Borders are redrawn as 1902 comes to a close. cgod enjoyed advances, surrounding the Black Sea, and Quatrarius gained ground in the Ruhr Valley of Germany. Italy has awakened under the leadership of mk, while War is keeping busy rearranging furniture in the British Isles.
Politics by other means is being practiced in earnest, with hotspots in central Europe and the Caucasus. Germany's new leader is immersed in crisis, while Italy takes advantage of a calm spell to sort paperwork following regime change. England and Austria, meanwhile, hold steady while the world burns around them.
Cables are flying as East and West Europe collide, and Russia and Turkey continue to grind Ukraine into dust. Two nations are down to three supply centers but tenaciously hanging on. France enjoys a considerable lead with eight supply centers in the spring of 1904.
Turkey has gotten itself into a bit of a RL fiasco. Without going into the sordid details it involves a few thousand dollars, maybe a lawsuit and a great deal of rage. In one sense I have only myself to blame but only in that I left myself vulnerable to getting fucked by someone I knew was desperate. Don't know what I could have done differently that wouldn't have cost someone else (who is a good guy) tens of thousands of dollars. Anyway, the cold rage, negotiations, and pacing back and forth have left me little bandwidth for diplomacy these past few days. It's just money and it's probably a valuable learning experience. The part that bugs me the most is everyone who is getting mad for me, doing every thing I can to not rage and think only of best solutions, don't need people being all worked up about it for me.
Europe is united as one in wishing the Sultan rapid deliverance from these nuisances and travails, and hopes to welcome him back soon so he may erratically lash out at neighbors, issue cryptic and terse communiques, and grind down the few remaining tree stumps in the Ukraine.