rampant warfare that led to or in some way caused the Fall, but that is disputed by others such as the scientist and former Pulian Imperial Party Senator Albert Bazil.

The timeframes have never been explicitly spelt out but what I've been working with is that the Fall happened "a few years" before 1800, with "few" being a variable number that best fits everyone's bios. There was then a lawless period known as the Darkness, which was terrible. And of course in 1800 was the Dawn, which is where we've picked up in thread with the formation of the Pulian Realm.