Journals of the Exalted II: The Ruby Tiger

Featured image art “The New Exalted” by Arute (@ast05water)

Welcome to Journals of the Exalted! This is Part II of a four-part series exploring each member of Anna’s new Exalted. Now that she’s accepted leadership of this secret society, she’ll also be responsible for putting it together… before Lord Yixin tasks her with his ultimate objective.

Make sure to follow each member’s story:

Overture: Your Burden

Part I: The Gold Reindeer

Part II: The Ruby Tiger

Part III: The Sapphire Phoenix

Part IV: The Emerald Dragon

BREAKING: “It’s like my heart, twisted into a knot, has been freed”: Anna Overjoyed as Colisa of Chatho Arrives in Arendelle

By Brunhilde, Politics Editor for The Arendelle Guardian

In a remarkable turn of events, Ottoman general Tileke has succeeded in her rescue expedition, having retrieved Prince Hans of the Southern Isles and the Duke of Weselton from shipwrecks off the coasts of the Batavian Republic and Germany. She was also able to rescue Queen Colisa of Chatho, Anna’s primary international ally.

Our queen Anna, upon hearing of the news, was said by courtiers to have burst into tears of joy and emotion. It wasn’t lost on her high command that she instantly gave orders for Tileke to have Colisa come to Arendelle first. As of now, neither Anna nor General Mattias have disclosed their plans concerning Colisa with the press.

The three sovereigns, along with Mari of Vesterland, are members of Anna’s Entente of Small Kingdoms, an alliance that Anna formed in order to collectively resist the pressure of larger kingdoms, empires, and colonial powers. However, the alliance proved unable to mount an effective military resistance against the Russian invasion of Arendelle, with the fleets of Chatho, the Southern Isles, and Weselton obliterated and Vesterland neutralized. With Arendelle now in a position of newfound power and influence after standing alone against Katina Romanov, it’s uncertain what Anna will choose to do with the Entente.

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Anna springs into action as Ottoman ally Tileke rescues Queen Colisa of Chatho

Featured image art “Supreme commander,” by PURY (@puryartist)

Dear Anna,

Thank you for taking care of me for all these weeks. By the time you receive this, I’ll be halfway back to Saint Petersburg. My flagship will be in the North Sea, perhaps a short distance from where my Baltic Fleet and your naval coalition first exchanged fire. I burn with shame for having directed the late Yaraslaf against your allies and inflicting so much violence on Queen Colisa, the Duke of Weselton, and even Hans, all of whom you’ve told me plenty about during my time in Arendelle.

The fact that you’ve treated me, your invader, so kindly and compassionately after my own catastrophic mistake, should be a source of eternal shame for me. That’s the one point that you and I will always differ on: that you, in your eternal optimism and kindness, feel that you can forgive me once I’ve made amends for my cruelty. You’re wrong. My debt to you for giving me another chance to lead Russia, the way Sora would have wanted me to, will last long after my death.

I miss her.

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CRUSHING: Russia Piles Pressure on Anna as Baltic Fleet Wipes Out Chatho Allies

Featured image art, “Ancient Fury,” by PURY (@puryartist)

By Mikael, Senior Reporter for The Arendelle Guardian

ARENDELLE – Our newsroom received breaking news in the early hours of this morning that the fleet of Chatho, one of Arendelle’s closest allies, suffered a horrific rout in the Arctic Ocean by Russian Grand Duke Yaraslaf’s Baltic Fleet.

Conflicting accounts of the battle have emerged, especially about the true scale of the casualties. However, General Mattias and his lieutenants have grimly concluded that most of the Chathan navy was wiped out. Arendellian command also received word that Chatho’s elite shock troops, the Ten Tigresses, all fell in battle against Yaraslaf. The leader of Chatho and Anna and Elsa’s childhood friend, Queen Colisa, has been reported as missing.

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Palace Statement: Anna’s Response to British Neutrality in the Face of Tsarist Aggression

Featured image art by PURY (@puryartist)

Signed and sealed by the queen on 7 December, 1843.

Submitted by the palace to the Great Assembly of the House of Ministers and House of Jarls on 7 December, 1843.

Released to the press on 8 December, 1843.

I read with dismay the decision of Lord Palmerston, British foreign secretary, to refrain from a public condemnation of Russian aggression against Arendelle and our allies, collectively known as the Entente of Small Kingdoms. This one stings personally. I remember how, in the early months of my reign, he and I negotiated a mutually beneficial deal that curbed the power of the East India Company – something that both Kristoff’s Princely House and the British parliament had wanted. Why have our overtures been rebuffed this time?

Our diplomats enjoy a good relationship with Britain’s, and behind the scenes there’s plenty of communication and agreement on the direction of Europe’s balance of power. However, I want to note my disappointment at the British Empire’s refusal to throw its support behind the Entente, something that the Duke of Weselton and Mari of Vesterland had been agitating for some time.

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EXCLUSIVE: Anna, Colisa, and Mari in new interview on politics, the world, and each other

By Kris Neumann, Senior Staff Writer for The Arendelle Guardian

In this exclusive interview, The Arendelle Guardian spoke to three sovereign leaders: Colisa the queen of Chatho, Princess Mari of Vesterland, and Her Majesty herself. In light of new developments concerning Russo-Arendellian relations and the expansion of Arendellian interests around the world, the Entente of Small Kingdoms is forming a coordinated front to protect each other’s interests. In this interview they gave a comprehensive picture of their alliance’s present situation, plans about their geopolitical strategy, and fond insights about how they see and relate to each other.

The Arendelle Guardian: Thank you, Your Majesties Anna and Colisa and Your Highness Mari, for sitting down with us in our printing press room by Arendelle’s beautiful dockside. Let’s start with the fallout from, if you’ll pardon the word, failure of Anna’s talks with Katina Romanov of Russia. What has been the response from Arendelle’s allies, and are there fears of tsarist aggression or reprisals?

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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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Arendelle’s Delegation in Saint Petersburg for Talks with Russia, Part Two

Featured image art by PURY (@puryartist)

Read Part One here!

It was the dead of night and eerily quiet. Northuldra’s champions were on the hunt.

Founded in the early 1600s by the greatest Romanov tsar, Peter the Great, the port of Kronstadt was a centre of commerce that grew in strategic importance as the maritime defence outpost of the imperial capital. The main base of Russia’s Baltic Fleet was located in Kronstadt, guarding the approaches to Saint Petersburg. Maren and Amira stood in stunned silence as they stared up at the incomplete skeletons of warships among the huge dockyard. The two Northuldra women, who’d never been outside of Arendelle or Northuldra, were gobsmacked by the sheer vastness of the military base.

As the two Northuldra dashed from warehouse to warehouse, unpicking doors and peering inside, Maren and Amira found more evidence of Russia’s military buildup. Their acutely sensitive eyes saw everything with little issue, and they didn’t need torches or light. There were rifles, pistols, and bayonets stored on rows of shelves in one warehouse, hundreds of officers’ uniforms in another, and an entire factory reserved for mortars, howitzers, railway guns, and other armaments and artillery. Amira couldn’t hide her surprise at witnessing so many modern weapons of war as Maren looked on grimly.

She took Amira’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Quite the sight for us unwelcome tourists, isn’t it? Now do you believe me about the danger that Northuldra faces?”

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Secret Files: The Grand Dukes of Imperial Russia

URGENT and CONFIDENTIAL

For the Arendellian High Command: Report on the three Grand Dukes serving Princess Katina Romanov, leader behind Russia’s tsar and member of the Exalted

Re: Sora, Yaraslaf (also purported to be the Admiral of the Baltic Fleet), and Nykras

To General Mattias and Commander Hilde:

Well – here it all is, sir and gracious ma’am. Everything I could get on the generals that Katina has apparently entrusted with leading her total war against us.

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Arendelle’s Delegation in Saint Petersburg for Talks with Russia, Part One

Featured image art by PURY (@puryart)

By Lukas, Defence Correspondent for The Arendelle Guardian

ARENDELLE; SAINT PETERSBURG – The queen and her diplomatic corps set off for Russia in the early morning from the docks aboard Anna’s personal flagship, Pride of Elsa. Leading the corps are Anna, Elsa, and Honeymaren, the new Home Minister of the kingdom. Also accompanying the delegation are Trade Minister Michael and Sir Alan of the Order of the Wheat Stalk. The delegation is also represented by two of the major members of Anna’s Entente of Small Kingdoms: Mari of Vesterland and Colisa of Chatho.

The delegation will spend a night at the summer residence of Alexander Palace, one of the many opulent dwellings of the Romanov family. Elsa and Anna are expected to meet her sworn adversary, Katina Romanov, and discuss matters of peace and war involving Imperial Russia.

The possibility – indeed, the outright likelihood – of Russian invasion weighs heavily on the Arendellian delegation, with Anna having asked Elsa to lead the team for her connection to the Romanov imperial family. “I hope my presence can serve as a guarantor of continuity between my reign and Anna’s, to show Katina that Arendelle takes the past as seriously as the present and future,” the Snow Queen told our newspaper. “We believe in peace, even if Katina does not.”

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Anna forms elite diplomatic corps to reach out to Katina Romanov

By Frey, Foreign Affairs Reporter for The Arendelle Guardian

ARENDELLE; SAINT PETERSBURG – The queen of Arendelle is confirmed to be working with her predecessor and sister, Elsa, and leaders of other kingdoms to form an elite corps tailored for diplomacy with Russia. Secret Arendellian and Russian mediators are still discussing whether to hold talks in a neutral location, Arendelle, or in Saint Petersburg, the Russian capital city.

Queen Colisa and Princess Mari of Vesterland are reported to be helping Anna and Elsa steer the initiative, which has been conceived as a united lobby robust enough to resist the overwhelming pressure of the vast Imperial Russian state.

Sources close to the queen and General Mattias have confirmed on condition of anonymity that Anna’s objective is to persuade the tsar and his government to negotiate mutually favourable terms that will prevent misunderstandings and enmity between Arendelle, its allies, and Russia.

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