The Tyenn Famine

**The Tyenn Famine** was a period of severe mass starvation and disease in the northern regions of the Kymurian Empire from 1009-1012KF. It was chiefly caused by the economic mismanagement of the Rump Administration led by Count Andres of Villamontanya, and made catastrophically worse by the personal decrees of Emperor Tyenn, who insisted on continuing his "great excavation" projects regardless of conditions.

Along with the Tollenser Mining Disaster, the famine was seen as an enormous black mark against Tyenn, and did enormous damage to his already despised authority.

The famine's death toll was registered officially as 24,000, but local censuses record that more than 300,000 died, with the bulk of deaths taking place in remote areas of the northwest region.

## Background

In 1005KF, Emperor Tyenn I briefly re-opened the Noble Council to choose a new set of ministers for a "cabinet of recovery," and delivered a lengthy speech to the assembled Lords, promising some reforms and a general spirit of unity to "hold the Empire together in these economically troubled times."

Tyenn appointed a set of ministers who were considered highly competent in the eyes of the nation, and the act did restore some faith in the already hated regime. The major and relevant appointments were as follows:

* Prime Minister - Count Andres Bedoya of Villamontanya. A well-known Floresian liberal, Count Andres was a popular and capable man. His economic expertise was thought to be crucial at a time when, as he put it, the Empire's finances were "a complete wreck."
* Minister of the Exchequer - Lord Laughtrey. An economist from the Saffira General Exchange. A "cold and unremarkable, if hard-working man," his reserve-centric economic theories often came into conflict with the more liberal ones of Count Andres, although both were noble grandees of the Liberal Party.
* Minister of the Interior - Sir John Hysard PMGM. A man "of no political tribe and a head full of numbers" known for his staunch Angelicanism and commitment to national affairs above all else. He had spent a lifetime working at the Kymurian Foreign Office, and was seen as a safe pair of hands by all observers, though his hardliner views were sometimes questioned.
* Minister of War - General Lucian Preston. A relatively young cavalry officer known for his close connections to the royal family.

## The Road to Disaster

As the government settled into its offices in late 1005, alarming reports began to arrive from northern officials that much of that year's Serlock Black Tea crop, grown in the Zeor Highland plateaus, was failing due to disease. This began a crisis, as the Tea Tax levy, which generated the crown vast amounts of money as the ubiquitously popular leaves were shipped southward, would not be collected. The budget had already been stretched to cover the deteriorating economic situation, but this opened up a financial hole that the government would not be able to cover.

Hysard, the interior minister, came up with a quick relief plan. Since the potato and bean crop harvested in the northwest and northern lowland regions had just been successfully harvested, and since those plants had not exhausted the soil, a fresh wave of Serlock tea could be planted. Serlock was a very fast-growing and cold-resilient crop, so there was a chance that the government could make back it's money on the tea levy before they had to do anything too drastic.

Laughtrey, the Exchequer minister, was instructed to take out a large loan from the Von Stychler Bank, with which a vast quantity of seeds were bought. The government passed the Emergency Act of 1005KF, which obligated northern landowners to plant the tea crop, then sell it with a significant government levy on the (presumably scarcity-boosted) sale price. They would be compensated by tax reductions for the next five years.

Despite grumbling from the landowners, the planting went ahead. Workers were dismayed at the increasingly cold conditions, since field work was not a wintertime occupation. The tea disease was investigated and quickly exterminated. Things seemed to be progressing well until the recently harvested potatoes and beans still waiting in the storehouses (the workforce was busy planting tea) began to rot due to another disease outbreak. Worse still, the winter came on far sooner and harsher than expected. Thus, the bulk of the north's agricultural workforce was stuck maintaining a faltering, hopeless tea crop in freezing weather with a faltering food supply.

1. ↑ Prize of the Monsra Guild of Mathematicians. A major honor.