This is a notice that applies more OOCly than ICly for the present time: The ruler of Riva, Emperor Redwyn, has been assassinated by an unknown assailant.
The fact that the emperor is dead is being kept under wraps by Chancellor Westbrook; presently, only the emperor's closest attendants are aware of his death. Everyone else is still going about their lives, business as usual. This obviously isn't going to work forever, and given Riva's unstable political climate, news that a) the Emperor is dead and b) the current administration has been covering it up for about a month is not likely to go well with the country's citizens.
This issue is part of the plot that I'm currently running tableside; however, I encourage enterprising GMs to take advantage of the inevitable social unrest. Feel free to have secrets start leaking whenever it's convenient for the sake of plotted events. The only thing that I ask is that a successor or new government head not be named until further notice, because I still have some things I need to accomplish. My PCs have been hired as undercover agents to investigate and locate the killer, but feel free to play around with wild conspiracy theories and witch hunts as appropriate!
Let me know if you have any questions.