The Isaern Sentinel

[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
13th September, 2011.
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• Duke Eadgar Hravn, Ambassador to Lafayette, today embarks on his final journey to the Lafayettien capital with the aims of finalising the Treaty of Colfax, an agreement which will put an official seal on the friendship between our nations. Duke Hravn described the penultimate meeting as "extremely promising".
  

• King Lauther’s visit to Arawald has been cut short due to severe snowfall around the capital. Over a hundred businesses as well as a significant number of schools have been forced to close in Hravnspir due to the severity of the weather. Meteorologists promise that the end is in sight though and that the Spir may yet see the sun again.
  

• Duke Aelric Silfor’s bestselling novel ‘Running with the Pack’ has sold over three million copies. The book is based on Duke Silfor's own experiences within the regiment and his ascent into the higher ranks of the exceptionally secretive Silforpyke Greys, the infamous and elite branch of the Isaern military. While offering a rare glimpse into the workings of the regiment, members of the Greys have spoken out against the book claiming that it's misleading and inaccurate. Notorious for their rigorous training regime and extremely high standards, the excerpt below describes an event that the Duke, who was only 17 at the time, supposedly experienced in his third week of “boot camp”

'“I wish it’d stop snowing.” I grumbled, mainly to myself.

There was a short burst of laughter as my comrades took in the stupidity of my statement.

“I don’t think I can remember a time when it wasn’t snowing.” Offa mumbled The large man reclined precariously on a small wooden chair which voiced its concerns with a loud creak. “Have you ever even seen the ground before?” he paused, “I mean, the ground without three feet of snow over it?”

“I have been places, you know.” I snapped with an odd sense of pride, “Haelathwald’s just fields and trees, not that much snow.”

“Posh bastard.” Jaenberht, one of the older recruits, sighed. He sat upright from his bunk and squinted towards the window where I was perched. “I’ve been trying to sleep for nearly an hour and you just won’t shut the fuck up. Go to sleep.”

“It’s too cold for sleep…” I replied quietly, determined to have the last word.

“Never heard such fucking nonsense.” Jaenberht’s shadow buried his head under a pillow.

I woke with a start, knocking the cheap, plastic, battery powered lantern off the table I’d been crouched on. It hit the wooden floor with a hollow thud and rolled into the centre of the cabin, revealing the five sleeping forms of my comrades. None of them stirred.

There was barely enough room for the six of us to stand in the cabin, nevermind sleep. I’d had to fight Offa for my right to use the table as a bed, and I’d ended up sharing with Oswald anyway.
The over-turned lantern flickered for a moment before dying completely. “Piece of shit.” I muttered, trying to adjust my position on the edge of the table.

“Piece of shit?” Offa muttered, “That’s the most advanced piece of equipment they’ve given us!”

I scoffed, “When they told us we’d be coming out here I didn’t expect them to give us the sort of equipment that the army used eighty years ago. Maybe the real mission is not to freeze to de—“ Something suddenly drew my attention outside in the dark.

A moment of silence hung in the air before Offa leant forward and followed my gaze out of the small, frosted over window. “What?”

“Something definitely moved.” I insisted.

“Everything is moving, snow, wind, the trees…”

“Something big, like… Upright.” I quickly said, adamant.

“Probably an Elk, Elks are big.” Offa made fake antlers over his head with his hands and shook his head.

I scowled. “I’m not a moron. Something moved.”

“Hey, don’t get funny with me.”

“I’m not, something moved, trust me!” I urged.

Offa de-antlered himself and rubbed his hands together. “Something probably did move, a tree. Or an—“ Offa’s response was cut short as the rickety wooden door shattered inwards.

A dark mass piled into the cabin, driving his boot into Aldfrith who’d been asleep on the floor and discharging his shotgun into the mass of blankets that was Jaenberht. Offa and I sprung up but Offa dropped straight back down again as a second shot rang out. I leapt across the room for my antiquated rifle but a fist caught me square across the face mid-stride. I slumped over onto Oswald who let out a terrified screech before a second shadow grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out into the snow.

My eyes slowly opened, offering blurry vision at best. My arms and feet were bound and I could tell I was being carried, slung over someone's shoulder. I was wearing a thick sweater and insulated trousers over thermal underwear but in this biting cold I might as well have been naked. “What’s going-“

“Shut up.” A voice I didn’t recognise barked back through the wind.

I squirmed but something heavy struck me across the back. I could hear what sounded like distant conversation but the combined sound of my teeth chattering and the whistling of the wind prevented me from picking out any words. A few moments later I was held out and what I could only assume was some kind of sleeping bag was thrown over me before I slipped into unconsciousness.

I hit the concrete ground hard. “Up.” I recognised the voice as being one of the men that’d taken us during the night.

I struggled to pull myself free of sleeping bag and found myself being helped by Aldfrith and Offa.

“UP.” The voice repeated.

Offa held me upright and attempted to pull me to my feet.

I squinted and blinked repeatedly in an attempt to clear my vision, I could barely see my five team mates stood unsteadily around me. “How?” I whispered weakly.

“Rubber bullets.” Offa whispered back, forcing a smile.

“You have a five minute head start.” The barking of several dogs provided an ominous backdrop for the stranger’s voice. He was tall, taller than Offa, and wearing what I, at the time, refused to recognise as the uniform of the Silforpyke Greys. He wore a heavy black officer’s overcoat, with a wolf pelt slung around his shoulders, and the faceplate of his helmet bore the countenance of a stylised skull. “Five minutes and we let the dogs loose.”

“Hurry!” Jaenberht yelled as shot towards the doorway, one of the double doors was broken off its hinges revealing a long corridor. From what my compromised mental situation could gather, it looked like we were in some sort of unused military base, or perhaps a hospital. The walls were painted a pale green but in numerous places the paint had peeled away to reveal concrete. Before I’d even attempted to make my legs move Offa had dragged me half way down the corridor. Oswald trailed behind, sobbing quietly.

Jaenberht led us, no one argued. All of the doors we came across were barred or bolted shut apart from just one, after what seemed like hours of trying to navigate the damned place we came across a door with “Safe” scrawled on the door in red paint.

“Do you reckon they’re waiting with dogs in there?” Ethelwin stuttered.

“We’re probably fucked either way.” Jaenberht replied with a grim laugh before pushing the door open. It was dark inside, literally pitch black, and I couldn’t even start to describe the stench that emanated from it. Jaenberht disappeared inside and with none of his confidence (or perhaps it was apathy) the rest of us followed. The doors swung themselves shut behind us and everything was bathed in darkness.

We must have been about three metres in when there was a terrific splashing noise and Jaenberht let out an enraged yell. Oswald was the last to fall in, signalled by his intensified sobbing.

“It’s fucking blood!” I remember Offa laughing incredulously.

“Neck deep in blood or eaten by dogs.” Jaenberht added.

I held onto the ledge of what I assumed was a repurposed swimming pool, after a brief attempt at pulling myself out I gave up. Exhausted, I just floated. The pool wasn’t just blood, it was filled with chunks of offal and God knows what else and it was oddly warm. I remember Aldfrith whispering, half in jest, “It’s okay if you shit yourself, no one will know.”’

(I got carried away, sorry.)

 

[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
14th September, 2011.

• [FONT=&quot]
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  , a colossal bucket-wheel excavator built to remove massive amounts of waste at the surface mine Terminal 76 in Deorne, will today embark on a 12 mile journey to the nearby Terminal 78. Weighing over 13,000 tons, over 200 metres long and standing at 93 metres high, the Badger 294 is one of the largest land vehicles in existence. With a top speed of around 10 metres per minutes, it's expected that the journey will take the Badger just under three weeks. The Badger will have to cross two railroad lines and a major river as well as several roads. Almund Coenwulf, Unit Manager of Terminal 78 earlier this week said "It's obviously a daunting task, most people are surprised that it'd take longer and cost more to dismantle it than it will to just drive the thing."[/FONT]

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[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!

16th September, 2011.

• Scientists at the Royal Academy of Sciences, in association with the Royal Foundry, have developed a glowing wound dressing that indicates the presence of an infection. The dressing works due to a special gel that contains molecules which bind with bacteria and activate a fluorescent dye which glows purple under an ultraviolet light. Dr Aodhan Blede, Head Researcher on the project, earlier said "this could be vital in allowing us to rapidly and accurately treat wounds, it can take a number of days to conventionally take swabs and grow cultures to identify the scale of an infection".
  

 

[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
10th October, 2011.

• Four Suionian men have been attacked in Hravnspir. The attack took place between 19:00-19:30 on the evening of the 9th in the Blacgeat area. Witnesses report that the four men had just entered a bar when they attacked, unprovoked, by several of the patrons who then fled the scene. Doctors state that the four sustained significant injuries but all should make a full recovery. This attack is believed to be related to mounting tensions within the nation after Warre and Bantyr declared war upon Suionia. The Police have announced that the victims were engineers visiting Isaernor on business and that racially charged attacks, regardless of national opinions, will be met with the strictest punishment.

 

[Helairo]

Rúnaí de Eachtracha Gnóthaí
(Secretary of Foreign Affairs)

With the recent declaration of war of The United Republics signed against Suinoia, we would like to extend our condolences. We hope our recent declaration of war will not extend these recent outbursts of violence.

Sincerely,
Daniel o Loinsigh

 

[Isaernor]

Rúnaí de Eachtracha Gnóthaí
(Secretary of Foreign Affairs)

With the recent declaration of war of The United Republics signed against Suinoia, we would like to extend our condolences. We hope our recent declaration of war will not extend these recent outbursts of violence.

Sincerely,
Daniel o Loinsigh

Such acts of violence occur innumerable times and for innumerable reasons across the world daily, I'm sure this is just an unfortunate coincidence and not the beginning of any anti-Suionian sentiment.

Regards,

Duke Ecgfrith Caedmon, Marshal of Hravnspir.

 

[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
19th October, 2011.

• King Lauther today angrily rebuked Duke Sigeric Arawald at a public forum after the Duke of Arawald claimed that the King's inaction towards the ongoing northern war was a rejection of the nation's Celtic background.

• Rioters were dispersed using lethal force in Deorne today after protests over the closure of Terminals 8, 24 and 38 led to the looting of shops along several streets in the city centre. Over a thousand people were made redundant with the closure of the mines due to budget cuts and promises to allocate new jobs for the majority of the displaced workers have yet to be met. 13 were killed and 26 were injured.

 

[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
22nd October, 2011.

• The Isaern military moves to reinforce Hyborea! "We intend to safeguard our Hyborean cousins in this time of uncertainty" King Lauther announced earlier today. Two brigades will redeploy to CarrickSlaine, the capital of the Warreic territory, in an effort to support our allies.

((Reason for edit: Grammar))
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[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
1st November, 2011.

• Search for Traitor continues! Ivar Guthrum, the man who earlier this week threatened to reveal "critical secrets about the monarchy", has been declared a traitor by Marshall Caedmon of Hravnspir. Several newspapers reported Guthrum's story earlier this week after Guthrum, claiming to be an ex-thegn of the King, threatened to release confidential information he'd uncovered while serving in Hravnspir Palace unless he recieved 200,000 ISC. Shortly after these stories were published family members of Guthrum state he went into hiding. In a press conference this morning Marshall Caedmon stated that a death sentence for Guthrum is certain.

• Four day curfew in Deorne lifted! The curfew was imposed after continued rioting over the closure of a fourth mine last week. Police say the curfew was necessary to end what was almost two weeks of rioting and that without it more lives could have been lost. "The riots seemed to peak on the 25th" said the Marshall of Deorne Aldhelm Heliand, "they continued well into the night, both the police and rioters suffered casualties". Leaked estimates reveal that 53 rioters were killed, over 200 injured, and 47 police officers were injured.
  

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[Isaernor]

The Isaern Sentinel
Þrýþ and Þolmódnes!
10th November, 2011.

• Archbishop accuses King of blasphemy! Members of the clergy are in shock after the King supposedly mocked the Catholic faith and joked about revoking the tax exempt status Churches across the nation currently benefit from. The comments were allegedly made to Prince Cynric after a brief meeting with the Archibishop of Hravnspir, Anselm Baeda. Rumours of a fallout between the King and Archbishop Baeda began to circulate shortly the King's coronation but today seemed to lay the feud out for all as the Archbishop harshly criticised the King during a public appearance. While the King has yet to respond, Prince Cynric rebuked the accusations as "ridiculous".

• Archduke Brihthelm announced intentions to withdraw, or at least "greatly reduce", the military forces currently garrisoned in Hyborea. He stated "... the threat appears to have lessened and it might be time to reconsider our position, the Warreic are perfectly capable of defending themselves and our soldiers might be better stationed elsewhere".