[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3akSGKJ.png[/img][/center][right][h3][sup][color=Tan]Winter of 1814 ~ October[/color][/sup][/h3][/right][h3][sub][color=Tan]Millares, Batigefalé[/color][/sub][/h3]	
	Since it's foundation in 1330, the capital city of Millares has grown from two villages into the massive city it is known. Castilla Palace stood out as it was the tallest building in the city, made out of limestone. Construction lasted 13 years as hundreds of workers died while building the palace from the ground up. It was finally done in 1465 as the entire palace with inaugurated on King Florinio Castilla's thirty birthday. It included a dome, cloisters, statues of several religious heads, corridors, an inner garden, an infirmary, and a library. The throne room wasn't added to the palace until the Ávila family had the crown in 1730. After the Ávila Revolt ended, the Medellin-Varejão families took over the palace and made it their home. Queen Mariana Varejão-Medellin II and her Ministers usually have their talks in the meeting room on the weekdays. The families make sure to stay away from the Queen's meetings as guards are often posted near the room. Of course, they have been doing this for almost fourteen years since they took the crown away.

"It's pointless. We are already in debt, the people want things to be normal right away. It's impossible to fulfill their request." Rogelio Alvizo told the other ministers as he went to his papers on the situation in Batigefalé. The Batigefalé government was in debt and it work take them seven years to get out of debt with the amount that they are making at the moment. The education of civilians is at all time low as only five percent are educated, despite Mariana offering free education. And the unrest is also growing in all of the provinces. Another revolution could happen if they don't fix the economy among with the education. Alvizo was the Minister of the Interior and a family friend of the Medellin. He kept track of the Medellin's earnings, now he was figuring out a plan to fix the economy.

"Things are also messy in the army. Morale is low and we are limited in guns and cannons. The Queen needs to start fixing her country before it's too late." Maureo Jaquez, the Minister of the Army, said to Alvizo as he looked at Interior's papers. Jaquez was the leader of the rebellion against the Ávila family during the revolt. He led his men to several victories at the start and end of the revolution. The Batigefalé Army had seventy-one thousand soldiers, twelve thousand cazadors, fourteen thousand cavalry, and four cannons on standby with low moral and half of the army was ready for an attack. That is why Jaquez created the Reformation Act of 1816 as a way to increase the preparation and moral of the army. The act would also cut the entire army in half, saving them for debts in the nearby future. It was a big risk to cut the entire army in half, but it would benefit them in the near future. 

"I agree with you, Minister. She needs to start fixing her nation's military. The navy is terrible and we don't have any first rates." Iliana Jairo Orantes responded after Jaquez was done talking. Orantes had been in the navy for most of his lifetime and saw how terrible the Ávila family was up close. He joined the rebels as soon as they took Millares and worked with Varejão-Medellin families on ways to fight against the Ávila Navy. Now, the Batigefalé Navy is shameful as it only had twenty-two sloops, fourteen second rates, and twelve frigates. They didn't have any first rates as it was too expensive to build one due to their debts. He managed to look at Jaquez's reformation act and supported it. Orantes hoped that a similar act could be made for the navy as well, but that would have to be for another time. 

The three men waited for Queen Mariana Varejão-Medellin II to start the monthly meeting. The double wooden doors opened as Mariana entered the meeting room to see her usual ministers, waiting for their Queen. The guards shut the doors as she entered the room and walked towards her seat. The three men stood up until the Queen took her seat as they waited to present their reports. "Terribly sorry that I was late. My family was keeping me back. I am ready to hear about your findings." she said to the men as she was ready to hear the reports. Alvizo was the first one to speak.

"My Queen, the economy of Batigefalé is slowly growing back. But, we are still in debt and the provinces are growing more unrest. It has been fourteen years since the revolt ended, but the economy is still bad. We must do something before it's too late." Alvizo spoke as he looked at his papers and back at the Queen. 

"What do you suggest we do?" she asked.

"We need to establish several trade agreements with other nations immediately. I already have a list of potential countries that would most likely accept our agreement." he said as he grabbed a piece of paper and read the list that ranged from the Kingdom of Dallin to the Kingdom of Aontas. The Queen was interested in his report and suggestions that he offered. Now, it was the Minister of the Army's turn to speak.

"Queen Mariana, I am here to tell you that our army is morally weak and not ready for a possible invasion. We are limited in the size and I don't believe that we are able to handle another revolt in all of the provinces. Unless, you do something about our army, your families' hard work would of been for nothing." Jaquez honestly told the Queen of the situation with the Batigefalé Army. The Queen nodded in agreement as she heard everything that the minister spoke as she was handed the reports.

"Interesting." she said, "And what do you have in mind to fixing our army?"

"I do have something worth your time, my Queen." he answered her question as he pulled out papers on the rough draft of the Reformation Act of 1816. The Queen took a look at it as the Minister explained it to her. "My Queen, this reform act will reshape our army into a fighting force in the matter of a year or two. It would also save us from going into another debt as half of the army will be cut. It will be easier to train fewer groups of men. Of course, things will be changed and moved around before it becomes official. But, I wanted you have a look at it and give your opinions on it."

"Thank you, Jaquez." she said as she handed the papers back to him. "I will go over it with you once I have spoken to the Minister of the Navy."

Orantes nodded as he began to speak about the report until the wooden doors opened, revealing Inquisitor Cuarto La Madrid. He held a letter in one hand and his sword's grip as he walked towards the Queen. The Inquisitor was one scary person as stories of his actions surfaced during and after the revolution. He's the one that knew where Prince Lucero Ávila II was at. La Madrid might be one of the last Inquisitors as the Batigefalé Inquisition is coming to an end. He put one knee on the ground and put his head down as he said, "My Queen, I am sorry for interrupting your meeting. But I have urgent news about the Ávila family. Our spies found them at Gilbradia." Everyone in the room couldn't believe the news as the Queen grabbed the letter and opened it up, interested by the sudden news.

"How did they managed to find them?" she asked the Inquisitor.

"They tracked to a port in Azreka, where the family booked passage to Gilbradia during the war. Mister Lucero wasn't willing to tell me anything about their location, despite me 'asking' for the last several years." he told her as he got up from the ground. "I had my spies sent all over to search for them. It took years, but we finally found them in Gilbradia."

"Thank you for this news, Inquisitor. May we see each other again." Mariana said to the Inquisitor.
 
The Inquisitor nodded as he said, “I look forward to that.” He walked out of the meeting room as he closed the doors and went back to wherever he came. The Ministers were interested in the news that the Ávila family was finally found.  Rogelio Alvizo looked around and finally spoke, “My Queen, you must think about asking Gilbradia before you do something terrible. They are able to wipe our navies and armies in the matter of weeks. If they manage to get their support.”

“Don’t worry, Alvizo. I have this under control.” she ensured Alvizo, “We need to ‘butter them up.’ and then we can ask for the release of the Ávila family. If we have to, then we can bring up their crimes against the people of Batigefalé.”

“Agreed.” all three men said at the same time. 

“Alright, let’s get back to the meeting. I believed that Orantes had something to say.” the Queen looked at Orantes as she asked.

“Yes, I do have something about our navy. It also needs reforming into a powerful and respected navy. Our navy only has twenty-two sloops, fourteen second rates, and twelve frigates. It’s laughable at most. We don’t even have first rates and third rates ships. After we reform the army and our economy get better, then we should reform the navy next.” Orantes read off his report to the Queen. 

“And what do you have in mind to fixing problems that the navy faces?” Mariana asked the minister.

“I figured that we should wait for both the economy and the army to get better before we worry about the navy. However, I am also working on a reformation act for the navy.” Orantes answered her question as he was the last Minister to speak about his report. The Queen was silent for a moment to figure out which problems the Batigefaléan government will face. She started to write something on a piece of paper for a few minutes. When she was done writing, she looked at the three men and thanked them for providing their reports. Then, she looked at Alvizo and handed him the letter.

“Take this and give it to the Foreign Minister. He will handle the trade agreement with Gilbradia. I am hopeful that they will accept it. There’s also a trade agreement with Dallin. They will for surely accept the agreement. May we see each other again, Minister.” she spoke to Alvizo. He got up and nodded as he left the meeting room and headed back to his office. She stood up and walked towards the two remaining ministers in the room. 

“We need to get more money into our pockets and those agreements should be good for now.” she said to them, “We will get to your reform act some day, Jaquez. We are just too much in debt to focus on the army.”

“It’s alright, my Queen.” Jaquez told Mariana as he smiled at her. She smiled back and brushed for a moment before she spoke again towards Orantes. 

“Orantes, you must understand why I am ordering all research into naval technology must be limited. This will help out the economy in the long term.” she firmly stated to her minister as he was shocked by the sudden announcement. After he held back his words towards the Queen, Orantes nodded as she smiled and walked towards the doors. She felt the cool handles and walked out of the meeting room, leaving the two men to themselves. Orantes was rightly upset as he was the second person to leave the meeting room, heading back home to bitch about the Queen to his wife. Jaquez was the only one left as he looked around the meeting room and then headed for the inner garden for some peace before going back to work. Queen Mariana Varejão-Medellin II left the room to spend a moment alone before going back to her family, telling them for the news. The monthly meeting was finally over for now.
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[i]Orders[/i]
   Order 1 → [b]Increase Relations with Principality of Morelli[/b] ~ +3 Relations
   Order 2 → [b]Increase Relations with Kingdom of Vettucci[/b] ~ +3 Relations
   Order 3 → [b]Increase Relations with Empire of Gilbradia [@Polybius][/b] ~ +3 Relations

[i]Military Orders[/i]
   Batigefaléan "Orange" Fleet → Eleven Sloops, Seven Second Rates, & Six Frigates → Inner Sea ~ [b]Patrol[/b]
   Batigefaléan Merchant Fleet → Eleven Sloops, Seven Second Rates, & Six Frigates → Inner Sea ~ [b]Merchant Escort[/b]

[b][Demobilization][/b] [color=007236]♦[/color] [Mobilization]

[i]Research Priorities[/i]
   Army → [b]Low[/b] (0 Economic Rating/Year)
   Navy → [b]None[/b] (+02 Economic Rating/Year)
   Industry → [b]Normal[/b] (-02 Economic Rating/Year)
   Social Thought → [b]High[/b] (-03 Economic Rating/Year)
   Economics → [b]Normal[/b] (-02 Economic Rating/Year)