Coronation, and a new beginning

Drinax
Arriving at Drinax a few weeks before the coronation the travellers docked and disembarked to find a representative of the Queen-to-be waiting for them. Their presence was required immediately, they were told, and so they made their way to Rao's private rooms.

When they arrived they were warmly welcomed and a brief royal hug was bestowed on each of them. They were asked to sit down and an informal meeting started where they were asked about all the systems they had visited, and about the rulers or significant people they'd met along the way. It turned out that many of the people they'd already met would be coming to the coronation and, with representatives starting to arrive Rao wanted to take the opportunity to meet with them individually, accompanied by the travellers.

Before that happened she wanted to discuss with them the type of ruler she intended to be, and the type of kingdom she would rule. She trusted the travellers and wanted to hear their opinions.

Firstly she wanted to have a feudal government, just as it was in the days of the Sindalian Empire. When it came to security she wanted an end to the piracy that her father had supported, at least for the travellers. She would invest in ship building in order to protect the borders of her new kingdom, but would not be an aggressor. Lastly she wanted to exploit the technological advantage of Drinax by establishing Drinax-owned enterprises in other systems, but not actively help other systems. She reasoned it was this that gave Drinax it's advantage and to give that away would not be wise.

The travellers agreed with her forms of government and security. It made sense to hearken back to the old days of the empire and to clamp down on piracy. When it came to technology they reasoned that the kingdom would be stronger if Drinax helped in some way to raise the technology levels of the systems that were willing to pay for it. That way she might get a fleet or more advantageous trading situations much faster without losing any advantage.

Rao considered the advice from the travellers and saw that it was good. She had her clerks modify the terms of treaties and agreements to match what the party had suggested and that she now accepted as good advice.

Meeting after meeting
The meetings with the representatives of all the systems in the Trojan Reach started almost immediately and all followed a common theme. The Queen-to-be welcomed the visitors and with the travellers by her side talked about the types of government, security and technology and listened to their hopes and fears. She hoped that they would join her in creating a new power in the reaches to provide stability and prosperity.

The systems all considered her words and formed their own opinions. Overall a good number of systems pledged allegiance to the new Queen and promised to be faithful and loyal subjects to the new Kingdom of Drinax.

Around this time Varuk Nirgal from Theev, who was one of the systems that agreed to join the Kingdom, met with the travellers. He proposed that in addition to becoming a loyal and faithful vassal state to Drinax that it might be advantageous to have strong ties going the other way, the better to represent the interests of Theev on Drinax. To that end he proposed that the travellers become full Lords of Theev. There would be no more piracy, for that was the wish of the Queen-to-be, but the trading and shipbuilding capabilities made it important that Theev had their fair say in matters.

The party agreed that being Lords of Theev sounded just fine, and with a handshake it was done.

Crowning the new ....
So the day of the coronation arrived. Everyone was in their finest, and the ceremony begun with the whole population of Drinax either in the huge throne room, or watching on screen positioned around the palace.

Pride of place at the front was given to the travellers, and they sat with Lady Hil and Lord Wrax, as well as Imperial Ambassador, who shot the party dark looks from time to time and didn't seem to be enjoying himself at all.

The travellers were as surprised as everyone else when Rao was crowned not as Queen but as Empress, as she declared that with over thirty systems they had created the New Sindalian Empire. The ambassador looked sick, but the rest of the palace rang to resounding cheers.

Empress Rao thanked Nitrane, Slayed, Unter and Sparrow by name. She declared them all Arch Dukes of the Empire and bestowed upon them the titles of Arch Dukes of Tlaiowaha (Nitrane), SIndal (Slayed), the Borderland (Sparrow) and Tobia (Under). After she made a roll call of the systems that had joined, she sent out a message of good will to neighbours that had not. She wished them well and stated that when they saw the benefits of the new Empire they too would be welcomed with open arms.

After Party
Immediately after the coronation the party were again summoned to her rooms - now those of the former King. There she removed the coronation robes and in more comfortable attire sat with the party to discuss the next move, which she said should be a blockade of the trading routes from the Imperium to the Hie-rate.

She declared that trade passing her borders should be taxed. Nothing onerous at all, but something that would help fund the security and prosperity of her empire. In addition, it would take something like a blockade to persuade the Imperium and the Aslan Hierate that Drinax meant business and that a treaty should be negotiated. Without a treaty with the powers Drinax has nothing.

Slayed considered the tactics of a blockade and thought it would be possible. The two main trade routes, a jump-2 route and a jump-3 route, along with a few other systems that might be used to bypass the main route, could be blockaded to bring about what Empress Rao wanted.

Rao smiled, and put the travellers in charge of the blockade. After all, they had a small fleet of their own, as well as good relations with many of the systems in question.

To be continued.