[center]UPDATE: [i]Late Summer, 1836[/i][/center]

[u][b]CHANGING OF THE GUARD[/b][/u] ([i]August, 1836[/i])

Though it came only with careful consideration, it was the Dalatrian economist Halthorne who amended his great work, published only the month before, by removing his own nation among the list of Great Powers. Though the United Kingdoms of Dalatrum had long served as an Eastern-Western gateway from the Old World to the Caliphates, it's economy had stumbled. Dealing more with internal problems than the resolve of external problems, Dalatrian prestige had slipped considerably. Halthorne announced that it was the recently enlarged [b]Oslad Federation[/b] that edged in as the world's next Great Power, emboldened by it's strengthened position of having annexed it's Ville client state.

Thirteen days later Halthorne was found, stabbed sixteen times in the back, only blocks from his home. Not even the beautiful capital of Dalatrum was a safe place any longer. Power had now shifted from the East, back to the West.

[The [b]United Kingdoms of Dalatrum[/b] is demoted to [b]REGIONAL POWER[/b]]
[The [b]Oslad Federation[/b] is promoted to [b]GREAT POWER[/b]]

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[u][b]THE SANGUINE WAR OF AGGRESSION[/b][/u] ([i]August, 1836[/i])

"Sir?"

"Come."

The sergeant entered and extended his hand, the furled paper held out. General Iletsky took the document and unfurled it, reading it with a long, meticulous glance. He furled it back up and handed it back to the sergeant. His glance was all the man needed to know. He turned and left, leaving the General with his accompanying staff.

"Word, General?" A man called, a lieutenant by the bars across his shoulder.

"I fear the Third Army has been lost, and with it, it's general." The lieutenant didn't reply. "And the Kapitans have traded territory for time, it seems."

"Their lands are vast, though empty. They are rallying their troops for a final stand," the lieutenant added.

"But without Varmuth's general acting as a rearguard, the Kapitans may yet be at our flanks," Iletsky realized aloud, stroking at his thick mustache. He pulled himself from the chair and stepped around his desk. The tent was muggy, even in the low sun. Outside wasn't much better, but at least he could breathe. The guard yanked the flap open and Iletsky stepped out. The vast desert stretched for miles, but a camp of Sanguine had popped up quite literally overnight. 70,000 with accompanying cannons, the army had built a small town to accommodate them for the night.

In the distance, a plume of smoke trailed lazily in the sky.

[The [b]Sanguine Third Army[/b] advances on the Kapitan capital.]

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[u][b]FULRIC-SCHULSTEIN BORDER SKIRMISH[/b][/u] ([i]August, 1836[/i])

With tensions high from the dispute between the Grand Kingdom of Schulstein and the Duchy of Fulric, reputed shootouts in the border town of Scizanno have become regular. Each side condemned the other side, with Fulric announcing that Scizanno was within Fulric territory, and Schulstein retorting that the majority of those that lived in the town of Scizanno were Schulsteinians, born in the Grand Kingdom.

Tensions rose so high that the Fulrics mobilized 6,000 regulars to garrison the town. Within days the Schulstein shooters had mostly dissipated, but tensions nevertheless remained high.

[Tensions between the [b]Duchy of Fulric[/b] and the [b]Grand Kingdom of Schulstein[/b] are tumultuously high.]