Weeks of peaceful protests by the people of Poyais devolved into fatal clashes with Imperial forces. Emperor MacGregor has been reportedly closed off from the rabble in his palace and is unwilling to hear any voices of dissent, claiming he had been let down by his absent son, Victor and the Emperor’s estranged daughter, Julia. Sources confirm Victor McGregor’s extended absence since traveling to Auxientia. His distinctive mask nowhere to be seen, the cloud of fear that once hung over an oppressed people is seemingly lifted. Without the Emperor’s son present to stamp down voices of opposition with his well documented brutality, citizens are emboldened, demanding Emperor MacGregor step down and allow for a new constitution and free, democratic elections. Fires broke out late Friday night in the capital after Imperial guards used excessive force, killing 12 protestors and injuring many more. Imperial guard captain Reginald Fernal was overheard by several witnesses as acting on, “direct orders of the Emperor himself.” No one from the Poyais government has yet confirmed officially with some calling the accusations treasonous. International condemnation followed quickly from the island of Riphagen to the Principality of Qadar, and Sovereign nation of Coalbourne; all calling for Poiyas to cease its brutal treatment of protesters and Riphagen going so far as to call for “Emperor McGregor to at long last abdicate and allow democracy to flourish in Poiyas.”
