Records: Germany joins the CMC

## **What It Meant to Be German**

Identity politics was evolving, mostly as a function of both identity and politcs evolving. Where party politics was largely rare conversation in the commons, and when it happened, was mostly a function "Do you support the local lord?" As of just a few years prior, "Have You Ever Seen the King?" might be second on the questionnaire.

The recent invention (and spread) of mundane printing presses had done a lot to change that. Magic and miracles were the rhetorical answer for the begged question of the *Incidence of Incidents*. The explosive expansion of the Plantagenets became the topic that started the conversation locally, no matter where "local" happened to be.

This was especially true in the modern kingdom of Germany, where they'd sloughed off the "Holy" with Golden Bull of 1353 (ensuring the Pope had nothing to do with electing the emperor), they'd lost access to the "Roman" when the Royal Republic of Italy became its own polity, and the whole concept of "Empire" was fuzzy when comparative territory came up.

The practice of the Ricardian Crown, acting as Margrave of Brandenburg (and the Plantagenet allies in Cologne, Mainz and Trier), was to define the culture and emphasize the positive, constructive elements. In this case, they'd been dribbling in magic and miracles as the mortar, but more centrally, they'd bought into the music the Germans were creating, they'd standardized the German language, and they quantified and celebrated what had been the intangibles, like a sense of protective organization that was perfect for promoting the principles of the Magna Carta.

## A Patent to Chew On

The German culture had already been contributing to the CMC in a dozen different ways, but one of the keys for actually pushing to get into the Commonwealth was the patent system. In this case, it was a waiting German patent for a grain elevator. This marked the true bulk handling of food, itself a trend of the future – and began the investigation of standards and practices for safe food handling.

It seemed an inevitability: the amount of communication, the RANP resources, the OM power, the trade benefits. The keys had been in selling the tax structure to the smaller jurisdictions and getting them accept inclusion into regional blocs. Once those negotiations were ratified, then it was all about control over foreign relations (i.e.; freedom to wage war).

Or at least it had been – by 1382, the myriad of baronies was requesting assistance to battle the ork hordes that could hide long enough to replenish their numbers and come roaring back despite what would've been a crushing defeat to a human army.

At odds from the CMC side: the Hanseatic League dabbling in politics, and the support of Albert, the Swedish sovereign. Bringing the League under control was the easy part, but that was true for the only group that was powerful enough to do it without warfare: the Ricardian Crown.

### **Choosing Their Allies**

After the recent re-enfranchisement of Bavaria and the incorporation of Austria, Germany was feeling the power of inclusion. There was already powerful momentum toward official adoption of their own Magna Carta – and the benefits beyond of membership in the CMC – in the form of trade and access to magic alone.

The Plantagenet *Regiments*, now stationed in the former Prince-Bishop electorates, had been non-stop blessings against the ork attacks throughout Germany, not just in Cologne, Mainz or Trier (much less Brandenburg).

The power against the orks was underscored in incalculable ways when *the unexpected visitor* arrived in the newly reopened Westminster Palace. Word of the *Altercation of the Angels* slammed Germany.

The updates of what was happening in Westminster were passed on *live* to German courts via *Scrolls of Correspondence* (and other magical means) by German courtiers in the English court. There was no chance for editing, spin control or anything of the sort. They had the chance to see the entity that called itself both Michael and Mars, and they were believers.

The scene unfolded as one would expect, in some cases with actual heart attacks as they watched the conflict. The *implications* of the news, which started right after and went on for weeks, hit Germany like a Shoemaker-Levy series of meteors.

Adopting a Magna Carta and joining the CMC was no longer a question of political momentum, it was a state of divine inevitability. There was undeniable logic in allying with the Crowns who rebuked the call for the death of the world.