Two For the Road [Closed|Padradis Only]

[Basel-Triesen]

Camillo offers the king a handshake before gesturing vaguely and the living room.

“So, yeah, I live here. That’s my abba you met,” he said with a slight laugh, “promise he’s not as mean as he looks. Not mean at all actually. Come downstairs with me, that’s where all my stuff is.”

He leads the king to the fully furnished basement of the three floor house, complete with office space, a partially walled bedroom, an entertainment center, and a few musical instruments hanging from wall hooks.

“This is my little place here, where I do all my work, play, and so on. I was actually playing around with my guitar when you got here,” he said, pointing a finger at the worn-looking guitar sitting on the couch.

“Got any plans for the day?”

Alex greets Camillo and smiles as he listens to him and they walk downstairs, Alex looks around as they enter the basement, feeling impressed with what Camillo has managed to do with the space. He stands and looks around as Camillo explains the space and points to where he was playing guitar.

Alex shakes his head, "No, no plans at all," he smiles, "You really play guitar?"

[The Champlain]

“Yeah, I’ve uh, I’ve been learning for the last couple years actually. I grew up learning the mandolin because of my mom and the Oud because of my dad. But I wanted to learn something a little more relevant, I guess. Not to say the mandolin isn’t cool,” he said sarcastically, “but I really feel good playing the guitar. Do you play anything?”

He asked that question while picking the guitar up and sitting in a chair, nestling it on his lap, ready to play.

[Basel-Triesen]

“Yeah, I’ve uh, I’ve been learning for the last couple years actually. I grew up learning the mandolin because of my mom and the Oud because of my dad. But I wanted to learn something a little more relevant, I guess. Not to say the mandolin isn’t cool,” he said sarcastically, “but I really feel good playing the guitar. Do you play anything?”

He asked that question while picking the guitar up and sitting in a chair, nestling it on his lap, ready to play.

Alex smiled, finding a seat on the couch, watching Camillo as he sits in a chair and appears ready to play, "Gonna play me something?" Alex blushes a bit as he asks that question.

[The Champlain]

“Sure, I guess,” he said smiling.

“I’ll play what I’ve been learning the last couple weeks.”

Camillo cracked his knuckles and took a couple deep breaths before beginning to play a few sections of the Capricho Arabe. His face contorted in deep concentration as the song got more complex and uptempo. He made a few mistakes here and there, some buzzing coming from the frets, or outright missing a few notes at points, but he made it to the mid point of the song before bringing the song to a gentle close.

“That’s what I got this week. I’ll have it all done at some point though, for sure. What do you think? Wanna try playing something?”

[Basel-Triesen]

Alex listened along to the music, watching Camillo's fingers move along the strings. Alex didn't notice any of the mistakes since he'd never heard the song before. When Camillo finishes, Alex clapped, "That was great!"

Then Camillo asked if Alex wanted to try playing something, he shoot his head, "Oh no, I don't play any string instruments, I'm sure I'd sound awful."

[The Champlain]

"Suit yourself," Camillo said before strumming a particularly-discordant chord and then grimacing.

"Eh, well, fair enough. We can play video games or something instead... I have everything you could possibly think of."

[Basel-Triesen]

"Suit yourself," Camillo said before strumming a particularly-discordant chord and then grimacing.

"Eh, well, fair enough. We can play video games or something instead... I have everything you could possibly think of."

Alex listened a little while longer as Camillo strummed a chord. He thought string instruments were interesting, but he could play nothing other than the piano. Alex smiled.

Camillo suggested they could play video games, Alex took a brief look through his games and perked up at one that looked particularly adorable. Alex wasn't really good at video games so he picked the cute looking one thinking it would be easy, "This one looks adorable, Stardew Valley?"

[The Champlain]

Alex listened a little while longer as Camillo strummed a chord. He thought string instruments were interesting, but he could play nothing other than the piano. Alex smiled.

Camillo suggested they could play video games, Alex took a brief look through his games and perked up at one that looked particularly adorable. Alex wasn't really good at video games so he picked the cute looking one thinking it would be easy, "This one looks adorable, Stardew Valley?"

"Sure, we can play that. Very relaxing game," Camillo said picking up the disc.

"My dad actually really likes this game too. I'm surprised it's not upstairs with him."

The game loaded slowly and then displayed the menu screen. On the screen were two buttons, one big one, saying "Lestî," and a smaller one below it, "Diben".

"Ah, right, see... this one is my dad's game. Hope you can deal with the whole language thing going on here," he said to the king.

"Let's start up a new world for today," Camillo continued handing Alex a controller.

"Just sign in as a guest and you'll be ready to play."

[Basel-Triesen]

Alex smiled, nodding, never having played the game so he didn't know if he would be any good at it. He was very happy to hear that it was a calm and relaxing game so that relieved him a bit.

When the words in a foreign language appeared on screen, he scrunched his eyes a bit, trying to decipher them but having no clue whatsoever. He watched as Camillo handed him a controller, holding it in his hand and signing in via a guest account. Then watched as he launched the game and they had to watch a short cut scene before appeared on a farm.

"Farming?"

[The Champlain]

"Yep, it's a farming game. You inherit an old farmhouse from your grandfather and you have to restore it and so on."

"I really like to fish in this game though. All my saves are really underdeveloped," he said with a slight laugh.

"You can talk to the villagers too. There's romance options and everything."

[Kihdis]

Palazzo del Governo, Roma, Appeniya

After themselves receiving modelovirus tests the two presidents met in Roma to discuss the Bassenian deportation order. President Goran and Prime Minister Gorani are both holding firm in their threat to sanction all of Basel-Triesen if such an order goes through, effective tomorrow. King Alex of Triesen would be joining them shortly as an executive guest of Appeniya - though, noting the previous disastrous state visit of Basel-Triesennian officials, PM Gorani ordered that no royal guards accompany Alex to the residence. It was to be a semi-secret affair.

"Buongiorno, Minister Gorani," Goran said in his soft, yet gravelly, voice.

"Buongiorno. We haven't gotten together for one of these in a while... Welcome back."

"Yes, well, the virus. If you want more meetings after this is over, we can arrange that," Goran replied sarcastically.

"We're talking to royalty today, Mr. Goran, we shouldn't joke like that!" Gorani joked back. "We would not want to upset... his Highness'... sensibilities."

The two men shared a laugh and clinked their glasses of scotch together. Neither one particularly respected the young King of Triesen, but they would have to get along, at least for the duration of the meeting.

[Basel-Triesen]

Palazzo del Governo, Roma, Appeniya

The King had not worried much about the lack of royal guards allowed to accompany him. He actually felt a bit free with being able to travel without them. With tensions growing worse in Basel, the National Assembly was poised to take aggressive diplomatic actions to put the Rigsdag back into their place. Meanwhile, Alex was traveling to the capital of Appeniya to meet with their Prime Minister, and for some reason the President of Kihdis would be there.

Alex and his guest, Cinzia Sforleone, arrived at the building where they would be meeting with the two foreign leaders. Cinzia was the Rigsdag leader of Partito Popolare Appenienne and has been a valuable asset behind the scenes during this frantic time. Alex thinks she'll make a good Speaker of the Rigsdag when the time comes, hopefully much sooner than later. Though nobody knows what will happen tomorrow or the next day, Nevio Ramseyer seems to be a completely loose cannon.

When they both finally entered the room, Alex smiled as he greeted the two men. He greeted the Prime Minister first, as his gracious host, "Vær hilset, statsminister Gorani." He switches to English, "It's my pleasure to meet you, thank you for having me here." He turned to Goran, "Vær hilset, Præsident Goran. Pleasure to meet you."

He then introduced his companion for the meeting, "May I introduce you both to Cinzia Sforleone, Rigsdag leader of the Partito Popolare Appenienne."

Cinzia stepped forward to greet the two, "Buongiorno, primo ministro. Buongiorno, Presidente."

[Kihdis]

The PM stood up to greet Cinzia after nodding to acknowledge the king.

"Buongiorno Cinzia, mi dispiace che Ramseyer ti ha trattato così, così male. Benvenuto a Roma," Gorani excitedly said.

"Allo, Cinzia," Goran says while shaking her hand, "allo, Alexander."

"I think we can get straight to business," Gorani suggested while looking over at the president. He nods in reply.

"Right... you know by now, I'm sure you do, of our responses to Ramseyer's actions. I have not heard very much from your people since our announcement yesterday, would you care to clear that up for us? What will the current executive - yourself - be doing about this man?"

[Basel-Triesen]

Alex nodded, listening to the Prime Minister's question.

He responded quickly, "This is all happening very suddenly and but we're quickly moving to put ourselves ahead of Ramseyer. The National Assembly is working on severe sanctions if the Rigsdag doesn't walk back on their recent votes. The National Assembly is also working on reminding people that Ramseyer cannot pack the Rigsdag with his party members and that there are elected people who still hold the seats in government."

Alex looks over at Cinzia before looking back at the two men, "Cinzia here has actually been doing great work behind the scenes inside Basel, rallying the parties Ramseyer says are cast out as well as the remaining leftist parties in the Rigsdag. Meanwhile, after talking about what work everybody else is doing, I'm coordinating plans and strategies for the Basel-Triesen military to occupy the Rigsdag and open the door for elected representatives to return. Ramseyer will be removed from the Speaker position and most likely replaced by Cinzia herself, by a vote of the Rigsdag. If he refuses to cooperate, he will be ordered to step down from office.

Now, about the deportations I'm sure you two are most worried about. Have no fear, the Basel-Triesen army, Basel Royal Guard, and police agencies across Basel are mobilizing to stop any attempt by Ramseyer to deport Appeniyan-Bassenians or Lotharians. If he tries to follow through with his threats, he'll not only be stopped but he and any accomplices will be arrested and tried for treason."

[Kihdis]

"These all sound like good measures," President Goran chipped in before taking another sip of his scotch.

"Right, yes, they do. But I fear that Ramseyer may be relying on popular action to get his will across - I fear a repeat of Basennian gangs attacking Appeniyan businesses or people in the street. We can not have a repeat of that," Gorani continued.

"I'm sure you are familiar with the city of Locaponte, one of the largest Appeniyan cities outside of Appeniya. We have a special relationship with that city, and so on. You know all that. But I am requesting permission to put some of our Carabinieri into the city of 'Ponte to protect the Appeniyan people from violence. We must get ahead of Ramseyer's mobs before it is too late. I know that street involvement has been minimal to this point but I urge you, Alexander, to allow the Carabinieri into Basel."

"And I fear that you may be underestimating the power Ramseyer has over his military," the president then said.

"We, in Kihdis, faced a similar demagogue in 2017. The result was a bombing of our capital, surely you remember that on the news. You may want to be proactive with regards to Ramseyer. You can threaten him, yes, but you may want to look into making good on those threats. If they block the other MPs from entering, they should be arrested, if they refuse to allow them to vote, they should be arrested, if they take the seats of others unlawfully, they should be arrested. They are a true threat to you, Alexander, and a threat to our people."

[Basel-Triesen]

King Alex listened to the two men as they relayed his concerns. Cinzia nodded along as they spoke, she finally spoke up when they finished - particularly when Goran finished saying that they should move to arrest Ramseyer immediately.

She smiled, "I have trust that the King and the National Assembly are considering all options available to them and that they understand the danger Ramseyer and his followers pose for all Appeniyan-Bassenians and Lotharians living in Basel."

The King reluctantly asked, "Locaponte?" He was confused what the Prime Minister was asking about.

Cinzia turned to him, "Gasthausbrücke, Your Majesty."

Alex nodded, "Right, and you're suggested we allow Appeniyan police officers into the city and grant them jurisdiction?"

[Kihdis]

Gorani nodded at the king's question.

"Yes.. partial jurisdiction, at least. We wish for them to work together with your national police force in the city. Our Carabinieri would be operating primarily as guards of at-risk Appeniyan businesses and as intelligence officers, scouting for potential danger and then reporting it to your forces. We do not wish to make full arrests or take prisoners, but I do recommend that we are allowed to make detainments, if necessary, and then hand them over to your police forces. We would not move a single person out of the city's borders."

He took another drink from his glass before continuing.

"I must mention this now, though, that we do have a full contingency plan developed in Roma. If deportations or state-sponsored violence begin we will attempt to open a safety corridor stretching from Locaponte down road A13 all the way to our border. I ask for your permission to employ this strategy only in the extreme situation I described. To clarify, if deportations begin, myself and my friend President Goran will accept deportees, but we ourselves must be allowed to control the flow of them."

[Basel-Triesen]

The King nodded, "This would be fair, they would be partnered with our police forces and would receive a training on Appeniyan-Bassenian customs in the city as well as a quick rundown on local and national laws before being allowed into the city. Your officers would not be permitted to make detainments or arrests, but every one of your men would be paired with one of our officers, who can make arrests and detain people - your officers would be permitted to assist our officer's duty in that regard as necessary. I would be fine with your officers guarding businesses you believe are at-risk as well as scouting and serving as intelligence officers for us. I suppose that is fair, how many officers were you thinking to try and send?"

The King listened further as Gorani explained their contingency plan for the most extreme scenario. Cinzia spoke up, "Let's hope it doesn't come close to coming to such extremes, Prime Minister."

[Kihdis]

"I was planning on sending 10 squads of 50 people to the city," Gorani said.

"But first I would like everyone else to leave the room for a moment, I need to talk to Cinzia," he slowly looked to his right side.

"That's you too Goran... and Hamo... I have very important information I need to tell her. It's a matter of national security."

[Basel-Triesen]

"I was planning on sending 10 squads of 50 people to the city," Gorani said.

"But first I would like everyone else to leave the room for a moment, I need to talk to Cinzia," he slowly looked to his right side.

"That's you too Goran... and Hamo... I have very important information I need to tell her. It's a matter of national security."

Cinzia looked concerned and confused with why she was being trusted with national security information rather than Alex but she watched as Alex, Goran, and... Hamo left the room.

She turned nervously towards the Prime Minister, "What is it, Sir?"

[Kihdis]

Cinzia looked concerned and confused with why she was being trusted with national security information rather than Alex but she watched as Alex, Goran, and... Hamo left the room.

She turned nervously towards the Prime Minister, "What is it, Sir?"

"Right. I just needed them to leave the room, it is not that severe a situation," Gorani said in Italian before finishing his drink. He continued in his native language:

"We have been tracking small payments coming from the King himself - King Franz that is - going to a small family in Venice. Franz was not very good at security, evidently, so we paid close attention to these payments to make sure they were legitimate."

"We have very strong reason to believe that this man... Giacomo Zampieri... may in fact be a son of Franz. I am assuming that you will be installed in some form of Bassenian leadership position so I'm telling you this directly. You may want to contact him. He lives in Mestre, Veneto. We can give you any more information you need on him if you choose to pursue him."

[Basel-Triesen]

Cinzia stared at Gorani, unsure what to make of the information she was just told, or if it was even true.

After a few moments, and after asking for a glass of water, she asks, "Are you certain that the payments were coming from Franz? They could have been coming from anybody in Basel, couldn't they have? Or they could have been going to this, this Giacomo for any reason. Do you have any other information or evidence that leads you to believe he may be who you say he is? Certainly you're not basing this conclusion off of small payments being sent."

[Kihdis]

Cinzia stared at Gorani, unsure what to make of the information she was just told, or if it was even true.

After a few moments, and after asking for a glass of water, she asks, "Are you certain that the payments were coming from Franz? They could have been coming from anybody in Basel, couldn't they have? Or they could have been going to this, this Giacomo for any reason. Do you have any other information or evidence that leads you to believe he may be who you say he is? Certainly you're not basing this conclusion off of small payments being sent."

"Yes, we have a whole file on this man and his family," he said while opening one of his drawers.

"In short, we've documented the life of Mr. Zampieri since he came into our files as a postal worker. Our security agency, the DIS, has been researching him ever since he was flagged in 2014. We know for a fact that Franz attended the Università Ca' Foscari Venezia in 1991-4, and we know that Isabella Zampieri, his mother, attended the school from 1992-1995. They were a public couple for two years during this time, I'm sure you remember the news stories about royal intrigue and blah blah blah."

"Mr. Zampieri himself also does have a semblance to Franz, as you can see in this picture," Gorani said while handing her Giacomo's postal official ID photo.

"As for the payments, we know for a fact that they were made out to Isabella Zampieri, and we know that the last payment took place on May 1st, 2011 - the month in which he reached the age of majority. The amounts made out monthly from 1996 to 2011 were the correct amount to match a mandated child support payment in Appeniya."

"We do not have access to any DNA information on him, however. We've only been passively collecting data on him as he works his way up the ranks at the postal service. But I do not make this claim lightly, I truly do believe he is a son of Franz."

[Basel-Triesen]

Cinzia nodded, listening to all the evidence stacked up on this guy. She looked at the picture Gorani showed up, noticing the resemblance to Franz. She asks for another glass of water, "Sorry, I'm just, just overwhelmed by all this, understandably."

[Kihdis]

"That's alright. I do not mean to put too much pressure on you, but, it is entirely up to you if you want to tell Alex about this. I won't intervene if you don't think this is the right path for your administration."

"When you feel composed again we can bring the rest back into the room," Gorani said while shutting the folder and putting it back into his desk.