The Conspiracy Unfolds [Recession RP - ATTN: Gholgoth]

[Automagfreek]

The Lew Surman Show
August 27th
1300 hours

"....and we're back, I want to thank you all for joining us, I am your host Lew Surman, and we are broadcasting live worldwide, and simulcasting across the web. Alright, I want to get into our top story today, which is the current "blockade" against Gholgoth. Now, I know our regular listeners aren't buying this garbage, but if you're a new listener you might be wondering what the heck we've been talking about the past couple of days. It's simple; the media and the government is lying to you when they say that this entire economic implosion is the result of a nation barely the size of a Freekish army Cohort can somehow cripple the entire export ability of Gholgoth, and send everything crashing into the toilet. I mean, does anybody actually believe this for a second? How many times have they been caught in red handed lies? How many times have we exposed them running black ops against themselves in order to blame it on their political enemies?"

The fiery talk show host was getting himself worked up into quite the frenzy, as he typically did on a daily basis. Mr. Surman was a fairly well known media personality, and frequently discussed topics that many would label as 'conspiratorial' in nature. However, on this particular topic he was about to find out just how real it all was.

"So here's the situation... Aerosalia launches an embargo that quickly turns into a blockade, and within a day practically all of the export ability of Gholgoth, in the banking sector, oil, arms, all of it, is suddenly shut down to the outside world. Does anyone really believe that a region that was fully prepared to go to war with Haven back in their prime could somehow fall victim to a pissant little nation? Joining us to discuss this is a very prominent Freekish economist, I'll just leave it at that, and he has some breaking news concerning this topic. So, what's the inside scoop on this whole situation?"

Good to be with you Lew. Yeah, this whole economic collapse is simply a whitewash, a smokescreen... perpetrated by the Goths. My inside source...

The host flew into a visible frenzy, nearly foaming at the mouth in shock.

"Whoa, whoa, hold it right there! You're saying this entire thing was a manufactured inside job? Explain to us why some of the most powerful economic forces would simply want to pull the plug. Who benefits?

My inside source inside the Financial Exchange Administration has informed me that in the hours before Yohannes officially shut down their largest bank, a very unusual level of high frequency trading took place, nearly fifty times the highest peak we've ever seen. He told me that trillions were being shuffled around to various banks and offshore accounts, and this occurred right up until the collapse. Somebody was up to something.

Lew was stunned, nearly falling out of his chair.

"Please, tell us more. Continue"

Well, when he was telling me this he sounded more afraid then I have ever heard him, so obviously what he was saying was genuine. When I asked him why, he told me that the bulk of the damage done during the Gothic civil war was largely economic, despite the mass physical destruction. After the war ended, the regional markets were in tatters, and there was mass looting and corruption at basically every level. Public and private funds were stolen, monies and assets transferred around... it was a mess. The market at some point had to correct itself once order was restored, but the Goths knew that this would deal them a heavy blow in the global marketplace. So quite simply put, they planned to implode as much of the economy as they could in order to fix their balance sheets and force a correction as quickly and quietly as possible. Aerosalia just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and when they showed up the Goths had the perfect excuse to carry out their plan. And all of these other non-Gothic businesses that are shutting down are really just serving as useful idiots to their agenda.

"Gods almighty.... so what's the endgame here? I mean, surely this will come back to hurt them?"

It's hard to say. My source said that the Goths are going to blame the entire crash in the markets on the blockade, and then pose as the saviors when they decide to turn the economy back on...

"Which is exactly what they're saying now!" Lew said as he interrupted his guest.

Precisely.

"So basically, this is a giant power grab, and the Goths are going to try to fix their own mess and then will grandstand as the ones that saved the day. Unbelievable! What do you think is going to happen now?"

Personally, I think they're going to stick to their plan, and when they decide to get things rolling again a lot of nations and investors are going to come flocking back to them. It may hurt a bit in the short term, but I think they're going to front the excuse that they shut things down in order to protect customer assets from being seized in the blockade, or something along those lines. They'll probably offer some perks to keep their customers and to even generate new ones, and they'll get away with it. These are clever people we're dealing with.

"Clever as they may be, they're a bunch of corrupt scum. These are criminals who are simply trying to cover their tracks, and I'm going to expose them for what they are, a bunch of filthy crime syndicate globalists who would roast their own children in a microwave if they thought it would bring them profit."


A few hours after the show ended, Lew made his way to his fancy sports car and slumped inside, his back sore from the constant flopping around he famously did in his chair during the broadcast. As he exited the parking lot and made his way down the lightly congested street, he noticed after several blocks that there were two black cars with dark tinted windows that appeared to be tailing him. Initially he thought nothing of it, though his eyes could not help but check the rear view mirror every other second. As the two black cars turned off onto a side street be exhaled a sigh of relief, and as he finally relaxed and let the tension out of his body, his car was suddenly smashed into from the passenger side by yet another dark vehicle.

Traffic was light at this particular part of the street, so there was barely any witnesses to the crash. As Lew moaned in pain and attempted to regain his bearings, a man in a dark suit and sunglasses exited the black vehicle which was now crumpled in the front, and drew a sawed off twelve gauge shotgun. He then racked the pump and pointed it directly at Lew's head, and as the talk show host screamed out in horror the man pulled the trigger and splattered blood and brain matter all over the inside of the now befouled sports car. The dark vehicle then drove off as police sirens rang out in the distance, and soon the area was cordoned off and closed to the public and media.

Officially, Mr. Surman's demise was labeled as "death due to drunk driving", and the body was immediately covered by sheets, then placed inside of a body bag and driven away to a secure facility, though such details were not known to the local media. Lew Surman's biggest show of his career was also, tragically, his last.

[-Caelestia-]

Anger permeated the room as the High Lord and King of the Hive watched the broadcast on his laptop, whether it was true or not no longer mattered. He was seething with such a fury that he had not felt in decades, maybe even centuries. To think that the one who cried wolf duped us all! He slammed his fist down on his throne, the wood splintering under the force of his fist. Summon my court He immediately stared at the courier that was in his view. Here, this will bend them to your will. A purple ring was fabricated from his hand and attached itself to the mans finger.

The mans yell cracked into the night, but yet he felt stronger. Immediately he left the presence of the King.

[Port Harbour (Ancient)]

---

The Shetland Building, PORT HARBOUR | Marketing Department of the Port Harbour Banking Group (PHBG)

---

"So? Who the bloody hell cares about a midnight conspiracy show? They'd tell us the next thing Gholgoth plans to do is throw a Christmas party in August."

Richard winced, and continued his pitch. "You don't get it, boss-" (Edward snorted.) "-this is big. I can see it happening. The next thing we know, the YFB will be back up and running, cutting into our market share big time, and don't get me started on the massive Gothic arms manufacturing sector-"

Edward slapped the report on his desk, then swiveled around in his chair to look up at the man.

"Now that's just wank, and you know it. This whole 'embargo', 'no, we aren't going to give you wankers any money' thing has cut away their reputation enough. It'd be a miracle if they could pose themselves as a saviour. And now that this 'Lex' persona is six feet under, who's to say what's going to happen? Best that you stick your nose into someone else's business. And what are you, a pencil-pusher in the marketing department, going to do about it?"

Richard looked down dismally at his shoes. It was true - it had only been six months after he had accepted a job at the Port Harbour Banking Group, and already he was being sized down in his own four-by-four cubicle, answering calls and complaints from the 850 million people who phoned in each day.

His superior, Edward, eased up a little. "Alright," he acquiesed. "If you can - and I'm saying if - if you can get enough material for us to put together a special report like we did for Aldron, I'll let you off the hook. Heck, I'll put - what's her name - Laurene on your calls for you. Okay?"

Richard's face brightened up. As he moved towards the doors, Edward called out from his desk:

"You have a week, Hopkins. And you're not traveling on company expenses!"

[Yohannes]

Had the Yohannesians of the pre-industrial era known of the existence of Yohannes today, they might have found it strange, if not unreal - indeed, unfathomable - that their 'normal' world was about to be occupied by smoke-bulging grey-looking objects as well as fast-moving creatures with the name of 'cars'. They would have find the many metallic, non-wooden sailing ships of their 'commonwealth' of nineteen countries to be of an even more eye-opening revelation; that these objects as well as a piece of paper with the name of 'money' would have bring the name of 'made in Yohannes' or 'printed in Yohannes' abroad.

What about the war between the Kingdom of Alexandria and the Regency of Lindblum? What about the dominating presence of the then King of Alexandria, which was the sole reason the country was able to dominate the rest of the eighteen countries piecemeal? What was the fate of the Royal Alexandrian Navy? More specificially; how did the nineteen countries unified their land to take the form of a single, consolidated nation-state? And how did this 'Yohannes' was able to successfully export its way overseas?

To all of which, of course, there is no easy answer.

Most citizens of the nineteen countries in the midst of the late economic reformation era were gripped by an ethos of expansion every bit as powerful as that which propelled foreigners out into and around their respective foreign spheres of interaction. But with that ethos, in the case of Yohannes, came a mid-industrial explosion of learning in philosophy and science, an evolving maritime and non-military, economic-centric course of expansionism that allowed the non-conflicting export and neutral movement of Yohannesian metallurgy, shipbuilding product and finance in other part of the world.

A pity for it was indeed true, and for this volatile and powerful combination, reduced by Yohannesian historians of old to the simple phrase 'pure commerce and peaceful wealth', Yohannesian export would eventually prove to be as captivating as the domestically-made products of their respective nation of destination. Contrary to most right-leaning Yohannesian commentators' point of view, the historical colonial empire of the Crown was made as a direct result of Yohannesian commerce and wealth; not the other way around.

Fortunately for most Yohannesians, and thanks only to the relative military weakness of the nineteen countries, the vastness of the world's oceans and the vicissitude of the liberals, the full force of Yohannes' industrial growth and economic expansion did not translate and arrive as a huge tsunami of military march, symbolical to a situation which confronted marching armies sweeping its immediate neighbour's land border. Instead, it was ripples of the waves from other centres of commercial, non-military and scientific activity that lapped Yohannes' course of history. And that was a phenomenon which resulted in the smooth expansion, non-militaristic and neutral introduction of Yohannesian products and services in over eight hundred nations today, slowly yet gradually by history; one by one.

The first ripple, and with it the first opportunity to open and allow for the expansion of Yohannesian foreign policy abroad, without the need of military expansion, was in the form of an edgy and chronically ambitious founder of a metallurgy company; the founder of what was eventually known as VMK Defence & Steel Works. This first ripple was eventually followed - through the course of less than two hundred years - in succession by the establishment of the three Yohannesian banking giants, Beaufort and the then Commonwealth's first stock exchange.

In over two hundred years, the pro-Gholgoth corporate bordellos' dominated Foreign Office interlinked the abovementioned network with various commercial relationships; other global trademarks were interlinked within a complex, spiderweb like chain of network.

And with that incomprehensible, consolidated business situation came the explanation of how it all started; inter-regional history in the making, inter-regional depression felt like no other.

The yet known, unidentified puppeteers - secret untold and safely hidden - frolicking within the Gholgoth regional alliance was the one to answer for such a tragedy; not that it would suffer while its sweeping motion lay wrath upon the hundreds of trillions in universal standard dollar it had wipe from the face of the earth.

Some people don't give a damn if the world burns around them.

[Of the Quendi]

The Sacred Lands
The Borremeo Palace, the Imperial and Eternal City of Charn, the Heartland of Arandórë
The Most Serene People's Empire of the Quendi Nation and the Greater Amanitte State

Aleera, Archduchess of Nicomedia, giggled slightly at the sight of the maniac talk show host. She could understand why plebs in the vast Freekish Empire would find the show interesting to watch. Living as a commoner in the Freekish Empire probably didn't give you much reason to laughter, but this Surman certainly was entertaining in his own outrageous manner. "Surman died shortly after this show was made. The official cause is a drunken driving accident." Prince-Regent Athal stated pausing the show as the energetic Surman almost tumbled from his seat. The archduchess shook her head in amusement. If only opposition talk shows in Aman was that much fun.

"And the real reason?" She asked, unfazed by the personal tragedy of mr. Lew Surman. "We suspect murder, and we suspect that Surman may have been on to something. The Central Banking Authority has been able to confirm some of the speculations in that show, as has the Imperial Inquisition. That, and the unexpected death of Mr. Surman, has lead the Imperial Regency Council to conclude that this Surman fellow stumbled upon the truth." The Prince-Regent explained.

A shrug greeted him from his young cousin. What did she care about the Freekish economy? "So these Goths does what our family has done for the better part of the century, why should this concern us?" She asked indifferently. "Because they are good at it, perhaps even better than we are. Plus this recession appears to have harmed us a lot more than expected. As much as 700 billion USD may be lost to our family according to the most recent estimates." The Prince-Regent reiterated. Aleera looked puzzled. It was not often it was suggested that someone outside the House was better at morally questionable conduct with economies. To hear it from a Prince-Regent, she had to admit, was interesting.

"What do you want me to do about it? The Foreign Service is busy with the coming war in Pardes Elion, and doesn't have any competency on economic matters." She asked. "I want you to keep an eye on the Centralized Government. They have access to most of the information we have and may do something stupid if they suspect that a foreign government has manipulated the economy. They quite likely may respond in a manner detrimental to our interests. Not that I can really blame them, I am sure you have heard that the chancellor has asked for a bailout once again as a result of this thing?" The Prince-Regent replied, making no attempt to hide his dislike of the incumbent centralized government. "In the mean time the Inquisition's loyalists will try to find out more about this whole affair." He ominously added.

[United World Order]

UNIDENTIFIED FEED INCOMMING...


BROADCASTING FROM UNKNOWN WHEREABOUTS...


BEGINING TRANSMISSION.....

---

"Hello, im guessing you all from around the world can hear me right now. Well you don't need to know my name because im going to be dead within the next twenty four hours so please listen. This embargo , blockade whatever you want to call it. The United World Order purposly obviously escalated this to be an Blockade, but not for what you think they could give two shits about The United States of Aerosalia. They went with it just for a cover story for what they were really comming into this conflict for. The true reason they intervened in this supposed embargo was because Victor Klubtz, our supposed glorious leader has lost faith in his own country and rather then abandoning office, what does that sick motherfucker do?. He gets in this conflict so Gothic nations could invade our country, examples vary from The Borman Empire and a Ellorea nation of Trivval. He wrote a letter to one of his family members, his brother who thinks alike as he does that he had lost faith and that this country had failed the goverment quota and that a cleansing was needed from a outside force, Gholgoth was a top contender.

He also thought that Gholgoth should be 'taken down a notch' and that other nations SHOULD of done this years ago. I agree with this part, gholgoth deserved everything they got. The voiceless monarchy of Yohannes did nothing during Gholgoth's campaigns of terror as they're leader is a Gothic Lord. The supposed Bastion of Freedom, what was it?. Minnesotya. Did nothing at all to try and stop them from sending the world into the pits of fire and letting carelessly millions maybe even billions of persons dead. They are all guilty of there crimes, no matter who they are and what they did to contribute to this world. Anyways, the military will obviously defend because they actualy care for this nation unlike the unforgiving fucks who sit in the Spiretower.

We will all probably be dead or enslaved by the theocratic bastards in Trivval or dead because of the Borman Empire and whoever survives such events will suffer more then the already dead. This nation will burn with everyone in it, i guess the leadership will flee the country of maybe take a drink of some beverage as the country burns around them. I have twenty four hours untill Im found and killed so rather do there job for them" a click of a pistol being cocked is heard. " Goodbye everyone, remember and heed my words every last one of you. I hope you all whereever you are in this world, weather it be Allanea or heck even some slave in Norska" a chuckle is heard. "Only you, the indiviual can change this world before some fuckhead tyrant tears it to the ground. Goodbye and farewell" A gunshot is heard followed by the michrophone being dropped suddenly.

[Automagfreek]

Alerick Fleshgrinder, Azrael's right hand man, approached the demented Supreme Warlord with a stack of files and set them down on the ancient oak desk, his master hunched over and mumbling incoherently to himself. The various folders were marked 'Above Top Secret', and contained highly classified information concerning the recent economic calamity taking place across Gholgoth. My Lord, it seems we have had a leak. We have eliminated the agitator and covered up his death. What should we do now?

The master of the House did not look up or even thumb through the various files which contained surveillance of Lew Surman and his activities. After a few moments of silence, he looked up, his eyes bloodshot and grim, though his facial expression was devilish and amused. At this point my dear Alerick, I do not think it matters. Let them know it was me, for all I care! By consent or by conquest this fucking region will be mine... and my empire will expand one hundred fold! Azrael was referring to a secret plot to intentionally undermine the regional economy and trigger a collapse, then pose as the savior and make a giant power grab. Lew Surman was indeed correct when he stated that Aerosalia just happened to appear at the right time and in the right place, and thus forced the plan into action.

Some in Gholgoth doubted that a nefarious plot of this nature could even exist, their normalcy bias forcing them to believe that this was a natural manifestation. Surman was incorrect about one thing, however, that the economic crash was done intentionally to mask the post-Gothic Civil War consequences in order to avoid losing all confidence in regional markets. The truth was much simpler; one man was responsible, his insanity and his greed in total control. Trillions upon countless trillions has been stolen by the Supreme Warlord, and trillions more were made by betting against Gothic markets that he knew would collapse.

As the two continued to discuss their conspiratorial power grab, Minister Hartman had been standing by the large oak doors which lead into the main hall, his ear to the wood. Though he could barely make out what was being discussed, he had heard enough and was overcome with both grief and rage, and slowly he drew his concealed pistol and carefully switched the safety off. He was going to put a stop to this madness once and for all, even if it meant his execution. As he mustered up the courage to enter the hall with his gun blazing, a Sentinel General rounded the corner and locked eyes with him. The high ranking officer could see the pain in Hartman's eyes and knew exactly what he was about to do. No, you mustn't! There is another who will do such a deed! He whispered as he motioned the Foreign Affairs Minister over to him.

Hartman stood confused for but a second, but then lowered his weapon to his side, and the pair rounded the corner and ducked inside a blackened office room. What treachery do you speak of, General? The Sentinel looked around carefully, inspecting the room for any evidence for bugs. The ancient stone building made it easy to spot such devices to if one knew what to look for, and upon confirming that they were not being secretly listened to, he spoke to the bewildered Hartman. There is great dissatisfaction with our Lord Azrael, and steps are in motion to rectify such matters. There is another who will take charge... of Dreadfire blood.

Hartman nearly broke down into tears, for he knew that all of the other Dreadfire family members were assassinated or died. Vladius was taken out by a Stalker hit team, Xel flung herself off a high peak, and Silvia died as well, though Hartman did now know how. The General then explained. The lady Silvia died giving birth to a child.... a new heir of House Dreadfire... and he will make his move when he is of age and the time is right. Hartman could not believe what he was hearing, but a sense of relief washed over him. Where is the child now, I must see him. The Sentinel General drew closer, his whisper growing even quieter. He is in the Sentinel training grounds, where he is safe. Less than half a dozen men even know of his existence, but now we can add one more to that figure. Come, I will take you.