[i]"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud. Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, my friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori." [/i] -Wilfred Owen

[center][h2]Spring of 1799[/h2][/center]

[center][img]https://image.ibb.co/h7PaMU/Country_Labelled.png[/img][/center]

[u][b][i]3rd of January[/i][/b][/u]

The state funeral of the recently deceased King of [b]Ubren[/b] is a lavish and grand affair. The respected rulers coffin is paraded through the streets of the Kingdom's capital, Wolund, and is attended by King Lucious of [b][color=ed1c24]The Redcliff Empire[/color][/b], and Emperor Erhard Hastel, of the [b][color=9e0b0f]Hastel Dominions[/color][/b]. The old king's son, the newly crowned King Otto Fichte, watches the procession with little interest. He never cared deeply for his father, cursing his isolationist and bitter ways, but now that the crown of Ubren rests on his young head, and he finds himself with wolves at the gate to the North and West, he is ready to take the reins of the Kingdom, and lead it into a new age. 

[b][i][u]5th of January[/u][/i][/b]

The border skirmishes along the border between the [b]Echyan Empire [/b]and the [b]Kingdom of Sescos [/b]continue, as they have for months. The two nations continue to clash, their radically different cultures and stubborn leaders dragging the skirmish ever closer to outright wars. Armies have been raised, and moved into position, and fleets have been spotted prowling along the coastline, ready to descend upon their foes. 

[b][i][u]8th of January[/u][/i][/b]

In a shock move, the Senate of [b]Oflua[/b] votes almost unanimously to publically condemn the [b]Kingdom of Sescos[/b], damning their neighbours as warmongers, and moving their own forces to the border. The Kingdom of Sescos suddenly finds itself assailed by rivals on two fronts, rapidly scrambling their forces to defend their borders as war seems to become a near certainty.