On the morning of April the 3rd 309, the Blue Flag was flown from the tallest tower in the Imperial Palace, before a rush of activity buzzed around the outside of its walls. Gates closed one by one, cascading from the inner courts where the musicians stopped playing, to the outer yards where supplies and crates were quickly shuffled into warehouses and visitors turned away. Soldiers on the outer walls were changed out for Imperial guards as the majority of them were recalled to the Palace, with only a handful (read: Hannah Lexen) remaining outside to protect what Kades had been caught outside the quarantine. For any royalist watcher would know what the Blue Flag meant: Pestilence in the Palace. The Grand Ekhein stood before the final gate to close, announcing an Imperial decree to the emissaries and dignitaries that now stood in front, wondering what was going on. In his announcement he droned on about procedures set in place during the last bubonic plague in the Empire, and how the Emperor regretted having to take this decision to protect both the peerage and the inner courts of the Palace. After all, the Palace wasn't actually just a royal estate, but almost a city within a city. Its large walls houses garrisons of soldiers, its kitchens had hundreds of staff, and its outer yards had their own cattle grazing fields and residences. The Emperor had declared all off-limits and closed the Palace off to the outside to protect the city of Regalia from the pestilence inside, which was not yet identified. The Ekhein did however announce protocol "Royal Blue", which was codeword for "Assemble the Royal Family, the Emperor is gravely ill". Sure enough, Imperial family members crawled out of the woodwork to report to the Chancellery, any and all that had been caught outside of the Imperial Palace after the quarantine, which were in fact quite many, as they had just come back from celebrating Anglian festivities back in the homeland of the Kades. The Crown Prince, many of the Princes, Cousins, Brothers, Aunts and Uncles all assembled for protocol Royal Blue, which dictated that if the Emperor should fall ill, that a regency should be declared from another Royal family member. The exact protocol had never been finished however, as the Emperor had not yet finalized this low-priority order of state business. This presented the Chancellery with a unique situation as Imperial Bureaucrats essentially announced that the matter would be decided upon by the Grand Ekhein who had left the Palace on lockdown, and a clut of Imperial Bureaucrats and decree specialists. This in turn presented an opportunity to the Nobility. The Grand Ekhein was never known to be an ambitious man, and while his loyalty to the Emperor was infallible, he generally did not trust any of the other Kades, including Prince Cedromar. The Grand Ekhein as such, and the Imperial decree specialists by extension, were vulnerable to lobbying, as vulture lobbyists descended on the Chancellery to influence the final decision. After all, it was not clear how long the Emperor would be out of commission, or if he would recover at all. Whoever would be appointed to Regent of the Empire in His name would have wide royal authority to reign in his name, and interfere with day to day politics. It was not exactly a secret either that many of the Kades were idiosyncratic, a varied and extravagant bunch of individuals with very opposing ideologies and ideas. Given the pressure of the situation, all (flex)Noble Families regardless of title holders or title size were able to send three lobbyists each. Furthermore, the Goretaan Throng, Golden Triumvirate, Ariramorel, House Peirgarten, House Harhold, House Black, House von Drachenburg, von Duerr, and House Howlester were able to squeeze two lobbyists each into the mixture. Finally, the Dzekh'aar Kaahl and the Sothrii Cluster were able to push one lobbyist each into the fray, while William Howlester and Jared Bancroft on account of their history with Emperor Alexander became lobbyists in and of themselves. These lobbyists would work, in the coming week, to either favor one of the available candidates, or specifically lobby against a specific candidate, as whoever would become Regent would potentially cause problems to families with the exact ramifications of this event still remaining unclear. OOC Info: Public knowledge exists of what all Kades are like in retrospect to each other. Submission Deadline for the Regency proclamation is 10th of April 24:00 Oslo Time. All Flex Noble Progression Units have 3 Lobbyists. All Static Noble Units have 2 Lobbyists (including Howlester). Ariramorel, Goretaan, Golden Triumvirate have 2 Lobbyists. Dzekh'aar Kaahl and Sothrii Cluster have 1 Lobbyist. William Howlester and Jared Bancroft themselves are also Lobbyists. Each Lobbyist may be sent to support a candidate, or degrade a candidate. April 10th, the Kade with the highest support will be chosen by the Ekhein as Regent. The Regent will be present and played at Events and Progression Events/Assemblies. In-game discussions and politics encouraged for the election. Don't just send and forget! Submit a Geo Politics Order to cast Lobbyist votes in favor or against candidates here. Each lobbyist can only cast one opinion, either in favor or against a candidate, not both!
