[Albion]

]

 

A Personal Notice from the Knight Foreign

 

~~::~~

 

Greetings friends, allies, partners, and acquaintances of Albion,

 

I know it has been about a month since I was appointed my role, but I believe a proper and formal introduction is finally needed, and to relay you some important information on the road ahead. My name is Sir Cadmus Delphi Areleous Saxton, current Knight Foreign (KF) of Albion, but these titles don't really matter much so you can call me Cadmus or Caddy. Before I became KF I was Esquire (Deputy) under my predecessor, the lovely Olivia. Due to various RL reasons and general busyness she had no choice but to give the reins to another, and I was the best choice she had in mind. Without her though, we would not have such renewed vigor in our foreign relations, Olivia having been integral in securing some of our most important alliances and being apart of the most intriguing new directions in our foreign policy as to date. Her efforts have been honoured greatly by the Crown and I hope to achieve the same amount of fortitude in foreign affairs as my predecessors before me.

 

That being said, it is important I need to highlight you these very important happenings in my department and what you can expect from us in our embassies moving forward. It has been informed to me sometime ago that our last official update was created January 2016; it has been eight months since the last update. To me, that is unacceptable and I formally apologize to all our embassies for our oversight on this matter. Technically, our little event invites would count as an update of sorts, but it is not our usual official updates that we have compiled together.

 

Of course, no one is truly at fault here. Olivia had been fairly busy with RL business as mentioned previously and as you know unfortunately RL must come first. On top of that, the assent to my position was around the exact time when summer was beginning to die down and people had to return to regular school/work/etc hours, and so I had limited help in my department myself. I had to release a few inactive/unwilling FA staff from my office which made my staff numbers far less than it was before, with more and more embassies becoming devoid of emissaries to fill them, and so the dominoes began to fall where they may...

 

(and now for your scheduled cat gif break)

This epiphany finally happened when recently one of our embassies was to be closed due to said inactivity, and coming from a region who had not seen an emissary from us in a very long time, even before I was appointed to be Esquire. I realised this problem had to be rectified immediately; I made way too many promises when I entered into this role as KF and I am not willing to break them now so easily. I personally thank Olivia, 7-5 (my new Esquire), Moly, Chief Knight Bert, Edward Leben, H_I, Christopher Bishop, Seven Deaths, Stefan, and even our own Queen MagentaFairy for stepping up and helping me out as FA staff, although even all their help is still not enough and there are still plenty of empty embassies while I have taken the bulk of the embassy load at the same time.

Granted the lack of emissaries is not all that needs to be rectified, that is all in due time. There are still many hiccups during my first month as KF, and there is still the matter of our latest official update, which will be coming very, very soon. it will be a hefty one, but will not be so stuffed that it becomes unnecessarily lengthy, and will be covering at least four months worth of missed Albion content. However, after this last update there will be some renewed changes to the way our content gets delivered.

With the support of the Crown, I will be reforming our updates; no more will there be such lengthy updates like these. Under my purview the next updates in the future will appear more often but with less content. They will still at least contain the same quality you expect of all our updates, but there will just be less to see, but you'll be hearing more from us if this proves successful. Of course there will be some hiccups going forward, and I cannot expect that RL won't surprise me with a few struggles of my own, but we will find a way; Albion ALWAYS finds its way. From all of us in Albion, we thank you for hosting us and our embassy.

 

As Knight Foreign of Albion, I personally thank you for reading this.

~~::~~

In regards,

[Albion]

 

[The Return of the Departure of the King by Seven Deaths]

The sound of her footsteps bounced to and fro off the stone castle walls as she made her way to the tallest tower of Fairfax Castle. The Queen’s heart raced with something that was a mixture of excitement and worry. For as long as anyone can remember the tower in questions, colloquially known as the King’s Respite, had been off-limits to everyone save the King himself. Not even the castle staff were allowed up there to clean for fear they’d mess with the ‘magic of the room’ as King Charles had put it. When he disappeared and Christopher was King for a short time, the room had locked itself from within, impervious to many a mage’s attempts to gain entry, which gave rise to the rumor that Charles had locked himself within for some unknown reason.

 

All these thoughts swirled in Clarissa’s head as she ascended the stairs at a run, pulling up on her dress so as not to trip herself, for if Charles was summoning her now, to this room, there had to be some reason.

 

She feared the worst.

 

Finally, the door was before her and it appeared so...ordinary. Made of some rough cut wood from the forests that lay nearby, the door held none of the sophistication that should have marked a room of such import. There was no ornate carvings, no gloss or gleam, it hadn’t even been sanded down. She felt as if she could get a splinter just looking at it. This was a peasant’s door. She took a deep breath and knocked loudly.

 

“Come in.” Her hand found the handle of the door easily enough, but her heart stopped beating temporarily, as she pushed the door open, not sure what to expect. What she found wasn’t what she expected. It was small, much too small to be the fabled King’s Respite. One of the most widely spread rumors was that when SD was Arch-Mage, he mixed magic with Time Lord science to expand the room, making it larger on the inside. Some even said that the tower held an entire universe inside. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

 

Every inch of wall space was covered with shelving and those shelvings were crammed full with books. Old and new, large and small, some written in other languages, some in their native tongue, but it seemed improbable that one person could own this many books. Charles sat in the middle of the literary chaos at a desk that looked ready to fall apart, pouring over books. Pages upon pages of notes, scribbled in his hasty scrawl lay strewn everywhere in what Clarissa could only assume constituted an organized chaos. He looked up from his notetaking and spoke.

 

“Clarissa.” He said formally, before smiling. The smile softened his face, removed the King from him and replaced it with friend; father. Charles was never a malevolent ruler, but he could be stern when he needed to be and sometimes his face wore it like a hat, no where else to put it, but easily tossed aside. “Claire.” He stood from the desk and came around the side, careful not to knock over any book or loose parchment, and embraced her. “I’m glad you’re here. How was the honeymoon?”

 

“It was beautiful, thank you. Currently, we’re arguing about whether to make our summer home at Shalefields or Arcadia.”

 

“Ahh, the squabbles of newlyweds. When I married your fathers, we had twice as many homes to choose from and it was a nightmare to sort out. Consider yourself lucky you only have one husband.” He smiled and gestured for her to follow him. There was a break in the wall that led to a small balcony that overlooked the whole of Bowerstone. From their vantage point, you could see the cogs turning down below as merchants sold their goods, townsfolk ate and laughed and worked, cats chased rats down alleys, dogs begged for scraps at the butchers, everything in Bowerstone had it’s place and kept the wheel moving.

 

“Father?” Clarissa has a tone of worry in her voice that was hard to hide. “Why did you summon me up here? Especially now, after all this time?”

 

“I didn’t summon you, my dear. I invited you as my equal. I’m leaving.”

 

“Leaving?” Her tone suggested the incredulousness of his declaration.

 

“Do you know why I decided to build Fairfax Castle on this hill?”

 

Clarissa thought about this for a moment. “Because the hill gave us a better advantage against any who might try to take the castle.”

 

Charles chuckled. “No, child. It was a long time ago when our small party landed on the shores of Albion, but to me it seems like yesterday. We crested the hill this castle was built on and I looked across at all the open land and do you know what I saw? I didn’t see the planes or the marshes that used to be there. I saw this.”

 

He gestured out at the city now, bustling away unaware that their King was looking down on them, smiling gleefully. “I saw the potential and the future that we could have and though I am King, most of the credit isn’t mine and nor is it yours. It’s theirs.” Once more, he gestured to the city. “Albion has been lucky to have the best of souls leading her, but we are nothing without the folk down there. That’s why the King’s Respite is so ordinary. It keeps me grounded in reality and after I am gone, I’d like you to keep that in mind as you redecorate.”

 

“But you haven’t said why you’re leaving…”

 

“We all have a destiny, out there waiting for us, but if we sit cooped up in our tall towers all day, it’ll never find us. I love Albion. I cherish her, the people I’ve met and all the memories it’s given me. I’ll hold all of it in my heart for the rest of my life, but I have another love filling my heart. History. I intend to delve into the scholarly arts, but I can’t do that with a Kingdom to run, so I’m leaving my Kingdom with the person I trust most in this world. You.”

 

“So, just like that, you’re leaving us so you can study history?” She seemed more hurt than angry, but her tone just didn’t come out right.

 

“There’s more to life than this. Staying tethered here… I’m standing still when I should be running towards the future with nothing more than my books and the knowledge that everything I’ve built behind me is safe. You’ll do that for me, won’t you? You’ll keep Albion safe for me while I’m gone?”

 

Clarissa broke slightly, a tear forming in her eye and running down her cheek. “Of course, father.” She smiled and turned to look at the city. The shops were closing and people were beginning to turn in for the night as the setting sun signaled the end to another day. They were her people now. Not to rule over, but to protect and inspire for years to come. “How do I know if I’m ready to lead alone?” Silence met her words so she turned and was faced only with an empty room. The rickety old desk, the walls of books, all of it was gone. The only thing that remained in the entire tower was a piece of parchment paper. She picked it up and written on it was a single word in her father’s heavy scrawl.

 

“Faith.”

 

It is with heavy heart that I make this official. Our beloved King Charles Cerebella has decided not to return to NationStates and Albion. Originally he went on a leave to complete his PhD, however now he feels that he shouldn't and can't return. He wants everyone to know that he says hello and thinks about us all. Any announcement of mine wouldn't be complete without a little emotional rollercoaster. Charles Cerebella has been one of my closest friends, greatest mentor and dedicated teachers. He was patient and kind. A true leader who inspired people to discover their strengths and work around their weaknesses. The loyalty and love he felt for Albion has always been genuine. Working tirelessly, he ensured we survived and thrived.

 

With his leaving, I become the sole monarch of Albion. Of course I still have the wonderful support from you all, so I'm not alone in taking care of the region. I've always adored this region and the people in it. I'd like to give a big thank you to SD for writing the wonderful and emotional story. I still tear up reading it. The word 'faith' has a whole new meaning to it.

 

As we mourn his leaving, remember and celebrate his hard work. Let's make Albion thrive, just like Cere did for us.

 

 

[United Kingdom]

For some reason I got a feeling this is Sam.