Our Glorious Revolution: Lainn

''Disclaimer: This is a translation of events in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics into a RuneScape format. Please do not take this as my way of criticizing communism; my political beliefs are actually quite pro-socialism and communism. By their own admission the Soviet states were not communist (which is a form of universal equality for all workers); however their actions (better referred to as Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism) have given communism a bad name. So please enjoy the story, but remember that communism is not bad. ''    --Fegaxeyl 09:50, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

R-Day

The Knights were in turmoil. Two groups had formed – one loyalist group that held the castle, the other the Revolutionaries who prowled the streets, leaders of the huge horde of peasants that had risen across the kingdom to establish the new state. Battles had occurred across the kingdom – Port Sarim was now a peasant stronghold, the Asgarnian Navy seized and its weapons commandeered for the final assault. Hundreds and hundreds of peasants, grubby and smelly, waited outside the city for the dawn.

Their leader, the enigmatic Vralmir Lainn, was busy plotting in his tent, working out all the possible angles for assault on Falador, waiting to seize the Castle and thereby taking the entire kingdom. After hours with his cabinet, he finally came up with a perfect, fool-proof plan. In the last hours of darkness, hundreds of peasants crept round to the north gates, whilst the others readied their weapons. Finally, dawn broke, and to the sound of the horns, the vast army attacked.

Half an hour later, the Loyalists were fighting desperately in the Castle against enraged peasants and their former counterparts turned Revolutionaries. They had weapons, cunning, and the home ground advantage, but they lacked numbers and morale. It took five minutes for the peasants to cross the drawbridge and then to take the cellars and lower floors. They fought desperately but for the Loyalists their time was waning. The peasants overran the castle, getting into every vestige and through every choke point, until finally the Knights were left huddled in terror on the top floor. They had used up every last weapon available to them, and now there was nothing left. The peasants and Revolutionaries finally found their way onto the top floor, and in two short, bloody minutes, it was all over.

R+1 day

Vralmir Lainn has announced that the revolution in Asgarnia is over, and that it is now the Asgarnian Socialist Republic.

R+7 days

The Revolutionary Army has largely disbanded, although certain squads are heading north to ensure that the last vestiges of feudalism and chivalry are destroyed. The state is already being reorganised into the Socialist philosophy.

R+14 days

The Council of the Asgarnian Socialist Republic is established, with Lainn as it’s head. Traders from Misthalin and Kandarin realise that their land routes are now inaccessible; most head to the sea to continue trade, whilst some others dare to cross the Wilderness.

R+17 days

Asgarnia officially closes its borders, although very few people have crossed them since the revolution anyway. A rising star in the Polltbura (the Asgarnian central government), Loen Ttroksi, proposes the conversion of the Revolutionary knights to a police force.

R+31 days

Sea trade is flourishing but Misthalin and Kandarin are still on shaky ground after losing their primary trade routes and losing two weeks’ worth of goods. Lainn decides to go ahead with Ttroksi’s proposition, and two days later the People’s Guardians of Law Order is formed.

R+6 months

The PGLO is starting to show signs of unorthodox procedures in it’s handling of alleged criminals. Huge statues glorifying Lainn and his new society are erected across the state. The Asgarnian Army of Workers and Peasants is formed (better known as the White Army).

R+1 year

Lainn collectivizes the farms and most other businesses. Ttroksi goes on a tour across Misthalin and Kandarin trying to excite revolutions there. Meanwhile the dwarves grow dissatisfied that their goods are not being sold outside Asgarnia and attempt to secede from the state. Two weeks later the PGLO and a contingent of the White Army launch a lightning raid on Keldagrim via the Dwarf mine destroying the Octagon.

R+18 months

The White Army annexes Entrana, Crandor and Brimhaven. Karamjan troops beg the other nations for support as the White Army threatens to conquer the entire island. The Misthalanian and Kandarinese armies gather on the island and fight a valiant battle on the island, but are eventually severely defeated. By the middle of the year, the campaign has given Asgarnia almost all the island including the gnome shipyards. In conjunction with Port Sarim this gives Asgarnia a decisive naval lead against the two other nations.

R+2 years

In light of military failures the Kandarinese populace demand the dissolution of the monarchy and replacing them with a strong, competent leader. Iwren Lorrem rises to power and fascism takes hold. Afraid of being isolated Misthalanian diplomats begin talks with authorities in Al Kharid and other kingdoms of the desert, as well as the pirate fleets on Harmony and Mos Le’Harmless. The talks pay off and the Greater Eastern Corporate Alliance. By doing so and switching from mere feudalism to ultra-capitalism they pit themselves at the worst possible odds with Asgarnia.

R+3 years

The border between Asgarnia and Misthalin becomes heavily fortified. A large channel is dug across the desert allowing ships from Mos Le’Harmless to reach Lumbridge and help defend against the Asgarnian forces. In Asgarnia the PGLO begins a policy of removing certain ‘undesirables’ from the Party’s ranks. Crandor is established as an offshore maximum security political prison. Asgarnia then starts to expand northward, annexing parts of the Wilderness up to the Bandit Camp. Kandarin seeks an alliance with the Fremennik Province and succeeds. The also attempt to ally with the trolls but fail. Undaunted Lorrem orders the construction of defensive line deep inside Troll Country. Towards the winter Lainn is diagnosed with lung cancer – doctors say that even with magical help he has perhaps three more years to live at most.

R+4 years

Ttroksi realises that the Void Beasts (the island was automatically under control of the party since they assumed control of the state) could be used as weapons against Kandarin and the Greater Eastern Corporate Alliance. Therefore research is begun into controlling these beasts. The dwarves working in the mines try to revolt against the Party again and succeed in taking the Barbarian Village. The White Army is at first incapable of attacking thanks to the Dwarf Cannons but eventually they launch a wide pincer manoeuvre and destroy the dwarf army. The cannons are then used to help the White Army. Lainn proposes a grand treatise on socialism and his version of it; it will be published but not until after his death.

R+5 years

Iwren Lorrem allies with the gnomes and the Keldagrim dwarves and attempt to modernise the military to the point where it is better equipped and better trained than the White Army. Gnome gliders are redesigned to be able to accommodate humans and dwarf steam and cannon technology is coupled to produce vehicles analogous to what we know as tanks. Lainn decides that he would like to see a great victory in his lifetime and orders all the forces of the White Army in the Wilderness to attack Troll Country. By summer the trolls have been mostly overrun and the White Army is expecting an easy victory. However, the Kandarinese defence line built two years earlier is strong enough to repulse the attacks and the White Army is halted. Asgarnia now controls most of the country, but enough trolls remain free to decide to ally with Kandarin. A policy of construction is instigated across the Kandarinese-Asgarnian front line, leading to the ‘Steel Curtain’. The Greater Eastern Corporate Alliance also expands into the Wilderness and attempts to fertilise the soil.

R+6 years

The Grand Exchange is converted into a super-fortress to prevent attacks on Varrock. Edgeville is annexed into Asgarnia; relations between the two nations go from bad to worse. The GECA attempt to return life to the Wilderness starts to work – vast swathes of forest start to grow anew. Their army destroys most of the hostile life in their Wilderness or banishes it to the Asgarnian side, allowing settlers to move in and build the first civilian town there for millennia. Whilst Kandarin uses tanks and gliders both Asgarnia and the GECA experiment with dirigible. For much of the year they are neck-and-neck, until the GECA develop the propeller and gain a substantial lead in development. A newcomer by the name of Iefos Stlanin gains power in the Party, but most others are wary of him. A plot by the PGLO to assassinate him, controlled by Ttroksi, fails. Lainn is in the last stages of his cancer and his difficulty moving or even talking. On his deathbed he asks for Ttroksi to succeed him and that Stlanin is removed from the party. On the exact minute that he declared the success of the revolution, Lainn dies. Ttroksi tries to take control but Stlanin uses his powerful political strength to make himself the new Leader of the Party, declaring a national month of mourning. Outside Asgarnia some hope that Stlanin will lead Asgarnia out of it’s totalitarian nightmare and into proper socialism.

They are wrong.