[center][b] Anika [/b][/center]

Ink bled across the thick, fine paper like water down a stream, following the master strokes of penmanship without fault. For several hours, Alik had been staring down at the slightly crumpled paper, its weight no more significant than any scroll, yet it seemed so hefty to him. Taut fingers shook as he once more read it over, lips pressing into a fine line, and his clear blue eyes shifting nervously to a candlestick that burned no more than three feet in front of his face. 

Addressed in a golden leaf, his name and titles were spelled clearly across the top, the font large and bold, seeming to pick up the fire's light, and glow. His eyes shifted across it twice over, ' To their Imperial Majesties, Czar Alik I and Czarina Innya of Anika' 

Beneath that, the inky blackness began, and despite this being the dozenth time the King had read it over, his gut did not fail to tighten, and his lips became parched.

" The Empire of Valhall has officially won out against her civil war, reuniting the eastern continent in her fullness. In victory, her eyes now turn out upon her neighbors. And in doing so, she has seen the world to be backwards. All around, barbarism reigns; the beasts rule over man, when it rightfully should be man who rules over the beasts. The uncivilized creatures build up their mongrel armies, plotting against humanity, and planning a Great War to wipe away civilization in a streak of blood. Emperor Caylor Brant I, Protector of Men, denounces all beasts, all creature of pelt and fur, of claw and talon, who think themselves fit of a crown. Their sovereignty is no longer recognized by the Empire of Valhall, as it is a impossibility that an independent nation could be headed without oppression by any creature other than man. For proper civilization is the kin of man, all else is the unbridled barbarism of beast.

In this declaration, all nations of men are extended the Empire of Valhall's grand protection. Her powerful armies will come to the aid of any who swear their fealty to man, and the nations who refuse her hospitality and choose barbarism over civility, shall soon find their strongholds under siege, and their people liberated by the Valhallian armies and her righteous allies. 

After three full moons passing, the Empire of Valhall will declare war upon all her enemies, and the Great War for Mankind shall begin."

At the bottom, in gold, Emperor Caylor signed, and the seal of Valhall marked it's legitimacy. 

He wished Innya was there, to counsel him, but the Czar sat alone, unsure of what these words meant to him. Anika was no country of beast-...nor did she bias against the other races. Yes, in many ways they were primitive, inferior, but they kept from her soil, and thusly, Alik hardly cared how they warred and tore through their own lands. In such a war, neutrality was the best option, and yet Caylor left no room for neutrality. The world was black and white, and Alik had never been one to choose. Pressing his hands together tightly, he thought himself best to sleep on the issue, in the morn he might come to a more definite decision, when his thoughts could digest, and the world might become clear again.