Duke William of
I really need to finish my quests. :V
- Pronouns
- He/Him
La Chanson de la Victoire (The Song of Victory): La Petite Arpenteuse (Non, SV, you are a General of France in the Napoleonic War!)
- Thread starter Plausbius
- Start date
- Mature Alt. History
- Location
- France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X]The Trail of Guns and Bankers: You have an inkling of an idea that the group who sold you guns is at least partially based in the city. Too many things add up for you to not try and snoop around.
[X]The Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette? He's here? You've always heard stories about him but have never had the honor to meet him. You must meet him.
These are the only options that I really want to see, honestly, the others don't appeal to me as much.
I will also say that I didn't receive an alert, I only saw the update because I curiously took a peek in the thread seeing there were new messages in it.
[X]The Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette? He's here? You've always heard stories about him but have never had the honor to meet him. You must meet him.
These are the only options that I really want to see, honestly, the others don't appeal to me as much.
I will also say that I didn't receive an alert, I only saw the update because I curiously took a peek in the thread seeing there were new messages in it.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
I never said no, but only one can win
Duke William of
I really need to finish my quests. :V
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah, thanks for the info.
- Location
- Hawaii
[X]The Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette? He's here? You've always heard stories about him but have never had the honor to meet him. You must meet him.
This. I want this. Probably not optimal, but if it were a physical button, I would mash that so hard I'd injure my hand. Sure, Washington is no longer president, and Lafayette hasn't been on that side of the Atlantic in over a decade, but it's a cool connection and it's interesting. And for all that Therese is the Empress of the French, she's still (mostly) a revolutionary republican at heart. Also, she can talk to him about his experiences in America, and bring up that her father and two of the Severins (papa and general) were part of the French expeditionary force.
This. I want this. Probably not optimal, but if it were a physical button, I would mash that so hard I'd injure my hand. Sure, Washington is no longer president, and Lafayette hasn't been on that side of the Atlantic in over a decade, but it's a cool connection and it's interesting. And for all that Therese is the Empress of the French, she's still (mostly) a revolutionary republican at heart. Also, she can talk to him about his experiences in America, and bring up that her father and two of the Severins (papa and general) were part of the French expeditionary force.
Respond with the statement that the Catholic Church considers it a requirement both parties to a marriage to be willing. The only ones who can arrange a marriage between Louis Capet Auclair and a potential wife to be are Louis and that wife.
- Pronouns
- Revan
[X]The Trail of Guns and Bankers: You have an inkling of an idea that the group who sold you guns is at least partially based in the city. Too many things add up for you to not try and snoop around.
[X]The Many Marriage proposals of Louis Capet: You have been... forced to endure the mind-numbing proposals from the other Crowns of Europe, that wish to bind Louis Capet... no Auclair, to their name
[X]The Many Marriage proposals of Louis Capet: You have been... forced to endure the mind-numbing proposals from the other Crowns of Europe, that wish to bind Louis Capet... no Auclair, to their name
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X]The Trail of Guns and Bankers: You have an inkling of an idea that the group who sold you guns is at least partially based in the city. Too many things add up for you to not try and snoop around.
- Location
- France
[X]The Trail of Guns and Bankers: You have an inkling of an idea that the group who sold you guns is at least partially based in the city. Too many things add up for you to not try and snoop around.
- Location
- Virginia
[X]The Trail of Guns and Bankers: You have an inkling of an idea that the group who sold you guns is at least partially based in the city. Too many things add up for you to not try and snoop around.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
Huzzah!
I'll post it tomorrow, after I'm done editing.
- Pronouns
- It/Its
Still catching up, but I did notice a lot of people talking about Napoleon's supposed death of cancer, and would just like to say that I consider it far more likely that he died of Arsenic Poisoning, likely done by the British, which can often look like that sort of cancer, especially to a doctor who wishes for it to look so
How do you mean?
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
Updates took months at a time to write and then the quest stopped for a bit before it came under my care.
OSP-Omake - Therese Auclair, Part 3: Trials and Assassination
OSP-Omake - Therese Auclair, Part 3: Trials and Assassination
Blue: "(Sighs) You know, there are times where I honestly wonder how lucky some people can be in their lives. I mean one day you manage to get the winning numbers of a lottery ticket, and in another, your kids live through an assassination plot and your nemesis loses his supporters.
(Pauses) Lady Luck is quite a fickle mistress isn't she?
Anyway, where we last left off with Therese was that she was had gotten the biggest boo possible for her great speech, a boo in the form of a bullet that nailed her in the chest and the idiot who did so was torn to pieces in a way that would make horror movies blush.
Anyway after the most bloodless Civil War in history was over, Therese was now dealing with the most difficult opponent that a women can face, preparing for birth. Meanwhile, France was yet again dealing with most of Europe dogpiling on top of them because Britain does not want to not be number 1 in the world.
The Reforms Therese introduced to the Army were already being implemented, but that did not help the French Forces in the Field. Fortunately, they had other Advantages, even if at first, things did not look so well.
At the start of the War, the Austrians managed to push Massena's Arms of Italy back and encircle them while the Prussians conquered the Netherlands and destroyed the French Army stationed there. However, this would quickly prove to be the only Successes the Coalition could grab. Because at the same time, the Prussian and HRE's Main Armies suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Therese's old Superior, General Jourdan, as they tried to cross the Rhine.
"But what about Britain, Spain, Naples and Russia?", I hear you ask? Well, Kids, let me tell you!
Britain was quickly finding that the loads of cash they had poured into triggering this War looked more and more like a failed investment. Not only were Prussia, Austria and the HRE already struggling against France, but Spain didn't even have the means to put up a fight. Seriously, the French faced ZERO resistance when they just waltzed in and took Barcelona. Heck, the Situation in Spain was so bad that once the French so much as glared at the country it just completely COLLAPSED. Civil Authority broke down, Warlords carved up the Land and the Royal Family noped the heck out of there with much of the Army and fleet, escaping to their South American Colonies...which they actually managed to bring back under control once they got there.
Impressive, but they were still out of the War. Russia, meanwhile, was taking it's sweet ass time to do ANYTHING for the cash Britain had given them. Tsar Alexander sent no more then 30.000 men to fight France, and he basically told them to march as slowly as possible, enjoy the Scenery and try to come as late as they could. He tried to BS his way out by saying that after the Civil War he just won against his Dad, Russia couldn't supply any more that that, but it was pretty clear he was just putting up excuses to take Britain's Money and then not actually do anything about it.
The sheer AUDACITY of this man. It's even more impressive that it actually worked!
Now, as for Naples, surely this time Ferdinand would put a better fiihihight, hahahaha... (Starts laughing) ...Aaaaahhh, no. Just NO.
Turns out that trying to go to war again with the nation that so thoroughly destroyed you last time is a horrible idea! And so the people of Naples pulled their own Revolution, overthrew Ferdinand, and welcomed Davout's forces as they marched south, expecting a fight. In fact, the revolution in Naples was so successful they formed a Sister Republic after they succeeded.
So yeah, they were barely a year into forming their coalition and already things were falling apart. (Sarcastically) Thanks Britain!
Davout then took his army, turned it 180 degrees and marched up north to help Massena's Army which was under siege in Genoa. And here is where things turned in Italy and some notable actions occurred. Mainly that Severin and Berither were wounded in combat as they tried to relieve Massena, but that they were able to break the siege thanks to Murat and his horsey boys smashing apart the Austrians. In process he further proved his skill as the best cavalry commander of the era and made Severin begrudgingly respect the man even though it probably made him want to slam his head against a wall.
But the biggest play of the game in this case was made by Louis of all people.
He was leading two rifle battalions as they lured an Austrian Division toward their position. Using their marksmen skills along with good cover and ambushing the enemy, they completely decimated the Austrian Division as the rest of the Army and Murat's cavalry completely swept through the enemy camp.
Once again, Louis showed himself as the ultimate madlad. Though he did disobey orders as Severin pointed out after the battle which cost them many men in their attack on the camp and forced them pull more men to reinforce the attack until Murat's cavalry showed up. So not the best time for Louis but he would learn from this.
He also apparently got rid of his suicidal thoughts around this time so...hurray for Child-Soldiering, I guess...?
As for most of the rest of the Coalition, things continued to go awful. Britain managed to blockade the French Caribbean, but was unable to actually take Haiti, the United States pulled a heist that would've made John Paul Jones shed tears of joy and rescued a bunch of Sailors that the British had captured and even ENSLAVED (Seriously, Albion, what the hell?!?) during a daring raid on Dublin, Lannes lead the Part of Therese's Army that had returned with her to France north to liberate the Netherlands and the Prussian/HRE Army had to now face Napoleon and Brian, who rope-a-doped them SO badly that it effectively set their military might back to ZERO.
And to top all that off, Britain got the scare of their lifetime when in India, their and the EIC's Armies were almost destroyed by a Coalition of Indian Warlords lead by Tipu Sultan of Mysore, leading them to almost lose the entire Sub-Continent, although General Wellesley did manage to stabilize the Situation again shortly after.
Karma isn't real? Explain this, Atheists!
So more battles were fought across Europe, including an incident where General Saint-Cyr was surrounded by enemy forces but was saved due to the efforts of Adalene Durand, who much like Therese was quickly raising up the ranks due to her skill at command.
Napoleon did as Napoleon does and smashed apart more of the Austrians and Prussians, who finally threw in the towel after all for the humiliations they suffered during the war. Brian surprisingly was the person to demand the surrender of the Austrians and helped in sending back their Prisoners of war. You know the guy humiliated them when he pulled a Cannae on them?
I think that is one hell of a power move.
This event actually has been stated to be where historians see that Brain was in many ways the true embodiment of the Ideals of the French Revolution. The man may have made mistakes that allowed Robespierre to seize power again but damn if he doesn't stand by his beliefs in the face of everything the world throws at him.
Severin meanwhile helped lead a successful charge against the Austrians despite orders to rest from his injuries and helped turn the tide at Morgeno, much to Murat's horror and begrudging friendship.
(Chuckles) I swear these guys are like anime rivals at times. Once again showing what God was inspired by when he had the Napoleonic Wars happen.
Later they were injured and nearly killed by an Austrian counterattack but Louis came to save them at the last minute.
In the end all of the Coalition powers surrendered and so the war came to a close as another French victory.
However there was one loss that stung for Therese. Kléber, one of her top commanders was killed during the campaign to liberate the Netherlands, torn apart as he fought against his attackers only to be standing in death due to an Elm tree he propped himself up against.
Therese arranged a funeral for him after the war was over, though it was a small one like he wanted. No doubt she wanted to have made it larger and more grandiose because she always cared about the men under her command and wanted the best for them but she respected his wishes and the funeral itself was later captured in a painting.
It is a shame that she lost a good friend and comrade like that, but I guess this death was definitely more inspirational and showed his fierce defiance to the end making him a hero in the eyes of France. I mean it is far better and memorable then say... assassination?
Huh, don't why that was my first thought.
Anyway, with Talleyrand forcing the Coalition powers to make peace and having leverage on of them if they tried to pull anything (except for Russia who didn't fight at all so they got off easy), Napoleon soon got to his occupation of Empire building and hit a major snag.
Said snag was that with his concerns about keeping his new power and paranoia about Robby or other radical groups trying to overthrow him and Therese after they had finally brought peace to the nation after the "Civil War" and fighting the second Coalition. So he began to restrict civil rights to certain groups (sighs) including women.
Okay Nappy, I know how important you are to how Europe became what is today, how great of a military leader you are, and how you made France to a powerful player on the world stage and influenced the later Revolutions that spread throughout Europe, this is one of the biggest boneheaded moves for you to pull!
Seriously you take away women's rights, when your wife is literally the personification of the freedom and will that all women wish to have and proved herself against all of the misogyny of 18th Century Europe? How this didn't end with Therese divorcing him is something I'll never know but she did end up setting him straight after the birth of their twin boys.
Oh and, get this: They were named Alexandre Charlot and Roland Geofferi!
Now, you would be forgiven to think that Napoleon chose these Names in a massive bout of his own Ego, but no. He actually wanted to Name the firstborn Kid after HIMSELF. These Names were chosen by Therese.
You know in hindsight, it's amazing how well these two fit together. Turns out, the love for massive dramatics and overgrown symbolism, mixed with a fair share of ego, was present in both of them from the start. Marriage Goals!
In all seriousness though, these two made for a great power couple. Not only did they know how to lead a Nation, but Therese tended to set her Husband straight whenever he was being a bonehead again. Not only did she manage to make him renege on the whole 'Restricting Women's Rights"-Thing, she also got him and the Court to former acknowledge the meritorious service of the former Slave turned General Alexandre Dumas and his family when she introduced them to court, defending him against those who insulted and belittled him all the while.
Therese had ZERO patience for the nonsense that is racism. A Woman to look up to indeed!
To add to the list of "Therese does something weird/crazy that baffles everyone", she adopted Louis and Charlotte into the family, well her side of the family not Napoleons. Remember, Louis wasn't going ANYWHERE near the throne and becoming king himself cause he didn't want to be a slave.
If you are confused by this, don't worry you're in the same boat as the Royalists in the Vendee region.
Anyway, as she was able to convince Napoleon to not stamp down on women's rights she was also influencing him on another front, naming Marshals. See Napoleon had brought back this previously abandoned title as part of his move to increase the prestige in his army.
He had handed a list to her about the people he was going to name Marshal due to their capabilities and experience in battle. Unsurprisingly, Therese was at the top with her brother behind her. Of course Therese had her own ideas and presented her idea of how they were to gain the title.
She expanded the list of people that were to be made Marshals to 15, mainly those that proved themselves in independent command of armies, save for Michel Ney. In fact, those she selected were those that were specialists in different aspects of warfare and military management.
Essentially, she formed the first ever General Staff, with people who were skilled in their areas of expertise that could offer their own ideas to a campaign. She also came up with the idea of two Marshal types, Staff Marshals which would assist in army management and Field Marshals that were the ones leading armies on the battlefield.
She was certainly going for what she thought would give the French Army the best chance possible, and later events would prove this decision to have merit.
Of course, there were still Issues to be seen to. For one, Spain was a colossal trainwreck by now.
The Country had effectively collapsed into countless Warlord States. Raids, pillagings and constant fighting made the Peninsular just not a good place to be for pretty much everyone in it. There were only three places of relative sanity left: The French holding the Area around Barcelona, the British and Portuguese having established another safe zone in the Northwest and Madrid, under the Rule of Don Carlos...though that place soon collapsed as well.
Spain was rapidly turning into a festering wound upon Europe and the other Nations started to gets cared that, if nothing was done, the very IDEA of a Spanish Nation would soon die, with all the fun destabilizing Problems such a hellhole of ceaseless conflict and endless Warlordism would mean for the Continent.
So yeah, this was going to call for a counter of Europe which doesn't include music shows and performances, but diplomats discussing what to do about Spain since their Royal Family hightailed it out of there.
France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia would be the main nations there (knowing Britain they probably didn't want to even see any French considering how badly they were doing), with France holding many cards thanks to Tallyrand as Napoleon and Therese would accompany him there. After all, having an unstable nation on France's border could give Robby a place to build up for a return to seize power yet again.
So, everyone was getting ready for the Conference in Frankfurt...when suddenly, an Assassination Attempt was made. On the two newly born Babies of France's Imperial Couple!
Three guesses as to who it was that did so and the first two don't count.
Luckily, the children survived without injury though some of their guards were killed. I do feel bad for the kids that they experienced such a thing but they are their parents kids.
Napoleon wanted to come down hard on the conspirators that attacked his kids, the Children of the Revolution who had been formed in the latter days of Robby's consulship and had become terrorists.
Fortunately, Therese was able to convince him to not go through with it saying that if he went after them with the intent to completely crush them it make the situation worse. They were, in her mind, afraid that it would further enforce the idea of Napoleon being a tyrant and give his enemies more ammo. So he choose to not come on the Children with the wrath of God himself.
And surprisingly, it worked!
Not only did Napoleon's restraint from using an Iron Fist to utterly crush them take the wind out of the Children's sails, many of them had not been so keen on murdering two Babies anyway. So when Robby contacted them and ordered them to double down on the Child murder-Terrorism Front, the Children's Leader in France, Jean-Baptiste Carrier, basically told Mr. To-the-Guillotine to shove it, severed all ties with him and decided to instead latch his cause onto Therese, whom he saw as the greatest Chance to keep Republicanism alive in France.
So Napoleons decision to chill for a bit and not use excessive force proved far more effective then any violent retaliation would have been. Just goes to show that sometimes, your Victory doesn't come from what you choose to do, but rather what you choose NOT to do!
Even if that 'not to do' means not going directly after the Guys who tried to blow up your children. That takes restraint and really is the proof that Napoleon, for all his autocratic tendencies, was willing and capable to show reason and restraint. Unlike Robespierre who, again, went so far as to try and murder two Babies sleeping in their beds and consider that a job well done!
So to say that Robby's support base in France went poof is an understatement of the highest order. With the decision to cast him off the Children began to undergo more peaceful efforts to make sure that Nappy didn't go full power hungry.
And so we'll call it here with Therese and Napoleon managing to hold it together. Next time we pick this up we'll cover the meeting in Frankfurt as the fate of Spain is debated and we see what Therese was up to during her stay."
A.N.: Another OSP-Omake written by @Blazblade and me. FINALLY done after I hit multiple snags that kept me from writing. Hope ya'll like it!
Blue: "(Sighs) You know, there are times where I honestly wonder how lucky some people can be in their lives. I mean one day you manage to get the winning numbers of a lottery ticket, and in another, your kids live through an assassination plot and your nemesis loses his supporters.
(Pauses) Lady Luck is quite a fickle mistress isn't she?
Anyway, where we last left off with Therese was that she was had gotten the biggest boo possible for her great speech, a boo in the form of a bullet that nailed her in the chest and the idiot who did so was torn to pieces in a way that would make horror movies blush.
Anyway after the most bloodless Civil War in history was over, Therese was now dealing with the most difficult opponent that a women can face, preparing for birth. Meanwhile, France was yet again dealing with most of Europe dogpiling on top of them because Britain does not want to not be number 1 in the world.
The Reforms Therese introduced to the Army were already being implemented, but that did not help the French Forces in the Field. Fortunately, they had other Advantages, even if at first, things did not look so well.
At the start of the War, the Austrians managed to push Massena's Arms of Italy back and encircle them while the Prussians conquered the Netherlands and destroyed the French Army stationed there. However, this would quickly prove to be the only Successes the Coalition could grab. Because at the same time, the Prussian and HRE's Main Armies suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Therese's old Superior, General Jourdan, as they tried to cross the Rhine.
"But what about Britain, Spain, Naples and Russia?", I hear you ask? Well, Kids, let me tell you!
Britain was quickly finding that the loads of cash they had poured into triggering this War looked more and more like a failed investment. Not only were Prussia, Austria and the HRE already struggling against France, but Spain didn't even have the means to put up a fight. Seriously, the French faced ZERO resistance when they just waltzed in and took Barcelona. Heck, the Situation in Spain was so bad that once the French so much as glared at the country it just completely COLLAPSED. Civil Authority broke down, Warlords carved up the Land and the Royal Family noped the heck out of there with much of the Army and fleet, escaping to their South American Colonies...which they actually managed to bring back under control once they got there.
Impressive, but they were still out of the War. Russia, meanwhile, was taking it's sweet ass time to do ANYTHING for the cash Britain had given them. Tsar Alexander sent no more then 30.000 men to fight France, and he basically told them to march as slowly as possible, enjoy the Scenery and try to come as late as they could. He tried to BS his way out by saying that after the Civil War he just won against his Dad, Russia couldn't supply any more that that, but it was pretty clear he was just putting up excuses to take Britain's Money and then not actually do anything about it.
The sheer AUDACITY of this man. It's even more impressive that it actually worked!
Now, as for Naples, surely this time Ferdinand would put a better fiihihight, hahahaha... (Starts laughing) ...Aaaaahhh, no. Just NO.
Turns out that trying to go to war again with the nation that so thoroughly destroyed you last time is a horrible idea! And so the people of Naples pulled their own Revolution, overthrew Ferdinand, and welcomed Davout's forces as they marched south, expecting a fight. In fact, the revolution in Naples was so successful they formed a Sister Republic after they succeeded.
So yeah, they were barely a year into forming their coalition and already things were falling apart. (Sarcastically) Thanks Britain!
Davout then took his army, turned it 180 degrees and marched up north to help Massena's Army which was under siege in Genoa. And here is where things turned in Italy and some notable actions occurred. Mainly that Severin and Berither were wounded in combat as they tried to relieve Massena, but that they were able to break the siege thanks to Murat and his horsey boys smashing apart the Austrians. In process he further proved his skill as the best cavalry commander of the era and made Severin begrudgingly respect the man even though it probably made him want to slam his head against a wall.
But the biggest play of the game in this case was made by Louis of all people.
He was leading two rifle battalions as they lured an Austrian Division toward their position. Using their marksmen skills along with good cover and ambushing the enemy, they completely decimated the Austrian Division as the rest of the Army and Murat's cavalry completely swept through the enemy camp.
Once again, Louis showed himself as the ultimate madlad. Though he did disobey orders as Severin pointed out after the battle which cost them many men in their attack on the camp and forced them pull more men to reinforce the attack until Murat's cavalry showed up. So not the best time for Louis but he would learn from this.
He also apparently got rid of his suicidal thoughts around this time so...hurray for Child-Soldiering, I guess...?
As for most of the rest of the Coalition, things continued to go awful. Britain managed to blockade the French Caribbean, but was unable to actually take Haiti, the United States pulled a heist that would've made John Paul Jones shed tears of joy and rescued a bunch of Sailors that the British had captured and even ENSLAVED (Seriously, Albion, what the hell?!?) during a daring raid on Dublin, Lannes lead the Part of Therese's Army that had returned with her to France north to liberate the Netherlands and the Prussian/HRE Army had to now face Napoleon and Brian, who rope-a-doped them SO badly that it effectively set their military might back to ZERO.
And to top all that off, Britain got the scare of their lifetime when in India, their and the EIC's Armies were almost destroyed by a Coalition of Indian Warlords lead by Tipu Sultan of Mysore, leading them to almost lose the entire Sub-Continent, although General Wellesley did manage to stabilize the Situation again shortly after.
Karma isn't real? Explain this, Atheists!
So more battles were fought across Europe, including an incident where General Saint-Cyr was surrounded by enemy forces but was saved due to the efforts of Adalene Durand, who much like Therese was quickly raising up the ranks due to her skill at command.
Napoleon did as Napoleon does and smashed apart more of the Austrians and Prussians, who finally threw in the towel after all for the humiliations they suffered during the war. Brian surprisingly was the person to demand the surrender of the Austrians and helped in sending back their Prisoners of war. You know the guy humiliated them when he pulled a Cannae on them?
I think that is one hell of a power move.
This event actually has been stated to be where historians see that Brain was in many ways the true embodiment of the Ideals of the French Revolution. The man may have made mistakes that allowed Robespierre to seize power again but damn if he doesn't stand by his beliefs in the face of everything the world throws at him.
Severin meanwhile helped lead a successful charge against the Austrians despite orders to rest from his injuries and helped turn the tide at Morgeno, much to Murat's horror and begrudging friendship.
(Chuckles) I swear these guys are like anime rivals at times. Once again showing what God was inspired by when he had the Napoleonic Wars happen.
Later they were injured and nearly killed by an Austrian counterattack but Louis came to save them at the last minute.
In the end all of the Coalition powers surrendered and so the war came to a close as another French victory.
However there was one loss that stung for Therese. Kléber, one of her top commanders was killed during the campaign to liberate the Netherlands, torn apart as he fought against his attackers only to be standing in death due to an Elm tree he propped himself up against.
Therese arranged a funeral for him after the war was over, though it was a small one like he wanted. No doubt she wanted to have made it larger and more grandiose because she always cared about the men under her command and wanted the best for them but she respected his wishes and the funeral itself was later captured in a painting.
It is a shame that she lost a good friend and comrade like that, but I guess this death was definitely more inspirational and showed his fierce defiance to the end making him a hero in the eyes of France. I mean it is far better and memorable then say... assassination?
Huh, don't why that was my first thought.
Anyway, with Talleyrand forcing the Coalition powers to make peace and having leverage on of them if they tried to pull anything (except for Russia who didn't fight at all so they got off easy), Napoleon soon got to his occupation of Empire building and hit a major snag.
Said snag was that with his concerns about keeping his new power and paranoia about Robby or other radical groups trying to overthrow him and Therese after they had finally brought peace to the nation after the "Civil War" and fighting the second Coalition. So he began to restrict civil rights to certain groups (sighs) including women.
Okay Nappy, I know how important you are to how Europe became what is today, how great of a military leader you are, and how you made France to a powerful player on the world stage and influenced the later Revolutions that spread throughout Europe, this is one of the biggest boneheaded moves for you to pull!
Seriously you take away women's rights, when your wife is literally the personification of the freedom and will that all women wish to have and proved herself against all of the misogyny of 18th Century Europe? How this didn't end with Therese divorcing him is something I'll never know but she did end up setting him straight after the birth of their twin boys.
Oh and, get this: They were named Alexandre Charlot and Roland Geofferi!
Now, you would be forgiven to think that Napoleon chose these Names in a massive bout of his own Ego, but no. He actually wanted to Name the firstborn Kid after HIMSELF. These Names were chosen by Therese.
You know in hindsight, it's amazing how well these two fit together. Turns out, the love for massive dramatics and overgrown symbolism, mixed with a fair share of ego, was present in both of them from the start. Marriage Goals!
In all seriousness though, these two made for a great power couple. Not only did they know how to lead a Nation, but Therese tended to set her Husband straight whenever he was being a bonehead again. Not only did she manage to make him renege on the whole 'Restricting Women's Rights"-Thing, she also got him and the Court to former acknowledge the meritorious service of the former Slave turned General Alexandre Dumas and his family when she introduced them to court, defending him against those who insulted and belittled him all the while.
Therese had ZERO patience for the nonsense that is racism. A Woman to look up to indeed!
To add to the list of "Therese does something weird/crazy that baffles everyone", she adopted Louis and Charlotte into the family, well her side of the family not Napoleons. Remember, Louis wasn't going ANYWHERE near the throne and becoming king himself cause he didn't want to be a slave.
If you are confused by this, don't worry you're in the same boat as the Royalists in the Vendee region.
Anyway, as she was able to convince Napoleon to not stamp down on women's rights she was also influencing him on another front, naming Marshals. See Napoleon had brought back this previously abandoned title as part of his move to increase the prestige in his army.
He had handed a list to her about the people he was going to name Marshal due to their capabilities and experience in battle. Unsurprisingly, Therese was at the top with her brother behind her. Of course Therese had her own ideas and presented her idea of how they were to gain the title.
She expanded the list of people that were to be made Marshals to 15, mainly those that proved themselves in independent command of armies, save for Michel Ney. In fact, those she selected were those that were specialists in different aspects of warfare and military management.
Essentially, she formed the first ever General Staff, with people who were skilled in their areas of expertise that could offer their own ideas to a campaign. She also came up with the idea of two Marshal types, Staff Marshals which would assist in army management and Field Marshals that were the ones leading armies on the battlefield.
She was certainly going for what she thought would give the French Army the best chance possible, and later events would prove this decision to have merit.
Of course, there were still Issues to be seen to. For one, Spain was a colossal trainwreck by now.
The Country had effectively collapsed into countless Warlord States. Raids, pillagings and constant fighting made the Peninsular just not a good place to be for pretty much everyone in it. There were only three places of relative sanity left: The French holding the Area around Barcelona, the British and Portuguese having established another safe zone in the Northwest and Madrid, under the Rule of Don Carlos...though that place soon collapsed as well.
Spain was rapidly turning into a festering wound upon Europe and the other Nations started to gets cared that, if nothing was done, the very IDEA of a Spanish Nation would soon die, with all the fun destabilizing Problems such a hellhole of ceaseless conflict and endless Warlordism would mean for the Continent.
So yeah, this was going to call for a counter of Europe which doesn't include music shows and performances, but diplomats discussing what to do about Spain since their Royal Family hightailed it out of there.
France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia would be the main nations there (knowing Britain they probably didn't want to even see any French considering how badly they were doing), with France holding many cards thanks to Tallyrand as Napoleon and Therese would accompany him there. After all, having an unstable nation on France's border could give Robby a place to build up for a return to seize power yet again.
So, everyone was getting ready for the Conference in Frankfurt...when suddenly, an Assassination Attempt was made. On the two newly born Babies of France's Imperial Couple!
Three guesses as to who it was that did so and the first two don't count.
Luckily, the children survived without injury though some of their guards were killed. I do feel bad for the kids that they experienced such a thing but they are their parents kids.
Napoleon wanted to come down hard on the conspirators that attacked his kids, the Children of the Revolution who had been formed in the latter days of Robby's consulship and had become terrorists.
Fortunately, Therese was able to convince him to not go through with it saying that if he went after them with the intent to completely crush them it make the situation worse. They were, in her mind, afraid that it would further enforce the idea of Napoleon being a tyrant and give his enemies more ammo. So he choose to not come on the Children with the wrath of God himself.
And surprisingly, it worked!
Not only did Napoleon's restraint from using an Iron Fist to utterly crush them take the wind out of the Children's sails, many of them had not been so keen on murdering two Babies anyway. So when Robby contacted them and ordered them to double down on the Child murder-Terrorism Front, the Children's Leader in France, Jean-Baptiste Carrier, basically told Mr. To-the-Guillotine to shove it, severed all ties with him and decided to instead latch his cause onto Therese, whom he saw as the greatest Chance to keep Republicanism alive in France.
So Napoleons decision to chill for a bit and not use excessive force proved far more effective then any violent retaliation would have been. Just goes to show that sometimes, your Victory doesn't come from what you choose to do, but rather what you choose NOT to do!
Even if that 'not to do' means not going directly after the Guys who tried to blow up your children. That takes restraint and really is the proof that Napoleon, for all his autocratic tendencies, was willing and capable to show reason and restraint. Unlike Robespierre who, again, went so far as to try and murder two Babies sleeping in their beds and consider that a job well done!
So to say that Robby's support base in France went poof is an understatement of the highest order. With the decision to cast him off the Children began to undergo more peaceful efforts to make sure that Nappy didn't go full power hungry.
And so we'll call it here with Therese and Napoleon managing to hold it together. Next time we pick this up we'll cover the meeting in Frankfurt as the fate of Spain is debated and we see what Therese was up to during her stay."
A.N.: Another OSP-Omake written by @Blazblade and me. FINALLY done after I hit multiple snags that kept me from writing. Hope ya'll like it!
Duke William of
I really need to finish my quests. :V
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yesssss... I love these types of Omakes.
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
Another *10 @Alexander Sturnn
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
only 10 dammit these need to get 20 or something.
Important Annoncement!
Magoose
SV's Questing Fanatic
- Location
- California USA
- Pronouns
- He
Alrighty...
So I've got some news that may sadden the lot of you all but... Hear me out.
I have just gotten confirmation that Plaus will not be returning to the Quest. And that Cyber is leaving the team permanently to focus on his studies.
Yeah... So it's just me now.
I do not know how to feel about this now.
And frankly, I'm scared that I am about to fuck this all up without help.
This is not a call or recruitment for some help. I am not that desperate to ask for such things, even though I probably should.
This is just a state of the quest that I feel you should all know about.
So I've got some news that may sadden the lot of you all but... Hear me out.
I have just gotten confirmation that Plaus will not be returning to the Quest. And that Cyber is leaving the team permanently to focus on his studies.
Yeah... So it's just me now.
I do not know how to feel about this now.
And frankly, I'm scared that I am about to fuck this all up without help.
This is not a call or recruitment for some help. I am not that desperate to ask for such things, even though I probably should.
This is just a state of the quest that I feel you should all know about.
Oh god no