Chapter 14 - The Big Time
When we last checked upon the enliughtened Theodorans some time ago we found the nation to be in something of a golden age as peace, prosperity, hygiene and the ever wise never aging Alexander ruled the land. Under such conditions a Greek nation cannot fail to do well.
To truly prove that Theodoros was blessed by God in it's quest to liberate all Greeks from the foul Italians a man appeared performing feats surely only possible through the power of God. He was able to remove stains from any fabric with a small amount of 'holy liquid'. He was soon recognised as a saint and his actions miracles, no more would Theodorans have to throw out good white clothes because of a clumsy spill of red wine. The people, knowing they no longer had to fear stains suddenly found themselves a little more stable and less rebellious.
The reign of terror of stains like these is over!
Later the saint would make his 'holy liquid' available in handy spray bottles
But when your nation is clearly the greatest
(and if there's one thing Theodorans pride themselves on it's this) anywhere it can prove something of a magnet to the less desirables of the world. Such was the case when a bunch of Uzbeks from neighbouring Kouban revolted and headed for the golden paradise of Theodoros. However its fairly common knowledge that you don't become a golden paradise by letting Uzbeks in so they were refused entry at the border.
Dirty Uzbeks try to spoil paradise
Having spent some time as a vassal the people of Cephallonia had received many of the benefits of being Theodorans such as compulsory daily baths and eviction of all Italians. But other rewards like liquid hand soap were kept solely for full Theodoran citizens. So when Cephallonia was offered such privileges in exchange for their independence they were glad to accept such a generous deal.
Theodoros' new possessions mean many more fully liberated Greeks
The people of Kouban, still wanting, but not able to emigrate to Theodoros saw that one had to be part of the country to get the benefits took upon themselves to make a radical move. They declared themselves to be a part of Theodoros.
Kouban revolts to Theodoros from Uzbek
Alexander and indeed most in Theodoros found it an unwelcome development. Kouban could offer little return to Theodoros, the people were positively filthy and Muslim and whats more there was it's size. The addition of Kouban almost doubled the area of the not yet big principality. It was more than enough to give Alexander agoraphobia just thinking about it.
So measures were put in place to ensure that the Uzbeks stay in Theodoros would be as unpleasant as possible with the hope that they would return from whence they came.
Ensuring that conditions were actually unpleasant for the Uzbeks proved harder than first thought as none dared venture into the wide open dirty lands of Kouban. Until the arrival of Aether that is.
Aether had been raised in Italy and as such was accustomed to filth and the ways of dealing with it. Due to this ability he liked to refer to himself as a conquistador of all that is unclean. Seeing his bravery would be of great value to Alexander he volunteered to lead a band of men into Kouban to ensure that all persecution was carried out in proper order.
Aether heads for the agoraphobia inspiring Kouban to inspire fear in the populace