The Imperial Federal Kingdom of Grand, Belluterra, and Malo (USNW)

Oh, and btw, Sir Zeke Madison is the first foreigner in 100 years to be appointed to the nobility, and is also the highest-placed foreigner EVER, being second only to the King-Emperor, along with the three other Grandian Viceroys, two of which haven't been appointed yet.

More history, finally...

The British merchantmen were caught completely off guard, but they still managed to put up a good fight, in which about 80-120 Grandian sailors were killed. Eventually, however, the merchants were overwhelmed and defeated. Admiral Roberts, with a few of his men, went down into the hold to inspect the cargo which they had captured. When they got down there, a surprise awaited them.
It was full of slaves.

Coming soon, to a CJ near you...




Can you guess where this is?

I almost forgot to mention that the Republican Kingdom of Grand, Belluterra, and all the Surrounding Islands is currently applying for AIN observership (clicky)

So? What do you think?

Click here for the full article

Ok guys, I am now officially AN OBSERVER OF THE ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT NATIONS!!!

King Daniel IV was born Prince Daniel John Alexander Phillip Petersroy, on the 19th of February, 1974, to King Daniel III and Grand Princess Alicia, the second of three sons and five daughters from his father's first wife, a little over five years after the conclusion of the Third Island War. Due to the fact that the Royal Palaces were still being reconstructed after being devastated during the aforementioned war, the Royal Family spent most of their time aboard the Royal Yacht GRY Heavenly, where the prince was born. His childhood was marked by the civil unrest that plagued both Grand and Belluterra in the 70s, caused by the wake of the Third Island War, and also in the case of Grand, the usual cause of the Spanish rebelling again. These events, and others as well, convinced the young prince that at least in the case of Grand, constitutional monarchy was a failure, and a return to the absolutism of his forefathers was nessecary. He also resolved to try to help his older brother Charles to try and reunite Grand and Belluterra, which had so fatefully separated in 1790. However, Prince Imperial Charles died after a short battle with cancer in 1986, making Daniel the new Prince Imperial, and therefore, he was to be the next in line to the throne. He soon began to take over several of the Royal duties from his aging father.
He retired from politics in 1990 to marry his childhood friend Amanthis McCloskey. However, being the next in line, he was unable to completely leave politics, and eventually, he was forced to reenter politics. The overthrow of the ruling Communist Party of Belluterra in 1992, with secret funding from Grand, brought Prince Daniel's goals one step closer to completion. That year was also the year in which he and his wife had their first child, a daughter, who they christened May, after the month she was born in. A little less than a year later, they had another child, a son, who they called Charles. Their third child, Prince Luke, was born in 1996.
King Daniel III died in late 1997, at the age of 68, thus making Daniel the new king. A few days before his coronation, his wife gave birth to another daughter, who they named Frances. A few hours after he was crowned King Daniel IV, a man tried to shoot him with a pistol, which misfired, however. This was the first of over a dozen attempts on his life over the next 13 years or so. He soon opened negotiations with the newly-inaugurated President of Belluterra to reunite the country. These overtures were favorably received, and the official date of reunion was set for May 10, 1998. When that date arrived, King Daniel I was crowned Emperor Daniel I of Belluterra, merging the two countries into one, to great celebration, after 208 years of existing separately. In 1999, King Daniel finally had the consitution amended to effectively make the nation an absolute monarchy, with the exception of Belluterra. Later that year, Prince William was born. He would be the last member of the Royal Family born in the 20th century.
Princess Amanthis was born in late 2001, providing a new member to the ever-growing Royal Family. After September 11, the nation sent their condolences to the US, while also tightening their own security, and also declaring a still-existent state of martial law in Lamer Province, in order to be able to quickly and effectively crush any uprising among the Spanish. When the US invaded Afghanistan, however, the condemnation was strong, and Grand refused to participate in any way. A few days before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the Grand Princess had twins, who they christened Mary and Anna. When Bush invaded Iraq, King Daniel called the claims about WMD "a bunch of f****** b*******", and threatened to pull out of the UN unless either the UN stopped the US, or the US stopped the invasion. When the ultimatum expired, Grand and Belluterra did as they threatened, and left. In 2009, they launched their still-classified spaceship, unmanned. It was radio-controlled the entire flight, and successfully returned a few days later In 2010, they completed their project to send a man into space- 5 men actually, to test their own variant of the Space Shuttle, similar in some respects to both the Buran and the Space Transport System, but different in others, such as the ability to refuel in space, and the ability to leave Earth orbit. The crew made a triumphant return a few days later. In October 2010, Grand Princess Amanthis II presented him with what would be his final child, a son, who they named Prince Michael, after his recently-deceased uncle. In early 2011, the Royal House was scandalized when it was discovered that the King-Emperor's oldest daughter, Princess May, had disappeared after having an affair with an unknown person. The Princess was discovered living under an assumed name in the Stone Republic over a month later, and she was subsequently extradited to Grand, where after standing trial on numerous charges, was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison. Later, King Daniel sent in the Republican Kingdom's official application to join the Alliance of Independent Nations as an observer. While the application was under voting, the birthday of his oldest son, Prince Imperial Charles, rolled around, During the traditional outdoor festivities, one of the King's bodyguards, now determined to have been in the pay of the outlawed SLA, or Spanish Liberation Army, turned on the King and shot him twice. The Prince Imperial was one of the others who was wounded, although he was back to work within 5 days. Later, he sent in an application to join the interplanetary union, the United Sovereign Nations of the World. The nation was accepted on the 2nd of May. King-Emperor Daniel IV & I died in his bed yesterday, at 6:55 PM, not long after receiving Holy Communion, with many members of his family and friends with him. His last words, spoken to Charles, were these: "Keep our nations united."

World leaders have been invited to the funeral, which shall take place on the 10th. So far, President Kyle Johnson of New Chandler has confirmed that he will be there.

King Jordan I of Waterbridge and Prime Minister Matthew Whitehead of Stone plan to attend, the King has opened the doors of the royal retreat to the royal family of Grand and Belluterra.

-Will

King-Emperor-Elect Charles the First of Grand and Belluterra thanks King Jordan the First of Waterbridge and Prime Minister Matthew Whitehead of Stone, and plans a royal visit to the Royal Retreat later in the year.

I'm very sorry for your king, must be a great responsibility for the pince to take over

Ive read he's a good man I would like to send my empror's oldest child, Prince Marco, and his mother, who is from New Chandler, the Empress Margaret

It was unknown if the Grand Financial Representative of the Oblast of Óstrëlaka was going to make it to the funeral, but his plane landed about half and hour before the funeral, plenty of time to get there.


The ceremony has begun with a service in memory of the late King-Emperor. Among the foreign dignitaries in the crowd are:
1: President Alex Fisher of the Autonomous Presidential Republic of Belluterra,
2: President Kyle Johnson of the Provincial Republic of New Chandler,
3: King Jordan I of the Kingdom of Waterbridge,
4: Prime Minister Matthew Whitehead of the Stone Republic,
5: King Xue Hong of the Kingdom of Astey,
6: Vasilissa Sofia II of the Kingdom of Posillipo,
7: Damien Rougessi, Ambassador for the United Kingdom of Cattala to the Republican Kingdom of Grand and Belluterra, and
8: Michael Kornejev, Grand Financial Representative for the Oblast of Óstrëlaka.
High King Charles Andrei IV of the United Imperial Kingdom of Posillipo and Astey planned to attend, but something came up at the last minute and he wasn’t able to attend, but he still sent his condolences.


The procession has begun, with the sarcophagus being carried by six pallbearers, with the royal family directly behind them, the foreign dignitaries behind them, and multitudes of Grandians and Belluterrans behind them.


The procession passes through the Great Hall on its way out of the inner palace.


As the sun begins to set, the procession nears the magnificent marble tomb constructed for Daniel.


After the sarcophagus has been put on its specially-carved pedestal, Emperor-Elect Charles I passes by the sarcophagus to pay his last respects, followed by the rest of the royal family, the foreign dignitaries, and the rest of the crowd.


The sun has almost set as the crowd disperses to go back home. The foreign dignitaries are staying in the palace for the night, and will begin to return to their respective nations, if they wish, tomorrow morning.



Khot hap ee ko,

EmperorDaniel

Directly from the Bridgeish Royal Twitter today:

@Kingy99 wrote:
Grand and Belluterra put together a great ceremony for their fallen king, as a fellow royal, its nice to see a nation care so much about their fallen kings. Brings a royal back to earth really. Beautiful facilities
-KJtheI

Just a little something to let you know I'm still alive
I dare anyone to guess what this is in 24 hours (hint: I presented it in my CJ here before)

Nobody say what it is if you saw it already




have fun guessing!

POSILLIPO!

k50 is totally right :p

Francistown is the capital of the nation, and is home to the Imperial Senate, the various Imperial Ministries, the Imperial Guards' headquarters, and several other important structures. Today, we'll be touring the South District of the capital.



Here is the main access route to the district, which crosses the south branch of the Garble River. On the left you can see a recently-built modern apartment facing the Ring Canal, which already is a good deal occupied, thanks to the government's progam to eliminate homelessness in the nation, and on the right you can see one of two buildings that compose the Royal Archives, in which all information that the goverment is gathering, has gathered, or will gather, is stored, in both electronic and paper form.




Going a little further upstream, we pass the imposing Tashin House, which forms the headquarters, and primary barracks, of the Imperial Guard, the national police force. It seems most of the guards are in the barracks at the moment...




Feeling a little blue? A concert at Andrews Square might just be what you want. This large square, mostly surrounded by old Trentannian-style merchant houses, was once a marketplace, but after the Great Adonian War, it was temporarily converted into a refugee camp. By the time the camp was dissolved in the mid-1950s, there was no further need for a marketplace in the area, so the square was spruced up and converted into an open-air concert hall. Grandian star singers and groups such as jonDYman, Paulo & the Kinsmen, and Soyleena regularly make apperances here. If you wish to attend one of these concerts, it would be best to make a reservation, as the place is often packed, and it is not uncommon for the crowds to extend onto the street.




If you want to go shopping here, the best place in the area is none other then Walea Row, often simply known as the Row. The Row, with its authentic Trentannian storefronts, goods largely manufactured in the Trenntannian factories or grown on rural Grandian farms, and a great deal too many old folks who still remember the GAW, almost makes you feel like you're back with the soldiers and resistance fighters, although many of the old buildings are falling victim nowdays to modern apartments and supermarkets.




If you want to just stroll through a quiet park and enjoy the view, or take a ride down one of Francistown's remaining Old Canals, why don't you go to the Sental Theater, which has a gorgeous segment of canal and parkland behind it, although the parkland is under threat from development, hints of which can already be seen. If you really want to see a classic play in Khwint, the Sental Theater is currently playing Te Kont tee-Montakween (The Count of Mondegreen), based on the novel by Devin Charles.




Before we close the update, take a look at this teaser for the next update.

Khot hap ee ko!

UPDATE IV: REMEMBER!

As some of you may know, today is the 60th anniversary of Trentannia's invasion of Grand, which began on the 3rd of September, 1941. For this special update, we will be touring different areas of the capital that played an important role in the invasion and subsequent 10-year occupation, and will also take a look at some other areas of Grand that were central to the invasion.


A memorial service is currently being held in Saint Josephine's Cathedral for the approximately 70,000 Grandians who died in the war. For the first time, this service also is being held in memory of the 6,000 Belluterrans who died invading Grand.


Soon, this area will be crowded with people coming to pay their respects to the "Francistown Thirteen", who were leaders of one of the most notable resistance groups in the country, and were one of the main reasons that the Trentannian military in the area never got much farther north than Grand. They had all been captured by 1948, and were subsequently executed without trial, on this very spot. The large triumphal arch in the background, completed in 1956, was commissioned by King Francis V upon his return to Grand after the liberation, to commemorate the victory over Trentannia, and to remember those who gave their lives for freedom.


When Mousford, which was the national capital back then, fell to the Trentannians, Francis V, his wife Queen Jennifer of Puget, the rest of his immediate family, and the most prominent members of his Cabinet and the Senate, fled to Grenylzia, a small fortress in the south part of the country, where they successfully fought off Trentannian besiegers for 66 days—from 28 September to 2 December 1941—until a small fleet of Grandian vessels that had managed to break past the blockade arrived and escorted them to Athanos, the capital of Posillipo, where the they remained in exile until the liberation of Grand in 1951. In their absence, the Trentannians established a puppet government known as the Grand Republic, which in all but name functioned as a province of the Trentannian Empire.


During the enemy bombardments of the city, and later during the liberation by the Posilliponians, many of the old Posilliponian-style buildings were either destroyed or heavily damaged, resulting in numerous places thorought the city today where a wall-to-wall building suddenly drops off without another wall-to-wall building to continue the sequence, and often instead, a younger, more modern building taking its place. To this day about 18% of Francistown's residents either have a parent who could remember the Great Adonian War, or could remember the war himself or herself.


Once the Trentannians had complete control of Grand, they built a large defensive wall around much of the Grandian coast, as well as a secondary system consisting of large walls and embankments around every major or strategic Grandian settlement within 5 km of the coastline. This is an exceptionally-well preserved section of the primary wall, located in Francistown.


During the house-to-house fighting that followed the initial attack on Francistown, some of the fiercest fighting took place in and around Andrews' Market (now serving as an open-air concert hall, and renamed Andrews Square), shown here in a photo taken from a Trentannian aerial reconnaissance flight over the district.


The large building in the center of the image is especially notable for the fact that its defenders were able to hold off enemy assaults for over five weeks, long after the rest of the city had fallen. It was heavily damaged during the war, but has since been restored and returned to its original purpose of housing residents.

UPDATE V: AMONG THE RICH

Today we'll be taking a look at part of the Mansion District of Francistown. After this, I'm considering where to go next, and I'd like your input before we commence the update

Option 1: Take a look at the oil fields of northern Malo
Option 2: Visit the rainforests of the Duchy of Rania
Option 3: An update on Francistown's Old Town
Option 4: Experience our military might, centered in Grenylzia
Option 5: Go west, and see the glory of the largest palace in Grand

Please post below with your choice Now, that said, on with the update!


Before the liberation of the Grandian Ensuñans (Grandians of Insulonian descent) in August of 2011, very few were able to leave La-mer Province, where they have historically been concentrated. The few that did manage to legally live elsewhere generally moved to Francistown, as it offered unique opportunities for work. This church, located near the boundary of the Mansion District, was built in 1978 for the local Ensuñan community, which is already growing considerably due to the Edict of Liberation.


Here is one of the first mansions you'll come across when turning onto Palace Street, located at a busy intersection with one of the four avenues that run directly to the Imperial Senate. Local development, hints of which can already be seen, have their eyes on this choice piece of property, currently up for sale for 1,900,000 Enieo ($950,000).


Just across the street is a smaller mansion, also up for sale at a bargain price of 1,500,000 Enieo ($750,000), considering how close it is to the beach.


Now beginning Palace Street proper, we pass this magnificent mansion, property of a mysterious New Friscian going only by the name of "Matt". There's a lot of rumors circulating as to who this "Matt" could be, ranging from a multimillionare computer guy to a wealthy miser. One thing all the rumors have in common though - whoever the owner is, he's fabulously wealthy.


After that, we pass the famous Skarr House, the summer palace of the Grandian Petersroys (the branch of the House of Petersroy that rules in Grand). Its magnificent tiled central plaza has seen much wear, but nevertheless still conveys much beauty.


Passing Skarr House, we come to this large mansion, which is for sale at a price of 10 million Enieo. It is the newest mansion on the street, having been completed earlier this year.


The Consul of the Imperial Senate resides in this fine building, the style of which evokes the fine Posilliponian buildings of times past. Behind it you can see work progressing on a new section of the Francistown Metro.


This massive building was originally intended to replace Skarr House, which King-Emperor Daniel IV deemed to be too old-fashioned, but after his death earlier this year, and Charles I was subsequently crowned as the new King-Emperor, he cancelled the plans to make this a royal residence, instead preferring Skarr House, which he had grown up in. He had this house put up for sale at an asking price of 50 million Enieo, or $100 million. There are several conditions to purchasing the place however, one of which is that the buyer must be from a noble or formerly noble family.


For now, the sequence of mansions ends with this mansion, which is the only surviving mansion, besides Skarr House, to have parts that predate the Great Adonian War. The building is currently inhabited by the richest private businessman in the nation, Jack Nielsoen, the CEO of Gemstones International.


Finally, to close this update, here's a glimpse of the private beach sectioned off for the use of the mansion's inhabitants, including those inhabiting Skarr House.