Excerpt from a 1624 journal by admiral Camille of the Royal Navy of Croissance

"I can think of no greater pain than that which I felt when I learned of who inherited the throne following the Duchess' passing. We were out on an expedition Southward when it happened. When we had left port it felt as though our fair nation was at the top of the world. Now that we're here again, our brig damaged and spilling spice into the harbour, its as though all of the joy and prosperity has been sucked from this land. The young duke, a distant cousin to the Duchess from a minor branch of the main De Quatre line, he has ordered a complete restructuring of the nation. The royal coffers are spent on lavish court parties, grand statues to his majesty, and petty conquests of lesser nations at home and abroad. He knows nothing of how to run a country.

I may spend most of my days upon the sea, but mark my words: I know the smell of an open flame. The fires of revolution are brewing, my liege. History will not look kindly upon the riegn of Jacques II or the De Huit family."