Tongues Wag Concerning the Whereabouts of General Phillip de Latté

Unconfirmed reports this morning suggest that enemy agents from the Electorate of Zichenau are at work here in the Grand Duchy of Stollen’s capital city, Krankenstadt. Details remain sketchy, but more information continues to emerge by the hour as Stollenian ministers race to gather all of the facts.

During maneuvers yesterday by the Leib Grenadiers, several high ranking Stollenian officers reported spotting three well-known officers from the Electorate of Zichenau in the crowd. The three were conspicuously dressed in dark cloaks despite the warm, sunny spring weather in this little corner of imaginary 18^th century Europe. Among the throngs of Stollenian citizens enjoying the review of their newly uniformed troops, were spotted individuals widely thought to be the mercenary General Phillip de Latté along with his two subordinate officers Quintus Albertus Supercilius von Lickschpittel and Anders Gedacht von Glühwein.

If the identities of these men are correct, their presence in Stollen can only be construed as an audacious mission to ascertain the fighting capabilities and readiness of our Grand Duke’s army. The situation is particularly troubling since de Latté, at one time betrothed to neighboring Pillau-Zerbst’s Princess Valerie, is known to have close ties with both France and Gallia. For his part, Irwin-Amadeus II has not issued a comment yet, though he was sighted early today, taking his usual morning constitutional, dressed once again in his lobster costume, but minus one of the claws.

In any case, how do these events bode for the Grand Duchy of Stollen? Perhaps we have little to worry about given our peripheral location to the events currently unfolding in Central Germany. Stollen is, after all, located outside the Holy Roman Empire, to the northeast of King Frederick’s Prussia and sandwiched between Russia, Poland, and Courland on the other three sides. We are a small territory with an equally small army at the moment. Certainly, then, there would be little to gain for other countries by embroiling the Grand Duchy of Stollen in a general European conflict.

On the other hand, there are those in Stollen’s government who say quietly that it is only a matter of time before war becomes an issue between Stollen and Zichenau, the latter backed by money and troops from France and Gallia. Exactly when and if that happens is a matter of some speculation among our ministers and generals. But the consensus today seems to indicate that we could be at war by mid-autumn if the recent turn of events in apocryphal Europe does not change.

Katrina-Bettina von Heffelfinger

Der Krankenstadt Tageblat