House Of The Exiles

[Margrave]

Laitila, The Hansa

From across Great Europe, they had come: The full staff of the Camberlainer Humanitarian Mission. Having abandoned the camps and aid stations, pulling as much capital and resources together as possible, they had fled the great chaos and change that had become the majority of Europe, and gathered in one of the few countries left that would leave them at peace: The Hansa.

The town of Laitila had not been much before the Mission arrived; indeed, much of the populace had moved south to Turku in the past few years, seeking jobs and money in the comforts of the city. It had thus been a perfect base for the Humanitarian Mission...and the spy operations Camberlain had conducted against the Nordic forces that had not immediately surrendered. The time since had caused it to grow slightly, with proper roads and buildings laid out as the old ones were done away with, a city planner using some of the local construction workers to help set up a proper living quarters and HQ for the Northern Europe Division of the HM. Now, it had become the center for the Camberlainers still in Europe. The soldiers that had guarded the Food/Aid caravans had set up a perimeter around the town in case of banditry, but mostly focused on building new living quarters and gathering food and funds. Two platoons of Engineers, representing 7th Engineer Battalion of the Camberlain Royal Marine Corps, had started to training the other aid workers in basic construction, and thus it was that the town was rapidly expanding.

Still, the impromptu council that had taken control of the town was worried: What would their fates be? Who would govern them? When the Hansa's government found out, what would be their response?

And so it was that a vote was held in the town, asking them to elect a Ruler and Government for themselves, to represent them to the Hansa and keep the peace. Although a few spoke up for a Mayoral system in favor of the old Free-City policy of Camberlain, it was decided to elect the highest ranking Nobleman still alive and able-bodied; one Lewis De Luit, formerly of Whangarei New Zealand. A younger man, he had been a musician and a speech-writer, a poet and a representative of his family, which was the major financial backer of the Mission. Having been elected to the position of Keeper for the town, a vote was quickly held to support basic law and order in the city and its outlying areas. After it had passed, the Keeper, Lewis De Luit, officially appointed Captain Turner (RCMC, Commanding Officer Of The Humanitarian Defense Forces), Ales Kaitlander (Chairwoman of the Northern Europe HM and well known financial guru) Gerik Waylander (A low cousin of the Waylander House, known to be a excellent hunter and well acquainted with basic farming) and Kyoko Mukisune (A Nipponese scientist and physicist) as Warders, to form up the Keepers Council. With the government thus assembled, the small town held a final vote to determine its name...and with a resounding 100% vote, chose the name "Camburic", or "Wanderer's Rest", to honor the memory of their homeland.

Camburic, The Hansa

In a crowded office, the Keeper De Luit arranged for a video-conference message to be sent to the Hansa's capital, hopefully reaching their leaders there.

"Greetings: If you are receiving this message, then all is well and our techies have succeeded in broadcasting from truly terrible equipment.

"The words we would say is thus: We are citizens of Camberlain, who have gathered here in what was once Laitela, in order to build a safe haven for ourselves here. Our few soldiers who accompanied the mission have not passed ten miles outside of the city, and we have no plans to interfere with the government of the Hansa or to act outside of our township and its immediate environs. We request an audience with the leaders of the Hansa, so that we can come to appropriate terms for all of us."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

OOC: After the EFTA Conference

"So tell me again Minister Valakka, how over five thousand people walked into our nation and settled the entire city of Laitila?"

"Your Excellency, you have to realize that we have people moving in and out of the country constantly, especially with our open border policy and such. The Hansa is incredibly easy to get into, many of us have thought that maybe the laws should be reformed to prevent against terrorism. After all, terrorism was what sparked both revolutions in the past year."

Sarah looked at the nation map placed in front of her. "You know Jan, I didn't say I was mad or anything about the influx. I was just hoping that this information could be brought to our attention sooner. After all, they did take over an entire city by themselves and we just found out now. The only thing I'd like to see reformed is stronger communication between more remote areas in the country. I understand that something like this would never happen in Turku or Porvoo or Vantaa, but we need to be careful. Communication is everything." She sighed and stood up looking out the window of the meeting room. "We're lucky that the Camberlainers are peaceful, personally I'm quite happy that we have people continuing to seek refuge in the Hansa."

"The Refugee Act was your idea Lady Tintagyl."

"I understand that Karl. We just need to find out their intentions of staying, if its only temporary like the Forstellenics or if its maybe something a little more permanent."

"Their leaders did request an audience Your Excellency. Should we arrange a meeting in the capital."

Sarah shook her head and turned back to her ministers. "No, I want to see what the Camberlainers have created in...Cambric. I will go myself and have a meeting with their leaders there. Refugees or not, they are part of the Hanseatic population and I hope that they will at least try to contribute to the economy and building of the state."

------

The following day, under a gray sky a white limousine headed a motorcade up the well maintained roads, which surprised Sarah considering how remote the village was, towards the village of Cambric. The village was in a remote area of the Hansa, just north of Turku, but on the foothills of a small range of hills that made the weather a little less pleasant to other areas in the country. The white limousine pulled into the center of the town, with two Hanseatic flags waving in the front. A side door opened and Sarah walked out to the eyes of the Camberlainers gathered in the square.

Stepping fully out of the limousine she smiled at the crowd that was beginning to gather and bowed her head. "Greetings Camberlainers, my name is Sarah Tintagyl, I am the Prime Minister for the Hanseatic Republic. My government received a video message pertaining to your arrival in my country and I was hoping that I would be able to talk to your leader so that we may begin to settle you down properly in your new home." She looked around waiting to see the leader introduce him or herself.

Edited February 9, 2009 by Sarah Tintagyl

[Margrave]

OOC: After the EFTA Conference

"So tell me again Minister Valakka, how over five thousand people walked into our nation and settled the entire city of Laitila?"

"Your Excellency, you have to realize that we have people moving in and out of the country constantly, especially with our open border policy and such. The Hansa is incredibly easy to get into, many of us have thought that maybe the laws should be reformed to prevent against terrorism. After all, terrorism was what sparked both revolutions in the past year."

Sarah looked at the nation map placed in front of her. "You know Jan, I didn't say I was mad or anything about the influx. I was just hoping that this information could be brought to our attention sooner. After all, they did take over an entire city by themselves and we just found out now. The only thing I'd like to see reformed is stronger communication between more remote areas in the country. I understand that something like this would never happen in Turku or Porvoo or Vantaa, but we need to be careful. Communication is everything." She sighed and stood up looking out the window of the meeting room. "We're lucky that the Camberlainers are peaceful, personally I'm quite happy that we have people continuing to seek refuge in the Hansa."

"The Refugee Act was your idea Lady Tintagyl."

"I understand that Karl. We just need to find out their intentions of staying, if its only temporary like the Forstellenics or if its maybe something a little more permanent."

"Their leaders did request an audience Your Excellency. Should we arrange a meeting in the capital."

Sarah shook her head and turned back to her ministers. "No, I want to see what the Camberlainers have created in...Cambric. I will go myself and have a meeting with their leaders there. Refugees or not, they are part of the Hanseatic population and I hope that they will at least try to contribute to the economy and building of the state."

------

The following day, under a gray sky a white limousine headed a motorcade up the well maintained roads, which surprised Sarah considering how remote the village was, towards the village of Cambric. The village was in a remote area of the Hansa, just north of Turku, but on the foothills of a small range of hills that made the weather a little less pleasant to other areas in the country. The white limousine pulled into the center of the town, with two Hanseatic flags waving in the front. A side door opened and Sarah walked out to the eyes of the Camberlainers gathered in the square.

Stepping fully out of the limousine she smiled at the crowd that was beginning to gather and bowed her head. "Greetings Camberlainers, my name is Sarah Tintagyl, I am the Prime Minister for the Hanseatic Republic. My government received a video message pertaining to your arrival in my country and I was hoping that I would be able to talk to your leader so that we may begin to settle you down properly in your new home." She looked around waiting to see the leader introduce him or herself.

As luck would have it, Sarah had arrived just as the Camberlainers were celebrating St Christopher's day, the Catholic patron saint for travelers. It was a happy affair despite the occasions and trials of their new life, with good Gaelic music and hearty food. A young man who had been playing an old Irish love song, "Dance 'Round The Spinnin' Wheel", hopped off the stage and into the midst of some of the dancers. With a few gestures, he brought the merry group to silence as he approached the lady, putting his guitar on his back as he did so.

"Greetings to you, my lady. I am the Keeper here, the leader of the people by popular choice and bloodright. Lewis De Luit's the name." He offered her a vigorous handshake, his face slightly red against the chill. "I realize we are...not exactly invited guests here, but we have honored the traveler's code in all the territory we've passed through...mostly. Settling here is something none of us intended, but...it is what we were drawn to do, and now we have ourselves a new home. I can't tell you that we intend to leave...as we hope to stay and make something of this settlement. If you would come inside, perhaps we could discuss an arrangement that would be benefit your fine country and allow us the pleasure of living here."

With that, he lead her to a large hall that had been recovered from near disaster. Built in the nature of a drinking hall of old, it had been restored and given the modern amenities of heating, air-conditioning, and indoor plumbing...still, something about it conveyed the sense of agelessness, of that idea of home which drove the Marchar's of Camberlain to keep seeking. As he ordered food to be brought, he gestured to a set of comfortable chairs arranged next to a fire-place, the heating having been cut off temporarily. It was a cheery, roaring fire, one that took the cold straight from the bones.

"Well, m'lady, to start with, we have about five hundred trained soldiers here." He raised his hand before she could give a response. "This wasn't our intention, to assemble an armed force, but so many guards and protectors of the humanitarian mission were left in Europe that we seem to have gotten one. We have about 120 Engineers, with a couple hundred infantry and some random specialists thrown in the batch. Our council has been mulling over a proposal, and although we're not completely finished with it, the scope of it would be that we'd put these forces at your command, provided they stayed, well, Marchar under the command of Marchar. We'd pay our taxes and agree to service, provided most of us can, well, stick close together. We'd like to work with Turku and the local places for most of our needs, and we're more than willing to invest the funds we liquidated from the Mission's bank accounts in the economy here. We're really interested in settling down, spreading our roots, and getting to know our neighbors...but these people, my lady. They need a land, and they need to know that it is their land. We don't intend to interfere with the affairs of others, or do much other than gain a place in this world for ourselves, but we need to have a home, instead of another rallying point. If we could purchase, or even lease out the lands of and surrounding our town, we'd be much obliged. We're something of an isolated kind of people, due to the...problems we've gone through, but we're loyal and we know how to hold our own, even in the lean, hard, fighting times. If you'll have us, we'll have you, and there isn't a more dedicated person alive than a Marchar who has made an oath."

With that, he shut his trap and waited for her reply.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Sarah nodded at the Keeper of the Marchar and smiled as she took a deep breath. "I understand fully Mr. De Luit, to tell you the truth my country at the moment recently passed a refugee act, we recently let go of some thousand Forstellenic refugees and my countrymen would be more than happy to make your people's acquittance. Now on your condition of continuing the ideology of self-rule, I cannot proclaim Cambric as an independent city, our citizens would be extremely against that and we have had a series of very bloody revolutions to fully consolidate our state and giving you full independence could not be achieved. However, I am willing to give you autonomy within the Hansa." She folded her hands on her chin. "A very simple proposal, the Marchar may elect a representative to represent them in the Diet. This representative will also be directly subordinate to both myself and you. I would like to keep an eye on the prosperity of your people, just to make sure that they are treated equally in the state and that you become as close to our people as one of our own."

"As for the land, there is no need to buy or lease the land. Consider it yours. I imagine that Cambric will become a Marchar-Hanseatic center of culture in just a few years." Sarah looked out the window to the snow covered hills in the distance. "I used to come here when I was a little girl Mr. De Luit. I used to camp under the stars in the summer time. The land is truly beautiful in the summer, I would love to see more people come to this area to see what I saw as a little girl, yet to keep it environmentally the same would be even better."

She turned back to Lewis and smiled again. "I hope to get to you know much better in the coming months Mr. De Luit. You seem like a quality leader, young too like me, and let me tell you that the young now exactly how to run this world we live in. I hope that you bring prosperity to your people and likewise to mine. Let us try to make it ours."

[Margrave]

Lewis smile grew to a grin as she stated her terms and goals for his people. "M'lady, your generosity and kindness to us is undeserved and truly welcome. Even if we retain our ethnic and cultural identity, we will always remember the kindness of the Hansa and its ruler, Sarah Tintagyl. We will do our best to prove able-bodied dwellers in this new territory."

He leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers down his neck. "We'll start out by putting a lookout for teachers. We'd like to get a good school system going here for the children, and our future children of course...as long as we have permission to teach Marchar specific classes, we'd like them to learn the Hansa's history as well. We will also start looking into setting up electricity and phones here, although we won't be putting many of them in. Alot of people here want to withdraw from communicating with a large portion of the outside world, and we'll honor that by limiting the number of phones, although all those who want one will get them. We'll try to set up some small farming operations if its feasible, and our Engineers could start training your citizens in basic construction if you need them."

Lewis nodded, somewhat excited by the prospects of the future. "We have a large amount of funds that we acquired before, during, and after the fall of Greater Nordland...not all of it come by through donations. Alot of banks stopped working or protecting their bullion, and some of the government officials weren't so careful...needless to say, that gold no longer has any rightful owners, and we've been using it to buy supplies and support the refugees...before we became refugees. We still a good deal left...would it be possible to trade it with you, to strengthen your currency, and in return give us the value of the gold in your currency?"

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Yes, that would be extremely welcomed and I'll tell you what, whatever amount of bullion you give us we'll add a bit more just so its easier to start out here. Your people have come a long way from Nordland and I'm sure the memories of that war still hold strong for your people, mine as well, it was time that I'd like to place into my past as quick as possible." Sarah looked up at Lewis and continued. "However, on the teachers, we'd like to send you a few off our own history and social science professors to teach our histories and such, likewise if you need faculty for the humanities and natural sciences that can be arranged as well. But as construction, we'll be fine, though if your engineers are looking for work besides in Cambric, we are always involved in infrastructure projects that we would be elated if you like to help us in."

She turned around and looked back out the window. "I must have come at a good time Mr. De Luit. Why the celebration? Your people's arrival in our land?"

[Margrave]

"Yes, that would be extremely welcomed and I'll tell you what, whatever amount of bullion you give us we'll add a bit more just so its easier to start out here. Your people have come a long way from Nordland and I'm sure the memories of that war still hold strong for your people, mine as well, it was time that I'd like to place into my past as quick as possible." Sarah looked up at Lewis and continued. "However, on the teachers, we'd like to send you a few off our own history and social science professors to teach our histories and such, likewise if you need faculty for the humanities and natural sciences that can be arranged as well. But as construction, we'll be fine, though if your engineers are looking for work besides in Cambric, we are always involved in infrastructure projects that we would be elated if you like to help us in."

She turned around and looked back out the window. "I must have come at a good time Mr. De Luit. Why the celebration? Your people's arrival in our land?"

"I thank you for your understanding...and your kindness. Know that if you ever have a need for us, we shall come as you call. One thing you will learn of us soon is that we keep our oaths...to the death, if need be." He shook his head, pushing away some of the thoughts crowding his memories. "But on to more pleasant things. As it happens, today we are celebrating Saint Christopher's day...although it has been a long time since we were culturally Catholic, we still honor the old saint. The Patron Saint Of Travelers has done us a good turn now and again as we wandered the pathways of the world. It has been our fate; we have been great, and we have been weak. We have been many, and once, we were reduced to a tiny village clinging to the California coast. It has been our way...until now. Now, we have come to hold this place...and we will hold it...till our end."

He walked her outside then, watching the people as they had resumed their festivities. "Miss Sarah, if you'll excuse me for a moment." Lewis clambered up the ladder to the high stage and cut off the acoustic band that had been playing only moments ago. "People! I hate to interrupt our festival, but the lady Sarah has granted our new place to us as our home. She has given us kindness and shown mercy to us Travelers, abiding by a code that long ago passed out of time. For that and more, she has my oath and my strength should she ever need it. As the Keeper of the People, I declare the House of Tintagyl to be Kin to us. Let no one turn away a Tintagyl from the warmth of our fires!" He gestured towards her as he spoke, evoking a cheer as he did so.

"My lady, will you speak to them? They seem to have taken a liking to you", he said with a smile.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Sarah walked up onto the stage and stared down at the crowd of Camberlainers below her. "Ladies and Gentlemen, my friends, my neighbors, my kin. As your leader has introduced me so well, I am Sarah Tintagyl of the Hanseatic Republic and I want to personally welcome each and everyone one of you to my home. We are new nation from the world's standpoint, given our independence only a year and a few months ago, however the Hansa stands as a testimony of the world that we as humans can unite for a greater good. Your people were once spread all throughout Europe and there is nothing that touches my heart more than anything to see you arrive here safe and sound and with the hopes to build a thriving community on these forested hills. I once traveled here as a child and the land was truly beautiful and I hope that God will be able to show each and everyone of you the same beauty that he showed me on these hills."

"It is also my responsibility to make sure that your new home is as friendly as anywhere else you have been and that your people will be dealt with fairly. Cambric will have a special representative in our Diet and I will make it my duty to specifically watch over the progress of your people. I hope that one day maybe you may look at yourselves as true Hanseatic citizens, but I do not pressure that, for you are all our neighbors and you are all our brothers and sisters. Your leader tells me that a Marchar will never abandon an oath and I tel you that the same goes for a Hanseatic. From this day forward we will all work together for the advancements of our states, our societies, our peoples. So that we may live in a world of peace and prosperity and where chaos and disorder will never threaten our lands."

Smiling at the cheers from the crowd, Sarah descended from the stage only to be whisked away by the Camberlainers.