A Country for All

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Spoiler

 

A COUNTRY FOR ALL

or

 

ON THE NATURE OF THE IMPERIAL STATE

 

by  

 

MARC GALBRAITH

 

and

 

DAME VIKTORIYA DENUREM

 

 

 

PRINTED 

BY THE 

✠ IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF THE EXALTED HOREN ✠

 

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A Map of the Holy Orenian Empire, Fifth Empire, c. 1551.

 

“You Will Know Him,

For with Peace He Gathers the Sons of Horen, 

Where the Sword has Divided Them”

- Gospel 7:53

 

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John I, Holy Orenian Emperor, painted c. 1526.

 

 Many centuries ago, John Frederick of the House Horen ascended the Imperial Throne in Vailor, adopting the imperial regal name and title of “John I, Holy Orenian Emperor''. All the major vassals of the realm immediately swore their allegiance to the new emperor in the Imperial City of Felsen after receiving the blessing of the High Pontiff, marking the start of the Fifth Empire.

 

During his Imperial Coronation’s speech, Emperor John I pronounced the following words: “Our Empire is a Realm for All; Adrians, Savoyards, Lorrainans, Kaedreni, Courlanders and Carnatians alike.”. These words marked a very clear imperial policy that can be summarized in the following words: Oren, A Country for All. 

 

After all, the Holy Orenian Empire, also known as the “Imperial Oren” or simply “Oren”, has always been an inclusive project; from Saint King Daniel of Al’Khazar to Exalted Emperor Godfrey I, all the great heroes and leaders of humanity always understood the importance of the Tapestry of Man, united in its cultural diversity.

 

Sir Simon Basrid KCS PL, painted c. 1744.

 

According to the Imperial statesman of the Eight Empire Sir Simon Basrid, Titan of State and Archchancellor of the Holy Orenian Empire during the reign of Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor, and, specifically, to the 1st Statement of the Basrid Ministry titled The Tapestry of Man: “Above all else, the legacy of Exalted is in that of their administration, crafting and preserving a state that no peer Descendent could not ever hope to mirror in political unity and diversity of culture and thought. [...] The Tapestry of Man is Horen’s magnum opus, and we continue his work with our actions. [...] Each and every act we take to benefit the Orenian nation adds to our tapestry and ensures the legacy of man is maintained.”

 

Furthermore, in his Resignation Speech 44 years later, Sir Simon Basrid said the following: “Our Oren is unique among all realms as the living legacy of the Exalted Horen, a land of prophets, the keeper of all man’s apostolic traditions. Each of us are custodians to the great Tapestry of Man, gifted to us by our ancestors, passed onto our children, that serves as the chronicle of being. So long as every fellow is committed to protecting this state, so will our histories, culture, and way of life endure.”

 

In addition, we can clearly see meritocratic values flourish and become a reality in the successive empires that arose since the First Empire and, in particular, in the Eighth Empire during the Basrid Ministry. In that sense, the following words are attributed to the Interior Department during the Basrid Ministry: ”It does not matter where you come from or what your wealth or nobility status is. As long as you are willing to work for Oren, Oren shall always be your home.”.

 

And, certainly, during the times that such policy was followed in human history, all the people of the Holy Orenian Empire were given an opportunity to develop their own lives and careers in the Empire; regardless of their noble status or wealth, all men and women enjoyed the same rights and opportunities to get involved in the Empire’s governance; be it by running for a public office in the Imperial Diet or by serving in a department of the Imperial Administration, amongst many other employment opportunities and social activities.

 

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Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor, painted c. 1737.

 

It is notorious that in the eighteenth century, in the midst of the fray of the Rubern War, the Duchy of Morsgrad delivered a missive to the Imperial Crown titled To the Heartlands Crowns (1741) in which the Duke of Morsgrad offered to Holy Orenian Emperor Peter III to settle the war by ceding them his sovereignty over the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska, and that the response of Emperor Peter III was the following:

 

“It is true, you have delivered Us a number of defeats. Bruised and bloody, We take Our wounds with vigor, each blow refreshening that indomitable spirit; that burning flame which drove Our predecessors to victory. The blood of the Empire is a singular red, and shall never deplete so as long as We live.

 

You will recall, perhaps familiarly, of the state in which John Frederick found his country. Ravaged and ransacked by years of aggression with a host of Urguanites at his gates, any lesser man would have cowed in to the submission you desire. But this is not the conduct of an Emperor! An Emperor does not abandon his faithful subjects. From the brink of devastation, John Frederick would conquer the world.

 

Our countrymen, renewed by the taste of spilt blood and sweat, enlist in defense of their beloved country. Both lines of ancient renown and lines of promising beginnings flock to the banners, ready to fill the ranks against your chaotic assault. Indeed, your forces have picked and pried at the titan; but it is Our faith and courage that shall wake him from his slumber.

 

We shall meet you again on the field of battle, again, and again, for Ours is one great spirit, and yours many disparate plots.”

 

And later on, Emperor Peter III and his Imperial State Army proudly defended the Royal City of Reza, at that time capital of the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska, from a Nordling invasion during a siege instigated by the forces of the Alliance of Independent States during the aforementioned Rubern War.

 

We believe that Peter III’s defense of Reza symbolizes the best of the Holy Orenian Empire; for it represents humanity’s perfect union and the existence of a social contract between the governing and the governed parties, as outlined in the Nenzing Proclamation. After all, the King of Hanseti-Ruska and his people were faithful subjects of the Holy Orenian Emperor, and an emperor does not abandone his subjects.

 

Furthermore, we genuinely believe that the Holy Orenian Empire has the duty to actively contribute to the defense, preservation and development of its Constituent Realms, ensuring their residents’ safety and prosperity. And, at the same time, we firmly believe in the necessary cooperation between the Imperial Government and the Provincial Governments, for we believe that the Constituent Realms and their Canon Princes and Peers must not be simple spectators but rather the main protagonists of the Empire, for Oren is a Country for All. 

 

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Joseph II, Holy Orenian Emperor, painted c. 1784.

 

At the same time, we are all aware of the tragic episodes that haunted our former Empires, often caused by the temptation of absolutism, such as the Sack of Ves, protagonized by Emperor Anthony I, or the War on Sutica, protagonized by Peter III, amongst other episodes that diminished the confidence between the Empire and its vassals. And, precisely, we genuinely believe that the best way to ensure that the Imperial Constitution, be it written or unwritten, is kept, is to establish Imperial Institutions that are commonly shared amongst all the Constituent Realms that form our Empire.

 

Emperor Joseph II understood the importance of constitutionalism, and in his last missive Reflections on State Or; Some Fruits of Solitude (1813) he said the following: “[...] Sir Frederick Armas was born to a merchant. Simon Basrid was of no greater birth. Did Sabari make distinction between greater or lesser when he was called to fill the trenches? 

 

What is the boast of Emperors, but great folly? Our ancestors worshipped their sovereigns in the Imperial cult. The very blood of Horen was taken as sacred; if sacred, infallible. Would you take Antony I as infallible in his pronouncements? 

 

Let you take heed, John Charles, that an Emperor is the sum of the men which he surrounds himself with. Your father, Joseph II, possessed a common heart; he held no greatness; it was they who reared him that were filled with the greatness of the day. It is to his councilors that he is indebted, and to benevolent Providence.

 

An Emperor reigns; he does not rule. 

 

Do not speak. Such is the business of a councilor.

 

 Speak not in Opinion, but Judgement; therefore speak last.

 

 Make no promise. It shall be invoked unto the grave. 

 

The Emperor is all things to all men. If it should be otherwise, envy; if envy, rebellion. 

 

Your father made no vain boasts. He pretended to no great conquest. The constitution was upheld, and no great calamity befell the Empire. [THE DICTATES ARE INCOMPLETE]”

 

These dictates of Emperor Joseph II outlined a simple but important idea: the times in which an absolutist Emperor may unilaterally rule from his throne as an autocrat are long gone. Instead, the Emperor must abide by the decisions adopted by his faithful subjects, the Orenian people, represented in the Imperial Diet, as the Empire’s legislature, and in the Council of State, as the Empire’s cabinet.

 

In order for such imperial constitutionalism to flourish we propose the institution of an Imperial Diet formed of a Congress, also known as the Imperial Congress or Congress of Man, as the Empire’s legislature, formed of representatives from all the Constituent Realms of the Empire elected in their provincial circumscriptions in regular and free elections called by the Imperial Crown. 

 

In such proposal, the Imperial Congress would hold the ultimate authority of the Empire and would have a real decision power on the matters that affect all the Empire, such as the power to declare war, the power to ratify or reject international treaties, the power to enact or repeal imperial legislation, the power to confirm or reject the appointment of Ministers of the Council of State, the power to confirm or reject the appointment of Circuit Judges and Supreme Court Justices, the power to summon Ministers of the Council of State to be held to account, amongst many other constitutional functions.

 

In that sense, we genuinely believe that it is time for power to be transferred from the Imperial Throne to the Orenian people represented in the Imperial Diet, and, specifically, in the Imperial Congress, a legislative chamber that would represent all the Constituent Realms or Provinces of our Empire, with all of their elected representatives having a voice on the Empire's governance and the ability to introduce the bills and proposals that better satisfy the desires, needs and the dreams of their constituencies.

 

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John V, Holy Orenian Emperor, painted c. 1614.

 

At the same time, during the last century, we have noticed that some people have been actively stigmatizing the terms “Empire”, “Imperial” or “Orenian” whenever someone mentioned the idea of forming a new Empire, immediately alerting of its risks and disadvantages. However, dear readers, this demonization is not new, for according to human history it has occurred during all the periods of times when an Empire has not existed, that is, during the so-called Interimperiums.

 

We are able to historically detect the existence of this very same anti-imperial sentiment during the speech made by Emperor John V at his Imperial Coronation (1614): “Empire is the height of civilization. When the squabbles of men give way to diplomacy, and order replaces chaos, and the law of Horen lives on through his heir, this is called Empire. In the years since the Fifth Empire was weakened and fell, I have heard men curse the word “Empire”. They do nothing but curse order, civilization, and the brotherhood of man.”.

 

According to Emperor John V, the Empire brings order, civilization, and the brotherhood of man. In similar terms, in his missive Letters from a Farmer in Kaedrin (1741), the Imperial statesman and Titan of State of the Eight Empire Sir Frederick Armas described Oren as follows: “Since my youth, I have been a patriot, for not simply the land upon which I happen to reside but humanity as a whole. No student of history can finish his letters without becoming such, because when humanity is united and working towards a shared goal, anything is possible. The only circumstance in which this can be done is through a central, governing authority that both charters the rights of its subjects while also requiring them to, in part, defer their own interests to that of the collective and the whole. This is the purpose of Oren - a collaboration to achieve greatness.”

 

Viscount Rillsworth, Sir Frederick Armas, painted c. 1762.

 

According to Sir Frederick Armas, Oren is a collaboration to achieve greatness, and when humanity is united and working towards a shared goal anything is possible. Furthermore, in the same missive, Sir Frederick Armas said the following about Oren’s significance: “But what is Oren? In Flexio, ‘Orenia’ simply means ‘humanity’. To be an Orenian means nothing other than to be a human. This is an incontrovertible, undeniable state of being that cannot be muddied by denial or obfuscation: ergo, like it or not, if you are a human, you are an Orenian. There can be nothing less partisan or factional.”

 

In accordance with its original meaning in Flexio, to be an Orenian means nothing other than to be a human; Sir Frederick Armas finds it to be an incontrovertible and undeniable statement inherent to the human condition of man. 

 

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Joseph I, Holy Orenian Emperor, painted c. 1715.

 

As for these signatories are concerned, we believe that it is undeniable that we, the Balianese, Haeseni, Aaunites, Petrans, Númenedain, Hyspians and Reinmarens alike, have achieved greatness together since the formation of the Grand Covenant. Hence, we think that it is now necessary for us all to consecrate this alliance into GOD by making it a permanent Imperial Union and, thus, agreeing together to the formation of a new Empire led by a Holy Orenian Emperor proposed by His Holiness the High Pontiff.

 

We hold this truth to be self-evident, that the conjunction of the Realms of Man, currently comprised of Balian, Haense, Aaun, Petra, Númendil, Hyspia and Reinmar, form a Nation called the “Holy Orenian Empire”, also known as the “Imperial Oren” or simply “Oren”, that holds its ancestral origin in Exalted Godfrey’s ascension to the Throne of Man as written in the Holy Scrolls of the Canon. 

 

In other words, we believe that all the current Human Realms form the Holy Orenian Empire, whose boundaries currently extend from the great River Petra to the Mountains of Númendil, across the deserts of Hyspia, from sea to shining sea, from Valdev down to Portoregne, and from Kretzen and Whitespire to the Holy See; and that it is the duty of the Canonist Princes and the Peers of the Realm to agree on who should assume the mantle of Holy Orenian Emperor and hold the Throne of Man to reign over Mankind.

 

In accordance with the Nenzing Proclamation (1715) issued by Emperor Joseph I, we believe that a social contract exists between the governing party, represented by the Holy Orenian Emperor, and the governed party, represented by the Canonist Princes and the Peers of the Realm, and that, as such, it is the duty of the Canonist Princes and the Peers of the Realm to actively contribute to the Holy Orenian Empire’s betterment and defense and, simultaneously, it is the duty of the Holy Orenian Empire to protect, defend and assist the Canonist Princes and the Peers of the Realm with all the empire’s might, ensuring the preservation and development of its Constituent Realms.

 

Thus, for these very same reasons, we would like to now make the following affirmation, addressed to our natural friends and comrades from all the Human Realms of Aevos: May you wish for it, Oren can become your Country as well; for we are all Orenians, sons of Exalted Horen, and we are stronger when we remain united than when we are divided.

 

Together, we have the opportunity to unite in order to achieve GOD’s Providence by creating a Country that both charters the rights of our subjects and defers our own personal interests to that of the collective and the whole. Let us make it possible, for according to our imperial ancestors, there is nothing that we cannot achieve when we are united and work together for the common good. 

 

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THIS WE SUBMIT FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF HUMANITY,

UPON THE DAY OF OUR LORD GOD,

 

8TH OF HARREN'S FOLLY, 1971.

 

Marc Galbraith, Scholar of the Imperial Society of the Exalted Horen.

 

Dame Viktoriya DeNurem KL, Baroness of Nuremburg, Captain of the 1st Regiment of the Imperial State Army, and Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Lion.