I remember hearing something similar happening under GSI years ago.
The story I heard was that a nation went bankrupt the same turn it's
character issued the double drop-ring order. I think (since it was a
bankruptcy) the ring was not dropped, and the nation was simply eliminated
(don't know what happened to the ring, as I was not in the game).
The situation may be different if the nation is eliminated through the lack
of a capital, as I believe the game does not check for "capital death" until
AFTER all orders have been executed.
- Dilip
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