Empire of the Mediterranean: An Interactive Aragon AAR

[zenphoenix]

Cyprien Luc responded with an invite to Naples in order to talk him, saying that otherwise the earliest they could meet is next week.
However he also expressed deep concern for his elder brother and asked to be constantly updated about everything that concerned him and offering any help he could provide.
He was willing to provide funds, pull some strings in both Naples, as well as in the TATC, since all the duties of being its executive were left to him

((Private - @05060403 ))

Carlos Maria arrived in Naples at the agreed upon time. After getting off his ship, he took a carriage to Cyprien Luc's house, making sure he wasn't followed.

After arriving at the house and making sure they weren't being listened in on, Carlos Maria quickly spoke up.

"I'm going to make this quick," he told Cyprien Luc, "Your brother has been kidnapped, and I suspect Joan himself is behind it."

He explained what had happened during the mob incident, how Henri had almost killed the Crown Prince, how he offered to exile himself to the UKA in exchange for being spared immediate execution, and how Joan had initially agreed to let that happen but then reneged on the deal. After a short investigation, Carlos Maria had concluded that Joan had imprisoned Henri in the dungeon of the imperial palace.

"But I can't get him out on my own," said Carlos Maria, "Joan's too powerful in Valencia. I need more help to free your brother. He must be given justice."

((Private - Fernando))

Fernando sent a letter to Joan, informing him of a disturbance in Barcelona, in which a train full of military supplies had been raided by an organized group of rebels. He offered to help investigate this incident and, if necessary, deal with the rebels.

 

[alscon]

As the secretary announced the purpose of these men's visit, Felipe Faixòn was, understandably, not amused. He still let them in. Listened to their stroy, then lectured them about their incompetence, and what reason he would have not to fire them.
"They were simply too many, sir."
"Right. Too many." He let out a deep sigh. "I will decide your fate later. Get out of my sight now. But wait in the entrance hall." The men hurried away as quickly as they could.

Felipe wondered if this was good or bad for business. Either way, he would let his secretary write one letter and do another task.
"The first one, to the Ministery of War. Blame them for the attack. After the riots, they should have known and paid more attention to their supply chain. Guarding our so critical goods. And then doubled or tripled the soldiers assigned to our protection! Make clear that they are the responsible. Demand that the government pays for the damage caused to the tracks too."
"Secondly, I want the cowardly fools' testimonies distributed around the realm. Anyone who brings the responsible men to justice shall earn a reward of 25.000 pesos ((ducats, doubloons, whatever our currency is)). That should be enough to tempt anyone, including these bandits themselves! Nobody attacks me and stays unpunished!"

________________________________

The meeting of the Partido Fénix caused great changes. Under the new Parliament Act, most of them would be unable to run for election. So Lluis Faixòn's ideas would lead the party onward. He was elected as the new leader for those who could remain, while the rest separated from the official party to continue their fight on the streets as well as where the Regent would never look, or joined other groups for the republican cause. The Phoenix was, once again, reborn. This time twice.

 

[Dadarian]

((Is the IAAR continuing it's VII incarnation in this thread?))

 

[DragonOfAtlantis]

((Is the IAAR continuing it's VII incarnation in this thread?))

((I assume it will migrate to the Vicky2 aar subforum in a new thread.))

 

[Michaelangelo]

((Private - Fernando))

Fernando sent a letter to Joan, informing him of a disturbance in Barcelona, in which a train full of military supplies had been raided by an organized group of rebels. He offered to help investigate this incident and, if necessary, deal with the rebels.

Joan grants Fernando permission to pursue the rebels, for it would not due to have armed men rampaging across the countryside.

As the secretary announced the purpose of these men's visit, Felipe Faixòn was, understandably, not amused. He still let them in. Listened to their stroy, then lectured them about their incompetence, and what reason he would have not to fire them.
"They were simply too many, sir."
"Right. Too many." He let out a deep sigh. "I will decide your fate later. Get out of my sight now. But wait in the entrance hall." The men hurried away as quickly as they could.

Felipe wondered if this was good or bad for business. Either way, he would let his secretary write one letter and do another task.
"The first one, to the Ministery of War. Blame them for the attack. After the riots, they should have known and paid more attention to their supply chain. Guarding our so critical goods. And then doubled or tripled the soldiers assigned to our protection! Make clear that they are the responsible. Demand that the government pays for the damage caused to the tracks too."
"Secondly, I want the cowardly fools' testimonies distributed around the realm. Anyone who brings the responsible men to justice shall earn a reward of 25.000 pesos ((ducats, doubloons, whatever our currency is)). That should be enough to tempt anyone, including these bandits themselves! Nobody attacks me and stays unpunished!"

The only response received is a short letter terminating the contract due to negligence and the inability to delivery the promised weapons, stating that it was the company's responsibility to protect the shipments of their own goods and their railroads. However, the letter also stated that the government would make it a priority to apprehend those responsible. The government starts relying on their own factories in Valencia to provide the weapons the army needs, as well as their own recently finished railroads in Aragon.

((Is the IAAR continuing it's VII incarnation in this thread?))

((I assume it will migrate to the Vicky2 aar subforum in a new thread.))

((I'll be starting a new thread in the Vicky 2 forum at some point, but I need to write up a transition update before then so new players can jump in at that point. I'll probably have to bring this event to an end first too.))

 

[zenphoenix]

((Private))

Fernando de Leon orders an investigation into the train incident in Barcelona. He sends out troops into the countryside to find any leads on the rebels.

((Rolling to find more information))

 

[Michaelangelo]

((Private))

Fernando de Leon orders an investigation into the train incident in Barcelona. He sends out troops into the countryside to find any leads on the rebels.

((Rolling to find more information))

Moving heavy crates of ammo and weapons isn't exactly easy to do without leaving some sort of trace or witnesses. It was not difficult to figure out the general direction the rebels went by following any possible tracks and questioning those along the route. While this is enough to find roughly where they went, finding such a small guerrilla group in hiding is another matter. It is possible that if the rebels hid well enough they might not ever be found, but with their general location known responding to any further action could prove much easier.

((Basically you rolled high enough to know which way they went but not high enough to actually find them.))

 

[Mach Twelve]

Dias was frustrated when the false Assembly disappeared. The fact that reports of guerrillas were harassing the Portuguese citizens wherever the Exercit Granada wasn't continued to vex him.

He couldn't help but think the two were related. After all, why would rebels rise up when an army approached.

Dias ordered his men to fan out to suppress the guerrillas and discover their leader by interrogation.

((Requsting two rolls, one to suppress the rebels, another to discover that Firehound is behind them.))

 

[Michaelangelo]

Dias was frustrated when the false Assembly disappeared. The fact that reports of guerrillas were harassing the Portuguese citizens wherever the Exercit Granada wasn't continued to vex him.

He couldn't help but think the two were related. After all, why would rebels rise up when an army approached.

Dias ordered his men to fan out to suppress the guerrillas and discover their leader by interrogation.

((Requsting two rolls, one to suppress the rebels, another to discover that Firehound is behind them.))

The guerrilla fighters found themselves in a difficult position. Their continued attempts to pester the army instead served to annoy the locals. While a more politically active crowd might have sympathized with the rebels, most of the common people cared little for politics and were tired of this whole conflict that was disrupting their lives. The Assembly was being restored, so why were these people still fighting and ruining the peace and quiet? The guerrillas were blamed for the increased armed presence in the area, and many locals shooed the rebels away whenever they appeared to avoid having the army come down upon their village and search their lands for the guerrillas. With local support sparse, the guerrillas could only hide or disperse, since their attempts to hurt the government inevitably hurt their support amongst the people, especially with the army out in force. Even with their efforts proving mostly fruitless, those supporting the cause were dedicated. Information about the whereabouts of members of the movement was kept secret and those who ended up captured refused to talk even when interrogated. It seemed that the rebels would only be defeated if they either disbanded or caused enough of an uproar to lose what little support they had left.

((You rolled high for suppressing the rebels, but low for finding out who led them.))

 

[zenphoenix]

((Rolling to follow the rebels' path))

 

[05060403]

((Private - @05060403 ))

Carlos Maria arrived in Naples at the agreed upon time. After getting off his ship, he took a carriage to Cyprien Luc's house, making sure he wasn't followed.

After arriving at the house and making sure they weren't being listened in on, Carlos Maria quickly spoke up.

"I'm going to make this quick," he told Cyprien Luc, "Your brother has been kidnapped, and I suspect Joan himself is behind it."

He explained what had happened during the mob incident, how Henri had almost killed the Crown Prince, how he offered to exile himself to the UKA in exchange for being spared immediate execution, and how Joan had initially agreed to let that happen but then reneged on the deal. After a short investigation, Carlos Maria had concluded that Joan had imprisoned Henri in the dungeon of the imperial palace.

"But I can't get him out on my own," said Carlos Maria, "Joan's too powerful in Valencia. I need more help to free your brother. He must be given justice."

(( Private - @zenphoenix ))

After offering a seat to his visitor, and sitting behind his own desk, Cyprien listened very attentively to what Carlos Maria had to say.
He was shocked to learn the truth, but tried his best to remain calm, think rationally.

"Well... I don't know how I can help, but I will try my best. I'm in no way saying that what my brother did was right, that he doesn't deserve a punishment. But it just proves that Joan lives in a castle of lies, that he cannot be trusted.

I'll call in few favours in the TATC, I'll provide some funding, but I cannot leave Naples, not when I have business to take care of. Someone has to oversee the production."

(( Private ))

After the attack on the train Aurèle scattered in Barcelona with his troops, hiding amongst the citizens, hiding the weapons in taverns, stables, anywhere they could, waiting for a right moment to rise up and declare their allegiance to the Lisboan Assembly, and following their example begin guerrilla warfare against the imperial troops.
And if things would go bad, if they'd be forced out of the city they'd retreat into the mountains to the north, and from there hamper the lives of the Imperial forces in any way they could.

But for now they had to stay low, pretend to be normal citizens of Barcelona and wait until things calm down again.

 

[alscon]

The only response received is a short letter terminating the contract due to negligence and the inability to delivery the promised weapons, stating that it was the company's responsibility to protect the shipments of their own goods and their railroads. However, the letter also stated that the government would make it a priority to apprehend those responsible. The government starts relying on their own factories in Valencia to provide the weapons the army needs, as well as their own recently finished railroads in Aragon.

((private))

Did they believe an old man like himself doesn't have any fighting spirit? Then they were wrong. Upon reading the letter, Faixòn immediately called for his sons to meet.
"Politicians. Strange how the Regent stayed in power for so long when the government apparently has nothing but hot air in their heads. Lluis, I hope you won't end up like that." Felipe glared at him. "But even so, I might not approve, but do what you want. At least you want to eliminate their nefarious influence. And you can also take over my mainly civilian enterprise right now. They want a war, they get a war."
Lluis opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off. "Don't you have some steel to sell or railroad to build? Or better yet, some speech to prepare? Move!" Knowing it was futile to stay, Lluis left.
"A very dumb idea to anger a main producer of military material when there are guerillas and riots around. All the same, these politicians! Starting a fight they can only lose without having any reason to." This time, Martí wanted to speak, but to no avail.
"So we separate civil and military production. And distribute it. The people want weapons to strike against the government? When, then we will supply these weapons! Focus production on pistols, and lower the price as much as possible to keep a minimal profit margin. Have people spread the word that in these dangerous times - soldiers, guerillas, shooting without reasons! - one has to be able to protect himself. I want every Hispanian with at least some income to be able to afford a pistol!"
"But father..."
"No buts! They bring it upon themselves! And if not the citizens, then certainly our allies will want our goods. France. Byzantium. And from there, Germany, Scandinavia, Lithuania too! The government will come back soon. What else should they do? Forbid it?"
"Why?" Martí managed to mutter, shocked.
"We are going to sue the government. Get the best advocate you can hire. Why? You are asking why? Didn't I teach you to think? When there are guerillas around, the only one responsible is the government! Would you say it is my fault that so many angry men attack my train? Who made them angry? Certainly not me! If we were at war, and an army of enemies would have attacked, would it have been my fault for not hiring an army of my own?" Martí backed away from this outburst of anger of his father.
"Well, if armed civilians start raiding army barracks, the soldiers heavily outnumbered, then it won't be my fault either. Shall they all kill each other if they have to! Not my problem then. Now, do it!"

((I'd like a roll to see if the reward brought any useful information. And of course, Felipe is going to sue the government for breaking the contract. Everyone who doesn't act as he expects them to is not smart enough to understand him in his opinion .))

 

[Michaelangelo]

((Rolling to follow the rebels' path))

((That was included in the previous roll. You know generally where they are, but unless they do anything to draw attention, they probably won't be found.))

((I'd like a roll to see if the reward brought any useful information. And of course, Felipe is going to sue the government for breaking the contract. Everyone who doesn't act as he expects them to is not smart enough to understand him in his opinion .))

The court case goes nowhere, as if the Regent has had a decade to pick and choose every judge on the National Court. The government seems unconcerned with the operations of a minor weapons producer.

As for the reward, any information brought in has been vague at best. It seems the rebels are operating somewhere around Barcelona, but nothing is known as to who is involved.

 

[zenphoenix]

((Private - Fernando))

Fernando orders the entire area around Barcelona locked down. His troops are to thoroughly search the area and make sure nobody gets in or out without him knowing about it.

((Not necessarily a roll, just to make sure that if the rebels do anything I'll find out about it))

((Private - Carlos Maria))

After offering a seat to his visitor, and sitting behind his own desk, Cyprien listened very attentively to what Carlos Maria had to say.
He was shocked to learn the truth, but tried his best to remain calm, think rationally.

"Well... I don't know how I can help, but I will try my best. I'm in no way saying that what my brother did was right, that he doesn't deserve a punishment. But it just proves that Joan lives in a castle of lies, that he cannot be trusted.

I'll call in few favours in the TATC, I'll provide some funding, but I cannot leave Naples, not when I have business to take care of. Someone has to oversee the production."

"Indeed," said Carlos Maria, "I have had reasons to doubt Joan's sincerity. But this goes to show that the man cannot be trusted. Sometimes I fear he may try to take the throne for himself..."

He stopped himself. "But enough of that. I don't want to spread fear throughout the country. If you can get support from the TATC, that would be great. We're going to need all the help we can get to free your brother. Can you get in touch with other members of your family and inform them of what I said? They may be able to help us out. Some of them didn't respond to my letters."

 

[05060403]

(( Private - Cyprein Luc ))

"Indeed," said Carlos Maria, "I have had reasons to doubt Joan's sincerity. But this goes to show that the man cannot be trusted. Sometimes I fear he may try to take the throne for himself..."

He stopped himself. "But enough of that. I don't want to spread fear throughout the country. If you can get support from the TATC, that would be great. We're going to need all the help we can get to free your brother. Can you get in touch with other members of your family and inform them of what I said? They may be able to help us out. Some of them didn't respond to my letters."

"I shall try my best to pull some stings in the company, but keep it as discreet as possible." Cyprien opened a drawer in his desk, pulling out a piece of paper, ink and a pen before writing a short note and handing it to his guest.
"Take this with you. When you're in Valencia be sure to stop by the Company's Headquarters, look for a man named Stefano Carlo D'Ambrosio, he'll help you from there, he's a trusty partner of mine."


He then stopped to think a bit, wincing as he sighed and brushed hair off of his forehead so it wouldn't be getting into his eyes.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Henri is well... You know his story. Henriette, she's too busy with her own matters, which I sadly cannot share...." He stopped, tapping his fingers on the desk nervously, and quite clearly getting uneasy before he quietly muttered out
"And we don't speak of Aurèle. He's no longer part of this family. End of story."

 

[ML8991]

The early dawn air was brisk and bitter when his horse clopped into the city centre, it's dark hide blurring in the still and dark air.
Travelling up the horses flank, one could barely distinguish the gentleman's fine clothes, from that of the hide of his steed. A few flashes of gold, belying the surprising wealth of this gentleman, rose to a fair face. A light tanning dusted a youthful visage, with strong, inquisitive, green eyes searching out from a thin, gold wire, pair of glasses.

The gentlemen had arrived at last, it seemed at his destination, and so he dismounted with great grace, and lead his horse to rest. Had anyone been around to notice such a character, perhaps all they would say they noticed of such a man, was his weird hobble of a walk, but like a wraith he had appeared in their lives, and for now, it seemed he disappeared.

((A little preliminary study of my character then for the future guys , hope you like it. Thinking to make him a Philosopher or a teacher, something of the well to do, developing middle class, but as you may have noticed, I can't escape the allure of nobility, so @Michaelangelo could we discuss something or other frivolous that he could be, I always like philosophers with fancy title names, e.g Marquis de Sade ))

 

[zenphoenix]

((Private - @05060403))

"I shall try my best to pull some stings in the company, but keep it as discreet as possible." Cyprien opened a drawer in his desk, pulling out a piece of paper, ink and a pen before writing a short note and handing it to his guest.
"Take this with you. When you're in Valencia be sure to stop by the Company's Headquarters, look for a man named Stefano Carlo D'Ambrosio, he'll help you from there, he's a trusty partner of mine."

Carlos Maria took the note. "I will seek him out," he said, "Thank you."

He then stopped to think a bit, wincing as he sighed and brushed hair off of his forehead so it wouldn't be getting into his eyes.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Henri is well... You know his story. Henriette, she's too busy with her own matters, which I sadly cannot share...." He stopped, tapping his fingers on the desk nervously, and quite clearly getting uneasy before he quietly muttered out
"And we don't speak of Aurèle. He's no longer part of this family. End of story."

Carlos Maria nodded. "I understand. That is probably why Aurele didn't respond. Oh, and by the way, have you heard about this group called Vox Populi? I have a feeling they may have been behind a recent incident in Barcelona. My father's been investigating the incident, but he hasn't gotten anywhere. Would you or the TATC be able to help out a little?"

((On the rebel investigation, as I can't actually find them, what exactly can I do next?))

 

[05060403]

(( Private - @zenphoenix ))

Carlos Maria took the note. "I will seek him out," he said, "Thank you."

Cyprien nodded his head before muttering out "You're welcome, it is the least I could've done to help."

Carlos Maria nodded. "I understand. That is probably why Aurele didn't respond. Oh, and by the way, have you heard about this group called Vox Populi? I have a feeling they may have been behind a recent incident in Barcelona. My father's been investigating the incident, but he hasn't gotten anywhere. Would you or the TATC be able to help out a little?"

The Saint-Pierre froze for a moment before shooting an icy glare at Carlos Maria and in a sudden fit of anger chasing the visitor away.
"We don't mention them in this house, you have other things to attend to. You need to go."
The man nearly hissed out, he would say nothing about them, but it was clear that he got hurt when the group was mentioned.
The certainly was more to it, but Carlos Maria would hear no more from Cyprien Luc, since as soon as the first was pushed out the door, the latter shut them right in front of his eyes, only to lock them a second later, which was indicated by the distinct click of the door lock.

 

[zenphoenix]

((Private))

After being rudely expelled from Cyprien Luc's house, Carlos Maria muttered a curse under his breath and walked away. Best not to anger this man more and make another enemy. He had plenty of those already.

As he walked back to the port, where his sister had sent a ship to take him home, he started wondering why Cyprien Luc had acted as he did. Reacting violently when he had mentioned both Aurele and the Vox Populi...it didn't take a genius to put two and two together. He concluded that Aurele was a member of the Vox Populi, and the Vox Populi were behind the incident in Barcelona.

After arriving back in Valencia, he sent off a letter to his father, informing him of what he had learned. Then he headed off to the TATC headquarters, where he asked to see Stefano Carlo D'Ambrosio.

((Also private))

Meanwhile, Fernando received Carlos Maria's letter and decided to refocus his investigation. The leads he had found went nowhere, so he couldn't find the perpetrators of the raid. But he could try to find the organization itself.

((Rolling to investigate the Vox Populi itself))

 

[Michaelangelo]

((On the rebel investigation, as I can't actually find them, what exactly can I do next?))

((It's at a point where you can't really find them the traditional way as long as they lay low, but if they start acting up, you'll be able to respond. That won't matter in a moment though. ))

((Rolling to investigate the Vox Populi itself))

Tying a name to the rebels greatly sped up the investigation. Apparently Vox Populi was originally a newspaper, one heavily anti-government in nature, a strong opponent of the Regent. It's circulation had been small and mostly quiet, since its publishers did not want to gain the Regent's attention. However, such publications required people to deliver their product and places to print the papers, providing a reliable trail of evidence. Even though the group had turned to more violent pursuits as of late and moved constantly, the trail remained. Not to mention the fact that the stolen guns and ammo left clear evidence of guilt, ones they could no longer be ferried out of the city without getting caught. With the army active around Barcelona, the cell operating out of that city had nowhere to go. Given time, their members could be driven out of hiding one by one, and the stolen weapons retrieved. It is possible some would put up a fight, but a small guerrilla group cornered by an entire army of 40k men had little chance of escape. Those that didn't fight back were rounded up and locked up while awaiting trial, the stolen weapons and ammo back in safe hands. The Vox Populi's presence in Barcelona had all but been eradicated, although inevitably a few members could have slipped through the cracks.


((Well, the roll was a perfect 100, so you've found the Vox Populi and all the stolen weapons. 05 told me a bit about the organization, so consider its Barcelona cell out of commission for now. I've given him a free pass for his character to get out if he wants, but the rest of the organization's members in Barcelona have been caught.))