The Eighteenth Century, Part III: 1750-1775

This covers the third quarter of the eighteenth century. =The Eighteenth Century (1701-1800, Part III)=

1750

 * January 1-
 * On January 1, 1750, vigorous New Year's celebrations were held throughout the Laurasian Empire, marking the commencement of the year 1750 and of the third quarter of the eighteenth century (1750-1775). By the middle of the century, the Empire, which had already been the predominant power in the Caladarian Galaxy since the fifteenth century, was now very close to becoming the only power within the Caladarian Galaxy. Under the first two rulers of the Neuchrian Dynasty, Neuchrus I, the Reformer, and his son Antigonus III, the Extravagant, the Empire had extended its jurisdiction across the Wild Marshes and into the Galactic Borderlands. The Vectorian Empire, which had been one of Laurasia's most fearsome enemies during the Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, had now been completely vanquished. The Celestial Kingdom of Scottria had lost control of its territories in the Galactic Borderlands; Rogeria, Homi, Sassia, Rhedita, Kalbacha, Rasdalla, Kania, and Western Hypasia all answered to the authority of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The Marasharite Empire had lost control of the Tof Borderlands, Donna, Billy, and Latrice. It now held only the Muggal Cluster (once home to the Torfian Kingdom of Imegina) and the Northern Reaches. The Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, on its part, was held to only Dejanican Lavella.
 * In addition to territorial expansions within the Caladarian Galaxy, directed against hostile powers, the Empire had also ventured, for the first time in its history, into the satellite galaxies of the Great Tesmanian Cloud (1708) and Angelina Spiral (1736). This had been in the course of the War of the Dejanican Expedition and the Third Laurasian-Marasharite War; moreover, the War of the Rough Wooing, which was still officially ongoing in January 1750, had carried imperial forces into the heart of the Scottrian Homeland Territories. Laurasian forces had also penetrated farther into the Great Amulak Spiral then before, and the capture of Dejanica Major (1734), had marked the first time that any foreign power from the Caladarian Galaxy had conquered the capital world of a power in the Amulak. Nevertheless, the Haynsian Despotate, which had now been an irritant to the Laurasians for more than two centuries, continued to pose a threat. In defiance of the Treaty of Nis, it was still launching expeditions against the outskirts of Laurasian territory in the Galactic Void. This would serve as a further motivation of expansion for the Empire to the Northern Reaches and beyond, as would be evidenced in the two further Marasharite-Laurasian Wars which still awaited the century.
 * Nevertheless, the century had also seen great economic, social, and other significant changes within the Empire. The Almitian Reformation, which had now been ongoing for more than thirty years, had greatly changed the theological beliefs of the Imperial Almitian Church, impacted its administration, and reduced its privileges. The government of Emperor Demetrius would continue to pursue changes, in an attempt to root out Traditionalist practices and impose Reformist ideas on all spiritual facets of Laurasian society. Emperor Antigonus's own personal cruelty, and his escapades with his six wives, had also done much to change things at the Imperial Laurasian Court. His administrative, military, and economic reforms had continued a process begun by his father, and had served to strengthen the Empire further. Laurasia Prime's population was 1.9 trillion in 1750, its highest level in history to that point; the Empire's population had now completely recovered from the Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, and had increased by more then eightfold. More then forty million star systems answered to imperial authority by 1750. Laurasian commercial and diplomatic ties with the Great Amulak Spiral and the Crone Galaxy, in addition to the satellite galaxies, were now extensively developed. The Regency Council would point out in the New Year's proclamation that the galaxy "had never been more unified in its history." And indeed, the second half of the eighteenth century was to see the ultimate triumph of the Laurasian Empire, and a relentless upwards trajectory in economic growth.
 * January 4-
 * As 1750, the 50th year of the eighteenth century, commenced, matters proceeded with the aftermath of the Kettian Rebellion. The Earl of Sarah, who had instated measures to maintain martial law at Lomanis, and was confident that all of the roots of the Kettian Rebellion had been destroyed, returned to Laurasia Prime on January 4, 1750. There, the victorious Earl was greeted with much celebration and joy by the inhabitants of the capital world. The Mayor of Christiania and the Governor of Laurasia Prime had ensured that the welcoming ceremonies for the Earl and his forces were grand. Audiences of subjects gathered at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, the Second Station of Callista, at the two Calaxies, and in the major cities of Laurasia Prime, praising Sarah and his prowess in battle. The Regency Council, assembled at the Audience Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace, issued a proclamation to the Empire's subjects that Almitis had blessed his subjects, and that such personages as the Earl were responsible for their personal welfare. Sarah's influence, as he had anticipated, consequently continued to grow. Yet not everyone was enthused with Sarah's rise. The former Procurator-General, the 1st Earl of Southerton, had been reappointed to the Regency Council in December 1749, partly at Sarah's behest, following Seymouris's fall from power. In spite of this, however, Southerton was concerned that Sarah's ambitions would prove, in the long run, to be as damaging to the Imperial Laurasian Government as that of Seymouris had been, and that Sarah was more concerned about the accumulation of wealth and estates rather than providing for the true security and stability of the Emperor's dominions. These concerns were to soon be displayed in full force. But for the time being, Sarah and the Regency Council, as mentioned above, were still focused on dealing with those who had provoked the Ketian Rebellion: namely, Craterus Kettius and his younger brother Willanius, who had continued to be imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux.
 * On January 6, two days following Sarah's return to Laurasia Prime, the two Kettius brothers were formally convicted, after a four-hour trial, by the Special Court of the Laurasian Empire on charges of treason, heresy, conspiracy, and les-majestie. Because they were commoners, they were denied the right of petition to the Emperor (as represented by the Regency Council), which was usually offered to those of noble, gentle, or ecclesiastical status. Moreover, they were sentenced to the full penalties of a traitor's death: hanging, drawing, quartering, beheading, and solar incineration. The sentence was confirmed by the Council shortly thereafter. Two days later, on January 8, 1750, the executions were carried out at the Fortress of Baureux. The brothers were put to death before a crowd of more than 300,000 persons. To the end, they remained defiant. Craterus, in particular, asserted that the actions which he had undertaken during his rebellion had been meant for the security and welfare of the Empire's subjects, that Almitis knew who was in the right, and that he wished the Laurasian Dominions would not succumb to destruction at the hands of the anti-Almitis. The two men were excommunicated by the Holy Synod, and were consequently denied an Almitian burial. On the orders of Chief Procurator Cranmerius and the Council therefore, their remains were dumped into the Pit of Traitors on Jadia. An imperial manifesto, issued shortly after their executions, confiscated all properties and goods of the Kettius family, including Kettian Foodstuffs; condemned all members of the Kettius family for having "given birth" to such traitors; and announced a sentence of damnation upon all who had been connected with the Rebellion. On January 16, Mayor Cleos of Wydominia and Governor Cloddius of Daytonia, who had also been imprisoned at the Fortress and had been found guilty of treason and conspiracy by the Special Court, were both executed, in front of a crowd of 130,000 persons. They too, were excommunicated, and their remains were dumped into the Pit of Traitors.
 * January 12-
 * On January 12, 1750, the Earl of Southerton, in pursuance of his concerns about his colleague, the Earl of Sarah, and seeking to reclaim his position as Procurator-General, launched an abortive conspiracy against Sarah. Appearing before the Regency Council, the Earl attempted to accuse Sarah of treason, declaring that the Earl's true intent in suppressing the Kettian Rebellion was to obtain support for himself among the Emperor's subjects, so as to disperse the Council, arrest and depose Emperor Demetrius, and proclaim himself Emperor of a new dynasty. He also claimed that Sarah had conspired with Lord Protector Seymouris, particularly in regards to the military campaigns in the Scottrian Homeland Territories. He alleged that Seymouris was to become Commander-in-Chief of the Empire's forces in the Homeland Territories and that he had been promised the Scottrian throne, to hold that Kingdom as a dependency of the Laurasian Empire. These allegations were absurd and unfounded. Sarah, learning of Southerton's accusations, invited the Council to his quarters at the Diplomatic Palace. There, he effortlessly refuted all that Southerton had said, and subsequently baffled the Council by exclaiming, with his hand at his sabre and a warlike visage: "My Lords, you seek the Duke of Volta's blood and he that seeks his blood would have mine also." Southerton's plot collapsed, and he was dismissed from the Regency Council for the second and last time. Following his failure to remove Sarah from his position of influence, Southerton retired to his mansion in Christiania, Licantonian Place, and died there on July 30 at the age of 44.
 * Following this, Sarah moved to consolidate his power through institutional maneuvers. On February 2, 1750, he was appointed President of the Imperial Privy Council, Imperial High Steward, Minister of the Imperial Chancellory, and Governor of the Emperor's Person by the Regency Council. Through assuming these positions, he became, in effect, the successor to Lord Protector Seymouris. Sarah, in a wise and calculated gesture, decided not to assume the office and rank of Lord Protector, believing that this would give his rivals at the Imperial Court cause to demand his own removal. Nevertheless he had now established himself as primus inter pares and as the chief influence in the Imperial Laurasian Government. As High Steward, he exercised power over the Imperial Household, and consequently, over the Emperor's surroundings. He was now effectively "master" of the Laurasian Empire, and would retain this position of predominance for the next three years. On February 5, letters patent issued on behalf of the Emperor granted Sarah the same powers of appointment and dismissal of government officials as had been conferred upon Lord Protector Seymouris nearly three years earlier. The following day, Sarah, believing that the former Lord Protector could not pose a threat to his position of influence now, and as before, still sympathetic towards his former associate, arranged for his release from imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux. Seymouris, who was now restored to his liberty, was also appointed Minister of Internal Security and regained his seat on the Regency Council. Grateful to Sarah that he had been spared from a longer term of imprisonment, and having recovered some favor at the Imperial Court, he threw himself back into his duties in government and at the Court. For the time being, a reconciliation was effected between the Earl of Sarah and the Duke of Volta.
 * February 11-
 * The Earl of Sarah, who had now established himself as the chief influence in the Imperial Laurasian Government, wished to turn his attention to domestic affairs within the Empire. He firmly believed that the Laurasian Dominions needed rest from the exertions of war, and was convinced that further military campaigns in the Angelina Spiral were no longer necessary. On February 11, the Earl pointed out to the Regency Council that because Queen Mariana was already engaged to Dauphin Franjak of Franconia, and was in residence at the Franconian Court, it no longer made any sense to continue to press for her engagement with the Emperor. There were always other brides for His Majesty, and much time before he would be married in any case. The Earl of Americana, who had supported Sarah in his efforts against Southerton, seconded the Council President's motion, and during the late hours of that day, the Regency Council granted permission for negotiations to commence between the Empire and its adversaries. On February 22, 1750, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, who had been retained at his post by both Lord Protector Seymouris and Council President Sarah, sent a formal offer for diplomatic negotiations to the Royal Franconian and Royal Scottrian Governments. King Hensios II of Franconia, who had secured his son's marriage with Queen Mariana, and was already making plans for a renewed war against Franconia's archenemy, the Holy Spamalkan Empire, decided to accept the offer.
 * Regent Arran, who also wished for an end to the long and costly war, and believed that Franconia would effectively protect Scottrian interests in the future, decided to accept the offer in conjunction with King Hensios. On February 26, the Truce of Madelaine was concluded, terminating all active hostilities between the forces of the warring states. Laurasian forces in the Scottrian Homeland Territories, still under the command of Lord Dacre of Gitlandia, were permitted to continue occupying the territories which they still held until peace was formally concluded. On March 4, the formal peace conference was opened at Boulougone, which was itself still under occupation by the Laurasian Empire's forces, in accordance with the Treaty of Ardres of 1746. Lords Dacre of Gitlandia, Greysius of Wiltonia, and Pagentia, along with Sir Galerius Caranius, acted as the plenipotentiaries of the Imperial Laurasian Government, with Lord Pagentia also serving as the official Laurasian host of the conference and as the chief plenipotentiary. Admiral d'Annebault, General Cleutin, Commodore Montalembert, and the Duke of Torre served as the plenipotentiaries for the Royal Franconian Government, with d'Annebault holding the role of chief plenipotentiary. Scottrian interests were represented by the Earls of Rothes and Angus, Sir Walter Scott, Sir William St. Hamilton, and Lord George Douglain of Pitterneich. Pagentia and d'Annebault, who had already been acquainted with each other during the negotiations for the Treaty of Ardres, got along exceptionally well, and negotiations proceeded along swiftly.


 * March 19-
 * While the peace conference between Laurasia, Scottria, and Franconia was underway, the Earl of Sarah continued in his efforts to further extend his power through the Imperial Laurasian Court and Government. As part of this quest, he now appointed his supporters and favorites to positions of influence and power, thereby creating a network of subordinates who were loyal to him, and were dependent upon him for their authority. As he bore no blood relationship to the Emperor, Sarah understood that creating such a network was also critical to asserting and defending his legitimacy as Council President. The Earl placed his "special friends", Sir Demetrius Gases (1704-53) and Sir Thomasius Darcius (1706-58), in influential positions in the Imperial Household. Gases, who had already been made a Gentleman of the Imperial Privy Chamber by Emperor Antigonus in July 1746, was now promoted to Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. On May 8, 1751, moreover, he would be named Vice-Chamberlain of the Laurasian Empire and Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners. At that time, Gases was also elevated to the Imperial Privy Council. Sir Darcius, on his part, was appointed to the Privy Council in February 1750 and made Captain of the Valedictorian Guards. In May 1751, he would be created 1st Baron Darcius of Chiche and appointed as Imperial High Chamberlain of the Empire. In the latter position, therefore, he succeeded Thomasius Wentwarthia, 1st Baron Wentwarthia (1701-51), who was initially appointed to the position by Dudley, and who died on March 3, 1751, after less than a year in the office. In addition to these appointments, Dudley also placed his son-in-law, Sir Antigonus Sidronius (1729-86) and his brother Sir Eusebius Dudley (1707-59), near the Emperor. Both were made Gentlemen of the Imperial Privy Chamber, and Sidronius was named Commander of the Quencilvanian Palace Control. He also promoted the rise in influence of Willanius Cecilis, Secretary of the Imperial Privy Council, who had been appointed to that position by Lord Protector Seymouris in October 1747, and had risen quickly in his service. Cecilis had been imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux from November 1749 to January 1750, but he ingratiated himself with Sarah, and was released, being restored to his offices. On September 5, 1750, Sarah would make an extraordinary gesture: he appointed Cecilis as Chancellor of the Laurasian Empire. Cecilis became the youngest individual, at just twenty-nine, ever to obtain that position. Moreover, he was, on Sarah's initiative, knighted by the Emperor and granted extensive estates within the Laurasia Prime Purse Region, including on Durglais, Katherine, Chancia, and Caladaria.
 * But the most important move taken by the Council President was his appointment, on March 24, 1750, of Lord St. Johansius as the new Imperial High Treasurer of the Laurasian Empire. Lord St. Johansius had wisely shifted his support from Lord Protector Seymouris to the Earl of Sarah in September 1749, and had fully endorsed the latter's moves towards consolidating power. It was for this that he was now rewarded by the Council President. St. Johansius deserved this elevation in any case, for he had a long and respected career within the Imperial Laurasian Government. Born at Delamere Manor on Aquilionia, on January 10, 1683, he was the son of Sir Demetrius Pauletius of Aquilionia (1651-1725), proprietor of Basing Castle on Chesham's Star, and his wife Aetolia (1653-1718), daughter of Sir Willanius Pauletius (1632-1714), a Laurasian gentleman and proprietor who was distantly related to his father. He was the fourth of six children: his elder siblings included Georgius (1675-1742), Caelius (1678-1749), and Eleanora (1679-1754). His younger siblings were Cassidia (1685-1737) and Menelaus (1689-1755). Pauletius's father, Sir Demetrius, fought in the Sixth Vectorian War (1689-90), the First Franconian War (1692), and the Sixth Scottrian War (1696-97), before participating in the suppression of the Heuthrian Uprising of 1697 and the Tyrallis Plot of 1701. He was knighted in 1704, became a Governing Senator and Yeoman Guard in 1708, and obtained the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1713. He subsequently retired from the Imperial Laurasian Army and from government service in 1717, and retired to Basing Castle, where he died on June 25, 1725, aged 74. He would be buried next to his wife, Willanius's mother Aetolia, who predeceased her husband at Hooper on November 23, 1718, aged 65.
 * Their son, in the meantime, advanced himself considerably. Willanius graduated from St. Chresphyrne's High School in Winchestrius in 1701; he then attended the University of Vetta, graduating magna cum laude with degrees in forensics, general administration, and pre-law in 1705. In 1703, two years before his graduation, he married his childhood sweetheart Lady Aurelia Capellia (1684-1758), daughter of Sir Willanius Capellia, Mayor of Christiania (1646-1715) during that year. They remained married for more than fifty-six years, until her death on December 23, 1758, early in Empress Aurelia's reign, and had eight children, four sons and four daughters. These were: Agrippina (1705-77); Messalina (1707-90); Demetrius, who eventually succeeded him as Marquess of Winchestrius (1710-76); Thomasius (1711-85); Constantia (1713-1800); Giletus (1716-94); Eleanora (1717-58); and Craterus (1721-74). The following year (1704), Pauletius enrolled at the Imperial Jurisprudence Academy of Christiania. He obtained his JD in 1708, but had already became a Assessor with the Imperial College of Justice in November 1706, whilst still attending classes. Thus started his long career within the Imperial Laurasian Government, which lasted for three-quarters of a century (66 years). He worked on the staff of the Imperial College of Justice, and in March 1708, two months before his graduation from the Jurisprudence Academy, became a clerk of the Governing Senate.
 * It was this service that brought him to Emperor Neuchrus's attention, who noted the young man's work ethic and was singularly impressed by it. Pauletius became a senior chancery registrar of the Imperial Chancellory in January 1709. Then in 1712, he was made Praetor of the Heuthrian Governorate, a position he was to hold until 1727. Pauletius returned to his legal studies in 1714, and obtained his PhD in General Administration and Jurisprudence in 1718, from the University of Laurasia Prime. In 1719, he became Director of the Imperial Legal Archives, and in 1722, Vice-Superintendent of the Imperial Jurisprudence Academy. Pauletius was named a Usher of the Imperial Household the following year; he then was knighted in 1725, and in November 1726, was named Minister of Justice, thereby joining the Imperial Privy Council. He was to serve on the body for the rest of his life. The same year, he also became one of the first Gentlemen Pensioners, and held an honorary rank in the regiments for the next four years. Pauletius's advance continued after this; he became a Governing Senator in 1729, member of the Assembly of Notables of Christiania in 1731, and Comptroller of the Imperial Household in 1732.
 * From 1729 to 1736, Pauletius also served on the City Council of Christiania. Pauletius was named to the Imperial Court of the Star Chamber in 1734, and was one of the judges at the trials of Bishop Fisherius, Sir Thomasius Morius, and the accomplices of Empress Consort Anna Boleyenia; in 1736, he was named Vice-Chamberlain of the Empire. In 1739, Pauletius became 1st Lord St. Johansius of Winchestrius. He was made Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries in 1740; a Knight of the Imperial Garter in 1743 and Imperial High Chamberlain later on; and Vice-Steward in 1745. In 1747, following Emperor Antigonus's death, St. Johansius briefly served as Procurator-General. He also became one of the chief executors of Emperor Antigonus's will. Thus, his elevation to become Lord Treasurer was the culmination of his career. Furthermore, on April 11, 1750, St. Johansius, who was now sixty-seven years old, was formally created as 1st Marquess of Winchestrius and 1st Earl of Wiltshira, receiving his coronet and deeds of nobility from the hands of the young Emperor. He was to become the second-longest serving Lord Treasurer of the eighteenth century, and was to remain as such for the next twenty-two years, under three Neuchrian monarchs (Demetrius II, Didymeia I, Aurelia I). It would be on his advice that, in April 1750, the Earl of Sarah and the Regency Council repealed the Imperial Edict on Vagabonds, which had been one of the chief causes of the Kettian Rebellion.
 * March 24-
 * After several weeks of negotiations, the Treaty of Boulougone was signed by the delegations of the Laurasian Empire, Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, and Serene Kingdom of Franconia (March 24, 1750), finally bringing an end to the War of the Rough Wooing. The War had, with the exception of the period September 1746-September 1747, continued for over seven years. It had been the longest conflict in the eighteenth century up to that point for Laurasia, later to be surpassed by the Spamalkan Wars of Aurelia the Great during the 1780s and 1790s. By the terms of this treaty, the Empire agreed to restore Boulougone to the authority of the Royal Franconian Government, four years ahead of the initial deadline as had been agreed under the Treaty of Ardres. All star systems, bases, and colonies occupied by Laurasian forces in the Scottrian Homeland Territories, including Broughton, Falaside, Raindburgh, Morvay, Cleugia, and the Scottrian Outskirt Outposts, were returned to the authority of the Celestial Kingdom, and were to be evacuated by the Empire by no later than January 1, 1751. The Imperial Laurasian Government also agreed to recognize Queen Mariana's betrothal with Dauphin Franjak of Franconia, to reconfirm the Earl of Arran's status as Regent of Scottria, and to refrain from any actions to incite dissent against the Royal Scottrian Government, on account of the Queen's absence. In exchange however, the Franconian Naval Expeditionary Corps were to be withdrawn from the Angelina Spiral immediately; Laurasian commercial privileges, as had been specified in the Treaty of Kingsley, within the Scottrian Dominions were reaffirmed; and King Hensios of Franconia agreed to compensate the Laurasian Empire for all military expenses which it had incurred since January 1, 1748 (more than €600 trillion dataries). All prisoners of war were to be freed, while the Imperial Laurasian Government's jurisdiction over the former Scottrian Galactic Borderlands in their entirety was recognized by both Scottria and Franconia.
 * To ensure compliance to the terms of the Treaty of Boulougone, twelve "hostages" were to be exchanged, six each from Laurasia and from Franconia, to reside at the respective courts until August 7, 1750. For Franconia, the following nobles were selected as its hostages to the Court of Christiania: Mariana of Guise's brother, Claude of Lorraine, Marquess de Mayentia (1726-73); Lujak Tremoille (1711-58); Jean de Bourbon, Comte de Enghien (1706-65); Fransios de Montmorency (1720-61); Jean d'Annebault, son of Admiral Annebault (1720-62); and Fransios de Vendrome, Viadame de Chartres (1722-60). For Laurasia, they were: Antigonus Brandeis, 2nd Duke of Sufforia (1735-51); Edwardis Seymouris (1739-96), son of former Lord Protector Seymouris; Georgius Talabrania, the future Earl of Aretha and Imperial Marshal of the Empire (1728-90); John Bourcherius, 5th Baron Fitzania (1725-57); the Earl of Americana; and Antigonus Stanleis, future Earl of Aretha and Lord Lieutenant of the Tyburnian Stockards under Aurelia the Great (1731-93). All expenses for the hostages were to be covered by the resident government during the duration of their stay, and they were to be treated like any other honored guest or dignitary. They were to be permitted freedom of movement on the respective capital worlds, so long as they remained under surveillance, and would be permitted to participate in all of the festivities at Court. This was the first time, in any Laurasian treaty with a foreign power, that such an arrangement would be made, and it would turn out to be a unique circumstance. The Treaty of Boulougone was ratified by King Hensios on April 1; by the Regency Council (in the name of Emperor Demetrius) on April 11; and by Regent Arran, along with the Scottrian Estates (in the name of Queen Mariana), on April 22.
 * On April 24, 1750, the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed, on Sarah's initiative and with the Regency Council's consent, Sir Nicholas Wortton, who had been a member of the Laurasian delegation which had negotiated the Treaty of Ardres of 1746, as the new Ambassador of the Laurasian Empire to the Court of Parri. Worrton departed from Laurasia Prime on May 5 and made his journey across the Galactic Void to Franconia. He finally arrived at Parri ten days later and was greeted in a lavish ceremony of welcome by King Hensios, Queen Consort Catharina d'Medici, and by the leading magnates of the Royal Franconian Court. At the same time, Sarah secured the appointment of another of his associates, Sir Demetrius Cereanus (1705-57), previously his private secretary, as the Laurasian Ambassador to the Court of Ediania. Cereanus arrived at Ediania (June 1, 1750), receiving a reception similar to that of Worrton's from Regent Arran and Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise. The hostages, as had been designated under the terms of the Treaty of Boulougone, were exchanged between the two governments at Onasi on May 1, 1750. The hostages were, in adherence to that same Treaty, treated in a commendable fashion at both Courts; Ladies Didymeia and Aurelia proved particularly kind to the Franconians, and helped to familiarize them with the customs and rituals of the Imperial Laurasian Household. The re-exchange of the hostages occurred on August 7, and they returned to their respective dominions. The Laurasian Empire was now at peace with its neighbors, and would remain in such a condition for the next seven years.
 * June 3-Into the middle months of 1750, the Earl of Sarah pursued additional measures to tighten and expand his network of patronage. He sought to remain on good terms with former Lord Protector Seymouris, and found that a dynastic marriage would be the best means of doing so. On June 3, 1750, he married his son and heir, John, Viscount Lisle (1727-54), to Seymouris's eldest daughter, Anna Seymouris (1738-88). The marriage ceremony, which was conducted at St. Paul's Cathedral in Constantinople, Laurasia Prime, was attended by many of the most prominent personages at the Imperial Laurasian Court. Among those in attendance were Ladies Didymeia and Aurelia, Chief Procurator Cranmerius (who presided over the wedding service), former Empress Consort Annaliese of Denver, Lord Pagentia, Field-Marshals Munnich and Lacius, and Emperor Demetrius himself. The Regency Council issued an official imperial manifesto praising the union and expressing the Imperial Laurasian Government's hopes for its success. Seymouris and Sarah were outwardly cordial to each other at the wedding and the festivities which attended it.
 * June 27-On June 27, 1750, the future King of Franconia, Charman III (r. 1760-74), was born at Saint German-en Laye in the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. He was the third son of King Hensios II of Franconia and his wife, Queen Consort Catharina d'Medici. Created Duke of Orleans from his birth, Charman was considered unlikely to accede to the Franconian throne at the time of his birth, due to the betrothal of his brother Franjak with the Queen of Scottria, Mariana I.
 * July 22-
 * On July 22, 1750, Lady Didymeia was summoned by the Regency Council to appear before it, to answer questions regarding her continued use of Traditionalist rituals in her personal household. As a member of the Imperial Laurasian Family, and as heir presumptive to Emperor Demetius, Didymeia had de facto license to continue hearing the Traditionalist Mass in private. So soon as he had ascended to the predominant position of influence in the Imperial Government, the Earl of Sarah, who was by this point an ardent Reformist, put pressure on her to stop the "misuse" of her privilege, as she allowed her entire household and flocks of visitors to attend the Mass. Didymeia, who on her part did not tolerate the use of the Book of Common Prayer at any of her residences, was not prepared to make any concessions. She had contemplated fleeing from the Laurasian Empire, fearful of her well-being, and of seeking exile in Spamalka, but could not make up her mind at the last minute. Didymeia totally disregarded Demetrius's personal interest in the issue and had an almost hysterical fear and hatred of the Council President. She held her head high as she was questioned by the Council, led by Sarah himself, on these matters. She was told that the crux of the matter was not the nature of her faith but her disobedience to the law. In response, Didymeia sent Spamalkan Ambassador Jehan de Schefye (1702-88) to the Council after the end of their meeting; he threatened that his master would declare war against the Empire and that he would not stand for the violation of Didymeia's hereditary rights.
 * The Council could not swallow a war threat from a Ambassador who had overstepped his commission, but all the same could not risk the important trade ties with the Spamalkans. Thus it was that on July 24, on the orders of the Regency Council, five of Didymeia's household officers were arrested and imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux, accused of being in conspiracy against the Imperial Laurasian Government and of plotting to overthrow the religious policies implemented by the Council. Shortly after these arrest orders were issued, de Schefye was again summoned before the Council. Minister Sadelius had informed his Spamalkan counterpart of the Ambassador's threats, and the Holy Spamalkan Government had reprimanded de Schefye for his statements. De Schefye was informed of these doings by the Regency Council; realizing they had him in a corner, he capitulated, and admitted that his statements were rash and abrasive. A compromise was soon effected with Lady Didymeia, who agreed to hear mass in a more private manner, but in exchange, augmented her personal property by exchanges with the Imperial Estates.
 * December 25-Despite the compromise which had been reached between the Regency Council and Lady Didymeia several months earlier, regarding the Traditionalist rituals in her personal household, a embarrassing incident took place at the Imperial Court (December 25, 1750). The Court was at the Palace of Harmony on Clancia, and engaged in the traditional Ascentmas Day festivities and masques. Emperor Demetrius, who was now thirteen years old and was rapidly obtaining intellectual and physical maturity, presided over the celebrations, being accompanied by Council President Sarah, Chief Procurator Cranmerius, Chancellor Cecilis, and Lord Treasurer Winchestrius. The ceremonies, however, were conducted in accordance with the Reformed Almitian rite, which enraged his sister, Lady Didymeia. Didymeia begged to be excused from the festivities, but this request was rejected by the Emperor himself. Demetrius, who was a fervent Reformed Almitian, now demanded, in front of the Imperial Court, that Didymeia abandon Traditionalism and embrace the Reformist faith. Didymeia politely, but firmly, refused, begging her brother not to intrude upon her religion. The two half-siblings continued to argue, until they both burst into tears. Council President Sarah then took the Emperor away and ordered Didymeia to her personal bedchambers, ending the confrontation. Over the remainder of the reign, Demetrius would continue to demand that she reject Traditionalism, a demand she would persistently refuse.

1751

 * January 14-
 * 1751, the 51st year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire's dominions at peace, both internally and externally. And it also opened with Emperor Demetrius, now thirteen years old, involving himself more directly in state affairs. He did so with the wholehearted approval and permission of his Governor and Council President, the Earl of Sarah. Sarah organized Demetrius's political education so that he could take an interest in government and at least appear to influence decisions. The Council President wanted the Emperor to grow into his authority as soon as possible. Disruptive conflicts when Demetrius took over the government could be minimized, and by nurturing the curiosity of his sovereign, Sarah hoped that he would earn his gratitude and maintain his trust. This would allow for him to remain the chief minister of the Imperial Laurasian Government even after Demetrius assumed direct power. It was true that the Emperor was demonstrating impressive intelligence, piety, and energy at this stage as well, coupled with an autocratic manner and iron will.
 * Many others within the Empire, both noble and commoner, official and subject, prayed that Demetrius would not be "prevented by Almitis", from living out his natural lifespan, and they hoped that by becoming involved now, he would maintain a genuine interest in the Empire's affairs, ushering in a prosperous and successful reign. To Chief Procurator Cranmerius and others within the Reformist movement, Demetrius was an agent of Lord Almitis, rooting out error within the structure of the Imperial Almitian Church, combating heresy, and ensuring the "godly" prosperity of the Empire's dominions. As a result of all these developments, the Emperor was pushed forward towards his destiny. Beginning on January 14, 1751, with an imperial memorandum concerning immigration in the Galactic Void, Demetrius's signature would begin to appear alone on state documents, no longer countermanded by the signatures of the Regency Council. He now developed a close working relationship with Chancellor Cecilis and Procurator-General Richius, receiving information about state affairs and learning the mechanics of government in the process. Demetrius's formal training for his duties as Autocrat had therefore commenced.
 * March 7-On March 7, 1751, the Decree of Judicial Resources was issued by the Imperial Ministry of Justice, on the orders of the Earl of Sarah and the Regency Council. This decree was in response to the numerous uprisings which had occurred in 1749, such as Dunsey's Rebellion, the Disturbance of Teth, and the Kettian Rebellion. By the terms of this decree, all assemblies and organizations "opposed to the interests of the Imperial Laurasian Government and the lawful sovereign of this Empire" were formally outlawed. It was declared treason for any to involve themselves with such organizations, and automatic penalties of condemnation, imprisonment, and fines were imposed upon those found guilty of involvement. The decree commanded for all local officials to provide annual reports to the Senate on the affairs of their courts; to impose strict surveillance upon the households of merchants and other prominent citizens; and to permit nobles to retain their bodyguard units, so as to defend their estates from the possible attacks of mobs. The authority of the Praetors was expanded, and they were now authorized to take immediate action against any rebel units or bands, being permitted the employment of governmental troops to that purpose. The Decree of Judicial Resources was to remain in effect until September 1753, when it was replaced by Empress Didymeia.
 * March 16-
 * In addition to the internal turmoil afflicting the Regency Council, the Imperial Laurasian Government was also faced with issues concerning the Empire's finances. These complications related to the currency and to peculation. Thanks to the luxuries of the Duke of Volta and the Earl of Sarah, as well as the expenses of the War of the Rough Wooing, which had continued until 1750, imperial expenditures had, for the first time since 1692, exceeded imperial income. The surplus of €200 trillion dataries, which had been left at the death of Antigonus III in January 1747, was by March 1751 converted into an imperial deficit of €50 trillion dataries. Interest rates had risen to 5.6%; inflation rates were at similar levels; and the imperial unemployment rate had reached 7.4%. There was less confidence by investors, stockholders, bankers, and traders in the value of the datary, and more concern about whether or nor the Imperial Treasury would be able to meet its future obligations. The Earl of Sarah and his associates therefore, were driven to seek a resolution to the situation. Already on February 4, the Council President had ordered Sub-Treasurer Walterius Mildmay (1723-89), future Minister of Finance under Empress Aurelia the Great, and Sir Willanius Herbertius (1691-1757), who then served in that position, to begun the systematic debasement of imperial currency. Instructions were now issued, through the Treasury, to all mints and currency production facilities in the Empire, to reduce the content of pure tiranium, gold, and rare earth metals in the crowanrius, chiafvrius, and the radiatus. The Treasury now sought to focus on a more widespread circulation of gold solidus coins, to order for the suspension of all pegging standards by imperial banking and financial institutions, and to release emergency injections of imperial funds into the money market.
 * The prohibition on use of foreign currency was reiterated, and all institutions were compelled, by the memorandum of March 1, 1751, to disregard any coins or bills of denomination found in contravention with the debasement standards. This systematic debasement of the currency turned out to be more harmful to the Empire than productive. Moreover, it was done in contravention to the recommendations of Mildmay, Herbertius, and of Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, all of whom believed that another decimalization of the Empire's currency, a reduction in interest rates, and the introduction of new pegging standards would serve to better alleviate the situation. During the course of the next three months, unemployment skyrocketed to 12%; inflation crept up to 9.5%; and activity in the agricultural, manufacturing, and mining markets slowed considerably. On April 7, 1751, the Laurasia Prime Stock Exchange suffered a catastrophic collapse, losing more then 235 million points of value in a single day, and causing a spiral of panic and confusion throughout the Empire's dominions. By July 6, it had become clear to Sarah and the Regency Council that the earlier recommendations needed to be followed, to avert a financial crisis. Consequently, on July 17, the Treasury was authorized to revoke all further issues of the debased coinage, and Sub-Treasurer Mildmay was ordered to conduct an extensive study of imperial currency. This ultimately culminated in the decree of August 19, 1751, which restored all earlier quality standards for imperial pieces, authorized the Treasury to issue a fresh circulation of new currency, and ordered a decimalization of the datary, making it equivalent to the Pruthian Mark and the Austarlian goldmark. This helped to reduce the financial instability within the Empire, and by September 1751, the crisis had receded.
 * On October 14, 1751, moreover, the Court of Common Pleas issued a verdict in the case Pro Rexae vs. Eclusae, which recommended that peculation be outlawed, and measures taken to secure all the currency holdings of imperial subjects. In November 1751, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius issued a series of orders to his subordinates in the Treasury, ordering for all imperial subjects to be given financial inducements to turn over their supplies of money to imperial authorities, and announcing a drive against peculation. Peculation, which involved embezzlement of public funds and over-inflation of public rates, would be subject to vigorous government action from the Treasury, the Ministry of Finance, and the Imperial Intelligence Agency. The decree of December 6, 1751, furthermore, revised bankruptcy procedures and ordered an overall reduction in interest rates. During the course of 1752 and 1753, thanks to these measures, unemployment and inflation fell substantially, and stability was restored to the economy. The whole affair ultimately inspired the establishment of a uniform Imperial Monetary Reserve in 1765, which became responsible for determining interest rates, controlling the money supply, and handling the credit lines of all imperial banking, speculative, and stockholding institutions.
 * April 30-On April 30, 1751, Field-Marshal Sir Peteveius Lacius, 1st Earl of Vilmanstrand, died in his personal bedchambers at Rigan Castle in Harvey City, Momma. He was 72 years old at the time of his death, and had been serving as Governor of Murphy since 1748. Lacius had gained renown and prestige throughout the Laurasian Empire for his command of Laurasian forces in several important military conflicts during Antigonus the Extravagant's reign. These included the War of the Dejanican Succession, the Third Laurasian-Marasharite War, and the Scottrian War of Rasdalla. The news of his death, consequently, was greeted with much mourning in the Purse Region and at the Imperial Court, where his level of respect transcended many boundaries. His colleague, Field-Marshal Munnich, still in harness as Minister of Defense, expressed his condolences for the death of his comrade-at-arms and friend; the Earl of Sarah, as Council President, issued a proclamation from the Quencilvanian Palace, proclaiming that Lacius's death was one of the "saddest events to take place in recent times" and that he had done much to buttress the Empire's position. On the President's orders, and acting in the Emperor's name, Lacius was buried with full military honors at St. Claudius's Cathedral in Harvey City, as he had requested, on May 21. His ceremony was attended by many of the prominent figures of the Imperial Laurasian Court, including Ladies Didymeia and Aurelia, as well as Baroness Annaliese of Denver.
 * June 10-Diplomatic matters also proceeded in due order as 1751 progressed. On the orders of the Regency Council, the Laurasian Ambassador to the Court of Ediania, Sir Demetrius Cereanus, commenced negotiations, on April 17, with Regent Arran and the Scottrian Estates, concerning the precise delineation of Laurasian and Scottrian boundaries in the Galactic Void; compensations for damages inflicted by Laurasian troops in Scottrian territory; and revisions to the commercial provisions of the Treaties of Kingsley and Boulougone. These negotiations continued for nearly two months at Northam, a Scottrian colony in the Outskirt Districts of the Angelina Spiral, ultimately culminating in the Treaty of Northam (June 10, 1751). By the terms of this treaty, the arrangements of the Treaty of Boulougone of the previous year were reconfirmed, bar its commercial provisions. The Laurasian Empire again gained recognition of its rule over territories in the Galactic Borderlands. The territorial boundary between the Laurasian and Scottrian realms in the Galactic Void was defined to run for a distance of 45,000 light years, intersecting at the Outer Mists of the Angelina Spiral and the Galactic Barrier of the Caladarian Galaxy. A delineation commission was established to resolve all disputes relating to the boundary and to make adjustments to it as were necessary. No military or diplomatic vessels of either government were to be stationed in the regions of the Galactic Void, and any such act would be construed as an act of aggression. As regards commercial matters, Laurasian rights of transit and conduct at all Scottrian star systems were extended. Laurasian merchant houses and relays were now to be established on Dunbar, Haddington, Glasgow, Leith, Erith, Branxholm, and Hackington; in exchange, Laurasians residing in or traveling through Scottrian territory agreed to abide by Scottrian law, and could be banished from Scottria by the Royal Scottrian Government at any time. Finally, the Imperial Laurasian Government agreed to dispense the sum of €170 billion dataries to those whose properties had been damaged by Laurasian troops during the late war. The Treaty of Northam was ratified by Regent Arran (with the Scottrian Estates) on June 22 and by the Regency Council of the Laurasian Empire (on behalf of Emperor Demetrius) on July 1.
 * July 2-On July 2, 1751, former Haynsian Despot Nathaliet II Karany died at Yanbolu, in Marasharite Bulgania, in the Great Amulak Spiral. His death was received with little mourning by his former Haynsian subjects, and with little notice by galactic civilization at large. On the orders of Sassas III, the former Despot's remains were cremated and scattered in the outskirts of the Yanbolu star system.
 * September 4-On September 4, 1751, the Italianian War of 1751-59 commenced, as the Holy Spamalkan Empire formally issued a declaration of war against the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. Holy Spamalkan Emperor Char'va I was provoked by the continuing Franconian military and diplomatic ties with the Marasharite Empire and the Barbary States; by Franconian raids and military operations in Andorra, the Balearic Provinces, and Savoy; and by Franconian refusal to recognize his title as Duke of Milania. King Hensios II of Franconia, on his part, who had been planning for a renewed war since the beginning of his reign, hoped to complete the conquest of the Italianian Provinces. Moreover, he sought to secure the Metzian Lordships, which would strengthen the Franconian territorial and strategic position in Alsace, Lorraine, and Artois. Both monarchs now began an effort to persuade the Laurasian Empire to join the war on their side. Sarah, however, determined to maintain peaceful relations with Laurasia's neighbors, and to refrain from war at this juncture, adhered to a strict policy of neutrality. This policy would continue during the first four years of Empress Didymeia's reign. Franconia and the Marasharite Empire, which had concluded the Treaty of Djebra in September 1750, now aligned together with Siena against Spamalka, Florence, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany; they received financial aid from Portugallia, concerned about the Spamalkan threat against the Brazillian Territories.
 * September 19-On September 19, 1751, the future King of Franconia, Hensios III (r. 1774-1789) was born at the Chateau de Saint-Cloud near Parri. He was the fourth son of King Hensios II of Franconia and his wife, Queen Consort Catharina d'Medici. Like his older brother Charman, Hensios was not expected, at the time of his birth, to accede to the throne, due to his eldest brother Franjak's betrothal to Queen Mariana of Scottria. He would be raised in great luxury on the Royal Estates during the earliest years of his life.
 * October 3-
 * In conjunction with the conclusion of the Treaty of Northam, the Imperial Laurasian and Royal Scottrian Governments, urged on by King Hensios II and by Council President Sarah, decided that Queen-Dowager Mariana of Guise, who had journeyed to Parri to visit with her daughter, Queen Mariana, would make a detour to the Caladarian Galaxy. She would consequently conduct an official state visit to Laurasia Prime, to meet with the Emperor, Regency Council, and chief personages of the Imperial Laurasian Court. Mariana, who was eager to see the Empire's capital world, of which much was said throughout extra-galactic civilization, and to meet with another sovereign and government, of such relevance to her daughter's dominions and throne, enthusiastically approved of these plans (September 14, 1751). Sarah and the Regency Council proceeded to immediate preparations for the visit; orders were issued to the courtiers of the Imperial Household to conduct themselves in a "proper and befitting matter." Chancellor Cecilis made security arrangements, with the Valedictorian Guards, Ministry of Internal Security, and the authorities of Laurasia Prime, for the safety of the Queen Dowager and her entourage. No expense was spared to procure the best foods, the best entertainments, the best clothes, and the best vehicles possible for this visit. It was on October 3, 1751, that the Queen Dowager and her entourage arrived at Devily in the Galactic Borderlands, thereby making their entry into the Laurasian Empire.
 * She was greeted by the Laurasian Governor of Devily, Sir Anatolius Diacoles (1699-1773), and by Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, dispatched by the Regency Council as the Queen Dowager's official escort. Over the course of the next six days, she made a gradual route of process across the Galactic Borderlands and to Laurasia Prime. Among the worlds visited by the Queen Dowager and her entourage were Patricia I, Kania, Barching, Rasdalla Minor, Rasdalla Major, Kathy Major, Kathy Minor, the Riverite Asteroid Belt, Rhedita, Arachosia Prime, Vector Prime, Kalbacha Minor, Kalbacha Major, Zannah, Huerta Mongol, Valeris V, Bach Dang, Roger Major, Hypasia, Morgania, Kelvania, Angelica, Kanjur, Malaria Prime, Caladaria, Darcia, Charasia, Americana, Katherine, Rebecca, Nezbit, and Blackria. Then on October 9, 1751, Mariana of Guise, still escorted by Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, arrived in the Laurasia Prime star system. The garrison of the capital world permitted her entry, and she was greeted by crowds at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, the two Calaxies, the Second Station of Callista, and in Christiania, Constantinople, Osraninpolis, Uris, Colombia, and other cities of Laurasia Prime. Emperor Demetrius himself, along with the Earl of Sarah, former Lord Protector Seymouris, Lady Aurelia, Chief Procurator Cranmerius, and the members of the Regency Council, formally greeted the Queen Dowager at the Audience Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace. Mariana had polite conversation with the Emperor, and he presented her with a diamond ring, which had belonged to the late Empress Dowager Katharina Parsius. Mariana and her entourage were graciously entertained by the Emperor and his court during the course of the next month. Lady Didymeia, however, still engaged in bitter disputes over religion with her half-brother Demetrius, declined to attend, and instead remained at her estates on Murphy.
 * October 11-In a ceremony attended by all of the personages of the Imperial Court (including Seymouris), and by the visiting Scottrian Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise, John Dudley, 1st Earl of Sarah, was, on October 11, 1751, formally elevated to the higher rank and title of Duke of Northumberlais by Emperor Demetrius. Dudley had long desired equality with Seymouris, who as Duke of Volta had enjoyed higher precedence than he among the Empire's nobility. For months, the now Duke of Northumberlais had drafted plans for his elevation, and the formal warrants for the ceremony had been drawn up by the Regency Council on October 5. Although Seymouris participated in the ceremony, he had begun to plot once again, seeking the recovery of his position of authority in the Imperial Laurasian Government. Gathering his own cadre of followers, Seymouris sought to obstruct the policies of Northumberlais's regime, and contemplated the arrest and execution of the Lord President. Whilst these conspiracies were being formulated, Mariana of Guise departed from Laurasia Prime on November 13, 1751, thereby bringing an end to her official visit to the Laurasian Empire. She was sent off by Emperor Demetrius and the Imperial Laurasian Court with many gifts; Sir Rudomentus Sadelius now took up Winchestrius's responsibilities and escorted the Queen Dowager back to the Galactic Barrier. She arrived at Zerba on November 16, and thence progressed into the Galactic Void. The Queen Dowager returned to Ediania on November 23, escorted on the last stage of her journey through Scottrian realms by Regent Arran and by many of the most prominent figures among the Scottrian gentry. Turbocannon were fired at Ediania in order to celebrate the Queen-Dowager's return, and the clergy of the Scottrian State thanked their gods for allowing her a safe passage. From this point forward, her influence at the Scottrian Court increased substantially, for Arran began to lose the political support of many of his followers.
 * December 16-On December 16, 1751, on the orders of the Duke of Northumberlais, the former Lord Protector Edwardis Seymouris, Duke of Volta, was arrested. The Council President had caught wind of Seymouris's machinations at the Imperial Court through the Imperial Intelligence Agency, and had himself heard of rumors directed against him by Seymouris and his supporters. Seymouris was formally arraigned on charges of treason, felony, conspiracy, and les-majestie, accused of fomenting dissent against Emperor Demetrius's protectors; plotting to engineer a explosion to kill the members of the Regency Council; and conspiring with foreign ambassadors and others in order to depose Demetrius and restore Traditionalism to the Laurasian dominions. The Duke of Volta was imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux.

1752

 * January 11-
 * 1752, the 52nd year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the spectacle of the Duke of Volta's downfall. On January 11, 1752, the trial of the former Lord Protector, Edwardis Seymouris, Duke of Volta, was conducted at the Public Senatorial Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace. Procurator-General Richius, who by this point longed for retirement from the duties of government, presented the case for the Imperial State and presided over the trial. Seymouris defended himself vigorously, declaring that it had been the will of the late Emperor Antigonus for him to become Lord Protector; that Northumberlais had violated the Emperor's instructions, and the Law of Almitis by seizing the predominant position of influence in the Imperial Government; and that his intrigues had only been meant to secure the position of Demetrius.
 * Richius, however, pointed out that the Emperor's will had given the Regency Council "the necessary reins of authority over the state" and that Seymouris had only been made Lord Protector on the generosity of the Council. At the conclusion of the proceedings of evidence, the Senate held its deliberations, which lasted for only two hours. It convicted Seymouris on all charges laid against him and condemned him to death by firing squad. Northumberlais confirmed the sentence and signed Seymouris's execution warrant during the late hours of the day. Seymouris's execution took place on January 22, 1752, and was witnessed by a crowd of just three hundred persons. The Regency Council and the Earl of Sarah had granted the former Lord Protector's petition for a private execution, and it was held at the Private Grounds. Seymouris, in his final speech to the crowds, declared that he meant only the best for "His Majesty and the Empire" and that his efforts were in the right. His body was interred at the Prison Crypt of the Fortress of Baureux. Then on January 25, three days following Seymouris's execution, Baron Sir Ricomedius Richius formally resigned as Procurator-General of the Governing Senate, after having served for nearly five years. The Council President replaced him almost immediately with Sir Thomasius Goodrichius (1694-1754), who had been Archbishop of Colombia since 1734. Goodrichius was to serve for just over a year.
 * February 4-
 * In the meantime, the Almitian Reformation continued to progress, as Chief Procurator Cranmerius, who was becoming more and more inclined to a program of reform, pushed through a series of innovations. The whole process received the personal approval and encouragement of Emperor Demetrius himself, whose religious views had been molded by Cranmerius and by other reformists. Cranmerius also took into account the opinions of several other figures, such as Tyraniz Hestiz (1695-1755), Bishop of the Cron Drift, Dr. Athanasius Lucerius (1691-1753), who had advanced reformist efforts among Almitian congregations and dioceses in the satellite galaxies and Great Amulak Spiral, and Dr. Seleucus Vergeria (1699-1762), Chancellor of the St. Peter and Paul Ecclesiastical Academy, and one of the most renowned theological scholars in the Empire. The progress of the Reformation was furthered along by the consecration of Reformists as Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, and Deans. From November 1751 to January 1752, Cranmerius engaged in a revision of the Book of Common Prayer, providing for a more thorough reorganization of church services and liturgy, and expressing Almitian precepts in less ambiguous reformist terms. He ordered an investigation of canon law, and then, on February 4, 1752, published the Forty-Six Articles of the Faith of the Imperial Almitian Church.
 * The Articles, which were intended to summarize Almitian doctrine, were claimed by the Chief Procurator to have received the sanction of the Almitian Conference of Prelates, though this was doubtful. Nevertheless, the Articles codified the principles of clerical marriage, abolition of the Traditionalist Mass (by divesting any notion of the real presence of Almitis in the service), and simplified the holiday calendar, reducing the number of saints, blessed ones, and icons to whom reverence was due. The Articles and the revised Book of Common Prayer would be accepted by the Synod in June 1752, and confirmed by imperial decree nearly a year later. Further action would be taken by the promulgation of the Second Statute of Uniformity (April 24, 1752), meant to consolidate the reforms already embarked upon. This Statute, which superseded that of 1749, provided harsh penalties for violation of its provisions; six months imprisonment for the first offense, one year for the second, and two years for the third, in addition to a fine, which increased as the penalty increased. The Statute also granted the Chief Procurator more authority over matters relating to church annuities, the deposition of salaries, and the conduct of daily services. It remained in effect for little over a year.
 * April 11-Emperor Demetrius, whose health had come under more strain during the early months of 1752, now experienced his first serious illness. On April 11, the Emperor fell violently ill with a double attack of Soplaies disease and Marsian fever, while he was visiting the Gilbertine Palace on Tudoria. Demetrius was quickly removed to the Imperial Hospital Quarters, and over the course of the next several days, his physicians despaired over his condition. There were fears, circulated both in the Imperial Household and throughout the Empire's dominions, that the Emperor would die. Chief Procurator Cranmerius led a solemn prayer service at St. Gilbertine's Chapel, offering up his fervent hopes for Demetrius's recovery and barring that, for the safe passage of his soul. As time went on, the Emperor gradually regained his strength, and the medical treatments which were administered to him had some effect. On April 29, he was finally able to emerge from his bed, and four days later, he resumed his official duties. The Emperor's immune system, however, was left permanently exhausted, and the way was laid for the more serious illness which was to ultimately kill him the following year.
 * September 1-
 * The Duke of Northumberlais, who had continued to exert his influence over the affairs of the Imperial Laurasian Government, now moved to the task of sorting out marriage possibilities for the Emperor. Demetrius was approaching the age at which such plans were considered, and Northumberlais hoped that any union which was undertaken would also benefit himself and his associates. On June 19, 1752, he introduced a motion into the Privy Council, calling for the dispatch of communiques and other formal requests to the courts of the Great Amulak, in order to seek out for the Emperor a foreign bride. This motion was approved; Northumberlais also held discussions with foreign ambassadors at the Imperial Court, seeking out information and assistance from them. In July 1752, King Hensios II, hearing of the Imperial Laurasian Government's efforts, and eager to wean Laurasia from any alliance with the Spamalkans, offered his eldest daughter, Elisabeth of Valois (1745-68), as a potential bride for his Laurasian colleague. Northumberlais, seeking the diplomatic advantages in this, now moved swiftly to negotiations. On August 8, delegations from the two governments convened at Montavere, a Laurasian garrison located at the northern limits of the Outer Borderlands. Laurasian interests were represented by Baron Pagentia and Lord Greysius of Wiltonia, while the Duke of Sully and the ailing Franconian Admiral d'Annebault (who would die on November 2 of that year), represented the interests of the Royal Franconian Government.
 * The two delegations ultimately reached an agreement in the form of the Treaty of Montavere (September 1, 1752). By the terms of this treaty, the Emperor of Laurasia was formally engaged to Princess Elisabeth of Valois. It was agreed that Elisabeth would depart from Franconia, to the Caladarian Galaxy, by no later than January 1, 1758, and that the marriage itself was to take place, by no later than January 1, 1761. The Laurasians agreed to acknowledge Elizabeth's rights as Empress Consort and to provide for the expenses of her household, once it was established in the Empire. The Franconians were obliged to pay a dowry of €550 billion dataries for the Princess. The Treaty of Montavere was ratified by King Hensios on September 14 and by Emperor Demetrius (with the Regency Council), on November 5. Northumberlais, delighted by the conclusion of this agreement, ordered for celebrations to be held at the Court, and throughout the Empire. He also, in December 1752, sent an offer for mediation to the Spamalkan and Franconian Governments. Char'va I and Hensios II both accepted Laurasian mediation, but negotiations floundered by March 1753 due to irreconcilable differences between the two states.
 * November 17-By November 1752, the relationship between the Duke of Northumberlais and Chief Procurator Cranmerius had become more strained. Northumberlais, although he had supported all of Cranmerius's reforms up to this point, had begun to develop the belief that the Almitian Church's reorganization, if carried too far, may eventually establish it as a base of opposition to his authority, and to that of the Imperial Government. Cranmerius, on his part, was pressing for even more radical reform within the Church structure, and believed that the Council President was obstructing this. They also had disagreements over economic and court policy, and Northumberlais's intrigues with his family and associates distressed Cranmerius. Tensions finally boiled over on November 17, 1752, when the two had a verbal argument in the Private Meeting Chambers of the Privy Council, at the Quencilvanian Palace. The argument was de-escalated by other members of the Council before it went too far, but the resentments remained. Northumberlais now decided on an act of petty vindictiveness in order to strike back against Cranmerius. On December 14, the properties belonging to the Archbishopric of Charasia, and to six of its ten lesser bishoprics, were confiscated by the Regency Council on Northumberlais's orders. This action alienated not only Cranmerius, but many other reformists, and it also served to aggravate dissent against Northumberlais himself, who many were now starting to believe was acting only for himself. Yet as 1752 came to an end, the Council President was still secure in his position. That, however, was to change, for the Emperor's health would take an alarming turn for the worse.

1753

 * February 6-
 * 1753, the 53rd year of the eighteenth century, began with ominous prospects looming for the Laurasian Empire. January 1753 itself passed in relative tranquility, but the Duke of Northumberlais continued to alienate many at the Imperial Court with his brash policies. But on February 6, 1753, Emperor Demetrius, whose immune system had been wasted by the violent attack of Soplaies disease and Marsian fever in April 1752, fell violently ill for the second time. Now fifteen years old, it had been initially believed by many at the Imperial Court and throughout the Laurasian Empire that the young Emperor had inherited the athletic constitution of his father's earlier years, and that he would not succumb to illness at such a young stage. The Emperor's health, however, had suddenly entered a rapid decline over the course of the past two years, and the Imperial Hospital Quarters in the Quencilvanian Palace had become one of his most common residences. The Emperor's latest bout of illness now seriously alarmed Council President Northumberlais, Chief Procurator Cranmerius, and others within the reformist circles of the Imperial Laurasian Government. Many realized that it was the Emperor's life which had permitted them to continue their reforms in the Almitian Church, and Northumberlais in particular feared the consequences of what would happen if Didymeia acceded to the Laurasian throne. It was this fear that was to motivate the actions of the following months.
 * On February 17, Lady Didymeia, on the invitation of the Regency Council, visited Emperor Demetrius, who was now in delirium within the Imperial Quarters. Despite the earlier, and bitter religious arguments between the two siblings, Didymeia expressed true concern for her brother's condition, and pressured the staff of the Imperial Hospital to do all within their power in order to engineer his swift recovery and allow him to resume his normal duties of state. Her prodding produced results, as the Emperor began to slowly recover over the following five days. Northumberlais took note of Didymeia's actions, and effected a brief reconciliation with her at this stage. On February 28, 1753, Demetrius, following more than three weeks of sickness, finally emerged from his sickbed in the Imperial Hospital and returned to his personal bedchambers. This was to be the last recovery from illness experienced by the Emperor, although many at that point still believed that he would not die. Northumberlais issued a proclamation to this effect from the Quencilvanian Palace, declaring that the late "sickness of His Majesty" had, by the grace of Almitis, abated, and that surely the forces of the Universe would preserve the Emperor's health. Demetrius, himself, however, had gained a understanding of mortality, and he now began to fear for the future of the Neuchrian Dynasty and the Laurasian Empire.
 * March 2-
 * On March 2, 1753, Doge Francesco Donato of Haxonia, whose reign had lasted for nearly eight years, died at the Serglio Palace on Ipuza. He was seventy-eight years old at the time of his death, and had become one of the most respected Doges of the eighteenth century. Donato's reign had seen the latter stages of the War of the Austarlian Succession. It is now expedient to cover the events of that war here. The War had been concurrent with the Italianian War of 1740-46 and the Fourth Laurasian-Franconian War of 1744-46. The Holy Spamalkan Empire was supportive of the Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania; it's enemy, the Serene Kingdom of Franconia, was supportive of the Pruthian Emperor P'rua IX. Events of the war proceeded in quick order. The Battle of Molliwitz (April 10, 1741) had witnessed a decisive victory by Emperor Pr'ua over the Austarlian forces of General Willhelm Reinhard von Neippberg (1684-1774), who had relieved Neusse. Pr'ua had then signed the Treaty of Breslau with King Franjak I of Franconia on June 5, 1741. The Franconians, in accordance with this, crossed through the Rhine Barriers, bypassing Spamalkan Cologne and Franche-Comte, and joined the Bavarian Elector's forces; they then advanced into Bohemia and the Austarlian Archduchies, with Linz, Budweis, and Tabor falling into Franconian hands. Pr'ua was able to thereby conquer the remainder of Silesia and Neisse (October 1741).
 * On November 26, 1741, Prague was conquered by the Franconians and Bavarians, and the Elector of Bavaria, now claiming to be Archduke of Austarlia, was crowned as King of Bohemia. In December 1741, Austarlian forces under Field Marshal Ludwig Andreas Khuvenhuller (1683-1744), advanced into Bavaria, capturing its capital Munich. Bohemia, however, remained in Franconian hands. Olmutz and Glatz were conquered by Pruthian Field Marshal Kurt von Scherwin's forces in January 1742, thereby breaching into Moravia; the Pruthians advanced as far as Vienna before being halted by Prince Char'lac of Lorraine, (1712-80), younger brother of Austarlian co-sovereign Fransios II. The Battle of Choustiz (May 17, 1742), witnessed a decisive victory by Pru'a over Prince Char'lac, who had sought to cut him off from Silesia. Franconain Marshal Francois Broglie, in the meantime, found success in Salzburg, the Innvirtel Corridor, and Lower Bavaria against the Austarlians; in February 1742, Doge Lando of Haxonia had declared war, with Austarlian forces soon being driven into Slavonia and from Istria. The Treaty of Breslau (June 11, 1742), had seen the end of the First Silanian War, with Pr'ua obtaining possession of the province.
 * For the rest of the year, therefore, the Franconians, who were also fighting the Spamalkans in the Royal Dominions, Durthia, Italiania, and in the Germanian Principalities, kept up their support for the Bavarians in Bohemia and the Duchies. 1743, however, opened disastrously for the Elector of Bavaria; Broglie and the Elector's Field Marshal Count von Seckendorff could not cooperate effectively, and the Battle of Branau (May 9, 1743), was a major humiliation for the Bavarians. Vendragia, on its part, which had entered the war in December 1742 on the side of Austarlia, cooperated with the Spamalkans and Hesse, Austarlian Burgundy, and the Westphalian Circles against Franconia. On June 27, 1743, the Battle of Dettingen saw a victory by Vendragian King Georg II's forces over the Franconians; Vendragian and Franconian forces were also at odds in Celle, Mecklenburg, Jutland, and Heligoland. Emperor Pru'a now had to contend with Austarlia, Saxony, and Vendragia; Laurasia, under Antigonus III, continued to focus its attentions solely on the situation in Franconia, and the Emperor refrained from campaigns farther galactic-east. Worms, the Bresiagu, and the Spessart all fell into the hands of the Vendragians and Austarlians, and Franconian forces were gradually pulled out of the Lower Thrungian Circles. Broglie was replaced by Marshal Coligny. On September 13, 1743, Doge Lando, who had gained what he wished from the war, had concluded the Treaty of Worms with Austarlia, thereby acquiring the line of the Ticino Nebula, Maggiore, and the Perlet. By the end of the year, Austarlia, Vendragia, Spamalka, Saxony, and Tuscany found themselves standing together against Franconia, Sienna, the Marasharite Empire and Barbary States, and Bavaria.
 * 1744 witnessed the commencement of the Second Silesian War. Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia was frightened by Austarlian success against the Bavarians, and by the withdrawal of the Haxonian Confederacy from the hostilities. Therefore, he secretly concluded another alliance with King Franjak I of Franconia. Franconia officially declared war directly upon Austarlia and Haxonia in April 1744, just as its hostilities against Spamalka in Italiania and the Durthian Duchies were ramping up, and on the verge of Emperor Antigonus's entry into the Italianian War. Franconia was also supporting the Jacobite Stuarts against King Georg II of Vendragia, thereby forcing him to strengthen the garrisons of Hanover and the Homeland Territories. On February 22, 1744, the Battle of Toulon was waged between the forces of the Vendragian Confederacy and the Holy Spamalkan Empire on the one hand, and the Serene Kingdom of Franconia (with Marasharite and Barbary auxiliaries) on the other. It ended in a tactical victory for the allied forces, but Vendragian fears about the Franconian threat to the Knights of Malta and to Vendragian Cyrene, the Horns of Hormuz, and the Cape d'Abatta remained. In July 1744, Austarlian Brussalia was invaded by the Franconians; Menin fell into their hands. This was while Spamalkan units advanced in Luxembourg, Cologne, and the Ardennes. A hodgepodge of Vendragian, Durthian, Austarlian, Hanoverian, and Spamalkan units resisted this Franconian move. The Franconians themselves had six different military forces in operation.
 * One was concerned with Artois and the Durthian Duchies, fighting the Laurasians and Spamalkans; the next was in Italiania; the third in the Spamalkan Hereditary Dominions, Navarre, and Gascony; the fourth in the Circles of Thrungia and Westphalia; the fifth operated against Franche-Comte and the Metzian Lordships; and the sixth in Austarlian Brussalia. The advance of Prince Char'lac's forces, however, forced an Franconian retreat through Wessenburg and towards Strasbourg; Franconian units also had to contend with the Laurasian threat. In August 1744, Emperor Pru'a, taking advantage of the allied distractions in Brussalia and the Westphalia, and of the Laurasian campaigns in the Franconian Royal Dominions, moved his units into Bohemia; he was virtually unopposed, and on September 2, 1744, besieged Prague; it fell six days later. Pru'a then seized Tabor, Budweis, and Frauenburg. Prince Char'lac, however, returned, and in a series of maneuvers reconquered Prague for the Austarlians and forced Pru'a to retreat back into Silania. Freiburg and the strongholds of Austarlian Brussalia remained under relentless Franconian assault. In January 1745, Vendragia, Austarlia, Spamalka (in the form of the Durthian Duchies) and Saxony formed the quadruple alliance. The death of Elector Char'vak of Bavaria later that month changed matters further. By April 1745, with Franconian forces defeated at Pfaffenhofen, Elector Maximilian Joseph, Char'vak's son and successor, was forced once again to flee from Munich. On April 22, 1745, the Treaty of Fussen was concluded, by which Bavaria withdrew from the war.
 * Towards the end of March, Tournay, one of the chief strongholds of Austarlian Burgundy, was besieged by the Franconians; the Vendragians under the Duke of Cumbria attempted to relieve the stronghold. The Battle of Fontenoy (May 11, 1745), ended in victory for the Franconians, who then conquered Tournay. In July 1745, the Jacobite pretender Charles Edward Stuart began his campaigns in Northern Vendragia, sweeping through Prestpoans and the Shetland Provinces. His forces penetrated as far as Derby before the Battle of Murh (January 17, 1746), in which they won. On April 27, 1746, however, the Battle of Culloden led to the suppression of his uprising. On June 4, 1745, in the meanwhile, the Battle of Hohenfriedberg resulted in a decisive victory for Emperor Pru'a over Prince Char'lac; Mar'va Tarvania, who elevated her husband officially to the rank of co-Emperor in September 1745, refused to recognize Pru'a's rule of Silania. The Battle of Soor, fought that same month, ended in another victory for Pru'a. Saxony and Prince Char'lac now combined for an offensive into Brandenburg, but Pru'a moved towards Dresden, winning the Battles of Katholisch-Hennersdorf and Gorlitz in November 1745. The Battle of Kesselsdorf (December 14, 1745), ended in victory for Prince Lea'dus of Anhalt-Dessau, Emperor Pru'a's most senior general. Thus on December 25, 1745, the Treaty of Dresden resulted in Ma'rva Tarvania recognizing Pru'a's annexation of Silania, while Pru'a acknowledged her rights as Holy Empress of Austarlia. Pruthia was out of the conflict, but hostilities continued elsewhere.
 * The events in the Fourth Franconian War proceeded apace; 1746 saw the Durthians and Austarlians suffering reverses in Alsace and the Alpian Provinces, with Franconian forces penetrating into the Swiss Duchies, Heletia, and Styria. In February, Brussalia Major was captured by King Franjak. In the Ameridindian Territories, Vendragian units clashed with their Franconian counterparts in Louisiana, Ohio, and Inner Canada; Spamalkan forces fought the Franconians in Baja California and the Tahiti Colonies. The Battle of Roucourt in September 1746 saw the Franconians defeat Prince Char'lac of Lorraine in his attempt to recover Brussalia Major. The Austarlian Barrier Fortresses then fell to the Franconians; in July 1747, the Duke of Cumbria was defeated in the Battle of Lauffeld. By May 1748, all of Austarlian Burgundy was in Franconian hands. At that point, Empress Mar'va Tarvania sued for peace, and negotiations began at Aachen, which had been under Austarlian control since 1712. The Treaty of Aachen (October 18, 1748), signed two years following the end of the Fourth Franconian War, thereby terminated the War of the Austarlian Succession. By the terms of this treaty, Pruthian acquisition of Silania was recognized; Austarlian concessions to Haxonia in the Piombino Region were also affirmed. Franconia withdrew from Austarlian Burgundy and Brussalia, but regained Cape Bretonia and Ohio; Vendragia recovered Madras. Thus it was that Haxonia had gained advantages from this conflict, and the stage was set for the Seven Year's War and the Didymeian War in the 1750s and early 1760s. Donato, on his part, had reigned over the Confederacy in peace during the years following the end of the War of Austarlian Succession, although in 1751-52, he contended with rebellions in Masagat and the Afghani Territories against Haxonian garrisons and authorities. Donato was succeeded as Doge by Senator Marcantonio Trevisan, who was seventy years old at the time of his accession. Trevisan was to remain Doge for less than a year.
 * March 19-On March 19, 1753, Chief Procurator Cranmerius proposed to the Holy Synod and the Imperial Privy Council an official compilation and codification of all the procedures of canon law. Such a codification, which would be prepared by a commission of clerics and layman, would provide for the specific duties and obligations of those bound to the service of the Almitian Church; clarify the Almitian Church's exact position on matters of morality and personal faith; and lay out the penalties for any who acted in contravention to the mandates of the Third Statute of Imperial Uniformity and the Revised Book of Common Prayer. Northumberlais, who feared Cranmerius's further reforms, and believed that a codification of canon law would allow the Holy Synod to reclaim its prerogatives over religious affairs, blocked the Chief Procurator's motion. Cranmerius was furious, and his confidence in the Council President waned.
 * April 4-
 * Seeking to "reward" her for her efforts at her brother's sickbed, and to maintain a positive working relationship, the Council President Northumberlais ordered the Heraldmaster of the Governing Senate, the Lord Vernus (1709-84), on April 4, 1753, to issue an imperial manifesto restoring Didymeia to the title and honors of Grand Princess of the Laurasian Empire and conferring blessings upon her for her concern for the Emperor's welfare. Didymeia, who had never acknowledged her loss of the title of Grand Princess in the first place, and who had continued to believe that her father's marriage with her mother, Katharina of Shenandoah, was his only valid one, declared privately to members of her household that the proclamation of the Council President was "merely a official acknowledgement of what has always been mines." A similar manifesto, issued shortly afterwards, restored to the Lady Aurelia the title and dignities of Grand Princess, on the same grounds of "loyalty" to the person of the Emperor. Demetrius himself, however, was conceiving further thoughts about the succession and sought means by which he could maintain Reformed Almitism in the Empire.
 * Thus it was that the Emperor, who was believed to be fully recovered from his bout of illness, traveled to his place of birth, the Palace of Placenta on Darcia, on April 14, 1753. The Duke of Northumberlais and the Regency Council made the arrangements for the Emperor's journey, and he was attended by the majority of the Imperial Household. Upon arriving at the Palace of Placenta, Demetrius involved himself in various physical activities, trying to stay alert. He took the air in Placenta Park; appeared before his subjects on the Palatial Balcony; and even attended a series of court masques and festivities. By May 7, the Emperor appeared to be "much more lively than before", and his doctors believed that he had fully recovered from his earlier bout of illness. They were soon to be proven wrong.
 * May 14-
 * Emperor Demetrius, whose concern for the future of the Laurasian Empire had by now grown to excessive bounds, wrote a draft document headed My Devise for the Succession. Like many others on the Regency Council, including Northumberlais himself, the Emperor had cause to fear the accession of his Traditionalist half-sister Didymeia to the Laurasian throne. Didymeia had continued to assert her rights to Traditionalist rituals within her private household; she had constantly informed the Spamalkan and Austarlian Ambassadors, as well as members of her personal entourage, that she intended to restore the "true faith" to the Laurasian Empire, if Almitis permitted her to succeed Demetrius on the throne; and she believed that the policies pursued by the Emperor's "protectors" were heretical and in direct contravention of the will of Almitis. Those policies, however, had been supported by Demetrius himself, who believed that he had been called upon by the will of Almitis to correct "errors and falsehoods" in the teachings of the Almitian Church. The Emperor's religious viewpoint had been formulated by the influence of Cranmerius and of his tutor Sir John Chekius, both of whom were convinced Reformists.
 * Therefore, Demetrius believed that Didymeia could not, under any circumstances, be permitted to accede to the Laurasian throne. He was determined to maintain the religious reforms of his father and of his own reign, and believed that Almitis would damn the Laurasian dominions if Traditionalist Almitism was reestablished. The Emperor also had a more practical reason to oppose the succession of Didymeia: her bastardy. Although Northumberlais had restored her rank and title as Grand Princess, he had not ordered the Holy Synod to lift her bastardy, nor had he invalidated the terms of the proclamations acknowledging this whom Didymeia herself had been forced to sign. Therefore, because she was officially illegitimate, Demetrius reasoned, she was ineligible to ascend to the Laurasian throne. In the original draft of the Devise for the Succession, the Emperor Demetrius declared that, "in lack of issue by myself", his sister Aurelia and her heirs would ascend to the throne, followed by the heirs of his aunts Octavia Seslais and Constantia. For the time being, Demetrius kept his Devise for the Succession secret from Northumberlais, Cranmerius, and the rest of the Regency Council.
 * May 25-
 * After months of complex marriage negotiations, three weddings were conducted on the same day at Durhamian Mansion in Constantinople, the Duke of Northumberlais's private residence (May 25, 1753). In the first, and most important, of these weddings, the second-youngest son of the Duke of Northumberlais, Sir Constantine Dudley, was married to the Lady Minerva Greysius, granddaughter of Antigonus III's younger sister, the Grand Princess, Duchess of Sufforia, and Queen-Dowager of Franconia Octavia Seslais. Northumberlais himself had participated in the negotiations of this marriage with the Greysius and Brandeis families, determined to establish a direct link, within his bloodline, to the Neuchrian Dynasty. The Duke had developed ambitions of securing the Laurasian throne for his descendants, believing that he could override the rights now of both Didymeia and Aurelia, who, although restored each to the rank and title of Grand Princess, were nevertheless still considered bastards under the canon law of the Almitian Church. These ambitions were to show themselves shortly. Minerva was sixteen years old at the time of her marriage to Constantine (having been born on October 15, 1737); Constantine was eighteen (born on April 1, 1735).
 * Despite the fact that theirs was an arranged union, the young couple would fall madly in love with each other, developing more passion and concern for each other than was known among many other couples of the Laurasian nobility. Northumberlais was pleased at this and believed their strong bond boded well for the future. In the second marriage, Constantine's younger sister Katharina married Antigonus Harringtia (1730-95), the son and heir of Franconius Harringtia, 2nd Earl of Hannah (1714-61) and his wife Lady Katharina Polsius (1711-76), daughter of Sir Antigonius Polsius, 1st Baron Montacute (1694-1739). Harringtia was, on his father's side, descended from the Emperor Antoninus Pius. This would thereby provide the Dudley family a further link to the Imperial Laurasian Crown. In the third and final union of the day, Minerva's younger sister, also named Katharina, was married to Lord Herbetius (1738-97), the son and heir of the Earl of Aeoleon. These marriages would be soon be viewed as part of a vast conspiracy by the Dudley family to obtain power and influence in the Laurasian Empire.
 * May 28-
 * Emperor Demetrius, whose health was once again beginning to deteriorate, and who had returned to the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime, revealed his Devise for the Succession on May 28, 1753, to Council President Northumberlais, Chief Procurator Cranmerius, and Chekius. Demetrius declared that he knew that Almitis destined him to die, and that he, although he was only a child, was concerned for the welfare of the realms bequeathed onto him by the will of his father and of Almitis. Northumberlais, when he saw the Devise for the Succession, was now finally able, in his view, to act on his ambitions. Believing this to be his opportunity, the Council President now brought his considerable influence to bear on the Emperor. He declared that the arguments concerning religious differences, as regards to the Grand Princess Didymeia, were valid, and that she would reverse all of their efforts. At the same time, however, he stated that the Emperor was "in error" as regards to his argument of legitimacy, for both Didymeia and his beloved, Reformist half-sister Aurelia were bastards.
 * Aurelia would therefore have to be excluded from the succession as well, on account of this, and this should override the Emperor's personal convictions. Cranmerius and Chekius both backed the Council President's arguments. Demetrius therefore decided to revise his Devise. In the second draft, the Emperor provided that, "in case of lack of issue of my body", the throne should be inherited by "legitimate male dynasts", and not by "women, bastards, or Traditionalists." He declared specifically that the male heirs of Lady Franconia Brandeis, her daughter Minerva Greysius, and those of Minerva's siblings Katharina and Didymeia, would be permitted to ascend to the throne upon his death. The ladies themselves were to be excluded. Didymeia and Aurelia were both declared "unfit" for possession of the Laurasian throne; Demetrius reconfirmed his father's declarations of bastardy against them and asserted that Almitis viewed them as illegitimate. Northumberlais now began making preparations for the preparation of an official decree based on the Emperor's document. On June 4, Demetrius suffered a violent coughing bout in his personal bedchambers at the Quencilvanian Palace. Dr. Thomasius Varrus (1712-92), royal physician of the Imperial Household, declared to the Regency Council and others at the Imperial Court that the Emperor's Soplaies infection had returned. Varrus now had the Emperor moved, for the last time, to the Imperial Hospital, and ordered for him to be placed on a vigorous regimen of antibiotics and fluid treatments. Demetrius's immune system, however, was exhausted, and could no longer fight the progress of disease. His health continued to decline, despite all of the efforts of his doctors and medical staff.
 * June 6-
 * Emperor Demetrius, who was beginning to realize that he was dying, and that the terms of his earlier Device were impractical, conducted another hasty revision of its terms. This time, the Emperor provided that, in the case of his "decease without issue from my body", the Lady Minerva Greysius herself, along with her male heirs, would be permitted to ascend to the Laurasian throne upon his death. This work of revision of the Device's terms occupied the ailing Emperor's energies for some four hours, and upon the completion of his work, he showed it to Council President Northumberlais. Northumberlais, in pursuit of his own ambitions, and eager to hasten the process along, declared the Emperor's document "perfect" and that none in the Laurasian dominions would dare to challenge his terms.
 * Demetrius, acting on Northumberlais's urging, now ordered the paralegals of the Ministry of Justice and the Administrative Department of the Governing Senate to prepare an official edict of succession, which embodied the terms he had laid out. They were reluctant about the Emperor's command, but nevertheless attended to their duties during the course of the next nine days. Emperor Demetrius would twice summon the paralegals to his bedside, on June 8 and June 11, to urge them on to the completion of their task. On the latter day, they noticed the Emperor's wasted physical condition, and Dr. Varrus reported in the Medical Logs that Demetrius coughed yellow mucus continually throughout the meeting. Finally, on June 15, 1753, the official Imperial Decree on the Revised Succession to the Laurasian Empire was finished. Northumberlais took possession of the decree, and hastened to the Emperor's bedside, reading out its contents to him and informing him that the paralegals had successfully concluded their work. Demetrius now ordered for the paralegals, Procurator-General Goodrichius, and the Minister of Justice to appear at his bedside. Commanding them, on their allegiance, "with sharp words and angry countenance", the Emperor bound them to officially announce the Decree to the Privy Council, Synod, and Senate, and to prepare for its official promulgation by the Imperial Court. They were all then compelled by the Emperor to sign a bond of association in his presence, in which they agreed to faithfully perform Demetrius's will after his death. Assistant Minister of Justice, Sir Edwardis Montagu (1685-1757), would later report that Northumberlais had coerced them into signing the bond of association and that his supporters had stated that if they refused to do so, they were traitors and deserved death.
 * June 21-
 * The Imperial Decree on the Revised Succession to the Laurasian Empire was officially promulgated by the Regency Council on June 21, 1753, on behalf of and in the wishes of the Emperor Demetrius II. The decree formally reaffirmed that Grand Princesses Didymeia and Aurelia were both bastards, and that, despite the restoration of their ranks and titles, they were still ineligible to ascend to the Laurasian throne. It affirmed that in the event of the Emperor's death without living heirs, the crown was to pass, "by right of heredity and of Almitis", to the Lady Minerva Greysius and her male heirs. Strict penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and execution for treasonable offenses, were provided for any who resisted the terms of the decree or refused to acknowledge Minerva Greysius as Empress. In order to ensure compliance to the decree, Demetrius himself commanded for all of the notables of the Imperial State to sign the Decree on the Revised Succession at the Public Senatorial Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace.
 * The Privy Council, Holy Synod, Governing Senate, military commanders, the Governor of Laurasia Prime, the Mayor of Christiania, the leading nobles and knights of the Imperial Court, the Ministers of State, the Great Officers of State, members of the Imperial Household, leading clergymen and members of the Intelligence Agency and other government commissions, and diplomatic officials all affixed their signatures to the Decree. Northumberlais himself was the most prominent personage to sign the Decree. Chief Procurator Cranmerius, Procurator-General Goodrichius, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, Chancellor Cecilis, and Field-Marshal Munnich were among the other officials to sign the Decree on the Revised Succession. The promulgation of the Decree confirmed the rumors which had been circulating about the succession, and it was now certain to all that Emperor Demetrius was destined to die. The dynastic hopes of his father, Antigonus III, centered around the birth of a son, were crashing in flames. Most Laurasians supported Didymeia, but foreign diplomats at the Imperial Court, including the Franconian and Pruthian Ambassadors, believed that Minerva Greysius would be successfully established as Empress.
 * July 1-On July 1, 1753, Emperor Demetrius made his final public appearance, showing himself to his subjects from the Imperial Balcony of the Quencilvanian Palace. Those who saw him were appalled by his "thin and wasted" condition, and believed that the Emperor's demise was resulting from the intrigues of the Anti-Almitis. Demetrius himself had fully accepted his impending fate. Dr. Varrus had finally admitted that the Emperor's life was beyond recovery, as he had lost the will to fight the disease. He was forced to lay on his back for most of the time. To his tutor Chekius, Demetrius had whispered: "I am glad to die." Despite this, large crowds arrived outside of the Quencilvanian Palace over the course of the next two days, hoping to see the Emperor again. On July 3, they would be told that the Emperor's condition would not permit any more public appearances.
 * July 6-After having reigned for only six years, Demetrius II the Boy Emperor, the only surviving legitimate son of Antigonus III the Extravagant, and the third monarch of the Neuchrian Dynasty, died on July 6, 1753 at the youthful age of fifteen. He was the third-youngest Laurasian sovereign in history to die (after Trajan the Child King, who had died at fourteen, and Maximinus II the Child Emperor, who had died at eleven. Demetrius's death in fact, came seventy years after Maximinus's deposition and the coronation of his uncle, Titus II the Cruel). At his deathbed, the Emperor remained trusting in his faith towards Almitis to the end. He received the Last Sacraments from Chief Procurator Cranmerius; engaged in fervent prayers to Almitis with all those present in his chambers; and, averting his eyes to Almitis, stated "I am faint; Lord have mercy upon me, and take my spirit." He fell dead afterwards, with Chief Procurator Cranmerius (who had now served in his position for twenty years), holding his hand. Besides Cranmerius, others in attendance at the Emperor's deathbed were Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, Chancellor Cecilis, and the Duke of Northumberlais himself, along with his tutor Sir John Chekius and the loyal attendants of the Imperial Household. Demetrius's death would mark the termination of the rule of the male sovereigns of the Neuchrian Dynasty; the reins of power were to be taken up by women, for the first time in Laurasian history, for the remainder of the century. Demetrius's death was formally announced to the subjects of the Laurasian Empire during the late hours of the day. Northumberlais, on his part, immediately put his plans into motion.
 * July 7-The Duke of Northumberlais, who believed himself to be in control of affairs in the Empire, and determined to ensure the swift and secure succession of his daughter-in-law Minerva to the Laurasian throne, dispatched his son, Lord Antiochus Dudley, along with an official escort, to Kelby, in order to secure the person of the Grand Princess Didymeia, who according to the terms of the Third Antigonid Statute of Succession, was the legitimate heiress apparent and successor of the now-deceased Emperor Demetrius. Didymeia, who had been kept informed of her brother's condition by Northumberlais himself and through her contacts at the Imperial Court (in particular the Spamalkan Ambassador), had prudently and secretly departed, days earlier, from Kelby to Metallasia, where she owned extensive properties and could count on the support of her household staff, retainers, and the garrison and authorities of Metallasia. The Duke of Northumberlais was unaware of the Grand Princess's move, until his son arrived at Kelby and learned from the world's authorities that Didymeia was not present there. Lord Dudley informed his father of this immediately, and Northumberlais now sent out orders to all garrisons in the Laurasian Purse Region, urging them to prevent any support from reaching the Grand Princess's Household and commanding for strict search procedures to be conducted of foreign subjects who visited at prominent worlds. Didymeia, on her part, began to assemble her support on Metallasia.
 * July 8-Lady Minerva Greysius was prevailed upon by the Duke of Northumberlais and her own parents, especially her ambitious mother, to accept the terms of the Decree on the Revised Succession to the Laurasian Empire. Minerva, who was reluctant and fearful for the consequences if Northumberlais's plans were to fail, declared that her father, the Duke of Sufforia, would remain on Laurasia Prime with her and the Privy Council, and that, once proclaimed Empress Regnant, she would not name her husband Constantine as Emperor-Consort. This was out of fear for his own life and safety. Northumberlais, however, who had secured Minerva's adherence to his plans, decided to himself depart for Caladaria in six day's time, in order to secure the defenses of Laurasia Prime. He realized that he had miscalculated in not securing Didymeia's person before Demetrius's death, and now sought to hastily "correct" his mistake.
 * July 10-Lady Minerva Greysius was, on July 10, 1753, four days after Emperor Demetrius's death, formally proclaimed Empress and Autocrat of All the Laurasians by the Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod. This marked only the second time in the history of the Laurasian Empire that a woman was proclaimed Empress; the first had been in 1341, more than four centuries earlier, when Grand Princess Constantia had declared herself to be such. Murmurings of dissent, however, stirred in Christiania and in the other cities and settlements of the Laurasia Prime star system, for many were convinced that Grand Princess Didymeia was the legitimate Empress and that the decree of Demetrius II had been contrived and issued on the initiative of Northumberlais, himself now widely unpopular with the Laurasian people. On the very same day that the assembled state bodies proclaimed Minerva Greysius to be their Empress, an official communique arrived from the Grand Princess Didymeia on Metallasia. In this communique, Didymeia declared her sadness for her half-brother's death, and that "he was one of the most saintly rulers to have governed in our history, despite his adherence to the Reformist creed." However, his decision to override their father's Statute of Succession, in favor of the Lady Minerva Greysius, was "utterly illogical" and violated all precedent. Therefore, she, as Grand Princess and heiress apparent to Demetrius II, demanded that the Imperial Court follow the "directives of her father and the letter of the law" and proclaim her Empress. The Council, led by Northumberlais and his long-time ally the Earl of Americana, replied that Minerva was Empress by the authority of the late Emperor Demetrius II and that he had revised the terms of his father's edict by virtue of his autocratic authority, as exercised through his protectors. Didymeia, they asserted, was supported by only a "few lewd and base" people. Didymeia, and most of the Empire's populace, were enraged by the Council's response, and she asserted that she would fight for her rights to the Laurasian throne. The prospect of civil war was now looming in the Laurasian Empire, a prospect which began to scare such patriotic officials as Lord Treasurer Winchestrius and Chancellor Cecilis, already regretting their adherence to the schemes of Northumberlais.
 * July 14-
 * The Duke of Northumberlais formally departed from Laurasia Prime with the Laurasia Prime Core Defense Fleet and sizable detachments from the garrisons of Darsis, Wallachia, Little Mexicana, and the Cron Drift (July 14, 1753). He soon established his operational headquarters at Caladaria, and declared his intentions to assert the rights of Minerva Greysius (who had been moved into official quarters at the Fortress of Baureux, the customary residence of a Laurasian sovereign before their coronation) and to defeat the "evil plotting" of Didymeia and her supporters. Didymeia, however, was supported by many of the most influential gentry and nobility in the Empire. Chancellor Cecilis himself, although at odds with the Grand Princess over religious matters, had secretly departed from Laurasia Prime to Metallasia, urging her to claim her rightful title as Empress. The Dukes of Melarnaria, Darcia, Constantine I, and Rebecca, as well as the Earl of Jadia, the Marchioness of Harmonia, the Count of Clancia, and the Duchess of Iego were among those who lent their support to the Grand Princess; as did Lord Dacre of Gitlandia, Antigonus Fitzlandia, the Magnus of the Laurasian Purse Region, the Magnus of Melarnaria, the Commander of the Caladarian Defensive Fleet, and Sir Galerius Caranus. Didymeia's force now consisted of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Imperial Laurasian Fleets, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Imperial Laurasian Armies. This was a force of more than 3,000 warships, 1.5 million navymen, and three million soldiers of the Imperial Laurasian Army.
 * The force of Northumberlais comprised of the 1st and 5th Imperial Laurasian Fleets, along with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Imperial Laurasian Armies, a force only marginally smaller than that of the Grand Princess. On July 18, Northumberlais, receiving further intelligence about the growing strength of Didymeia's forces, and knowing a military confrontation was hopeless, decided to withdraw from Caladaria back to the Cron Drift. The Duke himself was beginning by now to realize that his plot was collapsing; dissent was increasing on Laurasia Prime, and many officials at the Imperial Court were feeding information to Grand Princess Didymeia, which only assisted her in the disposition of her forces. Lord Treasurer Winchestrius had also renounced his signature on the Bonds of Association and the Decree on the Revised Succession, and was in secret correspondence with the Grand Princess Didymeia. Northumberlais knew that the end was rapidly approaching.
 * July 19-
 * By this point, it had dawned upon the Privy Council, Senate, and Synod, that they had made a terrible mistake by acknowledging Minerva Greysius as Empress and carrying the provisions of the hastily-drafted Decree on the Revised Succession into effect. The three bodies of state did not want civil war in the Laurasian Empire, and they understood Didymeia's claims to the Laurasian throne were far stronger and more valid than those of Minerva Greysius, on the basis of the Third Antigonid Statute of Succession and the important fact that she was the daughter of Antigonus III. Therefore, on July 19, 1753, under the leadership of the Earls of Americana and Aeoleon, who had both turned against Northumberlais, the Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod formally proclaimed Grand Princess Didymeia, the eldest surviving child and daughter of Antigonus III the Extravagant, as the Empress and Autocrat of All the Laurasians.
 * The Accession Council (as it was known), declared in its proclamation that the "hand of the anti-Almitis" had deluded it into acknowledging Minerva Greysius as Empress, and that Didymeia was the valid heir. All those who had signed the Bond of Association and Decree on Revising the Succession revoked their signatures, while both documents were declared nullified, although Didymeia, as Empress, was the only one with the legal authority to officially repeal them. The proclamation triggered wild rejoicing in the cities and moons of Laurasia Prime, especially in the Palatial Districts of Christiania, and throughout the star systems of the Laurasian Empire. Minerva Greysius's brief, and disputed, nine-day reign as Empress had therefore come to an end. By the orders of the Earl of Americana, she and her husband, Sir Constantine Dudley, along with her father, the Duke of Sufforia, were placed under imprisonment at the Old Royal Palace. Didymeia, who was now formally acknowledged as Empress of Laurasia, issued her first official manifesto from Metallasia, praising the Council for "seeing the right" and rebuffing the intrigues of the anti-Almitis.
 * The day following the proclamation of Didymeia as Empress, Northumberlais was commanded by the Privy Council to disarm the military forces under his command and to acknowledge Didymeia as his sovereign and Empress. Northumberlais, who was now a mental wreck, and who knew that further resistance was futile, obeyed the Council's commands to the letter. He ordered all of the personnel of his force to swear an oath of allegiance to Didymeia as Empress; Northumberlais himself administered the oath to his officers before taking it himself. He then commanded them to retire back to their previous garrisons, and he dismissed all of his officers from his service. In a proclamation from the Cron Drift, Northumberlais declared that his mind had been "affected by the intrigues of the anti-Almitis", and he begged forgiveness for his vain and foolish actions.
 * July 24-
 * The Earls of Americana and Aeoleon, on behalf of the Councils of State, arrived at Metallasia (July 24, 1753). Presented before the now Empress Didymeia, they fell on their knees and begged her forgiveness for their "foolishness and rashness." Didymeia, acknowledging that these men possessed important administrative talents which could prove of use to her, decided to accept their submissions. The Empress then commanded the Earl of Americana to proceed immediately to the Cron Drift, and to place Northumberlais under arrest. Eager to demonstrate his loyalty to the new Empress, and to shake off his prior association with the Duke, he obliged immediately. Northumberlais posed no resistance; indeed, he fell on his knees before Americana when he arrived with Valedictorian Guards to place him into custody. On the orders of Americana, Northumberlais was imprisoned in the brig of his own flagship, HIMS Stratonice I, and placed in chains. It was on July 25, the day following his arrest, that Northumberlais arrived back in the Laurasia Prime star system, this time as a prisoner in the custody of the Earl of Americana. On the orders of the Privy Council, crowds of subjects had been assembled at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, the two Calaxies, and the Station of Jadia, as well as in Christiania, Constantinople, and the other major cities of Laurasia Prime, in order to await the arrival of Northumberlais.
 * A placard was placed around his neck by Americana's command, denouncing him as a traitor to the Laurasian State and a consort of the anti-Almitis. His guards struggled to protect Northumberlais from the crowds, however, as he was taken to the Fortress of Baureux for imprisonment. Orders now arrived from Empress Didymeia, who was now exercising her autocratic authority to her fullest extent. They commanded for Lady Minerva and her husband Sir Constantine Dudley, as well as Minerva's father the Duke of Sufforia, to be moved to the Fortress of Baureux as prisoners of state; for Northumberlais to be dismissed from his position as Privy Council President; and for his other sons, the Earl of Sarah, Antiochus Dudley, and Ambrosius Dudley, to be arrested and imprisoned at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia. All of these orders were followed to the letter, and the Fortress was now filled with the main participants in the Accession Crisis of 1753, the only major succession crisis of the eighteenth century.
 * August 3-On August 3, 1753, Empress Didymeia I and her official entourage made their formal procession of state into the Laurasia Prime star system. Empress Didymeia was accompanied by her half-sister, Grand Princess Aurelia (who was now, formally, heiress apparent to the Laurasian throne), and by former Empress Consort Annaliese of Denver (Didymeia would confer upon her the title and rank of Empress Dowager on August 19, despite considering her mother Katharina of Shenandoah to still be her father's only legitimate wife and consort). Massive crowds, assembled at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, the Second Station of Callista, the two Calaxies, and in all of the major cities of Laurasia Prime cheered the Empress's arrival, and expressed their blessings for her. Didymeia reveled in the showing of loyalty and support by her subjects for her. The Governor of Laurasia Prime, the Mayor of Christiania, and the members of the Councils of State, led by the Earls of Americana and Aeoleon, formally greeted the Empress at the Quencilvanian Palace. Upon arriving at the Palace, Didymeia immediately set to work. The Empress now ordered for the immediate release of all political prisoners and Traditionalist convicts at the Fortress of Baureux, the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, and other installations (with the specific exception of those condemned in the Accession Plot). Among those who now obtained their liberty were the elderly Duke of Norfolkius (who was now seventy-nine years old, in declining health, and had been a prisoner for over six years), Stephanius Gardinerius, former Archbishop of Winchestrius (now sixty-nine years old, who had been imprisoned for five years and had lost his Archbishopric in June 1751), and her kinsman, Sir Demetrius Courthanay (1727-56; then twenty-six), who had been imprisoned for almost fifteen years.
 * August 5-Empress Didymeia, on August 5, 1753, restored Stephanius Gardinerius to his old position as Archbishop of Winchestrius and appointed him as Chancellor and Procurator-General of the Laurasian Empire. Gardinerius, who had now become the Empress's chief minister, therefore replaced Sir Willanius Cecilis and Sir Thomasius Goodrichius, both of whom were too closely associated with the regime of Northumberlais, in those respective positions. Gardinerius would hold these, the highest positions of state, until his death in November 1755. Also on this day, the Empress formally pardoned the Duke of Norfolkius and his late son, the Earl of Soria, of all charges laid against them, including the condemnation sentences imposed by the Holy Synod; repealed the Writ of Attainder; and ordered him restored to all his properties, titles, and honors (with the exception of that of Lord Treasurer, which remained in the hands of Winchestrius, whose administrative talent was recognized by the Empress and who had been forgiven by her for his involvement in the Accession Crisis). Instead, Norfolkius was made both Imperial Marshal and Imperial Steward, to compensate him for his troubles. On the command of the Empress, the Earl of Soria's body was disinterred from the Prison Crypt of the Fortress of Baureux and given to his father for burial at the Howardis family estates on Soria. Soria's funeral was conducted at Soria on August 15. Then on August 6, Empress Didymeia appointed Sir Antigonus Gagius, who had served as Lord Lieutenant of the Fortress of Baureux from June 1740 to July 1753, as the Imperial High Chamberlain of the Laurasian Empire. He was also restored to his position as Lord Lieutenant. Gagius would serve in this position for nearly three years, succeeding Lord Darcius of Chiche (who would die on June 28, 1758, aged 51, at his estates on Leah).
 * August 8-On August 8, 1753, the funeral of Emperor Demetrius II was conducted at the Westphalian Cathedral. Although she considered Reformist values to be heresy, Empress Didymeia nevertheless ordered for her brother's funeral to be conducted in accordance to his final wishes, in the Reformist fashion. Chief Procurator Cranmerius, who was hated by the Empress and was earmarked by her for removal, had nevertheless retained his position at this stage, and presided over the funeral ceremonies. Grand Princess Aurelia, Empress Dowager Annaliese of Denver, and the chief personages of the Imperial Court were among those in attendance. Demetrius was interred next to his parents, Antigonus III and Empress Consort Theodora Seymouris.
 * August 18-
 * The trial of the Duke of Northumberlais was conducted at the Public Senatorial Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace in Christiania, Laurasia Prime (August 18, 1753). On the orders of the Empress Didymeia, the Special Court had been authorized, comprised of the Imperial Privy Council, Governing Senate, Holy Synod, and the chief notables of the Imperial Court. The Duke of Norfolkius, now lifted out of disgrace and imprisonment, presided over Northumberlais's trial in his capacity as Imperial Marshal. Chancellor and Procurator-General Gardinerius presented the case for the Imperial Government. Many of those who now tried the Duke of Northumberlais were his own former associates and colleagues, such as the Earls of Americana and Aeoleon. Northumberlais was accused of treason, heresy, conspiracy, dissent, les-majestie, corruption, and "violation of the laws of this Empire." Permitted no defense counsel, and with his eldest son, the Earl of Sarah, tried with him, Northumberlais defended himself vigorously, declaring that he had acted on the authority of the Emperor and the Regency Council, and by virtue of the Great Seal.
 * He claimed that his only interest was for the "maintenance" of the Almitian Church and preservation of the Empire's state institutions. Gardinerius, however, responded by declaring that the religious views espoused by Northumberlais was the "froth" of heretics and that Demetrius had been too young still to govern the Empire's affairs in his own stead. Accusing Northumberlais of seeking to set his own dynasty on the Laurasian throne, the Chancellor then declared that the State would not be secure as long as he lived. The verdict was inevitable, and after only two hours of deliberation, the Special Court condemned Northumberlais, Sarah, and the Marquess of Venusia (Katharina Parsius's younger brother who had been implicated in the Accession Plot) to death by solar incineration. When the sentence was announced, Northumberlais fell on his knees, begging for the Empress to have mercy upon his sons, the eldest of whom had been condemned with him, and the others awaiting their trials. He also asked to make a confession to Chancellor Gardinerius, who agreed to hear his plea that night.
 * Empress Didymeia signed the death warrant of the Duke of Northumberlais during the early hours of August 19, but, heeding his pleas, commanded for the death sentences passed on the Earl of Sarah and the Marquess of Venusia to be placed on permanent stay. Instead, she ordered, the latter two noblemen were to remain imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. Didymeia also considered Lady Minerva Greysius and her husband, Sir Constantine Dudley, to also be pawns, and by her command, they were to remain under guard at the Fortress of Baureux as well. The Empress also commanded for the trials of Antiochus Dudley and the Duke's other sons to be delayed. She did not have any mercy for Northumberlais, however, and ordered for his execution to take place in two day's time. She did commute his sentence to one of death by firing squad. But on August 21, Northumberlais's execution was suddenly delayed by orders from Chancellor Gardinerius, as the Empress wished to secure one last admission of repentance and guilt from Northumberlais before his death. The condemned Duke was now moved to the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, where, in a dramatic gesture, he took the Traditionalist Communion and declared that the Laurasian subjects had erred in their departure from the "rightful customs and practices" of the Lord Almitis. This was a great propaganda coup for the new government, as the Duke of Northumberlais thereafter regretted his involvement in the Accession Plot, begged for mercy from the Lord Almitis, and urged the Empress to take immediate measures to reverse "heresy and error in the Almitian Church." Didymeia would later command the Holy Synod to publish accounts of Northumberlais's statements of repentance, as evidence that a "sinner and heretic" could turn back into the fold of the Lord Almitis.
 * August 22-On August 22, 1753, the Duke of Northumberlais's execution was conducted at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia. In his final speech to the crowds assembled to witness his execution (numbering well over 600,000), Northumberlais again admitted his guilt, maintained that the anti-Almitis had deluded him, and declared that the Almitian Church needed to be returned back to the form and practices of earlier times. Northumberlais bore his end bravely, and the execution was swift. Because of his statement of repentance, he was not excommunicated by the Holy Synod, and was therefore eligible for burial at the Post Cemetery of Hepudermia. His burial took place hours after his execution. On Empress Didymeia's orders, his sons remained imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. Furthermore, the Empress, pursuing her early policies of relative tolerance and restraint, ordered for the release of Antigonus Greysius, Duke of Sufforia, and father of the Lady Minerva Greysius, from the Fortress of Baureux. The Duke of Sufforia had recanted his statements concerning the succession at the height of the Accession Crisis, and expressed his hopes for mercy by the Empress. Sufforia, upon receiving his liberty, was nevertheless warned that if he engaged in any conspiracy at the Imperial Court, or measure against the Empress, he was liable to condemnation and execution.
 * September 14-
 * Chief Procurator Thomasius Cranmerius was commanded to appear before the Governing Senate in order to answer for his actions (September 14, 1753). As mentioned above, Empress Didymeia despised Cranmerius and the other reformist clergymen in the Almitian Church, who had been installed in their positions during the reigns of Antigonus III and Demetrius II. She was determined to restore Traditionalist Almitism to the Laurasian Empire, to reverse the religious reforms of her father and half-brother, and punish those associated with the Reformist movement. Already, the Empress had ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Demetrius II's tutor Sir John Chekius, and of the Archbishop of Darsis, Rogerius Perles, one of the leading proponents of Reformed Almitism. They were both confined at the Fortress of Baureux with Lady Minerva and Sir Constantine Dudley. Conservatives such as Edmundis Bonneris had been restored to their positions of authority in the Almitian Church, and virtually all of the members of the Synod were dismissed and replaced with Traditionalist appointees.
 * No action had been taken against the Chief Procurator, however, up to this time. But now, it was indeed his time. Cranmerius had declared, in his last sermon at the Westphalian Cathedral, that "all the doctrine and religion, by our said sovereign lord, Emperor Demetrius II, is more pure and according to Almitis's word, than any that has been used in this Empire for the past three thousand years." Didymeia and Chancellor Gardinerius considered this tantamount to sedition. Cranmerius defended his statements before the Senate vigorously, asserting that the policies introduced by him in the Church were "right and just." Shortly after his interrogation ended, the Empress ordered for him to be imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux with Perles and the Archbishop of Katie, Perciles Latimerius (who was arrested on that same day). He would remain a prisoner at the Fortress of Baureux for the next two and a half years.
 * October 1-
 * On October 1, 1753, the coronation of Empress Didymeia I, the first ever coronation of a female sovereign in the history of the Laurasian Space Age, and the third coronation of the eighteenth century, was conducted at the Westphalian Cathedral in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. Gardinerius, in his capacity as Archbishop of Winchestrius, carried out the duties which would have been fulfilled by the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod (Cranmerius was, of course, imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux). The Duke of Norfolkius acted in his functions as Imperial Marshal and Imperial Steward, while the Earl of Americana, who had now ingratiated himself with the Empress, officiated as Imperial Chamberlain for the ceremony (Sir Gagius was ill at the time). Didymeia, adhering to Laurasian custom, crowned herself Empress with the Great Imperial Crown (the first woman ever to wear it in its than 400-year history of use), and swore her oath of preservation with the greatest solemnity and fervency. The coronation was conducted with much splendor and ceremonial. Largesse was distributed to crowds throughout the Empire; official proclamations enjoined all at the Imperial Court to celebrate; and a public holiday was proclaimed. The coronation banquet which followed was the most lavish up to that time (later to be surpassed by that at Aurelia's coronation five years later). The Audience Ceremonies, however, were disrupted when a courtier, Sir Thomasius Wyatta the Younger (1721-54, son of the elder Wyatta, who had died in 1742), chanted out "Long live Grand Princess Aurelia!" while the Grand Princess was paying her official respects to the Empress. Wyatta was banished from the Imperial Court by the Empress's command. Yet this incident was a foreboding sign.
 * Once the euphoria surrounding her accession died down, Didymeia's bitterness had welled up afresh for the daughter of the woman who had inflicted so much pain upon her mother and herself, and her antagonism towards her sister was only sharpened by the fact that Aurelia had "many characteristics in which she resembled her mother." The Empress even professed to believe that Aurelia was not her father's daughter, and that she had instead been fathered by Markis Smeatonius, that musician who had been among the five convicted for having adultery with the Empress Consort. This was unworthy of her, for many remarked that Aurelia resembled Antigonus III more closely than Didymeia did herself. Yet Didymeia's distrust of her sister was accentuated by outside forces. She leaned heavily upon Simon Renard (1713-73), who had become Ambassador of the Holy Spamalkan Empire to the Court of Christiania early in September 1753. From the beginning, Renard identified Grand Princess Aurelia as a serious threat. He realized that it would not do to underestimate her, for whereas the Empress was utterly without guile, Aurelia was both "clever and sly", and endowed with a "spirit full of enchantment." As yet he did not know how best to deal with her, but he wasted no time in pointing out to the Empress that the presence at the Court of her heiress presumptive was not necessarily conducive to her security, as Aurelia "might, out of ambition or being persuaded thereto, conceive some dangerous design and put it to execution by means it would be difficult to prevent."
 * He was pleased by Didymeia's reaction, for though at times she could be exasperatingly trusting and naive, as far as Aurelia was concerned it was not difficult to arouse her suspicions. Having listened to Renard's warnings, she told the Ambassador that "the same considerations had occurred to her." It was religion, above all else, that poisoned the relations between the two sisters and aroused Didymeia's ire against Aurelia. Since her teenage years, Didymeia had, as mentioned above, cherished a dream of reclaiming the Empire for Traditionalism. The Empress had, besides taking action against Cranmerius and other Reformist prelates, restored Traditionalist rites and masses at the Imperial Laurasian Court. Yet there were signs of resistance. Already, on August 24, 1753, a sermon preached by one of the Empress's chaplains at St. Colombia's Cathedral had provoked riots in Colombia and Quencania City, which had been suppressed by the civil authorities of those two cities. Moreover, the fact that Aurelia boycotted the services at the Imperial Chapel was embarrassing to Didymeia and her ministers. But Aurelia was not prepared to die for her beliefs, and began to adjust her behavior. Yet on September 19, the Privy Council had summoned her to them, and received "a rude response" when she was harangued about her failure to conform.
 * This lecture, however, had convinced the Grand Princess that she had no other option but to publicly submit. A few days later, she had requested a private audience with the Empress, and when admitted to her sister's presence, she fell on her knees. She tearfully inquired if Didymeia's attitude toward her was unfavorably colored by the difference in their religious outlook. She went on to explain that her spiritual waywardness was the result of her defective upbringing, begging Didymeia to arrange for her to receive instruction. The Empress complied, and was delighted to find that her efforts were promptly repaid. After the briefest of intervals Aurelia felt able to inform her sister that she had seen the errors of her ways. Yet by October 3, two days after the coronation, it seemed as if the Grand Princess was already lapsing. When brought to attend Traditionalist mass at the Court, Aurelia complained loudly of illness. Her religious observances were not the best. The Empress, who had rewarded her sister for her conversion by showering her with ornaments and jewels, began to wonder if she had been duped.
 * A woman of patent sincerity herself, it was beyond her comprehension how anyone's behavior in a matter relating to salvation could be so inconsistent and contrary. Aurelia's assurances to her left her unsatisfied, frustrated at the fact that she had a heiress whose principles were so shifting and uncertain. This also found expression as she continued with her religious policies. On October 5, 1753, Chancellor Gardinerius, acting on the Empress's orders, announced to a special, joint session of the Councils of State that it was the Empress's intention to restore "true faith" back to the dominions of the Laurasian Empire, and that in order to achieve this, the Imperial Almitian Church needed to be restored to its ancient, Traditionalist form. Therefore, she planned on repealing all of the religious measures of the reigns of her brother and father, returning confiscated ecclesiastical properties to the administration of the Almitian Church, and reconfirming the Synod's prerogatives in matters concerning heresy and other judicial questions of faith.
 * October 14-
 * On October 14, 1753, Empress Didymeia promulgated the First Imperial Statute of Repeal of Religious Measures, thereby fulfilling the terms of the official announcement which had been made by Chancellor Gardinerius on her orders nine days earlier. The Duke of Norfolkius, Chancellor Gardinerius himself, and Archbishop Bonneris of Darcia aided the Empress in drafting the provisions of this statute. All of the religious measures which had been passed during the reign of her half-brother Demetrius II: the Second and Third Statutes of Uniformity, the Revised Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal of the Almitian Church, and the Benefice Laws, were officially repealed. It was declared that these measures had been generated from the hand of the "anti-Almitis" and that the Church needed to be restored to proper morality. The terms of the Six Articles of 1739 were temporarily reintroduced, with clerical celibacy and the importance of Priestly Communion being emphasized.
 * Didymeia explicitly declared that she would consult with her ministers further and with the Almitian clergy before overturning the religious measures of her father's reign. On this same day, the Empress promulgated a imperial manifesto validating the marriage of her parents Antigonus III and Katharina of Shenandoah; revoking the sentences of bastardy imposed by her father and the Holy Synod; and proclaiming her status as the "sole legitimate Princess of the Imperial Line." Didymeia, however, made specific provision that her sister Aurelia would continue to enjoy the title and position of Grand Princess, and that she remained heir in accordance with the Third Antigonid Statute. On October 22, the Empress would give orders for her mother's posthumous rank as Empress-Dowager to be reinstated, and for her body to be translated to the Westphalian Cathedral for reburial. Aurelia, on her part, now became yet more irregular in her attendance at mass. Such a move only convinced the Empress that she was justified in seeking to assert her own rights.
 * October 29-Chancellor Gardinerius and the Duke of Norfolkius persuaded Empress Didymeia, on October 29, that Lady Minerva Greysius and her husband, Sir Constantine Dudley, as well as the Earl of Sarah and his brother Lord Antiochus Dudley, were "traitors in the eyes of the gracious Almitis" and that they needed to be charged for high treason in an official court of law, not merely kept imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. Didymeia herself, who had been inclined to leniency at first, but now believed that her position of authority was secure, agreed to revise her earlier decision. An imperial manifesto, issued during the late hours of this day, announced that Lady Minerva and her husband would be tried, alongside the disgraced Chief Procurator Cranmerius and the two forenamed Dudley brothers, for high treason by the Special Court of the Laurasian Empire; that the trial would take place at the Old Royal Palace on November 13; and that their sentence would be carried out to the "fullest extent" of the imperial authorities.
 * November 6-On November 6, 1753, Empress Didymeia officially announced, in a proclamation to the Imperial Court, her intention to marry. The Empress, who was now thirty-seven years old, had been betrothed to both the Dauphin of Franconia and Holy Spamalkan Emperor Char'va I during her childhood years. Both engagements had come to ruins as a result of diplomatic entanglements, and the consequent Great Matter of the Emperor's marriage with Didymeia's mother subsequently overtook all further matters. Emperor Antigonus had not been particularly concerned about procuring a husband for the daughter he had come to consider as a bastard, and lavished all of his attentions upon the Grand Prince Demetrius. Didymeia was therefore still unmarried, and a virgin, at the time of her accesion to the Laurasian throne. Like Demetrius, and as mentioned above, she did not want her sibling (namely Aurelia) to succeed her, primarily on religious grounds and concerns over legitimacy. Didymeia had explicitly refused to revoke Aurelia's bastardy, and she considered the Grand Princess to be the living reminder of the woman who had displaced her mother. Therefore, although Aurelia was officially her heiress apparent according to the Third Antigonid Statute of Succession, the Empress sought to displace her with a child of her own blood. In her efforts, she was supported by Chancellor Gardinerius, who despised Aurelia and believed that the birth of a Traditionalist heir would save the Laurasian Dominions from ruin. Reginaldius Polsius and Sir Demetrius Courthanay would both be proposed as potential suitors for the Empress, but she had conceived ideas of a foreign marriage, not trusting any of her eligible male subjects enough to marry them.
 * November 13-
 * The trial of Lady Minerva Greysius, her husband Sir Constantine Dudley, Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod Thomasius Cranmerius, the Earl of Sarah, and Lord Antiochus Dudley was conducted at the Audience Chambers of the Old Royal Palace in Christiania, Laurasia Prime on November 13, 1753. The Duke of Norfolkius, whose health had declined further, presided over the trial as Imperial Marshal. Sir Thomasius Whitius (1692-1767), Mayor of Christiania for 1753, Demetrius Stanleis, 3rd Earl of Duana (1709-72), and John Boucherius, 2nd Earl of Courdina V (1699-1761), served as the other high commissioners of the trial. Chancellor Gardinerius represented the Imperial Crown, and presented the case in the trial for the government. The defendants had been arraigned on charges of treason, conspiracy, heresy, les-majestie, corruption, and dissent against the Imperial Laurasian Government. Lady Minerva and Chief Procurator Cranmerius, the two chief defendants, defended themselves vigorously, declaring that they had committed no crime and always remained committed to the service of Almitis.
 * Lord Antiochus Dudley asserted that he had followed his father's orders only on the belief that he was acting on the authority of the Emperor Demetrius. The Earl of Sarah asserted the same, while Constantine Dudley begged for mercy for his wife, on account of her "youthfulness and inexperience in matters of state." Despite their pleas, however, the verdict was inevitable. After only two hours of deliberation, the Special Court convicted the defendants on all of the charges laid against them and condemned them to death. Empress Didymeia, however, gave a command for their sentences to be placed on hold, and she refrained from signing the death warrants at this point. She was interested in forcing the Chief Procurator to recant and re-embrace Traditionalism; believed that Minerva and Constantine were young and foolish pawns; and that the Dudley brothers should be spared. Chancellor Gardinerius and the rest of the Privy Council were irritated at the Empress's procrastination.
 * November 16-
 * On November 16, 1753, a formal diplomatic communique to the Imperial Court arrived from Emperor Char'va I, who, despite his rejection of his engagement with Didymeia in her youth, had nevertheless retained a great deal of concern and respect for her. The Spamalkan Emperor, whose health was ailing and who was yearning to relieve himself of the burdens of state, proposed his only son and heir apparent, Prince Philicus of Spamalka, as a potential husband for the Empress of Laurasia. Philicus was handsome, athletic, and intelligent, speaking up to seven languages (including Laurasian). Didymeia, who believed that a marriage alliance with the Holy Spamalkan Empire would cement Laurasian influence at the expense of the Franconians, and sought for herself a virile and respected prince as a husband, announced that she was in serious consideration of the offer. Chancellor Gardinerius, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, Baron Pagentia, the Earl of Americana, and the rest of the Privy Council were shocked by the Empress's announcement. They, like most of the Empress's subjects, all wished that she would marry within the Empire, for a foreign husband could be expected to subordinate the interests of the Empire to those of his own realm. In his final will, Demetrius II had used his fear that either of his sisters might marry a foreigner as an additional reason for depriving them of their inheritance, for "the same stranger would rather adhere and practice to have the laws and customs of his own native realm to be practiced and put in use within this our realm, which would then tend to the utter subversion of the commonwealth of this our Empire, which Almitis forbid." In this clause, he had been speaking for his subjects. Didymeia, who herself was half-Spamalkan, underestimated her subjects' fierce insularity.
 * Thus it was, that on November 24, the Empress received a formal petition, in her Audience Chambers, from the Imperial Privy Council, delivered into her hands by Chancellor Gardinerius himself. In this petition, it was declared that her loyal subjects were "concerned about the succession to the Laurasian throne and the continuance of the Neuchrian Dynasty." They desired for their mistress to marry and to begat heirs as soon as possible, in order to secure the Empire's prosperity and internal stability. However, it was also declared that the only suitable husband for the Empress would be a Laurasian nobleman of stature, not a foreign prince. Therefore, the Privy Council, on behalf of all the subjects of the Laurasian Empire, begged "Her Majesty to reconsider her announcement and to kindly refute the offer posed by His Majesty of Spamalka." Didymeia, however, determined to have Philicus as her husband, and believing a foreign prince more reliable than a nobleman, officially rejected the petition. Gardinerius and his faction, who opposed the marriage on patriotic grounds, now believed that the Empress was committing an act of extreme folly.
 * As for the Grand Princess, the Empress had received advice that the best way to neutralize her would be to find her a Traditionalist husband. Sir Demetrius Courthanay, who many had favored as a potential suitor for the Empress, was looked upon as the choice. Lord Pagentia had advocated for this alternative option, believing it would do much to reconcile Didymeia's subjects to her own marriage to a foreigner. The proposal did not commend itself to Didymeia, for though she could hardly avoid recognizing Aurelia as her heiress presumptive if she promoted a union between her and Courthanay, she was becoming more and more determined to find a way of excluding her sister from the succession. The Empress confided to Pagentia and Renard (November 27, 1753), that "it would burden my conscience too heavily to allow the Grand Princess to succeed, for she only goes to mass out of hypocrisy, she has not a single servant or maid of honor who is not a heretic, she talks every day with heretics and hears them out, and it would disgrace the Empire to allow a bastard to succeed." Courthanay, on his part, was not too eager to offer himself to the Grand Princess. Anxious to ingratiate himself with the Empress, he told her that if she wished to find him a wife, "let it be some simple girl than the Grand Princess, who is a heretic, too proud, and of too doubtful lineage on her mother's terms." Her future still unresolved, Aurelia therefore found herself in an uncomfortable position at the Court. Didymeia was only too willing to listen to adverse reports concerning her.
 * When Renard told the Empress, on December 8, 1753, that Aurelia had secret consultations with the Franconian Ambassador, she sent the Earl of Americana and Lord Pagentia to tell her sister that "her present unwise conduct was known", and to warn her that if she persisted, "she might have reason to regret it." Aurelia did not have great difficulty convincing them that they had been misinformed, but the incident demonstrated that the Empress was eager to believe ill of her sister. Relations with Didymeia had now become so strained that the Grand Princess thought it wise to ask her sister's permission to retire from the Court, even though her adversaries would continue to incite the Empress against her. In a vain attempt to guard against this, she obtained an audience with Didymeia (December 11, 1753), affirming her devotion to the Traditionalist cause and imploring her sister to give her an opportunity to defend herself in person if she should hear anything to Aurelia's discredit. The Empress put on a show of friendliness, and gave her sister a rich coif of sable as a leaving present, but did so only because Renard had told her that it would be unwise to let Aurelia leave in a disaffected mood. In private, Didymeia remained adamant that Aurelia would "bring about some great evil unless she is dealt with." Moreover, Aurelia requested for Traditionalist ornaments, but the Empress could no longer be moved by such false displays of piety.
 * December 13-On December 13, 1753, the future King Hensios IV of Franconia (1789-1810), was born at Pau, in the Franconian Principality of Navarre. He was the eldest and only surviving son of his mother Joan d'Albret, Grand Princess of Navarre (1728-72), and her husband Antoine, Duke of Vendrome (1718-62). Joan, who had been born in St. German en-Laye on November 13, 1728, was the niece of King Franjak I of Franconia; King Franjak took much interest in his niece, and arranged for her an excellent education. In 1747, she succeeded her father Hensios as Grand Princess of Franconian Navarre; Navarre, of course, had been partitioned between Spamalka and Franconia two decades earlier, with Pamplona acceding to the former and Pau to the latter. In October 1748, Joan had married the Duke of Vendrome in order to consolidate her own hereditary possessions. These included Franconian Navarre (with Pau), Foix, Bigorre, Armagnac, Perigord, and Bearn. The future King Hensios, thus, was the heir to a wealthy and influential couple.
 * December 16-Empress Didymeia, on December 16, 1753, ordered Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Athanasius Versay (1697-1761; who had replaced the Reformist Sadielus in September 1753) to send an official response to the Holy Spamalkan Court, concerning the marriage offer posed by Emperor Char'va I. In this communique, it was declared that the Empress considered it "expedient" to obtain a husband and that therefore, she had decided to accept the "gracious" offer made by "His Most Honorable Majesty of Spamalka." Char'va, who was elated to learn that his offer of marriage had been accepted by Didymeia, ordered his Council of Ministers to begin drafting plans for marriage negotiations with the Laurasian Empire. At the Imperial Court, the continued efforts of Chancellor Gardinerius and Baron Pagentia to persuade the Empress to change her mind ended in failure. 1753 thus ended with the Empire now under the rule of its first legitimate female sovereign in history. Tensions, however, were building, and would explode in the following year.

1754

 * January 15-1754, the 54th year of the eighteenth century, began with the Laurasian Empire now under the rule of its first legitimate female sovereign, Empress Didymeia I, eldest daughter of Antigonus III. The question, on the minds of many of the Empire's subjects, was on the Empress's impending marriage. On January 15, 1754, the Imperial Chancellory issued an official proclamation to the Imperial Court and the subjects of the Laurasian Empire, concerning the Empress Didymeia's marriage plans. In this announcement, it was formally declared that the Empress had accepted the marriage offer proposed by Holy Spamalkan Emperor Char'va I, and that negotiations were now underway between the Imperial Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Governments for the conclusion of a marriage alliance between the two realms. The Holy Spamalkan Emperor's son, Prince Philicus, was to be engaged to the Empress, and would become her husband in due course. The issuance of this official announcement alarmed many throughout the Empire, in particular individuals such as Sir Demetrius Courtanay, Sir Thomasius Wyatta, and the Duke of Sufforia (so lately pardoned for his role in the Accession Crisis).
 * January 17-
 * Sir Thomasius Wyatta, who had come to believe that the marriage of Empress Didymeia with Prince Philicus needed to be prevented at all costs, and that the rule of Didymeia would damn the Almitian Church and the Laurasian Empire alike, convened several of his friends and supporters in a secret meeting at his personal residence, Allington Castle, on Senna (January 17, 1754). Among those who now attended the gathering were Sir Demetrius Courthanay, Sir Lysimachus Craftia (1718-90), Sir Petevius Caranius (1714-75), the Duke of Sufforia, Sir Antigonus Isledia (1708-54), Lord John Greysius of Wiltonia (1701-54), Lord Thomasius Greysius (brother of the Duke of Sufforia, 1705-55), Sir Willanius Thomar (Clerk of the Imperial Privy Council, 1707-54), Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia (1715-71), Sir Antigonus Haringstonia, 1st Baron Haringstonia of Senna (1720-93), Sir Nicholas Arnoldia (1707-80), and Sir Willanius St. Loe (1718-65). All of these men were in the firm belief that the Traditionalist policies of Empress Didymeia would doom the Empire, and that a marriage with a foreign prince could not be permitted.
 * Over the next two days, Wyatta discussed his plans with his supporters. Ultimately, they devised a formal scheme of rebellion: Wyatta, Craftia, Caranius, and the Duke of Sufforia were to become the chief commandants of the rebellion. They would raise rebellions at Murphy, Mumbraine, Hammenor, Saray, Senna, Marshia, Bainsborough, Elainsborough, Arias, Manil, Chandlier, Katie, and Meaganian, and with the assistance of contacts at the Imperial Court, would converge on Laurasia Prime before the end of March 1754. Once arriving there, they would depose Didymeia from the Laurasian throne and proclaim Aurelia the new Empress and Autocrat of All the Laurasians; she was to marry Courthanay, therefore consolidating the influence of Reformist Almitism at the Laurasian Court, and eliminating the influence of the Didymeian Faction. Didymeia herself was to be banished to the Monastery of Windowia Photis, and Chancellor Gardinerius, Archbishop Edmundis Bonnerius of Laurasia Prime, and other prominent Traditionalists in the Imperial Government would be arraigned on charges of treason and executed. Wyatta and his supporters were confident that they could pull this scheme off. Their plans, however, were not as secret as they would have liked.
 * On January 21, 1754, Spamalkan Ambassador Renard caught wind of the conspiracies at Senna. Renard was aware that there was many within the Empire, and at the Imperial Court, who were opposed to the Empress's marriage plans. He had therefore made it his business to keep himself informed of the affairs of the Court, and it was through his contacts that he learned of Wyatta's plans. Alarmed at this, the Ambassador promptly informed Chancellor Gardinerius, warning him that there were those among the nobility and gentry of the Empire who were contriving to install Courthanay on the imperial throne. Gardinerius heeded the Ambassador's warnings and issued orders for the arrest of Courthanay, who had returned to Laurasia Prime as part of the preparations for the rebellion. Courthanay was imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. Under intensive interrogation by the Chancellor and the other officials of the Privy Council, he admitted that there was indeed a rebellion planned. News of Courthanay's arrest and imprisonment circulated quickly, and Wyatta sought to now hasten his rebellion forward. Abandoning the earlier plans of action against the government authorities, he now sought for a direct march on Laurasia Prime.
 * January 22-On January 22, 1754, Sir Lysimachus Craftia, acting on the instructions of Wyatta, delivered a message to Grand Princess Aurelia at the Palace of Secrets on Paradine, which had been awarded to her by the Imperial Chancellory as one of her chief estates. The message contained formal greetings from Wyatta and the Duke of Sufforia, and expressions of hope for the Princess's "well-being and personal security." It would later be construed by Empress Didymeia and Chancellor Gardinerius as evidence of treason, evidence that Aurelia was engaged in active correspondence with the rebels. Shortly after delivering the message, however, Craftia decided that under the present circumstances involvement in rebellion would be unwise. He therefore turned himself in to the imperial authorities on Caladaria, and declared that he had been foolish enough to engage in conspiracy against his lawful sovereign. On the same day that Craftia delivered his message and then surrendered to the authorities, Wyatta, who had moved to his estates on Chesham's Star, began to assemble his supporters and mercenaries in anticipation of a general offensive in the Laurasia Prime Purse Region. The Duke of Sufforia and Lord John Greysius of Wiltonia were among those instrumental in securing military supplies, financial aid, and officers for the rebel force. The Privy Council received reports of stirrings at Chesham's Star, and the Ministry of Defense now ordered for the strengthening of Laurasia Prime's defenses.
 * January 25-
 * On January 25, 1754, what became known as Wyatta's Rebellion, one of the chief uprisings of the eighteenth century, formally erupted at Chesham's Star, as Sir Thomasius Wyatta, the Duke of Sufforia, Lord John Greysius of Wiltonia, and their other subordinates officially proclaimed their resistance to the government of Empress Didymeia and announced their determination to restore Reformed Almitism and "proper rule of government" back to the Laurasian Empire. Empress Didymeia was enraged when she heard of this announcement of rebellion, and in a imperial manifesto, issued from the Quencilvanian Palace, declared that her government would take all vital measures against rebel forces as were needed. On this first day of rebellion, Wyatta's forces, receiving recruits and mercenaries from throughout the Laurasian Purse Region, stormed the government garrisons of Wes and Chesrone.
 * Then on the following day, January 25, Mercedes was occupied by the rebel forces of Sir Thomasius Wyatta. This world, home to many Reformed Almitists, was generally opposed to the Empress's Didymeia's religious policies, and feared that a marriage between her and the Spamalkan Prince Philicus would spell doom for the Laurasian Empire. Wyatta therefore found the garrison willing to admit his units, and the people of Mercedes more than eager to lend him his support. He issued a proclamation from Mercedes, declaring that his rebellion was proceeding in accordance with his plans and urging the people of Laurasia Prime to rise up against their authorities. By the end of that day, Sapphire and Merandaz were occupied by the rebel units of Wyatta.
 * On the same day that Mercedes was occupied by the forces of Sir Thomasius Wyatta, Empress Didymeia formally summoned Grand Princess Aurelia back to the Imperial Court on Laurasia Prime. She had been convinced by Chancellor Gardinerius and Ambassador Renard that it would be folly to allow for the Grand Princess to remain on her estates, where she could become an additional focus of dissent and rebellion against her authority. Didymeia had no problem accepting these arguments. Throughout the early weeks of January 1754, however, Aurelia had suffered great pains, and had kept to her estates on Paradine, Palimisiano, and Pasquarillo, hoping for a gradual recovery. In her summons, the Empress assured her half-sister that she only did so because she thought her at risk whilst the rebellion was ongoing. Didymeia's assurances, however, seemed thin, and the Grand Princess decided not to put them to the test. Seizing on her genuine ill health as a welcome excuse, she sent word that she was in no condition to travel. On Laurasia Prime, Aurelia's reluctance to come to the Imperial Court was interpreted as a fresh sign of her guilt, and the case against her gained more notice when the Imperial Intelligence Agency discovered copies of some of Aurelia's communiques to the Empress at the Franconian Embassy in Christiania (January 28).
 * January 27-
 * Empress Didymeia dispatched a government force, on January 27, under the command of Lord Abergavenny (1727-87) and Sir Demosthenes Soverall (1706-59), to Rainnan in order to halt the advance of rebel units and reconquer strongholds which had been lost to the Imperial Laurasian Government. Abergavenny, a ardent Traditionalist and one who was contemptuous of Wyatta and his followers, immediately took the field of battle against the rebel forces. The Battle of Bobby was fought (January 28, 1754) and resulted in a victory for government forces. Then on January 30, the fortunes of Lord Abergavenny and Sir Demosthenes Soverall turned to the worse, as the garrisons of Kelby and Chloe revolted against the authority of the Imperial Laurasian Government. Wyatta was now able to storm government positions at Keach and to repel offensives against Sapphire and Merandaz. Soon, many officers and personnel of the government force were defecting to Wyatta, and Lord Abergavenny was forced to withdraw from his operational headquarters on Rainnan. This incident aroused the anger of Empress Didymeia, who formally dismissed Abergavenny from his command posts and had him placed under house arrest.
 * It was thus that, on January 31, 1754, the elderly Duke of Norfolkius, now eighty years old, was designated by Empress Didymeia as the commander of government forces assembled at Jenny, Scout, Ietas, Tyndaris, Mylae, Camarina, Guyah, and Paronius, which were poised to launch a series of counterattacks against the strongholds now held by the rebel units of Sir Thomasius Wyatta. Norfolkius, who had retreated to his estates on Jenny, and had resigned his seat on the Imperial Privy Council (January 7, 1754), therefore performed one last service for the Neuchrian Dynasty, to which he had now been dedicated for over four decades. He advanced against rebel troops at Buckingham, but was unable to dislodge them from their positions and was forced to retreat back to Jenny. During the late hours of that day, the Privy Council sent offers of pardon to the rebel forces, declaring that any man who returned to his oath of allegiance due to the Imperial Laurasian Government or betrayed Wyatta into the hands of government authorities would be absolved from punishment. Didymeia, however, knew that most of the rebels would not answer to this offer.
 * February 1-
 * Sir Thomasius Wyatta, believing that the Imperial Government was desperate, and that he had a chance to impose his own influence on Laurasia Prime, decided to respond to the offers dispatched. In a response communique to the Privy Council (February 1, 1754), Wyatta demanded that the Fortress of Baureux be surrendered to him; that Empress Didymeia place herself under his charge; and that all government forces disarm themselves immediately and permit him access to the outskirts of the Laurasia Prime star system. These demands were viewed as insolent and rash by the Privy Council, and the Empress promptly rejected them. Shortly afterwards, she gave a rousing speech at the Audience Chamber of the Quencilvanian Palace, denouncing the actions of Wyatta and his supporters, and declaring her confidence and trust in Almitis, who would bring her through this conflict. The inhabitants of Laurasia Prime demonstrated their patriotism, and government forces were reorganized for a decisive move against rebel units.
 * On February 3, Wyatta's forces, having occupied Amy and Tara, reached the outskirts of Heuthros. Heuthros, that world which had in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BH been such a formidable enemy of the Stellar Republic of Laurasia, was now one of the chief military strongholds of the Laurasia Prime Purse Region. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it had a population of more than thirteen billion, and was home to the Imperial Naval Academy of Heuthros and the Engineering Corps of the Purse Region. Sir Demosthenes Soverall, who had managed to retain the favor of the Empress, was in command of the Heuthros garrison, and he employed his superior resources to his advantage. He had at his disposal more than two million garrison troops and one hundred warships of the 3rd Imperial Fleet; furthermore, Heuthros was protected by a series of minefields, shield generators, and orbital defensive outposts. All of the efforts made by Wyatta and his men to breach the defenses of Heuthros resulted in failure. Sir John Brdigius, later to become Lord Chandos (1714-79), then led a frontal assault against rebel squadrons, bombarding their warships with turbocannon fire. Wyatta, wishing to avoid a direct military confrontation in the aftermath of this, was therefore compelled to retreat. Refusing to submit, however, rebel units now proceeded to Adys. The garrison of Adys, however, also successfully repelled rebel units, and Wyatta then advanced to Zeena.
 * It was on February 6, 1754, that Wyatta's forces breached the outskirts of Zeena and advanced into the star system. The garrison of Zenna was commanded by General Xenophon Thamesius (1710-91), who was under orders from the Duke of Norfolkius not to permit any rebel troops to land on the planetary surface. Wyatta's forces at first encountered little resistance, as General Thamesius had ordered for the orbital defensive outposts and relay stations in the star system to be abandoned. He was determined to draw the enemy into orbit above Zeena itself. Wyatta's units now reached orbit, and the rebel leader believed that the world would fall easily to him. However, government units, which had been hidden at Rydall's Moon, now launched a surprise offensive. The rebel forces were disoriented, outnumbered, and disjointed, and the Battle of Zeena resulted in a decisive victory for General Thamesius and his forces. Wyatta himself was forced to flee the star system on his personal starfighter. Government units, in the meantime, had reconquered Amy, Tara, and Buckingham, driving rebel units from the vicinity of Heuthros, and were conducting a blockade of Merandaz.
 * February 8-The Battle of Klobuchar occurred between the government forces of the Laurasian Empire, commanded by Sir Demosthenes Soverall and the Duke of Norfolkius, and the rebel units under the command of Sir Thomasius Wyatta and the Duke of Sufforia (February 8, 1754). Rebel units engaged in running skirmishes with the government squadrons, but the superior firepower, discipline, and numbers of the Imperial Laurasian Navy ultimately decided the result of the battle. Most of the rebel warships (more than eighty of them) were captured or destroyed, 150,000 rebel personnel lost their lives, and Wyatta suffered a serious defeat. The rebel commander now attempted to flee back to Sapphire, which was still under the control of his units. He was intercepted by government starfighters near Lalna (which had been colonized during the reign of Lysimachus I in 1536, and had a population of two hundred million by 1754), however, and was captured. On the orders of the Duke of Norfolkius, Wyatta was bound in chains and imprisoned in the brig of his flagship, the HIMS Kinsgrnata. The Duke of Sufforia did not long evade government authorities, and was captured at Depp the following day. The capture of Wyatta and the Duke of Sufforia resulted in the collapse of the unity of the rebel forces. Deprived of their leaders, many realized that it was futile to continue resistance against the government authorities. Chesham's Star, Merandaz, Sapphire, and Mercedes were reconquered by government forces by February 11, and the Wyatta Rebellion, which had lasted for less than a month, was completely suppressed.
 * February 9-Empress Didymeia issued a proclamation, on February 9, 1754, to her subjects from the Quencilvanian Palace, announcing the capture of Wyatta and the Duke of Sufforia. In this proclamation, the Empress declared that it was due to the "high acts of providence" that the rebellion had been suppressed and that her claims to authority over the Laurasian Empire were validated, by the agents of Almitis and by circumstances. Didymeia however, declared that she would consult further with the Privy Council before making her final decision on marriage, and that she wished to marry Philicus, in light of securing allies for the Laurasian Dominions and preventing the squabbling of domestic factions. Finally, the Empress announced that the involvement of the Duke of Sufforia in the Wyatta Rebellion was an unforgivable crime. This was her own conviction. Sufforia had been released from imprisonment and spared from charges, due to his involvement in the Accession Crisis. He had violated the conditions of release: namely that he refrain from involvement in any rebellion or conspiracy against the Imperial Government. Therefore, Sufforia was no longer deserving of mercy, and was now to be placed on trial for his crimes. His daughter and son-in-law, Lady Minerva Greysius and her husband Sir Constantine Dudley, who had been sentenced to death but in actuality remained imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux, were accused of complicity in the Wyatta Rebellion. Consequently, their death sentence was to be carried out. In this, Didymeia was influenced by Chancellor Gardinerius, who had managed to convince her to let justice be administered on these "fiends and traitors." The Empress signed their death warrants two hours after issuing her proclamation, and set the date of execution for February 12.
 * February 12-The execution of the ill-fated Nine Day's Empress, Minerva Greysius, and her husband Sir Constantine Dudley took place at the Public Execution Grounds of the Fortress of Baureux, on February 12, 1754. Sir Constantine was the first of the two to die. He was taken from his cell by the Lord Lieutenant of the Fortress of Baureux, on the direct orders of Chancellor Gardinerius and the Privy Council, and brought to the Execution Grounds. He was then executed by beheading, and his remains were brought back into the Fortress, past the cell of his wife. Minerva burst into tears and cried upon seeing the corpse of her beloved husband. She was then taken out to the Public Execution Grounds. In her final speech, to the crowds assembled to witness her death (numbering more than one million, the largest such crowd at any public execution during the eighteenth century), she declared that she was willing to meet her death, and that she had never intended any harm against the Laurasian people. She asserted her firm faith in Almitis and declared that everyone would face righteous judgment. Minerva was then blindfolded, and executed by firing squad. On the orders of the Empress Didymeia, she and her husband were buried at the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vicula in the Fortress of Baureux, instead of at the Prison Chapel.
 * February 16-
 * With the Wyatta Rebellion suppressed, the Imperial Laurasian Government immediately resumed its inquiries concerning Grand Princess Aurelia. On February 11, the Privy Council dispatched a delegation to Pasquarillo, with instructions to take custody of the Grand Princess, unless the physicians who accompanied them confirmed that it would be literally fatal for her to move. The delegation arrived by the end of that day, and reported to the Council that the Grand Princess was certainly ill, but that travel was certainly not out of the question. Despite Aurelia's objections that she could not make the journey "without peril of life", she was obliged to depart with them late on February 12. They made slow progress, for she remained frail, but finally arrived in the outskirts of the Laurasia Prime star system early on February 14. Two days later (February 16, 1754), on the orders of Empress Didymeia, the Grand Princess and her household were moved under guard from the Quencilvanian Palace to the Senatorial Palace. Upon arriving at the Palace, the Grand Princess was led to the chambers of Chancellor Gardinerius, who was firmly convinced of her complicity in the Wyatta Rebellion and was determined to obtain information about her dealings at the Imperial Court.
 * Aurelia was interrogated by the elderly Chancellor vigorously. Gardinerius demanded information about her contacts with Wyatta; her intentions as regards to the Empress; and her Reformed Almitian beliefs. Aurelia, acting as obstinate as before, defended herself with passion, asserting that she had no contacts with Wyatta; that she was absolutely loyal to Her Majesty; and that she would not obstruct the traditionalist policies of the government. Gardinerius did not believe her and now intensified his appeals to the Empress to take care of the Grand Princess. Ambassador Renard, on his part, told Didymeia that she would not be safe so long as the Grand Princess lived. For the next month, the Grand Princess remained in limbo at the Senatorial Palace, while the Chancellor and Ambassador Renard worked together to bring the Empress fully around to their views.
 * February 18-The trial of the Duke of Sufforia was conducted at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia on February 18, 1754. Sufforia, who had been imprisoned there since February 12, was arraigned on charges of treason, rebellion, conspiracy, and les-majestie. The Duke did not deny anything, and admitted his involvement in the Wyatta Rebellion freely. Declaring that the execution of his daughter and son-in-law had "destroyed my will to live in these realms", the Duke declared that he believed only in the true sanctity of the Almitian Church and that this could only be achieved by changes in the Imperial Laurasian Government. Chancellor Gardinerius, leading the case for the Imperial State, denounced Sufforia and labeled him an outright traitor. The Senate and Court of the Star Chamber agreed, convicting him after only a half-hour of deliberations. Sufforia expressed no remorse or fear when his sentence was announced: the full penalties of a traitor's death, with hanging, drawing, quartering, beheading, and solar incineration.
 * February 23-On February 23, 1754, the Duke of Sufforia, father of the ill-fated Nine Day's Empress Minerva Greysius, was executed, before a crowd of nearly 700,000 persons, at the Fortress of Baureux. Sufforia again admitted his guilt in his last speech to the crowds and declared his willingness to die. The Holy Synod, on the orders of Empress Didymeia, excommunicated the Duke, and he was denied an Almitian burial. Instead, his remains were dumped into the Pit of Traitors on Jadia. By this point, judicial proceedings had commenced at Chesham's Star, Merandaz, and other former centers of the Wyatta Rebellion, against those who had been involved. By the end of the year, nearly 400,000 individuals in twenty different star systems were convicted and either executed or imprisoned for their role in the rebellion.
 * March 15-The trial of Sir Thomasius Wyatta, instigator and chief leader of the Wyatta Rebellion, was conducted at the Quencilvanian Palace (March 15, 1754). Wyatta was tried by the Special Court of the Laurasian Empire, on the explicit command of Empress Didymeia. Lord Treasurer Winchestrius acted as chief commissioner at the trial, while Chancellor Gardinerius, assisted by the Vice-Procurator General, Sir Diogenes Debtrastis (1693-1776), conducted the case for the Imperial State. Wyatta, in his defense, asserted his concern for the affairs of the Laurasian Empire, and that he could not allow the welfare of the Laurasian people to be ruined. He asked the Court to look into their consciences, and asserted that he was dedicated to the service of Almitis. The verdict was not in doubt, and after one hour of deliberation, the Special Court convicted Wyatta on all charges and sentenced him to the full horrors of a traitor's death. The Holy Synod excommunicated Wyatta; when informed of this, the nobleman fell on his knees before the Court and begged for mercy, so that he may die in communion with Almitis. The Empress rejected his plea, however, and signed both the death warrant and the excommunication sentence in a firm hand shortly afterwards.
 * March 16-
 * Fully convinced of her sister's complicity in the Wyatta Rebellion, and wishing to display the consequences for treason, Empress Didymeia ordered, on March 16, 1754, for the official arrest and imprisonment of Grand Princess Aurelia at the Fortress of Baureux. Lord Treasurer Winchestrius and the Earl of Jadia were dispatched to the Senatorial Palace in order to arrest the Grand Princess and escort her to the Fortress of Baureux. This had been the outcome which Aurelia dreaded, and her situation appeared all the more perilous because it seemed that imprisonment at the Fortress would be the preliminary to a formal trial. Desperately, she clung to the hope that the Empress would relent if she was allowed to see her, and she begged the two peers that she might communicate with her sister to that effect. Jadia, who had the foresight to remember that his prisoner might one day be his Empress, granted her permission and provided her with the materials necessary. The Grand Princess then set to work. Her communique contained a sweeping affirmation of her innocence, for she swore to Her Majesty that she "had never practiced, counseled, nor consented to anything that might be prejudicial to your person in any way, or dangerous to the state by any means." She also rebutted the specific allegations against her. She declared that she had never received any communique from Wyatta. She then reminded Didymeia of her promise never to punish her "without answer and due proof", and begged that the Empress would not rely on her councilors to administer justice to her own flesh and blood.
 * She then used the example of Sir Thomasius Seymouris, suggesting his life could have been spared if he had been allowed access to his brother. She then moved on, stating that "I pray Almitis that evil persuasions do not incite one sister against the other, and all for that they have heard false report." The Grand Princess had sought desperately to kindle in the Empress some spark of sisterly feeling, but it was a futile exercise. It had been the Empress's ministers who had restrained her. Moreover, Didymeia refused to recognize the Grand Princess as her kindred. When shown the communique, the Empress was merely angry that her orders had not been promptly carried out. The Grand Princess now had to be temporarily detained at the Old Royal Palace. It was not until March 18, 1754, which was Palm Sunday, that the Grand Princess was finally conveyed by repulsorlift, along with her former governess Katharina Ashleius, and others of her household, to the Fortress. Aurelia exuded calm through the whole experience, refusing to show any signs of fear or sadness. She continued to assert her innocence, and at the gateway to the Fortress, acted out her defiance. She refused to leave the repulsorlift, and shouted out to all in ear-shot that she prayed that the Lord Almitis would "strike me down if ever I raised a hand against my dear sister and sovereign lady." Moreover, she hoped that Almitis would open her sister's eyes. Then she went into the Fortress. The Empress's eyes were closed, however, at this point, and Chancellor Gardinerius was already beginning to draft plans to arraign Aurelia on charges of treason and place her on trial before the Special Court.
 * April 11-On April 11, 1754, Sir Thomasius Wyatta was executed at the Fortress of Baureux, before a crowd of nearly 800,000 persons. The Grand Princess Aurelia was kept in close confinement on this day, as by the orders of the Empress, she was not to see or hear the execution of such a "evil criminal." Wyatta, hearing of the Grand Princess's plight, and feeling remorse, declared in his last speech to the crowds that the Grand Princess had not been involved in his conspiracy, and that she was "completely innocent of anything which man may hath contrive to raise against her." Wyatta admitted that he had acted on his own initiative, and he begged Empress Didymeia to have mercy on her younger sister. Wyatta, after delivering his speech, then suffered the full horrors of execution, and his remains were dumped into the Pit of Traitors on Jadia. Didymeia was informed of his last speech, but still held to the belief that Aurelia was complicit in rebellion against her.
 * April 12-On Ediania, Regent Arran, who was exhausted, and wished to relieve himself of the burdens of government service, formally resigned as Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, after having held that post for nearly twelve years (April 12, 1754). The Scottrian Estates therefore designated Scottrian Queen Mariana's mother, Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise, as the new Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. Mariana was to govern as Regent for the next six years, until her death in June 1760.
 * April 17-On April 17, 1754, a conference convened between delegations of the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires at Arias, regarding the matter of marriage between the Empress Didymeia and the Holy Spamalkan Prince Philicus. The Imperial Laurasian Government's plenipotentiaries to the conference were Baron Pagentia (who also served as the head of the delegation); Sir Galerius Caranus; Lord Dacre of Gitlandia; and Sir Willanius Cecilis, who, although removed from his post as Chancellor, had nevertheless been retained in the Diplomatic Service. The Holy Spamalkan Government was represented by Ambassador Renard; the Duke of Seville (1709-80); and Lord Felipe Guzman of Cordoba (1721-75). Negotiations would continue between the two delegations during the next several weeks, until the final terms of the agreement were reached.
 * May 3-By the middle of April 1754, following the execution of Sir Thomasius Wyatta, Grand Princess Aurelia's terms of confinement at the Fortress of Baureux had become less rigorous. She was permitted to take exercise under strict supervision at the Fortress Grounds. The Empress remained suspicious of her sister, however. On May 1, 1754, the Grand Princess composed a further, solemn communique to Didymeia, declaring that she had never been involved in any conspiracy against her sister. She begged her to reconsider her decision, pledged to honor all Traditionalist rites in public, and to refrain from involvement in activities at the Imperial Laurasian Court unless if she had the explicit approval of her sister. Indeed, Empress Didymeia's attitude began to mellow. She realized that execution was completely out of the question; Chancellor Gardinerius and Ambassador Renard, both of whom had continued to press for a trial and formal arraignment, were also slowly coming to acknowledge this fact. Lord Pagentia and Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, on their part, both pointed out to the Empress that no evidence existed to suggest the Grand Princess's complicity in the Wyatta Rebellion, or indeed, any conspiracy against the Empress. Although Didymeia herself continued to believe that Aurelia was guilty, she nevertheless saw that continued imprisonment of her half-sister at the Fortress was impractical. She now revived the earlier suggestion that the Grand Princess be kept under house arrest instead. It was thus, on May 3, 1754, that the Council, acting on the Empress's instructions, formally appointed Sir Antigonus Bedetherfadius (1709-83), who had served as Constable of the Fortress of Baureux from 1749 to 1753 and was one of the most respected Gentleman Pensioners, as the guardian of the Grand Princess.
 * May 5-
 * It was on May 5, 1754, that Sir Bedetherfadius, having received his formal commission from the Imperial Privy Council, presented himself at the Fortress of Baureux, at the head of a corps of Valedictorian Guards and Imperial Marines. The Grand Princess, on her part, feared that her life was in danger, and believed that she was to be executed. She was informed, however, that the Empress had commanded for her to be removed to Wooledeterian Palace on Vargara, in the heart of the Rogerian Cluster. Nevertheless, Aurelia still believed that she could fall victim to stealth. Bedetherfadius, however, was a conscientious man with a sense of patriotism, and was not an assassin. Aurelia's fears for her life were replaced by frustration at being guarded by a man who prided himself on lack of initiative, and who was not only devoid of charm himself, but impervious to the quality in others. It was not until May 19, however, before the Grand Princess and her household were formally transferred to Bedetherfadius's care. They were placed on a specially prepared transport, the IMS Caludria, and under heavy guard by a convoy commanded by the Guardian himself, executed their journey into hyperspace from the Laurasia Prime star system. The progress from Laurasia Prime to Vargara included stops at Caladaria, Darsis, Little Mexicana, Goldaria, Yularen, Galich Major, Volodormia, Frogglesworth, Mohi, Pressburg, Cossack, and Roger Minor, among others. In each of these star systems, the Grand Princess was showered with accolades and praise by the local populaces, who wished for her good health and deliverance. The Guardian's efforts to calm public sentiment included his arrest of twelve youths on Masada (May 23, 1754), but these failed to quell the public sentiments.
 * The following day, the entourage finally arrived at Vargara. Bedetherfadius received a communique from the Empress, setting out the terms of his commission. He found from this that he was expected to perform a delicate balancing act, whereby he guarded the Grand Princess closely, and yet had to "regard to use her in such good and honorable sort as may be agreeable to our honor and her estate and degree." The Guardian found these instructions imprecise, and sent a communique to the Council, imploring them to ask Her Majesty if she could issue a more comprehensive explanation of the confinement guidelines. Who were those the Grand Princess should not remain in contact with? How would he monitor her personal attendants? The Empress, hearing of this, ordered the Council to respond to Bedetherfadius's inquiries. They informed him that he must ensure that no one suspect have contact with the Grand Princess, or permit anyone to her presence who was not vetted first. On May 28, Bedetherfadius seized a number of holobooks given to the Grand Princess by her servant, Thomasius Parrius, and sent them to the Council for inspection. Though they found nothing offensive in the works, they nevertheless commended the Guardian for his "diligence and circumspection". They agreed that unauthorized actions of this sort indicated that the Grand Princess's friends would go to any lengths to communicate with her.
 * Bedetherfadius, moreover, found the Grand Princess an awkward prisoner. She had complained about the quarters allocated to her use, and sought to gain permission to exercise at the Palatial Park. The Guardian found himself exasperated at this. Aurelia, however, could not outwit the Guardian, whose habit of automatically referring all points at issue to the Council gave him the upper hand in the contest between them. Aurelia's irritation at being in the grip of this man only grew more acute when she learned that he was doing all in his power to isolate her from the galaxy at large. Her vexation increased when on June 9, 1754, on the orders of the Empress, one of her favorite servants, Lady Aurelia Sandria (1724-91), was dismissed, deemed to be a "person of evil opinion." Moreover, Bedetherfadius refused to allow the Grand Princess access to Reformist texts or articles in private, which he considered blasphemous. He justified this refusal by expressing his opinion that Aurelia would prefer to read the Traditionalist Scriptures in Old Laurasian, since she was so educated. Exasperated beyond measure, the Grand Princess demanded that she be allowed to write to the Empress. Permission was obtained, but the communique (June 16, 1754), only worsened her situation. It bore the marks of her resentment. Empress Didymeia was offended not only that her sister had seized the opportunity to reaffirm her innocence, but also that the Grand Princess failed to use the proper terms of address. In her reply (June 19, 1754), the Empress sharply reiterated her grounds for suspecting the Grand Princess, and forbade Aurelia from communicating with her again. Bedetherfadius now interpreted the Empress's command to mean that she was also forbidden to communicate with the Council. When the Grand Princess complained about this trespass on her rights, the Guardian refused to listen. The Grand Princess now sank into depression, and she suffered from a renewal of her earlier health aliments. On July 7, the Council lifted Bedetherfadius's ban on further communication, but when the Grand Princess responded with a request that she might come to the Imperial Laurasian Court and see her sister, her plea went unanswered. She was now forced to wait, and to observe all Traditionalist observances. Aurelia's house arrest in the Guardian's custody was to drag on into 1755.
 * May 26-The Treaty of Arias was, on May 26, 1754, signed by the delegations of the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires, after over a month of negotiations. The terms of this treaty had to be hammered out by the two delegations, with extensive consultation being made with both the Imperial Privy Council of the Laurasian Empire and the Council of State of the Holy Spamalkan Empire. By the terms of this treaty, a diplomatic alliance was established between the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires. In times of war, Laurasia would not be obliged to assist Spamalka against its enemies with direct military force, but a schedule of financial aid was agreed to between the two governments. The commercial privileges of Laurasian and Spamalkan subjects in the territories of the other were confirmed, and they were to be tried for crimes only with the approval of their own government. Finally, as regards to the marriage itself, Philicus (who had been elevated to the rank of King of Naparia by his father Emperor Char'va), was to become the Emperor Consort of All the Laurasians, jure uxoris, in right of his wife, the Empress Didymeia. All official documents, including imperial statutes and manifestos, were to be dated with both of their names, and the Imperial Court would be governed under the joint authority of the couple. Philicus could not act without his wife's consent, and she retained all of the vestiges of autocratic authority, as were her right as Empress Regnant. The marriage could be dissolved at any time, and all of its provisions would therefore lapse, with "good faith", between the two contracting governments. The Treaty of Arias was ratified by Empress Didymeia on May 28 (who also enshrined its provisions in the Edict of the Empress's Marriage) and by Emperor Char'va I on June 2.
 * July 12-On July 12, 1754, Prince Philicus formally departed from Moorio Cabania, in the outskirts of the Spamalkan Hereditary Dominions, for his journey to the Caladarian Galaxy and to the Laurasian Empire. His journey lasted for nine days; on July 21, 1754, he reached Belkadan, being greeted there by Minister of Defense Munnich, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, and a delegation of Privy Councilors. They thence escorted him to Laurasia Prime, which he reached two days later. On the orders of Empress Didymeia, crowds had been assembled at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, Jadia, the Second Station of Callista, at the two Calaxies, and in the cities of Laurasia Prime, in order to celebrate the arrival of the Empress's fiancee. The crowds, however, were not enthusiastic, and there where many who stated that the marriage of Didymeia with Philicus would "doom the Laurasian Dominions." Imperial authorities arrested and imprisoned or fined those who expressed such sentiments, but the Governor of Laurasia Prime and the Mayor of Christiania made strenuous efforts to ensure that the ceremonies were not disrupted. Philicus and his entourage were received by Empress Didymeia, attended by Chancellor Gardinerius, the Duke of Norfolkius, and all of the other leading personages of the Imperial Laurasian Court, at the Audience Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace. The Prince, who had been given positive reports about Didymeia and had seen photographs of her, was startled when he saw her in person. Didymeia was, from his perspective, heavyset, "plain and austere." He kept this to himself, and treated his future wife with great civility and respect. Nevertheless, Philicus bore no love for her, and considered the marriage important only for political and strategic reasons.
 * July 25-Just two days after the arrival ceremonies, on July 25, 1754, Empress Didymeia I and Spamalkan Prince Philicus were married at the Westphalian Cathedral. Archbishop Bonneris presided over the marriage ceremony, in lieu of the absence of the still-imprisoned Chief Procurator Cranmerius. The Empress-Dowager Annaliese of Denver, the ailed Duke of Norfolkius, Baron Pagentia, Spamalkan Ambassador Renard, and Field-Marshal Munnich were among the personages present at the wedding ceremony. This marriage ceremony marked only the second time in the Empire's history that a Laurasian sovereign had been married to a foreign royal from the Great Amulak Spiral (the first had been the marriage of Didymeia's own parents, Antigonus III and Katharina of Shenandoah, in 1709, forty-five years earlier). Chancellor Gardinerius himself, always the most ardent opponent of the marriage project, was absent, having pleaded sickness. A three-day public holiday was proclaimed; an official imperial manifesto issued enjoining all subjects to celebrate the marriage; and festivities held at the Imperial Court. Philicus, however, told Ambassador Renard bluntly that he had no amorous feelings for the Laurasian Empress. On August 4, he was formally proclaimed Emperor Consort of All the Laurasians, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Arias.
 * August 25-On August 25, 1754, Thomasius Howardis, the 3rd Duke of Norfolkius, who had been Lord Treasurer of the Laurasian Empire (1722-1747) and one of the most prominent personages in the reigns of Neuchrus the Reformer and Antigonus the Extravagant, died at the age of 80 at Kenninghall Estate on Charasia. His death came thirty years after that of his father, the 2nd Duke of Norfolkius, and sixty-nine years following the death in battle of his grandfather, the 1st Duke. He was the same age as his father had been at the time of his death. The death of the Duke of Norfolkius was greeted with much sadness by those at the Imperial Court and among his peers of the Laurasian nobility. The Empress Didymeia, in a proclamation from the Imperial Court, declared that Norfolkius had "lent valuable services to this empire over the preceding six decades. His loss is a sad event." Norfolkius was succeeded in his title and position by his 18-year old grandson, also named Thomasius Howardis (who had been born at Kenninghall on March 10, 1736), who became 4th Duke of Norfolkius. He was the son of Norfolkius's deceased eldest son, the Earl of Soria. Norfolkius was buried at Howardis Family Estate on Soria, next to the bodies of his parents and his stepmother, on September 7.
 * September 4-In early September 1754, Empress Didymeia stopped menstruating. She gained weight, felt nauseous in the mornings, and developed an intense craving for food. Beginning on September 4, and continuing for the next several days, the news of the Empress's condition began to circulate among the Imperial Court. Chancellor Gardinerius was among the many who believed that the Empress was pregnant. Even though Gardinerius remained opposed to the Spamalkan marriage, and believed that the Laurasian Empire would ultimately be dragged into war in the Great Amulak Spiral, he nevertheless believed that any child, whether of Philicus or a Laurasian, would ensure the continuation of Didymeia's Traditionalist policies and prevent Grand Princess Aurelia from ascending to the Laurasian throne. Ultimately, on September 14, Dr. Lincarius, the Empress's personal physician, announced that she was pregnant. When Aurelia received word of the announcement from her guardian, Bedetherfadius, she was dealt a heavy blow. The Grand Princess developed a fear for her own life and a concern that her succession to the throne would not now occur. She was reassured, however, that Didymeia's health could possibly result in a miscarriage. In reality, Didymeia was now experiencing the first of her phantom pregnancies.
 * September 29-On September 29, 1754, Empress Didymeia enacted the Regency Statute of 1754. The statute was issued by the Empress as a result of her "pregnancy", and on the advice of Chancellor Gardinerius. By the terms of this statute, it was declared a treasonous offense "to compass or imagine to deprive the Emperor's Majesty from the having with the Empress the style, honor, and kingly name, or to destroy the Emperor, or to levy war within this realm against Their Imperial Majesties, or to say that the Emperor ought not to have his title." The penalty for a first offense was forfeiture of goods and "perpetual imprisonment." A second offense was high treason and punishable by death. However, to "compass or imagine the death of the Emperor" on the first offense was also considered high treason. The Statute, most importantly, declared that if the Empress died and her heir was not yet eighteen years old if male, or was under seventeen and unmarried if female, then Philicus would govern the realm as Lord Protector and Regent of the Laurasian Empire, until the heir to the throne came of age (or was married, if female). In that event, it would be treason "to compass, attempt, and go about to destroy the person of the Emperor, or to remove His Highness from the Imperial Laurasian Government."
 * November 8-
 * The Second Imperial Statute of Repeal of the Antigonid Religious Measures was promulgated by Empress Didymeia (November 8, 1754). For several months, the Empress had consulted with her Traditionalist Holy Synod, and Chancellor Gardinerius, in order to craft an arrangement to restore the Almitian Church to its prior, pre-Antigonid administrative and theological status. The Empress had always rejected her father's religious reforms, and considered his innovations to be heresy, in contravention to the practices of her ancestors. She was determined to maintain the Traditionalist prerogatives of the Church. Finally, the Second Imperial Statute of Repeal appeared. This statute formally repealed all of the religious measures which had been enacted after 1729. This included the Manifesto of Allegiance, the Heretical Ratification Decree, the Declaration of Submission, the First Statute of Supremacy, the Statute for the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the Six Articles.
 * The Almitian Church was returned to its Traditionalist religious thesis, practices, services, festivals, administration, privileges, and properties. Didymeia, however, explicitly retained the title of Pontifex Maximus, for the investigations conducted by the Holy Synod revealed its importance to the prior history of the Almitian Church, and that its abolition by Neuchrus the Reformer had been "an act of error". The Statute of Repeal also announced the restoration of the Heresy and Sodomy Laws. These included the Heresy Patent of 1382 of Emperor Antiochus I the Great; the Heresy Statutes of 1402 and 1414 of Emperor Demetrius I the Fat; the Sodomy Practices Act of 1441, of the Emperor Claudius II the Prudent; the Authorization Statute of 1475 of Emperor Vespasian the Restorer; the Sodomy Acts of 1504 and 1506, of Emperor Antigonus I the Conqueror; and the Heresy Law of 1535, of Emperor Lysimachus I the Cultivated. Empress Didymeia now commanded the Holy Synod and the Governing Senate to launch investigations of Reformed Almitist personages in the Empire, and on November 14, by decree, she established the High Court of Heresies of the Almitian Church. This tribunal, to be composed of the members of the Holy Synod, fifty of the most prominent prelates of the Conference of Almitian Prelates, and twelve members drawn from the Privy Council, Senate, and Imperial Courts, was to handle all cases relating to heresy, witchcraft, and apostasy within the Empire, and to issue judicial decisions and rulings in accordance with the Empire's restored Heresy and Sodomy Laws. The High Court of Heresies, which was now headed by Chancellor Gardinerius, was to become one of the most despised bodies in the Imperial Laurasian Government during the course of the next four years.
 * December 8-On December 8, 1754, Haxonian Doge Marcantonio Trivisan, who had ruled for just over a year and a half (since March 1753), died from natural causes at the Doges's Palace on Haxonia Prime. Doge Trivisan was seventy-eight years old at the time of his death. He was now succeeded as Doge by the eighty-two year old Senator Francesco Venier. Venier was a member of the ancient and powerful Haxonian House of Venier, and had served in the Senate for forty-four years at the time of his accession. He was formally crowned as Doge on December 17, 1754.
 * December 13-On December 13, 1754, Marasharite Emperor Sassas III, who had ruled since the abdication of his uncle Ahmad III in his favor in October 1730, died at the age of fifty-eight. The last several years of his reign had been dominated by the War of the Austarlian Succession and the Fourth Franconian War. These conflicts had included Marasharite, Barbary, and Haynsian raids and campaigns against the Holy Spamalkan Empire, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the Haxonian Confederacy; Marasharite cooperation with Franconia in military offensives in Nice, Savoy, and the Heletian Provinces; and constant Marasharite skirmishes with Vendragian and Haxonian naval forces in the African and Arabian Territories. The years 1743-46 had also seen the Seventh Marasharite-Breffal War, in which the two powers disputed possession of Kazakhstan, Azerbajan, and the Lower Caucasian Reaches. Emperor Sassas himself had managed to keep control over affairs in his palace, and over his subjects. The most recent rebellion against him, the Armenian Uprising of 1750-52, had been crushed brutally by his forces. He was now succeeded to the throne by his younger brother, who became Abdulahamid I of Marasharita. His brother had, like preceding Marasharite Emperors, been kept a prisoner for most of his life, and was therefore possessed of numerous behavorial peculiarities. He was fifty-five years old at the time of his accession to the Marasharite throne.

1755

 * January 1-1755, the 55th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire in a state of external peace and domestic tranquility, in the wake of the suppression of the Wyatta Rebellion. By this point, Chancellor Gardinerius and others within the Imperial Laurasian Court had grown to accept Empress Didymeia's marriage with the Holy Spamalkan Prince Philicus, although he was never to be popular with the subjects of the Laurasian Empire. Nevertheless, Empress Didymeia and her husband, Emperor-Consort Philicus, in their first joint New Year's proclamation to the subjects of the Laurasian Empire, expressed their hope that the Empress's pregnancy would yield results for the Neuchrian Dynasty and that the child she was carrying in her womb was a son. Didymeia also took advantage of the New Year's proclamation to announce that action would now be taken against Reformists in the Almitian Church, such as Chief Procurator Cranmerius, Archbishop Rogerius Perles of Darsis, the prominent theologian and Reformist scholar John Rogerius, Bishop Tyraniz Hestiz of the Cron Drift, and other such "heretics in the name of Almitis." And indeed, January 1755 was to see the High Court of Heresies now begin to fulfill the purpose for which it had been created: to suppress all Reformed Almitian movements, sects, and individuals within the Laurasian Empire.
 * January 22-
 * On January 22, 1755, John Rogerius (1705-55), Professor of Theology at the University of the Laurasian Empire, and ten other members of the University Faculty of Theology, were interrogated by the Court of High Heresies, on charges of treason, heresy, blasphemy, and "sedition against the name of Almitis." Archbishops Gardinerius and Bonneris took charge of the interrogation, and they ruthlessly questioned Rogerius on his moral and religious beliefs. Rogerius, who remained convinced that the Traditionalist beliefs were "errors in the way of Almitis", and that reform was needed, defended his beliefs with passion. Gardinerius and Bonneris denounced him as a "heretic and infidel." On January 27, 1755, they, under the authority vested to them by the Heresy Laws, condemned Rogerius and the other members of the Faculty of Theology to death by disintegration. Empress Didymeia confirmed the sentence passed by the High Court of Heresies. It was on February 4, 1755, that Rogerius and his fellow accomplices were executed by disintegration at the Tyburnian Stockards in the Cron Drift, in front of a crowd of more than 200,000 persons. To the last, Rogerius proclaimed his innocence, and defended his beliefs with much passion. Rogerius had been excommunicated, but there was no corpse to humiliate, and therefore his possessions and properties were ceremonially ransacked by the imperial authorities. Rogerius was the first martyr of the Didymeian Persecutions, which would ultimately claim nearly seven hundred million Reformist Almitians throughout the Laurasian Empire during the course of the next three years.
 * February 1755, on its part, saw two prominent executions. On January 29, Laurentius Saudravia (1719-55), Dean of the Priory of St. Josephus in Chancellor City, Katherine, was condemned to death for heresy by the Ecclesiastical Court of Katherine. It was on February 8, 1755, that his sentence was carried out. He was disintegrated at the stake, at the Teverian Fortress, in front of a crowd of more than 300,000 persons. Right before his execution, he kissed the stake and exclaimed: "Welcome the cross of Almitis! Welcome everlasting life!" Saudravia's offense had been preaching a sermon, on October 15, 1753, which had proclaimed that Empress Didymeia and her advisers were in consort with the Anti-Almitis, that they would bring the Empire's dominions to ruin, and that Traditionalism was not the true faith of the Almitian Church. The following day, he was followed in death by Tyraniz Hestiz, Bishop of the Cron Drift, who had been one of the most radical advocates of Almitian Reformation, and had influenced Cranmerius's formulation of the Thirty-nine Articles and Book of Common Prayer (as mentioned earlier), and Eustachius Tavaris (1710-55), Rector of Havarian Priory in Constantinople, Laurasia Prime. Hestiz had supported the abolition of all vestaments and rituals in the Almitian Church. He displayed great courage during his execution and stated his firm belief that the Empire's subjects were doomed to ruin and the torments of the Underworld of Almitis unless if they purged their religious spirit and beliefs. In the midst of these executions, the Empress also strove to strengthen the reassertion of Traditionalist dominance over the Imperial Almitian Church. On March 8, 1755, she formally chartered Holy Trinity College on Taurasia. This college, ironically, in the reign of Aurelia the Great, would become one of the chief Reformed Almitist institutes in the Laurasian Empire.
 * April 17-
 * By April 1755, matters had evolved further in regards to the situation of Grand Princess Aurelia. Emperor-Consort Philicus had many reasons to oppose any actions against the Grand Princess until his wife produced an heir. It was possible that neither Didymeia nor the child she was carrying would survive, and if the Grand Princess had already been declared ineligible for the throne, the King of Franconia would certainly press forth the claims of Queen Mariana of Scottria. If she inherited the throne, the Empire would be united in a firm diplomatic and military alliance with the Franconians against Spamalka, a situation which Philicus could not permit to develop. The Emperor-Consort now sought for the Grand Princess to be brought to the Court, wishing to know he could count on Aurelia's protection if Didymeia's sudden death left him an unpopular widower in a foreign dominion. It was thus on April 17, 1755, that Sir Bedetherfadius received instructions from the Privy Council to bring Grand Princess Aurelia to the Court. When the Grand Princess arrived there two days later, she discovered that her long ordeal was not over. Weeks passed before the Empress could bring herself to see the sister who in her heart she still believed to be guilty, delaying their meeting in the hope that Aurelia would break down under the suspense and admit that the Empress's suspicions were justified. The Empress even, on April 24, sent Chancellor Gardinerius and three other members of the Council to tell the Grand Princess that if she confessed, Her Majesty would be "good to her." Aurelia, however, would not easily succumb to this. She was unmoved by Gardinerius's warning that the Empress would not set her free until she admitted her faults.
 * But finally, on May 2, 1755, the Empress summoned her half-sister to her personal bedchambers. Aurelia was conducted by the Valedictorian Guards to there. The ensuing interview proved that the Empress had not acted in a true spirit of reconciliation. When Aurelia went down on her knees in humble obeisance, Empress Didymeia cut short her protestations of loyalty with the bitter observation: "You will not confess your offense but stand stoutly in your truth. I pray Almitis it may so transpire." Aurelia's insistence that, if it happened otherwise, she would not look for mercy only provoked Didymeia further. The Empress then said that the Grand Princess would begin complaining that she had been wrongfully punished. Aurelia replied that she would dare say no such thing. She asserted her loyalty to the Empress of Laurasia. To Didymeia, such assurances meant nothing, and she now dismissed her sister back to her apartments. During the next few weeks, the Grand Princess found herself compelled to remain in her quarters, and was forbidden to receive any official visitors, although on May 11, Bedetherfadius was finally dismissed from his post as Guardian and removed from her household.
 * At a time when it appeared that the regime would be consolidated by the birth of an heir, few risked incurring Her Majesty's displeasure by association with the Grand Princess. On May 4, false rumors circulated from the Imperial Court that Empress Didymeia had given birth to a healthy son. The rumors were spread by several ladies-in-waiting of the Imperial Household, whose gossip had reached the ears of prominent individuals at the University of Laurasia Prime and throughout the Empire. Four days later, however, the Imperial Chancellory announced that the Empress had not given birth, and that she was still in expectation of the onset of labor. On May 22, the Grand Princess learned that there was now serious doubt that her half-sister was pregnant. Aurelia herself had long since concluded that the Empress was not pregnant; that her "fantasies" had lead her to believe that she was carrying a child. The Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber, the Empress's close friend Susanna Clarincuexia (1710-64), herself admitted to Franconian Ambassador Antoine Noailles (1704-62), that she did not believe her imperial mistress was pregnant.
 * June 12-On June 12, 1755, a major incident occurred at the Quencilvanian Palace which finally revealed to all about the true situation concerning the Empress Didymeia's "pregnancy". Near midnight, the Empress, wearing only her nightgown, came running out of her bedchambers, screaming in Old Laurasian, "Domine mi, Domine mi, Quid hoc fecisti? Quid hoc fecisti?" (My Lord, My Lord, Why have you done so? Why have you done so?) and dropping to the floor, yelled "I carry death in my womb! I have not destroyed all the heretics in this realm. Quid hoc fecisti? My Lord, my savior...why have you treated me this way!" The ladies of the bedchamber were stirred from bed by the Empress's emotional outburst and retrieved her from the ground, dragging her, kicking and raving, back to her bedchambers. Grand Princess Aurelia, who shortly afterwards learned of her sister's outburst in her private chambers, confidently declared to her personal household that the Empress was experiencing a phantom pregnancy and that her position as heiress apparent under the Third Antigonid Statute was secure. It was not until July 5, 1755, however, that the Privy Council finally issued a manifesto to the subjects of the Laurasian Empire, admitting that Empress Didymeia had experienced a phantom pregnancy and that the physicians of the Imperial Household had diagnosed her condition falsely. By now, Didymeia's abdomen had receded, and the Empress had herself come to admit that she never carried any child. Philicus, whose loathing of his wife had intensified considerably, declared to his courtiers that he knew she was infertile. The Haxonian ambassador, Giovanni Miceli (1703-75), reported to his government that the pregnancy of Empress Didymeia had been a "falsehood" and that she had been led by her own fervent wish for a child into believing that this pregnancy was genuine.
 * August 15-On August 15, 1755, Emperor Consort Philicus, Hereditary Prince of Spamalka, announced to the Imperial Court and his wife, Empress Didymeia, his resolution to return to the Spamalkan dominions in the Great Amulak Spiral. His father, the Emperor Char'va I, was engaged in his last and most vigorous war with his perennial enemies, the Serene Kingdom of Franconia, and therefore required the services of his son for the military campaigns against his enemies. Char'va, whose health was in decline, and who yearned to retire from the burdens of state, was also instigating plans to eventually abdicate the Spamalkan throne, and to surrender his minor titles and offices. Already, the Spamalkan Emperor had drawn up a declaration of abdication for his duties as Duke of Miliania and Overlord of Brabant, planning to divest those territories to his son, Prince Philicus. Philicus's announcement left Didymeia emotionally devastated. The Empress, who believed that her phantom pregnancy was a punishment from the Lord Almitis for tolerating heretics and "fiends" within her dominions, now saw herself as doubly cursed, with her husband departing from the Laurasian Dominions. She pleaded to Philicus to delay his point of departure, but he, convinced that his duties in Spamalka were more important, refused. It was on August 29 that the Emperor-Consort departed with his official entourage from Laurasia Prime, with the Empress, Chancellor Gardinerius, members of the Councils of State, and the chief personages of the Imperial Court seeing him off. Philicus made a rapid journey from Laurasia Prime to the outskirts of the Caladarian Galaxy, and then into the Galactic Void. He would arrive at Moorio Cabana on September 9. Philicus would not return to the Laurasian Empire until March 1757.
 * September 12-On September 12, 1755, the second trial of Chief Procurator Thomasius Cranmerius was conducted at Bocardian Prison in Oxfadian City, Vetta. Cranmerius had been transferred from the Fortress of Baureux to Bocardian Prison on March 8, 1754, on the orders of the Imperial Privy Council. He had been interred there with Archbishops Perles and Latimerius. Throughout the year and a half of imprisonment, the Chief Procurator had been pressured to recant his Reformed Almitist beliefs and to rejoin the fold of the "Traditional, Holy Almitian Church." He had refused however, and even smuggled out a letter to his supporters, declaring his faith in the "true religion" of the Lord Almitis and that he would not submit to heresy. The high commissioners at the trial of Chief Procurator Cranmerius included Cardinal Reginaldus Polsius of the Laurasian Purse Region (who had been elevated to that rank by Empress Didymeia in April 1754), Archbishop and Chancellor Gardinerius, Archbishop Bonneris of Laurasia Prime, and Claudius Agathinius, Archbishop of Darcia (1701-68). Cranmerius defended himself with passion before the Court of High Heresies, declaring that throughout his tenure as Chief Procurator, he had only sought for the good condition of the Almitian Church and the spiritual unity of the Laurasian realms. Polsius and Gardinerius blasted Cranmerius for this, declaring that he was dedicated to only spreading heresy throughout the Empire. Gardinerius, in particular, who had been imprisoned for five years partly at the Chief Procurator's behest, spewed venom against him and declared that he would die a horrific death in the Underworld of the Anti-Almitis. After five hours of deliberation, the Holy Synod and Court of High Heresies decided that Cranmerius should be interrogated further as regards to his affairs, and that final judgment would be deferred until the "appropriate time." Cranmerius was sent back to his cell, in limbo and awaiting his sentence.
 * October 1-On October 1, 1755, the trial of former Archbishops Rogerius Perles of Darsis (1700-55) and Perciles Latimerius of Katie (1687-1755) was conducted at the High Tower of Justice in Oxfadian City, Vetta. Gardinerius, Polsius, Bonneris, and Agathinius again sat in judgment upon the two Reformist Almitian clergymen. Both men defended themselves with vigor and passion, Latimerius especially so. Latimerius declared that he saw only error in the Traditionalist rites, and that such practices as the real presence of the Lord Paul in the Mass, transubstantiation, and the proper merit of the Mass were unbiblical. He urged the Synod to "look into their consciences" and that all souls would be saved, if only men expressed true belief in the Word of Almitis. When Gardinerius and Polsius claimed that Latimerius was not of the same faith as the Church Fathers, he vehemently disagreed, declaring that they and he opposed unworldly wealth, and that the Almitian Church had veered far off that path. Perles, on his part, declared that the law of Almitis mandated for all men to remain "meek, humble, and honest in his presence" and that the Church should only perform duties of "brotherhood, kindness, and charity to all." These beliefs were denounced as heresy by the Court, and after two hours of deliberations, they convicted both Perles and Latimerius on all charges and sentenced them to death by disintegration. Both men accepted their fate willingly, and declared they would soon meet their savior, the Lord Almitis, in heaven.
 * October 16-On October 16, 1755, Archbishops Perles and Latimerius were disintegrated at the stake, at the Oxfadian Heights in Oxfadian City, Vetta, before a crowd of more than 800,000 persons. Their suffering, according to eyewitness accounts, was very intense, especially as one of the dis-integrator machine operators had charged the melting levels to their highest extent. This ensured that both Archbishops died in a rapid but excruciating manner. Chief Procurator Cranmerius, who had been interrogated further by the Holy Synod, was taken, on the orders of Chancellor Gardinerius, to a tower in order to watch the proceedings. To the last, Latimerius and Perles remained defiant. Latimerius declared to the crowds, who had come to witness his execution, that he was offering up his life for the "service of the Lord Almitis" and that he would see who was in the right. Perles, on his part, kissed the disintegration machine and called it the "instrument of Almitis, to send me into the righteous realm of heaven." At the last moment, before the machine was turned on, Latimerius called to Perles, saying "Play the man, Master Perles; we shall this day light a candle, by Almitis's grace, in this galaxy, as I trust shall never be put out." They were then executed. Empress Didymeia, learning of their executions, declared to those at the Imperial Court that "these men, heretics and infidels in the eyes of the gracious Lord Almitis, have finally been cast down into the Underworld, which is their proper residence." Many throughout the Laurasian Empire, however, were alarmed and saddened at the news. Cranmerius himself fainted as he watched the Archbishops die and had to be carried back to his cell. Grand Princess Aurelia burst into tears when she was told, and declared that the "Lord Almitis shall surely preserve those who died for righteousness."
 * October 18-Grand Princess Aurelia was, on October 18, 1755, finally permitted by Empress Didymeia, on the urging of Lord Pagentia, to retire back to her own personal estates. The Empress, however, warned her half-sister that any involvement in politics, or any public criticism of her religious policies, would result in her "position and life being effectively forfeit." Aurelia heeded the warnings, and with her loyal household, swiftly retired to the Palace of Secrets on Paradine. The Grand Princess, except when summoned to the Imperial Court, would remain on her private estates for the remainder of her half-sister's reign.
 * October 22-Chancellor Gardinerius, whose health had been in decline since the commencement of the year, collapsed at a session of the Imperial Privy Council, which had convened to discuss the terms of the restoration of monasteries and ecclesiastical estates in the Laurasian Empire to the jurisdiction of their previous owners. The Empress Didymeia, who had come to depend upon Gardinerius, who was now seventy-two years old, was distressed when she learned of the Chancellor's collapse, and ordered the Royal Hospital to provide him with the most effective and rigorous treatments. Gardinerius, however, declared his willingness to meet his fate, and stated that Almitis would welcome him openly into the realm of Almitis. He withdrew from most of his state duties after October 26 and would never attend another session of the Privy Council.
 * November 12-On November 12, 1755, Stephanius Gardinerius, Chancellor and Procurator-General of the Laurasian Empire, Archbishop of Winchestrius, and one of the most influential personages in the court of Empress Didymeia I, died at the age of 72 in the Imperial Hospital Quarters of the Quencilvanian Palace, Christiania, Laurasia Prime. Empress Didymeia, when she was informed by Cardinal Polsius of the Chancellor's death, was distraught. Declaring that he was a "true gentleman, a believer in the word of Almitis and an adherent to the proper rituals and forms of this Empire", Didymeia declared that his death left a wound in her heart, and that his loss was in turn, a loss for the Laurasian government and realm. Beyond the Empress and her circle of intimates, however, the death of Archbishop-Chancellor Gardinerius was met with little mourning. Grand Princess Aurelia, who viewed him as a fiend and a monster, and still carried bitter memories of his harsh interrogation of her, showed no emotion when told of the Chancellor's passing. Chief Procurator Cranmerius, informed by Bonneris that the Chancellor was dead, expressed his wish that the Lord Almitis would not consign him to the Underworld. Many others throughout the Empire considered Gardinerius to be responsible for the Empress's religious persecutions, and public bonfires were lit on Laurasia Prime and many other worlds, celebrating his death. Gardinerius was interred at Winchestrius Cathedral on Nicephoria, seat of his diocese, on November 24.
 * December 4-On December 4, 1755, two years and three months after his initial arrest, and in the aftermath of two trials, the Holy Synod finally passed judgment upon Chief Procurator Thomasius Cranmerius, the second-longest serving Chief Procurator of the eighteenth century and one of the main proponents of the Almitian Reformation. The Synod convicted Cranmerius, on two hundred charges of treason, heresy, conspiracy, felony, corruption, and dissent against "the lawful mandates of the Imperial Government and the Almitian Church." Cranmerius was therefore sentenced to death, the second time this sentence had been imposed on him, and he was to die by means of disintegration at the stake. Upon receiving word of the Synod's sentence, the Empress moved swiftly. She formally deprived Thomasius Cranmerius of his position as Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod and Primate of the Almitian Church (which he had held for twenty-two years); confirmed the sentence passed by the Synod; and ordered for his formal excommunication. All honors and grants made to the former Chief Procurator were revoked, and the Empress confiscated all of the properties and goods of the Cranmerius family. Didymeia mandated that Cranmerius's execution was to take place at a time which she directed, and that the Chief Procurator should be compelled to repent before he was to die. Then on December 11, on the orders of the Holy Synod, former Chief Procurator Thomasius Cranmerius was moved from his prison cell at Boccarian Prison and lodged instead at the residence of the Dean of Paul Church in Oxfadian City. Now placed in the midst of an academic community, Cranmerius was, on the orders of Archbishop Bonneris, treated as almost a guest. Didymeia, wishing to test Cranmerius further, and to wring recantations from him, ordered Friar Julius Villagraves of Durglais (1705-64) to debate the former Chief Procurator on the issues of conformity and adherence to the laws of Almitis. Cranmerius would first meet with Friar Villagraves on December 31.

1756

 * January 1-
 * 1756, the 56th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with some gloom present in the Laurasian Empire, and with some foreboding for the future. At the Imperial Court, the atmosphere was strained. Empress Didymeia had been left in emotional despair by the revelation of her phantom pregnancy, the departure of her husband, Holy Spamalkan Prince Philicus, back to the Great Amulak Spiral (as he now awaited his assumption of the Spamalkan throne), and the death of her faithful Chancellor and Procurator-General, Gardinerius. It was now virtually certain that she would be succeeded by her younger half-sister, Grand Princess Aurelia, the reminder of the woman whom she absolutely hated (Anna Boleyenia). Nevertheless, Didymeia believed that her governance of the Empire was in fulfillment of the Lord Almitis's mandates, and that he had invested her with the mission of restoring the Almitian Church's purity. The Empress in her New Year's proclamation to her subjects (January 1, 1756), declared that "heretics and infidels in these realms have been destroyed, and that the Lord Almitis has cleansed the Almitian Church of those who would seek its destruction." She praised the efforts of the Holy Synod and the judicial system of the Empire to carry out her mandates and enforce the laws of Almitis. At the same time, however, Didymeia lamented over her phantom pregnancy, declaring that the Lord Almitis wished for there to be more "purification" of the faith before he would satisfy the Laurasian Dominions with an heir.
 * On the same day of the Empress Didymeia's somber New Year's proclamation to her subjects, former Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod Thomasius Cranmerius signed, in the presence of Archbishop Bonneris and Friar Julius Villegraves, two statements of recantation and regret. The first concerned his rejection of Traditionalist ritual; the second, his effort to limit the wealth and privileges of the Almitian clergy. In both, Cranmerius declared that his actions had been heretical; that he had condoned the excesses of his imperial masters, the Emperors Antigonus III and Demetrius II; and that he had sinned in the eyes of Almitis. He now acknowledged that the customs of the Almitian Church, "established in times immemorial, should not be changed by man." The statements of repentance were read by Empress Didymeia, who agreed with Bonneris that more was needed from the disgraced ex-Chief Procurator.
 * January 16-
 * On January 16, 1756, Char'va I, Holy Emperor of Spamalka, King of the Colonial Territories, King of Spamalkan Navarre, Grand Duke of Durthia, Burgundy, Brabant, Flanders, Luxembourg, and Lichtenstein, Duke of Milania and Lombardy, Prince of Savoy and Genoa, Lord of Franche-Comte, Elector of Cologne, Overlord of Fez and the Malian Potentates, formally abdicated from all of these titles in favor of his son, the Laurasian Emperor-Consort, King of Naparia, Overlord of Brabant, and Hereditary Prince of Spamalka, Philicus. In an official ceremony of state on Madrid, which was accompanied with much splendor and pomp, and was noted by the ambassadors of all the foreign states, the Emperor formally divested himself of his robes of state, his crowns, and insignia, and handed them over to his son. Philicus, who was now Philicus I of Spamalka, destined to become contemporary and adversary of the Laurasian Empress Aurelia the Great, was to rule for the next forty-two years (until 1798). Char'va himself was only fifty-six at the time of his abdications, but he had reigned over the Spamalkan Hereditary Dominions and its associated positions for thirty-seven years (since 1719). Nevertheless, the Emperor was exhausted by the onerous burdens and administrative duties related to his rule, and desired to retire from public life. This he did, retreating to the Spamalkan Conclave of Yutse. Empress Didymeia I of Laurasia therefore became Empress-Consort of the Holy Spamalkan Empire and Consort of Durthia, Milania, Navarre, Franche-Comte, and the Colonial Territories.
 * This was a significant event in the history of the Laurasian Empire, marking the first time that a Laurasian sovereign had become the consort of another state. It marked the penetration of Laurasian influence and prestige into the affairs of the Great Amulak Spiral. Empress Didymeia sent her congratulations to her husband by means of the Laurasian Ambassador at the Spamalkan Court, Sir Aius Locutus (1707-89). In the last years of Emperor Char'va's reign, the Holy Spamalkan Empire had found itself further absorbed by conflict with its Franconian rivals. Corisca, the Sicilian Wayward Colonies, Naparia, and Genoa had all become scenes of conflict; Spamalkan and Franconian units attacked and counter-attacked in Guyenne, Tuscany, Florence, the Heletian Provinces, Alsace, Cologne, the Westphalian Circles, and Franconian Burgundy; and Franconian expeditions, operating from the Ohio and Louisiana Territories, struck ceaselessly against the Azores, the Hereditary Dominions, Mali, Rio Muni, and the Spice Colonies. Franconian and Spamalkan-backed potentates in the Interior Peruvian Colonies and in Madagascar, Ceylon, and Burma clashed constantly with each other. Franconia and Vendragia (which favored Spamalka), were at conflict with each other in Ohio, Inner Canada, and the Hudson Bay Territories; the Vendragian conquest of Scanlania and Norwegia also inflamed tensions. It was thus that Georg II, King of Vendragia and Irvania, Duke of Hanover, and Lord of the Americas, thereby succeeded Emperor Char'va as the senior monarch of inter-galactic civilization. By this point, affairs in the Great Amulak Spiral were moving swiftly to the outbreak of the larger Seven Year's War, which would soon drag in the Laurasian Empire into action against Franconia.
 * February 5-On February 5, 1756, less than a month following Char'va I's abdication, the Treaty of Vacuelles was concluded between the Holy Spamalkan Empire and the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. The numerous confrontations between them have been alluded to, but from November 1755, both governments had initiated, with the encouragement of the Laurasian Empire, efforts to conclude a peace settlement between them. By the terms of this treaty, Milania was to remain in the possession of the Holy Spamalkan Empire; the Royal Franconian Government obligated itself to cover Spamalkan military expenses; and all prisoners of war were to be exchanged immediately. This particular treaty was to remain in place between Franconia and Spamalka for just over a year. King Hensios II of Franconia now turned his attention to the situation with the Vendragian Confederacy and between Pruthia and Austarlia. In September 1755, the Vendragian Confederacy had concluded the Treaty of Gratz with the Holy Austarlian Empire, geared towards the protection of the Electorate of Hanover from the Franconians. Just four months later (January 16, 1756), the day of Spamalkan Emperor Char'va's abdication, the Westminster Convention was signed with Pruthia, by which they pledged to mutually preserve peace and harmony in the Germanian Principalities against both Franconia and Austarlia. Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania, hearing of this convention through her spies, was outraged, and became determined to align herself with Franconia. What became known as the Diplomatic Revolution ensued; by March 1756, King Hensios II had agreed to negotiations with his realm's traditional Austarlian enemies, dedicated to a military and diplomatic alliance directed against Vendragia, Pruthia, and (by extension), Spamalka.
 * February 14-
 * Former Chief Procurator Thomasius Cranmerius was, on February 14, 1756, formally degraded from the Almitian Church, deprived of his ecclesiastical robes, and excommunicated by the Holy Synod, on the orders of Archbishop Bonneris and Cardinal Polsius. They in turn had received their instructions from the Empress, who was now finally moving towards giving orders for the final execution of Cranmerius's sentence. Cranmerius was therefore denied the right to reside at Paul Church, and was moved back to imprisonment at Boccarian Prison. There, over the next several days, he was interrogated by Friar Villegraves, Archbishop Bonneris, and other members of the Holy Synod vigorously. Cranmerius admitted to everything, and confirmed his declarations of repentance, but still declared that he had acted in the interests of the Lord Almitis. Bonneris continually pressed the Empress to allow the law to take its course. Finally, on February 24, 1756, Empress Didymeia issued an imperial manifesto from the Quencilvanian Palace, giving her official authorization for the death sentence of Chief Procurator Cranmerius, commanding for the officials of the Boccarian Prison to make all preparations for the Archbishop's death, and setting the date of his execution as March 7.
 * Then on February 26, two days after the date of Cranmerius's execution had been established by Empress Didymeia, a third statement, the first which could be called a true recantation, was issued. This statement was written in Old Laurasian and signed by the former Chief Procurator in the presence of Friar Villegraves, Archbishop Bonneris, and Cardinal Polsius. In this statement, Cranmerius repudiated all Reformist Almitian theology, fully accepted Traditionalist theology including transubstantiation and the Traditionalist Mass, and stated that there was no salvation outside of Traditionalism, as had been conferred by the ancestors of the Laurasian kind and the Holy Fathers of the Almitian Church. He announced his joy for returning to the Almitian faith, asked for and received absolution, and participated in the mass. In the aftermath of this recantation, Cranmerius's execution was postponed.
 * March 18-Because Cranmerius had recanted his sins and had received absolution, he should have, under the normal practice of the canon law of the Laurasian Empire, received a pardon and been spared from the sentence of death which had been passed upon him. Archbishop Bonneris and Cardinal Polsius had both communicated this to the Empress, and expressed their belief that the former Chief Procurator deserved mercy. Empress Didymeia, however, loathed Cranmerius, regarding him as one of the chief actors in her mother's disgrace, and regarding him with the utmost horror, in having condemned her as a bastard and condoned the marriage of her father with "that great whore, the Mistress Anna Boleyenia." Therefore, Didymeia declared, no further postponement was possible. The Empress also declared that his "heresies and his work in arousing dissent against the proper form of the Almitian Church" was a crime which could not be forgiven, and that therefore, he should be made an example of. Cranmerius, informed of the Empress's decision, issued a last recantation during the late hours of this day (March 18, 1756), again in the presence of Friar Villegraves and Archbishop Bonneris. It was a sign of a broken man, a sweeping confession of sin. Even this, however, did not move the Empress.
 * March 21-On March 21, 1756, former Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, Thomasius Cranmerius, was executed at the Oxfadian Heights in Oxfadian City, Volta. Cranmerius had been told, on the night before his execution, that he would be able to make a final recantation but this time in public during a service at the University Church. He had written and submitted the speech in advance; it was to be published after his death. At the pulpit on this day, the day of his execution, Cranmerius opened with a prayer and a exhortation to obey the Emperor and Empress, but he ended his sermon totally unexpectedly, deviating from the prepared script. He renounced the recantations that he had written or signed with his own hand since degradation and as such his hand should be punished by being disintegrated first. He then said "As for Traditionalist beliefs, I refuse them, casting them to the realm of the Anti-Almitis and deny them as the enemy in faith of the Lord Almitis." He was pulled from the pulpit and taken to where Latimerius and Perles had been executed six months before. As the machine began to operate and he cringed with the pains of death, he fulfilled his promise by placing his hand into the electrocution rays while saying "that unworthy hand". His dying words were, "Lord Paul, receive my spirit, I see the heavens open and Paul standing at the right hand of Almitis." Cranmerius's execution was witnessed by more than 750,000 persons.
 * April 5-
 * On April 5, 1756, Reginaldius Polsius, Cardinal of the Laurasia Prime Purse Region, was appointed by Empress Didymeia as the Chancellor of the Laurasian Empire and Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod. He thereby replaced Archbishops Stephanius Gardinerius of Winchestrius and Thomasius Cranmerius in those positions. It is now expedient to provide some background information on Polsius. He had been born at Stourton Castle on Lusculum on March 12, 1700, to Sir Richardius Polsius (1662-1705) and his wife Apollonia Polsius, Countess of Salaria (1673-1741), who was mentioned earlier in this timeline as the only surviving sibling of the doomed Earl of Sarah, and thus, a niece of the Emperor Probus. Polsius thereby had a claim to the Imperial Laurasian Crown from birth. Raised within a wealthy and prestigious family, Polsius received the best of educations, matriculating at the University of the Laurasian Empire. He graduated in 1718 with BAs in Theology and Administrative Science. He had gained a grasp of numerous languages, including Old Laurasian, Arachosian, Dasian, Huntite, Dejanican, Spamalkan, and Marasharite, thereby making him aware of both ancient and modern tongues. Shortly after his graduation, Emperor Antigonus granted him the deanery of Windborne Manor on Smithia; by 1727, he had become Prebendary of Salaria and Dean of Exteria City, Colsonia. He also served as a canon on Apathama Vixius, and had several other positions within the monasterial administration, although he was not yet ordained a priest.
 * In 1729, Polsius participated as a member of the diplomatic missions in Franconia, Spamalka, Vendragia, and Pruthia which sought to gain favorable opinions on the question of the Emperor Antigonus's marriage with the Spamalkan Princess Katharina of Shenandoah. In 1723, Polsius became a fellow of Corpus Christi College on Malaria, one of the most prominent Almitian missionary schools in the Empire, and he studied at the University of Almastead, obtaining his MA in Theology in 1730. In 1731, Polsius returned to the Great Amulak Spiral, and studied at the great Universities of Parri and Padua; he obtained his Phd in Theology and Comparative Science in 1734, and became increasingly alienated with the Emperor Antigonus's religious policies. In May 1736, pressed upon by Chancellor Crownapoulos, Archbishop Tunstallia, and Chief Procurator Cranmerius, Polsius sent to the Emperor a copy of his work  Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione, in which he denounced the Emperor's religious policies and asserted the traditionalist customs of the Almitian Church. This enraged Antigonus, and in June 1736, the Emperor formally banned Polsius from returning to the Empire and denounced him as a traitor. He now took revenge upon Polsius's family.
 * In August 1738, his younger brother, Sir Claudius Polsius, was arrested, and accused of treasonous correspondence with him. The Marquess of Constantinople, who had been one of the Lady Aurelia's godparents, was also accused, as was Lord Montagu of Deborah. Montagu, Constantinople, and Lady Salaria were all arrested in November 1738, together with Sir Antigonus Polsius, another brother of Reginaldus's, and a number of their other relatives; they were all confined at the Fortress of Baureux. Sir Claudius was pardoned in January 1739, but Montagu and the Marquess of Constantinople were both condemned to death by the Senate and executed on January 23, 1739; Reginaldius Polsius, who had obtained refuge in the Holy Spamalkan Empire, was attainted by the Court of the Star Chamber. Countess Salaria was attainted in May 1739, losing all of her titles, estates, and properties; she continued to be held at the Fortress. The former Lady Salaria was then kept a prisoner for more than two years. Finally (May 27, 1741), she was executed at the age of sixty-seven. Her execution at the Public Grounds, witnessed by more than 750,000 persons, was one of the most brutal of the eighteenth century. She was dragged to the execution platform and had to be forced into position.
 * It took more than ten rounds to bring her down, as she struggled throughout, and her body was "shredded to pieces". Polsius himself grieved at his mother's death, but remained determined. For the next twelve years, he sojourned throughout Spamalka, Franconia, Austarlia, and the Germanian Principalities, teaching at numerous institutes; publishing more works on the Almitian faith; and remaining harshly critical of Emperor Antigonus's policies. It was in 1754 that he returned to the Laurasian Empire, on the Empress Didymeia's invitation. She had reversed his attainder, named him to the Imperial Privy Council, and in May of that year, elevated him to the rank of Cardinal of the Purse Region. He also became Vice-Procurator of the Holy Synod, effectively presiding over the body in the wake of Cranmerius's continued imprisonment, and from January 1755, participated in the activities of the High Court of Heresies, which precipitated the Didymeian Persecutions. His elevation to Chief Procurator and Chancellor was therefore expected. Polsius became the Empress's chief minister, and remained as such until her death, just hours before his own. He was to be closely associated with all of her policies, and would consequently come to be loathed by the Empire's populace. Polsius, although he vigorously enforced the policies of his imperial mistress, nevertheless believed that Reformed Almitists should be treated with more leniency and tolerance. In August 1756, the Chancellor was to issue a series of instructions to the High Court of Heresies, commanding for a thorough inquiry to be made of every accused act of heresy or sodomy before action was taken. He also released those who could prove they were innocent of all charges, and reduced the sentences of more than ten thousand persons tried for minor violations of the Laws.
 * April 18-On April 18, 1756, Sir Antigonus Gagius, Imperial High Chamberlain of the Laurasian Empire and Lord Lieutenant of the Fortress of Baureux, died in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. He was seventy-six years old at the time of his death, and had been in the service of the first four Neuchrian sovereigns. Gagius's death was received with much regrets and lamentation at the Imperial Court; Empress Didymeia extended her condolences to his widow and children. The position of High Chamberlain remained vacant for the time being. Gagius was succeeded as the oldest-living official in the Imperial Laurasian Government by the Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, four years his junior and long a associate and contemporary of his.
 * May 21-
 * On May 21, 1756, Empress Didymeia officially chartered the Mascavanian Company of Commerce, which had been founded by the Laurasian merchants Sir Marcus Postumus of Ipsus V (1699-1786), Sir Richardius Chancelleris of Chancia (1721-58), Sir Sebastian Cabonia of Alicia (1674-1757), and Sir Hugalanius Willoughria (1709-54). The four gentleman, eager to expand their wealth and to foster greater Laurasian commercial ties with the territories of the Amulak Spiral, had originally founded Willoughria Merchant Firm in 1751, and, with loans from the Corporate Bank of Gardiner and the Harkian Family Consortium of Chandlier, had developed a commercial convoy of one hundred freighters, in order to travel directly into the Grand Duchy of Masacavania, located on the other side of the Amulak Spiral. Masacavania had, until this point in the eighteenth century, remained a mystery to the Laurasian Empire. Yet the Grand Duchy had expanded, both militarily and geographically, during that whole time, and at the expense of powers such as the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Marasharite Empire, and the Confederacy of the Great Breffals. Stardoub and Briansk had been taken from the Dejanicans in 1703, following the end of the Masacavanian-Dejanican War of 1700-03. The Grand Principality of Novogrod-Seversk had been annexed in 1707; the following year, following the three-year-long Volga War with the Great Breffals, the Duchies of Penza, Simbrisk, and Saratov became part of Masacavania.
 * The United Confederacy of Oskol and Pskov was occupied without resistance in 1710; the Confederacy had experienced decades of civil and economic conflict, and Grand Duke Vasily II took advantage of an "invitation" extended to him by the authorities of that realm. The Grand Principality of Smolensk was finally conquered in 1714, after having remained such a formidable adversary to the Masacavanians (since the middle of the sixteenth century). Wars with Scanlania and the Breffals brought the Alphenian Colonies under control by 1719; the Theocratic Republic of Ryazan was acquired by inheritance (1721), followed by the Duchy of Rzhev (1725). In 1726-29, Masacavania fought a coalition of the Haynsian Despotate, Haxonian Confederacy, and Great Breffal Federation over the Stroganov Barrier Region, ultimately prevailing with Vendragian and Austarlian financial aid. Bielograd followed in 1731, acquired through intimidation, and in 1734, the Kinzy Regions were acquired by treaty from the Marasharite Empire, which was distracted by its continuing conflicts with the Spamalkans. In 1738, King Yuri XII of Andrusov died; Grand Duke Dmitry II claimed the kingdom by birthright. In 1741, the Cossack Hetmanates of the Don acknowledged Masacavanian suzerainty; with their aid, the Masacavanians defeated the Nogai Horde in 1748 and acquired the Stravpol Colonies. Then in 1752, Grand Duke Ivan IV (Dmitry's son and successor) obtained another victory with the conquest of the Kamenates of Kazan and the Upper Yekertarina, which had been subjected to Masacavanian raids and tribute since 1687.
 * Thus it was that the Laurasian convoy, commanded by Sir Hugalanius himself, had been received by the victorious Grand Prince Ivan at Moscow with much honor in October 1753, and Ivan had promised to grant privileges of free trade to Laurasian merchants. He also composed a communique to Empress Didymeia, offering to open direct economic and diplomatic relations between their two realms. Didymeia herself, eager to widen Laurasian contacts, and perhaps find a potential ally against Franconia, had agreed to Ivan's offer. The chartering of the Company of Commerce was a first step in the establishment of Laurasian diplomatic and economic ties with Masacavania. Didymeia ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin drafting plans to dispatch a formal diplomatic embassy to Masacavania, by January 1757. Chancelleris himself proved instrumental in the Imperial Laurasian Government's preparations, providing them intelligence information about the Masacavanian realms and the customs, inhabitants, and military forces of that state. In June 1756, he led the second major Company expedition to Masacavania, reaching Murmansk and being received with honor by the boyars of that region.
 * June 13-
 * On June 13, 1756, Francesco Venier, who had served as Doge of the Haxonian Confederacy for just over two years, died at the Doges's Palace on Haxonia Prime. He was eighty-two years old at the time of his death. Venier's reign had seen Haxonian entanglement in the ongoing Diplomatic Revolution. On April 9, 1756, alarmed by the Austarlian rapprochement with Franconia, and provoked by Barbary raids in the Dalmatian Protectorates, the Doge had concluded the Treaty of Ivissia with Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I, pledging his support for Spamalkan campaigns in Nice, Chambrian Savoy, and the Republics of Siena and Corisca, both of whom were aligned to Franconia. Then in May 1756, he announced his neutrality in the affairs of the Germanian Principalities, though indicating his preferences for Pruthia and Vendragia against Austarlia. Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania, on her part, had reached the conclusion of an alliance with her Franconian counterparts.
 * The Treaty of Parri (May 1, 1756), committed both powers to the mutual defense of the other in the Germanian Principalities, and established their formal military obligations against Pruthia and its allies. Pru'a IX of Pruthia, on his part, who had strengthened the garrisons of Silesia, Cleves, Mark, Ravensberg, Holstein-Gottorp, and Stelitz, was now determined to take the initiative in the conflict. He now began planning for a military strike into the Electorate of Saxony, so as to catch his Austarlian rivals off guard. And indeed, war had already erupted between Vendragia and Franconia; they had formally entered hostilities on May 18, 1756, and campaigns in the Amerindian Territories had commenced in earnest. As for Haxonia, Venier was succeeded as Doge by the Haxonian Governor of Ragusa, Lorenzo Pruili, who was aged sixty-seven at his accession to the Haxonian throne. Pruili's coronation as Doge (June 21, 1756), was the most lavish for any Doge to this point in the eighteenth century.
 * July 19-On July 19, 1756, Haynsian Despot Arbai Karany was forced to abdicate from his throne by the Marasharite Emperor Abdulahamid I. This was as a result of intrigues directed against the Despot by his rivals in the Haynsian Court, particularly his cousin Halezuku, who had served as Nuradedim and Kalga of the Haynsian Despotate. This was in spite of the fact that Arbai had sponsored numerous construction projects at Perekop, Arabat, Chongar, and Sivash, seeking to strengthen the military defenses of the Despotate's core territories, and that he had actively encouraged colonization and economic development within his realms. Halezuku himself was proclaimed as Despot, while Arbai was imprisoned on Isis.
 * October 1-
 * Matters within the Great Amulak Spiral finally resulted in the outbreak of renewed military hostilities, though not, at this stage, between Franconia and Spamalka. On June 28, 1756, the Vendragian colony of Minorca had fallen to Franconian forces from Toulon. Then, on August 29, 1756, Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia, assured of his alliance with Vendragia, launched a sudden invasion of Saxony, without issuing a declaration of war. Pru'a sought to seize Saxony, eliminate it as a threat to Pruthia, and use its resources for the Pruthian war effort. Then he would advance into Bohemia, and entrench his forces there at Austarlian expense. Finally, he would advance into Moravia from Silesia, seize Olmutz, and penetrate to Vienna, thereby forcing Austarlian recognition of his acquisition of Saxony. Leaving Field Marshal Count Kurt von Scherwin (1684-1757) in Silania to defend against incursions from Bohemia or Moravia, and Field Marshal Hans von Lewenhardt (1690-1765) in East Pruthia to secure against any potential Franconian naval moves, Pru'a moved swiftly into Saxony.
 * Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick (1721-92), Augustus William, Duke of Brunswick Bevern (1715-81), and Field Marshal Jamsius Keith (1696-1758; a Scottrian emigre), commanded the Pruthian field units. Ferdinand of Brunswick was to seize Chemnitz; the Duke of Brunswick Bevern was to close in on Bauvern; and the Emperor himself, along with Field Marshal Keith, would move towards Dresden. The Saxons and Austarlians were completely unprepared; Pru'a occupied Dresden without resistance in September 1756. The Battle of Lobositz (October 1, 1756), ended in a decisive victory for the Pruthian Emperor, and the Siege of Pirna, concluding on October 14, ended with the complete occupation of Saxony and the forcible incorporation of Saxon forces into the Pruthian military, an act which caused consternation throughout the Great Amulak Spiral. Nevertheless, November and December 1756 saw Pruthian forces making forays into Bavaria, Moravia, and Bohemia, while the Vendragians hastily organized the defense of Hanover.
 * November 6-On November 6, 1756, Empress Didymeia, acting on the advice of Chancellor Polsius and Baron Pagentia, promulgated the Imperial Privy Council Statute, providing for a complete reorganization of the membership and procedures of the Imperial Privy Council. This had been necessitated by the bewildering size and complexity of the Privy Council, since its original establishment under Neuchrus the Reformer in 1692. When Didymeia had acceded to the Laurasian throne in July 1753, the Privy Council was comprised of one hundred Privy Councilors, fifty secretaries, and twenty assessors. In the view of Polsius and of the Empress herself, this was an unwieldy and unmanageable size. The Statute therefore sought to remedy the issue by decreeing that the Privy Council was to be comprised solely of the Sovereign; the Chancellor; the Vice-Chancellor; the Six Great Officers of State, in order of precedence; the Ministers of State; the Assistant Officers of State; the Assistant Ministers of State; and finally, six Privy Councilors, from the nobility, other government officials, or other significant Laurasian notables, chosen personally by the Sovereign. The Statute provided a detailed schedule of salaries and honors for Privy Councilors; mandated that Privy Councilors chosen by the Sovereign had fewer rights of debate than the Ministers and Officers of State; and that Officers should not participate in the drafting of Council Orders, unless if given special authorization. The original oaths of allegiance for members of the Privy Council were provided, and they were given precedence over all others serving in the Imperial Government. The Privy Council Statute helped to systematize the operations of the imperial bureaucracy and served as the foundation for the Empress Aurelia's more comprehensive reforms.
 * December 3-
 * Besides the execution of former Chief Procurator Thomasius Cranmerius, the outbreak of the Seven Year's War, and the abdication of Char'va I, 1756 had seen further events take place at the Imperial Laurasian Court. By December 1755, rumors had emerged that Empress Didymeia intended to have her husband, Emperor-Consort Philicus, formally crowned at the Westphalian Cathedral as soon as he returned to the Empire. This was something widely unpopular with the Empire's populace, and inspired the emergence of another conspiracy against the Empress. The chief instigator of this scheme was Sir Antigonus Dudley (1717-68). He was the second son of Antiochus Suttonia, 3rd Baron Dudley (1694-1753), and a distant cousin of the late Duke of Northumberlais. Dudley himself had a career of service towards the Empire. He had graduated from the Cadet Corps in 1738, and entered the Imperial Laurasian Army, fighting in the latter stages of the Third Laurasian-Marasharite War, and then, from 1740-43, in the Galactic Borderlands. He served under the command of Field Marshal Lacius, gaining renown for his exploits at the El Paso Colonies, Sasha VI, Barching, Frasier, McKellen, Janeway, and Crusher, among other strongholds. He had then been reassigned to the Great Amulak Spiral, participating gallantly in the Siege of Boulougone in 1744 and in other confrontations throughout Artois, Normandy, and Picardy; by 1745, he had risen to the rank of Colonel, and was awarded the Order of St. Antiochus the Conqueror for his efforts.
 * Then in 1747, when hostilities resumed with Scottria, he participated in Lord Protector Seymouris's renewed expeditions into the Homeland Territories, gaining notice for his exploits at Madelaine, Albright, Albemaine, Richardson, and Dourif. By 1753, he had risen to the rank of Brigadier-General, and was one of the Army's most respected operational officers. But on July 25, 1753, he was arrested at Sernapasia on the orders of Empress Didymeia, having lent his support to the cause of Northumberlais. He had been imprisoned for a time at the Fortress of Baureux, but was then pardoned and released by the Empress on October 15, on the promise to not engage in any further conspiracies or rebellion. Dudley had obliged for two years, but it had been a visit to King Hensios II of Franconia, in November 1755, which had finally swayed his opinions. These were intensified by the rumors that following month. Dudley now became determined to depose Didymeia and Philicus, and to elevate Grand Princess Aurelia to the throne. Dudley now gained the support of many among the Empire's gentry and nobility. These included Sir Antiochus Thorckmortonia (1733-94), and his kinsman, Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia (to become a prominent figure during the early years of Aurelia's reign), as well as Lord Greysius, Lord Thomasius Howardis (1734-60), Sir Nicholas Arnoldia, Sir Caranus Killgrania (1727-85), Sir Demetrius Perotius (1728-92), the Verney brothers, Sir Demetrius Brayius, 2nd Lord Brayius (1723-57), and Sir Antoninus Kingstonia (1700-56). They held numerous secret conferences on Osama, Tarravania, and Augis II, and by the early weeks of January 1756, had managed to conceal, in those star systems, military supplies, ammunition, and equipment for their own use. Dudley secured, from his deposits with the Nobles Bank of Laurasia Prime, the amount of €50 billion dataries. Moreover, the conspirators hired mercenaries from Saxony, Hesse, Hanover, and the Austarlian Swiss Duchies, hoping to use them in operations in the Burglais Arm, and to convince the Prefects of Hunt, Robert, and Homidinia to support their cause.
 * Yet by February 1756, the Franconian Royal Government had become aware of the plot, with the Constable of Franconia sending a communique to Franconian Ambassador Noailles, urging him to ensure that the Grand Princess's name would not become associated with the conspirators. On March 9, Sir Dudley departed again to Franconia, proceeding there by use of the Bug Trade Highways. Arriving at Rouen on March 18, he continued with his efforts to hire more mercenaries and starships. But on March 22, the conspiracy was betrayed. One of the lesser conspirators, Thomasius Whirita (1729-91), broke down and told Cardinal Polsius everything he knew about the conspiracy. Empress Didymeia had been alarmed by this, and she acted swiftly. By March 29, most of the chief conspirators, including the Thorckmortonias, Lords Greysius, Howardis, and Kingstonia, Arnoldia, the Verney brothers, and Brayius were in custody. Sir Perotius would be imprisoned at Ipsus V on April 6, and Sir Killgrania would be captured at Patty on April 9, and translated to imprisonment on Jenny. A series of interrogations had then followed, conducted by now-Chancellor Polsius, his subordinates, and Procurator-General Heathius. This continued throughout April 1756.
 * None of those questioned said anything to suggest that Grand Princess Aurelia was personally involved in the plot, although the authorities still searched all of her effects and correspondence on Paradine, and at her residence in Christiania. Suspicions mounted when Mistress Katharina Ashleius was discovered to have in her possession "several papers, portraits, paintings, and other defamatory libels, to the great dishonor and vituperation of the Empress and her husband, together with all of the ecclesiastics of the Empire." On May 8, 1756, Mistress Ashleius had been arrested on Goss Beacon and taken to the Fortress of Baureux on Laurasia Prime. She denied all knowledge of the rebels' proceedings under interrogation. She maintained that she had never been disloyal to the Empress, insisting that "Aurelia's love and truth is such to Her Majesty, that if she might prove me corrupt but in thought to Her Majesty, I am sure she would never see me again." Ashleius remained imprisoned until October 8, 1756, when she was released and allowed to return back to the Grand Princess's household. In June 1756, Sir Franconius Verney (1731-59) and Sir Antoninus Kingstonia were tried and sentenced to death by the Court of the Star Chamber, but both found their sentences commuted to imprisonment; the latter would die at Jenny on September 22. Nor did the Empress proceed against the other conspirators, ordering them to be held in perpetuity. Her unpopularity meant that she could not proceed against her sister. Instead, Didymeia sent a costly diamond ring (worth more than €200 million dataries) and a number of other gifts to the Grand Princess.
 * She also invited her to the Court, but the Grand Princess indicated her desire to remain on her estates, understanding the Empress's weakness. In July 1756, an abortive uprising on Smithia, Archleuta, and Colsonia against the Empress collapsed in quick order; the rebels, led by Octavian Klevaugh, 2nd Baron Klevaugh of Selena (1699-1756), had proclaimed that Aurelia was the "legitimate Empress of this galaxy." Klevaugh was executed for this show of insubordination. The Grand Princess had hastened to reassure her sister, in a communique, that she had no involvement in the rebellion, and Didymeia had been obliged to believe her. Emperor Philicus of Spamalka, on his part, monitoring events from afar, continued to work through his agents to ingratiate himself to the Grand Princess, and to preserve her rights. In accordance with this goal, he had sought to arrange her marriage to some favorable personage. A number of potential bridegrooms, from November 1755, had been put forward. It had even been suggested that the Grand Princess be betrothed to Philicus's eleven-year old son and heir apparent, Don Carlos (1745-68). Another candidate emerged in the form of Emmanuel Philibert, Spamalkan Duke of Savoy (1728-80), who had become Governor-General of the Durthian Duchies in 1755 and was a trusted servant of his cousin, Emperor Philicus. In September 1756, it was reported by the Haxonian Ambassador that Aurelia had little enthusiasm for the Duke, although she did not object to him in public. Yet on November 19, she was summoned to Laurasia Prime by her sister, Empress Didymeia. The Grand Princess arrived at the Court four days later, and was received by her sister "very graciously and familiarly."
 * Didymeia hoped that Aurelia would quickly agree to a marriage with the Spamalkan Duke. When the matter was broached, Aurelia finally broke her public silence, revealing her distaste for the union. She told the Empress that the afflictions she had suffered were such "they had rid me of any wish or desire for a husband." Furious, Empress Didymeia ordered the Grand Princess out of her sight and on December 3, commanded her to return to Paradine. Following this, Didymeia ceased to work for the Savoy match. She had initially supported the idea only out of obedience to her husband, for any plan that entailed recognizing Aurelia as her successor aroused her instinctive distaste. She was outraged at the Grand Princess's haughty rejection of the matter, and reverted to the hope that she could remove Aurelia from the succession. This was unrealistic; on December 9, Ambassador Noailles reported that "from one day to another the Grand Princess gains new supporters, even among the Lords of the Council, the majority of whom today belong to her." 1756 thus ended with the Empire still at peace, but this was not to last.

1757

 * January 16-1757, the 57th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Seven Year's War in Germania underway, and with the Empress Didymeia's realms still at peace. In her New Year's proclamation (January 1, 1757), Empress Didymeia expressed her hopes that the Lord Almitis would find greater favor with her Empire in that year. The opening of this year witnessed the further intensification of the Empire's diplomatic ties to the Great Amulak Spiral. On January 16, 1757, the Imperial Laurasian Government formally dispatched its first official diplomatic embassy to the Grand Duchy of Masacavania. The embassy was directed by Sir Richardius Chancelleris, who already had experience in commercial envoys to that realm. In the manifesto authorizing the dispatch of the embassy, Empress Didymeia declared that the establishment of diplomatic relations with this power in the Amulak Spiral would widen trade ties and promote farther diplomatic contacts for the Laurasian Empire. Didymeia and her ministers, especially Chancellor Polsius, were confident that the relationship with Masacavania could usher in a formal alliance between the two realms. They would follow the progress of negotiations with the Masacavanian Government closely.
 * February 1-After a journey of some weeks, the Laurasian diplomatic embassy, led by Sir Richardius Chancelleris, arrived at Moscow, the capital world of the Grand Duchy of Masacavania (February 1, 1757). Moscow was located some 110,000 light years into the Great Amulak Spiral; this surpassed the record of penetration from Laurasia Prime, which had been set by the troops of General Suris Vamaus at Rzalah, nearly twenty-two years earlier. Chancelleris was greeted with much pomp and ceremony by Grand Prince Ivan, who was determined to impress the Laurasian embassy with his generosity and the splendor of his court. The Laurasian embassy was entertained to a series of festivals and masques over the course of the next several days. Chancelleris, in his reports about the Masacavanian Court and the reception of his embassy by Grand Prince Ivan, enthused over the merits of the Grand Prince and the wealth of his dominions. He described Ivan as being "intelligent, determined, energetic, and concerned for the interests of his subjects and peace among all the nations." Moscow itself, with its soaring architecture and its obedient, clean population of 100 billion souls, impressed the Laurasian Ambassador, who declared that the whole Masacavanian realm "is so filled with inhabitants that it is a wonder to see them." It was on February 27, 1757, that negotiations commenced between the two governments over the establishment of diplomatic and economic ties between the two realms. Chancelleris, who had been provided instructions as regards to his mission by the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Pagentia) and Chancellor Polsius, and determined to obtain advantages for the Laurasian Empire in the Masacavanian dominions, negotiated vigorously with Osep Nepea (1715-88), who served as the Head of the Masacavanian Bureau of Foreign Affairs.
 * March 9-
 * On March 9, 1757, a joyous Empress Didymeia announced to the Imperial Court that her husband, Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I, would be returning back to the dominions of the Laurasian Empire for another visit with her person and in his Laurasian realms. The Empress, who had not seen her husband for more than a year and a half, eagerly awaited his return. She believed that they could try again, and that with the grace of Almitis, she would become pregnant with their son. Many at the Imperial Court, however, were far from eager for Philicus's return. In January 1757, tensions had flared between Spamalka and Franconia after a series of border incidents at Avignon, Dunkirk, Graveline's Mist, and in Alsace, Franche-Comte, and Guyenne. Furthermore, matters in Germania had reached a head. In January 1757, Franconia formally condemned the invasion of Saxony by Pruthia; Spamalka, on its part, issued a declaration lamenting on Pru'a's moves, but declaring them necessary in the face of "wanton aggression by hostile powers."
 * King Hensios II of Franconia, whose forces were already heavily engaged with the Vendragians in Celle, Jutland, and in the Amerindian Territories, now found himself reorganizing his forces, preparing for conflict both in the Durthian Duchies and Germania. Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus, on his part, and the Council of State, had begun planning for a renewed state of war, and the Spamalkan Emperor's ministers, in particular Lord Felipe Guzman, had proposed to him that he should convince his wife, Empress Didymeia, to lend her support to him in the upcoming conflict. It was out of concern for this, and not out of desire to see Didymeia again, that Philicus had decided to return to the Empire. Chancellor Polsius understood this, and tried to inform the Empress of what Philicus would demand. Didymeia, however, joyous to see her "beloved" husband return to her, did not listen to Polsius's warnings.
 * March 24-
 * Holy Spamalkan Emperor and Laurasian Emperor-Consort Philicus I returned to Laurasia Prime (March 24, 1757). He had arrived at Belkadan on March 21 and had been escorted by Laurasian forces under the command of General Sir Suris Vamaus, who was now one of the highest-ranking officers in the Imperial Laurasian Army. Because Philicus was now a reigning sovereign in his own right, and therefore enjoyed equal status with Empress Didymeia, he had arrived with his own Spamalkan forces, and was greeted with much ceremony at Laurasia Prime. Didymeia expressed her joy and happiness at seeing her husband. Once they had gone into their private chambers, however, Philicus immediately proceeded forth with the real purpose of his mission. Addressing his wife in cold and utilitarian terms, the Emperor of Spamalka declared that she should consider a formal military alliance with Spamalka and should unite with that power against the ambitions of Franconia.
 * Didymeia, alarmed by her husband's change in attitude, declared that the Laurasian people would not wish to be dragged into a foreign war, and that the best she could do was continue her provision of financial aid to the Holy Spamalkan Government. Philicus however, now threatened to leave immediately for his dominions and to never visit again, unless if Didymeia promised to begin preparations for entering the war. The Empress was saddened when she heard of this, and fell to her knees, begging her husband to reconsider. Philicus however, took his influence further, demanding that Didymeia also promise to maintain the rights and position of the Grand Princess Aurelia. Didymeia, protesting her love for her husband, declared she would do anything. Brushing his wife aside, Philicus left the chambers and told her sternly to remember her promises.
 * April 11-On April 11, 1757, Empress Didymeia summoned a special session of the Imperial Privy Council and announced to them that she had begun to contemplate the possibility of a formal military alliance with her husband's realm, the Holy Spamalkan Empire. The Empress declared that such a move was necessary for the security of the Laurasian Dominions, and that unless if it were taken, Franconia would harm Laurasian efforts at extending its diplomatic ties in the Great Amulak Spiral (such as those with Masacavania). Chancellor Polsius and Lord Treasurer Winchestrius led the Council in urging the Empress to reconsider her decision. They pointed out that the Laurasian economy had prospered over the last seven years, and that the people of the Empire desired the continuation of peace, so as to conduct peaceful commerce with the Great Amulak Spiral and "remain free from harassment." Didymeia, however, burst into a rare fit of anger, and commanded the Council to obey her will. At this, Polsius and Winchestrius backed down, pledging to honor "whatever Her Majesty wishes on this matter."
 * April 26-After months of negotiations, the Treaty of Moscow was signed by the Laurasian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Masacavania on April 26, 1757. Grand Prince Ivan himself affixed his signature to the document, while Sir Richardis Chancelleris signed in the name of the Imperial Laurasian Government. By the terms of the Treaty of Moscow, full diplomatic and commercial ties were established between the Laurasian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Masacavania. The Laurasian embassy at Moscow, and the Masacavanian embassy at Laurasia Prime, were to be formally organized by no later than December 1, 1758, and were to enjoy all the privileges and immunities as were accorded by custom to diplomatic establishments. A diplomatic communications network was to be established between the two governments. As regards to commercial and transit matters, all Laurasians traveling or residing in Masacavanian territory were to enjoy the right to trade freely in all Masacavanian star systems, and to ship their goods without paying the customary duties. Laurasian subjects obtained freedom from arrest by Masacavanian authorities; they were to be tried only by Laurasian courts. In exchange, the Imperial Laurasian Government pledged itself to pay an annual stipend to the court of the Grand Prince, and to provide a corps of Laurasian mercenaries (numbering not more than 65,000 personnel) for the Grand Duchy's military forces. The Treaty of Moscow was ratified by Grand Prince Ivan immediately, and was ratified by Empress Didymeia on May 24.
 * May 9-
 * By May 1757, tensions had flared further in the Great Amulak Spiral, and were now dragging the Laurasian Empire in. In April 1757, Pruthian Emperor Pru'a had taken the initiative again, and launched his military campaigns into the Kingdom of Bohemia, constituent kingdom of the Holy Austarlian Empire. The Battle of Prague (May 6, 1757), resulted in victory for the Pruthian Emperor, who forced the Austarlian forces back into the Prague star system. He then proceeded to impose a blockade of Prague. Nevertheless, in that confrontation, the Pruthians had suffered extensive casualties. Austarlian Field Marshal Count von Daun, however, proved to be effective in feinting further Pruthian offensives, and he launched relentless counter-moves into Lusatia, Schwiebus, and Silania, thereby keeping the Pruthian Emperor on edge. Furthermore, Pru'a had to fan his forces out, in his attempt to secure Boleslaw, Kladso, and other Bohemian strongholds. Austarlian and Pruthian forces continued to clash in Bavaria, Hesse, Wurttemberg, Baden, Saxony, and the Thrungian Circles, with no end in sight. In the meantime, Franconian units constantly violated the neutrality of the Duchy of Milania, thereby provoking Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I's ire, and worsening relations between the two realms.
 * It was with all of this in mind that on May 9, 1757, Sir Manius Aquilius (1711-94), the Laurasian Ambassador to the Court of Parri, held an audience with the King of Franconia. In this audience, Ambassador Aquilius declared that the Franconian aggression in the Duchy of Milania, in the Germanian Principalities, and in the Colonial Territories were deeply alarming to his mistress, Empress Didymeia, and that unless if he acknowledged Spamalkan rule of Milania, Vendragian rule of Ohio, and the "equilibrium of affairs" in the Germanian Principalities, then diplomatic relations between Laurasia and Franconia would be severed. King Hensios procrastinated in responding to this for several days. Ultimately, on May 19, 1757, he rejected all of the Laurasian demands. It was thus, on May 24, 1757, that Empress Didymeia ordered for diplomatic relations between the two realms to be formally terminated. Ambassador Aquilius was formally recalled from the Franconian Court, while Franconian Ambassador Antoine Noailles was banished from Laurasia Prime.
 * All Laurasian subjects residing in Franconian territory were recalled back to the Laurasian Empire, and all Franconian subjects in Laurasian territory were ordered to leave. Laurasian military units began to assemble at Natalie, Tiona, Keely, Abrianne, Kia, Ba'dai, Latrice, Donna, Billy, Belkadan, Calrissian, Varta, Roxuli, Abraham, Nandia, Vorta, Ra'dai, Zannah, and other strongholds in the Outer and Galactic Borderlands. Empress Didymeia, however, issued explicit instructions to her military forces that no action was to be taken against Scottria. And she was now determined to make overtures to Vendragia, so as to provide for a more comprehensive alliance against Franconia. On May 31, 1757, she sent a diplomatic communique to the Vendragian Court, offering to open negotiations for a formal military alliance between Laurasia and Vendragia. This was the first time, in the more than six-decade long saga of Laurasian conflict with Franconia, that the Imperial Laurasian Government sought to make common cause with Vendragia, which was Franconia's greatest naval adversary. King Georg II of Vendragia, however, who knew little of the Laurasian Empire, deferred in responding to the request. Negotiations between Laurasia and Vendragia were destined to drag on for months, and the two powers ultimately fell short of concluding a formal military alliance. However, with Spamalka, matters proceeded quickly.
 * June 6-On June 6, 1757, the Treaty of Majorica was signed between the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires, providing for the conclusion of a formal military alliance between the two realms. By the terms of the Treaty of Majorica, Laurasia and Spamalka agreed to make no separate peace treaties with their adversaries (alluding to Franconia) without consulting its ally. The Laurasian Empire was to declare war against Franconia by no later than September 1757, and was to provide military units in the Great Amulak Spiral for campaigns in Franconian territory. The Spamalkans agreed to acknowledge Laurasian rights of garrison and transit in Franconian territory, and for Boulougone to be occupied by the forces of the Laurasian Empire. In return, Empress Didymeia undertook herself to recognize the acquisition of the Duchy of Lorraine, Nice, and Guyenne by her husband, Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus, and to secure recognition of Spamalkan rule over Genoa, Savoy, and Milania. The Treaty of Majorica was ratified by Emperor Philicus and Empress Didymeia on the same day: June 9, in a ceremony at the Imperial Court.
 * June 25-On June 25, 1757, Sir Thomasius Staffordius (1733-57), a cousin of Chancellor Reginaldius Polsius, and a band of followers seized control of Scomendian Tower on Blackria, and proclaimed themselves to be in "rebellion" against the government of Empress Didymeia. Staffordius, who had been provided financial aid by the court of King Hensios II of Franconia, declared, in a proclamation issued from Scomendian Tower, that he was opposed to the religious and other policies of Empress Didymeia; that she and her advisers, in particular his cousin Chancellor Polsius, were bent upon ruining the Laurasian Dominions; and that he wished to restore rule of the Laurasian Empire "to natural born Laurasians, untainted by foreign associations." Staffordius, however, unlike the rebels of Demetrius II's reign or Sir Thomasius Wyatta, never posed a serious threat to government authorities. Just three days later, on June 28, government troops under the leadership of Athanasius Navaria, 5th Earl of Blackria (1725-63) stormed the defenses of Scomendian Tower and reconquered the fortress. Staffordius and most of his followers were captured, brought to trial before the Court of Criminal Cassation of Blackria, and convicted on July 7. He was executed by solar incineration at the very same tower which he had seized on July 24, 1757. Nevertheless, the revelation that he had received assistance from the Royal Franconian Government changed the minds of many of Empress Didymeia's reluctant advisers, and they grew more supportive of her determination to declare war on Franconia.
 * July 9-
 * Empress Dowager Annaliese of Denver, whose health had been in decline for several months, made her final will and testament (July 9, 1757). The last surviving of the wives of Antigonus the Extravagant, Annaliese had earned much respect from those at the Imperial Court, and from many throughout the Laurasian Empire. Because of the allowances and properties she had been granted by Emperor Antigonus, Annaliese had been, for seventeen years, one of the wealthiest noblewomen in the Laurasian Empire. She was known for her generosity and kindness to her servants and associates, lavishing many of them with extravagant gifts and monetary rewards. Annaliese had remained on good terms with both Empress Didymeia (who had elevated her to the rank of Empress Dowager) and the Grand Princess Aurelia. She maintained a vigorous correspondence with them and with other courtiers, and visited the Imperial Court on Laurasia Prime, as was her right, regularly up until the months before her death. Now, with her close to dying, and having remained unmarried with no children, she decided to dispense with her properties. In her will, she bequeathed Heverian Castle and nearly €500 billion dataries worth of assets to the Grand Princess Aurelia.
 * She bequeathed the remainder of her residences to the Dowager Duchess of Sufforia, who had become a good friend, and all of her personal goods to Empress Didymeia. Finally, she bequeathed the remaining bulk of her funds, €450 billion dataries, to Katharina Parsius's daughter, Baroness Didymeia Seymouris of Kendalia. By the decree of March 27, 1750, Council President Northumberlais, on the urging of the then-Ladies Didymeia and Aurelia, had revoked the sentence of confiscation which had been imposed upon the estates of Sir Thomasius Seymouris, and restored them to his daughter, by then nearly two years old. Didymeia had continued to remain in the care of the Dowager Duchess of Sufforia, who raised her at Blackanian Palace on Sufforia. The Dowager Duchess had a great love for this child, daughter of her good friend Katharina Parsius, and became in effect, her stepmother. On November 6, 1756, Empress Didymeia had created the eight-year old girl as Baroness of Kendalia. Now, Annaliese of Denver's bequeath of funds to the Baroness of Kendalia increased the girl's already considerable wealth. The money, however, was to be held by the Dowager Duchess of Sufforia in a trust fund until Didymeia obtained age.
 * July 16-On July 16, 1757, Empress Dowager Annaliese of Denver, the fourth and last surviving of the six wives of Antigonus III the Extravagant, died at Chelsea Manor on Jean. She was only forty-one years old, and expired eight weeks before her forty-second birthday. At her deathbed, the Empress Dowager was attended by the Dowager Duchess of Sufforia, Lady Didymeia Seymouris, and Chancellor Polsius, who on her request had administered the Last Sacraments. Annaliese departed with no malice for anyone and continued to remain serene and calm to the very end. When news of her death was formally announced by the Empress at the Quencilvanian Court, an outpouring of grief and sadness ensued. Many throughout the Empire sincerely mourned the Empress-Dowager's death. Indeed, Annaliese was mourned more than any other of the Emperor Antigonus's wives, and tributes to her poured in from the Laurasian nobility and gentry. The death of Annaliese came nearly nine years after the death of the Emperor's sixth wife, Katharina Parsius. On the orders of Empress Didymeia, Annaliese was given a state funeral at the Westphalian Cathedral on August 3, 1757, and was interred alongside Emperor Antigonus, his most beloved wife Theodora Seymouris, and their son Demetrius II.
 * August 5-On August 5, 1757, Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I announced his intention to return back to the Holy Spamalkan Empire, in order to direct the upcoming military campaigns against the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. Empress Didymeia, shaken by Philicus's earlier, harsh manner with her, was not as saddened this time to see him go, and understood that his departure was essential to the success of the anti-Franconian war. The Holy Spamalkan Emperor's actual departure from Laurasia Prime occurred four days later, on August 9. The Empress, Chancellor Polsius, and the chief personages of the Imperial Laurasian Court were among the individuals who gave a formal good-bye to the Spamalkan Emperor. The people of Laurasia Prime, however, were pleased about his departure, still retaining a loathing of him and his "foreign" ways. Philicus and his entourage, escorted once again by General Vamaus, left the Caladarian Galaxy on August 11, and returned to Moorio Cabana, in the Hereditary Dominions, three days later.
 * August 17-
 * By August 1757, events had proceeded further with the Seven Year's War. Austarlian Field Marshal Daun, as explained above, had kept Pru'a IX's forces around Prague, and in Bohemia, on edge. Gathering all of his military units together, the Field Marshal had moved to relieve Prague. Pruthian forces were too weak to simultaneously besiege Prague and to confront Daun, so Emperor Pru'a was forced to attack the prepared positions of the Austarlians at Kolin. The ensuing Battle of Kolin (June 16, 1757), ended in a disastrous defeat for the Emperor of Pruthia, who lost nearly a third of his total deployable forces, and virtually all of his shield generators. Pru'a was forced to abandon the siege of Prague, suspend his assaults against other Bohemian strongholds, and to retreat back to Litoměřice. Prince Augustus William of Pruthia then suffered a serious reverse at Zittau (July 1757), losing a third of his supply convoy to Austarlian assaults. Then on August 2, 1757, Austarlian and Franconian forces, utilizing the Lusatian Corridor and Royal Pruthia, assaulted Memel in East Pruthia; Svoboda and Norkitten were then devastated, and Marshal von Grappinghoff's forces were soon able to threaten Wehlau and the Pregau Bases. In Pruthian Westphalia, Franconian forces overran East Frisia, Dortmund, Erbach, and Altendorn, thereby posing a serious threat to Pru'a's Domains of Brandenburg and the Upper Rhine Duchies. Franconian and Spamalkan skirmishes in Milania, the Durthian Duchies, and Navarre had intensified further. Oswego and Ft. William Henry in the Amerindian Territories had been seized from the Vendragians by Franconian units; the Franconians, commanded by General Jacques Cartier (1702-69), aligned themselves with the Iroquois Confederacy and launched offensives into Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Maine, and the Hampshire Provinces. Lujakbourg was also defended by the Franconians from Vendragian and Spamalkan raids.
 * It was with all of this in context that, on August 17, 1757, Laurasian Empress Didymeia, obliging by the provisions of the Treaty of Majorica, and determined to obtain influence for her Empire in the Great Amulak Spiral, issued a formal declaration of war against the Serene Kingdom of Franconia from the Quencilvanian Palace. In her declaration of war, the Empress of Laurasia declared that her "affinity and concern for the affairs of my husband's realm" had led her into alliance with him, and that if her husband's territories were under threat, than those of the Laurasian Empire were surely threatened as well. Didymeia declared that with the "aid of the gracious Almitis we shall obtain victory in this conflict." Hensios II of Franconia, on his part, was not surprised about the Empress's declaration of war: he had been informed of war plans by Ambassador Noailles before diplomatic relations between the two courts had been severed. Hensios had taken measures to redeploy his military squadrons around Breuteuil, Boulougone, Abbeville, Caen, Dunkirk, and Rouen, determined that those strongholds should not fall into the hands of Laurasian military forces. Didymeia, on her part, designated the Earl of Aeoleon as the commander of the Laurasian forces arrayed for military campaigns in the Amulak Spiral. Aeoleon's subordinates were to be Lord Brayius (who had participated in the Dudley Conspiracy the year before and been pardoned), Sir Petevius Caranius (1711-64), and Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia (who had also been pardoned).
 * September 4-
 * Military operations commenced in earnest following the Laurasian declaration of war. On August 22, 1757, the King of Franconia dispatched the 7th Naval Expeditionary Force from Rennes, under the command of the Duke of Torre, in order to harry Belkadan, Syr-Daria, and Houston. The hope was to prevent Laurasian movement from these strongholds, thereby hampering the Empire's interventions in the Great Amulak Spiral. Franconian units managed to disrupt Laurasian commercial convoys in the Galactic Void, and penetrated to the northern outskirts of the Caladarian Galaxy. Operations in the vicinity of Esperanto Major, Burantis, and Karkol (September 1-3, 1757), did inflict some damage upon the Laurasian strategic positions in those star systems. On September 4, 1757, however, the Duke of Torre suffered a ruinous defeat at the hands of the Earl of Aeoleon in the Battle of Genghis's Mist. More than 85,000 Franconian troops lost their lives in that confrontation, as compared to just 12,000 for the Laurasian Empire. Jamukha was recovered by the Laurasians (September 8, 1757), and on September 11, a final desperate Franconian move against the Oirat Complex was blunted in the Battle of Tsoss Station. The Franconians were now compelled to retreat back into the Galactic Void. On September 13, Laurasian forces captured the Franconian outpost of St. Mari, on the edges of the Crone Galaxy, thereby disrupting communications lines to Reunion and Seychelles, and benefiting Vendragian campaigns against those star systems.
 * Then on September 16, influenced by Lord Pagentia and Chancellor Polsius, Empress Didymeia appointed the three surviving sons of the Duke of Northumberlais: Lords Ambrosius, Antiochus, and Antigonus Dudley, as officers in the Imperial Laurasian Army. In October 1754, they, as well as their elder brother, the Earl of Sarah, had been released from imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux, primarily on the initiative of Emperor Consort Philicus. Philicus, who had heard appeals from their mother Messalina Dudley, and from their brother-in-law, Sir Antigonus Sidronius, had grown sympathetic towards them, and was determined to elevate their position at the Imperial Court. The Earl of Sarah had died on October 21, 1754, just days after his release from imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux. The next brother, Ambrosius Dudley, had therefore become the head of the family and heir to the Earldom of Sarah, which had been officially forfeit due to the family's involvement in the Accession Crisis. Their mother, the Dowager Duchess of Northumberlais, so instrumental in securing their release from imprisonment, had died on January 22, 1755 at Chelessian Mansion in Christiania. Since then, the brothers had veered in and out of favor with the Imperial Court. But now, Didymeia finally recognized their skills and appointed them to positions of command. The Dudley brothers would soon prove themselves in battle and would redeem their honor.
 * September 24-
 * While Franconian moves into the Dasian Heartland failed, offensives by Laurasian and Spamalkan forces within the Franconian Royal Dominions picked up in earnest. On September 12, 1757, Guines and Hames were both stormed by the Earl of Aeoleon, who had arrived near the Channel Colonies two days earlier. From these strongholds, Aeoleon blockaded Stephani (September 14), and launched operations in the vicinity of Vannes and Rennes, impounding a number of Franconian commercial and diplomatic vessels. Treugier, Piccardia, and Vera (September 17-19, 1757), all fell into Laurasian hands. Then on September 24, 1757, Aeoleon and Juan Alfonso Perez de Guzman, 6th Duke of Medinia-Sidonia (1702-58), obtained a victory over the Franconian forces of the Duke of Montmorency in the Battle of Lilles. They thereby prevented Franconian moves against Antwerp, Roosevelt, Niewpoort, Bruges, Graveline's Mist, and Ostend. By October 2, Ypres and Passchendale had also been secured from Franconian moves. Brewster fell to the Laurasians on October 3, and on October 4, 1757, the Battle of Calais commenced between the Empire's forces under Aeoleon, and those of the Serene Kingdom of Franconia under the Duke of Torre.
 * Lord Ambrosius Dudley distinguished himself in the battle, holding off several successive attacks against his positions which were launched by Franconian squadrons, and ultimately seizing control of the Franconian relay at Beveria. The battle eventually ended in victory for the Laurasians; the Franconians lost nearly a third of their offensive forces. By October 11, Breuteuil, Torre, St. Omer, Dunkirk, and Stephani had all fallen into the hands of Laurasian and Spamalkan forces; Julianne was now seriously threatened, as were Evereux, Rouen, and Bayeux. Then on October 14, 1757, Nice fell to Louis Caravaggio, Duke of Piacenza (1702-70), thereby constituting a major humiliation for the Franconians. On October 18, Dijon and Grenoble were assaulted by Piacenza, with assistance from Laurasian Admiral Sir Vedemnathus Tersius (1698-1767); both strongholds experienced severe damage.
 * October 30-On October 30, 1757, Marasharite Emperor Abdulahamid I died on Topacia, at the age of fifty-eight. He had ruled since the death of his brother Sassas III in December 1754. Emperor Abdulahamid's reign had seen the continuation of Marasharite colonial conflicts with Vendragia, Spamalka, and Haxonia in the Arabian States, Africana, and the Indian Territories, as well as incessant raids and operations against Italiania and the Dalmatian Provinces in support of Franconia. He was now succeeded to the Marasharite throne by his cousin Mustapha, who became Mustapha III of Marasharita. Mustapha was the eldest son of Ahmad III. Known for his energy and perceptiveness (as far as these were possible for a Marasharite ruler of the eighteenth century), Mustapha would rule until January 1774. He would become the adversary of Laurasian Empress Aurelia the Great during the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War of the eighteenth century (1768-74), which wouls result in a decisive Laurasian victory.
 * November 14-
 * Into November 1757, Laurasian and Spamalkan successes continued. On October 23, 1757, the Earl of Aeoleon obtained a smashing victory in the Battle of Abbeville; Beauvais, Compeigne, and Amiens fell into Laurasian hands by October 28, followed by Breuteuil-sur-Mer on November 1. Guerande and Nannes, in the meantime, were overrun by Sir Petevius Caranius and Vice-Admiral Lord Braye (November 2-5, 1757). Then on November 8, the Battle of Dreux resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Franconians; the Duke of Avignon lost more than two-thirds of his battleships and couriers. Thus, on November 14, 1757, the Battle of St. Quentin was fought between the forces of the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires on the one hand, and those of the Serene Kingdom of Franconia on the other. On November 11, the Duke of Medinia Sidonia and Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1722-68), acting on instructions from Emperor Philicus, had joined with the Laurasian forces of the Earl of Aeoleon at Morcy, and began to advance against St. Quentin, a Franconian colony-world which possessed a garrison of 500,000 Franconian Royal Army personnel, a number of shield generators, and a store of military armor. St. Quentin was also known for its industrial goods and materials, and this was considered important by Philicus, to secure as a market for the Spamalkan economy. The Duke of Montmorency, who had lost to Medina Sidonis at Lilles, commanded the garrison of St. Quentin.
 * The ensuing battle was hard fought, but the Coalition forces vastly outnumbered the Franconian garrison, and ultimately obtained a decisive victory. Nearly two hundred Franconian warships were destroyed, and more than 300,000 Franconian troops lost their lives; the allied forces lost just 75,000 troops and thirty of their own warships. The Duke of Montmorency himself barely evaded capture, and most of the Franconian stores on St. Quentin were captured intact. Lord Antigonus Dudley, however, who had commanded a detachment of Laurasian troops in action against the Franconian armory of St. Mere, was injured in a grenade explosion and died shortly after the conclusion of the battle. Empress Didymeia declared, in a proclamation to her subjects, that the Dudley brothers had "recovered their reputation through sacrifice and valiant service to this Empire." Following the Battle of St. Quentin, La Fere, Roye, Douliens, Barcy, and Montrmrail fell into allied hands. On December 5, 1757, the Battle of Metz ended in a decisive victory for the Duke of Medinia Sidonia, thereby securing that stronghold from the Franconians.
 * December 12-
 * Following the Franconian and Austarlian moves into East Pruthia (August 1757), the Pruthian situation in Pomerania suddenly deteriorated. Mecklenburg and Ansbach-Strelitz declared war on Pruthia (September 22, 1757). Grieffenberg and Belgard fell into the hands of Mecklenburgian forces, who received support from the Franconians, operating from Memel and the Baltic Straits. Schezin and Sweidenmunde soon found themselves threatened by Mecklenburgian and Franconian units. Emperor Pru'a, moreover, suffered reverses at Lepizig, Gorlitz, and Bautzen in Saxony (October 1757). His forces now suffered greater casualties then those of their adversaries, and it seemed as if no redress would be found. By the beginning of November 1757, Austarlian forces were mobilizing to assault Silania, Pruthian Lusatia, and Brandenburg, while the Franconians of Marshal Soubise, moving from the Westphalian Circles, were intending to assault Lubeck, Hesse-Darmstardt, Mulahaussen, and Dusseldorf. However, the situation for Pru'a now brightened. Franconian losses in Normandy, Brittany, and the Pale of Calais, as well as in Gascony and Franconian Burgundy, against the forces of the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires weakened their offensive position in the Germanian Principalities. Furthermore, their military and financial resources were being drained by the conflicts in Africana, the Indian Territories, and the Amerindian Colonies. It was impossible for King Hensios to focus all of his energies upon Pruthia.
 * Thus, on November 5, 1757, Pru'a encountered and destroyed Franconian Marshal Charles de Rohan (1715-87), Prince of Soubise's forces in the Battle of Rossbach, nearly capturing the Marshal himself and seizing all of his ion cannons, interdictor warships, and heavy transports. He recovered Lepizig and Gorlitz, thereby restoring the Pruthian position in Saxony; Dortmund and Schiewbus were also restored to Pruthian control. Then exactly a month later (December 5, 1757), the Battle of Leuthen ended in another victory for Emperor Pru'a's forces; Prince Char'lac of Lorraine was utterly humiliated, and the much larger Austarlian forces (which held a six-to-one advantage against the Pruthians) driven from the field. All of this was in spite of the withdrawal of Hanover in July 1757, due to the Battle of Hastenbeck, in which the Vendragian Duke of Cumbria had suffered a humiliating reverse. And October 1757 had seen Austarlian forces under Hungarian General Count Andreas Halik (1710-90) penetrate to the very outskirts of Berliania III, thereby ranging deep into Brandenburg. Yet, Pru'a was still able to maintain his overall position. On December 14, 1757, however, Bavaria acceded to the League of Cozens with Austarlia, thereby posing a threat to Pruthian control of Saxony. Pru'a, on his part, contemplated alliance overtures to Spamalka and to Laurasia, hoping to compress Franconia on two fronts. December 1757 did see further coalition victories against Franconia; Foix, Seule, Bearn, and Lower Navarre all fell into Spamalkan hands that month, while Laurasian units seized Bayeux, Quimpers, and St. Malo. As 1757 ended, it seemed as if the coalition had the definitive advantage.
 * December 25-On December 25, 1757, Empress Didymeia appointed Sir Demetrius Harringtia (1721-71) as the Imperial High Chamberlain of the Laurasian Empire. He therefore succeeded the deceased Sir Antigonus Gagius, more then a year after the latter's death. Harringtia, who had been born on June 21, 1721, at Caresolina, was the fourth son of Georgius Harringtia, 1st Earl of Hannah (1688-1744), and his wife Aurelia (nee Staffordia), who as mentioned earlier in this timeline, was briefly Antigonus III's mistress in 1710. Harringtia, consequently, was through his mother, a descendant of Emperor Vespasian. Nevertheless he, like the other members of his family, was a loyal servant to the Neuchrian Dynasty. He had graduated from the Imperial Military Academy of Laura in 1743, and had subsequently served in the Imperial Laurasian Army, during the Fourth Franconian War and the War of the Rough Wooing. In 1749, he had become a Valedictorian Guard and Gentleman of the Imperial Privy Chamber, and from 1753 to 1756, served as Governor of Fulcania. Harringtia had been among the first officials to defect to Didymeia's cause following her brother's death, and she had not forgotten this. The Chamberlain would be created 1st Baron Harringtia of Caroline on January 19, 1758, an additional sign of the imperial favor which he enjoyed.

1758

 * January 1-
 * 1758, the 58th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Great Amulak Spiral embroiled in war. The Italianian War of 1751-59 and the Seven Year's War (1756-63) were now being waged concurrently. In the former conflict, Empress Didymeia of Laurasia was aligned to her husband, Philicus I, and his realm, the Holy Spamalkan Empire, against the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. In the latter, Franconia was aligned to the Holy Austarlian Empire, the Electorate of Bavaria, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany against the Autocratic Pruthian Empire, which then occupied Saxony. Pruthia's sole ally was the Vendragian Confederacy, which had parlayed with Laurasia and which had an implicit understanding with the Spamalkans as regards to campaigns in the Colonial Territories. Haxonia supported Spamalka, but maintained its neutrality in the overall conflict. Thus far, Pru'a and his forces had experienced reverses and counter-reverses in Silania, Saxony, Bohemia, Moravia, and in the Germanian Principalities; Vendragian and Franconian units struggled for supremacy in the Amerindian Territories; and the forces of Laurasia and Spamalka continued to advance in the Franconian Royal Dominions. Empress Didymeia, believing that the Lord Almitis had forgiven her and her realm for their earlier transgressions, issued a joyous New Year's proclamation (January 1, 1758) to her subjects. In this proclamation, she declared that the threat of Franconia would soon be eliminated and that the Empire would be guaranteed a sphere of influence in the Amulak Spiral.
 * However, events were already turning in the favor of the Franconians. Franjak, Duke of Guise (1719-63), who was Lieutenant-General in the Franconian Royal Army and had, in December 1757, assumed command of Franconian units in the Ardennian Worlds and Artois, now determined upon a surprise offensive against the Laurasian garrison of Calais. The Duke of Guise had secretly assembled his squadrons at Boulougone-sur-Mer, Neuve Chapelle, and Fausteubert, in anticipation of this offensive. The garrison of Calais, consisting of 560,000 troops of the Imperial Laurasian Army and sixty warships from the Imperial Laurasian Navy, was commanded by Major-General Sir Thomasius Verusa, 2nd Baron Wenthoria (1725-84), a veteran of the Fourth Laurasian-Franconian War and the War of the Rough Wooing. Lord Wenthoria, however, was completely unprepared for the Franconian moves. During the late hours of New Year's Day, Franconian units moved swiftly towards Calais. Sangate and Fruethen Nielles, which guarded the approaches to the star system, were quickly seized by Guise's forces; Risban fell the following day, January 2. On January 3, Guise captured Fort Nieulay, and from this vantage point, conducted a relentless bombardment of Calais's defenses. Finally, on January 7, 1758, Lord Wenthoria, who found his supply lines cut off by the Royal Franconian Navy, and realizing he was at both a numerical and strategic disadvantage, surrendered Calais to the Duke of Guise. Guise now proceeded victoriously into the star system with his squadrons, taking virtually the entire Laurasian garrison, including Lord Wenthoria, as prisoners of war. He seized 175,000 tons of Laurasian military supplies and five hundred turbocannons.
 * The fall of Calais embarrassed Empress Didymeia and the Imperial Laurasian Government, who had been so enthusiastic about the progress of their forces in Franconia. Franconian units now quickly took advantage of their victory. By January 12, Laurasian units had been driven from Abbeville, Montrmail, and Douliens; Breuteuil found itself under serious threat from Franconian forces. Then on January 19, 1758, Guise reconquered both Guines and Hames, defeating the Earl of Aeoleon in the pitched Battle of Paldria. Aeoleon was forced to reinforce the garrisons of Stephani and Julianne, and to divert units towards Rennes and Vannes. On January 22, the King of Franconia himself, who had been commanding operations against Jura and Haute-Saone in Franche-Comte, arrived at Calais, congratulating Guise for his victories over Laurasian forces there. By January 26, Dury, Cantiny, and Beauvais had all been reconquered by Guise's forces; then on February 2, 1758, Guise inflicted another defeat upon the Earl of Aeoleon in the Battle of Lorient, terminating the Laurasian threat to St. Bruiec. On February 9, the Battle of La Fere between Spamalkan and Franconian forces ended in a strategic stalemate.
 * February 27-On February 27, 1758, at the Quencilvanian Palace in Christiania, Laurasia Prime, Empress Didymeia formally received Osep Nepea, formerly head of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs in the Grand Duchy of Masacavania, as the first Masacavanian Ambassador to the Laurasian Empire. Sir Richardius Chancelleris had escorted Nepea back to the Caladarian Galaxy in December 1757, but on January 9, 1758, he had died when his starship experienced a catastrophic reactor failure near Andrea Doria. Nepea, traveling on his own starship, had managed to survive the accident. When the Empress received him, therefore, she expressed her joy to Almitis that Nepea had been allowed to survive. A series of festivities were held over the next seven days to honor the Ambassador and his entourage. Nepea was to remain at the Imperial Laurasian Court until his recall in 1762.
 * March 11-
 * Empress Didymeia, who had been experiencing nausea, weight gain, and a desire for food over the past seven months, believed herself, at the beginning of March 1758, to be pregnant with Philicus's child. This time, Didymeia was convinced that the Lord Almitis would bless her with a child, a son who would continue the Neuchrian Dynasty and prevent the accession of Grand Princess Aurelia to the throne. Her hopes, however, were to come crashing into the ground, when the Chief Physician of the Imperial Household, Dr. Athanasius Owenia (1678-1759), who had obtained his post in August 1756, informed her on March 11, 1758, that she was experiencing another phantom pregnancy. Furthermore, Dr. Owenia told his imperial mistress, she was incapable of bearing children. Didymeia was devastated at hearing this: as the customs of the Imperial Family, inherited from the Arachosians in the fifth century AH, prohibited genetic modifications or surgeries regarding such matters as reproduction, the Empress was now forced to acknowledge privately that her sister, Grand Princess Aurelia, would be her ultimate successor. She refrained, however, from issuing a manifesto at this stage making this acknowledgement. At this same time, Spamalkan Ambassador Renard, in a memorandum drawn up for Emperor Philicus, noted that the Grand Princess was now "widely honored and recognized" as heiress to the throne, and that the "leading men of the Empire" would never consent to any effort to alter her status.
 * He gloomily remarked that though it was probable that when Aurelia inherited, "the Empire will revert to the innovations of the preceding reigns," he saw no remedy unless the Grand Princess could be prevailed upon to marry a nominee of Philicus's choice. In view of Empress Didymeia's continued refusal to work for this, there was little chance of achieving it. Apart from her personal reasons for rejecting Aurelia as her successor, the Empress had always maintained that she could not force her sister to take the Duke of Savoy as a husband, and that her subjects would object to her sister having a foreigner husband. She further reinforced her views on March 21, when she was informed by the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs that King Georg II of Vendragia had been contemplating the dispatch of an embassy to propose the marriage of Grand Princess Aurelia with his grandson, Prince Georg of Walesia. Didymeia had sought out her sister's viewpoint on this proposal, and was relieved to learn that Aurelia was no fond of it. She relayed this to the Vendragian Ambassador, Charlag Hanaburis (1708-59), and the King of Vendragia formally withdrew his marriage proposal.
 * April 4-
 * By April 1758, events in the military conflicts of the Great Amulak Spiral had proceeded further. On February 13, 1758, the Duke of Medinia Sidonia attempted a counteroffensive against Franconian lines at Bernay; the ensuing Battle of Bernay resulted in a decisive victory for his Franconian rivals, under Hensios de Seviers, Count of Poitiers (1708-71). Following this, Franconian units blunted Laurasian and Spamalkan offensives against Fecamp, Louviers, and Mt. St. Aignan (February 16-22, 1758); on February 24, Guise itself, the chief stronghold of the House of Guise, successfully repelled a sortie by squadrons of the 57th Imperial Fleet of the Imperial Laurasian Navy under Admiral Sir Vicentius Prashis (1711-83), inflicting serious casualties upon his units. March 1758 witnessed the subjection of Quimper, Rennes, Vannes, and St. Malo by the Franconian units of the Dukes of Orleans and Toulons (1706-61; Rene de Causons); Laurasian moves in the Channel Colonies failed repeatedly. Ardres and Arras became the sites of sharp confrontations between Laurasian and Franconian troops (March 8-12, 1758), and on March 15, 1758, Lord Ambrosius Dudley distinguished himself in the Skirmish of Vimy, overrunning a number of Franconian positions. Nevertheless, the Franconians had the overall upper hand, and an attempt by the Earl of Aeoleon and Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia to reconquer Calais failed in the Battle of Dieppe (March 21, 1758). On March 28, Brewster was reconquered by a Franconian expeditionary force. And then, on April 4, 1758, the Duke of Orleans assaulted Aeoleon's positions at Compeigne. The ensuing Battle of Compeigne was hard fought, but ultimately resulted in a strategic victory for the Franconians. More than 250,000 Laurasian troops died or were captured, and Aeoleon was forced to abandon the star system. Laurasian raiding expeditions in the heart of Orleans and Picardy, against Chantily, Vitry Le Francois, and Fontoise were now terminated. On April 9, 1758, Thoinville, in the outskirts of Franche-Comte, surrendered to King Hensios's forces. Franconian units had also gained successes in Lower Navarre and Andorra, reconquering Foix, Pau, Dordogyne, and Bordeaux (February-March 1758) and threatening Urgell, as well as Fuenterrabia. Upper Mexicana and the Toltec Territories were now occupied by Franconian forces.
 * As regards to the Seven Year's War, early 1758 saw the invasion of Moravia by the Autocratic Pruthian Empire. Emperor Pru'a's forces, repelling Austarlian counteroffensives into Silania and Schiewbus, subdued Brno and Jilhava (February-March 1758). Sumperik, Znojomo, and Trebik were also occupied by the Pruthian Emperor's units. Pru'a's forces also enjoyed successes in the Austarlian Swiss Duchies; the cantons of Genoa, Zurich, Bern, and Basel had all been occupied by April 1758. On April 11, 1758, Pru'a and King Georg II of Vendragia agreed to the Vendragian-Pruthian Convention; the Confederacy now undertook to pay the Emperor of Pruthia a subsidy of more than £7.2 trillion pounds sterling per annum, in exchange for a Pruthian undertaking to participate in the defense of Hanover and to garrison the hyperspace terminal of Emden. Eleven days later, Olmutz was besieged by the Pruthian Emperor's forces; it was his hope that the Austarlians would attack him, and that he would defeat them in a battle, at a time and place of his choosing. From Olmutz, Pru'a intended to secure the remainder of Moravia and to apply renewed pressure on Prague, thereby forcing the Austarlians into peace. Austarlian Field Marshal von Daun, however, avoided direct confrontations with the Pruthian foe, and he instead utilized his reconnaissance forces to harry Pruthian supply lines and to engage in skirmishes with their rear.
 * While this was ongoing, King Georg II denounced the Convention of Klosterzeven (May 1758); Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick engaged in a series of campaigns to clear Franconian units from Cleves and the Westphalian Duchies, to secure Celle, and to penetrate into East Frisia, Mecklenburg, and Franconian Jutland. On June 23, 1758, the Prince won the Battle of Krefeld, liberating Dusseldorf from Franconian occupation, restoring it to the Pruthians. However, Franconian units successfully prevented his junction with Spamalkan units in Cologne and the Durthian Duchies. On June 30, 1758, the Battle of Domstadl (in which Austarlian General Ernest Gideon von Laudon (1717-90) distinguished himself) resulted in a decisive victory for the Holy Austarlian Empire, and the cessation of Pru'a's siege of Olmutz. The Pruthian Emperor's units were soon ejected from Brno, Jilhava, and Sumperik, and by the middle of July 1758, he had been compelled to abandon his plans for moves against Prague and into Inner Bohemia. The Battle of Guntramovice (July 7, 1758), imposed a further humiliation upon Pru'a and his forces. By July 1758, Basel, Genoa, and Zurich were back in Austarlian hands; the Pruthian Principality of Neuchatel was under invasion; and Pruthian units had again been ejected from Lepizig. Pruthian forces had also suffered reverses in Baden, Wurrtemberg, and Thrunigia; Bayreuth defected to the Austarlians on July 22, 1758, depriving Pru'a of one of his princely allies. In the Colonial Territories, the Vendragians gained the upper hand. Senegal and the Gambia fell to the Vendragians in May 1758, by July, Goree and the Ivory Provinces were also in Vendragian possession. Lujakbourg was besieged from June 8, 1758, and finally fell on July 26. The earlier Battle of Cartagena (February 28, 1758), a joint effort between Vendragian and Spamalkan forces, resulted in the humiliation of the Franconian Admiral Michael de Menneville (1700-78). Fort Dunesquene, Fort Frotenanc, and the Pierre Colonies also fell into Vendragian hands. By August 1758, Franconian forces, having suffered a humiliating defeat at Plessy in 1757, had been expelled from Bengal, Bangladesh, and Nepal, thereby consolidating the Vendragian position in the Northern Circars.
 * Whilst these events were going on, developments were also proceeding at the Royal Franconian Court. On April 4, 1758, Queen Mariana of Scottria signed the secret Concordat of Tuileria. The Concordat had been prepared by King Hensios II, in conjunction with the Franconian Estates-General. Mariana had, by this point, resided in Franconia for nearly ten years. She had a promising childhood, becoming a favorite with almost everyone, save Queen Consort Catharina d'Medici. She learned how to play various musical instruments, was competent in prose, poetry, and athletics, and was taught Franconian, Haxonian, Spamalkan, and Durthian, in addition to speaking her native Scottrian. Her future sister-in-law, Elisabeth of Valois, became a close friend of whom Mariana retained "nostalgic memories" later in life. Her maternal grandmother, Antionette de Bourbon, also had a powerful influence upon the young Queen, and became one of her closest advisers. Mariana gradually matured into a beautiful and vivacious woman. She had a small, oval-shaped head, a long, graceful neck, bright auburn hair, hazel-brown eyes, under heavy lowered eyelids and finely arched brows, smooth, pale skin, a high forehead, and regular, firm features. She attained an adult height of 5 ft 11 inhes, and was considered eloquent by many, in contrast to her short, stammering husband. Nevertheless, as had been noted by King Hensios himself, the two got along perfectly. Thus, Mariana, who was nearing sixteen, had no qualms in signing the Concordat. The Concordat specified that if Mariana and Franjak, when they married, died without issue, the Scottrian Crown and Mariana's hereditary claims to the Imperial Laurasian Crown would be bequeathed to the Franconian Crown.
 * Twenty days after signing the Concordat, Mariana was finally married to Franjak. The marriage, which was conducted at the Franconian Cathedral of Notre Dame on Parri, surpassed any other ceremony which had been held thus far in the Serene Kingdom of Franconia's history. The Dauphin's parents, King Hensios and Queen Catharina, gave their son away to his bride. The Earl of Arran, who had since relinquishing his position as Regent of Scottria, served as the Scottrian Ambassador to the Court of Parri, represented Mariana's mother, Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise, and the Royal Franconian Government, at the ceremony. Mariana's uncle, the Duke of Guise, was also present at the ceremony, and served as the Queen's man of honor. Vigorous celebrations ensued, and many throughout both Franconia and Scottria rejoiced at the wedding. The same feelings, however, were not evident within the Laurasian Empire. Empress Didymeia, who had been watching events closely, was alarmed by the wedding, and discussed it with the Imperial Privy Council. She and they were fully aware that if Mariana and Franjak had children, a personal union would be established between Franconia and Scottria. Such a personal union could potentially jeopardize the Empire's position in the Galactic Borderlands and prevent additional Laurasian advances into the Angelina Spiral. This was a prospect which the Empress of Laurasia found utterly distasteful.
 * May 2-Haynsian Despot Halezuku Karany, who had usurped the throne in only the previous year, was forced to retire due to his age (May 2, 1758). Halezuku, although he had proved himself to be a skilled intriguer, was unable to translate this ability into his new role, and proved incapable of restraining the competing factions at the Haynsian Court. Halezuku now retired to Saraj-Elli in the Great Amulak Spiral; he was succeeded as Despot by the former Serasker of the Buzadhania Corps, his cousin Jay XII Karany. Jay XII proved to be an ambitious and intriguing ruler in his own right, as he sought to extend the Haynsian Despotate's diplomatic ties and contemplated the buildup of a possible alliance against the Laurasian Empire.
 * May 11-May and June 1758 witnessed the continuation of the struggle among Laurasia, Spamalka, and Franconia. On April 18, 1758, Caen fell to the Earl of Aretha, constituting the first major success for the Laurasian Empire's forces in months. Aretha then proceeded to secure the Lower Normandian strongholds of Avranches and Argentan (April 19-25, 1758), inflicting a series of defeats upon the Count of Poitiers. At the same time, the Duke of Alvrades in Spamalka conquered Epernay and Soissons (April 21, 1758), reversing the string of Franconian successes in Picardy. Lagny-sur-Marne was in allied hands by the end of the month, and on May 4, La Fere once again fell into the Duke of Medinia-Sidonia's possession. At the same time, Franconian moves against Pamplona, Noain, and Villalar were repelled, securing the Spamalkan hold of Upper Navarre. Then on May 11, 1758, the Earl of Aeoleon repelled Franconian offensives against Breuteuil in the Battle of Cosigny. The successful Laurasian defense of Breuteuil went some ways towards redressing the Laurasian loss of Calais to the Duke of Guise. Empress Didymeia promoted the Earl of Aeoleon to the rank of Field Marshal for this success. By the end of May 1758, Rouen, Bayreux, and Evereux were once again securely in allied hands. The Franconians, however, stormed Deauville and Flers (May 24-28, 1758), managing to blunt Aretha's moves into those star systems.
 * May 26-From this point forwards, the health of Empress Didymeia entered a serious decline. The Laurasian humiliation at Calais in January 1758, followed two months later by the phantom pregnancy, had both taken their toll on the Empress's physical and mental condition. The incident of March 29, 1758 at the Old Royal Palace, occurred with the Empress Didymeia raving in her private bedchambers about "heretics, infidels, and fiends who are in the service of the anti-Almitis and who seek to ruin all the efforts of my reign." Five days later, Didymeia had declared to her personal household that she knew that the Lord Almitis was still punishing the Laurasian realms, and the Neuchrian Dynasty, for her failure to root out all heretics, and that only more vigorous religious policies could appease his wrath. This trend was noticed during the middle months of 1758, for some 100,000 individuals would be executed by disintegration at the stake, under the authorization of the Heresy Laws. By this point, in spite of the resumption of Laurasian momentum in the Didymeian War, Empress Didymeia had become very unpopular with the people of the Laurasian Empire, and many were yearning for Aurelia's accession to the Laurasian throne. Didymeia's health fueled their hopes. The Empress suffered occasional panic attacks and heat strokes; she complained of pains in her stomach and of constipation.
 * June 16-The prominent Scottrian theologian John Knox, who was in exile at Medgeburg in the Autocratic Pruthian Empire since 1749, and had studied extensively the reforms in the Almitian Church of the Laurasian Empire, published his chief political treatise, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regime of Women (June 16, 1758). In this work, he sought to combine traditionalist Scottrian thought, Laurasian misogynistic beliefs, and the religious teachings of both the Scottrian Catholic Order and the Laurasian Almitian Church, in order to present a argument against the rule of female monarchs. In his introduction, Knox claimed that "the Lords of this Universe have defined natural laws of operation for sentient civilization. These laws have traditionally included respect for elders, respect for property, orderly conduct, restraint in action, opposition to lechery and other evil values, and in particular, the proper domination of man over their female counterparts." He pointed out three major female monarchs in power at that time: Empress Mar'va Tarvania of Austarlia, Empress Didymeia of Laurasia, and Regent of Scottria, Queen-Dowager Mariana of Guise. In the case of the first, he declared that she "hath no experience in the affairs of state" and was "ignorant as to the needs of her realm." In the case of the second, Knox declared that Didymeia was a "persecutor of those who truly believe in the Laurasian Gods, brutalizing her subjects in such a manner that all should be appalled." In the third, Knox stated that "the Queen-Dowager has demonstrated her overreaching, overbearing nature. She seeks to control all, to lord in consort with her supporters." Therefore, Knox stated, it was essential that men rise up and reclaim "proper rule" over their societies. At this point in the eighteenth century, many, in the Laurasian Empire and elsewhere, were still deeply misogynistic, and believed that women should not rule over men. However, those in the Imperial Laurasian Government understood that a woman (i.e. Grand Princess Aurelia), was the heiress apparent to the Laurasian throne, by virtue of the directives of her father. Concern for the proper succession overshadowed their concerns over gender.
 * July 7-
 * The Battle of Cherbourg was fought between the forces of the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia and the Earl of Aeoleon, and the forces of the Serene Kingdom of Franconia under the command of the Duke of Montmorency (July 7, 1758). This battle came following the recent allied successes in Lower Normandy, Picardy, and Compeigne. Cherbourg, which was located two hundred light-years to the west of Calais, would have offered Coalition forces a route of access to Parri. Emperor Philicus, irritated by Franconian operations against Gravelines, Niewpoort, and Antwerp, hoped to storm Cherbourg and to threaten the supply lines of Loulon, Ardres, and Parri. This confrontation was particularly hard fought. The superior Laurasian corvettes inflicted severe damage upon the Franconian force (more than 150,000 casualties) but ultimately, the Duke of Montmorency managed to maintain the Franconian position at Cherbourg. Following the Battle of Cherbourg, the pace of Laurasian and Spamalkan momentum slowed. Although Andorra de la Valla, Canillo, and Encamp were secured by the Spamalkans (July 9-14, 1758), while Guines, Hames, and Brewster were reconquered by the Earl of Aretha (August 1758), allied moves into Provence and Burgundy largely failed. The war in the Royal Dominions now entered a stalemate, with allied and Franconian forces clashing indecisively in the Durthian Duchies, Lichenstein, Cologne, and Franche-Comte for the next four months. Events, however, continued to proceed elsewhere. The Battle of Carillon (July 8, 1758), was a success for the Franconians and Iroquois against the Vendragians; Vendragian moves into Alabama, the Orleans Parishes, and the Oklahoma Territories failed (August 1758); and Baja California remained beyond the range of the Vendragian and Spamalkan Navies. St. Servan, Harve le Grace, and Cancalles were plundered by the Vendragians on August 9, 1758, but did not constitute an effective provision of aid to Laurasian units in Brittany and Normandy; indeed, Vendragia and Laurasia still remained aloof from each other.
 * And on August 25, 1758, the Battle of Zorndorf, fought between the Pruthians, under Emperor Pru'a IX himself, on the one hand, and the Franconians and Austarlians of Count William de Fermor (1702-71), on the other, ended in a strategic stalemate. The coalition forces suffered greater casualties than their Pruthian counterparts, but Pru'a was forced to abandon Zorndorf, Marienburg, and Olaw, thereby weakening his position in East Pruthia and in Eastern Brandenburg. Landsberg fell into Austarlian hands, but this did little to redress the strategic balance. The Battles of Tornow (September 25) and Fehrbellin (September 28) ended in tactical victories for the Mecklenburgians and Franconians, though Pru'a was able to prevent their advance towards Berliania III and to retain Stralsund, Rugen, and the Aolt, which his forces had seized in January 1758. Austarlian Field Marshal von Daun subsequently attacked the Pruthians at Hochkirch (October 14, 1758), but was successfully repelled by Pru'a, albeit with heavy losses. Austarlian moves against Dresden failed, and Pru'a recaptured Lepizig, thereby retaining control of Saxony. A Austarlian-Franconian move against Kolberg in Pomerania failed (November 1758). Greffinberg and Neustin were captured by the Austarlians, however. Franconian moves in Cleves, Dortmund, and Hamburg, on their part, failed. By the latter months of 1758, affairs had settled into a stalemate in Germania.
 * August 9-Even in the midst of the Didymeian War, and the Didymeian Persecutions, the Imperial Laurasian Government was nevertheless able to accomplish other reforms of value, which would establish an additional foundation for the reign of Aurelia the Great. The promulgation of the Imperial Privy Council Statute, in November 1756, has already been noted. Another significant reform, which came on August 9, 1758, was the enactment of the Imperial Code of Rates. Though the situation in the imperial economy had recovered following the tribulations of 1750-1751, and the imperial currency had regained its bearings, the imperial finances system was nevertheless in need of further reform. This was particularly true with external trade. There had been a failure, under Lord Protector Northumberlais, to order for a revision and re-application of tariffs on new kinds of imports into the Empire, particularly of orlite, which had been discovered in 1749 and had quickly become a valuable rare earth metal on the imperial markets. Consequently, in January 1758, Empress Didymeia ordered Lord Treasurer Winchestrius to commission a study of all imperial tariffs, import taxes, dues, and rates, and to compile these into a common schedule, with a mandate for annual revision. Winchestrius did as ordered, and the product of his efforts, through the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance, was the Code of Rates. This code listed the duties, tariffs, and dues of every Laurasian import, provided a uniform schedule for rate collections, fees, and spacedock charges, confirmed the abolition of internal tariffs (which had occurred in August 1752), and provided that no more then every fifteen years, the schedule was to be revised and updated. The Code of Rates, which helped to simplify the Laurasian tariff collection system, was to be joined by the Code of Commercial Navigation, the Spice Trade Code, and the Colonial Trade Code of Aurelia I.
 * September 21-On September 21, 1758, at the Spamalkan Conclave of Yutse, the former Holy Spamalkan Emperor Char'va I, who had resided there since his abdication in January 1756, and had joined in communion with the Holy Catholic Order of the Spamalkan Empire, died at the age of 58. Char'va had been a respected sovereign during his reign, although for virtually every year of his rule he had been at war with the Marasharite Empire, Barbary States, Vendragian Confederacy, Haxonian Confederacy, Serene Kingdom of Franconia, and the Autocratic Pruthian Empire, alongside other adversaries. Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I, who was commanding operations against Franconian forces from his headquarters at Brussels, was devastated when he learned of his father's death. Philicus declared that his father was a "loyal servant of our gods" and expressed his hope that he would find a firm resting place in the Heavens. Laurasian Empress Didymeia, who had been Char'va's daughter-in-law, and who was herself in declining health, issued a manifesto from Gilbertine Palace on Tudoria, where she was currently convalescing. In this proclamation, the Empress of Laurasia declared that the death of Char'va was "a great blow to our societies, one which the Lord Almitis so often deals to us" and that Char'va had been one of the most saintly, vigorous sovereigns to have lived. King Hensios II of Franconia, who had inherited his father's animosity towards Spamalka, nevertheless expressed his condolences for the death of Emperor Char'va. All of the sovereigns then engaged in the Seven Year's War, including Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia; Empress Mar'va Tarvania of Austarlia; and King Georg II of Vendragia, also expressed their condolences. Char'va would be buried at the Priory of Telos on Yutse on October 9, in accordance with his final wishes in his will.
 * November 6-By November 1758, the health of the Empress was in a sorry state. Throughout the summer solstice of 1758, Didymeia had continued to rave in her personal bedchambers; had been bedridden in delirium; and had refused to appear on the Palatial Balcony before her subjects, as was the typical custom of a Laurasian sovereign. She knew that her subjects would not wish to see her in any case. By this point, many throughout the Laurasian Empire considered her to be a tyrant, and believed that her religious policies overshadowed the economic and administrative achievements of her reign. To them, the deaths of 700 million innocent Reformed Almitians overtook the quadrupling in Laurasian industrial and agricultural productivity levels, the successful exploration and colonization of 80,000 star systems, or the low levels of unemployment which the Empress and her ministers had successfully maintained throughout the reign. Didymeia was irrational and intolerant, in their view. The Empress herself continued to believe up until these last moments that her policies had been meant only to preserve the unity of the Imperial Almitian Church and the strength of the Laurasian Empire. And now, virtually abandoned by her husband, childless, and unloved, Didymeia was forced to acknowledge the true situation. On November 6, 1758, the Empress issued an imperial manifesto, composed with the assistance of Chancellor Polsius and Baron Pagentia, that now formally acknowledged Grand Princess Aurelia as her heiress apparent, under the terms of the Third Antigonid Statute and the final testament of their father, Antigonus III. Didymeia declared that "because the Lord Almitis has deemed it fit not to grant us any children, we are obliged to acknowledge that our sister, the Grand Princess Aurelia, shall ascend to this throne upon our death." While Didymeia believed that only the fact she had no children meant Aurelia was to succeed, others considered it to be the divine providence of Almitis. By this point, the Grand Princess, still in residence at the Palace of Secrets on Paradine, was beginning to make preparations for her ascension to the throne. Indeed, she had remained there throughout the majority of the year, not including a very brief visit to the Palace of Placenta on Darcia at the end of February 1758. It had been noted by Ambassador Renard, shortly before his recall from the Empire in April 1758, that "frequent communications reach and leave her secretly in regards to the succession."
 * November 10-Dejanican King Vorrus II, seeking to extend the influence of his family in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and taking advantage of the fact that Pruthia and Austarlia were distracted by the conflicts of the Seven Year's War, and Laurasia by the Didymeian War of Franconia, persuaded the Council of the Duchy of Northania to name his son, Carl of Saxonia, as the new Duke of Northania. Carl, who was the same age as Laurasian Grand Princess Aurelia, was formally designated Duke of Northania and Semigallia by the majority vote of the Council (November 10, 1758). He would formally be invested as duke by his father, King Vorrus, in a ceremony on Dejanica on January 8, 1759, and would arrive at his capital, Mitau in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, on March 29 of that year. Carl would remain Duke until his deposition in July 1763.
 * November 17-
 * On this day, November 17, 1758, the fourth and final change of monarch in the eighteenth century occurred. During the early hours of the day, the servants of the Imperial Household, including the Chief Gentlewoman of the Imperial Privy Chamber, Susanna Clarincuexia, stirred early in the morning and immediately set about their duties. Lady Clarincuexia, as was the custom, knocked on the door of Her Majesty's bedchamber, in order to begin her toilette. Normally, Didymeia answered promptly and was already awaiting her ladies. This time, however, there was no response. Lady Clarincuexia, believing Her Majesty was still asleep, decided to wait for some time before knocking again. Two hours passed, and it was now 9:00 am. The Empress still did not stir. Lady Clarincuexia was now genuinely concerned, and with other ladies-in-waiting, entered the Empress's bedchamber. They found Didymeia, still in bed, lifeless. Her hand with her signet ring was laying on top of the sheets, and her eyes were closed. Lady Clarincuexia and the others rushed to her bed, attempting to revive the Empress. She was not breathing, and there was no pulse. Finally, about 9:40 am, Dr. Owenia was called in. The Earl of Americana, Baron Pagentia, and the Earl of Jadia (1725-83; Thomasius Radycliffia) also rushed to the Empress's bedside.
 * Their hopes for a revival were to crash in ruins. At 9:50 am, three hours after Lady Clarincuexia had originally knocked on the Empress's bedchamber door, Dr. Owenia made his pronouncement: Didymeia I (who would become known as "the Terrible" to some of her subjects on account of her religious policies), Empress and Autocrat of All the Laurasians and eldest surviving child of Antigonus III, was dead at the age of forty-two, after a reign of just over five years. Lady Clarincuexia and the other attendants of the Imperial Household were in tears at this announcement. The Earl of Americana now hastily summoned the Governing Senate, Holy Synod, and Imperial Privy Council to the Quencilvanian Palace. He did so because Chancellor Polsius himself was deathly ill. At 11:00 a.m., the three Councils of State formally assembled in the Public Council Chambers, and there, Americana informed them that the Empress was dead. Immediately afterwards, the Councils of State united into the Accession Council, and within an hour, large crowds had gathered outside of the Quencilvanian Palace, Diplomatic Palace, Westphalian Cathedral, Senatorial Palace, and Old Royal Palace, among other government structures throughout Christiania and the other cities of Laurasia Prime. Heralds, on the order of the Council, appeared, announced to the crowds and the subjects of the Empire that "the blessed Empress Didymeia has died", and proclaimed, under the terms of the Third Antigonid Statute and the Didymeian Manifesto, that her half-sister, Grand Princess Aurelia, was now the Empress and Autocrat of All the Laurasians. The Accession Council soon issued the official proclamation, declaring that Aurelia was now "by the Grace of Almitis, absolute mistress of these dominions." The proclamation was repeated by heralds and Holochannels throughout the star systems of the Empire, while Procurator-General, Archbishop Nicolaus Heathius of Conservan, formally announced Aurelia's accession to the people of the Empire over the Holonet.
 * At 2:00 p.m., Sir Willanius Cecilis, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, and Baron Pagentia, having departed from Laurasia Prime immediately after Dr. Owenia had pronounced the Empress dead, arrived at the Palace of Secrets on Paradine. The now Empress Aurelia, still unaware at this point of her new status, was taking the air in the Palatial Park, as was her normal routine. She was not altogether surprised, however, when Cecilis, who had been of great assistance to her during the darkest days of Empress Didymeia's reign, and the other councilors disembarked from their barges and headed immediately towards her. She stopped walking, knowing what their mission was. Cecilis was the first of the delegation of Privy Councilors to reach her. Dropping to his knees, followed shortly afterwards by the elderly Lord Treasurer and by Baron Pagentia, he presented to her the Empress's regal ring. Aurelia took it, and holding it in the palm of her hand, said, "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes!" She then whipped her bonnet off her head and slipped the ring on her finger, breathing the air. Cecilis then said, "By the grace of Almitis, you have acceded to the Laurasian throne." The Empress nodded, informing Cecilius that he would become her chief minister, and then raising him up, went with the delegation to do business. Upon reaching the residence, everyone bowed and saluted her as their Empress. Within hours, more Privy Councilors, courtiers, and supporters had streamed into the Palace of Secrets. At 6:00 p.m. in the afternoon, the Empress summoned those members of the Privy Council who had arrived at the Palace of Secrets in order to discuss her immediate plans. Dressed in the black and white garments applauded by the Reformists, she presided over the meeting with "considerable insight, acumen, and self confidence" which startled many. At the meeting, sat alongside her the thirty-eight year old Cecilis, who already had been Chancellor of the Laurasian Empire and was soon to be so again. He was destined to become the Empress's chief minister for the next forty years.
 * The formal announcement of Aurelia's accession was issued to the foreign courts of the Laurasian Empire's neighbors and to all Laurasian embassies abroad. Condolences for the death of Empress Didymeia arrived from King Vorrus II of Dejanica, Mariana of Guise (in her capacity as Regent of Scottria), Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III, Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia, Empress Mar'va Tarvania of Austarlia, Doge Lorenzo Pruili of Haxonia, King Georg II of Vendragia, King Sebastian I of Portugallia, and from Philicus I of Spamalka, who was now free to marry again and who had lost his title as Emperor-Consort of Laurasia, as a result of his wife's death. The terms of the Treaty of Arias therefore lapsed. Then at 7:30 p.m, just as the meeting was coming to a close, the Empress was informed that Chancellor Polsius had died. Polsius, who had been informed of Empress Didymeia's death while he was himself in delirium at his bed, had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. His doctors had despaired of him, and he had expired at 7:00 p.m. Galactic Standard Time at the Hospital of St. Mary's in Christiania. The death of Chancellor and Chief Procurator Polsius was considered a coincidence of Almitis, and a fortunate one indeed. He had been the hated Empress Didymeia's chief minister, and was the one responsible for overseeing the enforcement of the Heresy and Sodomy Laws following the death of Gardinerius in November 1755. His death spared Aurelia of the painful task of removing him. After learning of the Chancellor's death, Aurelia declared a two month period of mourning for her late sister, the standard period of mourning for a sovereign. She did not bother to order the Court into mourning for Polsius. The Empress retired to her bedchambers towards 9:00 p.m. at night, but she was too excited to sleep. Many were confident in the new Empress's abilities, and they had good cause to believe so. Forty-four years of military glory, economic prosperity, and cultural renaissance had just commenced for the Laurasian Empire.
 * November 18-The Empress held an informal meeting with those Privy Councilors who were at the Palace of Secrets; over this and the following day, November 19, the Empress would work with her advisers in order to form a new administration. On this day, she formally appointed Lord Antiochus Dudley, who had returned from the campaigns in the Amulak Spiral in January 1758, as the new Master of the Empress's Vehicles. Dudley had, upon hearing of Aurelia's ascension, mounted on his ceremonial barge and arrived at the Palace of Secrets, offering his new sovereign his loyalty and his services. The two were well-acquainted with each other: Aurelia had first met Antiochus in February 1741, for he was one of the members of the Aristocratic Pages, that group of children chosen to share lessons with the Emperor's children, the Grand Prince Demetrius and his half-sister. Dudley's marriage to the beautiful Lady Fausta Robsarius, in May 1750, had been attended by the Ladies Aurelia and Didymeia, and the Emperor Demetrius II. He was therefore one of the wealthiest gentlemen in the Laurasian Empire, owning estates throughout the Laurasian Purse Worlds. His involvement in the Accession Crisis, however, had resulted in his imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux during 1753-1754, at exactly the same time that Grand Princess Aurelia was imprisoned for her alleged involvement in the Wyatta Rebellion. The two had grown closer together during that time, having a common experience of life under threat of execution. He had been released in October 1754, on the initiative of Emperor-Consort Philicus, and his services at St. Quentin contributed to the rehabilitation in his family's fortunes and reputation. Now, as Master of the Empress's Vehicles, he would hold a major position of patronage in the Imperial Household.
 * November 20-
 * The entire Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod finally assembled at the Palace of Secrets, on November 20, 1758, as well as the most important personages and nobles of the Imperial Court. The elderly Field-Marshal Munnich, who had been forced to resign as Minister of Defense in January 1755 after twenty-three years at that post, but nevertheless remained on the Imperial General Staff, was among the military commanders who was present at the meeting. The three Councils of State were now gathered to hear the Empress officially designate the men she had chosen as the ministers of government and to make her first public speech as the Autocrat of All the Laurasians. The Empress deemed it expedient that the most important position in the Imperial Government be filled first, before any other. Therefore, she now appointed Sir Willanius Cecilis back to his old positions as Chancellor of the Laurasian Empire, Minister of the Imperial Chancellory, and President of the Imperial Privy Council, thereby officially making him her chief minister. Cecilis took the oath of office promptly. Although he had misgivings about the prospects of female rule over the Laurasian Empire, he did not doubt in Aurelia's abilities, and had the utmost confidence in her. She told him, once he had taken his oath of allegiance: "I give you this charge that you shall be of my Privy Council and content to take pains for me and my realm. This judgment I have of you, that you will not be corrupted with any manner of gifts, and that you will be faithful to the state; and that, without respect of my private will, you will give me that counsel which you think best." Cecilis himself would justify the Empress's expectations to the full. As Chancellor, he would involve himself in every aspect of the Imperial Laurasian Government. He was endowed with a prodigious memory, and an astonishing capacity for hard work.
 * When faced with a complex problem, it was his custom to set down in writing all considerations relating to it, ranging from the most simplistic statements of fact to very precise details, and he would make an opinion only after thoroughly examining everything. He produced memorandum on everything from commercial treaties made by the Empire with such powers as Haxonia, Vendragia, and Mecklenburg to security questions relating to the Empress, to civil disorder within the Empire, to customs of the Almitian Church. Together, the Empress and Cecilis would form a unique partnership. She did not always follow his advice, and there were times where their relationship was in serious jeopardy (the Lady Fausta Dudley affair and the execution of Queen Mariana of Scottria being the most notable), but on most questions of state and policy, their opinions coincided. Both believed that it was necessary to embark on a thorough and comprehensive program of reform, in economics, administration, religion, education, and judiciary, in order to strengthen the State's authority. The Empress relied upon Cecilis so much because of this similarity in opinions, and the Chancellor himself developed a considerable respect for her intellect. He would say of her, in 1790, that "There was no wise a woman born, for all respects, as Empress Aurelia of Laurasia, for she speaks and understands all languages, conceives fully of the affairs of state, and is the expert of all concerning this Empire and its interests." Empress Aurelia would also pay her respects to him, as in her tribute of 1795 (referred to in the section of 1798).
 * Following the elevation of Cecilis, Sir Nicholas Bagonius was appointed as Procurator-General of the Governing Senate, Minister of Justice, and Imperial Privy Seal, making him the highest ranking judicial officer in the Laurasian Empire. Bagonius was known for his work ethic, his dedication to the Empress and to the imperial realm, and his patriotism. On the advice of Cecilis, Aurelia decided to leave the Chief Procuratorate of the Holy Synod vacant for the time being, until she could sort out the situation in the Church. She moved to other matters swiftly. Katharina Parsius's brother Willanius, who had been deprived of the Marquessate of Venusia by the Empress Didymeia after his involvement in the Wyatta Rebellion, was restored to all of his honors and appointed Minister of Energy and Planetary Resources. Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, a leading Reformist and one of Aurelia's good friends, was appointed Master of the Imperial Ordnance and Minister of Imperial Works and Holdings, and authorized to carry out the duties of Chief Procurator until a formal appointment was made. Sir Tactius Knollysis, who was the husband of Katharina Caranius, daughter of the Empress's aunt Antonia Boleyenia and cousin to the Empress herself, as well as an ardent Reformist in his own right, was appointed Minister of Culture and Communications. Aurelia retained several of those who had served on the Privy Council. The Marquess of Winchestrius, who had switched his allegiance back from Traditionalism to Reformism, was by this time the most senior member of the Council (having served on it for thirty-two years), and who was held in high favor and respect by every one of the Neuchrian monarchs, continued as Lord Treasurer and was also appointed Minister of Finance, thereby giving him absolute control of the Empire's finances.
 * The Earls of Jadia, Darcia, Americana, and Aeoleon also retained their respective positions on the Privy Council (those of Sentient Services, Internal Security, Imperial Marshal, and Space and Transportation). They had considerable experience, with Jadia and Darcia in particular becoming trusted advisers of the Empress. She would never be on amiable terms with either Americana or Aeoleon, considering them traitors for having been involved in the Accession Crisis and for then having condoned the religious policies of her sister Didymeia. Nevertheless, she recognized their administrative abilities and employed them extensively. This good discernment of ability would serve Aurelia well throughout her reign. Baron Pagentia, on his part, who had been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in January 1757, begged leave to retire, although he declared his absolute loyalty to the Empress. She accepted, and appointed Sir Demetrius Lovarnia (1707-68) to take his place. Pagentia, granted a generous imperial pension and thanked for his service, would die at his estate on Melarnaria on June 9, 1763 at the age of 57. Moreover, the Empress appointed, as her Minister of Regional and Provincial Administration, Tacitus Pasarius, 9th Duke of Iego (1702-67), who had fled abroad from the Empire's dominions in 1756, and who was considered by many to be physically repulsive. Yet he was absolutely loyal to Her Majesty. Finally, Field Marshal Munnich, who had been in enforced retirement during the past three years at Archleuta, regained his post, and the elderly general's skill of command was brought back to the direction of the Laurasian military's affairs. In her speech to the newly assembled Privy Council, the Empress declared that "I am moved by the law of Nature to mourn for my sister; yet, considering that I am Almitis's creature, and vested by Him with the reins of autocratic authority over this Empire, I will yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me....I mean to direct all mine actions by good advice and counsel. My meaning is to require of you all nothing more but faithful hearts, and of my good will you shall not doubt, using yourselves as good and loving subjects."
 * November 21-
 * Empress Aurelia continued in her flurry of government activity, drawing up lists of appointments to major government commissions, the Imperial Intelligence Agency, the Valedictorian Guards, the Imperial Household, Imperial General Headquarters, the Governing Senate, the Holy Synod, the Imperial Chancellory, and a slew of other positions. She focused especially on appointments within her own household. Her former governess, Katharina Ashleius, was formally appointed Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber and Mistress of the Robes, replacing Didymeia's friend Susanna Clarinceuxia in those positions. Clarinceuxia was given an imperial pension and retired to Americana, where she died in 1764. Ashleius would be created Marchioness of Heliotrope by the Empress on November 27. Her husband, Sir John Ashleius (who would be elevated to the rank of Baron Ashleius of Heliotrope), became Master of Imperial Properties, while the Empress's former treasurer, Thomasius Parsius, was named Comptroller of the Imperial Household. He would be knighted by the Empress on December 2 and granted the right to bear a coat of arms. His daughter, Meguilla Parsius, who had served her since birth, was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber and Vice-Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. She would eventually be created Baroness Parsius of Welch in 1777. The Empress's great-uncle, Lord Howardis of Effinga, who had lent her valuable moral support during her sister's reign, was appointed as Imperial High Chamberlain, replacing Baron Harringtia of Caroline in that position. Harringtia who found himself in disfavor at the Imperial Court, retired from public service afterwards; he died on March 9, 1771, at his estate, Stoke Poges, on Jem. Sir Tacitus Knollysis became Vice-Chamberlain; his daughter Laetitia became a maid of honor. Another of Aurelia's cousins, Sir Antigonus Caranius, elder brother of Katharina Caranius, was created Baron Husadarania and named a Privy Councilor. The Empress dismissed most of Didymeia's Traditionalist ladies and replaced them with her own, but unlike what her father had done to her own mother's servants, she did not punish them in any way. Instead, she ordered for them to be provided pensions from the Imperial Treasury for life.
 * On the same day that the Empress designated her household appointees (November 21, 1758), she held an audience with the newly-appointed Holy Spamalkan Ambassador, Gomez Surarez de Figueroa y Cordoba, 1st Count of Feria (1720-71), who had been appointed by Philicus I in May 1758 and had arrived at Laurasia Prime on June 22, formally succeeding Renard. Feria was tasked by Philicus with presenting official congratulations from the Holy Spamalkan Government to the new Empress, and to ensure the continuation of the Laurasian-Spamalkan alliance. Philicus was determined to maintain the territorial integrity of his realms, but he had also come to realize by this point that the ongoing war was inconclusive and would yield few results. He therefore instructed Feria to gain a grasp of Aurelia's opinions, so that he could proceed forth with the matter of how to bring the war to an end. Feria made a major misstep at the beginning of the audience when he claimed that Philicus's influence had been the primary factor which had spared the new Empress from ruin at her sister's hands and had preserved her to ascend to the throne. Aurelia regarded this with contempt, and declared that her gratitude was due to her people and the Lord Almitis. Aurelia, however, understood that a friendly Philicus was better than a hostile one, and she told Feria that she bore no hostile intentions towards Spamalka. The Empress however, also bluntly informed Feria that the war with Franconia needed to be ended as soon as possible, and that she was determined, first of all, to maintain Laurasian interests. She was also determined to refrain from "any undue hostilities which are not in accord with the interests of my realm." Feria, intrigued by the Empress's relaxed manner and her forwardness with her views, promised that he and his master would support the Laurasian Empire regardless. The Empress then dismissed him graciously from the audience.
 * November 23-Empress Aurelia, having organized her new administration and made arrangements for the composition of her new government, departed from the Palace of Secrets on Paradine and with the vast Imperial Household, made her official progress, by juncture of Palimsiano, Pasquarillo, Azov, Courdina V, Gordasis, Aroest, Constantine I, Aeoleon, Janesia, and Dearton's Gateway, into the Laurasia Prime star system (November 23, 1758). Crowds assembled at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, the Second Station of Callista, on the two Calaxies, and in all of the cities of Laurasia Prime cheered the Empress fervently and extended their most gracious welcome to her. She was formally received at the Second Station of Callista by the Governor of Laurasia Prime, the Mayor of Christiania, the Commander of the Garrison of Laurasia Prime, and the assembled clergy, gentry, and officials of Laurasia Prime. The Mayor of Christiania delivered a polished welcoming speech to the Empress, to which Aurelia responded in a positive manner. She was disturbed however, by the presence of Archbishop Bonneris, who had been translated to the see of Laurasia Prime by the Empress Didymeia four months before her death, and when he knelt to receive the Empress's blessings, she ordered him out of her sight, to which he obliged quickly, running "as fast as the winds of Almitis would carry him." The Empress then formally proceeded to the Old Royal Palace, because the Imperial Apartments at the Fortress of Baureux (the residing place of the sovereign before their coronation), were not yet ready to receive her. She would stay here for the next five days, attending to state business. On November 24, the Empress issued a imperial manifesto suspending Bonneris from his duties as Archbishop of Laurasia Prime and formally dismissing him from the Holy Synod. The same manifesto also suspended most other Traditionalist clergymen then serving in the Almitian Church and commanded them to stay out of the Empress's sight. This was a temporary solution until she could begin her formal religious reforms and find Reformist clergymen to appoint in their places.
 * November 28-Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Household removed to the Imperial Apartments in the Fortress of Baureux (November 28, 1758), using a different route from the traditional one which would be followed on the day of her coronation. Sumptuously attired in purple velvet with a rich neck scarf, she traveled through the Religious and Judicial Precincts, reveling in the acclaim of her subjects, declarations of joy and loyalty by her subjects, the music of the Christiania City Orchestra, the pealing of the bells of all the cathedrals and churches of Laurasia Prime, and the fanfares of trumpets and bugles which announced her coming. The procession was led by the Mayor of Christiania and the Garter Master of Arms, with Aeoleon bearing the Sword of State and Lord Antiochus Dudley, performing his duties as Master of the Empress's Vehicles, riding in the barge behind that of the Empress. Aurelia treated her subjects very kindly, and they responded warmly to her, praising her merits and qualities. Ambassador Feria would leave an account which corroborates the Holonet records of the day. As she neared the Fortress of Baureux, the Empress ordered her barge to halt. She reflected that when she had last come here it had been as a prisoner in fear of execution. Looking at the prison erected by the Emperor Antoninus Pius over two centuries earlier, the Empress expressed her gratitude for her delivery before the crowds assembled. "O Lord, Almighty and Everlasting Almitis, I give my most hearty thanks that You have been so merciful unto me as to spare me to behold this day." She then turned to her subjects, and said, "Some have fallen from being princes of this galaxy to be prisoners in this place. I am raised from being a prisoner in this place to be a prince of this galaxy. That dejection was a work of Almitis's justice. This advancement is a work of His mercy." The Empress, now established in her new residence, then graciously received Sir Antigonus Bedetherfadius, once her gaoler, and who had regained his old post of Constable, and thanking him for his services, informed him "God forgive you the past, as I do." Naming him Lord Lieutenant of the Fortress, she then went on to say that "Whenever I have one who requires to be safely and straitly kept, I will send him to you!" The Imperial Court would soon give itself up to daily entertainment and celebration. The Empress was determined to enjoy her new-found freedom, and thrilled that she was now the divinely ordained Autocrat, mistress of her subjects and beholden to none but "the Lord in the heavens." Ambassador de Feria, however, found himself unable to obtain an audience with the Empress or the Privy Council, and would not be able to do so until December 16. Aurelia was already making it clear that she would govern without influence from a foreign government.
 * December 14-
 * On December 14, 1758, the funeral of Empress Didymeia I was conducted at the Westphalian Cathedral. Empress Aurelia herself, as well as the members of the Councils of State, the chief personages of the Imperial Laurasian Court, and all the foreign ambassadors attended Didymeia's funeral. John Whitius, who had succeeded Gardinerius as Archbishop of Winchestrius following the latter's death in November 1755, and who was to be one of the few Traditionalist clergymen to retain favor with the new Empress, delivered the eulogy at Didymeia's funeral. In it, he praised the deceased Empress, saluting her as "a Emperor's daughter; a Emperor's sister; a Emperor's wife. She was a Empress, and by the same title a Emperor also." Didymeia indeed, was the first woman to successfully claim the Laurasian throne in the Space Age. She had been, with the exceptions of the brief, disputed rules of Andrea Septimia, Grand Princess Constantia, and Minerva Greysius, the first unchallenged female sovereign of the Laurasian realm. Aurelia would owe her a debt in this sense. On the orders of the Empress, Didymeia's funeral was conducted according to Traditionalist rites, just like Didymeia herself had ordered for Demetrius II's funeral to be conducted in accordance with Reformist rites. She also honored Didymeia's request in her will, that she be buried next to her mother. This crypt, she would eventually share with Aurelia as well.
 * As regards to religion, however, the Empress was already actively engaged in nullifying Didymeia's measures. The suspension of Bonneris and most other Traditionalists from their duties had been a first stage. On December 2, the Empress had halted all ongoing investigations of heresy and sodomy; suspended the Heresy and Sodomy Laws until she and her ministers could draft plans to formally revoke them; and ordered the release of all currently imprisoned under the terms of those laws. On December 11, Aurelia, in a manifesto to her subjects, had declared that she would not "seek windows into men's souls" and that her policy would be one of prudence and toleration. She announced, also, that she intended to restore some of the religious measures enacted by her father and half-brother; that only religious extremists or "fanatics hostile to security and peace" would be tried by the Holy Synod; and that all Traditionalist masses and ceremonies were to be on hold until she would begin to implement formal religious measures. The Empress and her ministers would begin to sort through proposals submitted by clergymen and institutes from throughout the Empire, and by January 1759, would begin formulating a plan for action. In the meantime she turned to other, more pressing matters: in particular, the conclusion of peace with Franconia.
 * December 18-
 * Official preparations began for the coronation of Empress Aurelia. The Empress understood well the religious and political importance of this ceremony, and that it would create an official link between her and her subjects. Therefore, she consulted Dr. John Deesius (1727-1800), who was to become one of the most prominent scholars of the Laurasian Empire during her reign. Deesius told her that if she were crowned on January 15 of the following year, her reign would be glorious and prosperous. Aurelia approved, and with the date set, she and the Imperial Court threw themselves into preparations for the ceremony. Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, the Imperial Chamberlain, and Lord Antiochus Dudley were placed in charge of the arrangements for the coronation, working with Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, Marshal Americana, Dr. Antigonus Feckleria (1704-87, Dean of the Westphalian Cathedral), the Mayor of Christiania, and the Governor of Laurasia Prime, as well as the Chief of the Palace Security and the Master of the Valedictorian Guards to arrange the pageants and ceremonies which would be staged as part of the coronation. Aurelia ordered that the coronation and its attendant celebrations be as magnificent as possible, so as to make a impression upon those who may doubt her legitimacy. The appearance of splendor and majesty would make a political statement. Preparations became well advanced by the end of December 1758, and continue throughout the early weeks of January 1759.
 * Cloth of gold, silks, velvets, and satins were imported from Momma; imperial officials received new uniforms; and the coronation robes of Empress Didymeia were tailored to fit Aurelia, who was taller and slimmer than her sister. Largesse would be packed and prepared for distribution to the crowds. Draperies were hung over the sides of skyscrapers and other structures; twenty triumphal arches were erected along the coronation passage; viewing stands and platforms would be constructed for easy viewing, at intersections and in principal thoroughfares; the Holonet system would be overhauled and equipped with new technologies to cover the ceremony; and extra seating was erected in the Westaphalian Cathedral. By imperial manifesto on December 29, the Empress designated Bishop Seleucus Oglethopria of Aingley (1705-59) to preside, in the place of the Chief Procurator (which was vacant). Bishop Oglethopria, although a Traditionalist, was nevertheless loyal to the Empress, and determined to ensure that nothing disrupted the ceremony. Archbishop Heathius, on the other hand, was among those suspended, for he had, before Aurelia's accession, expressed doubt about her capacity to rule.
 * December 22-
 * On December 22, 1758, on the orders of Empress Aurelia, and after consultation with Ambassador Feria and the Holy Spamalkan Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a request for a formal armistice to the Royal Franconian Government. The communique, which was composed by Chancellor Cecilis himself and edited by the Empress, declared that the current war was "beneficial to none and injurious to all", and that the only remedy would be the conclusion of a peace treaty, as soon as was possible. Already, in the first week of her reign, the Empress had instructed her ambassadors at the courts of Pruthia, Austarlia, the Haxonian Confederacy, Masacavania, Vendragia, Portugallia, Scottria, the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and even the Marasharite Empire to issue assurances that she wished to live in peace with all foreign powers. By doing this, the Empress firmly asserted that the Empire would not become involved in the struggles of Austarlia and Pruthia over Saxony and Silania, and that it would, at this juncture, be refraining from further involvement in the military conflicts of the Great Amulak Spiral.
 * In a letter to Sir Demetrius Sulius (1703-76), ambassador to the Pruthian Empire, the Empress said that "Concerning the peace which has prevailed with His Majesty the Emperor of Pruthia, we command you to convey to His Majesty our solemn intention of upholding the same as long as His Majesty gives us no cause to break it." Hensios II of Franconia, who saw in the Empress of Laurasia an effective sovereign with whom he could do business, responded to the armistice request in an amiable manner. He ordered the release of all Laurasian prisoners of war and commanded his forces to halt military operations against the Laurasians. Seleucus Oprhius, 2nd Duke of Wakedia (1709-65), who had assumed command of the Empire's forces in the Great Amulak Spiral, made arrangements to conduct a conference for armistice negotiations with his counterpart, the Duke of Guise, at Trasavaill. That conference opened on December 24, 1758. After a day of negotiations, during which Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court were celebrating the first Ascentmas of her reign on Laurasia Prime, the Armistice of Trasavaill was signed (December 25, 1758). The armistice confirmed the release of all prisoners of war held by both sides, provided that all military operations were to cease promptly, and that each side would hold the territories they now controlled in the Great Amulak Spiral, until a formal conference for treaty negotiations could be opened. Empress Aurelia, learning of the Armistice's conclusion, penned a letter to King Hensios personally. Praising him for "being willing to conclude peace in such order", Aurelia affirmed that her only wish was to see tranquility prevail across extra-galactic civilization as soon as possible.
 * December 29-On December 29, 1758, Sir Eumenes Diadones, 1st Baronet Diadones, Chancellor of the Laurasian Empire (1740-47) during the latter years of the reign of Antigonus III, died on Olivia at the age of seventy. Diadones had served as a honorary consultant to the Privy Council following his resignation from the Chancellorship in February 1747, and Chancellor Cecilis, had consulted him numerous times for advice on affairs of state and the Imperial Household. Diadones was buried at St. Chalmer's Cathedral on Olivia on January 4, 1759.

1759

 * January 2-
 * 1759, the 59th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire now under the governance of a new ruler. The Empire, moreover, was now emerging out of the Didymeian Counter-Reformation. While the Didymeian War of Franconia was to end this year, the Seven Year's War in the Great Amulak Spiral would continue in full force. In the first New Year's proclamation of her reign, Empress Aurelia reiterated her intentions to govern with the "greatest moderation, prudence, and care that any sovereign under Almitis is capable of mustering", to continue the reformation and strengthening of the Empire's economic, administrative, and diplomatic structure, as had been ongoing under her predecessors, and to take "all steps" to address the situation in the Imperial Almitian Church as soon as possible. Then on January 2, 1759, the Empress and the Imperial Court departed from the Fortress of Baureux on Laurasia Prime to the Palace of Placenta on Darcia. Tradition decreed that the monarch reside there within the two weeks before the coronation, and that a formal coronation progress be made into the Laurasia Prime star system. The Empress was escorted by the Governor of Laurasia Prime, Sir Hiero Pyramidion (1707-70) and by the Vicar of the Laurasia Prime Diocese, Sir Hephaestus Besarion (1693-1762). She was subsequently received at Darcia by the world's Governor, Sir Philotas Pasarias, 2nd Baronet Pasarias of Darcia (1704-66) and by his subordinates.
 * On January 10, Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I, in an official communique to Spamalkan Ambassador Feria, authorized him to officially propose an engagement, on his behalf, with Empress Aurelia. In this communique, Philicus explained that, as the new Empress's former brother-in-law and as a sovereign faithful to the dictates of his Gods, he felt himself compelled to put aside his private inclinations and to offer his hand in marriage. Moreover, he stated that if there were no benefits that could be derived for Spamalka from the union, then he would not proceed forth with it. The Emperor of Spamalka knew that Aurelia's self-confidence and dominant personality would make her less compliant than her late sister. Moreover, he did not have the resources to maintain a Spamalkan household in the Empire to the scale that he had in the previous reign, and he would have to be absent from the Laurasian Dominions often in order to carry out his imperial duties. Philicus was the first in Aurelia's reign to make a proposal, but the question of her marriage had been one of critical importance since her accession. Many throughout the Empire, including the Empress's own Chancellor, Sir Willanius Cecilis, believed that a female sovereign was still incapable of ruling by her own authority, and that she needed a husband who could guide her in her responsibilities and provide her protection against her enemies, both foreign and domestic. But there was strong opposition to another Spamalkan marriage, and many were of the opinion that the Empress should marry one of her own subjects. Chancellor Cecilis, the Earl of Jadia, and the Duke of Norfolkius were among the few who favored a foreign union, though they too were not in support of one with the Holy Spamalkan Emperor. Empress Aurelia herself, who was indeed far more independent and headstrong than her sister, shared in the general concern about a Spamalkan union. She was aware that, like with Didymeia, such a marriage would cost her much of her popularity with her subjects. She now evaded Ambassador Feria, who found himself unable to obtain an audience with her at this juncture.
 * January 14-
 * On January 14, 1759, Empress Aurelia made her formal coronation progress to Laurasia Prime, and from thence, into the City of Christiania. At the head of her massive Imperial Household Fleet, the Empress reached Jadia, disembarking on a smaller imperial courier. She bypassed Jadia, Hepudermia, the two Calaxies, and the Second Station of Callista, being hailed and acclaimed by her subjects along the way. She then descended on a personal repulsorlift into the atmosphere of Laurasia Prime, being joined by a honorary escort of Imperial Laurasian Navy starfighters and corvettes. From there, she passed into Christiania and began her procession through the city, escorted by the squadron, a body of Gentleman at Arms and Valedictorian Guards of the Imperial Household, and a escort of Laurasia Prime Guards, Christiania Police, and the 1st Division of the 1st Imperial Army. Behind the Empress rode Lord Antiochus Dudley in his personal barge, and the members of the Councils of State, decked out in splendid robes of satin. A series of masques, festivals, readings, and parades were held in the Empress's honor. Among these included welcoming verses recited by the traditional "child of poetry"; the Dynastic Pageant, which included a three-tiered platform with depictions of representatives of the Neuchrian dynasty, the Empress's parents Antigonus III and Anna Boleyenia, and the Empress herself; the Allegorical Pageant, with Unity, Concord, and Good Religion ringed around the Seat of Worthy Governance; the presentation to the Empress of a gift of €1.2 million dataries from the City of Christiania, in a purse of crimson satin; the Pageant of Time and the Almitian Scriptures; a speech by a scholar of the University of Laurasia Prime in Old Laurasian, praising the Empress's virtues; and the Pageant of Justice, depicting Denebia, the prophetess of the Almitian Scriptures, ruling in benevolent judgment over her subjects.
 * Following this, Aurelia and her procession made their way to the Church of the Sacred Ancestors, which bore some of the most ancient and venerated icons on Laurasia Prime, dated to the 29th and 28th centuries BH. These relics had long been associated with the Prophet Eusebius, the Angel of Constantine, and the Messengers of Peter and Simeon, revered as among the major enforcers and Agents of Almitis. As the Empress progressed further along the procession route, clergy of all faiths, denominations, and churches came out, greeted their sovereign humbly, and blessed her. During all this time, Aurelia's train and robes was borne by eight selected noblewomen for the coronation: the Dowager Duchess of Sufforia; Margarina Audalius, Duchess of Norfolkius (1740-64); Aurelia's cousin, the Countess of Lennaxia; Lady Didymeia Sidronius (1729-86), wife of Sir Antigonus; Lady Ashleius; Vibia Goldania, Countess of Oxfadia (1726-68); the Countess of Hannah; and Laodice Pasarius, Duchess of Iego (1724-90). Finally, the planetary and municipal authorities took their leave of the Empress at the Gates of Baureux, and Aurelia retired again to the Imperial Apartments there, resting for the night. In the meantime, the Councils of State issued the traditional imperial proclamation, proclaiming a two-week holiday for the Empire's subjects; the grant of holiday privileges to all workers and employees of all professions; formal blessings of the Church; and the remission of fines, the pardoning of lesser offenses, and the commutation of outstanding debts and obligations.
 * January 15-
 * On January 15, 1759, the coronation of Empress Aurelia I, the Great, was conducted at the Westphalian Cathedral in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. This was the fourth, the last, and by far the most lavish coronation of the eighteenth century. The Empress emerged from the Fortress of Baureux at 7:00 A.M. in the morning, wearing her coronation robes beneath a swirling mantle of embroidered silk lined with ermine, with fine silk and gold stockings and a crimson velvet cap adorned with Venice gold and pearls. To the sound of fifes, drums, portable organs, and the bells of Christiania's edifices, she went in procession, in the official Imperial Canopy. Thirty-two military commanders, sixteen generals and sixteen admirals, took ceremonial positions of guard around the Canopy. All the major regalia of the Empire, including the Sword of State, the Banner of State, the State Seal, the Sovereign's Purple Robe, the Wreath of State, the Shield of State, the Orb, the Sceptre, the Smaller Imperial Crown, and the Great Imperial Crown, arranged in a strict order and attended by a cadre of gentlemen, ladies-in-waiting, and servants, were in the procession. The Empress's aides, the generals of the suite of the Imperial Household, and the Gentlemen Pensioners lined up along the route, maintaining order among the audience.
 * At the same time, Christiania Police craft and modified helicopter craft of the Imperial Navy flew above, maintaining order over all the soaring structures. At the Fortress of Baureux, and at each of the sites along the way, stood a group of selected Gentleman at Arms, Imperial menservants, and bearers of the Arms. The Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners, the Captain of the Valedictorian Guards, and the Master of Quencilvanian Palace Security, each carrying a ceremonial mace and wearing Laurasian chain-mail, joined the procession silently at the Statute of St. Seleucus. On each side of the procession were escort pods, bearing the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Her Majesty's Personal Secretary of the Chancellory, the Commander of the Quencilvanian Palace Residence Command, the Adjutant General of the coronation proceedings, the orderly Major General of the Imperial Suite, and the Vice-Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners, among others. At the door of the Westphalian Cathedral, which glowed with the light of hundreds of torches and luminescent panels, and lined with rich tapestries, the Empress and her procession dismounted solemnly from their repulsorlifts. She was greeted by the Bishop of Aingley (in place of the Chief Procurator), the Archbishop of Laurasia Prime, the Synoptic Metropolitan of the Core Worlds, and several other Metropolitans, Synoptic Councilors, Regional Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops.
 * Once the announcements had been made by the Marshal and blessings given by the Bishop of Aingley, the Empress made her entry. The Adjutant General of the coronation Proceedings, the Commander of the Quencilvanian Palace Command, the orderly Major General of the Imperial Suite, the Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners, the Imperial High Steward, the Imperial Marshal, and the Imperial Constable went out to seven different places around the vast Cathedral grounds, announcing the blessings made and making the statement of presentation. Empress Aurelia conducted herself in a solemn manner during her entry, venerating the surrounding icons and acknowledging the audiences. Her train was borne by the eight noblewomen. The ceremony was then conducted exactly according to custom, with the reading of the 105th Psalm; the presentation and reading of the Prayer of Autocracy by the Empress; blessings and praise in accordance with the First Letter of Eusebius and the Prayer of the Kings of Jatheria; the lessons of scripture; the robing of the Empress; and the prayers and blessing of the Empress by the senior nobleman. After another blessing by the Bishop of Aingley, Aurelia directed him to hand her the Great Imperial Crown of the Laurasian Empire, used in every coronation for the past 405 years (since that of Antiochus I the Great in 1354). As the Bishop invoked the name of the Trinity of Paul, Eusebius, and the Vicars of Almitis, the Empress settled the nine-pound crown on her head. She received the scepter and the orb; further invocations were made, and a final prayer of rule issued by the senior nobleman. The many years blessing, the anointment of the Sovereign, the Communion, and the coronation oath followed.
 * Finally, the "Prayers After Receipt of Communion and Anointment" were read by the Dean of the Westphalian Cathedral; the Empress was presented for the acceptance of her subjects; and she received the homage of her subjects, from the highest nobility to the clergy to government officials and prominent personages present at the coronation. Aurelia subsequently exited the Cathedral, once dismissal had been read by the Dean; she wore the Great Imperial Crown and had the orb and scepter in her hands, with her noblewomen holding her train. Musical instruments played; the Imperial Anthem was read; and all in the audience hailed the Empress. Following this, she traveled through the Religious Prescient, along the pre-determined route, and received greetings from the crowds and other individuals. She visited the Imperial Mausoleum, visiting the tombs of each deceased sovereign; offering prayers; and then receiving blessings at the Church of the Annunciation. Finally, she made her formal entry back to the Quencilvanian Palace, bowing to her subjects three times before entering the Grand Corridor. There, she greeted the representatives of the Empire's various religions and faiths; the diplomats; the local officials of the Laurasia Prime star system; the representatives of the Empire's chief economic and commercial firms, and the representatives of various important galactic universities, guilds, institutes, and organizations. After these greetings, she retired with her servants, the Vice-Chamberlain, and the Lord Comptroller to the Private Quarters, to rest and prepare for the evening Coronation Banquet. Aurelia, during all of this, impressed everyone with her dignity, her regal manner, and her fervent belief in the rituals.
 * The lavish coronation banquet was held that night in the Great Dining Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace. Wearing the Smaller Imperial Crown (for the Great Imperial Crown had been returned to the Armory after the greetings at the Palace), the Empress presided from the chief table, beneath a canopy of estate, and wearing robes of purple velvet. All were seated according to order of precedence and coronation custom. The Empress's Champion, Sir Achaeus Dyrania, 3rd Baron Dyrania of Calpurnia (1709-86), who held the office from 1747 until his death in 1786, made his traditional challenge, and Aurelia invited him to sit near her. The dishes served at the banquet were grand, with Aurelia's great-uncle, Lord Willanius Howardis, and Stasanor Hydra, 2nd Earl of Chandlier (1715-89), serving her on bended knee. Following the coronation banquet, Aurelia watched a fireworks display and a grand illumination of the Quencilvanian Palace. Finally, near 11:00 P.M., she finally retired for the night.
 * The day after the coronation, the Empress felt unwell and kept to her private chambers. In spite of this, the celebrations continued with full vigor. A series of tournaments, operas, balls, masques, parties, plays, Holomovie showings, and jousts were held over the next seven days, with Lord Antiochus Dudley in particular distinguishing himself. The coronation celebrations continued until January 23. A special fair was held for the inhabitants of Christiania; largesse was distributed to all who assembled in public locations throughout Laurasia Prime; lotteries and games were held at the Imperial Court, with every person winning a prize; and the Empress herself attended a feast in the Public Square of Christiania, in honor of her subjects. She had recovered from her bout of weakness on January 18. All together, the coronation, its attendant festivities, and the largesse cost the Imperial Treasury €92.7 billion dataries, more than any previous coronation in Laurasian history. To the Empress, however, it was well worth the effort, having displayed to her subjects, and to foreign powers, the vast resources and wealth that she commanded.
 * January 25-
 * Firmly established on her throne, Empress Aurelia now turned to matters of pressing importance for her realms. Already, she had demonstrated herself to be a more vigorous and concerned monarch than any of her predecessors, on the same level as Neuchrus the Reformer himself. She had arranged for a armistice with the Serene Kingdom of Franconia; had suspended Traditionalist rituals and clergy; and had appointed competent and loyal officials to her government. The Empress had also, on January 6, issued an imperial manifesto formally exonerating her mother, Empress Consort Anna Boleyenia, of all charges laid against her, as well as her uncle, Viscount Georgius Boleyenia of Ralanchaford, and the other accused men (Sir Ptolemy Hycrani, Sir Demetrius Westonius, Sir Albus Brethon, and Markis Smeatonius); granting them a full pardon; and commanding for their bodies to be translated from the Fortress of Baureux. She made it clear, however, that this did not by any means prejudice her against her father, and that she sought only to "satisfy their souls in death." Her decision, however, came to be applauded, for many had long since recognized that Anna Boleyenia and the condemned men were innocent. Anna, restored to the posthumous rank of Empress Consort, would be interred at Boleyenia Family Estate at Fulcania (as she had wished before her death) on January 27, next to the bodies of her sister, parents, and brother. The bodies of the other men were returned to their families. The other matters facing the Empress included the conclusion of a final peace treaty with Franconia, the situation in the Imperial Almitian Church, and the inquiries concerning the Empress's marriage plans. To Aurelia, addressing the Almitian Church's difficulties was the most important task at hand. She had taken only remedial measures in addressing these difficulties. By suspending many of the prominent Traditionalist clergymen, such as Archbishops Bonneris and Heathius, she had demonstrated that she would tolerate neither opposition to her religious policies nor extremism.
 * By putting rituals and preaching on hold, she had sought to prevent further disputes from arising over the conduct of church services. She had also replaced most of the membership of the Holy Synod, appointing her supporters to major positions. On January 1, in her New Year's proclamation, as mentioned above, the Empress had reaffirmed her commitment to religious tolerance and partiality, and told her subjects that "it is not in our place to harm the positions or lives of those who believe in one Lord Almitis." Therefore, she believed, the only way to accomplish reform in the Almitian Church was to seek out the views of her subjects and gain a general consensus for her policies. On the advice of Chancellor Cecilis and Privy Seal Bagonius, the Empress issued a imperial manifesto (January 25, 1759), authorizing for the establishment of a commission of ecclesiastical and civil representatives, comprised of members of the Holy Synod, Privy Council, Governing Senate, the Imperial Laurasian Court, and prominent personages of the nobility and clergy. This commission was to be chaired by the Archbishop of Organia, Demetrius Novagradia (1704-73), a prominent Reformist cleric and scholar who had been named to that see by the Empress on December 23, 1758. In her manifesto, Aurelia commanded the commission to "review the situation of the revenues and properties of the Imperial Almitian Church; to conduct a evaluation of the measures passed during the reigns of our late siblings and father; and to propose recommendations as to the measures which should now be introduced." The Empress, moreover, wished for the commission to also examine the Church's financial situation, through revising the "establishments" of the dioceses, monasteries, cathedrals, and other ecclesiastical properties. It was commanded to produce an updated register of all employees, revenues, and properties of the Church, analyze the economic resources available, and to propose methods for the economic development of the Church's resources. The Commission was also charged to submit proposals for the establishment of the Church's dioceses and institutions in accordance with their rank and dignity.
 * February 4-
 * On February 4, 1759, Empress Aurelia received a formal petition, drafted by the Imperial Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod, at the Quencilvanian Palace inquiring about the succession and her plans for marriage. In the petition, it was declared that the "main concern of Your Majesty's Subjects are for the security and stability of these realms; and the insurance of the Neuchrian Dynasty, that dynasty which was established by your most venerable grandfather, and maintained by your honorable father." Therefore, "Your Majesty should consider a prompt and speedy marriage, so that these realms may not be cast down into anarchy." The Empress read the petition and contemplated. This concern over the succession was justified. At the time of Aurelia's accession to the throne, there were seven individuals whose claim to the throne merited consideration. In settling upon one of them, Aurelia realized, she would draw the enmity of the others. She feared that instead of ensuring that on her death, the Imperial Laurasian Crown would pass to its rightful successor according to the law, there would merely be a fearsome struggle for power. In blood at least, Mariana Stuart, Queen of Scottria, had the best claim to be Aurelia's successor. She was the granddaughter of Antigonus III's elder sister, Queen Consort Constantia of Scottria. However, it could be argued that, as a foreigner, Mariana was automatically disqualified from the throne, for aliens were debarred from inheriting property in the Empire without special warrant.
 * Moreover, by the terms of both the Third Statute of Succession and Antigonus's will of 1747, Constantia's descendants had been explicitly bypassed in favor of the descendants of Antigonus's younger sister, Grand Princess Octavia. Empress Aurelia was not, in principle, opposed to Mariana's claims, but did not seek to be encumbered with a successor who was a foreigner and under the control of the Franconians. Consequently, she sought to keep the prospect dangled before Mariana's eyes, while keeping it sufficiently out of reach. As long as Mariana believed that she was in consideration, she would be induced to seek positive relations with her cousin. On the other hand, Mariana's position as heiress apparent, if she were formally named as such, would be unassailable. Yet Mariana was not the only descendant of Queen Constantia. Lady Constantia Douglain, Countess of Lennaxia, was, as has been mentioned previously, Constantia's daughter by Archilain Douglain, Earl of Angus. The Earl, who had reconciled himself with his former Laurasian patrons in the years following the end of the War of the Rough Wooing, had died on January 22, 1757, at Tantallon, aged 68. Since Constantia and her children (including Antigonus Stuart, Lord Darnley (1745-67), future husband of Queen Mariana) had been born and brought up in the Empire, they could not be classified as aliens. However, she, like Mariana, had been excluded by Emperor Antigonus.
 * Aurelia, thus, had to look to Octavia's descendants. Octavia of course, by her marriage to Antigonus's close friend, Carolus Brandeis, 1st Duke of Sufforia, had left behind Ladies Franconia and Eleanora Brandeis. Franconia had been married to Antigonus Greysius (who had become Duke of Sufforia in his stead), and like so many of the descendants of Neuchrus I, they produced only daughters. Their eldest child was the ill-fated Lady Minerva Greysius. Her younger sisters Ladies Katharina and Didymeia Greysius (19 and 15, respectively, at the beginning of Aurelia's reign), both of whom served at the Imperial Court, were thereby considered by many as the best possible successors for the Empress (including by Chancellor Cecilis). However, Lady Katharina, who had been favored by Empress Didymeia, was not so well-liked by Aurelia, who had demoted her from being a Lady of the Bedchamber to a Lady of the Imperial Privy Chamber in December 1758. Moreover, Lady Didymeia, who was not the most attractive woman, was ignored by the Empress. The most serious objection against the Greysius girls, from Aurelia's viewpoint, was that their father's execution for treason in her sister's reign had automatically disqualified his daughters from the succession. They were superseded, therefore, by Margarina, Lady Stanelis (1748-96), daughter of Lady Eleanora Brandeis and another of Emperor Antigonus's great-nieces. However, doubts still persisted over the legitimacy of the marriage of Grand Princess Octavia and the Duke of Sufforia, due to Sufforia's earlier marriages and the hastiness of its conclusion in Franconia following Lujak XII's death. It was a remarkable coincidence that with the exception of Queen Mariana of Scottria, every surviving descendant of Neuchrus I was marked to some extent by the stigma of illegitimacy.
 * There was another: Antigonus Harringtia, Lord Harringtia of Hannah (Earl of Hannah from 1761). Lord Harringtia was not a descendant of Neuchrus I; he was instead, a descendant of two earlier Laurasian Emperors: Antigonus II and Antoninus Pius I. Indeed, his father, Franconius Harringtia, 2nd Earl of Hannah (1714-61), was the great-grandson of Senator Sir Tiberius Claudius Proculus, 1st Duke of Xilania Major (1563-1618), who was the son of Grand Princess Annia Faustina (1547-1600), eldest daughter of Antigonus II. Senator Proculus had, by his wife Lady Claudia Proculus (1565-1616), two children: Tiberius, who became 2nd Duke of Xilania Major (1596-1655), and Annia Faustina (1601-22), who had become the second wife of Emperor Elagabalus. Tiberius in turn, had become the father of two children, Willanius (1627-81), whose line ended without issue in 1684 (with the Dukedom of Xilania Major then conferred by Emperor Titus upon the Camanian family who claimed Xilanian descent), and Annia (1631-83). Annia's son Demetrius (1666-1706), was made 1st Baron Harringtia of Hannah in 1704. It was his son Georgius (1688-1744), Lord Harringtia's grandfather, who had become 1st Earl of Hannah (1729). Harringtia's mother, Lady Katharina Polsius (1711-76), was, through her father, Antigonus Polsius, Baron Montagu (1692-1739), a great-granddaughter of Petronius Annunius, 1st Duke of Julie (1584-1623), son of Antigonus II's younger daughter Annia Fadilla (1559-1611). Harringtia was also the great-great grandson of Emperor Probus's ill-fated younger brother, the Duke of Naranja; his mother was the granddaughter of the late Countess of Salaria (mother of Cardinal Polsius and of Lord Montagu), Naranja's eldest daughter. Though his claim of descent to Probus was not as strong as the other contestants, descended directly from Aurelia Zemakala (who had been Probus's daughter), his claim emanating from the Nervian Dynasty was far more venerable. Harringtia himself, however, was not ambitious, decried his "lack of merit and knowledge", and served the Empress loyally. However, it was ultimately his family line which would provide Aurelia's successor: Lysimachus II.
 * Thus it was that the Empress greeted the petition. Displaying her coronation ring, she declared that her husband was the Laurasian Empire; her subjects were her children. She would be directed by the laws of Almitis; she would marry if it was necessary for the prosperity of her realms; and the Empire would not remain destitute of a reliable heir apparent. Finally, she declared that "In the end this shall be for me sufficient, that a inscription shall declare that a Empress, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin." Most Laurasians, however, believed that the Empress was only being humble; Cecilis in particular, prayed that a "masculine succession would take hold of the throne" and that she would soon marry. A man would, if this occurred, again be in control of the government. Aurelia herself, however, as mentioned earlier, had already decided that she would never marry, but knew that, for the sake of appearances, she had to keep the game up. It was a game which she would keep going for the next twenty-three years.
 * February 9-Empress Aurelia, who had been informed by the Ecclesiastical Commission about the necessity of uniformity in the administrative structure of the Imperial Almitian Church, formally dismissed two of the most ardent Traditionalist clerics in the Church, both of whom had been among Didymeia's chief subordinates, Edwardis Bonneris, Archbishop of Laurasia Prime, and Nicholas Heathius, Archbishop of Caladaria, from their sees (February 9, 1759). On the orders of the Empress, the Holy Synod deprived both men of their ecclesiastical robes; condemned them for their role in the enforcement of the Heresy and Sodomy Laws; and stripped them of all honors and privileges which had been conferred upon them. The suspensions of other Traditionalist clergymen were confirmed; Aurelia announced that upon the work of the commission being completed, an official examination would be conducted of each separate official.
 * February 16-In the meantime, efforts towards the conclusion of a peace treaty reached their logical conclusion. On February 16, 1759, a diplomatic conference was opened between the delegations of the Laurasian Empire, Holy Spamalkan Empire, and Serene Kingdom of Franconia at Cateau-Camrbesis. Cateau-Cambresis was a Franconian colony located twenty light years southeast of Cambrai, and had, until this point, been relatively obscure. On January 21, Spamalka and Franconia had agreed to the Armistice of Calais, which had suspended military hostilities between them and had paved the way to the peace conference. The interests of Empress Aurelia, and of the Imperial Laurasian Government, were represented by the Duke of Wakedia, Lord Dacre of Gitlandia, Sir Galerius Caranius, and Sir Rudomentus Sadielus. The Royal Franconian Government was represented by the Dukes of Guise and Montmorency, General Henri Cleutin, and the Prince of Soubise. Finally, those of the Holy Spamalkan Government were represented by the Dukes of Medina Sidonia and Alba (1707-82; Fernando Alverez de Toledo, future Governor-General of the Durthian Duchies), Lord Felipe Guzman, and the Count of Egmont. Negotiations continued between the two delegations for over a month, and were anxiously watched by the Empress as well as the Imperial Privy Council.
 * February 22-
 * On February 22, 1759, Holy Spamalkan Ambassador Feria finally obtained an audience with Empress Aurelia, who had continued to be absorbed with the work of the Ecclesiastical Commission, the conduct of negotiations with the Royal Franconian Government, and matters of immediate importance within the Imperial Household. Feria now formally presented the marriage proposal of his master, Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I, to the Laurasian Empress. The Ambassador was surprised when Aurelia displayed no excitement or happiness that his master had proposed; instead, the Empress proceeded to have a speech about the virtues of virginity, then veered off into discussing the treaty negotiations with Franconia. She would not reject Feria outright. Although Aurelia was determined not to allow the Spamalkans to have any influence over Laurasian foreign policy (as Philicus had with Didymeia), she also knew that continued friendly relations with Philicus were in her interest. Privately, however, she told the Privy Council that she would not enter into a marriage prejudicial to the Empire's interests; the Lord Almitis should take her before she could conceive that thought.
 * Ultimately, on March 14, the Empress politely, but formally rejected Philicus's marriage offer, in a second audience with Ambassador Feria, this time at the Diplomatic Palace. Declaring that she was nevertheless still committed to a friendly relationship with her former brother-in-law, Aurelia pointed out that her subjects would not support such a marriage at this juncture. Ambassador Feria, who was well aware that the Wyatta Rebellion had broken out because of opposition to his master's union with the Empress's late sister, and who knew that Philicus would actually be relieved by Aurelia's rejection of his proposal, assured the Empress that the alliance between Laurasia and Spamalka would continue, regardless of the fact that the marriage could not proceed. Philicus, when informed by Feria that the proposal was dead, immediately extended a marriage offer to Franconia, as part of the effort to seal the terms of peace with that power. King Hensios, who was delighted by this, accepted, and the two monarchs would conclude the Addenum to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (April 7, 1759), by which Philicus was betrothed to the King's daughter, Elizabeth of Valois.
 * March 6-
 * Empress Aurelia's measures to reverse the religious policies of her sister and predecessor, Didymeia I, and her establishment of the Ecclesiastical Commission to review the situation of the Imperial Almitian Church, did not go entirely unopposed. Instead, one figure now emerged to oppose her innovations: the Metropolitan of the Laurasian Shenandonans and Archbishop of Shenandoah, Arasces Mavaranius (1697-1772). He was one of the most ardent Traditionalist clergymen in the Empire, and one of those who had been suspended by the Empress from carrying out the duties of his office. Mavaranius had been a vigorous supporter of Empress Didymeia's Counter-Reformation policies, had sat on the Court of High Heresies from June 1756 to October 1758, and had been vigilant in enforcing the Heresy and Sodomy Laws within his own jurisdiction. He held the view that the Almitian Church's customs were inviolate and should not be changed on the whims of the monarch; the monarch's role as Pontifex Maximus enjoined them to uphold the forms of the ancient Laurasian religion, not to modify them. Moreover, he believed that the Church had been granted its property by the faithful, not for secular but for spiritual purposes, and that this property had passed straight from the apostles to the clerics.
 * He now took advantage of the Church's tradition of anathematizing individuals at Lent to present his own views over the situation. On March 6, 1759, the Archbishop forwarded to the Holy Synod a formidable denunciation of the whole policy of reform and secularization. He reminded the Synod that Aurelia had promised in her coronation oath to defend the Almitian Church, and hinted at the discrepancy between promise and performance. He decried the restoration of the "Reformist heresies and errors" of the reigns of Antigonus III and Demetrius II, declared that the Church's property and revenues should not be regulated through "establishments", and stated that Arachosians and Dasians retained greater control over their own faiths than Laurasians did over theirs. He declaimed against the suggestion that the Church should do more beyond its spiritual duties; he accepted only that church curriculum be in accordance with prior practice. He was thus claiming the right of the Church both to spiritual and material independence of the state; he stated that the clerics would, if subjugated, become mere servants of the Imperial Laurasian Government, dependent upon their congregations for their well-being.
 * The Archbishop, however, had failed to understand the strength of the forces against him. He had hoped that a direct appeal to the Empress at the Imperial Laurasian Court would convince her of the errors of her policies. Yet it had been the aim of the Imperial Court, since the reign of Antigonus III, to bring the Church more closely under state supervision, to uproot earlier Laurasian traditions, and to reform church theology. All influential segments of the Empire's population supported this policy. The nobility wished to maintain possession of the estates which they had already gained from the Church, and wanted access to more; Reformists believed that the old Church ways were corrupt, heretical, and in contravention to the dictates of the Law of Almitis; and the Imperial Treasury wished to have more direct access to the financial revenues of the Church, which would bolster imperial revenues. The Archbishop did not spare his former colleagues on the Holy Synod, who, in his view, "sat like dumb dogs without barking."
 * Ultimately, on March 13, it was decided by the Synod that his denunciation constituted les majestie and contained incorrect interpretations of the Almitian Scriptures. Empress Aurelia herself was angered, and on March 17, she ordered for Mavaranius's arrest. He was imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. An extensive interrogation then followed, conducted by Chancellor Cecilis, Procurator-General Bagonius, and Procurator-Governor Thorckmortonia of the Holy Synod, along with other notables from the Councils of State and the Imperial Court. Mavaranius did not waver under the pressure, and he made negative comments about the Empress's legitimacy, stating, on March 24, that "Her Majesty was born out of wedlock" and that her mother, "the whore Boleyenia, was the worst whore to have ever lived in the history of these realms." These statements angered the Empress beyond words, and she became determined to make an example of him.
 * April 2-
 * After over a month of negotiations, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis was signed by the delegations of Laurasia, Spamalka, and Franconia on April 2, 1759, thereby bringing an end to the Didymeian War of Franconia. By the terms of this treaty, full diplomatic and economic relations were restored among the associated powers. The Holy Spamalkan Empire gained final recognition, from Franconian King Hensios II, of its hold of the Duchy of Milania (which had now been expanded to include the formerly independent territories of Genoa, Sardinia, Turin, and Savoy), Franche-Comte, the State of Presidi, Naparia, the Sicilian Wayward Colonies, and Luxembourg (including Valduz and the Lichtenstein Colonies). Franconia, on its part, now acquired the Lordships of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, Saluzzo, Rousillon, Nice, and Bar, and the Pale of Calais (which had formerly been an independent principality). All prisoners of war which had been captured during the war were to be returned to their respective states immediately. Spamalkan and Laurasian military units were to evacuate Franconian territory by no later then March 1, 1760; Franconian units, in return, were to withdraw from the Durthian Duchies, Naparia, and Milania by that same date. The Laurasian Empire, moreover, was granted tariff-free status in Brittany, Normandy, Calais, Anjou, and Poitou for a period of two years (to April 2, 1761); obtained an indemnity of €300.1 trillion dataries for its military expenses; and gained final recognition from both Spamalka and Franconia of its acquisition of the Scottrian Galactic Borderlands. Laurasia, however, also affirmed Mariana's title as Queen of Scottria, and agreed to uphold the validity of her union with Dauphin Fransios, as well as the rights of any children which they might have to accede to the thrones of both Scottria and Franconia.
 * The King of Franconia and the Emperor of Spamalka, in return for this, both pledged to "punish and scourge any who shall threaten the title and the rights of Her Imperial Majesty of Laurasia." Finally, Laurasia and Spamalka agreed to abstain from any interference in the affairs of the Germanian Principalities, or in the ongoing Franconian war with Vendragia, and to utilize all diplomatic resources to persuade Pruthia, Vendragia, and Austarlia into peace as soon as possible. The Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis was ratified by Emperor Philicus on April 3; Empress Aurelia on April 6; and King Hensios on April 9. The withdrawal of the Laurasian Empire's military units from the Franconian Royal Dominions, Durthian Duchies, and Italianian Regions proceeded rapidly; by January 1760, all imperial forces in those territories had returned to the Caladarian Galaxy.
 * April 7-
 * On April 7, 1759, the suspended Archbishop of Shenandoah, Arasces Mavaranius, was placed on trial by the Holy Synod. Throughout the proceedings, Mavaranius, permitted no legal counsel of his own (as was the Laurasian custom), denied that he had intentionally committed les majestie, and repeated the arguments which he had made earlier, but the outcome was a foregone conclusion. After two hours of proceedings, he was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to the loss of ecclesiastical rank, dismissal from his see, and banishment to the Monastery of Windowia Photis. He was not to be allowed any writing material or to have any communications with the outside world. Having achieved victory in the Synod, Aurelia now had to impress public opinion on Laurasia Prime, and throughout the Empire, with the rightness of the verdict. At a public ceremony, conducted at the Westphalian Cathedral two days after the trial, Mavaranius, in full robes, in the presence of the Councils of State, the Imperial Court, and other Church dignitaries, was solemnly disgraced.
 * According to tradition, as his ecclesiastical garments were removed one by one, he reproached his fellow clergymen, foretelling disastrous ends with them. Upon his arrival at Windowia Photis, Mavaranius was sentenced to do hard labor in the monastery grounds three days a week. But he was allowed to take his personal servants with him, was given a small stipend, and treated with respect. Nevertheless, he continued to rail against the policies of the Imperial Laurasian Government, made further harsh and questionable comments about Aurelia's legitimacy and her rights to the throne, and openly espoused the claims of Queen Mariana of Scottria. Eventually, Empress Aurelia grew tired of his antics, and in December 1763, ordered for Mavaranius to be deprived of all his garments and translated to the Secret Prison of Ipsus V, where his guards would not speak Laurasian and would not know his real identity. Over time, the conditions under which he was held deteriorated considerably, and he died on February 28, 1772, aged seventy-four.
 * May 21-
 * The incident surrounding the former Archbishop of Shenandoah, Arasces Mavaranius, had influenced the Ecclesiastical Reform Commission greatly, and had also encouraged Empress Aurelia to implement further measures relating to the Imperial Almitian Church. On May 21, 1759, the Commission finally completed its work, and presented its Final Report on the Status and Condition of the Church, to the Empress, in an audience at the Great Chamber of the Quencilvanian Palace. In its report, the Commission recommended that the Book of Common Prayer be restored; the Almitian Mass adjusted in accordance with Reformist rites and procedures; the Heresy and Sodomy Laws repealed; the Court of High Heresies abolished; and vestments, ornaments, and chalices retained in their Traditionalist form. It also provided an extensive schedule listing all of the Almitian Church's properties, revenues, tithes, duties, and economic investments; recommendations as to how the Church's financial administration and holdings should be reformed; and a proposal for the reestablishment of the Commission of Economy. Moreover, the Commission sought for a change in the Church's hierarchy, and for the abolition of all Metropolitanites and Cardinalships; these were to be replaced by Lay Councilorships, with each Lay Councilor representing one of the jurisdictions previously covered by the Metropolitans and Cardinals. The Empress agreed with most of these recommendations, and now commanded the Synod and the Imperial Ministry of the Chancellory to draft the final statute, in accordance with the Final Report.
 * On May 21, 1759, the very comprehensive and exhaustive Imperial Statute for the Governance and Uniformity of the Almitian Church of the Laurasian Empire, the first of Aurelia the Great's major reform measures, was officially promulgated, delivered to all imperial judicial, administrative, military, and ecclesiastical authorities, and announced from the Imperial Laurasian Court. In this one Statute was comprised all of the provisions for the reform and formal reorganization of the Imperial Almitian Church. By its terms, the 1752 version of the Book of Common Prayer, with the exception of the Ordinal (considered "extreme" by the Empress and Chancellor Cecilis), was formally reinstated as the primary liturgy document of Almitian services. Vestments, ornaments, chalices, and other decorations in Almitian edifices were to retain their Traditionalist form. The Almitian Mass, however, was now to be in accord with the procedures and customs laid down in the Book of Common Prayer. Traditionalist Laurasians were guaranteed the right of private worship in their own residences and businesses, though all professing to the Almitian faith were required to attend official Church services from time to time. The hated Heresy and Sodomy Laws were repealed for the last time. All who had been condemned and imprisoned, fined, exiled, or executed under the terms of the Laws, during the reign of Didymeia, were exonerated of all charges and regained any lost properties or honors. The Court of High Heresies was abolished, and the powers of the ecclesiastical court system were returned to the limits that had been established by Antigonus III. The monarch's restored position as Pontifex Maximus was confirmed, and all clergymen were again enjoined to swear to oaths of supremacy and to succession.
 * The Church's financial and administrative organization was also altered. As had been suggested in the Final Report, all Metropolitanites and Cardinalships were abolished. Instead, each of the Empire's regions was now to be represented by a Lay Councilor, appointed and dismissed as before, by the sovereign. These councilors were not to have the authority to override the directives of lower ecclesiastical authorities, and would enjoy lower precedence than the Chief Procurator, General Councilors, and the clerics of the Almitian Church. Moreover, the Imperial Commission of Economy, as it had been organized under Antigonus III, was also restored. The Commission gained control of all the revenues generated by the Church's properties and institutions. It was to be comprised of twelve members, including both laymen and clergymen; the Chair of the Commission was to be a member of the Holy Synod, and under the Empress's direct supervision. The Commission was now charged with providing for the salaries and expenses of all members of the Church; of monitoring church revenues, annuities, and benefits in the future; and of supervising the imposition of state taxes, requisitions, and levies upon the Church. The 100,000 Bishoprics and 10,000 Archbishoprics of the Laurasian Empire were divided into three categories and endowed with their respective establishments. The first comprised the sees of Laurasia Prime and the Laurasia Prime Purse Region, each of which was to receive a annual income of €45.5 billion dataries per year. The second group, to be comprised of all the dioceses within the Empire outside of the Purse Region, received individual allotments of €35.5 billion dataries per year. Those of the third group, comprising all dioceses beyond the Empire's territory, were to receive allotments of €15 billion dataries per year, in addition to whatever amount they received from the government of the realm in which they operated. Some sees benefited from the more uniform allocation of resources, such as those of Hunt Major, Hunt Minor, Samarkand, and Samantha, all of which saw a 10% rise in their overall incomes.
 * Monasteries, convents, abbacies, and chantries were divided into three categories. Over 50,000 were closed entirely by the Statute, due to their lack of resources. Four received special treatment: the great St. Katherine's Monastery of Laurasia Prime received €15 billion dataries per year, the same as the extra-galactic dioceses; the Monasteries of Windowia Photis and Jenny received €10 billion dataries per year each; and the Peschenga Monastery on Sarah received €5 billion dataries per year. The monasteries and convents of the first class received €3 billion dataries per year; the second €1.5 billion dataries per year; and the third, €500 million dataries per year. Moreover, all Lay Councilors, Assessors, and other officials of the Synod received salaries based on rank, tenure, and precedence, ranging from €25 million to €485 million dataries per year. The Chief Procurator received a annual salary of €10.7 billion dataries per year, and a non-taxable annuity of €1.5 billion dataries per year. All church tithes, offerings, and dues were abolished, and in 1761, the tributum peona would be restored. The enactment of the Statute seemed a sensible compromise to many in the Imperial Government, but nevertheless, there were still segments of the Laurasian population opposed. (More information on future Almitian reforms is provided at the Reforms in the Reign of Aurelia the Great page).
 * May 29-
 * Empress Aurelia's rejection of the marriage proposal of her former brother-in-law, Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I, had opened the way for the Empress of Austarlia, Mar'va Tarvania, to present her own candidate for her younger Laurasian counterpart's hand. She herself was engaged still in the vigorous and bitter Seven Year's War against the Autocratic Pruthian Empire (as has been described), and entertained a slight hope that a marriage could inveigle the Empress of Laurasia into re-joining the war on the side of Austarlia and Franconia, and against Pruthia. Consequently, she resolved to press forward, and decided that her nephew, Archduke Char'vak of Inner Austarlia (1740-90), would be that candidate. From the Laurasian point of view, the suit of the Austarlian Archduke did have much to recommend it. Since he was the Empress's nephew, he had a very distant possibility of inheriting the Austarlian Crown, bar some great disaster. Therefore, unlike Philicus, his overseas commitments would be minimal. Because he would be permanently based in the Empire, he would be more likely to be concerned about its well-being. Char'vak was an Austarlian Catholic, but it was not perceived by the Imperial Laurasian Government that his religion would seriously complicate matters. The Laurasians failed to understand that the Archduke was firmly attached to his religion, and that he would not adhere to the Laurasian custom of a foreign consort converting to Almitism.
 * It was in May 1759 that the new Austarlian Ambassador, Baron Caspar Breuner (1718-91), who had been appointed by Mar'va Tarvania two months earlier, made his arrival at the Imperial Court of Laurasia Prime. On May 23, he had his first formal audience with the Empress, and formally presented the Archduke as a potential husband for her. Aurelia's reaction was non-committal: she warned Breuner that she had never yet felt any inclination to marry, but she did not rule out a change of heart, "for she was Laurasian, and not insensible to emotion and impulse." Much heartened by his reception, Breuner sent a communique back to Vienna, telling the Archduke that he would only have to wait patiently for Aurelia's answer, and that the magnificence and wealth of her Empire convinced him that it was worth the wait. Nevertheless, the Ambassador, in two further meetings with the Empress (June 1759), sought to gain a clearer understanding of her views. Aurelia flattered him and exercised her charm to devastating effect, but would tell him nothing further about her intentions. Breuner, however, was worried about the other candidates for the Empress's hand. Vendragian Prince Ernag of Denmarica (1730-77), in May 1759, communicated a formal proposal of marriage to the Empress of Laurasia through Charnag Carolman, 4th Duke of Heligoland (1694-1775), the Confederacy's Ambassador to the Empire from 1758 to 1762.
 * The Empress, however, rejected this proposal. Envoys from the Elector of Bavaria, the Duke of Mecklenburg, and the Duke of Siena also attempted to intrigue on behalf of their masters; no one took them seriously, and the Empress delayed negotiations with them, until they lapsed in December 1759. Finally, besides Lord Antiochus Dudley, there were two other men who intrigued for the Empress's hand: the Earl of Americana and Sir Willanius Pickerania (1716-75). Americana, who was now forty-seven years old, was a widower with married daughters and had no good looks, trim physique, or courtly manners to commend him. He was a "flighty man of no ability, rather silly and loutish", who had too much of an opinion about his chances with Aurelia. He was one of the wealthiest noblemen in the Empire, leasing Nonsuchia Palace on Americana, and had a family lineage which extended back to the First Laurasian Period. Neither of these were sufficient compensation for his boorish stupidity. Nor did Aurelia take his courtship seriously; she thought him a buffoon, although she hid it well and dealt with him as she did her other suitors. The other candidate for Aurelia's hand was Sir Willanius Pickerania, who was four years the Earl's junior and in the same month of Breuner's arrival, had himself returned from a diplomatic mission to the Durthian Duchies. He had graduated from the Cadet Corps in 1737 and then served in the Third Laurasian-Marasharite War, the Rasdallan War, and the Fourth Franconian War, distinguishing himself in each of these successive military conflicts, and obtaining the rank of Colonel by 1747.
 * In 1750, he became a Knight of the Imperial Household; four years later, however, he was implicated in the Wyatta Rebellion and forced to flee to the Galactic Borderlands for a time. Empress Didymeia had later taken him back in to favor, and used him on diplomatic missions to Durthia, Franconia, and Spamalka. Pickerania, upon his return to the Court, had been granted a private audience by Empress Aurelia, which was an extraordinary honor. Thus, it was inevitable that speculation would arise associating the two. He was "tall of stature, handsome", muscular and gallant, and although he had attracted numerous women with his talents, he had never married. One affair did produce a bastard daughter, Hestia (1741-97), who he was to name his heiress. He, like Americana, was one of the wealthiest individuals in the Empire, owning St. Andrews House in Christiania and various other pieces of prime real estate on Laurasia Prime, Oxia Vixius, Ralina Vixius, and Clackimaris. He had no claim to noble ancestry, but he was popular at the Court and on Laurasia Prime, and it was his hope that his personal attractions would induce the Empress to marry him. Sir Willanius began spending extravagantly to attract the Empress's attention. He gave himself airs and graces, spent large sums on sumptuous clothes, and entertained on a grand scale. Americana also conducted himself in such a manner, handing out vast bribes, of up to €100,000 apiece, to many of the Empress's ladies and servants. In July 1759, Pickerania and Americana had a confrontation at the Great Hall of the Quencilvanian Palace, shouting at each other and almost coming to blows. Ultimately, however, both would be eclipsed by Lord Antiochus Dudley, and by January 1760, their attempts to woo the Empress would be at an end.
 * As for the Austarlian suit, the Empress, on June 5, 1759, would dispose of it by composing a skillful communique to Empress Mar'va Tarvania, with the assistance of Chancellor Cecilis and her former tutor, Rogerius Aschamius. She admitted that marriage to him would have enhanced her prestige in the eyes of the courts of the Great Amulak, and thanked the Austarlian Empress for her concern for her welfare, but explained that "When we reflect upon the question of this marriage and eagerly ask our heart, we find that we have no wish to give up solitude and our single life, but prefer with Almitis's help to abide therein of our free determination." The following day, Aurelia conferred the Order of the Imperial Garter upon Lord Dudley, granted him €500 million dataries in cash, and awarded him estates on Caladaria, Darcia, Clackimaris, and Falloria Minor. Breuner would remain at the Imperial Court until December 8, 1759. During that time, he would continue to be questioned by the Empress about the Archduke, and he would, on the orders of Mar'va Tarvania, conduct a secret inquiry into Aurelia's affairs, learning from her household about her personal habits and disproving rumors that she was loose with her sexual conduct.
 * July 10-
 * In the meantime, events were taking place in the Great Amulak Spiral which would have a strong effect upon the Imperial Laurasian Court. On June 30, 1759, at the Place des Vosges Arena, located adjacent to the Hotel des Tournelles, during a match to celebrate the conclusion of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, and to celebrate his daughter's marriage with Emperor Philicus, King Hensios II of Franconia was wounded in the eye by a fragment from the splintered lance of Gabriel, Seigneur de Lorges (1730-74), captain of the King's Scottrian Guard. During the course of the next several days, the King lay in great agony at the Tuileres Palace. Despite the efforts of his chief physician, Dr. Ambroise Pare (1710-90), one of the most renowned medical professionals of extra-galactic civilization, Hensios's condition failed rapidly. On July 10, 1759, he died, aged only forty, and after having reigned over Franconia for twelve years. The news of Hensios's death, in such an unfortunate and grisly accident, spread like wildfire throughout the Franconian Dominions and to the courts of foreign powers. Condolences arrived from all of the monarchs of extra-galactic civilization, including Franconia's enemies, King Georg II of Vendragia and Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia. Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Court, then at the Palace of Placenta on Darcia, were greatly surprised, and much saddened, by the death of Hensios.
 * He was now succeeded as King of Franconia by his fifteen-year old son, who became Franjak II of Franconia. His wife, Queen Mariana of Scottria, thereby became Queen Consort of Franconia. Although technically, according to Franconian law, the new King was an adult, and therefore did not need a regent, his youth, inexperience, and fragile health compelled him to delegate power to his wife's uncles from the noble House of Guise: Franjak, Duke of Guise and Charman, Autarch of Lorraine (1724-74). They, along with his mother, Queen Dowager Catharina d'Medici, were distinctly hostile to the Empress of Laurasia. The Duke of Guise, however, sought to vigorously continue the Franconian war effort against Vendragia and Pruthia, and understood that a renewed war with the Empire at this juncture would undermine that effort. It would also jeopardize the marriage pact with Spamalka. Consequently, Guise decided to undertake other means to harm the Imperial Laurasian Government: namely, through encouraging anti-Laurasian sentiments in the realms of his niece Queen Mariana, Scottria. As for the late Hensios II, he was buried in the St. Denis Basilica on Parri. His son was formally crowned King of Franconia on September 21, 1759, at Rheims.
 * July 12-On July 12, 1759, several of the most prominent Scottrian nobles, including the Earls of Glencairn, Morton (1716-81; Jamsius Douglain, future Regent of Scottria), and Argyll (1732-73; Archilain Campbell), Lord Collin Campbell of Argyll (1741-84; brother of the Earl), and Lord John Erskine of Dun (1709-91), signed the Covenant of Glencairn. These nobles were strongly opposed to Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise, who had been Regent of Scottria by this point for five years. Mariana, seeking to maintain her authority and to quell resistance to the Royal Scottrian Government, had violated the terms of the Treaties of Boulougone and Northam, through summoning Franconian mercenaries, advisers, and material to the Scottrian Homeland Territories. She had begun doing this in January 1759, concerned by the constant outbreaks of anti-governmental dissent in such star systems as Falaside, Glasgow, Leith, Dumbaline, Dumbarton, and Stirling. The Covenant of Glencairn, therefore, committed its signatories to resist the Regent with "all of their ability", and to ensure the restoration of a "native" Scottrian regime to power. They wished for the Franconian mercenaries to be removed, and for Mariana to resign her position as Regent in favor of a Scottrian nobleman. Queen Dowager Mariana, who was outraged by this Covenant, declared the Lords of the Congregation (as they formally called themselves), outlaws on July 15, and issued orders through the Scottrian Estates for the confiscation of all estates, titles, and honors possessed by the Lords. Moreover, she sent to Franconia for additional reinforcements, increased the recruit levy from the Royal Estates, and imposed new taxes on the Edianian Congregations.
 * July 17-On July 17, 1759, Empress Aurelia embarked on the first official progress of her reign, which continued for the next two months. This progress took the Empress to Caladaria, Darcia, Constantine I, Aroest, Kelby, Mercedes, Andriana, Chesham's Star, Mariana Prime, and other worlds in the Laurasia Prime Purse Region. The Empress's progresses would eventually range over the entire territory of the Laurasian Empire. She would eventually become the first Laurasian sovereign to visit the Galactic Barrier, as well as the first to visit both the Angelina Spiral and the Great Tesmanian Cloud. This particular progress, however, was marked by the further ascendancy at the Imperial Laurasian Court of Lord Antiochus Dudley, Aurelia's chief favorite and one of many who hoped to win her hand in marriage. Lord Antiochus, however, had already become unpopular with the leading figures of the Empress's court. His hypocrisy, his willingness to betray his friends for his own ends, his transparent ambition, and his haughtiness towards others repelled many. It was widely known that if Aurelia wed any other suitor besides Dudley, his position would be overthrown. And it was exactly that that his enemies, particularly Chancellor Cecilis (who strongly distrusted Dudley) worked towards. Even Baroness Ashleius, the Empress's chief lady-in-waiting and former governess, feared Dudley and expressed her doubts about the man to her imperial mistress. The Duke of Norfolkius was an implacable enemy of Dudley. He involved himself in conspiracies against Dudley's person and was frustrated that Dudley's influence denied him the position in the Imperial Laurasian Government to which he, as head of one of the most venerable noble families in the Empire, felt himself entitled.
 * July 22-
 * In the meantime, tensions continued to build against Queen Dowager Mariana and her regime. On July 22, 1759, Lord Jamsius Stewart (1731-70), Prior of St. Andrews, defected to the Lords of the Congregation at Glencairn. He was the most notable of the many illegitimate children of King Jamsius V, having been born on August 10, 1731, at Lochleven. His mother was Lady Margaret Erskine (1711-72), who was King Jamsius's most favored mistress, the daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erksine (1689-1755), and wife of Sir Robert Douglain of Lochleven (1707-47), a Scottrian gentleman and military officer who was killed in the Battle of Cleughia. Young Jamsius, who had been educated by private tutors and granted extensive estates by his father at Tantallon and Fife from his earliest years, had served as Prior of St. Andrew's since 1738. As the half-sister of Queen Mariana, Lord Stewart believed that he was entitled to a position of prominence in the Royal Scottrian Government, and viewed the Regent as an obstacle to this. Stewart's defection further bolstered the strength of the Congregations.
 * They had now assembled military units and supplies at their strongholds on Dunbar, Glencairn, Branxholme, Haddington, and Glasgow, determined to resist the Regent's forces, in particular her Franconian mercenaries. Mariana, on her part, had taken additional steps in order to shore up her position, and she had placed the Franconian Expeditionary Corps (as the mercenary force had been designated), under the command of the Earl of Arran and of General Cleutin, who had arrived from the Great Amulak Spiral in April 1759, following the conclusion of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. On July 27, rebel forces began their advance; Stewart and the Earl of Glencairn led them in seizing the outposts of McAleese, Cleese, and Vergesse. Rebel units also secured the approaches to Haddington, and drove government forces from Solway, Falaside, and Broughty. Regent Mariana now commanded Arran to confront rebel forces at Albright, in an effort to obstruct any additional advances. It was on August 14, 1759, that the Battle of Albright transpired. Arran's forces enjoyed a numerical superiority over their rivals, which was particularly marked by the number of destroyers and dreadnoughts that they deployed. Glencairn, however, possessed a superior knowledge of the space in the immediate vicinity of the Albright star system, and had a strong grassroots intelligence network. Consequently, he was able to take advantage of this to disorient and disrupt the former Regent's units. Scottrian warships, striking from various vectors along the edges of the system, methodically separated the Franconian formations from the Regent's chief squadrons. The Battle of Albright ultimately ended in a decisive victory for the Lords of the Congregation; Arran was forced to retreat. By August 17, Albemaine, Douglass, and Derith, having revolted against their governmental garrisons, had defected to the Lords of the Congregation.
 * August 10-In an official imperial proclamation from Nonsuchia Palace on Americana, on August 10, 1759, Empress Aurelia announced her intentions to "preserve the unity of these realms and of this empire, by a process of reform and reorganization of the State's resources, so that this civilization and Empire may reside in peace and tranquility." Furthermore, she declared, "Not only all that we have or may have, but also our life itself, we have devoted to our dear empire. We value nothing on our own account. We serve not ourself. But we labor with all pains, with all diligence and care for the glory and happiness of our people." And indeed, the Empress sought to live up to these words. Many of her ministers, and at the Imperial Court, were astounded by the Empress's extraordinary capacity and ability to work. She attended more meetings of the Privy Council and Governing Senate than any of her predecessors; held constant consultations with her ministers and other government officials; and involved herself directly with the drafting and promulgation of laws and regulations. She dealt with foreign ambassadors directly; gave orders to her many subordinates in a dictatorial, firm, but concerned manner; and neglected nothing. These qualities were among the traits which were to endear this Empress to her subjects.
 * August 17-
 * On August 17, 1759, Haxonian Doge Lorenzo Pruili died at the Doge's Palace on Haxonia Prime. He was seventy years old at the time of his death. Doge Pruili had adhered to the policy of his immediate predecessors to avoid involvement in the conflicts of the Germanian Principalities. And indeed, that conflict had continued in elevated form throughout 1759. 1759, in fact, witnessed a series of reverses for the Autocratic Pruthian Empire, while the Vendragian Confederacy had a run of successes in the Colonial Territories. The early months of the year were marked by blows and counter-blows in Baden, Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Bayreuth, Ansbach, and Brandenburg between the Pruthians on the one hand, and the Austarlians (with their Franconian allies), on the other. The Battle of Kay (July 23, 1759), was particularly devastating for the Pruthians. Pruthian General Count Carl Heinrich von Vedel (1712-82) suffered serious losses against his Franconian and Austarlian adversaries under General Count Peter de Saltkye (1698-1772). In spite of the Battle of Minden (August 1, 1759), by which the Hanoverians and Vendragians successfully blunted Franconian moves into Oldenburg and Jutland, Austarlian Marshal von Daun was able to capture an entire Pruthian corps in the Battle of Maxen (November 13, 1759). This was, however, proceeded by the devastating Battle of Kunersdorf (August 12, 1759), in which Daun and Saltkye combined together to utterly destroy Pru'a's forces; the Pruthian Emperor lost more than two-thirds of his initial forces in that confrontation, and felt at one point that the war was lost. Indeed, he barely evaded capture in the battle. Potsdam, Odenburg, Frankfurt, and Mainz all fell into Austarlian-Franconian hands.
 * By the end of 1759, Breslau and Oslau had also been overrun by the Austarlians, and virtually all of East Pruthia, Silania, and the Clevian Duchies was occupied by coalition forces. The Pruthians had also been expelled from East Frisia and Lepizig in Saxony. As for the Vendragians, they won the Battles of Lagos (August 19) and Quiebron (November 13), utterly destroying the opposing Franconian forces. Niagara and Carillon had already fallen into Vendragian hands in July 1758; September 1759 witnessed the fall of Quebec and Montreal to the Vendragians under General Jamarag Wolfar (1727-59). In January 1760, the Iroquois and the Seven Nations of Franconian Canada were forced to make peace with the Vendragians. Fort Ticonderoga, the Ohio Territories, and Franconian Guadeloupe also fell into Vendragian hands by October 1759. The Seven Year's War therefore dragged on; Empress Aurelia of Laurasia, on her part, adhered to her father's old policy of scrupulously avoiding involvement in the conflicts of Pruthia and Austarlia. As for Haxonia, Doge Pruili was now succeeded by his elder brother, seventy-three year old Girolamo Pruili (born in 1686), who had served as the Procurator of San Marino and as the head of Pruili Metalworks, one of the most powerful corporations in the Great Amulak Spiral and the Pruili family business. The elder Pruili was crowned as Doge on September 2, 1759.
 * September 1-
 * On August 22, 1759, Muir and Fife were conquered by the forces of Glencairn; from there the focus sifted to Misseldon, which was besieged beginning on September 21. The Lords of the Congregation, whose forces had strengthened considerably with their recent triumphs over the Regent's government, were able to quickly overwhelm Misseldon's defenses and to occupy the stronghold. With Misseldon now in the hands of the rebels, the way to Ediania was open. Many on Ediania were actively stirring in support of the Lords, as the unpopularity of the Regent and her Franconian mercenaries had increased further. On September 5, Regent Mariana, on the advice of the Earl of Arran, decided to retreat from Ediania with her household and personal forces. The garrison of Ediania subsequently admitted the Lords of the Congregation to the planetary surface. Argyll and Lord Stewart, in command of the forces that now proceeded onto the capital world, were received with great acclaim by its population, and hailed as "liberators" from foreign rule. Mariana and her household now retired to Dunbar, and the Regent asserted that she would not surrender her position. Back in the Laurasian Empire, Empress Aurelia and her Imperial Privy Council watched developments in Scottria closely. Aurelia had already developed the idea of intervening in Scottria on behalf of the Lords of the Congregation; such an intervention, the Empress reasoned, would allow for Laurasian, instead of Franconian, influence to prevail in that kingdom. Further successes by the Congregation would spur her decision. On September 11, the Earl of Glencairn humiliated governmental forces in the Battle of Dundee, and by September 16, had secured control of Dundee, Basinger, and Morvay.
 * On September 21, Leith was reinforced by Franconian mercenaries under Charman de Vallier, Duke of Chattlerault (1717-62), who had arrived from the Great Amulak Spiral two days prior and now assumed command of the Expeditionary Corps from General Cleutin. The reinforcement of Leith, and the announcement by King Franjak of Franconia that he would "with all the resources of my realm maintain the position of my wife's mother," moved the Lords of the Congregation towards considering negotiations with the Regent's government. The Earl of Arran, who was himself beginning to become distanced from the Regent, had secretly opened a channel of communication with the Lords, and was assuring them that their terms would be accepted. The offer for negotiation was made by the Lords on September 25. Mariana, advised by Arran and Chattlerault to consider the rebel entreaties, and herself wishing to return to Ediania in due course, decided to accept the offer for negotiations. On September 28, the Earls of Argyll and Glencairn, Lord Jamsius Stewart, and the other Lords of the Congregation assembled at the Gateway of Leith, holding a conference with Arran, Chattlerault, General Cleutin, and the Earl of Huntly, who had briefly emerged from retirement to again advise the Royal Scottrian Government. They agreed to abide peacefully with the government of the Queen-Regent, but declared that they would withdraw their support for her if she violated any of the conditions that were to now be concluded. The formal conference commenced the following day and lasted for several days.
 * It was on October 12, 1759, that the Leith Articles were signed by the delegations of the Royal Scottrian Government and the Lords of the Congregation, temporarily ending their rebellion against the Regent. Argyll, Glencairn, and Lord Stewart signed on behalf of the Lords of the Congregation, while General Cleutin, the Earl of Huntly, and the Duke of Chattlerault signed on behalf of the Queen-Regent. By the terms of the articles, the Lords of the Congregation agreed to restore all strongholds which they had seized, including Ediania, to the Regent's authority; they promised to remain loyal to Queen Mariana, her husband, King Franjak of Franconia, and to the Regent; and to refrain from molesting the properties of any gentleman in the realm who also supported the Royal Scottrian Government. The Regent, on her part, promised to respect the rights of the Lords; to summon no more Franconian mercenaries; and to consult the Lords on all matters of government. The Lords would depart from Ediania five days later and retire to Stirling, which they would be allowed to retain as a stronghold, as surety for the Articles. However, on November 7, Arran, revealing his change in allegiance, defected to the Lords of the Congregation at Stirling. Queen-Regent Mariana, declaring that the Scottrian realms were "infested with heinous traitors", announced that any who defected to the cause of the Lords of the Congregation, from this point onwards, would be considered "traitors" and "enemies to the authority of this government." The Lords of the Congregation, alarmed by the Queen-Regent's proclamation, and viewing it as a violation of the Leith Articles, began making preparations to rearm their forces and to renew the rebellion.
 * November 21-On November 20, 1759, Lady Franconia Brandeis, Dowager Duchess of Sufforia, daughter of Grand Princess Octavia Craterles, and cousin of Empress Aurelia, died in Christiania, Laurasia Prime, at the age of only forty-two. Lady Franconia had lived in obscurity following the execution of her husband, eldest daughter, and son-in-law in February 1754. On March 1, 1755, she had married Sir Andronicus Stokia (1719-86), a former Gentleman of the Imperial Privy Chamber who had become her Master of Vehicles. This marriage became the subject of gossip at the Imperial Laurasian Court, due to the great discrepancy in status and prestige between the two. Any children which they had would, under the Third Statute of Succession and Antigonus III's will, be considered ineligible to accede to the throne because of this. This ultimately proved to be of no concern, for the couple did not have any children, in spite of all of their efforts. Shortly after her accession to the throne, Empress Aurelia had restored the title of Dowager Duchess to Lady Franconia, which had been stripped from her upon her husband's execution. She had also been awarded an imperial pension and properties in the Laurasia Prime Purse Region. Franconia would be, on the Empress's orders, honored with a state funeral at the Westphalian Cathedral on December 4. As for her husband, Sir Stokia, he would remarry, to Lady Anna Thorckmortonia (1719-95), widow of Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, in September 1772. They too, would have no children (Stokia's infertility would be formally diagnosed only after his death). Stokia focused his time and efforts on the development of his own estates and business enterprises, becoming one of the investors of the colonies of Tetrault and Lenoria. He died on November 30, 1786, at Brenda, aged 67. Lady Anna would live on until her death on January 15, 1795, aged 75, at Samarkand.
 * December 5-
 * On December 5, 1759, the Lords of the Congregation, asserting that Queen-Regent Mariana of Guise was in violation of the Leith Articles, announced that Mariana had forfeited her regency and that therefore, the charge of the Royal Scottrian Government was now placed in their hands. Mariana, when she received word of this proclamation, renewed her earlier declaration of rebellion against the Lords, renounced the Leith Articles, and ordered the Scottrian Estates to place all governmental authorities, nobles, and agencies in Scottria on high alert. Moreover, Mariana sent another request to the Royal Government, through the agency of the Duke of Chattlerault, for the provision of 1.2 million Royal Franconian Army personnel and a fleet of 200 vessels of the Royal Franconian Navy, to reinforce the Franconian Expeditionary Corps and to be deployed against the Lords. Her request was approved by her brother, the Duke of Guise, and the Franconian Conseil royal on December 9. Three days later, the Battle of Pittendrich, fought between the opposing forces of Chattlerault and Arran, resulted in a decisive victory for the former. Arran was forced to abandon Pittendrich, which had served as a supply outpost for Congregational forces. During the next three days, the Queen-Regent's forces secured possession of Dunbar, Glasgow, and Linlithgow. Arran and Glencairn, who knew that the arrival of the Franconian reinforcements would tip the balance in Mariana's favor, now began seriously contemplating a request for assistance to the Imperial Laurasian Government.
 * They were finally pushed to make that decision by the Battle of Morton (December 22, 1759), in which 150,000 Congregational troops died at the hands of governmental forces, and 45 rebel transports fell into the possession of the Duke of Chattlerault. Morton itself, which had long been sympathetic to rebel aims, and had served as an intelligence outpost for the Congregation, was sacked on Chattlerault's orders, and deprived of its defenses. The Lords of the Congregation now formally made their appeal for assistance to the Laurasian Empire. In a communique of December 24, which was drafted by Lord Stewart and the Earl of Argyll, they requested that the Empire's "most gracious and most worthy sovereign", Empress Aurelia, "send them succor to halt the evil conspiracies and intentions of the Queen Dowager of Scottria, who seeks to impose the influence of the vile Franconians in our realms, to overthrow the religion of our ancestors, and to inflict harm upon the Scottrian peoples." They sought for the Empress of Laurasia to provide them with an expeditionary force, composed of units from both branches of the Imperial Laurasian Military, and under the command of a high-ranking Laurasian military officer. They also wished for her to prevent additional Franconian reinforcements from reaching Scottria. In exchange, they were willing to reconfirm the Treaties of Boulougone and Northam; to establish a formal diplomatic alliance with the Empire; and to recognize Aurelia as their protector, while Queen Mariana remained in residence at Parri. The Empress, who was pleased by this request, nevertheless discussed it with Chancellor Cecilis and the Imperial Privy Council for the next two days.
 * December 19-
 * In the months following the enactment of the Statute of Uniformity and Governance of the Almitian Church, the Empress had focused her efforts on upon its enforcement, and in particular, upon filling vacant dioceses and replacing those incumbents who disagreed with the Statute's provisions. The decree of May 30, 1759 established a commission to administer the oaths of supremacy and succession, as proscribed by the Statute, to the clergy. Aurelia hoped that many of those clerics who remained suspended, especially the more moderate ones, would yield. She was, however, disappointed in this hope, for most of them did not wish to debase themselves by subscribing to the conversion from Traditionalism back to Reformism. In August 1759, an ecclesiastical visitation began, covering the entire Empire. Visitors traveled to every province and diocese, bringing with them injunctions that regulated every aspect of clerical procedure and discipline, and requiring all clergymen to attest under oath their support of the Statute. Of the nearly two hundred million local clergymen in the Empire, just over 30,000 would be deprived of their offices and rank for refusing to take the oath. The willingness of many to conform meant that most of the local hierarchy remained intact. Aurelia however, was still confronted with the task of replacing the senior hierarchy.
 * The Empress found her new archbishops and bishops among the exiles of her sister's reign, among her own religious compatriots, and among the most distinguished theological figures in the Empire's educational system with known Reformist leanings. Virtually all of her appointees were moderates, and all sought to avoid any resumption of the Didymeian Persecutions. Though some disagreed with the retention of Traditionalist decorations and vestments, and had certain issues with the Almitian Mass and the Book of Common Prayer, they were all united in loyalty to the Empress, to the Empire, and to the Church. Between September 1759 and May 1761 more than 75,000 Bishoprics and 8,000 Archbishoprics would be filled by the Empress, Chancellor Cecilis, and the Imperial Privy Council. The most important of these appointments, was that of the Chief Procuratorate.
 * On December 19, 1759, Empress Aurelia finally appointed Amynstas Parsius as her first Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod. He thereby replaced the deceased Reginaldius Polsius, more than a year after his predecessor's death. It is now expedient to provide some background information about Parsius, who has already been mentioned in this timeline. Following the death of his father, Willanius Parsius, in 1716, his mother, Aedila, had remarried to Demetrius Bakeria (1679-1738), who had a substantial influence upon his stepson. Bakeria was a linguistics instructor at the University of Darcia, but he also possessed interests in theology, forensics, philosophy, sociology, and psychology. It was with his encouragement, and his oversight, that the young Parsius excelled academically. In 1719, the family moved to Oxia Vixius; there, Parsius attended St. Franklin's High School, rising to become valedictorian of his class. He became the Captain of the School Theological Team, Vice-President of the Student Faculty, and a director of the forensics, jurisprudence, and service clubs. Following his graduation in 1722, Parsius won a full-ride academic scholarship to attend the St. Peter and Paul Ecclesiastical Academy; there, he became an honoree of the Dean's List, Treasurer of the Student Government, and, in the year before his graduation, student secretary to the Dean of the Theology Faculty, Menander Alatias, Archbishop of Deborah (1664-1733).
 * In 1725, Parsius graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology; in April 1727, he formally entered the service of the Almitian Church and was ordained a Deacon. Two months later, he became a priest. In September 1727, he was elected a fellow of Corpus Christi College on Vetta, and in 1728, began pursuing his M.A. in Theology (which he would be awarded in 1732). Parsius came to the attention of Chancellor and Cardinal Thomasius Wolesius, who in June 1729 named him to the Conference of Almitian Fellows on Constantine I. Parsius, however, quickly became enamored by the teachings of Lutheranius; in 1731, he moved to Laurasia Prime, became Chief Pastor of St. Catherine's Cathedral in Constantinople, and attracted the attention of Anna Boleyenia. When she became Empress Consort two years later, Anna made Parsius her personal chaplain. With her support, Parsius became Dean of the Secular Canons of Wroona in May 1735. In May 1736, the doomed Empress Consort commended her daughter Aurelia to the care of Parsius; he was to relate this commission to his charge many years later, when she was Empress.
 * In July 1737, Emperor Antigonus named him Imperial Chaplain of the Quencilvanian Palace. In 1738, Parsius earned his PhD in Comparative Theology and Divinity from the Peter and Paul Ecclesiastical Academy of Laurasia Prime. In 1741, he became Prebend of St. Ely's Cathedral in Mendelevium. In 1744, he was elected master of Corpus Christi College, and in 1745, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxia Vixius. In June 1747, soon after Antigonus's death, Parsius took advantage of the new policies permitting for clerical marriage, and he wed Lady Margarina Harlentia (1718-87), daughter of Sir Antiochus Harlentia (1693-1771), one of the most prominent landowners on Taurasia. His wife, renowned for her intellectual capabilities (she was fluent in seven languages), and for her beauty, proved to be a loyal and doting companion, although they never had children. Parsius continued to advance during Emperor Demetrius's reign, and in 1752, became Dean of Licantoria House on Abraham. In January 1753, the Duke of Northumberlais, of whom Parsius was a close associate, elevated him to become Chancellor of the University of Oxia Vixius, and Prior of Corpus Christi Monastery. Just six months later, however, his fortunes came crashing down. On July 28, 1753, Empress Didymeia stripped Parsius of all of his titles and benefices and banished him from Laurasia Prime. Unlike many other Reformists, however, Parsius did not flee from the Empire, and he kept his activities beyond the scrutiny of the authorities. Empress Aurelia had restored him to all of his positions soon after her accession to the throne, and now, he was given the ultimate reward. Parsius, still enjoined by his oath of fidelity to the Empress, dating back to 1736, proved a loyal and effective Chief Procurator. He would serve until his death in May 1775.
 * December 26-Empress Aurelia, after extensive consultations with the Privy Council and other prominent notables at the Imperial Court, decided that an intervention in Scottria, on behalf of the Lords of the Congregation, would be beneficial to the interests of the Laurasian Empire. Aurelia therefore officially responded to their request for assistance. In an official communique to the Lords (December 26, 1759), the Empress declared that "your cause, the cause of stability and security for your people and your realms", was worthy enough to justify assistance from a "friendly power." Aurelia therefore decided that she would dispatch Laurasian naval forces to the Angelina Spiral, in order to "provide material assistance to the honorable Lords, prevent the transport of further Franconian mercenaries into Scottrian territory, and secure the rights of Laurasian subjects residing in Scottrian territory." Aurelia now commanded Fleet Admiral Sir Koinos Wytheria (1721-89), Magnus of the Rasdallan Provinces, to begin assembling his ships and squadrons at Janeway, Onasi, Frasier, McKellen, Rasdalla Minor, Kathy Minor, Hidemnia Sauria, Kane, McFadden, Crusher, and other strongholds within his jurisdiction, for an advance into the Galactic Void. Queen-Regent Mariana, outraged at the Laurasian offer of assistance to the Lords of the Congregation, ordered, on December 28, for all Laurasian subjects in Scottrian territory to be imprisoned. A de facto state of war now existed between the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria and the Laurasian Empire, as no formal declaration of war was issued. As 1759 ended, Queen Mariana's War, the Fourth Laurasian-Scottrian War of the eighteenth century, had commenced.

1760

 * January 1-
 * 1760, the 60th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire, extricated from the Didymeian War in the Great Amulak Spiral, now embroiled in another conflict within the confines of the Angelina Spiral, Queen Mariana's War. The end of the Didymeian War, although it had not brought about any territorial acquisitions for the Imperial Laurasian Government, had nevertheless secured for the Empire important commercial privileges within the Franconian Royal Dominions, confirmed its title to the formerly Scottrian Galactic Borderlands, and paved the way for the eventual establishment of more peaceful diplomatic relations with Franconia. Queen Mariana's War, on its part, posed a unique opportunity, in the form of the conflict between the Lords of the Congregation and Queen-Regent Mariana of Guise, to Empress Aurelia. The Empress of Laurasia, who was, from the beginning of her reign, determined to continue the Empire's territorial and political expansion, as had been pursued by her predecessors, believed that she could not transform Scottria into an Laurasian protectorate, thereby removing any Franconian influence from its affairs and reducing the threat posed by Queen Mariana's union with King Franjak of Franconia. She had therefore embarked upon the course of events which were to culminate in the Empire's conquest of Scottria nineteen years later, and, eight years after that, to the execution of Mariana herself.
 * On January 3, 1760, having assembled his forces within the Rasdallan Provinces and at the Galactic Barrier, Admiral Wytheria began his advance across the Galactic Void and into the Scottrian Homeland Territories. The Duke of Chattlerault, who was alarmed by the Laurasian advance, and seeking to bar them from providing assistance to the Congregation, decided to intercept the Empire's forces while they were still in transit. Three days later, Chattlerault launched a surprise attack against Laurasian strategic positions at Outpost K-913, which was located twelve thousand light years west of the Galactic Barrier, and was the central outpost on the Galactic Dial Highway, which extended from Onasi to Raindburgh and served as the primary route of transportation between the Caladarian Galaxy and the Angelina Spiral. Chattlerault, however, found that his opponent, Wytheria's Chief of Staff, General Sir Amnystas Mauvaria (1708-73), in command of the 37th Imperial Army, was more then capable of resisting his offensives. The Battle of Outpost K-913 ultimately resulted in a decisive Laurasian victory. Thirty Scottrian warships were destroyed or captured by the Imperial Laurasian Navy's warships, and a Scottrian attempt to storm the Outpost itself was defeated. Chattlerault was forced to withdraw back to the Homeland Territories, having also lost more than 150,000 troops. On January 8, 1760, Raindburgh and Morvay, in the Outskirt Districts, were stormed by General Mauvaria's forces. Controlling these border outposts allowed the Laurasians to secure their supply lines across the Galactic Void, to entrench themselves within the Outskirt Districts, and to provide direct military aid at Dunbar, Linlithgow, and Stirling.
 * And indeed, Laurasian aid was proving to already have a strong impact upon the Congregation's fighting effectiveness. On January 12, Glencairn and Argyll won a crushing victory, with the assistance of Laurasian reinforcements, in the Battle of Melrose. Melrose and its sister star system of Lernax were occupied by the Congregation's forces. They seized control of the Lernax Naval Armory and St. Merna's Fortress, capturing more than four million tons of governmental military supplies, equipment, and arms. Chattlerault, who could not abide the presence of the allied forces in those star systems, began preparing for a counteroffensive to recover them. The defenses of Canongate, Ancrum Moor, Rothes, and Angus moreover, were strengthened on the orders of Queen-Regent Mariana of Guise. Five days after the Battle of Melrose, Branxholme and Erith came to terms with Argyll and Glencairn, formally surrendering to the Lords of the Congregation. Lord Stewart was now ordered to take command of Braxnxholme's garrison, and to prevent offensives by government units against Raindburgh and Morvay.
 * January 22-
 * In the meantime, another change of command took place for the Laurasian forces. On January 22, 1760, Empress Aurelia formally named her cousin, the Duke of Norfolkius as the chief plenipotentiary for the negotiations with the Scottrian Lords of the Congregation. On the advice of Chancellor Cecilis, the Empress had decided to insist that the Lords agree to a formal, written treaty, and that in such treaty, they acknowledge the Empire's military and diplomatic protectorship of Scottria. The Earl of Arran, who now served as President of the Congregational Council, and was therefore authorized by them to treat with the Imperial Laurasian Government, accepted, on January 19, the request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a diplomatic conference. On January 25, Norfolkius departed from Laurasia Prime and made a swift journey along the Metallasian Trade Corridor. He crossed into the Galactic Void on January 24. At the same time, Fleet Admiral Sir Wytheria, who had returned to Waxefield to muster additional reinforcements, principally from the 40th and 41st Imperial Laurasian Fleets, made his arrival at the Firth of Forth, a stellar region located near the outskirts of Leith.
 * In his instructions from the Imperial General Headquarters, drafted by the Minister of Defense, Field-Marshal Munnich, the Fleet Admiral was ordered to cooperate with the Lords of the Congregation, and to consult with them on any military offensives that he launched against the Franconian Expeditionary Corps and against the Scottrian forces of Regent Mariana. However, he was given a considerable amount of latitude in regards to decisions taken on the battlefield, and he was authorized to install Laurasian garrisons in any star systems that were deemed necessary. Within a short time after his arrival at the Firth of Forth, Wytheria had directed his units to occupy Glasgow, Fife, and Candlemilk. These star systems, whose defenses were no match for the assaults of the Imperial Laurasian Navy, and were in any case sympathetic to the Congregations's operational aims, quickly succumbed. Regent Mariana, prompted by the Fleet Admiral's arrival near Leith, issued an official diplomatic condemnation of the Imperial Laurasian Government on January 31. Moreover, she decried Laurasian efforts at "undue interference in the realms of our most beloved daughter." On February 2, acting on Mariana's orders, the Scottrian Council of State issued a proclamation from Ediania.
 * This proclamation instituted a new recruit levy among eligible male subjects within Scottria, commanding to be ready to defend against "further intrusions by the wicked forces of Her Majesty of Laurasia" in the Scottrian Homeland Territories. In particular, they were to focus on baring a Laurasian-Congregational advance through the districts of the Merse, East Lothian, and the Farther-Firth. During the next two months, the levy would led to the conscription of more then a million individuals, many of whom were determined to fight for the rights of the Queen-Regent's government. Many others, however, who were opposed to Mariana's regime and welcomed the Laurasian intervention, evaded service by devious means. Some deserted, and some would even defect to the Lords of the Congregation. In the midst of this, the military confrontations continued. On February 12, the Battle of Broughty resulted in a tactical stalemate, although the Queen-Regent's troops managed to inflict greater casualties upon their Congregational and Laurasian adversaries. This was not enough, however, to slow the allied advance, for on February 19, Fleet Admiral Wytheria stormed Derith in conjunction with the Earl of Glencairn. Ancrum Moor fell on February 22, 1760, following a month-long blockade. Mariana's forces lost more than 100,000 troops in these two confrontations, and the Laurasians further entrenched themselves within the Homeland Territories.
 * February 27-
 * In the meantime, matters proceeded between the Empire and the Lords of the Congregation. The diplomatic conference opened on February 13, 1760 at Berwick, formerly a Scottrian colony in the Lower Galactic Barrier that was now under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The Earl of Arran, himself formerly Regent of Scottria, and now President of the Congregational Council (as well as heir-presumptive to the Scottrian throne), served as the chief plenipotentiary of the Congregation delegation. The other Congrgation plenipotentiaries (who considered themselves to be acting as the rightful representatives of Queen Mariana), included Lord Jamsius Stewart, Patrick, 3rd Lord Ruthven (1720-66), Sir John Maxwell of Terrgeles (1714-63), William Mailtland of Lethington (1725-73), John Wishart of Pitarro (1705-70), and Master Henry Balnaves of Halhill. The Duke of Norfolkius, as mentioned above, served as chief plenipotentiary of the Laurasian delegation and official host of the conference. The other Laurasian plenipotentiaries included Sir Rudomentus Sadielius, Lord Dacre of Gitlandia, and Sir Galerius Caranus. Norfolkius and Arran, who had previously been acquainted, greeted each other in a cordial and warm manner, and negotiations proceeded rapidly.
 * After fourteen days of negotiations, the Treaty of Berwick was signed by the delegations of the Laurasian Empire and the Scottrian Lords of the Congregation on February 27, 1760. This treaty established a formal military and diplomatic alliance between the Empire and the Lords. The Treaty's provisions were embodied in a preamble and ten articles. In the preamble, it was declared that it was the belief of "Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress and Autocrat of All Laurasia" that it was the intention of the Queen-Regent of Scottria, Mariana of Guise, to bring Scottria into "utter subjection towards the Serene Kingdom of Franconia, a realm which is millions of light years away, and is consequently a foreign and dangerous power." The Empress of Laurasia therefore pledged herself to support the Lords of the Congregation, and that her intervention was directed towards maintaining Scottrian independence and prosperity, throughout the duration of Queen Mariana's marriage to the King of Franconia. The Empress placed her forces in the Homeland Territories at the disposal of the Congregation, and promised that any world won by Laurasian troops would be handed over immediately into their custody.
 * The Congregation, on its part, agreed to "provide all assistance which may be necessary to the forces of Her Imperial Majesty, and to make no peace with the Queen-Regent or her ministers until the entire Kingdom has been brought under their dominion, or so far as the Queen-Regent acknowledges the authority of the Lords." All enemies of Laurasia were to also be enemies of Scottria; Scottria was to refrain from signing any treaties with any other foreign power without the approval of the Imperial Laurasian Government; and it was to acknowledge the Empire's rights of intervention in Scottrian affairs against "those who would seek the Kingdom's ruin." Laurasian commercial privileges, and the Empire's acquisition of the Scottrian Galactic Borderlands, were again affirmed, and the restrictions of the Treaty of Northam on the establishment of garrisons or outposts in the Galactic Void were formally repealed. Finally, the Congregation was to provide twenty noble and gentle hostages as insurance for its adherence to the Treaty. The Treaty of Berwick, which transformed Scottria into a virtual satellite state of the Laurasian Empire, was ratified by the Council of the Congregation on March 6 and by Empress Aurelia on March 11.
 * March 14-
 * Franconia, on its part, watched the Empire's interventions in the Angelina Spiral with alarm. On March 14, King Franjak and Queen Mariana, acting on the initiative of Queen Mother Catharina d'Medici and the Duke of Guise, issued a proclamation from the Tuileres Palace on Parri. In this proclamation, they formally denounced Empress Aurelia's actions, declaring that her support for the Lords of the Congregation damaged the diplomatic equilibrium among all powers of extra-galactic civilization. Mariana in particular, having been kept aware by her mother and by the Scottrian Ambassador to the Court of Parri, Sir Jamsius Melville (1735-97), about occurrences in her dominions, was so incensed by her cousin's alliance with the Congregation that she began to insist on her rights of succession to the Imperial Laurasian Crown. She event went as far as to incorporate the Imperial Court of Arms into her own heraldry. Thanks, however, to the intrigues of Aurelia's Ambassador to Franconia, Sir Octavian Mayveius (1703-78), who bribed many of the magnates on the Conseil royal and in the Franconian Estates-General, to general opposition by the Franconian people and nobility to another war with the Laurasian Empire, and to the ongoing Franconian efforts against Pruthia and Vendragia, Laurasia and Franconia continued at peace with one another. And in spite of the Royal Franconian Government's protestations, the run of successes by the Congregation and the Empire continued. On March 22, 1760, the Battle of Basinger ended with the capture of 15,000 Franconian mercenaries by the Earl of Glencairn's troops. Basinger was occupied by the Congregation, and the Basinger Military Citadel, one of the chief military fortifications in Scottria, fell into their possession.
 * On March 28, Empress Aurelia, acting on the advice of Field-Marshal Munnich and the Imperial General Headquarters, decided to replace Admiral Wytheria as supreme commander-in-chief of the Empire's forces in the Scottrian Homeland Territories with the more experienced Lord Greysius of Wiltonia. Greysius was also promoted to the rank of Field-Marshal at this juncture. Wytheria, however, remained as commander of the naval forces deployed against the Queen-Regent's regime. For Greysius, this was his first significant military commission in a decade. He had been implicated both in the Accession Crisis of 1753, being among those officials who had signed the Bond of Association and the Imperial Decree on Revising the Succession, and in the Dudley Plot of 1756. For the latter, he had been imprisoned by Empress Didymeia, and placed under attainder at the Fortress of Baureux. Didymeia later released him in December 1756 and allowed him to retire, under surveillance, back to his private estates. Soon after her accession, Aurelia had formally pardoned Lord Greysius and restored to him all of the honors and titles which had been revoked by Didymeia. In December 1759, moreover, the Empress named him Governor and Magnus of the Rasdallan Provinces, and he was serving in that capacity when he was reassigned to the Angelina Spiral. Lord Greysius, who in a communique of April 1, 1760, expressed his gratitude to the Empress for having awarded him this commission of command, promptly assembled his forces at Frasier, Kathy Minor, Patricia I, Barching, Hidemnia Sauria, Wheaton, Janeway, Onasi, Sasha VI, and Waxefield. He designated Antigonus Scropius, 9th Baron Scropius of Boltonia (1734-92) and Sir Antigonus Percius (1732-85), as his chief subordinates. That same day, Regent Mariana and the Council of State, seeking to secure their strategic position, barricaded themselves in Edianian Fortress
 * April 2-
 * On April 2, 1760, Franconian units, dispatched by the Duke of Chattlerault, raided Glasgow and Linlithgow, both of which had, by this point, become major assembly bases for the Lords of the Congregation. They managed to capture 30 rebel corvettes and 120 arquebusier models, and to destroy several of the rebel communications and supply outposts, but were ultimately compelled into retreat by the Earl of Argyll, who had advanced with a relief force from Fife. During the late hours of the day, Lord Greysius of Wiltonia, having completed his preparations, advanced from Waxefield, across the Galactic Void, and into the Scottrian Homeland Territories. Within a short time, he stormed the Scottrian garrisons of Dunglass and Litonbriggs, consolidating the Laurasian-Congregation hold of Branxholme. By April 4, Greysius's forces had reached and encamped at Prestongrange, which now became the chief Laurasian operational headquarters. The Duke of Norfolkius, who as Imperial Marshal was theoretically responsible for all communications between Greysius and the Imperial General Headquarters, remained at Berwick, while Sir Rudomentus Sadielus (recently promoted back to his old position as Minister of Foreign Affairs), on the orders of the Empress and the Privy Council, worked towards a possible peace settlement with the Queen-Regent and her government.
 * On April 6, Lord Greysius, who had received additional instructions from Sadielus, moved with his advance squadrons to Restarlig. He sent two communiques, one to General Henri Cleutin (who was once again in command of the Franconian Expeditionary Corps, having returned from Franconia on April 4), and one to Regent Mariana directly, offering to begin negotiations. He received a negative response to both communiques. Greysius then proceeded to clear the Franconians from the vicinity of Restarlig (April 7-8, 1760). The Battle of Restarlig now ensued. The Franconians, under General Cleutin, foolishly charged across the Restarlig Stellar Mist; the superior Laurasian turbocannon decimated the Franconian battleships, disoriented their starfighter squadrons, and disrupted their advance. The confrontation ultimately ended with a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire; Cleutin was now forced into retreat. The Laurasians suffered the loss of only two couriers, out of a force of 250 warships, and less than 25,000 casualties. Following this confrontation, Haddington was, on April 9, abandoned by the Franconians, and was subsequently occupied by the Lords of the Congregation. Three days later, Lord Scropius seized Pelham's Moon, located two light-years to the northeast of Leith. Lord Greysius, who was determined to suppress all supply lines to the Franconian Garrison of Leith, ordered for the construction of outpost defenses and interdictor relays there. Scropius now urged Greysius to launch a direct offensive against Ediania, with the intention of capturing the Queen-Regent and the Council of State. Greysius, however, rejected this situation, declaring that Leith had to be secured before the Scottrian capital world could be taken.
 * April 14-
 * On April 14, 1760, Laurasian turbo-cannon, installed on rotating stockades placed at the east and west sides of the Leith star system, commenced their bombardment of Leith's outer defenses and minefields. Over the preceding two days, the Franconians had launched numerous assaults against the Laurasian positions, inflicting severe damage on the Laurasian garrisons of Stathclyde and Barhilde, and penetrating to as far as Ancrum Moor. These offensives, however, had ultimately been repelled by General Percius. Allied forces now proceeded to suppress all supply lines to Leith, and secured the outpost of Chath to this effect. Franconian counteroffensives, launched from Logan's Bulwark, inflicted additional damage upon the Laurasian ranks but failed to halt the bombardment. Then on April 16, a detachment of Franconian Marines, under the command of of Robert de Massie, Sieur de Massie (1718-81), overwhelmed the unfinished Laurasian defenses at Pelham's Moon and captured four Laurasian turbocannon. They killed 20,000 Imperial Laurasian Army personnel and captured fifty officers of the garrison, including Sir Arthurius Greysius (1736-93), Lord Greysius's eldest son and heir apparent. De Massie did not advance far, however, for Greysius sent orders for an immediate counteroffensive. Lord Scropius and his starfighter squadrons intercepted the retreating Franconian armada, slowed down as it was by the prisoners and supplies it had captured. A short confrontation ensued, and the Franconians suffered a decisive defeat. Massie himself was captured, while Sir Arthurius and his colleagues were freed and returned to duty. The Siege of Leith, however, was prolonged as a result of this Franconian maneuver. On April 22, however, the Lords of the Congregation occupied Richardson and Dourif, further weakening Leith's supply lines.
 * On April 19, Laurasian units seized the Scottrian outposts of Falcon and Somerset, which had been garrisoned by the Expeditionary Corps. They subsequently proceeded to fortify the defenses of these worlds, and to utilize them for their own purposes. Greysius was now commanded by Field-Marshal Munnich and the Imperial General Headquarters to suppress all access by the garrison of Leith to the Outskirts Supply Highway, and to prevent Franconian units from launching any additional attacks beyond Leith's defenses. Falcon and Someset were quickly fortified by May 6; Pelham's Moon, which had held off additional Franconian counterattacks, was in full readiness for the Imperial Laurasian Military by May 14. By this point, however, both the Empress and Chancellor Cecilis had become increasingly impatient, and they now commanded Munnich to exert pressure on Greysius. Greysius, in turn, assured Her Majesty and His Excellency that victory was around the corner. Throughout the early weeks of May 1760, he deployed more turboannon near Leith, intensifying the bombardment of its defenses.
 * May 1-
 * Lord Greysius of Wiltonia, Lord Scropius, Sir Percy, and Major-General Sir Lysimachus Craftia (recently reassigned to the Scottrian theater), held a strategic conference at Prestongrange in order to formulate the final plans for an offensive against the defenses of Leith (May 1, 1760). After much deliberation among the Laurasian military commanders, it was agreed that the assault was to be carried out in two waves, the first at 3:00 A.M. Galactic Standard Time by forty warships, the second by seventy warships, all from the 42nd and 43rd Imperial Fleets, with a further thirty warships holding back to prevent Franconian counter-strikes. Admiral Wytheria would wait for a holo-signal to bring twenty corvettes and a squadron of starfighters to the Barricade of Leith, while Lord Scropius's units were to launch a diversionary attack from Pelham's Moon, with ten Laurasian and twenty five Congregation warships. Finally, Craftia was to attack from the north-west with twenty-five warships. Shortly after the operational conference concluded, one of Leith's shield generators was destroyed in an reactor overload. Greysius, learning of this, acted swiftly. He ordered for the bombardment of Leith to be intensified further and launched reconnaissance assaults against Franconian lines.
 * On May 7, the First Battle of Leith was waged, as Greysius now poured his efforts into achieving a decisive breakthrough at the star system. Laurasian forces succeeded in making two breaches in the Franconian defenses, at Command Positions #2 and 5. Despite this, however, the Franconians, directed by the skilled General Cleutin, managed to rig explosive transports, which, when unleashed upon the Laurasian starfighter squadrons, inflicted severe damage. Franconian engineers also accomplished a miracle on Leith and managed to make the damaged shield generator operational. After a fierce battle which lasted for several hours, Lord Greysius was forced to call a retreat. Leith remained in the hands of the Franconian Expeditionary Corps. The failure of this first Laurasian assault on Leith was to be one of the few military reverses during the wars of Aurelia the Great. The Empress herself, hearing of the failure of the first Leith offensive, chastened Lord Greysius and commanded him to redouble his efforts. Greysius responded in an extensive communique, describing the situation of Leith and, as he had before, assuring the Empress that the world would not last another month.
 * It was on May 12 that Queen-Regent Mariana, who by this point was becoming more open to parley with the Lords of the Congregation, and who believed that the defeat of Laurasian forces at Leith had strengthened her position, sent a offer to the Earl of Arran, to meet with the Lords of the Congregation and hold a conference regarding the possibility of a truce. Arran, who believed that he could still compel the Queen-Regent into agreement with his terms, and wished to lay his grievances before her personally, decided to accept Mariana's offer. In doing so, he had the full support of both Norfolkius and Sadielius, who had, on the orders of Chancellor Cecilis, continued their own overtures towards the Royal Scottrian Government. Both sides now made immediate preparations for the truce conference. Military operations continued in earnest, for on May 14, the Imperial Laurasian Navy stormed the royalist outpost of Dunkeld, thereby securing Congregation lines around Branxholme, Basinger, and Dourif.
 * May 22-
 * On May 22, 1760, the truce conference was formally held at Edianian Fortress on Ediania. Regent Mariana had insisted on this secure site being selected as the site for negotiations, partly to ensure that neither side would launch an offensive against the other during the discussions. The Queen-Regent formally received, and greeted, the Earls of Arran and Glencairn, Lord Jamsius Stewart, and Master Balnaves of Halhill. Also present was Lord Scropius, who acted as the formal plenipotentiary of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The meeting was relatively cordial, and the Lords of the Congregation, as well as Lord Scropius, were entertained lavishly in a formal banquet held by the Regent. Mariana promised to sign a truce with the Lords in two day's time, and to formally pardon them for their rebellion against her authority.
 * On May 24, however, Mariana, shorlty before the signing ceremony for the truce was to be held, proposed to the Lords that the Franconian commanders be present at their truce negotiations, and that they have a part in arranging the settlement for an end to the war. The Earl of Glencairn, however, who distrusted the Franconians, and believed that their presence would detract from the negotiations, refused to give his support to the proposal. Mariana proved adamant, and despite the efforts of Lord Scropius, a fierce argument subsequently developed between her and Glencairn. The Queen-Regent then ordered the Lords out of her sight, and negotiations collapsed. Arran now urged Lord Greysius to launch a second, and more decisive, offensive against Leith, hoping that this would finally drive Mariana back to the peace table.
 * May 28-
 * On May 28, 1760, Lord Greysius ordered Craftia and his personal squadron, the 144th Imperial Squadron, comprised mainly of reconnaissance corvettes, cruisers, and carriers, to examine the defenses of Leith, and to determine the garrison's situation, so that he could make operational plans for a second and final offensive against Leith. Craftia did as ordered, and evading the projectiles launched by Franconian defenses, discovered that Leith was now in a severe predicament. Leith, isolated from its traditional trade routes, had been deprived of many of its economic necessities and profits, and its agricultural, industrial, and financial sectors had suffered immensely. The Franconians had exhausted their garrison supplies and were now pillaging Leith's farms, granaries, and production facilities for sustenance. Leith's inhabitants, who had never been fully supportive of the Regent's cause, increasingly simmered against the Franconians, who had declared martial law and prohibited all unauthorized movement. Craftia reported all this to Greysius. He, confident that a second push would prove to be the decisive one, proceeded forth with his plans. On June 2, Lithruvia, which was the last significant Scottrian outpost in Leith's vicinity, was stormed by his forces.
 * The conquest of Lithruvia now eliminated all remaining hope for the garrison of Leith, and they began to contemplate surrender. Another factor now entered into the equation, for the health of Regent Mariana had entered a severe decline. Only forty-five years old in June 1760, Mariana had nevertheless been taxed to her limits by the disturbances within the Scottrian Homeland Territories, by her attempts to maintain her daughter's position in her realms, and her continued defiance of those who sought her ruin and despised her Franconian origins. The Queen-Regent's mind began to wander, and it eventually go to the point that, by June 8, she lost all ability to speak. On that day, she made her final will and testament, bequeathing all of her estates to her daughter, Queen Mariana. The declining health of the Queen-Regent earned quick notice, in Scottria, in Franconia, and in Laurasia. Empress Aurelia, who was informed by Chancellor Cecilis of Mariana's predicament, expressed her sadness for her, but declared privately that it would make negotiations with the Royal Scottrian Government far easier, given Mariana's obstinacy. In Franconia, the Regent's brothers, the Duke of Guise and the Autarch of Lorraine, as well as her daughter, Queen Mariana, and her mother, Antionette de Bourbon, were utterly distressed and saddened to hear of her decline. Guise, who was especially close with his elder sister, found himself unable to attend to state business during this time. Arran and the other Lords of the Congregation, on their part, wished for Mariana to die, so as to eliminate "undue foreign influence" from Scottria. Moreover, like Aurelia, they realized that her death would make the negotiations process far easier.
 * June 11-
 * On June 11, 1760, after having served as Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria for six years, and nearly eighteen years after the death of her husband King Jamsius V of Scottria, Scottrian Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise died from chronic edema in her personal quarters at Edianian Fortress, at the age of forty-five. The news of Mariana's death was greeted with mixed reactions, in Scottria, Franconia, and Laurasia. The Lords of the Congregation, when they learned that their most ardent enemy had died, declared that "the Gods of our Realms have indicated that foreign rule is reprehensible to their ears." General Cleutin, who was at the Regent's deathbed, ordered all his troops into mourning for the remainder of the month and himself bewailed Mariana. Lord Greysius was "shaken" when he learned of Mariana's death, which seemed to him an act of the anti-Almitis, but nevertheless declared to his officers that it would bring the war to an end. On Laurasia Prime, Empress Aurelia extended her condolences to the Royal Scottrian Government and called Mariana's death "the cruel blow of the anti-Almitis." And at Parri, her namesake daughter wailed and screamed in her private quarters, angered that she was not able to be at her mother's deathbed. King Franjak, pressed by his grieving uncle, the Duke of Guise, ordered the Royal Court into two weeks of mourning for his mother-in-law.
 * The spirit of royalist forces was broken as a result of the Queen-Regent's death. On June 17, the garrison of Leith, finally succumbing to their exhaustion and lack of supplies, formally surrendered to the besieging forces of the Laurasian Empire and the Lords of the Congregation. Greysius, acting on his own conscience and the orders of Field-Marshal Munnich (who in turn, was acting on the instructions of the Empress), treated the garrison and inhabitants of Leith with much leniency. Over the next several days, all blockade positions were removed; supplies distributed to the starving inhabitants; and permission given to the surrendered Franconian-Scottrian garrison for the retrieval of bodies and cleanup of starship remains. Greysius now established Leith as his new command headquarters, but he knew that the war was rapidly drawing to a close.
 * June 20-
 * The Scottrian Council of State, no longer under the direction of Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise, and desiring to bring an end to the Congregation War, sent a request for formal peace negotiations to the Imperial Laurasian Government and the Lords of the Congregation (June 20, 1760). Their request was seconded by a communique of the Conseil royal of Franconia, communicated through General Cleutin. The Duke of Guise, who knew that his sister's death effectively terminated any Franconian influence in Scottria, and believing that Franconia could not have war with the Empire at this early stage (considering its continued embroilment in the Seven Year's War, to be described below, to say nothing of the resistance of the Franconian populace themselves), had prevailed upon King Franjak and Queen Mariana to authorize for peace negotiations between the Royal Scottrian Government and the Lords. Empress Aurelia accepted the Scottrian-Franconian request promptly, halted all ongoing military offensives, and commanded Greysius to hold his position at Leith. On June 24, the Empress dispatched Chancellor Cecilis, along with the respected diplomat Sir Nicholas Wortton, who was now Archbishop of Darcia and Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Ediania, to serve as the Laurasian plenipotentiaries at the peace conference. Aurelia, who was fully cognizant of Cecilis's dedication both to herself and to the Empire, trusted him to negotiate a treaty that would be favorable to her.
 * Cecilis, however, had displayed reluctance at this mission, fearing that Lord Antiochus Dudley, who had continued to earn grants and accolades from the Empress, would consolidate his influence while he was absent. And indeed, Dudley's standing with Aurelia was to growing the absence of her most trusted official. The actual conference formally commenced at Ediania on June 26, between the delegations of Laurasia, Scottria, Franconia, and the Lords of the Congregation. Cecilis and Worrton had arrived at Ediania late the previous day, being greeted with much honor and ceremony by the Council of State. The Franconian plenipotentiaries to the conference were Jean de Mouluc, Autarch of Valence (1711-79), Charman de la Rochefoucault, Sieur de Randan (1718-96), and General Henri Cleutin, while the representatives for the Lords of the Congregation were the Archclannairch of St. Andrews, John Hamilton (1712-71), William Maitland of Lethington, and the Earl of Glencairn. The Royal Scottrian Government was represented by the Earl of Morton and by the Lord Justice Clerk of Scottria, Sir John Bellenden of Auchnole and Broughton (1709-76). Negotiations continued for the next several days.
 * July 6-
 * The Treaty of Ediania was, on July 6, 1760, signed by the delegations of the Laurasian Empire, the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, the Serene Kingdom of Franconia, and the Scottrian Lords of the Congregation, thereby bringing a formal end to Queen Mariana's War. By the terms of the treaty, any and all military and financial provision arrangements between Scottria and Franconia were declared to be henceforth terminated. All Franconian military units in Scottrian territory were to be withdrawn back to the Great Amulak Spiral by no later than December 1, 1761; all Franconian members of the Scottrian Council of State, the Scottrian Estates, and of all Scottrian governmental ministries and agencies, were to be formally dismissed from their posts. It was now forbidden for any Franconian to be employed in Scottrian governmental service again. Franconia pledged not to interfere any further in the internal affairs of Scottria, and to abstain from sending military units to the Scottrian Homeland Territories in the future. The rights of Empress Aurelia of Laurasia, as protector of the Scottrian nobility and guardian of Scottrian interests during the duration of Queen Mariana's absence from her realms, as had been conferred under the Treaty of Berwick, were recognized. Laurasian commercial privileges and rights to garrison the Galactic Void were affirmed; in exchange, all Laurasian military units in Scottrian territory were to be withdrawn by December 21, 1761, and no Laurasian force could be in Scottrian territory unless the Royal Scottrian Government, in the form of a diplomatic resolution from the Scottrian Estates, accorded its consent. The provisions of the Treaties of Boulougone and Northam were also reaffirmed.
 * Scottria pledged not to sign any treaty with a foreign power without Laurasian consent; to remain on cordial terms with the Imperial Laurasian Government; and to permit Laurasian officials to preserve the immunities of Laurasian subjects in Scottrian territory. The Lords of the Congregation were to become members of the Council of State; they would be formally exonerated for all rebellious actions, and their right to honor and fortune was recognized. King Franjak and Queen Mariana were to agree to remove all Laurasian heraldry from their coat of arms, and to recognize Aurelia's right to choose any successor that she pleased. Finally, peace was restored, as well as diplomatic and economic relations, between Laurasia and Scottria; all prisoners of war were to be exchanged, but Laurasian troops would be permitted to retain spoils captured in battle. The Treaty of Ediania was ratified by Empress Aurelia on July 11; by the Lords of the Congregation on July 19; and by King Franjak on July 25. Queen Mariana of Scottria, however, still grieving for her mother, refused to ratify the Treaty. In fact, she was never to do so, and it would ultimately be used by Aurelia as a legal justification for her annexation of Scottria in 1778-79. Lord Greysius arrived back at Laurasia Prime on August 19 and was given a grand welcome by the Empress and her court.
 * July 27-On July 27, 1760, Chancellor Cecilis made his arrival at Clancia, where the Imperial Court was presently resident, returning therefore from his duties of negotiation at Ediania. Cecilis, who had just secured a major diplomatic success for the Laurasian Empire, expected that he would receive a warm welcome home. But whereas his peers and associates on the Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod were warm in their congratulations to him, his imperial mistress, Empress Aurelia, was cool and distant. Lord Antiochus Dudley, on his part, was now courting the influence of Spamalkan Ambassador Alvaro De Quadra (1690-1763), who had replaced Feria as Ambassador in May 1759, and others opposed to the position of the Chancellor. The Empress's progress, which took her among the Clancian Worlds this year, saw Dudley gaining further influence. As Master of the Empress's Vehicles, he held much patronage and commanded many supporters. In June 1760, rumors had been circulating among some residents of Clackimaris, Little Mexicana, and Osama that the Empress was pregnant with Dudley's child: those who circulated such rumors were sought out and punished harshly by the authorities for their words, under the terms of the Treason and Sedition Statutes. Cecilis, himself, however, was opposed to the marriage, and realized upon his return that the relationship between Aurelia and Antiochus Dudley had underwent a fundamental change. Over the next several days, rumors that Dudley would divorce his wife, and that the Empress had spoken, at Dwerst Palace on Condtella (which she had granted to Dudley), of his praiseworthy qualities and indicated that she wished to honor him further, alarmed Cecilis deeply. On August 30, the Imperial Court moved to the Palace of the Greats on Americana.
 * August 15-
 * While Queen Mariana's War in the Angelina Spiral was brought to a conclusion, and as Empress Aurelia's realms entered a state of both external and internal tranquility, the events of the Seven Year's War continued at earnest in the Great Amulak Spiral. 1760 witnessed numerous disasters for the Autocratic Pruthian Empire of Pru'a IX. The end of the Didymeian War entailed the diversion of Franconian military resources to the Germanian Principalities and the Colonial Territories; the struggle between the two sides became yet more ferocious. The early months of 1760 saw the Pruthians suffer a series of reverses in Pomerania, Ravensberg, Thrungia, and Holstein-Gottorp. Kiel, one of the Pruthian Empire's most important naval outposts, was captured (January 7, 1760); Ploin, Steinberg, and Segdeburg were in Franconian hands by the end of January 1760; and on February 9, the Pruthians suffered a further reverse in the Battle of Glandshut, thereby preventing any advance into Mecklenburg. Wolin and Tckusew were captured by the Mecklenburgians, with Franconian aid, in February 1760; that same month, Pruthian General Ernest Fouque (1698-1774), suffered a serious reverse in the Battle of Geldert. Strelitz fell into Franconian possession shortly afterwards; during the course of March and April 1760, Franconian and Austarlian units cooperated in seizing Schlaag, Pran, and Lubeck.
 * Fleda, which was inherited by Emperor Pru'a in January 1760, upon the death of Prince-Bishop Heinrich von Bibra (1711-60), fell on April 22, 1760; Pruthian moves into Vaud, Lausanne, and the Genoan Reaches also failed. Kashubia and Kurshenski were largely in Franconian and Mecklenburgian hands by that point; Stralsund and Rugen were both besieged. Neuchatel was in Austarlian possession by May 4, when the last Pruthian units there were destroyed. Marburg was captured by Franconian Prince Soubise ten days later, thereby dealing a major blow to the Pruthian strategic position in Hesse and Westphalia. Though the Hanoverians and Vendragians captured Munster and Paderborn (May 22, 1760), and in June 1760, repelled Franconian moves against Hildesheim, Magdeburg, and Stendal, the Pruthians continued to suffer. On June 23, 1760, the Battle of Landshut in Silania resulted in a decisive victory for Austarlian forces under General von Laudon; Fouque, in command of Pruthian forces there, was himself captured by the Austarlians. In spite of the Battle of Warburg (July 31, 1760), in which the Franconians suffered a serious reverse to the Vendragian Marquess of Granby, Joag Malarg (1721-70), Austarlian units swept over Wetzlar and Darmstadt, completing the conquest of the Pruthian Duchies of Mark and Ravensberg. Kassel, however, remained in the hands of the Landgrave of Hesse, who was Pru'a's only princely ally by that stage. On August 15, 1760, Pru'a did defeat Laudon in the Battle of Liegnitz, but was unable to prevent Breslau, Oslau, and Glatz from falling into Austarlian hands. That same month (August 1760), Franconian and Austarlian forces under Count de Saltkye, having secured Kurstin and Halle, breached the defenses of Berliania III, comprehensively sacking the Pruthian capital world's settlements, defenses, and governmental installations.
 * Although Pru'a's reconquest of Frankfurt soon compelled them into retreat, they had nevertheless achieved their purpose. Gorlitz and Chemnitiz were secured by the Austarlians in September 1760, and on October 4, 1760, the Battle of Lepizig ended in a decisive victory for Daun and Laudon. Dresden was recaptured on October 14, and Elector Augustus of Saxony restored to his palace. Pruthian moves into Bavaria, Weimar, Mulhausen, and Erfurt availed Pru'a nothing, and in November 1760, Neustrelitz was conquered by the Mecklenburgians. Cottbus fell that same month, leading to the expulsion of Pruthian forces from Lower Lusatia. The Battle of Torgau (November 3, 1760), however, ended in a victory for Pru'a, who nevertheless lost three-fourths of his deployable squadrons. December 1760 saw Franconian, Mecklenburgian, and Austarlian units assault Kolberg four times, to no avail; Stralsund, however, did fall on December 18, 1760. 1760, for the Vendragians, proved largely indecisive; their offensives against Baja California, Tahiti, and Vanatu ended in failure, though in January 1760, they did win the Battle of Wandwiwash. Tandi Nadu, Cuttalore, and the Northern Circars were secured by the end of the year, while the Franconian offensives against Madras were repelled. Vendragian units, in the meantime, consolidated their hold of Ohio, and drove Franconian units out of Missouri, Lower Illinois, and Indiana. Ceylon and Madasgascar were also in Vendragian hands by the end of 1760.
 * September 7-
 * On September 7, 1760, Empress Aurelia's twenty-seventh birthday was celebrated with much ceremonial at the Imperial Court and throughout the Laurasian Empire. Spamalkan Ambassador De Quadra and the newly appointed Franconian Ambassador, Hercules-Francois, Marquis de l'Hopital (1719-75), both presented their official respects to the Empress of Laurasia on the occasion of her birthday. In a private audience which the Empress had granted to Ambassador De Quadra in the Private Throne Room, she declared that "Lord Antiochus's wife is dying, and she will not survive the year." She then enjoined him to silence. De Quadra was not surprised by what the Empress told him, for ever since April of the previous year, rumors had circulated at the Imperial Court that Lady Fausta Dudley (1732-60) was sick with the terminal Sorones disorder. It is now important to describe Lady Dudley's predicament. Born on June 7, 1732 at Smithia, she was the daughter of a substantial gentleman-farmer and proprietor, Sir Demetrius Robsartia (1701-54), and of his wife Aurelia (1703-57). Sir Robsartia, who was one of the leading agriculturalists in the Empire, and had investments in a variety of enterprises both in the Caladarian Galaxy and in the Great Amulak Spiral, ensured that Fausta, who was his only child, received an excellent education. She became proficient in seven languages, and acquired a strong grasp of such fields as history, theology, and philosophy. She was primarily raised at Stalaharia Hall, her parents' primary residence on Colsonia.
 * On June 4, 1750, three days before her 18th birthday, she married Lord Dudley, with whom she had fallen in love, at the Palace of Placenta on Darcia; Emperor Demetrius himself, as well as Lady Aurelia, attended the wedding, for which Dudley's father, Council President Sarah, spared no expense. In 1753-54, Lord Antiochus was, along with his brothers, implicated in the Accession Crisis; Lady Fausta was permitted visits to him during his imprisonment. The couple subsequently experienced financial difficulties. Relief came only after the deaths of both of Fausta's parents: her father Sir Demetrius on August 29, 1754, and her mother Aurelia on June 26, 1757. With their deaths, Fausta inherited their estates. But in November 1758, following Aurelia's accession to the throne and Dudley's elevation to become Master of the Empress's Vehicles, the couple found themselves separated. As the Empress insisted on Dudley being at the Court, to attend to his duties, he could now only manage rare visits to her. Dwerst Palace on Condtella, which was now their chief residence, was frequently visited by Aurelia, who had by now made it clear to Lord Antiochus that his wife was not welcome. Fausta, therefore, never came to Dwerst Palace, and now spent her time on long visits to family and friends.
 * In the winter solstice of 1758-59, she stayed with friends at their homes on Katherine and Brock. In May 1759, she had traveled to Zambazian City, Aeoleon, visiting her mother's kinsfolk, the Sconias. Afterwards, she resided at the house of Sir Willanius Hydius (1712-77) on Maroni. Dudley made sure his wife's needs were well provided for. In June 1760, she moved to Cumnorian Palace on Colsonia, a residence which had been leased by Dudley's former steward, Antonius Forstius (1735-96), who was now treasurer of the Master's Household. Forstius had leased the house from Sir Willanius Owenia (1707-85), son of Dr. Owenia (who had died on June 22, 1759). Sir Owenia lived in his own apartments. Cumnorian Palace had a long history. It had originally been constructed by the Cumnorian Religious Priory of Julia, Colsonia, in 1375, during the reign of Antiochus the Great. For over three and a half centuries, it had served as a retreat for the Abbots of the Religious Priory and as an occasional sanitarium for the Almitian monks of Colsonia.
 * In 1737, as part of the ecclesiastical reforms of Antigonus III, Cumnorian Religious Priory was forced to divest itself of one-third of its properties. Cumnorian Palace was among those assets divested, and it was purchased by Sir Antigonus Deerius (1686-1769), who held the mansion until he sold it to Sir Willanius Owenia in 1753. It was a quadrangular building surrounding a courtyard. Forstius (who would be knighted in 1766), would later purchase the residence in 1763. Fausta, on her part, brought her personal servants, including her 54-year old maid Demetria Prigus (1706-89), and her companion, 59-year old Lady Eudocia Odinsallia (1701-70), the widowed sister of Sir Hydius. Cumnorian Palace was crowded, for both Forstius and his wife Pompeia (1737-82), as well as Lady Salonina Owenia (1682-1771), the widow of Dr. Owenia, all resided there. Antonius Forstius proved to be a congenial host. Fausta, however, was severely depressed. Hearing of the rumors concerning her husband at the court, she was emotionally devastated. She believed that her husband had abandoned her and that she was being tortured by the Lord Almitis for her sins. In particular, Fausta lamented the fact that she had no children. In an effort to quench her feelings, she took to the bottle and indulged in sexual affairs with several young servants at Cumnorian Palace. Her health, never that strong, was undermined by this debauchery.
 * On September 8, Chancellor Cecilis, dispensing with his usual caution, had a long conversation with Ambassador de Quadra. After enjoining the Spamalkan Ambassador to silence, Cecilis declared that the Empress was conducting herself in such a manner that he would request allowance to resign. He told de Quadra that he believed that the Empress's impending ruin was a result of her relationship with "that man" (Dudley) and that he would damn her, the Laurasian Empire, and the Neuchrian Dynasty. To the "extreme injury of this Empire," Lord Antiochus Dudley had, according to the Chancellor, made himself master of the state's affairs, and of the Empress's person. Cecilis asserted that Dudley had every intention of marrying her. He then went on to say he did not believe the subjects of the Empire would tolerate the marriage. He feared that Dudley would persuade Aurelia to have him imprisoned. Imploring Ambassador De Quadra to remonstrate with the Empress, he declared that she should be shown "the right path" and persuaded not to have any marriage with Dudley. She should remember what she owed to herself and to her subjects. Cecilis even told de Quadra of the rumors about Fausta's declining health, and that he had also heard of her sexual and alcoholic adventures on Colsonia, which had remained beyond her husband's notice. Astonished by what Cecilis told him, the Ambassador promised he would raise these issues with the Empress, although she never listened to his advice. Before he had a chance to request an audience, events overtook him.
 * September 9-
 * The Taggian Fair opened in Julie, Colsonia, during the early hours of September 9, 1760, and Lady Fausta Dudley gave permission to all her servants to attend the fair. She was unduly anxious that they do so, for when some of them protested that they needed to remain in attendance to her needs, she sharply insisted that they obey her order. Nevertheless, Lady Odinsallia remained stubborn, declaring that she should not be exposed to those who would attend the fair. Fausta grew angry at this, but Lady Odinsallia said that if she left, Fausta would have no one with which to dine. Fausta, however, said that Lady Owenia could give her company. At this, Lady Odinsallia retired to her room and Fausta's servants departed on their repulsorlifts for the fair. Breakfast was served at 11:00 A.M. to Fausta and Lady Owenia. Lady Forstius was also in the Palace, and she, along with Lady Owenia, had servants on duty. The place seemed quiet however, and after breakfast, Fausta returned to her quarters.
 * At around 6:00 P.M. in the afternoon, Galactic Standard Time, her servants returned to Cumnorian Palace. As they headed to her chambers, however, Prigus chanced upon Fausta's body. It was sprawled at the foot of the escalator, and her neck was broken. With Lady Fausta dead, Lady Odinsallia, who had been stirred from her chambers, ordered for an immediate notice to be made to the authorities, and for a communique to be sent at once to the Imperial Court. Near 8:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, Andriscus Boweria (1742-1800), Dudley's communications servant, having been informed of Fausta's death, came before the Empress and Lord Dudley, and informed them that she was dead. Aurelia was shocked, and was left speechless. Dudley, on his part, seemed genuinely bewildered when he learned of his wife's death, and set to work to make arrangements for a immediate and prompt investigation of his wife's death.
 * September 10-On the orders of the Empress, the death of Lady Fausta Dudley was formally announced to the public. In the obituary issued by the Christiania Times (September 10, 1760), it was declared that Fausta's death was attributed to possible accidental causes. Seeking to distance herself from the affair, Aurelia commanded Lord Antiochus to depart immediately from the Imperial Court on Americana, and to retire to Dwerst Palace on Condtella. The Empress gave orders to the authorities of Condtella that Dudley would be forbidden to leave the world until the autopsy and coroner's investigation into his wife's death had been completed and its report published. Dudley, on his part, remained in constant communication with his household, and his steward, Thomasius Blountia (1726-91), cooperated fully with the Coroner of Julia and other officials inspecting the scene of Fausta's death. Blountia informed them of his master's wish for a speedy and prompt "investigation without prejudice", and then, along with the official detectives, discussed what had occurred with those living there. The servants, Lady Owenia, and Lady Forstius all told Blountia that Fausta had been insistent on the servants going to the fair. He especially questioned Prigus, who told him that she had "heard her (Fausta) pray to Almitis to deliver her from desperation." Blountia concluded that suicide was a possibility. While the investigation was ongoing, the Empress confined herself to her apartments, rarely appearing in public. Dudley was anxious and agitated, wondering about the impending coroner's verdict. On September 12, he received a visit from Chancellor Cecilis, who had been restored to favor. Cecilis, concealing his triumph well, declared he had come to offer his condolences, and he murmured the pleasantries which convention demanded. Dudley was touched by Cecilis's apparent support; in reality, the Chancellor had little sympathy for the grieving Lord Dudley.
 * September 16-
 * On September 16, 1760, the Coroner of Julia, Colsonia, Dr. Seneca Tharia (1699-1771), finally announced his autopsy verdict concerning Lady Fausta Dudley. Lord Dudley had continued to worry up until the verdict was issued, learning from Blountia that the Coroner had declared murder was not the cause of Fausta's death. The Earl of Hannah had sent him a sympathetic communique, and this had raised his hopes. In the verdict, the Coroner declared that Lady Fausta had "committed suicide, having desired to bring an end to her own life" and that her husband, Lord Antiochus Dudley, "had absolutely no part in his wife's death, or the circumstances leading to her death." Empress Aurelia, when she learned of the verdict, declared to her Private Secretary, Sir Arcesilas Haydatia (1724-98), that the verdict left no room for doubt, an opinion with which Cecilis, Sir Antigonus Sidronius, and others concurred. For Dudley himself, however, the verdict was damning. He had thought that his wife had been murdered, and was ashamed to learn that she had killed herself. Aurelia, however, moved on, and on September 19, invited Dudley back to the Palace of the Greats. She made it clear that the matter was closed and issued a manifesto confirming the Coroner's verdict and commanding "for none to challenge it henceforth." Her manifesto also prevented an excommunication injunction from being laid against Lady Fausta, which was customary practice for one who had committed suicide. The Empress, moreover ordered the Imperial court into a two-day period of mourning for Lady Fausta Dudley. Many however, would continue to allege that Dudley had murdered his wife.
 * Lady Fausta Dudley was, on September 23, 1760, buried at the Church of St. Didymeia the Virgin in Calamary City, Nezbit, Laurasian Empire. For the past twelve days, her body had been lying in state at Gloucestrian Hall in Calamary City, and had been moved from there to the Church for burial. The Empress, who was still in residence at the Palace of the Greats on Americana, dispatched her friend, Lady Olympias Norria (1724-99), to represent her at the funeral. Dudley himself, obliging by traditional custom of the Laurasian nobility and his own wishes, did not attend the funeral. He did however, ensure that the funeral was lavish, hoping that this would expunge his guilt. Ultimately, he dispensed €305.6 million dataries from his own pocket to cover its expenses. Fausta's maid, Prigus, as well as Ladies Odinsallia, Owenia, and Forstius, were present at her funeral. Prigus herself would remain in Lord Antiochus's service until her retirement in 1776. She died in Stansila, Caladaria on February 5, 1789. Lady Odinsallia died at St. Didymeia's Medical Hospital on Colsonia on January 12, 1770. Lady Owenia survived until her death at Pollis Caladari, Caladaria on November 12, 1771, while Lady Forstius died on June 9, 1782.
 * October 25-
 * On October 25, 1760, Georg II, King of Vendragia and Irvania, Duke of Hanover, and Sovereign of the Amerindian Territories, died at Kensington Palace on Londarania, aged 77, and after a reign of 33 years. At the time of his death, King Georg was both the longest-reigning and the oldest monarch of extra-galactic civilization (indeed, he was the only sovereign who had acceded to his throne before the birth of Laurasian Empress Aurelia, fifty years his junior). Nevertheless, the King's health had entered a serious decline during the last years of his life. By October 1760, he was physically weak; had lost sight in one of his eyes; and was hard of hearing, in spite of the sophisticated medical treatments which were administered to him. The King was discovered lying in his personal bedchambers by some of his servants, following a large thud; it was determined that he had suffered from a stroke. His eldest and favorite daughter, Princess Amearavia (1711-86), was sent for, but by the time she arrived, her father was dead. The King of Vendragia's reign had seen the great expansion of the Vendragian Confederacy's military, economic, and political influence. By 1760, Vendragia possessed the second-largest colonial empire in the Great Amulak Spiral (surpassed only by the Holy Spamalkan Empire), the largest naval forces, and the most extensive commercial reach.
 * Among its possessions included the Amerindian Colonies, encompassing New Vendragia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky; the Hudson Bay and Northern Territories, including Nunavut, Yucatan, Alaska, and the Whitian Colonies; Vendragian Bermuda, Jamaica, the Cuyacs, the Canaries, and the Anguilles; Belize and the Nicaragua Bay Territories; Guyana and Suriname; the Falkland and Artican Provinces; Southern Africana, including Zambia, the Cape Colony, Bechaunaland, Rhodesia, Kenya, Uganda, Lower Egypt, the Sudan, and Aethiopia; Aden, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, and Bahrain; Pakistania, the Circars, Bengal, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, and Hyderabad; Ceylon and the Diego Garcia Star Cluster; Thailand, Hong Kong, Canton, Shanghai, and the Tibetan Potentates; and the Australasian Provinces, including Guinea, Borneo, and the Papuas. It occupied Franconian Inner Canada, Louisiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique, Gambia, Goree, and Franconian India, and was to gain these territories in due course. This was besides the Electorate of Hanover, which encompassed Hanover, Celle, Jutland, and Scherwin; Heligoland, the Metra Colonies, and Hormuz; and the Vendragian Home Territories themselves, with Vendragia, Scanlania, Norwegia, Iceland, the Faroes, Greenland, and Irvania. King Georg had been a respected, firm, and vigorous King, although he was notorious for his personal excesses and for his innumerable mistresses. He was now succeeded as King of Vendragia by his son, Prince Frederickus of Walesia (1707-73), who thereby became Frederickus I. Frederickus was fifty-three years old at the time of his accession, and had participated in military campaigns in the Colonial Territories. His own son, twenty-two year old Prince Georg (1738-94), became heir apparent. Georg II's death was received with condolences by most powers, with the exception of Franconia, with which Vendragia was still at war. He was succeeded as senior monarch of extra-galactic civilization by the impotent King of Dejanica, Vorrus II, who had now reigned for a quarter of a century.
 * November 4-Empress Aurelia announced that she intended to raise Lord Antiochus Dudley to the peerage. She claimed that this was of her own volition; in reality, Dudley had constantly badgered her for months until she reluctantly agreed to it. This was all in spite of the fact that Dudley was continually reviled by many at the Imperial Court and throughout the Laurasian Empire for his alleged role in his wife's death. On September 21, 1760, the court had officially emerged from the period of mourning for Lady Fausta Dudley, and had resumed its normal routine of life. Rumors spread that Aurelia was preparing to marry Lord Dudley, something which most were ardently opposed to. The Earl of Jadia, although he despised Dudley and his pretensions, was among the few who supported her marrying him, desperate for a heir to continue the Neuchrian Dynasty. He was not backed up in this by anyone else, however. Chancellor Cecilis, on his part, was not worried, knowing that the Empress had political sensibility and that Fausta Dudley's death would make it far less likely for her to marry Lord Antiochus. He had wisely refrained from overburdening her with advice in the aftermath, and had continued to work behind the scenes for the prevention of any marriage between her and Lord Antiochus. Aurelia indeed, decided to have her head rule her heart. Two days after the Empress's announcement, the relevant Letters Patent were drawn up, but at the ceremony of investiture (November 11, 1760), the Empress astonished everyone, and shocked Dudley, by cutting the papers "asunder" and stating that she would not raise another Dudley to the nobility, considering his family had been traitors for three generations. This was a calculated gesture, meant to demonstrate that she remained in authoritative control.
 * November 28-In the meantime, other events were taking place at the Imperial Laurasian Court, with bearing upon the succession. These events concerned Aurelia's cousin, Lady Katharina Greysius. Katharina's place as a potential heiress apparent to Empress Aurelia was already discussed. Katharina and her sister Didymeia had, as also has been mentioned, been downgraded by Empress Aurelia from being Ladies of the Bedchamber to Ladies of the Imperial Privy Chamber. They had also became subject to the plotting of foreign personages. Before his departure from the Imperial Laurasian Court in May 1759, Ambassador Feria had been contemplating the possibility of marrying Katharina off to some Spamalkan prince, possibly Don Carlos, Emperor Philicus's son. Several months earlier, however, in February 1759, while staying with her mother at Heverian Hall on Volta, as a guest of the Dowager Duchess of Volta (who had been restored to that title by Empress Aurelia), Katharina had first met and fallen in love with Edwardis Seymouris, Earl of Heuthros and the eldest son of the Dowager Duchess. Her mother, the Dowager Duchess of Sufforia, aware of her daughter's feelings and also thinking about how to advance the fortunes of the Greysius family, had suggested they marry. She had planned on petitioning the Empress (who was very fond of her), for permission to proceed with the marriage, for according to the Treason Statute of 1736, it was treason for persons of imperial blood to marry without the consent of the sovereign. The Duchess's sudden death in November 1759, however, had prevented this from occurring. Katharina, on her part, dared not to approach the Empress herself, who had a much lower regard for her then for her mother, and continued her relationship with Heuthros in private, with his sister, Lady Didymeia Seymouris (1741-61), arranging their meetings. Therefore, at an obscure house along the Metalyards of Christiania, they were married, on November 28, 1760, by Priest Hephaestus Breven (1702-66), with Lady Didymeia as the sole witness. They subsequently consummated their marriage, before Katharina returned with Didymeia back to the Quencilvanian Palace in the cover of night. This marriage would eventually have severe consequences for the young couple and the priest.
 * December 6-On December 6, 1760, King Franjak II of Franconia, who was only sixteen years old, and had reigned for only seventeen months, died from a lingering ear infection at the Loriet Palace on Orleans. Franjak's health, which had never been that strong, had entered a further, and steeper, decline in November 1760. On November 16, he had suffered a violent coughing bout in his personal bedchambers; the efforts of his doctors availed him nothing, and his weak body expired. The news of Franjak's death shocked and startled many throughout the Amulak Spiral and in the Laurasian Empire. Queen Mariana, who was now a widow at eighteen, was devastated by her husband's death; they had come to genuinely love each other during the two years that they were married, although they did not have any children. His Franconian subjects bewailed him also, considering him to be an innocent ruler whom the God of Salvation snatched away too soon. On Laurasia Prime, Empress Aurelia was struck with grief when she learned of the young King of Franconia's death. She declared that she pitied the Franconians, who had lost two monarchs "so soon. Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I was also saddened to hear of Franjak's death. The death of Franjak now left his ten-year old brother, Charman, as King of Franconia. He became Charman III, and because he was too young to rule in his own right, his mother, Queen Dowager Catharina d'Medici, was formally proclaimed Regent of Franconia. She was supported by the Conseil royal. Franjak was buried at Sr-Denis on Parri, on December 23, in a ceremony attended by the entire Franconian court, his widow, and all foreign ambassadors. Condolences on his death arrived from all foreign monarchs. Franjak's death therefore terminated the remaining ties between Scottria and Franconia, leaving the former realm completely at the mercy of the Laurasian Empire.
 * December 15-On December 15, 1760, Sir Thomasius Parrius, Comptroller of the Imperial Household and long-time servant of Empress Aurelia, died in Christiania, Laurasia Prime, aged seventy-four. Parrius had been in declining health for several months, and his death had come to be widely anticipated. The Empress Aurelia ordered the Imperial Court into two days of mourning for Parrius; extended her condolences to his widow, Lady Mania Parrius, as well as his daughter, her loyal lady-in-waiting Meguilla; and commanded for him to be given a ceremonial funeral at the Westphalian Cathedral, which was conducted on December 28.

1761

 * January 7-
 * 1761, the 61st year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire once more in a state of both domestic and external tranquility. Queen Mariana's War, in which the Empire and the Scottrian Lords of the Congregation had successfully overthrown Franconian influence in the Scottrian Homeland Territories, and by which Scottria had become a virtual protectorate of the Laurasian Empire, was not at an end. The Empire's position in the Galactic Borderlands was now secure, and its influence was now being projected across the Galactic Void and into the Angelina Spiral. The Seven Year's War was still ongoing in the Great Amulak Spiral, though Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government were assiduous in avoiding all involvement in that military conflict. At the Imperial Laurasian Court, the death of Aurelia's long-time servant, Sir Thomasius Parrius, Master of the Imperial Court of Wards and Lord Comptroller of the Imperial Household, had left both of those positions vacant. The Master of the Imperial Court of Wards served as the chief justice of that body. He was responsible for overseeing the collection of imperial taxes, duties, and levies from the estates of the Empire's nobility and gentry; managing, in trust, the estates and finances of nobles and gentlemen who had not yet obtained the age of majority (defined to be 18 by the Heraldmaster's Office); and for serving as the legal guardian of these under-aged noblemen.
 * Therefore, the Master was responsible for the management of trillions of imperial dataries. Lord Antiochus Dudley had coveted this position since long before Parrius's death, believing that it would provide him more influence at court. The Empress, however, with wise caution, bestowed the office upon Chancellor Cecilis. The ceremony of elevation was held on January 7, 1761, at the Quencilvanian Palace, in which the Chancellor received his deeds of office and the Master's Staff from the hands of the Empress herself. He was to hold the position for thirty-seven years, until his death in August 1798. As for the position of Lord Comptroller (who served as the Imperial High Steward's deputy and as head of the Board of the Imperial Household), the Empress selected Sir Demetrius Rogerius (1698-1768), who had been in the Household's service since 1734, since he had been appointed Esquire of the Body and a Valedictorian Guard by Emperor Antigonus. Rogerius was formally elevated to the position on January 22. Besides these events, January and February 1761 passed in relative tranquility, but in due course, the affair concerning Lady Katharina Greysius and her secret husband, the Earl of Heuthros, was now to boil over.
 * March 6-
 * On March 6, 1761, the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally appointed the Earl of Heuthros as an attache to the Imperial Laurasian Embassy at the Court of Parri. This position, which was in effect a sinecure, had been obtained for the young Earl by his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Volta. The Dowager Duchess, still displaying the same kind of ambition and arrogance that had driven her in trumping Katharina Parsius's rights as Empress Dowager 14 years earlier, was determined to advance her son's career, and saw this post as a perfect means for doing so. Heuthros, who was himself eager for service abroad, and who had heard of the luxuries offered at the Royal Franconian Government, departed from Laurasia Prime for the Great Amulak Spiral five days later. He was seen off by his mother and by his secret wife, Lady Katharina Greysius. Heuthros made his arrival at Parri on March 24, and was greeted in a formal audience, along with other Laurasian diplomats and noble visitors, by King Charman and his mother, Queen Mother Catharina d'Medici.
 * Soon after his departure, however, Lady Katharina went to Dr. Polyperchon Vemervius (1713-67), who had served as physician for her parents, and whom she trusted implicitly. For weeks by this point, she had been suffering from heat flashes and increased hunger; moreover, her menstrual cycle had ended. Dr. Vemervius tested her, and confirmed what she had suspected: that she was pregnant. Katharina was distraught by this news, knowing that she carried in her womb not only Heuthros's son, but a boy with a reasonable claim to the Imperial Laurasian Crown. Realizing now what she had done, the Lady regretted having married her love without obtaining the Empress's consent. As abortion was strictly forbidden for any member of the imperial nobility or gentry, and was considered dishonorable by the Imperial Almitian Church, she would be forced to carry the child to term. Katharina thus, became desperate.
 * March 9-
 * In the meantime, other events were occurring in regards to Scottria and Franconia. On March 9, 1761, after months of preparations by the members of the Royal Household, the coffin of Queen Dowager Mariana of Guise, in which her remains had been laid, was loaded onto a Franconian courier, the HMS Encarre, and transported from Ediania. Since Mariana's death in June 1760, her remains had been kept in a cell at Edianian Fortress. But now, in accordance with her wishes, as had been expressed both in her will and in her deathbed, she was to be transported back to Franconia for burial. The Encarre, escorted by a honorary fleet comprised of both Scottrian and Franconian ships, proceeded rapidly across the Galactic Void, to the Barbarossa Wormhole, and thence to Franconia. It finally arrived at Rheims on March 23. Four days later, she was interred at the Convent of Saint-Pierre at that star system, in a funeral which was attended by her daughter, Queen Mariana of Scottria, King Charman of Franconia, Queen Mother Catharina d'Medici, her brothers, the Duke of Guise and the High Autarch of Lorraine, her mother, Antionette de Bourbon, and the ambassadors of various foreign powers, including the Laurasian Empire.
 * A bronze tomb of Mariana was erected, in royal robes, holding a sceptre and a rod of justice in her hands. On May 15, 1761, nearly two months after the funeral, King Charman was crowned, also at Rheims; his mother, Queen Mariana, and the Guise brothers were also present for that ceremony. The Queen Mother now proved herself to be a  a vigorous and energetic protector of her son's interests. She presided over the sessions of the Royal Council, issued and signed all royal proclamations, directives, and manifestos in the name of her son, transacted state business, and dealt with foreign policy and diplomats. She vigorously pushed forward Franconian military efforts in the Seven Years' War. Already, however, the internal unity of the Franconian realms was disintegrating, something that would come fully to the service within the next two years.
 * March 23-On March 23, 1761, Lady Didymeia Seymouris, the sole witness to the secret wedding of Lady Katharina Greysius and the Earl of Heuthros, died at only the age of twenty at Wulfhall Estate on Volta. She had caught the dreaded Marsian fever, and despite the efforts of her household physician, Dr. Asander Lirvania (1712-88), had succumbed to the disease after only six days of illness. Didymeia's death aroused the sadness of many at the Imperial Laurasian Court, and particular with Empress Aurelia, who lamented the death of one "so young and innocent." On the Empress's command, she was interred at the Westphalian Cathedral in a great ceremonial funeral on March 27, in which her mother, the Dowager Duchess of Volta, served as the chief mourner. Her death, however, left Katharina alone to face the consequences of her rash marriage. And indeed, on April 11, in a private communique to her husband Heuthros, Lady Katharina finally revealed her pregnancy. In utter despair about her predicament, she implored her husband "to return as soon as possible, by the grace of Almitis, and to declare publicly our marriage to the Imperial Court." Her husband, however, told her that his hands were tied, for he would not be permitted to depart from Parri until the conclusion of his duties had been certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, for the time being, she had to continue with her duties in the Empress's service. Katharina now made every effort to conceal her pregnancy as best as she could. She wore more elaborate clothes, exercised vigorously, and took medications to reduce her heat flashes and her hunger urges. These efforts, however, were to be in vain.
 * July 5-On July 5, 1761, Empress Aurelia embarked on her annual progress through the dominions of the Laurasian Empire. This year's progress would take the Empress and the Imperial Court to the Murphian Provinces. Arias, Manil, Tommy, Chandlier, Meaganian, Capital, Bristalai, Mumbraine, Anusia, the Prelone Asteroid Belt, Duros, Saray, Senna, and Kulikovo would be among the star systems visited during the progress, which was to continue until the Court's return to Laurasia Prime, scheduled for August 9. By this time, the hopes of Lady Katharina Greysius, that her condition would not be obvious to others, having made effort to make this so, had, as mentioned above, been dashed on the shores of folly. Katharina had been chosen as one of the ladies-in-waiting to attend the Empress on the progress. Her condition, therefore, would be subject to considerable scrutiny. By the time the Imperial Court reached Tommy on July 11, she had come into great distress, as a result of the suspicious glances of the ladies, maids, and noblewomen at the Court.
 * July 14-
 * Lady Katharina Greysius, knowing that Lord Antiochus Dudley was the one person who could possibly mitigate the Empress's wrath, and who sought a way out of her desperate predicament, took the extraordinary liberty of seeking him out in his personal bedchambers at the Brespite Tower of Mumbraine, where the Imperial Court was lodged for that week (July 14, 1761). Around 9:00 p.m. at night, Lady Katharina entered Dudley's bedchambers. Dudley, who was preparing to retire to bed, was startled by her appearance. Kneeling by his bed and weeping pitifully, Katharina confessed everything: her marriage with the Earl of Heuthros, her love for him, and her pregnancy. "My Lord," she said, "I beg you to appeal to Her Majesty on my behalf and to represent my petition. I have committed a grievous sin in the eyes of the Lord Almitis and I pray for mercy." Dudley, who realized that what she was telling him could have disastrous consequences for the succession, told her to leave immediately, in the harshest tone that he could muster. Distraught, Katharina hastened to the room of Lady Aurelia Cavendia, Lady St. Loe (1727-1808), the wife of Sir Willanius St. Loe (1718-65). Lady Cavendia would during the course of the reign become renowned as one of the wealthiest and most powerful noblewomen in the Laurasian Empire. She had long been a family friend of the Greyiuses, and Katharina believed she could help her. Cavendia, however, launched into an angry tirade against her utter foolishness (a trait of hers which would become her trademark) and refused to incur the Empress's displeasure by getting involved.
 * Early in the morning of July 15, at about 6:00 a.m., Lord Dudley was able to gain admittance to the Empress's bedchambers, having told Lady Ashelius that what he needed to tell the Empress was very important. Ashelius, who had already learned about Katharina Greysius's predicament from Lady Cavendia, knew what he was coming for, and admitted him into the chambers without demur. Falling on his knees before the Empress, who had awakened when Ashelius told her of Dudley's entry, Dudley told her of what Lady Katharina had done, and the way she had informed him the previous night. Aurelia was angered and agitated upon hearing of this. Telling Dudley that Katharina had committed a grave error, she said that the Treason Statute specifically forbade a marriage without her approval. The Empress took the view that, apart from having jeopardized the succession, her cousin's weakness in having succumbed to an affair of the heart made her an unsuitable heir to her throne.
 * At 9:00 a.m., after having completed her morning toilette, Aurelia summoned Chancellor Cecilis to her presence and informed him of Katharina's crime. Cecilis, when hearing of this, concluded that Katharina's illicit pregnancy was a sign from the Lord Almitis that no member of the Greysius family should ever ascend to the Laurasian throne. Lady Katharina was now in disgrace at the Imperial Court, and her pregnancy consequently became public knowledge. Aurelia vowed that she and her husband, as well as the priest who officiated their marriage, would be punished for having violated the law. The moment of reckoning came on August 9, 1761, when the Court formally returned to the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime, thereby marking the end of the progress. Immediately upon arriving back at her main residence, Empress Aurelia took action against Lady Greysius. On the Empress's orders, Katharina was arrested by a detachment of Valedictorian Guards and conveyed to a cell in the Fortress of Baureux. An imperial proclamation formally announced her arrest and her pregnancy, and that she would be liable to charges under the terms of the Treason Statute. Aurelia decided to wait before she proceeded against the Earl of Heuthros.
 * August 12-By August 1761, the position of Scottrian Queen Mariana at the Royal Franconian Court of Parri had become untenable. Queen Mother Catharina d'Medici, now the predominant influence in Franconia, was determined to see that her former daughter-in-law leave, and return to her own dominions. Further, Mariana found that she no longer had any influence, and her attempts to negotiate a marriage for herself among the Franconian nobility were frustrated by the Queen Mother. Thus it was on July 29, 1761, that the Queen of Scottria announced her intention to depart from the Royal Franconian Dominions and return back to Scottria. She was escorted once again by Admiral Villeganon, who had originally escorted her as a five-year old girl from Scottria to Franconia nearly thirteen years earlier. Villeganon was astounded by how mature the Queen of Scottria had become, and could hardly recognize this tall and beautiful eighteen-year old from the small and childish five-year old he had originally known. Empress Aurelia, still in a rage over the Katharina Greysius affair, was informed by Chancellor Cecilis of Mariana's impending return to Scottria. He suggested that the Empress extend an offer to Mariana to make a state visit to the Laurasian Empire. Aurelia, however, wary of her royal cousin, refused to do so.
 * August 19-
 * On August 19, 1761, Queen Mariana I of Scottria arrived at Leith, finally returning to her dominions, the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, after an absence of nearly thirteen years. Her return was received respectfully but not enthusiastically by her subjects. She was in all respects a Franconian, for her education had been geared by King Hensios II of Franconia towards her being primarily Queen Consort of Franconia; she had been educated by Franconian tutors, and exposed primarily to the Franconian language. Mariana dressed in Franconian fashion; virtually her entire personal household was comprised of Franconian servants; and she knew Franconian better than her native Scottrian. Within a short time, however, Mariana had managed to ingratiate herself with elements of the Scottrian nobility and aristocracy, and she treated them in a dignified, but captivating manner. John Knox, however, that ardent misogynist and nationalistic prophet, nevertheless looked upon her with askance. He would lecture his sovereign on religious and diplomatic matters, and asserted that she was incapable of understanding the affairs of state. Yet the response evoked by Mariana was of some meaning. Throughout her life, she was able to attract others, and to influence the emotions of others. In person, she was physically imposing, being nearly six feet tall. Her exceptional grace and poise, however, made it that she would never appear ungainly.
 * Her features were aquiline and slender. She had great dignity of bearing, but was nevertheless delightfully approachable, resulting in a unique blend of regality and warmth. She could appear confiding, while not being overly familiar, and after a short encounter, people came away with the feeling that she held them in high regard. Marina, however, was not possessed of robust health. Although capable of furious bursts of energy and bouts of high spirits, she was troubled by mysterious pains, and was susceptible to nervous stress, which could send her into bouts of tears and grief. Her heightened sensibility had never been moderated by a serious intellectual discipline. Unlike Aurelia, who believed her education helped to acquit her with the duties of governance, Mariana considered hers to be merely among her accomplishments. She had none of Aurelia's firmness, could be insensitive of public opinion, and had no sense of self-preservation.
 * Mariana did, however, decide to pursue a judicious and moderate policy of governance towards her subjects. This was seen on September 6, 1761, when the Queen formally announced the composition of her Council of State. Having little understanding of her Scottrian subjects, and knowing that she needed the assistance of every person of experience in her realms, Mariana decided to retain most of the ministers and advisers who had served since the end of Queen Mariana's War in July 1760. Her half-brother, Lord Jamsius Stewart, who had been as noted above been among the most prominent leaders of the Lords of the Congregation, was appointed as President of the Council of State. He would be made Earl of Moray on January 12, 1762. William Maitland of Lethington, who had now become one of the Queen's most loyal supporters, became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The Earls of Argyll and Glencairn, those other prominent Lords of the Congregation, retained their positions on the Council of State. Queen Mariana also appointed four of her supporters to the Council; the Earls of Atholl (1730-79; John Stewart), Eroll (1708-73; George Hay), Montrose (1692-1771; William Graham), and Huntly, who became Lord Chancellor of Scottria.
 * Empress Aurelia, on her part, though still suspicious of Mariana, had decided to cooperate with her, and to extend a hand in friendship. On August 23, in an proclamation issued from the Quencilvanian Palace, the Empress expressed her joy that Queen Mariana had been permitted, by the grace of Almitis, to return safely and promptly to her Scottrian realms. The Empress of Laurasia, moreover, declared that if Mariana promised to formally ratify the Treaty of Ediania, and refrained from any pretensions to the Laurasian throne, then she, Aurelia, would be her friend. Mariana was still reluctant to do so at this stage, believing that the Treaty would confirm the will of her grand-uncle, Antigonus III, and thereby exclude her from the throne; the Empress, however, sought to assure Mariana that nothing was yet decided about the succession. She had by now returned to the idea of personally meeting Mariana, having overcome her earlier reluctance for a state visit by the Scottrian Queen to the Laurasian Empire. Mariana herself had come to the same conclusion. The Queen of Scottria knew that friendly personal relations between herself and Aurelia could only be advantageous. She was supported in this by Lord Stewart, who was well aware of the need for Laurasian friendship.
 * August 30-
 * Empress Aurelia sent a command to Ambassador Mayveius on Parri (August 30, 1761), ordering him to dispatch the Earl of Heuthros back to the Laurasian Empire without delay. Heuthros, who had been informed by the Ambassador of events at the Imperial Court, and who had listened to the Empress's proclamation concerning the pregnancy and arrest of his wife, Lady Katharina Greysius, knew the reason for why she was summoning him back. He decided not to pose any resistance, and departed from Parri with a small escort entourage on September 4. He arrived at Belkadan on September 7, 1761, and was immediately escorted by a fleet under the command of the ailing Admiral Levashius, which had been dispatched by the Empress. On September 12, Heuthros, immediately upon his arrival back at Laurasia Prime, was imprisoned on Aurelia's orders at the Fortress of Baureux.
 * By her command, moreover, he was incarcerated in a separate cell, and was forbidden to meet or even see his wife. Admitting paternity of the child, Heuthros was denied the use of writing materials and commanded to pray for mercy from the Lord Almitis. It was on September 24, at the Maternity Quarters within the Fortress, that Lady Katharina Greysius gave birth to their child, a son, who was named Edwardis after his father. News of the birth of Edwardis Seymouris (1761-1812), who was a male claimant for the throne, only made the Empress more incensed against the young couple. Aurelia feared that Katharina's ability to produce a son might make her a more attractive prospect as Empress, in the eyes of her subjects.
 * September 16-On the advice of Lord Jamsius Stewart and the Scottrian Council of State, Queen Mariana decided to dispatch a special envoy to the court of her cousin, Empress Aurelia, on Laurasia Prime. She now designated (September 16, 1761), William Maitland of Lethington, who had been appointed as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, as her special envoy to the Imperial Laurasian Court. Maitland, who had demonstrated his efficiency in government service and his patriotic concern for the Scottrian realms, promised his mistress that he would not fail her. Maitland departed from Stirling on September 22, and arrived at Zerba two days later, being greeted by Lord Treasurer Winchestrius and a delegation of Privy Councilors and Governing Senators.
 * September 27-
 * On September 27, 1761, Scottrian Special Envoy William Maitland of Lethington made his formal arrival at Laurasia Prime, and was greeted at the Quencilvanian Palace with much honor and ceremony by Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court. The Empress expressed her thankfulness to the Lord Almitis that Maitland's journey had gone without any complications, and her hope for the continuance of peaceful relations with her "dear cousin." Maitland, however, seeking to follow his mission, wasted no time in asserting Mariana's claim to be acknowledged as heiress presumptive to the Laurasian throne. Aurelia did not hide her disappointment. She commented to Maitland: "I looked for another message from the Queen your sovereign. I have long enough been fed with fair words." Continuing, she said that she would not meddle with the succession, as it had been established in the Third Antigonid Statute and in her father's will (though of course, she as Autocrat, could easily do so, and Maitland was well aware of this). Aurelia then told him: "When I am dead, they shall succeed that have most right. If the Queen your sovereign be that person, I shall never hurt her; if another have better right, it were not reasonable to require me to do a manifest injury."
 * Conceding, however, that she knew of no better title than Mariana's, and stating that if she could avoid a public declaration of her intentions about the succession, then she had no objection to naming Mariana as her successor. On October 4, the Empress, in an official communique to the Queen of Scottria, demanded again that she formally ratify the Treaty of Ediania. Mariana's continued refusal to do so greatly angered her Laurasian contemporary. Mariana, upon receiving this communique, declared her intention to maintain "peaceful relations" with the Laurasian Empire, and issued a reconfirmation of the Treaties of Boulougone and Northam, but still remained noncommittal as regards to the Treaty of Ediania. Maitland, acting on his mistress's instructions, informed the Empress of Laurasia, in a private audience three days after the communique, that Mariana believed her claim to the Laurasian succession was valid. Cecilis, on his part, told Aurelia that he distrusted the Scottrian Queen, and that she should not name her as her heiress.
 * October 19-On October 19, 1761, Empress Aurelia commanded for the establishment of a commission of judicial and ecclesiastical representatives, chaired by Chief Procurator Amnystas Parsius, in order to investigate the validity of the marriage of Edwardis Seymouris, Earl of Heuthros and Lady Katharina Greysius. The Chief Procurator was commanded to "look for any evidence that this was a lawfully concluded union of Almitis" and to make his judgment on that basis. The commission's findings would be used by the Empress in her final decision as to how to punish the couple. On October 25, Chief Procurator Parsius and Procurator-General Bagonius, on the orders of the Empress, conducted the first of many extensive interrogations of the young couple at the Fortress of Baureux. There would be several interrogations over the next four months, as the commission ruthlessly questioned the two as regards to the circumstances of their marriage. On November 2, Almitian Priest Hephaestus Breven, who had presided over the secret wedding of Lady Katharina Greysius and the Earl of Heuthros, and whose identity had been discovered by the Imperial Inquiries Service of the IIA, was arrested on the orders of Chief Procurator Parsius (who had been given special authorization by Aurelia to arrest anyone connected to the marriage). Priest Breven, who declared that he had only been performing "his duty in the eyes of Almitis", was imprisoned at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia and arraigned on charges of treason, les-majestie, and "violation of the orders of the Imperial Almitian Church." He would be convicted on all charges by the Holy Synod on November 16, deprived of his ecclesiastical robes, excommunicated, and imprisoned at the Secret Prison of Ipsus V on December 4. He would die there on January 9, 1766.
 * December 7-
 * Empress Aurelia, who had discussed with the Privy Council and Ambassador Maitland about the possibility of Mariana making a state visit to the Laurasian Empire, now wrote, on December 7, 1761, a second communique to the Scottrian Queen herself. In this communique, the Empress declared that a potential state visit, by which the two sovereigns would be able to meet each other, would be "beneficial to the interests of both of our realms and will foster a positive and strong relationship between us." Mariana reacted warmly to this, and in her response to the Empress, which was given the following day, declared that she would be more than willing to meet her cousin, on cordial terms, and within the confines of the Empire. Mariana began to tax Sir Thomasius Randolphius (1723-90), Aurelia's Ambassador to the Court of Ediania, at the Scottrian Court, constantly about questions concerning the Empress's "habits, health, exercise, diet, and etc." The Queen scrutinized the photograph collection which her cousin had sent from the Empire with great curiosity. She even went as far as to wish that one of them were a man, so that their realms could be united by marriage.
 * Ambassador Randolphius reported to the Privy Council that whenever the subject of marriage was raised, Mariana asserted that she would have "none other than the Laurasian sovereign as her husband." Mariana's advisers, however, did not share her enthusiasm. Maitland feared that Mariana would prove no match for the Empress if they engaged in intellectual discussions, for "he finds no such maturity of judgment and ripeness of experience in high matters in his mistress, as in the Empress's Majesty, in whom both nature and time have wrought much more than in many of greater years." Mariana's determination to embark on the trip, however, could not be dimmed. Yet both the Scottrian and Laurasian nobilities were grumbling about the expenses which would be associated with a trip. There were also other objections, concerning the internal situation in Franconia. There, Queen Mother Catharina d'Medici was still struggling to avoid civil war.
 * She was opposed by the Guise brothers, uncles of Queen Mariana. It was clear to all at the Imperial Laurasian Court that the rise of the Guises to power would be a threat to the Empire, a threat which could not be tolerated. To avert this threat, it was argued by many of the Empress's advisers that assistance be provided to the Huguenots, who had emerged in opposition to the Royal Franconian Government as early as 1730, but were only now becoming mobilized; they considered this an inopportune time to meet with the Queen of Scottria. Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia was especially ardent on this, insisting to Chancellor Cecilis that Aurelia pay more attention to the Franconian situation than to "vain pleasures and trifling matters." Aurelia, however, disagreed. She refused to believe that a full-scale civil war would break out, and professed her understanding that Catharina had a handle on the situation. Moreover, the Empress of Laurasia thought that if she and Mariana were given a chance to communicate directly with each other, they would manage to obtain an understanding of the sort which could never be achieved if they were at a distance. Aurelia was also intrigued at the prospect of meeting another female ruler. Moreover, she thought that a personal meeting would make Mariana less anxious about the succession. Over the next several months, therefore, plans for a meeting developed further.
 * December 16-
 * As regards to affairs in the Great Amulak Spiral, 1761 had seen the continuation of the conflicts of the Seven Year's War. For Pruthia, 1761 marked the absolute nadir in its military efforts. Emperor Pru'a IX, who by 1761 was forty-eight years old, and had experienced numerous reverses against his Franconian, Austarlian, and Mecklenburgian adversaries, was at the brink of desperation. Most of Silania, East Pruthia, Westphalia, East Frisia, Pomerania, and Neuchatel was occupied by his enemies; Austarlian and Franconian units routinely penetrated into Magdeburg, Brandenburg, and Scherwin; and Pruthian military forces were overstretched, fighting in several different fronts. Although he continued to receive military aid from the Vendragians, and subsidies from them, Pru'a found that these did not redress the military balances. And indeed, this year saw the Pruthians suffer a string of further humiliating defeats. Stettin was conquered by the Mecklenburgians and Franconians in January 1761; coalition forces then seized Lauenberg, Butow, Oliva, and Drasheim, with Pruthian forces suffering humiliating losses at each of those star systems. The following month, Prua's last offensive into Bavaria, which had, towards the end of 1760, managed to conquer the Bavarian garrisons of Regensburg, Igolstadt, and Freiburg, ended in disastrous defeat in the Battle of Augsburg. Ansbach and Bayreuth, both of which were definitively in the Austarlian camp by February 1761, successfully repelled moves by Pruthian units still operating in Wurrttemberg, Eichestadt, and Memmingen; the Battle of Stuttgart, on March 1, 1761, resulted in the final destruction of Pruthian units under Frederick Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (1734-93), and their expulsion from Wurttemberg. The Hohenzollern Patrimony was in Austarlian hands by April 1761; Franconian units, at the same time, reoccupied Halle and Potsdam.
 * Speyer, Nurnberg, and Rotthberg were seized by the Austarlians in May 1761; Schweidnitz in Silania fell to Marshal von Daun on May 22, 1761. Pru'a now launched desperate raiding offensives into Greater Dejanica, the Netze District, and Royal Pruthia; his units penetrated as far as Torun, Danzig, and Bromberg (June-July 1761), impounding military supplies and repositories. By July 1761, however, with the conquest of Beuthen and Kustrin, Pruthian raids into Dejanica had been terminated. Vendragian successes, however, had resumed; in February 1761, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick won the Battle of Langensalza, thereby ending the Franconian threat to Magdeburg, and in March, besieged Kassel. The Siege of Kassel, however, was terminated by the Battle of Grunberg (March 27, 1761), with Franconian Count de Saltkye retaining control of the stronghold. Nevertheless, the ensuing Battle of Villinghausen (July 16, 1761), saw the Prince of Brunswick defeat de Broglie and de Saltkye, preserving Lingen and Minden for Pruthia.
 * In September 1761, Pru'a recovered Potsdam, overran Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Hossam, and penetrated to Lepizig, but was unable to relieve Rugen, which fell to the Mecklenburgians (October 8, 1761). The Battle of Neuensund, fought four days later, resulted in another humiliating defeat for the Pruthians, who lost more than thirty warships. In November 1761, Stendal fell into Franconian hands, and Franconian forces now threatened to link with their Austarlian allies. Lutterberg and Meissen in Saxony, which the Austarlians had taken in December 1759, served as Austarlian command posts for thrusts into Brandenburg. Then on December 2, 1761, Franconian, Mecklenburgian, and Austarlian forces, under the command of Prince Soubise, instigated the final siege of Kolberg; clashes at Spie, Kolsin, and Patenberg failed to redress the situation for the Pruthians. Emperor Prua's efforts to fortify and provision the garrison failed, and on December 16, 1761, it fell to the coalition forces, thereby depriving Pruthia of its last foothold in Pomerania. General Frederick Eugen of Wurttemberg (1732-97), who had commanded the garrison, became a Austarlian prisoner of war. The loss of Kolberg convinced many, in Vendragia and elsewhere, that Pruthia was on the verge of collapse. However, a miracle was now to occur for the Pruthians, which was to rescue them from their predicament and turn the tide in the war.
 * December 24-On December 24, 1761, the future Marasharite Emperor Selim III (1789-1807) was born at the Topkaki Palace on Topacia, in the Marasharite Empire. He was the eldest son of Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III and his chief wife and consort, Misirhiah (1745-95).
 * December 26-On December 26, 1761, Empress Aurelia, in an official ceremony of investiture at the Diplomatic Palace, formally conferred upon Lord Ambrosius Dudley, the elder brother of Lord Antiochus, the Earldom of Sarah, which had been forfeit by the Dudley family as a result of their involvement in the Accession Crisis of 1753. She had contemplated conferring upon Lord Ambrosius his father's Dukedom of Northumberlais, but had ultimately been persuaded by Chancellor Cecilis from taking that step. Nevertheless, the Empress, in her Letters Patent of elevation, declared that the Dudleys had "completely redeemed themselves from their earlier treason" and that they were now formally exonerated of all charges of attainder laid against them during the Empress Didymeia's reign. Lord Antiochus Dudley, on his part, still hopeful that he could marry the Empress, distinguished himself in the Ascentmas and New Eve's celebrations, and played a prominent role in his brother's investiture ceremony.

1762

 * January 1-
 * 1762, the 62nd year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire residing in a general state of domestic tranquility and peaceful relations with its neighbors. Empress Aurelia had continued to pursue policies, in administration, economics, and religion, which were meant to maintain and strengthen the authority of the Imperial Laurasian Government and to preserve her dominion over the Laurasian Empire. She believed that reform was necessary to ensure the continuation of the state, and that without it, the Empire would be doomed to deterioration and eventual ruin. The reforms she had already implemented at this stage have been noted above, and more will continue to be noted below. As regards to affairs at the Imperial Court, Lord Antiochus Dudley was still engaged in attempts to persuade the Empress to marry him. In January 1761, Dudley had sent his brother-in-law, Sir Antigonus Sidronius, to Spamalkan Ambassador de Quadra, to offer him assurances that if he married the Empress, the alliance with Spamalka would be maintained and "there would be no further quarrel between our realms in the future."
 * Sidronius had also told the Ambassador that the Empress was "tired of the tyranny of Cecilis" and was inclined to the marriage; he said it would be helpful if Emperor Philicus could do his best to reconsider her decision not to marry Dudley. De Quadra knew that bitter factions would develop at the Imperial Court, if Dudley married the Empress, and that even civil war could erupt. He had reacted in skepticism; Sidronius said that, considering the Empress was satisfied with what had happened with Lady Dudley, there was no reason why the Ambassador should not have reported Philicus's assurances to his master. On February 13, 1761, Dudley had himself met with the Ambassador, and confirmed what his brother-in-law said. The following month, Chancellor Cecilis, not pleased about what was occurring, asked de Quadra to obtain from Emperor Philicus a letter supporting the marriage. Aurelia herself had kept everyone guessing, right through the remainder of 1761. On June 7, she had joked with Lord Antiochus about the wedding in the presence of the Ambassador; on October 16, she granted Dudley an annuity of €150 million dataries a year. Now, as the new year commenced, Dudley was embarking once again on his ambitions.
 * January 5-
 * On January 5, 1762, Lord Antiochus Dudley approached Ambassador de Quadra, for the second time, with a plea that Emperor Philicus endorse his suit for Aurelia's hand by a written recommendation. Dudley did not insult the Spamalkans by claiming that he would uphold, to the greatest vigor he could muster, the military alliance between Spamalka and Laurasia; he instead, said that the Franconians had offered him bribes to use his influence with the Empress on their behalf. The Ambassador did not believe Dudley's claims, and replied that Her Imperial Majesty was already aware of Philicus's anxiousness to see her married; and that she knew that he had high hopes of Lord Dudley. Therefore, a recommendation from his master would not be necessary. De Quadra explained that the real stumbling block to a marriage was the Empress herself; and asked if he should raise the matter with her. Dudley consented.
 * Thus it was on January 10, 1762, that Ambassador De Quadra had his monthly private audience with Empress Aurelia, in the Private Throne Room of the Quencilvanian Palace. In this audience, the Ambassador asked the Empress whether she had made up her mind to marry. Declaring that she was "free from any engagement", she stated that she had resolved never to accept any suitor she had not meant, meaning that she would marry one of her own Laurasian subjects. What she wished was for recommendations from friendly rulers, such as the Kings of Franconia and Vendragia, as well as Emperor Philicus himself, which would support her marrying Dudley. The Ambassador, suspicious of her motives, told her that she should marry Dudley without delay. In reality, both the Ambassador and his master, the Holy Spamalkan Emperor knew that by marrying Dudley Aurelia would weaken her own hold on the throne, and that this could give way to another claimant. Aurelia, however, was too shrewd, and when she dismissed de Quadra, declared she would not commit herself to anyone.
 * February 12-An official financial report (February 12, 1762), issued by the Imperial Treasury under the direction of Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, announced that over the course of the past two years and three months, nearly three quarters of the public debt which had been accumulated during the reign of Empress Didymeia: that is, €510 trillion dataries, had been officially paid off by the revenues of the Imperial Government. This announcement, presented to the subjects of the Empire in an official imperial manifesto, was appeasing to many. By 1762, unemployment rates were 3-5% across the regions of the Empire; inflation was at a very reasonable 3.5%; and manufacturing productivity levels were reaching the one quintillion mark. Empress Aurelia was proud of her accomplishments, and continually declared that her ambition was to improve the situation of her people.
 * February 22-On February 22, 1762, Chief Procurator Parsius and the Investigative Commission completed their examination of the marriage of the Earl of Heuthros and Lady Katharina Greysius, and presented their report on the marriage to the Empress Aurelia, who had moved to the Old Royal Palace. The Chief Procurator, falling on his knees before the Empress, declared that the marriage was indeed "unlawful and in contravention to the dictates of Almitis; therefore, stern action should be taken against this couple, under the mandate of the law and of your autocratic will." Aurelia moved swiftly. The Empress commanded the Holy Synod to declare the marriage "unlawful and invalid"; the young Edwardis Seymouris was declared illegitimate; and both Katharina and the Earl of Heuthros were forbidden to ever appear at the Imperial Court again. Moreover, the Empress condemned the offending couple to remain indefinitely at the Fortress of Baureux as a punishment for their "undue and unlawful carnal copulation."
 * March 1-
 * By March 1762, the situation of the Autocratic Pruthian Empire was absolutely desperate, while that of the Vendragian Confederacy was greatly elevated. 1761 had seen the continued advance of Vendragian forces in the Colonial Territories. Pondicherry, the capital of Franconian India, had fallen into Vendragian hands on January 16, 1761; the Vendragians had then conquered Mahe, Karkial, and Yanam, Masulipattam, and Chanannagar (February-March 1761), thereby completing the expulsion of the Franconians from India. The New Orleans Parishes, the Bayou Delta, and the San Antonio Colonies had then fallen to the Vendragians, and by May 1761, all remaining Franconian units in Inner Canada, Ohio, and Minnesota had been definitively expelled. Moreover, by the end of 1761, Tahiti, Pitcarin, Vanatu, and Baja California were all in Vendragian hands; French Guiana, including its capital system of Cayenne, was largely in Vendragian possession as well. In January 1762, Peking and Kiaotung fell; Higgan, Tonglaio, and Hulanbarr followed shortly afterwards, thereby seriously weakening the Franconian position in Manchuria. Yet for Pruthia, the early months of 1762 witnessed further moves by coalition forces. On January 5, 1762, the Battle of Kiachtow ended in a decisive victory for Austarlian Marshal von Daun; Anhalt-Hossau, Anhalt-Bassachs, and the Silanian Corridor all fell under Austarlian control. By January 28, Austarlian units, in possession of Braunschweig, had cut off Pruthian units in Brandenburg from Hanover, Lingen, and Minden; Jever and Oldenburg had also fallen into coalition possession. By February 1762, by which time Austarlian units were penetrating into the heart of Brandenburg, Berliania III itself was under direct threat. Yet two events now combined to give the advantage to Emperor Pru'a.
 * On February 9, 1762, Duke Louis of Mecklenburg died after a sudden illness, and was succeeded by his brother Fre'da. The new Duke Fre'da had to contend with a significant budget deficit and with rebellions in Rostock, Wismar, and Gostrow; he also generally favored the Pruthians, and wished to withdraw from this costly, lengthy conflict. Thus, on February 22, 1762, he extended an armistice offer to Emperor Pru'a. The Emperor of Pruthia accepted this, and the Armistice of Luneburg was signed (February 28, 1762). It was not until April 15, 1762, however, before the Treaty of Eutin was signed, thereby leading to the withdrawal of Mecklenburg from the war, on the basis of the status quo ante bellum. Nevertheless, Pru'a found his forces in Pomerania and Brandenburg greatly relieved by Mecklenburgian withdrawal, which angered the Franconians and Austarlians. Then on March 1, 1762, a far more consequential event occurred: the Massacre of Vassy.
 * The Duke of Guise, angered by the insults hurled at him by that star system's Huguenot inhabitants, ordered for a general massacre; more than 75,000 Huguenot colonists died in an orgy of bloodshed. This incident now shattered the Queen-Dowager's efforts to maintain peace within Franconia. The Prince of Conde, who now declared that the King and his mother were being held hostage by the House of Guise, erupted in open rebellion (March 8, 1762). By the beginning of April 1762, the Huguenot League had emerged, and full civil war had erupted in the heart of Franconia. Loire, Anjou, Poitou, and Normandy now became the scene of bitter confrontations between the Huguenots and the central government; Rouen, Evereux, Dieppe, Cherbourg, Orleans, Poitiers, the Loire Colonies, and Versailles, all scenes of contention. This, combined with the Vendragian conquest of Sakhalin in March 1762, finally compelled Queen-Dowager Catharina d'Medici and the Franconian Government to open negotiations with the Vendragian Confederacy and the Autocratic Pruthian Empire. The Armistice of Celle (March 19, 1762), suspended all military hostilities. Negotiations soon commenced in earnest at Dusseldorf, and would drag on for some months.
 * In the short run, Pru'a, now relieved of pressure from the Franconians and Mecklenburgians, struck back against the Austarlians. Potsdam, Frankfurt, Halle, and Kustrin were all back in his hands by the end of March 1762; he then overran Anhalt-Hossau, Anhalt-Dessau, and Lubeck, thereby ending any Austarlian threat to Magdeburg. The conclusion of the Treaty of Eutin allowed for Pru'a to reclaim Lubeck, Stralsund, Rugen, Lautenberg, Drasheim, Butow, and Farther Pomerania; the Emperor of Pruthia now isolated the Austarlian garrison of Kolberg, and recovered Altona, Hamburg, and East Frisia (April-May 1762). On May 29, 1762, the Battle of Cleves ended in a decisive victory for Pru'a; then on June 4, 1762, the Treaty of Bristol was signed, thereby ending the war among Vendragia, Pruthia, and Franconia. With Huguenot forces now in command in Lower Normandy, Orleans, and Picardy, the Queen-Mother was willing to concede anything to the allies. As a result of this treaty, Vendragia acquired Inner Canada, Ohio, Louisiana, Acadia, Baja California, Goree, Gambia, the Manchurian Concessions, and Franconian India. Tahiti and Vanatu were to be occupied by Vendragian units for a period of three years (to end on July 1, 1765), while St. Pierre et Miquelon, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Reunion, Sechelles, and Martinique, were to be restored to Franconia immediately. Franconia was allowed to retain its trading privileges and military garrisons in both Ceylon and Madagascar, but was compelled to end all alliances with native potentates in those regions and to limit the size of its military forces which operated there.
 * As regards to Germania, the status quo ante bellum was imposed, with Pruthia recovering Cleves, Marks, Ravensberg, Mainz, East Frisia, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, and Minden. Franconian acquisition of Saluzzo, Nice, Bar, and the Metzian Lordships was acknowledged by both Pruthia and Vendragia, while Franconian rights to the succession of the Duchy of Lorraine were again confirmed (to be enacted in 1766). The Franconian alliance with Austarlia was to cease immediately. With the conclusion of the Treaty of Bristol, Pru'a found that he could throw all of his military resources into the war effort against Austarlia. June and July 1762 witnessed the Hohenzollern Patrimony, Augsburg, Neuchatel, Marburg, Worms, Speyer, and Warburg fall into Pruthian hands; on August 7, 1762, Pru'a reconquered Lepizig, defeating Marshal von Daun in the Battle of Weimar. Coburg and Gotha were soon secured by Pruthian forces, and Wurzburg was threatened later that month. By October 1762, Pru'a's brother, Prince Henvar of Pruthia, had reconquered Gorlitz, Chemnitiz, Lutterberg, Meissen, and Hoyerswerda, thereby reasserting the Pruthian position in Saxony. Pru'a, on his part, reconquered Breslau, Oslau, and Beuthen in September 1762, thereby recovering most of Silania. On October 15, 1762, Prince Henvar utterly destroyed the Austarlians of Prince Stolberg and Hungarian General Hadik in the Battle of Freiberg, after which Regensburg, Naumburg, and Wurzburg were all taken by the Pruthians. By November 13, Genoa, Zurich, and Lausanne had also fallen to the Pruthians, while Bayreuth and Ansbach were both compelled to sign a truce with Pru'a. November and early December 1762 witnessed Pruthian forces blockading Dresden, recovering Cottebus and Lower Lusatia, and penetrating once more into Moravia, occupying Glatz, Reichenberg, and Kotlin. Empress Mar'va Tarvania of Austarlia, now without allies, and suffering such reverses, was prevailed upon by Chancellor Kaunitz to begin considering peace with Pruthia. On December 17, 1762, she sent an armistice request to her hated Pruthian counterpart; he accepted, and the Armisice of Juterbog (December 24, 1762), suspended military hostilities. By the end of 1762, negotiations between the two powers were well under way.
 * March 18-
 * Empress Aurelia ordered the release of Constantia Douglain, Countess of Lennaxia, and her son, Antigonus Stewart, Lord Darnley, from house arrest at Lennaxian Mansion on Kigonia (March 18, 1762). They had both been arrested and confined there by the Empress's orders in February 1762. The Countess of Lennaxia, who had been born on October 8, 1715, was the daughter of Scottrian Queen-Dowager Constantia by her second husband, Archlain Douglain, Earl of Angus. She had married the Scottrian Earl of Lennaxia in 1744, the same earl who assisted Laurasian forces in their Scottrian campaigns that year. The following year, December 7, 1745, she had given birth to her son Antigonus Stewart, who became Lord Darnley immediately upon his birth. Both had resided at the Imperial Court; the Countess of Lennaxia, on her part, had conspired to improve the position and prestige of her son, by obtaining for him a marriage with his cousin, Scottrian Queen Mariana.
 * The Empress had been enraged by the Countess's schemes, and had them interrogated extensively by the Privy Council. But now she, considering the threat from them to have subsided, had decided to release them from house arrest. The Countess of Lennaxia, however, remained ambitious, and it was not long before she got herself into trouble again. On April 11, 1762, the Empress was informed by Chancellor Cecilis and the Director of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, Sir Gorgias Perethion (1721-82), that the Countess of Lennaxia was still engaged in conspiracies at the Imperial Household to arrange the marriage of her son Lord Darnley with the Scottrian Queen Mariana. Aurelia was enraged when she heard of this, and two days later, commanded for the Countess to be imprisoned once more at the Fortress of Baureux. The Countess protested her innocence, but her pleas were ignored, and she was to remain under imprisonment at the Empress's leisure.
 * May 9-On May 9, 1762, Empress Aurelia held an audience with Maitland, who had returned to the Imperial Laurasian Court in March. Over the past several months, negotiations had continued intermittently between the two governments over the question of a visit. The protests of the Laurasian and Scottrian nobilities, at the expenses of such a visit, had not been ignored; Aurelia did not wish to arouse ill-feeling against the Scottrian Queen. The Privy Council, moreover, believed that it was inadvisable for the Queen of Scottria to come to the Empire. Aurelia, however, still disagreed. She told Maitland that caution needed to be employed in the preparations, and that things could not be rushed forward. Indeed, other obstacles, which had always been present, were once again rearing their head. The religious tensions in the Franconian realms had been aggravated by the Siege of Rouen, which began in May 1762, and there was now greater concern than ever before about the implications on the Laurasian-Scottrian relationship, which would arise from this conflict.
 * July 8-The Imperial Court embarked from Laurasia Prime on its annual progress (July 8, 1762). The particular progress this year would take the Court northwards into the Solidaritan Provinces. Dennis, Wendy, Coen, Deanna, Michael, Rastaborn, Shannon, Methuasalah, Sheryl, Laronn, the Belts of Mantin, Sair, Istantius, Massanay, Sassanay, Cibourney, Abraham, Roxuli, Leopoldia, Alexandria, and Big Twinny were among the star systems to be graced by the presence of the Empress and her household during these months. En route from Laurasia Prime to Nezbit, the first stop on the progress, the Empress summoned Ambassador Maitland to her personal shipboard chamber and and discussed with him again about the impending state visit. The visit would take place at Devily, after August 20, 1762, when the Empress and her court were scheduled to return from their progress. At Devily, which had only two decades before been a possession of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, authorities were now preparing for a visit by a "foreign sovereign", being the Queen Mariana. Plans were already being made for a series of tournaments and other celebrations to mark the visit; security arrangements were made; and all of the world's chief monuments and structures were beautified. The communication's system was overhauled, and plans made to control transportation, as well as other access, into the star system. Many misogynistic Laurasian nobles grumbled that "women lord over us now, and we now have to be subject to their wishes."
 * July 15-On July 15, 1762, Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, who had been appointed as Ambassador to the Franconian Court in December 1761, sent a urgent communique to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thorckmortonia informed them that Orleans was now being besieged by the royalist forces of Queen-Regent Catharina d'Medici. Thorckmortonia's communique now changed everything, for Empress Aurelia was finally convinced that she could not proceed with a state visit with Queen Mariana. Knowing that Mariana was actively encouraging the Duke of Guise and Franconian Queen-Regent Catharina d'Medici to suppress the Huguenots, Aurelia decided that prudence was needed. Moreover, she realized, the internal troubles which Franconia was currently undergoing offered an opportunity to the Laurasian Empire, for obtaining a sphere of influence in the Amulak Spiral. Thus it was that on July 22, 1762, on the Empress's orders, Chancellor Cecilis dispatched a communique to the court of the Scottrian Queen Mariana, informing her that "because of the recent turmoil in Franconia, the visit which was to have been undertaken between Your Majesties at the system of Devily in the Galactic Borderlands shall have to be postponed for a year." Mariana, who had nurtured great hopes of the meeting, was distressed when she received this communique, and took to her bed, remaining there weeping for the whole day.
 * August 2-
 * Empress Aurelia informed Chancellor Cecilis, on August 2, 1762, of her intention to intervene in the affairs of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth following the death of Vorrus II. Over the preceding twenty-seven years, ever since the Treaty of Idyll in October 1735, King Vorrus had "reigned" over the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth in a desultory, detached, uncaring fashion. He was known to prefer recreation to ruling, and focused mostly on his collection of artwork, the opera, and entertainments at his court on Dejanica. He had instead delegated most of his duties and responsibilities to the ambitious Archleutan emigre, Count Heinrich von Bruhl. Bruhl, who had been born on August 13, 1700 at Gangsolffsmen, had entered the service of the Dejanican Civil Service in 1732, and arisen to ascendancy by his support of Prince Vorrus during the War of the Dejanican Succession. In 1736, he had been appointed Minister of the Interior, Chief Minister of the Dejanican Court, and Marshal of the Affairs of the Commonwealth. Four years later, he had become President of the Dietary Senate. Bruhl was himself gluttonous; he maintained a massive household, second only in complexity and stature to that of the King of Dejanica himself; and he assembled a massive collection of artwork.
 * He was a decent diplomat, negotiating commercial treaties with Laurasia (1744); Austarlia (1746); Pruthia (1750); the Haxonian Confederacy (1752); and Spamalka (1756). As regards to government affairs, however, he was completely incompetent. He was garrulous, and did not understand the finer complexities of governmental and noble politicking. Dejanica's territorial neutrality was routinely violated by the Mascavanians, Pruthians, Austarlians, and Saxonians during the wars of the 1740s and 1750s, with Prua's intrusions in 1755-56 and 1760-62 being only the most notable; in 1754, the Imperial Laurasian Navy had conducted exercises in the outskirts of Dejanican Lavella, and Bruhl's weak protests availed him nothing. Moreover, Haynsian expeditions continually harried Dejanican Lavella, Belarania, and Ukraine, with the expeditions of 1746, 1751, and 1755 inflicting the most damage. Minsk, Bialystok, Brest, Mir, Kaminiecs, Lavella Minor, Dequan, Dejan, Antwone, Novella, Nelson, and Vilinus, among other star systems, had suffered from these expeditions. The Empress of Laurasia knew of Bruhl's incompetence and his deadening influence on the Dejanican Court, and believed this would leave the Commonwealth exposed to the Laurasian Empire. When Aurelia informed Chancellor Cecilis of her intentions, she declared that "they will not be able to oppose our intrusions, not now or ever. It is inevitable that their state is doomed to collapse and to subjection at our hands." Cecilis advised her to move carefully, but also that she should begin to seek out potential candidates for the Dejanican throne, to succeed Vorrus upon his death. Furthermore, the Chancellor advised the Empress to take advantage of any avenue of projecting her influence into the Commonwealth. Aurelia followed this, and intensified the Laurasian practice of passing out bribes and favors to prominent Dejanican nobles. It had been the intrigues of the Emperor Antigonus's agents which frustrated the reform efforts of Stanislaw Kornaskia, Anton Potockia, and their supporters at the diet of 1744; now Empress Aurelia encouraged further dissent against Bruhl's regime. During the course of 1761, 1762, and 1763, the Imperial Laurasian Government would dispense more than €4 billion dataries in bribes to various Dejanican nobles and magnates on the Diet and in the Senate.
 * August 20-On August 20, 1762, Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court returned to Laurasia Prime, and a lavish ceremony of welcome was staged by the officials of the Laurasia Prime star system. Chancellor Cecilis, the Governor of Laurasia Prime, the Mayor of Christiania, and the Commander of the Garrison of Laurasia Prime formally received the Empress at the Quencilvanian Palace, and as normal, she reveled in the acclaim of her subjects. Among those who were awaiting the Empress and the Imperial Court as to their return was the young Dejanican nobleman Stanis Poniastakaius. Stanis, who had been born on January 17, 1732 at Kolzyn, belonged to the influential and powerful Czarskian family, which had sponsored Laurasian efforts in the War of the Dejanik Succession. Receiving an education that only a nobleman could obtain, he had sojourned at the courts of Pruthia, Austarlia, Franconia, and the Haxonian Confederacy. Then in 1756, his parents had secured him appointment to the Dejanican Embassy on Laurasia Prime; he had served as one of the diplomatic consuls for three years, until he returned to the Commonwealth in October 1759. In June 1762, however, Poniastakaius had returned to Laurasia Prime, having gained another assignment with the Embassy. He was known for his dignified manner and his education, but also for his pliability and willingness to be influenced by others. Empress Aurelia noticed him almost immediately. He distinguished himself in jousts with Lord Antiochus Dudley, the Earls of Jadia and Aeoleon, and other notable figures at the Imperial Court, as also by his intellectual capabilities, his wit, and his knowledge of the courtly arts. The Empress now began to view this young Dejanican noble as the next King of Dejanica. Poniataskaius would remain at the Imperial Court until June 1763, and by the end of that time, Aurelia would be definitively resolved on her course of action as regards to Dejanica.
 * September 4-In an audience with Ambassador Maitland (September 4, 1762), the Empress Aurelia suggested that his mistress, Queen Mariana, could marry a member of the Laurasian aristocracy. Aurelia declared that a Laurasian noble would foster "positive relations between our two realms" and that his mistress could be assured that there would be no conspiracy against her person. Maitland, however, declared that his mistress could never consider any match that might diminish her reputation, and that she intended only to marry a husband who had no "allegiance or ties which could distract him from what he owed to her." Mariana, unlike Aurelia, was determined to marry; she preferred a husband who would have the backing of a foreign power, and who could treat with the Empress on equal terms. The Queen of Scottria was to begin considering Don Carlos (1745-68), son and heir of Spamalkan Emperor Philicus. Don Carlos, however, was a sadistic degenerate, who would not be a worthy husband to her. She considered Charman III of Franconia to be too young, and Austarlian Archduke Char'vak to not have enough monetary funds to his credit.
 * September 11-By September 1762, the situation in Franconia had worsened. Angers, Tours, and Blois had all been garrisoned by the Huguenots during June and July 1762; Orleans defied the efforts of the Queen Mother's forces to reconquer it; and Valence was attacked by the Baron des Audrets, who managed to inflict a series of losses upon the Duke of Guise's garrisons in that star system. Furthermore, Lyon had been seized by Conde and his Huguenots (August 9, 1762), thereby further complicating the situation for the Royal Franconian Government. Watching all of these events with interest, Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government had decided to extend their aid to the Huguenots. It was thus that on September 11, 1762, a secret conference between the Imperial Laurasian Government and the Huguenots was opened at Adrianne, in the Outer Borderlands. The Empress of Laurasia had become convinced that an alliance with the Huguenots would maintain Laurasian influence in the Amulak Spiral and prevent Franconia from posing a renewed threat to the Empire in the future. The Empress herself was sympathetic towards the Huguenots in any case, and believed that they were being unduly oppressed by the Franconian government. The Imperial Laurasian Government was be represented by Sir Lysimachus Croftia; Sir Galerius Caranus; and Assistant Minister of Finance Walterius Mildmay, while the Duke of Nannes and Admiral de Coligny, on behalf of the Prince of Conde, represented the Huguenot Confederation. Negotiations continued for the next several days.
 * September 21-The Treaty of Adrianne was, on September 21, 1762, signed by the delegations of the Laurasian Empire and the Huguenot Confederation of Franconia, resulting in the conclusion of a formal military and diplomatic alliance between the Empire and the Confederation. By the terms of this treaty, the Empress of Laurasia pledged to dispatch an expeditionary corps, of units from the Imperial Laurasian Navy, and consisting of not more than sixty warships and 250,000 military personnel, under the command of a "reliable and distinguished" nobleman, in order to assist the Huguenots retain Le Havre, which they had captured from the Royalists in July 1762 and were using as a major military arsenal and shipyard. The expeditionary corps was to have tactical autonomy, and was to operate in accordance with the directives of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The Empress of Laurasia promised not to make any treaty with the Royalists until the Huguenots had succeeded in their objective of capturing Calais, Dunkirk, Abbeville, and Boulougone. In return, the Huguenots agreed to compensate the Imperial Laurasian Government for all military expenses; to confirm Laurasian transit and transportation privileges in Franconian territory; and to recognize the immunities of Laurasian subjects in Franconian dominions. It was agreed that the Laurasian expeditionary corps is to be dispatched by no later than the end of the present year. The Treaty of Adrianne was ratified by the Huguenot Council of Operations on September 24 and by Empress Aurelia on September 26.
 * October 10-Empress Aurelia, who was with the Imperial Court at the Hamponian Palace on Jared (once the residence of Chancellor-Cardinal Wolesius), awoke in her personal bedchambers at 7:00 a.m., the morning of October 10, 1762, as had become her daily routine. As she woke up, however, the Empress was stricken by a feeling of uneasiness in her stomach and lightness in her head. Now twenty-nine years old, Aurelia had not fallen seriously ill before; in fact, she was to have the most robust health of any of the sovereigns of the Neuchrian Dynasty. This time, however, she was to be stricken. Believing that her uneasiness was only the result of the extensive dinner which she had the previous night, the Empress took some stomach relief and then set about her daily walk in the gardens around her bedchambers. As she began to walk, however, her legs began to give way, and she was forced to summon her ladies to help her back to the bedchambers. Still believing that she was only suffering a bout of temporary illness, Aurelia immersed herself in a bath. By noon, however, she had taken to her bed and was running a high temperature. The Empress's personal physicians, including the Archleutan Dr. Hans Burcot (1705-74, who had served in the Imperial Hospital since 1734), were summoned to her bedside. Burcot, with his tricorders, immediately declared that the Empress had contracted Marsian fever, and that she needed to be placed on a immediate regiment of antibiotics and liquified food. Aurelia, however, refused to believe him, and ordered him to leave her chambers, throwing objects at him and commanding him to never appear before her again.
 * October 16-
 * Empress Aurelia, who had refused to believe that she had contracted Marsian fever, found herself in serious condition following her rejection of Dr. Burcot's advice. This decline continued over the course of six days. The fever had grown worse since Dr. Burcot had been hustled from her bedchambers. During the early hours of October 16, 1762, the Empress coughed violently in her personal bedchambers, so much so that she became dehydrated. She continued to refuse treatment, and as a result, her life came ever closer to peril. Then, early in the afternoon, her throat clogged, and she became incapable of speech. Finally, near 5:00 p.m. that evening, she lapsed into unconsciousness. Chancellor Cecilis, overriding the Empress's instructions, had her moved to the Imperial Hospital, and ordered for all effort to be made to revive her. Into October 17, the Empress continued to drift in and out of consciousness in the Royal Hospital, and she was in a pitiable state.
 * The Imperial Privy Council convened in a emergency session in the Private Council Chambers on the orders of the Chancellor. Great anxiety now prevailed among the members of the Council, concerning the Empress's predicament. Chancellor Cecilis, Procurator-General Bagonius, the Earls of Jadia and Aeoleon, and Lord Treasurer Winchestrius were the most anxious personages. If the Empress died, as most, by this point, believed that she would, who should succeed her? Over the next two days, the Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod conducted vigorous discussions, with the members of the three Councils of State divided in their opinions. Some, such as Lord Knollysis, favored Lady Katharina Greysius, despite the matter of her disgrace with the Earl of Heuthros; moderates supported the Earl of Hannah, who was not related to the Empress, but nevertheless was a descendant of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. The rest wanted for the Councils of State to themselves decide the matter. No one spoke in support of Scottrian Queen Mariana, who was the closest claimant. A consensus was lacking, however, and this boded ill for the future.
 * October 20-
 * On October 20, 1762, the Imperial Chancellory issued an imperial manifesto to the subjects of the Laurasian Empire, informing them of the Empress's diagnosis and her predicament; and that she may soon be "received into the fold of Almitis." The Imperial Court was already commencing preparations to go into mourning for the Empress's soul. Lord Husadarania, however, determined to prevent disputes over the succession from arising, and still having hope, prevailed upon Dr. Burcot to resume his treatment of the Empress. Burcot ordered that she be moved into the sanitary ward and administered the experimental Rigellus-II medicine, which had been developed at the Medical Faculty of the University of Clackimaris from February 1761. He worked vigorously, sending out orders to the servants and the nurses in a "rapid and vigorous manner", and ensuring that no one came into contact with the Empress unless if they wore proper gear. His treatments worked, and two hours later, the Empress was conscious and able to speak.
 * The Councils of State gathered around the bedside of the Empress, who, although she had been administered the medicine, was still in danger of dying. Her chief concern was to make provision for the government and succession to the Laurasian Empire upon her death. Turning to the one man she felt she could trust, she commanded the Councils of State to appoint Lord Antiochus Dudley Lord Protector of the Laurasian Empire, with the salary of €112.4 billion dataries a year. The Empress also asked that his personal servant, Simmias Tabarthia (1740-92), be given the pension of €5 million dataries a year. Many individuals believed that this was to buy the silence of one who had stood guard while the Empress and Dudley were alone. Aurelia, however, anticipating that adverse conclusions would be drawn, declared that "although I have loved Lord Antiochus dearly, as Almitis is my witness, nothing unseemly has ever passed between us." Although the councilors, especially Chancellor Cecilis, were much dismayed by her commands, "everything she asked was promised", according to Ambassador de Quadra. Shortly afterwards, eruptions appeared on the Empress's hands. Dr. Burcot, not considerate of civility, yelled "Almitis's pestilence! Which is better? To have these marks on your body, or to die?" He soon looked at the readouts, and noticed the Empress's blood pressure had returned to normal levels. He informed the Council that the Empress would soon recover, and that the worst was over.
 * October 24-Following Dr. Burcot's treatments, the Empress had improved rapidly, much to the profound relief of the Councils of State, the Imperial Court, and her subjects at large. For days, people had been in anxious anticipation of the Empress's condition, and whether or not she would survive. Her improvements, however, now lifted their hopes. The Empress finally emerged from her bed on October 24, 1762, although she would remain in confinement in her personal bedchambers for the next several days and would not resume her normal schedule until the end of November. The Empress's recovery was greeted with much joy throughout the Empire. On November 17, 1762, the fourth anniversary of her ascension to the throne, the Imperial Treasury would issue a coin to mark her recovery. The coin depicted the Empress kneeling before the Lord Paul of Almitis, and the inscription, in Old Laurasian, "Gratia autem Dei vita datur; Quod vita conservatur; Vita, quod omnia et super omnia uphneld." (By the Grace of God, Life is given; Life is preserved; Life is upheld above everything else). It was on November 4, 1762, that the Empress decided to reward Lord Antiochus Dudley for his continued loyalty and concern for her interests. Dudley was finally appointed to the Imperial Privy Council, obtaining the position of Minister of Labor and Commerce. He was also given a pension of €50 million dataries a year. Attempting to preserve the peace, she bestowed the same honor upon the Duke of Norfolkius, appointed as the Minister of Planetary and Energy Resources. The rivalry between these two men, however, remained as intense as ever, although both remained dedicated to the interests of the Empress.
 * November 11-Empress Aurelia, on November 11, 1762, received a communique from her cousin, Scottrian Queen Mariana. In this communique, Mariana expressed her happiness that the Empress had recovered from her "debilitating illness", and expressed her hope that the Empress of Laurasia would never again have to contend with any illness in the future. Chancellor Cecilis and the others, at the Imperial Court and in the Imperial Laurasian Government, were now determined that the Empress should marry, and that she should marry as soon as possible. They believed that a male heir to the Laurasian throne was desperately needed, and that Aurelia should not procrastinate any longer. The Earl of Americana, on his part, confronted the Empress two days after Mariana's communique, declaring that the matter of the succession touched the affairs of the entire Empire. Aurelia, weeping with rage, was angered at his insolence, and threatened that she would have him executed. Americana refused to stand down, and the confrontation ultimately ended with the Empress banishing him from her sight for seven months and confiscating all grants, honors, and properties conferred on him since the beginning of the reign. On November 22, she issued a venomous manifesto from the Imperial Court, reminding all her subjects that she had the power to "destroy them utterly" if they attempted to force her down a path which she did not desire.
 * December 9-Having resumed her normal duties of state, and determined to follow through with her commitments to the Huguenots, the Empress formally designated Ambrosius Dudley, the Earl of Sarah, as commander of the Laurasian Expeditionary Corps of Le Havre. Dudley, who had distinguished himself in the Didymeian War, and was determined to serve his mistress faithfully in the arena of battle, gracefully accepted the commission. The Corps began to assemble at Syr-Daria, Glassia, Houston, Tyson, Vandross, and the Oirat Complex. The Huguenot Council, having learned of the Empress's illness, and expressing their joy for her recovery, declared that the Expeditionary Corps would not have to be dispatched until after the commencement of the year. 1762 therefore ended with the Laurasian Empire, having narrowly averted crisis, and embarked upon its next intervention in the Great Amulak Spiral.

1763

 * January 11-
 * 1763, the 63rd year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire of Aurelia I, still enjoying domestic tranquility, now involving itself once again in the affairs of the Great Amulak Spiral: this time in its long-time rival, Franconia. The conclusion of the Treaty of Adrianne the previous year had obliged Empress Aurelia to come to the aid of the Huguenots, who then were fighting the regime of Queen-Regent Catharina d'Medici. Indeed, on January 6, 1763, the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded an addendum with the Huguenot Council of Operations, which provided that Dieppe was to be placed at the disposition of the Laurasian Empire's military forces, and allowing for an increase (to four hundred warships and one million personnel) in the numbers of units deployed for action in Normandy and Calais. As regards to the Huguenots, they had suffered further reverses against the Queen-Regent's regime. On October 18, 1762, Rouen had been recaptured by the Queen-Regent's forces, but Antoine, Duke of Vendome, was seriously injured and died as a result (November 12, 1762). Orleans, Poitiers, and Meaux had then fallen into government hands, and on December 7, 1762, the Prince of Conde had been captured by the Guises, while Marshal Anne Montmorency fell into the hands of the Bourbon faction. Beauvais and Pontoise were also in governmental hands by the end of December 1762.
 * Thus, it was that the Empress and the Privy Council pushed the dispatch of the Expeditionary Corps, under the command of the Earl of Sarah, with all possible speed. The Corps departed from Belkadan on January 11, 1763, and proceeded with all haste across the Galactic Void. Then on January 16, the Corps arrived at Breuteuil, which had fallen under the control of the Huguenot Council in November 1762. The Duke of Bordeaux, who had assumed supreme command of all Huguenot forces in the wake of Conde's capture, greeted Sarah and his forces. The Huguenots then escorted the Expeditionary Corps to the strongholds of Dieppe and Le Havre; on January 22, 1763, the Earl of Sarah formally took possession of both strongholds. Yet the Laurasians and the Huguenots soon found themselves at conflict once again with the government of the Queen-Regent. The Battle of Chatres (January 23, 1763), resulted in a decisive victory for Sarah and Bordeaux, who captured a number of royal corvettes and impounded several turbocannon models belonging to the Royal Franconian Navy. Following this confrontation, the Franconian outpost of Devairk was occupied by the Huguenots (January 24); Sarah then distinguished himself in confrontations with governmental units at Argentan, Mortcain, and Alencon (January 25-29, 1763). On February 1, 1763, Avranches and Countances both fell into the hands of the Huguenots, thereby depriving the Queen-Regent's government of two of its primary military bases. By February 13, Laurasian and Huguenot units had also secured Stephani, Julianne, Guines, Hames, and Evereux, thereby immeasurably strengthening the Huguenot position in Normandy. On February 18, the Battle of Gisors ended in another humiliating defeat for the Duke of Guise, who was forced to terminate his offensive moves in the vicinity of Bayeux, which was now secured by allied forces.
 * February 12-
 * On February 12, 1763, Empress Aurelia attended a banquet at Chalessian Mansion in Christiania, held in her honor by the Earl of Aeoleon and Lord Treasurer Winchestrius. Chalessian Mansion, which was one of the largest private residences in Christiania, dated back to the reign of Leonidas and was marked by its distinctive Royal Laurasian architecture. The Empress thereby enjoyed herself immensely there. Her day, however, was brought to a sudden and crashing halt when she was informed that Lady Katharina Greysius had given birth to a second son in her personal chamber at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia. Lady Katharina and the Earl of Heuthros had been moved there from the Fortress of Baureux in June 1762. Sir Demetrius Warveius (1724-93), Lieutenant of the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, had permitted Katharina to hang rich curtains and tapestries in her apartments; delicacies were brought to her table, and she was allowed to keep her pet animals with her. The Empress had approved all of this, but Warveius, who had sympathy for the young couple, had secretly allowed the young couple to meet and to even share a room at night. Katharina had become pregnant by September 1762, although this was kept a closely guarded secret. It was no longer a secret however, and news of the birth leaked out quickly from the Post Settlement.
 * Aurelia's wrath knew no bounds, and she commanded that under no circumstances were they to meet again. Thus it was that on February 16, 1763, on the Empress's orders, both the Earl of Heuthros and Sir Warveius were arrested and translated to imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux. They were both charged on counts of treason, conspiracy, les-majestie, and "violation of the rights and customs of the imperial household." The Earl of Heuthros, in particular, was also accused of "sexual impropriety" and "extramarital relations." Three days later, on February 19, the Court of the Star Chamber convicted both Heuthros and Warveius on all charges. By the command of the Empress, Heuthros was fined €500 million dataries for his crime; deprived of all honors and grants conferred upon him by the Imperial Chancellory; and ordered to remain under close confinement at the Fortress of Baureux. Warveius, on his part, was dismissed from the post of Lord Lieutenant; fined €220 million dataries; deprived of all honors and grants; and forbidden to ever reside at the Imperial Court or set foot on Laurasia Prime herself. Warveius would eventually die in obscurity on Robbay on June 23, 1793.
 * February 15-
 * As 1763 opened, Austarlia and Pruthia, along with Saxony, Bavaria, and the minor Germanian Principalities, found themselves exhausted from the conflicts of the Seven Year's War. Both powers suffered from severe deficits; by 1763, Pruthia had accumulated a debt of more than $1 quadmillion krona, and had now surpassed the Marasharite Empire as the leading debtor state of extra-galactic civilization. The Pruthian military had contracted severely, and although the Emperor of Pruthia had raised fresh levies during the course of 1762 (producing a force of more than three hundred billion personnel), it did not compare to the military strength which he had possessed in August 1756, at the onset of conflict. Moreover, due to the innumerable invasions by the Franconians, Austarlians, Mecklenburgians, and Saxons, East Pruthia, Brandenburg, Silania, Pomerania, Westphalia, East Frisia, Holstein, Neuchatel, and the Southern Patrimonies were all devastated; many star systems lay desolate, and billions of sentients had been killed, wounded, or forced to flee their homes. Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania's own realms, faced with rebellions in Hungary, Transylvania, Slovenia, and Istria, fared little better; Bohemia (part of which was once again under Pruthian occupation) and the Austarlian Archduchies had also been damaged by the exertions of war, and Prague's trade connections had been seriously disrupted. Austarlia faced a debt of more than $900 trillion krona. Moreover, Pruthian forces held the majority of Saxony, Hesse, and Wurttemberg, which thereby gave Pru'a a major bargaining chip towards the Austarlians. Nevertheless, it was in the interests of both Pru'a and Mar'va Tarvania to reach peace. On January 9, 1763, negotiations between the two Empires commenced at Hubertusburg in the Electorate of Saxony.
 * These negotiations were mediated by the Vendragian Marquess of Granby, and with his aid, proceeded swiftly. Finally, on February 15, 1763, the Treaty of Hubertusburg was signed, thereby ending the Seven Years' War, one of the most extensive military conflicts of the eighteenth century for extra-galactic civilization (the First and Second Spamalkan Wars, which began a quarter of a century later, were to be even more extensive). By the terms of this treaty, the status quo ante bellum was imposed between Pruthia and Austarlia. Pruthian rule of the Silanian Duchies was finally acknowledged by Empress Mar'va Tarvania, while East Pruthia was also restored to Pruthian control; she also recognized the Pruthian acquisition of Fleda and Juterbog, both of whom had been inherited during the war. Pruthian rights to the succession of Anhalt-Zerbst, Anhalt-Hossau, Anhalt-Dessau, and Anhalt-Schultz, which had been maintained since 1732, were also affirmed (enacted 1786). Pru'a, on his part, agreed to withdraw all of his military forces from the Southern Principalities, Saxony, and Bohemia; to recognize the territorial integrity of the Electorate of Saxony; to recognize Austarlian acquisition of Heuborrn, Stuttgart, Remithgen, and Ulm; to affirm Austarlian succession rights to the Archmandrite of Passau (enacted the following year, 1764); and to adhere to all commercial arrangements relating to Neuchatel as had been defined under the Treaty of Bern (1735). All prisoners of war were to be exchanged, though each side would be allowed to keep all supplies, goods, and equipment seized during the course of the war, and neither would be obliged to compensate the other for any expenses. The Treaty of Hubertusburg was ratified by Emperor Pru'a on February 18; Empress Mar'va Tarvania and her husband, Fransios I, on February 22; by Elector Augustus II of Saxony on February 27; and by the League of Southern Princes on March 1. Peace was to prevail between Austarlia and Pruthia for the next fifteen years, until the outbreak of the War of the Bavarian Succession.
 * February 24-
 * By late February 1763, the position of the Huguenots had, with the assistance of the Laurasian Empire, become so advanced that the Queen-Dowager Catharina d'Medici and her supporters on Parri found themselves under considerable pressure. The Queen-Dowager, who hated the Huguenots, was nevertheless beginning to realize that a policy of reconciliation needed to be pursued with them. This message was amplified further when, on February 18, 1763, while defending Orleans from the offensives of Huguenot forces in the Ile-de-Franconia, the Duke of Guise was wounded by gunfire from the fanatical Huguenot Jean de Poltrot de Mere, a minor Franconian noble from the star system of Angoumois. Despite the efforts of his physicians, Guise's health entered a rapid decline; he died on February 24, 1763, at the age of forty-four. Guise's assassination dealt a serious blow to the position of the royalist forces. By February 28, royalist units had been ejected from Chateau Thierry, Montmrail, Lagny-sur-Marne, Champagne, Epernay, and Barcy; Parri itself was threatened by Huguenot and Laurasian raiding expeditions. All attempts by the Queen-Dowager's units to dislodge Sarah from Le Havre and Dieppe failed; on March 1, 1763, the Earl won the Battle of Liseux, thereby maintaining the Empire's supply lines in that region. Laurasia and Franconia were technically still at peace, however, and on March 2, Empress Aurelia, in a manifesto from the Quencilvanian Palace, affirmed that her intervention was meant only to "restore tranquility in the Franconian realms."
 * Queen-Dowager Catharina herself, pushed by this recent series of defeats, now, on March 19, 1763, issued the Edict of Amboise, by which she guaranteed the religious rights and liberties of all Huguenots in Franconia; permitted Huguenot nobles to construct their own churches and to hold worship services on their estates; and forbade officials of the Franconian Cult from inquiring into the "consciences" of her subjects. These measures thereby went some ways to consolidating her hold over Parri. The Huguenot Council of Operations, however, continued its military campaigns through the end of March 1763, by which time Douliens, La Fere, Peronne, St. Quentin, Vervins, Rithel, and Hirson were all in their hands; Valmy and Verdun were both threatened by Huguenot troops. Empress Aurelia, however, believed that she had preserved Laurasian rights in Franconia, and that her intervention had compelled the Queen-Mother into granting toleration. Therefore, when on April 4, 1763, the Queen-Dowager sent an offer for a military armistice to the Expeditionary Corps and the Huguenot Council, the Empress of Laurasia did not relent. The Armistice of Rheims was signed on April 15, 1763, thereby suspending military hostilities between the Huguenots and the Royalists.
 * March 20-
 * The Book of Martyrs was, on March 20, 1763, published by Dayian Press in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. This work was written by the Almitian theologian and historian Sir John Foxius (1716-87), cousin of the renowned court and imperial historian Sir Antiochus Foxius. Foxius, who had been born at Reese on June 22, 1716, had graduated from the University of Colsonia in 1737 with bachelor's degrees in political science and Laurasian history. Fluent in eight different languages besides Laurasian, and imbued with a passion in philosophy and psychology, he had become a fellow of St. Mary's College on Vetta the year following his graduation. From 1738 to 1745, he was the Associate Professor of Logic at the University of Ipsus V, and gained much recognition from his fellow peers due to his employment of the "Socratic method" in his lectures. His professional education also advanced further; he earned his MA in Logic and General Science in 1743, and his Phd in Analytical Philosophy in 1745. That same year, however, he had resigned from his position at the University of Ipsus V, due to his adoption of Reformist beliefs which were at odds with the Emperor Antigonus's government. After a period of unemployment, Foxius was eventually employed as a private tutor to Sir Thomasius Lucarnia (1732-1800), who was the heir to one of the chief estates on Lomanis.
 * It was while he employed in this capacity that he married Agnatia Randallia (1718-91) in 1747; they were to have six children. His prospects improved significantly following the accession of Demetrius II to the Laurasian throne in January of that year; at the end of 1747, he was employed by the Duchess of Reoyania and Conservan as tutor to the orphaned children of her brother, the executed Earl of Soria. Foxius lived at Mountjaria House, the Duchess's Christiania residence, and at Reigate Castle on Venasia Secondary; furthermore, with her patronage, Foxius became an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Monderon, eventually advancing to the rank of full Professor in 1752. He also earned the support and assistance of such influential figures as Chancellor Sir Willanius Cecilis, Archbishops Perles and Latimerius, and Sir Willanius Turania (1700-68), Director of Geologic Studies at the Imperial Academy of Sciences. In October 1750, Foxius was ordained as a Deacon of the Almitian Church, and he published numerous tracts extoling the virtues and the benefits of Reformed Almitism. In July 1753, however, with the accession of Empress Didymeia and the release of the Duke of Norfolkius, he lost all of his positions, and in July 1754, following Wyatta's Rebellion, was forced to flee to the Great Amulak Spiral. He settled at Strasbourg in the Serene Kingdom of Franconia, and remained in exile there for four years, ingratiating himself with the Reformist Almitian enclave in that star system.
 * He continued to publish works concerning Almitism, and in particular, tracts denouncing the Empress Didymeia's policies. Foxius, however, did criticize John Knox's First Blast of the Trumpet when it was published in 1758, and believed that the Grand Princess Aurelia would become the "heroine of Almitism." And indeed, following her accession to the throne in November 1758, he had been permitted to return from his exile, and had regained his lost titles. In 1761, Foxius became Chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Monderon, and in 1762, a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Laurasia Prime. His seminal work, the Book of Martyrs, compiled the trial records, names, biographies, and personal accounts of all 700 million victims of the Didymeian Persecutions. It also included an account of the religious reforms and movements of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and in conjunction with this, details on the court affairs of Emperor Antigonus's reign. His work came to be praised for its literary depth and quality; in November 1763, he would be knighted for his literary contributions.
 * March 22-
 * Empress Aurelia, in a private audience with Scottrian Ambassador Maitland in the Throne Room of the Arachosian Palace of Senna (March 22, 1763), first raised the idea of Lord Antiochus Dudley as a potential husband for Queen Mariana. Mariana, unaware of Don Carlos's mental incapability, had continued to pursue negotiations for a marriage to him during the early months of 1763. The Empress of Laurasia considered this a threat to her position, and she sought to see Mariana married to a loyal Laurasian. Therefore, she had conceived of Dudley. Dudley was, in her view, the one man who could be trusted to promote the welfare of the Empire in the Angelina Spiral; he was indebted to the Empress for his meteoric rise to power and almost princely status, and would not be likely to forget the woman for whom he felt a genuine affection, if not love. By marrying Dudley, Mariana would remove herself from the marriage market, and threats of foreign interference in Scottria would recede. The drawback would be that she would have to give him up, but because of how long royal marriage negotiations took, the parting would not take place for months, if not years.
 * Few would support her view of the situation, for only Cecilis, who wanted Dudley out of the way and saw the advantages, supported the plan. In her audience, the Empress declared that Dudley had "manly graces" and would be a worthy husband for Maitland's mistress. Maitland, believing her proposal to be a cosmic joke, tried to laugh it off at first, but seeing that Aurelia meant what she said, offered his thanks for her offer. Shortly afterwards, Cecilis praised Dudley to Maitland, declaring that he was "a nobleman of birth, void of all evil conditions that sometimes are heritable to princes, and in goodness of nature and richness of good gifts comparable to any prince born..." Maitland however, believed privately that the Empress's plan to foist her discarded lover-a commoner by origin-upon his Queen was little short of insulting, especially in view of his reputation as a former traitor and suspected wife murderer. During the course of the next two months, the news of the Empress's offer of Dudley spreads throughout the Empire and intergalactic civilization, being met everywhere with derision. Few believed Aurelia was serious. "Resolved" to move forward with the Dudley marriage, Empress Aurelia believed that she could afford to be generous to Lady Lennaxia. Thus, on April 4, 1763, she therefore ordered her release from imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux, but made it conditional upon a promise that the Countess would never again scheme to marry her son to the Queen of Scottria. The Countess of Lennaxia was also commanded to retire to her family estates on Pulaski. Lennaxia obliged, and was now determined, with her husband, to stay away from the Imperial Court as much as possible.
 * May 11-On May 11, 1763, a diplomatic conference was opened at Newhaven between the delegations of the Laurasian Empire and the Huguenot Confederation on the one hand, and the Serene Kingdom of Franconia on the other. The Empress Aurelia designated the Earl of Sarah, commander of the Laurasian Expeditionary Corps, as the chief plenipotentiary of the Laurasian delegation. Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, Sir Lysimachus Croftia, and Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia were the the other Laurasian plenipotentiaries. The Prince of Conde (released from imprisonment by the Queen-Dowager on April 28, 1763) and Admiral Coligny represented the Huguenot Confederation, while the Dukes of Torre and Boulougone served as the dignitaries for the Royal Franconian Government. Negotiations would continue for over two months before an agreement is reached.
 * June 5-On June 5, 1763, Empress Aurelia bestowed upon her chief favorite, Lord Antiochus Dudley, Kenillian Castle on Taurasia. Kenilian Castle had been originally constructed by Willanius Marshallia (1347-1419), Earl of Taurasia, in 1390. The Earl of Taurasia had been a prominent Laurasian military commander, statesman, and official of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries; he served every Laurasian monarch from Antiochus I to Tiberius II, and was one of the leading figures in the Kimanian and Jageronian Wars of the 1400s and 1410s. His Castle, which was renowned for its splendor, size, and furniture, remained in the possession of the Marshallia family for nearly two centuries, until it was confiscated by Emperor Commodus the Terrible in 1583. Since then, it had belonged to the Imperial Estates; Emperors Probus, Titus II, and Aurelia's own grandfather, Neuchrus I, had all favored the residence. Antigonus III, however, had lavished his attentions upon Hampsonian Palace, the Palace of Placenta, and Nonsuchia Palace. But now, this castle had come into the possession of the Dudleys. Lord Dudley immediately threw himself into efforts to expand the castle, in order to make it a fit place to entertain the Empress. This effort would continue for the next ten years.
 * July 9-On July 9, 1763, the same day that Empress Aurelia embarked on her annual progress to the Goldarian Worlds, the Treaty of Newhaven was signed by the delegations of the Laurasian Empire, Huguenot Confederation, and Serene Kingdom of Franconia, thereby bringing an end to the First Huguenot War of 1762-63. By the terms of this treaty, the terms of the Edict of Amboise, granting religious toleration to the Huguenots, were acknowledged by all parties. Queen-Dowager Catharina d'Medici also agreed to respect the right of the Huguenots to sit on the Estates-General and in the parlements of Parri, Orleans, Calais, Rouen, Nannes, Bordeaux, Poitou, Anjou, and Dijon. In exchange, the Huguenot Council of Operations agreed to disband all of its military forces; to acknowledge the Queen-Dowager's authority over the Franconian realms; and to restore Normandy, the Orleans Region, and Anjou back to the Royal Franconian Government. The Imperial Laurasian Government, on its part, agreed to evacuate Dieppe and Le Havre, but in exchange, received a indemnity of €5.5 trillion dataries as compensation for its military expenses. Furthermore, the terms of the Treaties of Boulougone (1750), Cateau-Cambresis (1759), and Ediania (1760) were confirmed by the Franconian Government, thereby once again acknowledging the Laurasian Empire's jurisdiction over the formerly Scottrian Galactic Borderlands, as well as Laurasian privileges and rights of intervention in Scottria. Franconia also agreed to refrain from military exercises in the Galactic Void, and to respect the status quo in the Germanian Principalities, the Durthian Duchies, and Milania. The Treaty of Newhaven, which constituted a diplomatic triumph for the Empress Aurelia, was ratified by her on July 10; by the Huguenot Council of Operations on July 12; and by the Queen-Dowager Catharina d'Medici (with the Estates-General and in the name of her son), on July 18. Though the Second Huguenot War was only five years away, this treaty did mark the final termination of military conflict between Laurasia and Franconia, which had dragged on for seventy-one years (since Neuchrus I's first campaigns against Charman II of Franconia in 1692). And indeed, in the late eighteenth century, the two powers were to become steadfast allies, against the Holy Spamalkan Empire.
 * July 17-
 * Acting under the provisions of Lowenwolde's Treaty and the Treaty of Riga, Empress Aurelia, on July 17, 1763, commanded the Laurasian Ambassador to the Dejanican Court, Sir Metronius Avronius (1724-67), to demand from the Dejanican Diet and King Vorrus II to formally depose the King's son, Carl, as Duke of Northania. Aurelia had told Chancellor Cecilis that Laurasian rights to the succession of the Duchy of Northania had been violated by Carl's elevation four years earlier, and that control of Northania would be a conduit of Laurasian influence into the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Diet, influenced by Laurasian bribes and intimidation, responded to Avronius's demands promptly, and on July 22, ordered Vorrus to formally deprive his son of the Duchy of Northania. Vorrus was reluctant, but faced with the threat of Laurasian intervention, complied. Carl was forced to resign as Duke on July 26, 1763. The former Duke now retired to the Electorate of Saxony, with his father's permission, and took up residence on Dresden. There, he became one of the most prominent emigree nobles at the Saxon court; his marriage to Countess Francisca Krasinkia, who belonged to one of the leading noble houses of Dejanica, allowed for him to maintain his ties to the Commonwealth. She would, in 1775, be granted the title of Princess of Lodomeria by Holy Austarlian Emperor Joseth II. Carl would reside on Dresden for the next thirty-three years, until his death on June 16, 1796, at the age of sixty-two. Following Carl's deposition, Empress Aurelia proceeded immediately to the installation of his successor.
 * Ambassador Avronius, employing the troops of his "diplomatic garrison" on Dejanica Major, now, on July 22, 1763, compelled the Northanian Diet to reelect former Duke Ernestia Bironia. Bironia had resided at the Imperial Laurasian Court since 1745, following a stint of exile in the Germanian Principalities, and had in that time ingratiated himself with the Imperial Laurasian Government. On September 28, 1762, he had signed the Concordat of Solis, by which he agreed to protect the Imperial Almitian Church in Northania; to favor Laurasian merchants and navigators in his dominions through the grant of free-trade and free-transit privileges; to allow the Imperial Laurasian Navy to transport supplies and convoys across Northanian territory; and to be attentive to all petitions concerning commerce, navigation, and foreign affairs posed by the Empire. Thus it was that he effectively bond himself in fealty to the Laurasian Empire. On August 11, 1763, Bironia would arrive on Mitau, and would formally be consecrated once more as Duke of Northania and Semigallia. His second reign was to last until his abdication in 1769. Northania was now to all intents and purposes a protectorate of the Laurasian Empire, though it officially remained a Dejanican fief. This was the situation which would persist for Northania for the next thirty-two years, until its final annexation by the Empress in November 1795.
 * August 6-On August 6, 1763, Ambrosius Dudley, Earl of Sarah, returned to Belkadan from the Great Amulak Spiral, having resigned his commission as commander of the Laurasian Expeditionary Corps four days earlier, and having made preparations for the transfer of Le Havre and Dieppe back to the authority of the Franconian Government. Dudley, however, had been wounded in a grenade explosion, during a confrontation with Franconian troops at Barfleur (April 1, 1763), before the end of hostilities, and suffered a major leg injury. The Earl of Sarah was greeted at Belkadan by his brother, Lord Antiochus, who brought with him a message of condolences from the Empress concerning his injury.
 * August 24-On August 24, 1763, Spamalkan Ambassador de Quadra, whose health had been in decline since March 1763, succumbed to his age and physical condition, and died of Soplaies disease at St. Paul's Hospital in Christiania. De Quadra, whose reports had contained the rumors and other stories circulating about affairs at the Imperial Laurasian Court, and who had continued to pester the Empress with questions about her marriage possibilities, was not particularly mourned at the Imperial Court. His body would be transported back to Alvara in the Holy Spamalkan Empire on September 4, and interred there at his family estate.
 * September 19-The Empress Aurelia commanded her ambassador to the Scottrian Court, Sir Thomasius Randolphius, on September 19, 1763, to hold a private audience with Queen Mariana regarding her own marriage possibilities. Randolphius was instructed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to persuade Mariana to allow Aurelia to choose her a husband. He was to say that if Mariana consented "to content us and this our empire in her marriage" Aurelia would be as a mother to her and would "proceed to the inquisition of her right and title to be our next heir, and to further that which shall be advantageous to her." Reference was to be made to the possibility of "some person of noble birth" being chosen as Mariana's husband. Mariana, however, did not understand what was implied, begging for clarification. Randolphius, who knew of Aurelia's intentions, was praying that he would not have to tell her. Aurelia, however, was still playing for time, and in the interests of retaining Mariana's interest and preventing her from pursuing other marriage plans, would keep her guessing for the next few months.
 * October 5-
 * On October 5, 1763, Vorrus II, King of Dejanica and Grand Duke of Lithuania, died, aged 66, at the Dresdanian Palace in Warsaw, Dejanica Major. The King had ruled for twenty-eight years (since July 1735), following the dispute of his title with Stanis I during the War of the Dejanican Succession. Known for his gluttony and his lavish lifestyle, the King had become bloated (weighing nearly a metric ton). His health had entered a serious decline during the last several months of his life; in August 1763, the King had collapsed at a performance of the Royal Opera in Warsaw, and had to be carried back to his personal bedchambers. His death, however, was not particularly mourned by his subjects, who had come to despise his ways and his style of governing. Nevertheless, condolences for the King arrived from all foreign courts, including from that of the Laurasian Empire. The Empress of Laurasia, however, was pleased about the death of King Vorrus; when news of it was broken to her by Chancellor Cecilis, she publicly thanked the Lord Almitis for this "joyous turn of fate." She later defended her conduct by stating that Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia had jumped from behind his desk when he learned of the Dejanican King's death.
 * Nevertheless, the death of King Vorrus would give Aurelia the opportunity to intervene in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and she had said so much to Chancellor Cecilis and her other ministers. The Empress, however, knew that she would have to gain the cooperation of a neighboring power for her intentions: specifically, Pruthia. Pru'a IX, who had now reigned for twenty-three years, had become the senior monarch of extra-galactic civilization as a result of Vorrus's death. Vorrus's death was followed in Dejanica by another. On October 28, 1763, Archleutan Count Heinrich von Bruhl, Chief Minister to the King and President of the Dietary Senate of Dejanica, died on Krakow. The death of Count von Bruhl, just twenty-three days after the death of his patron and sovereign, was meet with rejoicing by many in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who despised his foreign origin and his gluttonous ways.
 * November 14-In a session of the Imperial Privy Council at the Diplomatic Palace in Christiania, Laurasia Prime, on November 14, 1763, Empress Aurelia raised the subject of the succession in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Vorrus II had been buried at the Royal Vault of Krenshallia on November 2, and the period of mourning for his death had formally been proclaimed to be at an end by the Dejanican Diet. According to the laws of the Commonwealth, the Dejanican Government had been placed in the charge of the Interrex, High Priest Wav'ro Lubraskius of Tuvaria, who was to govern the affairs of the Commonwealth until the formal successor to Vorrus had been elected. Aurelia, in her discussion with the Privy Council, declared that, as her father had done three decades earlier, that the Laurasian Empire should intervene to maintain its interests in Dejanica. Chancellor Cecilis, who was as determined as the Empress to see the extension of Laurasian influence to those territories, suggested to the Empress that negotiations should be conducted with a friendly monarch in order to handle Dejanican affairs. The Empress concurred, and authorized Cecilis to begin drafting the formal request.
 * December 7-
 * On the orders of Empress Aurelia, on December 7, 1763, Chancellor Cecilis dispatched a formal diplomatic communique to the court of the Autocratic Empire of Pruthia and its monarch, Emperor Pru'a IX. In the communique, the Chancellor declared that "the recent death of His Majesty of Dejanica has exposed once again, to Her Imperial Majesty's government, and to the subjects of this Empire, the importance of the maintenance of a friendly and proper regime within the Dejanican territories." Cecilis then went on to state that under the terms of Lowenwolde's Treaty and the Treaty of Riga, the powers of Laurasia, Pruthia, and Austarlia had the ability to intervene in Dejanican internal affairs, and that they should secure the "peaceful transition of the Dejanican throne." Therefore, it was proposed by the Chancellor that a Dejanican noble of "honorable lineage", should be elevated to the Dejanican throne. Cecilis pointed out that the courts of Austarlia and Franconia favored the Saxon Prince Frederick Augustus of Dresden, and that such a choice would not be amendable to the interests of maintaining "order" in the Commonwealth.
 * The Empress of Laurasia understood that Pru'a would oppose anyone supported by Empress Mar'va Tarvania; and that if Pruthia joined Laurasia, the floundering Commonwealth would find itself under a diplomatic and military vise under all directions. Pru'a, on his part, carefully considered the Laurasian proposal. He reflected upon his own diplomatic situation. The Seven Year's War, the end of which was discussed above, had been an tiring struggle for the Emperor of Pruthia. Pruthia had narrowly escaped defeat in that conflict, and was exhausted, impoverished, and diplomatically isolated. Pru'a needed an ally, and Laurasia seemed the best prospect. Empress Aurelia and the Privy Council now had to await a response from the Pruthian Emperor for weeks, as he carefully consulted with his advisers. Aurelia, however, knew that patience was of the essence, and she commanded the Imperial General Headquarters to begin drafting preparations for the dispatch of the Empire's military forces into Dejanica, in order to force the election of her candidate.
 * December 16-Empress Aurelia, who continued in her devious marriage policies, decided, on December 16, 1763, to revive negotiations for her own marriage to the Austarlian Archduke Char'vak. In this, she was encouraged by the fact that Queen Mariana's efforts to obtain a marriage with Spamalkan Prince Don Carlos were finally coming to a close. The Queen of Scottria had finally been informed of the truth about the Spamalkan Prince's health and mental condition in October 1763; the following month, he had fallen violently ill at the Great Palace of Madrid, and many were in despair of his life. Mariana knew that she needed to find another, more capable husband, and she had begun to once again consider Austarlian and Franconian possibilities. Aurelia, therefore, sought to forestall Mariana's aims by herself marrying the Archduke of Austarlia. The Empress commanded Chancellor Cecilis, two days later, to draft a secret communique to the Austarlian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting for the renewal of marriage relations. The Austarlian Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the powerful Prince Kaunitz (who held his position for forty years, from May 1753 to August 1793), considered the communique carefully, for his mistress, Empress Mar'va Tarvania, was not pleased about the earlier lapse of negotiations. She was also upset that the negotiations had never induced her Laurasian counterpart to come to her aid during the latter stages of the Seven Year's War. Eventually however, on December 22, 1763, the Empress and her co-consort Fransios I approved the recommencement of marriage negotiations with the Laurasian Empire.

1764

 * January 14-
 * 1764, the 64th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire, with the death of King Vorrus II of Dejanica, seeking to once again install its own candidate upon the throne of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As regards to that, however, the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the Autocratic Pruthian Empire were in earnest. This year was to also see further events associated with the Empress Aurelia's ambitions of marriage. The Empire itself continued to persist in a state of domestic and external tranquility. Pru'a IX of Pruthia, having taken his time with his Council of Ministers to respond to the Laurasian communique which had been dispatched by Chancellor Cecilis the previous year, finally sent a formal response to the Imperial Laurasian Government, on January 14, 1764, concerning the earlier Laurasian proposals. In his response, the Pruthian Emperor declared that it was his "opinion that the affairs of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth are indeed the concern of all members of intergalactic civilization" and that he could not countenance the election of any King of Dejanica who would be hostile to the interests of "tranquility and peace."
 * Therefore, the Emperor of Pruthia considered it fitting for a native Dejanican of the noble line to be elevated to the Dejanican throne, and therefore agreed with "Her Imperial Majesty of Laurasia" that all effort should be made to securing the election of such a reliable prince to the Dejanican throne. Pru'a, however, also stated that his dominions had been "exhausted by the travails of conflict" and that he desired the assistance of a "reliable power", against those who would contrive to upset the tranquility of affairs further. He therefore requested for a formal military and diplomatic alliance between the Laurasian and Autocratic Pruthian Empires; such an alliance would only be conditional upon certain circumstances, and would in no way be prejudicial to the marriage efforts currently being conducted by the Empress of Laurasia. Empress Aurelia, when she read the Pruthian response, was shocked by the request for a military alliance.
 * She had continued the policy, established by her grandfather and maintained by her father and siblings, of refraining from involvement in the disputes of Pruthia and Austarlia. This had been most clearly demonstrated by her neutrality in the Seven Years' War, following the conclusion of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in 1759. Furthermore, Laurasia had never before cooperated in any military campaigns or other ventures with the Pruthians. The Empress did not wish to antagonize the Austarlian Government, and therefore, she decided to attempt to woo the Pruthian Emperor  into changing his mind. Over the course of the next two months, the Empress of Laurasia sent her Pruthian counterpart numerous gifts, including Venasian melons; Dasian military armor; Aquilianian eels; Taurasian sauces; and Horacian garments, promising also to reward the members of his court. Pru'a accepted the gifts, but remained adamant in his ultimate goals as regards to Dejanica and the military alliance.
 * January 29-Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania consulted, on January 29, 1764, with the Austarlian Council of State and Minister-Prince Kaunitz concerning marriage negotiations with the Laurasian Empire. The Holy Empress of Austarlia had learned of her great enemy Pru'a's request for a formal military alliance with the Laurasian Empire, and in particular, their machinations in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She was alarmed, and believed that Aurelia might be engaged in a conspiracy to harm the integrity and security of her own realms. Prince Kauntiz, however, managed to convince his imperial mistress that a potential Laurasian-Pruthian alliance would only be directed towards maintaining control over affairs in Dejanica, and that the Empress of Laurasia herself remained committed, as did most of her subjects, to the continuance of peace with the powers of the Great Amulak Spiral. Mar'va Tarvania, persuaded thus, therefore allowed negotiations to proceed. On February 4, she designated Baron Ahasverus Allinga of Moravia (1706-83) as her special envoy to the Imperial Laurasian Court; he was authorized to conduct discussions on a marriage with the Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council.
 * February 14-On February 14, 1764, Baron Allinga of Moravia, who had departed from Dalmatia on February 7, and had proceeded rapidly across the Galactic Void, and into the Caladarian Galaxy, arrived at the Quencilvanian Palace in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. He was now received by Empress Aurelia and by all of the chief personages of the Imperial Laurasian Court. The Empress was attended by Chancellor Cecilis and Lord Treasurer Winchestrius; Lord Antiochus Dudley was no where to be seen. Both Allinga and Chancellor Cecilis praised the merits and advantages of the match in a private audience held afterwards. The Empress, however, replied that they might save their breath. She would only marry because of reasons of necessity, and her decision would be made as an Empress and Almitis-ordained sovereign, not as a woman desperate for personal love. She blamed the Austarlian Empress for the failure of the earlier negotiations: she had not "behaved properly" and had not permitted her nephew to visit the Laurasian Empire before a marriage. She insisted that she would never accept a suitor without seeing him first, and that the Archduke must make the first move. She added that she would rather be a smuggler and single, rather than an Empress and married. Allinga was surprised by this, and on February 21, told the Chancellor that there was no point in pursuing the matter further. Cecilis, however, was reassuring, informing the envoy of how the Empress had told him of what she had enjoyed of the meeting. He believed that she was by no means disinclined towards the marriage.
 * March 9-
 * By this point, it was obvious to the Empress that she could not keep Scottrian Queen Mariana guessing as to the identity of her suitor no longer. She therefore now instructed Ambassador Randolphius, on March 9, 1764, that he could speak to the Queen of Scottria plainly, and could reveal to her what the Laurasian Empress had in mind for her as a husband. The Scottrian Court was then at Dumbaline Priory on Dumbaline, and the Queen of Scottria was indulging herself in a round of festivities. Ambassador Randolphius secured an audience with the Queen of Scottria shortly after receiving his mistress's authorization. He was surprised, however, when the Queen of Scottria asked if her cousin wished for her to marry Lord Antiochus Dudley. Randolphius, cringing, and bewildered that the Queen already knew, admitted that it was. Queen Mariana was amazed and somewhat offended by Aurelia's plan, although she remained outwardly cordial. Mariana, like Aurelia, was determined to be her own mistress, and did not consider Dudley a fit mate for one whose previous husband had been the King of Franconia and who was herself a reigning sovereign.
 * Haughtily, she asked Randolphius if the plan conformed to the Empress's promise "to use me as her sister or daughter. Do you think it may stand with my honor to marry a subject?" Randolphius replied no better man could be found, and that this marriage could bring good to her realm. Mariana replied that she would consider the matter in private. Over the next several days, she discussed with Moray and her trusted confidantes about the Empress Aurelia's proposal. She said that she would be more amendable if Aurelia promised to declare her heiress presumptive to the Laurasian throne. Instead of this being done, the Queen of Scottria felt she was being made a fool of. She never believed that Aurelia would really part with him-a view which was shared by many other people. Dudley himself was not enthusiastic about the marriage, being panic-stricken at the prospect of leaving the Caladarian Galaxy for an "untamed, distant realm", and even more distraught at the thought of leaving Aurelia, whom he still cherished some hope of marrying. Aurelia herself remained adamant, and revived her plans for a meeting with Mariana. On March 24, however, Mariana would decline the invitation, and a cool-down in Laurasian-Scottrian relations would ensue during the next several months.
 * March 15-
 * As regards to the affairs of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, mutual interest finally prevailed. Aurelia had herself come around to the view that an alliance with the Autocratic Pruthian Empire may actually prove beneficial, in preventing a possible combination of Austarlian and Franconian power against her Empire in the future, and that Pru'a could prove to be a reliable ally in dealing with the Dejanicans in the future. She and Pru'a had both made gestures which seemed to mark the commencement of negotiations. On March 1, the Empress had conferred the Imperial Order of the White Eagle upon Pru'a's brother, Prince Henvar; Pru'a had responded four days later by conferring the Pruthian Order of the Black Eagle upon both Stanis Poniastakaius (whom he knew was Aurelia's favored candidate for the Dejanican throne) and her chief favorite, the Lord Antiochus Dudley. Now, Chancellor Cecilis, acting on his imperial mistress's orders, formally accepted the Pruthian proposal for an military and diplomatic alliance (March 15, 1764), and declared that his mistress was willing to convene a diplomatic conference on the matter. Pru'a reacted with joy when receiving the Laurasian response; in return, he undertook to assist the Laurasian Empire in all engagements in Dejanica, and in particular, with the election of a next King of Dejanica.
 * It was thus that on March 22, 1764, a diplomatic conference was formally convened on Berliania III between the diplomatic delegations of the Laurasian and Autocratic Pruthian Empires. The Pruthian plenipotentiaries to the conference were Prince Henvar (who also acted as chief host of the conference), Count Carlia Avaria of Brandenburg (1711-89); and Lord Otto Bevarthia of Amselot (1723-99). The Imperial Laurasian Government was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Rudomentus Sadielus; Sir Aristonus Pellius (1720-91), Her Imperial Majesty's Ambassador to the Pruthian Court; and Lord Dacre of Gitlandia. Negotiations would continue between the two delegations for almost a month, as they wrangled over the terms of the alliance and the treaty settlement regarding Dejanican affairs.
 * April 11-
 * The Treaty of Berliania III was, on April 11, 1764, signed by the delegations of the Laurasian and Autocratic Pruthian Empires, leading to the conclusion of a formal military and diplomatic alliance between the two realms. By the terms of the treaty, the military alliance henceforth established was to be truly defensive in nature, with each party declaring that it would protect the territorial stability of the other. Laurasia and Pruthia therefore pledged to assist each other in the event of an attack by a single power, with a financial subsidy of €11.2 trillion dataries to be paid towards the power which was then currently engaged in military conflict. Should two hostile powers attack one of the allies, its partner was pledged to send an expeditionary corps of not more than four hundred and fifty warships and 1.3 million personnel. The Empress of Laurasia also agreed to provide an explicit guarantee of Pruthia's sovereignty over Lower Lusatia, the Anhalt Principalities, and Silania, while Pru'a IX, on his part, recognized all Laurasian rights to the hold of the Scottrian Galactic Borderlands, and its intervention privileges in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. Most importantly, the Treaty of Berliania III provided for Pruthian and Laurasian cooperation in affairs concerning the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
 * It was declared that both governments desired for only the "maintenance of peace and general tranquility in the Dejanican realms" and that this could only be accomplished by cooperation in assuring that a reliable candidate was elevated as King of Dejanica. Therefore, the two governments would consult with each other before taking any action in regards to Dejanican political affairs. The Pruthians agreed to support the candidacy of Stanis Poniastaksius, who would soon be formally announced by Empress Aurelia as her nominee for the Dejanican throne. In exchange, the Laurasians agreed to acknowledge Pruthian rights to monitor Dejanican external commerce in the Great Amulak Spiral, and to collect one-third of all Dejanican tariffs and export profits from the systems of Danzig, Elbing, and Torun. In a secret corollary, the two monarchs (Aurelia and Pru'a) declared that both parties were resolved to guarantee "a free and uninfluenced election" and "to resort, if need be, to force of arms, should anyone attempt to prevent the free election of the king in Dejanica or to meddle with the existing constitution." If certain Dejanicans opposed their new "lawfully elected king" by proclaiming an opposing confederation, the allies agreed to employ "military severity against them and their estates without the slightest mercy." The Treaty of Berliania III was ratified by Empress Aurelia on April 14, 1764, and by Pru'a IX of Pruthia on April 22.
 * April 23-In Gravalum City, Alicia, Willanius Shakesperius, later to become one of the most prominent playwrights and composers during the latter decades of the eighteenth century, was born to Sir John Shakesperius, CEO of Gravalum Materials, and his wife, Lady Antigone Shakesperius (April 23, 1764). He would be formally baptized three days later.
 * May 7-On May 7, 1764, after months of preparations, the Convocation Diet of 1764 formally assembled at the Congressional Palace in Warsaw, Dejanica Major. The Convocation Diet was chaired by Marshal Adamis Czarskia (1734-99). Czarskia was the (younger) uncle of Prince Stanis Poniataksius, who was now formally the nominee for the Dejanican throne, supported by both Empress Aurelia of Laurasia and Emperor Pru'a IX of Pruthia. Czarskia himself had, in the weeks immediately following the death of Vorrus II, been considered by many within the Dejanican realms and among the Dejanican nobility to be a potential candidate for the throne. He possessed wealth, political patronage, and intelligence, traits which many Dejanicans desired to see in their monarch. He had not been supported by Aurelia, however, and by April 1764, his chances of being elected to the Dejanican throne had receded sharply. Czarskia had resigned himself to that fact, but was nevertheless determined to still have an influence upon the affairs of the Dejanican government. The Czarskias had therefore cooperated with the newly-appointed Laurasian Ambassador, Archleutan Count Herman von Keyserling (1697-1764), who had assumed his post on January 6, 1764. Keyserling was authorized to employ funds from the Imperial Treasury to bribe members of the Dejanican court, including Interrex Lubraskius, and to engage in intrigues in order to push forward Laurasian views. He was to be the chief figure responsible for insuring the election of Stanis Poniataksius to the Dejanican throne. And indeed, on May 12, 1764, Czarskia and seventy other Dejanican magnates were to sign the Declaration of Badancia, which expressed the most solemn thanks to the Empress Aurelia for her efforts to maintain "security and tranquility" within the realms of the Commonwealth.
 * May 14-Baron Ahasverus Alinga, whose mission at the Imperial Court of Laurasia Prime was in vain, and had reported about his discussions with the Empress to the Austarlian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was, on May 11, 1764, commanded by Prince Kaunitz to retire from his duties and depart back for Austarlian dominions. Alinga followed his superiors' orders to the letter, and on this day, departed from Laurasia Prime with his diplomatic entourage. The Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court gave him a formal good-bye. Alinga would arrive back at Prague by May 19. Aurelia privately told Chancellor Cecilis that she knew no "Austarlian Prince" would become her husband, and that the range of negotiations must be extended to other realms.
 * May 25-
 * The Dejanican Diet, persuaded by bribes offered by Laurasian Ambassador Keyserling, and the proposals of Diet Marshal Adamis Czarskia, sent, on May 25, 1764, a formal request to the Imperial Laurasian Government for the dispatch of a Laurasian "expeditionary corps", in order to ensure the security of the Diet and maintain the authority of the Dejanican Government while the election processes were underway. Empress Aurelia, hearing of the Dejanican "request", and having authorized Ambassador Keyserling to guide the Dejanicans along that path, readily accepted. Adding steel to gold, the Empress, on May 26, commanded the Hereditary Prince of the Kalbachan House of Seeben, Lieutenant-General Sir Nicholas Repanius (1734-99), to take command of the 50th and 51st Imperial Fleets and the 50th Imperial Army, and to lead these units into the voivoideships of Dejanican Lavella.
 * Repanius, who had graduated from the Cadet Corps in 1755, and was a veteran of the Didymeian War of Franconia, Queen Mariana's War, and the Expeditionary War, was a Laurasian of Kalbachan descent; his grandfather was Kalbachan Hereditary Prince Nushima of the House of Rapa (1674-1765), who was one of the most respected alien noblemen in the Empire, and one of the chief magnates of the Garaman Provinces. Repanius obliged by his instructions to the letter. By June 4, 1764, Laurasian units had occupied Ladelle, Lavelle, Nelson, Novella, Antowne, Dejan, Dequan, Sissy, Spacek, Carrie, Irving, Allen, Polotsk, and the Dvina Straits; furthermore, Repanius had reinforced the "diplomatic garrison" of Dejanica Major. Ambassador Keyserling thereby had additional troops (more than 150,000 attached to his embassy) with which to compel the Diet into doing his bidding.
 * June 8-Andrew Zamaskia (1716-92), later to become the first Crown Chancellor of Dejanica under King Stanis Vorrust I, and one of the most influential and prominent noblemen in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, proposed a program of constructive governmental reforms in a session of the Dejanican Diet (June 8, 1764). Zamaskia believed that if a Dejanican prince of the noble line was to be elevated to the Dejanican throne, he should be supported by a governmental structure capable of withstanding foreign influence and maintaining the integrity of the Dejanican realms. Among the reforms proposed included the principle of majority rule in the Dejanican Diet; the establishment of a permanent executive council, on the models of the Imperial Privy Council in Laurasia, the Estates-General in Franconia, and the Council of State in Spamalka; and the transformation of the Commonwealth's highest offices into functioning collective organs of government. When this program of reforms was announced, it caused a stir. Although many within the Commonwealth supported these reforms, those outside it did not. Both Aurelia and Pru'a were alarmed by Zamaskia's proposals, believing they were dedicated to eliminating foreign influence over the Commonwealth. Marshal Czarskia himself, eager to maintain a position of patronage, believed they went too far. On June 14, 1764, Zamaskia's proposals were, on the persuasions and bribes of Ambassador Keyserling, rejected by the Diet. The Ambassador, however, acting on the Empress's instructions, would allow for smaller concessions to be made.
 * June 12-The Haynsian Despot Jay XII Karany formally abdicated his throne in favor of his cousin Everan II, who was the son of Ferah II Karany (June 12, 1764). Everan had served as Kalga during the reign of Arbai Karany, and continued to have a prominent position on the Haynsian High Council thereafter. Everan, however, proved himself to be a well-intentioned, but weak and indecisive Despot, during the course of the next two years. He was unable to restrain renewed Haynsian raiding expeditions against the Galactic Frontier Route, the Tof Borderlands, the Satian Provinces, and the Lysimachid Barrier Defenses during the course of the next two years however, thereby provoking renewed tensions with Haynsia's perennial adversaries, the Laurasian Empire.
 * June 19-Having secured the approval of Ambassador Keyserling and of the Pruthian Ambassador Gostornost, Marshal Czarskia, on June 19, 1764, proposed a more limited package of reforms to the Dejanican Diet. The Diet took two days in order to debate the measures; they passed on June 21. On June 23, the Marshal proclaimed that the Diet Resolutions of 1764 had been certified, and that it could now proceed to the election of a new King of Dejanica. The limited reforms which were approved by the Laurasian Empress Aurelia and the Pruthian Emperor Pru'a IX were believed by many Dejanicans to be the first step towards an eventual complete reformation of their government and its resources. Private tariffs on the estates of nobles and gentlemen within the Dejanican Commonwealth were abolished, thereby providing the Dejanican Treasury more centralized control over the Commonwealth's finances. A general tariff for the public treasury was introduced, thereby providing the Commonwealth Government with a new, and lucrative, source of income. The traditional liberum veto was abolished for discussion of financial and military matters; a uniform system of measurements was introduced, replacing the contradicting standards of metrics and common mile which had previously prevailed; the kwarta and the minorities head tax were both reformed and made more equitable; government commissions for the administration of the Treasury and Military were authorized; the powers of the local generalites were limited to matters of "immediate" importance; all properties of the Dejanican Crown were to come under periodic review by the Treasury for signs of corruption and mismanagement; and special privileges for certain guilds and economic clubs were abolished. The same Diet also agreed to recognize the terms of intervention of the Treaty of Berliania III, and to remain on friendly terms with all of the Commonwealth's neighbors.
 * June 27-
 * The newly-appointed Spamalkan Ambassador to the Laurasian Court, Don Diego de Guzman de Silva of Alvarro, was, on June 27, 1764, formally received by Empress Aurelia in a state audience at the Habituary Quarters of the Post Settlement of Hepudermia. De Silva would work towards the fostering and maintenance of positive relations between the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires. Two days after his arrival, the Imperial Court embarked from Laurasia Prime for the annual progress of 1764. This progress took the Empress and the Imperial Court to the Nexus Route regions and the Schauerian Provinces. She visited Jem, Dill, Boo, Atticus, Caroline, Ewell, Robinson, Jean, Finch, Scout, Harper, Lee, Schaueria Prime, Tyleria Perea, Jessica Perea, Colsonia, Archleuta, Greenia, Hordania, Dorothy, Compost V, Shiloh, Calpurnia, Rashid, Smithia, Lydia, Avaskar, Steneborg, Linopking, Alvsborg, Gullborg, Kolchad, and Farbissinia during the course of the next two months.
 * In particular, Aurelia's visit to Archleuta on August 5, 1764, would become one of the famous occurrences of her progresses. There, she resided at the Regency Quarters of the University of Archleuta, one of the most prominent universities in the Empire. The University of Archleuta was renowned for its mathematical programs, particularly in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, and numeral analytics. When she arrived wearing a grown of black velvet, with a netted caul studded with pearls and gems and a feathered and bejewelled hat atop her head, she was attended by a magnificent retinue, and greeted by Chancellor Johnann Bach (1715-90) and the scholars of the University in their robes. Lord Antiochus Dudley acted as Master of Ceremonies during the course of the next five days, as the Empress enjoyed a full program of entertainments. She attended lectures and Archleutan plays; listened to orations, addresses, and disputations; received gifts of curriculum books; and spoke in Archleutan to the scholars themselves. Her departure on August 10 was with as much ceremony as the arrival had been.
 * September 7-
 * On September 7, 1764, the Convocation Diet formally assembled for its election session at Wola, an outpost world located three light-years to the east of Dejanica. Wola had been the site of every royal election in Dejanica since that of Janius Sobieskius in 1673, and this was to be the last time that it was to be graced by the presence of an Election Diet. Ambassador Keyserling, whose health had entered a serious decline, but who was still determined to oblige by the directive provided by the Empress and the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, himself attended the Election Diet and deployed a detachment of Laurasian troops around Wola, in order to "provide security for the election process and prevent any rebels, vagabonds, or dissidents from disrupting the lawful proceedings." Pruthian Ambassador Count von Gostornost (1726-98) also attended the Diet, and ensured that Pruthian interests were represented. Thanks to the intimidating presence of the Laurasian Corps, and the bribes which were passed out by the foreign ambassadors, the ultimate choice of the Diet was not in doubt.
 * After four hours of deliberations, followed by the formal ballot, the Dejanican nobleman Stanis Poniataskius (who had returned from his duties at Laurasia Prime in August 1764), formal nominee of the Imperial Laurasian and Pruthian Governments, was formally elected the last King of Dejanica and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the fiftieth of a line which stretched all the way back to the late tenth century. Stanis was elected King with 5,584 votes. When receiving word of his election, he declared that he had been blessed by the spirits of his ancestors to ascend the Dejanican throne. He would sign his convention agreement on November 13, and the results of the election would at that time be officially certified by the Diet. Aurelia, on her part, wrote to Chancellor Cecilis (September 15, 1764), who was then at his estates on Duglais, and offered her "congratulations on the King we have made." Ambassador Keyserling, however, retired to the Laurasian Embassy in Warsaw, his health having declined further; he died there on September 29, 1764, at the age of 67. On October 4, Empress Aurelia designated Sir Nicholas Repanius, Hereditary Prince of Kalbacha, as Keyserling's successor; Repanius was destined to become one of the main figures responsible for provoking the Dejanican War of the Bar Confederation. Stanis, on his part, would now assume the regal name of Stanis Vorrust I, in honor of his last two predecessors.
 * September 13-On the command of the Empress Aurelia, Chancellor Cecilis wrote, on September 13, 1764, a sixteen-page justification of the Empress's Scottrian marriage proposal to Ambassador Randolphius. Randolphius had continued to hold discussions with Queen Mariana over marriage possibilities, and had sought to sound her out about whether or not she had decided to accept her "dear cousin's" marriage proposal. In his justification, Cecilis declared that Mariana would have with Lord Dudley the promise of the Laurasian succession, and that the Empress of Laurasia would implement a new succession statute in order to provide for Mariana's rights as heiress presumptive. Queen Mariana, however, was still reluctant, and believed that she needed more concrete assurances. She thought that something which should be hers by right should not be offered with conditions, and that Aurelia should immediately acknowledge the succession. The following day, the Queen of Scottria, who sought to emphasize her goodwill towards her cousin, and hoped that her disinclination to marry Lord Dudley would not mar relations between the two realms, appointed Sir Jamsius Melville (1735-99), known for his cultivated habits and his polished education, as her special envoy to the Laurasian Empire. Maitland had continued as Ambassador, but the Queen of Scottria believed that she needed one of more diplomatic experience and of ability in order to make representations to her cousin. Melville departed from Branxholme during the early hours of September 15.
 * September 19-On September 19, 1764, Sir Jamsius Melville, Special Envoy of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, arrived at Laurasia Prime, and was greeted by Empress Aurelia in a formal audience at the Quencilvanian Palace. The Empress, however, did not waste any time in complaining to the Envoy concerning the alleged "offensive tone" of one of Mariana's most recent communiques. She showed him a strong reply she had composed, informing him that she had not dispatched it over the Holonet because she felt it was too mild. Melville, however, managed to convince the Empress that the Queen meant no harm, and Aurelia then had both communiques deleted. Melville's wit and polish impressed the Empress during that first audience, and over the course of the next nine days, she would summon him to attend her as often as possible, flirting with him and seeking out compliments. Melville's long years of service at the courts of Franconia, Pruthia, and Austarlia made him proficient in languages, and the Empress was able to display her skills as a linguist. She also dressed to impress him, and even went as far to ask him whether she or Mariana was the more beautiful woman. Melville responded that both were equally beautiful, but admitted that the Empress was the better musician.
 * September 28-In a formal ceremony of investiture at the Presence Chamber in the Great Hall of Christiania, Empress Aurelia formally raised Lord Antiochus Dudley to the peerage (September 28, 1764). Scottrian Envoy Melville, Spamalkan Ambassador De Silva, Pruthian Ambassador the Count de Pasterbult (1721-89), the Haxonian Ambassador Federico Pena (1703-94), and all of the other personages of the Imperial Court and Councils of State, were present at the ceremony of investiture. Melville would state in his diplomatic report back to Queen Mariana that the Empress had raised Dudley to the peerage in order to "make him a more acceptable choice for husband to Your Majesty." He was created Baron Denbaghia and Earl of Leicesterius; Leicesterius was the capital and largest city of Jean, and one of the most populous cities in the Laurasian Empire. Dudley conducted himself with much dignity and seriousness, and thanked the Empress in a fervent manner for honoring him such. Chancellor Cecilis was very cordial to Dudley, although privately, he feared that the new Earl of Leicesterius would seek to assert his influence even more at the Imperial Court. The Empress approached Melville when the ceremony was over, and asked him what he thought of her "new creation". Knowing how unpopular the Dudley marriage was in Scottria, Melville made a noncommittal response; the Empress then pointed at Lord Darnley, in attendance as sword-bearer, and told him that she knew of "one lad who would seek to become your King." Melville gazed distastefully at him, and told the Empress that Darnley would be far beneath his Queen as a husband, much less as a consort.
 * October 1-His mission at the Imperial Court completed, Sir Jamsius Melville formally departed from Laurasia Prime on October 1, 1764. The Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court gave him a formal audience of departure, and he was rewarded by the Empress with gifts and a financial grant of €4.5 billion dataries, as a reward for his "honorable services". During his stay, Melville had questioned the Earl of Leicesterius himself, as well as the other foreign ambassadors, Chancellor Cecilis, Privy Seal Bagonius, the Earls of Jadia, Americana, and Aeoleon, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, Chief Procurator Parsius, and many other prominent personages. He also questioned Baroness Ashleius and the ladies of the Imperial Household. The Envoy had sought to gain their opinions on a Dudley marriage. Although they all publicly declared that such a marriage would be beneficial for both realms, in private they told Melville that Dudley should not be allowed to gain too much influence or prestige for himself. Leicesterius himself had expressed his doubts about the marriage. Melville had also secured assurance from the Spamalkan Embassy that Don Carlos was now so incapacitated that he could not marry anyone: this put an end to Mariana's pursuit of him as a potential husband, and she was in fact contemplating that Lord Darnley could become her next husband. Melville had also spoken with the Countess of Lennaxia on Pulaski, before his departure. Welcoming him warmly, she had showered him with presents for Queen Mariana, Moray, and Ambassador Maitland. She expressed her hopes the marriage could still proceed. Melville had also secured the Empress of Laurasia's consent to a conference being called at Berwick, for discussions to be held about the Dudley marriage. He arrived back at Ediania on October 7 and was warmly received by Queen Mariana.
 * November 6-As had been agreed between Empress Aurelia and Envoy Melville, diplomatic delegations from the Laurasian Empire and Celestial Kingdom of Scottria convened at Berwick, on November 6, 1764, in order to hold discussions concerning the possibility of a Dudley marriage. The Earls of Moray and Glencairn, as well as Sir Walter Scott and Lord Mark Douglain, served as the Scottrian plenipotentiaries to the conference, while the Imperial Laurasian Government was represented by Sir Peithon Tyvramius (1719-95), Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, and Baron Eure of Frederickshamm (1712-93). As the conference opened, however, the Earl of Moray demanded to know precisely what the Empress of Laurasia meant to do for Mariana in the event of her accepting Leicesterius. He failed to extract anything from the Laurasian delegation however. Baron Eure informed him that there was no better way than this marriage to further Mariana's claim to the succession. Tensions soon flared over the course of the next three days, as Moray continued to make his demands and as the Laurasians remained non-committal. Ultimately, the conference was terminated on November 10 with no results having been achieved. Moray and the other Scottrian plenipotentiaries returned to Ediania feeling angered and insulted.
 * November 25-At the Palace of Dejanican Kings in Warsaw, Dejanica, Stanis Vorrust I was, on November 25, 1764, formally crowned King of Dejanica and Grand Duke of Lithuania. As was custom, the Chief Patriarch of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth presided over the coronation. The Dejanican Diet, having confirmed the terms of his convention agreement, formally hailed him as King of Dejanica and gave him a oath of allegiance. All of the foreign ambassadors, as well as the main personages of the Dejanican Court, Diet, and Government, attended the ceremony. The most prominent foreign diplomat in attendance at the coronation was the newly-appointed Laurasian Ambassador, Sir Nicholas Repanius of Kalbacha Major. Repanius was already obtaining influence at the Dejanican Court, and had earned the ear of the King's leading ministers.
 * December 9-On December 9, 1764, the Earl of Moray and Ambassador Maitland both sent communiques to Chancellor Cecilis, arising out of the failure of the Berwick Conference the previous month. In their communiques, the two Scottrian officials declared that Queen Mariana would not consider marrying the Earl of Leicesterius unless "her dearest cousin and imperial sister, Her Imperial Majesty of Laurasia, considers establishing her right to the succession, and formally acknowledging the same, both to her subjects and to the governments of the other realms." The Empress, when she read the communiques, told Cecilis that prudence was needed, and that therefore, she would not do anything. She told Cecilis that she knew that Mariana would never accept Leicesterius and that she would seek to marry Lord Darnley. Because Darnley was her subject, the Empress declared, Mariana could not marry her without obtaining official license from her. The following day, Cecilis, who was supported by a relieved Leicesterius, suggested to the Empress that Darnley be allowed to visit his father (who had returned to Scottria in July 1764, after being formally pardoned by Queen Mariana for his offenses in the War of the Rough Wooing), and to meet Queen Mariana. Aurelia, responding to this, said that such a marriage would be less of a threat to the Empire than one between Mariana and some foreign prince from "that nest of galaxies (i.e. the Great Amulak Spiral)." For certain reasons, however, Aurelia said that Darnley should not leave without her permission. Leicesterius, on his part, who had now became Chancellor of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (and would remain as such until 1785), renewed his courtship of the Empress following this audience, obtaining the aid of Spamalkan Ambassador De Silva. On December 17, the Empress fell ill with some intestinal issues, but recovered within four days. This, however, would arouse more concern over the succession.

1765

 * January 11-
 * The Imperial Court was still engaged in its round of New Year festivals, processions, and other ceremonies. Throughout the Laurasian Empire, the attitude was one of happiness, joy, and optimism. And indeed, as 1765, the 65th year of the eighteenth century, commenced, the Laurasian Empire was completely at peace, domestically and with its neighbors. Excepting the First Huguenot War of 1762-63, in which the Empire had only been an auxiliary participant, the Empire had now been at peace for nearly five years. Economic prosperity, cultural vibrancy, and low crime rates all contributed to the general mood of the Laurasian people. On January 14, 1765, Empress Aurelia held a private audience at the Quencilvanian Palace with the Franconian Ambassador, Paul de Foix (1728-84). Foix had been appointed by Queen-Regent Catharina d'Medici as Ambassador to the Laurasian Empire in November 1764; he had arrived on Laurasia Prime on January 5, 1765, being greeted with much ceremony by the Empress and the Imperial Court. His mission was to air to the Empress and her ministers the possibility of a marriage between her and King Charman III of Franconia.
 * Catharina was determined to prevent any Laurasian ties with Austarlia, with whom relations by the Franconians had broken down due to the Franconian withdrawal from the conflict against Pruthia in 1762, a year before Austarlia did so; and she was distrustful of the Laurasian defensive alliance with Pruthia, until recently one of Franconia's primary enemies. Empress Aurelia, however, was privately unenthusiastic, having told both Spamalkan Ambassador De Silva and Chancellor Cecilis that the age discrepancy between herself and the King of Franconia would preclude a marriage. She pointed out that he was only fourteen, and she thirty-one. In the audience, the Empress expressed that she was too old to marry de Foix's master. De Foix, offended at this, said the matter should end there; the Empress, however, knew that the Franconians needed to remain on friendly terms with the Empire, and she did not want for them to restore their earlier alliance with Scottria. The day after the audience, she asked Sir Thomasius Smithia (1713-77, who had been named the Imperial Ambassador to the Court of Parri on December 11, 1764, to replace Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia), for his honest opinion of Charman.
 * He reported that he thought the King would be a good husband. Following this, the Empress had another audience with de Foix, on January 18, and informed him she would have to consult with her court and Council. Many of them, however, were openly hostile to the match. Only Leicesterius appeared to favor it, as it diverted the Empress from thoughts of a Austarlian marriage. Cecilis did not regard Aurelia's interest in Charman as being serious, but did not say anything. The Earl of Jadia advised against the marriage, declaring that Charman would not prove faithful to her. De Foix, ignorant of what these men were saying, thought that the Empress would marry his master. And indeed, for the next five months, the Empress acted as if she was going ahead with the marriage. She agreed to exchange portraits and photographs and even discussed the prospect of the King paying her a secret visit. Prevailed upon by his mother, the King of Franconia, at intervals during January 1765, announced that he was in love with the Empress of Laurasia, and played the part of an ardent suitor. Throughout all this time, however, Aurelia would resist all pressure from de Foix to give a definite answer, and began reconsidering marriage to the Austarlian Archduke Char'vak.
 * February 4-
 * Sir Thomasius Randolphius was informed by Chancellor Cecilis, in the diplomatic communique (February 4, 1765), that the Empress had decided to change her mind concerning the marriage of Leicesterius to Queen Mariana. She had, at the request of the Countess of Lennaxia, decided to allow Lord Darnley to go to Scottria. Secretly, she had been advised on this course of action by Chancellor Cecilis, who had told her that Darnley's marriage to Mariana would prove very advantageous to the Empire; that Darnley's character would weaken the position of his potential wife and the Scottrian government; and that if Mariana was given enough rope, she would hang herself. Aurelia was even now contemplating ideas of annexing the remainder of the Scottrian territories to the Laurasian Empire; this ambition was, after further conflict and further diplomatic maneuvers, to be achieved at the end of the 1770s.
 * It was on February 14, 1765, that Lord Darnley, escorted by a magnificent entourage which had been assembled by his parents, arrived at the Holyroodian Palace of Ediania. The Queen of Scottria extended to him a warm welcome, and had an immediate and strong attraction to him. Melville, who had been appointed Assistant Minister of Scottrian Foreign Affairs, would report that the Queen tried to control her feelings about Darnley while in public. Before long, however, she could not bear to be apart from Darnley. Darnley, at nineteen, was physically attractive and well-mannered with various accomplishments; he was an elegant writer and excelled at music and athletics. What was not apparent to the Queen of Scottria, however, was that beneath the courtly veneer, Darnley was spoiled, self-indulgent, aggressive, and at times grossly uncouth. Blind to everything but her own personal feelings, the Queen of Scottria was ready to set aside all consideration of state and the common good, and unwilling to listen to those of her nobles who spoke out against the marriage or advised caution.
 * March 15-Queen Mariana, who did not provide any hint of her intentions concerning Lord Darnley, had written twice to the Empress in February 1765, urging that her claim to the Laurasian succession be recognized. Aurelia had read over the communiques, and on March 15, 1765, Sir Thomasius Randolphius communicated to the Queen of Scottria the Empress's formal response. In her response, Aurelia said that if Mariana consented to marry Leicesterius, then she, Aurelia, would advance him with many honors and would promote Mariana's claim privately. She could not, however, allow her claim to be formally examined, nor could she publish it until such time as she herself was married or had made known her resolve to remain single-one or the other of which she meant shortly to do. Mariana, however, reacted in an adverse manner to this communique, and had an emotional outburst. By the middle of March 1765, the Queen of Scottria was much involved with Darnley. Rumors circulated at both the Scottrian and Laurasian Courts. In the meantime, Leicesterius was becoming bolder in his advances towards the Empress. On March 24, he had entered the Empress's bedchambers when she was still not clothed, and she had greeted him warmly. Two days later, he had paid for an entertainment to be conducted, with the Myth of the Brethalian Goddesses, in an effort to persuade the Empress towards marriage. Chancellor Cecilis once again feared for his imperial mistress, and when he heard of the March 24 incident, declared that the "Lord Almitis should strike these dominions thus forth."
 * April 18-
 * Scottrian Ambassador Maitland informed Empress Aurelia, in a diplomatic audience at the Gilbertine Palace on Tudoria on April 18, 1765, to which the Imperial Court had moved a month earlier, that his mistress intended to marry Lord Darnley. Mariana's infatuation had grown to such great bounds that she begun to openly declare her plans for arranging a marriage with the Lord. The Earl of Moray and his supporters on the Scottrian Council of State, however, were opposed to the marriage, and Moray remonstrated with his half-sister, urging her to choose a "worthy Scottrian noble" as her husband. Mariana had refused to listen, however, and a dangerous rift soon emerged between them, which was to have serious consequences. Aurelia, when learning from Maitland of Mariana's intentions, declared it "strange and unlikely" and said that Darnley should obtain her permission to marry. In reality, Aurelia was very much pleased at the news, knowing what results it could have for the Scottrian Government.
 * She kept up appearances, however, and on May 1, 1765, issued a formal warning to Queen Mariana, that if she went ahead with this marriage, it would be "unprofitable and perilous to the animity between us and our two realms." If Mariana desisted, she could choose from any other of the nobles in the Empire. The Privy Council, with the exception of Leicesterius, subscribed to the Empress's warnings. Many, however, knew that the Empress of Laurasia was engineering the whole affair in order to bog Mariana down, and some applauded the Empress's shrewdness. The official Laurasian view was that Mariana had chosen Darnley in order to strengthen her claim to the Imperial Crown, and therefore now posed an even greater threat to Aurelia's security than ever before. On May 11, Aurelia dispatched Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia as her special envoy to Ediania, in order to bring Darnley back and communicate her disapproval to Queen Mariana.
 * May 21-Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, having arrived at Ediania six days earlier, held a formal audience with Scottrian Queen Mariana (May 21, 1765). In this audience, he communicated to her Aurelia's disapproval. Mariana, enraged at the Empress's "meddling in her personal affairs", commanded him to tell Aurelia that "she should not dictate to her what marriage she should have." Thorckmortonia was alarmed by her reaction, and he reminded the Queen of the engagements under the Treaty of Ediania. Mariana, however, responded that treaty had been made "in a time of national peril" and that Scottria remained a independent realm. After the audience ended, Thorckmortonia sent a warning to Chancellor Cecilis. He in turn informed the Empress, who now knew that Mariana would not accept Leicesterius as a husband. She told de Silva, in a audience on May 27, that Leicesterius had himself not consented to the marriage. On that day, Aurelia formally withdrew her offer; Leicesterius presented himself as a suitor for the Empress's hand. De Silva, who remained in touch with Leicestrius, informed the Earl of Jadia of his doings; Jadia, who hated Leicesterius, began forming a faction, comprised of himself, the Duke of Norfolkius, and others at the Imperial Court, opposed to the Earl and his intrigues.
 * June 11-Ambassador Thorckmortonia demanded to Queen Mariana, on June 11, 1765, that both Lord Darnley and his father, the Earl of Lennaxia, return to the Empire promptly and that Darnley not proceed with the marriage without consent from the Empress. Some of the Scottrian Lords, however, including the Earls of Argyll and Arran, were now in favor of the marriage. This, along with the fact that Aurelia had herself ordered for Randolphius to distribute bribes at the Scottrian Court, meant that it was now impossible for a marriage not to proceed. Darnley himself declared he wished to marry the Queen of Scottria, and refused to return to the Empire. He said that the Empress could execute him if she wished, but being that he was now in Scottria, this could only be done after a legal process of extradition. Thorckmortonia, however, managed to extract a promise from Mariana that she would wait three months before making a decision.
 * June 24-The Austarlian Ambassador to the Court of the Laurasian Empire, Lord Adam Zwetkovich of Dansa (1717-90), who had been formally appointed to his post on May 19, 1765, and had arrived at Laurasia Prime four days later, held the first of two audiences with the Empress Aurelia (June 24, 1765). The Earl of Jadia, Chancellor Cecilis, and the Duke of Norfolkius had worked together to persuade the Empress to resume the negotiations for an Austarlian marriage, and continued to work at the Imperial Court to blunt Leicesterius's ambitions for a marriage. Norfolkius had demanded that Leicesterius declare his support for the marriage; Leicesterius had no choice but to agree, and had been appointed a commissioner for negotiations with Ambassador Zwetkovich. Franconian Ambassador de Foix, on his part, sought to prevent a Austarlian marriage, and attempted to persuade the Empress in that direction. In his audience with Aurelia, however, Zwetkovich claimed that Leicesterius was the chief proponent of a marriage between herself and the Austarlian Archduke Char'vak. She had then brought up the rumors circulating about her relationship with the Earl. Following this first audience, Zwetkovich conducted an inquiry of the Empress's personal affairs, and found no evidence that she was engaged in a sexual relationship with Leicesterius.
 * July 7-In his second audience, on July 7, 1765, Ambassador Zwetkovich informed the Empress Aurelia that he believed the rumors were false, and proposed that she send an envoy to Vienna, in order to gather observations of the Archduke. The Ambassador had urged Prince Kauntiz to make sure the Archduke appeared his best, so as to impress the Laurasians. Empress Aurelia, however, rejected the idea, insisting that she meet her suitor personally before deciding to accept him, and declared she could not trust either photographs or the observations of another person. She then asked if Char'vak could visit her in her own realms, saying she did not wish to give him cause of offense, as had happened with Philicus when he had met Empress Didymeia the first time. Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania, however, believed that a visit would not be proper; Zwetkovich informed Aurelia of this. There was also dispute over who should finance the Archduke's household, with each government insisting it was the responsibility of the other. The Empress also made trouble over religion, insisting that she could not marry someone of another faith, and that Char'vak needed, by the hereditary laws of the Empire, to adopt Imperial Laurasian Almitism. Mar'va Tarvania, however, a fervent Austarlian Ritualist, refused to make any concessions, demanding her nephew's rights be upheld. Negotiations therefore reached a deadlock.
 * July 29-At 7:00 a.m., the morning of July 29, 1765, in defiance of her promises to Envoy Thorckmortonia, Queen Mariana of Scottria married Lord Darnley at Holyroodian Palace on Ediania. The ceremony was very lavish, and conducted with all of the ceremonial and pomp which could be mustered by the Scottrian Queen and her court. The Empress received word of their marriage while she was eating breakfast in her personal bedchambers. She was startled, and rising from her table, summoned Cecilis to attend her. In public, she decried Mariana's foolishness and declared she had violated the terms of the Treaty of Ediania; once retreating with Cecilis to private quarters however, she expressed her happiness, declaring that the vain and foolish couple would be the downfall of Scottrian independence. And indeed, the Empress's hopes were to be fulfilled. Within weeks of the marriage, Darnley revealed himself to be a bully and a prideful, boastful man. He soon offended his allies, the Earls of Argyll and Arran, with his arrogance. Ambassador Randolphius, on August 14, reported with glee to the Privy Council that the new Scottrian consort was very unpopular with the people. Two days later, the Scottrian Estates, influenced by Moray, refused to allow for Darnley to be crowned King Consort of Scottria. Darnley was instead given the lesser title of "Prince Consort" and the diplomatic recognition of all foreign courts.
 * August 5-On August 5, 1765, as public "retaliation" for the marriage of Scottrian Queen Mariana and Lord Darnley, Empress Aurelia commanded for the Countess of Lennaxia to again be imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. Aurelia also sent a communique to Mariana, with public condemnation of the marriage and also a request that Mariana be generous to her half-brother, the Earl of Moray. Moray had indeed, with the Earls of Argyll and Glencairn, begun to contemplate rebellion against Queen Mariana's government, and on August 2, had issued a manifesto from his estates on Morvay, declaring that he could not consent to his sister's marriage with Lord Darnley. Queen Mariana, however, refused to listen, and the following day, she formally deprived Moray, Argyll, and Glencairn of their seats on the Council of State and banned them from Ediania. Mariana then ordered for Envoy Thorckmortonia, who had remained on Ediania and was scheduled to succeed Randolphius as Ambassador, to be interned in his quarters. This enraged Aurelia, who ordered in turn for Scottrian Ambassador Maitland to remain in his quarters; strengthened the garrisons of the Galactic Void; and imposed special limitations on Scottrian commerce in Laurasian space. It seemed as if war would loom. Aurelia's friendship towards Mariana began to dissipate at this time, and her antipathy and hostility towards her became more evident. Aurelia was already beginning to draft secret plans for intervention in Scottria. The first stage, in the final subjection of that kingdom to the authority of the Laurasian Empire, would be to encourage Moray and his supporters in rebellion against Queen Mariana.
 * August 9-Another dynastic crisis, which again related to the Greysius family, had now emerged at the Imperial Court. Lady Didymeia Greysius, the younger sister of the ill-fated Empress Minerva Greysius and Lady Katharina Greysius (who remained under imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux, and would indeed remain under custody by the orders of the Empress Aurelia until her death three years later), had retained her place as a lady-in-waiting in the Imperial Household, as the Empress wanted to keep an eye on her. With no beauty or intellect to her credit, Didymeia remained unmarried, and Aurelia had already made it clear that she would never let her marry. Denied of a match suitable to her status, Didymeia had fallen in love with the Serjeant-Porter of the Imperial Household, Thomasius Keysius (1713-71), who was fifty-two years old. He had been widowed twice and had three daughters by those marriages. Therefore, during the late hours of August 9, 1765, they were secretly married at the Priory of St. Eva in Osraninpolis. For the time being, the wedding remains a secret.
 * August 14-
 * Austarlian Ambassador Zwetkovich formally departed from Laurasia Prime on August 14, 1765, as he had been recalled by the Austarlian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on his own request. Prince Kauntiz had begun preparing another ambassador for permanent duty at the Imperial Court. In the ceremony of departure, Zwetkovich was given gifts and a communique by the Empress, addressed directly to Mar'va Tarvania herself. In this communique, Aurelia expressed her hope that the marriage would proceed with the minimum of friction. Just four days later, however, on August 18, 1765, Holy Austarlian Emperor Fransios I, who had for a quarter of a century been co-ruler alongside his wife, Mar'va Tarvania, of the Austarlian, Bohemian, and Hungarian dominions, suddenly died at Innsbruck in the Austarlian Archduchies, following a stint at the Austarlian Paranomic Opera. He was fifty-six years old at the time of his death, and had, in his own right, ruled over the Grand Duchy of Tuscany for twenty-eight years (since 1737). Fransios was now succeeded as Grand Duke of Tuscany by his second surviving son, Lea'dus, who had only just been married.
 * His widow, the Empress of Austarlia, was plunged into a torrent of grief. She now cut her hair short, abandoned all ormentation, adorned her chambers in black, and dressed in mourning, a custom which she was to adhere to for the remaining fifteen years of her life. Her profound grief over the death of her husband, who had been loyal and faithful to his wife, was noted by all contemporaries; Empress Aurelia of Laurasia praised this marital fidelity in her own condolences to her elder Austarlian counterpart, issued the day after Fransios's death. On August 22, 1765, Mar'va Tarvania elevated her son Joseth as Holy Austarlian Emperor, and named him co-ruler of her realms. He was given responsibility for the affairs of the treasury, the imperial household, and the government's cultural interests. His mother, however, resolved not let him have any share in the exercise of true executive or legislative power, and he remained relegated to subordinate status. As a result of Fransios's death, the tempo of negotiations for the Austarlian marriage project temporarily slowed. Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I now worked to obstruct the conclusion of any marriage. Fransios was buried at the Imperial Crypt on Vienna, on August 27, 1765.
 * August 19-
 * Lady Didymeia Greysius, praying that the Empress would be merciful, and believing her marriage to the Serjeant-Porter would pose no threat to the succession, decided, on August 19, 1765, to reveal to the Empress what she had done. She should have acted in a wiser manner, however, for Aurelia's rage, when hearing of what Didymeia had done, was terrible. Hitting the girl upside her head, the Empress yelled at her to leave her presence immediately. She summoned Chancellor Cecilis, the Duke of Norfolkius, and Leicesterius to her side, informing them of what Didymeia had done. Yelling that she knew her dominions were infested with heinous traitors, the Empress consigned Keysius to the Post Settlement Prison, and ordered that under no circumstances was he to see Lady Didymeia herself. Keysius was formally convicted by the Court of the Imperial Chancery on charges of adultery and conspiracy on August 24, and sentenced to three years of imprisonment at the Settlement Prison.
 * His marriage with Didymeia was annulled by the Holy Synod. He would remain there until August 25, 1768, when he was released by the Empress on the condition that he promise never to see Didymeia again, or make any public reference to her. Didymeia herself was dispatched to Chequerian House on Tommy and placed under house arrest in the care of Sir Willanius Hawterius (1731-95). Here she was to remain until March 1766, when she was then transferred to the household of Katharina Willoughby, Dowager Duchess of Sufforia, the same lady who had raised (and still was raising), Baroness Didymeia Seymouris of Kendalia, who was now approaching her majority. The Duchess of Sufforia treated her kindly, as she did everyone else, and eventually, on January 15, 1769, Aurelia permitted her release from house arrest. Keysius died on June 14, 1771 on Hunt Minor; the Empress refused to allow Lady Didymeia to wear mourning for him. Eventually, Aurelia's attitude toward Didymeia mellowed, and in January, 1772, she permitted her to make routine visits to the Imperial Court. Lady Didymeia, broken by her sad experiences, came to court only twice following this, and died on April 20, 1778 on Calaxis II.
 * August 26-On August 26, 1765, Empress Aurelia's former governess, Baroness Katharina Ashleius, died at the age of sixty-three at the Hospital of St. Paul in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. At her deathbed, she was attended by her three children, her husband Lord Ashleius (who was to live until 1783), and by many of the ladies and courtiers of the Imperial Household. Empress Aurelia, still enraged over the Didymeia Greysius affair, and frustrated about the disputes with Scottrian Queen Mariana, was sent into a flurry of weeping when she was informed that Baroness Ashleius had died. This was the woman who had raised her since she was an infant; the one who had been her loyal companion during the Thomasius Seymouris affair and her imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux during the Empress Didymeia's reign; and the one who had implored her not to marry Lord Antiochus Dudley without considering all of the consequences. Aurelia ordered the Household into a day of mourning for her former governess; sent her condolences to Lord Ashleius and his family; and authorized for an official obituary in the Christiania Times. Baroness Ashleius was buried at St. Eugene's Cathedral in Constantinople on September 4, with much honors. On September 17, Lady Meguilla Parsius, daughter of the late Sir Thomasius, and the Empress's longest-serving lady-in-waiting, was appointed Mistress of the Robes and Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber, to replace Ashleius. She would serve in those positions until her death in February 1790. Aurelia on her part, grew more irritated with Leicesterius for some weeks. This was partly due to his flirtations with Lady Laetita Knollysis, daughter of Lord Knollysis and now Viscountess Herefadia, who was said to be even more beautiful than the Empress herself.
 * August 28-
 * The Earl of Moray, declaring that he could no longer give his allegiance to Queen Mariana, officially announced, on August 28, 1765, that he was in rebellion against her government, and that he would take all measures in order to ensure the restoration of "proper rule" to the Scottrian realms. Moray and his supporters had assembled supplies on Albright, Albemaine, Jexburgh, Roxburgh, and Dunbar, determined to seize control of Ediania and to force Mariana to agree to their terms. Queen Mariana, however, who now relied upon the advice primarily of the Clairnnarch of Ross and the new Lord Huntly, had assembled her military forces at Ediania. The following day, she departed from her capital world, first to Linlithgow and Stirling, which remained under her control, and then to Glasgow. She was posed for an offensive against Jexburgh. Moray received secret encouragement and limited funds from the Imperial Laurasian Government, although Empress Aurelia refrained from any outright intervention at this point.
 * On September 2, a detachment of warships under Moray's command managed to gain admission to Ediania, from which Queen Mariana had moved out. Ambassador Randolphius, who had remained at Ediania, and was responsible for Laurasian communications with the rebel forces, nevertheless refused to publicly endorse or to greet Moray, declaring that he did not believe they could retain their position in Ediania for too long. And indeed, Edianian Fortress remained in the hands of the Queen's forces; Moray did not have enough ships to control all of the Ediania star system, and his position there was very vulnerable. Four days later, on September 6, he retreated from Ediania. Queen Mariana returned there on September 9, 1765, in order to bolster the system's garrison, but just two days later, she went back to Stirling. Moray's forces, on their part, retreated to Dumfries, and he requested Laurasian mercenaries, starships, and financial assistance. Aurelia, however, rejected his request, and on September 14, penned a communique to Queen Mariana, denying all association with the rebels. Mariana, to her folly, chose to believe the Empress of Laurasia.
 * October 6-The Battle of Selkirk, the sole confrontation between the forces of Scottrian Queen Mariana, and those of the rebel Lords under the command of the Earl of Moray, resulted in a decisive victory for the government forces of the Queen of Scottria (October 6, 1765). As a result of this battle, Moray and the other rebel leaders realized that all was lost. The Earl was persuaded by his ally and associate, the Earl of Glencairn, that departure for the Laurasian Empire would be the wisest course of action. Therefore, shortly after the battle had been waged, Moray and his supporters abandoned Dumfries and made a hasty journey to the Galactic Void. Queen Mariana sent her warships to chase them out of the Scottrian realms; by October 11, Dumfries, Albright, Albemaine, Jexburgh, Roxburgh, and Dunbar had all acknowledged the renewed authority of her government. Moray, however, managed to evade Mariana's pursuit fleets, and he reached the Caladarian Galactic Barrier on October 12.
 * October 23-
 * On October 23, 1765, the Earl of Moray, who had been halted by Laurasian authorities at Janeway five days earlier, was brought before Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Court at the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime. This was not a formal ceremony of greetings, or an audience, for the Empress had declared, in a manifesto to her subjects on October 19, that she did not condone the "Chaseabout Rebellion", as it became known, and remained committed to a cordial relationship with the Scottrian Queen Mariana. She considered Moray and his supporters to be rebels. Therefore, when Moray came before the Empress, she and her court were wearing black. Keeping him on his knees, Aurelia publicly castigated him for rebelling against his anointed sovereign. She stated that "We will not maintain any subject in disobedience against the prince, for we know that the High Almitis might justly recompense us with the like trouble in our own realm." There would be no aid, although Moray could remain in residence on Onasi in the Galactic Borderlands and hope for a pardon from Queen Mariana. Now, although Mariana had managed to end the Chaseabout Rebellion, it turned out in the end to be a hollow victory. The unruly Scottrian lords were proving difficult to control; Darnley was frequently drunk, disgracing himself in brawls throughout Caselian City on Ediania.
 * Mariana's infatuation had died, and the couple now engaged in bitter arguments with each other. Maitland had managed to secure release from confinement in September 1765, and on October 21, after the suppression of the Chaseabout Rebellion, he had returned to Scottria. But Queen Mariana did not rely upon him for advice; instead she turned to her Haxonian secretary, David Rizzio (1733-66), who had arrived at the Scottrian Court in the Haxonian Embassy in November 1761, and had become one of the Queen's favorites. He had been persuaded by the Queen to remain at the Scottrian Court and was appointed Personal Secretary in October 1763. He became unpopular however, becoming the object of general hatred, derision, and resentment. Darnley had grown resentful of Rizzio's influence, as the Queen showed more and more favor to one he regarded as an upstart Haxonian. Those who craved favors or patronage from the Queen had to bribe Rizzio in order to obtain an audience. Had he been a great nobleman, this would have been acceptable, but he was not. Queen Mariana failed to perceive her folly, and her standing with her subjects began to decline. Even the announcement that the Queen was pregnant with her first child, on December 14, did not change the opinions of any man; Darnley had now come to resent his wife.
 * December 9-The Duke of Norfolkius was, on December 9, 1765, able to obtain a personal audience with Empress Aurelia. The Imperial Court had established itself once again at the Gilbertine Palace on Tudoria; for the first time in Aurelia's reign, Ascentmas was to celebrated on a world besides Laurasia Prime. By November 1765, the rivalry between Norfolkius and Leicesterius had grown to "considerable proportions", and each faction had now adopted a livery. Purple was worn by the followers of Leicesterius, while those of Norfolkius and Jadia wore yellow. The Empress herself had long since known that the favor she showed towards Leicesterius was at the root of these troubles. She had tried to defuse the tension by publicly warning him, on December 4, not to provoke jealousy by displaying too much familiarity towards her. She also acted as mediator between the factions, insisting all quarrels be put aside. Norfolkius, in his audience with the Empress, promoted the benefits of marriage and the desirability of settling the marriage question. He told her that most of her influential subjects wanted her to marry the Archduke Char'vak. If they had appeared to endorse a marriage to Leicesterius, they had only done so because they believed that was where her heart lay, "not because they really thought such a match would be beneficial to the Empire or good for your own dignity." Aurelia listened politely to the Duke, but refused to commit herself to a definite answer. The audience ended after she approved his request to retire to his estates on Soria. Norfolkius sought out Leicesterius afterwards, and warned him not to forget that he had promised the previous season to abandon his pursuit of the Empress. Leicesterius did not take issue, and Norfolkius retired to Soria on December 14, believing he had done his sovereign and empire a service.
 * December 25-The Earl of Leicesterius, confident of success, asked the Empress, at the Ascentmas Day festivals of December 25, 1765, to marry him. As had become custom, she proved reluctant, telling him he would have to wait until Candlemas in February 1766 for an answer, although over the course of the next few days, she was to appear to others to be seriously considering the Earl's proposal. The Imperial Court was lively with speculation, with Leicesterius acting as if he were consort already, making more enemies in the process. A heated exchange took place between Sir Thomasius Heneagius (1732-95, another of the suitors for the Empress's hand), and Leicesterius on Twelfth Night (December 30, 1765). Heneagius, head of the festivities, forced Leicesterius to ask the Empress whether jealousy or evil opinion was more difficult to eliminate. Aurelia courteously replied both were difficult to get rid of, but that it was more difficult to remove jealousy. Leicesterius took this personally as implying he had been deliberately unfaithful to her, and sent a message warning Heneagius not to proceed further with his impertinence. Heneagius declared that was not "punishment for equals." Leicesterius replied that Heneagius was not his equal, and should not insult him. Heneagius complained to the Empress, who was vexed with Leicesterius.

1766

 * January 1-1766, the 66th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the prevalence of general domestic tranquility and economic prosperity in the Laurasian Empire; and of arising tensions in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. By the beginning of 1766, the Laurasian Empire extended its jurisdiction over more than fifty million star systems throughout the Caladarian Galaxy; Empress Aurelia of Laurasia wielded authority over nearly seventy quadrillion sentients throughout known space. The Empire's situation was far more secure than that which had existed a century earlier, when the Samanthan and Xilanian Provinces had been breaking away to form their own incipient Empires, and when Laurasia was embroiled by incessant conflict in the Galactic Borderlands, as well as elsewhere. The Muggal Cluster, Northern Reaches, and Dejanican Lavella remained outside of the Empire's jurisdiction, but all of these territories were to be subdued during the course of the next decade. While Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Court basked in the comforts of luxury on Laurasia Prime, tensions increased at the court of her cousin, Queen Mariana I of Scottria. Her secretary, the Haxonian David Rizzio continued to remain unpopular, and there were those now beginning to become opposed to the Queen of Scottria herself. These tensions would more openly reveal themselves over the course of this year and the next. Furthermore, 1766 was to see maneuvers by the Imperial Laurasian Government within the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as Empress Aurelia sought to further consolidate Laurasian influence over that state. These efforts, however, would bring the Empire's agents and emissaries into conflict with the Dejanican Diet and the Dejanican nobility, and would result in the fomenting of anti-Laurasian dissent in Dejanica. These were to have consequences for the Empress of Laurasia in due course. January 1766, however, would pass in relative tranquility, before the explosion of these underlying tensions occurred.
 * January 23-In a ceremony of investiture at the Audience Chamber in the Quencilvanian Palace, on January 23, 1766, the Earl of Leicesterius and the Duke of Norfolkius were both formally awarded the Order of St. Michael, the second-highest ranking order of chivalry in the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. Empress Aurelia had, in a amicable gesture of friendliness, conferred the Order of St. Antiochus the Great upon King Charman III in November 1765. Charman, grateful for the honor thus bestowed on him, had decided in turn to bestow the Order of St. Michael upon two of the Empress's subjects: she had nominated both Leicesterius and Norfolkius. Norfolkius, however, angered that his rival was being honored, had at first refused to attend; only a sharp, and direct, command from the Empress had compelled him otherwise. Therefore, on the day of investiture, both men, wearing robes of white and velvet garnished with lace, gold, and silver, received the Order from the hands of Ambassador de Foix. Shortly after the ceremony, Norfolkius sought out Leicesterius, insisting he abandon all thoughts of marrying the Empress. He demanded that the Earl support the Austarlian marriage project. Leicesterius agreed to do whatever he could as long as it did not appear to the Empress he was doing so out of distaste; he thereafter urged her to marry as soon as possible. On January 25, while walking with Spamalkan Ambassador de Silva, Aurelia commended Leicesterius to him and declared that he was a true patriot. Empress Mar'va Tarvania, however, continued to refuse to agree to Aurelia's conditions. Leicesterius was also enraged when the Empress flirted with the Duke of Orion III. On February 2, he would depart from the Imperial Court, and retire to Dwerst Palace on Condtella. Norfolkius left the Imperial Court from January 29 (after having returned there on January 1), remaining at Soria until September 1766.
 * February 12-
 * By February 1766, Lord Darnley, who had heard rumors that Secretary Rizzio enjoyed confidential sessions with Queen Mariana in her private bedchambers and that he may even be the father of her unborn child, could not live any longer with the conviction that she had betrayed him; nor could he continue to exist as "Prince Consort", without any power or influence of his own. He had made it clear to others within the Royal Household that he would be a crowned king regnant and nothing less, and if he were helped in achieving this, he was prepared to recognize the rights of the Scottrian Lords and the continuance of alliance arrangements with the Laurasian Empire. The unscrupulous Scottrian lords, who resented Rizzio's influence, and wanted both him and Darnley out of the way, therefore saw him as fair game. Patrick, Lord Ruthven (1720-66), and the Earl of Morton, who were in secret correspondence with the Earl of Moray and his supporters, therefore met, on this date, at Ruthven's estate on Linlithgow, and formulated their plan against Rizzio. They resolved to kill him in the Queen's presence: knowing that Mariana was six months pregnant, they anticipated that the shock may harm her and the unborn child, in which case she could be incapacitated.
 * With the apparent support of the Lords, Darnley envisioned himself invested with the crown matrimonial, or if Mariana died in childbirth set up as regent, or even king in her place. Whatever happened to her, he believed that he would still rule Scottria, for even if she survived the coup with her sanity and pregnancy unscathed, it was agreed that she was to be imprisoned on Striling at his pleasure. Darnley's fellow conspirators, on their part, meant to represent to Mariana when the time came that he alone was responsible for Rizzio's murder, and that he had also intended to kill her, which would have provoked her into charging him for treason-the penalty for which was death. They would then rid themselves of two unwelcome nuisances. The following day, Ambassador Randolphius, who had his agents implanted among the Scottrian Court, reported that the Queen "repented her marriage and wished only for Lord Darnley to be gone of her." Chancellor Cecilis and the Imperial Privy Council, as well as Empress Aurelia, knew full well that murder was being planned, but waited for events. The conspirators, on their part, designated March 9 as the day they would strike.
 * February 23-On February 23, 1766, the former Dejanican General and claimant King of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanis Morgar I, Duke of Lorraine, died at the Ducal Palace on Luneville. He was eighty-eight years old at the time of his death, and had lived longer than any prior Dejanican sovereign in history. Ever since the end of the War of the Dejanican Succession in 1735, he had, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Idyll, ruled over the Duchy of Lorraine. He had become known for his patronage of the arts, being responsible for the establishment of the Stanislas Academy and the State Library of Nancy, which became among the most renowned academic and educational institutions in the Great Amulak Spiral. He had also engaged in intellectual arguments and exchanges with many of the scholars of the Universities of Parri, Cologne, Padua, and Antwerp, and had himself tried his hand in publishing various works of art, political treatises, and historical biographies. The Duke had come to be beloved by his subjects, and he had scrupulously refrained from involvement in both the War of the Austarlian Succession and the Seven Years' War. His death was received with some regrets within the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth; King Stanis Vorrust I issued a proclamation to his subjects from Warsaw, expressing his condolences and enjoining his subjects to offer their respects for his soul. Empress Aurelia of Laurasia and other foreign monarchs also offered their respects. As a result of his death, the Duchy of Lorraine, with the Vosges, Moselle, Meurthe, and Allemagne, now acceded to the Franconian Crown; on March 1, 1766, Queen-Dowager Catharina d'Medici and the Franconian Estates-General issued the formal instrutments of annexation. Within a short time, Lorraine was reorganized into a province of the Franconian Crown. Its acquisition completed the Franconian conquest of the Alatian Regions, which had been underway since 1649. Stanis Morgar was buried at St. Nancy's Priory on Nancy, on March 7, 1766.
 * March 9-During the early hours of March 9, 1766, the conspirators carried out their plan of action against Haxonian Secretary David Rizzio. Lord Ruthven, who was in ailing health, but nevertheless was determined to himself commit the deed of murder, led a group of armed men into the Holyroodian Palace, just as Queen Mariana, who was now six months pregnant, was dining in private with Lady Argyll and Secretary Rizzio. Rizzio had not removed his cap, as was expected of one in the presence of a sovereign. Suddenly, Darnley and the other intruders, including a fully-armored Ruthven, burst into the room, jostled the Queen of Scottria aside, and "laid their ruddy hands" on the Haxonian. He screamed "Justice! Justice! Save me my lady!" and tried to cling to the Queen's skirts. Armed men pulled him away and he was dragged into an adjoining chamber, where Ruthven and the Earl of Morton savagely murdered him, his body being pierced with fifty-six dagger wounds. Mariana was forcibly restrained from trying to help him, and later would claim one of the conspirators had aimed his blaster at her stomach. The conspirators then hastened away. Rizzio's body was carried away by the Queen's orders. She soon argued with Darnley, asking him why he had participated in the murder of the Secretary, he responded that Rizzio had more company with her over the past two months than he. In a state of shock, the Queen confined herself to her rooms, but during the course of the next two days, she managed to convince her husband that the conspirators were planning to murder him next. Darnley, who was frightened, betrayed the names of all who had taken part in the murder, and the Queen immediately concluded the plot had been aimed at her.
 * March 11-
 * Queen Mariana and her husband, Prince Consort Darnley, slipped down a back escalator, escaped from the Holyroodian Palace through the servants' quarters, and obtaining access to one of the Household starfighters, fled from Ediania as fast as they could to Dunbar (March 11, 1766). From there, Queen Mariana, determined to avenge Rizzio's murder, assembled her supporters and personal military squadrons. Six days later, the Queen of Scottria returned to Ediania and reasserted control over her capital star system. The conspirators, however, had already fled from Ediania, and seethed with vengeful hatred at Darnley's betrayal. Before long, however, the Queen of Scottria discovered the extent of Darnley's involvement in the plot against Rizzio. This brought to an end the brief reconciliation between herself and her husband. Mariana became estranged with her husband and excluded him from all state affairs.
 * He remained a presence at court, however, but was placed under constant scrutiny. Empress Aurelia, informed first by Ambassador Randolphius, and then of Queen Mariana herself, about what had occurred, expressed genuine horror at how the Queen of Scottria had been treated, and expressed her anger to Ambassador de Silva. The Empress had also authorized the Earl of Moray to depart back to the Scottrian dominions; arriving at Branxholme on March 14, he had reached Ediania before Mariana returned there. When the Queen returned, Moray was there, along with the Earls of Glencairn and Argyll, ready to offer their support. Declaring himself "impressed" by Mariana's bravery, Moray managed to convince her that he was on her side. On March 20, the Queen of Scottria formally pardoned the Chaseabout Rebels and reinstated Moray, Glencairn, and Argyll to the Privy Council. Moray once again established himself as the predominant influence in the Scottrian government, especially as Mariana's pregnancy advanced. Relations between Mariana and Aurelia improved for the time being. Queen Mariana asked the Empress to become her child's godmother, an offer which Aurelia accepted. In private, however, the Empress continued to work with Chancellor Cecilis on plans for intervention in Scottria.
 * April 1-On April 1, 1766, the Earl of Leicesterius, who had remained at Dwerst Palace on Condtella, returned to the Imperial Court on Laurasia Prime, which was then located at the Old Royal Palace. Empress Aurelia could not do without him, nor could he without her, and as normal, they had mended their differences. The Empress and the Imperial Court received the Earl with ceremony and honor, and she declared to all in attendance that she would never again let him out of her sight. Chancellor Cecilis, who had hoped that the Empress's affection for the Earl had run its course, tried to reconcile himself to the lingering idea that the Empress might marry Leicesterius; he was not happy about this possibility however, believing it brought no benefits to the security of the Laurasian Empire. Five days after the Earl returned to the Imperial Court, the Chancellor drew up a chart comparing him with the Archleutan Archduke Char'vak: in almost every way he was the less desirable, for he was of common birth and would not bring any influence or prestige to the monarchy. He could also prove sterile, considering his marriage with the late Lady Fausta Dudley had been childless. On April 22, Leicesterius again left Laurasia Prime, for he had another argument with the Empress, and retired to his estates on Fulcania. Again, he was summoned back by the Empress, just four days later, and this time the reconciliation between them proved lasting.
 * May 6-The Laurasian Ambassador to the court of the Holy Austarlian Empire, Sir Sextius Calpurnius (1725-92), who was the brother-in-law of Chancellor Cecilis, held an personal audience with the Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania and with her son and now co-ruler, Emperor Joseth II. Mar'va Tarvania still held the predominant lever of influence and power in the Austarlian realms, and she made it clear that her son derived his authority from her. Joseth, however, was already proving to be a vigorous and energetic ruler: in January 1766, his mother had given him additional responsibilities relating to commercial matters and foreign affairs. Ambassador Calpurnius again attempted to persuade them into permitting for the Archduke Char'vak to adopt Laurasian Almitism; they refused however, with Joseth pointing out that it would be far beneath him to make a similar demand that the Empress of Laurasia drop her religion. Calpurnius would continue to work until August, in an vain effort to persuade the Austarlian co-rulers to change their minds.
 * June 19-
 * On June 19, 1766, after a long and painful labor which lasted for almost twelve hours, the Queen of Scottria, Mariana I, gave birth to her only child at the Maternity Quarters of Edianian Fortress, the largest and most important military stronghold in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, and now one of the chief residences and military arsenals for the monarchs of Scottria. There was "utter joy" throughout the Scottrian realms, for the child she gave birth was a son. Moreover, despite the fact that his mother had to endure a considerable amount of pain in giving birth to him, he was a healthy child. A proclamation of joy was issued from Edianian Fortress; all subjects throughout the Scottrian realms were enjoined to celebrate his birth; and the Scottrian Clergy offered their collective thanks. The boy, who was Duke of Rothesay and Great Steward of Scottria from the moment of his birth (in accordance with Scottrian law), was named Jamsius, the name every Scottrian King since 1606 (with the exception of Queen Mariana herself), had borne. Whereas all those in the Scottrian realms celebrated with all of the joy and fervency which they could muster, the news of the birth struck Empress Aurelia of Laurasia hard. The Empress had been dancing in her private quarters when Chancellor Cecilis came up to her hastily and whispered her the news in her ear.
 * Immediately upon hearing of this, Aurelia sank down to the ground, and burst out to some of her ladies who were then in attendance on her that "the Queen of Scottria was mother of a healthy son, and I am of barren stock." Publicly, however, the Empress expressed her joy, issuing a proclamation from the Vakannian Palace on Briannia (where the Imperial Court was then situated), that she had "only her greatest blessings for Her Majesty of Scottria and her son, and that they have been truly protected by the embrace of the Lord Almitis." Two days after this announcement, the Empress informed the newly appointed Scottrian Ambassador, Sir Jamsius Altholl, that the birth of the Scottrian Prince meant she would be less reluctant to acknowledge Mariana's claim to the succession. The Earls of Aeoleon and Leicesterius and the Duke of Norfolkius all expressed their support for the Empress taking steps to formalize Mariana's claim by statute.
 * In private, however, Aurelia lamented to the Privy Council that the birth of Jamsius posed "not only a threat to my throne, but also hampers our efforts at obtaining influence in Scottria." Mariana on her part, confidently expecting to be named Aurelia's heiress apparent, began sounding out segments of the Laurasian nobility and clergy in July 1766, seeking their support for her accession to the throne in the event of Aurelia's death. On July 21, Aurelia would warn Mariana, in a secret diplomatic communique, not to solicit the support of her subjects for her rights of succession. Mariana, however, was more focused on the affairs of government in Scottria; by this point, she and her husband were barely on speaking terms, no longer slept in the same quarters, and avoided each other as much as possible. By October 1766, the Empress was being informed by Ambassador Randolphius that Queen Mariana was desperate at the prospect of being tied to Lord Darnley for life.
 * August 11-On August 11, 1766, two days after Sir Sextius Calpurnius, who had been recalled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back to the Laurasian Empire on July 22, arrived on Laurasia Prime, Empress Aurelia embarked on her formal progress. This year's progress would take her through the Eastern Laurasian Purse Worlds. Oxia Vixius, Ralina Vixius, Apathama Vixius, Aeoleon, Janesia, Maroni, Dearton's Gateway, Osama, Tarravania, Alicia, Volta, Lusculum, Tusculum, Katie, the Station of Dosch, Sarah, Clackimaris, Charasia, Americana, Lomanis I, the Isoter's Shaft, Alsora, Tifenlium, and Alanium would be among the worlds visited by the Empress and the Imperial Court during this time. She stayed at Greysius Friary on Volta, avoiding a visit to Cecilis's estate, the future Burghley House, there. Her visit to the University of Ralina Vixius (August 24-26, 1766) was received with much ceremonial and pomp by the residents of that system and the faculty of the university. She delivered addresses to the University Fathers in Old Laurasian and Archleutan; attended a service at Paul Church, and then followed a series of public orations and disputations, a tour of the university campus, sermons, lectures, debates, and plays. On her last public appearance before departing from Ralina Vixius, the Empress delivered a final speech in Millian, which she had composed herself. By September 6, 1766, the Court was anxious to return to Laurasia Prime, but the Empress decided to make a detour to Kenillian Castle on Taurasia, and was entertained by the Earl of Leicesterius, even in the midst of the ongoing construction efforts. She expressed her satisfaction with the improvements which he had made. The Imperial Court finally returned to Laurasia Prime on September 11, 1766. Upon arrival, Aurelia declared that her progress of 1767 would be to the Malarian and Melarnarian Provinces, which she had not yet visited.
 * October 4-
 * On October 4, 1766, the Dejanican Diet of 1766 assembled in Warsaw, Dejanica Major, for its opening session. King Stanis Vorrust I, who had begun to prove himself as being in favor of reforming and updating the administrative and financial machinery of the Dejanican Commonwealth, had ordered for the Diet to convene, pursuant to its elective process, by the decree of July 29, 1766. He had also been persuaded in that course of action by Diet Marshal Czarskia and by the members of the Familia faction, a sect of Dejanican nobles, gentleman, clergy, and government officials, among other prominent personages. The Familia faction believed that the constitution of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth was in need of major reform; they believed that their cooperation with the Laurasian Empire, as represented by Ambassador Repanius, would ensure the success of their efforts, and that they could secure the support of the Diet easily. Already, however, events had taken place which was to prove the ultimate lie to their hopes.
 * In May 1765, Ambassador Repanius, acting on the instructions of Chancellor Cecilis and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had permitted King Stanis to establish the Dejanican Corps of Cadets on Praga, a military academy for nobleman and "respectable gentlemen" of the Dejanican realms, and to create the Order of the Knights of Saint Stanis. King Stanis had also expanded the authority of the Commissions of the Treasury and the Military, and he worked to continue limiting the powers of the generalities, a process begun in 1764. In September 1765, however, Pruthian Ambassador Gostornost had compelled the Dejanican Treasury to abandon general customs on Dejanican imports to Pruthian territory; two months later, the Empress of Laurasia, in an official imperial manifesto, declared that she was dedicated to upholding the "traditional liberties and laws of the Commonwealth."
 * And finally, the dissenter argument had begun to arise as a major bone of contention in Commonwealth politics. The rights of Almitians, Pruthian Militarists, Austarlian Cultists, and Non-Orthodox Dejanicans, among others had been curtailed by the Commonwealth Government, particularly at the diets of 1717 and 1736. This was in violation of Dejanican treaty undertakings with its neighbors: specifically, the Treaty of Oliva (1667) with Pruthia and Austarlia; the Treaty of General Intercourse (1675) with the Haxonian Confederacy and Franconia; the Non-Aggression Treaty of 1686 with Laurasia; and the Treaty of Szembliskia (1708), also with Laurasia. In all of these treaties, the rights of non-Dejanican religions in the Commonwealth had been recognized. Instead, they were forbidden to obtain an occupation, to marry, to change residences, or to transport goods without the approval of Dejanican authorities; they could not construct new churches and other religious facilities without obtaining special government consent; and they were forced to oblige by Dejanican religious customs. In April 1764, Empress Aurelia had first raised the question of the rights of the "dissidents", as these religions were known to the Dejanicans, and on July 14, 1764, the Pruthian and Imperial Laurasian Governments had issued a joint declaration demanding that the unspecified rights, liberties, and privileges of the dissidents should be restored to them. The Convocation Diet, however, showed little inclination to improve the situation of the dissidents, and ignored the declaration. Empress Aurelia had been agitated by this, but she and Chancellor Cecilis resolved to push the issue further.
 * King Stanis Vorrust, in December 1765, had indicated that in exchange for reforms in the sejimiks and the abolition of the liberum veto, he would be willing to support the grant of limited religious toleration to the dissidents. Aurelia, however, as well as Pru'a, had considered this insufficient. The Familia faction, on its part, did not wish to alienate the conservative Dejanican nobility and to arouse dissent against their program of reforms, and therefore refused to support religious toleration at this stage. Ambassador Repanius, therefore, was issued instructions by the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obstruct all proposals for reform; to use the funds at his disposal to influence the King and the Familia faction; to bribe deputies at the Diet; and to press for full concessions for the dissidents. Furthermore, on October 9, 1766, the Ambassador issued a declaration, composed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Rudomentus Sadielus. This declaration stressed the benefits which Laurasia had already conferred on Dejanica in assisting in the free election of a native king, and went on to demand full religious freedom for the dissidents. It stated that they should only be under the jurisdiction of secular courts, and should have the protection of the King. With the publication of this declaration, the various currents of thought in Dejanica were fully exposed. The King and his supporters were willing to support both constitutional reforms and limited religious toleration; the Familia faction, constitutional reforms but no religious toleration; and the third, opposed both reforms and toleration.
 * October 11-On October 11, 1766, with Laurasian Ambassador Sir Repanius having distributed as many bribes as he could, the Dejanican Diet rejected, through use of the liberum veto, the Reform Resolutions of 1766 which had been proposed by Marshal Czarskia, Ambassador Zamaskia, and the Commissions of the Treasury and Military. Chief among the resolutions had been the abolition of the liberum veto itself; the relaxation of some minor restrictions on religious minorities in Dejanican territory; the maintenance of free commerce with all of the Commonwealth's neighbors; and the establishment of a permanent executive council, to coordinate all Diet commissions and agencies. In his efforts to forestall constitutional reform in Dejanica, Ambassador Repanius was assisted by the newly appointed Pruthian Ambassador to the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Gededeon Bendoit (1729-96). Pruthian Emperor Pru'a IX was also determined not to permit for reform unless if toleration were granted to the dissidents. That, however, would continue to be a vain hope. Repanius, on October 14, 1766, occupied the lands and estates belonging to the Dejanican Patriarchs of Krakow and Vilinus. On November 8, 1766, however, the Diet passed by unanimous vote a resolution reaffirming all the previous laws dealing with the dissidents and spelling out their disabilities. Laurasian policy had killed reforms, but had defeated its own aims in the process. Empress Aurelia was angered by this, and she now ordered Ambassador Repanius to organize confederations of dissidents; to redouble his bribery efforts; and to reorganize the diplomatic garrison. On November 12, the Diet formally adjourned; the Laurasian Empire's agents were now actively engaged in fomenting dissent within the Commonwealth.
 * November 24-
 * At Cragmillar Citadel on Cragmillar, on November 24, 1766, which was located five light-years to the east of Ediania, Scottrian Queen Mariana held a conference with the Privy Council and many of the leading nobles and magnates of the Scottrian Court, in order to "discuss the problem of Lord Darnley." Sir Jamsius Melville, who had become Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs two months earlier, and Chief Secretary Maitland were among the Queen's principal advisors who were present at the ceremony. The Earls of Argyll, Glencairn, Morton, Angus, and Arran were also present at the conference. Lord Darnley, on his part, had retired to visit with his father, the Earl of Lennaxia, at Glasgow. Over the course of the past several months, the relationship between Queen Mariana and her husband had continued to deteriorate. She had become more associated with Jamsius Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who had accompanied the Queen when she returned to Ediania, following Rizzio's murder, and had offered her the use of his personal retrievers and his fortifications at Dunbar.
 * In mid-October 1766, the Queen, who was then staying at Jexburgh, made numerous trips to visit Bothwell at Hermitage Fortress; the Earl had fallen ill, and she wished to be in attendance on him. Rumors would later circulate that the Queen was already involved in an affair and that she was "duping" her husband, but Mariana was accompanied on these visits by government officials and her retinue of guards. Shortly afterwards, the Queen herself had fell ill; she had recovered on October 25, and credited this to her Franconian physicians. Now, at Cragmillar Citadel, she discussed the possibility of freeing herself from him. The marriage could not be annulled, however, for that would call into question the legitimacy of her son. Some lords, specifically Glencairn and Argyll, wished for the Queen to have Darnley arrested on charges of treason, but she was reluctant to do so at this stage.
 * December 17-The official christening of Prince Jamsius, Duke of Rothesay, High Steward of Scottria, and heir apparent to the Scottrian throne, was, on December 17, 1766, formally conducted at the Temple of Clurs on Stirling. The magnificent ceremony, which was conducted with all of the pomp and circumstance of the traditional Scottrian faith, was attended by the ambassadors of all the foreign courts. The Laurasian, Spamalkan, and Franconian Ambassadors were the most prominent foreign personages at the ceremony. The boy's godparents were King Charman III of Franconia (represented by the Franconian Ambassador John, Count of Brienne, 1723-91); Empress Aurelia I of Laurasia (represented by the Laurasian Ambassador, the Earl of Dennis, 1694-1787); and the High Regent of the Haxonian High Council, Emmanuel Philebert (represented by Haxonian Ambassador Philebert de Croac, 1700-85). The Earl of Dennis presented Queen Mariana with a gift for her son; a golden font, intricately carved and vividly enameled. Queen Mariana thanked the Empress of Laurasia vigorously for her gift. Lord Darnley, on his part, who simmered with resentment against his wife, and especially at the fact that she had denied him any role in the affairs of the government, refused to attend his son's own christening. In addition, Darnley declared that he believed his son was actually "the son of some court paramour" and that Mariana had not been faithful to him. Darnley remained with his father at Glasgow; at this time, Bothwell and other Scottrian Lords began to conceive a plot to murder Darnley. Queen Mariana was completely unaware of their intentions, but she had hinted to many of her nobles that she could not tolerate her marriage with Darnley any longer. Darnley fell ill on December 21, but recovered within a few days. By the end of 1766, relations between Aurelia and Mariana had improved momentarily. That fragile friendship, however, was soon to be shattered irrevocably.

1767

 * January 1-1767, the 67th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, having been provided with a heir apparent to the Scottrian throne, nevertheless being at the cusp of swift and dramatic events. The birth of Prince Jamsius had been cause for much rejoicing and hope throughout the Scottrian realms, but at the same time, tensions were developing in the Scottrian realms. By 1767, Queen Mariana's popularity had begun to weaken; the rumors circulating about her relationships, first with Secretary Rizzio (who had been murdered) and then with the Earl of Bothwell, had their impact on public opinion. Although the Queen's relations with Empress Aurelia of Laurasia had temporarily improved, those with her husband, Lord Darnley, had worsened. His refusal to be present at their son's christening had revealed to all the underlying tensions in the royal couple. The Laurasian Empire, on its part, was involved in further interventions in the affairs of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Diet had adjourned in November 1766, having refused to recognize the rights of dissidents within the Dejanican dominions. Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government, determined to assert the rights of dissidents and to extend Laurasian influence further over the Commonwealth, were now engaged in schemes to undermine the Commonwealth's stability; to bribe, and cajol, prominent Dejanican nobles, magnates, and officials to support Laurasian aims; and to hamper the reform efforts of King Stanis Vorrust I and his supporters. This year would thereby see the Empire's policies in the Commonwealth bear further fruit. The Marasharite Empire of Mustapha III, however, would also find itself alarmed by Laurasian ambitions, which would cause a rise of tensions between the two Empires and lead to the outbreak of war the following year.
 * January 20-
 * On January 20, 1767, Scottrian Queen Mariana, fearful of her husband's ambitions, and feeling some pity for him, visited him at Lennaxian House on Glasgow, where he had continued to reside with his father, the Earl of Lennaxia. Lord Darnley's health had remained in a weakened state, following his bout with illness in December 1766, and he was not as energetic or vigorous as before. Mariana had heard of her husband's predicament and had decided to extend an offer of leniency with him. On December 24, she had pardoned the murderers of Secretary Rizzio. Lord Ruthven had died on June 13, 1766, and he was therefore posthumously exonerated, having previously been denied the rights to a noble burial. Mariana hoped that by pardoning her secretary's murderers, she would be able to better present herself to Lord Darnley. The Queen of Scottria succeeded in her goals, for Darnley proved more susceptible than ever and was persuaded by his wife to return with her to Ediania. The Queen promised that when he had fully recovered from his illness, all "past injuries shall be totally forgiven" and that she would live with him as his wife, "as was her proper duty and position." The Queen's household, now including Lord Darnley and his attendants, departed from Glasgow during the late hours of January 20, arriving at Ediania the following day. Bothwell and the members of the Privy Council, including the Earls of Moray and Glencairn, were waiting to greet the royal couple.
 * Upon arrival, they were conducted to Kirk o'Field, which was one of the most ancient residential structures in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. It had been inhabited as far back as the 22nd century BH, and had served as a priory for the Clannairch of Ediania from the ninth to the sixteenth centuries. In 1595, Kirk o'Field had been acquired by the Douglains of Angus, who had held it until it was purchased by Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell, in 1696. Since then, it had been one of the chief estates of the Hepburn family. Darnley had, in an action which seemed strange and out of character to many, requested to be lodged here, instead of at Craigmillar Castle, which had been suggested by his wife. Darnley was given quarters in the Prebendaries' Chamber. Mariana on her part, returned to the Holyroodian Palace, but over the course of the next several days, visited him often. Particularly on the night of January 21, the Queen gave every appearance of being a loving wife, playing cards and talking with her husband. Bothwell, on his part, met with Morton several times during January 1767, with Darnley's assassination being planned.
 * Soon afterwards, Queen Mariana announced (February 8, 1767), in a proclamation to her subjects, that she was finally willing to ratify all of the provisions of the Treaty of Ediania, concerning her recognition of the present Laurasian rules of succession and her abandonment of the use of Laurasian heraldry in her personal coat of arms. This proclamation pleased the Empress Aurelia much, and she told Chancellor Cecilis that this would make Laurasian efforts at intervention and influence in Scottria easier. The following day, Sir George Maraglain, departed from Ediania as the special envoy of the Scottrian Queen to the Imperial Court of Laurasia Prime. Mariana had intended to spend that night at Kirk o'Field with Darnley, but then remembered she had promised to attend a wedding masque at Holyroodian Palace in honor of her Franconian musician, Bastian Pagez. She bid farewell to her husband, gave him a ring as a token of her love and goodwill, and departed in a torch-lit procession back to the Holyroodian Palace, where the masque then took place.
 * February 10-
 * At 2:00 AM Galactic Standard Time, during the early morning hours of February 10, 1767, a violent combustive explosion ripped through Kirk o'Field. This explosion was so powerful that it shook the ground, as if, according to eyewitness accounts, "an earthquake had struck", and all in the Royal City of Ediania were roused. Many of the City's inhabitants, in the immediate vicinity of Kirk o'Field, who had been resting or remaining in convalescence within the personal chambers of their residences, were now roused up by the great noise. Soon, thousands from all directions came running to Kirk o'Field. Upon arriving there, they found the ancient mansion, which was 4,042 years old, a smouldering heap of rubble, virtually incinerated by the explosion. Near the house lay the dead bodies of Darnley, who was naked beneath his nightgown, and that of his valet, William Taylor of Shetley. They were surrounded by a cloak, a dagger, a chair, and a coat. The fact Darnley had only his night clothes on suggested he had fled in haste from his bedchambers. Both men had marks on their throats: people immediately determined that both had been strangled.
 * They were not killed by the explosion, which many concluded had been intended to destroy the evidence of murder. Some thought that Darnley, who had sensed something was wrong, had left the mansion with his servant and been attacked outside. An elderly neighbor claimed that he had heard him plead, "Pity me, kinsmen, for the sake of Him who has pitied all of us!" The first person who hastened into the alleys following the explosion was Captain William Blackadder, one of Bothwell's servants. He was promptly arrested but swore he had merely been sharing a drink with a friend in a neighboring house. When Queen Mariana, who had been awoken by the blast, was informed that her husband was dead, she expressed shock and horror, vowing that her husband's murderers would be speedily "discovered" and punished. She expressed her belief that the murderers' intention had been to assassinate her as well. She said that if she had not attended Pagez's masque at Holyroodian Palace, she would have also been murdered. The Queen wasted no time in sending communiques to all foreign courts, announcing her "miraculous" escape. No one doubted that Darnley had been murdered: many had a motive for doing away with him, or stood to gain from his death. Chief among these was the Queen herself, who no longer loved him and had discussed ways of ridding herself of him. She had also regarded him as a dangerous liability, and confessed to Archpriest Jamsius Beatonius that her husband was plotting to kidnap their son and rule in his name. Bothwell wanted Darnley dead so that he himself could marry Queen Mariana and rule Scottria. The other Scottrian lords, including Moray, Glencairn, and Argyll, hated Darnley with a passion and was still enraged on how had had betrayed them following Rizzio's murder. Philicus I of Spamalka, Charman III of Franconia, and Empress Aurelia I of Laurasia all disliked Darnley, and each had their own motivations for doing away with him. Philicus and Charman believed Darnley hampered their efforts at maintaining positive relations with Scottria; Aurelia, conversely, believed that if Darnley were murdered, it would aid Laurasian efforts at dominating Scottria. For most, however, the evidence pointed overwhelmingly to Bothwell, and soon, to Queen Mariana.
 * February 24-Empress Aurelia, who had when receiving the news of Darnley's murder publicly expressed her "sadness" for her dear sister, officially penned, on February 24, 1767, an official response to Queen Mariana's earlier communique. The Empress of Laurasia had already been informed by the Imperial Intelligence Agency of the circumstances behind Darnley's death; the reports prepared by the Agency Director, Sir Balacrus Hevarnius, indicated that Bothwell had hired Blackadder to rig the explosion at Kirk o'Field, and that Bothwell had been discussing for months, ways of disposing Darnley. In the official report, sent by Ambassador Dennis, none of this was mentioned, although the Ambassador himself supplied his sources to the Intelligence Agency. In her communique, Aurelia declared: "Madam, my ears have been so astounded and my heart so frightened to hear of the horrible and abominable murder of your former husband, our mutual cousin, that I have scarcely spirit to write; yet I cannot conceal that I grieve more for you than him. I should not do the office of a faithful cousin and friend if I did not urge you to preserve your honor, rather than look through your fingers at revenge on those who have done you that pleasure, as most have said. I exhort you, I counsel you, I beg you, to take this event so to heart that you will not fear to proceed against your nearest. I write thus vehemently, not that I doubt, but for affection." When writing this communique, Aurelia told Chancellor Cecilis that Mariana was being "held at the ears", and that if she failed to move against her husband's murderers, it would only confirm the rumors circulating against her. No one would mourn Darnley himself, but would nevertheless despise his wife's "complicity" in a murder plot. Catharina d'Medici, Queen-Regent of Franconia (who would soon relinquish her duties to her son, now reaching his majority), had privately commented that Mariana was lucky to be free of Darnley, but that if she did not immediately pursue and punish the murderers, than Franconia would deem her dishonored and consider her an enemy.
 * March 12-Queen Mariana, who was concerned to disassociate herself from the circumstances surrounding her husband's death, ordered, on March 12, 1767, an official inquiry by the Scottrian Bureau of Justice into her husband's murder. This investigation however, would turn out to be a travesty of justice, for the depositions of witnesses were extracted in often suspicious circumstances, even under torture. The Earl of Moray, who now stood to gain power in Scottria if his half-sister were to be overthrown, was to retain control of the documents gathered by the inquiry. This, however, now made them unreliable as evidence, for Moray immediately set about modifying the papers to his advantage, so as to make his half-sister more complicit in the murder. He and his supporters in the Scottrian Estates kept this a closely guarded secret from the Queen. Mariana, whose health at the time was poor, was paralyzed by indecision and reluctant to act against Bothwell. A week after Darnley's murder, he had been named in anonymous obscene public placards on Ediania as the chief suspect.
 * March 20-Pavoro Garbania (1719-77), the Patriarch of Gnienzo and one of the most influential Dissenter nobles in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thirty other Dissenter nobles, government officials, and gentry, announced, on March 20, 1767, the establishment of the Sluck Confederation. They did this as was their right under the procedures of the Dejanican Constitution, which permitted for the establishment of noble "confederations" in order to present their viewpoints to the Dejanican Diet and to the people of the Commonwealth. Sluck, where the Confederation was formed, was one of the chief strongholds in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, renowned for its engineering and shipbuilding sectors. The Confederation was formed partly on the persuasion and bribes of Laurasian Ambassador Repanius, who had continued to receive instructions from Chancellor Cecilis and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, to "provoke tensions and unrest in the Dejanican realms." The Sluck Confederation would serve to destabilize the Commonwealth's political affairs in the coming months. On April 5, the Thorn Confederation would be organized by another sect of nobles, led by Ran'a Brazkius, who were also opposed to the reform policies proposed by King Stanis Vorrust I. The Sluck and Thorn Confederations were comprised overwhelmingly of non-orthodox Dejanicans, Almitians, and Austarlian Ritualists, thereby representing the opposition of the dissenters to the Dejanican government. On April 19, 1767, the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs would issue a manifesto confirming the Imperial Laurasian Government's "diplomatic and moral support" for these confederations.
 * April 12-On April 12, 1767, the Earl of Bothwell's trial was conducted at the Parliamentary Palace of Ediania. Lord Darnley's parents had suffered much anguish, not only as a result of their son's murder, but also because the Queen of Scottria had seemed to be doing so little to bring the culprits to justice. On February 17, Empress Aurelia had, out of an act of kindness and compassion, released a distraught Lady Lennaxia from the Fortress of Baureux and entrusted her to the care of Sir Antiochus Saclallanius, who resided on Dramis. Ambassador De Silva reported to his master, Spamalkan Emperor Philicus, that the Countess of Lennaxia believed that Queen Mariana herself had been "involved in the business, as an act of revenge for the murder of her Haxonian secretary." The Earl of Lennaxia, who was an ardent enemy of Bothwell's, had managed, on April 2, 1767, to persuade Queen Mariana into allowing for Bothwell to be indicted on charges of murder, treason, and conspiracy, and brought to trial before the Scottrian Estates. Lennaxia's request for a delay to gather evidence, however, had been denied. The witnesses who had been interrogated by the Bureau of Justice were too frightened to attend the trial, and according to Scottrian law, no one, not even the Queen, could compel them to testify. With Lennaxia absent and no concrete evidence presented, Bothwell was acquitted by the Estates after only seven hours. It was declared that he could not be tried for his crimes again. Empress Aurelia watched the proceedings in interest from Charasia, where she and the Imperial Court currently resided. The Empress boasted that if Bothwell had been in her realms, he would have been "speedily convicted and hung." She reveled in her status as the only truly absolute sovereign in the inter-galactic community (with the exception of the Grand Dukes of Masacavania) and believed that the constitutional situation in Scottria would prove beneficial to Laurasian aims.
 * April 20-The Earl of Bothwell, having been acquitted of the murder of Lord Darnley, invited many of the most prominent peers and clergymen in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria to a formal dinner, conducted at his own expense, at Ainslie Tavern in Havarian City, Ediania. There, the Earl of Bothwell managed to convince all of those in attendance to sign the Ainslie Tavern Bond (April 20, 1767). This bond confirmed his acquittal for the murder of Lord Darnley; declared that he was "completely innocent of all rumors and accusations brought against him"; recommended him as a potential husband for Queen Mariana; and pledged to assist the Earl in defending such a marriage with the Queen. Both allies and enemies of Bothwell subscribed to the Bond. According to an intelligence report later prepared by Chancellor Cecilis for the Empress, the signatories were: the Earls of Moray, Argyll, Huntly, Cassilis, Morton, Sutherland, Rothes, Glencairn, Eroll, and Caithness; the Lords Boyd, Seton, Sinclair, Sempill, Oliphant, Oglivie of Airlie, Herres, Howe, Elphinstone, Glamis, Fleming, Carleil of Torthonwald, and Innermath; the High Clainnarch of St. Andrews; and the Clainnarchs of Aberdeen, Galloway, Dunblane, Brechin, Ross, and Orkney. The day following the signing of the Ainslie Tavern Bond, Queen Mariana departed from Holyrodian Palace on Ediania in order to visit her son, Prince Jamsius, at Stirling. This visit lasted for two days, and the Queen made sure all of the arrangements for her son's household were set in order. This was to be the last time Mariana was to see her son.
 * April 24-
 * Queen Mariana, whose visit to her son Prince Jamsius at Stirling had concluded, was on her way back to Ediania when her escort halted near Brevies Garrison, a refueling and navigation beacon located eight light-years to the north of Ediania. There, however (April 24, 1767), the Earl of Bothwell and his personal starfighter squadrons suddenly appeared. Bothwell's fleet was unauthorized to appear at Brevies Garrison, and the command staff, without waiting for instructions from the Queen, immediately fired at him, so that he would leave. In the ensuing confrontation, however, Bothwell and his men managed to land on the Queen's personal flagship, HMS Clavarcie. The Earl, who was reckless with regard to his reputation or hers, abducted the Queen from her flagship and immediately had her stowed away on his personal starfighter. Mariana was unwilling to go with him, and ordered him to abstain from his "present course of action". Bothwell however, declaring his love for the Queen, and that no man could halt him as to his intentions, ignored her and ordered for his starfighter to hasten to Dunbar. The rest of his fleet followed, and Brevies Garrison immediately notified the government of Ediania that the Queen had been seized by Bothwell.
 * At Dunbar, which was under the control of his supporters, the Earl took the Queen to his personal bedchambers and had sexual intercourse with her. Melville would allege that this was against the Queen's will, but Mariana herself would later admit that she had succumbed to the Earl's charms and allowed him to lie with her. Their intercourse, however, now made it impossible for the Queen to refuse to marry him. At the same time that this was going on, Sir Arthurius Greysius, Lord Greysius of Wiltonia (son of the elder Lord Greysius, who had died at Chesham's Star on December 14, 1762), arrived at Ediania as special envoy, with orders from the Empress to tell Mariana that she was "greatly perplexed" because the Queen of Scottria had failed to bring to justice her husband's murderers but had showered favor "upon such who have been connected with the crime." Mariana, however, was incommunicado, and the message could not be delivered. Empress Aurelia was then informed of Bothwell's abduction of Mariana: hearing of this, she was publicly shocked. Mariana and Bothwell ultimately returned to Ediania on May 6; he had been officially pardoned of any crime, and the Queen was now actually besotted with him. Three days earlier, the High Clerical Court of Ediania had denounced Bothwell as an adulterer; this left him free to marry Queen Mariana.
 * May 15-
 * Scottrian Queen Mariana and the Earl of Bothwell were married, according to Scottrian rites, at the Holyroodian Palace in Ediania (May 15, 1767). Bothwell became Prince Consort and Duke of Orkney, making him the most powerful and influential nobleman in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. Queen Mariana had continued to assert that she had no choice in the matter. She also naively believed that the Scottrian nobility and people would accept her marriage. This, however, was soon to be dashed on the rocks of despair, revealed for the nonsense that it was. All were shocked that Mariana should marry the man who was accused of murdering her husband. Empress Aurelia, on her part, continued to display a two-faced opinion to the whole matter. In private, she authorized for further reports and intelligence missions by the Agency; Cecilis was already conducting a secret correspondence with the Earl of Moray and his supporters. Publicly, Aurelia deplored her cousin's behavior, which contrasted with her own following Lady Fausta Dudley's death under mysterious circumstances.
 * In a letter to Mariana, sent on May 17, two days after the wedding, the Empress wrote that "Madam, it has been always held in friendship that prosperity provides acquaintances but adversity provides friends. It's my duty to tell you what I think. To be frank with you, why would you allow yourself to be tied, in marriage, to a subject who, lacking any traits of prudence, loyalty, and patriotism, has been charged with the murder of your late husband? And especially one who abducted you from your entourage in such a brash manner. You see my opinion on the matter, and I'm sorry I can't provide you any better. I am willing to do everything in my power to procure the punishment of that murderer against any subject you have, however dear you hold him, and I hope that you ensure that your son may be preserved to the comfort of you and your realm."
 * June 7-Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court departed from Laurasia Prime, on June 7, 1767, in order to commence the formal progress of 1767. As she had promised the previous year, the Empress conducted her progress in the Malarian and Melarnarian Provinces. Pasquarillo, Palmisiano, Azov, Paradine, Courdina V, Gordasis, Melarnaria, Kamachina, Welch, Johnald, Terell, the Jar Asteroids, the Maluyta Nebula, Evans, Ettleman, Goodman, Meehan, Manzo, Aingley, Almastead, Acabania, Takrania, Malaria Prime, Odika, White, and the worlds of the Narvut Corridor would all be graced by the presence of the Empress and the Imperial Court during the course of the next three months. During all this time, the Empress and her ministers would keep a close watch on events in Scottria and in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
 * June 11-
 * At Musselburgh, thirty prominent nobles, gentlemen, and personages of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria formally assembled, in what became known as the Conference of Musselburgh (June 11, 1767). Queen Mariana's foolish and rash marriage with the Earl of Bothwell had finally driven many of the Scottrian nobles to despair; they could not tolerate her marriage under those circumstances. Having rid themselves of Rizzio and Darnley, they were in no mood to endure the ambitious and ruthless Bothwell as King of Scottria. Therefore, William Kirclady of Grange, one of the chief military commanders of the realm, took his place as leader of the Confederate Lords, as they now called themselves. Many of those who had signed the Ainslie Tavern Band were now among those opposed to Queen Mariana and her government.
 * The Earls of Morton, Mar, Gowrie, and Glencairn were Kirclady's most prominent supporters, and brought him considerable numbers of retainers, revers, and supplies for use in a military confrontation. Lords Lindsay, Home, Semphill, and Sanquhar, as well as the Lairds Murray of Tullibardine, Douglain of Drumlanrig, and their supporters also subscribed to the Musselburgh Confederation. In their proclamation, which was announced on the Holonet and circulated throughout the Scottrian realms, the Confederate Lords declared that their goals were to "deliver the Queen from destruction, revenge the Prince Consort's murder, and preserve the security of Prince Jamsius." Mariana, however, hearing of their proclamation, issued a manifesto from Ediania, denouncing them as traitors and commanding for her loyal subjects to refuse to heed their appeals. The following day, it was announced that the Queen and the Earl of Bothwell would be taking command of government forces personally, in order to suppress the Musselburgh Confederation and "restore order to these realms." The Earls of Moray and Rothes remained on Ediania; both however, encouraged the Confederates, and were in secret correspondence with Lord Kirclady of Grange.
 * June 12-On June 12, 1767, Sir Ricomedius Richius, 1st Baron Richius, Procurator-General of the Laurasian Empire (1747-52) and one of the most infamous figures of the reign of Antigonus III, died at Rochardian Estate in Estatius, Kigonia. He was known for his role in the conviction of Bishop John Fisherius and former Chancellor Thomasius Morius. Richius, however, was very much respected in his own lifetime, and in 1766, the year before his death, had been consulted by the Privy Council on the question of the Empress Aurelia's marriage. He was buried on Kigonia with much honor on June 21.
 * June 15-
 * During the early morning hours of June 15, 1767, Queen Mariana and the Earl of Bothwell departed from Fa'side Garrison, located three-light years southeast of Musselburgh, and assumed their operational positions at Carberry, which was located at the outskirts of the Musselburgh star system. The Lords Seton, Hay of Yester, Borthwick, Cockburn of Ormiston, Home of Wedderburn, Blackadder of Tulliallan, Cockburn of Langtoun, and Hamilton, acted as the commanders of the government squadrons and were among the chief supporters of the Earl of Bothwell. Mariana's army made use of fortified positions which had been constructed by the Laurasian forces of Lord Protector Seymouris, on the eve of the Battle of Cleughia, twenty years earlier. They were armed with turbocannon and arequbuises which had been brought from Dunbar. The Queen also had a corps of shocktroopers, commanded by Captains Alexander Stewart and Hew Lauder, of the Royal Guards. All total, Mariana's force (also including pike-fighters) numbered 200 warships and 1,000 support craft. The Confederate Lords, whose force comprised a similar number of starships and personnel, approached from Musselburgh. They approached Carberry from the far side, having fooled Mariana's commanders into believing that they were pressing towards Dalkeith.
 * The Battle of Carberry lasted from 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time. Bothwell, as was Scottrian tradition, offered single combat to any of the Confederate Lords. Kirclady of Grange accepted the challenge, but Bothwell insulted him by declaring he would not fight with him, as he was only a baron. He also refused Lords Murray of Tullibardine and Lindsay, who also took up the challenge. A few hours later, Blackadder of Tulliallan and Home of Wedderburn abandoned the Queen's forces, claiming they were under the impression that Bothwell was about to order a retreat. Bothwell knew that he could not fight with the Confederate Lords on equal terms, and with his starfighter squadrons, fled "like a coward" to Dunbar. Queen Mariana, on her part, received from the Lords an oath of allegiance. They promised to do her no harm, and that they would preserve the Crown, if she surrendered to them and allowed them to escort her back to Ediania. Mariana, believing their promises, accepted, and Kirclady of Grange himself escorted the Queen's flagship into the ranks of the rebel forces. When Empress Aurelia learned of Mariana's submission to her lords, she declared that her cousin's folly and ignorance would be her downfall.
 * June 18-
 * Queen Mariana arrived at Ediania, under escort from the Confederate Lords (June 18, 1767). The Earls of Morton and Mar (future regents of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria during the reign of the ill-fated Jamsius VI), had prevailed upon Lord Kirclady of Grange to deal with the Queen in a "stricter and harsher manner" and not to treat her as his sovereign. Kirclady of Grange had, therefore, had her placed under guard, as if she was a common felon; denied her the use of writing materials; and refused to submit himself in the Queen's presence. Mariana demanded why she was being treated in such a manner, but was told by Lords Home and Semphill that she did not deserve any longer, on account of her actions with Bothwell, to be treated fairly. At Ediania, it became starkly apparent how her subjects now felt about her. As the Queen was escorted through the packed ways, crowds reviled her as an adultress and murderess, and screamed "Burn the whore! Kill her! Drown her!" Mariana, who was enraged by this, cried "I will hang and crucify them all!" Her humiliation, however, was complete. Placards which depicted her as a prostitute confronted her at every turn. Two days after the degradation on Ediania, Queen Mariana was, on the orders of the Confederate Lords, imprisoned in Lochleven Fortress, which was located nearly a thousand light years away from Ediania in the District of Kinross. She was placed in the custody of Sir William Douglain of Lochleven. Lochleven had originally been colonized by the Pictian Scottrians in 829, during the reign of King Drest.
 * It had remained in the possession of the Pictian Government until 1185, when King Conall granted it to Laird Ewan McGrange of Gregor. The McGrange family held Lochleven for over two centuries, until in 1386 King Kenneth II confiscated it when Laird Dustar McGrange was convicted of treason. Lochleven was again in the possession of the central government until 1590, when King Robert III granted it to the Douglain family. The Douglains would continue to hold Lochleven until 1779, when, following Laurasia's annexation of Scottria, it would be redistributed to the Laurasian Duke of Janeway. The Queen of Scottria had nothing with her but the clothes she wore, and she was pregnant with twins, Bothwell's children. In the meantime, the Earl of Moray revealed himself for what he was, and now declared that he could no longer pay allegiance to his half-sister. He and the Confederate Lords were now in a formal alliance, and they assumed the duties of governance. Aurelia, on her part, although publicly deploring Mariana's imprisonment and calling it "a crime against monarchy", was pleased, for the removal of Mariana would mean the removal of the chief obstacle to Laurasian influence in Scottria.
 * June 20-Sian McCullough, who had been personal steward to the Earl of Bothwell himself, was, on June 20, 1767, arrested and forced to deliver to the Earl of Morton what was to become known as the Casket Letters-a collection of correspondence which was said to be between Queen Mariana and Bothwell, which, if authentic, appeared to incriminate the Queen of being an accessory to murder. The Confederate Lords, who now had this correspondence in their possession, told Queen Mariana that she must choose between being put on trial, with the Casket Letters being offered as evidence; abdicating; or divorcing Bothwell. She refused to consider any of these opinions, and even said she would be willing to leave with Bothwell. Bothwell, on his part, had evaded patrol vessels sent by Kirclady of Grange and Morton, and was able to escape to the Vendragian Confederacy.
 * June 23-The Radom Confederation was established on June 23, 1767 at Radom, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, thereby constituting another pro-Laurasian cell within the confines of Dejanica. This confederation was established with the financial and moral assistance of the Laurasian Ambassador, Hereditary Prince Sir Nicholas Repanius of Kalbacha. Repanius, who had already organized the Sluck and Thorn Confederations, was now instrumental in the creation of this group which was opposed to any reforms and was determined to maintain the Golden Liberties of the Dejanican nobility. Lithuanian Prince Karol Dagonius, who was probably the most ardent opponent of reform in the Commonwealth, and had worked to obstruct such policies at past diets, served as Marshal of the Confederation. Empress Aurelia authorized the continued distribution of bribes and favors to nobles throughout the Commonwealth.
 * July 2-Empress Aurelia dispatched Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, on July 2, 1767, to Ediania in order to bring about a reconciliation between Queen Mariana and her peers, and insist on her restoration. When that had been accomplished, he was to demand that Darnley's murderers be pursued and brought to trial. He was to enure that Prince Jamsius was kept safe. If possible, the child should be brought to the Laurasian Empire to be reared under the Empress's protection. Secretly, Thorckmortonia was commanded to ensure that all effort was made for Mariana's deposition and that Moray and his supporters were encouraged. When he arrived at Ediania, Thorckmortonia made his public pleas; as had been predicted, the Lords rejected them and even "threatened" to ally with Franconia. In private, however, he held conferences with Moray and others, assuring them that the Empress supported them in "all they undertook." Mariana, on her part, received a communique from Thorckmortonia, urging her to divorce Bothwell, but she refused.
 * July 24-
 * The Confederate Lords, after having consulted with Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia and Ambassador Dennis, now decided that Queen Mariana must be forced to abdicate in favor of her son. Lord Lindsay volunteered to demand this of Queen Mariana. He intruded into her bedchambers, without any indication being given to her of his arrival, and demanded that she sign a declaration of abdication. Mariana refused to do so, and demanded to be heard by the Scottrian Estates. Lindsay threatened that if she did not cooperate, he would kill her. At this, she capitulated, and signed a abject declaration of abdication (July 24, 1767). The reign of Mariana I of Scottria, the only queen regnant in Scottrian history, which had lasted for twenty-five years, had therefore come to an end. The news of Mariana's deposition from the Scottrian throne was met with mixed reactions throughout inter-galactic civilization. In Franconia, both King Charman III and his mother, Queen-Regent Catharina d'Medici, who had been critical of Mariana's dealings with the Earl of Bothwell and her failure to punish the murderers of her husband, nevertheless declared that her deposition from the Scottrian throne was unlawful and beyond the range of her subjects.
 * Emperor Philicus I expressed similar sentiments, declaring that the Scottrian realms would be cursed for having condoned the deposition of a lawful monarch. Laurasian Empress Aurelia, on her part, announced in a manifesto from the Imperial Court that she could not "countenance the deposition of a lawful Queen from her hereditary throne." In private, however, the Empress of Laurasia continued to express to her advisers her belief that the recent turmoil in Scottria would permit for a further extension of Laurasian influence and power at the expense of that kingdom. Five days after Mariana formally abdicated as Queen, her son Jamsius was crowned King of Scottria at Stirling, in accordance with Reformist Scottrian rites. Mariana's captors went out of their way to insult her, and John Knox, who had now become Chief Regent of the Congregation of the Scottrian Church, delivered a sermon at the coronation praising the ascension of Jamsius to the throne and denouncing Mariana as an "adulteress and a repulsive slut."
 * July 27-Empress Aurelia, expressing further her public outrage at the deposition of Mariana from the Scottrian throne, commanded Thorckmortonia, on July 27, 1767, to demand of the Scottrian Estates why they had deposed their "rightful sovereign" from her hereditary throne, and "under what law is it that subjects may arrest the person of their Prince, detain them captive and proceed to judge them? No such law is to be found in any realm." With Mariana deprived of her throne, the Empress of Laurasia threatened that she would intervene to "restore proper order and punish those who had contrived, in a vain and evil fashion, to uproot and destroy rightful monarchy." Thockmortonia, fully aware of the Empress's duplicity and double-dealing in regards to Scottrian affairs, told Leicesterius in a private communique that any effort to retrieve Mariana would result in her death. The Scottrian Lords refrained from executing Mariana, partly because of the Empress's denunciations of their treatment of Mariana. War however, now seemed to be a possibility, and relations between the Empress and her Scottrian "allies" were now frigid. The Empress continued to act as if she were outraged by their actions. She recalled Thockmortonia back to the Laurasian Empire on August 5; denounced the Musselburgh Confederation and their rebellion against Mariana; and continued to press for Mariana's release. In private, however, Aurelia assured Moray that she was fully aware of his position of power in the Scottrian realms, and he himself told Cecilis that he knew that the Empress was actually in favor of Mariana having been deposed. On August 11, however, the Empress, keeping up public appearances, berated Cecilis in public and declared that he had been responsible for the troubles in the Scottrian realms, a truly absurd claim.
 * August 22-The Earl of Moray, whose position of power in the Scottrian realms was secure, and who was fully confident that he would resist all pressures by his potential enemies, was, on August 22, 1767, formally appointed Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria by the Scottrian Estates and the Council of State. In his oath of office, Moray pledged to preserve the interests of "His Most Honorable Highness, King Jamsius VI" and to maintain the integrity, stability, and prosperity of the Scottrian realms. Empress Aurelia reacted harshly to Moray's assumption of the Regency, and continued to denounce his government. Withholding recognition for Jamsius as King of Scottria, the Empress, then at Kamachina, continued to issue manifestos denouncing Mariana's deposition from the throne and demanding for "proper rule to be restored in Scottria." The Empress and the Imperial Court would return to Laurasia Prime from the progress on September 4, and she would continue to hold discussions with the Privy Council over Scottrian affairs.
 * September 21-On September 21, 1767, Haynsian Despot Everan II Karany was forced to abdicate by Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III, due to his perceived inability to control the intrigues of his nobles and military commanders in the Haynsian Court. The Emperor now recalled the ex-Despot Arbai Karany back to the Haynsian throne. Arbai, who had moved to Chios two years earlier, had regained favor with the Marasharite Court and had been instrumental in the suppression of the Haynsian Renegade Pirates at Lesbos in January 1767. As a result for this service, Mustapha decided to restore him to the throne. Arbai, however, did not have long to live; he died on December 22, 1767 at Kaushany in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, before he was able to make his formal return progress to Haynes. Following Arbai's sudden death, his son Jay XIII was elevated to the Haynsian throne by Emperor Mustapha.
 * October 5-
 * On October 5, 1767, the Convocation Diet of 1767 formally assembled. The Diet had been convened by King Stanis Vorrust I in August 1767, responding to pressures exerted by the Laurasian Ambassador, Sir Nicholas Repanius, and by the petitions of the Thorn and Radom Confederations. Lithuanian Prince Karol Dagonius, one of the most powerful magnates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the dominant personage in the Radom Confederation, was one of those who had urged the convening of the Diet. Ardently opposed to reform, Dagonius had made petitions to the Imperial Laurasian Government on Laurasia Prime, urging for the Empire to acknowledge the continuation of Dejanican immunities and privileges in the Commonwealth, and to prevent "young and inexperienced fools" from ruining the welfare of the Dejanican realms. Empress Aurelia, responding to these "pleas" from the Radom Confederation, ordered Ambassador Repanius to now act to the contrary of what Dagonius had requested.
 * Once the Diet had convened, Ambassador Repanius ordered for the Diplomatic Garrison to occupy all the approaches to the city of Warsaw. He then proceeded to surround the Diet Chambers with Laurasian troops, placing some of them inside the halls to ensure that the members voted as he instructed them. At first, the Diet refused to be imitated. Four High Priests of the Dejanican Order now arose in order to resist Laurasian dictates: the High Priest of Liv Was'la Hieronmim Sireavakia (1699-1784); High Priest Felix Turki of Chocim (1729-1800); High Priest of Krakow Kajetan Soltyk (1715-88); and Joseph Zaluski, Dejanican High Priest of Lavella (1702-74). Soltyk and Zaluskiu in particular protested Laurasian interference, and both High Priests passionately defended Dejanican religious policy. On October 12, Repanius, acting with authorization from the Empress, and seeking to break anti-Laurasian opposition in the Diet, ordered for the arrest of High Priests Soltyk and Zaluski, as well as Prince-Hetman Warclaw Rzewskia and his son Lord Sewereyn. These Dejanican notables were imprisoned, on the orders of the Laurasian Empress, at the Ice Prison of Iego, where they were to be held in confinement for the next five years.
 * October 16-On October 16, 1767, Archleutan Field-Marshal Burkhard von Munnich, the Minister of Defense and Head of the Imperial General Headquarters of the Laurasian Empire, and one of the most prominent and successful military commanders in the Laurasian Empire during the eighteenth century, died at the age of 84 at the Governor's Palace in Dorpat, Zennethia. Munnich, whose health had entered a severe decline from December 1760, had requested leave from his duties on Laurasia Prime. This had been granted without demur by the Empress Aurelia, who had appointed him as Director-General of Imperial Spaceport Facilities in January 1762 and assigned him to headquarters on Zennethia. Although he was a alien, his death was greeted with much mourning at the Imperial Court. Munnich was buried with full honors at his family plot in Dorpat on October 29.
 * November 4-On November 4, 1767, Haxonian Doge Girolamo Pruili died at the Doges' Palace on Haxonia Prime. He was eighty-one years old at the time of his death. Doge Pruli had pursued a policy of moderation and restraint as regards to the Haxonian Confederacy's foreign affairs. He had been conciliatory towards Laurasia, Pruthia, Austarlia, and Spamalka, but also maintained the Confederacy's own interests. His reign had witnessed the further extension of Haxonian colonial territories, with the Fourth Hanoi War in Vietnam (1759-61); the conquest of Kampuchea (1762); and the Dzungarian Campaigns (1763-76, ongoing at the time of his death). By 1767, the Haxonian Confederacy controlled the fourth-largest colonial empire of any state in extra-galactic civilization, after Spamalka, Vendragia, and Portugallia. Besides the Haxonian Homeland Territories, consisting of Haxonia proper, Venetia, Inner and Lower Dalmatia, Istria, Haxonian Lombardy, Ravenna, San Marino, and the Papal Marches, Haxonia extended its jurisdiction over Morea, the Peloponnese, Aetolia, Corinth, Sparta, Lower Epirus, Grecian Macedonica, the Ionias, Crete, Cyprus, Galatia, Cilicia, Tana, Negroponte, the Cyrene Colonies, and Mebeda. Among the possessions it held in the Crone Galaxy and in the Colonial Amulak included the Congo, Cameroon, the Cote d'Ivorie, Niger, Nigeria, the Lower Saharan Colonies, the Lower Congo, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Benin, Djibouti, Eritrea, Chad, and Ganbul; as well as the Haxonian Spice Colonies, Hawaii, the Aleutians, and the Cook; Tajisktan, Krygstan, Afghanistan, Persia, Socotra, and Muscat; Dzungaria, Xinjang, and Mongolia; Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; Korea, Japan, and Hokkiado; and Palau. Thus, it was a very formidable power, and a match for Spamalka, Vendragia, Franconia, and Laurasia. Pruili's death was received with much mourning throughout the Haxonian dominions; he was the most respected Doge since the reign of Andrea Gritti. Following a contentious two-week election, Pietro Loredan, the grandnephew of Doge Leonardo Loredan, was elected Doge himself. He was aged eighty-five at his accession to the Dogeship, and was in declining health. Loredan was crowned as Doge on December 11.
 * November 7-Nearly a month after ordering the arrest and deportation of his most ardent opponents in the Dejanican Diet, Sir Nicholas Repanius was finally able to bring the Diet to a vote on Laurasian demands. On October 29, the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a communique which had been penned by Chancellor Cecilis, and edited by Empress Aurelia herself. In this communique, it was declared that Repanius had the full support of the Imperial Laurasian Government; that Dejanican religious policy was "illogical and utterly oppressive"; and that it would be prudent for the Diet to seek to alleviate the distress suffered by minorities in Dejanica. Ambassador Repanius had also continued to bribe nobles among the Diet to support his aims. Among those who received Laurasian bribes was Gabriel Podoskia, Primate of the Dejanican Commonwealth and High Priest of the Dejanican Orthodoxic Order. Some members of the Diet had continued to defy Laurasian demands, and looked to their King to resist them also. Stanis Vorrust, however, was unable to be a leader in such a crisis, and many accused him of betraying the Commonwealth to the Laurasians. Therefore, on November 7, 1767, with numerous absentees in the chambers, and with Laurasian blasters gleaming everywhere, the Diet finally agreed to reverse the earlier policies of religious discrimination. Following this, they were formally prorogued by King Stanis Vorrust for three months, so that a governmental commission of Dejanican officials could hammer out the terms of the agreements with the Ambassador.
 * December 10-
 * In June 1767, Empress Aurelia had dispatched the Earl of Jadia to the Austarlian Court on Vienna in order to invest Empress Mar'va Tarvania, and her son and co-ruler, Emperor Joseth II, with the Order of St. Antiochus the Great and to inspect the Austarlian Archduke Char'vak. She had relented on her earlier reluctance to rely on "observations" of her potential future husband, and was now willing to allow for a report to be made of the Archduke's characteristics and physical looks. Jadia performed his mission dillgently, and had sent back encouraging reports: according to him, Char'vak was tall with reddish-brown hair and a beard, with a "well-proportioned face, amiable, and of a good complexion; his countenance and speech are cheerful, very courteous, and not without some state; his body is well-shaped, without any deformity or blemish; his legs are clean, well-proportioned, and of sufficient stature for a man of his height." A fluent speaker in four languages, Char'vak was respected for his courage and his intelligence. He excelled at hunting, riding, physical games, and other exercises. The remaining obstacle to the conclusion of the marriage negotiations had been the religious issue, since Char'vak would not, even to please Aurelia, renounce his faith. The Austarlian co-monarchs were by this point willing to compromise; if the Empress would relent and allow Char'vak to attend Austarlian services in private while publicly accompanying her to Almitian services, the Archduke would undertake never to undermine the Imperial Almitian Church and would be ready to marry the Empress at once.
 * In October, Jadia had sent a communique to the Empress, urging her to accept this offer. Knowing this issue to be highly contentious, the Empress had asked her ministers for their advice. Chancellor Cecilis and the Duke of Norfolkius were in favor of accepting this compromise, but Leicesterius, as well as Venusia, Aeoleon, Winchestrius, and Knollysis, were opposed. Even though she realized that she could not delay in giving the Archduke an answer for much longer, the Empress could not make up her mind, and for several weeks opposing factions of Councilors had clashed to bring her over to their point of view. Jadia was enraged to hear that Leicesterius was using every means within his power to prevent negotiations from proceeding forth. Leicesterius, however, emerged victorious, as on December 10, 1767, the Empress brought eight years of intermittent negotiations to an end by informing Jadia, in an official communique, that it was against her conscience to allow Char'vak to practice his religion in private. Even if she personally permitted it, it could arouse the dissent of her subjects and the Almitian Church. Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania was appalled, refusing to allow Char'vak to meet with the Empress to discuss the religious issue. Jadia, who was despondent, handed over the Order and began his journey back to the Empire; he would arrive at Katherine on December 25, where the Imperial Court was residing at the end of 1767. In reaching this decision, the Empress had acted wisely, averting the threats of religious controversy and possible rebellion or even civil war. She had not forgotten the anti-foreign views of her Laurasian subjects, and knew they would not tolerate having an Emperor Consort who did not profess the Almitian faith. As the year 1767 came to a close, however, other concerns were brewing for the Empress.

1768

 * January 1-1768, the 68th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire confronted by diplomatic crises concerning two of its neighbors, the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria and the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In Dejanica, the efforts of Ambassador Sir Nicholas Repanius to assert Laurasian influence there, and to fulfill the aims of the Empress Aurelia and her ministers, had resulted in the Dejanican Diet finally being compelled to agree to the rights of dissidents. In accordance with this, a governmental commission had been established, and had, since November 1767, been hard at work on formulating the terms of the general religious and diplomatic settlement with Laurasia. Anti-Laurasian tensions, however, were boiling up throughout the Dejanican dominions. Many considered King Stanis Vorrust I's inability to defend against Laurasian aggression and intrusions to be a sign of weakness, and that firm action needed to be taken in order to preserve the Commonwealth's territorial integrity and prestige. These tensions were to explode against the Laurasian Empire in the ensuing months. In the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, the overthrow of Mariana I, the coronation of her son Jamsius VI, and the installation of the Earl of Moray as Regent had all served to bred civil disunion and unrest within the Scottrian realms, to the benefit of the Laurasian Empire. Civil war was now to erupt among the Scottrian nobility, and the former Queen of Scottria herself was to make a dramatic escape from imprisonment, and into the hands of her cousin, the Empress of Laurasia. The Haynsian Despotate, on its part, continued to provoke the Empire with raiding expeditions into the Outer Borderlands and into the Borderland Territories. Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III found himself seriously alarmed by Laurasian activities in both Dejanica and Scottria, and believed that only war would restrain his Laurasian counterpart's ambitions. This year was to see the outbreak of the next military conflict for the Laurasian Empire in the eighteenth century, which would see its ultimate extension of control over the entire Caladarian Galaxy.
 * February 12-Birth of the future Austarlian Emperor Fransios II the Inexperienced (1792-1835), at Florencia in the Australian Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He was the son of the future Emperor Lea'dus II, second son of the Australian Empress Mar'va Tarvania, and his wife Maria Luisa of Spamalka.
 * February 27-
 * The Dejanican Diet of 1767, which had been prorogued since November of the previous year, was, on February 27, 1768 formally summoned by King Stanis Vorrust I back to the Dejanican Halls in Warsaw, in order to accord approval to the arrangements of the Negotiations Commission. In January 1768, the Commission had fixed the final terms of a Dejanican-Laurasian treaty of alliance; Empress Aurelia had, through Chancellor Cecilis, expressed her approval for the Commission's proposals and ordered Ambassador Repanius to ensure their acceptance by the Diet. Repanius, obliging by the Empress's commands, and employing his earlier strategies of intimidation and force, again surrounded the Diet Chambers with troops. The Diet, which had been compelled to obeying the will of the Imperial Laurasian Government, and which was no longer willing to provide its opposition, now passed a series of resolutions, under the guidance of Marshal Czarskia, in order to formally ratify the Treaty of Warsaw. This treaty, which was signed by Repanius as the plenipotentiary for the Laurasian Empire, and by the members of the Negotiations Commission in the name of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Government, confirmed the religious and alliance arrangements which had been reached the previous year. By the terms of the treaty, "Her Imperial Majesty, the venerable and most Autocratic Empress Aurelia of Laurasia" was formally acknowledged as the protectoress of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Empress of Laurasia pledged herself to "preserve inviolate" the ancient liberties and customs of the Commonwealth and her subjects.
 * All of the most ancient elements of the Dejanican governmental system were confirmed by the Treaty of Warsaw as "Cardinal Laws", which no King or Diet could ever alter. Among these "Cardinal Laws" were to be the "free election" of all future Dejanican monarchs; the liberum veto in the Dejanican Diet; the right of resistance to the King and his ministers; the exclusive right of the Dejanican nobility to hold offices and possess landed estates; the immunity of all Dejanican magnates and nobles from punishment by the King or the Commission of Justice unless if they were tried by legal procedures and by peers of their ranking; the arrangements of union between the Kingdom of Dejanica and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including the provisions for separate legal, educational, military, and police systems; and the right to form confederations. The rights of minorities, in accordance with the treaties of the past two centuries with foreign powers (such as the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686, the Treaty of Szembslikia of 1708, and the Treaty of Idyll of 1735) were to be upheld by the Commonwealth government. No longer were Almitians or other religious nonconformists to be denied the right to construct and worship in their own religious edifices; they were permitted to abstain from observing Dejanican rites, and were to have rights of petition to the King of Dejanica directly. Dejanican clergymen were forbidden to denounce "nonbelievers" in their sermons or to pass restrictions on the daily lives of those not belonging to the Dejanican Order. In addition, the rights of commoners were upgraded, so that the killing of a common man was now considered murder, instead of manslaughter; a formal government mint was to be organized; and the liberum veto could no longer be employed by the local generalities. All of these reforms were guaranteed by the Laurasian Empress, Aurelia I. And finally, the Diplomatic Garrison on Dejanica was to be maintained in defense of Laurasian interests, while the Commonwealth pledged not to make any changes to its constitutional system or to enter into foreign alliances without the approval of its protectoress, the Empress of Laurasia. The Treaty of Warsaw aroused the anger of many in the Dejanican dominions, many of whom were becoming increasingly anti-Laurasian. Empress Aurelia, who would formally ratify the Treaty of Warsaw during the early hours of February 28, hailed it as a victory, and sent Ambassador Sir Repanius a gift of €1.7 billion dataries as a reward for his efforts.
 * February 29-
 * Just two days after the Treaty of Warsaw was formally accepted by the "Repanian Diet" (as the Diet of 1767-68 became known), a group of Dejanican nobles formally assembled at the Dejanican military stronghold of Bar, which was located in Dejanican Podolia (February 29, 1768). Among the Dejanican magnates who assembled at Bar were Adamis Kranskia, Kamirzes Pulaskia of Kamenets, Michel Kranskia, Teodor Wezel, Jerry Augustia, Michel Jan-Pac, Michal Wirelorski, and Marek Jadolwskia. All of these magnates, who considered themselves to be patriots and believed all of their actions were to the benefit of the Dejanican Commonwealth and her subjects, were opposed to King Stanis Vorrust I and to the Laurasian Empire. Pulaskia, in particular, a young and ambitious Dejanican military officer, believed that it was his mission to bring liberty and prosperity to the Dejanican realms. In accordance with Dejanican constitutional traditions, they signed Articles of Confederation, announcing their opposition to the decisions of the Repanian Diet. Denouncing the Treaty of Warsaw as "the production of evil ideologues", they declared that they would overthrow Laurasian political influence in Dejanica. The confederates now received financial aid from the Austarlian Empire under Mar'va Tarvania (who was still angered by the failure of marriage negotiations with Empress Aurelia) and from King Charman III of Franconia, who was wary of Laurasian interventions and actions in Dejanican territory.
 * It was on March 6, 1768, the Confederation of Bar formally issued a declaration of war against the Laurasian Empire. The War of the Bar Confederation, which was to drag on for the next four years, would ultimately result in the First Partition of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Confederation's irregular forces, formed from volunteers, magnate militias, and deserters from the royal army, soon clashed with the Laurasian Diplomatic Garrison and units loyal to the Dejanican Crown. Confederation forces were under the command of Magnates Ignacy Maclezkia, Michal Jan Pac, and Prince Karol Dagonius, who had become opposed to the Imperial Laurasian Government. Over the course of March 1768, the Confederates would obtain a series of victories over their enemies, as Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council sought to come to grips with the outbreak of this anti-Laurasian rebellion. Little Masovia, Chochim, Kamenets, and Krakow all capitulated to the forces of the Bar Confederation, who were soon threatening Praga, Deulino, and Brest-Litvosk, all of whom were major Dejanican star systems.
 * April 2-
 * Under pressure from Ambassador Nicholas Repanius, King Stanis Vorrust I finally dispatched, on April 2, 1768, a government force under the command of Grand Marshal and Hetman-General Fransia Branicki in order to confront the forces of the Bar Confederation. The King of Dejanica, who believed that he still possessed the support of his subjects, had sought to mediate between the Imperial Laurasian Government and the Bar Confederation. Ever since the outbreak of rebellion, he had continued to appeal to the rebels, urging them to lay down their arms and to submit to mediation. They had continued to refuse however, and considered that Stanis Vorrust was not their lawful sovereign. Therefore, the King of Dejanica ordered Marshal Branicki to employ all means of force against the Bar Confederation and to show them no mercy. It was thus that on April 14, Dejanican governmental forces under the command of Grand Marshal Branicki obtained a victory over Bar Confederation forces under the command of General Michal Jan-Pac in the Battle of Polchiki, re-securing that important base for the Dejanican Government. Grand-Marshal Branicki, however, was unable to suppress Austarlian supply lines to rebel units at the Prim Asteroids, and for this he was castigated by the Commission of the Military, some of whom accused him of incompetence and the inability to best the Commonwealth's enemies. Then on April 20, the Battle of Poherele was fought by the forces of the Bar Confederation under the command of the rising young General Kamirzes Pulaskia against a government detachment under the command of General Stanis Czarskia, resulting in a decisive victory for the Bar Confederation.
 * General Pulaskia, had, over the course of the past two months, continued to rally support for the Bar Confederation. He had revealed his strategic and administrative abilities by his efforts to maintain unity among the Confederation forces; to secure the assistance of important Dejanican nobles and gentlemen; and to pursue continued offensives against government supply lines. Three days later, General Pulaskia, who had earned the respect of his troops, obtained another victory at Starokost, in which he managed to capture a number of Laurasian frigates, on loan to the Dejanican Government. On April 28, however, he suffered a defeat in the Battle of Kacenwoskia, but this did little to arrest his further advance. By the end of April 1768, Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government had become truly alarmed by the continuing advance of the Bar Confederation. The Empress now ordered the Imperial General Headquarters to draft new offensive plans against the Confederation, and she placed the garrisons of several of the most important strongholds in the Galactic Borderlands, such as Kalbacha, Palaris III, Bane, Cognus, Zannah, Kia, Billy, Latrice, Carly Gasis, Goriance, Gadweria, and Gwynne on elevated alert.
 * May 2-
 * On May 2, 1768, Empress Aurelia attended a session of the Imperial Privy Council, then convened in the Private Council Chambers at the Quencilvanian Palace, in order to discuss the further advances of the Bar Confederation. Chancellor Cecilis advised the Empress of Laurasia that she should issue a public manifesto on her intentions as regards to Dejanica, and that she should assign a experienced Laurasian military commander to oversee the operations against Dejanican forces. The Empress was about to confer her approval to these proposals when a courier burst into the Council Chambers with an urgent message. He dropped to his knees and handed the message directly to Her Majesty. Aurelia was alarmed when she read the message: the imprisoned former Queen of Scottria, Mariana I, had escaped from Lochleven Prison. Mariana had obtained the assistance of George Douglain, brother of the Prison Keeper, Sir William. George, who had fallen in love with the beautiful ex-Queen, had arranged for a servant to steal the security codes and helped the disguised prisoner escape onto a waiting starfighter. Douglain then escorted Mariana to Hamilton. Lord Claud Hamilton declared his allegiance to her once again as Queen and refused Moray's demands to hand her over.
 * Soon, a substantial cross-section of the Scottrian nobility, who had come to despise Moray and his pretensions, arrived at Hamilton, bringing substantial numbers of troops and starships to the Queen's cause. Among those magnates who now declared their support for Mariana were the Earls of Argyll, Cassilis, Rothes, and Eglinton; the Lords Sommerville, Yester, Livingston, Herries, Fleming, and Ross; and barons of Jexburgh, Selkirk, Ancrum Moor, Albright, Branxholm, Dunbar, Erith, and other Scottrian strongholds. Within three days, Mariana's force had grown to nearly a million armed soldiers and some 500 capital warships, with a complement of 5,000 starfighters and corvettes. It was declared that her abdication had been extracted by force, and therefore, the means by which Moray had become Regent were treasonable. The Bond of Hamilton was then drawn up on May 4, signed by all of the magnates supporting the Queen, in which they pledged to restore her to her throne by force. Empress Aurelia, alarmed by Mariana's sudden escape, sent an emergency communique to Thorckmortonia, who still remained on Ediania as Envoy. She commanded him to ensure that the property rights of Laurasian subjects were protected and that all effort was made to reassure Moray's regime that the Empire did not support Mariana and her faction.
 * Queen Mariana's intention had been to avoid battle if possible, so she instead sought to withdraw to Dumbarton (May 11, 1768), which was held for her by the Lord Fleming, who had defected from supporting Moray and now declared his renewed allegiance to her. Here, the Queen confidently anticipated, she would be in a fortified position; could await for reinforcements from the Farther Scottrian Provinces; and reassert her rule over the Scottrian realms by degrees. She first moved to Ruthergen, meeting the Earls of Rothes and Eglinton, and then on a wide circuit past Glasgow, intending to move by way of Langside, Crookston, and Paisley towards the Clyde Drift, and then on to Dumbarton. Moray, who had issued proclamations from Ediania denouncing Mariana's actions and calling on loyal subjects of King Jamsius to oppose her, had advanced swiftly from Ediania with his forces. He established his battlefield camp on the outskirts of Langside; Kirclady of Grange, who had already proved his ability in battle against the Queen and her supporters, was chief operational commander of the government troops. Kirclady placed his rapid-response couriers behind his destroyers, in the defiles approaching Langside. Moray, on his part, continued to deploy the rest of his army, with the vanguard under the Earl of Morton leading the march towards Langside Spaceport. The whole of the government force then deployed around the Langside system.
 * May 13-
 * Soon after government forces had finalized their deployments at Langside, the Queen's vanguard under the command of Lord Hamilton began its advance into the Langside star system. The Battle of Langside, between the forces of the Earl of Moray and those of Queen Mariana, commenced during the early hours of May 13, 1768. Mariana's chief operational commander was the Earl of Argyll, who in the course of the battle displayed gross military ignorance. He instead hoped to push aside Moray's forces simply by mere weight of numbers: the units available to the Queen, indeed, outnumbered those of Moray's. With her forces now engaged, the Queen remained on her flagship in the rear, in the Carthart Asteroid Belt. As Hamilton attempted to force his passage through Langside, he was met with close fire from Grange's couriers. Many of the starships in the front ranks were destroyed or severely damaged, throwing back the remainder of the force and adding to the general confusion.
 * Hamilton pushed on, and finally reached orbit of Langside, only to find that the government forces had been drawn up in good order. Morton with his starfighters and corvettes then advanced to intercept Queen Mariana's vanguard. Both sides soon clashed, and a vigorous military confrontation ensued. Grange, who had been granted tactical autonomy by Moray, displayed much courage and bravery in the thick of battle. The battle was now at its height and the outcome still in doubt when Grange saw that the right wing of the Regent's forces-comprised of the troops of Renfrewian Shire-were beginning to give space. He immediately headed into the main battalion and brought reinforcements. This was done so effectively, and the counter-attack pressed with such force, that it broke the enemy ranks. Moray, who had been on the defensive, repulsing Mariana's dreadnoughts, now assaulted the main enemy batallion, with fighting occurring all along the front-lines. The Queen's units crumbled, and many now fled from the battle; most did not make it far and were captured by government troops near Paisley. The Battle of Langside was over in only four hours.
 * May 16-
 * Queen Mariana and her remaining troops, who had managed to evade capture by the Regent Moray's forces, now, on the advice of Lord George Douglain, took a direct juncture out of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria at Workington, which was located in the Outskirt Districts (May 16, 1768). The ships of the Queen's force (which now numbered two starfighters and a frigate) managed to enter hyperspace, and made a rapid journey across the Galactic Void. During the late hours of May 16, Mariana's force reached the outskirts of the Laurasian Empire, making their appearance at Waxefield in the Galactic Barrier. The following day, the Queen of Scottria moved to Onasi and was now formally received by Sir Antiochus Lowtherius (1713-92), who was the Deputy-Governor of the Galactic Barrier Regions. The Laurasian border authorities were alarmed and surprised by the Scottrian Queen's arrival. Her arrival now created a dilemma which would exercise the Empress of Laurasia and her government for the next two decades, until Mariana's execution in February 1787. Upon hearing that Mariana had arrived in the Galactic Borderlands, the Empress ordered for the Privy Council to be convened immediately. Expressing her "shock and alarm" at Mariana's sudden presence, Aurelia nevertheless declared that her cousin was the only rightful sovereign of Scottria, and that her rights needed to be preserved. Chancellor Cecilis told the Empress otherwise, saying Mariana should be sent back to Scottria immediately.
 * Aurelia, however, knew that this would be condemning her to her death. For the time being, she ordered Lowtherius to keep Mariana in "state confinement" at Carlisle Fortress on Barching, which had been constructed in 1575-79 by King Robert II of Scottria, and had once been one of the chief Scottrian military repositories in the Galactic Borderlands. It was however, a difficult question for the Empress as to what should be done with Mariana. The Empress, in pursuit of her ultimate goal to destroying Scottrian independence, believed that she could effect a reconciliation between Mariana and her enemies. With Mariana again on her throne, the Scottrian realms would wallow in dissent, and would be exposed to a final and decisive Laurasian military offensive. She would not send Mariana to exile in Franconia or Spamalka; at the same time, she would not allow her to live freely within the Empire, as she had permitted Moray during his exile. Aurelia was also aware that some considered Mariana the rightful ruler of the Laurasian Empire, and that many could be beguiled by the Queen's charms. Therefore, the Empress decided to allow Mariana to remain in "honorable custody" for the time being.
 * May 22-Empress Aurelia dispatched, on May 22, 1768, Sir Tacitus Knollysis to Barching in order to extend formal greetings to Queen Mariana and her household, and to take charge of her. He was instructed to say that it would be impossible for Mariana to be admitted into Her Majesty's presence "by reason of the charges of murder against her late husband which have not been disproven": until Mariana had been formally cleared of Lord Darnley's murder, Aurelia, as an unmarried Empress, could not see her or welcome her to court. Knollysis, who arrived at Barching during the late hours of the day, followed his instructions to the letter. Queen Mariana was sent into a weeping fit when she heard of this. The Empress herself had followed the advice of her Council, and refrained from recognizing Mariana as her equal at this stage. She penned a communique to Mariana explaining her decision.
 * May 24-General Kamirzes Pulaskia fortified Chlemink (May 24, 1768), seeking to establish this world as a base of operations against Laurasian forces. Empress Aurelia, although her attention was also now diverted to affairs in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, and the newly-established "Marianian Question", nevertheless continued to focus just as vigorously on the conflict with the Bar Confederation. On May 6, a Laurasian-Dejanican force had defeated General Jan-Pac in the Battle of Brest-Litvotsk, recovering that stronghold for the Dejanican Government. Four days later, the Empress of Laurasia had issued an official imperial manifesto on the rebellion, denouncing the actions of the Bar Confederation and announcing an increase in Laurasian military deployments. Chochim and Kamenets were reconquered by May 14, although rebel units continued to hold Krakow. On May 22, Laurasian Major-General Sir Honorius Elmt (1725-98) had assumed command of operational units in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth; he was assisted by a rising young officer, Major-Colonel Alexander Surovius. Pulaskia was, as a result of their efforts, forced to retreat from Chlemink on June 2. On June 7, Pulaskia retreated to Berdycrow, which now came under siege by the forces of General Elmt. Pulaskia inspired the personnel of the garrison and the civilian inhabitants of Berdycrow by his efforts to instill military discipline; by his own courage and bravery in the heat of battle, and his refusal to submit to the Laurasians. As a result of Pulaskia's efforts, the Laurasian forces suffered considerable casualties in the course of their siege of Chlemink.
 * June 13-
 * Queen Mariana, who had expected to receive assistance from her "dear cousin", and enraged by the Empress's communique concerning her refusal to meet her, sent to the Imperial Court a vigorous response (June 13, 1768). Empress Aurelia and the Court had departed for the progress of 1768 on June 1. This particular progress was to the Horacian and Zennethian Provinces. Horacia, Momma, Theresa, Bartello, Zennethia, Zesia, Zutagia, Donald, Levinston, Cinnamon, Pandy, Lithan, Cageo, Nosauria, Ergeme, Alton, Kingpin, and Louza were among the worlds to be visited by the Empress and the Imperial Court during this progress, which was to continue until August 14. In her communique, however, Mariana declared that the Empress should not be concerned about her. "Remove, Madam, from your mind that I am come hither for the preservation of my life, but to clear my honor and obtain assistance to chastise my false accusers; not to answer them as their equal, but to accuse them before you." Mariana declared that none of this could be accomplished unless if she could meet the Empress herself. In her frustration, the Queen of Scottria veered from outbursts of anger to spells of passionate weeping. The Privy Council was not impressed, and on June 20, backed Aurelia in her refusal to receive Mariana, declaring that the Empress could not receive Mariana unless if a trial were conducted. Aurelia now ordered for a personal inquiry to be conducted over Mariana's actions. Its purposes were to determine whether Mariana had been in any way guilty of Darnley's murder and whether she should be restored to her throne.
 * The Duke of Norfolkius was appointed by the Empress as the chief commissioner of the inquiry, which was to be comprised of six notables of the Empire, drawn from the Imperial Privy Council, Governing Senate, and the Imperial Court. In a response communique to Mariana, the Empress asked her cousin to proclaim her innocence and declared that "There is no creature living who wishes to hear such a declaration more than I, or will more readily lend her ears to any answer that will acquit your honor." Once Mariana had been acquitted of any crime, she would-she promised-be received at the Imperial Court. By now, it began to dawn upon Mariana that she was effectively a prisoner of her cousin. When she was told of the impending inquiry on June 16, she protested that because she was a absolute prince, she would have no other judge but Almitis. Mariana, however, clung to the notion that the inquiry was Aurelia’s way of helping her to regain her throne, especially when the Empress assured Mariana that the inquiry’s real purpose was to examine Moray’s conduct towards his "rightful" sovereign.
 * June 20-On June 20, 1768, Berdycrow, which had been under considerable pressure by the units of the Laurasian Empire and the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, finally capitulated to General Honorius Elmt. More than 175,000 Bar Confederates had died during the course of the siege, which had disrupted the system's economy. General Pulaskia, who had continued to inspire all of the personnel of the garrison with his courage and dedication, was among the officers who were captured by the Laurasian force. Presented before Elmt, Pulaskia declared that his sole intention had been to preserve the independence of his species, and to prevent their subjection to the authority of a despotic and "cruel" foreign state. Elmt was impressed by Pulaskia’s courage and ordered for his chains of imprisonment to be struck off. He was treated more as a guest than as a prisoner, and was given privileges of movement by the Laurasian General. On the same day that Berdycrow capitulated to the Laurasian-Royalist forces, the Confederation stronghold of Baron was captured by the forces of Major-Colonel Surovius. Surovius was now promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and received a letter of commendations from the Imperial General Headquarters.
 * June 22-
 * The Earl of Moray, who had obtained a decisive victory over the forces of Queen Mariana in the Battle of Langside, and determined to consolidate his position of authority over the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, launched a military expedition against her leading noble supporters in the southeastern regions of the kingdom, in what became known as the Expedition of Dumfries. The expedition began on June 22 and lasted until July 9, 1768. The Regent’s forces with the royal artillery moved to Biggar, where the Earl’s allies had assembled since June 10, and then onwards to Dumfries. Biggar was the home region of Lord Fleming, who had been one of Queen Mariana’s chief supporters. The Regent’s armada was protected by a scouting army led by Alexander Home of Manderston, with the Earl of Morton and the Lord Hume commanding the vanguard. Behind them was the transport fleet, followed by Moray himself. The Laird of Cessford followed, and his units were flanked by the scouting parties of the lairds of the Merse and Bucceleuch. Along his route of progress, Moray captured estates and star systems belonging to Mariana’s supporters, including Lord Fleming’s mansion on Boghall, as well as Skirling, Crawford, Sanquhar, Kenmuir, and Hoddum.
 * At Annan, he met with a delegation dispatched by the Laurasian Governor and Magnus of the Garrisons of the Galactic Void, Lord Scropius, who offered Her Imperial Majesty’s reassurances of support for the Scottrian Government. Moray then seized Lochmaben Fortress, which was placed in the custody of his loyal subordinate, the Laird of Drumlanrig, and then captured Lochwood and Lochouse before returning to Ediania via Peeblia. At Dumfries, a number of Lord Maxwell’s supporters surrendered to the Regent. As a result of this military expedition, Moray was able to consolidate his control over Dumfries and the Langsidan Districts, increasing his power base and weakening the influence of his opponents. The Scottrian realms managed to settle into a temporary state of peace, for on July 12, the Armistice of Haddington was signed by the Regent's government and the Marianian Confederacy, as the Queen's supporters had become known. Mariana did not approve of this armistice, and continued to assert that Moray was a usurper and a traitor.
 * July 20-Bar, the chief stronghold of the Bar Confederation, and the origin of their rebellion against Laurasian influence in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was besieged and conquered by the forces of General Honorius Elmt (July 20, 1768). General Elmt had progressively driven Bar Confederation units from their strongholds in Podolia, Lesser Dejanica, and Ukraine. He had overrun Bar Confederation bases on Chouvaria, Hamenets, and Chirky, inflicting severe damage upon Confederate supply lines. The subjection of Bar was accomplished by a Laurasian-Dejanican force (primarily the 41st Imperial Fleet and the 39th Imperial Army, along with the 2nd Dejanican Crown Fleet) which had more than twice the manpower of its opponents and possessed superior discipline, supply organization, and tactical command. Generals Jan-Pac and Kranskia barely evaded capture, and decided to continue their resistance from Little Dejanica. They still commanded Krakow, Chocim, and Neszvish. Laurasian units began to advance towards those strongholds, and by the early weeks of August 1768, were engaged in a series of fierce confrontations with Bar Confederation troops and mercenaries at Vietbsk, Polotsk, and Kalino (in Dejanican Lavella and in the Belaranian Provinces).
 * August 22-
 * After over a month of offensive operations, the Laurasian-Dejanican Royalist forces, under the command of General Honorius Elmt, had advanced enough in order to impose a blockade of Krakow, one of the most important star systems in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth and a groundswell of opposition to the Imperial Laurasian Government. Patriarch Soltyk of Krakow, who had been deported and imprisoned by Ambassador Repanius for his defiance of Laurasian demands, was a revered figure in this star system, and many did not take Laurasian efforts at domination lightly. General Kranskia directed the defenses of the garrison of Krakow, and his units had managed to repel a series of front-line assaults by Laurasian starfighter squadrons. On August 19, however, the Empress Aurelia had authorized the Imperial Naval Headquarters to deploy a corps of the newly commissioned Reginaldus-class battleships in confrontation against the Dejanicans.
 * These behemoths, which stretched for almost ten miles in length, dwarfed anything in the possession of the Bar Confederation, and quickly decided the outcome of battle. By the late hours of August 22, Krakow had finally capitulated to the forces of the Laurasian Empire and the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. More than 275,000 Bar Confederates lost their lives in the battle, and nearly the entire Confederate fleet was destroyed or captured. Laurasian units now advanced into Lodomeria, and were approaching the outskirts of Dejanican territory. At the same time, the Empire's forces were gradually subduing all of the chief strongholds of Dejanican Lavella, including Ladelle, Lavelle, Dequan, Antwone, Novella, Nelson, Irving, Carrie, Sissy, and Spacek. They were now pressing closer to the Marasharite dominions of the Galactic Borderlands; every victory won by Laurasian forces alarmed the Marasharite Emperor Mustapha and his Grand Council ever more. They were now being persuaded by Haxonian and Franconian diplomacy to begin considering the commencement of hostilities against the Laurasian Empire.
 * August 28-
 * Dejanican General Kamirezes Pulaskia, who had remained as a honored "guest of state" with the Imperial Laurasian forces of General Honorius Elmt, was, on August 28, 1768, formally released from his captivity by the Laurasian Empire. General Elmt, who believed that Pulaskia was reliable and that he was a man of his word, had managed to extract from the Dejanican General a promise that he would, after his release from captivity, refrain from further involvement with the Bar Confederation; acknowledge the Treaty of Warsaw and its provisions as regards to Dejanican affairs; recognize Stanis Vorrust I as his sovereign; and renounce his earlier involvement with the Confederation. Pulaskia, pursuing a policy of deception towards the Laurasians, and still holding Dejanican interests close to his heart, agreed to abide by these promises.
 * Immediately after the Laurasians released him from captivity, however, Pulaskia made his way to the Confederate operational headquarters at Bravamania, and on September 2, formally renounced the terms of his release. General Elmt, upon hearing of this, was both enraged and embarrassed. Empress Aurelia, on her part, was angered, and commanded that under no circumstances was any Dejanican prisoner of the Bar Confederation to be released from his captivity. Instead, all Dejanican prisoners were to be "closely confined and strictly monitored." The Empress sternly rebuked General Elmt for having permitted Pulaski to regain his freedom in the first place, and her proclamation was backed up by a statement of the Dejanican High Command, which threatened to charge any Dejanican officer who freed a "traitor" from his captivity without explicit authorization from his superiors. Pulaskia, however, was not in high favor with his confederates; many of them deplored his behavior during his time as a prisoner of war, and believed he should have actively opposed his Laurasian captors. Not until the end of September would he be allowed to resume operational duties in the field.
 * September 21-
 * By the middle of September 1768, Laurasian forces in Podolia were fully pressing forward their offensive against the units of the Bar Confederation. Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Surovius, who had continued to win acclaim and praise at the Imperial Court, and throughout the Laurasian Empire, for his tactical brilliance and firm grasp of command, had won a series of further victories over the outmatched Dejanican units. Laurasian troops had besieged and conquered the Confederate supply bases in the Kiev Drifts and on Yezhov, Krhemsnkia, and Donestia. Generals Jan-Pac and Kranskia continued to narrowly evade capture by the Laurasian forces, and lost all confrontations in which they engaged with the Laurasian troops. On September 11, the Battle of Demenskia resulted in a decisive victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Surovius. For this feat, he would be promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General by the Empress Aurelia in January 1769. In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Demenskia, Laurasian squadrons pressed their advance forth, and swept all of their enemies before them. Besieging and conquering the Vector-Galactic Barrier strongholds, they compelled Generals Jan-Pac and Kranskia to cross the border into the Marasharite Ochanian Provinces of the Great Tesmanian Cloud.
 * On September 18, 1768, a detachment of Laurasian warships from the 40th Imperial Fleet, under the command of Captain Neuchrus Verus (1731-93), decided to follow the Confederates into Marasharite territory. This constituted a violation of Marasharite territorial rights, and in particular, of the provisions of the Treaty of Nis, which had guaranteed the territorial integrity of both Laurasian and Marasharite territories. More Laurasian units soon followed, and a substantial detachment of some two hundred Laurasian warships engaged in combat with the Confederates within the confines of Marasharite territory. During the early hours of September 21, a squadron of Laurasian corvettes, with a battalion of 115,000 Imperial Marines and Specialized Shock Troopers, launched a deliberate assault against Balta, which had been colonized by the Haynsian Despotate in 1496 and had been transferred to the Marasharite Empire in 1581, following the Despotate's subjection to Marasharite overlordship. Balta had a garrison of just over 85,000 troops and thirty defensive warships but its armadas proved ineffective when placed against the more numerous and well-organized Laurasian forces. Its defenses were now ransacked by the Laurasian Empire, and nearly a third of Balta's inhabitants (some 500,000 sentient individuals) were slaughtered or captured by the Laurasian troops. Over the course of the next several days, Laurasian units sacked the Marasharite bases of Donner, Varston, Colchis, and Trebizond on the Upper Danube Highway, inflicting a series of humiliating defeats upon Marasharite garrisons. More than €500 billion dataries worth of goods were seized as a result of this Laurasian incursion. Emperor Mustapha, upon receiving word of this blatant Laurasian violation of Marasharite neutrality, was outraged.
 * September 25-
 * On September 25, 1768, Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III, who was outraged by the blatant Laurasian violation of Marasharite sovereign rights, and alarmed by the victories which Laurasian forces were obtaining in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, issued a ultimatum to the Imperial Laurasian Government. In this ultimatum, the Marasharite Emperor declared that the "constant aggressions and wars of the Laurasian Empire threaten the tranquility of all galactic civilizations, and seek to accomplish what the Anti-Gods of the Universe have in store for us." Mustapha denounced the flagrant Laurasian violation of Marasharite territorial rights, Laurasian interventions in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Laurasian dealings with the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. He claimed that the history of the past seven centuries was a history of "Laurasian deceptions, follies, lies, and deceit." Therefore, the Emperor of the Marasharites demanded that "Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress of Laurasia" withdraw all Laurasian units from Marasharite and Dejanican territory; terminate the Treaty of Warsaw; and acknowledge the liberties of the Bar Confederation in Dejanica. If not, Mustapha declared, "serious consequences would result." The Laurasian Ambassador to the Marasharite Court, Sir Flavius Aedravanius (1719-84), when he received the ultimatum, declared that "never have I seen terms more insulting to the honor of our civilization." Declaring the ultimatum the work of the "Anti-Almitis", Aedravanius now refused to even communicate the ultimatum to the Imperial Court on Laurasia Prime. Hearing of this, Emperor Mustapha ordered for Aedravanius to be imprisoned, four hours after the ultimatum had been formally announced by the Grand Council.
 * The Ambassador and his personnel were cast into the Seven Towers of Topacia; the Grand Council, acting on the Emperor's command, then formally issued a declaration of war against the Laurasian Empire. The Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War of the eighteenth century had commenced, and was to last for the next six years. It was however, to see a series of decisive Laurasian victories over the Marasharites, and the final establishment of the Laurasian Empire as the sole power in the Caladarian Galaxy. Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council were caught somewhat off-guard by the Marasharite declaration of war. The Empress, however, believed that this war would help her achieve important goals: namely, to finally terminate the threat of the Haynsian Despotate, to assure Laurasian commercial and navigation rights through the Galactic Void and into the Angelina Spiral, and to expel the Marasharites from the Galactic Borderlands. This was what Field-Marshal Munnich had attempted to achieve in the 1730s, and they had been the goals of Laurasian foreign policy as far back as the reign of Valerian. Twenty-nine years had passed since the end of the Third Laurasian-Marasharite War, the longest stretch of peace between the two Empires during the eighteenth century. The Laurasian Empire's military forces, which had, through the War of the Rough Wooing, Fourth Franconian War, Didymeian War of Franconia, the Huguenot Expeditionary War, and the ongoing interventions in Dejanica, in addition to colonization, law enforcement, and surveying expeditions within the Empire itself, been sharpened and kept battle-tested, was far more prepared for this war, and was confident of victory.
 * September 30-
 * The outbreak of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War resulted in a substantial shift in the Imperial Laurasian Government's military priorities, and in the strategic dispositions of the Empire's military forces, in the Galactic Borderlands, in the satellite galaxies, and in the Great Amulak Spiral. On September 30, 1768, Empress Aurelia convened an emergency session of the Imperial Privy Council. A series of vigorous discussions were now held, concerning the Empire's military campaigns against the Marasharites, and the continuation of the efforts directed towards suppressing the Bar Confederation. On the advice of Chancellor Cecilis, Aurelia issued instructions to the Imperial General Headquarters, ordering for General Sir Honorius Elmt to recall all Laurasian expeditionary and task fleets which had been conducting operations in the Ochanian Provinces. He was now commanded to strengthen the garrisons of the Galactic Barrier, particularly those of Dehner, Onasi, and Waxefield, and to focus upon the defense of Laurasian strategic positions within Dejanican Lavella from potential Marasharite offensives. Dejanican Generals Jan-Pac and Kranskia, consequently, were able to remain in exile in Marasharita. They now proceeded through the Peldavian Gateways, and thence into the Marasharite Homeland Territories. On October 8, 1768, they would be officially granted sanctuary by Emperor Mustapha.
 * The Imperial Laurasian Government also began the diversion of reinforcements from other regions of the Empire to the Borderlands Provinces. The chief strongholds of the Galactic Frontier Route, such as Chappelear, Amelia, Chromy, Natalie, Tiona, Adrianne, Abrianne, Belaprasian, and Guthmiller, were to witness the reorganization of their defenses, the importation of some forty million tons of military equipment, supplies, and shield generators, and the arrival of the 2nd and 5th Imperial Armies, during the last months of 1768. The Lysimachid Barrier Defenses were ordered to a state of elevated alert, and the Limes Saticus in the Satian Provinces were also strengthened. The question also now turned to who would become the commander-in-chief of the Empire's forces operating against Marasharita. There were at this stage, two obvious candidates: General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, son of the famed General Sir Antiochus Rumanstevius, and General Sir Antigonus Vamaus (1734-83), son of the famed commander of the War of the Dejanican Succession, Field-Marshal Sir Suris Vamaus, who had died on January 22 of that year. Ultimately, the decision settled on Vamaus, and on October 1, he was assigned as the commander of the 2nd and 7th Imperial Armies, along with their associated fleets, and ordered to take command of the garrisons of the Galactic Frontier Route.
 * The Council also decided upon a more definitive set of war aims: to secure the overthrow of the commercial and navigation terms of the Treaty of Nis, to acquire the Marasharite Galactic Borderlands, and to impose Laurasian influence over the Haynsian Despotate. These aims were formally enshrined in a proclamation of October 5, 1768, and accorded with the Empress's own personal ambitions. Yet the Empress and her advisers understood that their Marasharite adversaries, as they had in previous conflicts, did possess some advantages. Their control of the Haynsia and the Northern Galactic Borderlands gave them a projection point from which they could fan out into the northern territories of the Empire (as indeed, they had during the wars of the seventeenth century). Secondly, their control of the Haynsian Slave Highway gave them a reliable means to transport troops and supplies from the satellite galaxies, through the Galactic Void, and into the Caladarian Galaxy. Thirdly, the Haynsian presence would give the Marasharites greater ease of access to their supply bases; Laurasian forces did not have a similar assurance. Moreover, it was important for the Laurasians to prevent any junction between the Marasharites and the Bar Confederation. On October 19, the Imperial Ministry of Defense ordered, in accordance with the Military Conscription Code of 1738, a new recruit levy of 1 for every 80,000 subjects in the Empire. Another levy would be ordered on November 25, of 1 out of every 30,000 subjects. Thanks to these levies, more than three hundred million new troops were conscripted into the Imperial Forces by January 1769, thereby bolstering the available manpower. The Marasharites, on their part, sought to strengthen their strategic position through a change of rulership in the Haynsian Despotate. On October 2, Emperor Mustapha deposed Jay XIII Karany from the Haynsian throne. He now restored Jay XII Karany, who, he claimed, had been deposed through the "envious" intrigues of his rivals, to the Haynsian throne. The restored Despot's health was in decline, but he had no choice but to accept his overlord's elevation, and returned to his duties on Haynes.
 * October 4-
 * After several months of preparation by the Imperial Privy Council and the Holy Synod, the official inquiry into the affairs of the former Scottrian Queen Mariana I officially opened on Rasdalla Major (October 4, 1768). In July 1768, Mariana had been, on the orders of the Empress, moved to Bolton Tower on Vilmanstrand, which was considered to be more secure than Carlisle Fortress. This was to be her lodging for the foreseeable future. Vilmanstrand was located some forty thousand light years away from Laurasia Prime, and therefore could not pose a threat to the Empress’s safety. Nevertheless, Mariana was permitted to keep state like a Queen and was allowed to indulge in her personal interests. Sir Tacitus Knollysis remained her personal guardian. On September 9, Lord Herries and the Clainnarch of Ross, both of whom were sympathetic to the Queen of Scottria, had arrived at the Cynthian Palace on Murphy, to which the Empress and the Imperial Court had retired after the conclusion of her progress in the Horacian Provinces. These Scottrian notables now sought to plead the Queen’s case. The Empress told Lord Herries that she would make a demand “of the rebels” as to why they had deposed their sovereign, and if they were unable to defend their actions, then she would restore Queen Mariana to her throne, on the conditions that she renounce her claims to the Laurasian throne, ratify the Treaty of Ediania, and place herself under the permanent protection of the Laurasian Empire. On July 28, Mariana, who was desperate, had agreed to accept the inquiry. Two months later, however, the Empress secretly assured Regent Moray that she would not restore Mariana to her throne. Moray had then decided to attend the inquiry, confident that his rule over Scottria was secure.
 * The inquiry soon came to a dramatic moment, as Moray now revealed the existence of the "Casket Letters", which his agents had secured in July of the previous year, shortly after Mariana’s abdication. These documents contained eight letters said to be of Mariana to Bothwell, twelve transcriptions of Franconian sonnets, a written but undated promise to marry Bothwell, signed by the Queen, and two copies of their marriage contract. Moray, when producing these documents, insisted that Mariana had composed them in her own handwriting. The Queen denied this, but she was never allowed to see them. The Duke of Norfolkius, who served as the Laurasian chair for the inquiry, had doubts as to the authorship, but professed himself to be "appalled" by their contents. William Maitland, now Chief Secretary of State for the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, made a suggestion that Norfolkius himself marry Mariana; Knollysis believed this would keep the former Scottrian Queen under control, but the Empress was enraged at this proposal and vetoed it. Norfolkius then claimed that he would not ever marry Mariana, and that others had brought up that suggestion. The Empress then appeared somewhat mollified, and the matter was, for the time being, laid aside.
 * October 11-
 * On October 11, 1768, Empress Aurelia received official copies of the Casket Letters. Upon reviewing these documents, she claimed to be convinced that they were genuine, stating that they contained "material which may be used as legitimate evidence against the Queen of Scottria." The following day she, irritated by the doddering pace of the commissioners, and suspicious of Norfolkius’s intentions, adjourned the inquiry to Rasdalla Minor and appointed Leicesterius, Chancellor Cecilis, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, and Procurator-General Bagonius as additional commissioners. Cecilis, on his part, began to urge that Queen Mariana to be moved to Tutsburian Fortress on Melarnaria. The Empress rejected this proposal, intending to keep up the fiction that Mariana was an imperial guest and should not be treated as a prisoner. Queen Mariana, however, did not remain quiet. Although she continued to publicly declare that she bore no ill-intention against her cousin, Empress Aurelia, and that was dedicated to maintaining positive relations with the Imperial Court, she was in reality already beginning to secretly plot and to rail against the Empress of Laurasia.
 * In July 1768, Don Gerau de Spes had been appointed as the new Spamalkan Ambassador to the Laurasian Empire; he had assumed his duties of office the following month, and demonstrated a distinct hostility to Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government. Emperor Philicus himself was "concerned" about Mariana's welfare, and the Spamalkan Ambassador, who sought to use the exiled Scottrian Queen as his lever. Already, De Spes had begun to sound out the Queen's supporters at the Imperial Court and within the Empire. Overestimating the numbers of her supporters, a mistake which was to be made repeatedly by foreign ambassadors and other conspirators during the course of the next two decades, de Spes believed that it would not be too difficult to arrange Mariana's escape, or even to provoke a rebellion against Aurelia with the intent of deposing her and setting up Mariana as Empress in her place. The Imperial Privy Council and the Earl of Moray, on their part, heavily distrusted Queen Mariana, and did not believe her claims that she would not cause any trouble. The realization that Mariana would not scruple to intrigue against her prompted the Empress to assure Moray that the tribunal would pronounce on the Queen's guilt or innocence, based on the evidence contained in the Casket Letters.
 * October 26-
 * Neszvish, one of the chief military strongholds of the Bar Confederation, capitulated to the forces of the Laurasian Empire and the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Surovius (October 26, 1768). The Bar Confederation, however, still remained alive in the Ukraine and in Belarania, and refused to acknowledge the renewed authority of King Stanis Vorrust I over the Commonwealth's dominions. The War of the Bar Confederation, consequently, continued to drag on. And it was compounded by the earliest confrontations of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War. The last months of 1768 were marked primarily by desultory skirmishes and operations between Laurasian and Marasharite forces along the Galactic Frontier Route, in the Tof Borderlands, and in the Billian Provinces. On October 9, a Marasharite expeditionary force under the command of General Herem-Pasha assaulted Chappelear; the ensuing Battle of Chappelear, the first direct confrontation of the war, ended in a strategic stalemate, as Herem-Pasha was unable to penetrate the world's defenses. Marasharite fleets then attacked Guthmiller (October 12-14), Chromy (October 16), and Amelia (October 18); all of these offensives failed, with Laurasian garrisons maintaining their strategic positions, capturing a number of Marasharite military vessels, and breaking their operational lines. On October 22, Herem-Pasha launched another, more vigorous offensive against Abrianne, but an approach by General Vamaus's units compelled him into retreat. A Marasharite assault against Adrianne (October 27, 1768), was equally unsuccessful, though on November 1, Marasharite forces did manage to sack the outskirts of Meneia, Ra'dai, and Ba'dai. On November 5, a retaliatory counteroffensive by Laurasian units into the Billian Provinces came to an end in the Battle of Sly James, in which the Marasharites of General Nester-Bey managed to capture thirty Curactor-class turbocannon of the Imperial Laurasian Navy. The Imperial Laurasian Navy then launched punishing assaults upon Crimea, Sackrandis, Kilojong, and Diljong (November 8-17, 1768), inflicting some €10 trillion dataries of damage, capturing more than four million prisoners, and disrupting their communication lines. The Empire's operations further into the heart of the Muggal Cluster failed.
 * Marasharite forces then attacked Carrhae, Immae, Edessa, O'Donnell, Gayle, Charlie, King, McIver, and Ferguson (December 1768), with Emperor Mustapha hoping that the conquest of these strongholds would give a vantage point from which to assault the Solidaritan Provinces. The Laurasian garrisons of these star systems once again proved effective however, and the Marasharites suffered extensive casualties, in both manpower and military equipment. Moreover, the Battle of Xilania Secondary (December 8-17, 1768), saw a Marasharite transport convoy under Hureem-Bay being surrounded and captured by the forces of Fleet Captain Sir Titus Andremias (1726-74). For this feat, Andremias would later be awarded the Order of St. Antiochus the Great in January 1771. Marasharite expeditions against Jin Minor, Ursula, and Calrissian also failed, and they proved completely incapable of penetrating the boundaries of Dejanican Lavella, or of Dejanican territories in the Great Tesmanian Cloud. These first months of the war demonstrated, above all else, that the Marasharites, despite their claims to the contrary, were not prepared for war. In spite of the colonial wars in which they had been engaged against Haxonia and Vendragia; their struggles against the rebellious sentiments in the Barbary States; and their involvement in the Italianian Wars of 1742-46 and 1751-59, the Marasharite Empire's military forces were dolefully under-equipped, ill-organized, and ill-led. The Haynsian Despotate, on its part, which during the first months of the war played a surpisingly inconsequential role, was now, on the orders of Mustapha, making strategic plans for what would turn out to be its last major raiding expedition into the Laurasian Empire. Furthermore, by the end of December 1768, Empress Aurelia, Chancellor Cecilis, and the rest of the Privy Council were, in conjunction with the General Headquarters, formulating additional plans for military offensives into the Muggal Cluster and the Northern Reaches. They were also continuing to divert military resources from the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Marasharite front.
 * November 26-
 * The day after the Investigation Inquiry reconvened on Rasdalla Minor (November 26, 1768), the Earl of Moray, the most prominent Scottrian on the investigative commission, accused the Earl of Bothwell of murdering Darnley and Queen Mariana of having guilty foreknowledge of it. The Queen’s commissioners, outraged by this besmirching of her reputation, demanded that she be allowed to reply to this charge herself. On December 4, the Empress agreed that this would be reasonable, but declared that Moray must first present his evidence. She then refused to allow Mariana to provide evidence for her own defense, even though the former Queen of Scottria was insisting that the Casket Letters were forgeries and claiming that her communications codes had been hacked. She had still been forbidden to see them. Empress Aurelia claimed that it would be degrading for Mariana to have to give evidence, but in reality, she did not want her beautiful, appealing cousin winning the sympathy of her subjects by publicly protesting her innocence, for then it would become virtually impossible to present the Casket Letters as evidence against her. On December 6, Mariana’s commissioners withdrew from the inquiry. They were not fully convinced of their own mistress’s innocence, being lured to this point of view by the Earl of Moray. The following day, Moray again accused Mariana of murder and produced the Casket Letters, to sensational effect.
 * During the next few days, commissioners compared the message codes of the communiques to those from authenticated correspondence of Mariana’s. Mariana herself continually begged to see copies of the Casket Letters, but her pleas were refused. The Empress demanded that Mariana reply formally in writing to the accusations made against her, but Mariana refused to do so unless Aurelia promised that the inquiry would pronounce her innocent. This, however, was out of the question. The Laurasian commissioners and the institutions of the Imperial Laurasian Government, on their part, accepted the Casket Letters as authentic, on the grounds that "they contained information which could not be devised or invented by any other person than the Queen of Scottria herself, because they discourse on matters of which only Queen Mariana would have knowledge of." They were divided, however, as to how to proceed against Mariana. Aurelia had commanded the inquiry to abstain from proclaiming the Queen guilty of murder, but did want Mariana to accept her deposition and sought to persuade her to live quietly in the Empire as a noblewoman for the rest of her life.
 * Knollysis was instructed to attempt to lead Mariana along this path. Another option was for Mariana to rule Scottria as joint sovereign with her son; Moray would remain regent, and Scottria would become a protectorate of the Laurasian Empire. Alternatively, Mariana could remain titular Queen but remain in residence at the Imperial Court, while Moray ruled in her name. Thus, it was that on December 14, 1768, that the Empress summoned her councilors and nobility to Hamponian Palace on Jared, where the Imperial Court was lodged for the Ascentmas festivities of 1768. She did this so that the commission’s proceedings could be read out to them, and for them to inspect the Casket Letters. The notables expressed their gratitude to the Empress for allowing them to know about the particulars of the inquiry. Mariana’s "crimes" were now apparent to the subjects of the Empire, and she would never be received at the Imperial Court. However, Mariana had refused to put forward a defense, and demanded that she be allowed to appeal to the Empress directly.
 * December 23-On December 23, 1768, Sir Rogerius Aschamius, who had been the chief tutor of the Empress Aurelia, and one of the most renowned scholars in the Laurasian Empire, died suddenly at the age of 53 in the Hospital of St. Joseph’s in Christiania. Empress Aurelia, when she was informed that her old tutor had died, went into a fit of bewailment and commanded the Imperial Court to mourn his death for the next two days. The death of Aschamius upset the Empress, and darkened her mood as regards to the Dejanican, Marasharite, and Scottrian predicaments, all of whom were now impacting the Laurasian Empire at the same time. Two days later, the Empress dispatched the commissioners back to Rasdalla Minor, ordering them to give Mariana a detailed report of the inquiry and a communique in which the Empress informed her that, "As one Prince and near cousin regarding another, we are heartily sorry and dismayed to find such matter of your charge", and giving the ex-Queen one last chance of stating her defense. Mariana did not respond. As the year 1768 came to its conclusion, the Laurasian Empire was enmeshed in war within the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth and with its implacable Marasharite and Haynsian foes. The New Year would witness the commencement of active military campaigns in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War; further operations against the Bar Confederation; and the outbreak of the first of the two great (domestic) uprisings of Aurelia the Great’s reign.

1769

 * January 1-
 * 1769, the 69th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire on the verge of launching major military campaigns in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth and against the Marasharite Empire. Empress Aurelia, in her New Year's proclamation, assured her imperial subjects that the "professionalism and superior organization of the military forces of our Empire" would subdue all enemies and that they no longer had to fear the "fierce Marasharite savages." The Empress was confident that her military forces would best anything which the Marasharites could hurl against them, and that the Bar Confederation would be destroyed. She also continued to grapple with the problem of the former Queen of Scottria, Mariana. Other concerns, however, arose for the Empire, on the verge of the active commencement of military hostilities in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War. By January 1769, the Duke of Norfolkius was becoming increasingly disaffected. On December 29, his chief rival, the Earl of Jadia, had been appointed as Governor of Rasdalla Major by the Empress Aurelia, who trusted his ability to maintain order in the Southern Galactic Borderlands. Norfolkius now came under the influence of the Empress's former suitor (and one of Empress Didymeia's chief ministers), the Earl of Americana. Along with several Malarian lords, including the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead, both men wanted to see Cecilis and other Reformists ousted from the Privy Council and Governing Senate.
 * This included Leicesterius, who was viewed as one of the chief supporters of the Almitian Reformation. Since November 1768, relations between the Laurasian and Holy Spamalkan Empires had steadily declined, provoked by the theft of €3.2 trillion dataries from a Spamalkan commercial convoy in the Galactic Void. Instead of returning the money to the Spamalkan Government, the Empress Aurelia had confiscated the funds and deployed them into the reserves of the Imperial Treasury. For a time, it was feared that Philicus would terminate diplomatic relations with the Laurasian Empire, while Norfolkius and Americana, encouraged by Spamalkan Ambassador de Spes, tried to ensure that the blame for this incident was laid on the Chancellor, hoping to prompt his speedy overthrow and committal to the Fortress of Baureux. Leicesterius soon entered into the conspiracy, fired by the knowledge that Cecilis was still trying to prevent him from marrying the Empress-an increasingly unrealistic prospect, since Aurelia was now ten years on the throne. Although hostile to him, Norfolkius and Americana did not reject his support, and outwardly relations among them remained peaceful for some time. Philicus, however, did not declare war, instead ordering for the detainment of Laurasian merchants and starhoppers at Niewpoort, Ostend, Roosevelt, Antwerp, and Leuven. His chief priority was to suppress the Durthian Rebellion, which had broken out the previous year, and he did not wish to go to war with the Laurasians at this point.
 * January 3-On January 3, 1769, Haynsian Despot Jay XII Karany, who had been restored to the throne of the Haynsian Despotate, died suddenly, aged 61. His death occurred at the Martial Palace of Bakhcisiray, which was one of the chief residences of the Haynsian Despots. He was now succeeded as Despot by his grandnephew Neal V Karany, who was determined to continue with his predecessor's plans for a major raiding expedition against the Laurasian Empire.
 * January 7-
 * On January 7, 1769, Mariana Stuart, ex-Queen of Scottria, was on the orders of the Empress Aurelia, moved to Tutsarian Palace on Merilash, a grim, forbidding residence which came to be despised by the Scottrian Queen. Antiochus Talbanius, 6th Earl of Aretha, who had served on the Imperial Privy Council since 1762 as a Privy Councilor without Portfolio, and was one of the leading noble personages at the Imperial Court, was designated as her official guardian. He was to retain this position for the next fifteen years-underpaid and overburdened with this responsibility. His wife was Lady Aurelia Cavendia, now Countess of Aretha. This was the very same lady whom Lady Katharina Greysius had appealed to in vain back in 1761. Her third husband, Sir Willanius St. Loe, had died on Taurasia on December 13, 1765, from undisclosed circumstances. On February 17, 1768, Lady Cavendia, already one of the wealthiest and most influential noblewoman at the Imperial Court, married the Earl of Aretha, so as to establish herself with a higher rank among the imperial nobility. Their marriage was merely for business and political purposes, not out of love. Lady Cavendia's upstart, domineering personality brought her into conflict with Empress Aurelia many times. Despite this, Aurelia trusted Aretha implicitly.
 * Queen Mariana, however, got on fairly well with both of them, making gifts to Countess Aurelia and even charming the Earl of Aretha, known for his religious orthodoxy, with her intelligence, beauty, and wit. The Privy Council warned him to not "allow his personal feelings to cloud him in the pursuit of his duties." Cecilis particularly feared Mariana's wiles, and believed that she would try to trick Aretha into allowing her to escape. Aurelia herself had no time for Mariana as a person, only as a Queen. She had a low opinion of Mariana's character, observing to the Franconian Ambassador that the Queen possessed certain traits which blinded enemies to her true nature. Mariana would not remain solely at Tutsarian Palace, although this was her chief residence; she also resided at the Earl's other estates on Redia, Nicole, Trebek, Courtney, Ashlgothia Major, Galicia Major, and in the Polonian Provinces. Mariana on her part, continued to involve herself in intrigue. She sent a message to de Spes, declaring she would rather die than resign the throne of Scottria, and promising that if Philicus helped her, she would be "Empress of Laurasia in three months, and I shall seek to act as a good sister to your master and his realms."
 * January 12-Sir Nicholas Thockmortonia, who had returned to Laurasia Prime from his duties at the Scottrian Court in September 1768, and resumed his positions as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Imperial Internal Revenue Service on the Privy Council, revived the plan for a marriage between the confined Scottrian Queen Mariana and the Duke of Norfolkius (January 12, 1769). In this he was supported by Leicesterius, determined to maintain his influence in state affairs. This marriage was to be followed by her restoration to the Scottrian throne, conditional upon Mariana agreeing to maintain the religious arrangements of the Lords of the Congregation; respecting the prerogatives of the Scottrian Estates; and placing herself under the military and diplomatic protection of the Laurasian Empire. Once Mariana was married to Norfolkius, Aurelia might be persuaded to recognize her as her successor, and with the succession settled, and Mariana, hopefully, no longer a focus for Traditionalist rebels, friendly relations with Spamalka could be restored. The chief obstacle to this plan was Chancellor Cecilis, which was one more reason why Norfolkius, Americana, and their supporters wanted him displaced. They had now been joined in their conspiracy by several Malarian lords and by Spamalkan Ambassador de Spes, eager to make trouble for the Empress. The Empress, however, thanks to Chancellor Cecilis and the Imperial Intelligence Agency, was well aware of the conspiracies, and she decided to wait before proceeding any further. In the meantime, other, more immediate concerns took her attention.
 * January 14-
 * On January 14, 1769, the offensive forces of the Haynsian Despotate, under the command of Haynsian General Devat-Shotokan (1729-71), launched the long-awaited raiding expedition into the Laurasian Empire. This expedition, the first truly offensive move in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, would turn out to be the last of its kind, of a series extending all the way back to 1531. Haynsian forces, whose tactics had changed very little during the course of those two and a half centuries, launched a series of strikes against more than three hundred star systems in the Galactic Borderlands and Wild Marshes. During the course of the next ten days, Haynsian forces, ranging as far as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh, Spencer, Seeben, and Sabinia, inflicted damage on a number of Laurasian observation posts, colonies, space-stations, and garrisons, seizing military, industrial, and agricultural supplies, equipment, and goods. They sacked the defenses of Gwynne, Gadweria, and Goriance; penetrated into the Palaris III star system; harried the supply lines of Bane, Cognus, Zannah, the Iswill, and Kalbacha Major; and stormed Ra'dai, Sherwood, and Tyra. The Haynsians captured more than a million captives and inflicted €4.6 trillion dataries worth of damage. Ultimately, however, this last, futile Haynsian thrust lost steam. General Sir Antigonus Vamaus had bided his time in preparing counteroffensives against the Haynsian units, and he was now determined to inflict a decisive blow on them, so that they would not pose a threat to Laurasian territory again.
 * On January 24, Haynsian offensive squadrons launched a raiding offensive against Billy Gasis, seeking to dislodge the Laurasian garrison from that star system and to capture the substantial store of Laurasian military equipment, weapons, and armor. As the Haynsian units proceeded to the outskirts of the star system, the forces of General Vamaus launched a surprise offensive against them. Haynsian units were surrounded and assaulted by a superior Laurasian armada at Alexvar Garrison, which was located six light-years to the southeast of Billy Gasis. The ensuing Battle of Alexvar Garrison resulted in a decisive victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire. General Devat-Shotokan barely evaded capture, and most of his assault carriers (numbering more than one hundred) were destroyed or captured by the warships of the Imperial Laurasian Navy. Over the course of the next four days, Laurasian detachments stormed Haynsian operational outposts and relays on Andravar, Cuvvaria II, Alemeda, and Aurora, resulting in the final withdrawal of Haynsian raiding forces back to the Galactic Void and the termination of this expedition. On January 31, 1769, Empress Aurelia would confer the Order of St. Antiochus the Conqueror upon Vamaus and raise him to peerage as Baron Vamaus of Nystadia.
 * February 2-Spamalkan Ambassador de Spes was, on February 2, 1769, approached by a Haxonian banker, Roberto Ridolfi (1731-92), who had been dispatched by Norfolkius and Americana in order to enlist Spamalkan support for their scheme. Ridolfi had resided in the City of Christiania since 1755 and had served as Chief Operations Officer for the Christiania Office of the Florencian Bank, a major Haxonian banking consortium which had begun to establish banking operations throughout the Laurasian Empire in the late seventeenth century. He was in contact with notables at the Haxonian and Spamalkan Courts, and was therefore appraised of conspiracies against Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government. Ridolfi passed along the message of the noble conspirators that they intended to establish a Traditionalist, pro-Spamalkan government on Laurasia Prime as soon as possible. They soon realized, however, that they may not obtain the level of assistance from the Spamalkan Court as had been hoped, for the Durthian Rebellion diverted Philicus's military forces.
 * February 8-On Ash Wednesday, February 8, 1769, Leicesterius dared to tell the Empress that most of her subjects were in despair because state affairs were being "utterly mishandled" by Chancellor Cecilis and that either the Empire would be endangered further by the Marasharite and Dejanican threats, or the Chancellor must be executed. Aurelia erupted in fury at this, forbidding the Earl to say anything further against Cecilis. She then publicly proclaimed to the Imperial Court that nothing would shake her loyalty to him. Norfolkius, who was also present, then entered the argument, telling the Empress that many notables shared Leicesterius's opinion of Cecilis. Aurelia, however, was in a foul temper, and ordered for him to stop talking about the matter. Norfolkius, however, commented to the Marquess of Venusia that Leicesterius did not have freedom of opinion; on this, the Empress threatened to have him arrested. He finally bowed to her will, and the matter ended. Leicesterius, on his part, was alarmed by this episode, and threatened Norfolkius with full exposure of his plot against Cecilis to the Empress. Cecilis, however, already knew (as given above), and now acted friendly towards the Duke, refraining from actions to provoke him and his faction. He also sought to win Leicesterius's support as well. All of these intrigues at the Imperial Court, however, continued to be overshadowed by the continuing military campaigns against the Marasharite Empire and in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
 * February 14-
 * The Imperial General Headquarters and the Imperial Privy Council, having finalized and communicated their military strategic plans to the field commanders and officers of the Imperial Military, ordered, on February 14, 1769, for the commencement of general offensives into the Marasharite territory. Laurasian forces in the Galactic Borderlands and along the Galactic Frontier Route had been further reorganized, and commands shifted, in preparation for the commencement of Laurasian military forces. General Sir Antigonus Vamaus remained commander-in-chief of the Marasharite front; his chief command now became that of the 2nd an 4th Imperial Armies, and the associated 49th and 47th Imperial Fleets, among the largest military detachments of the Laurasian Empire. His force comprised of six hundred capital warships; three thousand smaller vessels; and a detachment of 25.9 million troopers and ground-soldiers of the Imperial Laurasian Army, Imperial Marines, and Imperial Oceanic Corps. General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, earlier floated for the supreme command, and who had seen service in the War of the Bar Confederation, the Franconian Expedition, the Didymeian War of Franconia, and the Scottrian War of the Rough Wooing, and had gained fame for his victory at Belbraggia over Franconian units in 1757, was now appointed chief subordinate commander of the Laurasian military forces, and held control of the 5th and 6th Imperial Armies. To him were attached the 50th and 51st Imperial Fleets. The naval forces assigned to Vamaus were commanded by Admiral Sir Thomasius Genneria (1705-83); those of Rumanstevius, by Admiral Sir Gregory Seniavin (1710-71). Generals Vamaus and Rumanstevius were now ordered to deploy. Vamaus was charged with the conquest of Khotin and Bucharina, the two chief Marasharite strongholds in the Northern Reaches. Rumanstevius, on his part, was ordered to defend Laurasian positions from possible Haynsian raids in the Galactic Void and to proceed against Kerch, Marson, and the Haynsian Slave Highway. Laurasian forces now penetrated from the Galactic Frontier Route, and penetrated into Marasharite territory.
 * The first major confrontation which then ensued was that of the Battle of Sapho (February 19, 1769). This battle was a confrontation between General Rumanstevius's forces and those of the Marasharite General Keplan-Verry (1711-79). Laurasian forces were attempting to obtain access to the junctures to the Muggal Cluster, so that they could prevent Marasharite units from penetrating from that region. They also wished to secure their supply lines to the Northern Reaches. Superior Laurasian discipline, tactics, and military organization resulted in a decisive victory for General Rumanstevius. Nearly a hundred Haynsian assault carriers were destroyed or captured, and some 50,000 captives were freed. As a result of this confrontation, Sappho, Tessy, and the Dniester Asteroid Bases capitulated to the forces of General Rumanstevius. By the end of February 1769, his units were pressing to Voronezh and Kuban, the last major Marasharite outposts before Kerch. In conjunction with this, Vamaus's forces also kept up their advance. On February 24, the Battle of the Dniper Asteroid Belt was waged; the Marasharite commander was Haynsian General Devat-Shotokan, who sought the resumption of Haynsian raiding expeditions into Laurasian territory. This confrontation was waged over a period of four hours and resulted in severe losses for the military forces of both combatants. Ultimately, however, General Vamaus secured a victory in the confrontation, and the military outposts of the Dnieper Asteroid Belt capitulated to the Laurasian Empire. General Devat-Shotokan, who had failed in all of his offensive operations against the Laurasians, and who had become disgraced in the eyes of the Haynsian people, was arrested, court-martialed, and dismissed from his position of command by the orders of Marasharite Emperor Mustapha on March 4.
 * February 27-On February 27, 1769, Ernestia Bironia, the Duke of Northania and Semigallia, officially abdicated his throne in a formal ceremony of state on Mitau. Bironia was 78 years old, and he had long yearned to be able to retire to the quarters of the Ducal Palace. His son, Peter von Bironia, was now proclaimed Duke of Northania and Semigallia by the Northanian Diet. The Diet, obliging by the provisions of the Treaties of Riga and Warsaw, sought the ratification of the Imperial Laurasian Government. On March 9, Bironia was confirmed as Duke of Northania by the Ambassador of the Laurasian Empire to Dejanica, Sir Nicholas Repanius. He had gained authorization from the Privy Council; Empress Aurelia approved of the younger Bironia's elevation to the Northanian throne in his father's place. The new Duke solemnly swore, at Mitau, to uphold all arrangements previously made with the Imperial Laurasian Government. Ambassador Repanius however, had lost some of his favor at the Imperial Court, and he would be shortly recalled by the Empress from his duties in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
 * March 12-
 * By March 1769, the Bar Confederation had managed to recover some of its territorial losses from the forces of the Laurasian Empire. This was because the main focus of Laurasian efforts was on the Marasharite campaigns in the Caladarian Galaxy; therefore, the Imperial Laurasian Government was not able to give as much attention to affairs in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Berdycrow, Krakow Minor, and Kamenets had been recovered by Confederation forces, all in February 1769. General Kazmirzes Pulaskia continued to distinguish himself in these military campaigns against the Empire. Pulaskia had managed to recover some of his prestige from the humiliations of his imprisonment, and was considered to be a Dejanican patriot once again. In early March 1769, General Honorius Elmt had vigorously reorganized his units and following instructions from the Imperial General Headquarters, advanced against Okopy Swietjei Trojcy, which had served as Pulaskia's command headquarters since December of the previous year. March 12 witnessed the formal commencement of the Laurasian siege of this stronghold, which dragged on for much of the month. By March 29, Okopy Swijetjei Trojcy was at the verge of falling to the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Honorius Elmt. Laurasian squadrons had stormed the Dejanican defensive outposts on Osrony Trojy, Okopy Minor, and Ivarria, threatening the very survival of the Dejanican garrison.
 * Dejanican General Pukaskia, who was desperate, and sought to repel the Laurasian forces, now sent a secret communique to the forces of General Michal Walewski, who was stationed at Nowy Targ, and urged for him to launch a counteroffensive against Laurasian positions in the outskirts of the besieged star system. Walewski obliged by Pulaskia's pleas, and he now organized his starfighters for a lightning offensive against Laurasian-Royalist Dejanican positions. At 2:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, Dejanican units launched a sudden offensive against the Laurasian operational headquarters on Kobal's Moon; this offensive caught the Laurasian armada off balance. General Elmt, seeking to maintain the blockade and to punish those who had attacked his headquarters, dispatched a detachment of couriers under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Arasces Eravia in order to assault Walewski's main offensive camp. This weakened the strength of the front-line Laurasian forces, and General Pulaskia was now able to launch a counteroffensive from Trojcy's Moon, driving Laurasian advance units out of the star system and opening a direct line of communications to the forces of General Walewski. Eventually, on April 2, 1769, General Elmt was ordered by the Imperial General Headquarters to withdraw from the siege of Okopy Swijetjei Trojcy. Osrony Trojy, Okopy Minor, and Ivvaria were reoccupied by the forces of the Bar Confederation.
 * April 6-
 * The forces of General Sir Antigonus Vamaus approached the outskirts of Khotyn, which was the chief target of their military offensive (April 6, 1769). Khotyn, which had been originally colonized under the patronage of the Timurid Empire, had been a major military and industrial stronghold which had found itself in the possession of several different powers. Among these included the Neo-Torfian Kingdom (1019-55); the Amelianian Kingdom of Kthexox (1055-1178); the Amelianian Kingdom of Marcia (1178-1239); the Amelianian Kingdom of Cordania (1239-75); the Kingdom of Donathia (1275-1434); and the Neo-Iffian Empire (1434-1555). In 1555, it was acquired by the Marasharite forces of Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent, and despite being disputed by the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Celestial Kingdom of Scottria and then the Laurasian Empire, had remained under Marasharite rule until this point. It was therefore considered essential to the Imperial Laurasian Government that this star system submit to Laurasian authority. General Vamaus had subdued Marasharite garrisons on Cherinvisti, Odolia, and Waldan during March 1769, capturing large amounts of Marasharite equipment and military armor. The garrison of Khotyn was commanded by Marasharite General Mevet-Parma, who was under direct orders by the Marasharite High Council to prevent any further Laurasian advance.
 * In the meantime, General Kazimeres Pulaskia, who had demonstrated his ability in battle by successfully lifting the siege of Okopy Swijetjei Trojcy, and had fully recovered his position of prestige and trust among the forces of the Bar Confederation, was, on April 7, 1769, designated as the regimentarz (Chief Commander) of the Krakow Voivodeship, which was largely under the domination of rebel forces. In this position, Pulaskia was charged with commanding all military operations within his jurisdiction; protecting Krakow and Silerwin, the two leading worlds of the voivodeship, from Laurasian offensives; and organizing the deployment of military supplies and garrisons throughout the voivodeship. Over the remainder of April 1769, Pulaskia obtained victories over Laurasian units in confrontations at Zator, Zywiec, Jaslo, Klobuck, and Michelow, preventing Laurasian units from establishing a foothold in his voivodeship. Confederation forces, in general, continued to regain lost territories in Greater Dejanica, Dejanican Lavella, and Ukraine, establishing their control of Volhnia, Polotsk, Vitesbk, and the Environs of Wilno.
 * April 14-Having besieged and conquered the Marasharite intelligence outpost of Bavarra, General Sir Antigonus Vamaus launched the first general offensive against the Khotyn star system (April 14, 1769). The First Battle of Khotyn commenced, which lasted for the next six days. During the course of this military confrontation, Laurasian starfighter squadrons attempted to penetrate the outpost defenses of Khotyn and to secure control of the Khotyn Asteroid Belt, which would have offered them access to the Inner Asteroid Belt. General Mevet-Parma, however, proved to be a cunning and determined adversary, who was willing to employ all means and tactics necessary in order to maintain his control of the star system. He instructed his soldiers to fight to the death and to yield no ground to the Laurasian "mongrels". He carefully coordinated assaults by his corvettes and starfighters upon Laurasian command positions, and he held back his reserves in the Asteroid Belt, making it impossible for Laurasian forces to directly advance through that region. Ultimately, General Vamaus was forced to call a halt to Laurasian operations against Khotyn on April 20. His favor at the Imperial Court, earned by his victory at Alexvar Garrison earlier in the year, began to erode, and some on the Privy Council demanded that he be replaced with some new, "more competent" commander.
 * May 5-
 * By May 1769, tensions in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria were boiling over again, as the Regent Moray determined not to make any compromise with the Marianian Confederation and to assert his grip over Ediania by continuing the reduction of rebel strongholds. The Earls of Rothes and Casilis, who remained loyal to the cause of the former Queen Mariana, had nevertheless attempted negotiation with the Regent, urging him to terminate his "treasonous activity" and return to the oath of allegiance which he owed to Mariana. Moray had rebuffed their attempts, and in a proclamation to the subjects of the Scottrian realms, he reminded them of their "true, divinely-ordained allegiance to His Majesty, King Jamsius VI" and that he would not have any mercy for any man who wavered from that oath of allegiance. John Knox, whose health was in decline by this point, but nevertheless remained the most prominent religious personage in Scottrian affairs, delivered sermons urging the rebels to "deliver themselves from damnation by humbly submitting before the lawful authorities and abandoning the cause of that she-wolf Mariana." Queen Mariana, who was then at the Earl of Aretha's estate on Tahon, wept when she heard about Knox's sermon, and declared that the gods of her ancestors were punishing her for her sins.
 * Empress Aurelia, on her part, was still contemplating the idea of sending Mariana back to Scottria, in order to stir up more trouble there. Moray, however, was now refusing to cooperate, and this hampered the Empress's efforts. Mariana herself, however, eager to recover her former position of influence, had now "discovered" a potential route of escape from her imprisonment. Norfolkius had until this point dismissed the idea of marrying her as treason. As 1769 proceeded along however, he had given the matter deeper consideration; it appeared to him that, if her marriage to Bothwell (who had been held at Cragmillar Dungeon by the King of Vendragia for nearly two years), was formally annulled, it would then make sense for her to marry a loyal Laurasian noble who could safeguard Empress Aurelia's interests when Mariana had been restored to her throne. He would become King Consort of Scottria, and envisioned himself wielding effective authority in Mariana's name. It was on May 5 that he sent, through the Scottrian Clanniarch of Ross (who remained on Laurasia Prime as the Queen's representative), a secret but formal proposal of marriage to the Queen. Mariana responded warmly, and within weeks, she had begun a vigorous correspondence with the Duke. Neither Mariana nor Norfolkius had any romantic notions; this was to be a union of driving ambition.
 * May 16-The First Battle of Przemyśl was fought between the forces of the Bar Confederation, under the command of General Kazimerzes Pulaskia, and those of the Laurasian Empire under General Honorius Elmt (May 16, 1769). Przemyśl was the last major star system of note held by the Royal Government of Dejanica in the Krakow Voivodeship, and its capture was considered essential to the further progress of Confederation forces. General Elmt, however, had organized Przemyśl's defenses accordingly, and it was equipped with advanced Sonic-II turbocannons, which outmatched any weaponry possessed by the rebel warships. As a result of this weaponry advantage, the battle resulted in victory for the Laurasian Empire, with General Elmt having destroyed more then one-third of the rebel forces. Pulaskia, however, would not give up, and over the course of the next month, would launch three further offensives against the star system and its outposts, each of whom will end in failure.
 * May 22-
 * The Battle of Voronezh resulted (May 22, 1769) in a decisive victory for the V and VI Imperial Armies of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Demetrius Rumanstevius. The further advance of his units into the Northern Reaches and against Kerch had been delayed by Marasharite fleets under the command of Ado-Bashan. Ado-Bashan, a ambitious and intriguing military commander who believed that he was a descendant of Osman I, founder of the Marasharite Empire, had launched a series of daring counteroffensives against Laurasian strongholds since February 1769. Natalie, Tiona, Margery, Multan, Lynne, Morg, and Xilania Secondary had found themselves menaced by Marasharite expeditions. A Marasharite squadron even penetrated as far as the Satellites of Ursula and Jin Major. Ultimately, General Rumanstevius had stabilized the front lines, obtaining a victory over Marasharite units in the Battle of Vakrakh (April 29). Now, as a result of the Battle of Voronezh, that stronghold fell into the possession of Laurasian forces. Ado-Bashan himself managed to evade capture in this confrontation, but he would eventually be intercepted and killed by Laurasian troops near Nokorussia on June 4.
 * On the same day of the Battle of Voronezh, the Regent Moray, who had advanced with government squadrons from Ediania, launched a sudden offensive on Rutherglen, the chief stronghold of the House of Hamilton, who had continued to remain loyal to the cause of the ex-Queen Mariana I. Moray had published a manifesto two days earlier, offering the Hamiltons a chance to renounce their "undue insubordination towards the authority of His Majesty's government" and to withdraw their support for the Marianian Confederation. Lord Claud Hamilton, however, who had commanded units of the Queen in the Battle of Langside the previous year, rejected the manifesto issued by the Regent, and declared his intention to remain loyal to the Queen. His personal units and retainers, however, proved no match for disciplined government forces. Rutherglen was conquered and plundered by the Regent's forces, who ransacked its settlements and its main spaceport; carried off the world's currency reserves; and destroyed all Hamilton estates and properties. Following the fall of Rutherglen, Moray confiscated Hamilton estates on Loveria, Claudington, and Marglen.
 * June 4-On June 4, 1769, the Earl of Moray, who had continued his advance through the Lowland Districts, confiscating and blockading the estates of many of the gentry supporters of Queen Mariana, held a conference with the Earl of Huntly at Aberdeen. In February 1769, Huntly, from his estates on Brechin, had sent a communique to the Scottrian Estates, renouncing his earlier "evil defiance" against the government of "His Most Dread Majesty, King Jamsius VI" and asking for forgiveness for his transgressions. Moray had decided to accept Huntly's submission, believing that this would help him to secure control of the Northern Districts and to begin the task of reducing his other enemies in a more effective manner. On May 19, Huntly, in order to signify his submission, sent a number of hostages to Moray on Iverness. Then on June 2, Moray had commanded for Huntly to appear at a conference with him. This conference, held two days later, lasted for three hours and resulted in the conclusion of the Conditions of Aberdeen. By the terms of this agreement, Huntly was to resolve his familial quarrel with the Earl of Morton, who had remained a loyal friend and associate of the Regent; repress rebellion against his former allies; and surrender Huntly Castle to government forces. In return, Moray agreed to extend a pardon to Huntly and all of his supporters. Following the conclusion of this agreement, Moray proceeded to Iverness, where he received oaths of allegiance from the Earls of Sutherland and Caithness, as well as Lord Lovat. Moray would ultimately return to Ediania on June 24, confident that he had secured control of the Northern Districts.
 * June 12-On June 12, 1769, Kuban, which had resisted Laurasian reconnaissance expeditions for a more than a month, finally capitulated to the forces of General Demetrius Rumanstevius. The fall of Kuban proved a significant achievement for the forces of the Laurasian Empire, and a decisive victory over those of the overstretched and weakened Marasharites. Kuban's garrison alone comprised of 700,000 Marasharite troops; fifty capital warships; and a store of nearly 200,000 small arms, operational shield generators, droid tactical machines, and technical armor. General Rumanstevius incorporated these as spoils of war into his forces and set the Marasharite POWs to work on producing weapons and equipment for the Laurasian troops. In this, he had the approval of Empress Aurelia, who had given explicit orders for Marasharite prisoners to be humiliated in the same fashion that they had humiliated Laurasian POWS for two centuries. The way to Kerch was now clear, and General Rumanstevius's forces continued their advance along the Don Trunk Highway.
 * June 17-The Duke of Norfolkius, who knew that the Empress would be opposed to his marriage plans with Scottrian Queen Mariana, because she would anticipate that a man ambitious to be King of Scottria would also covet the Laurasian throne, attempted to obtain the assistance of his old friend, Chancellor Cecilis (June 17, 1769). Cecilis, however, who was deeply suspicious of the confined Queen of Scottria, and who remained utterly loyal to the Empress, warned Norfolkius that the only way to extricate himself from this mess was to confess everything to Aurelia. Leicesterius, who was fearful of the consequences of his involvement, also confided in Cecilis. None of the conspirators wished to divulge their marriage plans to Aurelia until they were certain that they could convince her of its benefits. Cecilis, on his part, decided not to inform anyone of what Leicesterius and Norfolkius told him, and waited to see how events would proceed.
 * June 25-
 * On June 25, 1769, the Fourth Battle of Przemyśl, the last of General Kazimeriz's Pulaskia's offensives against that particular stronghold, resulted in final victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of Brigadier-General Alexander Surovius. Surovius, already notable to many by the fact that he never lost any of his military confrontations, inflicted a crushing defeat upon Pulaskia's units, capturing or destroying nearly a third of the Confederate General's starfighter squadrons. As a result of this confrontation, Pulaskia and the remnants of his force decided to withdraw to Samogitia in Lithuania. He was once again under criticism by some of his fellow Confederates, and some on the War Council were again demanding for him to be court-martialed. Pulaskia, however, remained patient, and he now sought to organize a general revolt in Greater Dejanica against the Laurasian garrisons. This effort, however, was foiled by the Royalist authorities and by the new Laurasian Ambassador to the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sir Leonidas Volynskhius (1715-73).
 * Volynskhius had been appointed as Ambassador by the Empress Aurelia on May 22, 1769, to replace Sir Repanius. Repanius had come into disfavor with the Imperial Court for his failure to prevent the formation of the Bar Confederation, and had been recalled in disgrace. Volynshikus worked vigorously to continue Laurasian offensives against the Confederates and to maintain the influence of the Diplomatic Garrison on Dejanica. On July 7, King Stanis Vorrust I, acting on the persuasion of the Ambassador, issued a manifesto pronouncing official damnation on all who continued to support the Bar Confederation. Then on July 14, 1769, the Battle of Berdycrow was waged by the forces of the Bar Confederation, commanded by General Walewski, against the garrison of that star system, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Amnytas Narros. This confrontation, however, resulted in a strategic stalemate, as neither the Laurasian garrison nor the Dejanican offensive force was able to make substantial advances against the other. Pulaskia remained in Samogitia and continued his efforts to reorganize his military units for renewed counteroffensives against the Laurasian forces and the Royalist authorities.
 * August 1-Although Chancellor Cecilis remained true to his pledge not to reveal anything of his discussions with Norfolkius and Leicesterius, word of the Duke's conspiracy nevertheless leaked out at the Imperial Court. In a forum of constant gossip and conversation, it was impossible for any conspiracy or scheme of note to remain a secret, and one of Norfolkius's staff members spread the word about his intentions to the other personages of the court. The Duke was too fearful to take Cecilis's advice, and refrained from approaching the Empress himself. Aurelia, however, learned of the conspiracy as she listened to her ladies gossiping, and decided that this marriage scheme was a direct threat to her position. This was in contrast to the position of most on the Privy Council, who were actually in favor of the marriage. On August 1, 1769, she met Norfolkius in the Antigonid Gardens, and gave him the chance to inform her of his plans: she did this by asking him if he had heard of any occurences in Christiania. Norfolkius, cringing, said there was nothing. The Empress then feigned astonishment and said "You come to me in the gardens to say there is no news of a marriage?" Norfolkius, however, was saved from having to answer by the arrival of one of Aurelia's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Clitonia, with a bouquet of Briannian flowers for the Empress. The Duke seized his opportunity to flee to Leicesterius's apartments. When Leicesterius returned from a performance at the Galactic Opera, Norfolkius asked him for his opinion on what he should do. Upon this, Leicesterius offered to make a appeal to the Empress as soon as possible.
 * August 5-
 * On August 5, 1769, the Imperial Court departed from Laurasia Prime, to commence the official progress of 1769. This year, the Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court were to journey throughout the Polonian and Galician Provinces. Frogglesworth, Doris, Anthony, Rupert, Watson, Sherlock, Galicia Major, Volodormia, Polonia Major, Kaidan, Wronzaz, Polonia Minor, Legnica, Lublin, Wolbroz, Tursk, Krasow, and Chemrei were visited by the Empress during this progress. On August 11, the Imperial Court made its arrival at Rupert. The Empress stayed at Dumbledore Estate, the residence of Sir Willanius Morius. Dumbledore Estate had once been one of the estates of Donguarian General Jan Choldekiwiz, the famed Polonian commander of the early thirteenth century. It had come into the possession of the Morius family in 1706, and was to remain so until 1797. The following morning, as the Empress sat on a step by the front door, listening to Morius's daughter Agrippina signing, Leicesterius, kneeling beside her, raised the subject of Norfolkius. Aurelia promised to speak to Norfolkius within the next few days.
 * On August 13, at Emmaline Fortress on Watson, the Empress invited the Duke of Norfolkius to dine in private with her-a rare honor granted to only the most prestigious officials and nobles of the Empire, as well as to foreign ambassadors. During the meal, although the Empress gave him every opportunity to do so, Norfolkius could not summon up the courage to inform her about his proposed marriage to Mariana Stuart. When they were finished, the Empress suddenly rebuked Norfolkius for his "stubbornness", and said that he should not interfere in matters above his station. After this meeting, Aurelia gave him several more chances to state his intentions, but Norfolkius failed to do so. He was determined to pursue this marriage project, believing that his life and position were at stake.
 * August 15-The Battle of Kerch commenced on August 15, 1769, between the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Demetrius Rumanstevius, and the Marasharite-Haynsian garrison, under the command of Fleet Admiral Gedlet-Mamenet. Gedlet-Mamenet, who had enlisted in the Elite Guards in 1727, and had over the course of the following four decades, risen to high command in the General Headquarters, was a determined commander who believed that it was his duty to fight and die for his Emperor and for the gods of his race. He considered surrender to be disgraceful, and believed that everlasting glory could be obtained by death in battle. As a result of this, the resistance of the garrison of Kerch was very fierce. Two front-line assaults launched by General Rumanstevius against the star system were repulsed by Marasharite squadrons, who then inflicted humiliating losses on Laurasian ranks. Ultimately, however, superior Laurasian numbers, weaponry, and organization proved decisive, and on August 24, Kerch was finally stormed by Laurasian troops. Fleet Admiral Gedlet-Mamenet, true to his word, refused to surrender, and died while leading his troops in a final assault against Laurasian forces. The fall of Kerch now gave the Laurasian forces control of the approaches to Marson and Bucharina, the last major Marasharite strongholds in the Northern Reaches.
 * August 21-On August 21, 1769, Lieutenant-General Baron Antigonus Vamaus, who had been promoted to that rank in March 1769 by Empress Aurelia, in the euphoria following his victory at Alexvar Garrison, commenced the second siege of Khotyn. General Vamaus had, over the course of the past two months, sought to strengthen his offensive squadrons and to draft a renewed strategy of operations into Marasharite territory. General Mevet-Parma, however, who had now been designated as Supreme Commander of Marasharite Forces by the High Council, had received substantial reinforcements, in the form of elite Marasharite and Haynsian troops, from the Marasharite General Headquarters. It therefore transpired that the renewed Laurasian assaults on Khotyn came up against vastly expanded defense lines. After three days of this, which had resulted in greater Laurasian casualties than previously, General Vamaus decided on a different strategy, similar to that he had pursued with success against the Haynsians. He now withdrew his troops from the outskirts of Khotyn and sought to draw the enemy garrison into open battle across space favorable to him.
 * August 29-
 * Lieutenant-General Vamaus had withdrawn his units to the Fairxatia Straits and awaited a general offensive upon his positions by the Marasharite garrison of Khotyn. The General's ploy, to draw the Marasharites out into open battle, now came to fruition. Mevet-Parma, who believed that Vamaus was weak and ineffective, and that the Laurasian troops were demoralized because of their failed attempts to seize Khotyn, now decided to dispatch a substantial detachment of his troops and starships against the Fairxatia Straits, in order to overrun Laurasian positions and secure the region for the Marasharites. The offensive units were placed under the command of Subordinate Vizier Moldovanchi, who had been attached as a subordinate to Mevet-Parma by the High Council two weeks earlier. Moldovanchi, however, was not as effective or confident a commander, however, and he demanded that the General provide him with several of the major frigates and battleships of the garrison of Khotyn. Mevet-Parma, blind to the Vizier's faults, and believing this would secure a even greater victory over the Laurasian troops, granted his request. On August 26, Moldovanchi and his units had begun their advance from Khotyn to the Fairxatia Straits; they were shadowed by Laurasian scouts along their entire route.
 * Now, during the early hours of August 29, 1769, the Subordinate Vizier ordered for a general assault by his frigates and battleships against the Laurasian formations. He had been deceived, however, for the ships whom his forces attacked were computer-operated transports and couriers. The frigates quickly destroyed most of this detachment, but their firepower supplies had been drained and their generators put on overdrive. General Vamaus now unleashed his waiting corps upon the enemy, and the Laurasian star destroyers quickly shredded through the subordinate Marasharite ranks. The Battle of the Fairxatia Straits, as it became known, lasted for five hours and resulted in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire. Subordinate Vizier Moldovanchi himself, along with 70,000 of his fleet personnel, died in the confrontation. Out of twenty attacking Marasharite capital warships, twelve were destroyed and five captured by the Laurasians. The Marasharites also lost all of their turbocannons and twelve shield generator models. The garrison of Khotyn had now been seriously weakened by this defeat, and General Vamaus renewed his advance against Khotyn with a vengenance.
 * September 3-
 * In spite of the Battles of Kerch and Fairxatia Straits, the mood of the Imperial Court was tense. In June 1769, the Duke of Alva, who had been appointed as Governor-General of Durthia and Burgundy by Emperor Philicus, informed Ambassador de Spes, by secret communique, that Spamalka would not be going to war against the Laurasian Empire, considering that the Empress of Laurasia had not engaged in any conspiracy against the Spamalkan Government or consorted with Spamalka's enemies. Philicus also believed that Laurasia's war with the Marasharite Empire, Spamalka's most dreaded enemy, was preferable to the Laurasians involving themselves in the Durthian Rebellion. Therefore, de Spes was under no circumstances to enter into any conspiracy against the Empress or her government, and was to remain strictly neutral. De Spes, however, defied the Duke's instructions, and continued to conspire with several Malarian lords against Aurelia.
 * He also continued to encourage Norfolkius to marry Mariana. Empress Aurelia was therefore aggrevated, in spite of her generals' victories in the Marasharite War. Angered by thoughts of her cousin's involvement in the conspiracy, she complained to the Franconian Ambassaddor, Bertand de la Mothe Fenelon (who had been appointed on June 22, 1768), that although she had treated Mariana fairly, she had repaid her by involving herself in conspiracy. Ambassador Fenelon attempted to defend Mariana, claiming she could not be involved. Aurelia, however, dismissed this and said she was well aware of who was conspiring against her. During this time, the Imperial Court was at the Commonwealth Palace on Polonia Major, once the chief residence of the King-Emperors of the Polonian-Donguarian Commonwealth. The Empress engaged in verbal outbursts, accusing both Cecilis and Leicesterius of plotting on Mariana's behalf. Leicesterius, terrified, fled to his chambers and feigned illness.
 * September 5-
 * On September 5, 1769, Edmundis Bonneris, formerly Archbishop of Laurasia Prime and one of the most vigorous persecutors of Reformist Almitians during the reign of Empress Didymeia I, died at the Monastery of Windowia Photis. Following his dismissal from the See of Laurasia Prime by Empress Aurelia in February 1759, Bonneris had been pressured by the Holy Synod to take the oath of supremacy, following the promulgation of the Statute of Ecclesiastical Administration in May of that year. Bonneris had refused, however, and he was on the orders of Chief Procurator Amnystas Parrius imprisoned at the Monastery of Windowia Photis in April 1760. During the course of the next three years, many in the Imperial Almitian Church and on the Privy Council, including Knollysis and Procurator-General Bagonius, petitioned the Empress to authorize for Bonneris's conviction and execution. Aurelia, however, considering imprisonment a due enough punishment for him, resisted this pressure. By 1763, however, she had been persuaded to change her mind on church penalties, and in that year, the Holy Synod promulgated the Supremacy Regulations. By the terms of this decree, the first refusal of the oath of imperial supremacy became an offense of pramenuire; the second, high treason. The Regulations were enacted on April 10, 1763; a next refusal by Bonneris, or the other Traditionalist ex-clergymen, was an offense which could lead to their deaths.
 * Thanks to the intervention of first Spamalkan Ambassador de Quadra, and then his successor de Silva, action against Bonneris and his fellow Traditionalist associates was delayed. However, on April 29, 1764, Bonneris was indicted by the Holy Synod on a charge of pramenuire when refusing to adhere to an oath tendered to him at the Monastery of Windowia Photis by Bishop Homerius of Windowia Photis. At his trial, Bonneris challenged the legality of Homerius's consecration; the charges against Bonneris were then dropped. During the next three years, Bonneris was forced to appear at the Senatorial Palace four times within each year, only to be remanded each time. The last time this took place was during the legal term of 1768. Through his long imprisonment, Bonneris remained cheerful and devoted to his Traditionalist beliefs. He even attempted to convert his fellow convicts to Traditionalism, an action which was rebuffed by those aware of his evil reputation during the Didymeian Persecutions. Bonneris's death, therefore, was met with little notice throughout the Empire's dominions, although some did celebrate the demise of "one who had brought so much harm to so many in his time." He was interred at St. George's Priory at the Monastery on October 6.
 * September 7-
 * After four days of staying in his bedchambers, the Earl of Leicesterius begged Empress Aurelia to visit him. The Empress agreed and came to his bed on September 7, 1769. There, Leicesterius told her that the Duke of Norfolkius still cherished notions of marrying Queen Mariana. Aurelia commented that, if their marriage were allowed to proceed, she herself would be quickly deposed from her throne and would be a prisoner at the Fortress of Baureux "within the span of only four months" after the ceremony. Leicesterius, sensing the Empress's mood, begged forgiveness for his involvement in the earlier scheme explaining that he had been convinced that he was acting in her best interests. Worried about the state of his health, and still "believing" that he was ill, the Empress pardoned him almost immediately. Several hours later, Empress Aurelia summoned Norfolkius to attend her in the Great Gallery. In an outburst of anger, she berated him for his disloyalty and made him swear on his allegiance that he would not "meddle in the affairs of the Scottrian Question any further." Quaking in fear, the Duke attempted to make light of his earlier schemes, claiming that he did not love Mariana and that he would not consider it a misfortune if he could not marry. Aurelia, however, did not believe him, and commanded him to leave her presence. The Duke now found himself shunned and ignored by many in the Imperial Court, including Leicesterius, who made clear that he had no further interest in the Scottrian Question.
 * On the same day of this episode concerning the Duke of Norfolkius's schemes, the forces of the Laurasian Empire and the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, under the command of Brigadier-General Alexander Surovius and Dejanican Grand-Marshal Fransia Branicki obtained a crushing victory over units of the Bar Confederation under the command of General Jan-Pac in the Battle of Orzechowo. As a result of this confrontation, the Laurasian forces secured their hold over the strongholds of the Approaches of Wilno, and managed to repel further offensives by Bar Confederation units against Brest-Litvotsk, Bialoystok, and Varna. General Pulaskia, however, had successfully reorganized his forces and was now able to withdraw to Zolwiec, earning acclaim from segments of the Dejanican population and a further outburst of frustration from the Imperial Privy Council, who believed that his constant elusions from the grasp of their vastly superior forces was a humiliation. Pulaskia sought to maintain his supply lines and confined himself to running skirmishes with Laurasian and Dejanican patrol squadrons.
 * September 9-
 * On September 9, 1769, the Third Battle of Khotyn was waged, as the II and IV Imperial Armies of General the Baron Vamaus launched a final, and decisive, offensive against the defenses of the Khotyn star system. The smashing Laurasian victory in the Battle of Fairxatia Straits had seriously weakened Marasharite morale and defensive strength, and the arrival of further reinforcements from Natalie, Tiona, Ba'dai, Carly, and Kia gave General Vamaus the decisive advantage over his enemies. Marasharite General Mevet-Parma, who had received the news of the defeat in the Straits with much shock and concern, had died from a sudden heart attack on September 4. Therefore, the highest ranking officer of the garrison was now Guards Colonel Deban, who did not have the tactical insight or skills of command that his predecessor had. This proved to be key to the victorious Laurasian offensive. Laurasian warships quickly overran the Khotyn Asteroid Belt and penetrated the world's shield generators. The cities of Burdan, Marsani, and Gabani were quickly overrun by Laurasian armored units, with General Vamaus himself directing the general assaults. Many of Khotyn's residents, as well as the garrison troops and officers of the Khotyn Government Compound, fled before the Laurasian troops, their properties and goods seized by the invaders. Colonel Deban himself attempted to flee from the star system on a commercial freighter, but was captured and placed in chains on Vamaus's orders. By the end of the day, Khotyn was completely in the grasp of the Laurasian Empire.
 * Empress Aurelia, however, who believed that the history of the prior campaigns demonstrated Vamaus's "shifting" nature and will, and that she needed a proven commander who would prosecute a vigorous and continual military campaign, decided to replace Vamaus, as Supreme Commander of Laurasian military operations, with Major-General Demetrius Rumanstevius. Following the fall of Kerch, Rumanstevius's units had successively reduced the Marasharite military arsenals on the Upper Don Route and at Cooperia, Evalets, and Circassia. Marson and Bucharina were now both being harried by the General's units, and he had proposed to the Military Headquarters for a swift military offensive to be launched to subdue these two strongholds. On September 14, the Empress officially informed General Vamaus that his services were no longer required, and she formally designated Rumanstevius, now promoted to Lieutenant-General, as the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armies in the Marasharite War.
 * September 15-Laurasian Brigadier-General Alexander Surovius, who had continued to clear out Bar Confederation holdouts from Little Dejanica, and had stormed Krakow Minor three days earlier, finally managed to draw Dejanican General Kazmirzes Pulaskia into a open and pitched confrontation. The Battle of Wlodawa (September 15, 1769) resulted in a decisive victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire. General Surovius again demonstrated his military brilliance in this confrontation, and he captured thirty Dejanican warships with all of their crew. Pulaskia was forced to abandon Klobuck and Jaslo, both of whom now fell into Laurasian possession, and to retreat to his operational headquarters on Krakow. Here he was to remain for the rest of the year, while Surovius continued his operations to clear Confederate units from the outskirts of Berdycrow, Kamenets, and Little Silesia.
 * September 17-
 * On September 17, 1769, recently promoted Lieutenant-General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, who had gained fame at the Imperial Court and throughout the Laurasian Empire for his victories in the Northern Reaches, officially arrived at Khotyn and assumed the supreme command of all Laurasian forces in the Galactic Borderlands. General Vamaus had at first attempted to retain his position of command. He had sent several petitions to the General Headquarters and to the Empress directly, pleading them to reconsider their decision and affirming his loyalty to the Empire. Vamaus claimed that he was the only man capable of subduing the Marasharites and that his strategy of subduing their strongholds by "tried methods" would result in their utter ruin. The Empress, however, had not accepted this argument, and had noted the fact that Rumanstevius achieved his victories with lesser casualties, and that he routinely thrashed armies larger than his own.
 * Vamaus had finally capitulated to the inevitable, and he now turned over the seals of command to General Rumanstevius without demur. Following this, Vamaus proceeded, with an official imperial escort, back to Laurasia Prime. He arrived there on September 21, and by command of the Empress (who had begun her return progress from Polonia Major), would be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal for his efforts in the war. This was meant to provide some consolation to him for having been deprived of his command. Rumanstevius, on his part, immediately announced the commencement of new military offensives against the Marasharite Empire. Laurasian troops now moved forth into the Northern Reaches. The goal of this campaign was to subdue Iasi, Marson, and Bucharina, the last remaining worlds of note held by the Marasharites, and to gain control over the outlet of the Haynsian Trade Highway.
 * September 25-On September 25, 1769, Empress Aurelia returned to the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime with the Imperial Court, thereby concluding the official imperial progress of 1769. The Empress was not in the best mood, and continued to be distressed by the "Scottrian Question" and by the defiance of the Bar Confederation in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. On September 16, the Duke of Norfolkius, who had lost the friendship of even such erstwhile allies as Leicesterius, had returned to Laurasia Prime without leave. There, however, he defiantly continued his pursuit of Queen Mariana, believing that he had become too deeply involved and that any withdrawal would result in loss of his honor. Deeply suspicious of the Duke's intentions, the Empress had sent a summons from The Vyne, the Lord Sandy's estate on Redderson. In this, she commanded the Duke to return to the Imperial Court promptly. Chancellor Cecilis, who had remained on Laurasia Prime to oversee government affairs whilst the Empress was on progress, had given instructions to the Imperial Intelligence Agency that Ambassador de Spes be placed under surveillance and for his correspondence to be examined; as a precaution, all the governmental and military authorities of the Empire's provinces and regions had been secretly instructed to be on alert for any conspiracy or stirs of rebellion. Upon returning to the Quencilvanian Palace, the Empress had learned that Norfolkius, pleading that he was unable to venture his quarters and was ill, had ignored her summons and instead retired to Kenninghall Estate on Charasia, where his grandfather, the 3rd Duke, had died fifteen years earlier. Alarmed by this act of defiance, the Empress came to believe that Norfolkius would secure the support of his servants and retainers for a revolt against her. Two days after her return to Laurasia Prime, she sent him a categorical command to present himself at the Quencilvanian Palace without delay. He was too terrified to do so, in spite of pleas from Queen Mariana herself.
 * October 3-
 * By October 1769, the stirrings of the first major revolt within the Laurasian Empire in fifteen years, since the Wyatta Rebellion of 1754, had become noticeable to all within the Imperial Laurasian Government and at the Imperial Court. These tensions arose in the Malarian Provinces, that same region which had seen Dunsey's Rebellion two decades earlier. Like Dunsey's Rebellion, tensions for what was to become the Malarian Rebellion emerged from a variety of factors. Chief among these was resentment of the interference and control of the Empire's authorities in the Malarian Provinces; localized tensions and grievances; a desire to restore the Imperial Almitian Church to its Traditionalist form and administration; hatred of Chancellor Cecilis and the Empress's other leading ministers; and, more than anything else, anger at the Empress's failure to settle the succession upon the Queen of Scottria. Norfolkius was not intially involved, but the Spamalkan Ambassador, de Spes, had for months been provoking tensions on Malaria Prime, White, Odika, Johnald, Welch, Terell, and in the Maluyta Nebula against the Imperial Laurasian Government. Elsewhere in the Empire, particularly in the Laurasian Purse Region, most Laurasian Traditionalists were loyal to Empress Aurelia.
 * The Malarian Provinces, however, had never been entirely reconciled to the religious reformations of the past five decades, and the two greatest of the Malarian magnates, the Traditionalist Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead, had begun to organize large gatherings of prominent businesspeople, government officials, and gentry. Claiming that they were fostering "loyalty" to the Empress through these gatherings, they were in reality plotting rebellion. Their plan was to murder all of the Imperial Government's chief representatives and military commanders on Malaria Prime and other strongholds, and to liberate Queen Mariana, with whom they had contact since April. Some wished only to remove Aurelia's ministers, such as Chancellor Cecilis, but more ambitious ones hoped to depose Aurelia in favor of Mariana. King Charman III of Franconia, who had already provided financial and military assistance to the Bar Confederation, was involved in these conspiracies. The Haxonian banker Roberto Ridolfi, already mentioned in connection to conspiracies against the Empress Aurelia, provided funds from the Florencian Bank's treasury reserves for a potential revolt. This rebellion constituted the most dangerous threat to Aurelia's position since she had become Empress nearly eleven years earlier. It also came in the midst of the Laurasian wars with the Marasharite Empire and in Dejanica.
 * Cecilis and Empress Aurelia were aware almost from the beginning that the Traditionalist nobles and magnates of the Malarian Provinces were preparing to revolt against her. What they could not risk was the Duke of Norfolkius stirring the strongholds of the Constantine Cluster and Metallasian Trade Route into rebellion against the Imperial Laurasian Government, and joining forces with the rebels. Norfolkius himself had begun contemplating such an idea. By October 1, however, it became clear that the Duke would obtain little support in the Constantine Cluster, and he was lacking in the energy and the motivation to even make a attempt. His chief concern was to try to limit his role in the conspiracy and he sent a communique to the Empress during the late hours of that day, begging her pardon for being unable to attend her at the Imperial Court and asking her to refrain from imposing any punishment on him. He knew that he was "under suspicion" and feared being sent to the Fortress of Baureux, which would be an insult to his honor and his position. Aurelia replied swiftly, declaring that she would not punish the Duke without cause, and then dispatched two further summonses, insisting that the Duke come to the Quencilvanian Palace. Cecilis sent a further communique to the Duke, and gave instructions to the authorities of Charasia to compel his obedience if he did not stir. Norfolkius, however, at last captiulated to the Empress's demands. Aware of the plans of rebellion in the Malarian Provinces, he sent a messenger to the Earl of Malaria Prime begging him to call off the uprising. During the early hours of October 3, 1769, Norfolkius was arrested on his way to Laurasia Prime. Cecilis had assured him that if he submitted to the Empress, she would treat him leniently. For the time being, Aurelia ordered for Norfolkius to be detained at the Tyburnian Stockards in the Cron Drift, while she continued to contemplate over his involvement in the conspiracies.
 * October 7-The Battle of Iasi was fought between the II Imperial Army under the command of General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius and Marasharite units under the command of Subordinate Vizier Al-Barim (October 7, 1769). Vizier Al-Barim was an incompetent and experienced commander, having been promoted to the rank of Subordinate Vizier (the equivalent of Lieutenant-General in the Imperial Marasharite Army) only the previous month and never having waged a miitary offensive. Marasharite defensive positions were also disoriented, as a result of the Laurasian victories at Kerch, the Fairxatia Straits, and Khotyn, and they were not able to resist this Laurasian offensive move. The confrontation lasted for only two hours and resulted in a decisive victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire. Subordinate Vizier Al-Barim himself was captured by Laurasian starfighter squadrons, and on the orders of General Rumanstevius, was placed in chains. Iasi was occupied by the Laurasian Empire; its two major arms production factories, spice mines, and a stock of military armor fell into the possession of the Laurasian forces. Over the course of the next four days, Laurasian units stormed Cantella, Crimea, and the Marasharite observation outpost of Sherri, further isolating Marson and Bucharina.
 * October 13-Empress Aurelia, who had continued to discuss the affairs of the Duke of Norfolkius with Chancellor Cecilis, and reviewed the Duke's communiques and personal correspondence (provided to her by the Imperial Intelligence Agency), decided that the Duke's actions were treasonous enough to merit further action against him. The Empress therefore commanded, on October 13, 1769, for Norfolkius to be translated from the Tyburnian Stockards to the Fortress of Baureux in Christiania, although she gave instructions for all of his comforts to be provided for and for only the most courteous treatment to be extended to him by his guards. This was so as to encourage the Duke to willingly reveal his contacts and his intentions to her and her ministers. Norfolkius was nevertheless terrified when he was imprisoned in the dreaded Fortress, the same place where his father had been executed and his grandfather imprisoned for nearly seven years. Aurelia, however, was not as merciful to Norfolkius's other alleged conspirators. Sir Nicholas Thockmortonia, who had been in contact with the Duke, and who had experienced some dissatisfaction with the influence of Cecilis and his associates, was questioned at the Senatorial Palace by the Chancellor and Procurator-General Bagonius as to his role in the conspiracy. His answers were deemed unsatisfactory, and he was, on the orders of the Empress, confined to his family estate on Apathama Vixius. The Earls of Americana and Aeoleon were also questioned and placed under house arrest, Americana at Nonsuchia Palace on Americana and Aeoleon at Sinclair Castle on Janesia. Aeoleon, however, would be released on November 6, 1769, but his health would decline rapidly and he would die at Hampsonian Palace on Jared at the age of 69 (March 17, 1770). Americana, on his part, would be imprisoned until March 1770, when he would be released at Leicesterius's instigation.
 * October 16-In a personal audience on October 16, 1769, Chancellor Cecilis warned Empress Aurelia that the most dangerous threat to her throne was Queen Mariana, using this information to "remind" his imperial mistress as to where her duty lay. The following day, the Empress announced to the Privy Council that she would have Norfolkius arraigned on charges of treason and conspiracy. Cecilis, however, exercising the privilege of free speech granted him, expressed his opinion that the Duke's actions did not amount to treason, and that "Your Majesty should only inquire into his actions and not denounce him as traitor without solid basis." There was little evidence to suggest that Norfolkius's actions amounted to treason, although in an autocratic system, anyone could be convicted on the most outrageous of charges. Aurelia, however, asserted her firm determination to punish the Duke, and declared that she would proceed against Norfolkius promptly. She then went into a rage and soon fainted. As usually happened, when her rage cooled, the Empress realized that Chancellor Cecilis was right: she should not proceed against Norfolkius without considering all of the facts, and she herself had made it clear, in the Codex Aureliana, that "proceedings without firm evidence are against the will of the Lord Almitis." She then conceded that the Duke might not have treasonable intentions, and ordered for him to remain under imprisonment at the Fortress. Cecilis then suggested to the Empress that she find another bride for Norfolkius.
 * October 21-The Battle of Jimmie was fought between the forces of the Laurasian Empire, under General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, and a Marasharite-Haynsian detachment commanded by General Gasim (October 21, 1769). The result of this confrontation was a almost predictable Laurasian victory. Rumanstevius captured thirty Marasharite warships and nearly 30,000 Marasharite military personnel and Elite Guards; and most of the Marasharite shield generators, starfighters, and military corvettes. Gasim himself barely evaded capture, but most of his officers were killed or captured by Laurasian troops. This victory at Jimmie paved the way to the final Laurasian advance to Marson. Marson's garrison, depleted by futile Marasharite efforts to launch counteroffensives against the Laurasian positions, and demoralized by the continuing losses suffered by their own forces, capitulated to General Rumanstevius without a fight two days later. For this feat, Rumanstevius was congratulated by the Empress Aurelia in an official imperial manifesto. She began to contemplate rewarding him with the Order of St. Arasces the Founder, but decided to wait for further victories before doing so.
 * October 26-On October 26, 1769, Empress Aurelia dispatched to Sir Antigonus Norria, now the Laurasian Ambassador to the Franconian Court, an eight-page communique in which was contained the official Laurasian version of recent events. Norria was commanded to share this draft with King Charman III and Queen-Dowager Catharina d'Medici, who had formally resigned her duties as Regent in December of the previous year. In this, Aurelia insisted that Mariana's life and position had been "saved by her being in honorable captivity; and since she has come into our care, she has been honorably used and entertained and attended upon by noble personages..." The Empress then claimed that circumstances proved that Mariana may have been guilty in the murder of her husband, but then she said that she wished she had not authorized any inquiry. She was "fully determined" to see Mariana restored to her throne, but then discovered the tensions stirring against her government in the Malarian Provinces and elsewhere in the Empire. Aurelia also claimed that Mariana had made numerous petitions to her, and that she had promised she would not be involved in any conspiracy against her government. Instead, however, Mariana had intigued against the Empress to marry Norfolkius. Contrary to what Mariana's supporters believed, Aurelia never had "any thought" of designating Mariana as her successor.
 * November 2-
 * Having learned of the Duke of Norfolkius's predicament, and received another assurance of assistance from Ambassador de Spes, the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead decided that now was the time they needed to move against the Imperial Laurasian Government. Over the course of the past month, they had continued to assemble military supplies, troops, and gentry at their private estates on Acabania, Takrania, Meehan, Manzo, Terell, Welch, Aingley, Evans, Ettleman, Goodman, and at various strongholds of the Narvet Corridor. The Earl of Malaria Prime had decided to deliberately ignore Norfolkius's plea, believing that if he took action now, Aurelia's regime would collapse. Most offensive Laurasian military forces were engaged in the Marasharite War and the War of the Bar Confederation, and the Earl confidently believed that the local government and judiciary garrisons would not be able to halt his advance. And indeed, he made substantial advances over the course of the next week. During the late hours of November 2, 1769, the Earl and his units stormed Timsies and Odika, securing control of those vital strongholds for the Malarian Rebellion, as it had already become called.
 * On November 5, Timaslan, which had long been a bastion of dissent against the Imperial authorities in the Malarian Provinces, and whose inhabitants mostly adhered to the Traditionalist faith, defected to the forces of the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead. By this point, the Earls had secured control of the government garrisons in the Jar Asteroid Belt and in the Trans-Maluyta Nebula, obtaining access to vast stocks of government supplies and reserve warships. Empress Aurelia, on her part, who was in a rage about the final outbreak of the Malarian Rebellion, and bitterly denouncing those who participated, commanded Major-General Sir Bereus Mascouris, who was the Magnus of the Melarnarian Provinces, to advance against rebel positions at White and Odika. General Mascouris moved slowly, however, and on November 8, he was defeated by the Earl of Almastead in the pitched Battle of Durmia. As a result of this confrontation, Kamachina and Johnald fell into the possession of the rebel forces.
 * Then on November 13, the Battle of Ostak was waged between rebel forces under the command of the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almstead, and those of the Imperial Laurasian Government under the command of General Sir Bereus Mascouris (1716-87). Mascouris had managed to reorganize his military confrontations following his defeat at Durmia, and he had fortified the government garrisons of Malaria Outer, Kanley, and Naranja. He had sought to launch a counteorffensive against Almastead, one of the chief centers of the Malarian Rebellion, and to sever rebel supply lines in the Trans-Maluyta regions. The General however, had been intercepted by the Earls, who benefited from their superior knowledge of Malarian space and their grass-roots support among the populations of the star systems in the Maluyta Nebula. The confrontation lasted for over five hours and was again hard-fought, as Mascouris displayed some vitality. Eventually, however, he suffered another crushing defeat, and most of his corvettes and transports were captured by the rebel Earls. Following this, rebel units quickly seized Malaria Outer and Ostak. They now began their advance against Kanley, the chief remaining government stronghold in the Malarian Provinces.
 * November 17-On November 17, 1769, the eleventh anniversary of Empress Aurelia's accession to the throne, the Battle of Buchrania was fought in the Northern Reaches, between the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, and the outmatched Marasharite-Haynsian garrison, commanded by Lieutenant-Vizier Gesler. The result was another decisive Laurasian victory. General Rumanstevius, who had a force of one hundred and fifty warships, lost only two minor corvettes to Marasharite assaults. The Marasharite fleet, on the other hand, suffered extensive casualties; of its ninety warships, forty were destroyed and thirty-two captured by the Laurasians. Bucharina's shields proved no match to the bombardments of Laurasian turbocannons, and the planet soon captiulated to the Laurasian Empire. This system was the last remaining Marasharite stronghold of note in the Northern Reaches and with a population of ten billion, one of the most important systems in the Trans-Amulak Provinces of the Marasharite Empire. For the majority of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it had served as the capital and chief operational headquarters for the Marasharite Northern Reaches. General Rumanstevius now established this world as his command headquarters, moving into the Buchanid Citadel of Romania, the world's capital city. Over the course of the next month, Laurasian troops subdued the last remaining garrisons held by the Marasharites in the Northern Reaches. These included Tabrai, Vibrai, and the Lower Volta Asteroid Bases.
 * November 22-Kanley came under siege by the forces of the Malarian Rebellion on November 22, 1769. The Earl of Almastead had sought to gain the loyalty of Kanley's inhabitants, and had sent numerous communiques to the planetary authorities and police corps, urging them to revolt against the government garrison and to join forces with his rebels. This world, however, was one of the few strongholds loyal to the Imperial Laurasian Government and to Reformed Almitism in the Malarian Provinces, as a result of vigorous conformist policies pursued by the Archbishop of Kanley, Marius Placuillus. As a result, Kanley resisted the rebel forces for a number of days, and several frontal assaults by rebel warships were repelled. On November 24, however, it finally captiulated. As a result of this humiliation, Empress Aurelia finally dismissed General Mascouris from his position of command and issued instructions to the General Staff, mandating that the Earl of Jadia, Lord Husdarania, and Lord Clintonia be readied to take command of government forces.
 * November 25-On the orders of the Empress, Scottrian Queen Mariana was, on November 25, 1769, removed to the Conventhian Mansion on Sanegeta; this world was located some thirty-thousand light years away from the Malarian Provinces, and was deemed to be beyond the reach of the forces of the Malarian Rebellion. The Earl of Hannah, who had been appointed as Assistant Minister of Regional and Provincial Administration in January 1767, and was one of the most loyal officials in the Imperial Laurasian Government, was assigned to assist the Earl of Aretha in his duties of supervision. Other preparations were also made. The garrisons of Laurasia Prime, Caladaria, Darcia, Charasia, and other major strongholds in the Laurasian Purse Region were placed on elevated alert; detachments and patrols were organized at Pasquarillo, Palmisiano, Azov, Courdina V, Gordasis, and along the Metallasian Trade Corridor; and officials throughout the Empire ordered to promptly arrest any who displayed any intention of rebelling against the Empress's regime.
 * November 28-Following the seizure of Kanley, the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead, still pursuing their ultimate goal of deposing the Empress Aurelia, and seeking to obtain the support of certain influential nobles and corporate magnates in the Laurasian Purse Region, launched an offensive against Brastonia (November 28, 1769), which was located thirty-light years to the east of the Jar Asteroid Belt. Brastonia had been colonized by Merevampian Fleet Systems of Charasia as a mining and starship production outpost in 1603, and was, by the latter decades of the eighteenth century, one of the most important construction colonies in the Laurasian Empire. Its military defenses, however, were incapable of standing up to the bombardments of rebel warships, and the world now capitulated to them without a fight. Rebel morale, however, began to decline after this point. Rebel squadrons were defeated in a series of confrontations with government troops at Hadlson, Siri, and Rogers during the first six days of December 1769, preventing their advance to the Metallasian Trade Route and the outskirts of the Constantine Cluster. On December 1, Empress Aurelia formally designated the Earl of Jadia, who had returned from his duties as Governor of Rasdalla Major late the previous month, as supreme commander of the government forces being assembled against the units of the two rebel Earls. She commanded him to employ "all measures necessary" to crush the rebellion, and assigned Lords Husadarania and Clitonia to him as his subordinate fleet commanders. Jadia began assembling his squadrons at Azov, Courdina V, Gordasis, Constantine I, Wroona, Andriana, Mariana Prime, Ietas, Tyndaris, Zeena, Liacrium, Syarcuse, Heuthros, Sauvania, Zoe, and Melarnaria in preparation for a decisive counteroffensive against rebel units.
 * December 4-Having abandoned their plans for the siege of the Jar Asteroids, rebel units under the command of the Earl of Malaria Prime instead stormed Naranja (December 4, 1769), which was one of the most prominent resort colonies in the Laurasian Empire. The capture of Naranja marked the last victory achieved by the rebel forces, for by this point, government forces had largely organized themselves for the decisive counteroffensive against them. Following Naranja's fall to the forces of the Malarian Rebellion, rebel units proceeded to Clifton, which was a minor agricultural colony four light-years northeast of Kamachina. Over the course of the next four days, however, they suffered a series of humiliating defeats in combat against government forces. On December 5, a rebel offensive against the government outposts of Ursula and Guin came to utter ruin in the Battle of Lafaria, which resulted in the capture of seven rebel corvettes by Lord Husdarania, who had been ordered by the Earl of Jadia to launch screening operations against the rebel forces while the main government offensive was being prepared. Two days later, Aingley, whose governmental authorities had come to understand the direction in which the winds were blowing, and hoping to avoid severe punishment by the Empire's forces, betrayed the two Malarian Earls and surrendered to Lord Husadarania. Lord Husadarania was commanded to treat the world's inhabitants leniently. He then cleared rebel units from Welch, Johnald, and Kamachina, driving them towards Clifton and Brastonia. By December 11, government troops were besieging Odika and White; Ularia and Timaslan had already capitulated to starfighter squadrons dispatched by Lord Husadarania.
 * December 13-The Earl of Jadia, who had carefully prepared his military forces, and planned out his operational strategies with Lord Clitonia and his other subordinate commanders, launched the general government offensive from his operational headquarters on Azov on December 13, 1769. Government units, operating from the Jar Asteroid Belt, Kamachina, Azov, and the strongholds of the Metallasian Trade Route, launched a series of devastating assaults in the Malarian Provinces. Evans and Ettleman were overrun by superior government detachments within a matter of hours; Ostak and Malaria Outer were besieged by units under the command of Lord Clitonia; and the Earl of Jadia himself destroyed a rebel armada in the Battle of Van-Gogh. Lord Husadarania now linked up with the Earl's units and consolidated his conquests in the Trans-Maluyta Nebula. By December 16, government forces were advancing to the Narvet Corridor. The Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead were in utter despair, and were at a loss as to how to repulse the government offensives.
 * December 17-
 * The Battle of Goodman occurred (December 17, 1769), and resulted in the most extensive confrontation of the Malarian Rebellion. The Earl of Jadia and Lord Clitonia commanded the government forces of the Imperial Laurasian Government, while the Earl of Malaria Prime directed the actions of the rebel units. From the first, the battle was an uneven match. Jadia and Clitonia had two hundred major warships, six hundred support vessels, and a complement of two thousand Imperial-class starfighters at their disposal; each of the support vessels had a detachment of 30,000 Imperial Shock Troopers and personnel of the Imperial Army. Malaria, on his part, had fifty major warships with two hundred support vessels and only five hundred starfighters. Each of his vessels had a smattering of some ten thousand mercenaries, gentry, and retainers, with some deserters from the Imperial Military Forces and local Judiciary Authorities. Nevertheless, Malaria sought to resist his enemies as long as possible, and his starfighter squadrons managed to inflict some losses upon the government forces.
 * Ultimately, however, the confrontation went decisively in favor of Jadia, and the rebels were swept from the battlefield. Almost eighty percent of the rebel ships were destroyed or captured by the government armada, and thirty of the most senior officers of the Malarian Rebellion became prisoners in the custody of the Earl of Jadia. Malaria himself, however, managed to evade capture, fleeing on his personal starfighter. As a result of this confrontation, however, rebel resistance all but collapsed. Meehan and Manzo captivated to government forces just three hours after the end of the battle; the Battle of Terell resulted in the reconquest of that stronghold by Lord Clitonia on December 19; and by December 21, the remaining rebel squadrons had abandoned Clifton and Brastonia. On December 23, Malaria Prime, Ostak, and Malaria Prime were all stormed by the troops of the Earl of Jadia. The following day, Almastead, Acabania, Odika, White, and the remaining rebel bases in the Maluyta Nebula and along the Narvet Corridor capitulated to the Earl of Jadia without a fight. The Malarian Rebellion had been suppressed after little more than a month.
 * December 25-
 * The Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead, who were now officially fugitives of the Imperial Laurasian Government, and had been comprehensively denounced as traitors by the Empress Aurelia in a imperial manifesto, decided that all was lost, and embarked to flee from the Laurasian Empire. They executed their attempt on Ascentmas Day (December 25, 1769). Riding on the same starfighter, the two Earls managed to evade government interdictor and patrol units at Masan, and fled, by juncture of the Metallasian Trade Route and then the Godwerian Rapid Transit Highway, out of the Caladarian Galaxy and the dominions of the Laurasian Empire. From there, they fled to the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria and sought refuge in the Scottrian Mists. Empress Aurelia, although she was displeased that the two rebel Earls had managed to escape, was nevertheless pleased about the suppression of the rebellion. In an official imperial proclamation, issued from the Palace of Placenta on Darcia (where the Imperial Court was lodging for Ascentmas and New Year's festivities), the Empress declared that "never have these dominions been more disgraced as by the treasonous actions of the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead." Congratulating Jadia and his subordinate commanders for their efforts against the rebellion, Aurelia imposed a sentence of attainder upon both the rebel earls.
 * Denied the benefit of trial, they were declared guilty of treason, conspiracy, and les-majestie against the Imperial Government and were accused of conspiring with the Empire's enemies in a wanton and aggressive fashion. All their family estates and properties were confiscated by the Imperial Chancellory; any grants, honors, and awards made to the two Earls were formally revoked; and they were excommunicated by the Holy Synod. Aurelia also ordered for Jadia to have no mercy for rebel officers or personnel; he obliged promptly by the Empress's commands, and wasted no time in making an example of these men. Reprisals were savage. Martial law was declared in all of the star systems which had been involved in or affected by the rebellion; normal judicial proceedings overriden; and sentences of condemnation imposed on any civilian who had expressed their support for the rebellion. Jadia was also authorized to try, convict, and execute rebels on special imperial warrant, and he did so promptly. Over the course of the next two months, nearly twenty million individuals would be executed throughout the Malarian Provinces for their role in the Malarian Rebellion. Another thirty million would be imprisoned, fined, or exiled to various penal colonies for their role, and two hundred of the most prominent gentry and merchants of the Malarian Provinces would be deprived of their estates, businesses, and goods, which would be distributed to loyal nobles and government officials. Aurelia herself was worried by the fact that Philicus had been willing to support this rebellion, which demonstrated how hostile he had become to her. Urged on by Chancellor Cecilis, the Empress also declared that any future revolt against her authority would be punished with the utmost severity. On this day of Ascentmas, however, Aurelia presided over the celebration festivities at the Imperial Court with much vigor, displaying no sign of anger or distress.
 * December 27-On December 27, 1769, on the orders of the Empress, the Duke of Norfolkius was degraded from the Imperial Orders of St. Antiochus the Great and the Imperial Garter, with his emblems and achievement banners being removed from his honorary stall at the Diplomatic Palace and then, as was required by traditional Laurasian custom, kicked into the Christiania Riverwalk. Norfolkius was utterly terrified, and believed that the Empress would move against him immediately at this juncture. In a solemn communique written to his cousin, he declared that he "never realized how unpleasant this matter concerning the Scottrian Queen was to Your Majesty, and I am sorry for my follies." Somewhat mollified by this, and taking into consideration the fact that Norfolkius did not actually participate directly in the Malarian Rebellion, Aurelia decided to be lenient to him for the time being. She allowed him more liberties at the Fortress of Baureux, such as the ability to take the air and to attend the Galactic Opera under guard. As the year 1769, and the 1760s came to an end, tensions still simmered in some quadarants of the Malarian Provinces, which remained the most unstable region in the Laurasian Empire. Empress Aurelia was wary of the Malarian situation, and at this time, she began to contemplate plans for a comprehensive reform of the administrative, judiciary, and police bureaucracy of the Laurasian Empire (which was to be implemented in the next five years). Moreover, Laurasian forces were posed for a major series of advances against their Marasharite foes in the Muggal Cluster.

1770

 * January 1-On January 1, 1770, the Laurasian Empire's subjects celebrated the commencement of the new year, and of the new decade. As 1770, the 70th year of the eighteenth century, commenced, the Empire was trapped in a "bundle of contradictions", as the situation was described by Chancellor Cecilis, and by many of the other officials and courtiers of the Imperial Laurasian Government. Laurasia was not at peace, as it came closer to the fourth quarter of the century. It was in fact, engaged in two military conflicts: the War of the Bar Confederation in Dejanica, and the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War against the Marasharite Empire and its vassal, the Haynsian Despotate. The Imperial Laurasian Military, whose forces were under the command of such officers as Sirs Demetrius Rumanstevius, Honorius Elmt, and Alexander Surovius, continued to pursue a series of vigorous military offensives and operations in the Galactic Borderlands, the Galactic Void, and the Great Amulak Spiral. Empress Aurelia, basking in the adoration and respect of her subjects, also continued to grapple with the persistent Scottrian Question. Her cousin, former Queen Mariana, was now a prisoner of hers, and the Scottrian realms were engrossed with civil conflict between the government of the Regent Moray (in the name of King Jamsius VI), and the forces of the Marianian Confederation, who sought to restore the Queen to power. These troubles were to ultimately lead to the destruction of Scottria's independence and its final absorption by its Laurasian neighbor, by the end of the decade. The Empress, in her New Year's Day proclamation to her subjects, was optimistic, asserting her firm belief that her Empire, and her subjects, would continue to overcome all obstacles placed in their path. And indeed, 1770 was to see the Empire's military forces obtain a series of decisive victories over the Marasharites and Haynsians, gradually advancing the Laurasian position in the Galactic Borderlands, and into the Great Tesmanian Cloud.
 * January 7-
 * Barely a month after the suppression of the Malarian Rebellion by the forces of the Earl of Jadia, one final outburst of dissent in the Malarian Provinces occurred. This outburst was caused by Sir Leonnatus Dacre (1739-73), who was the second son of Sir Willanius Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gisland, and brother of Thomasius Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gisland. His nephew Georgius Dacre, 5th Baron Dacre, had died at only the age of eight on May 17, 1769. His uncle was ambitious and determined, seeking not merely to remain a baron but to perhaps obtain a high rank among the imperial nobility, even as high as that of a Duke. Dacre had been a member of the Imperial Chamber of the Nobility of Laurasia Prime from 1758-1763, but had later been implicated in the conspiracies against Empress Aurelia. In 1766, he had exchanged several communiques with the Scottrian Queen Mariana and with the Earl of Malaria Prime, expressing his intentions to restore "proper" Traditionalism in the dominions of the Empire. When his nephew died three years later, his three grandnieces inherited the patrimony to the Dacre estates; although he became 6th Baron Dacre, it had been specified by his brother’s will that this should only be "in guardianship" for his daughters upon the death of his son. Dacre rankled at this and was determined to overthrow this condition.
 * Following the outbreak of the Malarian Rebellion, Dacre had arrived at the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime, where he sought to present his case directly to the Empress, as were his rights as a nobleman of the Laurasian Empire. The Empress, although she had long been aware of Lord Dacre’s conspiracies, as a result of the surveillance imposed on the nobleman by the Imperial Chancellory and the Ministry of Justice, nevertheless had decided to receive the nobleman in a formal audience within the confines of the Grand Corridor. In his audience, which had been held December 6, 1769, Dacre had professed himself to be a loyal nobleman and claimed that he would continue to vigorously defend the rule of the Empress and the Imperial Laurasian Government. Seven days later, he had been granted leave to depart from the Imperial Court, and had returned to his estates on Gisland, which had long been the chief headquarters of the Dacre family and was renowned for its medicinal and research development facilities. There, however, he began to plan his revolt against the Imperial Laurasian Government. Over the course of the next month, Dacre had assembled military supplies and equipment on Gisland and at his estates on Paradine, Nezbit, Blackria, Takrania, and Tasablakaia. He also provided technical assistance to the government forces of the Earl of Jadia, and on December 24 received a commendation from the commander of the government forces for his actions. By January 5, however, Dacre had definitely resolved on rebellion. Two days later, on January 7, 1770, he issued a manifesto from his headquarters on Gisland, declaring that he could no longer give his allegiance to the authorities of the Empire and that he was rising in order to preserve the liberties of "Traditionalist, Almitis-fearing Laurasian subjects."
 * January 9-
 * On January 9, 1770, Empress Aurelia, who had returned to Laurasia Prime from Darcia, issued a manifesto ordering for Lord Husadarania, who had remained in the Malarian Provinces to oversee the processes of punishment and imposition of order following the suppression of the Rebellion, to organize his military units and to launch a series of swift assaults against Dacre. Over the course of the next four days, a series of confrontations took place between the government armada and the units loyal to Dacre, as conflict again engulfed parts of the Malarian Provinces. Clifton, Tasablakia, and the Laurasian colonies of Tori, Alizea, and the Station of Kellerman were seized by Lord Dacre. On January 14, Dacre established his command headquarters at Grevanian Castle on Surios, one of his family’s chief estates, and then proceeded to fortify Pemworth Spaceport. His assaults against Brastonia and Kamachina ended in failure, however, and by January 17, Laurasian authorities had confiscated Dacre estates on Paradine, Nezbit, Blackria, and Takrania. The Lord’s three nieces were placed under house arrest at the Champaran Heights on Augis II, and all of their businesses were placed under interdict by the Imperial Minsteries of Commerce and Finance.
 * Then on January 22, 1770, Antigonus de Scropius, 9th Baron Scropius of Boltonia (1718-77), who served as the Assistant Governor of Malaria Prime, and was also an attache of the Imperial Ministry of Regional and Provincial Administration, sent a communique to Chancellor Cecilis, declaring that he had received orders to besiege Dacre at Pemworth Spaceport and to take him into custody, but stating that such a task would be difficult. Instead, the Baron, who had been appointed as a subordinate commander of the governmental forces by Lord Husadarania, attempted to trick Dacre by offering to parley with him at Johnald. Dacre, however, had responded that he would not be able to leave the stronghold until he had received assurances from the Empress that he would not be punished for his crimes. Instead, however, he offered to hold a dinner of honor with Baron Scropius at Pemworth Spaceport, and to suspend further operations by his units. Scropius, however, refused, and two days later, hostilities were renewed.
 * On the same day of Lord Dacre’s futile "parleys" with Baron Scropius of Boltonia, Laurasian units in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the command of General Sir Honorius Elmt defeated Dejanican starfighter detachments under the command of General Moritz Berewoskia (1719-77) in the Battle of Dobra. This confrontation resulted in the destruction or capture of thirty rebel transports by the Laurasian Empire, and the fall of Dobra, previously a major rebel supply base, into their hands. In the aftermath of the Battle of Dobra, the Empire's forces continued to press the advantage against their Dejanican adversaries. By the end of January 1770, they had besieged and conquered Silewick, Michelow, Polotsk, and the Environs of Vilno, recovering lost territories from Bar Confederate forces in Lithuania, Dejanican Lavella, and in the outskirts of the Krakow Voivodeship.
 * January 23-
 * Baron Scropius continued to pursue campaigns against the rebel forces under the command of Lord Dacre. Irustkia and Voronstkia were reconquered by government forces, resulting in Dacre losing access to communications terminals in the Jar Asteroids and being forced to strengthen the defenses of Gisland. Nevertheless, the Lord Husadarania was preparing still for a final and decisive counteroffensive against the forces of the Dacrian Rebellion, being determined to continue the suppression of tensions elsewhere in the Malarian Provinces. On Laurasia Prime, Empress Aurelia continued to watch these events in the Malarian Provinces. She sent a constant stream of communiques and orders to her commanders and to the Earl of Jadia, and authorized for a series of further imprisonments and curfews to be imposed, so as to maintain the obedience of the Empire’s Malarian subjects. She also monitored events in the Bar Confederation, and authorized General Elmt to begin offensives in the Krakow Voivodeship. Finally, she had assigned General Sir Petevius Panius to command of the 5th Imperial Army and made him the subordinate officer to Lieutenant-General Rumanstevius. Rumanstevius, at his operational headquarters on Bucharina, continued to make preparations for the offensives in the Muggal Cluster which were to be launched later in the year.
 * It was not all business for the Empress however. On January 23, 1770, she and the Imperial Court officially opened the Imperial Galactic Exchange of the Laurasian Empire in Christiania. Sir Thomasius Greshamius (1719-79), who had graduated from the Imperial College of Architecture in 1752, and had then become one of the leading architects and engineers in the Laurasian Empire, working with Chancellor Pharmaceuticals, Xilelian Engineering Systems, and the Imperial Ministry of Works and Holdings, had designed the Exchange, which was meant to serve as the central forum of galactic commerce and transport in the Laurasian Empire. Construction on the Exchange had begun in 1764, and had continued with much vigor for the past six years. The Empress’s procession to the Exchange site was accompanied with much splendor and festivity, and an herald made the official announcement of the Exchange’s opening.
 * Shortly after the conclusion of the Exchange festivities, the Empress and her ministers returned to the Quencilvanian Palace, where there was planned a series of festivities for the Imperial Court that night. Near 5:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, however, she received notification that the Earl of Moray, Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, had been assassinated on Linlithgow. Throughout 1769, Moray had continued to intrigue, to gain the assistance of the Imperial Laurasian Government against his enemies and to consolidate his position on Ediania. He had exchanged several communiques with Chancellor Cecilis and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to that effect, and had even requested for a conference to be opened on Frederickshamm, for the commencement of formal alliance negotiations between the two governments. The Treaty of Ediania was not considered valid by this stage, for its provisions had never been formally ratified by the Scottrian Queen and Estates.
 * On January 19, 1770, Moray had been residing at Stirling, where he had invited the Laurasian Ambassador, Sir Antigonus Gagius, Marshal-General of the Berwick Barrier, and Sir Willanius Drury, Chief of the Imperial Naval Headquarters, to dinner for a formal conference concerning diplomatic relations. Following the conference, the Regent of Scottria told Ambassador Gagius that he would take all measures to extradite the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead, who were hiding in the vicinity of Branxholme and Albright, back to the Laurasian Empire and to provide for the harsh punishment of any in the Scottrian realms who provided comfort to rebels against the Imperial Laurasian Government. Following this conference, Moray turned his attention to the situation concerning Dumbarton, which was still held by Queen Mariana's supporters against him. On January 21, he sent communiques to summon Morton, Lindsay, and Home to a session of the Scottrian Estates on Ediania. The following day, the Regent departed for Linlithgow, where he planned to strengthen the star system's garrison and to issue instructions for reconnaissance expeditions to be launched against Dumbarton. During the early hours of this day, Moray proceeded with a detachment of aides from his chambers in Linlithgow Palace. In the Palatial Precincts, he was hit by a blaster fired by Jamsius Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, who had remained loyal to the cause of Queen Mariana. Rushed back to the hospital quarters, Moray's condition quickly declined.
 * He died at 4:30 P.M. Galactic Standard Time. Hamilton, on his part, disguised himself as a spice navigator and managed to flee from Linlithgow on a commercial freighter. He made it to Dumbarton by January 25, safely in the territories controlled by his family, the Hamiltons. News of his death spread quickly by means of the Inter-Galactic Media, and it was Ambassador Gagius who sent the message to the Privy Council. Empress Aurelia expressed shock and "outrage" when she learned of the Regent's assassination. Declaring that the Regent had been a "honorable" personage, Aurelia ordered the Imperial Court into two days of mourning on his death. Queen Mariana, however, rejoiced when hearing of Moray's assassination and attempted to contact her young son, King Jamsius VI. Aurelia, however, ensured that her messages never reached Ediania. The Empress now believed that with Moray gone, plans to impose Laurasian influence on Scottria could now proceed with the minimum of friction.
 * February 14-Following his assassination, the body of the Regent Moray had been taken from Linlithgow first to the Chapel Royal in Stirling Castle, and then taken along the Forth Highway to Leith. From there, it had been transported to Holyroodian Palace on Ediania. On February 14, 1770, the Regent was formally interred at St. Giles Kirk in Ediania. His body was carried in state by the Earls of Mar, Morton, Glencairn, Angus, and Leith; William Kirclady of Grange, who had remained loyal to the Regent to the end, and was one of the most ardent opponents of the deposed Scottrian Queen Mariana, bore the Standard of the Red Lion of Scottria and presided as Marshal over the funeral ceremonies. The Scottrian Congregational Church, under the direction of the ever-ardent and strict John Knox, had actually forbidden funeral sermons, considering them to be improper. For the occasion of the Earl's funeral, however, this prohibition was waived. Knox himself preached at the Earl of Moray’s funeral, and expressed his sadness that the Scottrian Gods had decided to bring to a termination "the life of such a virtuous and patriotic soldier."
 * February 15-
 * Lord Husadarania, who had maintained his command headquarters on Welch, now formally received orders from the Empress and the Imperial Privy Council in order to launch his formal counteroffensives against the units commanded by Lord Dacre. Husadarania moved swiftly (February 15, 1770), and wasted no time in driving against rebel positions. Within two days, government units had stormed the rebel garrisons of Tori, Clifton, and Alizea, and were threatening the defenses of Joanne and Brickens, both of whom had been discovered by rebel expeditions the previous month and been used as intelligence outposts. Lord Dacre, assembling his military units at Surios and Pemworth Spaceport, now prepared for a final confrontation with the forces of the Imperial Government. The Lord foolishly believed that the "will of Almitis" would be in his favor and that he would be able to disorient and disrupt the government units. On February 20, the Battle of the Gelt Asteroids took place between Laurasian forces under Lord Husadarania and his chief subordinate lieutenant, Sir John Forstius (1735-81), and the remaining forces of the Darcian Rebellion, under the command of Lord Dacre himself. This, however, had not been the original or intended site of confrontation for Lord Husadarania and his military commanders. During the early hours of this day, the government forces had approached Gisland, determined to conquer this chief center of rebellion and to secure possession of Narworthian Tower. Husadarania, however, determined that it would not be wise to launch an offensive against Gisland’s defenses at this juncture. He and Sir Forstius then proceeded from Gisland to the Station of Kellerman, where they were joined by Lord Scropius. Dacre, who had reorganized his starfighter squadrons, shadowed the government forces along their entire route of progress.
 * When they reached the Station of Kellerman, the rebel nobleman believed that this was the time he could launch an assault against the government positions. Rebel starfighters and corvettes, penetrating from Pemworth Spaceport and Altencio, launched a series of ambush attacks against Laurasian patrol units at the outskirts of Kellerman. This was soon followed by a general offensive, with Dacre's starfighters seeking to break government supply lines. This attack, however, was repulsed after a confrontation which lasted for two hours and resulted in severe losses for the rebel forces. Following the repulse of this assault, the unity and integrity of Lord Dacre's forces collapsed. Lord Husadarania, displaying great courage and ability, pressed the advance against the rebel forces, and soon chased most of their warships to the Gelt Asteroids, located four light-years to the east of the Station of Kellerman. There, Dacre launched one final offensive, but this was easily repulsed by the government warships of General Forstius. The confrontation now ended in a decisive victory for the Imperial Laurasian Government.
 * Husadarania captured most of the remaining rebel warships and twenty of the rebel officers and commanders; he ordered for these men to be bound in chains and to be formally denounced as traitors by the personnel of his fleet. Dacre himself managed to flee on his personal starfighter towards Blithedale in the Galactic Barrier, being closely pursued by government units along his entire route of retreat. By March 1770, he had managed to reach the Angelina Spiral and immediately sought refuge at Raindburgh. By the end of March 1770, Pemworth Spaceport, Joanne, Brickens, Surios, and Gisland had all been reconquered by Lord Husadarania's forces, and the Dacrian Rebellion was completely suppressed, resulting in the restoration of order to the Malarian Provinces. Lord Husadarania, who returned to Laurasia Prime on April 5, was congratulated by Empress Aurelia on his victories and rewarded the Order of the Imperial Garter. As for the rebels, Dacre became involved for a time with the Marianian Confederation. He eventually fled to the Great Amulak Spiral in September 1771 and sojourned at Mechlin, Roosevelt, and Antwerp before dying at Brussels on August 22, 1773. The Earl of Malaria Prime was captured by the Earl of Morton in July 1770 at Madelaine and in February 1772, was handed over to the Imperial Laurasian Government. He was brought to Malaria Prime, tried and convicted there by the Councils of State, and executed on August 22, 1772, aged forty-four. His compatriot, the Earl of Almastead, eventually fled to exile in Spamalka, and subsisted on a pension from the Emperor. He eventually died at Madrid on November 16, 1800, aged fifty-eight.
 * March 7-
 * During the early months of 1770, the Laurasian Empire's military forces continued to engage in a series of raids and other operations against the forces of its Marasharite and Haynsian forces, in preparation for the major offensives now planned by the Imperial General Headquarters. General Rumanstevius focused his attention on disrupting Marasharite lines, gathering intelligence, and consolidating the Laurasian position in the vicinity of Merevop and Bendery, both of which were to become targets of his in the near-future. Laurasian forces were particularly successful at Thurman (January 8, 1770), capturing thirty Marasharite xebecs, impounding a cache of enemy intelligence files, and conducting a general survey of the system's defenses. Successive clashes with Marasharite garrisons at Yivpran, Relaprasian, and Melaprasian (January 15-21), also proved valuable, and in February 1770, Rumanstevius directed an assault against the Marasharite military garrison of Petrania, quickly securing that stronghold, and using it to launch further expeditions into the Galactic Void. Nevertheless, the General believed it important that the Marasharites be kept off balance, and that an expeditionary move, into the Great Tesmanian Cloud, and from thence, into the Amulak Gateways, would be the perfect means of accomplishing this. He now obtained the support of the Earl of Leicesterius for his plans. Leicesterius, following the progress of the war with much interest, and pained that he could not himself participate in the battles being waged, and the operations planned, was determined to advocate new, and bold strategic ideas before the Privy Council. This opportunity came (March 7, 1770).
 * The Council convened in a joint session with the Imperial Chiefs of Staff in order to discuss the upcoming military operations. Leicesterius now proposed for a expeditionary assault, utlizing the Imperial Laurasian Navy and a corps of Marines and Army troops, upon the Marasharite Grecian Provinces and Bosporan Straits. These regions provided the Marasharite military forces access to the Great Tesmanian Cloud, and formed the main corridor for their supply lines. Until this point, they had remained beyond the range of the Empire's military offensives, and this had eased the Marasharite supply and transport lines. Leicesterius sought both to enhance the Empire's prestige and to disrupt the Marasharite forces in the Muggal Cluster and Northern Reaches, slowing their response to further offensive moves, and preventing them from imperiling the defenses of the Borderlands Provinces for any longer. When first hearing of her favorite's idea, the Empress was reluctant. Chancellor Cecilis, who continued to remain opposed to any attempts by Leicesterius to assert his influence on Her Imperial Majesty, and not wishing to incur a humiliating defeat at the hands of Marasharite forces, tried to obstruct the plan. The Earl of Jadia, however, while still a personal rival of Leicesterius, saw value in his operational schemes, and seconded them. Aurelia now came to the decision that this military operation could be tried. On March 12, she formally condoned the plan, and issued instructions to the Minister of Defense, then Lieutenant-General Sir Cassius Phyrus (1710-78), a veteran of the Third Laurasian-Marasharite War, the War of the Rough Wooing, and the Didymeian War of Franconia, to coordinate the offensive plans with Generals Rumanstevius and Sir Petevius Panius (1726-89), appointed on February 17, 1770, as Rumanstevus's aide-de-camp and chief subordinate. The schemes now proceeded in quick fashion, and Aurelia herself embarked on the task of delegating command responsibilities for the offensive.
 * March 21-During the early months of 1770, as had been mentioned above, the events of the War of the Bar Confederation continued to proceed. On February 12, General Sir Honorius Elmt clashed with the Bar Confederate forces of Lithuanian Prince, Field Hetman Karol Dagonius, once allied to the former Laurasian Ambassador, Ambassador Sir Nicholas Repanius, in the Battle of Blonie. The battle ended with a predictable Laurasian victory and the destruction by Laurasian forces of the Blonie Communications Terminal, which had served as a major communications and intelligence hub for rebel forces in the Little Dejanican Provinces. Following the fall of Blonie, Prince Dagonius and General Kranskia decided to revert to a passive, defensive stance, in order to repel front-line Laurasian assaults and maintain the worlds which they now held. General Pulaskia, however, was determined to embark on a different course. He conducted operations in the vicinity of Nowry Targ during the remainder of February 1770, capturing a number of Laurasian corvettes and starfighters, strengthening his own supply lines, and keeping his enemies off balance. Then on March 21, 1770, Dejanican General Kazimerzes Pulaskia suppressed the conspiracy of Josef Bierzynskia (1732-70), who had originally been one of the chief officers of the Bar Confederation. Bierzynskia had gained prominence for his victories over Laurasian troops at Blania, Glondak, and Prondak, all of which had been achieved in November and December 1768. He had been considered a "great hope" by the Council of the Bar Confederation, who believed that he would eventually be instrumental in the reconquest of Kamenets, Bar, and Dejanica Minor from the forces of the Royalist Government and the Laurasian Empire. Bierzynskia, however, had become resentful of the power and influence of such personages as General Pulaskia, and from January 1770, he had been in correspondence with the Laurasian General Sir Honorius Elmt. His activities had been exposed by informants of the Confederate Council, and he had been denounced for his actions. Bierzynskia, who had established his command headquarters at Pulliac, was arrested and executed two days after the dispersal of his followers. By April 1770, Pulaskia had established his command headquarters at Izby, which was located at the confluence of the Krakow Command Highway with the Regional Operations Route.
 * April 2-
 * Following the advice of Leicesterius and General Phyrus, Empress Aurelia, on April 2, 1770, formally designated Sir John Hawkius (1732-95), as the Fleet Admiral of the 57th Imperial Fleet (attached with the 2nd Corps of Marines and the 50th Imperial Army), which was charged with the invasion and conquest of the Grecian Provinces and the Bosporan Straits. Hawkius, who had been born at Rebecca on May 22, 1732, was of the same generation, and the same mindset, as the Empress herself and had already gained fame for his naval exploits throughout the Caladarian Galaxy. Following his graduation from the Imperial Merchant Marine Academy of Laura in 1755, Hawkius had joined the Imperial Merchant Exploration Corps, which was operated by the Ministry of Space and Transportation for the purpose of conducting supplies for the Imperial Household. He quickly gained notice, however, for his skills of command and his ability to tackle the challenges posed by outer space without demur or restraint. In 1762, his fame had been further elevated within the Empire when he single-handily fought off a raid by Haynsian corvettes against his transport fleet at Outpost Guinea, which was located at the Galactic Frontier Trade Route. Following this feat, Hawkius had been reassigned to the Imperial Navy, graduating from the Naval Academy of Darcia with top honors in 1766. He had accelerated rapidly through the ranks, and within three years, had advanced from lieutenant to commodore. His exploits against the Bar Confederation (1768-69) and in the early campaigns of the Fourth Laurasian Marasharite- War now prompted Aurelia to designate him as chief naval commander of the expeditionary forces.
 * The more senior officers, Admiral Sir Samedius Greigus (1735-88) and Vice-Admiral Sir Gregory Sprivdaus (1713-90) were appointed as his subordinate commanders, and were charged with assisting him in strategic and supply depositions. Hawkius departed from Laurasia Prime two days after his appointment. Arriving at Kerch on April 7, he was greeted by Lieutenant-General Rumanstevius. Wasting no time, Hawkius, having taken command of the 57th Imperial Fleet, and of the 1st and 2nd Auxiliary Forces, began to prepare for the offensives into the Great Tesmanian Cloud, utilizing the chief strongholds of the Galactic Frontier Route and Northern Reaches to his advantage. He also ordered for the assembly of Laurasian reconnaissance and survey forces at Belkadan, determined to employ these throughout the Galactic Void. The Admiral also found himself engaged in efforts to repel Marasharite expeditions against Varta, Calrissian, and Burantis during this time. Working in conjunction with him and the General Headquarters, the Imperial Intelligence Agency engaged in an elaborate scheme of trickery, using deceptive communiques and dummy transmissions to fool the Marasharite High Command on Topacia into believing that the Empire was preparing for a series of offensives against the Haynsian Despotate, rather than in the Cloud. The Marasharites, consequently, strengthened the garrisons of the Haynsian Slave Highway and the Brigoff Stellar Nebula, but did nothing to shore up their position elsewhere.
 * April 21-On April 21, 1770, Empress Aurelia was warned by the Imperial Privy Council that, if she forced Mariana’s restoration in Scottria, this would actually hamper her efforts at imposing the domination of the Laurasian Empire in the Angelina Spiral. The Empress, however, "refused" to heed their warnings in public, and declared that she could not afford to alienate the Franconians of King Charman III, who had continued to provide financial assistance to the Bar Confederation and were even provoking the Marasharites into maintaining their state of military hostilities with the Laurasian Empire. In private, however, Aurelia told Chancellor Cecilis that neither the Franconians nor the Scottrians could know of her true intentions: her subjects certainly could not, and had to believe that the Empress was dedicated to preserving Scottria’s independence. The following day, she sent to Queen Mariana a list of stringent conditions which had to be agreed on before she would consider helping her regain her throne. Not only had Mariana to ratify the Treaty of Ediania, but she also would have to send her son Jamsius to the Imperial Court on Laurasia Prime as a hostage for her adherence to the agreement. Cecilis concurred with this privately. In public, however, he and the Empress kept up their game: he, as well as Procurator-General Bagonius, expressed their opposition to the Empress’s intentions, and she burst out in a fit of anger at them in the presence of Franconian Ambassador Fénelon, left confused as to the Empress’s ultimate intention. Throughout the summer solstice of 1770, the Empress would maintain that she was working for Mariana’s restoration, while in reality she was using her characteristic delaying tactics to keep Mariana imprisoned and to provoke further tensions in Scottria against the Scottrian Estates. In May 1770, Leicesterius would suggest to the Empress that Mariana be installed on the Scottrian throne as a Laurasian puppet. Aurelia then accused of him of being overly friendly to the Queen of Scottria, but within days, this quarrel was resolved.
 * May 3-On May 3, 1770, Doge Pietro Loredan of Haxonia died at Ravenna. He was eighty-eight years old at the time of his death. Loredan was succeeded as Doge by the Haxonian High Admiral Alvise Mocenigo, who had served as Ambassador to the Holy Spamalkan and Holy Austarlian Empires. Mocenigo had been one of the candidates in the election of 1767, but had lost by a narrow margin to Loredan. He was the first Doge to have been born in the eighteenth century (October 26, 1707). Mocenigo was crowned as Doge on May 11.
 * May 6-
 * After over a month of preparations, the 57th Imperial Fleet, under the command of Fleet Admiral Sir John Hawkius, finally departed from Kronstadt, which had been colonized by the Imperial Ministry of Defense as an intelligence outpost and starship construction facility in 1703, and had become one of the chief bases for the Imperial Armed Forces in the Outer Borderlands (May 6, 1770). The Empress herself had made the journey to Kronstadt in order to witness the departure of these forces; she was accompanied by the Earl of Leicesterius, Chancellor Cecilis, and Lord Husadarania, whose favor with the Empress was especially high because of his suppression of the Dacrian Rebellion. The Imperial Laurasian Government kept to the official story that the purpose of this expedition was to "punish" the Haynsian Despotate for its ceaseless operations and raids against the Caladarian Galaxy, and to bring that state in subjection to the Laurasian Empire. In reality, Laurasian naval corps proceeded by juncture of the Vremian Void Route to the Bosporan Straits, which were located in the Northern Borderlands of the Great Tesmanian Cloud.
 * Then (May 12, 1770), the Battle of Aledormeia was waged, fought between Hwakius and Marasharite forces under the command of Kapudan-Bey (1719-92), 1st Commodore of the Marasarite Bosporian Squadron. Following their departure from Kronstadt, Laurasian forces had advanced nearly thirty thousand light years across the Galactic Void to the Northern Borderlands, and had begun to descend from the Vremian Void. The sudden Laurasian offensive from the Void was viewed with the Marasharites with condescension and surprise, who had believed that Laurasian units would soon be attacking the Outskirt Districts of the Haynsian Despotate. This Laurasian ploy had left them clearly unprepared, and the Marasharite forces would pay dearly for their mistake. This confrontation resulted in a decisive victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire. Aldeormeia itself was besieged and conquered by Admiral Sprivadus, already distinguishing himself for his exploits in battle. Over the course of the next week, Laurasian troops would subdue Koron, Yefstavy, and Moreia, resulting in the disruption of Marasharite supply lines. The Marasharite High Council was prevented from sending further reinforcements through the Bosporan Straits, and General Rumanstevius now resumed his offensives in the Muggal Cluster.
 * May 14-Empress Aurelia, seeking to demonstrate her continued "adherence" to the stability of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, and her "concern" for its inhabitants after the untimely demise of the Regent Moray, dispatched, on May 14, 1770, from Dehner, Onasi, and Waxefield, a expeditionary corps under the command of the Earl of Jadia, who had once again departed from Laurasia Prime on commission of the Empress. Jadia’s chief subordinate commander, Sir Willanius Drury, had concluded a military provision agreement with the Earls of Morton and Mar and the Scottrian Estates at Leith (March 19, 1770), which had permitted the deployment of Laurasian troops against the Marianian Confederation. The following month, forces under the command of Lord Hamilton had begun to besiege Glasgow, one of the chief fortresses of the Scottrian Government. Drury and Jadia were instructed to drive rebel units from Glasgow and to escort the Earl of Lennaxia to Ediania. Lennaxia had successfully petitioned the Empress to permit him to return to the Scottrian realms on a permanent basis; in secret, Aurelia had assured the Earl that he was to become Regent of Scottria, as successor to the late Moray. Two days after the Empress Aurelia’s dispatch, the forces of Jadia and Drury, holding control of the garrisons of Haddon Rig, Leith, Branxholme, and Haddington, descended upon the outskirts of Glasgow. Lord Hamilton and the Earl of Huntly, knowing that they would not be capable of resisting the offensives of the Laurasian forces, fled to Arran and Craignethen, beyond the vengenance of Laurasian troops. By the end of May 1770, Drury had also secured Rothes, Douglass, and Deirth from rebel troops, and was preparing for offensives against Dumbarton and Hamilton.
 * June 1-In a final operations conference held on Kerch (June 1, 1770), Generals Sirs Demetrius Rumanstevius and Petevius Panius decided the operations which were now to be launched in the Muggal Cluster and against the Haynsian Slave Highway. Panius was now assigned to lead the conquest of Merevop and Bendery, which would provide Laurasian troops access to the outskirts of the Angelina Spiral. From the perspective of General Rumanstevius, this would pave the way for a decisive assault upon the Haynsian Despotate the following year. Rumanstevius himself was to lead the conquest of the chief strongholds of the Muggal Cluster. The conference adjourned after two hours of deliberations. General Panius now advanced to Tabrai and began to advance his units to the Haynsian Slave Highway and the outskirts of Merevop. Then (June 5, 1770), the Battle of Thronton was waged, as Panius clashed with Marasharite and Haynsian forces under the command of Thronton's Garrison-Commander, General Halbet-Pasha (1715-90). Halbet-Pasha, who had previously commanded the garrisons of Haynes and Neal, had been hastily reassigned by the Marasharite High Council to defend against Laurasian assaults from the Northern Reaches. General Panius, however, held a clear advantage over his adversary, and after a confrontation which lasted for only two hours, he swept the Marasharite units from the battlefield. Halbet-Pasha was captured and was bound in chains on the order of the Laurasian General. Following this confrontation, Thronton, Umma, Thurman, and Dunst capitulated to the forces of the Laurasian Empire. By June 15, Merevop was under siege by General Panius’s starfighter squadrons.
 * June 9-On June 9, 1770, Dejanican General Kazimerzes Pulaskia and the Council of the Bar Confederation held an audience with the Austarlian Emperor Joseth II at Presov. Joseth’s mother and co-ruler, the Austarlian Empress Mar’va Tarvania, had herself been provisioning the Bar Confederation, and she had declared numerous times to her Council of State that she would declare war on the Laurasian Empire if "only the resources of my empire and the unity of my military forces permitted that possibility." In June 1769, and again in January 1770, Joseth had held a series of interviews with his mother's great rival, the formidable Pru'a IX, at Neisse, Weimar, and Mahrisch-Neustadt. In these conferences, the two monarchs had discussed about the Bar Confederation, the Durthian Rebellion, and in particular, Empress Aurelia's actions towards Marasharita and Scottria. Joseth had sought to gain information for his mother on the preparedness and deposition of Laurasian forces, and to sound on Pru'a on joint action in regards to the affairs of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Pru'a, although polite, had remained noncommittal, and did not pledge himself to anything.
 * June 10-
 * The Battle of Navarino was waged (June 10, 1770) near the Bosporus Straits by a Laurasian warship detachment under the command of Admirals Sprivadus and Greigus, against the garrison and fleet of that star system, commanded once more by Kapudan-Bey. Navarino was one of the chief Marasharite strongholds in the Straits. Originally colonized by the Ancient Grecian state of Melanoria in the 7th century BH, Navarino had passed under the control of a succession of foreign states. It had most recently been held by the Principality of Morea, before that state had been conquered by the Marasharite Empire in 1453, the same year the Marasharites destroyed the Byzzarian Empire of the Little Amulak Cloud. For over three centuries, Navarino had served as the naval headquarters for the Marasharite Bosporan Squadron. It was at this world that Marasharite military commanders had planned their military campaigns in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, Angelina Spiral, and Caladarian Galaxy, against the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, and of course, the Laurasian Empire.
 * It boasted a garrison of some 500,000 Marasharite naval personnel and 20,000 Elite Guards, making it one of the most formidable star systems held by the Marasharites outside of the Marasharite Homeland Territories. The Laurasian force which assaulted Navarino was actually inferior in numbers to the Marasharite squadron, for Laurasian units were engaged in confrontations with Marasharite detachments at Chios, Lesbos, and Hosmonia. Admiral Sprivadus, however, used interdictor vessels and a string of hit-and-run attacks by his starfighters to pierce Navarino’s defenses, which were not designed to resist such an assault. Navarino capitulated to the Laurasian Empire four days after the initial military confrontation, resulting in a humiliating loss for the Marasharites. Kapudan-bey was captured at Hunter’s Star, and was, on the orders of Admiral Hawkius, sent back to the Caladarian Galaxy to be imprisoned at the Khan’s Compound on Karakorum.
 * June 17-
 * The Battle of Riababia Mogila was fought (June 17, 1770), between General Sir Rumanstevius and Haynsian Despot Kaplan-Empi II. Prior to the commencement of this battle, General Rumanstevius had successively reduced the Marasharite garrisons of Balta, Podovaria, and the Egregian Sects of the Galactic Barrier. Kaplan-Empi II had ascended to the Haynsian throne in February 1770, following the "enforced" abdication of his older brother Neal V Karany. He was therefore inexperienced as to the cares of war, but had nevertheless sought from the Emperor Mustapha, and had secured, the right to command troops in battle against the upstart Laurasians. Kaplan-Empi II actually had a numerial advantage over his Laurasian adversaries, but this did not decide the outcome of the battle. General Rumanstevius launched two flanking assaults against the Haynsian forces, and then sent his starfighter squadrons to smash the rear of the Haynsian formation. The Battle of Riababia Mogila ended in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire, with the Despot himself being forced to flee with his warships. Following this confrontation, Rumanstevius’s troops overran Kilongjong, Dilojong, Seoul, and the Stations of Ung. Ung and Karlong were now being continually harried by Laurasian expeditions. Ayensdord, where the two Amelianian brother-kings Hengist and Horsa had defeated the Torfians of King Kim-jong un in 1055, 715 years earlier, capitulated to General Rumanstevius on June 26.
 * Then on June 24, he clashed with Marasharite General Al-Doat (1722-75) in the Battle of Chardis. Chardis, which was located on the outskirts of the Muggal Cluster, had remained one of the chief bases of military operations for the Marasharite military forces in the Galactic Borderlands. From this vantage point, Marasharite reconnaissance expeditions had constantly harassed the Laurasian garrisons of Illumis, Bocarina, Sissy, Ba'dai, Teller, Latrice, and Billy Gasis. General Al-Doat was no more competent or prepared than any of his predecessors, and his forces were decisively thrashed by the Laurasian forces. As a result of this battle, Chardis and Cando were overrun by the forces of General Rumanstevius. The 2nd Imperial Army was now advancing from Riababia Mogila and Chardis to Ung, having secured the approaches to that important Torfian star system. The Marasharite High Council, under the direction of Emperor Mustapha, had dispatched the Grand Vizier of the Marasharite Court, Ivazzade Halil, in order to take command of Marasharite military operations against the advancing Laurasians. Kaplan-Empi II, however, was determined to gain glory for himself by battle with the Laurasian forces, and believed that he would be able to halt their advance into the Muggal Cluster. He now assembled his military squadrons at Jeoyang, Jinn, Kilia, and Braila, which served as major Marasharite supply bases.
 * June 29-Queen Mariana, attempting to display a gesture of goodwill, and hoping to earn more kind treatment, sent the Empress a gift on June 29, 1770: a materials set with a lock engraved with a cipher which had been used by the two sovereigns in the years before Mariana's abdication. When Aurelia received the gift, she declared that she wished that "circumstances were in the same state they were when this cipher had originally been engraved" and that the Anti-Almitis had influenced Mariana's foolish and vain conduct in her realms. Mariana, however, remained reluctant to accept the Empress's conditions for restoration, and she continued to send communiques to her supporters among the Marianian Confederation, expressing her hopes that she would be liberated from her imprisonment and would be able to reassert her position as Queen of Scottria.
 * July 4-General Kazimerses Pulaskia's command headquarters on Izby, from which he had directed operations in Little Dejanica and the Krakow Voivodeship against the forces of the Laurasian Empire and the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was stormed by a detachment of Laurasian warships under the command of the Archleutan Brigadier-General Johann von Drewitz (1720-86) on July 4, 1770. Drewitz had graduated from the Imperial Army Academy of Caladaria in 1742, and had by virtue of his command abilities, his tactical insight, and his willingness to coordinate military offensives with other commanders, risen to a higher command in the Imperial Army. He was even considered by some circles at the Imperial Court and on Archleuta as the next Field-Marshal Munnich. Drewitz, however, is destined to never even reach that high and lofty position which had once been enjoyed by the Field-Marshal. Reassigned to operations in Dejanica, by his own request, in September 1769, Drewitz had pursued his missions against the Dejanican forces with vigor. On May 13, 1770, he had participated in the Battle of Deborzyn, in which Pulaskia suffered a humiliating defeat to General Alexander Surovius, including the loss of thirty of his corvettes. Following this defeat, Laurasian troops had reconquered Osrony Trojy and Zator, being on the verge of launching an offensive against Krakow itself. Now, the destruction of the Bar Confederation headquarters on Izby forced General Pukaskia to retreat to Zips, which was located near the border with the Austarlian Empire. By the end of July 1770, most of the strongholds in the Krakow Voivodeship were in the hands of Laurasian and Loyalist Dejanican forces, with the sole exceptions of Krakow and Silerwin.
 * July 5-
 * For over a month, the Laurasian Fleet Admiral Sir John Hawkius and his subordinate commanders, Vice-Admirals Sir Samedius Greigus and Gregory Sprivdaus, had been conducting an extensive reconnaissance of the Bosporan Straits, attempting to pinpoint the location of the chief Marasharite military fleet. Although Navarino was now in the possession of the Laurasian Empire, this had not meant the complete elimination of all Marasharite forces within that star system's vicinity. Indeed, the Marasharite naval commander, Mandalaze Husameddin, had deliberately avoided direct combat with the Laurasian naval forces, under the orders of the Marasharite High Council. The attentions of the High Council and Emperor Mustapha were fixated on the tensions in Aegyptiania, which were to soon erupt into open revolt against Marasharite authority. They sought to maintain their grip over affairs in that province, while at the same time monitoring the continued progress of the war. Therefore, they had ordered Husameddin to stay at his post until "suitable" reinforcements could be sent.
 * The previous day, July 4, 1770, a Laurasian reconnaissance corps under the command of a young captain named Franconius Dracius had encountered Marasharite ships in the Medieterra Straits, which were located six light-years to the east of Navarino. Captain Dracius was able to capture a number of Marasharite frigates, and from his prisoners now obtained information that the chief force under the command of Pasha-Admiral Husameddin was stationed at Chesma. Chesma, which had been colonized as far back as the eighth century BH, had been under the governance of the Genevian Republic of Chios from 1304 to 1566. In that year, the year of the death of Marasharite Emperor Suleyman the Magnificent, the Marasharite Admiral Piyale Pasha had subjected the star system to Marasharite authority. Pasha, in fact, had faced no resistance from the star system's authorities, simply docking at the Chesma Spaceport and summoning the nobles of the star system to inform them of the change in governance. For over two centuries since then, Chesma had become one of the major spaceports in the Marasharite Provinces of the Great Tesmanian Cloud. It had commercial connections with Navarino, the Bosporus Straits, Jassy, Akkerman, Bender, the Haynsian Slave Highway, and the Northern Reaches, allowing rapid transit to those star systems for transportation purposes. Known for its production of foodstuffs and exotic wines, Chesma boasted a population of three hundred million respectable, obedient inhabitants by the late eighteenth century. It also possessed the massive Chesman Dockyards, constructed by Marasharite Governor Qadim in 1596 and expanded to include space enough to dock a ten-mile dreadnought.
 * Admiral Hawkius became determined that this star system would submit to the authority of the Empire. Captain Dracius, in his report to Admiral Hawkius and his subordinate commanders, determined that the Marasharite fleet included sixteen destroyers of the line, including Real Mustafa of 84 turbocannons; Rodos of 60 turbocannons; and the flagship, the Idumelman, which possessed one hundred turbocannons. In addition there were six frigates, 6 xebecs (Marasharite corvettes), 13 galleys, and 32 couriers, with 1,300 turbocannon in total. Ten of the destroyers were in the Marasharite main formation with six in the second, arranged so that they would fire through the gaps in the first formation. Pasha-Admiral Husameddin directed the operations of the fleet from the Indumelman, which was placed at the front of the first formation, while Subordinate-General Hasan Pasha commanded the Real Mustafa and Sergeant-General Cafer Bay commanded the Rodos. Husameddin had continued to believe that the Laurasian forces would not assault Chesma, and that he would eventually be able to receive reinforcements from the Grecian Provinces in order to drive Laurasian troops from the Bosporan Straits. In this, he was grievously proved wrong. During the early hours of July 5, Admiral Hawkius advanced his forces to the outskirts of the Chesma star system. The Laurasian armada was comprised of four dreadnoughts, including the flagship Dessarina, from which Hawkius would command the fleet's operations; nine destroyers; three frigates; one armored transport; four carriers; four supply ships; and four automated transports. Although on this surface this force was numerically smaller than that of its opponents, it had much more firepower and more disciplined strategy. The Laurasian warships had a combined total of 1,600 turbocannon and also possessed a complement of three thousand starfighters, which was not available to their opponents. It is with all this in mind that one must view the advances of the Laurasian forces. Upon reaching the outskirts of the Chesma star system, Admiral Hawkius delivered a speech to his personnel, declaring that success in this battle would be vital to the overall prosperity and strength of the Empire. Following this, the Laurasian force moved towards the south end of the Marasharite formations and then turned north, coming alongside the Marasharites, with the tail end coming into action last. Pasha-Admiral Husameddin and his subordinate commanders were surprised by the sudden appearance of the Laurasian forces, and hastily sought to organize their squadrons for the ensuing confrontation. At about 11:45 A.M Galactic Standard Time, the confrontation started when Marasharite frigates unleashed fire upon the Laurasian dreadnoughts and transports.
 * The Laurasians soon returned fire, and their destroyers began to flank the dreadnoughts as they launched their projectiles against the enemy force. The initial confrontation lasted for little over two hours. Three of the Laurasian dreadnoughts had trouble remaining in formation, disoriented as they were by the assaults of the Marasharite frigates. The Caladaria turned around and came back behind Miramov; Trech Syveteilai circled the Marasharite galley Iduleia Amudadia before coming back into the Laurasian formation, being attacked in error by Antigone Prya while she was doing so; and St. Januarius turned around before coming back into the line. Admiral Sprivdaus, who commanded St. Januarius, had a close-range battle with Hasan Pasha in the Real Mustafa. Suddenly, the Marasharite warship experienced a catastrophic reactor failure. Explosions ripped throughout the bridge and the decks of the ship; it was now hurled right towards the St. Januarius. The Laurasian ship had no warning, and the Marasharite vessel now slammed into its broadside. The Januarius lost environmental pressure and began to spin out of control. Admiral Sprivadus and Captain Willhelm von Kruse (an Archleutan) had both departed from the flagship before the explosion, in order to direct the launch of the Starfighter units. It would later be claimed by Admiral Gregius that Sprivadus had departed from the flagship with foreknowledge of the reactor explosion, and that his actions demonstrated that he was a coward. Within five minutes, the Laurasian dreadnought had suffered a catastrophic internal breach and exploded, tearing apart into stray atoms. Real Mustafa soon followed; as a result of this accident, nearly 50,000 personnel on both sides lost their lives. Admiral Sprivadus assumed command of the Trech Syveteilai, while Captain Kruse was commanded to assign the 1st Fleet Starfighter Squadron in action against the Marasharite forces. About 2:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, the active fighting on that day terminated. Pasha-Admiral Husameddin, from the Iduleman, ordered for his warships to regroup. The Marasharite forces formed themselves into a defensive line of eight destroyers of the line; a second line with the remainder of the destroyers, the xebecs, and the frigates; and then the remaining galleys and couriers. The following day, Laurasian starfighter squadrons struck against Marasharite fleet positions, gradually pushing towards the Marasharite Assembly Base in the Chesma Straits.
 * July 7-
 * At 12:30 A.M. the morning of July 7, 1770, Fleet Admiral Hawkius dispatched Vice-Admiral Sir Samedius Gregius, who had taken command of the Miramov, to attack with Caladaria, Antigone Prya, Miramov, and Aurelia Zemalaka forming a north-south line against the Marasharites, and with the Vemensia in reserve; Nadarania attacking the batteries at the eastern outskirts of the Chesma Straits; Galactica attacking the batteries and defensive outposts on the western outskirts of the Straits; and Garama stationed near Galactica. At about 1:30 A.M. the Aurelia Zemakala and the Garama launched a surprise offensive against the Marasharite defensive lines, employing their own turbocannons and a detachment of four automated transports, which had been rigged with thermo-explosives and proton torpedoes. Soon, the transports headed into the Marasharite lines; the Marasharite commanders, who had decided to rest from the exertions of war, and believed that Laurasian forces would eventually tire themselves out in assaulting the Chesma system, were surprised by the sudden appearance of this "apparition" (as they deemed it), among their ships. Soon, one of the Marasharite destroyers, the Idlaria, which had been stationed at the Nemeian Outpost, was struck by one of the automated transports and exploded in a violent chemical reaction; the flares from the Idlaria accelerated at the speed of light and smashed into nearby Marasharite warships. These ships had attempted to hastily raise their shields, but the flares were simply too fast for them to defend against. Within thirty minutes, two more Marasharite destroyers, the Roxalana and the Hossem, had suffered catastrophic reactor failures and decimated into stray atoms, with four more experiencing the aftershocks of an assault by the second Laurasian automated transport. Admiral Gregius, confident that the battle had turned in his favor, sent three frigates and the Laurasian detachment of starfighters, which had largely been kept in reserve. The starfighters, agile and more mobile than the unwieldy Marasharite warships, launched a barrage of incessant fire upon the bridges of the vessels.
 * Confusion ensued in the Marasharite force, and soon, the four other destroyers experiencing complications had also been destroyed. The Laurasian units now penetrated the defenses of the Chesma Straits, driving the Marasharite frigates and xebecs before their ranks. By about 4 A.M., only two of the Marasharite destroyers, the Rodos and the Cassios, remained intact. Admiral Husameddin, who had been forced to evacuate his own flagship due to the surprise Laurasian offensive, attempted to dispatch four of his couriers in order to rescue the crews of the besieged Rodos and Cassios. The couriers, however, were intercepted by Laurasian carriers, and in the confrontation that ensued, two of them were destroyed. One was severely damaged, and the fourth was forced to retreat. Within another four hours, the Rodos was captured intact, along with ten galleys and all of the remaining xebecs. Only the fourth courier and the Cassios, along with three galleys, managed to escape from Chesma. At 9:00 A.M., Chesma, whose garrison was now being bombarded by Laurasian warships from above, and had been cut off from supply lines to Marasharite forces in the Grecian Provinces, surrendered to the forces of Fleet Admiral Hawkius. The Battle of Chesma had ended in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire. The Laurasians had suffered 25,000 casualties, as a result of the loss of St. Januarius, with another 35,000 wounded. St. Januarius and the four automated transports were the only Laurasian ships lost in the battle; the rest of the force emerged intact. The Marasharites, on the other hand, had suffered immensely. Out of their initial force of sixty-seven warships, only four survived. The rest had been destroyed or captured by the Laurasian armada. Mandalazade Husameddin, Hasan Pasha, and Cafer Bey all survived the confrontation and managed to escape from Chesma. Emperor Mustapha and the Grand Council, outraged at this loss, dismissed Husammedin from his post and replaced him with Cafer Bey, now designated as Pasha-General of the Bosporan Straits and Grecian Provinces. This, however, was not the only humiliation suffered by the Marasharites on this day.
 * At the exact same time of the Battle of Chesma, another confrontation had emerged between the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires: in the Muggal Cluster. Lieutenant-General Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, supreme commander of Laurasian forces in the Northern Galactic Borderlands, had continued to pursue his military objectives against his Marasharite adversaries in the Muggal Cluster. Following his victory at the Battle of Riababia Mogila, Rumanstevius had continued to consolidate his position in the Muggal Cluster. In early July 1770, Laurasian troops under his command stormed the Marasharite outposts of Ainslea, Pearce, Diana, Jevette, and Cabrany, continuing to threaten the supply lines of Ung and Kumong. The Haynsian Despot Kaplan-Empi II, although he had demonstrated his incompetence and inability in the field of battle, and had not prevented further Laurasian advances into Marasharite territory, nevertheless remained commander of the Marasharite forces operating in the Northern Muggal Cluster and the Galactic Barrier regions. Grand Vizier Ivazzade Halil had still not arrived in the Galactic Borderlands, being delayed by confrontations with Grecian and Albanian pirates in the Gateway Provinces (who received encouragement and financial aid from the Imperial Laurasian Government to stir up trouble for the Marasharite authorities). General Rumanstevius had therefore decided to obtain a decisive victory over the forces of the Haynsian Despot, before the Grand Vizier's arrival.
 * Laurasian troops began to advance against Larga, a major Marasharite supply base and penal colony located one hundred light-years to the northeast of Karlong. Larga had been colonized by the Marasharite Military Exploration Corps, under the direction of Admiral Bushadn Mermeddin (1503-75), in 1565. This was during the pursuit of the final Marasharite campaigns of subjugation against the Iffians in the Satian Provinces. Originally a agricultural and intelligence outpost, it had been converted to a penal colony towards the end of the seventeenth century, during the reign of Marasharite Emperor Chomqat II. The planet was dominated by the Larga Penal Fortress, which held 300,000 inmates and slaves, who had been drawn from throughout the Marasharite Empire. They labored in the planet's numerous arms workshops and supply factories, providing weapons and equipment to Marasharite military workshops. All total, Larga had a population of six million oppressed souls. General Rumanstevius wished to secure control of Larga's industrial resources and to deny the use of slave labor in that star system to the Marasharites. He was pursuing both economic and humanitarian concerns: Laurasian hostility towards slavery and serfdom remained strong, but Rumanstevius also wanted this star system to contribute to the Empire's economic system. During the early hours of July 7, Kaplan-Empi received word that a Laurasian starfighter squadron had been sighted scouting the outskirts of the Larga star system. The Despot, confident that he could reverse the humiliations of his prior defeat, and perhaps convince the Grand Council to retain him in his position of command, moved his force out from Larga, hoping for a direct confrontation with Laurasian forces. At 10:00 A.M., the Battle of Larga commenced. The Marasharites relied upon fifty-five destroyers, ten dreadnoughts, six frigates, and thirty Haynsian scoutships to repel the Laurasians.
 * On Larga, they had deployed an army of three hundred thousand soldiers. General Rumanstevius, on his part, had a force of one hundred dreadnoughts, twenty destroyers, and fifty couriers, with an army of 400,000 soldiers of the Imperial Army and Marines onboard twelve automated transports. Within a matter of hours, the Laurasian Empire had obtained another decisive victory over its Marasharite adversaries. General Rumanstevius deployed his starfigthers and couriers effectively, penetrating the Marasharite right wing and sweeping forth to Larga's outskirts. Laurasian troops landed on Larga whilst the Marasharite and Haynsian warships struggled in vain with Laurasian units in the straits around the star system. Larga's land garrison collapsed, and General Rumanstevius himself led the troops who stormed the Citadel and the Penal Fortress, freeing virtually all of the Marasharite prisoners and slaves. By 4:00 P.M., the remaining Marasharite warships had been routed, and the star system was completely secured by the Laurasian forces. Empress Aurelia, when she was informed that her forces had won smashing victories at Chesma and Larga on the same day, some of the most decisive victories secured by the Laurasians over the hated Marasharite savages, went off into a public display of joy and issued a proclamation from the Imperial Court, declaring these victories had been secured by adherence to the directives of Almitis. Massive celebrations occurred throughout the Laurasian Empire, and Chief Procurator Amynstas Parsius presided over a Te Deum service at the Westphalian Cathederal. Marasharite Emperor Mustapha, on his part, wailed loudly within the confines of his personal quarters; his subjects decked themselves in black garments and bent their heads in shame.
 * July 11-The Siege of Merevop, which had continued for nearly a month, finally ended in a decisive victory for the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Sir Petevius Panius (July 11, 1770). Panius, who was a deliberate, cautious commander, who made sure that his supply lines were secure and that his forces were arranged and coordinated effectively, had successively reduced the garrisons of Knouss, Johnson, and McNichols, which had provided Merevop access to the Haynsian Slave Highway and the products imported from the Marasharite Homeland Territories. Therefore, when Merevop itself came under the final assault from Laurasian forces, it was not able to resist. Within three hours of the final Laurasian assault, the star system's defenses had been penetrated by Laurasian warships; by the end of the day, it was in the possession of General Panius. The final fall of Merevop extinguished the last Marasharite military base in the Northern Reaches, leaving Bendery and the military outposts of the Haynsian Slave Highway exposed to Laurasian offensives. Four days after this victory, the Empress Aurelia conferred the Order of St. George (which she had established as a new military decoration for heroism in November 1769) upon both Rumanstevius and Panius. An imperial manifesto declared that both had contributed much to the successes of the Laurasian Empire and that they would be rewarded for their successes in the future.
 * July 12-
 * The Scottrian Estates and Council of State formally convened at the Holyroodian Palace in Ediania, on July 12, 1770, in order to formally designate the successor to the late Earl of Moray as the Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. The Earl of Lennaxia had finally arrived at Ediania nearly a month earlier, on June 15, and had immediately focused his efforts on consolidating his position of patronage and influence within the Scottrian Government. With the assistance of Sir Willanius Drury, who had assumed the supreme command from the Earl of Jadia at the end of June 1770, Lennaxia was able to secure the support of John Knox, William Kirclady of Grange (whose loyalties to the regime of King Jamsius VI had begun to waver following the death of his master and friend, Moray), and the Earls of Morton and Mar, allowing to establish himself as the leading contender for the regency. Drury, on his part, had blockaded Dumbarton and Hamilton, seizing rebel garrisons on Dunbar, Bannockburn, and Haltersted.
 * This allowed him to consolidate the central government's control of the Scottrian Central Provinces, and to prevent any nobles from interfering with the proper succession to the regency. Within hours of the formal summons, the Earl of Lennaxia had been formally appointed Regent and Lord Protector of the Celestial Kingdom of Scotrria, to enjoy all of the privileges which had previously been held by the Earl of Moray until the King of Scottria was to come under age. Confirming the military provision agreements reached with the Laurasian Expeditionary Force, Lennaxia swore to remain "friendly and true" towards the Imperial Laurasian Government and to refrain from engaging in conspiracies with the Empire's enemies. By the end of July 1770, he had consolidated his position on Ediania, ordering the arrest and imprisonment of a number of notables who had opposed his ascension to the highest seat of power. Empress Aurelia, on her part, was pleased, and in an official communique to Drury, commended him for his actions in "maintaining the influence of our honorable realms in the Scottrian dominions."
 * July 21-The Battle of Sackrandis was waged (July 21, 1770), between General Rumanstevius and Marasharite General Kaslaban. Qaplan-Empi II, the Haynsian Despot who had lost to the Laurasians in the Battles of Riababia Mogila and Larga, had finally been commanded by the High Council, acting on the orders of Marasharite Emperor Mustapha, to retire back to Haynes on July 9. The Despot had protested this, and begged his suzerains for one final chance to obtain victory over the advancing Laurasian forces. His pleas however, had been ignored, and Mustapha himself issued a manifesto to his subjects, declaring that the Despot's incompetence and inability to obtain military glory were the reasons for his dismissal. Qaplan-Empi II had finally obliged by the High Council's commands, departing from the Galactic Borderlands on July 12. Kaslaban, who commanded the garrisons of Ung and Kumong, was commanded to prevent Laurasian units from seizing Sackrandis and to tie up their advance until Grand Vizier Ivazzade Halil could take command of Marasharite forces. Kaslaban performed his instructions to the letter, although he had little offensive experience and knew that his forces were outnumbered and outgunned. The Battle of Sackrandis, which was waged in the outskirts of the star system, nevertheless turned out to be a particularly hard-fought confrontation, as Marasharite warships resisted the Laurasian starfighter squadrons fiercely. Ultimately, however, General Rumanstevius obtained victory in this confrontation. Within two days, Sackrandis had capitulated to his forces, with General Kaslaban himself falling into Laurasian hands. He was treated well and was given status as a honorary prisoner of war, accustomed by the Imperial General Headquarters to only the most honored and respected of adversaries. The fall of Sackrandis gave General Rumanstevius a direct route to Kumong. Before he could begin his advance against that star system, however, another confrontation ensued.
 * August 1-
 * On July 26, Grand Vizier Ivazzade Halil, who had been formally designated Supreme Commander of the Marasharite forces in the Galactic Borderlands, and had been charged by the High Council with repelling Laurasian offensives and reconquering lost strongholds in the Northern Reaches as well as the Muggal Cluster, finally made his entry into the Caladarian Galaxy. The Grand Vizier's "personal" fleet arrived at Kabar, a minor Marasharite outpost located in the Galactic Barrier regions. Halil was an ambitious and intriguing official. He was the son of Ivaz Mehmed, who had served as Grand Vizier of the Marasharite Empire (March 1739-June 1740). Ivaz Mehmed had been dismissed from his post after only a year because of his failure to suppress a civil uprising on Topacia in quick time. His son had therefore clawed through the ranks of the Marasharite power structure by his own effort, rising to the rank of Pasha-General by 1755 and then Governor of the Archipalego Systems in 1767. On December 13, 1769, Emperor Mustapha had raised him to the Grand Viziership, impressed by his efforts to ensure the efficient collection of the Emperor's dues in his jurisdiction and by his suppression of the Camablak Taxation Revolt at Chios and Lesbos. Halil himself had pressed to be assigned to the Galactic Borderlands, and his wish had been granted. Believing that he would be able to defeat General Rumanstevius with relative ease, the Grand Vizier brought with him a massive force of warships and personnel. At Kabar, Laurasian spies noted that the Marasharite armada comprised of seventy destroyers of the line, twenty dreadnoughts, one hundred carriers, fifty frigates, two hundred couriers, fifty automated transports, and some seven thousand stealth-fighters.
 * This was supplemented by twenty Haynsian scoutships and four carriers bearing some 200,000 elite Haynsian Warriors. General Rumanstevius, when hearing of this, realized that his forces were outnumbered. He had three hundred warships at his disposal, compared to the four hundred and ninety possessed by his enemy. The General also realized, however, that this was quickly balanced by the Laurasian advantages in firepower, navigation, and mobility. He also had four thousand reserve Imperator-class starfighters and twelve scout escorts, which could be used to penetrate Marasharite supply lines. Finally, his turbocannons and artillery were commanded by General Seleucus Melissano. General Melissano, who had graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy of Artillery and Weapons Sciences in 1740, had served in the Artillery Corps for his entire career. He first became prominent during Queen Mariana's War (1759-60), commanding artillery in the Siege of Leith. He then served against the Bar Confederation (1768-69), before being reassigned to the Marasharite theater of operations in November 1769. In that capacity, he had distinguished himself at Bucharina, Riababia Mogila, and Larga, becoming known as the most effective Laurasian operational commander. Melissano was now charged with coordinating the projectile fire of the Laurasian ships in this new confrontation; this task he performed brilliantly. On July 28, Grand Vizier Halil decided to proceed towards Imegina, in order to fortify that stronghold and to establish it as a bastion in the face of the Laurasian advance. General Rumanstevius learned of this through his intelligence patrols and decided that a surprise offensive was necessary in order to defeat the larger Marasharite armada. Three days later (July 31, 1770), the Grand Vizier's units reached Kagul, a minor colony located six-hundred light years to the west of Imegina. Kagul had been originally colonized by the Torfians in 466; thirteen centuries later, it had a population of only twenty million. Rumanstevius, acting on the advice of General Melissano and on his own initiative, decided this was where the surprise assault was to be launched. Laurasian units, assembled at Riababia Mogila and Sackrandis, moved swiftly and secretly to the Kagul Trunk Line, which connected the world with the more important system of Pyongyang (held by a mid-sized Marasharite garrison).
 * By the early hours of August 1, 1770, Laurasian forces had seized virtual control of the Kagul Trunk Line and were approaching the outskirts of the Kagul star system. Grand Vizier Halil ignored all warnings by his commanders, believing the Laurasians would not seek battle over such a minor world as Kagul. In this, however, he was proved grievously wrong. At about 7:00 A.M. Galactic Standard Time, General Rumanstevius ordered for Melissano and his artillery-frigates to advance. Melissano launched a swift offensive against Marasharite dreadnoughts at Kagul Monitoring Station. The Marasharites, caught unawares, were unable to raise an effective resistance; Laurasian units soon smashed their positions and drove them fleeing in all directions. Grand Vizier Halil moved out with his destroyers and frigates, seeking to overwhelm Melissano's assault squadrons. At this point, General Rumanstevius unleashed his escorts and starfighters upon Kagul's defenses: the shield generators buckled under the assault of thousands of attack craft, and within minutes, had cracked. Laurasian dreadnoughts and destroyers then launched a pincer attack against Halil's command formation; surrounded on virtually all sides, the Grand Vizier and his chief warships were put to flight.
 * By 11:00 A.M., the Battle of Kagul had ended in a smashing victory for the Laurasian Empire, the greatest victory Laurasian forces had yet obtained, in two centuries of combat, against their Marasharite foes. The Haynsian formations had made a slower progress from Kabar, and their absence from the battlefields of Kagul played a key role in the Laurasian victory. The Laurasians suffered only 3,000 casualties with the loss of five carriers and a dreadnought; their Marasharite adversaries suffered nearly 250,000 casualties, with virtually all of their couriers, frigates, and dreadnoughts being destroyed by the Laurasian forces. All of the fleet's automated transports and twelve destroyers of the line were captured by the Laurasian forces, as were the 200,000 personnel of Kagul's planetary garrison, the Kagul Monitoring Station, and sixty shield generators. Grand Vizier Halil fled to Babar, but his loss at Kagul had effectively disgraced him. When news of the victory reached Laurasia Prime, the world exploded into celebration. Empress Aurelia issued a manifesto to her subjects, expressing her joy for the victories granted to her forces by the Lord Almitis. Even Pru'a IX of Pruthia, who had continued to send subsidies to the Imperial Court in accordance with the alliance of 1764, sent a letter of congratulations to General Rumanstevius. On August 16, the Empress formally promoted Rumanstevius to the rank of Field-Marshal and conferred upon him the Order of St. Antiochus the Great. Melissano, who had been Major-General of Artillery, was promoted to Lieutenant-General and made supreme commander of all artillery units in the Marasharite theater. In the seven days after the Battle of Kagul, Laurasian units conquered the Marasharite garrisons of Pyongyang, Il-Suk, and Verdorium Minor, severing the last supply lines to the outskirts of Ung and Karlong.
 * August 3-Birth at Potsdam of the Pruthian Emperor A’rua IV (1797-1840). He was the eldest son of Crown Prince A’rua and his wife, Fredericka Louisa of Hesse-Darmstardt.
 * August 6-
 * Chancellor Cecilis and the Earl of Leicesterius managed to persuade the Empress, on August 6, 1770, that the Duke of Norfolkius, who enjoyed a level of popularity with the people of Laurasia Prime and had acted foolishly, rather then in a treasonous fashion, against the Empress, should be transferred from the Fortress of Baureux. Aurelia herself had come to this point of view. The victories being obtained by her military forces against the Marasharites, as well as the establishment of a pro-Laurasian regency in the Scottrian realms, mellowed the Empress's attitude towards Norfolkius. Therefore, on the eve of her departure for the progress of 1770, she issued orders permitting the Duke to be transferred from his imprisonment in the Fortress to house arrest at the Charterhouse in Constantinople, which was one of the Howardis family's chief estates. As a condition for this, the Duke was made to swear that he would never again involve himself in any affairs involving Scottrian Queen Mariana. Norfolkius promised, and the Empress allowed him more liberty of movement then he had enjoyed previously. The following day, the Empress and the Imperial Court formally embarked from Laurasia Prime for the progress of 1770. This progress took the Empress and the Imperial Court to the Kimanian Trade Run, and into the Melorkian Provinces. Nathaniel became the first world visited (August 9-14, 1770). The Empress toured Nathaniel City, which was dominated by its huge skyscrapers and corporate towers. Nathaniel was the headquarters of Sinarian Fleet Systems, one of the Empire's chief shipbuilding firms; numerous other corporations, such as Christiania Pharmceuticals, the House of Duras, and Katherine Drive Yards, also had offices and installations on the world.
 * From Nathaniel, Sanegeta (August 16), Chappelle (August 17-18), Hooper (August 22), Drennan (August 24), George (August 25-26), Osriana (August 28), and Brittany (August 29-September 1), were all visited. Sanegeta, home to the Lomarian Shipyards and to several surveillance bases of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, proved unique for Aurelia. On Hooper, she visited Hakae City, which was built on an ancient mound. The Hooperites were known for their intense connection for nature and the mysticism of their chief faith, Lenatism. Drennan was a major mining entrepot; George, a technological shipping point; and Brittany, a renowned resort world. Aurelia then proceeded to Tournacia (September 2, 1770), visiting Makranian Wastes and the Sundarian Flatlands, the latter of which was marveled for its natural beauty. Merovech, Algaica Belguica, and Riparia were visited (September 3-7, 1770): on Merovech, the Melorkian House of Clothat entertained the Imperial Court at the Pavilion of Paris, and on Algaica Belguica, the Empress received 1,000 casks of Belgucian brandy, one of the Galaxy's most famed alcoholic drinks. Riparia, on its part, impressed Aurelia with the beauty of its circular rings. On September 11, Aurelia proceeded to Alsauborg, a tundra-like world known for its extensive reserves of diamonds, which made it one of the chief mining worlds in the Empire. Cholodio (September 12-14), Rasti (September 16), and Kentaborn (September 17), were then visited in succession, with Kentaborn now serving as a staging area for civilian corporations and the Imperial Laurasian Navy. Tamars followed (September 19, 1770), and Aurelia dined with the Four Houses of Thebes City, the wealthiest and most powerful Melorkian noble families in the system. Ensrassburg, known for its robotic factories, received a brief visit the following day, and on September 21, Aurelia proceeded to Melorkia Major, once capital of the Confederate Kingdom of Melorkia.
 * She stayed on Melorkia Major for three days, touring the cities of Orleans and Tours; visiting the Melorkian Royal Mausoleum, and paying her respects at the tomb of the great King Clovis (who had now been dead for 559 years); and taking in the pleasures of the Louvre Museum, the Chateaus of Outer Melorkia, the Melorkian Art Gallery, the High Temple of Notre-Dame, and the Melorkian Romantic Quarters. On September 24, the day of her departure, Aurelia received a salute from the Hommes aux armes (Melorkian Men at Arms), and was given an Honorary Degree in Natural Sciences from the Academie Melorkie. From Melorkia Major, Aurelia made visits to Brooke One, Hefner, Matthew, West, and Mirohossani (September 25-30, 1770), and on October 1, she reached Les Mans. There, she had a chance to observe the operations of the Les Mans Aqueduct, one of the largest water-collection systems on any world in the Empire. Jasmine then became the final system to be graced with Her Majesty's presence (October 2-3, 1770), and delighted in the Portmaster's Pavilion, a lavish structure which served as a spaceport, governmental headquarters, and public market, all in one. It was built out of fine marble, aquarius, brimstone, and limestone, and was sheathed in gold, silver, copper, and bronze coverings. The Empress then took her leave of the Melorkian Provinces, and proceeded back to Laurasia Prime, arriving there on October 8.
 * August 14-The Battle of Ung was waged between the Laurasian Empire's forces, under the command of the soon-to be promoted Lieutenant-General Demetrius Rumanstevius and his subordinate General Melissano, and those of the Marasharite Emperor under Pasha-General Harem-Bey (August 14, 1770). Ung, which was one of the historic Torfian worlds, and was among the chief strongholds of the Muggal Cluster, was a prize very much coveted by the Imperial Laurasian Government. In July 1770, the Empress of Laurasia had declared to the Imperial Privy Council that the Laurasian Empire would never be secure until it held full control of the Muggal Cluster and Northern Reaches. General Rumanstevius had been instructed to subdue all of the major strongholds of the Muggal Cluster before the termination of the year. In this, he performed brilliantly. This confrontation resulted in a predictable victory for the Laurasian forces, who now enjoyed a numerical supremacy over their opponents in all theaters of war (conscription and military levies throughout the Empire resulted in the diversion of vast reinforcements to the Muggal Cluster and the Bosporan Straits). By August 17, Ung had been completely secured by the forces of Field-Marshal Rumanstevius. On August 20, the garrison of Karlong, fully aware of its isolation from reliable supply lines, surrendered to General Rumanstevius without a fight. Rumanstevius's units then began to blockade Braila and Kilia, two major Marasharite operational bases in the vicinity of Kumong. Grand Vizier Halil, who was unable to recover from the shock of his losses at Kagul, attempted counteroffensives against Bucharina, Thronton, Marson, and Khotyn which ended in predictable failure.
 * August 31-General Kazimerzes Pulaskia cooperated with his colleague, Dejanican General Michal Kalweski, in the defense of Krakow. Krakow had continued to be harried by Laurasian units for the past two months. General Honorius Elmt, whose position of favor at the Imperial Court had continued to erode, and found himself completely overshadowed by the accomplishments of his own subordinate officer, Alexander Surovius, as well as those of Field-Marshal Rumanstevius, General Panius, and General Melissano in the Galactic Borderlands, sought to obtain a position of fame and glory for himself by storming this central base of rebel power in the Krakow Voviodeship. The Battle of Krakow, as it became known, began on August 31, 1770, and lasted for the next several days, as Laurasian squadrons unsucessfully attempted to breach rebel defense lines. On September 5, General Elmt was finally forced to concede defeat and to withdraw his offensive forces from the outskirts of the star system. Following this victory, Pulaskia, who had gained renewed confidence, moved with his offensive units to Częstochowa, which served as a Laurasian intelligence outpost for operations in the Grand Duchy of Lithaunia. This stronghold fell to his forces on September 8. On September 13, he held a conference at Silerwin with the Franconian mercenary officer, General Charles François Dumouriez, who had been assigned by the Franconian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate financial aid with the Council of the Bar Confederation a month earlier. General Dumourizez assured Pulaskia that the Franconian Government would continue the provision of aid in a "speedy and effective fashion."
 * September 16-Dejanican Generals Kazimerzes Pulaskia and Michal Kalewski, who had continued to cooperate together in military operations against the forces of the Laurasian Empire, employed subterfuge in order to capture Jasna Gora, one of the chief monastic strongholds in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth (September 16, 1770). It had gained fame for its long resistance of 1656-1667 against the coalition forces of the Vendragian Confederacy, Autocratic Kingdom of Pruthia, and Holy Austarlian Empire which had invaded and imperiled the Commonwealth's very existence. Jasna Gora had been one of only four major Dejanican star systems which did not fall into coalition hands, and in the aftermath of their retreat, had been honored by the Dejanican Diet with the title of "Heroic Star System". It had, as of late, been in the possession of Laurasian and Loyalist Dejanican forces. Pulaskia's capture of the stronghold seemed to some to herald a second liberation, one in which the Laurasian mongrels would be hurled from the Commonwealth's territories and the government would be renewed under a vigorous new direction. Pulaskia himself knew the symbolic importance of this stronghold, and viewed its possession as necessary for further moves against Laurasian forces. He now established his chief command headquarters here, although on September 22, Kalewski was named Commandant of the Planetary Citadel.
 * September 26-
 * The Battle of Bendery was waged (September 26, 1770) between Laurasian forces under General Sir Petevius Panius (who had received another commendation from the Imperial General Headquarters for his bravery and valor in the military offensives against the Marasharites), and the Marasharite garrison of Bendery, under the command of Garrison-General Bradhalit Galey (1714-95). Galey had commanded the garrison of Bendery for fourteen years; for the longest period of time, therefore, he had not participated in an active military confrontation, and did not possess the skills or insight of an offensive military commander. He was considered by many of the personnel of his garrison to be incompetent and selfish; these traits were to prove his undoing. From the first, General Panius enjoyed a number of advantages. For one, he had isolated all of the supply lines leading to Bendery, by reducing all of the outposts and worlds within its vicinity. Secondly, Panius had ensured that his force contained a sufficient number of corvettes and starfighters, which would be employed in penetrating Bendery's shield defenses.
 * Finally, Panius placed emphasis upon strategic coordination and mobility, using his forces to penetrate and to destroy the Marasharite supply lines. The actual naval confrontation in the Bendery star system lasted for only an hour, and resulted in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire. The Laurasians suffered only six hundred casualties, with the loss of no warships, while the Marasharite garrison lost twenty of its twenty-five warships to Laurasian assaults. Bendery's shield defenses were then pierced, and before the day was out, Bendery's capital city, Galzia, was in the hands of Laurasian forces. General Galey attempted to defend his headquarters, but his efforts proved in vain, and he was captured by Laurasian troops while attempting to flee the star system on his personal starfighter. Panius arrived on Bendery and established the world as his new command headquarters. The fall of Bendery left the middle and upper sections of the Haynsian Slave Highway exposed to the Laurasians.
 * October 4-
 * The presence of the former Queen of Scottria, Mariana Stuart, in the dominions of the Laurasian Empire, and the recent plots and conspiracies against the Imperial Crown (such as the Malarian Rebellion of 1769, the schemes of Ridolfi and the Spamalkan Ambassador de Spes, and Norfolkius's intrigues to marry the Scottrian Queen), made it seem more urgent than ever to the Imperial Privy Council, the Imperial Court, and the loyal Laurasian subjects of the Empire that the Empress Aurelia should marry and produce an heir as soon as possible. Chancellor Cecilis, as always, was the chief proponent of this cause, believing that unless if Aurelia married, the Laurasian dominions would be condemned to disunion and internal dissent. The birth of a Reformist successor, and one with valid claims to the Laurasian throne, would help to neutralize Mariana's claims, especially if the child were a son. Without that child, the Empress stood alone, exposed to further conspiracy; the possibility of rebellion or treason against her; and assassination. If she died childless, then Mariana could very well ascend to the Laurasian throne, and she may restore the Imperial Almitian Church to its Traditionalist form, as had been attempted by Aurelia's predecessor and half-sister, the late Empress Didymeia. Aurelia herself "publicly" accepted the logic of these arguments, although in private, she remained committed to remaining independent and single.
 * Nevertheless, on October 4, 1770, the Empress sent a special envoy to Vienna, Sir Archimadus Specius, in order to attempt a revival of the Austarlian marriage project. Although the Austarlians had provided aid to the forces of the Bar Confederation in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and had expressed their concern about Laurasian ambitions in the Galactic Borderlands, Aurelia sought to demonstrate her good intentions towards the Austarlian Government through an offer of marriage. Archduke Char'vak was still unmarried, but he considered himself to be insulted by the Empress's earlier rejection of him. On October 12, he formally rejected her renewed proposal of marriage and made it clear that he was no longer interested. Aurelia pretended indignation at his rejection of her, although in private, she confided to Cecilis that an Austarlian marriage "had never been one of my chief priorities." In August 1771, Char'vak would marry the Countess Maria Anna of Bavaria; that year, he became Archduke-Regent of Inner Austarlia, retaining that post until his death at Graz on July 10, 1790.
 * October 14-
 * Following the final lapse of the Austarlian marriage project, Empress Aurelia began to consider other possibilities for a marriage, if only to satisfy the demands of her ministers on the Privy Council and to make the public "demonstration" of being interested in procuring a husband. A new proposal of marriage however, now arrived for the Empress. This proposal came from the brother and heir of King Charman III of Franconia, Hensius, Duke of Anjou, who was then nineteen years old. Although Charman III had also been providing financial aid to the Bar Confederation, he and his mother, Catharina d'Medici (who, despite no longer being regent, retained considerable influence over Franconian governmental affairs), believed that a positive relationship with the Empress of Laurasia could be established. They were also contemplating the possibility of completely abandoning the Confederate cause and forming a defensive alliance with the Empire against Spamalka. Aurelia, on her part, was a realist, understanding that it was better to have Franconia as an ally then as an enemy. Accordingly, she ordered Chancellor Cecilis to begin drawing up terms of a hypothetical marriage compact.
 * On October 18, Chancellor Cecilis nominated Caligula Walsingis as the Ambassador to the Franconian Court; this nomination was confirmed by the Empress Aurelia two days later. Walsingis was then thirty-eight years old: he had studied at the University of Caladaria, the Imperial Jurisprudence Academy in Columbia, and the University of Colsonia, obtaining his law degree in 1757. Two years later, Walsingis was elected to the Municipal Advisory Assembly of Christiania; in 1762, he became a barrister with the Imperial Criminal Chamber of Christiania. By 1767, Walsingis had become Chief Notary of the Governing Senate, and it was in this position that he earned the notice of Chancellor Cecilis. Cecilis appointed Walsingis as Assistant Director of the Imperial Intelligence Agency in 1769, and in this position, he worked with the Chancellor to coordinate the Empire's spy network. Walsingis was a serious, disciplined, and cultivated man who possessed deep convictions and formidable abilities, being drawn to the Earl of Leicesterius because of their shared Reformist beliefs. He spoke four languages besides Laurasian and was a skilled diplomat who possessed extensive knowledge of extra-galactic politics. As a Uniction Reformist, he especially hated Spamalka and the Queen of Scottria. The Empress, who found that Walsingis was more then a match for her intellectually, nevertheless trusted him implicitly, and knew that he would carry out her orders, even if he disagreed with them. Her preservation became his ordained mission in life, and to that end he would devote his energy, his wealth, and, eventually, his very health.
 * As had been the case with the Austarlian marriage project, religion was to prove a major obstacle in the marriage negotiations, because the Empress was as insistent as ever before that her husband should abide by the laws of her realm; the Duke of Anjou, however, was adamant that he would never abandon his Franconian faith. The Empress, however, also felt repelled, to a certain extent, by the very character of the man for whom marriage had been proposed; Anjou was known as a womanizer but also as as a transvestite, adorning himself in female garments and acting in an "unseemly" manner towards his male servants, as was confirmed by an account of the Haxonian Ambassador to the Franconian Court, Frederico Pena. Although Queen-Dowager Catharina backed the marriage because she wished for him to gain a crown, he himself had little yearning for it. Nor did Walsingis, known for his strict standards of morality, favor it.
 * October 24-
 * The Battle of Braila (October 24, 1770) resulted in a decisive victory for Laurasian forces under Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius. Braila, which had been colonized by the Neo-Iffian Empire in 1470, had come into the possession of the Marasharite Empire during the reign of Emperor Suleyman the Magnificent, in 1540. For over two centuries, it had served as a major Marasharite military supply base and as a industrial center, with major shipbuilding, metalworking, and warehousing industries. Its population of sixty million souls had longed to be liberated from their Marasharite rulers, who conscripted them into their armed forces on the basis of one out of every ten males, and imposed limitations upon their freedom of assembly and transportation. They therefore welcomed the Laurasian forces with open arms: Field-Marshal Rumanstevius fueled their expectations by immediately lifting conscription on the world and granting the world's inhabitants free transit from their star system. By the end of October 1770, Kilia and Brasscea had also been secured by Laurasian troops, resulting in the establishment of their firm control over the approaches to Kumong. General Rumanstevius now began to move his units in the direction of that star system. It was on November 14, 1770, that the Battle of Kumong was waged, between Rumanstevius and the Garrison-Commander, Marasharite Subordinate Vizier Humano Amasino. Kumong was the last Marasharite star system of note in the Muggal Cluster besides Imegina.
 * Control of this world, once one of the Torfian Throne Worlds, was therefore essential for any force which sought to exert its grip over the Muggal Cluster. It was also the last major garrison before Imegina itself. Vizier Amasino, who was of Grecian descent, had never before fought a direct military confrontation, and was therefore at a disadvantage against his Laurasian adversaries from the first. He had under his command twenty destroyers of the line, thirty frigates, ten dreadnoughts, ten xebecs, and four couriers, the largest remaining Marasharite operational fleet in the Galactic Borderlands. Field Marshal Rumanstevius had four hundred warships at his command, including seventy destroyers of the line and a complement of twelve thousand Imperator-class starfighters. He therefore had a vast numerical advantage over his opponents. This was revealed in the actual battle, which resulted in a decisive victory of the Laurasian Empire. After three hours of combat in the outskirts of the Kumong star system, the Marasharite force was overwhelmed and dispersed. Vizier Amasino himself was captured by Laurasian starfighters; most of the Marasharite destroyers fell into Laurasian possession; and Laurasian units breached Kumong's shield defenses. By November 18, Rumanstevius had also secured Akkeria, Stary, and the Gateway Bases. Only Imegina was left, as the last remaining system held by the Marasharites in the Caladarian Galaxy proper.
 * November 17-
 * Accession Day, which marked Empress Aurelia's accession to the throne, was formally established as an official state holiday of the Laurasian Empire; six years later, in November 1776, it would formally be designated as one of the holy days of the Imperial Almitian Church. The Laurasians were determined that this celebration of their Empress's rule would surpass anything previously seen, and serve as a decisive confirmation of the Empire's unity and stability. For the next thirty-three years, the celebration of Accession Day would become a routine custom of the Laurasian people. On this particular occassion, prayers of thanksgiving were offered at major religious edifices throughout the Empire for a sovereign who had delivered the realms from "desperation and Traditionalism", and had presided over a period of economic prosperity. Sermons, galaxywide festivities, and the famous Accession Day jousts at the Quencilvanian Palace were all held on this day. Special prayer books incorporating a service which had been composed by the Empress herself for use on the day were printed; ballads and songs celebrating the occassion were also composed.
 * Throughout the Empire, the Empress's subjects would drink to her health and prosperity, feast and light various fireworks and bonfires, while the Imperial Garrison of Laurasia Prime would fire a honorary salute. This also marked the first occasion that the Accession Day jousts were hosted by Sir Antigonus Lesius, the Empress's Champion. He would continue to preside over the ceremonies until his retirement in November 1790. Attended by up to 200,000 spectators, the jousts presented an opportunity for young men at the Imperial Court to display their knightly prowess and win fame. The pageantry staged at these occasions was often breathtaking, and contestants would appear in elaborate and inventive costumes, based on religious and mythological themes. The Empress herself would appear in the guise of Astraea, virgin goddess of justice; Cynthia, the "lady of space"; Diana the huntress; Belphoebe; or during the last decade of the century, as Gloriana, the Mighty Empress. She would acknowledge the homage and devotion of the knights who participated. Her champion would defend her honor against all comers in the jousts; the contestants' shields would then be adorned with intricate symbolic devices and hung in the Shield Gallery of the Old Royal Palace. These were the ideals of chivarly, ancient chivarly, which were maintained by the Empress and her court.
 * November 22-On November 22, 1770, Haynsian Despot Qaplan-Empi II, who had suffered humiliating losses at the hands of Laurasian forces under Field-Marshal Rumanstevius in the Battles of Riababia Mogila and Larga, died on Haynes. The Despot's health had entered a swift and sudden decline following his return to Haynes in July 1770. In public, it was officially proclaimed by the Haynsian Chancellory and the Despotic Court that the Despot had contracted and died from a previously unknown disorder. In reality, Marasharite Emperor Mustapha, who had been dissatisfied with the Despot's performance in the campaigns against the Laurasian Empire, had ordered for his agents in the Haynsian Household to offer the Despot poisons in his food, to destroy his immune system and to leave him exposed to common diseases. Qaplan-Empi II was now succeeded to the throne by his cousin Everan-Karany II.
 * December 4-
 * By December 1770, the foreign courts of the Great Amulak Spiral and Crone Galaxy had become struck with astonishment "freighted with alarm", as Chancellor Cecilis described it. Aurelia's erstwhile ally, the Pruthian Emperor Pru'a IX, was among those who was most alarmed. When the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War had erupted in September 1768, Pru'a had declared privately to his advisers that the conflict was a "contest between the one-eyed and the blind", although he had provided financial subsidies to the Imperial Laurasian Court still. The successes of Empress Aurelia's generals in the campaigns of 1769 and 1770: their advance to the Galactic Barrier and the Haynsian Slave Highway; the presence of a Laurasian force in the outskirts of the Amulak Spiral; and the smashing victories of Fairxatia Straits, Khotyn, Bucharina, Chesma, Riababia Mogila, Larga, Kagul, and Imegina proved him wrong. Pru'a himself did not take any pleasure in imagining Aurelia's permanent domination of the Dejanican Commonwealth and the possibility of her seizing all the Trans-Galactic Marasharite Territories. His archenemy, Empress Mar'va Tarvania of Austarlia, shared the same sentiments. Neither Pruthia nor Austarlia liked the prospect of Laurasia reaching into the Grecian Provinces or the possibility of them eventually posing a threat to the Marasharite Homeland Territories. However, neither Pru'a nor Mar'va Tarvania saw how to prevent Aurelia from achieving these goals. Therefore, although Pru'a congratulated Aurelia on her victories, never failing to express admiration for her, he did not wish for a wider war, which could possibly bring in Franconia and Austarlia against Laurasia and require the participation of Pruthia as Aurelia's ally in the fighting. The Treaty of Berliania III had provided that Pruthia would come to Aurelia's aid if Laurasia were threatened by more than one enemy.
 * In the current war, Marasharita had clearly provoked the conflict; as a result, Pruthia had been sending those subsidies to Laurasia. But now Austarlia, which had finally laid the marriage project of the Archduke Char'vak to rest, and which was alarmed by Laurasian advances, was threatening to ally herself with the Marasharites. If this led to war, Laurasia would demand that Pruthia fulfill her further treaty obligation; the Emperor would have to war with Austarlia for the third time. By 1770, Pru'a was tired of war, and had no wish to dispute the Silanian Provinces, which he had won, with his Austarlian neighbors again. The Emperor preferred diplomacy. Dejanica's independence was tottering; Laurasian Ambassador Sir Leonidas Volynskhius held considerable influence over the affairs of the Dejanican government. It was only a matter of time before the Bar Confederation was totally suppressed and the Empress of Laurasia would decide to absorb the entire commonwealth. This would give Laurasia a substantial territorial foothold in the Amulak Spiral, and would provide it with a direct boundary with both Pruthia and Austarlia for the first time. To prevent this from occurring, and to deal with the Dejanican situation peacefully, Pru'a scrambled to find a solution that could satisfy all three of Dejanica's formidable neighbors. As far back as February 1769, he had told his envoy at the Court of Christiania, Count Solms, of his ideas relating to a possible partition of Dejanica. From this starting point, his intentions grew clearer, until by the middle of November 1770 he had conceived the idea that Pruthia, Austarlia, and Laurasia might all be appeased by each annexing a region of the crumbling Dejanican Commonwealth. If Aurelia were to consent to annexing Dejanican Lavella, and Pru'a took only what he wanted in Little Pomerania and Dejanican Pruthia, then Austarlia could be satisfied with the borderland territories of Galicia and Lodomeria, which had many Austarlian immigrants resident. He was certain that if these three powers could agree on the plan, no one else could not resist this combination of power-not the Marasharites or the Franconians, even the Spamalkans, and certainly not the Dejanicans.
 * Therefore, on December 4, 1770, Emperor Pru'a designated his younger brother, Prince Henry of Pruthia, as his special envoy to the Imperial Laurasian Court on Laurasia Prime. Two days earlier, he had sent a special communique to Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council, informing them of his desire to conduct "important negotiations with the Imperial Laurasian Government", regarding "essential matters". The Empress and Chancellor Cecilis had both accurately guessed that he was referring to the Dejanican situation, and therefore had no qualms to receiving his brother as a special envoy. Henry departed from Berliania III two days after his initial appointment. On December 11, he arrived at the Osonboka Nebula, having taken a longer route through the Galactic Void in order to avoid Marasharite and Haynsian warships deployed against Laurasian forces. The Empress of Laurasia determined to impress her guest, and to convey to him the lavishness and splendor of her court had dispatched Procurator-General Bagonius and the Earl of Leicesterius to greet the Pruthian Prince in the Nebula. They arrived with a vast entourage of escort warships; adorned themselves in lavish garments; and carried gifts for the Prince. Henry, however, was like his brother: he was as little interested in ceremonial pomp as his brother and had an inexpressive demanor, but had a sharp eye and keen perceptions. He also knew how to be polite and formal, and therefore endured the ceremony as well as he could. The entourage proceeded from Iego down the Rebeccan Galactic Trade Route, but on the orders of the Empress, made only brief stops in the major star systems along the way.
 * The main welcome, Aurelia had determined, was to be at the outskirts of Laurasia Prime itself. The Imperial Court had been engaged in much preparation for formally receiving the Prince, and the Empress had commanded Lord Treasurer Winchestrius and his long-time subordinate, Sir Walterius Mildmay (who had relieved him of the onerous burdens of the Ministry of Finance in 1766), to spare no expense for the occasion. Therefore, when Henry entered the capital star system of the Laurasian Empire (December 14, 1770), he was greeted with much spectacle and ceremony. Empress Aurelia herself, on her chief flagship, the IMS Laurasiana Galactica, received Henry's ship. Henry was escorted to the flagship on a shuttle-craft. When he was formally received by the Empress on the bridge of the flagship, he dipped into a formal Pruthian vow and extended the thanks of his brother. Aurelia, who had been informed of his Pruthian manners, adjusted accordingly and returned the thanks. Following this, the Empress, Prince Henry, and the chief attendants of the household embarked on a sleighcraft, for a slow procession in the star system. The sleighcraft contained enough room for six hundred individuals and was equipped with its own replicator machines, an observation deck, and comfortable resting chambers adorned with rare minerals. The sleigh-craft was followed by the flagship and some two hundred other vessels, ranging from the chief destroyers of the line to escort couriers. Every person was adorned in fancy costumes and wore ceremonial masks.
 * Upon reaching the Post of Marsia, the procession passed through a triumphal hypergate, especially erected for the occasion: it was adorned with engravings etched by specialized Charasian masons, among the most renowned in the entire Empire. At the distance of every quarter of a million miles, then, some grand structure appeared, illuminated by flare-cannons fired by waiting escort craft, and formed in the guise of colonnades, hover-platforms, or even pyramids. Inside the observation chambers of each of these structures were a crowd of Laurasian subjects, amusing themselves with music, dancing, and other entertainments available to them in the star system. Each of these structures represented some significant Laurasian ethnicity, with representations of the dress, amusements, and music of that ethnicity. After having passed by such an array of magnificent structures, the escort reached the orbit of Laurasia Prime. It then passed slowly through Jadia, Hepudermia, the two Calaxies, the Second Station of Callista, the Ancient Neuron Plantita Station, and the Galactic Observation Facility.
 * At the entry to the Approaches of Christiania, there appeared a massive model of a star system, representing Illaria’s Shaft during a supernova. Vast rays were spreading out from the model, and the whole of the Approaches was greatly illuminated. The spectators had hardly refocused themselves from this display of grandeur when they were confronted by descent to the Spaceport, decorated with magnificent Kimanian and Horacian banners. Once landing at the spaceport, the Empress, Prince Henry, and the entourages of the Imperial Court proceeded on a repulsorlift down the throughfares of the city. They visited the Universities of Laurasia Prime and the Empire; the Galactic Opera; the Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Old Royal Palace; the Lycian Congressional House; the Charterhouse; the Diplomatic Palace; the Westphalian Cathedral; the Imperial Mausoleum; the Imperial Observatory; the Imperial Museum of History and Space; the Senatorial Palace; and the Imperial Academy of the Arts, among innumerable other sights. Finally, they reached the grounds of the Quencilvanian Palace.
 * The Palace was illuminated by great fluorescent displays and crystalline panels; at the door to the Grand Corridor, stood Chancellor Cecilis, the foreign ambassadors, the Mayor of Christiania, and the chief magnates of Laurasia Prime. Following their entry into the Palace, during which a special salute was held for Prince Henry, two hours of dancing and entertainment ensued. A great discharge of turbocannon then occurred. Suddenly, all of the displays were powered off, and a great display of fireworks dominated the city of Christiania. Another thundering discharge of artillery occurred; then, by the wonderous nature, the displays powered back on. All of this was observed by the Empress and the Imperial Court from the Palatial Balcony. Supper was then served; the celebrations resumed; and dancing continued until the early hours of the morning.
 * December 7-
 * The Siege of Imegina, one of the most significant confrontations of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, and the culmination of nearly two years of Laurasian campaigns in the Galactic Borderlands, was conducted, from December 17 to 22, 1770, by the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius. Rumanstevius, who had spent nearly a month preparing for this, his final offensive against the bastion of Marasharite authority and power in the Galactic Borderlands, deployed sizable numbers of troops and warships in the battlefield. The Laurasian force comprised of ninety destroyers of the line; thirty-five frigates; twenty dreadnoughts; one hundred and twenty cruisers; two hundred couriers; five thousand assault craft; and three hundred automated transports carrying 1.5 million Imperial Soldiers and Marines. Rumanstevius had been provided reconnaissance and supply support by his subordinate, General Petevius Panius, who had now firmly consolidated the Laurasian hold over the Northern Reaches and the outlet of the Haynsian Slave Highway.
 * Imegina, which had a population of 114 billion souls in 1770 (the third most populous star system in the Galactic Borderlands, after Kalbacha Major and Rasdalla Major), possessed a garrison of 800,000 Marasharite soldiers and 150,000 Haynsian Elite Troopers, who had three hundred warships and a squadron of nearly six thousand starfighters. General Ibril-Qazim commanded the garrison and defenses of Imegina; he was determined to hold out for as long as possible. As a result, the initial Laurasian advance into the star system was costly, and Rumanstevius was forced to reinforce his supply lines. Eventually, however, on December 13, the Field-Marshal's agents in Hulaugh (which was named after that famed King who had commanded the Torfian Hordes in their invasion of the Galactic Borderlands and colonization of the Muggal Cluster 1,392 years earlier), managed to sabotage the planetary shield generators and the operational command center. The unity of the Marasharite force, pressed on all sides by the Laurasian armada, collapsed, and the world was overrun by superior Laurasian troops within three days. Ibril-Qazim himself died while leading a final assault against advancing Laurasian units in the Hulaugh Capital District. By December 22, Imegina was firmly in the grip of the Laurasian Empire. The entire Marasharite Galactic Borderlands was now occupied by Laurasian forces. Meanwhile, since the Battle of Chesma in July 1770, the forces of General Hawkius had made further gains in Grecia. Mani was occupied on August 16, 1770, and was followed in short order by the Grecian systems of Lesbos (August 22-24), Zante (August 30), and Tripolista (September 8-14). In October 1770, Hawkius defeated a Marasharite patrol force in the Battle of Smyrna and sacked the world, inflicting severe damage to its spaceports, orbital defensive garrisons, and processing centers. On November 8, a Laurasian fleet seized Livadia. New Phoacea, Old Phoacea, Volos, and Sphakia were occupied (November 11-15, 1770), and on December 9, Hawkius stormed Kavala, Mosos, and Avanpolis. Thus, by December 1770, Marasharite lines in the Grecian Provinces were weak. On Ascentmas Day, 1770, Empress Aurelia would issue a manifesto to her subjects praising her general's achievements.
 * December 22-
 * After several days of celebration and festivities by the Imperial Court, during which time even Prince Henry broke some of his stolid demeanor and acknowledged the great wealth and splendors of the Laurasian Empire, he and the Empress got down to their true business: discussing the possibility of a partition of the Dejanican Commonwealth. This first audience was held in the Private Throne Room; the Empress permitted only Chancellor Cecilis and the Earl of Leicesterius to be present with her, with all the other Privy Councilors being commanded to refrain from involvement until they had been specifically ordered to do so. Prince Henry, on his part, would not even allow the Pruthian Ambassador, Baron de Wergalid, to be in attendance, fearing he would spread rumors about the partition plans throughout the ranks of the Imperial Court. At this audience, Henry asked Aurelia if she would be willing to downscale her territorial demands at the expense of the Marasharite Empire, in exchange for obtaining concessions from the Commonwealth. The Empress, in a manifesto of October 9, 1770, had declared that the Empire would never be satisfied until the whole of the Marasharite territories in the Galactic Borderlands, Great Tesmanian Cloud, and Angelina Spiral were annexed, and the Grecian Provinces granted their independence.
 * Henry sought to convince the Empress of Laurasia that these demands were unreasonable and could result in Franconian and Austarlian intervention. At first, Aurelia was reluctant to downscale her demands; Laurasia was the only power fighting Marasharita at the time, and had already defeated her in numerous military confrontations. The first conference ended in a stalemate, as the Empress promised to ponder about the Pruthian proposal. Over the course of the next four days, Chancellor Cecilis managed to convince the Empress that neither Pruthia nor an increasingly hostile Austarlia would be willing to accept such extensive Laurasian territorial acquisitions at this juncture. The Empress herself understood that Philicus I of Spamalka, who had become increasingly hostile towards her, might lend his support to the Marasharites, and therefore deny the Laurasians access to their territories in the Amulak Spiral. Consequently, she decided to accept the logic of Henry’s arguments. As the year 1770 came to a close, however, other events were stirring, not just with the Marasharite and Dejanican predicaments, but also with the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, where affairs had remained surprisingly inert since the Earl of Lennaxia assumed the regency.

1771

 * January 1-
 * On January 1, 1771, celebrations occurred throughout the Laurasian Empire to mark the commencement of another new year. As 1771, the 71st year of the eighteenth century, began, the Empire’s dominions were caught up in the euphoria of celebration and delight. This was caused by the maintenance of general prosperity throughout the Empire’s realms, which had only been disrupted by the Malarian Rebellion; the victories obtained by Laurasian forces over the hated Marasharite savages; and the stability of the Imperial Laurasian Government. Empress Aurelia, in the traditional New Year’s proclamation to her subjects, declared that in this year "the Haynsian threat would be removed" and the Empire would obtain a sense of security from the threats of its enemies. Whilst the court was engaged in celebration, the Empress and Prince Henry continued their discussions. The previous day, she had informed Henry of her decision to accept the basic form of his proposal; namely, that demands at the expense of the Marasharites be downscaled in exchange for acquisitions in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They were now moving towards the specifics of the agreement. And despite Prince Henry’s attempts to keep the negotiations a secret, word of them nevertheless leaked out to the Imperial Court.
 * Mr. Carlo Ulzhonzi (1723-99), who was an attaché for Lord Petro de’Beria (1708-89), Haxonian Ambassador to the Laurasian Empire (1770-78), sent a communique to the Haxonian Senate. In this communique, he informed them of the "continued scene of festivities; feasts, balls, concerts, plays, and masquerades in quick succession; and all in honor of, and to divert his royal highness, Prince Henry of Pruthia, the famous brother of the present Emperor." He then went on to state that "the Prince, while expressing admiration for the Empire’s wealth, nevertheless has only the look of a disaffected cat, as if higher sport is occurring in his mind than the pastimes of dancing and singing. He came here on pretense of paying a formal visit to Her Imperial Majesty, and of witnessing the advancements in this Empire as have been praised by literary luminaries the galaxies over. But can one seriously imagine that this creature, who should travel through our Confederacy, the Vendragian Confederacy, and the Dejanican Commonwealth, would come merely to observe the metropolis of the Empress of Laurasia? Other princes may pursue such a pastime, but the gentlemen of the House of Pruthia have other quarry. Is the Emperor of Pruthia, as a tame spectator, to reap no advantages from the troubles in Dejanica and the late Marasharite war? What is the meaning of his late conferences with His Majesty, the son of the Empress of Austarlia? These celestial conjunctions are the forerunners of great events. A few months will reveal to all the true purpose of these missions. After that, one shall hear of changes, usurpations, and revolutions."
 * January 3-
 * Two days after Mr. Ulzohnzi's observations in his communique to the Haxonian Senate concerning the conferences among the Empress Aurelia and the Pruthian Prince Henry, a sudden and swift military operation was undertaken by the forces of the Holy Austarlian Empire. This action involved a borderland territory of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and it would serve to both alarm and motivate the Imperial Laurasian and Pruthian Governments. The borderlands region concerned was the Zips Nebula. Colonization of the Nebula (also known as Szepes County), had begun in the late eleventh century with the first explorations by government expeditions of the Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary. Kezmarok, which had been colonized as far back as the sixteenth century BH, was rehabilitated and established by the Hungarian authorities as the capital star system of the original Trans-Zip Colonies. In 1154, the Trans-Zip Colonies were reorganized into the Zips Administrative Authority, the designation given by the Hungarian Government to its borderland territories. By the middle of the thirteenth century, colonization had shifted to the inner Nebula regions, and a new capital for the Administrative Authority was established on Poldolinec. Hniezdne, Dunajec, and Stará Ľubovňa were colonized by government-sponsored expeditions only in the 1290s. By 1310, the Administrative Authority had been upgraded to the status of a noble county, and was awarded full representation in the Estates of Hungary. By the middle of the fourteenth century, the colony star-systems of Abrahámovce, Betlanovce, Filice, Hadušovce, Hôrka, Hozelec, Jánovce, Komárov, Levkovce, and Machalovce had been established in the Northern (or Comital) Regions of the Zip Nebula; each received a colonial administration charter and the ability to elect their own consultants to the Zips Legislative Chamber, which had been organized to serve as the chief consultative assembly for the county. Between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, extensive Austarlian immigration to the colonies of the Zips Nebula occurred, as a result of the colonization and benefits policies pursued by the Hungarian Government.
 * The Austarlian immigrants were mostly navigators, merchants, and miners. In 1271 and 1317, the Austarlian Immigrant Authority of Zips received privileges from the Hungarian Chancellory, granting it the ability to regulate and monitor future immigration to the colonies; to represent the interests of the Austarlians in the Legislative Assembly; and to provide for the legal, educational, and welfare systems by which the immigrants were to abide. By the end of the fourteenth century, Zips County included forty-one major colonies and two hundred outposts spread across two hundred light-years of space, in and around the Zip Nebula proper. In the early fifteenth century, however, the Kingdom of Hungary experienced a number of financial and other difficulties, arousing out of its involvement in the futile Crusade Wars of Nicopolis against the rising Marasharite Empire and the Hussite Rebellion in the neighboring Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1412, King Sigismund of Luxembourg, who needed to replenish his treasury, decided to pawn the whole of Zips County to Dejanica then ruled by King Vologravius IV (1377-1434), who had engineered the personal union of the Kingdom of Dejanica with the Grand Principality of Lithuania in 1386.
 * Under the terms of the Treaty of Lubulowa, Zips County was to be "loaned" to Dejanica in exchange for the Dejanican Treasury agreeing to dispense funds to cover Hungarian military and diplomatic expenses. Hungary, however, would be obliged to repay Dejanica for this; as long as the debt remained, Zip County was to remain under the "guardianship" of the Dejanican Government. Although the county remained officially part of the Kingdom of Hungary, their economic and administrative affairs were to be handled by Dejanican officials. A Dejanican governor could be stationed at Poldolinec, in order to supervise the county's affairs; troops could be stationed at the chief strongholds of the county, in order to maintain order; and regulation of transportation, the collection of tax revenues, immigration, and trade would be solely at the discretion of the Dejanican Diet. The Kingdom of Hungary attempted three times (1419, 1426, and 1439) to repay the loans provided, but was simply unable to muster the necessary revenues. Eventually, the will to repay faded away, as the Hungarian Parliament refused to repay the funds granted by the Dejanican Commonwealth. For the next three and a half centuries, Zips County remained a borderland region under the administration, but never the full sovereignty, of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
 * But by the late eighteenth century, the Commonwealth had degenerated into a state of civil disunion, and was no longer strong enough to resist intrusions upon its territory. Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania, understanding this, and also hoping to restrict Laurasian ambitions in Dejanican space, had ordered the Austarlian General Headquarters to coordinate plans for a military reoccupation of Zips County in March 1770. They had worked vigorously for the remainder of the year, and by December, Austarlian troops were stationed in the strongholds of the Carpathian Borderland Territories, posed for a march into Zips County. Thus, on January 3, 1771, with the Laurasians engaged in their campaigns against the Marasharites and the Bar Confederations, and with the spirit of the new year still in evidence, the Austarlian Empress gave the order to march. Within hours, the resistance of the paltry Dejanican "security" garrisons had collapsed, and the whole county was occupied by Austarlian troops. Many inhabitants of the Zip Colonies were pleased about the Austarlian reoccupation, having long considered the Dejanicans to be foreign rulers. By January 7, the entire Zips Nebula had been reincorporated into the hereditary dominions of the Hungarian Crown, which had been an appendage of the Austarlian Empire since 1526. Empress Mar'va officially confirmed the annexation on January 21, 1771. News about the swift Austarlian occupation of the Zips Cluster spread fast by means of the galactic media.
 * Pruthian Emperor Pru'a IX received the news while he was reviewing his troops at the parade grounds of Kauffenberg Palace. Marasharite Emperor Mustapha was told by the Grand Vizier, Silhadhar Mehver, who had replaced Ivazzade Halil in December 1770. Dejanican King Stanis Vorrust I was shocked when he heard of the Austarlian violation of his territorial rights; the Council of the Bar Confederation considered the Austarlian Empress's action to be a betrayal. The most important reaction, however, was that of the Laurasian Empress Aurelia. The Empress, Prince Henry, and the Imperial Court had been attending a opera concert at the Quencilvanian Palace when messengers rushed in to inform them of the Austarlian move. Henry remarked that "In Dejanica, it seems one only has to stoop and help oneself." Aurelia took up the same montra, replying "Why shouldn't we take our share?" She then said "I will frighten Marasharita and flatter Haxonia. Do you take it upon yourself to buy over Austarlia and amuse Franconia?" Prince Henry replied in the affirmative. During the course of the next several days, the Empress and Prince Henry would begin to discuss ideas on how to persuade Austarlia in order to agree to a formal partition of Dejanican territories among all three powers.
 * January 14-
 * On January 14, 1771, the Siege of Jasna Gora ended in victory for the forces of the Bar Confederation under the command of Generals Kazimeres Pulaskia and Michael Walewski, and their subordinate, Commandant-General Józef Zaremba. Archleutan Major-General Johann von Drewitz (who had been promoted to that rank for his efforts against Bar Confederation forces in September 1770), had launched two offensives against the defenses of Jasna Gora. The first had been launched on November 11, 1770. General von Drewitz directed Laurasian starfighter and courier squadrons in offensives against the Jasna Gora Straits, seeking to conquer this chief stronghold of the Bar Confederation. By this point, Laurasian units held definite control of Greater Dejanica and Dejanican Pruthia, and had continued to pursue aggressive counteroffensives against Bar Confederation units in the outskirts of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. Von Drewitz's units, however, had then been surprised by the extensive resistance offered by the garrison forces of Jasna Gora, especially under the direction of the talented and inventive General Walewski. On November 23, Drewitz had been forced to halt this first offensive.
 * He was, however, determined not to give up so easily, and decided to spend the course of the next month reorganizing his military forces and making extensive preparations for a second move against the star system. In the meantime, Loyalist Dejanican and Laurasian detachments stormed the Confederate outposts of Aduiaz, Worzaz, and Malec, weakening the supply lines for the operational rebel forces in the outskirts of the Krakow Voivodeship. Finally, on New Year's Eve 1770, Laurasian forces had instigated a formal blockade of the Jasna Gora star system. General Drewitz stationed three starfighter escorts and a detachment of interdictor warships and destroyers around the perimeters of the star system, seeking to suppress all transportation and commerce in and out of the star system. Generals Walewski and Pulaskia, however, proved themselves to be cleverer than their enemy, for they maintained contacts with Confederate officers and troopers at Blackwich, which was located three light years to the east of Jasna Gora.
 * This world had not been subdued by General von Drewitz's forces, and provided a vantage point from which counteroffensives could be launched against Laurasian positions. On January 7, 1771, the Garrison Commander of Blackwich, Jan Gromoski, launched a diversionary attack against Laurasian supply ships and destroyer escorts in Hoffaz; this forced General von Drewitz to divert operational units in order to maintain his supply lines. As a result, the blockade of the Jasna Gora star system relaxed, and Dejanican warships were soon able to penetrate from the star system into the surrounding regions of space. On January 14, von Drewitz, pressed by renewed Confederate counteroffensives against Malec, Stosh, and Kamenets, was forced to terminate the blockade. Pulaskia gained increased renown as a result of the Siege of Jasna Gora, and it appeared to some at the Imperial Laurasian Court that this renegade commander would never be defeated. The Empress Aurelia had long been frustrated by the doddering pace of the Confederate campaigns, and she believed that General Elmt needed to be replaced. On January 27, he was officially informed by the Imperial General Headquarters, on the orders of the Empress, that he was to be formally relieved of his duties by the end of March 1771. General Elmt accepted his impending fate, and in private, lamented his failures in suppressing the Bar Confederation and defeating such elusive and patriotic Dejanican officers as General Pulaskia. Pulaskia, however, engaged in disputes with Walewski and Zaremba, and consequently, von Drewitz was able to retreat to his command headquarters on Kemabalana, located eighty light-years to the north of Jasna Gora.
 * February 8-
 * By the beginning of February 1771, the imprisoned ex-Queen of Scottria, Mariana I, had become entangled in yet another conspiracy against Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Court. On February 2, the Earl of Morton arrived at the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime, at the head of a delegation which also included the Earl of Caithness, the Lords Boyd, Seton, Sinclair, and Sempill, and the Laird McDonaugh of Leigh. They had been appointed as special envoys to the Laurasian Empire by Regent Lennaxia on January 3, 1771. Neither Lennaxia nor any of the other members of the Scottrian Regency Council believed that their lives and positions would be secure if Mariana were restored to the Scottrian throne, and thought sought to make their objections clear to the Empress of Laurasia, as also to inform her of the public perception held of Mariana within the Scottrian Homeland Territories. In an audience at the Private Throne Room (February 8, 1771), the commissioners, acting in the name of their master, King Jamsius VI, informed Empress Aurelia that few within Scottria desired Mariana's return, and that the nobility could not bear it. Aurelia pretended to be furious at this. She declared that she was sure that the Scottrian delegation was so insistent on these terms because they had been receiving discreet encouragement from select members of her Privy Council, and she raged that the men deserved to be executed for their crimes. In reality, however, the Empress welcomed this move, and in a communique exchanged with Chancellor Cecilis shortly afterwards, affirmed that she had no wish to "impose despotism upon the Scottrians." The realization that Aurelia would not do anything to help her filtered through to Mariana. She responded by declaring, in a communique to her ardent supporter, the Clainnarch of Ross (February 22, 1771), that "our good sister must pardon us if, seeing no further deliverance to be had at her hand", she looked to foreign princes for assistance. If intrigue could secure her liberation from imprisonment, and hopefully the Imperial Laurasian Crown itself, then this was the course she was now obliged to take.
 * In pursuit of this aim, Mariana now enlisted the services of Roberto Ridolfi, the Haxonian banker who had orchestrated the conspiracies which ultimately resulted in the Malarian Rebellion of 1769-1770. Ridolfi had made his return back to the Haxonian Confederacy in March 1770, taking advantage of his diplomatic immunity to evade the reach of the Empress of Laurasia. For almost a year after his return, he had remained quiet, returning to his duties at the Florencian Bank on Haxonia Prime and refraining from public intrigue. Yet he now threw himself into the business of intrigue again. Already, in January 1771, he had offered, in a secret communique, to act as Mariana's official representative at the courts of the Great Amulak Spiral. Mariana had been overjoyed at this offer, and emphasized that Ridolfi should make it clear to Emperor Philicus and to King Charman III of Franconia that, if they intervened in the Empire for her sake, they could count on receiving the support of a sufficient number of the Empire's noble personages and officials. Mariana also, on February 28, provided Ridolfi with credentials, issued by herself, to give to Emperor Philicus and King Charman. She now nurtured further hopes of the Duke of Norfolkius, confident that he would not fail her, and knowing that he had not relinquished his ambition to become her husband. During his imprisonment at the Fortress of Baureux, Mariana had remained in secret contact with him, and in a communique of January 19, 1770, had argued that "You have promised to be mine, and I yours. I believe the Empress of Laurasia and Empire should like of it...You promised you could not leave me."
 * Norfolkius himself knew that Aurelia would never voluntarily sanction a union between him and Mariana Stuart, but the prospect of marriage with her continued to fascinate him. This remained the case despite the fact that in June 1770 he had given Aurelia a written undertaking to the effect that he would never seek to marry Mariana, or engage in any plans to marry her. This had served as a condition of his release from the Fortress; he was placed under house arrest, but still did not consider himself under any obligation not to marry Mariana. Indeed, prior to signing the submission, he had sent the Queen a copy of the document; she expressed her approval of his decision, which he justified on the basis of seeking his freedom. On February 8, 1771, Mariana wrote Norfolkius a communique, explaining that Ridolfi was going to tell Emperor Philicus that there were many Laurasian and alien magnates who would "establish themselves in space and rise up for my cause, if the said Emperor of Spamalka will support that cause to the fullest." She sought Norfolkius's approval, but when the Clainnarch of Ross had arranged for the communique to be delivered to him, Norfolkius's instinctive reaction was not to allow for himself to be involved in the conspiracy. Norfolkius quailed at the thought of outright treason, but still could not bring himself to repudiate the enterprise altogether. Having forfeited the Empress's favor, he felt that he could not afford to antagonize Mariana as well, and he also feared that if he did not help her, Mariana would look elsewhere for a husband.
 * She had hinted in her communique that Don Juan of Austarlia, Philicus's illegitimate half-brother, was interested in her, and he did not want to lose her in this way. The Clainnarch of Ross, recognizing all of this, did his best to exploit the Duke's unease. With the constant pressure applied on him, Norfolkius agreed to a holocommunicative conference with Ridolfi. This occurred on March 10, 1771, at Norfolkius House in Christiania. Ridolfi now urged the Duke to sign communiques to Emperor Philicus and the Duke of Alva, volunteering his services. This the Duke refused to do, but Ridolfius drew up the communiques regardless. He also composed a more detailed set of instructions, purporting to be from Norfolkius, asking Emperor Philicus to provide "aid in funds, personnel, armor, starships, and munitions", and proposing for the conclusion of a common offensive strategy with the Marasharite Empire, with operations to be launched in the Burglais Arm, Dasian Heartland, along the Galactic Frontier Route, and in the Hutsite Reaches. After a series of discussions between Ridolfi, Ross, and Sir Willanius Ballania (1721-72), the Duke's secretary, it was agreed that Ballania should visit Spamalkan Ambassador de Spes and explain to him that though the Duke would not sign the documents, he approved of their contents and endorsed their requests. De Spes, convinced that the plot had Norfolkius's backing, informed the Spamalkan Council of State of these developments, on March 19, urging that Norfolkius be heeded.
 * On March 24, Ridolfi embarked for Brussels, securing an audience with the Duke of Alva and asking him to press Philicus to dispatch military forces across the Galactic Void. Alva did not dispute the essential desirability of this plan-he himself had pointed out to Philicus the necessity of restraining Laurasian power, decrying its encroachments upon Scottrian, Dejanican, and Marasharite territory, and of the need to dispose Aurelia-but doubted the success of the enterprise. Philicus had his commitments in the Durthian Duchies and against the Barbary States, and any moves against Laurasia might arouse the hostility of Franconia, always opposed to every Spamalkan aggrandizement and ambitions. The Duke had a very low regard for Ridolfi and he did not believe the banker's claims that rebellion was fomenting within the Empire in Mariana's favor. Only Aurelia's death or deposition would convince Alva that it would be safe to proceed. Ridolfi himself, who had been unable to secure Alva's firm backing, then embarked on tours through Franche-Comte, Milania, and Naparia during April and May 1771, seeking to gain additional support and to drive public opinion within the Spamalkan dominions to his favor.
 * February 25-
 * In a formal ceremony at the Great Audience Chamber of the Quencilvanian Palace, on February 25, 1771, Empress Aurelia raised her loyal Chancellor, Sir Willanius Cecilis, to the peerage of the Laurasian Empire. By 1771, Cecilis had definitively proved his ability in matters of government administration, diplomacy, and court affairs. He had played a major role in the compilation and publication of the Codex Aureliana, the most comprehensive legal code in the Laurasian Empire's history; he had served his mistress faithfully in all matters concerning the Scottrian question and conspiracies against her throne; and he had looked after her welfare, whether by opposing Leicesterius in his attempts to marry her or advising her on the suppression of the Malarian Rebellion. Aurelia recognized all of this and was determined to reward him for it. All of the major personages of the Imperial Court were in attendance at the ceremony. The Earl of Leicesterius and the Duke of Norfolkius had the role of bearers of the imperial sword; Lord Treasurer Winchestrius (whose health was in decline by this point), Chief Procurator Amnystas Parsius, Procurator-General Bagonius, and Imperial Vice-Chamberlain Sir Tacitus Knollysis all played important roles in the ceremony. Cecilis was created 1st Baron Burghley (Burgumae in High Laurasian) of Volta. It is by this title that he will be referred to thenceforth.
 * Burghley was also awarded a grant of €200 million dataries and the Order of the Imperial Garter. By this stage, the Empress's primary advisers comprised Lord Burghley, Jadia, Leicesterius, and Walsingis, all of whom now held important positions within the ranks of the Imperial Laurasian Government. Leicesterius had become Minister of Regional and Provincial Administration in March 1770; Jadia now held the positions of Minister of Imperial Works and Holdings and Space and Transportation; Burghley of course, was Chancellor, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of the Imperial Chancellory. Sir Nicholas Thorckmortonia, who had lost favor with the Empress Aurelia as a result of the conspiracies surrounding the Malarian Rebellion, had died on February 12; this had increased the influence of these respective men in the eyes of the Imperial Court. At the same time, however, they continued to be divided by differences in opinion; in particular, about the question of the Empress's marriage to the Franconian Duke of Anjou. Burghley and Jadia were in favor of the marriage, but Leicesterius was not, although he professed otherwise.
 * Empress Aurelia herself, who continued to publicly profess her recognition of the necessity of marriage, had decided to proceed further with those plans. King Charman's younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was now a potential suitor for the Empress's hand. Anjou was not an ideal choice of partner for a woman of thirty-seven, being only nineteen. Later in his life he would become renowned for his homosexual and transvestite apetites, but at this time, was known for his promiscuity with women, which made it unlikely that he could become a model husband. His Franconian faith proved another difficulty, but the Duke's very youthfulness encouraged hopes that his views on religion were not solid, and that he would be willing to convert to Imperial Almitism for the sake of the marriage. In November 1770, Franconian Ambassador Fénelon had been informed by Leicesterius that the Empress wished to hold an audience with him. The audience, held on November 9, of that month, had seen Aurelia dressed in a more extravagant, obvious manner than usual. The reasoning for this soon became clear, for she spoke of her regret at having remained single for so long.
 * The Ambassador now declared that he would be more than willing to correct that state of affairs, and took it upon himself to arrange a marriage between Aurelia and Anjou. Aurelia then claimed that she was very old and voiced concerns about Anjou's maturity at their second audience (November 15, 1770), but still seemed very eager. The Ambassador sent a communique to Queen-Dowager Catharina two days later, who was greatly excited at the prospect of obtaining a crown for her younger son. Unfortunately, Anjou himself proved much less enthusiastic: in February 1771, the Queen-Dowager informed Fénelon that her son had complained about Aurelia's immorality, and that he would be "universally ridiculed" if he married such a bride. Only when the Ambassador responded, insisting that such rumors had no basis to them, did the Duke allow for negotiations to proceed. On March 8, the Empress informed the Council of her dealings with the Franconians. Until that time, only the Empress’s chief ministers and intimate favorites, such as Burghley, Leicesterius, and Jadia, had been aware of the negotiations concerning Anjou. Lord Treasurer Winchestrius, who had not been informed of the marriage previously, was in particular cautious, declaring that the Empress should not rush forward with a marriage without gauging the opinions of her subjects. Sir Athanasius Croftius, Minister of Energy and Planetary Resources, actually enraged the Empress by asking if the Duke was not too young to be her husband. Burghley, on the other hand, continued to profess his belief in the necessity of the marriage for the Empire's security, and for the resolution of the Marasharite, Scottrian, and Dejanican conflicts.
 * It soon became clear to all that Anjou's religion might obstruct the marriage. The Duke revealed himself to be very pious, asserting that he would give up his faith for no one. Burghley even voiced his support for allowing the Duke to practice his religion in private, but the Empress was determined to uphold the custom of her ancestors, as it applied to the imperial family. To the disgust of those who desired the match, Leicesterius supported her stand. Leicesterius's feigned enthusiasm for the marriage then gave way to "concern" about its implications. The Earl claimed that praise "was due to the Lord Almitis for having Her Majesty so well stand for the maintenance of the proper customs of the Imperial Family", but while these sentiments were in themselves unimpeachable, his enemies were sure that his moralistic posture formed a cover for more selfish and sinister objections. The Empress's cousin, Lord Husadarania, expressed the opinion of many when he said that if "Anjou agreed to our religious customs, yet still My Lord of Leicesterius would find a means to deny the facts of the union."
 * March 5-
 * After having remained at the Imperial Laurasian Court for over three months, Prince Henry of Pruthia made his official departure from the dominions of the Laurasian Empire back to the Great Amulak Spiral (March 5, 1771). Empress Aurelia, who had developed a respect for the shrewd and disciplined prince, ensured that the ceremonies of departure which were staged for him were grand. Turbocannon were fired to salute the Prince and his entourage; a final service of thanks was conducted in the Westphalian Cathedral; and the Empress herself conferred the Order of St. Seleucus the Victor upon both Prince Henry and his brother, Pruthian Emperor Pru'a IX. Henry, on behalf of his brother and the Pruthian Government, accepted the honor, and then made his formal leave of the court. His entourage was escorted by a Laurasian fleet placed under the direction of the Earl of Leicesterius; it proceeded rapidly to Belkadan, and from there into the Galactic Void. Henry arrived back at Berliania III by March 13. Once there, he made a formal report to his brother, the Emperor of Pruthia, and expressed his opinion that the Empress had seen reason in their proposals. Pru'a himself was pleased about the success of his brother's mission, and he now dispatched a communique of his own to the Empress of Laurasia.
 * In this communique, Pru'a suggested to Aurelia that, in light of Austarlia's aggression concerning the Zips County, it would be appropriate if Pruthia and Laurasia simply followed her lead and took what they wanted. In April 1771, Chancellor Burghley had a conversation with Pruthian Ambassador Solms at the Diplomatic Palace, and told him that the Imperial Laurasian Government was willing to reduce its territorial demands of the Marasharite Empire in exchange for receiving substantial compensation at the expense of Dejanica. The Empress herself continued to discuss with Burghley, and with the Imperial Privy Council, the Pruthian proposals. By the middle of May 1771, she had made her decision; on May 14, Pruthian Consul Baron de Wergalid reported to the Pruthian Cabinet that the Empress of Laurasia had consented to the partition proposals made by Pru'a IX. Four days later, Burghley had another conversation with Solms, and they perused a stellar map of the Commonwealth's territories, discussing potential claims by Laurasia, Pruthia, and Austarlia. Thus, negotiations between Laurasia and Pruthia continued in earnest.
 * March 14-
 * In the meantime, events continued to proceed with the War of the Bar Confederation. On the same day of Cecilis's elevation to become Lord Burghley (February 25, 1771), General Pulaskia's forces obtained a victory in the Battle of Tarlow. Following the retreat of General von Drewitz from the blockade of Jasna Gora, the General had managed to recover some of the Bar Confederation's territorial losses in the Krakow Voivodeship. By February 6, he had reconquered the systems of Malec, Stoch, and Hoffaz, inflicting defeats upon overstretched and isolated Laurasian garrisons. Four days later, he had launched a major raiding expedition against the outskirts of Lublin, destroying Laurasian operational outposts on Crankana and Lobel in the process. By February 22, Osrony Trojy, Okopy Minor, and Ivarria had all been reconquered by the General's forces. General Sir Honorius Elmt, who remained in command of Laurasian forces until his formal dismissal of duty, dispatched units under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Aetius Tidalius (1722-87), to halt the Bar Confederation advance at Tarlow.
 * The result of this confrontation was a decisive victory for rebel forces, who captured a number of Laurasian destroyers. Following the Battle of Tarlow, Pulaskia seized Laurasian garrisons on Krakow Minor and Zaleowiec. By February 28, his units were besieging Krasnik. The Siege of Krasnik lasted until March 2, 1771, when its defenses withered under the relentless assault of the Confederation's forces, and Pulaskia secured firm of possession of the stronghold. In gratitude for his recent achievements against the forces of the Empire and the Royalist Government, the General was finally appointed to the Confederate War Council on March 14. Nevertheless, Pulaskia continued to be known among the Bar Confederates for his defiance and his inability to strictly adhere to the orders of his superiors. Franconian General Dumuoriez, who had drilled Confederate troops at Nowy Targ and Jasna Gora, himself noticed the Dejanican General's difficult traits and that his fellow military commanders despaired at coordinating military strategy with him. However, Pulaskia had established a position of popularity for himself among the soldiers and naval personnel of the Confederation; this was an allegiance which would be hard for any person to break.
 * April 2-Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius and Lieutenant-General Sir Petevius Panius (who had been rewarded the Order of St. Antiochus the Great in February 1771 by order of the Empress for his victories in the Northern Reaches), convened a formal conference of military strategy on Bucharina, on April 2, 1771. During the early months of 1771, the two Laurasian military commanders had focused their efforts on consolidating the Empire's hold over the former Marasharite territories in the Galactic Borderlands. Marasharite counteroffensives against Thornton, Uma, Merevop, Kerch, Marson, and the Galactic Frontier Route had ended in failure, and Laurasian troops had retained firm control of the approaches to the Haynsian Slave Highway. It was now deemed time for Laurasian forces to resume their route of advance against their Marasharite and Haynsian foes. The conference continued for the next six days and ultimately resulted in the formulation of a new Laurasian offensive strategy. It was now decided that the 1st Imperial Army (as the main forces of General Rumanstevius had been redesignated as), were to hold the Northern Reaches line and to launch raiding expeditions against the outskirts of the Great Tesmanian Cloud, so as to prevent Marasharite troops from advancing across the Galactic Void. Admiral Hawkius was to retain control of Chesma, Navarino, and the Bosporan Straits, and would provide support to Grecian and Albanian rebel movements in the Amulak Spiral. The main offensive was now to be against the Haynsian Despotate: General Panius was to secure control of the Haynsian Slave Highway and then penetrate into the Angelina Spiral, seizing control of the major Haynsian star systems. Field-Marshal Munnich and General Lacius had previously managed to penetrate and harass the outskirts of Haynsian territory, but had failed to conquer Haynes, Balaclava, and Bahkchisiray. This was to be the main objective of the Laurasian advance. Panius, now in command of the 2nd Imperial Army, spent the remainder of April 1771 reorganizing his military units for the offensive now to come.
 * April 8-
 * By April 1771, events in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria had again picked up steam. During the early months of 1771, the Regent Lennaxia had been undertaking measures in order to consolidate his position of influence and power on Ediania. Although the Regent sought to present himself as an "independent figure", working for the welfare and security of the Scottrian realms, he continued to possess close ties with the Laurasian Empire. Grateful to the Empress Aurelia for having permitted him to assume his position of authority on Ediania, Lennaxia was determined to prevent Queen Mariana's supporters from obtaining further influence at the Scottrian Court. To that end, he sought to destroy the forces of the Edianian Confederation. The Regent's attention now shifted to Dumbarton, one of the chief Confederate strongholds in Scottrian space. Lord Fleming, who had continually expressed his support for Queen Mariana, and refused to acknowledge the authority of the Scottrian Estates, continued to garrison Dumbarton in defiance of the Scottrian Government. Fleming, however, was a autocratic and harsh commander. He maintained strict discipline and harshly punished those whom he believed defied his directives. One of these was Claira St. Brae, the wife of Lieutenant Malcolm St. Brae. Claira allegedly "defiled" the morality of the camp by her outspokenness and willingness to treat with others outside of the garrison. Consequently, Lord Fleming ordered for her to be flogged with an electric whip. This enraged Lieutenant Malcolm, who believed that his wife had been unduly mistreated.
 * The Lieutenant, who had now been swayed from his loyalty to the Marianian Confederation, decided to depart from the garrison on his personal starfighter and to betray the schismatics of the garrison's defenses to the government forces. During the early hours of April 3, Lieutenant St. Brae slipped out from the star system, his departure being undetected by the garrison officers. He quickly proceeded to Drumquhassie, where he rendezvoused with Laird Robert Douglas, who was distantly related to the Regent, and Lord John Cunningham of Drumquhassie. He now provided them with the garrison schismatics and informed them how they would be able to penetrate the garrison's defensive fortifications. The following day, Douglas informed the Council of State about this. The Council decided to follow St. Brae's attack recommendations and provided for a small-scale assault to be conducted against the defenses of Dumbarton, to be commanded by Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill. During the evening hours of April 7, 1771, Crawford and a force of ten dreadnoughts and four destroyers of the line, along with 100,000 personnel of the Scottrian Army, established their command headquarters at Dumbuck, one light-year from Dumbarton. Crawford and his force then proceeded towards Dumbarton before the official commencement of the day. They launched an immediate offensive against the Dumbarton Patrol Station, located in the northern outskirts of the star system.
 * The garrison was completely surprised by this government offensive; within hours, Crawford's troops had breached the star system's defenses and penetrated to the orbit of Dumbarton. By the end of the day, the authorities of Dumbarton had surrendered to the government force, and the base fell into the possession of the Scottrian Government. The government soldiers shouted "A Darnley! A Darnley!" as they took possession of the Dumbarton Fortress Citadel, making an allusion to Queen Mariana's ill-fated and unpopular second husband. Lord Fleming himself managed to flee on a freighter, but his cousin John Fleming, Captain of Boghall; John Hamilton, Clainnarch of St. Andrews and one of the leading Scottrian religious prelates; Francois Verac, a Franconian diplomat who had conducted negotiations with the Marianian Confederation; Laird Alexander Master of Livingstone; and some 200,000 rebel personnel were captured. The Regent Lennaxia himself arrived at Dumbarton on April 10, in order to survey what Crawford had conquered. Verac was released, as the Regent did not wish to antagonize the Franconian Government. Fleming of Boghall was imprisoned at Leith Castle, and the Clainnarch was taken to Stirling and executed. Lennaxia himself arrived at Leith on April 14, determined to supervise the interrogation and punishment of the rebel personnel. This action, however, gave the advantage to his enemies on Ediania.
 * April 21-Lord William Kirkclady of Grange, who had until this point remained loyal to the Scottrian Government, and had been one of the chief friends and allies of the late Regent Moray, decided, on April 21, 1771, that he could no longer serve the Regent Lennaxia. Lennaxia did not hold Kirclady in the same regard that Moray had; in fact, he deliberately sought to exclude him from discussions among the Scottrian Estates and Council of State, and openly derided him as a "fiend" and a "lier". Kirclady now believed that if he shifted his support to the cause of the Marianian Confederation, he would be able to establish himself as the dominant influence in the government. Therefore, Kirclady obtained the support of the garrison and authorities of Ediania, and formally renounced his oath of allegiance to the Regent Lennaxia and to King Jamsius VI. Within two days, Kirclady's forces had secured the garrisons of Glencairn, Ancrum Moor, Haddington, Glasgow, Dunbar, Rothes, Madelaine, Albright, and Albemaine, asserting his dominion in the central regions of the Homeland Territories. Lennaxia now declared Kirclady to be a traitor and from his headquarters on Leith, maintained his control of Branxholm, the Outskirt Districts, Stirling, Selkirk, McAleese, Cleese, and Vergesse. On April 27, Kirclady arrested the Provost-Marshal of Ediania, Jamsius MacGill, who had remained loyal to the Regent and his advisers. On May 5, 1771, the Battle of Burgh Muir was fought between the forces of the Marianian Confederation under the command of Lords Fleming and Kirclady of Grange, and those of the Scottrian government under the command of General Thomas Crawford. Burgh Muir was a minor supply garrison located four light-years to the southeast of Ediania; the Regent Lennaxia was attempting to secure control of the Trans-Edianian Outposts before mounting a offensive against the Ediania star system proper. The confrontation lasted for several hours, but ultimately resulted in a stalemate.
 * May 11-
 * The outbreak of renewed civil war in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria alarmed Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council. The continuing intrigues involving Queen Mariana, the Duke of Norfolkius, and Ridolfi made this concern even more intensive. On April 16, 1771, Chancellor Burghley's agents on Leith reported that they had evidence that the Queen of Scottria was corresponding with the Spamalkan Duke of Alva, commander of the Spamalkan forces in the Durthian Provinces. This had been confirmed six days later, when the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Lea'dus (the brother of the Austarlian co-Emperor Joseth II), sent a communique to warn Burghley that Ridolfi, who had visited his court, was involved in a conspiracy concerning the former Queen of Scottria. Following this, Burghley had ordered the Earl of Aretha to keep a careful watch over Mariana's affairs. He was also instructed to question Mariana about her involvement with foreign courts. Aretha did so, but when confronted with the accusations, Mariana denied all knowledge about what he was talking about. Nevertheless, he had remained vigilant, especially since many among the Privy Council and Governing Senate were hopeful that she would incriminate herself and thus give them an excuse to proceed against her. Empress Aurelia herself, displaying a certain ruthlessness and determination to maintain her power, now (May 11, 1771) promulgated the Revised Statute of Treason, which included provisions to update her father's enactment of 1736.
 * It now became high treason to say that she was not the lawful Empress of Laurasia, or to publish, write, or say that she was a heretic, infidel, schismatic, tyrant, or usurper. It would be treason also for anyone to publish any religious declaration, emanating from foreign courts, which criticized the Empress or her government. Many in the Empire were now paranoid of foreigners, and believed that their Empress needed to be preserved against all threats. On May 13, Regent Lennaxia's forces constructed a artillery redoubt, for three sonic-cannons at Caltonia, which was located .5 light years to the east of Ediania. Over the course of the past several days, Lennaxia's forces had assaulted rebel outposts on Solway, Falaside, and Broughty, determined to suppress supply lines to the garrison of Ediania. The construction of the Caltonia Redoubt provided a observation and supply outpost for the government forces. It was soon followed by an assault against Trinity Kirk, which had been utilized by the rebel forces as a communications terminal. By May 16, Trinity Kirk had capitulated to the government forces; Kirclady now drilled his men extensively in the districts of Ediania and repelled a raiding expedition against Albright.
 * May 17-
 * General Sir Honorius Elmt had by this point been formally relieved from his duties of military command in Dejanica, and had returned back to the Caladarian Galaxy on April 6. Disgraced as a result of his failure to suppress the Bar Confederation, Elmt retired in shame to his family estates on Chandlier. On May 17, 1771, Empress Aurelia officially designated Major-General Sir Alexander Surovius as the supreme commander of Laurasian and Loyalist Dejanican forces in the the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Surovius, establishing his command headquarters on Silerwin (now firmly in the possession of Laurasian forces), now sought to move against the rebel units. General Pulaskia had continued to operate from Krasnik. He had advanced on Zamosc and refused to coordinate military operations with the Franconian General Dumouriez. As a result, Surovius decided to surprise Confederate troops under General Dumouriez at Lanckorona; his forces began a swift advance in that direction. Laurasian troops had unsucessfully assaulted Lanckorona on February 23, 1771; Surovius was determined that this second assault would not fail.
 * Finally (May 23, 1771), the Second Battle of Lanckorona was waged. Surovius and his troops spent the several days before this second confrontation advancing from Krakow against Lanckorona. Dumouriez's efforts to obtain the assistance of Pulaskia had failed, and his forces were now outnumbered and outgunned. Surovius's warships assaulted the star system's outskirts during the early hours of the day. Dumuoriez, in fact, had been asleep when he was informed that his forces were under attack. The Franconian General, however, was never able to coordinate his units effectively to resist the Laurasian onslaught. The Laurasian force comprised of one hundred warships and four hundred smaller assault vessels; the Dejanican garrison, of twenty warships with one hundred assault vessels. The outcome was inevitable; by the end of the day, Dumuoriez had been forced to retreat, and Lanckorona fell into the possession of the Laurasian Empire. General Surovius's vicory resulted in celebrations being held throughout the Empire. On May 27, General Pulaskia managed to obtain a minor victory in the Battle of Majdany. He then instigated a blockade of Zamosec, but within two days, this had been lifted by General Surovius. In early June, Pulaskia was forced to retreat to Częstochowa, suffering major losses as a result of raids launched by Dejanican starfighter squadrons.
 * June 2-The Battle of Cragmillar was fought between the forces of the Marianian Confederation under the command of Lord Fleming and those of the Scottrian Government under the Earl of Morton (June 2, 1771). Morton had returned from his special mission to Laurasia Prime on May 29, and had been designated by the Regent Lennaxia as one of the chief subordinate commanders of his forces. Cragmillar Fortress was one of the chief strongholds in the Homeland Territories; Lennaxia believed its capture essential to destroying the resistance of the rebel forces. This confrontation was indecisive, and Cragmillar remained in the possession of Kirclady's forces. Then on June 10, the Battle of Gallow's Star was waged between Marianian Confederation units under the Earl of Huntly and the government forces of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria under Morton. This confrontation resulted in severe losses for both rebel and government forces. Huntly, in fact, was forced to inform Lord Kirclady that most of his starfighters were in no operational condition to launch raiding expeditions in the vicinity of Stirling and Selkirk, as he had wished. Morton himself, however, was forced to reorganize his forces before he could launch further offensives against rebel positions.
 * June 12-On June 12, 1771, the Laurasian Empire's forces officially commenced their military offensives against the Haynsian Despotate. Over the preceding two months, the organization and commands of the Laurasian forces had shifted considerably. On April 22, 1771, General Sir Petevius Panius, who had been designated as the original commander of the Laurasian operations into the Haynsian Despotate, suffered severe injuries in a turbolift accident on his personal flagship, the IMS Justatica. As a result of these injuries, Panius was no longer in fit physical condition, and could therefore no longer command the planned offensives. On April 29, he had been relieved from duty by the Empress Aurelia, who ordered for the Imperial Court to celebrate the victories he had obtained at Bendery and Merevop over the Marasharite armies. Four days later, the Imperial General Headquarters appointed Major-General Baron Vessanius Dologruvkius as the commander of the Second Imperial Army. General Dologruvkius was just thirty-one years old at the time of his appointment, and was considered by many to be one of the brightest officers in the Imperial Military. On May 6, Vice-Admiral Alexius Seniavin was assigned to command the 50th Imperial Fleet, stationed at Andrianne, which was now deployed in support of the Laurasian operations. Admiral Seniavin, who was sixty-seven years old and had served as a ensign under the Duke of Norfolkius in the Second Laurasian-Marasharite War of 1723-25, was well-experienced and had a firm grasp of strategy. The flotilla was thoroughly prepared for combat and escort duties, being equipped with sixteen dreadnoughts and fifty destroyers which possessed nearly three thousand turbocannon. And now, they were called into action against the hated Haynsians. By June 19, Laurasian troops had besieged and conquered the Haynsian bases of Batchbey, Merevebey, Quickbay, and Quinta-il-Vily (Spear of the Raider), long notorious as the chief slave processing market on the Haynsian Slave Highway.
 * June 26-
 * The Earl of Morton, whose offensives against Cragmillar and Gallow's Star had resulted in a indecisive stalemate with the forces of the Marianian Confederation, decided to transport many of his warships and soldiers to Restarlig, which was located seven light-years to the northeast of the Ediania star system (June 26, 1771). This maneuver, however, provoked Kirclady of Grange to bring his men to the Quarry Pipeline, which connected Restarlig with Hawkill, a minor mining colony. Morton's soldiers, however, managed to pursue Grange's troops to the outskirts of Canongate and maintained their position at Restarlig. The indecisive stalemate between the forces of the Regent Lennaxia's government and the Marianian Confederation continued to persist, with each side launching a series of indecisive offensives against the others' positions. Selkirk, Stirling, and Leith were attacked numerous times by rebel expeditions; government units, likewise, failed to reconquer Albright, Albemaine, or Haddon Rig.
 * While the Scottrian Homeland Territories continued to be torn apart by the Marianian Civil War, Haxonian banker Ridolfi was warmly received by the Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus I on Madrid (June 29, 1771). Philicus, who was growing ever more alarmed by Laurasian victories over the Marasharites and her continued interventions in the affairs of both Scottria and Dejanica, maintained his sponsorship of the conspiracy against her and her government. By this point, the details of the Ridolfi Plot, as it would become known, had been finalized. The Duke of Alva, acting on the authorization of Emperor Philicus, would advance from Moora Cabania and launch a surprise invasion of the Burglais Arm from the Galactic Void. Combining with rebel units and Marasharite detachments, he would advance along the Rebeccan Galactic Trade Route and towards Laurasia Prime. The ultimate goal would be to occupy the Empire's capital world. Simultaneously, Norfolkius would incite loyal Laurasian Traditionalists to revolt against Aurelia, who would be seized by the Duke and either assassinated or held as a hostage for Mariana's safety. Mariana would be liberated and proclaimed Empress and Autocrat of All the Laurasians. She and Norfolkius would marry; the wars with the Bar Confederation and the Marasharite Empire would be terminated on terms favorable to those states; and the two would reign as joint sovereigns, ultimately, of both the Laurasian Empire and Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, to which realms they would maintain Traditionalist religious values and positive relations with the Spamalkans and Marasharites. There were, however, fatal weaknesses in these plan. Ridolfi (just as Alva himself believed), had overestimated the number of Laurasian Traditionalists who would revolt in support of Queen Mariana. He also failed to take into consideration the fact that if Spamalka declared war on the Laurasian Empire, it would trigger the Empire's military alliance with Pruthia.
 * Pr'ua IX would be obliged to declare war and send troops to Aurelia's favor. Finally, the Empire's military garrisons in the Galactic Void and the Burglais Arm were too well-organized and too numerous for there to be any ready prospect of a successful Spamalkan offensive. Philicus would find his supply lines overextended, and defeat would provoke rebellions in his other territories throughout the Amulak Spiral and Little Amulak Cloud. Ridolfi had no understanding of Laurasian politics or the Imperial Government; Norfolkius, who should have had both, was too blinded by ambition to point out the flaws. It was now left to the Duke of Alva to veto the plan. Alva, whose low opinion of Ridolfi has already been noted, knew that his forces would not even penetrate the Galactic Barrier, and was convinced that the invasion would fail. Mariana's cause would be destroyed by the failure of an invasion; she, in fact, could lose her very life. On June 29, Alva refused to use his troops in the conspiracy, knowing that without them, Philicus was powerless to help the Queen of Scottria. Throughout July and August 1771, Philicus himself would seek to compel his governor-general of Durthia into adhering to the conspiracy; Ridolfi and the Clainnarch of Ross also sought to persuade him. All of these entreaties, however, were doomed to failure.
 * July 2-Tantallon, which was located in the Outskirt Districts, and was a major outpost on the border with the Galactic Void, was assaulted by rebel units under the command of Lords Fleming and Durevashassie (July 2, 1771). Grange believed that the capture of Tantallon would result in the establishment of a direct supply line into the Galactic Void, which would allow for the supporters of Queen Mariana to finally conquer Leith and Stirling. The garrison of Tantallon, however, successfully resisted, and the world remained in the possession of government forces. Two days later, John Chisholm, controller of the rebel artillery, was arrested at Queensbury by Lord Lindsay, having attempted to bring military supplies and armor which had been assembled by Franconian authorities at Dieppe. He was able to send a message to Grange before his capture.
 * July 7-
 * The Battle of Perekop was waged between the Second Imperial Army and 50th Imperial Fleet of the Laurasian Empire, under the joint command of Major-General Vessanius Dologruvkius and Vice-Admiral Alexius Seniavin, and those of the Haynsian Despotate under the command of Haynsian Despot Everan-Karany II and his chief subordinate commmander, Sensei-General Kevar-Nester (July 7, 1771). Perekop had remained a major stronghold at the termination of the Haynsian Slave Highway, and it offered access into the central dominions of the Haynsian Despotate. Field-Marshal Munnich had stormed this major stronghold in May 1736, which had permitted him to devastate the Haynsian outposts of the Brigoff Stellar Nebula. Sensei-General Kevar-Nester, who believed that the Laurasian forces needed to be halted at all costs, had taken extensive preparations in order to provide for Perekop's defenses. The world possessed an offensive force of two hundred warships and six hundred scoutships, those dreaded Haynsian vessels which had for long wreaked devastation upon many star systems in the Caladarian Galaxy. The world also possessed a force of 400,000 Marasharite Guards and nearly a million Haynsian troopers, who had been drilled intensively and given orders to fight to the death. Despite all of this preparation, however, the Laurasian forces (with nearly five hundred warships of the line and one thousand assault vessels along with 1.2 million Laurasian troops), enjoyed a decisive advantage. This was quickly displayed in the course of the confrontation; General Dologruvkius proved himself to be a talented and expert military commander. By the end of the day, the Battle of Perekop had ended in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire. Laurasian troops penetrated the star system's defenses, including the Perekop Rampart, and quickly overran the world. Perekop was occupied by Laurasian detachments; Sensei-General Kevar-Nester and virtually his entire land force were wiped out. Everan-Karany II managed to flee from the star system, evading Laurasian pursuit squadrons. The fall of Perekop now left the Haynsian Despotate, isolated from Marasharite support and weakened, exposed to a full offensive by the Laurasian Empire.
 * Badjay then became the scene of another confrontation (July 14, 1771). Everan-Karany II, utterly humiliated by his losses to the Empire's forces at Perekop, retreated back to Haynes, determined to direct military offensives from his capital. He now entrusted Prince Ryan-Kavar with responsibility for the defense of Badjay and other strongholds in the Outskirt Districts. Ryan-Kavar was an incompetent military officer, and he had little tactical insight or vision.. The Battle of Badjay, therefore, resulted in a decisive victory for General Dologruvkius and Vice-Admiral Seniavin; Badjay now fell into the possession of the Laurasian Empire. Following the conquest of Badjay, Laurasian forces made further, more substantial gains against their Haynsian adversaries. Palymer (July 15-16), Karasubusar (July 19), Little Boravia (July 21-22), Greater Boravia (July 25), Chalaa and Isis (both July 26), Semafpol (July 29), and Semnrapoval (July 30-August 1), now capitulated to General Dologruvkius. He now dominated the strongholds of the Brigoff Stellar Nebula, repelling all further efforts by the Haynsians to dislodge his units from the positions which they had secured.
 * On July 22, 1771, moreover, the Battle of Ikkerman was waged. Fleet Captain Franconius Dracius, now more prominent due to his exploits at the Battles of Chesma and Navarino, in command of the 2nd Wing of the 8th Imperial Fleet, clashed with Fleet-General Kabim-Ibam, another of the Despot's chief military subordinates. Ikkerman was the last major Haynsian military base beyond the vicinity of Karabusar, and protected the Tauric Approaches, which would provide access to Balaklava. Dracius had been ordered by Admiral Senaivin to take all effort in order to prevent Haynsian forces from penetrating into the Brigoff Stellar Nebula, and to seize control of Ikkerman. He excelled brilliantly in this task, and after three hours of a confrontation in the outskirts of the star system, no ships from the Haynsian force remained. Ikkerman fell into the hands of the Laurasian Empire. For this victory, Dracius was awarded the Order of St. Alexander the Vailant, the most prestigious second-class military decoration in the Laurasian Empire. He was promoted to the rank of Commodore; at thirty-one years old, he was the youngest Laurasian enlisted officer to ever obtain that rank.
 * July 18-On July 18, 1771, the secret Treaty of Topacia was signed by the diplomatic delegations of the Holy Austarlian and Marasharite Empires. The Austarlian Ambassador to the Marasharite Court, Count Reinhard von-Dorich (1717-81), served as the head of the delegation and affixed his signature to the treaty in the name of the Austarlian co-rulers, Empress Mar’va Tarvania and her son Emperor Joseth II. Marasharite Grand Vizier Siladhar Mehmed signed the Treaty on behalf of his master, Emperor Mustapha III. The Empress Mar’va Tarvania’s suspicions of her Laurasian counterpart’s actions had been fueled by the information she had received concerning the visit of Pruthian Prince Henry to the Imperial Laurasian Court. Believing that the two were conspiring to launch an invasion of her dominions, Mar’va Tarvania believed that the only way to forestall Laurasian ambitions would be to support their enemies. The Marasharites themselves, although they had a special loathing for the Austarlians (with whom they had fought ceaselessly for over two centuries), nevertheless believed that they could secure allies for the eventual resumption of conflict with the Laurasian Empire. This treaty, however, was not a formal military alliance: it was merely the expression of Austarlian "solidarity" for the Marasharite position which was being so menaced by the Laurasian threat. The Austarlian Government would work with "all of the ability within its reach" to bring a successful conclusion to the war, and would apply pressure on the Imperial Laurasian Court to prevent further military aggression into Marasharite territories. As a result of the efforts of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, Empress Aurelia and the Privy Council were aware of this agreement within days. Although she was alarmed by the Austarlian conclusion of this treaty, the Empress nevertheless told Chancellor Cecilis that Mar’va Tarvania would scurry from her commitments once offered a share of Dejanican territory.
 * August 6-
 * By August 1771, the Franconian marriage project concerning Empress Aurelia and the Franconian Duke of Anjou had proceeded further. On April 2, Queen-Dowager Catharina de Medici had dispatched a special envoy, Guido Cavalcanti, to the Empire with a formal proposal of marriage with Anjou, a flattering portrait of him, and a list of demands: the Duke must be permitted to practice the Franconian faith, he was to be crowned Emperor Consort of All the Laurasians the day after the wedding, and the Imperial Treasury was to pay the Duke an annual income of €15 trillion dataries per year. The Queen-Dowager also expressed her "strong desire" for the Imperial Laurasian Government to conclude a peace treaty with the Bar Confederation as soon as possible, and to allow for the "free conduct" of affairs in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Empress, when she received these demands, expressed her concerns over all of them: she could not agree to the Duke being crowned, or for him to be granted a life income or be permitted to maintain his religion, except at the expense of the "honor of this government." The Empress also declared that as protectoress of the Dejanican Commonwealth, she could not allow for the Bar Confederation to bring desolation and destruction to those territories.
 * As a result of these grievances, and the continued campaigns of Laurasian forces against the Bar Confederation, little progress was made with the marriage negotiations during the middle months of 1771; reports even reached the Empress that the Duke, who had been encouraged by his friends, was reluctant to proceed, and having heard of an ulcer with which she had been inflicted, had publicly referred to her as an "old creature, burdened with infirmity and unable to perform her duties." Queen Catharina apologized for her son’s rudeness, but for some times afterwards, Aurelia sought to make the lie of any rumors about her health. The age gap did not concern her greatly; Lady Cobhamia, one of her beloved Ladies of the Bedchamber, advised her against pressing with the marriage, on account of the age difference, but the Empress declared that "only ten years separated the Duke and me." Angered that Anjou was acting in such a reluctant manner, the Empress created more difficulties over the marriage contract, at one point even demanding that Boulougone, which had been held by Laurasian forces as surety from 1746-1750, be returned to Laurasian custody indefinitely. Burghley warned Walsingis that the Empress seemed to be deliberately insisting on terms that the Franconians would never agree to. Diplomats throughout the inter-galactic powers were confused; Pru’a IX of Pruthia expressed his doubt that he could "discern the true character of this woman", while Philicus I of Spamalka declared that “Her Majesty of Laurasia only pretends interest in the marriage so that she can obtain support for her war against the Marasharite savages." The Duke of Feria, one of the leading Spamalkan nobles, declared that the Empress would not marry him, much less the Duke.
 * On June 7, the Haxonian Ambassador to the Court of Laurasia Prime, Guilio Magalanni, reported to his government that "it was the opinion of many that this marriage will succeed." Anjou, however, was still insisting that he would not change his religion for anyone; by July 1771, Walsingis had become pessimistic about the prospects of the marriage. Burghley, who knew that the feeling on Laurasia Prime was generally in favor of the marriage, again tried to persuade the Empress to permit the Duke to exercise his religion in his own household; once again, however, she declared, however, that her conscience could not permit a Laurasian consort to profess a differing faith. Burghley despaired at Aurelia’s attitude. Marriage to a Franconian prince seemed the only means of abating Franconian aid to the Bar Confederation, and providing the Empire an ally against Spamalkan and Austarlian intrigues, yet she seemed to be doing her best to wreck the negotiations. Walsingis and Leicesterius, however, believing that Anjou was pretending to be a more jealous Franconian Traditionalist than he was, felt that the Franconians would eventually make concessions and that the Empress was justified in taking a stand. Burghley, bitterly disappointed at Leicesterius’s sudden defection, believed that the Earl’s sole objective was to marry the Empress himself.
 * Now, on August 6, 1771, the Queen Mother of Franconia sent a second special envoy, Paul de Foix, to Christiania, to add his pleas to those of Lord Burghley. Still, Empress Aurelia was adamant that she would make no concessions. She had now determined to play for time, deciding to hold out on the marriage negotiations for as long as possible. The Empress was also waiting to see how the continued victories of General Surovius would impact Franconian support for the Bar Confederation. Dejanican General Pulaskia, on his part, had announced on July 27 that he would from that point on strictly adhere to the orders and operational instructions issued by the Confederate War Council, and that he would not launch operations against Laurasian armies unless if given special authorization. This actually allowed General Surovius more room with which to maneuver. Majdany and Nowy Targ were overrun by Laurasian forces by August 14, and Franconian General Dumouriez was forced to retreat from his operational headquarters at Kablachany.
 * August 15-The Second Imperial Army, under the command of Major-General Vessanius Dologrukvius, launched a decisive offensive against the Tauric Approaches (August 15, 1771), which had remained under the control of the Haynsian Despotate. The Tauric Approaches comprised of sixty defensive outposts located along the Tauranian Defensive Line, which had been erected by the Haynsian Despot Jay I in 1451. For over three centuries, no foreign enemy had managed to penetrate this defensive barrier, with the sole exception of the Marasharites. The Dejanicans, Scottrians, and the Laurasian Empire (during the campaigns of Field-Marshal Munnich and General Lacius nearly four decades earlier), had tried and failed to penetrate the Defensive Line. But now, the Haynsian garrisons were overstretched and outnumbered by their opponents. Within three days, General Dologruvkius had breached the Tauric Approaches, occupying the bases for the Laurasian Empire. Haynsian forces fled in utter disarray to the Chereseneos Belt. Donetsk and Balaclava, left completely defenseless and exposed to the Laurasian assault, surrendered to General Dologruvkius without a fight on August 26. Dologruvkius liberated nearly six million captives, including the last remaining Laurasian slaves obtained in the Haynsian raiding expedition of 1769, and permanently dismantled those slave markets which had remained in operation since 1446. Haynes and Bahkchisiray were now completely exposed to the onslaught of Laurasian forces. Everan-Karany II, whose health had entered a decline from July 1771 onwards, was in utter despair, and his pleas to the Marasharite Court for military assistance against the Laurasian intrusions fell on deaf ears.
 * September 3-
 * The Franconian Special Envoy Paul de Foix, completely dejected by his failure to persuade the Empress of Laurasia to moderate her demands towards the Franconian Government, departed from Laurasia Prime, on September 3, 1771, for his journey back to Parri in the Great Amulak Spiral. The Empress and the Imperial Court gave him a formal ceremony of departure, and she expressed her "pious" hope that the marriage would be able to proceed. Other concerns, however, had arisen for the Empress, once again related to the question of the Queen of Scottria. Because of the Ridolfi conspiracies and the uncertainty of affairs with the Holy Austarlian Empire, Burghley had advised the Empress that it would be unwise to go on her normal progress at this juncture. Aurelia had heeded her trusted Chancellor’s advice, and had decided to make only a minor tour of the systems immediately in the vicinity of Laurasia Prime. On August 24, she had visited Norfolkius’s mansion, Walden Erye, on Verenscium and expressed her hopes that he would continue to provide "useful contributions" to the Imperial Laurasian Government. Yet the net was now enclosing itself upon Norfolkius. On April 12, 1771, at Sernapasia, imperial authorities in the star system had detained a young man named Claudius Balieus. He had made his journey from the Durthian Duchies, and upon being searched, was found to be carrying a tablet of communiques in cipher. Balieus was arrested, and the communiques were meant to be forwarded to the Chancellor for his perusal. Before they were delivered to him, the Clainnarch of Ross succeeded in suborning an official within the Imperial Ministry of Justice to pass to him some of the more compromising documents.
 * In their place, Ross substituted a collection of much less incriminating notes, hoping that when Burghley inspected them, he would not think it necessary to examine the matter further. Nevertheless, when the Chancellor read these, he had a feeling that something was being kept from him. He now placed an undercover agent of Imperial Intelligence in Baileus's cell at the Secret Prison of Ipsus V (to which he was confined), to extract more information from the prisoner. By this means, the deception was uncovered, for Balieus, believing he had a sympathetic listener, revealed all. Having established that Baileus had been entrusted with communiques which had never reached him, Burghley, in June 1771, had him removed to the Fortress of Baureux on Laurasia Prime, and subjected to stimulated torture. Baileus now revealed that he had been carrying a communqiue from Ridolfius to someone labeled "40", and that he had understood this to be the code name for a nobleman of the Empire. The communique in question had contained a highly emotional account by Ridolfi of his meeting in Brussels with the Duke of Alva, and Ridolfi had quoted the Duke as saying that, subject to Philicus's approval, he would have "all the assistance and aid that he required." Baileus's confessions were themselves important, but he did not know the identity of the mysterious peer. Unable to unmask the traitor, Aurelia and Burghley were powerless to strike at those behind the conspiracy.
 * Thus, on July 24, 1771, the Privy Council, seeking to uncover more, ordered that the Clainnarch of Ross be placed under house arrest. He was rigorously questioned, but his ambasssadorial status preserved him from the inquisitorial methods that had been used against Baileus, and the Clainnarch proved more than a match for his interrogators. He did admit that he had obtained possession of some of the communiques brought by Baileus, but insisted that the correspondence related only to Mariana's legitimate dealings with her supporters in Scottria, and that Baileus was wrong to say that they indicated a planned invasion of the Empire. At Aurelia's insistence, Mariana herself was interrogated by the Earl of Aretha, but she too denied any knowledge of the plot. She even wrote a communique to Ross, espousing her innocence. At the end of July, therefore, the Empress was still unaware of who "40" was, and had no suspicion that it was Norfolkius. It was only in August 1771 that a forutitious discovery linked the Duke with Mariana's intrigues. As a former Queen of Franconia, Mariana was entitled to a pension from the Franconian Crown, and she had requested that some of these funds be transmitted to the Marianian Confederation in Scottria. The funds were sent to Ambassador Fénelon on August 19, who had then secretly contacted Norfolkius and asked him to organize the transportation. Norfolkius agreed to this, arranging that an unsuspecting navigator from Darcia should deliver the consignment to an agent of his at Gholaia, who would undertake the final phase of the journey himself. The merchant, Sir Leonnatus Primus (1726-99), soon discovered that he was carrying hard minerals and several communiques in cipher. On August 24, he alerted Burghley and the Imperial Intelligence Agency of this discovery.
 * The incident proved not to be directly connected to the Ridolfius plot, but it now set the Chancellor on Norfolkius's tail. On September 3, the Duke's two secretaries and his agent at Gholaia were arrested. Confined to the Cron Drift, they were soon forced to give disclosures which revealed that Norfolkius was engaged in direct correspondence with Mariana. These confessions were corrobated when an intensive search of Norfolkius House revealed several communiques in cipher, one of which was that of February 8, 1771, in which Mariana had commended Ridolfi to the Duke. Thus, on the Empress's thirty-eighth birthday (September 7, 1771), Norfolkius was again conveyed to the Fortress of Baureux, where he would be subjected to a series of vigorous interrogative sessions.
 * September 4-
 * The War Council of the Marianian Confederation, following the events concerning the Duke of Norfolkius, decided that it was expedient for a swift raiding expedition to be launched against Stirling. Although the agents of the Imperial Intelligence Agency had exposed the Ridolfi Plot, and the Empress had announced that she would soon be diverting more assistance to the Scottrian Government, the Earl of Huntly was convinced that the assassination of the Regent Lennaxia would help the Confederacy maintain control of its sphere of influence and eventually gain enough influence on Ediania to restore Queen Mariana to her "rightful throne". His motion was seconded by Lord Fleming and the Hamiltons, and it had been formally ratified during the late hours of September 3. The Earl, in cooperation with Lord Claude Hamilton and the Lairds of Buccleuch and Ferniehurst decided to launch a swift expedition against Stirling, in order to harry the star system's defenses and to slay the Regent in direct combat. Forty rebel warships and five hundred frighters were assembled on Huntly for that purpose, and quickly departed for Stirling.
 * Regent Lennaxia, completely unaware of the rebel intentions, had decided to inspect the soldiers and ships of the Stirling Mists, declaring that he needed only two starfighters to escort him. About 11:00 A.M. Galactic Standard Time on September 4, 1771, rebel warships suddenly dropped out of hyperspace. Lennaxia, who had not been alerted, was unable to escape in time, and within an hour, Lord Claude Hamilton had directed a swift assault which resulted in the destruction of the Regent's flagship, the RMS Soleubreich, and his own death. The death of Regent Lennaxia came one year and nine months after the assassination of his predecessor, the Earl of Moray. Lord Hamilton and his units quickly moved from Stirling; news of the asssasination spread throughout the Scottrian realms. But contrary to the hopes of the War Council, the central government authorities did not disintegrate in the wake of the sneak attack at the Stirling Mists. The Earls of Morton and Mar, who clearly dominated affairs on the Scottrian Estates, and wished to prevent a return of Mariana to the Scottrian throne at all costs, were able to summon a hasty session of the leading military commanders, magnates, and members of the Councils of State to Leith Fortress, which convened on September 11, 1771.
 * There, the Earl of Morton, who instructed all of his bodyguards to be equipped with blasters, informed them of the necessity of elevating a new regent to the ship of state as soon as possible, so that the Scottrian realms would not be cast into anarchy. The Scottrian notables of the central government agreed, and by the end of the day, they had formally appointed John Erksine, Earl of Mar, as the new Regent of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. Mar took the formal oath of office during the early hours of September 12. Empress Aurelia, in a imperial manifesto from the Diplomatic Palace on Laurasia Prime, declared that his elevation "maintained proper order and tranquility in the Scottrian realms" and that she would provide Mar "all possible assistance against his enemies, as far as my abilities permit." The Empress was at this stage prevented from providing him direct military assistance, due to the ongoing campaigns against the Haynsian Despotate and the still-existent Bar Confederation. Morton, however, quickly asserted himself as the dominant influence in the government, and Mar recognized the Earl's central position in state affairs.
 * September 21-
 * The Battle of Bahkchisiray, a major confrontation between the forces of the Laurasian Empire and Haynsian Despotate, was fought, beginning on September 21, 1771. Bahkchisiray, which had been originally colonized by the Haynsian Gothic Confederation in the third century BH, had been seized by the Haynsian Tribal Confederation in 1237 and converted into one of their capital star systems. The Haynsian Goths, however, had refused to submit to the Haynsian conquerors, and they waged a extensive guerilla war against their forces for over two centuries, which continued beyond the formal foundation of the Haynsian Despotate in 1441. In fact, the Goths were not completely defeated and suppressed by the Haynsians until 1475, when their stronghold of Doros was finally stormed by Haynsian units under the command of Despot Jay III Karany. Bahkchisiray itself was completely resettled by Haynsian colonists, and became one of the most populous star systems in the Angelina Spiral by the middle of the sixteenth century. After the Marasharite Empire subjected the Haynsian Despotate to vassalage in 1578, it became the home of the Marasharite Diplomatic Garrison and the collection-site for the slave tribute delivered to the Marasharites every year, as part of the conditions of vassalage.
 * By the late eighteenth century, Bahkchisiray had a population of nearly ten billion inhabitants, of which three billion were slaves and prisoners. General Dologruvkius was determined that this major star system, which had eluded Field-Marshal Munnich, would fall into his posssession. Everan Karany II sallied forth from Haynes to command his forces for one last time. The Haynsian resistance was fierce; although the Laurasians outnumbered them ten to one, they nevertheless inflicted severe casualties upon the Laurasian command ranks and even threatened to overrun Laurasian supply relays. Eventually, however, on September 29, General Dologruvkius finally managed to breach Bahkchisiray's defenses. The world now fell into the possession of the Laurasian Empire. Everan-Karany II fled back to Haynes for one last time. By October 5, Laurasian troops had conquered Doros, Cappa, and Theodoros, completely suppressing the supply lines to Haynes.
 * October 10-The fighting between the Marianian Confederation and the central government of the Regent Mar continued in full force. Since April 1771, rebel units had been waging war against government positions in the Northern Provinces with the connivance and financial aid of the Earl of Huntly. These units, which were primarily stationed at Iverness and Shetland, were under the command of Adam Gordon of Auchindoun, Huntly's younger brother. He had served as Laird of Auchindoun from 1762, obtaining much influence in the Northern Provinces and becoming known as one of the most loyal and effective servants of the Queen of Scottria. Gordon was now opposed by the troops and magnates of the Clan Forbes, who were encouraged by the Regent Mar to fight for him against the Marianian Confederation. On October 10, 1771, Gordon's troops began to move along the Suie Highway, intending to join with the Earl of Huntly's chief armada near Haddon Rig. However, the Forbes, under the command of the 6th Lord Forbes' youngest son, Sir Arthur Forbes, launched an assault against the rebel forces at Tilleangus. The ensuing Battle of Tilleagnus resulted in a decisive victory for Gordon's forces. Knight Forbes himself was killed, along with sixteen of his chief officers (who were all members of his family); his cousin William Forbes and sixteen other members of the Clan were taken prisoner by the Gordon forces. Following this confrontation, Bannatyne and Forbesleuch, the chief stronghold of Clan Forbes, were besieged and conquered by Gordon's forces. This business kept them occupied for the remainder of October 1771.
 * October 11-
 * On October 11, 1771, the Duke of Norfolkius, who had remained under vigorous interrogation by Chancellor Burghley, the Earl of Leicesterius, and Procurator-General Bagonius, alongside other members of the Councils of State and the Imperial Court of the Star Chamber, finally confessed to his part in the Ridolfi Plot. He admitted that he had broken his oath to have no further dealings with Mariana, and confessed to his secret holo-communications with Ridolfi. He was adamant, however, that Ridolfi had made no mention of a foreign invasion of the Empire, claiming that the Haxonian had merely wiahed to raise funds abroad so that Mariana could further subsidize the Confederation in Scottria. This was the Duke's explanation as to why Ridolfi had been visiting many of the Amulak courts, but he stressed that he himself had declined to have anything to do with the banker's schemes, and made much of the fact that he had refused to sign the communiques addressed to Alva and Emperor Philicus. He maintained that his secretary Ballania's visit to Ambassador De Spes had been made without his authorization, but his interrogators could not accept that the Duke's employee had anything less then a consequential part in the affair, and that Norfolkius's "foolish devotion to that woman (Mariana)" had been the chief factor in the affair. This was somewhat unfair to the Duke, who had been dragged in by others, and who had remained reluctant through the whole process. Nevertheless, he was piotal to the conspiracy, and his failure to make his loyalty to Aurelia clear had allowed Ridolfi to use his name freely at Brussels and Madrid.
 * Norfolkius continued to insist that he had never assented to any proposal which "might turn to the prejudice of Her Majesty's most imperial person, or detriment of Her Imperial Highness's most nobile dominions." Burghley now asked the Empress to authorize the arrest of the Clainnarch of Ross, hoping to secure a more definite confession from him, to use for his own benefit in convicting and punishing Norfolkius. Aurelia captiulated, and on October 17, she issued instructions through the Court of Criminal Cassations of the Governing Senate. The Senate, acting on her orders, now issued a ruling that any ambassador who sought to foment rebellion in the realm to which he had been accredited forfeited all right to all diplomatic immunity. This gave Burghley the leverage which he had needed. On October 24, 1771, Ross was arrested and imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux. He was informed that unless if he cooperated with the inquiry, he would be tortured with the rack. The threat proved remarkably persuasive, for Ross proved weak-willed and cowardly. Once capable of inventing plausible excuses and smooth evasions, the Clainnarch now poured forth a series of damning recollectiomns about the conspiracy, all of which greatly incriminated the Duke.
 * The Clainnarch now confirmed that Norfolkius was "40", and explained that after he had gained possession of the communqieu from Ridolfius, carried by Baileus, he had transmitted it to the Duke. He augmented this with much other "detail", going so far as to declare that he found it a relief to rid himself of the burden of guilty secrets. He even composed a communique of admonishment to Mariana, on October 29, saying that instead of becoming involved in further intrigues she should in the future refer to all of "her Lord's divine providence and Godly pleasure", for the exposure of this plot, he believed, had been brought about by heavenly intervention. He now complemented his confession by informing Burghley and the Council that Mariana was not fit to be a wife, for she had poisoned her first husband, connived at the murder of the second, and then married the murderer, in the hopes that he would be killed in battle. He added that if she had managed to wed Norfolkius, she would undoubtedly done the same to him. The Laurasians were astonished at his willingness to reveal so much. Much of what he said was herasay and lies, but the but the interrogators were willing to use it as evidence of the dark character of the former Scottrian Queen. Empress Aurelia learned from the interrogation of Ross that numerous noblemen had been complicit in or had knowledge of the conspiracy.
 * On October 26, she ordered for the arrest of the Earls of Southerton and Americana, as well as the Lords Cobhamia and Lumelius. Americana, whom she had never liked, was dismissed at this stage from his post of Imperial Marshal, which he had retained since the death of the 3rd Duke of Norfolkius in 1754. He was also deprived of his seats on the Privy Council and Governing Senate, and forbidden to ever appear before the Empress again. Although he tried desperately to clear his name, Americana was forever disgraced in the eyes of the Imperial Court and spent the remaining nine years of his life at Nonsuchia Palace, his personal residence on Americana. He died there on February 24, 1780, at the age of sixty-seven. Southerton, who had become Earl in 1750 at the age of five, was imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux until May 1, 1773, when he released on condition that he would never appear at the Quencilvanian Palace again. Spamalkan Ambassador De Spes, who had caused so much trouble for the Empress and her government, was expelled from the Laurasian Empire on October 29, 1771; he died at Seville on December 26, 1772. Ridolfi, however, remained in the Holy Spamalkan Empire (specifically, he now resided at Barcelona), and was therefore safely beyond the range of Empress Aurelia's vengeance. During the remaining months of 1771, the investigation of the Ridolfi Plot continued, while Burghley and the Privy Council prepared for the trial of the Duke of Norfolkius.
 * October 27-On October 27, 1771, Sir Willanius Parsius, the Marquess of Venusia and younger brother of the late Empress Consort Katharina Parsius, the sixth and last wife of the Emperor Antigonus III the Extravagant, died on Fulcania, aged 58. Although Parsius had been implicated to a certain extent in the conspiracies at the Imperial Court surrounding the Scottrian Queen Mariana, he had nevertheless managed, by virtue of his kinship to the Empress Consort, to maintain a positive relationship with Empress Aurelia. The Empress in fact, provided for the Marquess's state funeral on November 5; he was buried at St. Didymeia's Church in Warwania, the capital city of Apathama Vixius. The funeral was attended by Lady Clitonia (on behalf of the Empress) and by the Marquess's niece, Baroness Didymeia Seymouris of Kendalia. Didymeia was now twenty-three years old, and had gained a high position of favor with the Empress Aurelia. In 1768, she had become one of the ladies-in-waiting of the Imperial Household, advancing to the position of one of the Empress's most trusted Maids of Honor. Aurelia always held the daughter of her beloved stepmother in the highest regard, and conferred many financial and property grants upon her. She also encouraged the Baroness's relationship with Sir Perseus Amasyius, a member of the Valedictorian Guards: their marriage on February 6, 1772, was to be attended by the Empress and the chief figures of the Imperial Court.
 * November 5-
 * The Empress’s attitude towards her cousin, Scottrian Queen Mariana, had hardened following the discovery of the Ridolfi Plot. She now gave orders for her cousin to be more closely supervised. She would never again play the public charade of considering Mariana’s restoration to the Scottrian throne; the Empress had now discarded any ideas of using Mariana to dominate Scottrian affairs. She now realized that her cousin could never be permitted to recover her liberty. She now had irrefutable proof that Mariana would stop at nothing to gain her freedom, and if possible, the Laurasian Crown. Disillusioned as a result of these events, Empress Aurelia authorized Chancellor Burghley, on November 5, 1771, to officially publish the Casket Letters in the Imperial Post, and herself declared her full support for the Regent Mar and his authorities. During the late hours of this day, Mariana was confronted with evidence incriminating her in the recent plot. All that she would say was that she had been attempting to recover her Scottrian throne, and those who asserted otherwise were "false villains." She claimed never to have been associated with Ridolfi, and had nothing to say about Norfolkius, who was Aurelia’s subject and therefore no concern of hers.
 * Charman III, who had previously expressed his public support for Queen Mariana’s predicament, was now declaring that it was her own fault that she had lost her throne and liberty. The King of Franconia was also now contemplating the abandonment of official support to the Bar Confederation. Five days later, the Empress ordered for several members of the Scottrian Queen’s household to be dismissed from her service; they had been complicit in arranging their mistress’s correspondence with Ridolfi, the Marianian Confederation, and Norfolkius. Mariana wrote several times to Aurelia, attempting to excuse herself from the situation. No replies were received, so Mariana wrote a further communique, expressing herself in vindictive and passionate terms. This provoked a furious response from the Empress, who told Mariana to be grateful that she had not been treated more severely and that she should realize that her life and welfare were "completely in my hands."
 * November 14-
 * The Battle of Haynes, the most extensive confrontation ever waged within the confines of the Angelina Spiral, was fought between the forces of the Laurasian Empire, under the joint command of Major-General Vessanius Dologruvkius and Vice-Admiral Alexius Seniavin, and those of the Haynsian Despotate under the command of Haynsian Despot Everan-Karany II, from November 14 to December 15, 1771. By the early weeks of November 1771, Laurasian forces had occupied all of the major approaches to Haynes, the capital and most populous star system in the Haynsian Despotate. Haynes, from whence the warlike Haynsian Martial Warriors had first emerged into the depths of space in the third century BH, had only been successfully assaulted by a foreign force once before: by the Marasharite Empire’s forces of General Gedik Pasha in 1576. Since then, it had become one of the most fortified star systems in stellar space. Boasting a garrison of nearly three million Haynsian Troopers, who were protected by thirty defensive outposts, two major minefields, and one-hundred double-layered shield generators, Haynes had been deemed virtually impenetrable by military experts.
 * Even Field-Marshal Munnich, when he had become the first Laurasian military commander ever to penetrate the Angelina Spiral, recognized that Haynes was beyond the reach of his forces. But now, General Dologruvkius, who was younger and of a lower rank than Munnich, believed that this world was fully in his grasp. He had received substantial reinforcements from Laurasian garrisons in the Dasian Heartland, the Burglais Arm, and along the Corporate Trade Corridor; the Empress Aurelia had also ordered for the diversion of seven interdictor warships from the Chesma Expeditionary Force. Dologruvkius and Seniavin knew that victory could be achieved only if they combined their forces together for one decisive offensive. The total Laurasian force consisted of five hundred warships and three thousand support vessels with nearly four million troops, primarily Solidaritan, Arachosian, and Dasian, which had been conscripted in the Empire. These troops were known for their war fervor and their martial abilities, and were therefore prized by the Imperial General Headquarters.
 * The Haynsian defensive fleet comprised of four hundred warships with two thousand support vessels, the bulk of the remaining Haynsian military strength. Everan-Karany II delivered bombastic and patriotic speeches to his troops, reminding them of the strength of their ancestors and that only extensive coordination would result in the destruction and repulse of the enemy. He assured them that their Marasharite "protectors" would not abandon them to the humiliation of conquest, and that they might yet resume the "expeditions of plunder and glory" into the Caladarian Galaxy. This appeal worked to a great extent, as the Haynsians resisted their Laurasian enemies fiercely. On November 20, a frontal assault by Laurasian troops, commanded by Fleet Captain Dracius, against Trio-Xrellia, the third world in the Haynes star system, was repulsed with heavy losses; two days later, Vice-Admiral Seniavin was even forced to summon reinforcements from Little Borlavia and Chalaa, to prevent Haynsian forces from penetrating back to the Brigoff Stellar Nebula. Ultimately, however, the battle swung in favor of the Laurasian Empire; on November 27, General Dologruvkius was able to discover a flaw in the Haynsian minefields. Rushing his major dreadnoughts through the Haynes Asteroid Belt, he was able to penetrate to the orbit of Haynes. Haynes’s shield generators, which had been bombarded by photon cannons, finally cracked two days later, and the world was issued by Laurasian troops. It was not until December 15 before the last resistance in the Haynes star system was overcome. Everan-Karany II fled to Tivran, which was located in the Western Provinces. He was soon inflicted by a stroke and died on December 22, 1771, after having reigned for little over a year. The Despot was now succeeded by his younger brother, Braval I Karany, who held on with his forces to the Warrior Fastnesses.
 * November 20-
 * The Battle of Craibstone was waged (November 20, 1771) between the forces of the Marianian Confederation under the command of Sir Adam Gordon and those of the Clan Forbes under Lord Forbes of Firgilio, also known as the Master Forbes. During the late hours of November 19, the Master of Forbes, accompanied by his chief subordinates, Captains Chrisholm and Wedderburn, marched from Cowie (the third stronghold of the Forbes family which had not been seized by Gordon’s forces) to Aberdeen. Chrisholm and Wedderburn, who also served as lieutenants under the Scottrian War Council, had been given command, by the Regent Mar, of two regiments of "hagbutters": specialized corvettes equipped with both proton and proton torpedo cannons. All total, they had twenty warships and thirty support craft at their disposal. Gordon, whose chief subordinate was Captain Thomas Ker of Iverness, had a garrison of 20,000 troops on Aberdeen, protected by three orbital defensive outposts and a fleet of twenty-five warships with twelve support craft. The Master of Forbes decided that a surprise offensive against Aberdeen could dislodge the Gordons and permit for them to begin the reconquest of Bannatyne and Forbesleuch. The Forbes approached the outskirts of Aberdeen about 3:00 A.M. Galactic Standard Time, but they were now confronted by rebel units at Craibstone, one of the outlying worlds in the Aberdeen star system.
 * The ensuing confrontation lasted for only an hour, although the government forces outnumbered the rebels. The Forbes, however, were put to flight by the actions of Captain Ker, who commanded his troops bravely in the confrontation. The Master of Forbes himself was captured, while Captain Chisholm was killed in battle. Master Forbes and William Forbes were soon imprisoned at Huntly Fortress on the orders of the Earl of Huntly. Following the Battle of Craibstone, the Earl of Huntly held a strategic conference, on November 26, with Sir Adam Gordon, Lord Fleming, and other commanders of the Marianian Confederation on Iverness. In this conference, it was decided that the further progress of the confederate forces would be secured if Corgarff, which was a major fortress in the vicinity of Dumbarton, were to come into the possession of their forces. Captain Ker, who had gained such distinction for himself at Craibstone, was now dispatched with an escort in order to besiege and conquer Corgarff, and to take possession of Corgarff Citadel, one of the largest government military posts in the Northern Provinces. He performed his mission to the letter, and by December 2, 1771, Corgarff had capitulated to the government forces. On the orders of Sir Adam, all of the civilians living in Corgarff Citadel City were slaughtered or deported; the planetary treasury was robbed for its minerals and funds; and nearly sixty officers of the government garrison were tortured publicly.
 * December 7-Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council were now in the belief that an alliance with Franconia needed to be concluded as soon as possible, as a result of the implications arising from the Ridolfi Plot. The Empress was now ready to make concessions, and she did her best to revive the Anjou marriage project by making it known to all (December 7, 1771) that she was willing to permit him to celebrate the Franconian Mysteries in private. Walsingis, however, who was still on Parri as the Laurasian Ambassador to the Franconian Court, advised against reopening negotiations, since Anjou would reject the Empress. The Duke had ambitions of neing elected Protector of the Germanian Principality of Schonn, and was engaged in his own personal indiscretions with Franconian noble-ladies. Walsingis warned the Empress that if she persisted, she would be faced with personal humiliation. Aurelia, however, did not abate her efforts. Two days later, she dispatched Sir Thomasius Smithus to Parrius, as Vice-Ambassador. He was instructed that if there was no hope of marrying Anjou, then a treaty of friendship and amity was to be negotiated with the Franconian Court. Smithius however realized that the marriage was vital to his mistress’s security, and believed that she should remain true to that goal. Smithius arrived at Parri on December 13, and working with the Queen-Mother and Ambassador Walsingis, attempted to persuade the Duke of Anjou into resuming his courtship towards the Empress. Anjou, however, had lost all interest; Aurelia, on her part, declared that the matter had demonstrated the reasons for her desire to remain single.
 * December 17-Queen Mother Catharina de Medici, who was aware that Franconia still needed the Laurasian Empress’s friendship, was now willing to make some concessions on her part. She agreed, in a communique of December 17, 1771, to reduce the life income requested of the Imperial Treasury; offered to refrain from any conspiracies or involvement in conspiracy against the Imperial Laurasian Government; and most importantly of all, to withdraw support for the Bar Confederation and to take a blind eye to the Laurasian Empire’s plans of partition with the Pruthian Empire. She also offered her youngest son, Hercules-Francios, Duke of Alencon (1755-84), as a replacement bridegroom. The last of the conditions, however, was what the Empress had been waiting for: the withdrawal of Franconian subsidies to the Bar Confederation, and of its military mercenaries (such as General Dumouriez), would be welcome. Aurelia, however, was more reluctant about the Duke, complaining about his age and the uncertain state of his health. Both Smithius and Walsingis however, persuaded the Empress that his religious pragmatism, moderation, and flexibility were commendable traits which recommended him as a far better suitor than his brother. He was also unlikely to ever ascend the Franconian throne, so he would be able to live on Laurasia Prime. Burghley provided a third motion to their proposals. On Ascentmas Day, 1771, Empress Aurelia formally authorized for negotiations to be commenced on a marriage to the Duke of Alencon and over the conclusion of other treaty arrangements between the Imperial Laurasian and Franconian Governments.

1772
881772, the 72nd year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the general population of the Laurasian Empire in a positive, uplifted mood. The previous year had seen the continuation of the victorious military campaigns against the Marasharite Empire and Haynsian Despotate, who had been the Empire's most persistent enemies for over two centuries. Laurasian forces, under the command of Major-General Dologruvkius, had penetrated the homeland territories of the Haynsian Despotate and subdued all of the major Haynsian strongholds to the authority of the Laurasian Empire. The Haynsians, who had posed such a threat to the Caladarian Galaxy, were now barely clinging on to the Warrior Fastnesses, and it appeared that they would soon succumb entirely to the power of the Empire's military forces. The Marasharites had been ejected from their territories in the Galactic Borderlands; during the course of 1771, raiding expeditions launched by Field-Marshal Rumanstevius had inflicted severe damage on Stauvachany, Akkerman, Jassy, Koluzduzha, Del Valle, and other Marasharite bases in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, preventing a counteroffensive against the Laurasian-occupied territories. On the other major front, that of the Dejanican Commonwealth, Laurasian forces were finally making appreciable gains.
 * January 1-
 * General Alexander Surovius was proving a far more effective and vigorous commander than his former superior, Elmt, had ever been. The Bar Confederation was now clinging on to a handful of remaining strongholds: Częstochowa, Tyniec, Krasnik, and Wawal, among other minor bases. General Pulaskia was still determined not to surrender to the enemy, and believed that his mission was to restore the Dejanican Commonwealth to "its natural independence and liberties." The Imperial Laurasian and Autocratic Pruthian Governments, however, had continued discussions concerning the possible partition of the Dejanican territories between their two states; this year was to see that culminate in formal action. Finally, the Scottrian Question remained a concern for Empress Aurelia and her leading ministers. The Ridolfi Plot had been suppressed, but Aurelia now had to grapple with dealing with the Duke of Norfolkius, who had been involved in the conspiracies, and keeping a firmer watch over Queen Mariana. She also contemplated means by which she could provide more direct military assistance to the Regent Mar and his forces, who had so lately suffered losses at the hands of Sir Adam Gordon and his subordinates. In her New Year's proclamation, the Empress was optimistic, and declared that the Laurasian Empire was now firmly assured of its position in the Caladarian Galaxy. She declared that the Marasharites no longer posed "a direct threat" to our territorial integrity and that they would be forced to acknowledge the new state of affairs. At the Imperial Court, however, many were anxious, awaiting to see what was to happen next.
 * January 16-
 * On January 16, 1772, the 4th Duke of Norfolkius was tried by a joint session of the Imperial Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod; Empress Aurelia had authorized, by decree, for the Special Court to be constituted, considering Norfolkius's crimes to be serious enough to warrant judgment by all three of the major institutions of the Imperial Government. The trial was conducted at the Senatorial Palace. Chancellor Burghley and Procurator-General Bagonius presented the official case against the Duke, declaring that his own weak-mindedness and his "ambition for the possession of the Laurasian throne" had driven him into his treason towards the Empress and the Imperial Laurasian Government. Norfolkius, permitted no defense counsel of his own, tried in vain to defend his honor. He pleaded innocent and vigorously defended himself, but his arguments seemed very weak. He claimed that Ridolfius had communicated to him from abroad only because he had previously loaned the Duke a considerable sum, and he wished to discuss the terms of repayment. Though he could not deny the existence of the communiques from Mariana, particularly those which had been discovered at Norfolkius House, he insisted that he had been horrified by its contents. However, when the Procurator-General asked him why, if he had been so concerned, had he preserved the document so carefully and not given it to imperial authorities, Norfolkius had no answer. The Duke, moreover, tried to claim that the case against him rested on the testimony of common men; this was rebutted by the trial officials, who pointed out Norfolkius's "perjury" and other lies. Thus it was that, within hours, Norfolkius wasconvicted on all charges laid against him. The verdict, as in all state trials of the Laurasian Empire, was a foregone conclusion. The Earl of Aretha, who presided over the ceremonies as interim Imperial Marshal (following the dismissal of Americana from those responsibilities), wept as he condemned the Duke to hanging, drawing, quartering, and solar incineration, the usual penalty for traitors; because Norfolkius was a nobleman, however, the Empress would commute his sentence to execution by blaster fire.
 * The Duke was then returned to his lodging in the Fortress of Baureux, where, watched by his guards day and night, he occupied himself by writing farewell letters and exhortations to his children, Lords Thomasius and Willanius Howardis; Aurelia was pleased to accept his request that Chancellor Burghley, his former friend, be appointed their guardian. When the Queen of Scottria was informed by Aretha of Norfolkius's condemnation, she wept grievously. Norfolkius's execution was originally set for January 21, but the Empress could not at this juncture bring herself to sign his death warrant. Not only was he among the leading noblemen of the Laurasian Empire, and popular with the people, he was also her cousin. Aurelia also took in mind of the services that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great grandfather had given to the Laurasian Empire over the course of the preceding century. She did not want to bring humiliation to the Howardis family by sanctioning the execution of their head. Chancellor Burghley lamented that "the Empress's Majesty has always been a merciful lady, and by mercy she has taken more harm than justice, yet she thinks she is beloved in doing herself harm." Lord Husadarania, and others among her associates, would over the following weeks seek to remind her of her duty. Husadarania himself said that "It is small policy, not worthy to be termed mercy, to be so careless of weighty matters that touch Your Majesty in such a sensitive matter." But for the time being, Aurelia was not moved.
 * January 21-On January 21, 1772, delegations from the Laurasian and Autocratic Pruthian Empires formally convened at the Diplomatic Palace in Christiania, Laurasia Prime, for the commencement of the first formal conference relating to the partition of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. On January 12, Empress Aurelia had agreed that formal diplomatic negotiations should be commenced with the Pruthian Court over the matter of Pru'a IX's proposals; Burghley and Leicesterius both supported the idea of seizing territories from the Dejanican Commonwealth, and wished to assert the Empire's total dominion over the Galactic Borderlands. Pru'a had on his part consented to the commencement of a formal diplomatic conference, and was definitively resolved on partition. The new Pruthian Ambassador to the Imperial Laurasian Court, Count Carl von Hayden (1697-1782), and the Pruthian diplomats Hans Branchwick (1719-96) and Count Leopold von Auschidig (1713-83) served as the Pruthian plenipotentiaries to the conference. Chancellor Burghley, the Earl of Leicesterius, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Alexander Pridus (1721-92), and the rising young Governing Senator, Sir Christopheus Hattonius, served as the Laurasian plenipotentiaries; Burghley also acted as the formal host of the conference. Discussions continued for the next couple of weeks, as the two delegations fixed the exact terms of the partition agreement.
 * February 4-On February 4, 1772, Empress Aurelia was prevailed upon to sign the death warrant of the Duke of Norfolkius. Aurelia had continued to wrangle with her conscience, and had even consulted Chief Procurator Parsius of the Holy Synod about the matter on January 29. He had advised her that she should carry out her duties "as were her responsibility under the law of Almitis" and that she should not permit personal relations to obstruct the normal operations of the government. The Empress had at first adhered to this, and she now gave orders that Norfolkius's execution was to be on February 5. Some hours later, however, the Empress reversed course. At 11:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, she sent for Burghley and in great distress, rescinded the order. The crowds which had gathered at the Fortress of Baureux to witness the Duke's execution were forced to witness the education of a number of less illustrious, more common inmates instead. The Privy Council could not understand the Empress's continued hesitation. Burghley prayed that "Almitis's will be fulfilled and aid Her Majesty to do herself good", while Lord Husadarania declared, "The world knows her to be wise, and surely there cannot be a greater point of wisdom than for any to be careful of their own estate, and especially preservation of their own life. How much more needful it is for Her Majesty to take heed, upon whose life depends the Empire, the utter ruin of the whole galaxy, and the utter subversion of Almitism."
 * February 6-After weeks of negotiations, the preliminary Treaty of Christiania was signed by the delegations of the Laurasian and Autocratic Pruthian Empires on February 6, 1772, constituting the agreement between the two governments concerning the partition of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Empress Aurelia, when she was presented with the official version of the finalized text, declared that it would bring "numerous advantages to our Empire and would result in the shaming and humiliation of all our enemies, foreign and domestic." By the terms of the agreement, the territorial allotments of Dejanican territory, among Laurasia and Pruthia, were decided. The Laurasian Empire was to take possession of Dejanican Lavella in the Caladarian Galactic Borderlands; the Pruthian Empire obtained recognition of its rule of Lautenburg and Butow, which had been occupied by Emperor Pru'a in August 1771 (as a "cordon" against the activities of the Bar Confederation) and was also to acquire Dejanican Pruthia and Pomerania with the exception of Danzig and Torun. It was agreed that finalization of these territorial arrangements would be made upon securing the accession of the Austarlian Government to the partition, and that in the meantime, the two governments would merely make preparations for the military occupation and incorporation of those territories. In a secret codicil, Pru'a agreed to recognize Laurasian rights to "scourge and to punish the rebel officers and leaders of the Bar Confederation, which has thus far persisted" and to respect Aurelia's position as protectoress of the Dejanican Commonwealth's remaining territories, following the partition. The Treaty of Christiania was ratified by Empress Aurelia on February 9 and by Pru'a IX of Pruthia on February 26.
 * February 23-Holy Austarlian Empress Mar’va Tarvania ordered, on February 23, 1772, for the termination of all Austarlian financial aid to the Bar Confederation and the expulsion of the War Council from Prague, where they had been allowed to remain for over two years. In November 1771, Generals Pulaskia and Walewski, as well as the Lithuanian Prince Dagonius, had become involved in an abortive scheme to kidnap King Stanis Vorrust I. Confederate starfighter squadrons, operating from Krasnik, had actually managed to penetrate to the outskirts of Praga and to catch the King and his royal entourage by surprise as they progressed back to Dejanica. Stanis, however, had managed to escape with the assistance of a Laurasian courier corps dispatched by General Surovius on November 14, and he had returned to Dejanica unharmed. The Confederation’s international prestige was permanently ruined by this debacle; their loss to the Laurasians in the Battle of Stalowicze on October 23, had also demonstrated to their foreign supporters that there was no further purpose in provoking anti-Laurasian tensions in the Commonwealth. The Empress of Austarlia herself, who considered the kidnapping attempt to be disgraceful, had been persuaded by her son that it no longer was in Austarlian interests to sponsor the Bar Confederation. The Confederate War Council relocated to Jasna Gora, still the most formidable military stronghold held by their arms. General Surovius, on his part, was preparing for a string of offensives to expel the last remaining Confederate units from Krasnik, Zaleowiec, Krakow Minor, Osrony Trojy, Okopy Minor, and Ivarria, and to impose a blockade upon Tyniec and Jasna Gora.
 * March 10-On March 10, 1772, Sir Willanius Pauletius, Lord St. Johnasius, Marquess of Winchesterius, and Lord Treasurer of the Laurasian Empire, died at the age of 89 at Basingan House on Brellevnia, the chief estate of the Pauletius family. The Lord Treasurer had remained active to the end. He had been a member of the Legal Commission of 1763-68 which had drafted the Codex Aureliana; presided over the Laurasia Prime Chamber of Nobility from 1759 to 1766, and in 1770, participated in the investigations of the Malarian Rebellion. Winchestrius had also been an active supporter of Empress Aurelia's foreign policies, and had opposed the Austarlian marriage project. The most senior and respected official in the Imperial Laurasian Government at the time of his death, Lord Treasurer Winchestrius was genuinely mourned by the Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court. In her proclamation to her subjects announcing the Lord Treasurer’s death, the Empress noted that he had dedicated "seven decades of his life to the service of this empire" and that he had "demonstrated unflagging patriotism and loyalty to his superiors." His service extended through the reigns of all five Neuchrian monarchs, and he had been held in the highest regard by all five. Neuchrus I had called him "one of the most effective young men who have been attached to duties in my civil service"; Antigonus III had called him “the most loyal minister of any sovereign”; Demetrius II praised him as "the most trusty servant, both in Almitis and in my government"; Didymeia I called him "my Lord Dependable"; and Aurelia herself had said that "If only he were a young man, I cound find it in my heart to have him for a husband before any other man in the Empire." Winchsterius’s funeral was held at St. Mary’s Church in Levaramian City, Brellevnia, on March 15; it was attended by the Empress, the entire Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod, and by all of the chief personages and dignitaries of the Imperial Court and Military Command. Chancellor Burghley, the Earl of Hannah, the Earl of Jadia, and Lord Antigonus Norria acted as the Lord Treasurer’s pallbearers; the eulogy was read by Chief Procurator Parsius. The position of Lord Treasurer would remain vacant for some months.
 * March 29-Empress Aurelia, on March 29, 1772, recovered from a bout of gastro-entertis which she had contracted following the funeral of Lord Treasurer Winchestrius. Her doctors had once again despaired of her life, and for three anxious days and nights (March 22-25), Leicesterius and Burghley had both kept anxious vigil at her bedside. Leicesterius stood deputy at a ceremony on March 26 in which Burghley was admitted into the Order of the Imperial Garter, now upgraded to the highest order of heraldry at the Imperial Court (only the four distinctive honors of the Empire were higher). The animosity between the two men was no longer as intense. They now visited each other socially, exchanged a friendly correspondence, and had established a working relationship. They both shared common interests, with a loyalty to the Empress, the welfare of the Empire, and the maintenance of Reformed Almitism. Upon her recovery, Aurelia made light of her illness, declaring that she would not depart so soon after the demise of the beloved Lord Treasurer, but her councilors feared otherwise, for it once again raised the question of the unresolved succession and the knowledge that the Empire would be cast into disunion if the Empress were to die without a definitive heir apparent. With this in mind, they urged the Empress to establish a commission in order to discuss how to proceed with the Queen of Scottria. The Empress on her part, signed another death warrant against the Duke of Norfolkius, but on April 2, she again rescinded it. It now seemed possible that the Duke would not be condemned to death after all.
 * April 6-On April 6, 1772, the Battle of Okopy Minor was waged by the forces of Major-General Sir Alexander Surovius, versus the Bar Confederates who were under the command of General Michal Walewsk (1721-85). Walewski, who had resigned from his duties as Commandant of Jasna Gora a month earlier, sought desperately to maintain the position of the Bar Confederation in the outskirts of the Krakow Voivodeship. The withdrawal of Austarlian support for the Confederate forces; the war-weariness of many of the Confederate personnel and officers; and the supremacy enjoyed by Laurasian forces, in numbers, firepower, and military discipline all contributed to a major Laurasian victory in this confrontation. The battle was decided in only four hours: by the end of the day, Okopy Minor had been occupied by the forces of the Laurasian Empire. Dejanican counteroffensives against Stosh and Malec were repelled, and by April 11, Ivarria and Osrony Trojy had both capitulated to the forces of General Surovius. Walewski, dejected, returned to his duties at Jasna Gora. He was roundly condemned by General Pulaskia and the Confederate War Council for his failure to repel the Laurasian forces. News of the Laurasian victory at Okopy Minor helped to accelerate the diplomatic negotiations between the Imperial Laurasian and Franconian Governments, as the Queen Mother of Franconia was firmly convinced of the futility of the Bar Confederation's cause. Since March 29, Ambassador Walsingis, assisted by Sir Antigonius Sidronius, Lord Antigonus Norria, and Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, had been conducting negotiations with representatives of King Charman III's government, including the Duke of Guise and Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, who had been appointed as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs on the recommendation of the Queen-Dowager in February 1771. Vergennes, in fact, was the Franconian official who was most instrumental in convincing the Queen-Dowager and the King of the necessity of securing peaceful relations with the Laurasian Empire.
 * April 8-Prevailed upon by Chancellor Kaunitz and her son and co-ruler, Emperor Joseth II, Austarlian Empress Mar'va Tarvania finally relented as regards to the matters of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War. In March 1772, Empress Aurelia had commanded the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs to dispatch a series of communiques to the Austarlian Court. These communiques, written by Lord Burghley and Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, with the assistance of the secretaries of the Imperial Chancellory, informed the Austarlian government of the Laurasian Empire's "peaceful intentions". It was declared that Aurelia had no desire to align against Austarlia, or to provoke dissent in her territories; that Laurasian negotiations with Pruthia and Franconia were directed towards the maintenance of peace among all powers; and that the Austarlian Government could be compensated for its earlier territorial losses to Pruthia and the Marasharite Empire by seizing territories from the weakened Dejanica. These arguments appealed to the Emperor Joseth, eager to strengthen the territorial position of his realms and to alleviate some of the humiliations which had been suffered by his species over the preceding decades. His mother had finally been swung around to this view, and she now authorized Kaunitz, on April 8, 1772, to inform the Marasharite High Council, in a secret communique, that the Holy Austarlian Empire no longer considered the Treaty of Topacia as a binding agreement. Kaunitz did so; Emperor Mustapha and his ministers were alarmed, but they realized that they could not afford war with the Austarlians at this juncture. The Austarlian betrayal of their negotiation obligations also convinced the Marasharite Empire to begin contemplating the possibility of negotiations with the Laurasian Empire. On April 16, Kaunitz informed Chancellor Burghley that his sovereigns had consented to the commencement of negotiations with the Pruthian and Imperial Laurasian Governments concerning the partition of Dejanica.
 * April 19-
 * After nearly a month of negotiations, the Treaty of Blois was, on April 19, 1772, signed by the diplomatic delegations of the Laurasian Empire and Serene Kingdom of Franconia. The conclusion of the Treaty came as matters continued to evolve further regarding the Franconian marriage project. Though the Empress continued to express her support of a possible union with the Duke of Alencon, she had nevertheless made it clear to the Franconians that she would not rush into a marriage. Consequently, the focus had, by the beginning of 1772, shifted to the other treaty arrangements then pending between the two realms, for that would serve as proof of their solidarity. However, Mariana Stuart's presence made the Franconians uneasy about agreeing to such a pact. During the course of the Anjou marriage negotiations, the Franconians had made little of their demands that Aurelia restore Mariana to her throne, but to acquiesce in her captivity was something of a different order. They would have liked the Empress of Laurasia to agree that Mariana could live in Franconia, for they feared that it would look discreditable if they signed a treaty with an Empire which was holding one of their queen-consorts against her will. Fortunately for Empress Aurelia, however, when the Franconians learned that Mariana had employed Ridolfi to solicit aid from their old enemy, Spamalka, it considerably lessened their sympathy for him.
 * The Imperial Laurasian Government had ruthlessly exploited this, by dispatching, in February 1772, to Franconia copies of communiques which Mariana had recently written to the Duke of Alva, but which had been intercepted by agents of the Imperial Intelligence Agency before they reached him. In these Mariana promised that if Philicus I sent her aid she would repay him by betrothing her son to his daughter, the Infanta. When the Franconians saw this, they felt free to move forward with negotiations with Laurasia. On April 5, Queen-Dowager de Medici had made it clear to Envoy Smithus her opinions about Mariana's overtures to Spamalka, and that she heartily disapproved of them. Henceforth, the Franconians dropped their demands that Mariana be set at liberty, requesting only for Aurelia to refrain from her execution. Ambassador Walsingis, however, in a communique (April 9, 1772), to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made it plain that the Franconians would do nothing even if Aurelia moved against the former Scottrian Queen. Nevertheless, negotiations proceeded in due order, ultimately ushering in the Treaty of Blois. By the terms of this treaty, it was officially proclaimed that the Imperial Laurasian and Franconian Governments bore "no overt hostility towards each other" and that their "common goals included the preservation of peace, the maintenance of the balance of power, and the prevention of petty conflicts resulting in unnecessary bloodshed." Consequently, they agreed to never enter into military hostilities with each other, or to conclude treaties with a power hostile to the interests of the other.
 * This was an indirect allusion to the Holy Spamalkan Empire, with which both Franconia and Laurasia had experienced considerable diplomatic tensions. In a secret codicil to the Treaty, the Franconian Government pledged to officially terminate all financial and military aid to the Bar Confederation by no latter than the end of May 1772; to disavow all connections with the Confederate War Council; and to imprison or otherwise "inflict punishment" on those who would seek to comfort or aid the Bar Confederates. King Charman III and his government also pledged to acknowledge Laurasian and Pruthian rights to partitioning territories of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth; to refrain from any further involvement in the conspiracies surrounding the Scottrian Queen Mariana; and to recognize any terms whom the Laurasian Empire were to negotiate with the Marasharite Empire and the Haynsian Despotate for the conclusion of that military conflict. This agreement, which satisfied Empress Aurelia's greatest concern about the Franconians, was ratified by her on April 22 and by King Charman III of Franconia on April 26.
 * April 24-
 * By the latter weeks of April 1772, government forces had managed to make some gains against the units of the Marianian Confederation. Following the fall of Corgaff to the rebel forces in November 1771, Gordon and Captain Ker had advanced against Montrose, which was one of the most important agricultural colonies in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. It had been originally colonized in 1380, during the reign of Kenneth II, and had steadily increased in importance during the course of the next four centuries. Montrose's inhabitants, who numbered forty-seven million by the late eighteenth century, had long been hostile to Queen Mariana and her Franconian supporters; it had been among the first worlds to acknowledge the authority of the Regent Moray, and had welcomed the ascension of Jamsius VI to the Scottrian throne with much celebration and joy. But it had then come under the threat of forces loyal to the Queen. Gordon had declared, in proclamations to his followers, that this wayward star system would be forced to acknowledge the authority of its "rightful sovereign" and that the populace was to be brought under firm control. Gordon's forces besieged Montrose from December 6, 1771 until January 21, 1772; the world had finally capitulated to his arms at that latter date.
 * Proving true to his word, he treated the planetary population harshly. One out of every ten males were forcibly conscripted into the rebel forces; the rebel officers extracted tribute and gifts from the authorities and wealthiest families of Montrose; and Gordon permitted his men to ransack businesses, homes, and properties for their own benefit. This had caused Montrose's inhabitants to gravitate ever more in their loyalties towards the Regent Mar's government. In February 1772, Broughty was stormed by a rebel force. The Earl of Morton, however, now supreme commander of government forces in direct operations against the rebels, began to stem the tide of their advance. He launched surprise expeditions against Iverness and Aberdeen (March 1772), inflicting damage upon rebel strategic positions. On April 7, Broughty was recovered by government detachments. Now, on April 24, 1772, Morton defeated rebel reinforcements under the command of Captain Ronald Dellar in the Battle of Cranstone; as a result of this victory, supply lanes leading from Ediania to Blackstone and Montrose were severed, and Gordon was forced to redraft his military strategies. Captain Dellar and fifteen of his leading officers were executed by solar incineration on May 2.
 * April 28-The Battle of Wawel was waged (April 28, 1772) between the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Sir Alexander Surovius and his chief subordinate, Admiral Sir Lysimachus Enthadays (1722-86), and those of the Bar Confederation under the command of Prince Karol Dagonius. Wawel was the chief remaining supply and communications base held by the forces of the Bar Confederation in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth; it also commanded the approaches to Kraskow Minor, which was still held by a rebel garrison. Prince Dagonius, who was no longer as effective a military commander as previously, and whose forces were clearly outnumbered by the superior Laurasian units, was handed a decisive defeat. Wawel capitulated to the Laurasian Empire after three hours of combat in the outskirts of the star system. Prince Dagonius himself managed to evade capture; realizing the peril that he was in if he remained in the Commonwealth, Dagonius, who had served as Marshal of the Bar Confederation since its inception, decided to emigrate to the Haxonian Confederacy, where he would be beyond the range of retribution at the hands of the Imperial Laurasian Government. Reaching the Dalmatian Channel Mist on May 5, Dagonius quickly established himself on Genoa; his departure disheartened the remaining military commanders of the Bar Confederation, who realized that their chances of victory were diminishing with each passing day. Krakow Minor itself capitulated to the forces of the Laurasian Empire on May 12.
 * May 8-The Investigative Commission into the Scottrian Question formally convened, on May 8, 1772, for its first session at the Public Council Chambers in the Quencilvanian Palace. The body was comprised of fifty commissioners, who had been specifically selected by the Empress on the virtue of their administrative ability, prominence at the Imperial Court, and loyalty to her person and the Imperial Throne. Many of the members of the Privy Council, Governing Senate, and Holy Synod, such as Chancellor Burghley, Procurator-General Bagonius, the Earls of Jadia, Leicesterius, and Aretha, and Chief Procurator Parrius, were members of this commission. The Marquess of Constantinople, the Earl of Hannah, the Count of Clancia, and the Duke of Briannia were among the other magnates present on the body. The majority of them however, as well as the majority of those in the Laurasian Purse Region, agreed with Walsingis in believing that as long as Queen Mariana lived, the threat to the life and position of their Empress would never abate. Shortly after the formal summons had been made, the catalog of Mariana's misdeeds was read out to the assembly by Aretha, in his function as Imperial Marshal. One commissioner declared that he feared sleep after hearing how the Queen of Scottria had murdered Lord Darnley and plunged her realms into chaos; another said that Mariana had already been warned of her crimes, and because she had refused to heed the warnings, she should therefore be executed.
 * May 12-By May 1772, Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III and the Grand Council had come to the viewpoint that the continuing war with the Laurasian Empire was not beneficial to their interests and that they could extricate themselves from this conflict by making certain concessions to the Empire. Therefore, on Mustapha's orders, Grand Vizier Mushinzade Mehmed, who had ascended to the Grand Viziership on December 11, 1771, following the sudden death of his predecessor, Siladhar Mehmed, sent a diplomatic communique to the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting for the imposition of a military armistice between the military forces of the two empires and the commencement of diplomatic negotiations to an end to the war. Empress Aurelia was immediately informed of this proposal by Chancellor Burghley. She now contemplated the offer and consulted her chief ministers several times over the next three days. On May 15, the Empress approved the armistice request and authorized Burghley to begin negotiations with his Marasharite counterparts. By May 19, it had been agreed that the armistice conference would be held on Giurgiu, a Marasharite resort colony located in the outskirts of the Great Tesmanian Cloud.
 * May 19-
 * The Investigative Commission into the Scottrian Question sent to the Empress (May 19, 1772) their recommendations on two alternative means of procedure in dealing with the Queen of Scottria. One was that the former Scottrian Queen could be attained of treason and executed henceforth; the other, she could be formally barred from the imperial succession and warned that, if she plotted against Aurelia again, she would face the death penalty. The commission was unanimously in favor of the former course, but the Empress insisted that it would be wiser to adopt the second, since honor would not permit her to execute a foreign monarch who was not subject to Laurasian law. Many of the members of the commission, however, were now out for the Scottrian Queen's blood. They begged the Empress to reconsider her decision, declaring that the will of the Lord Almitis would make it essential for the Queen to be executed, and that Mariana would not be deterred merely by warnings; she would continue to plot against her cousin as before. Two days later, the Councils of State endorsed the commission's requests by sending a formal petition to the Empress. It was described as the "cry and call of all good subjects for the preservation of Her Majesty and the maintenance of this autocracy." While recognizing the Empress's autocratic authority, the members of the government nevertheless beseeched her to look into her conscience and to have no mercy for Queen Mariana. On May 22, Aurelia formally received the petition in the Grand Audience Chamber, but turned down their request with much skill and prudence.
 * On May 26, the Privy Council and the Imperial Ministry of Justice, realizing that Empress Aurelia would not permit for her cousin to be tried and executed for treason, cooperated on drafting a statute which listed the Scottrian Queen's offenses; deprived her of any right to the imperial succession; and declared it an offense, punishable by death, for any individual to proclaim or defend Mariana's hereditary claims. The commission then revised the statute's provisions and presented their work to the Empress, who had granted them another audience at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia. Aurelia, however, declared that she still could not countenance the punishment of her cousin, and consequently, could not give formal authorization for an official imperial statute to be prepared. It had become clear by now that Aurelia meant to take no action against her cousin; Burghley and her other ministers despaired at this, believing that the Empress was being too lenient and placing the security of her throne and realms in jeopardy.
 * May 30-After several days of negotiations, the Truce of Giurgiu was signed on May 30, 1772, by the delegations of the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires. Grand Vizier Mushinzade Mehmed, who had arrived at Giurgiu on May 24 in order to personally arrange the truce's provisions, signed as chief plenipotentary of the Marasharite delegation. Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, Major-General Baron Vessanius Dologruvkius, and Fleet Admiral Sir John Hawkius signed as the representatives of the Imperial Laurasian Government, having been granted authorization by the Chancellor in order to handle the actual conference negotiations. By the terms of the truce, all active military hostilities between the forces of the two governments were to cease immediately. Laurasian forces were to terminate any raiding expeditions or planned offensives against the Great Tesmanian Cloud; they were to respect the positions of Haynsian forces in the Warrior Fastnesses; and they would not harry any Marasharite subject who chose to transit through the Angelina Spiral. The Marasharites, on their part, agreed to recognize Laurasian rights of military occupation over the territory they now held; formal territorial dispositions would be handled in the final treaty. It was also agreed that a formal peace conference was to be convened, no latter than the end of July 1772, at Focasani, located in the Ochanian Provinces of the Marasharite Empire. The leading officials of both governments were to be present at this conference, and the agreement would be subject to the normal procedures of revision and ratification. Finally, all prisoners of war were to be exchanged, although Laurasian forces were to keep the booty and military equipment they had thus far captured in the campaigns.
 * May 31-Having spared the life of Scottrian Queen Mariana, and refrained from imposing any legal penalties against her, Empress Aurelia now found that she could not keep the fate of the Duke of Norfolkius in limbo any longer. The Investigative Commission, before being formally dismissed from their duties the previous day, had strongly recommended to the Empress that she allow the law to take its course, and permit for the death of one who would "continue to plot against Your Majesty's interests while feigning ignorance of the same." Aurelia herself had overcome her earlier scruples about the ancestral services of the Howardis family, and concluded that the present Duke had not "proved a loyal and efficient servant in the same spirit as his ancestors." Therefore, she ordered for a final death warrant to be prepared; this was done within hours, and without hesitation, she affixed her signature to the document. The warrant was quickly delivered to the Fortress of Baureux, and the Empress commanded for there to be no delay. The following day, she made a rare visit to the Fortress herself, in order to ensure that arrangements for the Duke's execution had been conducted in accordance with her directives. She did not see her cousin however; his requests to be able to have one last audience with her were refused on her orders.
 * June 2-On June 2, 1772, Thomasius Howardis, 4th Duke of Norfolkius, was finally executed at the Fortress of Baureux. Norfolkius, whose requests to see his cousin had been denied, and who had been condemned to death on her initiative, nevertheless bore no ill-will towards her. He told his guards and the few remaining attendants of his household permitted to be in service upon him that the Empress was only taking measures in order to secure her throne and the security of her realms; this was a duty which had to be adhered to by every rightful sovereign, regardless of their own personal feelings. On the morning of his execution, Norfolkius conducted himself in a calm and dignified manner. Having made his last confessions to the Chaplain of the Fortress of Baureux late the previous day, the Duke believed that a great spiritual weight had been lifted off his shoulders. At 6:40 A.M. Galactic Standard Time, he was conducted by his guards and the Constable of the Fortress of Baureux, Sir Oedpius Hoptonius (1705-76), to the Public Execution Grounds from his personal chambers. Norfolkius mounted the execution scaffold, wearing a black satin doublet. In his last speech to the crowds gathered to witness his execution (numbering more than 450,000), the Duke declared that he had never been a Traditionalist Almitian; that he had always remained loyal to the Imperial Laurasian Government; and that the sentence of execution by blaster squad which had been imposed upon him was just. "For men to suffer death in this place is not a foreign concept; since the beginning of our most gracious Empress's reign I am the first, and Alimitis grant that I may be the last." Refusing a blindfold, the Duke died bravely, with only one volley of blaster fire being required to bring him to his end. His body was buried before the altar of the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower, near that of his cousin, Antigonus III's silly and ill-fated fifth wife, Katharina Howardis (who had been executed thirty years earlier). The Empress, when she was informed that the deed of execution had been done, wept constantly and declared that she had prayed to the Lord Almitis that she would not have to condemn the nobleman to his own death.
 * June 6-Following the conclusion of the Treaty of Blois, Queen-Mother Catharina de Medici and her son, King Charman III, had wasted no time in terminating Franconian assistance to the Bar Confederation. On April 26, 1772, in an official proclamation from the Tuileres Palace on Parri, the King of Franconia had declared that he could no longer sanction "the activity of rebels against their lawful government", and that consequently, the Franconian Government was withdrawing its recognition for the Bar Confederation. The Confederate War Council, which had issued a declaration of deposition against King Stanis Vorrust I in December 1770, was sent into disarray and shock upon hearing of the Franconian declaration. General Pulaskia sent several communiques to General Dumouriez, urging him to persuade his government to reverse their decision. Dumouriez, however, who was homesick and had found the Confederates stubborn and hard to cooperate with, refused to do anything. On May 2, Franconian subsidies to the Bar Confederation were formally terminated; four days later, the first of the Expeditionary Corps troops began to depart from Jasna Gora and Krasnik, traveling by juncture of Danzig and Muller back to Nice. The continued efforts of the Confederate commanders to keep Franconian support failed; on May 18, General Dumouriez himself was formally relieved of his duties of command and ordered by the Franconian Council of State to return back to Parri at once. His ceremony of departure, conducted at Tyniec the following day, was cast with an atmosphere of gloom. By the end of May 1772, all remaining Franconian auxiliaries in Dejanican territory had withdrawn. Now on June 6, 1772, the King of Franconia issued a manifesto acknowledging Stanis Vorrust I's rights as King and Grand Duke of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth; denouncing his prior support for the Bar Confederation; and banishing all with Confederate sympathies from his realms.
 * June 11-
 * Queen-Mother Catharina de Medici, who feared that her former daughter-in-law, the imprisoned Scottrian Queen Mariana, would appeal to the Spamalkan Government for assistance, held an audience (June 11, 1772) with Sir Thomasius Smithius, concerning the absolute necessity for a royal marriage in order to seal the provisions of the Treaty of Blois. The Queen Mother asked "whether your mistress understands that she will always be in such danger until she marry? If she marry into a house of considerable reputation and status, would anyone attempt anything foul against her security?" Smithius, who professed to be in agreement with the Queen Mother, declared that if only his sovereign had one child, then the claims made by Mariana and other "fiends" would be utterly destroyed. Catharina, on her part, responded that the Empress should have more than one child. Smithius asked why she should; the Queen-Mother stated that she should have two sons, in case one would die, and three or four daughters to establish alliances, not only with Franconia, but with other friendly foreign courts. Shortly after this audience came to an end, on amiable terms, the Queen Mother officially dispatched to Laurasia Prime, as ambassador extraordinary, Francois de Montmorency, Duke of Montmorency (1730-79)< who had powers to deliver the Franconian Instrument of Ratification to the Imperial Laurasian Government and to formally offer the Duke of Alencon as a potential husband for the Empress of Laurasia.
 * Montmorency arrived at Laurasia Prime on June 14, after a journey of several days; he was received by the Empress with much ceremony and honor. Montmorency and his embassy remained at Laurasia Prime until June 25; during the whole duration of his stay, he was entertained by Empress Aurelia lavishly. On June 22, she invested him with the Order of the Imperial Garter and formally took possession of the Instrument of Ratification. The Empress, however, remained noncommittal about the marriage proposal, again citing her concerns about Alencon's age and appearance. When Montmorency departed from the Imperial Court on June 28, the Empress promised him that she would consider the proposal and give King Charman her answer in a month's time. She then ordered Chancellor Burghley to instruct Ambassador Walsingis to submit a full report concerning the Duke of Alencon. Walsingis's report, which arrived on June 28, described the Duke as wise, stalwart, and pragmatic. The Duke's face was covered with wretched pockmarks, the scars left by a childhood disease, but Walsingis stated that they did not "pose as severe a disfigurement as some would have supposed." The Empress would continue to consider the matter for some time. She continued to be concerned about Alencon's extreme youth, declaring that she did not wish to be tied in marriage to one young enough to be her son. The Empress also sought if she could use Alencon's physical defects as an excuse to demand Boulougone as surety for the marriage.
 * July 4-The Battle of Brecin was waged, on July 4, 1772, between Marianian Confederate forces under Sir Adam Gordon and Lord Fleming and those of the Regent Mar's government under the command of the Earl of Morton. Glerbevie, the stronghold of the Mearns family (major supporters of the Regent's regime in the Northern Provinces), had been besieged by the forces of Gordon since June 11. The Earl of Morton, who sought to disrupt the further progress of the rebel forces, and had established his operational headquarters on Mrechin, had marched with his units to Brecin, attempting to launch a surprise attack against the command lines of Gordon's formations. This strategy however, backfired on him, because Gordon had already been informed by his agents of the Earl's offensive plans. The confrontation at Brecin was decided by the superior rebel starfighters, who decimated the government units. Morton was forced to retreat; Glerbevie capitulated to the Marianian Confederation on July 12. Shortly afterwards, however, Morton launched another offensive, this time against Niddry, which was being held for the Marianian Confederation by Lord Seton. Niddry had already been harried by government fleets in April 1772; Morton's renewed assault was meant to break the resistance of the stronghold and bring it under government control. On July 13, the garrison of Ediania launched a diversionary assault against Merchinson, attempting to provide relief for Niddry. This offensive, however, was repelled, and Niddry remained under siege for most of the month.
 * July 7-On July 7, 1772, Queen Mother Catharina de Medici dispatched the Duke of Alencon's close friend and political associate, Joseph Boniface, Monsieur de la Mole, to the Laurasian Empire. Montmorency, when he had returned to Parri at the end of June 1772, had given an extensive report to the Queen-Mother and the King of Franconia about the ceremonies that he had attended; the Empress's attitude about the marriage project; and the continuing intrigues and rumors at the Imperial Court. Catharina, who was determined to press forward with the establishment of a formal marriage concept, dispatched de la Mole with the hope that he would be able to persuade Aurelia to accept the Duke. De la Mole, who was a handsome and approachable person, had a gallant charm whom the Queen-Mother believed would soften the Empress's attitude. Chancellor Burghley, when informed of de la Mole's impending arrival in the Empire, told his associates that the Queen-Mother was possessed of admirable political calculation and foresight. De la Mole arrived at Laurasia Prime on July 11, and like Montmorency before him, was received by the Empress with much ceremony at the Old Royal Palace. The Empress and her court had been engaged in preparations for the formal progress of 1772, which was to take them to the Venasian Provinces. The Empress had a particular desire to see the Fountain Palace of Venasia Prime; she decided that this would be the perfect time to impress the Franconian Ambassador with the splendor of the Imperial Court. De la Mole, on his part, did impress the Empress, but she remained wary about the intentions of the Franconian Government.
 * July 13-The Battle of Tyniec was fought (July 13, 1772) between the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the command of General Alexander Surovius, and those of the Bar Confederation under the command of General Marek Jadolwskia. Tyniec was one of the last major strongholds in the possession of the Confederate forces; it had been used as a operations citadel by the War Council, which had issued coordination orders to the military units under its jurisdiction. It therefore possessed a sizable garrison of nearly 150,000 troops and thirty major warships. Nevertheless, this could not withstand the larger and more powerful Laurasian forces. General Jadolwskia was handed a decisive defeat, and Tyniec was overrun by Laurasian forces. By the end of July 1772, Krakow Minor, Zaloewiec, and Krasnik had been firmly secured by the forces of General Surovius.
 * July 16-
 * With the Franconian Ambassador de la Mole now present, Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court officially departed from Laurasia Prime on July 16, 1772, for the progress of 1772. The massive Imperial Household Fleet was comprised of nearly three hundred vessels, escorted by detachments from the Laurasia Prime Core Defense Force and the garrisons of Charasia, Clackimaris, Katherine, and Darcia. The Empress herself observed matters from the bridge of her flagship, the IMS Laurasiana Galactica; she was attended by the ladies of her imperial household, by Ambassador de la Mole, and by the Earls of Jadia, Hannah, and Caladaria. The Empress decided to take a short detour through the Eastern Purse Worlds, in order to grace the households of her leading courtiers with her presence. On July 21, she arrived at Theobaldian House on Durglais, one of the chief strongholds of the Cecilis family. There, she was entertained by Chancellor Burghley, who had learned the art of political flattery and knew the standards demanded by his mistresss. Ambassador de la Mole was impressed by the banquet and the masques staged by Burghley on the Empress's behalf, and he recorded his impressions in his official account of matters to the Franconian Council of State. The Empress also decided that now was the opportune time to fill the vacancy in the Imperial Treasury.
 * Since the death of the Marquess of Winchestrius in March 1772, the position of Lord Treasurer had remained vacant. Empress Aurelia had first contemplated the idea of conferring the Treasurership upon the Earl of Leicesterius. Leicesterius, however, still had a reputation with many at the Imperial Court as being a wife-murderer and intriguer, and was therefore opposed by many in obtaining another position within the ranks of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The Earl himself was not eager for the position, confiding to his brother, the Earl of Sarah, that he did not have "enough knowledge and insight for the duties which would be required of me in that position." Aurelia eventually realized all of this, and had now come to the decision that it would be wiser to confer it upon her trusted Chancellor. On July 22, the Empress surprised her host when she announced, at the termination of a fete which had been held in her honor, that he would be elevated to the position of Lord Treasurer. Burghley, however, quickly recovered from his surprise, and expressed his gratitude to the Empress for "giving me such a honorable rank in your service." Burghley was formally appointed as Lord Treasurer of the Laurasian Empire on July 24, 1772; he took the oath of office that same day, and in an impromptu ceremony in the Great Hall of Theobaldian House, was invested with the Treasurer's Staff of Office and the Finance Robes. Burghley continued to remain Chancellor, although the Empress recognized his desire to abdicate from the onerous duties of that position. He was to be Lord Treasurer for the next twenty-six years, until his death in August 1798.
 * July 25-
 * Empress Aurelia's imperial progress continued with diversionary visits to Osama, Sarah, and Clackimaris. On Osama, the Empress spent a night at Gorhamia House, the chief estate of the Bagonius family. Procurator-General Sir Nicholas Bagonius had begun construction on the mansion in 1763, determined to establish himself on the same level as the other noble personages and magnates of the Imperial Court, who possessed lavish residences staffed by extensive households. Construction on Gorhamian House continued for over five years, until it was finally completed in July 1768. The Empress was now determined to see for herself what her leading judicial officer had accomplished, having seen the images and heard the reports about the lavishness and scale of his residence. At her arrival on the House Grounds, Aurelia was greeted by the Procurator-General himself with his wife, Anna, who was renowned for both her beauty and intelligence, and his two sons, Antoninus and Franconius, both of whom were renowned for their own intellectual talents. The Empress, however, professed herself to be unimpressed by the size of the mansion. She told him that "you have made this mansion too small for Your Lordship." Bagonius responded, in jest, "No, Madam, but Your Highness has made me too big for the house." Nevertheless, the visit went well, and the Empress's departure the morning of July 27 was an occasion for much ceremony.
 * Following this, she made her visit to Clackimaris, where she was formally received by the Governor of Clackimaris, Sir Pausanias Veremanius, and by the Recorder of the Galactic Institute of Ships and Information, Sir Antigenes Paravius. The Institute's headquarters had relocated to Clackimaris in 1769, and it was to remain there for the next thirty years. The Recorder delivered a eloquent speech of welcome and informed the Empress that the people had "a great desire for Your Majesty." Aurelia stayed on Clackimaris for two days before moving on to Sarah. There, she was formally received by Leicesterius's brother, Ambrosius Dudley, the Earl of Sarah, and his wife, Countess Anna Rusalina, one of the Empress's closest confidantes. She had been a Maid of Honor during the early years of the reign. On November 11, 1765, she had married the Earl of Sarah in a lavish ceremony at the Imperial Chapel of the Quencilvanian Palace. The Empress had lavished many gifts upon the couple, as did the Earl of Leicesterius and other notables at the Imperial Court. Aurelia was very pleased to see the Countess again, and arrived in Warwecopolis, Sarah's capital city, with the Countess in an open repulsorlift. A display of city dancing was then conducted in the public courtyard of Sarah Castle, the Earl's chief residence. The Empress watched the entertainments from her window. Ambassador de la Mole was consulted several times by the Empress during the course of the court's week-long stay on Sarah. The Earl and Countess, on July 29, staged a firework display and simulated naval battle for the Empress and the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court would finally depart from Sarah on August 3.
 * August 2-
 * At Focasani, on August 2, 1772, the diplomatic conference between the governments of the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires, for treaty negotiations to bring the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War to a termination, formally opened. Empress Aurelia had detached the Earl of Jadia as the official plenipotentiary-intendant of the Imperial Laurasian Government. In an communique to the Earl, the Empress ordered him to ensure that "the demands of our government are readily understood and received by the Marasharites" and that there be no confusion over the demands which were being made by the Laurasian Empire. Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius, Lieutenant-General Baron Vessanius Dologruvkius (he had been promoted to that rank by the Empress as a reward for his military efforts in June 1772), Vice-Admiral Sir Alexius Seniavin, Sir Meletius Carvellus (1726-85), and Chief Procurator Amnystas Parrius of the Holy Synod served as the other Laurasian plenipotentiaries. Marasharite Grand Vizier Mushinazade Mehmed and twelve attaches from the Marasharite High Council, including Subordinate Viziers Selid, Izzet Mehmed, and Kalaft Mehmed, comprised the delegation for the Marasharite Empire. The Grand Vizier acted as the chief plenipotentiary. A great contrast now emerged in the first presentation of the two delegations. The Earl of Jadia and his colleagues arrived at Focasani at the head of a grand fleet of galleys and imposing warships.
 * This included the HMS Antigonus the Extravagant, which had been launched from the Imperial Naval Shipyards of Darcia in February 1765, and named after the Empress's revered father. The Antigonus possessed two hundred turbocannon; a complement of five hundred starfighters; and the most advanced particle shield-generators then employed in the Imperial Laurasian Navy. It was a massive behemoth, extending for nearly six miles in length. Each of the Laurasian delegates was attended by servants dressed in the finest livery avaliable. All total, the Laurasian fleet comprised of nearly seventy vessels, thirty of whom were warships and the remainder escorts. The Marasharite fleet, on the other hand, comprised of only twenty vessels, none of whom was longer than a mile in length. The Marasharite delegates only had sixty servants and they were all dressed simply. The two fleets made the formal signals of acknowledgement; the delegations then disembarked to Focasani Fortress, which dominated the star system. It was here that negotiations were to be held. For the first six days of the conference, various banquets and festivities were conducted, as the Earl of Jadia and the Grand Vizier sought to extend formal respects to each other. On August 8, the formal discussions commenced.
 * August 5-
 * On August 5, 1772, the Treaty of Vienna was signed by the diplomatic delegations of the Laurasian Empire, Autocratic Pruthian Empire, and Holy Austarlian Empire. This treaty now formalized the First Partition of Dejanica, as it would become known during the latter years of the eighteenth century. Diplomatic negotiations among the three governments had continued since April 1772, when the Austarlian Government had declared its intention to join with the Imperial Laurasian and Pruthian Governments in occupying territory from the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Delegations from the three governments had convened on Vienna from June 4, 1772, in order to decide the final conditions of the partition treaty. The Laurasian Empire's interests were represented by Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, Sir Seleucus Caranius, Prince Nicholas Repanius of Kalbacha, and Sir Caligula Vinsonia, 2nd Baron Vinsonia of Columbia (1720-95). The Autocratic Pruthian Empire was represented by Count Hermann von Gosternost (1703-97), Prince Henry (Henvar) of Pruthia, and Count Carl von Bormann of Heidelberg-Vorst (1692-1784). The Holy Austarlian Empire was represented by Chancellor Kaunitz, Field-Marshal Ernest Gideon von Laudon, and Lord Caspar van Saldern of Giletiz (1713-89). All of these men had worked vigorously to define the conditions of the agreement, being under constant scrutiny from their sovereigns and their governments. At times, disputes threatened to tear the negotiations process apart. Ultimately, however, they came to a final agreement.
 * By the terms of the Treaty of Vienna, the territories to be annexed by each of the respective partitioning powers was decided. The Autocratic Pruthian Empire's share was the smallest, both in population and in territorial size, but the most economically important of the three. Pru'a IX of Pruthia achieved a significant success. By the terms of the treaty, Pruthia acquired Dejanican Pruthia (allowing the Emperor to connect his Domains of Brandenburg with the Duchy of East Pruthia), Ermland, the Netze District, and northern Kuayvia. This amounted to 36,000 inhabited star systems with a population of 150 billion inhabitants. Thorn and Danzig, however, remained under the rule of the Dejanican Commonwealth, although the abolition of all tariffs and immigration restrictions in those star systems was confirmed. The major systems of Elbing, Bromberg, Chelmno, and Balbork came into the possession of the Pruthian Empire. Pru'a now pursued an intensive policy of colonization and reform in his newly-acquired territories. Holding the Dejanicans in extreme contempt, Pru'a regarded them as savages, with only the Marasharite Empire having a worse system of government than the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He promoted extensive immigration of Pruthians and other foreigners into his newly-acquired territories; entire settlements and colonies of Dejanicans were deported or cleared, replaced with immigrants. He enforced Pruthianization, restricting the use of Dejanican customs and authorizing the use of Pruthian as the chief language of state. He also engaged in plunder of Dejanican territory, confiscating Dejanican estates and businesses in order to support Pruthian colonization. The tax freedom and retainment privileges of the Dejanican gentry in Royal Pruthia were abolished, and Pru'a redistributed former estates of the Dejanican Crown in his annexed territories to Pruthian magnates and landowners who could be trusted to maintain the authority of his government. Finally, he introduced the Pruthian education and welfare systems into his newly-acquired territories, and abolished all regulations in contravention to the "authority of the central government." In May 1773, Pru'a reorganized his newly incorporated territories into the Province of West Pruthia and the Netze District. The Pruthian Empire instantly gained control of 80% of the Dejanican Commonwealth's foreign commerce as a result of its territorial acquisitions; Pru'a levied deliberately high customs duties at Royal Pruthian posts, which helped to accelerate the continuing economic deterioration of the Dejanican realms.
 * The Holy Austarlian Empire's share was the second-largest in territorial size but had the greatest population. Empress Mar'va Tarvania had continued to remain reluctant about participating in the partition until the very last day before the conclusion of the negotiations conference. She believed that it would be an affront to her values to seize which did not belong by hereditary right to the Austarlian Crown. Her pleas, however, had been broken down by the influence of her son and ministers. Kaunitz, in particular, considered the partition to be an ample compensation. Austarlia acquired Zator, Auschwitz, Oswiecim, Vistulan-Lesser Dejanica (with the major star systems of Zywiec, Tarnow, and Biecz), the County of Sandomierz, and Dejanican Galicia, which included the major strongholds of Prezimsyl, Lvov, Sanok, Belz, Halicz, Bochina, Wielicika, Gorlce, Jaslo, Halych, Nowy Sac, Nowy Targ, Ternopil, and Zolochiv. In September 1772, the Austarlian State Council constituted the newly-annexed territories as the Appendage Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. It thereby joined Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Dalmatia, Bohemia, Ducal Austarlia, and Transylvania as appendage kingdoms of the Austarlian Empire. All total, the Austarlian Partition amounted to 83,000 star systems with 500 billion inhabitants.
 * The Laurasian Empire's share was the largest in territorial size and the second-largest in total population. By this "diplomatic document" Laurasia came into the possession of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth's territories east of the Western Galactic Barrier, which was intersected by the Galactic Frontier Route, the Void Mists, and the Haynsian Slave Highway-that section of the Galactic Void which had possessed Dejanican garrisons and monitor outposts, and the districts of Lavella, Ladelle, and the Galactic Barrier. Among the star systems acquired by the Imperial Laurasian Government included Lavella Major, Lavella Minor, La'delle, the Galactic Barrier Outposts, Lovevold, Marvald, Vitesbk, Polotosk, Opochka, Dyneburg, the Dniva Straits, Dequan, Antwone, Novella, Nelson, Denziel, Washington, Carrie, Spacek, Diana, Delany, Ross, Webster, Dominique, DeAndre, and Dejan. These were the territories which had been held by the Great Kingdom of Lavella, the Lavellan Potentates, and the Kingdom of Amelianian Lavella. Moreover, the acquisition of Dejanican Lavella fulfilled an old territorial goal of Emperor Antigonus II, who had, prior to his death in March 1580, been contemplating its seizure. His son and successor, Commodus, had shelved these plans. All total, the Laurasian Empire obtained control of 92,000 star systems with a population of 230 billion inhabitants. Empress Aurelia, in an official imperial manifesto to her subjects (August 6, 1772), declared that the acquisition of Dejanican Lavella consolidated the Empire's hold over the Galactic Borderlands; moreover, she boasted of her fulfillment of the "goals of the Meditator", nearly two centuries after his death. By the decrees of September 29, 1772 and January 22, 1773, the newly acquired territories would be reorganized into the Lavellan Province; Lavella Major became the capital star system of the province, which was placed under the authority of the Diocese of Kalbacha. This, however, was to remain temporary until the impending administrative reorganization of the Laurasian Empire's territories, which was to occur within the space of another three years. General Sir Zecharius Chernyshika (1723-84), who had commanded Laurasian troops in operations against Bar Confederation forces in the Galactic Void, was appointed as Governor of the newly-acquired territories in February 1773. Within days after the Treaty of Vienna was signed, Pruthian and Austarlian troops violated the Commonwealth's territory, occupying with little resistance the territories agreed by the partitioning powers. Empress Aurelia had General Surovius redeploy his formations to formally occupy the Lavellan Provinces and guide their incorporation into the Laurasian Empire. The Dejanican Government and the Bar Confederation were both powerless to prevent this; on August 12, the Vienna Addendum conferred the official acknowledgement that the three powers had possessed their respective territories.
 * August 13-
 * After four days of negotiations, the Truce of Glasgow was signed (August 13, 1772) by the diplomatic delegations of the Marianian Confederation and the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. On July 25, 1772, Niddry had finally capitulated to the forces of the Earl of Morton; Lord Seton, however, managed to evade capture by the government forces. Morton, now determined to disrupt the unity of the rebel forces, had then decided to launch a surprise offensive against the outskirts of the Ediania star system. Bypassing the rebel defenses at Cragmillar and Gallow's Star, Morton's units penetrated to Canongate and the Gateway of Ediania on August 2; Grange, however, inflicted severe damage on the offensive formations of the government force. Morton was then threatened with actions at Trinity Kirk and Restarlig against his units; he realized that he did not have enough troops or millitary supplies to maintain his operational lines and to penetrate the defenses of the Ediania star system. Therefore, on August 6, he had sent a armistice request to Kirclady of Grange, for all military hostilities between their forces in the Scottrian Homeland Territories to cease until the termination of the year. Grange, who believed that he would be able to strengthen the defenses of Ediania, and that Gordon's forces would make further progress in the Northern Provinces, decided to accept the armistice request. On August 8, Lords Fleming and Seton had met with the Earls of Morton and Glencairn at Glasgow, hammering out the terms of the armistice with them. As a result of the Truce of Glasgow, all military hostilities between the opposing forces were to cease for the remainder of the year; prisoners of war held by each side were to be released; and the transit rights of Scottrian subjects were not to be challenged during the duration of peace. Empress Aurelia, observing these events from Laurasia Prime, informed Chancellor Burghley that the opportune moment for intervention would arise after the final suppression of the Marianian Confederation.
 * On the same day of the conclusion of the Truce of Glasgow, the Battle of Jasna Gora was fought between the Laurasian forces of General Surovius and the Bar Confederate forces of General Walewski. By the beginning of August 1772, the Bar Confederation was on its last legs. On May 31, 1772, Magnate-Generals Michal Jan Pac and Jerry Augustia, realizing that the Confederate cause was doomed, and believing a proclamation issued by King Stanis Vorrust I (upon the compulsion of the Imperial Laurasian Government), that any who surrendered their arms and acknowledged the authority of the Dejanican government would be spared from punishment, had capitulated. This proclamation, however, was soon revealed for the lie that it was. The Empress of Laurasia was determined that none of the Bar Confederates be spared, for she considered their defiance of Laurasian arms to be a humiliation and a disgrace which had to be punished. Therefore, on June 7, both Jan-Pac and Walewski had been arrested by Laurasian troops at Krakow Minor on the Empress's instructions. The King of Dejanica was powerless to intervene, and both Dejanican noblemen were deported back to the dominions of the Laurasian Empire. On July 2, they were attainted by the Court of the Star Chamber and imprisoned at the Post Settlement of Hepudermia. This same treatment was administered to other Confederate officers; during the course of the following month, of nearly five thousand officers who fell into Laurasian custody, four thousand were deported to Laurasian dominions and imprisoned at the Fortress of Baureux, the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, the Secret Prison of Ipsus V, and other prison facilities throughout the Empire.
 * Knowledge of this fate was evident to General Walewski and the men of his garrison, who knew that the Laurasians would have no mercy for them. They therefore resisted fiercely. A earlier Laurasian assault against Jasna Gora, on August 3, had been repelled with much damage being inflicted on the Laurasian offensive formations. General Surovius's third-in-command, Brigadier-General Sir Neuchrus Persius, had sustained serious injuries in the rebel counteroffensive and was dismissed from his duties as a result. Surovius himself now took command of this final offensive against this major Confederate stronghold. After several hours of combat, the garrison was finally overwhelmed by Imperial Laurasian forces. General Walewski himself was killed leading a final assault by his troops against the Laurasian forces; by the end of the day, the world was completely in the possession of the Laurasian Empire. With the fall of Jasna Gora, General Surovius began to advance his troops in the direction of Częstochowa, still held by the troops of General Pulaskia. During the course of the five days, Laurasian troops fought a series of skirmishes with Dejanican units at Erstholm and Jakoria, as they gradually advanced to the outskirts of the Częstochowa star system.
 * August 18-
 * The Battle of Częstochowa, the last major confrontation between the forces of the Laurasian Empire and the Bar Confederation, was waged (August 18, 1772). General Alexander Surovius commanded this last decisive Laurasian push against the confederate forces. General Kazimerzes Pulaskia, who had gained recognition throughout inter-galactic civilization, and even in the Laurasian Empire, for his long and determined resistance against the foreign forces, commanded the defense of this stronghold. Pulaskia was determined that Surovius would not obtain an easy victory; he arranged his last remaining starfighter and destroyer squadrons in a triangle formation, in order to defend the outskirts of the star system. In his last speech to his soldiers, the Dejanican General urged them "not to lose sight of the ultimate goal: independence and freedom for all of the Commonwealth's peoples"; that the cause they were fighting for would eventually become the cause of all species and civilizations; and that defeat, at this juncture, would not permanently destroy the "cause of justice." All total, the General had just fifteen destroyers and six hundred starfighters left to his disposal. General Surovius enjoyed a decisive advantage, numerically and tactically, over his adversaries. He had a force of two hundred warships with a complement of two thousand starfighters at his disposal. The battle commenced during the early hours of the day, and true to his word, Pulaskia organized an effective and determined resistance.
 * The Laurasians suffered nearly 30,000 casualties, which surprised all observers. Ultimately, however, the weight of the Laurasian military forces proved too substantial for the remaining Confederate troops to handle, and by 3:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, the advantage had shifted to the favor of the Laurasian Empire. General Pulaskia himself managed to escape from the star system on his personal starfighter, declaring that he intended to inspire Dejanican patriotism from foreign quarters, and that he would not surrender to Laurasian troops. Most of his soldiers, however, had no chance, and by the end of the day, the Commandant of the Częstochowa Fortress had capitulated to General Surovius. The fall of Częstochowa extinguished most of the last remaining anti-Laurasian dissent in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. On General Surovius's orders, more than five hundred officers and commanders of the Częstochowa garrison, including the Commandant, were bound in chains and imprisoned at the Military Post Prison of Lavelle, formerly a Dejanican complex and now in the possession of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The minor monastery system of Zagorz, however, continued to harbor some officers and refugees of the Bar Confederation until November 28, when it was stormed by Laurasian detachments. By the end of November 1772, the Bar Confederation had been finally and completely suppressed, after more than four and a half years of resistance to the forces of the Laurasian Empire. General Surovius was awarded the Order of St. Antigonus the Conqueror by Empress Aurelia on September 5, for his efforts in suppressing the Bar Confederation and maintaining Laurasian dominance over Dejanica. Pulaskia, on his part, would flee to exile in the Vendragian Confederacy, later contributing his services as a mercenary commander during the American Rebellion. He would die at Yorslia in the Great Amulak Spiral on October 11, 1779, at the age of 34.
 * August 22-
 * Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court arrived at Kenilian Castle on Taurasia, on August 22, 1772, where she was to be entertained by the Earl of Leicesterius. During the course of the past six years, Leicesterius had expended much time and effort on further expanding and equipping the properties of his vast estate, determined to transform it into one of the chief noble residences of the Laurasian Empire. Already by August 1772, Kenilian Castle was undoubtedly one of the most lavish estates held by a nobleman of the Imperial Court. It consisted of nearly six thousand rooms in four interconnected structures; extended over a territory of three square miles; and soared nearly twenty miles into the skies of Taurasia. Leicesterius had a staff of 100,000 servants and 30,000 retainers at hand; this was one of the largest households of any prominent noble in the Empire. Nevertheless, there was still much work to be done, for the Earl had not yet begun work on the castle gardens or the Estate Conservatory. In spite of this, however, he staged a series of extensive entertainments for the Empress. During the course of the previous twenty days, the Empress and the Imperial Court had conducted their great progress throughout the Venasian and Millian Provinces. Arriving at Robbay on August 4, the Empress had then visited Bolgrahay, Ipsus V, and the other major star systems of the Venasian Triangle. Following this, they had proceeded into the Inner Territories. Maxiliana, Ka, Phyllis, Duris, Decapolia Major, Decapolia Minor, Uber-Commerce, Agac, Aflac, Podrac, Organia, Monderon, Anasia, Cadaria, Ruttum, Hannis, and Permi had all been visited by her in succession.
 * On August 9, the Empress and the Imperial Household had reached the Transitory Mists of the Venasian Cluster; she then conducted a ceremonial procession through the Transitory Mist Outposts and Venasia Secondary, receiving the formal homage of the Venasian nobility; gifts from the authorities of the star systems; and "almost universal" acclamation. Two days later, the Empress had made her formal entry into the Venasia Prime star system. She was greeted by the Governor of Venasia Prime, the High Matron of the Venasian Noblewomen's Consistory, and the Mayor of Ta'cahu'gay, Venasia Prime's capital and primary city. She then lodged at the Fountain Palace, that ancient residence of the Venasian Queen Mothers which had first been constructed by Queen Mother Camarina in the seventh century BH. There, the Imperial Court engaged in a series of jousts, fetes, and dances, as they entertained themselves with the luxuries of this world, renowned for its cleanliness and the high standards of living of inhabitants. The Imperial Court remained at Venasia Prime for nine days, finally making its departure on August 20.
 * All of this was recorded by Ambassador de la Mothe in his diplomatic dispatches. Touring the Rifle Worlds, the Lorellian Reach, and the Gateworlds, the Empress then proceeded rapidly back to Laurasia Prime. The stop at Kenilian Castle had been decided by the Empress on August 16, after having submitted to the pleas of Leicesterius for her to visit his famed estate. At Kenilian Castle, Leicesterius arranged a joust and a honorary ceremony of combat in honor of the Franconian Embassy; the young Earl of Oxfadia and Sir Christopherus Hattonius in particular distinguished themselves. De la Mole's efforts, however, made little headway with the Empress. She was still unwilling to commit herself to accepting the Duke of Alencon. She told Ambassador Fenelon of her doubts and insisted that she could not make up her mind until she had seen the Duke in person. The Ambassador told her that the King and Queen Mother would be pleased to arrange a meeting between the Empress and the Duke, but only if she convinced them that she had actual intentions of marriage. She replied that she had to meet the Duke and be certain that they could have a love for each other before she could give an answer. Lord Burghley, who had been waylaid with an attack of Rithrian arthritis, began to doubt whether or not the marriage would proceed.
 * September 3-
 * As Empress Aurelia was out hunting with the Earl of Leicesterius and the ladies of her personal household in the Kenilian Gaming Grounds, an urgent communique arrived at the Communications Center of Kenilian Castle (September 3, 1772). This communique, which had been dispatched over the emergency communications channel, had been hastily composed by Ambassador Walsingis on Parri, and sent with the utmost urgency to the Imperial Court. Because of the great distance between the Caladarian Galaxy and the Great Amulak Spiral, and then the fact that the message had to be redirected through the Quencilvanian Palace Central Terminal, it was only now arriving at Kenilian Castle. A messenger was now sent with the utmost haste by Chancellor Burghley to inform the Empress of the communique. The Empress hastened back; when she read the communique in her private chambers, the entire mood of the Imperial Court changed swiftly. Bursting into tears, Aurelia declared to her attendants that "this matter arouses much concern for us, and it is of a nature which I pray the Lord Almitis to forgive all men." She now canceled all further entertainments at the Kenilian Castle, ordered for all of those in the Imperial Court to don garments of mourning, and ordered Ambassador de la Mole to depart back to Parri immediately. What prompted this was St. Bartholemy's Day Massacre on Parri and in other major star systems throughout the Serene Kingdom of Franconia. On August 18, 1772, the Huguenot Grand Duke of Navarre, Hensios (future King of Franconia), had been married to the Queen Dowager's daughter Margaret, part of Catharina's efforts to preserve the religious balance in the Franconian realms. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the leader of the Huguenot Confederation, had been prominent at the marriage ceremonies. Catharina, however, had long been determined to rid herself of his presence. On August 22, an assassination attempt was made on Coligny by the officer Mauvart, hired by the Queen-Mother for that purpose. Although wounded, Coligny had survived. He vowed revenge on his enemies, and deduced that his enemies in the Royal Government had sought to arrange his assassination.
 * Therefore, the Queen Mother, seeking to cover her own tracks, had determined to launch a general assault against the Huguenots in the Municipal Districts of Parri; she also gave orders to her subordinates that Coligny was to be attacked again and murdered in the course of this assault. King Charman had consulted with his mother concerning Coligny and his faction; she had obtained his consent to move against the government's enemies. Charman, however, was to remain wary of his mother's intentions. The municipal authorities of Parri were shortly afterwards ordered to arm the loyal Franconian citizens of the world and to prevent the outbreak of a Huguenot uprising. The King's Royal Swiss Guard were given the list of prominent Huguenots to murder. During the early hours of August 24, a party of soldiers dragged Admiral Coligny from St. Didone's Hospital and butchered him into pieces. The royal troops then began seeking out Huguenots across the city; within four days, the violence had spread throughout the star system and to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Bourges, Rouen, Orléans, Meaux, Angers, La Charité, Saumur, Gaillac and Troyes, as the King had ordered his provisional governors to permit attacks on Huguenot individuals and property. By the end of the month, nearly two million individuals throughout the Franconian realms will had been brutally murdered, solely for being Huguenots.
 * Reactions to the Massacre varied. Holy Spamalkan Emperor Philicus, declaring that Charman had defended his throne "from the threats of fiends", praised his actions. Queen Mariana celebrated in her private chambers, indicating her favor for the vigorous actions of her former in-laws. The reaction in the Laurasian Empire, however, was completely different. Ambassador Walsingis, who had been forced to lockdown the Imperial Embassy in the Diplomatic Quarters of the Tuileres Palace, was shaken by the experiences. Chancellor Burghley, when reading the communique's contents, could not find words to describe his sadness and anger. The Empress herself was outraged. Within days, Hugenot refugees were streaming into the Empire, bringing tales of the cruelties and devastation inflicted by the government troops. On September 4, the Empress published a manifesto, ordering for prayers to be offered at all religious edifices throughout the Empire's realms, in order to entreat for the "souls and well-being of those who hath perished in the massacres." Aurelia, however, did not wish to instigate war with Franconia. Negotiations with the Marasharites were doddering along. The Empress feared that she intervened on behalf of the Huguenots, Franconia would revoke its commitments to the Treaty of Blois and enter into a military alliance with the Marasharites against Laurasia. Therefore, the Empress decided to confine her action to diplomatic protests and condemnations of the Franconian government's moves.
 * September 5-
 * Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court arrived, on September 5, 1772, at the Gilbertine Palace on Tudoria, having proceeded there from Kenilian Castle on Tudoria. The Empress declared to the Imperial Court that it would be appropriate for the routine of mourning to be conducted at this, the hereditary residence of the Neuchrian Dynasty, "so that the soul of my ancestors on this throne may be appeased." Ambassador Fenelon, seeking to impart to the Empress of Laurasia his government's official explanation for the massacre, which was referred to by him as an "accident", requested for a formal audience. Aurelia, however, kept him waiting for three days, as a public display of her displeasure. When he was finally admitted to her presence, the Empress and the Imperial Court were fully decked in garments of mourning, standing in reproachful silence as the Ambassador advanced to pay his respects. Possessing a stern manner of conduct, the Empress then led him to a seat and said she hoped that King Charman would clear his conscience in the eyes of all. Fenelon, in response to this, said that King Charman had uncovered a deadly Huguenot plot against himself and his family, and had been obliged to act quickly to avoid assassination. It was not his intention, however, to persecute the Huguenots or to revoke his edicts of religious toleration. The Empress, however, pointed out, that this did not excuse widespread violence.
 * She said that she had wept when she received reports of the killings, and declared that only in response to rebellion or civil war should such extensive punishments be applied. Because Charman was a monarch and a gentleman, she was bound to accept his explanation, being comforted by Fenelon's assurance that nothing was more important to his master than the continuation of peaceful relations with the Laurasian Empire. The Empress, however, would not discuss the matter of her marriage to the Duke of Alencon, although the Duke had not been involved with the massacre. After the termination of this audience with Fenelon, the Empress asked Chancellor Walsingis whether it should be "expedient for His Majesty’s brother to be a fit husband for us, considering that there is such association with the evil deeds of his brother." Negotiations were left in abeyance, although the Franconian Government continually sought to revive them. The Queen Mother suggested on September 14 that the Empress meet with Alencon in the Goldcar IV star system, where Aurelia’s own father, Antigonus III, had met with Charman’s grandfather Franjak I fifty-two years earlier. Aurelia, however, declined, declaring that she would reach no decision unless if Charman promised to abstain from further oppressions of his Huguenot subjects.
 * October 2-
 * Negotiations between the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires resumed at Bucharina in the Northern Reaches on October 2, 1772, which was occupied by the 9th and 10th Legions of the 2nd Imperial Army. The first conference, that which had been convened at Focasani, had collapsed on August 23, after three weeks of futile negotiation. Chancellor Burghley, who had remained with the Imperial Court but drafted the instructions for the Laurasian diplomatic delegation, had demanded that the Marasharite High Council absolve the Haynsian Despotate of all duties of vassalage towards its government; that the Despotate be permitted to establish for itself "an independent and distinct form of government, beholden not to the dictates of a foreign power", and that Laurasian transit privileges in Haynsian territory be guaranteed. When Field-Marshal Rumanstevius presented these terms to Grand Vizier Mushinazade Mehmed, the Grand Vizier protested, declaring that he would not insult the honor of his master by surrendering Marasharite territory. The Imperial Laurasian Government remained insistent on these demands; the Grand Vizier eventually began to argue with the Field-Marshal and with General Dologruvkius, and the conference degenerated into a stalemate before its ultimate termination.
 * The Truce of Girgiu remained in effect, however, but the Marasharite High Council began making plans for the resumption of military hostilities with the Laurasian Empire. On September 19, however, Chancellor Burghley had managed to send a communique to the Grand Vizier, persuading him to resume negotiations in good faith. The Vizier had agreed, but demanded that neither Rumanstevius nor Dologruvkius participate in the negotiations. Burghley had reluctantly agreed, and then made a counter-proposal for Bucharina to be the site of negotiations. This had been assented to, and the date for the conference had been established. This time, the Chancellor and Lord Treasurer had designated Sir Thomasius Sackvillus, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs (his eventual successor in the latter position), as the chief plenipotentiary to the conference. Sackvillus had arrived at Bucharina on October 1, and the following day, negotiations commenced anew.
 * October 12-King Charman III of Franconia, who sought to repair his relations with the Imperial Laurasian Court, and to revive the marriage project concerning his brother, dispatched, on October 12, 1772, a special envoy, the Sieur de la Mauvissiere, to Laurasia Prime. The Empress and the Imperial Court had returned there from Tudoria on October 7. The Sieur was to obtain an audience with the Empress and ask her if she would be godmother to his newborn daughter, Marie Elizabeth of Valois. De la Mauvisierrie arrived at the Quencilvanian Palace on October 19 and was formally received by the Empress in the Audience Chamber. At first, she was reluctant, citing the differences in religion and the fact that according to Franconian custom, a godparent could only be of the same faith as the godchild. Charman, however, issued an injunction on October 23 overriding this technicality for the occasion. Mauvisierrie also offered his master’s assurances of adherence to the Treaty of Blois. On October 27, the Empress finally relented on the matter, and designated the Earl of Rebecca as her representative at the ceremony. He arrived at Parri on November 6 and presented a gold salver to the King of Franconia for his daughter’s sake. Despite this, however, many in the Empire and at the Imperial Court continued to express revulsion about the Massacre of St. Bartholemy, and cries now renewed for Mariana to be formally tried and executed. The Empress, still maintaining appearances about being concerned for her cousin’s welfare, had nevertheless authorized Chancellor Burghley, on October 10, to send a secret communique to the Earl of Mar, inquiring whether the deposed Queen might be deported back to the Scottrian realms and tried for the murder of Darnley, which would almost inevitably result in the former Queen’s execution. Mar, however, sought assurances of military aid from the Empire and requested for the Ambassador to the Scottrian Court, Sir Antigonus Killgranius, to be present at Mariana’s execution. The Empress, however, did not want to implicate herself in Mariana’s execution, and therefore desisted from this plan on October 18.
 * October 28-By late October 1772, it had become clear that the Massacre of St. Bartholemy would not result in any outbursts of violence or rebellion in the Empire. Many in the Laurasian realms had no desire to intervene in Franconian affairs unduly, and were far more concerned about the peace negotiations still being conducted with the Marasharite Empire. As a result, the Franconian affair eventually lapsed, and the Empress issued new instructions to the Earl of Aretha, commanding him to ensure that the Queen of Scottria’s correspondence remained under his strict watch. On this day, however, the Earl of Mar, who had fallen ill shortly after the Laurasian Empress’s abandonment of her Scottrian trial scheme, died at the Hospital of Lord David on Stirling. Throughout his entire regency, Mar had been overshadowed by the Earl of Morton and his supporters, who remained ardently opposed to Mariana and believed that the only means by which Scottria were to remain at peace was for the Queen to remain under imprisonment. If this meant the continuation of her conditions under Laurasian custody, then so be it. For the time being, the Scottrian realms remained without a formal regent, for Mar had not formally designated his successor before his death.
 * November 12-
 * On November 12, 1772, the secret Treaty of Chereseneos was signed by the diplomatic delegations of the Laurasian Empire and the Haynsian Despotate at Chereseneos, a resort colony which had been inhabited from as early as the eighth century BH and had been one of the chief strongholds of the Genevian Principality of Theodoros from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. In September 1772, the Haynsian Despot, Braval I Karany, had come to the conclusion that negotiation with the Laurasian Empire, which had conquered most of his dominions, was the means by which he could free his state from the overlordship of the Marasharites. The Haynsians had paid homage to the Marasharite Emperor; participated in his military campaigns; and surrendered a portion of their plunder and slaves to him for nearly two centuries. Braval I, who held delusions of grandeur and believed that he would be able to establish the Despotate as an independent, and stable, dominion in the Angelina Spiral, decided that negotiation with the Imperial Laurasian Government was the best option. The Haynsians were participating in the conference on Bucharina; in secret, however, Chancellor Burghley opened a channel of communications with them on October 15. Laurasian forces had ceased attacking the Warrior Fastnesses in June 1772, after the conclusion of the Truce of Girgiu, and had conducted secret parleys with Haynsian commanders at Doros and Theodoros.
 * On November 4, Field-Marshal Rumanstevius secretly met with the Despot and his advisors on Chereseneos; they quickly hammered out an agreement. Now, by the terms of the Treaty of Chereseneos, it was agreed that "Her Imperial Majesty of Laurasia would seek, by all of the means, diplomatic and military, at her disposal, to release the Haynsians from subjugation towards the Marasharite savages." The Imperial Laurasian Government agreed to recognize the sovereignty of the Haynsian Despotate. The Haynsian military and economy were to be completely dependent upon the directives of the Despot; he would not be obliged to pay "tribute, captives, or any other form of homage to any foreign power whatsoever", and could enter into wars or sign treaties at his own discretion. The Empress of Laurasia was to become the formal protectoress of the Haynsian Despotate. Any enemy of Haynsia would be considered an enemy of Laurasia, and vice-versa. In accordance with this, the Empire was to withdraw from its occupation of Haynsian territories upon the conclusion of a peace with the Marasharites. Diplomatic garrisons, however, on Little Boravia, Greater Boravia, and Perekop were to remain, in order to provide the Haynsians with assistance in suppressing rebellions and maintaining order in their realms. Finally, the Haynsians were never to "menace or threaten the territories of the Caladarian Galaxy"; they were to acknowledge Laurasian territorial acquisitions in the Galactic Borderlands and Galactic Void; and they were never to enter into any engagements contrary to Laurasian interests. The Treaty of Chereseneos was ratified by Despot Bravan I Karany on the day that it was signed; Empress Aurelia conferred her approval to the agreement on November 21. For the time being, the agreement was known only to the highest officials in the Laurasian and Haynsian Governments. The Empress, on her part, declared to Burghley and the Earl of Leicesterius that the conclusion of this agreement would be the first step to the firm extension of Laurasian rule over the Angelina Spiral. Delays had occurred with the Scottrian scheme, but the Empress had firmly resolved upon "settling it" once the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War was concluded.
 * November 24-Death of John Knox, High Regent of the Scottrian Congregation and among the most prominent religious figures of the eighteenth century (November 24, 1772). To the end, Knox remained committed to his beliefs and his own perception of society. He was still known as an ardent misogynist, and continued to believe that Empress Aurelia of Laurasia was there "only as a result of the intigues of the Devil of the Underworld." Nevertheless, Knox's death was received with much mourning throughout the Scottrian realms. The Scottrian Estates issued a proclamation of mourning for Knox; even the heads of the Marianian Confederation expressed their respect for him. Knox was interred at the Churchyard of St. Giles on December 9.
 * November 25-A month after the death of the Earl of Mar, on November 25, 1772, the Earl of Morton, long the most implacable of Queen Mariana’s enemies and now the most powerful nobleman in the Scottrian realms, was formally elevated to the Regency of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. Morton was formally elected by the Scottrian Estates and Council of State; he received the endorsements of the late Regent’s son, the new Earl of Mar, as well as those of the Earls of Glencairn, Argyll, Rothes, Sunderland, and Caithness. Morton was determined to maintain a positive relationship with the Laurasian Empire and to obtain Laurasian military aid against the Marianian Confederation. Ignorant of the Laurasian ambitions to destroy the kingdom over which he governed, and of the Laurasian encouragement of further rebel tensions against the King’s government, Morton instigated a further correspondence with Chancellor Burghley, burdened with the duties of that office and of those of Lord Treasurer, Master of the Court of Wards, Minister of the Imperial Chancellory, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Privy Council. In his first communique to Burghley, on November 29, Morton declared that "The knowledge of Her Majesty’s meaning has moved me to accept this charge of state, resting in assured hope of her favorable protection and guidance, especially for provision of military aid and men of war to defeat our enemies of the Confederation." The Empress herself, who kept a close watch over this correspondence, declared that the suppression of the Bar Confederation would permit her to intervene more actively in Scottrian affairs. By the beginning of December 1772, the Imperial General Headquarters had begun the withdrawal of Laurasian troops from the Commonwealth, in preparation for intervention in the Marianian Civil War, as the Scottrian turmoil had become known.
 * December 11-
 * Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court moved (December 11, 1772), from the Quencilvanian Palace on Laurasia Prime to Hampsonian Court on Jared. The Empress's decision to celebrate the Ascentmas and New Year's seasons there, which had once been one of her father's most favored residences, was sudden and unexpected by many in the ranks of the Imperial Household. Nevertheless, her word was absolute, and the court had been thrown into hasty preparations for the move. In the midst of the Scottrian Question, the continued negotiations with the Marasharite Empire, and the final suppression of the Bar Confederation in the territories of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, events had continued to transpire at the Imperial Court, as regards to the Empress's personal affairs and her relationship with her courtiers. On November 17, Aurelia's fourteenth anniversary on the Laurasian throne had been celebrated with much pomp and circumstance; her subjects, proud that their Empress had remained firm in the midst of all challenges and schemes, and that the Ridolfi Plot had been suppressed before it even had come into operation, were determined to make this a worthy celebration. Courtiers at the Imperial Court, in the same spirit as the other subjects of the Empire, continued to jockey for favors and gifts from the Empress. The Earl of Leicesterius, who remained the most formidable of all the male courtiers and the one closest to the Empress, behaved towards her in a courteous manner. By now, they had both developed a trust and affection for each other, which was to persist until the Earl's death; Leicesterius, however, had finally begun to realize that she would never marry him. Nevertheless, he played the part of suitor alongside two younger men at the Imperial Court: Hattonius and the Earl of Oxfadia. Hattonius, in particular, had made considerable advances in the imperial service. From 1764, he had served as one of the Gentlemen Pensioners. By 1769, Hattonius had become a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber; two years later, he was appointed to the Governing Senate, becoming the youngest member of the body (at only 31 years old).
 * On December 22, the Empress appointed Hattonius as Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners, which gave him more influence in the Imperial Court. Two months later, he would be named a Privy Councilor without Portfolio, and would become in time one of the Empress's leading advisers. Hattonius's promotion to Captain-ship of the Gentleman Pensioners only motivated him further to seek the Empress's attention. He therefore resented the Earl of Oxfadia, ten years his junior. Oxfadia had been born on June 12, 1750, at Hedaingta Fortress on Tyndaris. His father, the 4th Earl of Oxfadia, had died suddenly on August 3, 1762. Only twelve years old when ascending to the Earldom of Oxfadia, he had become a imperial ward of the Empress. Consequently, Oxfadia was entrusted to the guardianship of the Master of the Court of Wards and Chancellor, Burghley (then Sir Cecilis). On December 16, 1771, the Earl (who had been released from his wardship in 1768), married Anna Cecilis (1756-88), the daughter of the recently elevated Lord Burghley. Despite his marriage to Anna, however (who was to bear him five children), Oxfadia continued to act as a suitor to the Empress. The competition between Oxfadia and Hattonius for the Empress's affections continued to dominate the circles at the Imperial Court into the early months of 1773. On December 25, the two engaged each other in the traditional Ascentmas Day jousts; their confrontation ended in a draw, and both were granted the pennant of favor by the Empress. That same day, Aurelia held a masque at the Imperial Court in honor of the Franconian Envoy, Paul de Reynard, Sieur de la Mauvisierrie (1712-93), declaring to him that Franconia and Laurasia needed to remain on friendly terms for the maintenance of peace among all galactic powers. On Twelfth Night, 1772, Leicesterius presented the Empress with a gift of two glittering collars set with precious stones.
 * December 29-On December 29, 1772, Ernestia Bironia, who had been the Duke of Northania in 1739-40 and again from 1763-1769, when he had abdicated in favor of his son, Peter von Bironia, died. The former Duke, who was eighty-two years old at the time of his death, expired in the Royal Hospital Quarters of the Jelgava Palace. The Palace had been commissioned by the Northanian Diet in 1738, the year before Bironia had been first elevated to the Dukedom. Construction on the Palace had been largely conducted by the Durian architect Batolomeo Rastrielli, and had continued for over three decades before the Palace was finally completed in July 1772, months before Bironia's death. The Empress of Laurasia, upon learning of the death of the man whom she had restored to the Northanian throne in 1763, declared, in an official commmunique to the Dejanican Government, that his death was a "sad event" for the people of the Grand Duchy of Northania. Bironia was interred at the Ducal Crypt in the Jelgava Palace on January 4, 1773; his funeral was attended by representatives of the Dejanican Government, of foreign courts such as Laurasia, Austarlia, and Pruthia, and of other prominent figures from throughout the Great Tesmanian Cloud.

1773

 * January 1-
 * 1773, the 73rd year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Laurasian Empire residing largely in a state of stability and non-aggression. The Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, which by this point had been ongoing for over four years, appeared to many Laurasian subjects as if it were finally coming to a close. The Imperial Laurasian and Marasharite Governments had continued discussions on how to terminate the war since October 1772; many throughout the Empire were optimistic that the war would end in their favor, and that Laurasian military forces would not be engaged in any further military offensives for the foreseeable future. What many were not aware of, however, was the secret Treaty of Chereseneos which had been signed with the Haynsian Despotate; this agreement would almost certainly arouse hostility from the Marasharite Government and result in the resumption of active military offensives. As regards to the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the suppression of the Bar Confederation had freed Laurasian troops and military resources, which had been bogged down in years of skirmishes with the obstinate Confederates. The First Partition of Dejanica had proceeded relatively smoothly, but the Dejanican Diet had not yet been compelled to grant its official seal of agreement to the treaty. Finally, the Scottrian Question continued to dominate affairs at the Imperial Court.
 * Following the execution of the Fourth Duke of Norfolkius, overt conspiracy on behalf of the Queen Mariana had disappeared, at least for the time being. Events in the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria were now proceeding against the Queen's long-time supporters, the Marianian Confederation. In her New Year's proclamation to her subjects, the Empress declared that "this Empire resides in a greater state of prosperity and internal unity than before" and that its position of influence would soon be consolidated by the conclusion of peace with the Marasharites; the formal ratification of the First Partition of Dejanica and acknowledgement of that fact by the representatives of the Dejanican government; and suppression of the Marianian Confederation. Just hours after the Empress's New Year's proclamation was posted at the Imperial Court, the Truce of Glasgow formally expired, as the Earl of Morton, who was determined to assert his authority over the Scottrian realms and to destroy his adversaries, declared that its terms would no longer be adhered to by the Scottrian Government. Following this declaration, Kirclady of Grange, who sought to regain the advantage over the government forces, ordered his turbocannon to fire on government positions at Trinity Kirk and Restarlig. Rebel units also penetrated from Canongate and Gallow's Star, threatening government supply lines at Stirling and Leith. The turbocannon, however, were short on ammunition, and by January 5, Morton had forced the rebel starfighter squadrons to retreat back into the Ediania star system.
 * January 22-
 * On January 22, 1773, Frederickus I, King of Vendragia and Irvania, Elector of Hanover, and Sovereign of the Amerindian Territories, died at Buckingham House on Londarania. He was sixty-five years old at the time of his death and had ruled since his accession to the Vendragian throne in October 1760, following the death of his father, Georg II. King Frederickus's reign had seen the Treaty of Bristol (1762), confirming the extension of Vendragian colonial, economic, and military power at the expense of the Franconians; Pontiac's Rebellion (1762-63) and the associated Proclamation of 1763, which had attempted to establish territorial boundaries within the Amerindian Territories for colonists, governmental officials, and corporations to adhere within; and the various tax measures of the 1760s, including the Townsend, Stamp, and Spice Acts. All of these had aroused the dissent of many in the Amerindian Territories against the Vendragian government, leading to such events as the Tax Boycotts of 1765-66, the Georgia Uprising (1767), the Massacres of Plymouth (1769), the Tea Party Riots (1770-71), and the Pennsylvanian Flight (1773-74), which was ongoing at the time of his death.
 * Vendragia had also been embroiled by colonial conflicts in Upper India, Tibet, and Southern Africana; the Fifth Boer War (1767-73), which resulted in the final destruction of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, who had opposed the Vendragians for nearly a century, confirmed Vendragian power in that region. King Frederickus himself had enjoyed relatively robust health, and had contracted the Hemesian plague in November 1772, just months before his death. His health had thereafter declined, and his life had been despaired of. He was now succeeded as King of Vendragia and Irvania by his 35-year old son Prince Georg of Walesia, who thereby became Georg III of Vendragia. Georg, who was intelligent, educated, and athletic, was also inexperienced, and he was to face numerous troubles in the Colonial Territories, with Franconia, and in the Germanian Principalities during his twenty-year reign. King Frederickus was interred at Windsor Castle on February 2, 1773, and condolences arrived from all foreign monarchs, including Empress Aurelia of Laurasia.
 * January 28-
 * In the meantime, the events of the Marianian Civil War continued to proceed along. On January 12, the Battle of Glencairn was waged between the Confederation and Regent Morton's forces. Glencairn had, throughout the duration of the conflict, remained one of the chief bases for the confederate forces The Earl of Glencairn, who was a supporter of the Regent's government, had been prevented from obtaining access to his own estates, used by rebel troops as their habitation quarters. He therefore provided reconnaissance information and offensive units to government forces; within two days, Glencairn was in the government's hands. By January 24, Albright, Madelaine, and Albemaine had been reconquered by the government forces of the Earl of Morton, weakening Confederate supply lines. Four days later (January 28, 1773), Morton held a strategic conference with his advisers on the Scottrian Council of State and with prominent members of the Scottrian Estates. The Earls of Rothes, Glencairn, Mar, Argyll, Montrose, and Caithness supported the Regent's motion that siege efforts at Ediania be conducted immediately. Within three days, Morton had ordered for the construction of hypergates and turret defenses at St. Margaret's Arch and the Canongate Approaches. From these positions, government units suppressed supply lines to the Ediania star system.
 * On February 4, Ancrum Moor captivated to the forces of the Marianian Confederation. Lord Seton, who had defended Niddry in the face of government offensives, was also in command of the Ancrum Moor garrison. He did not, however, have the same luck, for the Earl of Caithness, who led the siege efforts, proved to be a more effective commander. Seton himself barely evaded capture at the hands of government troops. The Scottian government's conquest of Ancrum Moor now motivated the Imperial Laurasian Government to make a more effective response to the Regent Morton's entreaties. Empress Aurelia had continued to consult with her ministers regarding the Scottrian Question, and she now decided that both negotiation and military force could be employed to crush the Marianian Confederation. On February 8, Chancellor Burghley sent an official communique to the Regent Morton, declaring that the Empire was willing to offer its services in negotiating a final peace agreement between the Royal Scottrian Government and the Marianian Confederation. Morton, who was confident in his position of control over the Scottrian realms, accepted the Laurasian offer two days later.
 * February 15-
 * By February 1773, it was apparent to all among the Confederation's leadership that Mariana was firmly under the control of the Laurasian Empress. The Earl of Huntly, who had long been one of the most ardent supporters of the former Queen Mariana, was one of those who came to finally realize that further resistance against the Regent Morton's government was impossible. Mariana would not be able to escape from imprisonment in the Empire, and her cousin had already declared that she would not work towards her cousin's restoration. The Confederation also dreaded the likelihood of the reappearance of extensive Laurasian military forces in the Scottrian Kingdom; none of them could forget about the Laurasian military campaigns from 1744-50 during the War of the Rough Wooing, or the Laurasian intervention in Queen Mariana's War (1759-60). Therefore, Huntly, who had moved his operational headquarters to Perth, sent a secret communique to the Laurasian Ambassador, Sir Antigonus Killganus (February 11, 1773), asking for his assistance in bringing hostilities with the King's government to an end. The Ambassador immediately reported this to the Privy Council. Burghley, acting with the Empress's approval, conferred his approval on the Confederate request. The following day, Ambassador Killganus arranged for the Regent and his associates to meet with the Earl of Huntly and his subordinates, including Lords Seton and Fleming, Sir Adam Gordon, and the Lairds of Gordon.
 * After three days of negotiations, the Pacification of Perth was signed, on February 15, 1773, by the delegations of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, the Marianian Confederation, and the Laurasian Empire. The Regent Morton and the Earls of Mar, Caithness, and Rothes signed as the chief plenipotentiaries of the Scottrian Government. Ambassador Sir Antigonus Killganus signed as the representative of the Imperial Laurasian Government. The Earl of Huntly, Lords Seton and Fleming, and Sir Adam Gordon signed for the Marianian Confederation. By the terms of this agreement, all hostilities between the Regent's government and the Confederate forces were to formally cease. All territories still held by the Confederates, including Ediania, Branxholm, Glasgow, Haddington, Dunbar, Montrose, Cragimillar, Glasgow's Star, Haddon Rig, Corgaff, Craibstone, Huntly, and Aberdeen were to be restored to the authority of the Scottrian Government. The Earl of Huntly and his subordinates agreed to recognize Jamsius VI as King of Scottria and the Regent Morton as his protector and guardian; in return, they would be granted a full pardon and permitted to retain control of all their estates and privileges. The Empress of Laurasia was to resume her duties of protectorship of the Scottrian realms, and was to "maintain domestic tranquility in the Scottrian realms by all means necessary." The Pacification of Perth was sealed by the Regent Morton and the Earl of Huntly in a formal ceremony of greetings.
 * To the alarm of both the Scottrian and the Imperial Laurasian Governments, however, Kirclady of Grange refused to recognize the Pacification of Perth and declared that he would continue to resist the Regent's forces. Holding control of the Ediania star system, the Laird, despite a shortage in ammunition and military supplies, determined to repel any offensives launched against his positions. With him remained William Maitland of Lethington, Mariana's former Secretary of Home Affairs and one-time envoy to the Laurasian Empire; his younger brother, Sir John Maitland; Alexander, Lord Home; Robert Melville of Muldocairnie; Robert Crichton, Clainnarch of Dunkeld; Robert Logan of Restarlig; and the Governor of the Edianian Fortress, Henry Echlinh of Pittardo. Over the course of the next month, the garrison of the Ediania star system launched assaults against government blockade lines at Restarlig, Trinity Kirk, and Canongate, inflicting damage on a number of starfighter units and harrying the transit lines. The citizens of Ediania, who became more and more deprived of necessities by the day, began to simmer against the remaining rebel forces, and yearned to be freed from their predicament by the forces of the Regent Morton's government. Morton, on his part, wished to secure control of the capital star system, and believed this essential to the firm consolidation of his authority over the Scottrian realms.
 * March 20-In spite of the hopes of many in the Laurasian Empire, the diplomatic conference at Bucharina collapsed, on March 20, 1773, amidst continuing disagreements and confrontations between the Laurasian and Marasharite delegations. But it was not only due to the constant bickering of the Grand Vizier with Sir Thomasius Sackvillus, that the conference collapsed. The primary cause was that the terms of the Treaty of Chereseneos had been leaked to the Grand Vizier and the Marasharite High Council. In January 1773, Marasharite dignitaries had obtained access to intelligence information provided to them by a discontented member of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They had sent his information to the Grand Council. Marasharite Emperor Mustapha, enraged about this Laurasian intrigue with "my vassal-state", ordered the Grand Vizier to demand of the Laurasians their intentions as regards to the Haynsian Despotate. When confronted with the Vizier's questions, Sackvillus recoiled in surprise, declaring that the Empire was only determined to maintain the tranquility of all peoples and that the Haynsians deserved to have the rights of any "independent sovereign state." The Grand Vizier did not buy this Laurasian explanation, and now rejected a earlier Laurasian offer for the restoration of the Grecian Provinces to Marasharite authority in exchange for Marasharite withdrawal from the Caladarian Galaxy. Nevertheless, it was agreed that the Truce of Girguiu was to remain in effect until May 31, 1773. Empress Aurelia of Laurasia, believing that negotiations were hopeless, now developed ambitions to launch military offensives into the Great Tesmanian Cloud.
 * April 9-
 * The Treaty of Perth was signed (April 9, 1773) by the diplomatic delegations of the Laurasian Empire and the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria, in order to solve "outstanding matters" between the two governments concerning formal diplomatic and economic relations, the status of the former Scottrian Queen Mariana, and the suppression of the Marianian Confederation. By the terms of this agreement, it was officially declared that because of the "lack of active military hostilities" between the two realms over the course of the past thirteen years, they had therefore been officially in a state of peace with each other since June 1760. It was declared that the Treaty of Ediania had been "ratified in good faith" by all of the parties concerned, and that Queen Mariana's refusal to ratify the agreement did not "jeopardize the conditions therefore reached between Her Imperial Majesty's government and His Majesty's Government of Scottria." Both governments now acknowledged that the former Queen of Scottria, the "said Mariana Stuart, shall never have, or enjoy, any further right or title of pretension to the succession and inheritance of the Imperial Laurasian Crown." It was asserted that under the terms of the Third Antigonid Statute and the Didymeian Manifesto, Mariana was not an eligible heiress apparent. It was further agreed that the former Queen of Scottria was to remain under imprisonment at the discretion of the Laurasian Empress; Morton and his supporters believed that Mariana, safely under lock and key in the Laurasian Empire, would certainly not be able to return to the Scottrian realms and stir up trouble. The Empress of Laurasia also agreed to become the formal protectoress of the Celestial Kingdom of Scottria. She agreed to respect the rights of the Regent Morton and his government; Laurasian officials were not to intervene in the internal affairs of the Scottrian realms, and the traditional procedures for extradition of criminals, commercial disputes, and navigation were to remain in force. However, the Imperial Laurasian Government would have the right to dispatch troops and financial aid to the Scottrian Government, in order to suppress "rebels, vagabonds, and those who would seek to defy the rightful authority of their masters."
 * As regards to the immediate situation, the Laurasian Empire agreed to provide a expeditionary corps of seventy warships with one thousand turbocannon and a detachment of 300,000 troops to the assistance of the Scottrian authorities. This force was to be deployed towards "suppressing the resistance of the last remnants of the Marianian Confederation at Ediania", and was to operate under the joint supervision of the Imperial General Headquarters and the Scottrian Estates. The Treaty of Perth was ratified by the Empress Aurelia on April 14 and by the Regent Morton (with the Scottrian Estates) on April 19. On April 22, Sir Willanius Drury (1727-79), who had been promoted to the rank of Major-General in February 1773, was designated by the Empress Aurelia as the supreme commander of the Laurasian Expeditionary Corps. Three days later, the Expeditionary Corps departed from Ladelle, which served as the assembly headquarters, and from there proceeded rapidly across the Galactic Void to the Angelina Spiral. On April 29, the Expeditionary Corps reached the outskirts of the Ediania star system. Drury, who was a vigorous and disciplined military officer who did not idle away time, ordered for the immediate construction of a turbocannon battery at Castle Mount, facing the eastern defenses of the Ediania star system. Five other batteries were constructed to the north, west, and south of the star system. Construction on the batteries would continue for the next several days. Kirclady of Grange, who was still determined not to surrender, and did not wish to disgrace himself by falling into the hands of Laurasian troops, launched his starfighter squadrons to harry Laurasian operational positions. His attempts to break the blockade of Ediania, however, ended in failure.
 * April 10-
 * By April 1773, the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth's immediate neighbors, who were now viewed by the majority of the Dejanican populace as their most dangerous enemies, had consolidated their control of the territories which they had occupied following the Treaty of Vienna. The annexation of the Lavellan Provinces granted the Laurasian Empire jurisdiction over the entire extent of the Caladarian Galactic Barrier. To Empress Aurelia and her Privy Council, the First Partition of Dejanica was a triumph, a demonstration of the Empire's power and influence. However, the Dejanican government had not yet formally acknowledged the partition. The Empress of Laurasia considered it essential that the Dejanican Diet be compelled to acknowledge the loss of territory to the partitioning powers. In this the Empress was supported by Lord Burghley, who closely watched events in the Dejanican realms. On November 17, 1772, he had cooperated with Austarlian Prince Kaunitz and Prince Henry of Pruthia in drafting an official communique to King Stanis Vorrust I and the Dejanican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. In this communique, the governments of the three partitioning powers demanded that the King of Dejanica formally summon a Dejanican Diet in order to ratify their actions.
 * The King, when he received this communique, now sought to hold off the inevitable. Stanis Vorrust had become more and more of a Dejanican patriot during the course of his reign; he was now determined, after the humiliation of the Laurasian interventions against the Bar Confederation, to resist any further demands made of him by the Imperial Laurasian Government. On December 5, 1772, the King made the first of his appeals to the courts of the Holy Spamalkan Empire, Serene Kingdom of Franconia, and Haxonian Confederacy. He begged for their assistance, asking them to "look into the matter of the fact and to provide a demonstrative denunciation of the actions taken by this Commonwealth's neighbors." From the first, however, his appeals were in vain. King Charman III of Franconia, who had acknowledged Laurasian rights to partition the Commonwealth in the Treaty of Blois, rejected the Dejanican appeal on December 14; two days later, Philicus I of Spamalka, who, while weary of the Laurasian Empress, nevertheless did not wish to embroil himself in war, also rejected the Dejanican appeal. The Haxonian Confederacy did not even deign to make a response to the King of Dejanica's message.
 * In January 1773, the King did summon a session of the Dejanican Senate, which served as the upper chamber of the Dejanican Diet and the highest court of justice and administration in the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Comprised of the leading magnates, public officials, military commanders, and gentlemen of the Commonwealth, the Senate had long been considered to be the collective voice for the most powerful political and military elites of Dejanica. Stanis Vorrust I hoped that he could obtain a proclamation of intentions from the Senate, denouncing the actions of the partitioning powers and conferring upon the King the right to refrain from acknowledging the validity of the Treaty of Vienna. This strategy, however, did not work. The Laurasian Ambassador to the Dejanican Court was now Sir Otto Magnus von Stackelburg (1729-1800), a Archleutan diplomat who had previously served as Special Envoy to the Spamalkan Court of Madrid (1767-71). Sir Leonidas Volynskhius had retired on October 8, 1771; he died on June 22, 1772 on Decapolia Major.
 * A month after Volynskhius's retirement, Empress Aurelia had designated the Archleutan Count Caspar von Saldern (1711-86), as the new Ambassador to the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Saldern had been a ally of Lord Burghley. The attempted kidnapping of the King occurred early in his tenure as Ambassador; the following year, the Ambassador was able to convince the King of Dejanica to deploy forces for the final suppression of the Bar Confederation. Saldern, however, had then become involved in petty intrigues at the Dejanican Court, and this lowered his reputation in the eyes of the Empress and her ministers. Excluded from the negotiations leading to the First Partition of Dejanica, Saldern ultimately resigned on September 21, 1772 and returned to the Caladarian Galaxy. Stackelburg had been appointed as Ambassador on Ascentmas Day 1772. He had been charged by the Empress to break down Stanis Vorrust's obstructionism and to ensure that the Treaty of Vienna was ratified by the Diet. It was therefore Stackelburg who bribed many of the members of the Senate to oppose the King's motion. On March 21, 1773, after over two months of debate, the Senate formally rejected the King's motion and advised him to "instigate negotiations with Her Imperial Majesty's Government."
 * Four days later, Adam Kranskia, Patriarch of Kamieniec, who had been one of the chief figures of the Bar Confederation but nevertheless had reconciled himself to the King and the Dejanican Government, was kidnapped by Laurasian Marines from Chelma Estate on Kamieniec, which was his chief residence, and brought to Dejanica. On April 2, Ambassador von Stackelburg, supported by the Pruthian Ambassador Gedeon Benoit and the Austarlian Special Envoy Karl Revicsky, again demanded to the King and the Senate that a Diet be called to "reach new arrangements with the governments of our honorable states." Seven days later, the Ambassadors joined together in securing the exclusion of the Senators representing the annexed territories from participating in further sessions of the Senate. Among those excluded included the Patriarch of Inflany, the Voviode of Lavella, and the Voviode of the Galactic Void. By this point, Laurasian troops, with Austarlian and Pruthian detachments, occupied the Dejanica Major star system, preventing any civilian ship from entering or leaving the star system. With no assistance from foreign powers forthcoming, and with Dejanica occupied by foreign troops, the King and the Senate had no choice but to agree to summon a Diet. This agreement was sealed on April 10, 1773.
 * April 19-In the days after the Senate finally granted its approval for the convocation of the Dejanican Diet, the King's Executive Council engaged in extensive preparations with the Senatorial Secretariat and with the local authorities of the Commonwealth's voivodeships in order to summon a formal "Partition Diet", as some were already derisively labeling it. Patriarchs Kranskia and Kajetan Soltyk (who had been permitted to return from imprisonment at the Ice Prison of Iego on November 29, 1772), argued vocally against summoning a Diet. Thirty-two of the Dejanican sejimiks (regional parliaments), who were to elect delegates to the Diet were disrupted by the obstruction of individuals opposed to the foreign aggression. Laurasian troops, however, still stationed across the Commonwealth's remaining territories, suppressed any public disturbances and ensured that no rebellion would break out against the Dejanican Government. Eventually, however, by April 19, 1773, 145 delegates had formally convened at the Diet Legislative Palace in Warsaw, for the formal session. Immediately after the Diet convened, the pro-Laurasian delegates promptly declared this to be a confederated diet, which would enable decisions to be made by majority vote. The marshals of the Diet included the pro-Laurasian magnates Adam Poinski for the Crown of the Kingdom of Dejanica, and Michal Radziwilla for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Half of all the deputies were bribed by Ambassdor Stackelburg; others were threatened. Some deputies (Tadeusz Rejtan, Samuel Korsak, Stanisław Bohuszewicza, Franciszek Jerzmanowski, Stanisław Kożuchowskia, Rupert Dunin, Jan Tymowski, J. Zaremba, Michał Radoszewski, Ignacy Suchecki, Tadeusz Wołodkowicz) tried to protest, causing delays. Rejtan, in particular, barred the entry to the Palace, tore his shirt, and pleaded with the delegates not to "soil themselves" with the destruction of the Commonwealth. By April 24, however, the few vocal opponents (such as Rejtan) had lost. The King, under extensive pressure by the Laurasian Ambassador, formally joined with the Confederated Diet. The Diet then appointed a commission of thirty delegates to deal with the various matters presented (primarily the demands of the partitioning powers but also government measures). The committee was to deliberate until September; the Diet formally adjourned on April 27.
 * May 5-
 * The Earl of Aretha's son and heir, Lord Gilbertus Talabarnia, reported to his father, in a communique of May 5, 1773, that "My Lord of Leicesterius continues to have a positive relationship with Her Majesty, and she continues to show the same affection and concern for him as before." "However," he continued, "there are now two sisters in the Imperial Court who have been very far in love with my Lord; namely, my Lady Shieffaldia and her sister, my Lady Franconia Howardis." This was the first direct reference to the developing relationship between Leicesterius and Demetria, Lady Shieffaldia; they had been romantically involved for years and had kept their love secret out of fear of incurring the Empress's wrath. Lady Shieffaldia, who had been born on May 13, 1742, was the daughter of the Empress's great-uncle, Sir Willanius, Lord Howardis of Effinga. Lord Howardis, who had died on January 12, 1773, had served as Imperial Chamberlain and Privy Councilor.
 * His daughter was acclaimed as one of the great beauties of the Imperial Court. On February 12, 1760, she had been married by her father at the age of seventeen to Sir Antiochus Shieffaldia, 2nd Baron Shieffaldia. They had two children: Sir Demetrius Shieffaldia, who eventually became Earl of Marcia; and Lady Aurelia Shieffaldia, who later married the Earl of Londarania. Lord Shieffaldia had died suddenly on December 10, 1768, leaving his wife a widow at the age of twenty-six. In February, 1769, she had been appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber; this was how she had attracted Leicesterius's attention. The Earl's resentment of Hattonius's influence with the Empress motivated him to begin the affair. It would later be alleged by the Earl's enemies that their affair had even begun during Shieffaldia's lifetime, and had become adulterous during a visit by the Earl to Belvarian Castle on Calgrania. It was said that Shieffaldia had found a communique which exposed the couple's relationship, and that when he had left for Laurasia Prime to petition the High Court of Nobility for a divorce, he had been poisoned on the Earl's orders. This was hearsay, and no evidence existed to prove these claims. By November 1770, Lady Shieffaldia had definitely become the Earl's mistress. She soon began to demand marriage, although the Earl made it clear numerous times that his relationship with the Empress precluded such a commitment. In a private communique of February 12, 1771, to Lady Shieffaldia, the Earl offered her two choices: she could remain his mistress, or he would help her find a suitable husband. Neither of these was acceptable to her, although Leicesterius claimed that he would continue to love and care for her as before. The affair had become knowledge among many courtiers by the early months of 1773; rumors circulated that Shieffaldia had become pregnant with Leicesterius's child and had secretly given birth in either 1771 or 1772 at Dudley Fortress on Leopoldia, the residence of the Earl's cousin, Demetrius, Lord Dudley. This child was supposedly a girl and died under mysterious circumstances. Lady Shieffaldia would later deny these rumors, but many would believe them true.
 * Yet, as time went on, it had become impossible for the present situation to continue; Lady Shieffaldia herself knew that her reputation would be ruined if her relationship was exposed completely to the public eye. She had therefore applied increased pressure upon Leicesterius to marry her; she even threatened to tell the Empress everything if he did not. The Empress herself was already becoming suspicious, although she was at this point only aware that the two Howardis sisters were competing with each other for the Earl's attention. Leicesterius himself, understanding the danger he was in, decided that he and Lady Shieffaldia should marry secretly. The marriage took place at Exertian House on Drake on May 11, 1773. Lady Shieffaldia was given away by Lord Cervailla of Perry; she was married with a diamond ring given to Leicesterius by the Earl of Aeoleon. Following this secret marriage, Leicesterius divided his time between the two women in his life, continuing in his duties at the Imperial Court with the Empress, who seemed to have allayed her suspicions, and living with Demetria while at Leicesterius House (in the outskirts of Christiania) and Kenilian Castle. The Earl was well aware that his enemies, if they learned of his marriage, would take the chance to ruin him. Therefore, when Demetria demanded that her servants serve her as a countess, he refused, unless word of the situation leaked out.
 * May 27-
 * By late May 1773, the last remaining forces of the Marianian Confederation were on the verge of destruction. In the midst of the Imperial Laurasian Government's efforts to secure the ratification of the First Partition of Dejanica, the Laurasian Expeditionary Corps had continued to make progress against the holdout units of Grange and his subordinates. On May 17, the turbocannon batteries at the outskirts of the Ediania star system were finally completed, and Drury immediately issued instructions for the bombardment of rebel positions. During the course of the next twelve days, the forces of the Laurasian Empire conducted a relentless bombardment of the Ediania star system. The turbocannon fired nearly three million projectiles, one of the greatest long-range artillery barrages ever launched to that point in any military offensive. Gradually, the resistance of the rebel forces weakened. On May 26, Drury's troops, having finally secured Canongate, launched a assault against the Spur, the outer string of outposts in the Edianian Asteroid Belt. Within hours, the Spur was in the possession of Laurasian troops. Now, during the early hours of this day, Grange finally emerged from the Edianian Fortress on his personal starfighter. He had requested for and obtained a military ceasefire; by now, even he realized that the Marianian Confederation was doomed.
 * It was made clear, to him, however, by Regent Morton that he would not be allowed to go free even after surrendering. Grange, who did not want to be thus imprisoned, resolved to continue the resistance, but the personnel of the garrison, exhausted and desirous for peace, threatened to mutiny. Grange was forced to resume negotiations: during the late hours of May 27, 1773, he came to an agreement with the Laurasian forces, to surrender to Drury instead of Regent Morton. The following day, the garrison of Ediania formally surrendered, and the Marianian Confederation was finally extinguished after over five years. Edianian Fortress was handed over to the custody of the Regent's younger brother, George Douglain of Parkhead. Most of the garrison officers and personnel were permitted to go free, on condition that they never again rebel or conspire against either the Regent's government or the "rights and privileges of Her Imperial Majesty's subjects in Scottrian territory." Kirclady of Grange and his brother Jamsius were now imprisoned, on the orders of Drury, in the prison quarters of the very same fortress they had been defending. They were to remain under imprisonment for the next two months.
 * June 1-
 * The Truce of Girigiu, which had maintained the suspension of military hostilities between the forces of the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires for over a year, formally expired (June 1, 1773). The Imperial General Headquarters issued official instructions for the commencement of renewed military campaigns against the Marasharite Empire. Empress Aurelia, who had been disheartened and irritated by the failure of the earlier diplomatic conferences on Focasani and Bucharina, was now determined to inflict a series of decisive defeats upon the Marasharites. Ever since January, she had been contemplating the possibility of a major military offensive against the Marasharite Ochanian Provinces. The Empress believed that her military forces possessed the capability to push from the Galactic Void and the Bosporan Approaches in a combined offensive across the Danubian Military Highway. Her goal was the subjection of such major Marasharite military fortresses as Silistra, Focsani, Jassy, Akkerman, Izmail, and Ochania to the authority of the Laurasian Empire. Two days after hostilities formally resumed, the Empress revealed her military strategy to the Privy Council and the General Headquarters. Chancellor Burghley, however, was surprised by the Empress's bold plans. The Chancellor believed that the raiding expeditions which had been launched by Rumanstevius against Marasharite territories had inflicted severe damage upon their operational positions, and that a war of attrition was necessary to wear down the Marasharite resistance.
 * He also feared overextending the Empire's supply lines. He therefore advised the Empress to reconsider her plans. Leicesterius, who was in attendance at this particular session of the Privy Council, also expressed his doubts about the offensive plans, declaring that Laurasian military forces should not seek to rush into a confrontation with their foes. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius and Lieutenant-General Baron Dologruvkius, hearing of the Empress's proposals, also expressed their disapproval and advised "Her most venerable Majesty" to refrain from proceeding forth on them. Even Aurelia's erstwhile ally, Pru'a IX of Pruthia, advised the Empress to make concessions to the Marasharites. He believed that she would be satisfied with her gains at the expense of the Dejanican-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and that she would not press the offensive against the Marasharites any further. Aurelia, however, was determined to proceed; on June 8, she ordered the General Headquarters to draft new military instructions to Rumanstevius and Dologruvkius to proceed with their forces into the Great Tesmanian Cloud. The two Laurasian military commanders now assembled their military units at Perekop, Merevop, Thornton, Uma, Thurman, Bucharina, Marson, Kerch, Scanlan, Sernapasia, Vandross, Belkadan, Syr-Dasia, the Oirat Complex, and Tyson. By June 12, the Laurasians had the 1st and 2nd Imperial Armies, with the 40th, 41st, and 42nd Imperial Fleets (Imperial naval forces were being reorganized) deployed with 2.5 million troops, 500,000 marines, and 2,000 warships (supported by a complement of 20,000 starfighters), posed for a advance into the Great Tesmanian Cloud.
 * June 15-
 * The 1st and 2nd Imperial Armies of the Laurasian Empire, and their associated naval fleets under the joint command of Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius and Lieutenant-General Baron Vessanius Dologruvkius, advanced, on June 15, 1773, from the Galactic Void across the Danube Military Highway into the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Up to the last moment, both military commanders had been urging the Empress to reconsider her plans, declaring that the supply lines of the forces would be overextended and that it would be folly to assault star systems whom the Marasharite Government had taken care to fortify. The Empress, however, had not pleaded their appeals, and they, loyal to their monarch and their Empire, were obliged to proceed with the military campaigns. On this day, Field-Marshal Rumanstevius defeated Marasharite detachments under the command of Pasha-General Karim-Beshah in the Battle of Mardot. Over the next three days, Laurasian troops stormed the Marasharite bases on Kilrim, Ivrim, and Trans-Ruse, inflicting damage upon the Marasharite garrisons of the upper Danube Military Highway and threatening the outskirts of Ochania and Bedjerbey. Following the conquest of these strongholds, Rumanstevius and Dologruvkius decided to focus their next effort on Silistra, one of the chief Marasharite military bases in the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Silistra had been originally colonized by the Romanian Duchy of Del Valle in AH 29 as Durostorum.
 * It became an important center of the Romanian Province of Moesia; by AH 388, the Almitian Bishopric of Durostorum, the first diocese of the Laurasian Almitian Church in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, had been established here. Following the collapse of the Romanian Duchy in AH 476, Duorostorum came under the rule of the Byzzarian Empire. Two centuries later, the First Bulganian Empire took control of the star system, which was renamed Drastar. During the eighth and ninth centuries, it was heavily disputed between the Bulganians and the Northanians; in 895, the Northanians were defeated in the Battle of Drastar. In 969, the Lavellan ruler Pamir sponsored the conquest of Drastar; two years later, however, the Byzzarians reconquered the star system following the Battle of Dorostolon. From 976-1001, however, the Bulganian Tsar Samuel again asserted his rule over the star system, being expelled by the Byzzarians again at the dawn of the eleventh century.
 * In 1025, the system was finally renamed Silistra, and it remained the capital of the Byzzarian Theme of Upper Bulgania until 1186, when following the Rebellion of Asen, it became part of the Second Bulganian Empire. Silistra remained under Bulganian rule for over two centuries, until the final destruction of Bulgania by the Marasharite Empire in 1393. At this stage, it fell into Marasharite possession. By 1773, Silistra had been ruled by the Marasharites for nearly three hundred and eighty years, and it had been heavily fortified. Boasting a garrison of 700,000 Marasharite Troopers, equipped with one hundred shield generators and fifty orbital defensive outposts, it was deemed virtually impenetrable by some military experts. Rumanstevius and Dologruvkius, however, under pressure from the Empress, decided to launch what would hopefully be a "swift" offensive against this stronghold. By the early hours of June 21, Laurasian troops had seized the Marasharite observational outposts of Pildrim and Bocasnea, and were posed for an offensive against the outskirts of the Silistra star system. The Marasharite High-General of the Ochanian Provinces, Barlset-Pasha, however, had an advantage over his Laurasian adversaries. His troops had managed to obtain access to intelligence files retrieved from a marooned Laurasian cruiser following a skirmish at Barvman's Planet. Pasha, therefore, decided to deploy his formations around the northern outskirts of Silistra; he would allow Laurasian troops to penetrate into the star system, and would then launch a surprise attack against their supply lines at Pildrin and Bocasnea.
 * June 22-
 * On June 22, 1773, the First Battle of Silistra was fought between the forces of the Laurasian Empire under the joint command of Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius and Lieutenant-General Vessanius Dologruvkius, and those of the Marasharite Empire under the command of High General Barslet-Pasha. During the early hours of the day, Laurasian troops, operating from Pildrim and Bocasnea, launched a front-line assault against the outskirts of the Silistra star system. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius sent his starfighter squadrons in two trajectories against Silistra; one approached from the far side of Silistarian Star, and the other penetrated across the Silistrian Asteroid Belt. Laurasian troops quickly secured control of the Asteroid Belt and the outskirts of the star system, encountering little resistance from the token Marasharite forces. By 12:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, Laurasian ships were approaching the Silistra Orbital Platforms. Rumanstevius now ordered for his destroyers to fire upon the planetary shields. It was at this point that Barslet-Pasha launched his counteroffensive. Marasharite squadrons, sweeping from the Northern Cloud Mists, arched around the Silistra star system and assaulted Pildrim.
 * General Dologruvkius, who had been monitoring the progress of the forces in the Asteroid Belt, was unable to respond. Within hours, the Laurasian force had been trapped in the Silistra star system; Barslet-Pasha's troops secured control of Bocasnea and seriously threatened Laurasian supply lines extending from the Danubian Military Highway. By 4:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, Rumanstevius and Dologruvkius, whose options were running out, and unable to summon reinforcements (for Marasharite units from Akkerman and Ochania kept Laurasian troops in the Galactic Void occupied), were forced to call a general retreat. Laurasian troops managed to retreat from the star system in good order, although the Marasharites inflicted damage on their starfighter squadrons. The humiliations of the Battle of Silistra resonated throughout the Laurasian Empire. Empress Aurelia was sent into utter distress when she learned of the defeat; for several days, she refused to hear anything of the further progress of events in the war. By the end of June 1773, Marasharite troops had reconquered Ivrim and Trans-Ruse, forcing Field-Marshal Rumanstevius to call a halt on military operations beyond the Danube Military Highway.
 * July 9-The Edict of Boulougone was signed (July 9, 1773) by King Charman III of Franconia in the Chateau de Madrid, on the Bois de Boulougone, in the aftermath of nearly a year of extensive religious and civil violence throughout the Franconian realms. Formally registered by the Parlement of Parri a month later, the Edict granted amnesty to all Franconian Huguenots for their past action and the freedom to practice their religion freely. However, the Huguenots were only permitted free worship in the star systems of La Rochelle, Montauban, and Nimes, and within those star system, only at their private residences; Huguenot nobles were permitted to practice their faith throughout the Franconian realms, but had to obtain license from government authorities for public ceremonies such as weddings or baptisms. As a result of the Edict of Boulougone, relations between Franconia and Laurasia recovered from their prior low. The Queen Mother sent new overtures to the Empress on the matter of the Alencon marriage, claiming, in a communique of July 14, that peace had been mainly made for her sake. In reality, Alencon had pressured his brother and mother into granting toleration. King Charman and Queen Mother Catharina feared that the Empress might abandon the marriage project, considering that her relations with Pruthia and even Spamalka were stronger than before. Aurelia, on her part, played a game of cat and mouse, declaring Alencon should not take offense if she rejected him. This went on for several months, with the Franconians seeking an answer and Aurelia playing for time.
 * July 15-
 * Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court departed from Laurasia Prime (July 15, 1773), thereby commencing that year's official progress. In light of the recent military failures by the Empire's forces in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, the mood of the Empress, and of the Court in general, was not as jubilant as normal. Nevertheless, Aurelia was determined to present herself to more of her subjects and to gratify her own desires to visit territories, of importance to galactic society and of historical relevance. This year's progress, consequently, was to the Millian Provinces, home to the ancient Millian Empire, which had once menaced the powers of the Core Regions (Laurasia among them), and had in turn been toppled by the forces and the guile of Sargon the Conqueror. The region had also been home to the later Kingdom of Kuevia, which had, for a time, been one of the most formidable barbarian monarchies during the Galactic Dark Ages. It had been incorporated piecemeal by the Laurasian Empire from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, which had subdued Way'tosk, Temperance, the Hookiee Confederacy, and the Kingdom of Melanie Major, all in their turn. Proceeding up the Rebeccan Galactic Trade Route, transiting through the Nexus Route strongholds, Ipsus V, Millia-in-the Core, Penshalay, Bolgrahay, Robbay, Hannis, Permi, and Organia along the way, Aurelia then reached Bor'say (July 18, 1773). The Empress toured the world's renowned Tamborian Ore Factories, ensconced in the world's veins; this was one of the chief mining facilities in the Caladarian Galaxy. She also toured the historic Millian City of Watpolis, where Emperor Darai's agents had once trained. From Bor'say, the historic Millian worlds of Par'say, Ond'diray, and Grand Junction were visited in turn (July 19-24, 1773). Par'say was a lush world, often called the "Beauty of the Middle Territories", dominated by a world-spanning ocean, and with its landmasses marked by mountain ranges, delineated by rocky coastlines. Aurelia was particularly impressed by the Three Peaks of Thalen, among the highest natural mountain peaks on any settled world in the Empire. Ond'diray, once one of the chief Millian Throne Worlds, was also noted for its Order of the Sacred Circle, known for its respect for all life; the Empress conferred with High Priestess Ka of the High Order, and ordered for a series of donative grants to be made to it by the Holy Synod. Grand Junction, as implied by its name, was a major transshipment garrison and hyperspace jump-point; Aurelia paid a visit to the High Station of Granteria, which spanned for a cubic-light year and was visited by more than 100,000 commercial and civilian vessels of all kinds per day.
 * Borenraz, Bacturius Invictis, and Temperance then received visits from Her Imperial Majesty (July 26-29, 1773); on Bacturius Invictis, the Empress stayed in the High Tower of Tecae City, and received a gift of wild stallions from the Bactrian Consortium of Agricultural Magnates. At Temperance, she took part in the Marital Dances at the Auditorium of Bones, organized by the planet's leading noble families. Aurelia then made a detour to Predosur (August 1, 1773), and was impressed by the industrious habits displayed by its Hookiee and Saurian inhabitants. She then moved through Cagania and Katharnovich (August 2-5, 1773); at Katharnovich, the Empress visited the Bazaars of Randoon, known as a gathering place for merchants and others from throughout the Empire, and beyond. Nicholas and Bar'say were then visited, with the Court being astounded by the architectural wonders of the Perespolid Palace on the latter world, which had been constructed by Heu'storr the Great's son and successor, Cambraes, in AH 143-47. Nicholas was distinguished by being the headquarters of the Nicolsian Arts Council, one of the chief cultural patronage societies in the Empire. Then finally, on August 9, the Empress reached Way'tosk, the former capital world of the ancient Millian Empire and the Kingdom of Kuevia. Way'tosk, known also by this time as the Jewel of the Ancient Empire, was a mix of cities, plains, forests, mountains, and lakes. By the late eighteenth century, it had a population of more than one hundred billion. Aurelia resided during her stay at the Great Palace of the Millian Emperors, and she paid visits to many of the world's most renowned landmarks. These included the Millian Imperial Mausoleum, the Imperial Crypt, the Valley of the Millian Warriors, the Millian Cathedral of Worship, the Kuevian Mausoleum to the Gods, and the Genserid Palace. She visited the Theological Academy and the Almitian Conclave, and paid her respects to the tombs of both Heu'storr the Great and Genseric the Great. Aurelia, in fact, laid wreaths at both of their gravesites, and commanded for prayers to be said in their collective honor by her chaplains. Her stay on Way'tosk lasted until September 3, when she and the Court departed, to begin their journey back to Laurasia Prime.
 * July 22-The Battle of Briceni was fought, on July 22, 1773, between the 2nd Imperial Army under the command of Lieutenant-General Baron Vessanius Dologruvkius and the Marasharite 9th Offensive Armada under the command of Admiral Hirim-Bey. Briceni was located six thousand light years to the southwest of Silistria, and was considered a vital communications terminal for any force which was to hold possession of. Marasharite troops sought to therefore recover this stronghold, which had fallen into the possession of Laurasian forces. Dologruvkius managed to pose a fierce resistance to the Marasharite units, but in the end, Hirim-Bey secured victory in the confrontation. During the course of the next month, Marasharite units reconquered the Peldavian Gateways, the Lower Danube Asteroids, and Bessarabia, forcing Laurasian troops to the outskirts of the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Marasharite counteroffensives against the Haynsian Slave Highway, however, were brought to ruin by Laurasian troops in confrontations at Batchbey, Perekop, Quinta-il-Villy, and in the Brigoff Stellar Mists. A stalemate ensued between the Laurasian and Marasharite forces, which lasted until the end of August 1773.
 * September 7-On September 7, 1773, Empress Aurelia celebrated her fortieth birthday, which was cause for much joy and occassion throughout the dominions of the Laurasian Empire. The Empress and the Imperial Court had arrived at the Fountain Palace on Venasia Prime two days earlier, on their route of progress back to the Laurasian Purse Region. It was here that the Empress decided to celebrate her birthday. She had become fond of this residence, formerly of the Venasian Queen Mothers; it was to become one of her favorite retreats during the latter decades of her reign. The Earl of Leicesterius, whose secret marriage with Lady Shieffaldia remained beyond the Empress's knowledge, presented his imperial mistess with a fan of white feathers, braced by a handle of gold engraved with the Dudley bear emblem and the lion emblem of the Neuchrian Dynasty. Aurelia professed herself much pleased by this gift, and declared that never she had a more loyal servant than Leicesterius.
 * September 13-
 * Field-Marshal Rumanstevius, who had been in communication with the Imperial General Headquarters from late August 1773, advanced with his units from Stauvachany (which had been secured by a Laurasian starfighter squadron on August 29) to Varna. Varna, with a population of nearly five billion, was one of the chief agricultural colonies in the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Its native inhabitants, the Varnians, had developed the science of astronomy as early as the fifth millennium BH. Achieving spacelight towards the end of the 7th century BH, they had then established the League of the Varnian States and made first contact with the Grecians and Illanians of Del Valle and Kolduzha. In 339 BH, however, the Grecian King of Macedonica, Philmart, declared war on the League, accusing it of having provided assistance to his great enemies, Cornith and Sparta, against his military forces. Within a decade, the sixty colony-worlds of the Varnian League, including Varna and Shumen, had fallen into the possession of the Grecian Kingdom of Macedonica. It remained under Grecian rule for nearly two centuries, until in 146 BH, Byzzarian forces operating from Navarino brought the world under the control of the Byzarrian Republic.
 * The Byzzarian Republic (Empire after 27 BH), controlled Varna for over eight centuries, until in AH 681, the Bulganian Tribal Confederation obtained control of the star system as a result of the Treaty of Varna. During the next five centuries, Varna was constantly disputed between the Bulganians and Byzzarians, with the native Varnians themselves being displaced and outnumbered by foreign colonists. In AH 1201, the Bulganian Emperor Kaloyan definitely secured the stronghold for the Bulganian Empire. By 1261, Varna had become a major commerical port for the Genevian Principality of Theodoros, which had concluded treaties of economic intercourse with the Bulganian Empire. This situation persisted for over a century, until the Genevians unsuccessfully besieged it in 1366, following the collapse of the prior relations between the states. In 1386, they sponsored a rebellion by Varnian officials resulting in the establishment of the short-lived Principality of Karunva. Just three years later, however, the Marasharites seized the stronghold for the first time, holding it until 1413, when it was restored temporarily to Byzarrian Emperor Manalugo Palaigos. Varna was sacked by a Haynsian raiding party the following year, but remained under Byzzarian rule for another three decades. In 1444, following the crushing Marasharite victory in the Battle of Varna, the star system came under the rule of the Marasharite Empire for the final time.
 * By 1773, therefore, when Laurasian troops moved against the world, it had become a heavily forified base for the Marasharites. It boasted a garrison of 200,000 Marasharite soldiers and was protected by a network of thirty double-layered shield generators. Despite these challenges, Rumanstevius pressed ahead. By the late hours of September 13, 1773, Laurasian troops had secured the Marasharite operational outposts of Shivrila and Laudsalia, and were launching reconnaissance expeditions against the outskirts of the Varna star system. Marasharite Admiral Qal-Dabay's attempts to break the Laurasian blockade ended in failure. On September 16, Field-Marshal Rumanstevius launched a front-line assault against Varna. Laurasian starfighters and corvettes penetrated from Shivrila, descending into the Rings of Varna Outer and striking against Marasharite frigates, supply posts, and couriers. For a time, the Laurasian troops held the advantage; by 2:00 P.M. that afternoon, Varna Outer had been secured by Laurasian troops and it appeared that the star system would soon fall under the control of the Laurasian Empire. The tide of the battle, however, turned against the Laurasian forces, for Admiral Qal-Dabay suddenly launched a counteroffensive from Nord-Varma. By the early hours of September 17, Marasharite troops were overrunning Shivrila and Varna Outer, forcing the Laurasian detachments into head-long retreat. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius was finally forced to call a halt to the offensives against Varna. The First Battle of Varna therefore ended in victory for the Marasharite Empire, and humiliation for Rumanstevius and his subordinates. Empress Aurelia was sent into a fit of rage when learning of the further failures incurred in the military campaigns.
 * September 18-After nearly three months of deliberations, the Deliberative Committee of the Dejanican Diet formally submitted its recommendations to the Grand Marshal of the Diet on September 1, 1773. The Diet had reconvened on September 4, in order to confer the final agreement of the Commonwealth Government to the First Partition. In their list of recommendations, the Deliberative Committee declared that it would be "advisable for His Majesty's honorable and trusted representatives" to signal the Commonwealth's adherence to the Treaty of Vienna and to make formal recognition of the Commonwealth's newly established territorial boundaries. Laurasian Ambassador von Stackelburg, who had monitored the Committee's proceedings, compelled the Diet into making a swift motion of affirmation for the recommendations. King Stanis Vorrust I himself issued a manifesto to his subjects declaring that "Her Imperial Majesty of Laurasia has sought to recitfy the boundaries of our two powers, in Accordance with the Laws of Nature, and the directives of our Lords. We therefore command that all subjects refrain from obstructing Laurasian rights to the Lavellan Provinces and the privileges of friendship with our own Commonwealth." On September 30, the Diet formally conferred its adherence to the Treaties of Christiania and Vienna, recognizing the concession of 211,000 star systems and 880 billion inhabitants to the authority of the Laurasian Empire, Holy Austarlian Empire, and Autocratic Pruthian Empire. Magnate Adam Poinski was the chief Dejanican supporter of the Partition Treaties; under the influence of Ambassador von Stackelburg, he proposed that the Committee be reconvened and allow to draft further reforms for the Commonwealth government. The Diet would confer its agreement to this proposal on October 2 and then prorogued itself again until the Committee completed its work. Senators who opposed the Partition Treaties and the further motions of reform were arrested and either imprisoned or deported on the orders of Ambassador von Stackelburg. The decree of October 9, 1773, would confirm the final incorporation of the Lavellan Provinces into the Laurasian Empire.
 * September 22-
 * By September 1773, new tensions were arising against Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Laurasian Government. The humiliations and reverses suffered by Laurasian forces during the military campaigns of 1773, and the collapse of the peace conferences with the Marasharite Empire, inspired a new outburst of dissent and rebellion in the Empire against the imperial authorities. This outbreak of dissension, however, was not located in the Malarian Provinces and the Western Purse Region, which had previously been the chief source of trouble for the Empire's authorities and the most volatile region in the Caladarian Galaxy for much of the eighteenth century. Instead, it emerged in the Huntite Provinces, that region which had once been home to the Huntite Empires, Carolyne Khanate, Timurid Empire, Huntite Khanate, Kingdom of Rudorita, Kingdom of Halegothica, and Huntite Caliphate, among other states. By the late eighteenth century, this region had become a melting-pot of cultures, languages, and races. Following the conquest of the Huntite Caliphate by the Emperor Antigonus I the Conqueror in 1513-17, successive Laurasian administrations had sponsored the establishment of colonies and governorships, inhabited by subjects of Laurasian descent, in order to strengthen the Empire's dominion over these important but far-flung territories. The population of Laurasians in the Huntite Home Region, which numbered 25 billion in 1517, increased to a astounding 330 billion by 1770.
 * The Huntites themselves, however, while remaining the majority population on Hunt Major and the other Huntite worlds, felt themselves subjugated to the demands of a pressing and despotic alien government. They therefore held a great grudge against the Laurasian authorities, and believed that a definite sphere of interests needed to be established with the foreign colonists in their star systems. The Sheldonians, Gabriellians, Mauryans, Rudorites, Halegothicans, Jageronians, Brestords, and Huntite Dasians, the other denizens of these provinces, were also fiercely protective of their own interests, willing only to submit to the central government of the Empire if they were granted self-government privileges. Despite all of these tensions, and these fierce local traditions, the region had a robust economy. Hunt Minor was renowned as one of the leading spaceports in the Empire; Hunt Major itself was a major resort colony and agricultural producer; Samarkand, the old Timurid capital world, was known for its industrial refineries and metallurgical industries. Some worlds, such as Leah and Lorna, were known as resort colonies; some, such as Ber Bachman, for their computer exports; and still others, such as Adiabene, for its medicinal exports. It was in this atmosphere that the second major uprising of Aurelia the Great's reign emerged.
 * The instigator of it was Anastasius Pugachevia. On September 22, 1773, he appeared at the Public Citadel of Communications on Yaitsk, a Laurasian mining colony which had been established by the Wesselax Mining Corporation of Columbia, Laurasia Prime in 1613, one hundred and sixty years earlier. The Citadel of Communications was the chief Holonet tower on Yaitsk, and was in fact one of the largest such communications towers in the Huntite Provinces. It boasted five hundred relay arrays and was able to transmit messages in holonet, subspace radio, bynic code, and historical code. Pugachevia proclaimed that he was the true Emperor Demetrius II, and that the "enemies of the Imperial State" had contrived circumstances so as to make it seem that he had died. In his initial proclamation of rebellion, Pugachevia declared that the true Emperor Demetrius II (himself), had been kidnapped and that individuals in the Imperial Government such as Lord Protector Northumberlais had replaced him with the son of a commoner who was known to have ill health. They had done this, he said, so that they could quickly usurp control of the Imperial State following the Emperor's death. Pugachevia, however, made the outrageous and absurd claim that he had been rescued by "loyalists" from Ozogardana, and had been taken to their home on that world and protected, secure from the grip of the imperial authorities. Now he had emerged to gain the throne that was his birthright, punish his enemies, save Laurasia, and "end the blight of female rule over these dominions." He also displayed charisma, speaking of a bright future in which all galactic peoples could determine their own destiny. Pugachevia, himself, however, did not bear any resemblance to Demetrius, who was the "spitting image" of his father. The DNA results which he provided as proof of his being the great Emperor Antigonus III's son would later be proved bogus. He was short, stocky, and muscular, with matted black hair and a short, stocky beard. These physical dissimilarities, however, did not disqualify him, for many wished to exploit the situation.
 * Pugachevia, in fact, was not the first pretender to claim to be Demetrius II, nor the first to impersonate any of the Neuchrian sovereigns, or challengers to them. There had been Alcetas Simnellia and Alexander Warbeckia, both of whom had posed as the Earl of Sarah, and against Emperor Neuchrus, in the late seventeenth century. During the course of the eighteenth century, in fact, there were no less than forty-four pretenders who arose within the Empire, twenty-six of them in the reign of Aurelia alone (including Pugachevia himself). In 1709, 1712, and 1716, early in Antigonus III's reign, there had been pretenders at Malaria, Melarnaria, and Istantius who had claimed to be Maximinus II, the Earl of Licantoria, and even a secret son of Hostillian, the short-lived Emperor who had reigned for some months in 1651. In 1723, another pretender, the Viscount Maravius of Drea (1670-1723), had claimed to be the great-grandson of Emperor Aurelian; another, Sir Tacitus Maerius (1679-1725), claimed that year to be Neuchrus the Reformer's "hidden" brother. In 1747-1749, a series of pretenders had claimed to be the sons of Katharina of Shenandoah by Grand Prince Craterus, and in 1755, another, one Suetonius Rasius (1718-57), claimed to be the Duke of Conservan and Reoyania, Antigonus III's illegitimate son by Lady Demetria Lutheranis. In 1763, Linius Andarius (1739-67), a soldier in the Imperial Garrison of Helen, was dishonorably discharged and punished by the Court of the Imperial Chancery for declaring that Demetrius II was still alive. That same year, there was a rumor on Homidinia Minor that Anna Boleyenia had given birth to a son of Emperor Antigonus's in 1735 who had been hidden away. In March 1772, at Iego, Sir Juvenal Porthal (1725-73), claimed himself to be Demetrius II; he was arrested and banished to Jenny, dying there in January 1773.
 * As for Anastasius Pugachevia, in reality he was a Laurasian Stamunka (Huntite for colonist). He was born on January 29, 1742 at Kotvilenskia, which was located eighty light-years to the northeast of Uris. He was the youngest of four children born to Kiletius Pugachevia and his wife Petrevia; Kiletus was a Laurasian agriculturalist and minor businessman, involved in the export of vegetables and fruits from Kotvilenskia to Vickis, Choir, Hoohshikk, Deborah, Nottingham, Fats, Melanie Major, Rose, Jack, and other worlds in the Middle Territories. Pugachevia's father died in 1759; his son, then seventeen years old, received a portion of the estate, which was enough to enable him to relocate to Hasselbeck and to purchase land in Elizabeth City. The following year, he married Sophia Navarania, whose family had moved to Hasselbeck from Charasia, seeking greater opportunity, in 1751. Within a matter of years, they had five children, two of whom were to die before they were two years old. In 1765, Pugachevia was drafted into the Imperial Laurasian Army. He served in the 2nd Rapid Transit Batallion, 5th Imperial Fleet, which was assigned to combat the Bar Confederates three years later. Pugachevia took part in confrontations with the Bar Confederation at Krasnik, Krakow Minor, Zalowiec, Zator, and Praga, earning commendations from his superiors for his accomplishments in these confrontations. When the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War began in September 1768, Pugachevia was reassigned to the forces of General Antigonus Vamaus and participated in the Battles of Fairxatia Straits and Khotyn. After Rumanstevius became supreme commander of the Laurasian forces, Pugachevia was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant in December 1769 and then earned distiniction at Riababia Mogila, Larga, Kagul, and Imegina.
 * In March 1771, however, Pugachevia, who had become tired of the exertions of the war, and increasingly rebellious, requested leave to return to Hasselbeck so that he could recover from complications of the Marsian fever. This request had been denied; the Master Sergeant, encouraged by his brother in law, Simeon Pavolonia, deserted from his post at Marson and joined a Laurasian civilian convoy near Houston, who were headed for the Terekian Colonies on the farther side of the Burglais Arm. They were able to evade government patrols, and soon reached Mordan. From here, Pugachevia proceeded to Zemelalaynstia, located one thousand light-years to the northeast of Hasselbeck, where he had inherited minor properties which had been held by his father. In June 1771, however, government authorities dispersed and captured the convoy at the Mists of Ratia; Pavolonia then betrayed his brother-in-law and revealed his location to the Imperial Desertion Office, which handled cases of desertion and dishonorable "abdication of duty" in the Imperial Military. Pugachevia was captured on July 2, 1771; he was flogged on the orders of Colonel Belisarius Marses, and was confined in the stockards of his flagship, the IMS Eluicadtia. After only three days, however, Pugachevia was able to escape with the assistance of disgruntled crew-members on the flagship. Managing to evade government pursuit squadrons for a number of months, Pugachevia reached the Terekian Colony on Abrianna on January 2, 1772; he decided not to return to his wife and children on Hasselbeck. Remaining on Abrianna for six weeks, Pugachevia participated in the activities of a local protest group of Laurasian colonists, the League of Patriotic and Concerned Subjects of Abrianna, who held numerous complaints about the taxation and the other duties imposed by the local authorities of the star system.
 * On February 13, Pugachevia, who had volunteered to officially deliver the petition to the Gubernatorial Court of Pleas on Meredith, was formally arrested by Laurasian troops at Mozhdok, a minor colony located one hundred light-years to the southeast of Abrianna. His identity had been discovered by the Governor of Abrianna, who had suspicions of the League and its activities. Four days later, however, Pugachevia was able to take advantage of a ion storm to escape from confinement once again, managing to flee from his prison courier, the IMS Kelduk, in a automated transport. He now decided to return to Hasselbeck, determined to set his affairs in order and to draw financial revenues from his properties in order to assist the League on Abrianna. On March 9, however, Pugachevia was arrested in Whoppi, enroute to his home star system. Bound in chains, he was now transported to Deborah for interrogation by officials of the Imperial Ministry of Justice. Pugachevia, however, was able to trick his guards into releasing him by producing false pardon papers produced by the League. He now fled rapidly along the Rebeccan Galactic Trade Route, using a stolen commercial freighter, and into the Galactic Void. From here, he escaped to Vekhta, a unprepossessing plains world located in the outskirts of the Dejanican Duchy of Northania in the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Vekhta had only a population of sixty thousand sentients and was not heavily monitored by the agents of the Ducal Government of Mitau. Consequently, Pugachevia was able to remain in hiding at this star system for some months. In November 1772, however, deeming it safe enough, he suddenly decided to return to the Caladarian Galaxy. On December 9, he arrived at Veliky, a isolated red-giant system located in the outskirts of the Wild Marshes. For over two months, Pugachevia remained here, conducting a secret correspondence with the League of Abrianna, gathering adherents and associates among other renegades and brigands from throughout the Empire, and engaging in a policy of constraint, refraining from attracting undue attention from judicial and military authorities.
 * In March 1773, however, the Governor of Abrianna, Sir Melitus Ladromius, having secured authorization from the Prefect of the Huntite Outer Borderlands, finally arrested the seven leading members of the League and their associates. He impounded a cache of League documents and supplies, including incriminating material concerning Pugachevia. Pugachevia was formally declared a brigand and a outlaw of the Empire by the High Criminal Court of Hunt Major on April 2, 1773; five days later, he was forced to flee from Veliky, which was blockaded and seized by a government starfighter squadron. Pugachevia, however, managed to evade further capture, and in May 1773, he secretly arrived at Yaitsk, which was located one thousand light years to the east of Sheldonia. For over four months, Pugachevia obtained the support and loyalty of many of the most prominent merchants, magnates, and officials on Yaitsk. He promised to grant them autonomy and independence from the "irritating interference of distant government officials" and to respect their control of Yaitsk's economic resources. On September 20, the Company-Governor of Yaitsk, Sir Peithon Ecrevius (1716-73), discovered Pugachevia's presence on his world. Alerting the Governing Senate and the Prefect of the Huntite Outer Borderlands, Ecrevius now moved swiftly to locate and arrest Pugachevia before he could cause any more trouble. Pugachevia, however, was one step ahead of him, and he now proclaimed his rebellion before the Governor could find him. His proclamation that he was the Emperor Demetrius II, and that he had arisen again to restore "tranquility and proper rule" to the dominions of the Empire, were now seized upon by the restless inhabitants of Yaitsk, and soon, by the inhabitants of other star systems in the Huntite Provinces.
 * Within hours of Pugachevia's proclamation from the Communications Citadel of Yaitsk, the support base which he had built over the course of the preceding several months arose in his support. Governor Ecrevius found that the company garrison, supposedly subordinate to his authority, were in reality loyal to Pugachevia. A great cheer arose among the men in the Company Barracks, and they either imprisoned or compelled their officers to join forces with them against the Governor. The Governor and his few loyal ministers, having lost the support of the troops, retreated into the confines of the Governor's Palace and prepared themselves for a resistance against Pugachevia. By the end of the day, most of Yaitsk's surface was under the control of Pugachevia and his co-conspirators. Governor Ecrevius resisted against Pugachevia until September 28, when he was finally forced to surrender. With Yaitsk under his control, Pugachevia now began his advance towards other star systems in the Huntite Provinces, determined to spread his message across a vast distance and to secure control of vital star systems before the Imperial Government would be able to effectively react.
 * October 2-
 * In his first public manifesto as "Emperor and Autocrat" of All the Laurasians (issued October 2, 1773), Anastasius Pugachevia declared: "I give eternal freedom to you and your children and your grandchildren. You will no longer have to be subordinate to the authority of overreaching and overbearing government officials; you will no longer pay excessive taxes, or be subject to undue levies imposed by the representatives of the central government. We make you a gift of your ancient customs and traditions; of your ability, to live in peace, without interference from those who would seek to do you harm." Pugachevia understood that by making this direct appeal to the subjects of the Laurasian Empire, he would be able to gain the support of discontented subjects, who were dissatisfied with the demands of the Imperial Laurasian Government and believed that its representatives and agents intruded upon their rights. Within days of this manifesto, which was distributed on the Galactic Holonet, and gained much notoriety throughout the Caladarian Galaxy, Pugachevia's support base expanded considerably. On October 5, a number of Huntite nobles on Hunt Minor, led by the Huntite Princes Agmunia and Asumana of the Ba'klath kajidic, officially announced their support for Pugachevia's intentions, declaring that they could no longer submit themselves to the authority of a "alien Empress and her evil ministers." The garrison of Hunt Minor quickly obliged, and this major star system now fell into the possession of rebel forces. The garrisons of Downs, Upper Morsia, Gabriellia, Anwar, and Gedrosia Max, all of whom were important garrisons in the outskirts of the Outer Borderlands, had all defected to Pugachevia's forces by October 9.
 * By that point also, Pugachevia had received substantial military reinforcements. Besides incorporating the personnel and starships of the respective garrisons which now acknowledged his authority, Pugachevia also obtained the support of Huntite, Rudorite, Halegothican, and Dasian mercenaries, adventurers who believed that now was the time to gain prestige and position for themselves in the Empire. Laurasian colonists joined his forces as well, lured by his promises of the abolition of taxation, freedom of movement and transportation, and freedom from the exactions of government officials. Pugachevia also developed methods by which to spread his message and to maintain the loyalty of the forces under his control. He recognized the importance of the Almitian Church, and of the various religious sects of the Huntite Provinces, in luring further followers to his cause. Treating the clergymen and clerics of the Almitian Church fairly, Pugachevia often recruited the religious authorities of the star systems that he secured to his cause, in order to disseminate his messages. From their pulpits, priests and bishops loyal to Pugachevia comprehensively denounced the Empress Aurelia, declaring that she was a "whore" and a agent of the anti-Almitis.
 * In further accord with his goals, the rebel developed a means of "procession". Whenever he entered a star system, he was greeted in a carefully staged procession by which the inhabitants of that star system acknowledged him as their sovereign and welcomed him with open arms. A few days before his arrival in a particular star system, messengers would be sent to inform the clergy and authorities of that star system about his arrival. These messengers would "request" that the priests stage magnificent celebrations at all Almitian edifices in the star system, and that the authorities prepare for a formal procession by the "Emperor" into the star system. Most complied with these directives; those who did not, however, were treated harshly, with neither man, woman, nor child being spared from the ravages of the rebel forces. This alone was enough to scare systems into submission. Pugachevia's military followers, however, had different motivations for supporting him. Laurasian colonists and military personnel supported him because they viewed him as a potential sovereign for the Empire, desired reward, and resented their superiors. The Huntites, Rudorites, Sheldonians, and other species of the Huntite Provinces supported Pugachevia in hopes of gaining local self-rule and eventually, the possibility of complete independence. Mercenaries supported Pugachevia because they were looking for booty and for other rewards. Finally, the authorities in the affected regions supported Pugachevia, partly out of fear and partly out of ambition.
 * October 17-On October 17, 1773, Empress Aurelia attended a routine meeting of the Imperial Privy Council in the Private Council Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace. The Empress had continued to anxiously follow the events in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, which was now in its fifth year of hostilities. Aurelia had been distressed by the Laurasian reverses at Varna and Silistria; she believed that there were those in the military forces sabotaging the war effort; and she was determined not to end the war until the Marasharites were forced to submit to Laurasian demands. The Empress, however, now found that she had another concern on her shoulders. Reports about the outbreak of the Pugachevia Rebellion in the Huntite Provinces had been filtering to Laurasia Prime for over a month. Until this point, the rebellion had been considered a minor nuisance, and it was believed that it could be suppressed without demur. Pugachevia's success, however, in gaining control of Hunt Minor and other major star systems, and of increasing his followers, now aroused the serious concern of Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Privy Council. The Empress listened carefully as General Sir Theodosius Vamaus (1739-94), the younger son of the famed and late General Sir Suris Vamaus, read a formal report about the progress of Pugachevia's forces and the resources at his disposal. Once the report was read, Chancellor Burghley declared that this rebellion was of a nature "threatening to Your Majesty's position; threatening to Your Majesty's religion; and threatening to Your Majesty's honor." Aurelia still had memories of the Malarian Rebellion three years earlier, and was now alarmed at the outbreak of this next revolt. Following the report, the Empress issued a formal manifesto to her subjects, declaring that there were "those within our realms who seek to destroy the order of the Lord Almitis and to overthrow all which our government and our dynasty have achieved." The Empress commanded for the defenses of Hunt Major to be strengthened and issued orders to all governor-generals and military commanders throughout the Empire, ordering them to crack down on any signs of dissent as they appeared.
 * October 22-
 * Whilst the Pugachevia Rebellion was emerging in the Huntite Provinces, the events of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War in the Great Tesmanian Cloud continued. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius, who had retired to his command headquarters on Kerch, was determined to maintain the pressure on the Empire's Marasharite adversaries. In this, he was pushed by Empress Aurelia, who was determined to give these enemies of the Empire no rest until they had been forced to acknowledge the inevitable. Rumanstevius himself, humiliated by his earlier failures at Silistria and Varna, was now determined to storm the major Marasharite supply base of Shumen. Shumen, which had been colonized as far back as the twelfth century BH, had fallen under the rule of the Byzzarian Republic towards the end of the third century. The Byzzarians had constructed a massive military fortress in the star system and considered it to be a position from which they could project their influence across the Trans-Danube. Shumen remained under the control of the Byzzarian Empire until AH 681, when it was incorporated into the First Bulganian Empire by the Bulganian Emperor Asaprukh. The star system remained under Bulganian rule for more than three centuries, until in AH 1018, the Byzzarian Emperor Basir the Great defeated the First Bulganian Empire and reincorporated it into his realms. Byzarria ruled Shumen again until 1186, when under Ivan Asen I the Second Bulganian Empire emerged. Shumen was once again a major system of the Bulganian Empire, and enjoyed considerable economic and strategic significance. This remained the situation for over two centuries, until in 1388 the Marasharite Emperor Murad I starved the garrison into surrender. With the exception of a brief Hungarian occupation in 1443-44, the star system remained under Marasharite rule for nearly four centuries. By October 1773, Shumen boasted a population of nearly five hundred million inhabitants, a garrison of 400,000 Marasharite Troopers, and the massive Shumen Fortress, originally constructed by Murad I and gradually strengthened by his successors. This formidable garrison was what Rumanstevius sought to take now.
 * In early October 1773, Laurasian troops reconquered Bessarabia, the Lower Danubian Asteroids, and Stauvachany, pressing towards the outskirts of the Shumen star system. The main offensive was launched during the early hours of October 22, 1773. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius, having arranged his forces into two columns, directed a two pronged offensive into the star system. The ensuing Battle of Shumen continued for more than three days, as Laurasian troops struggled to seize the star system. The Marasharite General Al-Kabuk, however, held his reserves at Ruse, and on October 26, launched a surprise counteroffensive against Thornton, Thurman, and Uma. Rumanstevius, who found his supply lines threatened, was forced to retreat from Shumen the following day in order to shore his positions. The Laurasians ultimately repulsed the Marasharite offensives into the Northern Reaches, but this could not disguise the fact that they had failed again to seize a major Marasharite star system. Empress Aurelia, upon hearing news of this failure, now began to openly contemplate removing Rumanstevius from his position and placing the Earl of Leicesterius, whom she viewed as more competent, in command of her forces. She was ultimately dissuaded from taking this step by Lord Burghley, who pointed out Leicesterius's lack of military experience. A stalemate, however, now ensued between Laurasian and Marasharite forces which lasted for the remaining months of the year.
 * November 10-Pugachevia had, during the early days of November 1773, continued his advance in the Huntite Provinces. Veliky, from whence he had fled earlier that year, had fallen to his forces on November 3. He had treated the inhabitants of the star system, who acknowledged his authority, generously. The planetary authorities, however, were at the brunt of his wrath, and he had nearly half of the members of the planetary bureaucracy executed by his men. This incident earned notice throughout the Empire and gave to Pugachevia the reputation of an brute with some. This did not, however, halt his advance. Pugachevia's forces, comprised mainly of his mercenary and Huntite squadrons, now advanced to the outskirts of Sheldonia (November 10, 1773). Sheldonia, undoubtedly one of the most important star systems in the Outer Borderlands, had a population of almost ten billion by the late eighteenth century. The Citadel of Sheldonia was one of the largest governor's residences in the Empire; the planet enjoyed a bustling trade in electronics, computer equipment, starship components, and minerals. Pugachevia believed that control of this star system would allow him to better equip his military forces. The usurper, however, found that the star system would not submit to him easily. Although his forces had increased considerably and were now more complex than before, Pugachevia still did not possess enough turbocannons or ion disruptors, which could penetrate the garrison's planetary shields. Sheldonia had particle-layered shield generators, among the most advanced in the Empire, and it was ringed by minefields. Pugachevia's first frontal assault, during the early hours of November 12, resulted in severe casualties for his starfighter squadrons. Realizing that another frontal offensive would be futile, Pugachevia now decided to instigate a lengthy siege of the star system, blockading all supply routes to it. This did not, however, prevent him from pursuing his other goals. Morsia (November 14); Ber Bachman (November 17); Lorna (November 21); Gedrosia Max (November 24); Northrop (November 29); and Clarise (December 2) would be secured by Pugachevia's troops, partly through defection and partly through a swift military assault. Pugachevia also stormed the Laurasian supply arsenal on Braganny. This was to prove pivotal.
 * December 7-On December 7, 1773, Pugachevia, having further strengthened his military forces, and now in possession of the major strongholds north of the Huntite Majorian Province, established his new command headquarters on Negro, which had captiulated to his units the day before. From this headquarters, he would direct the further military operations of his forces. Here, he enjoyed playing the role of an Emperor. Dressed in a scarlet caftan, wearing a velvet crown, and holding a scepter in one hand and a mail of authority in the other, he was able to look down upon the supplicants who came before him. With little knowledge of High Laurasian, the official language of the Imperial Chancellory, he employed a secretary at his side and dictated his orders, which were signed, "The great sovereign, the Laurasian Autocrat, the Emperor Demetrius II." Pugachevia declared that he would deign to inscribe his own name in High Laurasian once ascending the throne. During the course of the next six days, he entertained himself in a gross and lavish manner, eating heavily and drinking continually. Bellowing military songs with his comrades, the "Emperor" declared that the Lord Almitis was permitting him to have joy in his life. Having sworn to exterminate the noble elites of Laurasia Prime, the rebel now distributed titles among his leading companions, naming them after the principal members of the Empress's court. Before the middle of the month, his men bore the titles of Burghley, Leicesterius, Jadia, Darcia, Winchestrius, Americana, Aeoleon, Aretha, and Sarah, among others. These newly created "nobles" were decorated with medals and banners which had been manufactured on Ber Bachman, and were promised possession of all the estates held by the "usurpers" in the Core Worlds. Some were presented with lavish gifts of money and servants. Pugachevia's lieutenants however, never doubted that the man sitting next to them, and above them, claiming to be an Emperor, was in fact a deserter. For most of his brief "reign", he and his circle of advisors were to live in a world of both reality and "non-reality". Pugachevia profited from this arrangement, and could not stop himself from taking his excesses too far.
 * December 20-Sheldonia, after having been besieged by rebel forces for more than month, finally capitulated to the alleged Emperor, Anastasius Pugachevia, on December 20, 1773. Pugachevia, in accordance with his already-established custom, treated this world, which had resisted his forces so fiercely, with great brutality. On his orders, the Governor of Sheldonia, Sir Suetonius Paulinus (1715-73, a distant descendant of the infamous Hypasian Governor of that same name, who had crushed Bouddica's Rebellion three centuries earlier), was tortured on a electric stake and then executed brutally. Several of his subordinates, including the Vice-Governor and the Commander of Don (Sheldonia's capital city), were whipped with solar flares and then executed by firing squad. Pugachevia confiscated the properties of the star system's leading figures, and awarded them to his followers. After the fall of Sheldonia, his forces advanced further. By Ascentmas Day 1773, the pretender had seized control of Leah, Garnett, Dickinson, and the strongholds of the OsonBoka Nebula. He was now a serious threat to the Imperial Laurasian Government.
 * December 26-
 * On December 26, 1773, Empress Aurelia, who was now confronted with two major crises at the same time, and who needed someone to provide her a firm base of support and advise as regards to the Empire's affairs, formally appointed Caligula Walsingis, formerly Ambassador to the Serene Kingdom of Franconia, as the new Chancellor of the Laurasian Empire, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of the Imperial Chancellory. For the preceding year and a half, Lord Burghley had shouldered the burdens of that office, as well as his responsibilities as Lord Treasurer, Master of the Court of Wards, Imperial Privy Seal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of the Imperial Chancellory. Burghley, whose health was marked by bouts with fecal gout, and who desired a relaxation in the burdens of office, had openly petitioned the Empress to relieve him of one or more of his offices beyond the Lord Treasurership. Aurelia had heeded his pleas, and she now turned to the one individual whom she could trust. Walsingis had returned to the Laurasian Empire in February 1773, after formally resigning his position as Ambassador, and had been appointed to the Privy Council shortly afterwards. His loyalty to the Empress and the Imperial State had already been demonstrated by his service in Franconia and by his previous career under Burghley. It was, in fact, Burghley who recommended Walsingis as his replacement for Chancellor.
 * Upon assuming office, Walsingis thanked the Empress for the honors she had given him and pledged to defend her against the "intrusions and the wiles of all enemies, foreign and domestic." The new Chancellor now focused his chief intentions on bringing the "serpent of evil", the imprisoned Scottrian Queen Mariana to justice; gradually bringing the Fourth-Laurasian Marasharite war to a close; establishing a powerful spy network at foreign courts, so as to counteract foreign conspiracies and to pursue his goal of striking against Mariana; and directing measures against the Pugachevia Rebellion. In spite of the Pugachevia Rebellion, the Empress was held in the highest regard by the majority of her subjects. The loyalty to her was strongest in the Core Worlds, and for many in those star systems, she was the sole bulwark between the Empire and its enemies. Walsingis himself, utterly loyal to the Empress, now secured the support of Leicesterius, who was now recognized as a leading Reformed Almitist. He often clashed with his sovereign however, who resented his dogmatic views and his stolid manner, although she admired his political tact and respected his advice-even if it was not always welcome. He was never afraid to speak his mind to her, a privilege which she allowed him. The Empress knew he had her interests at heart, and for this trusted him without question.

1774

 * January 1-
 * 1774, the 74th year of the eighteenth century, commenced with the Imperial Laurasian Government confronted with three questions of importance. These were: the continued deliberations of the Dejanican Partition Diet; the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, now in its fifth year of combat; and the Pugachevia Rebellion. The first of these, concerning the Diet, was one matter which was to drag on for another year. In spite of the bribes offered by Ambassador Stackelburg, the Deliberative Committee was unable to complete its work by the end of the year. It was therefore granted, on the first day of the new year, an extension in order to continue its proceedings. The Diet itself decided to adjourn until the commission completed its report. Ultimately, twelve more extensions would be granted by King Stanis Vorrust during the course of 1774, irritating both the Ambassador and his ultimate superior, the Empress Aurelia herself. The Empress of Laurasia, however, would eventually realize that the continuation of the Committee's deliberation would demonstrate the doddering pace of the Dejanican Government, benefiting the Empire on that regard, and would produce a plan to create a governmental bureaucracy for Dejanica which remained strictly under Laurasian influence. As regards to the war, the attitude of the Empress was one of frustration. The humiliations at Silistria, Varna, and Shumen suffered the previous year had stymied Laurasian military efforts. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius had lost much of the prestige he had gained during the earlier years of combat, and to some, it seemed as if the war would never end. Events, however, were to shift decisively in Laurasian favor during this year.
 * Finally, the Pugachevia Rebellion posed a major question to the Empress and her Privy Council. As late as January 1774, the Empress, although she had expressed her public concern about the uprising, and had ordered for measures to be taken to strengthen the Empire's garrisons in the Huntite Provinces, had nevertheless maintained a two-sided viewpoint about the whole matter. On the one hand, she believed that Pugachevia's Rebellion was demonstrative of the inefficiencies which plagued the Empire's administrative machinery, and that it needed a drastic reform in order to prevent further outbreaks of dissent. On the other, however, she mocked Pugachevia himself, believing him to be uneducated and unable to lead a major uprising for long. In a letter of January 5, 1774, to her contemporary monarch Pru'a IX, the Empress declared that "this impudent Pugachevia" was merely "a common space pirate", and that his antics would not disrupt government affairs on Laurasia Prime. Pru'a on his part, also attempted to downplay the rebellion, declaring that "the exploits of such a loathsome brigand" should not distract from other matters. Furthermore, the Empress complained that the galactic press was making too much trouble over the "Lord Pugachevia who is giving me a little trouble in the Outer Borderlands." Her airy, dismissive tone, however, was not adhered to by Burghley, Leicesterius, or Walsingis, all of whom considered Pugachevia to be a serious threat who needed to be dealt with. In the New Year's proclamation, it was indeed declared that Pugachevia was a "rabble-rouser and imposter" who was the agent of the anti-Almitis. The Empress, however, also declared that this year would bring new fruits for the Empire. And indeed, 1774 was to be a milestone year in the history of the Caladarian Galaxy, for it saw the final unification of all civilized space under one galactic government.
 * January 11-Empress Aurelia, whose attention was still fixated by Marasharite and court matters, nevertheless, on the advice of Chancellor Walsingis, organized a vigorous new government response to the advance of Pugachevia's rebel forces. On January 11, 1774, the Empress formally appointed the Governor of Shenandoah, Lieutenant-General Sir Vessanius Karius (1714-76), as the commander of all government forces in the Huntite Provinces. The Empire's main offensive forces, however, were still committed to the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, and therefore, Karius was given command of governmental defensive armadas and the garrisons of the star systems placed under his jurisdiction. Karius departed from Shenandoah on January 13 and soon established his command headquarters on Samarkand, determined to end this rebellion as soon as he was able. In addition, the Empress issued a manifesto to counter Pugachevia's appeals. This manifesto was only to be announced in the regions affected by his rebellion. In her manifesto, she denounced Pugachevia's imposture as "utter madness" and "godless turmoil among our subjects" and called for cooperation with General Karius to defeat and capture the "chief brigand, incendiary, and imposter." Aurelia, however, and even Walsingis, had on this instance underestimated the strength of the enemy whom Karius had been dispatched to face. This was to be revealed in the following days.
 * January 21-
 * By January 1774, the health of the Marasharite Emperor Mustapha III had entered a serious decline. Mustapha had been disheartened by the succession of disasters experienced by his armed forces during the 1769-1772 offensives of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War. The Emperor, who had once displayed great energy and vigor, was by the end of 1773 a reduced shell, incapable of much action or initiative. He considered himself to be condemned by the gods of his ancestors, and believed that the Laurasian successes were a serious blow to his Empire's position. On January 9, 1774, Mustapha suffered a serious stroke within his personal quarters at the Topkapi Palace on Topacia. Grand Vizier Musinshade Pasha now began making preparations for the ascension of Mustapha's younger brother, Abdulahamid. Abdulahamid had been imprisoned for most of the first forty-two years of his life by his cousins Sassas III and Abdulahamid I, a state of affairs which had been continued by his elder brother Mustapha. This had become the custom of the Marasharite Ardarshiran Dynasty, in order to maintain control over the princes of the royal line. The long imprisonment, however, meant that Abdulahamid was aloof in regards to the conduct of state affairs; unused to social life; and subject to manipulation by his ministers.
 * The Grand Vizier, in particular, sought to maintain his position, and to gain even greater power, with Abdulahamid on the throne. Finally on January 21, 1774, Mustapha III died after reigning for sixteen years (since 1757). His younger brother, then forty-eight years old, now succeeded him as Abdulahamid II. The death of Mustapha soon spread to other foreign courts, and condolences arrived from most with the exception of Marasharita's adversary at war, the Laurasian Empire. Empress Aurelia was attending a recital concert at the University of Laurasia Prime when she received word of Mustapha's death. She declared to Burghley and Walsingis that his death would allow for the Imperial Laurasian Government to finally bring this long and costly conflict to an end. Although he had been aloof and ill in his last years, Mustapha had nevertheless been determined not to make peace with the Laurasian Empire until lost Marasharite territories had been recovered. His brother and the Grand Vizier were both more practical, but would still need a string of final Laurasian victories in order to move towards concluding a peace. These victories were to be provided by General Sir Alexander Surovius.
 * February 2-After several days of consultation with his military subordinates and with the Imperial Privy Council, General Karius finally departed, on February 2, 1774, from Samarkand and launched his military offensives against the positions held by the rebel forces of "Emperor" Anastasius Pugachevia. Karius had continued to receive information concerning the forces of the Pugachevia Rebellion and the aims of his mission in the Outer Borderlands. He was specifically instructed to treat rebels who surrendered with firmness, if they had "brutalized the inhabitants of this Empire's star systems or engaged in inexcusable excesses." He was also ordered to investigate the causes of the rebellion. All of this was to be done, however, once Pugachevia had been defeated. Karius enjoyed some initial success in his advance from Samarkand. He defeated rebel detachments in the Battle of Gargonia (February 7); reconquered the rebel-held garrisons of Negro and Skarannia, a Huntite colony world in the outskirts of the Sk'atha Cluster (February 11); and penetrated to the Caroline Asteroid Belt, seizing a number of rebel warships and shield generators. Pugachevia, however, who had shifted his command headquarters to Brenda on January 4, had decided to allow the government forces to exhaust themselves out. Envisioning a decisive counteroffensive against their positions, he secretly assembled his starfighter squadrons at McEvolgue, Luveria, and Margopan. Finally, on February 16, he was ready.
 * February 16-
 * General Karius, whose early confrontations with the rebel forces of Anastasius Pugachevia had earned notice at the Imperial Court and instilled in him a exaggerated confidence, now advanced (February 16, 1774) from Claithbourne, which had remained in the hands of the Imperial Government, to Hunt Minor. Hunt Minor, although it was not Pugachevia's command headquarters at this juncture, was perhaps the most important world under the control of his rebel forces. With a population of fifty-five billion by the late eighteenth century, it was one of the most important systems in the Laurasian Empire, wielding a considerable amount of economic and cultural influence. The Spaceport of Hunt Minor, which was now under rebel control, was still considered to be "second to none" to any similar facility in the Caladarian Galaxy, with the exception of the Galactic Spaceport in Christiania, Laurasia Prime. Karius believed that through reconquering this star system and recovering this vital terminal, Pugachevia would be permanently weakened and exposed to capture. In this, however, he was to be proven grievously mistaken. Karius's forces were comprised of ten destroyers of the line; twenty dreadnoughts; and thirty corvettes. Although this was one of the most imposing government fleets then present in the Empire, it paled in comparison to the rebel units that it was soon to face. Upon reaching the outskirts of the Hunt Minor star system, Karius ordered an immediate assault against the Kurmuthia Outposts. His intelligence units, which had scouted out the star system before his arrival, had reported that the garrison of Hunt Minor seemed to have been reduced and that it was inferior in regards to military armor and shield generators. This was a deceptive appearance, a ploy on Pugachevia's part.
 * At first, Karius's forces advanced through the star system with little resistance, and the General himself became convinced that Pugachevia had already been discouraged from further combat with him. Upon reaching orbit of Hunt Minor itself, however, he found that his hopes had been misplaced. Around 12:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, rebel starfighters swept into the star system and began bombarding the government corvettes. Pugachevia himself, who had been in hiding at the red-giant star system of Kola (which had been discovered only two weeks previously by his own scouting parties), now appeared with his destroyers and blockaded the government forces into the star system. Karius found himself isolated, cut off from his supply lines and outmaneuvered. Despite his efforts, government warships could not break out of rebel lines, and within three hours, the Battle of Hunt Minor had resulted in a victory for Pugachevia. General Karius himself managed to flee from the star system on his personal starfighter, but nearly half of the government force was destroyed by rebel squadrons. Pugachevia ordered for the torture and then public execution of all the government officers and personnel captured. The heads of 5,000 men were imposed on pikes at the Spaceport Gates, and Pugachevia issued a "manifesto" to his subjects across the Holonet, declaring that the efforts "of the bastard Aurelia have failed and that I have maintained my rightful place on my throne."
 * February 19-In the aftermath of the humiliating Battle of Hunt Minor, Pugachevia led his forces in a renewed series of advances against the government forces. Karius, who had been badly shaken by his defeat, found that he was unable to halt these rebel offensives and to maintain the government position in the Huntite Majorian Provinces. Pugachevia's renewed success now brought him more acclamation and support from the inhabitants of the Huntite Provinces. On February 19, 1774, Pugachevia's forces conquered Negro, Gargonia, and Claithbourne, driving government troops away from the Caroline Asteroid Belt and towards the Sk'atha Cluster. Jabul and Akamaar acknowledged Pugachevia's authority the following day; as had become typical by this point, the rebel usurper conducted a lavish procession into both star systems and received the allegiance of his new "subjects". On February 25, he obtained another victory over Karius in the Batttle of Boontha; by the early morning hours of the next day, Estella, Timur's Star, and Goldberg had all capitulated to Pugachevia's forces. On February 28, Empress Aurelia, who was utterly distressed by Pugachevia's successes, and believing that she had selected the wrong military commander for the offensives, formally relieved General Karius of his command. Karius had attempted to defend his conduct, and he had been engaged in organizing a vigorous counteroffensive from Jasonia and Horne against Northrop, Clarise, and Jodie, held by rebel advance units. The Empress, however, had refused to believe his excuses. On that same day, Pugachevia, seeking to consolidate his position, and to demonstrate that he held "control" of the Imperial Court, "married" his mistress, Katharina Kuzveraria (1748-96), the daughter of Colonel Marius Kuzveraria (1724-75), who had joined Pugachevia's forces in January 1774. Surrounding his new wife with maids of honor, Pugachevia proclaimed her his Empress Consort and announced that the Empire would soon have a birth of princes of the royal line. Prayers were addressed to both Pugachevia and his new wife. This marriage, however, was not canonical under the standards of the Almitian Church, and the Holy Synod issued a injunction to that effect. It now formally declared Anastasius Pugachevia and his leading officers, such as Colonel Kuzveraria and Lieutenant-Colonel Lysimachus Borro, excommunicated.
 * March 9-During the early months of 1774, negotiations had continued between the Imperial Laurasian and Franconian Governments regarding the potential marriage of Empress Aurelia with the Duke of Alencon. On January 6, 1774, the Empress had declared to Chancellor Walsingis that "such a marriage, if it be concluded, will bring benefits to this Empire by securing our realms against the possible threat of the Spamalkans; by maintaining our position of strength towards the Austarlians; and our alliances with the Pruthians and Masacavanians." Ten days later, she had declared, at a session of the Privy Council, that she only desired to have access to the same joys and the same sensations that every married woman was entitled to, and that a husband would provide her company and security to her throne. Aurelia, however, was conducting a double game. She was still determined on using every possible excuse to drag the marriage negotiations out. She believed that by keeping everyone guessing, and off-balance, she could maintain the Empire's diplomatic position best and her own personal independence. In February 1774, she had indulged in a personal outburst in her bedchambers, again accusing Leicesterius, Walsingis, and Burghley of forcing her to marry against her will. She vehemently asserted to the ladies of her household that she would not "submit to the will of a despot." These were, however, known only in circles at the Imperial Court and kept from public knowledge. Now, however, the Empress indicated her desire to move forward. Burghley was, on this day, able to agree with his Franconian counterpart in the Franconian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Comte de Vergennes, that the Empress was to have a personal meeting with the Duke of Alencon at Sernapasia, and that this meeting was to take place on September 2 of that year. Aurelia herself expressed her joy that agreement had been made, and she commanded the Chamberlain and Treasurer to begin making preparations for the Imperial Household's reception of the Duke. Just two days after agreement was reached, however, the Duke became implicated with Grand Duke Hensios of Navarre, and was placed under house arrest in the star system of St. Germain, by the orders of his brother and mother. The Empress, hearing of this, declared on March 14 that the meeting could not take place until Alencon was released from imprisonment; she would not marry a man who did not have "full freedom of movement."
 * March 15-Major-General Sir Julius Semanis (1730-74) advanced, on March 15, 1774, from Hunt Major, attempting to continue the government advance against the forces of the Pugachevia Rebellion. Empress Aurelia had named him to the position of command two days earlier, as the temporary successor to the disgraced General Karius. Semanis, however, determined to earn the permanent command, and to demonstrate his prowess in battle against the rebel units, quickly launched a series of military offensives into territory controlled by Pugachevia. He managed to storm the fortifications of Akamaar (March 16-19); capture a rebel supply convoy at Merentha (March 22); and to penetrate to the outskirts of Lorna and Garnett, inflicting damage upon rebel supply posts and communication terminals (March 24-27). At the same time, however, his offensive against Gargonia ended in complete failure; on April 1, Pugachevia inflicted a crushing defeat upon government forces in the Battle of Lithcray. Two days later, General Semanis suffered another, and more humiliating defeat, in the Battle of Prestley. In this confrontation, he lost nearly a third of his starfighters and all of his corvettes. Semanis now began his retreat back towards Samarkand, which itself was now being harried by rebel parties, but Pugachevia was fast on his heels.
 * April 7-
 * On April 7, 1774, the last confrontation between the pretender, Anastasia Pugachevia, and the forces under the command of Major-General Sir Julius Semanis occurred. By the beginning of April 1774, Pugachevia's forces had definitively secured their position in the Huntite Majorian Provinces; the efforts of government forces to dislodge them thus far had ended in failure. And now on this day, the confrontation occurred which spurred the Empress Aurelia more into action to crush this rebellion in this distant, but important, region of the Empire. During the early hours of this day, Semanis's forces reached Orenaria, a Laurasian colony in the outskirts of the Sk'atha Cluster which had been established in 1639, during the reign of the Emperor Gordian VI. Orenaria possessed a number of mines and workshops, and had a population of ten million colonists. Semanis believed that he could resupply his forces here and could then organize a effective defense against Pugachevia's units. Pugachevia, however, had received intelligence about the government general's intentions. At 11:00 a.m., just as Semanis was preparing to establish his command headquarters on the world, Pugachevia launched a surprise offensive against his positions. The battle was decided in two hours; Semanis himself, surrounded on his flagship, was forced to surrender, and the world's garrison capitulated to Pugachevia almost without a fight. Pugachevia, as had become his custom, ordered for all of the government officers, including Semanis, to be raised by a pulley; placed on solar flares; and tortured. Semanis, who despite his capture remained a loyal servant to the Empress, declared that Pugachevia would soon suffer the full wrath of the Lord Almitis. Pugachevia, however, laughed at this and then ordered for Semanis to be executed after four hours of torture.
 * The General died bravely. By this point, Pugachevia's command headquarters was bristling with captured loot, captives, and equipment. His chief subordinates, who had gained much wealth and property as a result of his military offensives, had now become corrupted and greedy for wealth. The pretender's own decrees, proclaiming that the nobility and gentry of the conquered territories had to be slaughtered, unleashed a frenzy of murder. Commoners and workers killed their bosses and their landlords; individuals who had long been considered to be passive flung into orgies of cruelty. The same scene was repeated in Gedrosia Max; Maurya; Sheldonia; Morsia; Hunt Minor; and in scores of other star systems. Local notables and noblemen were dragged from their residences, flayed, and either incinerated, hacked apart with vibroswords, or executed by quartering. Children from wealthier quadrants were mutilated, castrated, or executed in sight of their parents. Those women who were not taken as captives were raped and then murdered. Those in the subdued star systems who persisted in recognizing the "bastard Aurelia" were executed in the public squares of cities, colonies, and garrisons; desperate colonists declared their loyalty to Pugachevia, and begged for their lives. Over the course of the next seven days, nearly three thousand minor star systems throughout the Huntite Provinces capitulated to Pugachevia's forces and rejected the authority of the Imperial Laurasian Government.
 * April 14-
 * Empress Aurelia, who was then lodging with the Imperial Court at the Second Station of Callista, officially received word of Major-General Semanis's defeat in the Battle of Orenaria at the hands of the pretender Anastasius Pugachevia and his forces (April 14, 1774). The Empress was attending a official court masque, staged by Sir Tacitus Knollysis and the Earl of Jadia in her honor, when Chancellor Walsingis (who had remained in constant communication with the General's headquarters), received from Shenandoah the official communique about his defeat. The Chancellor had hurried to the Empress's side and whispered her the information while there was a intermission in the entertainments. Alarmed by this information that she had received, the Empress immediately called for a halt to the masque and retreated to her private conference chambers with Burghley, Knollysis, Jadia, Walsingis, and Leicesterius in attendance upon her. In this conference, the Empress declared that the continued progress of Pugachevia's forces posed a serious "threat to my position, imperiling the security of my throne and the prosperity of my realms." The Malarian Rebellion, however, was demonstrative of the fact, in Aurelia's view, that despite the obstacles that were placed in her way, she would prevail with the "assistance and comfort of the ever-lasting Lord Almitis."
 * The Empress, who decided not to delay this matter any further, and who no longer regarded Pugachevia as a joke who could be laughed off, now took vigorous measures in order to halt the further spread and to reverse the progress of, the rebellion. She issued instructions to the Imperial General Headquarters, ordering for the withdrawal of fifty interdictor warships and the 6th Reserve Starfighter Squadron from the Lavellan Provinces. These units had been deployed in those territories to maintain order among the Empire's most recently acquired subjects and to deflect possible counteroffensives by Marasharite fleets from the Galactic Void. The Empress however, wanted every experienced unit available, which was not involved directly in the military campaigns against the Marasharites in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, to be employed to suppress the rebellion. Governor-Generals and garrison commanders throughout the Empire were commanded to place their forces on red alert; to inform the Privy Council of any and all stirrings of dissent against governmental authority; and to "yield nothing" to suppress the rebellion where it might arise. Finally, the Empress selected a new supreme commander for the anti-rebel forces: General Alexander Bibulovia. Bibulovia, who had been born on June 10, 1729, in Christiania, belonged to the Bibulovia family, which had a record of service in the Imperial Laurasian Army extending as far back as the reign of Antiochus the Great. Bibulovia's father, Baronet Trajanius Bibulovia of North Christiania, served with the Yeoman Guards (1710-14); fought as a operational officer in the campaigns of the Laurasian-Marasharite War of 1714-16; and then served as an attache to the Duke of Norfolkius during the Laurasian-Marasharite War of 1723-25.
 * He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in January 1729, just six months before the birth of his son. Bibulovia therefore followed in the long-established family tradition. He was able to attend the Imperial Academy of Military Sciences on Laura from the age of thirteen, having gained notice from his teachers for his determination and firm grasp of military sciences, mathematics, and theoretical sciences. Graduating from the Academy in 1746, Bibulovia had joined the Officer Corps, and had gradually ascended through the ranks. Fighting in the Scottrian War of the Rough Wooing, the Didymeian War of Franconia, and Queen Mariana's War, he gained especial notice for his bravery at St. Quentin in 1757. By 1762, Biblouvia had reached the rank of Brigadier-General, similar to his father (who had died two years earlier). In this position, he gained further notice for his suppression of the Pirates of Zyrhtia in the Burglais Arm (1764), who had plagued upon commercial lanes in that region for several years. From 1768-70, Biblouvia fought in the War of the Bar Confederation, participating in confrontations on Praga, Zator, Nowy Sarg, Krasnik, Nowy Targ, Ivarria, and Bar with rebel units. In March 1770, he had been reassigned to the command of General Rumanstevius, and gained further distinction for his exploits at Riababia Mogila, Larga, Kagul, and Imegina. Bibulovia had returned to Laurasia Prime in December 1773; he was now a Lieutenant-General, and was considered the man by the Empress for the task of suppressing the rebellion. On April 16, the Empress summoned Bibulovia to appear before her in the conference chambers, and informed him of his appointment. Declaring that she "trusted no one above you" and that she had the fullest confidence in his loyalty to her and his dedication to the state, Aurelia stated that the Lord Almitis would look kindly upon "us, if we are able to maintain the prosperity of our realms and demonstrate to our enemies that we will not falter."
 * Shortly after this audience, she issued a special patent of authority, granting Bibulovia the powers of Prefect of the Huntite Provinces; with this position came the power of supervision over all civilian and military authorities in the regions now affected by Pugachevia's Rebellion. He was also given substantial reinforcements. The end of the War of the Bar Confederation, and the Marianian Civil War, had freed Laurasian military resources previously tied up elsewhere. Until this point, however, the Imperial Government's main focus had been on the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War. Aurelia was still determined to end that conflict on terms advantageous to her, but she also realized the gravity of the situation. The forces given to Bibulovia were assembled at Temperance, Deborah, Nottingham, Griffith, Fats, Melanie Major, Rose, Jack, Roastafaria Minor, Vickis, Choir, and Uris. They consisted of two hundred warships of the line; the fifty Lavellan interdictors; three starfighter squadrons (with a combined total of six thousand assault craft); twelve dreadnoughts; fifty corvettes; and one hundred couriers, along with thirty automated transports. Bibulovia therefore received one of the most formidable forces assembled to suppress a rebellion. Upon receiving his command authorization, he departed immediately from Laurasia Prime.
 * April 18-
 * On April 18, 1774, Lieutenant-General and Prefect Alexander Bibulovia, who had been appointed by Empress Aurelia to suppress the Pugachevia Rebellion, arrived at his command headquarters on Vickis. Samarkand, which had previously served as the command headquarters of Laurasian forces in the Huntite Provinces, had capitulated to Pugachevia's units four days earlier. This jewel, once the capital world of the Timurid Empire, had now become a major supply base for the rebel units, who had continued to launch expeditions into the Middle Territories. Samarkand's fall, however, did not discourage the imperial authorities; they motivated Bibulovia to crush this vile Pugachevia as soon as possible. He took immediate steps to strengthen his forces. Understanding Pugachevia's appeals, the General made sure to secure the firm support of the nobles and the personages who resided in the star systems under his jurisdiction. He offered rewards, financial grants, and military honors to those who would defy Pugachevia's forces. He suspended unpopular proclamations issued by previous governors; confirmed freedom of transportation and movement; and offered compensation to any who had suffered from the ravages of Pugachevia's troops. Biblouvia also established, on the Empress's orders, a commission of inquiry to investigate the source of this rebellion, which had been instigated by "this motley band which is moved only by seething fanaticism or by political inspiration and darkness." The commission was to interrogate captured rebels in order to determine whether or not the rebellion had received foreign support.
 * Had Pugachevia received any aid from Marasharita or Spamalka? What had motivated him to assume the mantle of the Empress's late brother, Demetrius II? What connections did he have? In order to prevent further outbreaks of dissent, he was instructed not to use torture unless if it were absolutely necessary to do so. If guilt was established, Biblouvia was empowered, as the Duke of Norfolkius had been following the Uprising of Grace, or the Earl of Sarah had following the Disturbance of Teth and the Kettian Uprising, to execute death sentences. In cases of nobles, merchants, or officials found guilty, however, his judgments were to be referred to the Senate and the Empress for confirmation. Biblouvia, furthermore, issued a manifesto which had been drafted by Chancellor Walsingis, and which applied only to the affected regions. The manifesto, formally announced on April 20, stated that "A deserter and fugitive has been collecting a troop of vagabonds like himself, and has had the insolence to arrogate to himself the name of the late Emperor Demetrius II, our most esteemed royal brother. As we watch with indefatigable care over the tranquility of our faithful subjects, we have taken such measures to annihilate totally the ambitious designs of Pugachevia and to exterminate a band of robbers who have been audacious enough to attack the garrisons dispersed about these systems, and to massacre the officers and officials who have been taken prisoner." Upon his arrival at Vickis, Bibulovia discovered that the situation was more serious than anyone in Christiania had imagined. His personal assessment was that as an individual, Pugachevia was not to be feared, but that as a symbol of popular discontent, he was of considerable importance.
 * April 22-
 * Determined not to give Pugachevia any more opportunity to strengthen his forces, and to destroy him before he had the chance to advance further and to make his position all but unassailable, General Bibulovia immediately launched, on April 22, 1774, a three-pronged military offensive against the strongholds controlled by Anastasius Pugachevia and his rebel forces. The first formation, which was commanded by Bibulovia's chief subordinate, Major-General Sir Antiochus Mesius (1709-86), advanced from Uris, Choir, and Shephard against Abuza, Brenda, Iego, the OsonBoka Nebula, and Dickinson, directed to expel the rebels from the Robertian Provinces. The second force, under the command of Major-General Sir Antigonus Lydratus (1715-92), advanced from Jasonia, Horne, and Rolle against Prestley, Sheldonia, and the star systems surrounding the outskirts of Jasonia. The third and final force, under the command of General Biblouvia himself, was to strike Pugachevia's command base in the Huntite Majorian Provinces. Pugachevia, who had believed that the government forces would be unable to organize an effective strike against his territories, and that this new commander dispatched by the Empress would be as easily dispatched as the last, was taken off surprise by this multi-pronged government thrust. His forces were not equipped to deal with this series of simultaneous government offensives, and quickly collapsed under the weight.
 * The government troops now made considerable advances, taking advantage of their superior operational experience, discipline, and organization in order to overwhelm the rebel positions. General Mesius repelled a rebel counteroffensive against Wakedia and Meris (April 22-23); destroyed a rebel supply convoy in the Battle of McEvlogue (April 24); and stormed rebel garrisons on Jageronia, Alamaia I, and in the Jageron Worlds (April 25-26), before besieging and conquering Brenda (April 29, 1774). By the end of April 1774, government troops had also stormed Dickinson, Iego, and Goldberg, driving rebel units from their positions at the Iegoite Military Highway and towards Lorna. On May 3, General Mesius defeated Pugachevia's chief subordinate, in the Battle of Meredith, capturing a number of rebel starfighters. By May 7, government troops were blockading Veliky, Morsia, and Gabriella, and had recovered a considerable number of captives, military armor, and shield generators. The second thrust, by General Lydratus, encountered some initial difficulties. The Battle of Solay (April 23, 1774), resulted in a strategic stalemate between the government and the rebel forces. General Lydratus, however, was able to take advantage of the disputes now experienced by the rebel commander, Antipater Masapon, with his subordinates. Within four days, Iscar, Claire, Northrop, and Clarise had all been secured by government troops, and Lydratus had terminated rebel expeditions to the outskirts of Jasonia.
 * On April 28, a second confrontation between Lydratus and Masapon occurred in the Battle of Haxey Star, resulting in a decisive victory for government forces. By May 2, government troops had stormed Prestley and Natadzha, recovering both of these important strongholds for the Empire. On May 4, General Lydratus advanced against Downs, having recovered nearly five hundred outposts along the route. Downs itself capitulated to government forces on May 12. By May 16, Sheldonia itself was being threatened by government forces. The final, and main thrust, under the command of Biblouvia himself, quickly penetrated into the Sk'atha Cluster. Repelling Pugachevia's frantic counteroffensives against Khagia, Dumbgwita, Tolbiac, Roastafaria Minor, Cambrina, and Rose (April 22-27), Biblouvia then recovered Samarkand (April 28) and destroyed the rebel intelligence outpost on Baju's Star (May 1). On May 4, Orenaria, which had been the site of such a humiliating defeat for the government forces, was now placed under siege from the opposite direction; by Biblouvia. Pugachevia, who in his desperation had isolated the supply lines of Hunt Major and launched expeditions against Newman Victoria, Cox, Banks, and Henderson, saw the momentum of his forces collapsing, as his harsh treatment of the star systems under his control now backfired against him. The Battle of Orenaria lasted for nine days; on May 13, the star system capitulated to General Biblouvia. Within two days, Biblouvia had stormed Claithbourne, the Caroline Asteroid Belt, Jabul, Akamaar, and Gargonia, penetrating to the northern outskirts of Hunt Minor. Pugachevia now abandoned his command headquarters in the star system and with his military squadrons, now made a strategic retreat towards Lorna, which remained under his control.
 * May 20-
 * On May 15, General Biblouvia had made a victorious entry into the Hunt Minor star system. He was now acclaimed by the population of the star system, who had come to resent Pugachevia's excesses and were fully aware of the oppressive regime which he had applied in those star systems that had refused to submit to him peacefully. Biblouvia, on the other hand, was a polished, sophisticated, yet kind personage, who had, on the instructions of the Empress and his own personal initiative, refrained from any brutality against those who resided in the star systems reconquered by his forces. The General understood that many of the Empire's subjects in the rebellious regions had been forced, out of fear for their lives and well-being, to support Pugachevia's rebellion. He knew that many others had never abandoned their loyalty to the government authorities and had been forced to acquiesce in the rebel's policies. Biblouvia therefore proclaimed amnesty for all who had been "compelled, through the violent, harsh measures of the rabble-rouser Pugachevia and his subordinates, to revolt against the authority of this government." Furthermore, he immediately guaranteed freedom of transportation and movement, under government supervision, to all in the affected star systems, and forbade his troops to quarter in the residences and properties of civilians without explicit authorization. These measures had begun the process of reconciliation of these star systems with the imperial authorities.
 * On May 16, however, the General's health had taken a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse. He experienced violent bouts of coughing and was soon unable to speak. Two days later, he was immured in the Royal Hospital of Gladarita in Capital City, which had been originally established by the Huntite Emperor Burgutha in the 1st century BH. Despite the efforts of his doctors, Biblouvia soon lapsed into a coma from which he never emerged. On May 20, 1774, he died at the age of forty-four. An autopsy performed on his body after his death confirmed that he had contracted the rare Median disorder, a disease which attacked the circulation and cranial systems of the body. The Empress Aurelia, when learning of Biblouvia's death, was distressed. In a manifesto to her subjects, issued on May 22, she declared that "never has there been an official more devoted to his Empire, his sovereign, and his faith than this one so lately past." She ordered the Imperial Court into two weeks of mourning for the late general; commanded for his widow to be rewarded the full benefits of her husband's military pension; and for the General himself to be granted a state funeral. Biblouvia's body was taken from Hunt Minor the day after his death; he would be interred at his family's estate on Fulcania on May 27, in a ceremony attended by many of the personages of the Imperial Court.
 * May 27-
 * The Investigative Commission into the Causes of the Pugachevia Rebellion, as the body which had been convened to investigate the rebellion was formally designated, issued its official report (May 27, 1774). This report was presented by the Chair of the Commission, Baronet Makednos Survia of Narra, to the Empress and the Imperial Privy Council. Chancellor Walsingis was responsible for expressing his sovereign's thanks for the report, and having examined the material beforehand, believed that it comprised a reasonable analysis of the rebellion. In this report, the commission fully backed the late General Biblouvia's beliefs concerning Pugachevia and his motivations. In his final report to the Privy Council, on May 14, Biblouvia had declared that "the suspicion of foreign involvement in this rebellion is completely unfounded." The Empress had reiterated this message in a letter to the Earl of Leicesterius, who had retired back to Kenilian Castle on Taurasia. In her message, written on May 21, the Empress attributed "the freakish events of this rebellion" to the fact that the Huntite Provinces were "inhabited in part, by those vagabonds and fiends of whom this Empire has sought to rid itself for more than four centuries."
 * The report itself, furthermore, stated that Pugachevia, described as a crude and barbaric individual, had taken advantage of the long-simmering discontent of the Huntites, Laurasian colonists, and other residents of the Huntite Provinces in order to instigate this major rebellion against government authority. The investigators cautioned that Pugachevia was also crafty, resourceful, and persuasive-someone so dangerous who should not be ignored until he had been killed or captured. The Empress, however, whose concerns over the Marasharite War were still supreme, now believed that the rebellion was over, in spite of the fact that Pugachevia's forces retained control of Leah, Lorna, Garnett, Estella, Jodie, Sheldonia, and other strongholds east of Hunt Minor. She now had her intentions set on the final offensive push into the Great Tesmanian Cloud, and assumed that Biblouvia's subordinates would complete his mission in the Outer Borderlands. And indeed, Pugachevia's forces were to suffer further defeats at the hands of government troops during June 1774. His units would be ejected from Garnett, Estella, Ber Bachman, and Leah, reducing the threat they directly posed to the Huntite Majorian Provinces. Pugachevia himself, however, would evade the range of the government authorities, and would now retreat to Veliky in order to plan his comeback. This was to be revealed in a month's time.
 * May 30-
 * On May 30, 1774, King Charman III of Franconia, the second of Hensios II's sons to sit upon the Franconian throne, died at the Chateau de Vincennes in Vincennes, aged only twenty-three. He had ruled since 1760. Following St. Bartholemy's Day Massacre in September 1772, the King of Franconia's weak mental and physical constitution had entered a gradual, but noticeable decline. His moods swung from boasting about the extremities of the massacre which had been inflicted on his authority to exclamations that the screams of murdered Huguenots continued to ring in his ears. At times, the King was mellow and kind to all those around him; at others, he lambasted and criticized his subordinates, declaring that their goal was to destroy him and bring his kingdom into utter ruin. Frantically, he sometimes blamed himself for the Massacre, and declared that the gods of his descendants would not look kindly upon his dynasty for what it had contrived. Two notable incidents, both in March 1773, had occurred when the King had engaged in a raving fit of madness within the quarters of the Tuileres Palace on Parri. He, seeking to "satisfy" the injuries of his soul, had ordered the members of his household to don garments of mourning and to pray constantly for salvation. By the end of 1773, even the King's own mother, Queen-Dowager Catharina de'Medici, had come to consider her son as a virtual lunatic.
 * In March 1774, the King began to suffer from violent bouts of bloody coughing and painful hemorrhages. Therefore, on his last day, he was immured in his bed. He first summoned Hensios of Navarre to his side. He said "Brother, you are losing a good friend. Had I believed all that I was told, you would not be alive. But I loved you. I trust you alone to look after my wife and daughter. Farewell and may our Lords bless you." He then turned to his mother, and addressed his last words to her, declaring that "I am your second son, and I am now about to depart the Plane of Reality." He then fell dead. Charman's death therefore left his younger brother Hensios, as King Hensios III of Franconia. Hensios, who was twenty-two years old at the time of his accession to the throne, was the first of Hensios II's sons to ascend to the Franconian throne as an adult. He was not, however, present in the Franconian realms at the time of his death. Hensios had been sojourning throughout the Great Amulak Spiral for the past two years, and was then in Vendragia. Consequently, Charman had designated his mother, Catharina, as Regent the day before his death, to govern until his brother would return to assume his duties as King. Catharina therefore held this position for the third and last time. Hensios, however, made quick preparations to return to Franconia as soon as possible. Empress Aurelia, who had returned to Laurasia Prime from a brief journey through the Constantine Cluster, Andriana, Mercedes, Sapphire, and Aroest, expressed her extreme sadness concerning Charman's death; she observed to Burghley that she had already, in the fifteenth year of her reign, outlasted three Kings of Franconia. Hensios's ascension, however, also aroused some concern in her heart; he was known for his fervent Franconian faith, and the Empress feared that he would not adhere to peaceful relations with the Empire. These fears, however, would be unfounded. Charman III would be buried at the Cell of St. Germain on June 10.
 * June 3-
 * By June 1774, Empress Aurelia was firmly resolved on bringing the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War to an end. The outbreak of the Pugachevia Rebellion had distracted some of the Empress's energies; the continued deliberations of the Partition Diet Commission in the Dejanican Commonwealth had made Chancellor Walsingis, and others among the Empress's advisers, anxious and determined to finalizing the arrangements of the First Partition of Dejanica; and the Empress herself had been concerned about Scottrian Queen Mariana, the relations with Spamalka, and the continued Huguenot tensions in Franconia. She now realized, however, that to focus all of her energy on these matters of concern, the war would have to be brought to an end. In May 1774, Field-Marshal Rumanstevius, who had relocated his command headquarters to Bucharina, sent a series of communiques to the General Headquarters and the Privy Council, requesting permission for a final offensive against the Marasharites. Rumanstevius believed that the decisive blow had to be laid now, with the Marasharite Government still adjusting to the governance of a new ruler and with the Marasharites themselves faced with the outbreak of a new and vigorous rebellion in the Danubian Principalities against their authority. Chancellor Walsingis and the Earl of Leicesterius both agreed with Rumanstevius; on May 28, the Empress herself conferred her approval to the final strategic plan proposed by Rumanstevius.
 * Two days later, in accordance with this plan, the victorious Major-General Sir Alexander Surovius, who had gained universal fame throughout the Empire for his victories against the Bar Confederation, was reassigned to the Marasharite theater of operations. Over the course of the past year and a half, since the final suppression of the Bar Confederation, Surovius had directed the absorption of the Lavellan Provinces into the Empire and had suppressed outbreaks of dissent against the Imperial Government. Surovius now became Rumanstevius's chief subordinate; General Dologruvkius, who had lost some favor at the Imperial Court for his inability to resume the momentum of the Marasharite offensives, had formally resigned from his post on April 27, 1774, and had retired to his estate on Paradine. He would die from Marsian fever on January 30, 1782, one of the last prominent victims of that disease before it was finally exterminated by the Imperial medical authorities in 1784. Surovius, who arrived at Bucharina on June 4, immediately placed new vigor into the offensives. Laurasian units, now assembled at Thornton, Perekop, Merevop, Quinta-il-Vily, Thurman, Kerch, Bender, Bucharina, the Dnieper Asteroid Belt, Bessarabia, and along the Danube Military Highway, now launched a series of swift offensives into the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Akkerman and Hadijbey were both stormed by Laurasian troops within two days; by June 16, Laurasian units had penetrated to Del Valle and Duros, placing both strongholds under siege. General Surovius himself fought with the starfighter squadrons, and gained the respect of his men. He was assisted in his efforts by his comrade and subordinate, Brigadier-General Michael Kamenskia (1738-1809), who had first gained prominence at the Siege of Leith during Queen Mariana's War. The Marasharite Grand Vizier, on his part, now authorized the commander of Marasharite troops in the Province of Ochania, General Abdul-Rezak, to advance against the Laurasian garrison of Stauvachany. General Surovius, however, learned of Marasharite advances on June 18, and resolved to inflict a crushing defeat upon their arms.
 * June 20-
 * During the early hours of June 20, 1774, the Marasharite forces of General Abdul-Rezak advanced to Kozluduzha, a backwater world located fifty-light years to the southeast of Varna. Kozluduzha, which had a population of only two million colonists in 1774, had originally been colonized by the Byzzarian Empire in AH 576 as Novgradets. The Byzzarian Emperor Justin II had sponsored the colonization of the star system as an intelligence outpost, garrison, and factory for the production of military weapons and armor. Kozluduzha served in those functions for over two centuries, until in 789, it fell under the control of the First Bulganian Empire, then ruled by Kardam, who had it renamed to Koldurjia. It remained under Byzzarian rule until the reconquest of Bulgania by the Byzzarian Emperor Basir the Great in 1018. Kozluduzha did not immediately return to Bulganian rule following the emergence of the Second Bulganian Empire; it remained a Byzzarian military outpost until the Bulganian Emperor Boril stormed it in 1210. It was during the reign of Boril's successor, Ivan Asen II, that it was finally renamed to Kozluduzha. Kozluduzha had gradually been transformed into a major agricultural and raw materials colony for the Byzzarian Empire, and remained as such until 1396, when Marasharite Emperor Sassas I stormed the star system. Sassas was cruel, and he slaughtered nearly half of the world's population. It quickly lost its place of economic importance, and by the eighteenth century, had become a provincial backwater. Tensions against the Marasharite authorities simmered high in this star system, and this was to be revealed in the battle. General Surovius was quickly informed of their advance by his scouts. Wasting no time, he now ordered for an immediate offensive to be launched against the Marasharite positions in the outskirts of the star system, before they would have the time to react. The Laurasian force under Surovius which now assaulted comprised of twelve warships of the line, thirty dreadnoughts, and twelve corvettes with 300,000 troops of the Imperial Laurasian Army. It was outnumbered by the Marasharite force, which had fifty warships with 600,000 troops.
 * Surovius, however, relied upon the element of surprise; the superior coordination of his units; and his fast, heavily armored corvettes to gain the advantage in the battle. The Laurasian armada, divided into four columns, advanced upon the Marasharite force. The Laurasians quickly secured a breachhead on Kozluduzha Mount, overrunning a number of Marasharite supply outposts and sundering Marasharite communication lines. Marasharite infantry charges were repelled by Laurasian troops. The Laurasians soon launched a combined space-land offensive against Marasharite positions, with the Laurasian corvettes, assaulting from the rear, capturing the Marasharite fleet's interdictors and turbocannons. The Laurasian artillery devastated the Marasharite armored ranks on the surface. Within six hours, the Battle of Kozluduzha had resulted in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire. The Laurasian forces suffered a combined total of only 3,000 casualties, compared to nearly 200,000 casualties for the Marasharite forces. The Laurasians captured the Marasharite operational headquarters on Kozluduzha intact, with all of its supplies and equipment, and were greeted by the inhabitants of the star system as liberators. Ten Marasharite corvettes and two destroyers also fell into their possession. General Abdul-Rezak was himself captured by Laurasian starfighter squadrons, but some of his warships managed to flee to Shumen. The Laurasian victory at Kozluduzha now permitted Rumanstevius to launch a series of renewed offensives against other Marasharite strongholds. Chigirin and Bushin, which had been Marasharite supply outposts along the Upper Danube Military Highway, were both stormed by Laurasian units the day after the Battle of Kozluduzha. By June 24, Laurasian forces had also recovered Kilirim, Trans-Ruse, and Ivrim; from these strongholds, starfighter squadrons now harried the outskirts of Ochania, Jassy, and Izmail. On June 26, General Rumanstevius himself crushed a Marasharite force in the Battle of Sivash, resulting in the final termination of Marasharite counteroffensives against the Northern Reaches.
 * Two days later, his advance formations joined with the forces of General Surovius, who had cleared out Marasharite holdouts at Vimeshin and Surabaya. Abdul-Rezak's subordinate, General Basul-Meredok, on his part, now retreated to Shumen with the remnants of his forces and established this star system as his operational headquarters. Surovius followed in quick pursuit, and after capturing a Marasharite supply convoy at Rauglaki on June 29, established a blockade of the Shumen star system. At the same time, General Kamenskia drove Marasharite operational formations into Ruse and Silistria; both of these star systems, who had for so often defied Laurasian units, were now isolated from their supply routes and suffering from constant Laurasian expeditions launched against their communication terminals, observation outposts, and minefields.
 * July 6-While Generals Surovius and Kamenskia were besieging the Marasharite garrisons of Shumen, Ruse, and Silistria, an advance Laurasian detachment under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Phaderus Lavarmaus advanced against the Marasharite garrison of Turtukai (July 6, 1774). This star system had been originally colonized by the Meredivan Pasha family of Topacia, one of the leading magnate families at the Marasharite Court, in 1697. Four years later, it had been seized by Marasharite Emperor Chomqat II and converted into a governmental fortress, commanding the Silistria-Navarino Juncture and offering a position from which Marasharite expeditions could be launched into the Galactic Void. General Surovius, in anticipation of his offensives across the Danube Military Highway against Silistria and Kozluduzha, had already directed two raids in the vicinity of Turutkai (June 5 and 6, 1774), which had resulted in the capture of thirty Marasharite transports and the infliction of damage upon the Turutkai Asteroid Belt Outposts, preventing the Marasharites from drawing reinforcements from this star system. The final offensive against Turutkai was therefore the completion of the work that Surovius had begun. The garrison of the star system, under the command of General Isim-Kabuk, possessed a number of dreadnoughts and ion disruptors. It had a total of 50,000 personnel, possessing one of the largest remaining Marasharite garrisons in the lower Great Tesmanian Cloud. It proved no match to the superior Laurasian force, however. General Lavaramus divided his force into two columns and relied on his starfighters and corvettes to direct the main thrust of the offensive. Battle was joined near 12:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time; within three hours, Turutkai was in the possession of the Laurasian Empire, and General Kabuk himself had been forced into retreat from the star system.
 * July 10-
 * The humiliating Marasharite defeats at the Battles of Kozluduzha and Turutkai, and the blockade efforts by Laurasian troops of three major Marasharite supply bases, now finally convinced Grand Vizier Mushinzade Mehmed that there was nothing which would prevent the Laurasians, under the rule of their "conniving, scheming Empress", from driving Marasharite forces out of the Great Tesmanian Cloud entirely. There were other factors which motivated his decision. Laurasian Colonel Sir Galerius Kamenus had launched a daring raiding expedition against Chios and Lesbos on July 2, appearing above both worlds and storming the orbital satellites before retreating. This had convinced many on the Marasharite Grand Council that their Laurasian adversaries possessed great power of penetration. Secondly, the Albanian Rebellion diverted Marasharite military resources. In December 1771, Marasharite forces had suppressed the Aegyptiania Revolt, but this campaign had resulted in nearly a million Marasharite casualties and the expenditure of nearly $200 trillion Marasharite bajeks. Tensions were now stirring against Marasharite authorities in Syria, the Pazak Cluster, and Marasharite Olthenia, all of whom were actively encouraged by the agents of the Imperial Laurasian Government. In the eyes of Abdulahamid and his advisers, the question was this: How long before the entirety of their dominions erupted in revolution and civil war? Finally, the most important factor was the financial exhaustion of the Marasharite state and the tiredness of the Marasharite peoples themselves. The Imperial Treasury of Marasharita had incurred a substantial deficit of nearly $1.9 quadrillion bajeks since September 1768; this was the largest deficit of any of the major trans-galactic powers.
 * The Grand Council had resorted to capitation levies imposed upon the properties and goods of subjects; extortions from the leading merchants and businesses of the state; and whole-scale confiscation of private properties and revenues, in order to meet the costs of the conflict. Borrowing had also formed a major part of the Marasharite financial picture; the loan of January 5, 1772, was equal to the amount borrowed by the Marasharite Empire in the whole period from 1650-1750. Emperor Abdulahamid and Grand Vizier Mushinzade Mehmed therefore had financial motivations for ending the conflict. Therefore, on July 10, 1774, the Grand Vizier, who had on the orders of the Emperor moved with his subordinates to Adrianpole in Thrace, sent a formal request for negotiations to the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this request, the Grand Vizier declared that the "continuing conflict between our two empires is against the will of our Allah; it is a conflict which has not brought any benefit to anyone, and will continue to insult the honor of our mutual ancestors." The Grand Vizier therefore requested for an immediate armistice to be imposed between the warring forces, and for a diplomatic conference to end the war to be opened as soon as possible. Chancellor Walsingis immediately communicated this request to the Empress and the Privy Council. Aurelia, who read the request communique, was overjoyed and commanded for the Marasharite request to be accepted immediately. A response was sent in the affirmative to the Marasharite Grand Vizier, communicated by Field-Marshal Rumanstevius.
 * July 11-The day after the Imperial Laurasian Government received, and positively responded to, the Marasharite request for negotiations, Field-Marshal Sir Demetrius Rumanstevius held a conference with the ranking Marasharite commander, Pasha-General Idilk Abramma, on Stauvachany. General Abramma had been authorized by the Grand Vizier and the Council to conduct armistice negotiations with his Laurasian counterpart, in order to bring active military hostilities to a swift end. After only two hours of discussions between the two commanders, flanked by their subordinate officers and personnel, the Truce of Stauvachany was signed. By the terms of this armistice, all military hostilities between the forces of the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires were to terminate immediately. Laurasian forces were to retain control of the territory they now held, until the formal treaty had been signed. The Marasharites agreed to recognize, in preliminary form, the Treaty of Chereseneos between the Laurasian Empire and the Haynsian Depsotate, and to make no attempt, during the time of the armistice, to reimpose their overlordship over the Despotate. No intelligence expeditions were to be launched by either side, and all prisoners of war would remain in their respective state's custody but be given a guarantee of future release. With the Truce of Stauvachany now imposed, matters could now proceed immediately to the negotiation of the final treaty. Empress Aurelia, in a personal message to the Field-Marshal, congratulated him on his efforts in negotiating peace with the Empire's Marasharite adversaries. Her attention, however, was quickly, and suddenly, directed, once again to affairs in the Huntite Provinces.
 * July 12-
 * In contrast to the expectations of Empress Aurelia, the forces of Demetrius Pugachevia had not been completely suppressed by the forces of General Alexander Biblouvia. Pugachevia had, in fact, bided his time during the course of the previous month. His retreat to Veliky has already been described, and from this stronghold, he continued to defy the authority of the Imperial Laurasian Government. It was not mere defiance, however, that was the focus of action here: it was also preparations for renewed offensives. Pugachevia himself now believed that a decisive thrust against Gardiner, one of the Empire's chief strongholds along the Kimanian Trade Run, would inflict a humiliating blow upon the Empress's government and would demonstrate his continued "resolve". Part of their decision was motivated by advance knowledge of the defenses and garrison of Gardiner. The Gardiner star system was divided into three sectors of defense. The first, which was commanded by General Sir Marsyas Hippranius (1712-94), extended from Kazanak's Moon and the Arsk Straits to the Qabaria Comets. There, government troops were reinforced by the private guards detachments of the Sevrania Mining Company and the militia of the Arsk Straits Defensive Garrison. The second extended from Pleteni's Planet to the Yamorian Minefields, and was commanded by Major-General Sir Antiochus Lavemnia (1717-91). The third and final extended from the Yamorian Minefields to the orbit of Gardiner itself, and was commanded by the Governor of Gardiner, Sir Epigonus Tebeisus (1719-98). The Citadel Approaches were defended by Imperial Naval corps under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Miletus Schecheon (1723-74), who was of Polonian descent. The Citadel of Gardiner itself was commanded by Colonel Sir Parmenion Cragmillon (1718-74). Zilantov Monastery and the Admiralty Naval Base were both transformed into strongholds; redoubts were installed on Kazanak's Moon and in the Arsk Straits; and a system of rests was ringed around the outskirts of the star system. Nine turbocannons were placed behind the rests. The outposts in the vicinity of the Gardiner star system were left to fend for themselves; this was to prove to be a grievous mistake. There were 200,000 regular troops on Gardiner; the number of policemen, militia, Naval corps, and pikesmen equaled another 75,000. All total, the star system had a garrison of 275,000 troops; this was not a imposing force, despite the organization of the star system's defenses.
 * From July 2, Pugachevia's forces had advanced from Veliky by juncture of the Gedrosian Military Highway, confiscating the supplies and armor of several minor star systems along the route. Pugachevia employed his typical brutality, and was able to expand the number of personnel and soldiers available to him. By July 6, the garrisons of Gardiner, Leo's Redoubt, Constipex, Filorean, Cox, Henderson, Banks, and Kimanis Mooria had been given the official notice by the Prefect of Kimania and were ordered to ready themselves accordingly. The Prefect anticipated the end of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, and knew that professional troops would soon be available to suppress Pugachevia once and for all. On his orders, however, other measures were taken by the Governor of Gardiner against Pugachevia. Ten Kimanian dojos (priests), were dispatched from Gardiner to agitate against Pugachevia; on July 10, however, they had been encountered and killed by Pugachevia's first advance starfighter squadron near Derangy. The Bishop of Gardiner, Stobeaus Maybaius (1707-89), issued numerous appeals to the residents of the Kimanian Trade Run, urging them to resist Pugachevia's forces and to remain loyal towards the Imperial Laurasian Government. Pugachevia, however, still remained an expert at using manipulation and promises to garner support, and thousands of mercenaries and opportunistic starhoppers now joined his forces. Finally, on July 10 and 11, Pugachevia's forces, which had managed to isolate the garrisons of Cox and Banks, and to secure control of Nikki Lowell, encamped to the north-east of Gardiner, between the colonies of Noksa and Tsaravano. His military forces had 100,000 naval personnel and 300,000 land troops, mostly mercenaries, Huntite and Sheldonian conscripts, recruits, and a detachment of Laurasian colonial militia. Only the militia possessed Imperial-Army class weapons, for the reconquest of Huntite star systems by government forces had deprived Pugachevia of access to military factories.
 * Nevertheless, he was determined to move forward. On July 11, the rebel pretender had approached the outskirts of the Gardiner star system and demanded that the government forces surrender. The alien communities of Gardiner were invited to join the rebellion. Governor Tebesius refused to disarm, but the Kimanian quarters of Gardiner sent seventy emissaries with presents to Pugachevia. These emissaries met with Pugachevia on his flagship, the IMS Hammer of Almitis, and disclosed to him weaknesses in Gardiner's defenses. The following day (July 12, 1774), at 4:00 A.M. in the morning, Pugachevia convened a council of war, dividing his forces into four columns. The first two, under the command of two of Pugachevia's subordinates, the former Colonel Antiphanes Beveria assaulted the Arsk Straits Sector. The main force, under Pugachevia himself, assaulted the Yamorian Sector, while the Orbital Sector was assaulted by Pugachevia's other subordinates, Sir Craterus Seleruius (1732-79) and Octavian Cratt (1747-94). This main assault commenced two hours after the conference of war. Within minutes, Colonel Beveria had penetrated the Arsk Straits and seized Kazanak's Moon; his troops stormed the Kazanak Redoubts and engaged in a orgy of rapine and massacre. Nearly 400,000 civilians were killed in the first two hours of the assault. Pugachevia's turbocannon, stationed in the Gardiner Asteroid Belt, neutralized the government artillery and shelled the Drybolav Orbital Base. Pleteni's Planet was isolated by rebel squadrons and bombarded relentlessly by rebel corvettes. Soon, the workers of the Gardiner Dockyards defected to Pugachevia's forces, and this major production facility, with its starship models and prototypes intact, fell into his possession. Rebel squadrons soon descended through the Yamorian Minefields and breached the northern sectors of Gardiner's shield defenses. The Naval Base was soon issued by a rebel landing corps, and a fierce confrontation waged across three hundred miles of territory on the planet.
 * Government troops, cut off from the Asteroid Belt, and shelled on all sides, were forced to retreat to the citadel. Nearly all of the militia and policemen troops, including a substantial detachment of Kimanian conscripts, defected to Pugachevia's force. Soon, the central squares of the Citadel City were ignited by explosive combustives, and the Governor's Residence was occupied by Pugachevia's force. Pugachevia now ordered for nearly 200,000 captives, mostly women and children, to be transported to Suvorno, where they were to be kept for the pleasure and service of rebel troops. By the late hours of July 12, Gardiner's cities were engulfed in a series of combustive explosions, and the Citadel collapsed under the constant bombardment. Pugachevia himself now retreated from the Arsk Straits and ordered for his units to withdraw from the star system. Their work had been done, however. Gardiner, which had a population of 40 million before the attack, had now sunk to the horrific low of 4 million. Nearly twenty million civilians had died in the offensive, and another ten million had been wounded or taken captive. Gardiner's cities and factories were in ruin, and the system was littered with mines and the carcasses of destroyed or abandoned warships. Pugachevia's momentum, however, was to quickly flee him. The Empress Aurelia, informed of the events at Gardiner, had summoned a emergency session of the Privy Council. On the advice of Burghley and Walsingis, she had now ordered for Major-General Sir Archions Michelson (1740-1807) to advance from his headquarters on Kimania with most of the 40th and 41st Imperial Regiments and the 100th Imperial Task Force, and to strike against Pugachevia promptly.
 * General Michelson, who had repelled rebel raiding expeditions against Nanking, Narra, and Breha, now advanced swiftly to the outskirts of Gardiner. During the early morning hours of July 13, a sharp confrontation occurred between Michelson's forces and Pugachevia's rear corps in the Gardiner system, who had been ordered by the usurper to delay their deparature in order to further mine the Arsk Straits. The Battle of Gogol, so called because it was fought primarily in the vicinity of Gogol Garrison, resulted in a stalemate, with both sides suffering horrific casualties. Michelson, however, managed to sweep the mines of the Arsk Straits and to reoccupy Gardiner, devastated from the rebel offensives. The star system was never to fully recover from Pugachevia's assaults; Sir Antiochus Harringtia, when he visited the world in 1795, was to record that "It is as desolate as any which have been visited by the ravages of the Anti-Almitis." At noon, Galactic Standard Time, another confrontation was waged between General Michelson's carrier corps and the detachment of ex-Colonel Beveria at Surviano; this confrontation resulted in victory for the better organized and equipped government forces, and in Beveria being forced to retreat.
 * Two days later, on July 15, 1774, the Battle of Kazan was fought between the government forces of the Laurasian Empire under General Michelson, and the rebel units of Anastasius Pugachevia. His subordinates, Colonel Beveria, Seleruius, and Cratt launched a massive onslaught against government lines; this offensive, however, accomplished nothing, and the discipline and superior equipment of the government forces decided the outcome. Within four hours, Pugachevia had been defeated, and government troops seized nearly all of the automated transports and shield generators which had been taken by rebel forces from Gardiner. Pugachevia now retreated towards Leo's Redoubt, but on July 18, he decided to launch an assault against the government base of Volga, which commanded the approaches to the Wild Marshes. A five-hour confrontation ensued. The Battle of Volga resulted in heavy casualties for both sides, but ultimately ended in another resounding defeat for Pugachevia. The pretender was now forced to flee up the Kimanian Trade Run with his forces. Shortly after the battle, General Michelson stormed Pugachevia's captive camp at Suvorno, freeing almost all of the captives and prisoners of war held there.
 * July 15-
 * The same day that the Battle of Kazan was contested between the forces of General Michelson and the pretender Pugachevia, the third, and final peace conference, of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War convened (July 15, 1774). Chancellor Walsingis and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working in conjunction with Field-Marshal Rumanstevius and General Surovius, had wasted no time in arranging the conference with the Marasharite Empire. Empress Aurelia, who wished to direct her resources to the total suppression of the Pugachevia Rebellion, and desired to end the war swiftly before the Marasharites changed their minds, had authorized for negotiations to be opened in the battlefield. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius was designated as chief envoy of the Laurasian delegation; his co-plenipotentaries were Prince Repanius of Kalbacha, who had served as one of his subordinate attaches since October 1773; Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Sir Rudomentus Sadielus, who had departed from Laurasia Prime on July 10, shortly after the acceptance of the armistice request; and Lieutenant-General Sir Willanius Drury, who had gained prominence throughout the Empire for his victories over the Marianian Confederation and had been reassigned to the Marasharite theater of operations in February 1774. Grand Vizier Mushinzade Mehmed, on his part, headed the Marasharite delegation. His chief subordinates were Diplomatic Pasha Ahmed Enfedi and the Pasha's younger brother, Ibrahim Enfedi. Pasha Ahmed Enfedi was one of the most experienced diplomats in the Marasharite Government. Born at Reythom on January 29, 1700, the son of a Grecian mother and Marasharite father, he had entered the Marasharite Civil Service in 1734 and gradually risen through the ranks by virtue of his administrative ability and loyalty to his superiors.
 * In 1747 and 1749, he authored a series of works concerning the diplomatic history of the Marasharite Empire; this earned him the notice of Marasharite Emperor Sassas III, who appointed him as Chief Secretary to the Pasha of Foreign Affairs in February 1750. Seven years later, Enfedi, who had risen to the rank of Subordinate Pasha, was appointed Special Envoy to Austarlia, communicating the news of Mustafa III's ascension to the Austarlian Court on Vienna. Following this, he had then become Ambassador to Pruthia (1758-1764), and was presented to Pru'a IX himself, who declared his respect for the Marasharite Emperor and presented the embassy with numerous gifts. His detailed reports to the Grand Council concerning the political, economic, and social affairs of the Austarlian and Pruthian realms would later be published in the Caladarian Galaxy in 1794, as Laurasian interest about the civilizations of the Amulak Spiral matured yet further. In 1765, upon his return from Berliania III, Enfedi had become chief correspondence officer of the Grand Vizier and seregant-at arms. In this capacity he became acqainted with Mushinzade Mehmed; they were to become good friends. Enfedi then served as an attache to the Grand Viziers (1768-1773), accompanying them during the campaigns against the Laurasian Empire in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War. In January 1774, he had been promoted to the rank of full Pasha, and made one of the Musas (Commanders) of the Diplomatic Service. It was Enfedi who now was to prove instrumental in the negotiations with the Laurasian Empire. The two delegations now convened for the conference at Kuchuk Kaynarca, a minor Marasharite resort colony located ten-light years to the south of Silistra. Kuchuk Kaynarca, which had been inhabited from the seventh century AH, had a population of only 25 million in 1774, but was nevertheless renowned for its spas and seaside resorts. There was no formality of presentation, as both delegations desired to get down to business. Field-Marshal Rumanstevius immediately indicated to the Grand Vizier and Pasha Enfedi his willingness to restore all Marasharite territories in the Great Tesmanian Cloud and Grecian Provinces; to abstain from a complete annexation of Haynsian territories; and to retreat from the demands of autonomy previously made for subjugated peoples of the Marasharite Empire in Syria, Albania, and the Grecian Provinces. This mellowed the Grand Vizier's attitude considerably, and negotiations rapidly proceeded. Enfedi, who was pragmatic, logical, and had a good knowledge of foreign courts (due to his posts in Austarlia and Pruthia), proved a major voice of compromise and moderation.
 * July 21-
 * After just six days of negotiations, marked by much amicability and cooperation between the two diplomatic delegations, the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca was signed by the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires (with the Haynsian Despotate as an associated signatory) on July 21, 1774, thereby finally bringing an end to the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War, which had lasted for nearly six years. Although much compromise had been made, and Field-Marshal Rumanstevius had retreated from the earlier demands which had been made by the Imperial Laurasian Government, the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca nevertheless marked a decisive, and history-making, victory for the Laurasian Empire. This treaty witnessed the final extension of the Laurasian Empire's rule over the entire Caladarian Galaxy, 453 years after the end of the Great Briannian War. In the introduction to the treaty, it was declared that the "Gods of the Marasharite ancestors, and the Lord Almitis of the Laurasian civilization, have all deemed it necessary for hostility to abate; for peace and prosperity to arise; and for all galactic peoples to be liberated from the evils of war, conflict, and dissent." The Treaty's provisions were codified in the introduction, twenty-eight articles, and the conclusion, dealing with matters of concern between the two governments.
 * Article I provided for the "immediate, unobstructed, and nonprejudiced cessation of hostilities" between the Laurasian and Marasharite Empires. All prisoners and fugitives of war captured by both sides in the military campaigns, whether military or civilian, were to be released immediately. They were to be compensated for all of their experiences under imprisonment, and were to enjoy complete freedom of movement. All those who had been exiled, or forced to flee, from their normal residences as a result of war were "permitted, by the grace of the Gods, to return to that which they had previously enjoyed", with all of their goods restored to them. It was proscribed for there to be the "establishment of a sincere union, and a pereptual and inviolable friendship, between Her Imperial Majesty of Laurasia and His Sultanic Majesty of Marasharita." Article II dealt with those criminals and fugitives from justice who had taken advantage of the "disruptions of war" to flee from the hands of the authorities. All such men residing in the territories of the other power were to be returned, "without delay and without obstruction, to the realm from which they originated, in order to be delivered to the justice of their superiors." This article was adopted as part of the Imperial Laurasian Government's response to the Pugachevia Rebellion. Understandably, the Empress Aurelia did not wish for any of the Pugachevia rebels to attempt to flee from justice by journeying to the Marasharite Empire.
 * Article III dealt with the withdrawal of Laurasian troops from the territory of the Haynsian Despotate in the Angelina Spiral, and the acknowledgement by the Laurasian and Marasharite Governments of the "independence, ancient religion, and customs enjoyed by the Haynsian peoples." All Laurasian troops were to evacuate the non-seceded territories of the Despotate by no latter than March 1, 1775, as specified in Article IV. Article V provided for the resumption of normal diplomatic relations between the two Empires, and that embassies were to be exchanged within a year from the conclusion of the treaty. Article VI concerned the diplomatic immunity privileges of the personnel of such embassies, and provided that they could be expelled at any time by that respective government.
 * In Article VII, the Marasharite Porte (Court) agreed to provide absolute protection to all Laurasian Almitians and other religious minorities in the territory of the Marasharite Empire. They would no longer be obliged to pay the special "religious levy" (dini vergisi) to the Marasharite Treasury, and would be exempted from any capitation levied on property or goods. They were to enjoy freedom of assembly and freedom of religious organization, but Almitians were to remain subject to the dioceses of the Imperial Almitian Church in Marasharite territory. Article VIII guaranteed the rights of Laurasian subjects to travel to all star systems in Marasharite territory; they were now to be permitted to visit the Marasharite Sacred Sites, as long as they adhered to Marasharite customs and remained unarmed. Article IX granted immunity to clerks and communicators who handled affairs between the foreign ministries of the two governments. Article X provided that any military operations or raids launched between the time of the treaty's signing and ratification, particularly in the Grecian Provinces, would not have any bearing or consequences on the Treaty's provisions. Article IX granted the Imperial Laurasian Government the authority to appoint economic consuls, to be stationed where the Marasharite Grand Council specified, to protect the commerical and navigation rights of Laurasian subjects in Marasharite territory. Both empires were to enjoy free trade and immigration between them, in accordance with their laws. Article XII guaranteed Marasharite approval for any trade negotiations between the Laurasian Empire and the Barbary Potenates of Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis, vassals of the Marasharite Empire in the Little Amulak Cloud. Article XIII provided for Marasharite recognition of the First Partition of Dejanica; the Lavellan Provinces were confirmed as the "perpeutal territory" of the Laurasian Empire. Article XIV granted the Imperial Almitian Church the authority to construct, on Topacia, a central cathedral for the worship of Almitians; such cathedral was to become the predominant place of Almitian worship for immigrants in the Marasharite Empire. It was to answer to the Holy Synod, while remaining subject to Marasharite financial and property regulations. Article XV provided for the resolution of frontier disputes relating to justice and navigation between the two Empires. Article XIV was one of the most important articles of the Treaty.
 * The Laurasian Empire now restored Ochania, the Danube Military Highway in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, Kolzuduzha, Trans-Ruse, Bessarabia, and the Navarino Approaches to the authority of the Marasharite Empire. The Marasharite Porte, on its part, promised not to obstruct the free exercise of the Almitian religion, or any native faith, in those territories and to grant all families in those regions who wished to depart a passport without delay. No taxation was to be imposed in the provinces of the Great Tesmanian Cloud for two years (until July 21, 1776). Thereafter, all taxes were to be imposed in a "fair and uniform manner". Article XVII provided for the restoration of Chesma, Navarino, the Bosporus Straits, Rhodes, and the systems of the Archipelago to the Marasharite Empire. The Porte, on its part, agreed to pardon the inhabitants of those star systems for any offenses committed on or against the authorities of the Marasharite Empire. The same religious, tax, and emigration policies established in Article XIV were to be observed in regards to these regions. Articles XVIII-XXI concerned the territorial acquisitions of the Laurasian Empire. By the terms of these articles, the Laurasian Empire now acquired the Muggal Cluster (including the major strongholds of Imegina, Karlong, Kumong, Ung, Pyongyang, Kilongjong, Ayendsord, Riababia Mogila, Larga, Kagul, Khotyn, Crimea, Chardis, Kilia, Braila, Sackrandis, and Brasscea); the Northern Reaches (with Tessy, Marson, Kerch, Bucharina, Merevop, Thornton, Uma, Thurman, Bendery, and the strongholds of the Lower Dnieper and Dniester); the Haynsian Slave Highway (with the strongholds of Batchbey, Merevebey, Quickbay, and Quinta-il-Vily); Perekop; and the star systems of Palymer and Karasbusar. This constituted the extension of the Empire's jurisdiction over the northern Galactic Borderlands and the sects of the Galactic Void extending to the Eastern Angelina Spiral. All inhabitants of these regions were proclaimed subjects of the Empire, and all territorial claims by the Marasharite Government to these regions were formally abolished. Article XXII overturned the provisions of the Treaty of Nis concerning commerical and access privileges, assuring complete freedom of navigation and transportation for Laurasian subjects in the Angelina Spiral.
 * The prior Laurasian-Marasharite War Treaties (Nis, Pruth, and Imegina) were now superseded entirely by Kuchuk Kaynarca as the definitive peace agreement between the two governments. Article XXIII was another important article of the agreement: by this article, the Haynsian Despotate, restored to control of all occupied territories "except for strongholds conceded to the authority of Her Majesty of Laurasia", was now formally proclaimed independent of the Marasharite Empire. Haynsian Despot Bahavir I Karany was now absolved from all obligations of vassalage towards the Marasharite Porte. He was no longer obliged to obtain consent from the Marasharites for his foreign policy; he was permitted absolute control of his military resources; and he was acknowledged as a totally independent sovereign, with the ability to treat with foreign monarchs and courts on equal terms. The Haynsian Despotate was no longer obliged to provide tribute or slaves to the Marasharite Empire; the Marasharite Emperor, however, remained Caliph of Marasharite Sultanists, thereby retaining religious authority over nearly two-thirds of the Haynsian population. This was the first time that the powers of the Marasharite caliph were exercised outside of the Marasharite realm's borders and ratified by another galactic power. This jurisdiction, however, did not extend to any Marasharite Sultanists who decided to make their habitation in the Laurasian Empire. The Haynsian Despotate was to acknowledge the diplomatic protection of the Laurasian Empire, although this was not to prejudice its self-government, religion, or customs. The Empress of Laurasia assumed the responsibility for defending Haynsian independence against the intrusions of any foreign power, and the Haynsians were to forever cease from any future raiding or enslavement expeditions into the territories of other powers. The Imperial Laurasian Government was permitted to station a consul of affairs on Haynes in order to maintain these arrangements and to preserve Laurasian interests at the Haynsian Court.
 * Article XXIV provided more detailed plans for the procedures of restoration in the Great Tesmanian Cloud, but specified that Marasharite garrisons in those regions be removed from their alert status, for the first time ever. Article XXV provided for formal ceremonies of transfer at all of the star systems conceded by the Marasharites to the Laurasian Empire. Article XXVI mandated the payment, in four installments (from 1774 to 1779), by the Marasharite Government, of an indemnity of €1.4 hepmillion dataries, to compensate the Empire for its military expenses in the late conflict. Article XXVII provided for regular consultations between the two governments on matters relating to the Haynsian Despotate, the delienation of frontiers, and the conduct of economic relations. Article XXVIII, the last article of the Treaty, confirmed the cessation of hostilities at once; the Treaty's provisions were to come into effect immediately, pending final ratification by the sovereigns of the two Empires. Rumanstevius immediately sent word of the Treaty's conclusion to the Empress and the Imperial Court on Laurasia Prime. The Empress rushed out of a concert in order to receive the official notice and the transmission of the Treaty's text. She now ordered Walsingis to summon a session of the Privy Council, to be held the following day, in order to discuss about the conclusion of the Treaty and to make plans for the final suppression of Pugachevia's Rebellion.
 * July 22-
 * The Imperial Privy Council assembled at the Private Council Chambers of the Quencilvanian Palace on July 22, 1774, having convened for a special session on the Empress Aurelia's orders. During the early hours of this day, the formal and official announcement had been made to the Imperial Court and the subjects of the Laurasian Empire concerning the conclusion of the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca. The official manifesto announcing the conclusion of the Treaty, written by Chancellor Walsingis and edited by the Empress herself, declared that the "territorial and political gains accrued to this Empire as a result of this treaty are the fulfillment of centuries of territorial expansion and progress for our species, and is in fulfillment of the duty owed to the Lord Almitis, the Lord Paul, and their agents of the universe." The Council, however, knew the reason for why it had been summoned by the Empress so swiftly. It was not to merely discuss about the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca; it was to decide the government response to the Pugachevia Rebellion, which still posed a threat to the government position in the Huntite Provinces. At the beginning of the session, the Empress declared that the gains of the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca were "substantial", and that she would confer official ratification upon the Treaty without the minimum of delay. She proceeded now, however, to the fact that "the rabble-rouser and rebel Pugachevia has remained beyond the hand of justice of our authorities" and that unless if he were captured and "punished harshly", than the Empire's dominions would continue to suffer from extensive internal dissent.
 * Therefore, the Empress decided, on the suggestion of Walsingis and Burghley, to appoint one last supreme commander to assume control of the anti-Pugachevia effort. That was to be one of the most respected commanders of the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War: Lieutenant-General Petevius Panius. Panius had remained in retirement at his family estate, Peverian Mansion, in Christiania since April 1771. Over the course of the past three years, the General had managed to slowly recuperate from the physical injuries he had suffered in the turbolift accident on the IMS Justatica. He was never to regain the full mobility that he had enjoyed before, but was nevertheless alert and still capable of assuming command. Panius had, and still possessed, certain eccentric habits. He was not the most articulate of men, and he rarely dressed professionally, even when he was in his functions as a commanding officer. Despite this, he was the only man trusted by the Empress for the task of suppressing the rebellion. On July 23, 1774, Panius was formally appointed Prefect of Hunt and Kimania by Empress Aurelia, and was given supreme authority over the civil and military authorities in the regions affected by the rebellion. This was similar to the grant of authority conferred upon Karius and Biblouvia previously. The Investigative Commission, however, which had been ordered to reconvene from July 2, 1774, now came under the Empress's personal supervision. She was determined to identify for herself the motivations behind Pugachevia's rebellion, and wanted a more comprehensive report of the economic and social conditions in the regions affected. Furthermore, determined to give no room for delay, the Empress commanded Panius to depart for Kimania immediately and to enlist the support of the nobility and officials in the star systems menaced by Pugachevia's forces. Panius obliged promptly, and departed from Laurasia Prime two hours after receiving his formal commission of command.
 * July 25-
 * General Petevius Panius arrived at Kimania on July 25, 1774. Upon his arrival, he wasted no time in pursuing vigorous measures against Pugachevia. Panius made further confirmation of the privileges then enjoyed by the notables and the inhabitants of the affected star systems. He forbade his troops to quarter on the properties of individuals and businesses, and ordered for all Almitian cathedrals to issue direct appeals to the population to not adhere to Pugachevia's messages. At the same time, however, Panius applied severe methods of retribution upon those who had supported the rebellion. Aurelia, who had in the early stages of the rebellion authorized for leniency to be employed towards captured rebels, now ordered for strict measures to now be taken. The Empress believed that a public demonstration of the consequences of rebellion needed to now be made, and that Pugachevia's seizure of Gardiner meant that his forces no longer deserved any mercy. On July 26, Panius issued a proclamation from his headquarters on Kimania, threatening all who participated in the rebellion with the death penalty. He then departed from Kimania, and now deployed his forces to meet Pugachevia's challenge.
 * On July 24, Pugachevia's units had stormed Cox, after having besieged the world for nearly a month; nearly 500,000 civilians had been slaughtered by the rebel troops, who had ransacked a number of properties and inflicted severe damage on the Fortress-Citadel of Cox, one of the most imposing of such edifices in the Laurasian Empire. Two days later, Pugachevia's units had advanced to Gilestis; the star system, fully aware of his reputation, and hoping to avoid reprisals, admitted his units without demur. The pretender, however, was not in a beneficial mood, and hoping to inspire further defections through demonstration of force, he ordered for the execution of the Governor, his wife, and their children. Nearly thirty prominent merchants and personages of Gilestis, including Sir Anthemius Parrius, President and CEO of Parrian Metalworks, were tortured with solar flares and then executed by firing squad on his orders. Pugachevia also ransacked the Governor's Mansion and captured a number of shield generators. On July 29, Pugachevia's units stormed Preena and Novina; both star systems suffered a series of massacres and looting during the course of the next five days. Then on August 1, 1774, Pugachevia's units entered Penza, a Kimanian colony which had been established in 1579. Before Pugachevia himself reached Penza, which had a population of three million, messengers arrived in the star system, announced that "Demetrius II" was coming, and that if he were not welcomed with a formal festival of praise and blessings by the Bishopric of Penza, everyone in the colony, including children and the religious prelates, would be slaughtered. He came shortly afterwards and was welcomed. 20,000 men from the 1st Quadrant of Penza were forcibly recruited, and the Central Mansion of Penza City, where the Governor of the star system resided, was ransacked and burned down by Pugachevia's troops, with twenty of the local officials of Penza City and the Governor himself locked inside. By August 9, Pugachevia's forces had also stormed Dorothea, Lange, and Leseur, inflicting severe reprisials in those star systems which included the seizure of €65.5 trillion dataries worth of property and the deaths of 30,000 civilians, who were massacred in the Central Square of Oklaia, Lange's capital city. Pugachevia's ravages had by now universally turned opinion in the Empire's outer regions against him; he was now recognized by many as a usurper and a heinous scoundrel. Panius, on his part, had repelled rebel expeditions against Goni, Chobania, and Samantha, and was prepared for a decisive assault against Pugachevia's main force.
 * July 30-
 * On July 30, 1774, Empress Aurelia formally received, as the new Spamalkan Ambassador to the Laurasian Empire, Bernardino de Mendoza. Since May 1774, the Empress of Laurasia had remained anxious about Franconia. The accession of Hensios III to the Franconian throne had, as previously described, caused the Empress to develop alarm. She was uncertain about Hensios, being fully aware of his ardent Franconian faith and his long-proclaimed ambition to "expand upon" the glories of the Franconian State. The Empress had therefore considered a restoration of friendlier relations with the Holy Spamalkan Empire. Philicus I, on his part, was willing to resume diplomatic relations with his Laurasian counterpart. Although he now had a distrust of the Laurasian Empress, which had been intensified further because of the First Partition of Dejanica, Philicus nevertheless believed that as long as Aurelia did not provide support to the Durthian States, she would not pose a direct threat to the integrity and stability of his realms.
 * He also knew that the Laurasian victory in the Fourth Laurasian-Marasharite War served to weaken Spamalka's Marasharite enemies, which was of benefit to him in the short term, for they could not provide support to the Durthians attacking his rear. Therefore, when Aurelia had sent him a communique, proposing for the renewed exchange of embassies, on July 17, he had accepted. Mendoza had considerable military and diplomatic experience. From 1760 to 1768 he had served in the Spamalkan Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, before becoming secretary and attache to the Duke of Alba, who commanded Spamalkan military forces in the Durthian Provinces. He also served in the Spamalkan Army, participating in the Battles of Haarlem, Mookerheyde and Gembloux. Mendoza was greeted by the Empress in a ceremony of welcome at the Diplomatic Palace. He was, however, to prove to be a more envious character than he appeared on the surface. On the same day that Ambassador Mendoza was formally received by the Imperial Court, the Empress formally ratified the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarca. The Treaty would be ratified by her Marasharite counterpart, Emperor Abdulahamid II, and his Grand Council three days later. With the Treaty concluded, Rumanstevius immediately began preparations to withdraw Laurasian troops from the Great Tesmanian Cloud. Progress in this direction would be rapid; by December 1774, most Laurasian troops had already been evacuated from Bessarabia, Trans-Ruse, Kolzuduzha, Navarino, Chesma, and the Upper Danube Military Highway.
 * August 21-Anastasius Pugachevia, who attempted to maintain the momentum of his forces, and who was convinced that if he managed to obtain another victory, he could retain his position in defiance of the government forces, appeared in the outskirts of Messalina (August 21, 1774). Pugachevia and a detachment of his chief subordinates appeared before the star system, and attempted to obtain the loyalty of the government authorities in that star system. Everyone, however, was fully aware that government forces, now reinforced by units no longer engaged in the Marasharite military campaigns, were closing in rapidly upon the pretender, and that on August 19, the Imperial Ministry of Justice had posted a reward of €50 billion dataries on his head. Therefore, when Pugachevia approached, the garrison of the star system immediately opened fire upon him. Pugachevia launched a frontal assault against the star system, attempting to employ force to bring it to heel, but word that government troops were advancing from Samantha and Reading against him forced him to retreat on August 23.
 * August 24-On August 24, 1774, the last and most decisive confrontation between the government forces of the Laurasian Empire and the rebel forces of the pretender Anastasius Pugachevia occurred at Kolombina, to which Pugachevia had retreated with his units. The Battle of Kolombina lasted for four hours. General Panius organized his forces into two columns, placing his dreadnoughts and destroyers in the front, with the starfighter and corvette squadrons in the back. Pugachevia, on his part, displayed little initiative in military organization, believing that the onslaught of his mercenaries and conscripts would be enough to break through government lines. This, however, proved to be a delusion. Government forces, relying upon their superior discipline and organized mobility, executed a pincer movement around Pugachevia's hordes and pushed them into a circle. Within three hours, the Battle of Kolombina had resulted in a decisive victory for the Laurasian Empire; nearly all of Pugachevia's captured shield generators and interdictor warships were captured by the government troops, and some 200,000 rebel personnel died in the confrontation. Pugachevia himself, along with his remaining subordinates, such as Colonel Kuzevaria, Lieutenant-Colonel Borro, Colonel Beveria, Sir Craterus Seleruius, and Craft, and three of his corvettes managed to escape, fleeing by juncture of the Rikkid Transit Route. In the meantime, Sheldonia, Lorna, and Jodie had finally been stormed by government troops. Pugachevia's subordinates, in particular Colonels Beveria and Kuzevaria, were now sapped of morale and energy, and yearned for an end to the entire business.
 * September 15-
 * On September 15, 1774, almost exactly a year after he had launched his revolt, "Emperor Demetrius II", the pretender Anastasius Pugachevia, arrived back where he had begun; Yaitsk in the Huntite Provinces. This star system was one of only a handful of strongholds that remained in his possession; this was the origin site of the Pugachevia Rebellion, and had gained notoriety throughout the dominions of the Empire. Pugachevia now had notions of leading a final resistance, aware that Panius himself was swiftly moving from Kimania to Sheldonia in order to command this final opperation against the rebel forces. His subordinates, however, had other ideas. At 7:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, just four hours after the arrival back at Yaitsk, Pugachevia, who had established his final operational headquarters at the Communications Citadel of Yaitsk, was seized from his bedchambers by Beveria and Kuzevaria, esorted by ten officers of the rebel forces. The pretender, who had believed himself to be sure of the loyalty of his subordinates, and convinced until this point of their loyalty to him, shouted, in no uncertain terms: "How dare you raise your hands against your emperor?"
 * They were completely unmoved however, with Colonel Kuzevaria, his "father-in-law", declaring that "the necessities of our situation compel us to deliver you into the hands of the rightful authorities of this Empire." They wasted no time, and only an hour after seizing their leader, they sent a communique, from the Citadel, to General Panius's headquarters on Sheldonia. In their communique, Pugachevia's subordinates begged for "mercy from our sovereign and the Lord Almitis" and that only fear for their own lives and position had compelled them to support him in his "heinous rebellion". They therefore offered to hand Pugachevia, and themselves, into the custody of the General, and to disband all remaining rebel strongholds and forces, if they were granted pardon for their actions. Panius, jubilant at this turn of events, and wishing to bring the last embers of the rebellion under control as soon as possible, accepted their plea during the early hours of September 16.
 * On September 17, 1774, the rebel garrison of Yaitsk formally surrendered to the government authorities. Pugachevia, who had been bound in chains on the orders of Colonel Beveria, was now formally handed over into General Panius's custody. All other remaining rebel strongholds, including Hutsia Minor, Lange, Leseur, Dorothea, Penza, and Gilestis, now capitulated to government troops without a fight. Panius immediately informed the Empress Aurelia and the Imperial Court, who had abstained from a progress this year and were still on Laurasia Prime, of Pugachevia's capture. The Empress, reading her commander's communique, developed a joyous demeanor and proclaimed for displays of rejoicing at the Imperial Court to be held. Pugachevia himself was overcome with remorse and fear, and when he was handed over to Panius, made no attempt to maintain his imposture. He fell on his knees, declared that he was indeed Anastasius Pugachevia, and admitted that, in parading himself as Demetrius II, he had sinned before Almitis and Her Imperial Majesty. On Panius's orders, he was placed inside a electro-magnetic cage, which was not large enough to allow him to stand; the cage was bolted onto a automated transport.
 * September 22-On September 22, 1774, Anastasius Pugachevia, who had been imprisoned in the "cage of humiliation", as it came to be known by the galactic media, began his long journey from Yaitsk to Laurasia Prime. Empress Aurelia was determined to have Pugachevia displayed to her subjects in the Huntite Provinces, and at the strongholds of the Rebeccan Galactic Trade Route. The Empress believed that Pugachevia, who was "such a heinous criminal, worse than Wyatta, Askius, the Earls of Malaria Prime and Almastead, or any other of the brigands and bandits who have arisen in this century", should be exposed to public ignominy and categorically denounced for his crimes. She wished for his progress to take place specifically through the Huntite Provinces, so that he could be revealed to the inhabitants of the star systems that his forces had once controlled. Pugachevia himself, who remained bound in chains, and now had a insulting placard placed around his neck, was forced to endure the humiliation in silence. During the course of the next month (October 1774), his progress would take him to systems as varied as Sheldonia, Downs, Morsia, Gedrosia Max, Maurya, Jasonia, Horne, Filorean, Constipex, Rolle, Bookman, Newman Victoria, Nikki Lowell, Cox, Banks, Henderson, Gilestis, Gardiner, Leo's Redoubt, Hunt Minor, Jabul, Akamaar, Claithbourne, the Caroline Asteroid Belt, Hunt Major, Samarkand, Timur's Star, Goldberg, Whoppi, Shephard, Beharis, Walters, Hasselbeck, Uris, Choir, Vickis, Iego, Meredith, Jeanne, Brenda, Dickinson, Robert, Wakedia, Meris, Elijahana, Bolgrahay, Ipsus V, Robbay, the strongholds of the Nexus Route, Rebecca, Durglais, Katherine, Chancia, Briannia, Nystadia, Sauvania, Heuthros, and Darcia, among others. In each star system which was "graced" with the presence of Pugachevia, the leading magnates and officials assembled to "greet" his arrival. They categorically denounced him as a usurper and enjoined all in the star system to condemn him. Pugachevia was jeered by crowds assembled in the capital city of that respective world; his face was displayed on placards, billboards, posters, and communication screens for all to see; and the list of his crimes were read out incessantly. The Empress of Laurasia, on her part, did not wish to be at her capital world once Pugachevia was brought there. On October 2, the Empress, attended by Leicesterius and many of the leading courtiers of the Imperial Court, departed from the Quencilvanian Palace. She now retreated to Hampsonian Palace on Jared, and declared her resolve to remain there until after the "proceedings concerning the Lord Pugachevia have been concluded." Burghley and Walsingis remained on Laurasia Prime, however, in order to supervise those very same proceedings. The Empress remained in constant communication with them and was to follow the proceedings closely.
 * October 11-
 * The new Spamalkan Ambassador, Bernandino Mendoza, proved himself to be as much of a trouble-maker as his predecessors De Spes and De Quadra had been. The Ambassador had, from the moment of his arrival on Laurasia Prime, made it his business to keep himself informed of the intrigues and quarrels at the Imperial Court, and to report on such matters to his master, the Emperor of Spamalka. In particular, he had learned about the rumors surrounding the Empress's relationship with the Earl of Leicesterius. In his communique of October 11, 1774, Mendoza reported to the Holy Spamalkan Government, with confidence and air, that the Empress had borne Leicesterius a "daughter who has been kept hidden from public knowledge, although there are clergymen to witness." In this instance, however, he was confused by court gossip concerning another birth. On August 7, two months earlier, Leicesterius's secret wife, Lady Shieffaldia, had indeed borne the Earl a son, named Antiochus Dudley, after his father. He had been born in the Hospital of the Gilbertine Palace on Tudoria. Leicesterius's brother, the Earl of Sarah, and his close friend, the Empress's Champion Sir Antigonus Lesius, acted as the child's godfathers and sponsors at his christening, held the day after his birth.
 * The Empress learned almost immediately of the birth, but concluded that Leicesterius had succumbed to a momentary temptation and that because his son was illegitimate, the birth would not threaten either her own position or her relationship with the Earl. She still did not know of her favorite's secret marriage with Lady Shieffaldia. Leicesterius himself was in a difficult position. He had long desired a heir, but his son was illegitimate; he never dared to acknowledge him in public, and referred to him always as "the badge of my sin". The Empress herself, was more concerned about the imprisoned Queen Mariana than any bastard son of Leicesterius. In April, the Empress had attempted to persuade the Earl of Morton to permit for Mariana's return to Ediania and her public trial. Morton, however, more concerned about consolidating his own position, and wishing to avoid any association with the Queen, refused. Aurelia had to remain content with keeping Mariana a prisoner in the Empire. With Scottria having abandoned her, Mariana's sole ambition was to ascend the throne of the Laurasian Empire. She saw herself as a champion for the Traditionalists in the Empire, overthrowing the bastard and heretic Aurelia and satisfying demands by restoring the true religion to the Empire. She had no scruples about what she was doing, and little grasp of reality. She once declared that she would leave "my prison only as Empress of Laurasia." Events proved that she meant it.
 * The Earl of Aretha, however, was strict enough as a guardian that escape was out of the question. What the former Scottrian Queen did manage to do, with the assistance of her attendants and friends beyond her place of imprisonment, was to engage in an clandestine correspondence, with numerous communiques and letters in code being transmitted secretly to Emperor Philicus, her relatives in Franconia, and Spamalkan Ambassador Mendoza, among others. Thus she not only plotted ceaselessly against her cousin, but she also kept herself informed of events outside her prison. She also managed to reward her supporters, paying bribes to the tune of €15 billion dataries, funds she had saved from her dower properties in Franconia. The Empress eventually learned of it, and in retaliation, had Mariana's official bank account in Christiania closed. In January 1775, she would cut Mariana's annual allowance from €155 billion dataries a year to €105 billion dataries a year. Mariana herself was now thirty-two and had been imprisoned for six years. She spent her days reading, praying, conversing with her ladies, writing communiques, watching holofilms, playing with her numerous pets, and doing beautiful embrodiery. From time to time she would send Aurelia little gifts, such as a crimson satin petticoat she herself had made, or sweetmeats, or ornaments. The Council suspected Mariana's motives and feared the gifts might be poisoned, but the Empress accepted them nevertheless. This did not, however, mellow her atttiude towards Mariana, for Walsingis's agents had intercepted enough of Mariana's communiques for Aurelia to know that her cousin was only waiting for the day when she could ascend to the throne.
 * November 4-
 * On November 4, 1774, after over a month-long progress from Yaitsk to the Core Regions, the pretender Anastasius Pugachevia, who had claimed to be the Emperor Demetrius II, finally arrived at Laurasia Prime. The Empress, who watched events closely from Jared, ordered for the greatest display possible to be made of his disgrace and public ignominy. Pugachevia's transport, escorted by starfighters of the Laurasia Prime Core Defense Fleet, traveled through the two Calaxies, the Post Settlement of Hepudermia, Jadia, the Second Station of Callista, and into the Approaches of Christiania. The transport descended into the city of Christiania, and from there, progressed by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, Senatorial Palace, Diplomatic Palace, Quencilvanian Palace, Galactic Opera, Old Royal Palace, Lycian Governmental House, Westphalian Cathedral, University of the Empire, University of Laurasia Prime, Galactic Exchange, and numerous other significant structures. At all of these sites, crowds of subjects jeered Pugachevia, plucked objects at his cage, and denounced him as a usurper and a traitor. Finally, at 3:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, eight hours after his initial arrival in the Laurasia Prime star system, Pugachevia was finally conveyed from his cage, for the first time in over a month, and taken to his cell in the Fortress of Baureux. A month of interrogation, of the former pretender and rebel, now commenced. The Empress was still resolved to satisfy her doubts about the rebellion; she still could not believe that a Laurasian colonist, of the kind that had been denounced as stamunkas by her Huntite subjects, could have instigated the revolt on his own initiative.
 * One of the Empress's foreign confidants, the Franconian scholar Voltaire (1694-1778), lightheartedly proposed, in his letter to the Empress the day after Pugachevia's arrival on Laurasia Prime, that he be asked, "Sir, are you master or servant? I do not ask who employs you but simply whether you are employed." Aurelia was in little mood for literary jests, however, and wanted to know more. If there were employers, she wished to know their identitites. The Empress carefully monitored the proceedings, but at this stage, she decided to refrain from applying torture on Pugachevia. Although she had no compunction about doing so if it were necessary, and had granted Panius permission to exact savage reprisals upon those most complicit in the rebellion, she believed that Pugachevia's pliant nature would make him more likely to reveal details about his rebellion without complusion. Behind this decision was a measure of political calculation. The Pugachevia Rebellion now seemed to have been crushed, but this had also seemed the case before the surprise assault on Gardiner. Perhaps even now there was someone who might be waiting to revive the rebellion. Torture of the man whom many had allowed themselves to follow could provide another spark. The Empress herself, although intrigued about Pugachevia's character and motives, had no desire to see him; this was why she had retreated to Jared. She was now beginning to plan a grand progress to Laurasia Prime in order to celebrate the end of the Fourth-Laurasian Marasharite War, and wished for the whole business to be finished before she arrived. As foreign influence, the Empress concluded, even before the interrogators were finished, that there was none. She told Leicesterius: "The Lord Pugachevia has lived like a scroundel and will die like a coward. He is not possessed of a considerable education, but he is a bold and determined man. There is not a shred of evidence that he was the instrument of Spamalka, or Marasharita, or any other foreign power. It is to be supposed that Pugachevia is a master brigand and no man's servant. No one since Timur the Devastator has done more harm than he."
 * December 5-The work of the Interogative Commission, which had been chaired by Chancellor Walsingis and Lord Treasurer Burghley, formally concluded on December 5, 1774, exactly a month after Pugachevia's arrival on Laurasia Prime. Pugachevia, during the course of the proceedings, had broken down under pressure and confessed all of his crimes, specifying why he had conceived the rebellion. He had expressed a pious hope for mercy, but in the autocratic Laurasian Empire, this was impossible. A death sentence was inevitable. On December 8, the Empress wrote to Burghley, and declared that "If it were only me he had harmed, his hopes could be justified and I should pardon him; however, my person is linked to that of the Empire, and to Almitis's Will. It is therefore impossible for him to receive a pardon." To dissociate herself publicly from the trial and the impending execution, she privately ordered Procurator-General Bagonius to end the affair quickly. Bagonius did his best to obey. Acting on the Empress's instructions, he now ordered for the convening of the Special Court, comprised of the three Councils of State. Leicesterius had returned to Laurasia Prime on December 6, in order to take part in the final proceedings against the usurper.
 * December 30-On December 30, 1774, the trial of Anstasius Pugachevia was conducted, which was to last until its conclusion the afternoon of the following day, December 31, the last day of 1774. Ascentmas had been celebrated in a restrained mood, as the entire Imperial Court was anxious to learn about Pugachevia's fate. The trial itself was now conducted secretly at the Senatorial Palace. Burghley, Leicesterius, Jadia, Walsingis, Bagonius, Hattonius, and Knollysis served as the chief commissioners at the trial, with the Earl of Aretha presiding over the ceremonies as Imperial Marshal. They reviewed the evidence in tandem with the members of the Councils of State, and read all of Pugachevia's confessions. It was on the second day of the trial that Pugachevia himself was brought before the Special Court. He fell on his knees, declared again that he was Anastasius Pugachevia, acknowledged his crimes, and declared his Repentance before Almitis, the Lord Paul, and the Empress. The Empress's chief ministers, however, had no sympathy for him, and he was soon sent back to his cell at the Fortress of Baureux. At 3:00 P.M. Galactic Standard Time, December 31, 1774, the Special Court officially announced its inevitable verdict, declaring Pugachevia guilty on all charges and sentencing him to death. He was immediately assigned the full sentence of a traitor's death: hanging, drawing, quartering, and solar incineration. Procurator-General Bagonius made no attempt to moderate the sentence. Empress Aurelia received the death warrant through the Holonet, and signed it without hesitation only three hours after the verdict was announced. She commanded that Pugachevia's execution was to be on January 10 of the new year and that it be held at the Public Grounds of the Fortress of Baureux. Colonels Beveria and Kuzevaria, whose attempt to save themselves through betraying Pugachevia backfired, were also sentenced to death; the Empress, however, had their sentence reduced to one of execution by firing squad. Pugachevia, when he was informed by his guards of the sentence passed upon him, declared that it was "just in the eyes of the Lord Almitis." As the year 1774 came to a conclusion, the Laurasian Empire had been restored to internal prosperity and external peace.