Crown Royal happenings

Arcy

Upon one starry night, the Crown Royal stumbled into existence [starting last week i think] and now is on a path to try and be an empire.
(this is where i assume i rp, home i'm right.)

Arcy

[Telegram to the Palace, 4/10/1612]

To : Emperor Kohl, Emperor of the Crown Royal

Emperor, or more, rather, Emperess, I'm inviting you over for tea at Vladirostock. I hope you can come over, as it's been a really nice week with warm, calm. I'm sure Your Grace might want to at least take a little dip into the water and see the experimental underwater housing habs?

Not like you won't come at all, I know you might come later to officially see them. But why not take a tour first without the regional paparazzi and the human designers constantly hounding you about opinions and how great the thing is? On that note of 'not drawing attention', maybe next time don't roll up in a limousine. It may break royal procedures, but you can have you, two guards, and a driver comfortably in a family car. And ditch the fancy garments too to draw less attention.

I know i'm not great at using this new 'telegram' or articulating my words to the messenger, so this may come out wrong, or not as i hoped. But i hope you come soon, and hopefully not in a royal procession, so i don't have to organize the roads.

With regards, Mariopol, supervisor of the Central Region

Arcy

[not part of rp, planning message]

not done with image for the tea thing
many things in store but can't write yet

sorry for inconvenience

Arcy

[Vladirostock, 11/10/1612]
Two attentive shark university students age 21 are in a cafe.
"Despite being called the "Winter Palace", we barely get any snow here. At best, it's only a centimeter of snow..." said Andrei. "Did it snow that much back then?"
"The Winter Palace is a hundred kilometers from the city center. But the city shows the borders of the greater area instead of the city only..."
An acquaintance of hers, Korra. responded. "I'll send a complaint one day. But not now."
"No, a hundred kilometers isn't that far away.."
Andrea grumbled, her ears flop down. Why in the world was it called such a thing...

Before she could ask her friend another question, the waitress arrived.
"Your bill, girls. .34 UR's. Card or cash?"
"Debit." Andre hands her card over.
"Ok... Please enter your PIN."

Being interrupted to pay the bill made Andre forget about the other question. But another one appeared...
"You ever wonder who wrote down Yae's Journal?"
"Not really." Korra mumbled "I mean, the name 'Madame Yae' is on the back of it. Probably some old lady noting down her knowledge."
"But the sources aren't the most credible. Who wrote John's Tablet then?"
"Must be Prophet John from Freshman year textbooks."

The two keep chatting. endlessly..
(Not sure how to write a ending. I assure you these two are up to tomfoolery soon)

Arcy

[Quick RP Post]
The ocean waves softly roll under the boats at Vladirostock, soon to be renamed Crown City. Under the seas, there's a new underwater settlement under construction. It's a usual scene, as multiple boats float over the work site acting as cranes, craning up and down items with onboard winches.

Today, i asked one of the workers, Andrei Komarov. She's a 56 year old shork, when compared to a possible lifespan of 1000 years, seems like she's still a teen. She tells me that underwater construction is more tedious than above-land work, despite feeling like you are in less gravity. There's fish, other swimmers, and the occasional large fish. Maybe even orcas playing around for food. So, essentially, a lot of fish. But that wasn't all according to Andrei. There's also dust clouds, toxic water, and some more things i forgot.
The undersea workers get paid only 2 times more than regular workers, so i ask her why she works there though the rent is higher in the city. She says "I live in an undersea apartment complex nearby. Rent underwater is cheaper than above land. I guess not all species can swim into an airlock. But that's just my thinking."

I don't really learn much from talking with the locals, as i often forget what happens, as i usually just paste it onto the newspapers and call it a day. But i did learn that some sharks like to live a bit more risky. May forget later.

On another day, i met a Fey salesman from the Glowstone isles, selling some glowstone items at the market. i happened to talk to him about the undersea last time, and it ended up in me buying some good luck trinket. Can't remember what he did, but i think it was some haggling and tricking. But i do admit the Fey salesman may have actually sold me the real deal, as things have been going more smoothly now, apart from the 300 UR hole in my wallet...

Arcy

[Quick RP Post]
Down south, in the Crown Empire, sits a lot of bucket wheel excavators digging up hundreds of tonnes of earth and stone in a hot and dry desert enviroment. At the moment, at 11 AM, it's not the end of her shift, but the BWE operator feels tired.

"Hey, Andrei. Take over for me, will you? I'm feeling dizzy again." The operator asked her coworker. It seems as if she has heatstroke.
"Sure, i guess. Need help climbing out of the seat?" Andrei playfully asked her.
"N-no.. I can get up on my own.." The operator tiredly hops out of her seat. Andrei sits on it.

"Hey, Anna. You sure it's not heatstroke again?" Andrei, the now-operator asks worriedly.
"Nie.. no.. I still feel not that thristy.." Anna lays down on the nearby bed.
"You still need to drink. Just drink something! You haven't even touched your can of Fanta?!"
"I.. i'm not feeling great.. But it's my head..."
"Oh come on, Anna. Drink something! Don't die to something so dumb!"
Andrei hits her hand on the armrest, out of anger. The loud bang could be faintly heard from outside the room.

"Fine... I'll use the IV unit..."
Anna tiredly sits up and searches the drawer next to her. A mini IV bag, meant for self-use. She grabs the mechanism, and slides her left arm through the cloth strap. With the press of a button, the small machine tightens around her arm, and forces the IV into her blood using a low-pressure jet injector. It will take a while before the IV bag empties, and the IV bag to detach.
"See? IV..."
"Anna,.. fine, at least some water's going in after a few hours of not drinking. I'll cook you something that isn't instant ramen tonight."
Andrei shifts her focus to the bucket wheel's controls. Now all she has to do is monitor it, along with her sick[?] friend.
"Huh, but i like having Yulsan ramen... Bulgogi..."
Anna sighs. She dozes off quickly after that.

Arcy

Korolya's current status

[Quick RP Post]

Vladirostock? No, you must be confused. It's Korolya now.
These words are uttered to most travelers coming along, and it's true. Some time ago, Emperess Kohl renamed it. And the road names too.

It seems that the capital city of Korolya is half-underwater, and half-on land. It used to be a city-state, and the walls are still maintained. Up on the surface, it is filled with old castles and tall towers. Since the life of the shark was turned head over heels at the start of the Industrial Revolution, most sharks are accustomed to being land-lubbers. The newer sections of the city now is uniquely made for the shark inhabitants that live there, well mostly. You could still swim around in a diving suit to see the underwater sections of the city, but it's not the same.

The underwater part of the city, it's a mess. But a coordinated one. Apartment blocks float on the surface, anchored down below by cables. Entire towers hang from buoyancy structures. Since the water is clean, you could look down from your rented boat and see sharks doing regular life things like drive to work in electric cars or sunbathe...
Anyways, the city of Korolya neighbors a few other cities. And the famed Winter Palace about a hundred kilometers from here, and the ever so glamorous Growstone Isles being closer, at just 20.

Korolya has a few things, apart from being Emperess Kohl's birthplace, along with a few other influential people, being a city-state and having very clean water thanks to the efforts of the Crown Undersea Corporation (CUC) and the Tina (U)mwelt Wssserkonzern (TEW). It also has, other than the legislative 12,500 member Commons Parliament...

Not that much, really, other than military installations, tall buildings and all that. Sort of a quiet, but bustling capital city. But it's bound to change. Rumors spread that the Emperess is going to go somewhere and do some diplomacy, and something will be built in the crown.
More detailed rumors speak of Karthia, the one having a canal built by the Crown, and the duchy of Japulie, who gave us some boats.

Who knows? Maybe something new may happen here!

Arcy

[Quick RP Post]

Along the rivers, and other places along the northern half of the Crown, within the forests and the plains, castles are often found. The nobles that reside in here came from the nobles that Emperess Kohl spared and handed administrative work to long ago. Or these castles are public administrative buildings, like the large sprawling complex that is the Winter Palace. or even universities, like the Universität Korolja.

Very rarely, you will see castles inhabited by real knight orders. These sharks keep the tradition of knighthood going, though it is already outdated. They patrol cities on horseback, fight thieves with blades, and uphold the general peace. A stoic and noble bunch.

Rarely too do you see ruined castles, abandoned to nature. Among the thousands of forts and castles that appear across the Crown, most are maintained, as most are in use. There's even one a kilometer down in the sea, the small town of 500 named Castle Nemo. So deep down they are that they have been frozen in the medieval era for 400 years.

Knights and castles are plentiful in the Crown, but where are the dragons? Since most sharks live up to a thousand years with the help of magic, the older ones will tell you they have faced dragons and they were very hard to take down, along with the stories of entire kingdoms being razed by their fiery breath and seen the majestic plumes of fire that they breathe. The newer knights say all they know is kobolds. The large dragons are few discovered, but there are several taxidermized dragons in the Korolya National Museum.

Well, the stereotypical fantasy world is real, or at least mostly was before the sharks found a way to assemble a rapid-firing flak cannon out of grapeshot guns and stop them from terrorizing the empire. Of course, some dragons still fly around, but seeing them is rare. Good thing the only ones surviving are the all-knowing ones, rather than the dumb ones.

Arcy

## [Emperess Kohl's departure to Karthia]
Tonight is a normal day in the Crown's capital, except in the Korolya harbor, where Emperess Kohl's designated transport is waiting. The Auslander, a submarine 200 meters long.
[similar in size to the Typhoon-class submarine irl, with the difference of having a larger mast on top, and being better in general]

The Auslander is a retrofitted submarine, now being a luxury VVIP transport, able to traverse the oceans quietly and faster than most surface ships due to magic and technology. For the Emperess's safety, multiple electronic systems were reinstalled. It's different compared to a Crown submarine, seeing as it possesses no torpedo tubes or any offensive capabilities, rather in its place is luxury accommodations and a small garage able to hold 2 limousines and 6 trucks. The mounted interceptor missiles are mounted in pods fixed to the main submarine, so they did not have to open it up in a drydock for longer to put in what they had to remove later, as the Auslander actually belongs to a national company.

At the harbor, Emperess Kohl said her goodbyes to her supposed friends, members of her inner circle. Among them are influential heads of industries and other officials. Of course, some other people accompany her onboard, but most don't. The Commons Prime minister, Heisse Korolya, is given temporary regent status over the Crown while Kohl is away. The limousines and the jeeps are craned onboard by the Auslander's own onboard crane and ramp. The commander of the Crown Grenadier, Commander Fisk is also departing, seeing as she's Kohl's personal bodyguard.

The submarine departs without much commotion, seeing as the journalists and others were barred from entering the area at that day. Boats trying to get near the submarine could not due to the bow thrusters moving it into a suitable bearing to sail into the deep sea. Underwater cameras prove useless as it covers itself in bubbles as it maneuvers around the densely-packed harbor.

~~Auslander sails into the endless blue of the ocean and blistering speeds beyond 70 km/h, leaving nothing but a small wave in it's wake.~~

Arcy

[Quick RP post]

Underwater, since sharks can breathe underwater, lie Crown submarine pens. These pens lay at least a hundred meters under the water and serve as hidden resupply and repair ports for Crown submarines.
They are camouflaged by building them in caves or ravines and cliff walls, or putting coral and sea wrecks on it. These ones are impossibly hard to find, and no Crown civilian can find them as the ocean is so vast.

Reportedly, some Japuliean research subs came by and looked around. The subs scanned places and left, apparently. We're unsure what they did but we saw them go down to the town of Nemo around 80 km from Korolya, and i believe it was 1,000 meters below the ocean.
On, about the town, Nemo, it's very medieval-ish. They were unable to get technology pressure resistant enough to go there so they are still stuck in the medieval age. I say it's good as they haven't experienced brainrot yet.

[The text above, is some shark yapping about underwater happenings. Sharks like her are enthusiasts of what happens in the oceans, and are sort of a historian and an explorer too, if they do live underwater.]

Arcy

[Crown Shenanigans]

With the Emperess gone, Heisse Korolya is left in charge.
For context, Heisse Korolya is the youngest of the Korolya nobility, who ruled over the capital when it was a city-state. Her crown didn't mean much untill Kohl left and put her in charge.

So now, Heisse sits in the Winter Palace's office, in Kohl's chair, with a scenic view that overlooks the capital city and much of the nearby area. It's a large glass and steel structure that sits on a roof, it's got some trees and lots of royal things. And a mirror...

The mirror goes to Winster's office, the one in the Bastielle, in the Glowstone Isles. It's currently locked, made obvious by a sticky-note left by the man himself. It says "Off on vacation, whoever's not Kohl, don't go in."
Heisse shrugs to herself, i mean, she's not allowed to go against him. Winster holds a seat in Kohl's inner circle, so Heisse is actually beneath Winster.

She looks around the room, for anything interesting to do. There's a note for her on the table, by Kohl. She picks up the slightly-crumpled paper and reads it.
"For Heisse. Don't forget to write a letter to the Grand Duke of Japulie that I'm coming over. With regards, Kohl."

Why is it crumpled, she thinks, before being interrupted by a Crown Grenadier. This shork looks very imposing and tall with her full ceremonial uniform, the bandage around her eye, and the Edelweiss Medallion in Gold neatly slung around her collar.
"Lady Korolya. The mages wish to see you in the East Wing, at the tea spot they usually go to. Shall I escort you or no?"
"Eh... yeah, escort me there. I don't really get to come here often, so i get lost..."
Heisse stands up
"I wish these guards would leave me alone.. it's the third time in a row i have to go see people..."

Arcy

[Economic reforms]

It's that time of the year when the GDP is not to everyone's liking. The current GDP of the Crown is not favorable for everyone, despite sitting at 2.15 trillion USD. The reason probably is the average per capita is less than 21,500 USD. Such a low number is not good for an empire as large as the Crown. So the Commons Parliament this time without beating the hell out of each other with metal chairs peacefully passed an economics reform bill.

With this bill, and the approval of Korolya, the Central Korolya Stock Exchange was founded. A national stock exchange for companies to trade in. Other than that, general things like adjusting the wage minimum and other minor things. This is expected to send the GDP from 2.15 trillion to 2.5 trillion, according to expert shorks. But the GDP per capita will not move beyond 21,500 because of the increasing population.
Seeing how the Commons Parliament members are about to beat each other with metal chairs, Heisse paid a visit to an economist in the Glowstone Isles, and returned with some more things to pass through the Commons.

The bills are as follows : the Korolya Deisolation Act, the Korolya Foreign Companies Act, and the Korolya Small Corporations Act. Pretty normal bills that can get passed. Hopefully without a few Commons members going to the ER again.
Other than that, she's planning to host a competition for bread baking, something the economist told her. he says "Hold contests to determine things. Lotsa contest bestocratic style." Taking some advice from him, soon the Korolya Baker's fest will begin, where the best bakery shop gets a grand total of 15 million UR and a trophy. She doubts if it will work but hopes it can generate more competition to make more money for GDP.

Arcy

Japuile

[Economic reforms]

That took a long while. To break down what happened between the creation of the three acts made in
[ https://sparkalia.com/d/281-crown-royal-happenings/12 ], some chaos broke out.

First, was the voting for the Korolya Deisolation Act. The Commons Parliament room was sunken into constant back and forth regarding foreigners, foreign companies, bad people from the outside. The infamous metal chair on row 4 aisle 5 was used again, delivering four near-fatal blows to northern parliament members and breaking a few bones. As usual, the politician that did it got apprehended by Crown Grenadier shorks. When voting resumed the next day, it was peacefully passed, with 76% of the 12,500 seat parliament saying 'Yes' and 21% saying 'No', with the remaining not answering either because they were not there, or in the ER.

On the 3rd of Lux, the Korolya Deisolation act was put into play, and the first thing done with the act was give the fast food chain Japulie Fried Parrot [JFP] the clearance papers to begin operations in the Crown. With the deisolation act out of the way, more discussion will be underway for the Korolya Foreign Companies Act, which will properly regulate foreign companies, and outline the do's and dont's.

Arcy

[Economic reforms]

After a few more days of back and forth and the infamous chair nearly hitting Grand Admiral Kirov who was spectating the parliament's proceedings, on the 11th of Lux, the Korolya Foreign Companies Act passed with an astounding 80% approval rate. It's clear they united over having no foreign parties control national production. With that out of the way, the Korolya Small Corporations Act can go for discussions in the Commons Parliament. Now all foreign companies can apply for a foreign corporation permit rather than a special permit to operate in the Crown.

Apart from that, some parliament member pointed out the Crown needs more people, so a new batch of parental acts are in the works by a few parties. Another pointed out that certain companies are malicious, so a Korolya Körperschaft Polizei could possibly be made, being a completely new organization who can arrest companies for doing stuff like tax evasion and cutting corners.

Arcy

[Quick RP Post]

In the Winter Palace, in the Strategic Command Room, it's the usual murmur. On the wall, a display showing the land and sea borders of the Crown. peanut shaped as it is now.
One of the general shork looks at the other and asks, "Hey, you hear the trumpet of war rumbling again?"
The other replies with "No, i hear the cries of the other neutral nations in the Sta'ir-Trepor war."

"Well, it may be out of left field, but we might join in." the first general confidently huffs.
"I sure hope not, I don't want my hometown hit by a bomb" the other responds sternly. "You should take caution."
"And what, miss a new opportunity for glory?!"
"Yes. Drop the ideas or you'll get us all glassed."

"Well, Miss Defense, why should i not rush in head first for fame and glory?" she says, striking a pose. The other generals and admirals in the main room continue their work, seemingly ignoring her.
"You keep forgetting. The Crown is doomed to fail if we try and engage someone with WMD's. Trepor has the capabilities to wipe us off the map. I'm not letting your recklessness doom us all."

After a moment of silence, the second general sighs. "It's the third time this week Anna. Take your meds."
"No. I can think plan better without them. I'm far, far better without those chains." Anna huffed again.
"Yeah, as if. Your schizophrenia is getting out of hand. We don't have those proposed enriched Lurynian crystal WMD's, we don't have a cutting-edge fleet, and we still have a disorganized army with all sorts of special units."

A bit more back and forth brings the general Anna into a mental collapse.
"Where's Emperess Kohl when you need her. We clearly need a replacement general and two lord-admiral replacements. I bet she's too busy swimming in her teacup to notice for the 5th time in a year the command is screwed again..."

Arcy

[Economic reforms]

[Previous economic post : https://sparkalia.com/d/281-crown-royal-happenings/14 ]

Yet more back and forth, and now the Korolya Small Corporations Act is passed. This law protects small corporations from large corporations, and regulates corporations that buy smaller ones. It's also effectively a monopoly killer for foreign companies.
it passed the Commons Parliament on the 13th of Lux with a 92% approval rate, beating the last bill in highest recorded approval rate. No one suffered from the infamous metal chair on row 4 aisle 5 being flung around, making it the first time in four years that it has not soared into the parliament halls. This is a great sigh of relief for everyone, and the parliament members were able to walk away unscathed.

Since all three economic reform laws had passed, Heisse was spotted enjoying some expensive cake in the seaside bakery tonight, to congratulate herself for somehow making all three acts pass flawlessly.

Arcy

[Naval Exercises]

With the current state of the Crown Royal Navy [CRN] with it's many ships, and the general peacetime laziness that comes with being a stable peace-seeking empire, Admiral Kirov announced that a naval exercise will be held someday on the 1st of Lux, Clearly it too longer to round up all the captains an ships than expected, but now on the 18th of Lux, the Crown Sea Exercises begin.

There are a few parts of these exercises that raise a few eyebrows, like a naval invasion practice, with the deafening roars of machine gun emplacements and shore artillery face off against entire Marine battalions of soldiers walking up to the beach. There's also the naval battles, with the CRN Golden Sea battleship fired it's large 510cm/20in guns at a target board around 70 km away. It hit about 1 meter away from the board, flying over the target board, but it's the closest they had to hitting something in the first salvo with their new Karpolev-2 GPS Fin-Guided High Explosive Anti-Tank ammo.
[K2 GPS FGHEAT 510mm shell and CR Standard Smokeless Charge V5 charge]
There's also the Crown Navy's CRN Tower, a galleon from the old days of sail. The mages onboard casted a homing fireball spell and set fire to not only the targeting boat, but other allied ships, setting fire to the CRN Prince of Magadan. This shows that all ships need good communication or else everyone burns.

Overall, it seems as if the naval exercises showed that the Crown Navy is still capable of sinking an enemy fleet. Only if the galleons and older ships get more upgrades and stuff. Magical communication systems did not help either somehow, as the mirrors were a hazard if they broke on the deck. The only thing to note is the Glowstone Isles galleon which was gifted from the Crown Navy on 1540 AR was busy casting Power Word : Scrunch and imploding the CRN Prince of Magadan's B turret and ammo magazine right after the fire was put out. it's only lucky that the crew jumped out of the turret as it was the turret that also caught fire...

Arcy

[Army Exercises]

Only a day after the Navy Exercises on the 18th of Lux, the Army Exercises begin. In practices for defense and attack, many showed valor and their skill in utilizing the terrain. A squadron of the new prototype Armee Walker Program utilizing the GPM Mk4 with the Crown's latest MBT tank gun, the autoloading variant of the 165mm Kwk 52 managed to outflank and hard kill about a dozen tanks before having their legs 'blown' off and being mobility killed. But the machines persisted and took out a few more tanks before being 'hit' in the hip area by the remaining tanks. The machines had to be raised out of the ground after the exercises as it toppled over and shut down to mimic actually being killed in action.

On other exercises, urban combat was held at the city of Muscovy, a 20 km drive from Korolya. The defenders entrench themselves and the aggressors break through defensive lines. Constant back and forth. Regent Heisse Korolys notes that she feels at ease knowing the army is capable of actually being an army rather than being embezzled to high noon.

Overall, again, it's as successful as the naval exercises, and managed to involve nearly half of all army personnel. Of course, the Glowstone Isles militia managed to put on display the powers of magic by a single mage taking out tanks with high level spells before being told it was a training exercise. The funeral of 25 soldiers will be held on 24th of Lux, and the mage was given a stern warning, and ordered not to skip the debriefing next time...

Arcy

[Quick RP Post]

In Korolya, at one of the floating harbour portions lies the CRN Golden Sea moored down by lines of rope. Cranes resupply it's ammunition deck. Opposite to her, lies the CRN Prince of Magadan. They are also replenishing the prince's ammo load and taking abart the B turret's magazine and whatever was left of the interior. Salvage crews take apart melted assemblies and send them up cranes, and the plan is to empty the space so another dual 510mm turret can be installed onto the ship. There's also plans to turn the B turret into a triple-barrel B turret but the Lord Admiral ways restore the ship, so no crazy things can be done yet.
Upon closer inspection, the Prince also suffered from other ailments. One of them was Engine 1's cylinders constantly banging around, so the turret installation will be conducted at the same drydock where they will inspect the engines.

In the adjacent floating port sits the CRN Tower. The mage-captain is off shopping for ingredients and a crew of technicians are discussing with the other mages on board where to put the communications station. Between the CRN Golden Sea and the CRN Tower is another vessel, the CRN Glowworm, a humble frigate. The crew is busy enjoying the summer sun, suntanning and all. On the other floating port a bit further away sits two submarines, the same class as the Auslander demilitarized submarine. They are replenishing on groceries and new stuff.

Sitting nearby to the three floating ports are the two Great Turtle class of submersible transport ship, delivered by Japulie a few months back. The ships have been painted a dazzle pattern in varying shades, anti-air emplacements, small machine gun emplacements and some more catwalks across the ships. They had been renamed the CRN Tick and the CRN Bug, despite their massive size. Both ships are also acting as floating ports for the smaller boats that need resupply and repairs

Generally it was a day to recollect, debrief and repair before dispersing the navy again.

Arcy

[Japuliean Visa-Free Travel]

[ https://sparkalia.com/d/410-the-rose-diplomacy/5 ]

The situation in the Commons Parliament got chaotic again. As usual, heater arguments and brawls spread across the hall, with people bashing each other against tables, chairs, kicks and fists. The admirals, generals, and Winter Palace members watch from above in the viewing balcony.
Pure democracy is in full swing as knockouts and fatalities are handed out like freebies in the floor below.

Days, a week even passes. Eventually, it's voted in favor and now Crown and Japuliean people can go back and forth. All at the expense of a record-breaking 620 representatives going to the hospital. But this visa-free travel is one of many things that needs to be signed into working.
On the 22nd of Lux, 1613 AR, the Japuliean Visa-Free Travel Act is approved with a roughly 60% approval rate. The other people who would have made it a tight battle got sent to the ER. Not much of note can be said.