The Post-Gazette's new office in Ziegendorf.New Office for Post-GazetteZiegendorf, Barovia - Since Archduke Konrad took over the government, people have been encouraged to abandon their lives in the major cities of Vorona for smaller cities. Most of these cities were strongly opposed to the communist take-over, and are fiercely loyal to House von Barovia. The local governments, citizens, and media are fast to shut down any dissent amongst the new immigrants to their cities, and some have noticed a distinct lack of freedom of the press growing around the nation. However, the Vorona Post-Gazette has managed to find one of the most liberal cities to escape the conservative clamp-down on freedoms from the government. The Post-Gazette has decided to move form our headquarters in Barovia City to a new office in Ziegendorf. The Post-Gazette is determined to giving the truth to the people of Vorona regardless of what the government wishes. We will not bow to those who try to coerce us, nor those who try to bribe us. We are true journalists, a dieing race here in Vorona. The government may censor us. They may slander our good name. They even may arrest our staff. But so long as a single journalist remains. So long as a single printer is still working. So long as a single person in all Vorona wishes to know the truth. We will not give up.
Communist soldiers using tear gas on rioters.Radical Reforms, Royal Power-Mongering, and the Loss of FreedomDechow, Barovia - Many months ago, the silent war started. The Kampenkorps under Archduke Konrad raided the Imperial Royalist Party and Communist Party offices and military bases. Secretive witch hunts for the elite soldiers were held, to punish the Archduke for his opposition. In return, the Kampenkorps assassinated key officials in their homes. They took hostages, and sent execution videos back to the then government, never releasing them to the public. Atrocities occurred on both sides, but few of the populace took notice. Of course the signs were there. Unexplained curfews, word-of-mouth rules on taboo subjects, disappearances, and many other indications. But the people of Vorona decided it was easier to simply turn a blind eye to the conflict, and keep their heads down. Until just a few months ago.
The end of the Communist Party started simply enough. An unknown man jumped on a fountain in the middle of Marksville, started shouting about how the Communist Party was destroying Vorona. Few paid him any attention. Soon enough a pair of officers came to take him away. They asked him to come quietly. He said no. They asked again. Once more, his reply was no. The paid asked a third time, and as the man began to say No again, one of the officers whipped out his club and smacked the back of the protesters knees. He fell flailing, and the other officer quickly detained him. By then a few spectators had gathered, including one of our journalists. The man resisted wildly, and after a few moments of trying to restrain him, the officer that had hit him the first time did so again. Except this time it was a hit to the head. The man stopped flailing, in fact, he stopped moving at all. A little trickle of blood was coming from his temple. A general gasp could be heard from the growing crowd. The two officers started dragging him away, but before they got far, the man regained consciousness. He started screaming, whether in pain or in anger, nobody knows. The same officer moved to hit him again, but as he raised his club, one of the spectators grabbed it from him. While this was happening the other officer had tazed the protester, but he let him drop to the floor as he noticed the scene. The communist who had lost his club had turned on the citizen who had taken it and moved to assault him. Another person stepped between the two, fists clenched. Both officers unbuttoned their holsters, trying to scare the two who had stood up for the man into submission. Two became four. And four became eight. Soon enough, the odds had changed from two armed men against two defenseless citizens to two armed men against an angry crowd of citizens with blunt objects. More officers came to the scene, as well as more angry citizens. Both groups shoved and pushed, and both brandished their weapons. It wasn't clear which side attacked the other first. It happened, though, and that's what matters.
One unknown man started a riot the size that Vorona had never seen before. The second largest city in the country was engulfed in destruction and chaos. Word spread like wildfire across the island, and other riots began. Soon it seemed as if the entire nation was rising up. The military was deployed, and the Communist Party used every resources to stop the riots. The military was well-trained and well-equipped. The rioters were an unorganized mob with make-shift weapons they picked up from their homes. The military was winning. And then the Kampenkorps moved into action. The military had been completely deployed to stop the riots. Countless military bases and government installations were left with meager protection. Within days the Kampenkorps has laid seige to nearly everyone of these important buildings. The chain of command was shattered. Generals were killed as they prepared battle strategies for the riots. Defence Ministry officials were run down as they tried to escape the elite soldiers. The rioters had gained the upper hand, and they all knew it was thanks to a certain self-proclaimed monarch.
The Communist Party didn't last long after that. The remaining officials were either hunted and killed, or had surrendered and been executed. Archduke Konrad had control of the nation, and nobody could deny that. In a few weeks the nation calmed down. That's when we started noticing what the new government was doing. They were changing the communists' policies, of course they were. But they were making them worse. Slavery was legalized. The royals and the nobility gained massive power. Democracy was all but destroyed. Yet who would speak up against the savior of Vorona? Nobody said a word. Communists who had survived the over-throw and the families of all those that hadn't were enslaved. Many sold themselves, or their families into slavery, trying to make up for all that they had lost in the riots. And the 'Commons' of Vorona were twisted with other new policies. Underaged drinking/smoking, prostitution (Both by the state and by private citizens), child labor, and countless other vile things were legalized. And dozens of important freedoms were stripped from the people. Crime was rampant, but it was never against the royalty, or the nobility. Nobody would dare touch the aristocracy. It was the minorities, and the poor, the people of the 'Commons' with the worst situations. THEY were who suffered from all this crime. The government put this chain of events into action, and they have yet to do a thing to stop it. By the time someone has the sense enough to try to stop these things, it will likely be too late. The communists were oppressive and cruel, they deserved what they got, but the new government is just as bad, and even worse. Remember why Cassilos and his lackies were ousted, and then take a long hard look at Archduke Konrad and his ilk.