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[h3][u][b]Kingdom of Komentiolos, Tarsus, Imperial Parade Grounds - The Sun Rises[/b][/u][/h3]

The crowded masses grew quiet as the king took the raised dais, his military uniform simple and fitting for the occasion. His officers and advisors stood beneath the dais, their uniforms no more regal than his own. Across his chest, medals and campaign ribbons earned honorably and rightfully, bought and paid for with blood and sweat from his youth. He wore no wig, no fashions of the West, he dressed himself of antiquity, of the old Empire. In his right hand, an old and worn baton was held, passed down for generations to its next rightful commander. Here, before all the men and women summoned to the great Imperial Parade Grounds, stood a military commander, and not some pompous, braggadocios, sovereign of the West. All eyes were now upon him, soldier and citizen alike, looking to him for what was to happen next. Taking a final breath, the king began to speak, knowing what he said would echo across the realm for decades to come. 

    "My people... Sons and Daughters of Komentiolios... For many years, we have been a broken empire: fragmented, oppressed, and conquered by those we sought to escape. Thirteen Hundred years ago, our forefathers stood against the collapse of the West, watched as our brothers and sisters, our kin of the West, fall into chaos. We stood tall in those dark times, as the world descended into darkness. The barbarous hordes the poured across the plains and forests and mountains of the former Imperial holdings were endless. How many tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of anguished souls came begging before our very doors, crying out for sanctuary and salvation. We granted them that, we spilt our blood and sweat for them, from the fabled expeditions of antiquity, the incursions and raids against the hordes of teeming chaos roiling before our very borders. And yet, even with all we sacrificed, the honored dead of old, we did not flinch before our sacred duty to defend civilization. We have stood for a thousand years and more as the beacon of hope, of civilization, the shield and sword the guards the realms of men against all who would seek to envelop the world in perpetual darkness. And yet now, as we stand upon a knifes edge, the very descendants of those we saved, plot against us. 

My father asked for time, and that time was granted by you. You: the strength in my arm, the holders of our people’s dreams… long ago, as our foes raged all around us, we were forced to abandon our far flung territorial holdings, the greatest sacrifice in the history of mankind. A sacrifice for freedom, Komentiolos became that freedom. Our new realm was smaller, which forced change upon us all. At first, it weakened us, but in fact, we were growing stronger. In the time since our great sacrifice, our great realm has been reborn anew, regaining our divine strength, earning our rightful pride! The turn cloaks of old were exiled and driven from our lands, their tainted views expunged from our way of life. We gained new insights into who we were, and who we are now. On this day, those driven to divide us will here one united voice, one united people. On this day, we shall act as one, and we shall be ignored NO MORE! Defenders of civilization, sons and daughters of Komentiolios, now is our time!”

The crowd roared with approval and applause, both the soldiers and citizens joining in as one resounding voice. The king stood there, gauging their reaction for a long time, taking his time in breathing deeply and slowly. Soon, there was his opening once more, and he continued speaking, his booming voice carrying across the great stone venue.

     This much I vow: The history of these days will be written in blood. We so graciously offered peace to our enemies, so humbly held aloft the olive branch, only for those very same foes to savagely grip a dagger in one hand and hold a venomous snake in the other. They sought to poison our minds at home, with fear and mistrust, but they did not succeed. Instead, they so cowardly instigated rebellion in our colonial holdings, in Aegyptus. They hoped to snuff out the flame of civilization abroad, in the vain hopes of such a dastardly attack would hurt our own moral and courage. No… by crushing the armies of our enemy, by seizing the weapons they thought to turn against us, we are fighting for our very existence. Those who would deny us peace; refuse us our rightful place in the world, then we will unleash such terrible vengeance that generations yet unborn will cry out in anguish! The enemy may shatter our bodies, but they cannot break our spirit. Even now they advance upon our borders, to seize by force what they cannot claim by right. They cannot imagine what awaits them. We will smite the invaders from our seas, our beaches, our home! Though they will try and sweep over our lands like the sands of winter, never again will we bow before them; never again endure their oppression; never again endure their tyranny. We will strike without warning and without mercy, fighting as one hand, one heart, one soul. We will shatter their dreams and haunt their nightmares, drenching our ancestors' graves with their blood. And as our last breath tears at their lungs; as we rise again from all across our lands... they will know: The East belongs to the Komentiolians." 

Once again the crowd cheered, the roar so deafening that it could be heard for miles around. The king smiled at that, standing before his people, his comrades, knowing that if there was not to be peace, then there would be war, a war that the foes of Komentiolios would not be ready for. He looked down to his generals, the officers and admirals, strong hard men who all would fight to the bloody end if need be. There would be no peace with the West, with Khazaria, with all those who sought to usurp the rightful rule of Komentiolios.