Labradoodle

[!] A small text is written at the top of the parchment: “This dispatch, whilst publicly available, is written as a faux-private correspondence between the author and a fictional recipient and is part of a series. For further information, written copies of former instalments, or contracted work contact Miruel’Asul, who frequents Minitz.” Report on Agriculture Miruel’Asul 15th Snow’s Maiden, 97 S.A. My survey of the Kingdom of Aaun’s land reveals that there is the potential for four-thousand seven-hundred ninety-two bushels of wheat from every harvest. This potential is significantly larger than all other continental nations. Unfortunately, there is little to no national market or the slightest incentive to harvest due to the overall low productivity of the valah here. This in itself would not be a worrying fact were there the smallest hint of regional markets for grain production, which there are not. It’s possible the reason for this is the commonage system. Allowing men and women to manage land and harvest for themselves creates only local supplies, surpluses, and shortages that have no profits for the townships (due to lack of regional attention) or the nation as a whole. In my survey Aaun revealed an incredible potential for expansion in its arable land due to its geological position. The kingdom has a vast expanse of low-lying and well drained land with deep soil and an impressive waterway to match. Given the potential of the land options are two-fold. Necessary to both is the abolition of commonage nationally and enforcing private ownership locally. Firstly, an artificial national market is created whereby townships are required by law to have well-stocked grain reserves - bought from national suppliers - that they release intermittently, and for a fee, to their people. This would create demand and therefore a market by default. Risk is created through compliance variables. Townships may not wish to impede their tenants former right to commonage and there are no effective means to prevent them from buying regionally. Additionally, attempts to alter demand may fail through foreign supplies and implode the fragile internal market. This option, whilst having high risk of failure, would lead to a quicker overall implementation of a national market. The second option may be to create regional markets with the hope that this would translate, in the fullness of time, to a national one. The kingdom has several open stores of grain free for use to the public, removing these would create a demand for food which must then be supplied by businesses (who must be required by law to sell bread at a fixed price). Risk in this regard is that the public may choose to purchase food from foreign markets at lower prices. Ultimately this option has less risk for the government, but it may be a long time before markets are at a profitable level - if ever. Creating a national market for the fledgling kingdom would increase agricultural production and efficiency. The effects on human capital alone - increased productivity, education, and internal commerce - far outweigh the risks or administrative costs. A surplus of food would fuel an expansion in husbandry across the country, which by itself would lead to a market of exportable goods. But this can only be done with the abolition of the commonage, enclosures, and an ideological shift towards fostering private enterprise where possible. My observation is that this course of action would certainly be difficult. The former Harvest Lord’s may resist efforts to introduce and enforce national law or shirk their responsibilities in favour of expedience. Furthermore, a planned expansion of Acre’s commonage may oversaturate supply to the extent that the creation of a market would be impossible for a generation. The former Harvest Confederacy gave great lip service to their agricultural efficiency but its legacy has shown itself to be the reverse. In order to foster national unity, the new king may wish to first ensure that economic ties are close and profitable enough to make membership of the kingdom valuable beyond what the former confederacy offered.

[!] A small text is written at the top of the parchment: “This dispatch, whilst publicly available, is written as a faux-private correspondence between the author and a fictional recipient. For further information, written copies, or contracted work contact Miruel’Asul, who frequents Minitz.” A Report on the Valah, Vol.2 Miruel'Asul 4th Snow’s Maiden, 97 S.A. The Valah of Aaun have quite a peculiar system of roads. They are disjointed, directionless, and provoke the traveller to trespass unbecoming geography (and that is without taking into account the roads themselves). The bridleways are dangerous to animals, with countless rocky outcrops, sharp turns, and thin bridges. The footpaths cross mountains treacherously, taking the weary traveller slowly up a hill only to descend it at the peak. At places they are poorly maintained - if at all - and often lead to empty fields. If the new king wishes to promote unity in the realm, the finest way to do so would be correcting the glaring errors of his predecessors and promoting a more equitable network of public roads. [!] The following passage lists a set of times to corresponding locations. Borderpost to Vienne: one hour fifteen; Borderpost to Minitz: one hour twenty-three; Borderpost to Florentine: one hour thirty-one; Borderpost to Acre: one hour fifty-four; Borderpost to Corwinsburg: two hours twenty-six. Travel from the Borderpost to Vienne is marginally quicker than to Minitz or Florentine, but only due to the well maintained and direct road between. Discouragingly, I observed that roads stemming from the ruined former capital Vienne to other parts of the kingdom were particularly ineffective at ferrying people and goods to all four corners of the kingdom. Whilst it would only take a single horse forty minutes to Minitz from Vienne, this increases to two hours twenty-nine to Corwinsburg, two hours forty to Azor, two hours forty-nine to Aschenwald, and a shocking four hours twenty-two to Castile. I cannot begin to estimate the time it would take to move from settlement to settlement if travel to the former capital takes as long as it does. It seems strikingly apparent that this uneven distribution makes ruined Vienne a particularly poor place to have constructed a capital city. Its potential reconstruction as a centre for the new king may, it is said, enforce disparities between the former Harvest Lords. The abandoned township of Florentine, however, has a vastly superior network of paths and occupies a more central location. The facilities are in good condition and seem ready to host a provisional capital for Aaun. [!] Another list. Florentine to Minitz: thirty-six minutes; Florentine to Azor: one hour thirty-four; Florentine to Acre: one hour twenty-five; Florentine to Corwinsburg: one hour thirteen; Florentine to Aschenwald: two hours. The Valah are well known for their ingenuity but it is no secret that the treasury is bound to have been exhausted in resolving tensions with neighbouring states. A new system of infrastructure is but one part of his agenda, and whilst undoubtedly expensive has a subtle importance. A sense of the former Harvest Lord's territories being left behind is a destructive wound for the infant kingdom, one that it would likely not recover from. It remains to be seen what the new king will decide, but it is certainly true that the correct management of the realms roads has more to it than meets the eye.

[!] A small text is written at the top of the parchment: “This dispatch, whilst publicly available, is written as a faux-private correspondence between the author and a fictional recipient. For further information, written copies, or contracted work contact Miruel’Asul, who frequents Minitz.” A Report on the Valah By Miruel’Asul 22nd of the Amber Cold, 96 S.A. The men and women of the newly established Kingdom of Aaun appear cautiously optimistic about the future. Within them roars that fire of human ingenuity and that old, insatiable, thirst for expansion. But this should not belie the notion that the Valah are of one mind. Having removed an empire, then a kingdom, only to install one again - all in the span of a single lifetime - proves their indecision about the necessary path forward. The problems facing this infant kingdom are numerous. They have lost the Commonwealth and been humbled by a double succession in Acre. Their treasury is likely to have been crippled, and many are sure to be on the brink of hunger with consecutive seasons of poor harvest. Without a payrolled standing army, little seems to be in the way between its current state and chaos but for the fragile agreement of the former Harvest Lords. People I spoke to appear to be in two minds: eager for the former Confederacy to thrive, but preciously retaining their autonomy and separate ways of life. The new king will surely have a difficult job convincing people that he is up to the task. They once said “no Kings but Us”. Indeed, the men and women of Aaun wish for no Imperial to attempt to govern wide berths of humanity and all its cultures. Rather, a Heartland King for the Heartlander people. This is what they appear, for now at least, to possess in their new King Charles. As I sat at his proclamation, the king stood with his new people and spoke to them as comrades and not a royal. His election was unanimous and without discussion, which can only give the impression of an unseen force of politics moving fiercely behind closed doors. The king was without a uniformed guard - a courageous move for one trapped in a room with so many who would sooner see him fail - and awkwardly announced the formation of his kingdom to great surprise of those not party to the fait accompli. This would be, of course, the end of the Confederacy as it had been known. But when the bell tolls for one era, another must step up towards the well-trodden path. He did not seem to have a kingly aura about him, nor did he inspire any spontaneous shows of affection, but rather immediately got to the task of managing the realms foreign affairs within the ruined palace of Vienne. Stronger neighbouring states are sure to peer at the former Crownlands with eager eyes, waiting for signs of disunity. So whisper it in dark alleys, say it between bated breaths, but for this brief moment there seems to be, with the correct stewardship of the realm, the hope that the new king and his council might finally deliver the new direction that Heartlanders have been yearning for.