Dervich Incident
The Dervich Incident was a conflict between the Empires of Imperius and Kythira in the late Fourth Era. It was the result of a long arms race that had been continuing for generations but had became extremely tense during the reign of Emperor Louis Viromaro.
The Dervich Incident ultimately resulted in a humiliating diplomatic defeat for the Imperius kaiser, and was a major contributing factor in his eventual overthrow during the Raggisar Revolution and the subsequent Kythiran Invasion of Imperius.
Cause
As part of her naval expansions the Imperius Royal Navy began development of a large battle-cruiser submarine. Through an intricate spy network the Kythiran crown learned about this, and Emperor Louis Viromaro ordered the Admiral of the Mediori Fleet to create a Kythiran submarine.
Unbeknownst to the Kythirans, the Imperius engineers struggled to make a submarine the size of a battle cruiser function. Because of this, the few prototypes that were build mainly remained on the surface, and were extremely expensive to maintain and operate.
The Kythirans, hitting the same roadblock, decided instead to create the APEP-Class Mini Submarine. These being very small ships that could house of a crew of four to six, and which could not dive deeper than 5 meters below the surface. Their goal being to help sneak special forces or spies into enemy territory without detection, in order to either spread chaos or gain intel prior to a normal invasion fleet.
During a trial run in the Northern Sea, one APEP submarine was lost near the Imperius coast due to an unexplained explosion on board. A nearby APEP submarine was dispatched to investigate the location and potentially salvage the wreckage and rescue any surviving crew. Upon the arrival of the craft, it was intercepted by a prototype Imperius Battlecruiser Submarine. Upon attempting to break free from the much larger vessel, the APEP submarine broke apart, killing all but one member of her crew. Petty Officer Jornis Von Krim managed to reach a lifeboat, but he was chased down and shot on an island in the Northern Sea by Imperius soldiers.
Chaos Erupts
The loss of the submarine, which up until then had been a classified project, and the deaths of 5 Kythiran soldiers send shockwaves across Minecraftia. The Kythiran Times printed updates on the situation twice a day, whilst the Crown blocked all trade between the two empires, expelled the Imperius ambassador and recalled the Kythiran ambassador. The entire Kythiran Navy was put on high alert, whilst around 30 prototype APEP submarines rushed into Imperius waters, stacked with weapons and explosives in order to give a direct strike ability if war would follow.
Near Marsadini, two massive ships of the Imperius Trade Federation, the Sieger and the Wellenbrecher, each with an estimated value of 1 million Florynts, were boarded by soldiers of Imperial Kythiran Navy, who were disguised as members of the coastguard. The crew was taken to Marsadini for questioning and were never seen again, whilst the commander of the two ships, Commodore Dervich of Neurvikstad, was taken to Helmira and locked in the dungeon of the White-Gold Tower. The ships were taken into the Mediori Sea, where they were refitted to become part of the Kythiran navy.
Although Dervich was not allowed to attend his trial, he was still found guilty of smuggling, a severe crime under the reign of Emperor Louis, by judge Gabriel LeGrave. For this, he was stripped of all his rights and possessions and sentenced to life in servitude. To this end, he was transferred to a prison camp in Alcanzar, where eventually he would be auctioned off at one of Alcanzar's many slave markets. Once the Imperius Intelligence Agencies learned of Dervich's location, they attempted a daring undercover raid, which destroyed most of the prison camp, but they were unsuccessful in the rescue attempt, as Dervich had already been sold to an Ardoraghi magnate. Whilst he was being transported to Ardoragh, the news of the raid reached his prison guards. In response, as an act of vengeance, the prison commander, Corporal Yeva, ordered the immediate execution of Dervich, who was forced to dig his own grave in an Ardoraghi forest. Once executed, the body was cremated in the hole, and the ashes were send to the Kythiran Deputy Ambassador J.M. Eisberck.
The latter had a scheduled classified meeting in the Narrow Sea between themselves and the Imperius Ambassador, who was looking for the missing Imperius Trade Federation Ships. During the meeting, Eisberck presented the ashes of Dervich as a gesture of good faith, and he invited the Imperius Kaiser to Helmira for a meeting with Emperor Louis. Allegedly the Imperius delegation was in utter shock at the barbarity, but all that is known for certain is that they took the remains with them, reunited Dervich with his family, and accepted the invitation.
Once the Kaiser and his staff had arrived in Helmira, they were split up. The kaiser was brought to the guest house for foreign dignitaries, the Villa Altojardin, whilst his staff, including the Grand Marshal of the Imperius Reich, were taken to the Hotel Ye Olde Tower. In their rooms however were members of the Imperial Legion, who arrested the staff and brought them to the White-Gold Tower's dungeon.
The Kaiser was locked up in the Villa Altojardin, unable to contact the outside world.
Aftermath
The Dervich Incident was considered a great humiliation for both the Imperius Reich and the House Von Dragestein. The loss of the Island of Granisla was exploited by the Kythiran Emperor in numerous ways, including marking his victory with the construction of the Bronze Pyramid on the island, the world's largest pyramid, which today stands abandoned.
The exact stipulations of the Treaty of Altojardin were:
- The Wolfpack Submarines would immediately be returned to Kythiran waters
- The Kythiran Navy had to return one of the two Imperius Trade Federation ships
- Imperius would remove all her mines spread across the Narrow Sea
- Dervich's family would be financially compensated
- The Grand Marshal of Imperius would be released from prison and returned to the Imperius Reich
- Imperius would hand over the majority of the island of Granisla, the largest island in the Southern Sea, situated at a remote but extremely strategic location, to Kythira
Kythiran Perspective
The official Kythiran perspective on the Dervich Incident, which they call the Von Krim Murder, states that the Imperius Reich murdered several sailors of the Kythiran Imperial Navy in an attempt to provoke the Kythirans into engaging in a war. Several reports of sources within the Imperius government stated in the Kythiran Times that the mutilated body of the Kythiran martyr Von Krim was dragged through the streets of Imperia in a display of barbarity.
The Kythirans, who wanted to solve the situation diplomatically, prohibited the arrival of Imperius civilians on Kythiran territory to prevent another callous murder. However, the ships operated by Mr Dervich under the Imperius Trade Federation tried to continue smuggling goods into the Empire. When this was discovered by the Kythiran Coast Guard, Mr Dervich was arrested and, for his own protection, transported to a secure luxurious holding facility in southern Ardoragh. However, when a group of Imperius spies tried to free Mr Dervich from his temporary housing he died in the ensuing fight between his guards and the Imperius spies.
In a display of true honour, the Kythiran Deputy-Ambassador made sure that Mr Dervich's remains were send back to his family in Imperius, and humbly invited the Kaiser, known for his bad manners, for a diplomatic meeting in the Holy City of Helmira.
There, in awe of the grandeur of Helmira, the Imperius Government subsided, and agreed to all demands of reparations made by the Crown.
Again, peace was restored to Minecraftia thanks due to the stoic leadership of the great Kythiran Empire.