Areai retakes large swathes of territory, proclaims Haanean Empire; cannibalism reported; EU councillor among the dead; body of Comtois exhumed
The government of Josephine Areai has again risen to prominence. With the recent creation of a power vacuum, she has retaken, in the span of a few hours, all territory north and west of Kiel, inclusive.
A number of atrocities, however, have been reported from the area. According to eyewitness reports, Areai's soldiers indiscriminately killed, resulting in gruesome scenes in which piles of bodies were seen dotting the roads of the cities, rivulets of blood streaming into gutters and falling into stormdrains, the smell of metal in the air.
They then engaged in the wholesale deportation of the population of Kiel, forcing them to march several kilometers to ad hoc concentration camps where they were expected to work in the recreation of industry and the rejuvenation of agriculture. Escapees have reported the usage of torture, especially branding, as well as the institution of a bizarre religion in which individuals were expected to worship and devote themselves to Areai.
Areai, meanwhile, claimed that the nation had become her body, and that through her everything existed. She then proclaimed Eastern Haane to be an absolute monarchy with her as its immortal head, naming it the "Haanean Empire." She allegedly plans to institute a neo-feudalist economy.
In cities which remain under the control of "People's Assemblies," mass cannibalism was reported. As those initially nailed to walls died, more were found and nailed, and so on and so forth. Many have already died; a number of accounts have stated that the bodies were thrown into crowds before being eaten raw in an animalistic way.
By all accounts, the bones were loaded into trucks before being driven off to be made into bone meal. What remains of the flesh was stripped off from the bone and let to decompose as to use as fertilizer.
EU councillor Martin Bourgaize, who had returned to Eastern Haane to visit his husband and children, was among the dead. He was not killed in the first wave; instead, he was forced to watch his husband and children die and be eaten , while at the same time being tortured with a heated brand, before suffering the same fate.
Meanwhile, as the forces of Areai closed in, forces of the People's Assembly reportedly exhumed the body of Mathilde Comtois before cutting it into pieces. By all accounts, the body was burned and the ashes and bones ground to a dust which was then thrown into the Great Lake.k