A Crown of Ice and Snow

[Heretic]

Корона изо льда и снега
An Amerussian VIP Odyssey



Greetings to you all, and the best of health!

I am in the best of health myself, having been newly minted only today. Allow me to introduce myself, I am a humble five-kopek piece. I say humble, but as a coin, I have freedom across our great land that only the greatest of the nobles know. I can pass from hand to hand, from state to state, all around our great old country, and as you will soon see, I shall travel far indeed!

Close inspection will show you that I bear the likeness of our great Tsar, the ‘little father’ himself, the magnificent Nikolai Alexandreivitch Romanov, or, as you may know him, Nicholas the First.

On my other side, I show you the Peter and Paul fortress, with it’s imposing spire. As you may know, the fortress has stood at the heart of our city since 1703, which means over a hundred and thirty years of stirling work guarding us from all comers.

Now, as I jangle in a money bag with all my other five-kopek comrades, we can take a moment to speculate where our first stop will be after leaving the mint. Shall I perhaps be in the petty cash of some Officer or Nobleman? Or will I have a more humble home in some shopkeeper’s belt? Who knows, as we all shake and rattle together in this bag.

Who knows?

[Seidita]

wow interesting an AAR from a coins point of view?

[Singleton Mosby]

Strange but very interesting. Looking foreward to more.

[Rensslaer]

Cool! A "Flat Stanley" AAR! ((snickers))

Actually, this is quite a clever and fascinating idea. I look forward to seeing it develop!

Rensslaer

[A trooper]

Cool, ive just started a Russian AAR, i'd like to see how you cope.

[coz1]

I'll have to keep up with this one Heretic. Very interesting beginning post. You have me intrigued.

[Rensslaer]

Cool, ive just started a Russian AAR, i'd like to see how you cope.

I'm not sure yet that this is an Czarist Russia AAR.... This Heretic is a wily fellow!

Rensslaer

[TekcoR]

In honor of Darth Vader; "Impressive, most impressive."

[weychun]

Another AAR on Russia, what a nice coincidence.

[CatKnight]

Now this should be an interesting read.

Perhaps you should rename the AAR "Legend of the Five Kopeks"

[Rensslaer]

Perhaps you should rename the AAR "Legend of the Five Kopeks"

No... People would wonder who the Kopeks are, and whether you could release them as a satellite!

Rensslaer

[Rey]

Kopek = Russian version of Cent.

1 Ruble = 100 kopeks

[Rensslaer]

1 Ruble = 100 kopeks

1 POP = 1,000 Kopeks!

[Rey]

Will we see a green world in this AAR?

[Henry v. Keiper]

I'd hate to see debt or inflation.

Hello gentle reader. Turns out I am worth two things: Jack and shit. And Jack left town. Goodbye cruel world!

*melts himself*

[A trooper]

I'd hate to see debt or inflation.

Hello gentle reader. Turns out I am worth two things: Jack and shit. And Jack left town. Goodbye cruel world!

*melts himself*

Oh the humour!

[LordScod]

This AAR looks interesting, I'll be watching this one.

[JoshWeber]

Very original idea. I'll be checking in on this one.

[Heretic]

Ok, thanks for all your interest;
Sedita - yes, a coin

Singleton Moseby - not too strange I hope

Rensslaer - Flat Stanley? eh? Was that the headbanging puppet in the car?

A trooper - I hope to do a little better than 'cope' with Russia, but no WC

coz1 - I aim to intruige, and then I hope entertain

Rensslaer - yer, the Csar it still on the throne at the moment

Tekcor - sadly my 'death star' is far from operational

Weychun - yes, it is odd how AARs on a country come in sets

CatKnight - I have my reasons for my title, but these will not be clear for some time

El-Rey - Thanks for the note fo our readers (also, see previous answer about no WC)

Henry V. Keiper - Oddly, Victoria doe snot model inflation, so we won't see too much of it. I hope that our little five-kopek piece will prove to be fairly robust.

Lord Scod - Any time, it never hurts to have readers

Josh Weber - yeah, it DID take me a little time to think of the idea.

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming..

Heretic

[Heretic]

Blood.
Great big pools of blood spreading across the floor.
Here and there, a mound of entrails, or some shattered pieces of bone.

Joseph steeped through the pools in his large, heavy boots, a giant cleaver gripped firmly in his right hand. Kicking aside a bloody leg, he reached the door and called out:
“Oleg, Denis, get over here, I want to see you shift these carcasses into the truck”

With a slight lack of haste, the two labourers began to set to their task, heaving the heavy sides of beef onto the bed of the wooden cart. Joseph wiped his hands on his filthy leather apron as he watched them. It was not long before the job was finished, and the cart set off to the barracks. The barracks were not in a smart part of town, and the small abattoir certainly did not improve the neighbourhood it was in.

Regardless, Joseph was pleased that he had managed to get so far. As a poor Armenian, he had come to Saint Petersburg a few years ago, and then worked hard to get where he was. If the Tsar had never started to take an interest in the mountains of asia, perhaps Joseph would never have come to the capital. However, sine the British were moving north form India, apparently the little father was worried, that his people in the east would be threatened by English Queen. And so, he had started to take all the peoples of the steppe and the mountain more firmly under his wing.

Jospeh’s latest triumph was now starting to bear fruit, as he supplied the meat to the army. Now that he had some certainty about the number of cattle he needed every month, his haggling at the cattle market could become a little more keen.

Taking the cart along the rough and rutted streets, he wondered for a moment if his cousin Viktor would really come to visit. Viktor had said that one day, if Joseph managed to stay in Petersburg, he would find him. This had not happened yet, and Joseph was starting to loose faith in Viktor.

The musings were brought to an end as the cart reached the rear gates of the barracks, and was ushered in to the Quartermaster’s yard. With a heavy clang the gates bumped shut, hiding Joseph, cart, carcasses and all from the outside world.