The Knighting Ceremony 1892

[Kev]

With much fanfare and celebration in 1892, President Kev prepares to confer the knightly titles upon those members of the Inner Circle who have given so much to the land.

The knighting of citizens is a ceremony derived from the time of the UF Monarchy and at that time was only conferred on those who have performed above and beyond any call of duty.

With the superhighways of Olympia closed for the day - along with all buisnesses and schools, the candidates are being driven through the streets while seemingly all of the citizens cheer uproariously.

With the advent of satellite technology (apparently that was future tech #1), the ceremony is delivered to all of the other cities of United Fanatica - with all of their citizens watching as their schools and buisnesses are closed as well.

The ceremony begins.

KEV: My fellow citizens of United Fanatica!
[Huge cheering]
KEV: Today, we honor those who have not only given their time and their thoughts to the greater good of our country, but have also given their hearts and, to each and every one, have given themSELVES as well.
[Even more cheering]
KEV: We have all seen difficulties in our days, and there were dark days in our past when it seemed as if despots of evil would have their way in the world. But with the advent of the Inner Circle and their dedication, we now can see the end that we have been striving to reach lo these many years.
[Deafening cheer]
KEV: It's true, my fellow citizens. We stand on the threshold of delivering the Zulu people out from under the evil rule of Shaka and his Shak troops. We are poised to bring Fanatica to a truly united state in this world and make it one that can only be compared to Utopia. We stand, as well my friends, in the doorway that has opened to the stars - to distant worlds where our message of growth - both in the human condition and the human heart - can be realized once more.
[Cheering, music, and laughter lasts for a good 10 minutes]
KEV: But before we begin, let us remember those who have gone before us. While they are not here right now, they also deserve this knightly decree. They were the founding fathers and mothers of our nation - carving from this granite world a place from whence we were able to prosper. Remember them well, Alcibates, Cornmaster, Juize, Spycatcher, Unknown Soldier, DuckofFlanders, Sixchan, and even Pellaken among so many others. Let us take a moment of silence and thank them within our own hearts.
[Pure silence for 5 minutes before clapping and cheering build again]
KEV: Now, let us continue with the ceremony. Will the candidates please step forward.
[13 members step forward]
KEV: duke o' york, for your service to our nation as the Minister of Interior, as the builder of trade, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir duke of Dukeshire. Arise Sir duke and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Cheers and shouts of 'duke' - kegs are sold out everywhere]
KEV: Duke of Marlbrough, for your service to our nation as Minister of Science, as professor emeritus for Newton's College, and member of good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee as Sir Duke of Marl Downs. Arise Sir Duke and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[More cheering as before - computer chat rooms are abuzz]
KEV: Ren, for your service to our nation as the Minister of Defense, headmaster at the Academy of Sun Tzu, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Ren of Renmark. Arise Sir Ren and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Much cheering and a few guns with blanks shot off as well]
KEV: Mr. Spice, for your service to our nation as Provice Governor, building queue template developer, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Spice of Spice Haven. Arise Sir Spice and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Citizens - especially those of provinces governed by Mr. Spice - are ecstatic]
KEV: Mr. Dell, for your service to our nation as Province Governor, Ambassador to the United Nations, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Dell of Dellville. Arise Sir Dell and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Luna people are very proud]
KEV: Mr. Civ1 Addict, for your service to our nation as Province Governor, new governor trainer, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Civ1 of Addicta. Arise Sir Civ1 and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[The cry of 'Ad-dict-a' can probably be heard from space]
KEV: Mr. Leowind, for your service to our nation as Concerned Citizen, musterer and savior of St. Leowind, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Leowind of St. Leowind. Arise Sir Leowind and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[A shrine to their savior is being planned in St. Leowind]
KEV: Mr. Elibb, for your service to our nation as Province Governor, Watcher of the English, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Elibb of Elibbia. Arise Sir Elibb and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Europa Province establishes the Elibb Award for anyone doing something great for the province]
KEV: Mr. Dexter, for your service to our nation as Province Governor, Watcher of the Mongols, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Dexter of Dexterport. Arise Sir Dexter and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[All but Genghis are happy]
KEV: Mr. Starlifter, for your your service to our nation as Province Governor, Minister of Micromanaging, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Starlifter of StarlifterWatch. Arise Sir Starlifter and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Exactly 100.000000000000000% of the people cheer wildly]
KEV: Ms. Becka, for your your service to our nation as Deputy Military Minister, Conveyor of veteran status, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Lady Becka of Becka-Becka. Arise Lady Becka and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Our undefeated battleships all fire in salute]
KEV: Mr. Philosopher12, for your service to our nation as Province Governor, Master of Production, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Philosopher of PhilosopherSwamp. Arise Sir Philosopher and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[In respect, all factories and manufacturing plants shut down for 1 minute only]
KEV: Mr. Anarchywrksbest, for your service to our nation as Province Governor, Foreign Minister, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Anarchy of Anarchium. Arise Sir Anarchy and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[A mosh pit ensues]

[Kev again addresses the crowds]
KEV: Let not the number 13 be thought of any longer as one that is unlucky, for it was these 13 members of the Inner Circle that have brought us to this stage. Be it known heretofore that this number be that which brings a greater good. And as we prepare to vanquish the evil Zulu presence in our land and later explore the stars that have shone so brightly upon us, let us never forget from whence we came and the people - ALL of the people - who have helped to get us there.
[UF National Anthem plays. Kev is looking a bit 'misty']
KEV: Let us now celebrate across this land.
[Inner Circle stands]
KEV: For those of the Inner Circle and for every last citizen that flies the UF flag. God bless you all, and God bless United Fanatica.
[Parades, festivals, and general all-out celebrating. Amazingly, no damage nor any unlawfulness is seen at all]

 

[Kev]

The people of Fanatica have asked that each of the newly knighted say a few words to the public.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Well, I 've said a bit of this before in another thread, but...

I'm very happy to see that this game was held together with such a good group of peopple. Even in the face of uncertainty and confusion, we were able to retain focus and basically kick some butt.

Thanks to all who stuck with the game through our great and not-so-great times.

 

[duke o' york]

I would like to thank President Kev for his temporary return to the otherwise forgotten monarchic system to knight those servants of the empire who have argued (and drank) long into the night to decide the best course of action for the citizens of our noble democracy. Our booze-fuelled rants have safeguarded the future of the Fanatica citizenry and we would like to think that we have made the world a far better place through our inspired methods of diplomacy and the department of foreign affairs has lead many beautiful Zulu, Roman and English women to my offices over the years, er, um, has lead many successful campaigns to convince the other civilisations' cities to join our empire.
Since this will no doubt become a backslapping thread, why not kick it all off with congratulations to our noble Presidents over the years? Despite some hiccups in certain reigns, the Civ fanatics have proven worthy Presidents and special mention must go to President Kev, who came in to raise the banner of the empire when others had fled and eventually led the empire to a great victory, landing upon the third rock from Alpha Centauri with the immortal words: "One small step for man, one.... whoa!...... Ouch - my foot!"

 

[Zwelgje]

Now that all has ended in such a succesful way I'm happy that the name of our president will live forever in the annals of Civilization: The magnificent president Kev!!!!!

 

[Leowind]

letter to the editor in the St. Leowind Times :
What a travesty that our national leaders have snubbed our beloved SAINT Leowind by demoting him to Knight, and doing so in the same ceremony as those hedonistic, beer-guzzling Inner Circle maniacs. President Kev will be losing my vote in the next election.
Livid in Leowind

Commentary by St. Leowind himself, appearing the next day:
Dear Livid, and all those concerned about the recent Knighting ceremony in Olympia, rest assured no offense was intended or taken. While it is true that you citizens of St. Leowind have graciously called me Saint and Savior, we must keep a broader perspective. We were most grateful for help sent from the UF mainland and elsewhere during the dark days following the Chinese attack on our fair city; we must now in times of peace and prosperity also remember affairs beyond our own city and island. While I have been grateful for the honor accorded me by our great citizens, the simple truth is that I have played only the smallest of roles in making the decisions that have guided our great nation in bringing the fruits of the UF way to the entire world. To have been recognized in any way alongside those of the cabinet and Inner Circle I deem to be a very great honor indeed. While the title of Saint may be recognized here in St. Leowind, I will most proudly wear the title of Knight throughout our great nation, which indeed will soon include the entire known world.
I know some of you here have not always trusted the national leadership based in Olympia, believing they often have overlooked the needs of our small city and island, and have spent more time and energy (and tax money) on booze and parties than on national interests. Having had the privilege from time to time of meeting personally with President Kev and the members of the Inner Circle, I can assure you they have done their very best to balance the needs of ALL of the cities and provinces of our great nation, and even beyond to the needs of the greater world. If you feel we have been slighted in anyway, I only ask you again to remember the help received following the infamous Chinese attack, and our current prosperity.
It is true (I will admit it) that overconsumption of alcohol has at times occured, and a few parties have gotten out of hand. While not approving of these actions, we can understand the great weight of leadership and responsibility that has been placed upon these leaders, and forgive them a few indiscretions in the name of stress release.
No man or woman is perfect, this is true, but some few are great nonetheless. We have all done well, both here in St. Leowind, and throughout United Fanatica, because of the leadership of a great man, President Kev. His inspired leadership, aided by insightful advice from the Inner Circle, has brought our nation to its present greatness, and he is to be saluted, honored, and respected. I hold him in the highest esteem, and would ask you, my fellow citizens of St. Leowind, to do the same.

 

[anarchywrksbest]

Well well, Sir Anarchy de wrksbest. Has a nice ring to it. Anyway I just want to thank myself for being so damn cool and I would also like to thank President Kev for his unimaginably great leadership. But he will be the first to admit that without the excellent advice of his advisors he would be nothing. We make him what he is

I only regret that I wasn't there to share the more difficult time with you all. I look forward to participating in the next Democracy Game. God Bless Us All.

 

[Kev]

Dear Livid in Leowind:

As the leader of the government only, I conferred upon your Saint and Savior the highest rank possible within my power.

I have been assured that a proper cannonizing ceremony will soon be held - on this world or the one near AC should Sir Leowind decide to take flight - to officially proclaim this citizen's sainthood. I would think that a letter to your religious leaders may help to hurry this event into reality.

You may also rest assured that I, if at all possible, will occupy the closest seat that I can at this event and be most proud.

President Kev

 

[Mr Spice]

I am currently waiting for the organic solvent released into the laboratory air by a colleague of mine to be ventilated away, and decided to check on our glorious democracy game. What a good time to do so!

I guess this is it, then. Congratulations everybody, both early pioneers and current crew of stubborn fighters, to a job well done. We finished and won the first demo game in the history of mankind and we should all be darn proud of it. For me it has been a fun, interesting and educational experience. During the time of troubles we were faced with extinction, but we stuck to it, fought on and now we have conquered the world! That’s clearly something to toast for with some of duke’s famous moonshine.

Let us now look ahead, to the challenges yet to come. We have a good team here, consisting of skilled players forged by the heat of civing and acing to venture into new unexplored territory of the world of demo games. Just imagine what we could accomplish! All those infinite possibilities… But I guess that is another discussion though, so I won’t bring it up here.

Sir Spice, governor eremitus

 

[Becka]

Great work guys. Truth be known, I've been passed out drunk under a table somewhere in the palace for the last couple hundred years, but I'm honored nontheless.

Lady Becka of Becka-Becka. I like it.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by Becka
Great work guys. Truth be known, I've been passed out drunk under a table somewhere in the palace for the last couple hundred years

Wow, we just thought that was your normal state, Becka.

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by Kev
Wow, we just thought that was your normal state, Becka.

Who said it wasn't?

 

[Zwelgje]

Yeah Becka, haven't seen too much from you lately, unfortunately... So you're going to be there again when the new demo game starts?

 

[Becka]

Originally posted by civ1-addict
Yeah Becka, haven't seen too much from you lately, unfortunately... So you're going to be there again when the new demo game starts?

That's certainly my plan.

 

[starlifter]

As a relative newcomer to the Democracy game, I was unaware that the honorable Lady Becka was a player, though I saw her namesake city!

Mr. Starlifter, for your your service to our nation as Province Governor, Minister of Micromanaging, and member in good standing of the Inner Circle, I hereby dub thee Sir Starlifter of StarlifterWatch. Arise Sir Starlifter and allow the citizens to greet you as a knight of the land.
[Exactly 100.000000000000000% of the people cheer wildly]

As defender of the faith (the Power Democracy faith ), and Minister of Micromanaging, my sword will be at the ready to skewer all who oppose our Democratic empire!

Nice job, Mr. President!