Elijahn Restoration

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Elijahn Restoration aka Operation Sacred Ground
Part of Aftermath of the East Keltian Collapse
Natopian territorial claim in southwestern former Normark, 1752 AN.
Date 20.IV.1752 AN – ongoing Location Southwestern former Normark, Keltia Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Raspur Pact  Natopia Dozan Bovic Church Natopian Defense Force  Nouvelle Alexandrie Arctic Base Thorgils (coordination)  Constancia Constancian Foreign Legion  Benacian Union  Moorland  ESB	Confederacy of the Dispossessed Various warlords and militia
Commanders and leaders
Natopia Marco Lungo III (Chancellor) Vadoma I (Empress) Marshal Theodric Lazuline (Natopian Airmobile Rapid Reaction Force) Sergius Hergones (Pentheros) Arsenios Kallistos (Metrobosarch of Keltia)  Constancia Person (Position) Person (Position)	Various (fragmented command)
Units involved
Keltia Command 300th Air-Land Combined-Arms Army  Arctic Base Thorgils Natopian Airmobile Rapid Reaction Force 6th "Nord" Brigade Streïkrupp "Thorgils"  Special Operations Regiment  Bovic Church Militant OSSSS OAG Ayreon Tomb Guard	Confederacy militias (fragmented, no unified command)
Strength
Estimated division-level strength Constancian brigade ESB logistics support	Estimated 8,000–12,000 fighters (varying quality across bailiwicks)
Military operations coordinated with civilian "Stampede to Konungsheim" settlement initiative

The Elijahn Restoration, also known by its military name Operation Sacred Ground, is a territorial claim and settlement initiative launched by the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation in 20.IV.1752 AN to reclaim portions of the former Kingdom of Normark abandoned during the East Keltian Collapse of 1737 AN. The claim encompasses eight former Norse bailiwicks, termed Elieland, along the southwestern coast, including the former capital of Konungsheim (known in Natopian tradition as Elijah's Rest), with a combined pre-collapse population of approximately 4.1 million.

The initiative emerges from a convergence of religious obligation, strategic opportunity, and domestic political need. The Dozan Bovic Church has endorsed the restoration on theological grounds, arguing that 139 years of proximity to the remains of Saint Elijah Ayreon consecrated the ground of Konungsheim itself, and that the Prophecy of Athlon demands the faithful prepare for the Butter Bull's return. Strategically, the claim expands Raspur Pact presence in northern Keltia and complements Nouvelle Alexandrie's Arctic Base Thorgils on nearby Los Bananos. Politically, the Lungo III government seeks to demonstrate renewed national purpose after the controversies of the Aristarchus years.

The timing of the claim coincides with broader instability in former Normark. The Confederacy of the Dispossessed has expanded its presence across the Green following the East Keltian Collapse, while Bassaridia Vaeringheim has recently concluded the Lower Jangsong Campaign, consolidating control over eastern and central portions of former Normark. The Natopian claim to the southwestern coastal region represents a distinct theater of operations, though military action against Confederacy forces of varying strength across different bailiwicks is anticipated.

The initial phase, known popularly as the "Stampede to Konungsheim," involves reconnaissance and security operations by Bovic Church Militant forces and elements of the Natopian Defense Force under Keltia Command. Pentheros Sergius Hergones has announced that Father Arsenios Kallistos, a priest of the Phallic Cult, will be appointed as the new Metrobosarch of Keltia, the first to actually reside in Keltia since the collapse.

Background

Natopia's connection to the Normark region predates the Kingdom of Normark itself. In 1615 AN, the demigod Athlon took charge of the abandoned city of Konungsheim and renamed it Elijah's Rest, initiating Natopian settlement in northern Keltia. The region grew under Natopian administration, formalized in 1649 AN with the establishment of the Elian Union as a super-demesne encompassing Elijah's Rest, Normark, the Kingdom of Leng, the Viceroyalty of The Two Martyrs, and the Duchy of New Aquitane.

Normark was established as a distinct Natopian demesne in 1657 AN. The territory remained under Natopian sovereignty until 1678 AN, when a referendum approved transfer to Elwynn. Normark subsequently passed through Elwynnese administration, survived the Second Elwynnese Civil War, and achieved independence in 1703 AN under King Tarjei Thorgilsson. Throughout these transitions, the Natopian cultural and religious imprint remained significant, particularly in the veneration of Saint Elijah Ayreon.

The sacred sites of Konungsheim

Konungsheim became a center of Bovic pilgrimage following the interment of Elijah Ayreon in 1598 AN. Prince Elijah, husband of Nathan, had been martyred by Siseran cultists in Walstadt. His grieving widower Nathan arranged for the remains to be brought to Normark, where they rested in what became the Tomb of Elijah Ayreon.

Over the following century and a half, significant religious infrastructure developed around the tomb. The Cathedral-Basilica of Eternal Slumber served as the seat of the Metrobosarch of Keltia, one of the senior hierarchs of the Dozan Bovic Church. The Monastery of the Holy Order of the Cult of Elijah housed the monastic order dedicated to Saint Elijah's veneration. The Ayreon Tomb Guard, a military order, was charged with protecting the sacred remains.

The city also gave its name to the Elijahn Rite, a distinct tradition within Bovinism emphasizing the worship of Saint Elijah. The rite proved particularly popular in territories with Ayreonist heritage.

The Phallic Cult and Saint Elijah

The Phallic Cult, a mystery religion established in 1573 AN by Pentheros Nathan Waffel-Paine (as Theodores Athanatos), maintains a distinctive relationship with Saint Elijah's memory. Elijah appears in the Phallic pantheon alongside Bruno, Priapus, and the Winged Phallus, honored as patron of romantic love. The Apotheosis of Elijah, describing Nathan's deification of his martyred husband, constitutes the sole Tetrabiblical reference to the Phallic mysteries.

The Cult's emphasis on masculine virtues, assertive action, and sacred aspects of virility has proved significant in the theological arguments advanced for the restoration.

East Keltian Collapse (1737)

The Kingdom of Normark collapsed during the East Keltian Collapse of 1737 AN, a cascade of political and military failures that also destroyed Anahuaco and destabilized Cerulea. The Confederacy of the Dispossessed, exploiting the chaos of the Second Cerulean Revolution, launched offensives that overwhelmed Norse defenses.

The Raspur Pact mounted emergency operations to extract personnel and assets. Operation Northern Light (I–VI.1737 AN), a multi-national evacuation coordinated from RASMOR JTF in Moorland, extracted 275,000 Norse refugees along with military personnel, scientific assets, and the AURORA intelligence network from the Citadele Alexandrin. Operation Dariolin, led by Hurmu, evacuated the Tomb of Elijah Ayreon, the Ayreon Tomb Guard, and members of the Holy Order of the Cult of Elijah to Huyenkula.

King Fredrik Michael Tarjeisson was extracted in a classified special operation and secured at the Imperial Constancian Embassy in Mercury City before transfer to safety.

The sacred sites of Konungsheim were abandoned. The Cathedral-Basilica of Eternal Slumber, the Monastery, and the consecrated grounds where Elijah's remains had rested for 139 years were left to whatever fate awaited them.

Arctic Base Thorgils and the Boreal Air Bridge

The Boreal Air Bridge, a strategic air corridor connecting Nouvelle Alexandrie to the Benacian Union via northern Keltia, had relied on Normark's infrastructure prior to {{AN|1737}. The collapse terminated the main route, severely impacting the Benacian Union's ability to withstand the ongoing Shirerithian maritime blockade during the Shiro-Benacian War.

In response, Nouvelle Alexandrie conducted Operation Polar Crown (VI–VIII.1738 AN), establishing Arctic Base Thorgils on Los Bananos, an island formerly administered by Normark. The operation created a permanent military installation featuring a 3,000-meter all-weather runway, advanced radar systems, and air defense capabilities. AB Thorgils restored a northern air corridor, allowing transport aircraft to circumvent the Shirerithian blockade.

AB Thorgils has operated successfully as an isolated island installation, but Raspur Pact planners recognize that additional mainland presence could enhance operational flexibility and overall regional capacity.

Fifteen years in the Green (1737–1752)

For fifteen years following the collapse, the former territory of Normark has remained in the Green, outside organized state control. The Confederacy of the Dispossessed expanded its presence across portions of the abandoned territory, though the extent of their actual control in specific regions varies considerably. Some areas fell under direct Confederacy administration; others experienced only periodic raiding; still others were simply abandoned, their populations fled or dead.

The southwestern coastal bailiwicks, adjacent to New Alexandrian-held Los Bananos and accessible by sea, have experienced diverse fates. Intelligence regarding conditions on the ground remains fragmentary. Estimates of remaining population range widely. The status of infrastructure, including the sacred sites of Konungsheim, is unknown. Occasional reports from traders and refugees paint contradictory pictures of abandoned cities, remnant communities clinging to survival, opportunistic warlords, and environmental degradation.

The outbreak of Northern Keltia respiratory syndrome in 1738 AN contributed to Normark's collapse and continues to pose health risks throughout the region. Industrial and military sites abandoned during the evacuation present unknown hazards.

The Lower Jangsong Campaign (1751–1752)

The regional situation shifted dramatically with Bassaridia Vaeringheim's Lower Jangsong Campaign. Beginning in late 1751 AN, the Bassaridian War League launched a major offensive against Normarkian resistance forces in western Jangsong, culminating in the sieges of Riddersborg and Ardclach. The campaign concluded in early 1752 AN with total Bassaridian victory, the destruction of organized Normarkian insurgent forces in that theater, and the formal annexation of "Bassaridian Normark" encompassing the eastern and central portions of former Normark. The Bassaridian conquest secured their control over the Trans-Keltian Express railway corridor and the northern mouth of the Strait of Haifa.

The Bassaridian campaign did not extend to the southwestern coastal bailiwicks adjacent to Los Bananos. This region, including Konungsheim, remains in the Green. The Natopian claim thus targets territory distinct from Bassaridian-held areas, though the Confederacy of the Dispossessed remains active throughout former Normark.

The Prophecy of Athlon

The theological case for the Elijahn Restoration drew heavily upon the Prophecy of Athlon, a series of divine revelations experienced by Empress Vadoma I in 1737 AN. For fifteen years, the prophecy's meaning remained contested among Bovic theologians. By 1752 AN, a consensus emerged within influential Church circles that the time for action had arrived.

The vision (1737)

On VII.7.1737 AN, as the East Keltian Collapse unfolded and Normark fell to the Confederacy of the Dispossessed, Empress Vadoma I entered the Inner Sanctum of the Great Temple of Bous in Doza, Athlon for evening prayers. Witnesses reported that after two hours of silence, an otherworldly golden glow emanated from beneath the sanctum's doors, accompanied by a low rumbling sound. When the doors opened, attendants found the Empress in a trance-like state, her robes drenched in clarified butter.

Pentheros Sergius Hergones, present during the latter portion of the vision, documented the Empress's words. At the heart of her vision was a six-line verse, repeated three times:

Golden tides wash o'er the land,

Churning earth with bovine hand.
Foundations melt, borders blur,
In butter's wake, new worlds stir.
Natopia, once firm, now flows,
Remolded by the Bull who knows.

The Empress described vivid images of Natopia's landscape transforming, with rivers of golden butter reshaping the empire's geography. Most significantly, she claimed to have seen the Butter Bull itself, describing it as "a colossus of churned divinity, striding across Tapfer with purpose... not as it was in the time of Konrad, wrathful and terrible, but purposeful and measured, as one who comes to rebuild rather than destroy."

The Council of Metrobosarchs issued the Doza Clarification in 1738 AN, acknowledging the prophecy's divine origin while counseling caution against hasty interpretation. A Prophecy Monitoring Network was established in 1740 AN to watch for signs of fulfillment.

Interpretive debates

For fifteen years, three major schools of interpretation debated the prophecy's meaning. The Literal Interpretationists, led by Professor Eremias Lactucus of the University of Doza, believed the prophecy foretold actual physical changes to Natopia's landscape and political structure. The Symbolic School, represented by Klaasiyan philosopher Amara Greenwell, interpreted the prophecy as metaphor for social and cultural transformation. The Eschatological Perspective, championed by conservative theologian Bartholomew Johnson of the Bovic Seminary of Lindstrom, viewed the prophecy as spiritual warning about the end times.

None of these interpretations offered clear guidance on what the faithful should do to prepare for the Butter Bull's return. The prophecy spoke of transformation but not of human agency in bringing it about.

The Phallic interpretation

By the late 1740s, theologians associated with the Phallic Cult developed a distinctive fourth interpretation. Grand Phallicus Bruno Virilis had issued a rare public statement in 1739 AN suggesting the prophecy heralded "a new era of divine virility and creative potency." Building on this foundation, younger Phallic theologians argued that the prophecy demanded active preparation, not passive waiting.

The Butter Bull, they noted, embodied assertiveness, action, and transformation. These qualities contrasted sharply with the Butter Cow's passive nurturing. Years of retreat and accommodation, the Natopian Withdrawal from Whales, the Universal Compact's concessions, the reluctance to engage during the Fourth Euran War, all represented passivity when boldness was required. Natopia had been living under the Cow's aspect when the Bull's return demanded preparation through action.

The abandonment of Elijah's Rest, they argued, represented a wound in the spiritual fabric of the Bovic world. Saint Elijah appeared in the Phallic pantheon as patron of romantic love. His sacred ground had been surrendered to wilderness. Reclaiming it would demonstrate the assertiveness the Bull demanded and prepare Natopia for transformation.

In 1752 AN, the prophecy was entered into the Tetrabiblios as the eleventh book in the Book of Revelations, formalizing its canonical status as the Elijahn Restoration was launched.

Political context

The Elijahn Restoration emerged not only from theological argument but from the specific political circumstances of 1752 AN. The preceding decade had witnessed dramatic shifts in Natopian governance, leaving the incoming Lungo III administration seeking to demonstrate renewed national purpose.

The Aristarchus years (1742–1745)

Chancellor Emmanuel Aristarchus governed Natopia from 1742 AN to 1745 AN, a period marked by retrenchment and controversy. Running on a controversial populist "Natopia First" platform, Aristarchus pursued policies that prioritized domestic concerns over alliance commitments.

The Natopian Withdrawal from Whales (1743 AN–1744 AN), formalized in the Treaty of Sankt Rosa, ended centuries of Natopian presence in southern Cibola. The withdrawal was presented as "decolonization" and relief from an "expensive colonial burden," but images of hasty departure damaged Natopian prestige. "Who lost Whales?" became a recurring question in political discourse.

The Universal Compact (1744 AN) resolved a constitutional ambiguity dating to Nathan Waffel-Paine's era regarding Universalis's autonomous status and territorial extent. Aristarchus personally intervened to include Sororiya within Universalis's jurisdiction, citing Nathan's original oral promise. The ratification process proved brutal, with Aristarchus conducting aggressive whipping operations within his own FJBP caucus, threatening committee assignments, and deploying his considerable talent for cutting remarks against dissenters. The Compact passed along party lines, but internal wounds contributed to FJBP losses in the 1744 Natopian Frenzy elections.

Most damagingly, Aristarchus's reluctance to commit Natopian forces during the early phases of the Fourth Euran War drew criticism from Raspur Pact allies and domestic hawks alike. Empress Vadoma I herself was in open conflict with the elected government over foreign policy. By the time the 1745 elections swept the UDM into power in coalition with the N&H, Aristarchus's legacy had become synonymous with retreat and isolation.

The 1752 elections and Lungo III

The 1752 Natopian Frenzy elections returned the FJBP to power in coalition with the Parti Alexandrin. The party had spent years rebuilding after the Aristarchus debacle. Kurt Drakhelm, elected leader in 1748 AN after Aristarchus lost his own seat and was removed by party vote, had promised "responsible governance" and begun internal reforms. His sudden death from a heart attack in 1750 AN opened a leadership contest won by Marco Lungo III, a young reformer representing the party's more assertive wing.

Lungo campaigned on a platform of "Hope and Change," presenting himself as a new generation of FJBP leadership untainted by the Aristarchus controversies. His coalition with the Parti Alexandrin signaled recommitment to New Alexandrian partnership and Raspur Pact engagement. Foreign Affairs Secretary Michelle Christophis, a career diplomat and internationalist, embodied the administration's break from isolationism.

Yet Lungo faced a strategic landscape offering few easy options. The Fourth Euran War continued. Relations within the Raspur Pact remained complex. Major military adventures carried significant risks. The administration needed to demonstrate renewed national purpose without overextending Natopian capabilities.

The Elijahn Restoration offered something different: a religious cause that could unify the faithful across party lines, a strategic enhancement that complemented allied interests, and a symbolic reversal of the retreat narrative, all without directly challenging any major power or expanding the Fourth Euran War's scope.

The ailing Empress

Empress Vadoma I's health had declined throughout 1752 AN. Born in 1671 AN, she was 81 years old and had reigned for 35 years since the Natopian reintegration following Nathan III's death in 1716 AN. By mid-year, her public schedule was reduced to essential functions. Regent Adelaide, already Queen of Nouvelle Alexandrie through marriage, assumed increasing responsibilities for day-to-day governance.

The Empress's decline lent urgency to initiatives claiming prophetic significance. Vadoma had experienced the Prophecy of Athlon personally. Pentheros Sergius Hergones had witnessed and documented it. Any restoration claiming to fulfill the prophecy carried particular weight if it received her blessing before death claimed her.

When Chancellor Lungo III and Pentheros Hergones traveled to Lindstrom in early IV.1752 AN to present the case for restoration, they found an Empress weakened in body but clear in mind. According to accounts later provided by participants, Vadoma listened to the theological arguments, the strategic opportunity, the political moment. She spoke of the vision she had seen in the Great Temple of Bous, of the Butter Bull's promise of transformation.

She gave her blessing.

Theological justification

The Dozan Bovic Church's endorsement of the Elijahn Restoration rested on four interconnected theological arguments, developed over the preceding years and synthesized into a coherent case by Pentheros Sergius Hergones and the theologians advising the Lungo III administration.

The Doctrine of Sanctified Ground

The Elijahn Rite holds that sanctity radiates outward from holy relics, consecrating the ground on which they rest. Saint Elijah Ayreon's remains lay in Konungsheim for 139 years, from his interment in 1598 AN until Operation Dariolin evacuated the tomb to Hurmu in 1737 AN. The earth itself, Elijahn theologians argued, had absorbed his holiness over nearly a century and a half of sacred presence.

The Cathedral-Basilica of Eternal Slumber, even empty of the tomb, stands on consecrated earth. The Monastery of the Holy Order of the Cult of Elijah, even abandoned by its monks, occupies holy ground. The streets of Konungsheim, walked by pilgrims for over a century, carry the imprint of sacred presence.

Operation Dariolin had saved the physical remains, but it could not relocate the sanctified ground. Leaving this ground to wilderness, the argument held, constituted ongoing desecration. Every day the Cathedral-Basilica stood abandoned was an affront to Saint Elijah's memory. The faithful had an obligation to reclaim and restore it.

The Prophetic Imperative

The Prophecy of Athlon demanded preparation for the Butter Bull's return. The Doza Clarification of 1738 AN had acknowledged the prophecy's divine origin while counseling patience. The Prophecy Monitoring Network had watched for signs. Fifteen years had passed without any measurable or observable fulfillment of the prophecy.

But the prophecy spoke of transformation, of Natopia "remolded by the Bull who knows." Perhaps, theologians argued, the transformation required human action to initiate. Perhaps the faithful were meant not merely to wait but to prepare the ground, both spiritually and literally.

The restoration of Elijah's Rest could be understood as such preparation. By reclaiming sacred ground, by demonstrating the assertiveness the Butter Bull embodied, Natopia would ready itself for divine transformation. The prophecy's entry into the Tetrabiblios in 1752 AN, coinciding with the Restoration's launch, formalized this interpretation as canonical.

The Phallic Mandate

The Phallic Cult's interpretation emphasized the Butter Bull's nature: assertive, active, transformative. The Bull's domain contrasted with the Butter Cow's passive nurturing. Saint Elijah himself embodied qualities the Phallics venerated. As husband of Nathan, he represented sacred masculine love. As martyr, he demonstrated courage unto death. As patron of romantic love in the Phallic pantheon, he blessed assertive pursuit of the beloved.

The years since the East Keltian Collapse had seen Natopia retreat. Whales abandoned. Universalis concessions. Reluctance during the Fourth Euran War. Allies questioned Natopian resolve. This passivity, the Phallic argument held, dishonored the Bull's nature and Saint Elijah's memory alike.

Reclaiming Elijah's Rest would demonstrate that Natopia remained capable of bold action. The Bovic Church Militant, with the OAG and Ayreon Tomb Guard in the vanguard, would embody sacred masculine virtue in action. Father Arsenios Kallistos, a Phallic priest known for his theological writings on assertive faith, would lead the restored Eparchy of Keltia as Metrobosarch.

The Unfinished Duty

Operation Dariolin had been an emergency evacuation, not a planned withdrawal. The Hurmu-led operation saved the Tomb of Elijah Ayreon, extracted the Ayreon Tomb Guard, and evacuated members of the Holy Order of the Cult of Elijah to Huyenkula. These were salvage operations conducted as Normark collapsed around them.

The Dozan Bovic Church owed its displaced faithful more than indefinite exile. The Ayreon Tomb Guard, removed to Hurmu, guarded a tomb in a foreign land. The Holy Order of the Cult of Elijah, dispersed across Raspur Pact nations, lacked a homeland. The Metrobosarch of Keltia governed her eparchy from abroad, her cathedral abandoned to the elements.

Fifteen years was long enough. The emergency that had necessitated evacuation had passed. The Confederacy of the Dispossessed held no legitimate claim to sacred Bovic ground. The empire that had once governed Normark, that had first settled Konungsheim under the name Elijah's Rest in 1615 AN, owed its displaced religious communities a homecoming.

The tomb itself would remain in Hurmu under Hurmu's custody. No Natopian claim was made to the physical relics. But the ground those relics had sanctified for 139 years could and would be reclaimed.

Implementation

Operation Sacred Ground

A warrior of the Bovic Church Militant in his war panoply, 1752 AN.

Following complex diplomatic manoeuvres in Aerla, Mercury, Moorland, and Bassaridia Vaeringheim, combined with an extensive logistical operation that rapidly assumed global dimensions, the deployment of the allied 300th Air-Land Combined-Arms Army to its starting position of Arctic Base Thorgils and Los Bananos would be declared to have been completed by 1 Natopuary (VIII) 1752 AN.

With that, the active phase, codenamed Operation Sacred Ground was ready to commence.

New Alexandrian and Benacian air strikes against positions held by the Dispossessed around Konungsheim began on 2.VIII.1752 AN and would continue for six days thereafter.

Reactions

The announcement of the Elijahn Restoration prompted varied responses across Natopia's political spectrum, revealing persistent fault lines from the turbulent politics of the preceding decade.

Domestic

A pro-Aristarchus publication in Klaasiya, the Natopian Jester took Aristarchus' nickname of Lungo's Icebox and plastered it in all the political cartoons it could, doubling its circulation overnight; 1752 AN.

Free Juice and Bagels Party

The governing Free Juice and Bagels Party rallied behind Chancellor Marco Lungo III's initiative. FJBP Whip Theodora Simonides described the Restoration as "a defining moment for this administration and for our party's renewal," emphasizing that the FJBP had returned to its traditional role as the party of Natopian confidence and purpose. Finance Secretary Prashant Chakravati assured the Frenzy that the Treasury had accounted for the operation's costs within existing defense allocations, while Foreign Affairs Secretary Michelle Christophis highlighted the coordination with Nouvelle Alexandrie as evidence of the administration's recommitment to Raspur Pact partnership.

Former Chancellor Emmanuel Aristarchus, however, broke ranks with his former party. Speaking to reporters outside his Klaasiya residence, the architect of the Natopian Withdrawal from Whales and Universal Compact offered characteristically sharp criticism: "When I suggested Natopia focus on its own affairs, I was called an isolationist and a disgrace. Now young Lungo wants to plant flags on sacred ground fifteen years abandoned to the Green, and suddenly imperial adventure is patriotic duty. The only difference I can see is that this time the Church is blessing the overreach." Aristarchus dismissed the initiative as "Lungo's Icebox," predicting it would become a frozen money pit that would drain the Treasury for generations. The former Chancellor, who lost his Frenzy seat in the 1748 elections and was subsequently removed as party leader, has remained a vocal critic of FJBP leadership since his political exile.

Union Democratic Movement

The Union Democratic Movement expressed qualified support tempered by logistical concerns. Leader of the Opposition Henry Demetrios acknowledged the "genuine religious and cultural significance" of reclaiming the sacred sites of Konungsheim, but questioned whether the administration had adequately planned for long-term sustainability. "We learned hard lessons during the Fourth Euran War about the costs of overextension," Demetrios told the Frenzy. "The UDM will support any sincere effort to honor our Bovic heritage, but we will hold this government accountable for realistic timelines and honest budgeting."

Former Chancellor Isabella Betancourt, who led Natopia through the Fourth Euran War and its aftermath before losing her seat in the 1752 elections, declined to comment publicly. UDM sources indicated she remained skeptical of the operation's viability but was unwilling to criticize a mission blessed by the ailing Empress.

Several UDM representatives from coastal demesnes with strong maritime traditions voiced stronger support, noting the cultural ties between their constituents and the Elijahn Rite communities historically centered in Normark.

Nationalist and Humanist Party

The Nationalist and Humanist Party adopted a stance of cautious opposition, echoing concerns raised by the Einhorn Society internationally. Former Vice-Chancellor Frederik Hartmann, who served in the wartime UDM–N&H coalition government from 1745 AN to 1752 AN, warned that "sentiment cannot substitute for strategy." In a statement to party faithful, Hartmann argued that the proposed territory would be "even more dependent on the overextended Boreal Air Bridge than the old Kingdom of Normark," and that Natopia risked "repeating the very errors that led to the East Keltian Collapse in the first place."

International

The Einhorn Society declined to support the incursion into the former territory of Normark, citing the fundamentally unsustainable position of the envisioned territory, which would be even more reliant upon the over extended Boreal Air Bridge than the old Kingdom had been before the East Keltian Collapse.

Initial proposals in Constancia to deploy Normarker exiles from the 510th (Shahzamin) Army in support of the Natopian invasion had been countered by remonstrations concerning the fundamental unsuitability of the Home Guard for expeditionary warfare. Counterproposals involving the Constancian Foreign Legion were hurriedly worked up by the Imperial General Staff of the Armed Forces. Plans eventually consolidated around the deployment of the 6th "Nord" Brigade with key logistical enablers contracted to the Security Directorate of the Honourable Company.

For the Normarker diaspora more generally, opinion was sharply split between those nostalgic for a return to the ancestral homeland, and those so traumatised by the circumstances of the downfall as to be convinced that such a homecoming would be doomed in the long run to bring misery and death to all concerned.

The Benacian Union offered the deployment of four logistical support regiments and an area defence regiment to Los Bananos once the scale of the Natopian operation became apparent.

See also

• East Keltian Collapse
• Operation Dariolin
• Operation Northern Light
• Operation Polar Crown
• Arctic Base Thorgils
• Boreal Air Bridge
• Prophecy of Athlon
• Tomb of Elijah Ayreon
• Elijahn Rite
• Phallic Cult
• Lower Jangsong Campaign
• Confederacy of the Dispossessed
• Natopian Withdrawal from Whales
• Universal Compact
• Marco Lungo III
• Vadoma I
• Arsenios Kallistos
• Operation Sacred Ground