While the Budgetary & Internal Affairs Council was busy with the Opthelian delegation to LIDUN debating the merits of an organisational rebrand, the Political & Human Rights Council remained rather unbusied, with just a handful of bureaucratic procedural motions filling the dead air... until the better part of the entire Novellan delegation to LIDUN filed to their allocated seating within the council.

While a lone junior attaché could be entrusted with the Social Republic's nuclear security agency proposal over in the BIAC chamber, it would take the remainder of their delegation to handle the political and diplomatic issues a proposal in this council was bound to raise. The clerk raised his eyebrow as the large group silently made their way into the room, each with a small nod to the chair, as polite formalities dictated. "The Novellan delegation has something to raise with the Council, I assume?"

A slight grin spread across the ambassador's face, as he raised the document bearing the proposal in a show of acknowledgement at the secretary's question.


  PHRC-PROP-1-A - On the Drafting of a Universal Human Rights Framework.pdf (Size: 241.18 KB / Downloads: 54)

While the Novellan delegation struck at the heart of a critical issue of international security with its proposal just prior, the Opthelian ambassador had a slightly more... vain issue to raise within the Budgetary & Internal Affairs Council. As the council secretary called on him to speak to his government's motion, the man rose to his feet with a polite nod.

"May it please the Council. The Empire of Opthelia tables this proposal at the request of the government of Hanafleura, whose interests we continue to represent before LIDUN at this time." Shooting a glance and quick smile at the woman sitting beside him - Hanafleura's chief liaison to the Opthelia LIDUN delegation - the ambassador continued.

"While neither Hanafleura nor Opthelia wish to diminish the significance of the achievements made under the present iconography of LIDUN, there are a number of valid concerns to be raised. As such, we implore the Council to support this proposal, in order to begin the process of designing an emblem more fitting for the present day."


  BIAC-PROP-3-A - On the Drafting of an Emblematic Insignia.pdf (Size: 232.79 KB / Downloads: 23)

  BIAC-PROP-3-B - Various Initial Proposals for an Emblematic Insignia.pdf (Size: 276.51 KB / Downloads: 32)

The Novellan delegation to the League of IDU Nations was not well known for being a particularly proactive force in international affairs. Indeed, their modus operandi typically involved maintaining a delicately balanced air of neutrality on most matters... right up to the point that they could deliver a well-calculated and critical blow, and only ever on matters that affected the Social Republic's own affairs.

The proposal tabled today was, of course, no different. As the clerk read the orders of the day for the Budgetary & Internal Affairs Council, she gave a considerable pause before continuing. "Item number two, BIAC/PROP/2/A and /B, tabled by the... Social Republic of the Novella Islands?"

The sole present Novellan, a young staffer, stood with a nod, confirming the council secretary's suspicions. "Yes, as tabled, Ms Secretary. Thank you." Those seven words were all the instruction he had been given by the senior members of his party; as to whether it was unfounded hubris or well placed confidence, well... that was up to the whims of any other state parties that were present. As he sat back down, he texted a message of confirmation to his superiors, as the clerk continued.

"Very well. Debate will shortly begin on... On the Formation of an International Nuclear Safety Authority, after a brief recess to give the state parties time to read the tabled proposal."


  BIAC-PROP-2-A - On the Formation of an International Nuclear Safety Authority.pdf (Size: 247.34 KB / Downloads: 38)

  BIAC-PROP-2-B.2 - Statute of the International Nuclear Safety Authority.pdf (Size: 251 KB / Downloads: 26)

Previous Revisions:

  BIAC-PROP-2-B - Statute of the International Nuclear Safety Authority.pdf (Size: 228.69 KB / Downloads: 24)

I hereby call the admission of Sunemia into the League of IDU Nations to a vote. As is protocol, initial voting shall last 72 hours.

They found her facedown in the fountain.

What a place to die, eh?

We were on the scene in less than a half an hour. But like usual, it wasn’t fast enough. Somebody had already dragged her, lifeless, to the ground. People here never respected crime scenes. It was like everyone felt they personally had to feel like the savior of a woman who had already died. I personally always believed in leaving the dead well alone. They already had to go through dying, why put them through your phoney savior tears?

‘Course I say that and then immediately turn around and watch a dozen people get autopsied every month. In a way I’ve always wondered if the autopsy helped them find their own peace. They could feel us cutting them open and they knew we wouldn’t let their death be unavenged. Then again, the moment I write those words on paper, they sound like a buncha hokey bullshit.

In any case, the drowned girl’s body awaited us. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, slash marks deep and jagged across her torso. Almost looked like she’d been tortured at first glance, the way the knife had ripped instead of cut. We did our best to gather clues at the scene for the poor girl but it was hard enough just to keep the crowds away. God I hate this place.

Murder here is a spectacle. Within a week of the girl’s death, her pictures had infiltrated every corner of the internet. The sight of her body, splayed out in the fountain, red tendrils slowly seeping into the water around her. There was a certain twisted, dark serenity to it, but that didn’t mean the girl deserved to be turned into some kind of pariah. “The Drowned Angel” they called her. The funny thing was, they didn’t even know her. We didn’t even know her. Nobody knew who she was, not even the coroner. But nevertheless she was an angel, descended from above some said. How can you label someone an angel? Isn’t that a pressure they don’t deserve?

That’s a whole different rant though. What was more important was that the case was going nowhere. We’d cut open every inch of her, searched every identifying feature of her in the database, and we’d come up emptier than a birdbath in the summer. She was a ghost more than an angel. And goddamnit it frustrated me. I always hated cases I couldn’t solve. Still do. And shit this one was… blank. The file spanned three pages and two of them were a coronary file that basically said we had no idea what we were even looking for. The scene had been trampled and ruined of anything useful. Even the slash marks were essentially unidentifiable, just some kind of thick, dull blade. You know how many thick, dull blades there are in the world?

And still her popularity grew in the eyes of the people. There was a closed session of the church 11 days after her death. 167 people shedding blood in honor of The Drowned Angel. A shrine was enacted to her at the fountain. People began to herald her as a sign of the end times. Some even said she carried a message from the gods — that we were somehow hiding something that great. It was exhausting, irritating, and downright invasive. This country’s obsession with transparency meant privacy was impossible. A woman couldn’t be left to die without a million people shoving her into their own agendas and narratives.

It’s never bothered me when people vilify me. I’m an investigator, a detective, the man at the center of every major case this city sees. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve fucked up, I’ve missed clues, and I’ve made countless press conferences just to say that despite my best efforts, I’m completely fucking useless. At some point, the public needs someone to blame, and I’ve always been happy to be that person.

What does bother me is taking advantage of the dead. Taking advantage of me. Taking advantage of this nation and our obsessive compulsion toward the worst religious craziness. It’s so easy to brainwash people in a place where brainwashing is the norm.

Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged. - Samuel Johnson

I'm not a role model. I'm a role villain. -Marilyn Manson

---

Empress Calhualyana was not the sort of person who believed in breaking promises to herself.

She had promised herself to gain a measure of revenge on Eiria for its interference in Xiomeran affairs. This was something she could now check off her list. She had also promised herself to gain a measure of revenge against Milintica and Lauchenoiria. That hadn't happened yet. But it was coming.

But her next target was much more important. Both for her personal lust for revenge, and for her coldly dispassionate plan to restore her Empire. She had promised to break the back of Huenya, once and for all. And for both personal and business reasons, she was about to launch her plan to do just that.

Operation Tiquinpopolozque was the plan. The top Imperial Intelligence specialists had helped her plan it. Gabriel Fleming also had a hand in it. But ultimately, the sheer scope of the plan was Calhualyana's alone. She would utilize multiple resources within Imperial Intelligence to accomplish it.

And if she was successful, by the time it was over, Huenya would no longer exist.

---

Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli
Residence of the Vice-Speaker of the Huenyan Federation, Chuaztlapoc
5:55pm, August 24th

The servant moved quietly through the halls of the Vice-Speaker's residence and offices. It was dinnertime, but the Vice-Speaker was not dining with his family in the grand dining room. He was having a working dinner, and the servant was bringing him his supper.

Tiacihitli smiled as the servant, Izihuacan, walked in with her tray. She had been working at the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli for several months now, and the two had developed a pleasant rapport. "Ah, thank you," the Vice-Speaker said warmly, taking the tray from Izihuacan with clear relish. The chef that served the Vice-Speaker's residence was a particularly good one, and the meals tended to be excellent.

"The chef made sure to make the quail just to your liking," she said with a smile. Tiacihitli could smell the garlic and spices; it was one of his favorite dishes. He eagerly began his meal, washing it down with sips from a glass of wine.

Izihuacan nodded politely and walked out. She hid a small smile on her face. 

---

Xochuaxte Palace
Residence of the Great Speaker of the Huenyan Federation
6:02pm, August 24th

Texōccoatl smiled as he sat down with his family to dinner. "How was school today?" he asked Tonauac. "It was good," his son replied. "But I still wish it was summer break."

The Great Speaker smiled as he took a forkful of steak and chewed thoughtfully. "You know school is important though." Tonauac simply sighed in the tone of a child who had heard that many times from his parents, earning a chuckle from Tlalmaxxi.

Texōccoatl had more of the steak, enjoying the spicy sauce that it was seasoned with. It was one of his favorites. As he ate, however, he began to feel slightly odd. 

---

At his own residence, Tiacihitli had finished the quail and was finishing the last of his wine, looking over some reports. He began to feel slightly odd.

---

At the Palace, Texōccoatl found himself having trouble focusing. Suddenly, he slumped in his chair and fell to the floor. "Texōccoatl!" Tlalmaxxi shouted, as guards and palace servants rushed to his aid. "The Great Speaker is down! Get a medic in here ASAP!" a guard shouted into his radio.

---

At the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, Tiacihitli had also slumped onto his desk. Unlike at the Palace, no one was in his office to witness it.

---

At two different locations in Chuaztlapoc, a servant and a cook, respectively, were making their escape. The Itan had done their work well. The two leaders of Huenya were down and out. It was time for the second phase.

---

Multiple locations throughout Huenya
6:15pm
August 24th

As people in two different locations of the Huenyan capital frantically attended to the nation's leaders, other men and women had an agenda of their own. The Golden Blade had never gone away, even after the emergence of the so-called Western Xiomera. They would remind the security forces of the Huenyan Federation of their presence - en masse.

Throughout Huenya in cities and rural areas where ethnic Xiomerans dominated the population, armed men and women began attacking the institutions of state power. SIPS offices, Federal and local police stations, and Huenyan Army garrisons found themselves under assault. City halls, regional government centers, and even provincial capitals found themselves under fire at the same time. It was a fiendishly well-coordinated simultaneous strike, and the forces of Huenya struggled to respond.

And they would have to do so without their leaders to guide them.

The next issue of the North Star can be viewed here.

I hereby call a vote on the LIDUN applications of the following nations:

Aredoa;
Legionas;
Misumi (Puppet - Haesan);
Glanainn (Puppet - Lauchenoiria);
Gesthenia;

The initial voting period shall be 72 hours, and may be extended.