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Unification of the Papal States; Hamburg-Bremen annexed by Cologne
Topic Started: Dec 10 2010, 01:03 AM (198 Views)
Kasnyia
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Chairman of the Bank
International Commercial Bank of Business and Credit Headquarters
International Tower, Stockholm



Leo Thomas, enforcer and representative of the Genesian Pope, was not bringing attention to himself. He made sure there were no tails, made sure there were no tell-tale signs of who he was, and especially made sure not to enter the International Tower through the front enterance. Taking a side enterance meant for janitorial staff, he quickly showed his clearance to the building's security, who quickly sent him up to the top floor of the tower, where Soll was waiting. Upon arrival, Soll, who was sitting on the couch in the center of the room, stood up,

"Mr. Thomas, good to see you. How may the bank help you and His Holiness today?" he asked, though he had an idea what was coming, having heard rumors in the last few weeks.

"His Holiness is moving back to Rome," Thomas stated simply, his face expressionless. Soll nodded.

The Genesian Pope had been exiled during the war and, after the collapse of the German Empire, had established a papal state of his own until he could secure his position back in Rome, which had been in ruins and under occupation. Now that three or four years had passed, His Holiness was now ready to make his move. This would mean that the papal state of Hamburg-Bremen would cease to be useful to the Genesian Church. There were those in the know who questioned the decision to rid itself of land that could be taxed by the Church, but with Colognian territory to their north, and the Holy Roman Empire to their south now having their rulers crowned by Cologne, it was clear that the territory would be more trouble that it was worth to keep. This was the extent that Soll had gleaned up until now, and Leo Thomas had confirmed it.

"The bank still has your liquid assets safe," said Soll, "And we can arrange the transport of any physical assets of value to the Church."

Thomas nodded silently.

"What of the land?" Soll asked. Even if the Church no longer wanted it, the land itself was valuable in its own right...

"His Holiness will hand over the local bishop, who has been given orders to offer the land to the Holy Roman Empire," Thomas replied flatly, "He wants the bank to handle the transaction, for a fair fee of course."

Soll smiled. Even if the Church didn't want to handle the liabilities, old habits died hard. They wanted to use the territory to win back the Holy Roman Empire.

"The bank will be happy to do so," Soll replied, "The Bank will handle the land's transaction seperately from the Church's assets of course."

"Indeed."

With that, Mr. Thomas left.

--------------------------

Hamburg,
Three months later...


The Archbishop of Hamburg, Adenoid Ritter, was sitting in his office...formerly the Papal throne...and was waiting for a very important call from Vienna.

By now, the state of Hamburg-Bremen was barebones. Most of the Church's assets had been shipped to Rome, and there was only enough money left to sustain the state for one year's worth of expenses, and food for twice as long. Ritter was just there to act as caretaker until the Rome-Vienna negotiations had been settled.

Ring.

And it seems it finally had, Ritter thought.

Ring.

Ritter picked up the phone.

"Hamburg-Bremen is now a province of the Holy Roman Empire. Pack your things, go to Vienna. You will serve as His Holiness's liason to the Holy Roman Emperor," said the voice of Leo Thomas on the end of the reciever.

Ritter smiled, said his thanks to the Pope, and hung up. He was already packed of course, but now he could finally call a car to send him to the capital of the nation his state was now apart of. Suddenly he heard alot of commotion outside. Looking out of the window, he saw troops enter the city streets. Ritter nodded to himself, assuming the Viennese troops had been nearby and had merely waited for the word to take the town. He left to get his suitcases and wait outside for the car.

An hour later, he brought the last of his luggage to the front carpark, as the rest were being loaded in the nearby car. It was then he saw troops approaching the gate.

They were not wearing Viennese uniforms.

------------------

International Tower,
Three hours later...


Soll was sitting at his desk, when the call came. He had expected this. He calmly picked up the phone,

"Mr. Thomas," he greeted, "What may the bank do for you and His Holiness for you today?"

"What happened," came the reply in a tone of cold fury.

"The relationship between Cologne and Vienna, or Vienna and Guranburg, or some mix thereof was stronger than anyone had thought. His Majesty, the Holy Roman Emperor had gifted Hamburg to the Church of Cologne."

"There is no Church of Cologne. Only heretics," said Thomas flatly. Soll rolled his eyes,

"Be that as it may, the Holy Roman Emperor made his choice. I do not see why you are calling me about this. We followed the Church's instructions in this matter precisely," said Soll.

"Surely you knew this would happen," Thomas accused. Soll shook his head, even if Thomas couldn't see it. Truth be told, the Bank had also presumed Vienna would simply take the deal at face value.

"The bank did not know, or we would have told you," said Soll sincerely, "It hurts the profit margins."

"...."

"Would you like me to arrange the land to be taken back for the Church?" Soll offered. He heard a sigh of disappointment on the other end.

"No. The land has too much liability. If Vienna won't take it, the land is lost. This is the decision of His Holiness," Thomas added unnecessarily, so as to protest the choice without actually doing so.

"Well take a positive look to this," said Soll, mildly amused that the normally stoic Leo Thomas was showing any emotion at all, "The Church has less expenses and liabilities to deal with, and made a profit from selling the land to Vienna."

He heard a grunt of acknowledgement on the other end of the phone, before Thomas hung up.

Soll laughed to himself and hung up. The bank had made a profit in selling the land and in moving the assets. That his clients didn't get the perfect result didn't matter so long as they got enough to be happy and to come back for more. And that the bank didn't lose anything in the process.
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Filo
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General
OCC: Can we do something togheder about these northern cities?

Obviusly the HRE will see very well their return to the vaterland :-)
Anyway the genesians in the empire despite the Emperor, so...
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Kasnyia
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Chairman of the Bank
OOC- PM me, but I make no promises.
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