I SURVIVED AN ATTEMPT to kill me by shooting down the aircraft that I was flying from the Old World, back to Averon.
I then survived more assassination attempts, after I managed to reach the Boronda Isles, on my way home. When I got to the Boronda Isles, I had the support of a mixed military team from Averon. We had to fight our way out of the islands, but we survived and we wound up flying back to Averon, in an Averonian military aircraft.
The old King of Averon has died. There are a few in Averon who have the rank of Duke. However, I'm the Duke of Averon, all of Averon, not just part of Averon. As a result of my title, I'm the next in the line of succession for the throne of Averon and so, I'm crowned the new King of Averon, by the Chief Chaplin of the Averonian military.
As the new King, I'm then confronted by a lot of people who have the same three words for me: "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"
I ask each of the supplicants, "Why?"
Well, it just so happens that each supplicant represents a truly deserving group who are in desperate need of (usually) money, or permits to take more than their share, or freedom to do something that's harmful to their neighbours, the environment, the economy, all of the preceding, whatever.
However, Justin Imperiale has a simple set of directions that disperses the supplicants, "Write it down. I have a team of people who review requests such as yours. My team will evaluate your written request or requests. I'll then review the evaluations. I'll then get back to you with my response."
The supplicants don't want to wait.
"I do nothing about your request, until it's submitted in written form. The longer that you wait to submit your request, the longer it takes for any kind of a decision."
Written material is good, provided that someone reads and acts upon it.
I call before me a cabinet level officer. The man's responsibility is water allocation. I ask him, "Give me a summary of what has been done with water allocation requests, over the last three years."
"Well, not very much. We have renewed expiring water rights."
"Yes, I'm aware of the renewal if expiring water rights. One of the areas where water rights have been routinely renewed for quite a few years is the Settler Brook area of Plontor. The water rights pertain to the use of water from Settler Brook. Unfortunately, Settler Brook has ceased to flow, mainly due to an upstream dam on a tributary of the Plontor River. Why do you continue to grant water rights, when there's no longer water to which to grant rights?"
"Well, obviously we haven't been checking water rights requests closely enough."
"Obviously. I have had auditors checking on the granting and use of water rights. What one of the auditors has found, is that people who were granted water rights for Settler Brook have been illegally diverting water from upstream and selling the water to farmers in the area. Apparently, the people illegally selling the water have been paying your people some sort of fee, out of the profits made by illegally selling said water. My legal people characterize the matter as fraud and conspiracy. What do you have to say?"
The man thinks for a bit and then says, "Well, your Majesty, I'll have my legal people examine the situation."
"You do that. I have three of your people currently under arrest. I have several water rights sellers, also under arrest. There will be trials. If the people are found guilty, they won't lie around a prison, eating and drinking at taxpayer expense. They will do hard labour in an Army Corps of Engineers Penal Battalion. Am I understood?"
