Anna’s Column: Be Fearless and Ready

Featured image art by PURY (@puryartist)

By HM Queen Anna

I know this is a lot to take in, everyone. As of my penning this column and submitting it to The Arendelle Guardian’s editor, the kingdom is alight with fearful talk. From the local bakery and pub all the way to the government and my inner court, there’s a name whispered with fear and loathing: “Katina Romanov.”

Katina Romanov – princess of the Russian Empire, the true power manipulating her daddy, the tsar, behind the throne. Member of the Exalted. Commander of the Grand Dukes of Russia, three mighty generals that she’s tasked with the full-scale invasion of our kingdom.

As your servant-queen, I’ve sworn an oath to always be truthful and honest to my people. So this is the truth: Russia is mobilizing against us, but we have no way of knowing when. Katina will come to me when she’d ready. Therefore, I appeal to everyone in Arendelle not to fear, and to live life like we always do. However, I accept that these won’t be normal times, and to that end, I’ll be working extremely closely with Elsa, General Mattias, and Commander Hilde to prepare for that fateful day when Russia declares war on Arendelle.

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Anna’s Column: We Move Forward Together

By HM Queen Anna

Thanks to everyone’s help, Arendelle has never been in a stronger position, geopolitically and economically. But that means the stakes are higher than ever. Given the volatile global environment, our kingdom needs to take stock of the fronts requiring our attention. It’s part and parcel of the joy and burden of being your queen, your First Servant.

Without further ado:

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Editorial: The Scandal of the Northuldra Children Protection Act

By The Arendelle Guardian’s editorial board

The entire kingdom owes its gratitude to Honeymaren and many others after the other night’s assault on Arendelle Castle by the Grey Ghost, Amira the hunter. The fact that no one was severely hurt (or worse) is encouragement enough for the government to look further ahead, to not just stop Amira but also investigate her motivations.

After Amira retreated from the palace, the queen and Maren set about engaging with the clue left behind by the hunter. When interrogated, the hunter alluded to the Northuldra Children Protection Act, which even Anna was caught off-guard by. No one present was aware of this initiative, which Amira accuses King Runeard of starting. Despite it never having been sent to the parliament during Runeard’s reign, the initiative apparently gained currency among influential circles in Arendelle.

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EXCLUSIVE: ROYAL MESS as Autumn Cloud Arsonist sets Fire to Anna’s Plans

By Gottfried, Political Reporter for The Arendelle Guardian

After her first birthday as queen on 21 June, things were supposed to go smoothly for Her Majesty. She’d just appointed the kingdom’s very first prime minister, an influential aristocrat in her own right: Countess Viola. In doing so, she’d evaded a confrontation with the Great Qing Empire and her most powerful ally, the prince regent Yixin. And despite gathering storm clouds in the form of much larger states that hunger for proxy control over our kingdom (thanks to our strategic position in Northern Europe), Anna had wracked up significant victories and is even looking to reconcile with the Southern Isles. Observers of Arendellian politics agree that she’s our boldest monarch in a long time.

The Great Assembly had rallied behind her. Things were looking up.

Then came the Autumn Cloud incident.

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Michael’s Musings: Our New Prime Minister

Story art by Arute (@ast05water)

By Michael, Trade Minister of Arendelle

From the first day when she ascended to her lofty position as the new head of the Mundilfari clan to now has been a wild ride to say the least. Yet what is more amazing is the miracle resulting from what happened during the Battle of the Fjord, when Queen Anna’s love for Elsa compelled her to lay down her life again before Viola’s sword, to save Elsa from the Countess’ plans for conquering Northuldra and ending Elsa’s life.

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Training for The Unknown

By Sir Alan

Before I begin, I want to congratulate Queen Anna for her persuading Countess Viola to join us and become Prime Minister Viola. This is something that I don’t think any of us expected, but at the same time, we now have Viola and Hilde with us rather than against us. I know that Prince Yixin from China, whom Anna is friends with and was recently visited by, as well as Prince Siegfried among others, would rather see Viola eradicated, but they don’t know the whole story. Those of us who were there for Viola’s decision are learning more and more of the Mundilfari past.

“The Damn War”, as I like to call it, is not over yet. It’s just heating up.

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The Reign of Anna: Qualities and Features

An excerpt from the newest edition of political historian Dvalinn’s Arendellian Monarchs, published in the morning edition of The AG

Each king or queen of Arendelle has been defined, as any monarch would be, by their character, temperament, and beliefs. Not just religious conviction, but their personal ideas about politics, what constitutes the good life, and their optimism – or pessimism – about human nature. It’s no surprise that each sovereign’s reign down the ages has been different, marked by a distinct atmosphere or flavour.

Despite how close and devoted the present queen and her predecessor are to each other, their reigns are also defined by divergent priorities and styles of governance. This isn’t to say that one is better than the other, but only that our people will experience different leaders as surely as leaders must follow and adapt to differing times.

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Storm Clouds and Market Panic: Letter to Kristoff’s Shareholders

To Kristoff, royal consort and managing director, directors, and fellow shareholders,

With the rapid consolidation of Queen Anna’s diplomatic relations and standing across the world, Bjorgman House has enjoyed another year of solid profit – eleven per cent, exactly – thanks to successful expansion.

One example is our branch office on Ice House Street, in the British colony of Hong Kong at the doorstep of the Great Qing. Fine ice is in great demand throughout the hot and humid port, and through Hong Kong, the Princely House has been able to export its fresh, glacier ice further into the Chinese mainland, Japan, Malaya, and the Spanish colony of The Philippines.

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Courting the Bear: The Consequences of Hilde’s Conquest of Agrabah

By Nahir al-Adil

As I write this letter, news of Agrabah’s fall has become known to anyone who has picked up a newspaper in the last two days. An alliance of French and Austrians have occupied Agrabah’s capital, led by, to Queen Anna’s horror, an Arendellian: Viola’s Commander Hilde.

Most Europeans think of Agrabah as a legendary place out of medieval tales – of little relevance to our modern world. And one may be forgiven for holding this opinion. Contemporary Agrabah was – I must remind myself to use the past tense – independent but also left behind by the times. A tributary and sometimes-vassal of the nearby Ottoman Empire, it was marked by its failure to create a unique economic and political identity in our nineteenth century. But does that justify its military subjugation?

Of course not.

Let’s first revisit the historical legacy that most of us think of when we hear the name ‘Agrabah’ – the reign of Sultan Ḥāmed II, whose daughter Jasmine married the orphaned former thief, Alā’-ud-Dīn, better known in the West as Aladdin, partly through the intervention of an unnamed jinnī.

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A New Enemy from an Old Rival

By Sir Alan (@Arendalan)

Recently, the leader of the Mundilfari Clan passed away, and then several other members died as well. Reports have now come out that after the clan leader died, Viola Mundilfari killed those ahead of her in line so that she could assume power as the new leader. Having met her myself, alongside others, when we went to bring Queen Anna back from Viola’s estate, I can say that Viola is our biggest challenge yet that we’ve had to face.

If you’re reading this, and you don’t know who the Mundilfari are, the previous article I wrote discusses them and my hatred for them. In short, these Viking savages want to destroy Northuldra, kill all Five Spirits, and take over Arendelle. It was King Runeard who let them in to our government in the first place, and Anna has worked tirelessly against them. Now we have the challenge of Viola trying to corrupt Queen Anna’s mind. This is something that cannot happen, and knowing Anna, she won’t let it.

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