[colour=gold][u][h1][centre]Empire of Violette[/centre][/h1][/u][/colour]
[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/fRiTWvK.png[/img][/centre]
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[colour=gold][centre][h2][i]Le Patriote[/i][/h2][/centre][/colour]
[centre][h3][u]Zeelian Crisis Hits Close to Home[/u][/h3][/centre]

The escalating bloodshed of the Zeelian Crisis reached Violette last Thursday, as a Zellonian merchant vessel en-route to Confluence was fired upon and sank by a Kalpian submarine, sources report. The submarine, identified by foreign authorities as the [i]KRN Grunewalde[/i], engaged the [i]ZRN Danielson[/i] in the evening of September 7th, launching a torpedo at the civilian trade-ship in an act of commerce raiding that signaled an intensification of the already blazing conflict. Eight Veletian citizens were on board the vessel at the time of the attack, of whom six were safely evacuated from the Smaragd Sea by Zellonian fishermen. Two sailors, brothers Pierre and Philippe Lefèvre, remain missing and are presumed dead. They represent the first Veletian casualties of the unraveling war, but are among the dozens of civilians from various nations whose lives have already been ended by the war.

Foreign Minister Augustin Batteux has insisted that redress will be sought from Arsech for the sailor's deaths, but warned that direct Veletian intervention in the crisis would only cause greater loss of life for the people of Violette. In a press release early this morning, Mr. Batteux stated firmly, "Many of the decisions made by all parties involved in the Zeelian Crisis are questionable, even reprehensible. All citizens of Violette understand, however, that direct Veletian involvement in the sorties would lead only to greater loss of life for the citizens of Violette. I am in talks with Minister Marcelet Gavreau of the Trade Office and our contemporaries in the Kalpian Republic, and I can assure each and every citizen of our proud nation that the lives of the Lefèvre brothers will not be allowed to be forgotten. We will work for you to ensure that civilian casualties and impact to international commerce as a result of this conflict in the Smaragd Sea is limited, as much as humanly possible—so that this internecine conflict does not drag the rest of The Continent down with it. Cargo ships exporting dried herbs to neutral nations are not prime military targets."

[hr][centre][h3][u]Palais Violette, Confluence, Empire of Violette,[/u][/h3][/centre]
[centre][img]http://i.imgur.com/rPFSAkI.jpg[/img][/centre]

The newly crowned Empress of Violette was not new to the imperial palace. She had been born there, actually—in the nursery, some twenty-two years ago. The elegant (some might say gaudy) literally gilded halls of the palace certainly gave off the impression of wealth and privilege, but despite this the young Tsirine had never been a happy child. Her father and mother had become estranged some years after Tsirine was born, a state of affairs that the now-Empress had not understood at the time was a result of her mother's apparent inability to give her husband another child. The trappings of fame and fortune had done the shy and timid girl few favors, intensifying the social isolation incurred by her feuding parents to leave her completely alone. Tsirine's father, Edouard, was apparently drawn to drink from his wife's infertility, and Victoria, her mother, became a woman scorned.

Edouard's death, when Tsirine was a mere twelve, did not help things. The unsavory rumors circulating his demise and her mother's alleged involvement left Tsirine both insulted and despondent: Victoria could never have done such a thing, and those peddling the conspiracy did nothing to assuage her grief. Nonetheless, the lies were widely enough believed to lead to rebellion two years later, when Tsirine's grandfather Emperor Frank XII passed, leaving Victoria the Empress of Violette. A coup was attempted, the infamous Victorian Mutiny, supported by nearly the whole of the Veletian Marine and major elements of the Gendarmerie. Tsirine, just emerging from her social cocoon and making friends with the other young inhabitants of the palace, found herself locked away for nearly a year as Victoria vanquished the rebels. Her justifiably punitive response, including the liquidation of the entirety of the Marine's admiralty, left Violette both weakened and with an unpopular ruler. Her mother's reign had been doomed from the start.

Tsirine's ascension, therefore, was gleefully accepted by Violette's ministers and people alike. The young Empress, the most junior monarch since the proclamation of the empire, was seen optimistically by the Veletians. The officials within the government expected autonomy—for the still-learning monarch to defer much of her authority—and the people were simply happy to have someone young and beautiful and whom they didn't believe to be a murderer in charge. Her reign's first actions, building relations with the mighty giants of the east, the Tsardom of Radena and Dominion Meung, seemed to the Empress to have have been successful. Both she and her whole country were hopeful that continued successes would follow. God willing, the daughter would undo the sins of the mother.