UNN

King Celebrates Birthday in the Dark

Shiloh (RKG) - A citywide blackout abruptly interrupted King Silas Benjamin's birthday ceremony at Altar Mansion yesterday, and the monarch spent the night working with his ministers to restore power.

"The fireworks display had just begun when the entire city went dark," said Terence Smith, an investment manager who had been invited to attend the birthday celebrations with his wife Megan. "I felt bad for the King. A crisis like this ruining his special day. But he took it in stride and focused on fixing the problem."

Just moments before, the King greeted a ballroom of starry-eyed guests, each with high hopes and gifts in hand, for his 60th birthday.

The evening was supposed to have been a spectacular celebration as diplomats, foreign dignitaries and even a few fortunate citizens came to meet the King and impart their gift and praise.

What was not expected was a blackout that left the King in the shadows, mid-speech. Just as the King blew out his candles, the city went dark, block by block.

"The entire grid shut down due to a switchboard failure at a CrossGen-owned manufacturing plant in New Carmel " said Chancellor Hanson in an official statement. "The blackout covered the full city through the entire south land. We are implementing new protocols to ensure something like this won't happen again."

The King quickly departed the ceremony and convened an emergency meeting of ministers to manage the crisis. Policemen were sent into the streets to prevent panic, but the residents of Shiloh were remarkably relaxed, gathering outdoors peacefully for ad hoc "block parties" until power was restored.

Despite the abrupt end to the festivities, the King expressed delight at the mature reaction of his citizens.

"The calm and dignity showed by the people of Shiloh during the power outage was the ultimate sign of our unity as a nation," said King Silas in a formal statement. "I could have received no greater birthday present than that."