[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]Summer of 1801[/h2][/center]

[img]https://image.ibb.co/hdzrZf/Country-Labelled.png[/img]

[u][i][b]2nd of May[/b][/i][/u]

While the Siege of Ziva continues, a meeting is held between [b]The Kingdom of Vendsyssel[/b] and [b]The Kingdom of Ilastiri.[/b] The meeting drags on long into the night, and when it is finally resolved, the forces of both nations march for war. Whatever agreement was struck between the two, it has united the two armies against [b]The Kingdom of Claidor.[/b] It is the province of Holbeck that weathers the worst of the assault, attacked from two front. The cities of both Sloboci and Kosice find themselves besieged, the garrisons far outnumbered by the armies they defend against. If [color=0054a6][b]The Empire of Rubrus[/b][/color] continues not to act, then Claidor is surely lost. 

[b][i][u]6th of May[/u][/i][/b]

Frantic rumours begin reaching the survivors of [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] colony of Fort Tian. Rumours of Frigates, and Ships of the Line, sailing to the north, and flying the flag of [b]The Shuren Dynasty[/b]. It is clear that the Shuren Dynasty has not been idle, and that it has learnt from it's heavy defeats in the past. Using the remains of the initial Attolian fleet that reached them, putting their greatest minds, and their phenomenally large manpower to work, the Shuren Dynasty now commands a navy to rival the European powers. 

[b][i][u]9th of May[/u][/i][/b] 

Seemingly in preparation of invasion from [b][color=2e3192]The Kingdom of Aontas[/color][/b], [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] moves forces to garrison the newly conquered province of Torrik. War only continues to become an increasingly certain possibility, and the ripples of it have reached every corner of Europe. In [b]The Holy Territories of Edoniras[/b], the Pope feels that ensuring war doesn't consume Europe is once again his burden. He begins planning a summit, for all the powers of Europe, to ensure peace reigns. 

[b][i][u]13th of May[/u][/i][/b]

Desperate to maintain their control over Belgae, [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] pours more money into Sentinels. With tensions driven to a fever pitch by the attempted assassination of the Emperor himself, it is no easy task to maintain order. But with a small fortune in backing, the Sentinels take to their task with a ferocious tenacity. Rooting out a revolutionary element nearly every day, Attolia manages to maintain control over the province, but it is only by their fingernails. 

[b][u][i]15th of May[/i][/u][/b]

[b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] opens a string of government funded, and government owned, factories all across their territories. Clearly keen to make use of their substantial labour base, this is an effective, but expensive strategy. The industrialization of the nation continues, families leaving the fields that their family has worked for generations to travel to rapidly expanding cities. 

[b][i][u]18th of May[/u][/i][/b]

[b]The Kingdom of Claidor[/b] city of Kosice is the first to fall, it's walls shattered and the garrison quickly surrendering. Only a few hours later, as news reaches the beleaguered defenders of the city of Sloboci, that city falls as well. Only the provincial capital of Holbeck itself still stands, and it stands seemingly along against the combined forces of [b]The Kingdom of Vendsyssel[/b] and [b]The Kingdom of Ilastiri[/b]. 

[b][i][u]22nd of May[/u][/i][/b]

Majdi al-Selim, the man, or perhaps simply the idea, now entirely controls the nations of [b]The Eternal Hadeen of Dashkatar[/b], [b]The Akkadian Empire[/b] and [b]The Hijeen Caliphate[/b]. He possesses an almost limitless supply of manpower, vast tracts of land, and a nation of people united behind one single ideology. While the European powers bicker among themselves, Majidi is given the liberty of simply watching, and waiting. 

[b][i][u]24th of May[/u][/i][/b]

Surprisingly, perhaps to the people of [b][color=708090]The Kingdom of Ubren[/color][/b] most of all, Ubren sends diplomats to [b][color=00aeef]The Empire of Attolia[/color][/b] with a proposition. The deal is simple. Ubren will not go to war, so long as Attolia hands over the province of Belgae to the Kingdom of Ubren. They also agree to signing a peace treaty that will last twenty years, even offering to pay Attolia for the land. It is now up to Attolia to make their decision. 

[b][i][u]27th of May[/u][/i][/b]

The dissension that has been running rife across the territories of [b][color=007236]The Three City's Republic of Ianian[/color][/b] continues. Over the last months, the steadfast supporters of the Old Freedom coalition have steadily been growing more confident in their defiance, riots becoming a fairly regular occurrence across the Three City's. Keen to suppress these embers before they burst into flames of revolution, members of the New Power coalition give speeches across the Republic. This seems to sate the more moderate complaints at least, leaving only the die-hard supported of the Old Freedom coalition to grumble. 

[b][i][u]30th of May[/u][/i][/b]

The combined forces of [b]The Kingdom of Vendsyssel[/b] and [b]The Kingdom of Ilastiri[/b] reach the walls of the city of Holbeck. The siege promises ot be bloody, the garrison of [b]The Kingdom of Claidor[/b] controlling a formidable defensive position. But they are outnumbered, and the soldiers they face are veterans of sieges. The guns begin to roar.