A Refugee Seeks Asylum

Those familiar with this blog should, by now, be familiar with the mess that is the Wild Fascist Dictatorship - that haven for lunacy, tyranny, atrocity, and drama where torture and sadism run rampant and the mad sheep Ebenezer Popcorn governs with an iron fist, and where Angel Joe and Winidavefred performed their stunning acts of heroism for the sake of liberty, security, and the Monarchy.

Well, guess what!  A very high-profile figure from the Wild Fascist Dictatorship has recently taken up residence in our very own Greater New Jersey chapter, upon fleeing the WFD to seek political asylum in the Wild Republic's bastion of sane neutrality.  The request for asylum was granted, and for some reason the local chapter was selected to have the honour.  We're becoming more important all the time, over here.

Argantry Iqbal Elessdill requires no introduction in the various animal kingdoms, but as this is written for a human audience, I'll go ahead and give her one anyway just in case.  She is, of course, the courageous harbour seal who began a peaceful campaign of non-violent protest against the Popcorn regime several years back, inspired by the deeds of great human dissidents like Gandhi or Mandela.  Her career began back when the Dictatorship's university was still an institution of repute; she was a professor of Economic Philosophy (specialising in Game Theory and Rhetoric) who found herself more or less accidentally the leader of the university-wide protest against the worrisome changes demanded by the then-dictator, Popcorn's immediate predecessor.  The protest was, alas, unsuccessful: the entire faculty of the university was dismissed and replaced by unqualified individuals who were friendly to the new regime.  But by the time it failed, Argantry's association with non-violent demonstrations had made her a very public figure, and she decided that the ethical thing to do was use her new reputation and her training in rhetoric for the public good.  

She's been the somewhat-unofficial leader of the local resistance movement ever since, and her fame has spread to the global level; she is the recipient of every single peace-related award presented by the animal kingdom and has written five books on various subjects pertaining to the recent history of the Wild Fascist Dictatorship.  None of the awards have ever been presented to her in person, as she's spent much of her time under house arrest.

It has come as a surprise to many of her admirers that Popcorn and his predecessor have let her live, considering her influence (both local and global) and the success she's had with highlighting the sins of her country; it's generally believed that they feared killing her and making her a martyr would make her even more difficult to deal with.  Now, however, her unexpected amnesty has come to a close: Popcorn has decided that she should be silenced.  

Argantry has friends even amongst Popcorn's adherents - she is that beloved - and therefore she was not only warned of his intentions in time to hurry away, but helped in her escape by individuals high up in the regime.  At least, that's what they told her; she suspects that actually they're hoping that her escape will weaken Popcorn's power and help them seize it for themselves.  At any rate, it apparently took some doing to convince her to flee; she at first felt it would be cowardly for her not to accept her martyrdom.  But then she realised that she could probably do more to help her country if she were alive and in the face of countries with the possible agency to offer aid and assistance to the dissidents, so she fled the country in the dead of night... and now, five months later, she's wound up here.

Alfredo, as you can imagine, is torn between elation at the recognition his chapter is getting and blind terror that this will end in utter disaster (with the help of Plouie or Beppe or the kittens).  Everyone else is delighted to have her here.  Twilby's thrilled to have another academic around; Zebulon's thrilled to have someone he can talk about rhetoric with; the pinnipeds are pleased to have another of their kind around; the Monarchy delegates are over the moon, as she is even more famous over there than she is in the Wild Republic; and there are a number of others here who have long supported her.  This is a big deal.

Not one to sit idle, Argantry is currently writing her sixth book, about the various factions jostling for power in the upper echelons of her country (apparently, Popcorn's control over the country isn't as solid as outsiders believe).  She's also working on some speeches, because she has a number of speaking engagements scheduled over the next six months.  And she's volunteered to do a little teaching, which Jasper's pretty excited about, and a series of monthly lectures on Game Theory for the adults, which has generated a lot of excitement.