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Good morning everybody! I woke up to 92 unread RMB posts today, which has to be a record. I knew something must have gone done (no surprise that it was in Orson), though I'm happy it was resolved peacefully.

The Wagains operated a small special interests section in the Timmian embassy for many years, so the Cybusians could fairly easily move into those premises in order to have a diplomatic presence in Ravenwood. Our standalone embassy is still under construction, but given the precarious security environment, it would likely also be a fortress, not quite as large as the Timmian compound but likely located just around the corner, to create a kind of 'Green Zone' where security perimeters overlap and complement each other. An underground tunnel would allow embassy staff to evacuate to the Timmian compound in a pinch, or vice versa, if the gates were ever breached. With how regular embassy threats have become, there would undoubtedly be contingency plan after contingency plan in place, and it would not surprise me at all to learn that the Timmies had a special forces unit prepped and ready to go for this very purpose.

OOCly, I seem to remember that Ravenwood is loosely based off of Canberra, Australia, which would mean there is a large lake dividing the city in half. I could see the 'embassy district' (Formosans, Timmies, Lucijans, and us so far) being located on one of the peninsulas of this lake, so there is only one (narrow) path of approach, which can easily be sealed off. Within this enclosure, there would be sufficient power, wastewater, housing, retail, etc to effectively allow for a self-contained community. Even though Ravenwood is one of the most liberal cities in Orson, where foreigners can move about freely, the recent episode demonstrates that Orsonians simply cannot be trusted to follow even the most sacrosanct of diplomatic protections (ironically, they are outraged when other countries lapse protocol, as I recall the Orsonians being quite incensed by the death of Acdel Wells while in Wagain custody).

In Santa Catalina, the case brought against the Federation has reached the Wagain Supreme Court, which has sided narrowly with the Federation. The court argues that, under the principle of odious debt, any contracts which were entered into with a despotic and widely sanctioned regime are the responsibility of the regime itself, and not debts which can be inherited by the state. This is a significant ruling with little precedence in international law, which is meant to warn creditors about investing in "instruments of repression," and provide an incentive to lend only for purposes that are transparent and of public benefit. It is perhaps less surprising that this ruling happened in Wagondia, which has a long history of foreign indebtedness as a confederation of former colonies — the empire's development was considerably disrupted in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the assumption of the burden of debt incurred by the Spanish and Portuguese empires, and for reparation payments made to foreigners in exchange for seized property and the emancipation of slaves. In some cases, such as that of the Republic of Haiti (1804-1874), recognition by former colonial states came at a steep price, one which would not be fully paid off until the 1940s. Such payments formed a substantial part of Wagondia's budget well into the twentieth century.

Under this ruling, the debt is not cancelled, it is just held to be the responsibility of the Aturoist regime rather than the current government. The Timmies are legally free to seize the assets of the outgoing regime in lieu of payment, which theoretically could encompass any personal savings of imperial leaders stashed in Wagondia, in addition to property, vehicles, shell corporations, etc.