Despite attempts of notable Northerne nobility, the traction for revolt or opposition died down with a fizzle. The lack of support to gather momentum for either a restoration or reconstruction of the Old Gods Temple as a monument in Regalia failed, and eventually the civil unrest in the Old Gods district abated as well. With no real progress, Regalian construction crews moved in and started solemnly dismantling the Old Gods district. The government was not entirely clear to the people yet how the area was going to be repurposed, rather, the encounter between the Northerners and the Bluesteel Guards during a rally recently sowed more confusion by creating possible alternatives without getting confirmation or denial for them. As such, the repurposing of the Old Gods district, both in its renaming as well as the break down of Old Gods worship places therein, was considered a victory for the State Council. The appointment of a leper, Count Adhemar Merveldt, to the State Council went over less well. Prospect alternatives with verifiable power or pedigree in the Empire like Heinrich, Santorski, Sinclair, Valeur, du Polignac were all overturned for a relatively unknown count who suffered from severe leprosy, a fact which dumbfounded the court, especially the Ithanian delegations. Furthermore, when news was revealed that the High Holiness Supreme Reverend had called on the government to dismiss the leper from office, the massive amounts of dissenting voters became a bit of a riot among the more high-class Dressolini and Citoyen circles, especially those gathering in early day mass under the watch of the Sanchella of Union, of which the lower priests felt that the state had ignored the word of the almost holiest. The Ithanian lobby in itself, quite made irrelevant recently due to its entire removal from city governance, started scheming and whispering that this Merveldt was a sign of the sickness and corruption of the state council made rotten flesh, using the lack of ejection as a political tool to strengthen their rhetoric at court against the conservative control of the city, not necessarily aimed at the conservative agenda, but rather at the block forming of political lobbies. There was no immediate cause for concern, after all, the Ithanian lobby was effectively a shadow of its former self, however their words still swayed strongly with many at court around the Crown Prince (ambassadors, courtiers), as well as the populations of the greater Ithanian Sovereignty, Regalia’s largest and richest client state. The Imperial Curfew law was equally received with many questions and ridicule. The cited reasons of rising crime against nobility and common citizens was considered a fluke, rather, the commoners did not feel any rising in crime at all. Vague rumors of a murderer targeting nobility, reinforced the demagogue rhetoric that the council was acting in a spineless way to respond to rising in crime only aimed at them, and that the common people should suffer in their free hours for the sake of the nobility. With no real official communications being put forward to give the people any sort of information about continued law enforcement efforts to supposedly quell this rise in crime, the anti-government rhetoric instead turned on the Bluesteel Order, seen as complicit in this Curfew by the people, given they enforced it. The people mostly complained and sent angry letters to the Black Spire that their evening parties and social gatherings had been disrupted over something that did not concern them, and a small group of protestors would picket the State Council building to call for the government to end the curfew as long as the Bluesteel Order produced no progress or mentionable arrests. Furthermore, festival goers or just general citizens of the city of Regalia were angered that the Andermans Fest, a festival specifically announced by the Crown Prince, was now effectively ruined because the population could not go out and drink beer or ale after work, or gather for night soirees or parties. The Forum act’s repeal and the appointment of Percy Ravenstad to the State Council in favor of his son went largely under the radar due to the previous occurrences taking the political foreground. Yet, at the palace, some lobby groups would whisper and conspire to inform others of the potentially dangerous agenda that the Imperial Consort could have for politics, a man who was previously exiled suddenly having a government position and a vote. Some even conspired to remind the world of Leona of Vartown, a vile woman who in 80 AC attempted to overthrow Kade rule in Anglia in favor of her own daughters. They implied that, much like back then, a Kade could become the victim of an ambitious consort, tempted by power, fame and wealth. They called upon the loyalist forces to close ranks around the Crown Prince, and to attempt to steer the Crown Prince away from the Imperial consort, intentionally misleading Percy Ravenstad to the whereabouts of the Crown Prince at the Palace, or having him walk in circles around corridors and missing government gatherings. Unfortunately, they seemed to succeed. Percy was often left wandering the hallways for hours looking for any sign of the Crown Prince who had his meetings rescheduled by these plotting courtiers intentionally to keep him as far away as possible, worse yet, large swathes of the Palace Ekheins seemed to be complicit, a direct response from the Palace servants to Percy's rampant ridicule of the Eunuchs and Imperial Guard. The Crown himself seemed to, as of yet, be very disinterested in all these matters. The Palace was buzzing with activity of Marshals, Admirals and other military personnel. Numerous times, the Palace hosted several displays of new military weapons developed for Regalia, and numerous Tenpenny Army drills in which the Crown Prince personally inspected the troops. It seemed evident that the Crown Prince's mind was elsewhere, in matters of warfare, and that he had no eyes for the ongoing of politics in the capital.
