Wedding Cruise Incident

The Wedding Cruise Incident was a diplomatic incident between Lorem Ipsum, then a province of the Archadian Empire, and Thure, in 213 AIC. The incident saw Caudex Legioncula, a distant relative of the Praefectus and former king Chaese Legioncula was murdered along with his wife Ancilla Caecillius whilst on the honeymoon in Thure.

Incident

Caudex Legioncula and Ancilla Caecillius had been married in Lorem Ipsum earlier that year and were completing a grand tour of the Inner Sea for their honeymoon, having travelled previously to Archadia without incident. Acompanying them on their travels were several friends and servants. The group had been in Thure for a few days, enjoying the rambunctious and unrestricted culture. They were both murdered one night in a tavern, slain by swords by an unknown assailant.

Loremi witnesses and friends of the couple who were accompanying them called the murder an assassination, and demanded Thurian guards find and arrest the murderer. The guards interviewed all involved and declared that the killing was lawful, as under Thurian customary law, fighting to the death is not illegal if the parties involved have exchanged challenges and accepted. It was claimed that Caudex started a bar fight with a local dock worker on the grounds of boasting about having the only non-bearded wife in all of Thure. The Loremi party rejected this ruling, and started scuffling with the guards before being thrown in prison.

In Prudentissimus, news of the arrest of the party in Thure sparked a retribution attack on Thurian traders in the city. 5 wealthy Thurian merchants were injured, and 2 were killed. Additionally, Praefectus Chaese Legioncula sent an armed band of 10 men to Thure to demand an apology from Thure's leaders and the release of all Loremi prisoners. This act attracted the attention of imperial officials in Archadia, and Aetius Aemilius wrote to Chaese Legioncula demanding the group be stopped and that lawful Archadian justice prevail.

The Thing of Thure, hearing of this, permitted an Archadian representive to plead for the release of the Loremi prisoners. The death penalty was suspended and the prisoners released in exchange for an apology from Chaese Legioncula as well as a ransom of gold.

Aftermath

The incident was an example of Chaese Legioncula being humiliated whilst Lorem Ipsum was a province of the Archadian Empire, and this humiliation would eventually lead to Lorem Ipsum seceding from the empire in the Imperial Spring.

The Thing of Thure reminded Thurian citizens to not kill lightly in defence of honor. While duels remained legal, defeating a foreigner in drunken melee combat was declared dishonorable to the same degree as stealing from old ladies or strangling people in their sleep.