New Lease on Throne for Maximilian I
“He, At Least, Has Not Forsaken Us”
Still safely ensconced at their seat in Chapultepec Castle, from which the stately Paseo de la Emperatriz once issued forth, the Imperial couple—triumphantly reunited—announces intent to remain and govern the same country which lately threatened one of them with deposition & death.
“My wife and I, children of Mexico in our hearts, have determined not to desert her in her time of trial,” the former Austrian Arch-Duke claims. “Indeed, this lamentable recent influx of hexen-kriegskraft from our beloved adopted land’s distant past serves as reminder that the original War for Mexican Independence was led by Martin Cortes, son of Hernan Cortes and La Malinche, against the privileges of the conquistadors. Thus we must remain ever vigilant as Christians, seeing how our sins return again & yet again.”
Those historically educated amongst our readers may recall that Chapultepec was once a summer retreat for rulers of the Aztec Empire, which itself gave birth in turn to Hex City’s fabled “Rainbow Lady,” the savage so-called goddess at whose feet most of the recent damage may be laid (with, we are sad to say, an American-born hex’s foul connivance). Our sources inside the Imperial court claim that cultish shrines have sprung up where only lightly Catholicized peasants, conflating her heretically with Our Lord’s own mother, go to spill blood in her name, by the bucket-full . . . often with such violence that fresh hexes arise in the wake of these orgies of witchcraft-influenced false penitence, only to then rampage through the devastated zone anew.
Of former President Benito Juarez and his ally Porfirio Diaz, once at the head of a rebellion intent on impeaching & executing his Excellency, little has been heard since the capitol fell. But Maximilian once more extends an offer of truce & amnesty if both will swear public allegiance to him & his heirs, the young Princes of Iturbide & Marzan. Meantime, the Emperor has renewed his alliance with Napoleon III of France, and offers any ex-Confederate soldiers who care to emigrate southwards the shelter of the Carlotta Colonies, should they value freedom from Union rule more than their loyalty to these re-United States. . . .
From the same issue:
STRANGE WEATHER, INSECT PLAGUES
Whole Towns Throughout Arizona, New Mexico Rendered Unfit for Habitation
Migrants Head our Way, Seek Shelter & Occupation
A SECOND GOLD RUSH TO BE EXPECTED?
Californios Braced for New Upswing of Crime & Competition
Authorities of San Fran & Environs: “Anti-Foreign Laws in Place for Good Reason”
Plus—from the busy pen of transplanted Ne
w Yorker Fitz Hugh Ludlow—this travel-account from what is quickly becoming America’s most hotly disputed area of interest:
BLACK PILGRIMAGE
A Frightening True-to-Life Tale of
One Man’s Journey by Stagecoach Across the Painted Desert, Within Close Sight of
HEX CITY!
Magicians Received from All Quarters, with
More Arriving Every Day
Our Readers’ Pressing Enquiries Answered:
Where Do Its Denizens Come From?
How Many Live There Already?
May Their Influence Be Avoided?
BOOK TWO:
EMPTY DAYS
June 2, 1867
Month Six, Day Eleven Movement
Festival: Etzalcualiztli, or Meal of Maize and Beans