Imperial Diet & Rules

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

Good Electors,

I have called this session in order that we may discuss our grievances in a civilized manner, as is the custom of civilized men in civilized empires. This current conflict brewing amongst us is good for nobody, save for the opportunistic wretches who care nothing for Godly law or human life. If the Reich falls to civil war, what shall stop our neighbors from looking upon our weakened state and deciding that they would be the one to strengthen it? What shall stop our potential enemies from becoming our actual enemies? If my would-be usurpers should succeed, where would the conflict officially end? Do you all truly believe that, once having removed me from power, you will stop your titular lust there? Having proven that you are willing to throw aside your natural allies that are in the way of your career advancement, would you suddenly break with tradition and create an inner clique of rulers, opportunistic and untrustworthy men all? Would the bloodletting not stop until there was only one noble in charge of the entire Reich, with no peers to assist him?

Surely not, Good Electors, surely not. I know not your exact reasons for beginning this conflict, though I have some idea. I am a reasonable man, and willing to hear what half of my Dukes are so up in arms about that they would defy natural law and try to displace their Kaiser. Therefore, I invite you all here so that we may discuss these matters. Please, come with open arms. State your grievances and demands. If they are reasonable, we will hear it, and heed it, and we will all be off for the better. But if they are not, if I so much as sense the fact that this is nothing more than a power grab, then I shall uphold my pledge to defend the Reich from all of its enemies - be they external or from within - with great vigor. It may surprise you with exactly how much vigor I can do this, as a matter of fact.

But ah, I do not wish to mark such a solemn occasion with such a depressing finish. Please, make yourselves at home. We are all friends here, at least for the time being.

[Cecil XIX]

The first Diet Session is finished. As there was no legislation with the requisite amount of seconders, there will be no voting.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

Right then, this has gone on for long enough.

The only original rebel still at large is Magnus von Saxony. I have offered him terms of surrender. He has failed to respond, thus continuing with needlessly dragging the Reich into debt and fratricide. If he wishes to continue playing his little game, fine. But it is time for the rest of us to face reality and move on. Therefore, I hereby declare an Emergency Diet Session so that we may move forward as a country. Magnus von Saxony is welcome to join in at any time should he accept my previous terms of surrender. Otherwise, he is barred from entering.

In addition, I hereby propose the following Edict:

Edict E1.1: Magnus von Saxony is hereby declared a traitor and a nation unto himself. For official diplomatic purposes, no action that von Saxony takes is considered to be sanctioned by the Reich, and any private diplomatic dealings that von Saxony undertakes only affects him. The Reich declares war on Magnus von Saxony.

If Magnus von Saxony at any time during this Diet accepts my previous terms of surrender, I will immediately withdraw this Edict.

In addition, I have prepared an omnibus bill designed to reorganize the Empire in our postbellum period, but as I am only allowed to propose one Edict or Charter Amendment per Diet session according to our Charter, I cannot officially unveil it here. Thus, I hereby offer the following bill below in the hopes that one or more Good Electors will see its merit and officially propose it:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Suggested CA E1.1: In the aftermath of its unfortunate civil war, the Holy Roman Empire is officially reorganized as follows:

1) The Duchies of Brandenburg, Franconia, Saxony, and Tirol are hereby dissolved.
2) The original heads of the remaining Duchies are as follows: Leopold/Austria, Otto von Kassel/Bavaria, Vaclav Premyslid/Bohemia, Andreas Hümmel/Holland, Henry/Swabia.
3) The city of Frankfurt and its outlying province will become part of the newly-created Imperial Dominion. All newly-conquered cities become part of the Imperial Dominion until/unless the Kaiser grants them to a Duchy, as per Charter provision 6.6.
4) Upon ascendancy to the throne, the new Kaiser automatically inherits the entire Imperial Dominion. Whether they wish to pass off their current lands to a successor or not is up to them.
5) All nobles of the Diet, upon accepting their position, must swear an oath of loyalty to the Kaiser. The oath is as follows:

I hereby swear that, during my time as an Elector, I will serve the Reich faithfully and the Kaiser loyally. I recognize that the Kaiser is the sovereign of the Reich and, while I may disagree with him politically, I will not question his supremacy.

Failure to recite the oath will result in automatic barring from all Diet activities.
6) Any Imperial noble that declares war on the Kaiser is automatically at war with every single other Imperial noble. Any Imperial noble that backs out of this automatic declaration of war is subject to the same treatment.
7) Any Imperial noble that enters the province of Frankfurt with an army larger than his personal bodyguard without the Kaiser's explicit permission is considered at war with the Kaiser and subject to the treatment detailed in Clause 6.
8) If the Kaiser personally declares war on an Imperial noble, the automatic declarations in Clauses 6 and 7 do not apply.

I need seconders for my Edict and a proposer plus seconders for my Charter Amendment. May we press forward and remake our country into the shining light it once was, together.

[The Celtic Viking]

Theodericus stands up and speaks.

"Kaiser, have you forgotten your honour? I seem to remember a part of the deal given to me at my surrender which guaranteed that, as soon as this rebellion was over, the dutchy of Brandenburg was to be handed back to me. You gave me your word you would do this - and now you would have it dissolved? If this is how much your word is worth, if this is how much you care for the treaties you sign, then I for one can understand Magnus's absence."

[phonicsmonkey]

Ernst of Melk, advisor to Duke Leopold of Osterreich, is in attendance and bears the Ducal seal, authorising him to speak on behalf of his master. He rises to address the assembly.

The Duke of Austria will second the Kaiser's Edict E1.1

In addition, his highness will propose the following Charter Amendment E1.1, as detailed by his father the Kaiser:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Suggested CA E1.1: In the aftermath of its unfortunate civil war, the Holy Roman Empire is officially reorganized as follows:

1) The Duchies of Brandenburg, Franconia, Saxony, and Tirol are hereby dissolved.
2) The original heads of the remaining Duchies are as follows: Leopold/Austria, Otto von Kassel/Bavaria, Vaclav Premyslid/Bohemia, Andreas Hümmel/Holland, Henry/Swabia.
3) The city of Frankfurt and its outlying province will become part of the newly-created Imperial Dominion. All newly-conquered cities become part of the Imperial Dominion until/unless the Kaiser grants them to a Duchy, as per Charter provision 6.6.
4) Upon ascendancy to the throne, the new Kaiser automatically inherits the entire Imperial Dominion. Whether they wish to pass off their current lands to a successor or not is up to them.
5) All nobles of the Diet, upon accepting their position, must swear an oath of loyalty to the Kaiser. The oath is as follows:

I hereby swear that, during my time as an Elector, I will serve the Reich faithfully and the Kaiser loyally. I recognize that the Kaiser is the sovereign of the Reich and, while I may disagree with him politically, I will not question his supremacy.
Failure to recite the oath will result in automatic barring from all Diet activities.
6) Any Imperial noble that declares war on the Kaiser is automatically at war with every single other Imperial noble. Any Imperial noble that backs out of this automatic declaration of war is subject to the same treatment.
7) Any Imperial noble that enters the province of Frankfurt with an army larger than his personal bodyguard without the Kaiser's explicit permission is considered at war with the Kaiser and subject to the treatment detailed in Clause 6.
8) If the Kaiser personally declares war on an Imperial noble, the automatic declarations in Clauses 6 and 7 do not apply.

Osterreich has no knowledge of any negotiations between the Kaiser and Brandenburg and so has no opinion on that matter.

[Ignoramus]

Andreas Hümmel, but recently arrived from Hamburg, rises to speak.

I am pleased to see that this destructive period of conflict has been short, and that the damage relatively small. The Kaiser has mein full support.

Turning to the Duke of Austria.

I second Charter Amendment E1.1.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

The agreement, Theodericus der Bartige, was that I would hand Magdeburg to you through Premyslid upon your becoming his vassal. I have staked my reputation on Premyslid's following through with this request, as he is somewhat of the middleman in this, but the prospect of you retaining your own Duchy was never discussed.

I now present, Good Electors, our correspondences should anyone doubt my word on this matter:

Herr der Bartige,

As I am sure you know by now, you are trapped in Magdeburg with little hope of reinforcement and overwhelming odds against you. Vaclav Premyslid has linked up with my army and joined the siege on my side. An assault is imminent and will surely result in the complete destruction of you and your entire forces.

However, this is the last option that I want. An assault would be costly and unnecessary, and spill only the blood of the Reich. I do not wish to see this. I wish to resolve this terrible conflict that has divided us as quickly as possible so that we may move forward together and work to make our homeland prosper. Therefore, I propose the following terms of surrender:

- You will surrender yourself, your entire army, and Magdeburg to me. You will agree to become to vassal of Vaclav Premyslid, who I believe is open to returning Magdeburg to you upon proving your loyalties to him. You will sit out the remainder of the war, unless Duke Premyslid sees fit to use you.

If you agree to these terms, I will immediately break the siege of Magdeburg and continue on to resolve the war as quickly as possible. If you do not, then I will assault Magdeburg - and capture it - with all deliberate speed.

I look forward to your response.

Kaiser Heinrich

Herr Kaiser,

The only way I could agree to those terms is if I have it guaranteed, by you personally, whose word at least is yet to be broken, that I will have my beloved Magdeburg back. If you can give me that, then you can come back and we may talk. If you cannot... then you can tell your men to prepare for battle instead. I could not surrender trusting only to the good will of a man who has already betrayed me.

Signed,
Theodericus of Brandenburg

Herr der Bartige,

You have my word that upon conclusion of hostilities, you shall receive Magdeburg back. In the meantime, I shall take possession of the city and most of its soldiers. One regiment of your choosing will stay behind to garrison the city; this may be your own bodyguard if you wish. With overwhelming numerical superiority in both the north and south we shall quickly end this conflict which will allow me to restore Magdeburg to you all the sooner.

Regards,
Kaiser Heinrich

Herr Kaiser,

I have chosen to accept your terms of surrender. I ask you only to have mercy on Duke Magnus of Saxony; he is my friend, and it would hurt me terribly to lose him. Please don't let any harm be done to him if it can be avoided.

As for me, I will stay in Magdeburg myself. There is little reason for me to be anywhere else.

Signed,
Theodericus of Brandenburg

As per our agreement, you are still to swear fealty to Duke Premyslid before the handover of Magdeburg can be completed. Once this occurs, and once the Duke returns home from campaigning (OOC: Flax is out until the 30th) I am sure that he will follow through with the handover.

To exercise my part of the bargain: I hereby grant Vaclav Premyslid the province of Magdeburg.

In addition, I hereby second Rule Change E1.1 and Charter Amendment E1.1. Edict E1.1 still requires one seconder, I believe.

[_Tristan_]

Guy d'Ollioules stands to adress the Diet.

My Lords, would have have my Lord among you as an hypocrite ? A man who spoke words he didn't believe in ? For if my Lord is ready to serve the Reich faithfully as he did for many years prior to his "rebellion", he would rather say "emancipation", like a child kept too long under his parents' rule, he could never swear to serve the Kaiser loyally, nor could he not question his supremacy.

In the eyes of my Lord, Heinrich has proven unfit to rule the Reich and should stand down from the throne.

If my Lord Lothar asks for a pardon, it is in the fear that soldiers of the Reich be sent against him, thus losing many German lives in a brotherly feud.

Thus stands my Lord.

Now, if you ask what my Lord can do against the Milanese, nothing it seems... Our good Prinz has everything under control, as he did in Hungary...

Anyway, it is not my Lord who is in dire straits at the moment. Provence strives under his rule and may even grow in the next few years. It will never rival the Reich in power nor wealth but it may last longer if the current trend lasts a few years more. At the rate the Reich's nobility dies down, the country will soon be led by schweinsteigers, I think you say... Not that it would make a difference if you ask me...

This last unheard save by those standing quite close to Guy, and they're only a few, the Frenchman being shunned by all save those unable to find seats farther from him. It causes those few to sit still further from him, as if he was a plague-bearer.

I'm sure the Reich can survive without my Lord's intervention. If you do not want his help, just say so and he'll leave all the Milanese to you...

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

I see that we have nothing further to discuss here then. Out.

*The Kaiser waves his hand absentmindedly and Guy d'Ollioules is escorted out of the temporary Diet building by three armed guardsmen.*

Lothar Zirn and all of his representatives know what they must do in order to have a presence in these deliberations.

[phonicsmonkey]

Ernst of Melk rises, anger in his eyes.

Churl! 'Twas only the Pope that stayed my Lord's hand in Hungary, lest their heads be..

He is silenced by the Prinz.