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[h3]Illesia Today[/h3][/center]

	Our Front Page story today is an interview with King Avandre VII himself, who has recently come under some minor international fire for the actions of the Illesian 1st Expeditionary Force in Toubrian Serranthia.

	Your Majesty, is it true that the Empire of Toubres is a puppet state of the Kingdom of Illesia?

	"What kind of a nonsense statement is that? For one, I do not see how a [i]Kingdom[/i] can have an [i]Empire[/i] as a puppet state. It is well known right now that Illesia is merely a burgeoning regional power. To suggest Illesia is controlling Toubres is equivalent to suggesting that Queen Athena pulls the strings of the Tyrians. Such a statement is hardly worthy of even being a joke."

	Of course, Your Majesty. Illesia is indeed a Kingdom and Toubres an Empire. Though, there are a growing number of detractors of Empress Bastos, claiming her to be incapable of solving Toubrian issues with Toubrian might or of 'flip-flopping'.

	"Empress Bastos is perhaps the most capable young woman I've ever met. Most young women are dainty, frail things with hardly more than the thought of fashion in their minds. But not Empress Bastos. Truly, it is the rare mind I meet that contains such depth and ability to carefully plan. I will state that it was absolutely a mistake to call the Conference on the issue of the Tehmig Savages. That became apparent from day one when, as we can see from transcripts of the event, the Conference was immediately hijacked to attempt to benefit the Great Powers that had attended it. Furthermore, these Great Powers intended to create rules regarding Serranthia, without the Tarans being represented. If that fact alone doesn't discredit the ridiculous sham that the Conference became, then I do not know what will. Her blessing for Illesian intervention in Toubrian Serranthia was a master stroke in my opinion, allowing the ridiculous Conference, which had gone completely off the rails at that point, to simply fall apart and fail to create any nonsensical decisions about Serranthia that would've been unenforceable anyway."

	And what of the tiny minority of Illesians and Toubrians who are apparently pacifists calling the suppression of the Tehmigs 'slaughter'?

	"I say they are fools who believe the Serranthian to be equal to the Euranian. Such a belief is nonsense and has been documented time and time again to be false. If the Serranthian were equal to the Euranian, he would have great empires just as we do. But he does not. And because of that, it is the mission of the Euranian to bring civilization and empire to the Serranthian. Those that resist will be dealt with accordingly. The Tehmigs attacked and raped numerous towns full of Euranians, and so I personally sent the 1st Expeditionary Force to crush their rebellion. And considering the reports from Major General D'Amos, it has been a raging success, a true display of glory as the first Illesian offensive military action in decades, if not centuries. I also personally call upon all peoples wherever you are, if you encounter this kind of drivel about Serranthians being equal to Euranians or whatever else, to defeat their argument with the facts we all know to be true."

	Absolutely, Your Majesty. While I'm here, might I get your opinion on the Second Tyro-Helroxi War?

	"I fully hope for a swift end to the hostilities and a return to peace for those two nations. The war seems to have clearly developed out of a misunderstanding as far as I can tell, but such things are always clouded until history can clearly pick them apart."

	And finally, what about the Cadian demands of Helrox that were recently issued?

	"Vultures, the lot of them. The foul-mouthed King Roy Carl seems intent on threatening and insulting every neighboring country of Cadia, to the extent that I expect the Cadians to cease to exist as a nation within twenty years. Their only hope is overthrowing their failure of a 'King', and I use that word half-jokingly, or listening to the guidance of another nation on how to more peaceably run their affairs."

Thank you, Your Majesty, for the insights.

(+1 to all July rolls.)