Chiloshian Imperial Conclave Officially Begins

[Chiloshia]

Almost 8 years ago, facing an increasingly dire situation and losing territory every day, but having captured all the legitimate heirs of The imperial house Vapośæťoš, members of the communist insurrection executed all members of the royal family in their custody in what investigators would later describe as "a perverse ritual murder." The United anti-communist forces, having long been in the de facto political control of a 12-member military junta, agreed that stabilizing the country was to take first priority, and set the date for the election of a new emperor by the ancient methods for 7 years after the full reconquest of the capital, the last major battle of the war.

That time has come, The old monarchical flag has been raised over the palace for the first time in over a decade, and a group of 3,000 nobles, clergymen, city and small town mayors, together comprising the electorate of an Imperial Conclave, have gathered under strict security at the Yelbıńæc Convention Center to hold rounds of deliberation, speeches, and voting until a 56% majority for a candidate is reached.

While almost 30 candidates have made the official, short list, only 4 are considered truly viable going into the conclave.

Əkoru Vapośæťoš: A surviving member of the old royal family, but not eligible for immediate succession. Many of the more devoted loyalists of the old dynasty hold Əkoru up as the natural continuation of the "good old days." Some say that Əkoru, just 24 years old, the only leading candidate with no place in the current government, and not strongly showing opinions on many of the current issues facing the country, does not have the willpower to steer the ship of state through rough waters, but for many yearning for a quieter, gentler course, he is a popular candidate.
Clergy Support: Moderate
Noble Support: Moderate
Urban Mayor Support: Low
Rural Mayor Support: Moderate

Dlhubo Əsamyu: Though an Aristocrat, Əsamyu threw in with the democratic forces at the start of the civil war. When communists asserted dominance over the rebellion, he switched sides and was personally responsible for the Anticommunist victory in the Peninsular campaign. He advocates for the formation of an empowered, elected parliament, increased involvement in global political and trade initiatives, a ceremonial role for the monarchy, and the emulation of the country's more liberal neighbors in social policy.
Clergy Support: Low
Noble Support: Moderate
Urban Mayor Support: High
Rural Mayor Support: Low

Dacu Kæbegıš
The Grand Marshal, head of the National Reserve Army at the outbreak of conflict, emerged as the moderating force among the anticommunist civil war generals, and became the one to preside over their meetings when disputes arose. He is often credited with the victories of current government policies, but is also the one faulted for its shortcomings. He is seen as a staunch social conservative, perhaps even a reactionary, and a proponent of economic autarky. Rumors have surfaced in recent months that he has become deeply concerned with the damage the policies of the more radically right-wing generals on the council have done on the soft power and cultural prestige of Chiloshia on the world stage, and with the perils into which they may drag the nation if given free reign over foreign policy if the candidates that have emerged from them were to be granted the sacred powers of the throne. However, until the next Emperor has the crown placed on his head, he will not allow himself to be seen as a liberalizing force for the country, in fear that such a move will embolden support for such candidates.
Clergy Support: High
Noble Support: Moderate
Urban Mayor Support: Low
Rural Mayor support: High

Uge Ťomaškæń
General Ťomaškæń was once described by General Əsamyu as "A trigger-happy, foaming-at-the-mouth revanchist against every tree and rock he thinks sustained the revolution for a single minute." However, many of those who lost family to the attacks of the rebels find his fiery and skillful oration particularly inspiring, and many agree with his assessments that certain ethnic groups that were overrepresented among the communists had been plotting hostile actions against the Empire and the Chiloshian people for a considerably long time, and continue to pose a threat to the stability of the nation. He has emerged as the frontrunner of the rightward-of-Kæbegıš forces in the conclave.
Clergy Support: Moderate
Noble Support: Low
Urban Mayor Support: Moderate
Rural Mayor Support: High

[Chiloshia]

First Round of Voting has concluded. Twelve minor candidates eliminated.

Current Vote Percentages

Minor Candidates: 49%

15%Dhlubo Əsamyu
12.9%Dacu Kæbegıš
12.1% Əkoru Vapośæťoš
11% Uge Ťomaškæń

Other proceedings: General Ťomaškæń gave a fiery speech on the floor today after voting, solidifying support from many of the right-wing movements for himself in subsequent rounds.

[Chiloshia]

The second round of votes has been cast. A further dozen candidates have been eliminated. 5 candidates proceed to the next round

23.1%: Minor Candidates

22.2% Uge Ťomaškæń
19.5% Dhlubo Əsamyu
17.7% Əkoru Vapośæťoš
17.5% Dacu Kæbegıš

Other proceedings: In official press conference, Vapośæťoš mistakes which emperor of his dynasty defended the capitol in historic siege 200 years ago.

Outside events: Footage of a minority woman being harassed by an outspoken Ťomaškæń elector goes viral on the National Internet.
National newspapers report smooth parliamentary election in nearby island nation.

[Chiloshia]

In the third round, candidates need a twenty percent share of the votes to remain in the electorate. The results are in, and both the final minor candidate and Əkoru Vapośæťoš have fallen out of the race. Əkoru's gaffe was particularly harmful among the strata that formed his base and his share of the votes dropped sharply.


28.3% Dlubo Əsamyu
27.6% Dacu Kæbegıš
22.7% Uge Ťomaškæń

12.1% Minor Candidate
9.3% Əkoru Vapośæťoš

Other proceedings: Əkoru Vapośæťoš formally concedes his family's claim to the throne. Pundits predict several days of electoral gridlock in subsequent rounds.

[Chiloshia]

Rounds 4 and 5: Electoral Gridlock.

Subsequent rounds continue without elimination unless a candidate falls more than 15% beneath the average of the others. Increased time is given to debate, oration by candidates, and eventually, secret deals may be reached. Two rounds of voting have been attempted so far:

Round 4:

35.4% Dlubo Əsamyu
34.6% Dacu Kæbegıš
30.0% Uge Ťomaškæń

Other Proceedings after Round 4:
Dacu Kæbegıš gives a speech asserting that Chiloshian values and traditions have a place in the modern world, and presenting a vision for a nation as a beacon of production and prosperity.
Dlubo Əsamyu's office submitted a working draft of his proposed Chiloshian Constitution, containing a plan for a popularly-elected, unicameral legislature with the monarch taking a purely ceremonial role and nobles retaining their titles but having their unique political rights severely reduced.

Other events:
Members of a certain caucus of rural mayors were noticed whispering among themselves with intensity. When one was asked by reporters about this, he had no comment.

Covert Actions: A MILINT officer, nephew to a devoted Ťomaškæń elector and member of the aforementioned caucus, went AWOL and boarded a late train to the mid-size city of Basyekurə in the western mountains.




Round 5

35.0% Dacu Kæbegıš
32.7% Uge Ťomaškæń
32.3% Dlubo Əsamyu

Other proceedings after Round 5:
Ťomaškæń issued a statement that "Even the highest levels of the government harbor both open and secret traitors to the sacred Chiloshian posterity," and insisted that only he is prepared to ensure that "a rising of the unholy termites does not eat through the foundation of the society again."
The next round of actual voting is postponed by one day.

Other Events:
When the AWOL status of the MILINT officer is discovered, the Colonel of the unit takes the additional step of attaching a specific secret police unit to the manhunt.
Nobles who switched their vote from Əsamyu to Kæbegıš identify the perception of the constitution as "slightly too radical" as the reason for their shift.

Covert events:
The AWOL officer visits the State Records Office in Basyekurə. He is later captured by Secret Police while in a phone booth late at night.
The MILINT Colonel sends a private communique to a member of Marshal Kæbegıš's general staff informing them of the proceedings.
At 11 PM, an urgent note arrives for Əsamyu's aide de camp requesting a private meeting directly between Əsamyu and Kæbegıš.

[Chiloshia]

Dacu Kæbegıš and Dlhubo Əsamyu. Monarchist and Republican. Conservative and Liberal. For years, the public has perceived them as rivals in the council of generals. Given their differences, history, and popularity, many expected that it would take them weeks to open channels, if they did at all, and that Əsamyu would initiate. These assumptions would be wrong.

The Grand Marshal had been on the phone with specific military and police leaders for hours, issuing unofficial orders. Seeing the knowing smirk on Ťomaškæń's face during his latest and particularly aggressive speech inspired a terror in him the likes of which he had not felt in decades. Worse still, despite his technical gains, he inexplicably lost a portion of previously-loyal electors even before the speech. Electors who had been secretive about their discussions.

When it was confirmed that the rogue officer had succeeded in calling someone after a visit to the records office of his wife's hometown, he immediately issued a request to directly meet with Əsamyu, which was agreed to by morning and underway by noon.

Hours later, in the dead of night, the men shook hands and emerged from the room, each smuggling a folder on their person rather than carried in their hand.


In each folder was a copy of a drafted constitution, containing provisions for a bicameral legislature with a House of Lords and House of Commons, Formal enshrinement of several conservative institutions, such as state religion, conscription, and definitions of personhood and marriage, the Imperial Throne being redefined as a checked and balanced Executive branch, and a process for later amendment to be implemented after a 10-year moratorium to stabilize the new system. Both men agreed that, in light of their current opponent's popularity, the voting system should be First-Past-The-Post to encourage a two-party system. Both copies were typed in rare-colored ink and signed by both men in the same, to ensure neither could present an edited version. In turn, Marshal Kæbegis would become Emperor and Əsamyu would become the first Speaker of the House of Lords.

[Chiloshia]

Before voting commenced, Dlhubo Əsamyu began carefully sending word through the network of his supporters in the conclave of the compromise constitution deal and his desire that his electors begin voting for Marshal Kæbegıš. Word did not spread completely, but it spread enough for Əsamyu to be officially cut from candidacy after one round, leaving the overwhelming majority of his supporters for Kæbegıš anyway.


Round 6

45.2% Dacu Kæbegıš
33.1% Uge Ťomaškæń
21.7% Dlhubo Əsamyu

As round 6 was ending, a massive shootout began at a storage facility in Chiloshia's second-largest city of Bodinopıs


Round 7.

66.5% Dacu Kæbegıš
33.5% Uge Ťomaškæń

By election of the traditional conclave of Nobility, City-masters, Sheriffs and Holy Men

GRAND MARSHAL DACU KÆBEGIŠ
is to be exalted as EMPEROR OF ALL ŤOČILOŠ AND THEIR LAND, BAČILOŠ at dusk, two calendar days from this conclusion of proceedings.

May the favor of the gods, in their mercy, endure over his coming rule for many years. May his soul be made kingly by Usuma, his mind crowned in wisdom by İrešpe, and his heart shielded in holy fire by Dekalyu. may his judgements be carried forth by the winds and may the realm's enemies retreat like water from his high place.
ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!

[Chiloshia]

The Grand Marshal and Emperor-Elect of Chiloshia, Dacu Kæbegıš, addressed the general public in a press conference, thanking the conclave's electors for their confidence and promising to carry the burden of the imperial throne with dignity. He announced that he intends to implement a new system of constitutional government, designed to bridge the gap between monarchists and republicans and preserve the benefits of the Chiloshian way of life. He presented a dream of Chiloshia as a self-reliant economic power, a beacon of culture and brotherly unity, and a nation loved and desired by all of its inhabitants.


General Uge Ťomaškæń did not state a concession of defeat in his address to the public. He stated outright that he believed the Grand Marshal and Əsamyu had "abandoned" Chiloshia and made themselves "Wives in The Eternal Pra's* harem" before declaring that a dark hour has arrived for the sacred imperial tradition.




*The Pras (sg: Pra) are a race of people without a nation state that live scattered throughout Chiloshia's Region. They have their own religion, a form of esoteric dualism, and have lived either as nomadic traders or urban professionals due to the tendency of many states to have historically disallowed them from owning land. As a result, they are often stereotyped as a greedy, deceitful, politically leftist, and hostile people. Some, like Ťomaškæń, even believe that they run most of the world through a secret conspiracy, though that theory is factually wrong.

Pras have been under increased informal discrimination in the junta years because of their perceived role as communists in the civil war, with their rate of participation in the revolution being almost triple that of everyday Chiloshians, and higher in the leadership. This is mainly because the revolution began in urban areas and appealed first to those considered historically oppressed.

[Chiloshia]

Body bags were being wheeled to ambulances from behind police lines one by one. The corpses were of men in plain clothes and police uniforms. Officially, the shootout was the result of an unexpected clash between initially underprepared police officers and a mob of drug-smugglers they encountered in the course of an unrelated investigation.

Uge Ťomaškæń knew the truth. It was a clash between a platoon of Civil War Veterans loyal to him and Agents of the Secret Police, dressed in normal police clothes. He also knew that the fact that Kæbegıš had acted to defend the relocated citizen files that had survived the shelling of the Basyekurə State Archives during the war was proof enough to him that the recently-surfaced rumors of his eldest wife, İbelyeń, being half-Pra were true.

Unfortunately, his team reported failure in seizing the hard evidence in the storage facility. The truth would not spread fast enough to outrun censorship without plain, hard proof.


All attempts at a more covert solution to Chiloshia's perils were lost. A direct seizure of power was the only option. He had to strike just before the coronation. Odds for him were poor, even he knew that...

And so he began to issue his final orders of preparation to his most loyal officers, coded in a line from the beloved epic poem of the ancient Chiloshians: "The Last Charge in Heaven."

Code: Select all

"The sun grows black, and must be gilded anew with the golden lance of İpirə. May we few horsemen be her guard at the pass in the clouds."

[Chiloshia]

Troops of the 22nd Military Police Regiment, along with a minority contingent of the Imperial Honor Guards, have stormed the palace grounds. Radio chatter suggests that the Emperor-elect and his loyal guards have been trapped single wing of the palace, but are holding out for now.


The main contingent of the military is scrambling to mount a swift response, but several units are reporting vehicle sabotage, and an armored company has attempted to seize a bridge in the West District.

It doesn't take a clairvoyant to predict that this coup is orchestrated by General Ťomaškæń, and now reports are coming in that he is personally present at the palace attack.

For updates, stay tuned to Chiloshia United Network Television. Until further notice and for your own safety, please remain indoors if you are in the capital.

[Chiloshia]

The government military response to the coup attempt has taken a dramatic turn, with General Dlhubo Əsamyu personally arriving with a company of Marines to dislodge the insurrection and continue the coronation, present for the ceremony. They were able to flank the main force assaulting the Emperor-elect's position, forcing the surrender of several assailants.

Meanwhile, a squad of honor guards were able to ambush Ťomaškæń himself, and a contingent of his loyalists, on their way to commandeer a radio trailer near the coronation site, likely on their way to proclaim the coup nationwide. Ťomaškæń himself was shot in combat and is being medevaced under guard, in critical condition.

With official festivities cancelled, the coronation was carried out 41 minutes late in an emergency ceremony, with only the new Imperial family, a collection of priests, and military guards present.

Elsewhere remaining elements of the coup are being mopped up by loyal forces.

The emperor intends to broadcast a modified address to the nation tomorrow morning, and has asked the public to pray for the families of those who gave their lives to defend the empire today.