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[h2][b][color=007236]The Osladian Empire[/color][/b][/h2]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/wUeuT21.png[/img]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QA4aWzS6sc][b]Ний сме достойни![/b][/url][/center]

[center][b]The Counts Spring[/b][/center]

The Spring of 1899 was riddled with the successes and influence of the Osladian nobility. In mid-April the Selidov government fell to pressure from Tangarian nobles and the military general staff, and ordered six divisions to be stationed at the Karum-Oslad border in order to 'keep the peace'; to the rest of the world this act was an obvious show of force after the Karumi Tsar boasted of 'restoring Greater Karum', thus the Osladian Imperial Army would show the Tsar to the south that the Tangar steppes would never return to his hands, as their chiefs had bent the knee to Tsar Nikolas.

In the first days of being on the border, a peace seemed to be kept and across the border-range Osladian soldiers established their presence at checkpoints and assisted the already present border security in their tasks. However, a crisis began boiling. The officer given command of the force, a General-leytenant by the name of Pavel Vanko, was a notorious alcoholic and near his forced retirement age. In his files and reports sent back to Oslograd, the elderly general had even forgotten proper titling and forced the general staff to assess his work manually. General Vanko's retirement officially came after a incident at the border in which Osladian soldiers with cultural ties to the Karumi Tsardom deserted their posts en-masse and crossed the border in the dead of night, likely while the old general drank himself to sleep. Enraged by the incident, Provincial Governor and General-leytenant Count Yegorov sent a letter to the Oslograd general staff demanding Vanko's removal and the placement of Vasiliy Tokorev as commander of the Karum-Oslad border forces. With little choice after the P.R disaster, the general staff quickly arranged for General Tokorev, a known stooge to Yegorov's political clique, to take command of the border and officially hand the retirement papers to General Vanko. 

While militarily the Spring of 1899 was disastrous for the Empire, diplomatically another Count began to rise to prominence...

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[center][b]The Aetorian Spring Ball[/b][/center]

To understand the events of the Aetorian Spring Ball, one must first know Count Radzislaŭ Rusak. A Boletarian born in Loren, Count Rusak abandoned his ancestors warrior culture in favor of poetry and the arts. From a young age Radzislaŭ wooed his peers with his language and writings, and throughout his schooling was a notorious romantic and 'playboy'. This personality and charisma would follow the Count well into his 30s and would earn him the position of Foreign Minister to Demian Selidov's Liberal-Democratic government. The youngest of Selidov's ministers, the prime minister intended to test Count Rusak and formally requested he attend the famous Aetorian Spring Ball in his place. For decades the Aetorian Spring Ball was an annual event held in Tyro-Redania and was attended by nobility and politicians from across the Continent; in fact, Tsar Nikolas III met his wife and future Tsarina Aurelia von Kirstein. 

The 1899 ball would be held in late April to account for the abnormally long winter season that had hit the Continent that year, and invites to the event were sent weeks in advance to the Serene Empire of Tara, the Dygracian Sultanate, the Osladian Empire, the Tsardom of Karum, the Tsardom of Radena, the Sessauan Empire, and the Zellonian Kingdom. Nobility within Tyro-Radania proper were also expected to be in abundance, with the only group noticeably absent being the Itherian counts and barons.

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/5h9nlpE.jpg?1[/img]
[i]Nobles and Politicians from Oslad, Tyro-Redania, Tara, and more in Aetoria. Photo circa 1903, retouched by Gérard Houdin.[/i][/center]

After introductions and the arrival of the ball's host, Crown Prince Victor von Wolfram, Count Rusak immediately began searching out conversation with Redanian nobility in attendance, as of all non-Osladian nobles the Redanians were the most sympathetic to Oslad. Throughout the night Rusak swayed from conversation to conversation, momentarily stopping to speak with Duchess Maria von Anderle, a meeting many today suspect led to future engagements, before finally meeting the Crown Prince himself. Witness reports are scarce on what was said, but from what can be ascertained the Crown Prince and the young Count spoke for more than an hour on, strangely enough, poetry and their favorite authors. Needless to say, the young Rusak quickly had proven himself an asset to the Selidov government and won favor with more than a few noblemen and women that evening. 

While Count Rusak earned favor and his position, other Osladian nobility made appearances. The Tsar and Tsarina made their first public appearance outside of Oslograd in over a year, being met with applause from Osladian nationals and nobility to honor their Tsar. In addition, Count Yegorov had paused his national tour to attend the ball; arriving in his dark coach and dressed entirely in Tangarian robes, the eccentric noble cast an intimidating shadow around himself and spent little time conversing with non-Osladian nobility...