Esterlen

 

 

ACCOUNT

OF THE

CLAN ELVERHILIN

Sachin Luerane el’Belethi

4 Amber Cold SA 171

 

 

The Barbuturr Irrinites, also known as Barbuturran (pl. Ancient Elven) or Black Sheep Irrinites, is an umbrella term for various Irrinite mali’ame seeds, tribes, or clans, distinguished by their practice of a nomadic pastoralist tradition which favors life on the grassy steppes and sparsely wooded frontiers of the known world. The semi-military communities of the Barbuturr are also characterized by their adherence to a blend of the mystic, monotheistic San’taliyna (also known as the Path of the Living Word) and certain Aspectist folk traditions. Their name in Ancient Elven is derived from the roots ‘barbu’ and ‘turr’, meaning ‘black’ and ‘sheep’ respectively, though this moniker was not originally a euphemism but instead refers to their tribal totem, a black ram’s head. 

 

 

 

 

An envelope, sealed by the wax imprint of a tobacco sprig, contains the following letter, sprawled out upon many pages in the practiced calligraphy of an elven style. 

 

---

 

4 Amber Cold SA 171

 

laurir’saneyir Adriel Acal Vallei, @Sefardi

 

iyul’maele asiol oem Acaelan ito kae’leh. I, Sachin Luerane el’Belethi, deputy clerk of the Raell’uvuliran (Spicer’s Guild), have written the following account in relation to the loss of our latest caravan westwards. I plead that the circumstances described herein may mitigate any punishment visited upon me by my fellow Raell’uvuliran, and I humbly beseech your person for any such forbearance as you are able to muster for the losses incurred by my failings. el’Tuva Uelln’ehya el’Bilokir Tuva’leh, illern’leh el’Taynuel maele’ehya ay evarn’sae ahe’Malin’onn Lye’ehya. 

 

After around two elven miles after fording the river that makes the western border of Maruruknor, our caravan was waylaid by an ambush. Though at first we presumed our attackers were urukan, by their mounts and their silrivan I could later determine that they were Mali, specifically fellow mali’ame. They carried themselves in the manner of the steppe peoples, clad in furs with lassos in hand, and the mercenaries charged with protecting our cargo were dispatched by their arrows forthwith. By this time it had become clear to me that this was a roving clan of Barbuturr Irrinites and when they inquired who the caravan master was, I told them it was I, and they clapped the survivors in irons and took us to their encampment. 

 

The clansmen led us a short time through the plains until we reached their village. The Barbuturr settlement was a collection of perhaps ten yurts, with wooden beams only as their latticework and walls of animal pelts. All these yurts were centered around a spruce tree, and as it was clear that the encampment was temporary and movable in nature, by its age this tree had preceded their residence here. Some flocks of sheep grazed around the gathering, but their raucous reaction on the seizure of our cargo suggested that their economy was driven by pillage rather than this agriculture. 

 

Other than these momentary celebrations, this clan of Barbuturran seemed a cruel and miserable people. Their conditions were generally meager and degraded. Much unlike other Irrinites, their women were clothed head-to-toe in tuvehan, leaving nothing uncovered save their eyes - they speak very little, and are creatures who exist wholly to serve their masters. This was unfamiliar to me, and I thought it a barbarous practice. On their part, there was some recognition when a clansman confiscated my velulai-celia’ehya (moon-and-star) signet, being evidently familiar with this symbol. Consequently, I was taken to their leader, who was seated upon a carpet within the largest yurt. This was a mali’ame called Valandosii (Valandos the Lesser), who said he was of the blood of Valandos Uthir, sometimes called Khan amidst men of the plains, who was himself a laurir’faesu (horse-lord) and shaman of yore. 

 

This Valandosii was short of stature, like other Irrinites, with a broad chest and small, furtive eyes. His beard was thin, but his mustache thick and drooping. His skin was swarthy, and he was clad in furs. While he articulated himself relatively well, between his sentences he would chew sunflower seeds, spitting out the husks onto the dwelling’s dirt floor. Sheathed at the mali’ame’s hip was a fine silriv, ably curved and quite similar to my own, and so we compared the two. It was much akin to those wielded by we Lye’naeran, albeit clearly designed for use on horseback rather than in close-quarters.  

 

After introducing myself as a representative of the Guild of Spicers, Valandosii understood me to be an Acaelanite, and uttered a few words about the kinship between ‘our two tribes’. He told me that I could go without our cargo, but that as recompense for my release I must record his histories, being illiterate himself, and thereafter convey the legend of his clan to my fellow Raell’uvuliran. 

 

Upon some cursory questioning, Valandosii told me his kin and clan, the Elverhilin, were Barbuturran, and that they and the tribes subject to them worshiped only one god, but that he was present dually in the skies and nature. I assumed that this was the same god of the evarn’sae, so I encouraged him to tell me more about his eponymous ancestor. On the chieftain Valandos Uthir, his tale was as follows:

 

The Barbuturr Irrinites under the clan Elverhilin had disputed with the other tribes of Irrinor, and the leader of all the tribes, an Aureon of little repute or influence, had failed to settle this feud. Moreover, having different doctrines of belief, the Barbuturran also quarreled over several religious matters with the druian of Irrinor, who were the clergy of the orthodox Aspectist practice of these tribes. Hence, under the inducement of a valah official called Hash (Haas), the Elverhilin drove their flocks westwards to the lands of Petrehael Valahuthir (Emperor Peter III), whom they served as mercenaries and irregular troops. This was the era of the eternal winter of the First Age and so their sheep grazed well in the milder climate of the Valahnoran than they would have in Irrinor, growing fat and profitable, the latter more so than usual given that valah wars had disrupted the normal agriculture of the region. Besides, Valandos Uthir’s clansfolk earned much loot and manifold bounties in the service of the Valahuthir, even having a concession of land reserved for their settlement. Parallel to that, at this time Valandos Uthir was recognized as the ‘spiritual grandmaster’ of the Barbuturr tribes, organizing these followers into a militant San’taliyna order called the Malin’onn. 

 

These arrangements continued until an incident surrounding a cursed artifact brought back from a raid by Barbuturr cavalry, which Valandosii claims afflicted the Valahuthir with a minor plague of sorcerous origins. After this ignominious incident, Valandos Uthir fell out of favor with the valah monarch and was replaced as leader of the local elven community by one called Lathladlen, who was not of the Barbuturr Irrinites. Valandosii had relatively little to say on him, but clarified that the Barbuturran resumed their transhumance, driving their flocks where the pastures were good and occasionally returning to the Valahnoran when the seasons permitted. While the Malin’onn were formally disbanded, the members of these clans remained the sworn students of Valandos Uthir throughout their migrations. 

 

 

Naturally, Valandosii’s account took us back onto the matter of religion, and somewhat emboldened, I pressed him for more details on the faith of his ancestors. He explained to me that the being who the Irrinites called Cernunnos was God, el’Oem, and that consequently Cerridwen was the female manifestation of el’Oem. I considered this a blasphemy and contradiction, for Acaelan is indivisible and unknowable, and therefore cannot be dismembered into parts or personified as was the Irrinite custom, but I did not say so given his fearsome character. 

 

Perhaps sensing my unease, he explained that Cernunnos may be referred to as el’Maln’acaelan, the Sky Father, and Cerridwen may similarly be called el’Haelun’tayna, the Earth Mother, but that these were but alternate names for el’Oem to the Barbuturr Irrinites, who adhered to the practice of the San’taliyna school by worshiping one being in general. I privately thought that they could not truly be evarn’sairan given they maintained the Aspects with some independent characteristics, but this nonetheless was resemblant of the dualistic order of Acaelan and el’Taynuel in Creation. Moreover, according to Valandosii, there was also another being beyond the planes, a devil called Nimadreth who embodied all that was darkness, and whose worship his ancestor Valandos Uthir had fallen into in a time of despair. This also felt to me as if it were a diluted polytheism, which is the greatest crime against the evarn’sae, but again I dared not say this. He also specified that the spruce tree around which this Elverhilin settlement was built was itself a representation of el’amelye, the world tree, and was an icon of sorts. I was unfamiliar with this practice but thought that mayhaps it had evolved from the Mother Tree of Laurelin. 

 

These barbarous Irrinite notions were plain wrong, but my interest was piqued. I wished to know more about the origins of these beliefs, and how they had developed in this way amongst the pastoralist Barbuturran. Valandosii’s only answer was that his ancestors, the Elverhilin, and their junior clans and seeds as well, had ‘always’ made their offerings to el’Oem el’Asiol’ehya. Though I did not realize it at the time, upon reflection I suspect that this meant one of two things. Firstly, it could mean that these Barbuturr clansmen are partially Irrinized Acaelanites, originally of Lye’naeran blood, with practices that progressively mixed with Irrinite Aspectism since the time of that great devil, aca’Caerme’onn. Secondly, it could mean the reverse - that the Barbuturran are of ethnic Irrinite stock (meaning that their ancestors of antiquity followed Irrin Sirame into a nomadic lifestyle with the other seeds) but later embraced certain components of the San’taliyna brotherhoods at a more recent time, perhaps even influenced by we Lye’naeran in the epoch of the Dominion. I am not yet decided on which it could be. In either case, it was clear that this tribe had not kept continuously to the evarn’sae through lineal descent and so could not be true Acaelanites in the modern understanding of our people.  

 

Evidently satisfied that I had documented his words sufficiently, Valandosii released me from my irons and escorted me west to the border of Bortunor, where I write this missive from the city of Kalkadrelaz. In any case, I regret to inform you that the cargo was lost to Barbuturr rapacity and is by my estimation irrecoverable. Per the carriage documents this amounts to ten barrels of salt, ten of rice, seven of preserved mandragora, six of preserved gislocinovi, six of salt pork, two of rum, one of Whitespire sherry and one case of saffron. 

 

I plead once again for your forbearance. iyul’maele asiol oem Acaelan ito kae’leh, el’Tuva Uelln’ehya el’Bilokir Tuva’leh, illern’leh el’Taynuel maele’ehya ay evarn’sae ahe’Malin’onn Lye’ehya. 

 

I remain the humble servant of our brotherhood,

Sachin Luerane el’Belethi 

 

 

 

 

 

"Acaelan ahereh naean’leh," vowed Ardavan Amirsan Torena, the mal'maronn of the aen Sov brothers. The saneyir of his guild, the august Raell'uvuliran, had sent him west to aid their fellowship in the erection of a new outpost. Now it would fall on him to make a report to Adriel Acal, dictating his letter to a fellow functionary as follows:

 

"laurir'saneyir, the construction has been completed. I am reminded of the fable of Prince Mylas. When he died, he remained upright, leaning on his staff, for half-a-hundred weeks until the athrii gnawed away at it. It is then that his body fell to the ground and the Malin'ori, who had hitherto been distracted by the idolatry of the druids and Aeriel, finally knew that he had perished. The prospecting will begin soon."

 

@Sefardi

A very good addition for Oceanic (and other late-night timezone) players! 

This is a great call - but it needs to go a lot further.

 

The current status quo of realm bloat and kleinstaaterei is pretty destructive, so just preserving it through a (presumably temporary) application freeze is not going to do enough. 

 

If I were on the staff, my priority would be introducing rules and other mechanisms to cut down on the McMansion nations, mass-produced piastdoms and inactive microstates - realms with minimal activity, no economy and/or raison d'etre for even existing in the first place would be the first to either go or be strongly encouraged to merge with their neighbors and integrate with currently-present systems. 

 

I commend the staff for having correctly recognized that the bar for statehood needs to be a lot higher, but now the extra step should be taken to clean up those that should never have achieved realm status in the first place.

 

In an ideal world I would rather people do this in RP, but the reality is that players can no longer be trusted to self-regulate seeing as everybody today has some special excuse as to why their Targaryen-copypaste or Google Translate nation (dreamed up in the last five minutes) has a sacrosanct Wilsonian right to self-determination and inviolable sovereignty, and how this then exempts them from ever integrating into larger communities. 

 

The role of staff should not just be to enforce petty infractions, but also to promote high quality world-building - this is one of those situations where a hands-off approach has been very harmful to the standard of RP on the server. 

 

The Baron de Wett reads about Sir Ruben's challenge of his old friend, Mr. Gavaudin, from his exile in a Lurinese coffee-house. 

 

"What effrontery!" he slithers obesely, turning his attentions to a local piast, "An honorable gentleman like Mr. Gavaudin, challenged by this Harrenite corporal... oh, yes, I know his type... if it hadn't been fifty - no, fifty-five years - since I saw battle, I would volunteer as champion." He knocks back another brandy. 

 

el’silrivan

Swords of Malin’or

 

 

The silriv (pl. silrivan) is a type of one-handed sword with a radical curve, commonly wielded by Acaelanites, other mali’ame, and the broader elven peoples.

 

Description and Brief History

 

The silriv was originally contrived by Malin’s followers in the elven lands of antiquity, supposedly modeled off the curved blade bestowed upon the First Elf by the Aengul Gavrael. Despite these possibly apocryphal origins, through the succeeding millennia the silriv has been adapted and modernized, remaining in use by a number of mali communities today. 

 

All silrivan are characterized by their graceful blade curvature, extending along the length of the blade and tapering towards a sharp point. A well-made silriv’s hilt variously exhibits a blend of functionality and artistry, often featuring ergonomic designs such as a ‘bird’s head’ feature - these hilts are typically made from materials like wood, bone, or ivory, providing a lightweight yet durable foundation for the sword's handle. While basic silrivan may be relatively utilitarian in their design, the most prized of their number bear ornate quillons adorned with intricate motifs and geometric patterns. This quillon serves to protect the wielder's hand during combat while adding an element of aesthetic sophistication to the sword. Additionally, the pommel, located at the base of the hilt, serves to balance the silriv and can also serve as a striking implement in close-quarters combat.

 

Generally, silrivan are one-handed and almost always double-edged, and their parabolic shape makes them easier to unsheath than a straighter sword. This shape means that the blade is primarily suited to slashing opponents with fast strikes, either on foot or horseback. An advantage of the silriv’s mechanism of use is its simplicity, as employing it effectively requires little more than slashing and hacking when compared to more refined schools of swordsmanship. Though theoretically a silriv‘s point may be used to thrust, the blade’s sheer curvature makes this difficult from the perspective of both accuracy and range. As such, the silriv’s design and the intended method of its use has made it uniquely adaptable to both mounted and naval combat, which are the domains where it is most frequently used in modern times. Additionally, a common elf’s silriv is relatively cheap to make when compared to an equivalent shortsword, requiring a less labor-intensive metalworking process. These attributes have ensured the silriv‘s survival from its archaic origins to the modern era, contributing to the weapon’s relative timelessness.  

 

(An Alderfolk diveth [retainer] of Clan Ithelanen, on horseback and silriv sheathed, in the time of Malin’s kingdom.)

 

The silriv holds cultural and historical significance to the Acaelanites as a symbol of sil Malin’leh and the artisanry of old Malin’or, and modern silrivan are frequently manufactured by diaspora Acaelanite swordsmiths and metallurgists. Most Acaelanites will carry a silriv as their sidearm when traveling - the more expensive and intricate of these weapons (engraved and decorated) are considered works of art in their own right, and are frequently employed as status symbols or accessories. 

 

However, though the silriv bears this significance amongst Acaelanites, its use is not exclusive to that particular community. The style of curved blade now called a silriv was originally developed in the Malin’or of yore, in the era immediately following the departure of Malin that preceded the ethnogenesis of modern Acaelanites, and so the weapon is present in some form in most other elven cultural traditions. The Manist Alderfolk (closely related to the Acaelanites) were documented to wield silrivan in the time of the Dominion of Malin, with each chieftain required by custom to arm the fighting mali of his clan with both a silriv and a dagger in peace and wartime alike. Additionally, Irrinites and Haelun’ori have been known to employ either silrivan or similar, sabre-like blades reminiscent of their design. Therefore, it is likely through the Dominion that the silriv entered the mali’ame’s enduring Irrino-Alderfolk tradition, subsequently spreading to the broader elven world. 

 

Consequently, the silriv should generally be understood not as a uniquely Acaelanite innovation (despite its identification with that group), but rather as a generic descriptor for a particular style of curved sword commonly wielded by many of Malin’s descendant peoples. 

 

Etymology

 

The word silriv is derived from the Ancient Elven root words ‘sil’ meaning ‘sword’ and ‘riv’ meaning ‘claw’ in an adjectival suffix, roughly translating to ‘claw-sword’. This etymology is presumed to originate from the silriv’s curved shape, which was said by the mali of antiquity to resemble a ‘claw’, likely that of a lion, manticore or similar beast.

 

(Sketches depicting a pair of silrivan and their scabbards.)

 

It should be noted that that while silriv is the appropriate name for this style of curved sword of elven make, in common parlance and non-technical historical records this weapon is just as likely to be referred to as a ‘sword’ or ‘sil’ (in Ancient Elven), without distinction from other kinds of blade. 

 

The Sword of Malin

 

Tradition holds that the first silriv was made in imitation of sil Malin’leh (Common: Sword [Falchion] of Malin), the sacred weapon or ‘golden relic’ bestowed upon Malin by the Aengul Gavrael. As such, modern depictions of sil Malin’leh typically represent the sanctified blade as a silriv, even though it technically predated the existence of that style of weapon. One such likeness is evident in an alternate name for Malin’s relic, el’silriv il’tayneiyulnan (Common: The Emerald-Studded Silriv), arising from a proto-Lye’naeran epic detailing ahe’Malin’s smiting of Iblees. 

 

The historian Martin Benedict’s identification of the Sword of Malin as a ‘falchion’, a different kind of curved sword widely prevalent amongst human realms at the time of his account, is likely a combination of misattribution and an editorial decision to avoid confusion. The relic wielded by Horen was already known as the ‘Sword of Horen’ since the time of Emperor Godfrey, and so knowing that sil Malin’leh was curved it is probable that Benedict mislabelled it as a falchion to distinguish it, doing so through the contemporary lens available to a human writer. In reality, sil Malin’leh was no true falchion and its shape was presumably reminiscent of the designs of early silrivan, which were modeled explicitly in the fashion of the legendary weapon. 

 

The last documentary evidence of sil Malin’leh was in the coronation rite of the Alderfolk clan leader Kairn Ithelanen as Mortal King of the Elves in IC 1668, though it is likely that he continued to wield it as a symbol of his authority after this event. Accounts of the ritual coronation describe the sacred weapon as possessing a ‘bejeweled sheathe’, though provide little description beyond that. Unfortunately, what became of the relic after the Mortal King’s abdication is unknown to history.  

 

 

iyul’maele asiol oem Acaelan ito kae’leh, el’Tuva Uelln’ehya el’Bilokir Tuva’leh, illern’leh el’Taynuel maele’ehya ay evarn’sae ahe’Malin’onn Lye’ehya. 

 

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, Narthok said:

i think the issue is that people are to a degree unwilling to give up pro / autonomy etc. It would be nice if there was some kind of supra-national polity people could belong to. Perhaps an.. empire..

 

Unfortunately, this unwillingness comes from the various idiosyncrasies of the entire PRO 'system' compounded by years of rogue interpretations and misguided precedents set by the admins - most of which arose from the powers that be not interpreting rules as written. It is absolutely an issue - but to fix it the whole system needs to be totally reworked. There should be a lot more appetite for that than there currently is!

 

In terms of the original point of this topic, it is absolutely way too easy to get a 'realm' and the negative consequences on the server are pretty evident. 23-24 nations is woefully too many, and the idea that this 'realm inflation' hasn't led to massive RP decentralization is laughable. The bar for realm status needs to be raised and preferably the more inactive half of the 23-24 purged from that status entirely.

 

I would love for conquest to be a more organic way to do this, but it should probably be liberalized further. Otherwise, there should be substantial incentives from the staff to encourage 'start-up' realms to do their projects in existing nations, embedded in their systems, as well as to encourage existing microstates (that make the 'cut') to unify with their neighbors. 

♪♫♪

 

 

Acaelanite Naming Conventions

el’Oem el’Asiol’ehya

 

 

Table of Contents

 

I. Introduction

II. Personal Names

III. Honorifics

IV. Surnames and Patronymics

 

 

Introduction

 

This document is intended to serve as a summary of typical Acaelanite naming conventions, as well as their history, etymology, and cultural role within the ethnoreligious community. More information on the Acaelanites can be found here.

 

It is very important to note that Ancient Elven is highly conservative when used as a liturgical language by the Acaelanites. When spoken or written in a formal register, this language is identical to the form employed by the mali’aheral and most other elven ethnoreligious groups. This is because of the significance attributed to Ancient Elven as the language of ahe’Malin and his initial followers, and the first language formulated by the mortal descendants as per the account of Creation. As such, the Acaelanites generally do not allow any religious, ceremonial, artistic, administrative, and legal writings (or formal speech) to be corrupted or bastardized into any form other than standard Ancient Elven. Consequently, the Acaelanites do not possess their own ‘dialect’ of Ancient Elven. 

 

However, in the specific context of informal speech, there exists certain linguistic concepts, contractions and phonological tendencies unique to the Acaelanite accent of spoken Ancient Elven, thereby giving rise to an Acaelanite ‘ethnolect’. This is mostly exhibited in personal names, which are inherently more adaptable to language change than formal speech and acceptably outside of the elevated register of Ancient Elven to be varied with some creativity. As aforementioned, this ethnolect should not be understood as a language or dialect separate from Ancient Elven, but rather a form of the spoken language, which has only ever been consigned to writing through the transformation of root words into names over milennia. 

 

OOC

 

 

 

(The Aengul Availer, Revelator of Creation to the Acaelanites)

 

Personal Names 

 

In most instances, Acaelanites employ the same personal names as other elves, derived directly from the standard form of the Ancient Elven language. However, language shifts, pronunciation or accent variations and centuries of contact with outside influences as seafarers, merchants and diaspora have led to the genesis of a select few personal names which characterize members of the Acaelanite community. 

 

The personal names below originated as recombinations, derivations, or contractions of their millennia-old Ancient Elven root words, and may include elements or motifs unique to Acaelanite traditions that are unlikely to be employed by other mali. Accordingly, they frequently serve as a differentiator of Acaelanite identity. Some examples, inclusive of their original etymology, include: 

 

Ahernevan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ahern’ meaning ‘blessing’ and ‘van’ meaning ‘to fare’ (travel)

Ahernesar - from Ancient Elven word ‘ahern’sair’, meaning ‘one who spreads blessing’

Ahensayar - variant of Ahernesar

Ahesil - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ahe-’, a prefix meaning ‘sanctified’ or ‘holy’, and ‘sil’ meaning ‘sword’, in reference to sil Malin’leh

Ahur - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ahe-’, a prefix meaning ‘sanctified’ or ‘holy’, and ‘uhierir’ meaning ‘one who seeks’

Aman - from Ancient Elven word ‘amana’, meaning ‘virtuoso’

Andran - from Ancient Elven word ‘andria’, meaning ‘hope’

Aneyar - from Ancient Elven word ‘annyerir’, meaning ‘dancer’ 

Aresar - variant of Ahernesar

Ardavan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ahern’ meaning blessing and ‘di’van’ meaning ‘[the state of] not faring’ (traveling), in reference to the concept of ‘di’van’

Ardevan - variant of Ardavan

Areyan - variant of Ahriln 

Arhiln - from Ancient Elven word ‘ahriln’, meaning ‘justice’ 

Arhyn - variant of Ahriln

Asar - variant of Ahernesar 

Asel - variant of Ahesil 

Availer - from Ancient Elven name ‘Availer’, in reference to the Wandering Wizard

Avalan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘av-’, a prefix meaning ‘wandering’, and ‘valleian’, meaning ‘waters’, in reference to a river

Avayel - variant of Availer 

Bahran - variant of Baram

Baram - from Ancient Elven roots ‘berr’ meaning ‘bow’ and ‘ame’ meaning ‘forest’ 

Byram - variant of Baram

Calman - variant of Khelman 

Cerun - from Ancient Elven word 'cerun', meaning 'strength'

Davan - from Ancient Elven word ‘di’van’ meaning ‘[the state of] not faring’ (traveling), in reference to being settled, ‘di’van’ being specifically used to refer to an Acaelanite colony, enclave or home on dry land (i.e one that is not a seaborne vessel)

Diveth - from Ancient Elven roots ‘div’, a prefix meaning ‘without’, and ‘eth’ meaning ‘end’, in reference to immortality as a star in the laier’fiyemalan 

Ebas - of unknown linguistic origins, in reference to Prince Ebs of Malinor

Elsan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘el-’, a prefix denoting the definite article, and ‘san’ meaning ‘word’, in reference to san’taliyna 

Eram - variant of Eyran 

Evarnesar - from Ancient Elven word ‘evarn’sair’, meaning ‘one who keeps the evarn’sae’

Eyran - from Ancient Elven word ‘eyran’, meaning ‘usefulness’ 

Feras - variant of Feros 

Feredan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘fer’ meaning ‘instrument’ (tool) and ‘dion’ meaning ‘long’ 

Feredyn - variant of Feredan 

Ferikan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘fer’ meaning ‘instrument’ (tool) and ‘ikurn’ meaning ‘iron’

Ferik - variant of Ferikan 

Ferhad - from Ancient Elven roots ‘fer’ meaning ‘instrument’ (tool) and ‘uradh’ meaning ‘scowling’

Ferok - variant of Ferikan

Ferrok - variant of Ferikan 

Feros - from Ancient Elven roots ‘fer’ meaning ‘instrument’ (tool) and ‘Asiol’ meaning ‘Only’, in reference to God

Fersan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘fer’ meaning ‘instrument’ (tool) and ‘san’ meaning ‘word’, in reference to san’taliyna

Fiyemal - from Ancient Elven word ‘fiyemal’, meaning ‘reincarnation’

Gadiveth - from Ancient Elven roots ‘igne’ meaning ‘fire’ and ‘diveth’ meaning ‘without end’, in reference to ‘eternal fire’ 

Galar - from Ancient Elven roots ‘igne’ meaning ‘fire’ and ‘lar’ meaning ‘sturdy’

Gavan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘igne’ meaning ‘fire’ and ‘van’ meaning ‘to fare’ (travel)

Halern - from Ancient Elven word ‘halern’, meaning ‘promise’, in reference to the il’halern

Ilern - from Ancient Elven word ‘illern’, meaning ‘gift’, in reference to God’s bequest of el’Taynuel 

Imeran - from Ancient Elven word ‘irhaman’, meaning ‘industries’

Iravan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘irham’ meaning ‘industry’ and ‘van’ meaning ‘to fare’ (travel)

Kariman - from Ancient Elven word ‘karimir’ meaning ‘hero’

Karim - variant of Kariman

Karin - from Ancient Elven word ‘karin’ meaning ‘day’ or ‘sunset’

Khelman - from Ancient Elven roots ‘khel’ meaning ‘darkness’ and ‘-mane’, an intensified negating suffix, in reference to one’s tayna

Kouradh - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ker’ meaning ‘night’ or ‘sunset’ and ‘uradh’ meaning ‘scowling’ 

Kouran - from Ancient Elven word ‘keran’, meaning ‘nights’ or ‘sunsets’

Kourav - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ker’ meaning ‘night’ or ‘sunset’ and ‘riv’ meaning ‘claw’

Kuradh - variant of Kouradh

Laier - from Ancient Elven word ‘laier’, meaning ‘seven’, in reference to the laier’fiyemalan

Layar - variant of Laier

Madavan - from Ancient Elven roots 'maehr' meaning 'wisdom' and 'di'van' meaning '[the state of] not faring' (traveling), in reference to the concept of ‘di’van’

Mardan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘maehr’ meaning ‘wisdom’ and ‘dion’ meaning ‘long’ or ‘lifelong’

Marham - from Ancient Elven word ‘mairhaman’, meaning ‘many industries’ (very industrious) 

Mayelasiol - from Ancient Elven roots ‘mayilu’ meaning ‘loved’ and ‘el’Asiol’ meaning ‘the Only’, in reference to God 

Mayeloem - from Ancient Elven roots ‘mayilu’ meaning ‘loved’ and ‘el’Oem’ meaning ‘the One’, in reference to God

Medi - from Ancient Elven word ‘medi’, meaning ‘helpful’

Mediran - from Ancient Elven word ‘medir’, meaning ‘helper’ 

Medinan - from Ancient Elven word ‘medin’, meaning ‘helpfulness’

Meram - variant of Meyran 

Meran - variant of Meyran

Meruasul - from Ancient Elven roots ‘miruel’ meaning ‘red’ and ‘Asul’ meaning ‘sun’ 

Meylas - of unknown linguistic origins, in reference to Prince Mylas of Malinor  

Meyran - from Ancient Elven word ‘meyran’, meaning ‘much usefulness’ 

Onhalan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ohn’ meaning ‘like’ (akin to) and ‘haelun’ meaning ‘mother’

Onmalan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ohn’ meaning ‘like’ (akin to) and ‘maln’ meaning ‘father’

Onvulan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘ohn’ meaning ‘like’ (akin to) and ‘vuln’ meaning ‘fox’, in reference to cunning

Radhur - from Ancient Elven word ‘uradhir’, meaning ‘scowler’ or ‘naysayer’ 

Resa - from Ancient Elven word ‘res-’, a prefix meaning ‘capricious’

Restahn - from Ancient Elven roots ‘res-’ meaning ‘capricious’ and ‘tahn’ meaning ‘peak’, in reference to a ‘lone mountain’

Restam - variant of Restahn 

Restan - variant of Restahn

Rostam - variant of Restahn

Rostan - variant of Restahn 

Reswan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘res-’ meaning ‘capricious’ and ‘wehn’ meaning ‘grass’

Sachin - variant of Sanechulan 

Sahan - variant of Sanechulan 

Salma - variant of Salman

Salman - from Ancient Elven word ‘salumn’, meaning ‘sense’ 

Sanech - variant of Sanechulan 

Sanechulan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘san’ meaning ‘word’ and ‘chuln’ meaning ‘requirement’ or ‘mandate’, in reference to san’taliyna 

Sanevan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘san’ meaning ‘word’ and ‘van’ meaning ‘to fare’ (travel), in reference to san’taliyna  
Saray - of unknown linguistic origins, in reference to Sarai of the mali’dun 

Saraya - variant of Saray

Sarun - variant of Cerun

Selevan - variant of Silvan

Selvan - variant of Silvan

Sil - from Ancient Elven word ‘sil’ meaning ‘sword’, in reference to sil Malin’leh 

Silrav - from Ancient Elven roots ‘sil’ meaning ‘sword’ and ‘riv’ meaning ‘claw’, in reference to the silriv, a type of curved sword employed by the Acaelanites modeled off sil Malin’leh

Silvan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘sil’ meaning ‘sword’ and ‘van’ meaning ‘to fare’ (travel), in reference to sil Malin’leh 

Sohayem - from Ancient Elven roots ‘sohae’ meaning ‘devout one’ and ‘-yem’, a suffix meaning ‘again’, in reference to fiyemal (reincarnation)

Sul - from Ancient Elven word ‘sul’, meaning ‘light’

Sultur - from Ancient Elven roots ‘sul’ meaning ‘light’ and ‘tur’ meaning ‘bone’ 

Suloem - from Ancient Elven word ‘suloem’, meaning ‘beginning’, in reference to the act of Creation

Suman - from Ancient Elven word ‘sumana’, meaning ‘savant’ 

Tahran - from Ancient Elven word ‘tahorran’, meaning ‘hawk’

Taliam - from Ancient Elven word ‘taliame’, meaning ‘tree’, in reference to the Mother Tree of Laurelin

Taran - variant of Tahran 

Tareman - from Ancient Elven word ‘tareman’, meaning ‘elven weeks’ (years), in reference to age and therefore wisdom

Tarem - variant of Tareman

Tanas - variant of Taynaceru 

Tanayem - from Ancient Elven roots ‘tayna’ meaning ‘lifeforce’ and ‘-yem’, a suffix meaning ‘again’, in reference to the concepts of tayna and fiyemal (reincarnation)

Taynaceru - from Ancient Elven roots ‘tayna’ meaning ‘lifeforce’ and ‘ceru’ meaning ‘strong’, in reference to san’taliyna

Teran - variant of Tahran 

Tilrelasiol - from Ancient Elven roots ‘tilru’ meaning ‘serving’ and ‘el’Asiol’ meaning ‘the Only’, in reference to God 

Tilreloem - from Ancient Elven roots ‘tilru’ meaning ‘serving’ and ‘el’Oem’ meaning ‘the One’, in reference to God

Tirath - from Ancient Elven roots 'tir' meaning 'law' and 'eth' meaning 'end' or 'death'

Valan - from Ancient Elven word ‘valleian’, meaning ‘waters’ 

Vaner - from Ancient Elven word ‘vanir’, meaning ‘one who fares’ (travels)

Varam - variant of Virham

Varna - variant of Evarnesar 

Verethan - from Ancient Elven roots ‘vira’ meaning ‘vigilant’ or ‘mournful’ and ‘ethan’ meaning ‘ends’ 

Virham - from Ancient Elven roots ‘vira’ meaning ‘vigilant’ or ‘mournful’ and ‘irham’ meaning ‘industry’

Virayat - from Ancient Elven roots ‘vira’ meaning ‘vigilant’ or ‘mournful’ and ‘iyat’ meaning ‘thought’ 

 

Notes on Personal Names

 

• As with most names derived from Ancient Elven, the Acaelanite names listed above are officially unisex. However, certain names have come to be identified with particular genders by virtue of their identification with renowned bearers.
• In instances where names of the same origin have multiple variants or alternate transcriptions, the closest name to the Ancient Elven root words (and in all likelihood, the earliest to arise chronologically) has been described and the remainder labeled as ‘variants’. 
• In Ancient Elven, the word ‘van’ means ‘to fare’, that is, a relatively archaic form of ‘to travel’ or ‘to go’, and is present chiefly in the phrase ‘van’ayla’ (Common: farewell). The Acaelanites employ this word much more broadly, using it to refer to any form of travel, though particularly seafaring for mercantile purposes. In the Acaelanite ethnolect, the wide use of the archaic ‘van’ is much more common than the standard Ancient Elven ‘narn’ (Common: to travel).
• This use of ‘van’ has given rise to a number of additional words relevant here, including ‘di’van’, only approximately translatable as ‘the state of not traveling’. In modern Acaelanite usage, the word ‘di’van’ has come to refer to a community, enclave or home of Acaelanites where they are settled when not seafaring. 
• As many of the names listed above originate as derivations of Ancient Elven root words, many variants exist preserving their linking apostrophes (e.g. Tilreloem to Tilr’eloem). However, these have not been included for the sake of avoiding repetition. 
• Many linguistic features evident in the Acaelanite accent of spoken Ancient Elven can be observed in the names listed above, including certain vowel shifts, the replacement of some apostrophes with vowels for greater fluidity and a conflation between the pronunciation of ‘m’ and ‘n’ at the end of particular words. 
• Several of the names above end in the Ancient Elven suffix of ‘-n’ or ‘-an’, designating plurality. This is believed to originate from an ancient Acaelanite belief in the good fortune of plurality, by virtue of the ‘Seven Skies’ of the one Acaelan.
• Many of the ‘original’ Ancient Elven forms (e.g. conjoined root words) of the names above are millennia old, and as such are expressed in a fashion that would be archaic or unconventional if used in modern times.

 

 

(Virayat Laurir Halernal, a historical Acaelanite tir’sair)

 

Honorifics

 

Acaelanites commonly employ honorifics amongst themselves. These honorifics follow the personal name but precede the surname. Some examples may include:

 

[Personal Name] Laurir - from Ancient Elven ‘laurir’, meaning ‘noble’. The highest honorific, reserved for those who claim direct patrilineal descent from ahe’Malin (and thus first in the patrimony of the evarn’sae) or the learned sages of the tir’sairan, who may or may not hold that lineage. 

 

[Personal Name] Amirsan - from Ancient Elven ‘amir’san’, meaning ‘word [of the] forester’, in reference to the tradition that holds ahe’Malin as a ‘forester’. An honorific used for certain Acaelanites of famed lineages, such as those who claim descent from the Seven Clans of the Alderfolk. 

 

[Personal Name] Acal - from Ancient Elven ‘acal’, meaning ‘golden’, ‘rich’, or ‘wealthy’. Given cultural values derived from centuries of teachings on the evarn’sae, the state of being wealthy does not have the same negative connotations to the Acaelanites that it does in some other elven communities. Regardless, this honorific has substantially evolved from its etymological origins, and now denotes a commander, official, ship’s captain, chief, elder or community leader.

 

[Personal Name] Cerutur - from Ancient Elven 'ceru'tur', meaning 'strong bone'. An honorific used for Acaelanite knights in the quasi-chivalric tradition of the divethan (Common: immortals), cognatic with the human 'sir' or 'dame' in reference to a knight. These concepts hearken back to the original companions of ahe'Malin in the time of Malin'or. 

 

[Personal Name] Luerane - from Ancient Elven ‘luerane’, meaning literally ‘not bound’, but more accurately translating to ‘freeman’. Though any custom of indentured servitude has long since been eliminated amongst the Acaelanites, this honorific has survived to apply to any Acaelanite of lesser noble lineage, or a low-level administrator. 

 

[Personal Name] Mallir - from Ancient Elven ‘mallir’, meaning ‘great friend’. A polite way of referring to a common Acaelanite, equivalent to ‘mister/miss’ in Common.

 

In instances where an Acaelanite might be technically entitled to multiple honorifics, the highest status honorific is generally used first and primarily, often (but not always) to the exclusion of lower ones. Honorifics do not replace surnames, but are used more commonly than them in some settings, as a form of formal ‘shorthand name’ with the surname omitted. To observers, this may give the incorrect impression that honorifics are Acaelanite surnames. In reality, they are more akin to titles signifying status, used as forms of address. Given this propensity for confusion, Acaelanites typically only refer to their honorifics amongst one another - amidst outsiders they will primarily employ their surnames.

 

 

Surnames and Patronymics 

 

Acaelanite surnames - more commonly referred to as clan or seed names - remain largely consistent with those exhibited by other elven ethnoreligious groups. Clan or seed names typically represent tribal identities and storied lineages tracing back to the time of ahe’Malin. This heritage (combined with the long lifespans of successive elven generations) means that Acaelanite surnames are inherently more conservative and less adaptable to language change than their personal names, and for this reason generally resemble those of other mali’ame or their mali’aheral and mali’ker cousins in their use of standard Ancient Elven. 

 

A notable exception to this is patronymics, where Acaelanites sometimes employ the Alderfolk patronymic preposition of ‘aen’ on account of their parallel cultural development (and close historical relations) with that group. The word ‘aen’ originated as a corruption of the Ancient Elven suffix ‘-onn’, and is cognatic with that word, with both translating to ‘son/daughter of’. However, whereas ‘-onn’ is attached to the father’s name or title as a suffix, in Alderfolk patronymics, ‘aen’ is included as a preposition before the father’s name. 

 

 

iyul’maele asiol oem Acaelan ito kae’leh, el’Tuva Uelln’ehya el’Bilokir Tuva’leh, illern’leh el’Taynuel maele’ehya ay evarn’sae ahe’Malin’onn Lye’ehya. 

 

 

 

 

In their rudimentary temple, a cadre of enterprising, slightly shifty Acaelanite compradors plan out the Guild of Spicers' next objectives over powerfully intoxicating glasses of palm toddy. 

 

@Malinor@RIGOR

 

 

In a far-off land, an Acaelanite sage hears of the exploits of his coreligionists in the wars of the valahan. He resolves to meet with them. 

 

@Malinor@RIGOR

1 hour ago, Eryane said:

"Fine writing that will no doubt be ignored, for seemingly no one wishes to truly reflect and look in the mirror in regards to these matters in particular..." muttered Aurelia of Stassion after reading the work. She saved the document of such with her small collection of other missives she found to be thought-provoking (which was, unfortunately, a rather short stack).

 

"What a piece of goal!" exclaims the Baron de Wett, "And for me, another brandy - I want to forget."

 

"I can't believe this story you're telling me," says the Baron de Wett, "It's macabre!"

The Baron de Wett watches the spectacle - a combat training yard in the shadow of the Captain-General's residence - from the balcony of his pied-a-terre. He swishes his brandy, his glass maintained as full by a cowed manservant.

 

"This boy reminds me of myself at his age... very athletic," muses the demented aristocrat, to no one in particular. 

The Baron de Wett awakes from his among his pile of sealskins, a glass of brandy forced into his hand by a servant.

 

"The wedding?!" shrieks the Baron, interrupting his own blustering with a deep draught, "The union of the Bright Flame of Tallernor and the Hymen of the West? What's happened, damn you?"

 

"I fear the wedding was days ago, my lord," offered the servant delicately, eager not to upset his lord and master.

 

"Curses!" bumbled the Baron de Wett, brandy spilling onto his nightclothes, "Well, I will have to pay my respects to the Red Flame and the Western Hymen... Prepare my Malinese sherwani at once. I will be appropriately dressed."

The Baron de Wett guffaws, swirling his brandy. "Such a woman - if you may call her that - does not exist! These dotards and their commercial publications... how they could do such a thing, I know not."

6 hours ago, itdontmatta said:

“The Canonist nations must be united against those, especially non-human, who seek to disturb the peace within our realm. I side with those who may be misguided in their faith over tree stump-sized men that pray to drawings on walls,” said Lorenz Gavaudin as he pondered the issue of the devolving Norland-Urguan situation. 

 

 

An indentured servant pours the Baron de Wett, Mr. Berryman and Mr. Gavaudin another tumbler of brandy. The Baron slams the papers down onto the table, slapping his knee. 

 

"You haven't been coming to the parlor much, Mr. Gavaudin, whatever is the matter?" asks Mr. Berryman, his interest piqued. 

 

"It's that problem with those damned dwarves," clarifies the Baron de Wett, helpfully. "The Tsar of Urguan is taking up so much of our dear Mr. Gavaudin's time, but rest assured, no one can handle an Urguanite like our friend here. The Mighty Laurence!"

 

"Oh, well, those issues out west, with the Celianorese, and the Sutes, and the Haysenny, and what-not, those issues are for the young men to handle," responded Mr. Berryman, savoring his brandy. "It's been what, forty, forty-five years since I last saw battle, Your Lordship?" 

 

"Forty, forty-five years," conceded the Baron.

 

"Forty, forty-five years..." repeated Mr. Berryman. 

 

The Baron de Wett receives the notice, in the post, of Gerhardt's death.

 

"This man died fighting dwarves?" he offers to his fellows in the gentleman's club, swilling his brandy.

 

"I've never liked such creatures," guffaws the Baron, "Let us send our condolences to his wife, and his children, and the Captain-General, and so on and so forth... Erochland is ours, not the patch of those whoresons!"

 

 

The Baron de Wett simply eats the advertisement, eager to erase all evidence of these undignified electoral politics. "This woman - if you can call her such a thing - knows little of her Emperor's Cake, and even less of her Paulanier," he bumbles, swilling his brandy.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Frank.

 

The current system is an improvement on the hub system of Almaris, but both would be surpassed by a simple direct teleport from the CT to realms/settlements/nations. 

 

Thanks 

Hello Cepheid.

 

How do you do?

 

Hope all is well.

 

Warm regards,

A Friend.

2 hours ago, argonian said:

yeah one time in axios haense collapsed the mountain pass between themselves and oren during a rebellion

 

n then it had to be dug out again by the interior ministry after the war ended

 

was cute

Absolutely - and myself and fellow amateur history writers got a few paragraphs out of these ‘trade’ dynamics alone, as brief as they were. It wouldn’t have been possible with the unimpeachable CT highway! 
 

There is really no case for eliminating these RP hooks for some imagined efficiency bonus - particularly when you have functional FTs from spawn to settlements, as well as possible inter-settlement FTs. 

Nations should absolutely be able to build on roads. 
 

The flow of trade and foot traffic is a core part of RP and storytelling. That entire mechanic is totally lost by these unimpeachable “staff” roads which functionally deny nations sovereignty over their own lands. 
 

At this time in the server’s life, we need to be preserving more avenues for RP rather than getting rid of them. In addition to being totally unrealistic (i.e settlements throughout history largely cropped up on trade routes, rather than miles away from them in the manner of a modern-day highway turnoff), these “theme park” roads make the world ugly and static. Why should your character care about trade flows when the staff take responsibility for ensuring nothing ever impedes them? 
 

If a build on a road is obstructing the flow of traffic, then as I see it there are two options:

 

1) Use it as an opportunity for RP/storytelling and address it that way; or 

2) Simply find or create another route. Go around! 

 

 

TALES FROM THE TERRA DEL SUR

The Accountant

22nd of Horen's Calling, 1917

On a pleasure barge somewhere in the Sarissan Delta, in the west of the Terra del Sur

 

"More rum, Your Magnificence?" 

 

Nor'ogg the Ogre's appetites were commensurate with his choice of watercraft, and so the obese greenskin took up a new chalice of rum as swiftly as he had drained the last. Around him, his court were gathered on the deck of the opulent vessel, strewn about lounges and divans in the fashion of a Rhenyari pipehouse, hard timber covered by plush cushions and the most exotic of fabrics. This ship was as broad as any frigate, but not nearly so tall, with the waterline barely below the guardrails. The sun was beating down upon them all. It was only early afternoon, and the ogre-lord was probably approaching his fiftieth cup. For those unaccustomed to a being of Nor'ogg's size, that would have been a sight to behold, but Vihai had watched this spectacle for nearly three years now.

 

The Ogre was several tonnes of trembling, sweating fat, too immense for his legs to bear him upright and wrapped in a billowing purple robe the size of a marquee. He had not always been this way. In his youth, Nor'ogg had been a svelte swashbuckler based out of Freeport, but with the ill-gotten riches pilfered from merchant ships sailing the Kahaen he had built a criminal enterprise enough to satiate his gluttony tenfold. While he had learned the Common tongue at a young age, now he did not trouble himself to speak it. His every order was conveyed to his court through a goblin translator, skilled in interpreting his master's peculiar dialect of 'the Blah' and positioned perpetually by his throne.

 

Today was a day for leisure, and so the greenskin's orbiters had been forced to 'carouse' with him all day. It was the sixth such occasion this week alone, and the ogre pirate had spent the whole morning bellowing drunkenly, tormenting his servants with whips and prongs for his own amusement. Three had gone overboard today, but thankfully, the sharks had only taken two. That was Nor'ogg's rule - if you survived the sharks, you would have a day of clemency until the next time you caught his eye. Before he took up the role of Nor'ogg's accountant, Vihai had never encountered such a grotesque creature. Come to think of it, he had never done much accountancy either. But how hard was it, really, to do an ogre's books? 'One of the finest minds of Almaris'? If only you were here now, Cyril, to see me so reduced. 

 

The sun's rays were exceptionally strong at this time of the afternoon, and Vihai - a pallid-skinned mali'aheral of Ah'Larihei - was sweating beneath his white kaftan, almost as much as his corpulent master. The accountant's face was flushed red and wind-burnt, but at least the Sarissan Delta was calm today. The barge drifted along a canopy of sea-green, the music played by Nor'ogg's personal entertainers emanating across the waterway. In these parts, if it wasn't the sharks or the sun, it was the tropical cyclones, and if it wasn't those storms, it was the deadly Sarissan Fever. A bite from one of the alien insects of the west of the Terra del Sur was all it took, and within a few weeks, you'd be dead from all manner of purulent discharges. Why can't it take me? Why am I still in this hell? 

 

"Er, segnor Vihai," a slightly-accented, whispering voice interrupted his daydreaming, under the foreign twangs of Nor'ogg's music. "Disculpa. I have the documents."

 

"You do? We left you on the dock at Lurin. How the hell did you get back aboard?" snapped the accountant, his neck cracking as he turned to face the figure who had crept up behind his divan. It was Arrimadas, who he understood to be in the pay of those reprobate scholars at the Royal Balianese Academy. Sometimes they had helped one another at Nor'ogg's waterborne court, sometimes they had hindered one another. Like so many people the high elf had met in this situation, Vihai hoped that one day the Balianese spy would meet the ogre-lord's sharks, though preferably after he could provide no more help.

 

"Ai, segnor, I have them, but never you mind about that," affirmed Arrimadas, nodding obsequiously. He was always polite, but Vihai knew deep down that the antipathy was mutual. "There is a letter from a, ah, a Sir Paul Montalt." 

 

"What?!" hissed the accountant, snatching the pile of letters from the Balianese desperado. "Give me that."

 

"It is from your letterbox, back home. You can have it, but you must remember this favor from Arrimadas."

 

"Ti, ti, of course, I never forget a thing." The music, juxtaposed with Nor'ogg's drunken whooping and rumbling laughter, was sufficient to drown out their clandestine conversation. The high elf fumbled with the letter's seal - already broken - struggling to prize open the envelope with his clammy fingers. He glanced up furiously to Arrimadas, preparing to reproach him for opening his correspondence when he saw that the spy's features were not what he remembered. This was not the furtive, low-born renegado he had spent the last few years working with at Nor'ogg's enterprise. He was still tanned, and clearly of Balianese stock, but this new Arrimadas was a dignified gentleman, with an aristocratic bearing and black hair graying around the ears. What delirium is this? Has the Fever finally come? Vihai had wished it upon himself before, but now it was here, he was not so certain. 

 

"You should have done more, Adrasto. I always trusted you, after all," said Constanz-Anton, his presence as domineering as when he lived. Vihai stood there dumbfounded, his mouth agape, but finally the high elf mustered the courage to speak. 

 

"I tried, I - but why didn't you just do what I said?" he offered in gibbering protest, nervously fingering the hilt of his sabre. 

 

"What are you talking about?" demanded Arrimadas, and thus the mirage was dispelled. "The heat must be getting to you, segnor Vihai. Or your venerable age."

 

"Ti... the heat. That's it," sweated the beleaguered mali'aheral in relief. "Thank you for the letter, or graza, as you people say, but go away now. I must read it." And as Arrimadas turned and left him to recline in his divan, so Vihai read, growing increasingly uncomfortable with every line of Montalt's circulated polemic.

 

 

This was impossible. It had almost been eight years, but Montalt had destroyed the country to save her throne, and now this? What in the world had happened while he had been offshore? Vihai stood up from the plush chair, secreting the letter within his robes and downing a finger of rum. With this movement, all the eyes of the court in the immediate vicinity now gauged him warily. He heard Nor'ogg rumble unintelligibly over the music, and a wavering, goblinoid voice slithered into his ear. 

 

"His Magnificence would like to know where you think you are going, accountant," prattled the ogre lord's interpreter. Though the corpulent pirate's throne was near to Vihai's divan, and he had clearly noticed that something was wrong, Nor'ogg was so insensate on drink that he could not have properly deciphered the conversation with Arrimadas. 

 

"Latz'dreenk wit'oss, twegyzh!" chuckled Nor'ogg in his bizarre tongue, slapping his chalice against his enormous belly. The high elf could feel the barge rock from port to starboard with every one of its owner's sudden movements. 

 

"I have been made aware of an emergency with our accounts receivable. By your leave, I'll address it forthwith below deck." The excuse was thoroughly unconvincing, but the accountant's face was a mask of iron. After a few ponderous moments, the ogre nodded his assent, returning his attentions to his carousing, and so Adrasto Maeyr'onn departed to plan his escape.  

 

 

@Eddywilson2 @Andustar @excited @Da_Emperors

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPEN LETTER TO THE ROYAL DUANA

On Foreign Policy

 

Luis Francesc Jacint-Almeida i Martin 

Royal Balianese Academy

14 Tobias' Bounty

1916 IC | 49 BA

 

VIVA AL REGNE!

 

To the esteemed dones and donas of the Royal Duana,

 

God save the King and blessings upon your houses.

 

By way of introduction, I am Luis Francesc Jacint-Almeida i Martin, known more commonly simply as Almeida, and I am a senior academic at the Royal Balianese Academy. My father was an Imperial settler, but I was born in Atrus, and raised as part of the first generation of new Balianese. The corpus of my work relates mostly to anthropology, culture, history and economics, and that being so, I am loath to venture into the realm of politics. However, so great are the concerns of many at the Academy that I felt it necessary to voice them on my colleagues’ behalf, in the setting of this published open letter. 

 

I am writing to you today with respect to the crisis unfolding in the Heartlands. The parties involved in this civil unrest I shall not name in the first part of this letter, because their identities are irrelevant to my fundamental concerns. As you know, while Atrus and the Terra del Sur have thrived under the rule of the Balianese, the Heartlands have contemporaneously evolved increasingly towards dystopia since at least the time of Fratricida. To quote my esteemed colleague, Guillermo Ruttledge, ‘it is said the sun is blotted out by the towers of keeps and manors’. Urbanization has culminated in a greatly depressed quality of life for the average Heartlander, who now leads an existence that can only be described as nasty, brutal and short. Having lived there as an expatriate for several years in the service of Constanz-Anton, I know this both personally as well as theoretically. As Balianese, these lands may comprise our ancestral origin, but they are not our home now, and have not been for some time. 

 

"Al Bicolore"

(The Bicolor, representing fe, stat i prosperitat.)

 

Therefore, it has concerned myself and several of my colleagues at the Academy to hear rumors that the Royal Duana is contemplating a military intervention in the Heartlands on behalf of the so-called ‘King’ of the Aunishmen. If this is true, it is, put simply, a streak of foreign policy madness, and is one we are desperate to warn you against for a number of reasons. Tin-pot dictators and petty tyrants have risen and fallen in the Heartlands, many of whom last less than a decade before they are expunged by their own miserable people. Meanwhile, we have enjoyed untold stability and peace in our slice of the world. Hence, I must ask you these questions:

 

What cause could we possibly have to sacrifice the lives of Balianese soldiers so that these glorified ‘chieftains’ may rule an extra five years, before their inevitable deposition? 

 

What cause, beneficial to our foreign policy, do we achieve by such an action? What do we gain except the eternal acrimony of the insurgents?

 

In what scenario do we benefit more? That where we send our boys to die in a land we were forcibly exiled from, in order to nebulously ‘keep the peace’ there? Or where we continue to build our own country towards prosperity, among fellow Lotharistas? 

 

Of course, that is the purely utilitarian argument. An ideological position can just as easily be asserted: that of the reprehensible character of the self-declared ‘King’ of the Aunishmen, and that of his well-documented antipathy towards the Balianese people and ruling dynasty.

 

This imperiled ‘monarch’, if one can call him that, commenced his reign by breaking a treaty co-signed by the late king of Balian, His Majesty John the First. After being elected as president of the Harvest Confederation, a union bound together by constitutional documents affirmed by all the monarchs of Canondom, he immediately and unilaterally declared himself ‘king’ of a polity hitherto only referenced in Holy Scrolls, and proclaimed no treaty bound him. Those who opposed this brazen violation of law were henceforth deported. He was saved from his own people only by the malaise of contemporary Haeseni foreign policy.

 

Thus, he proclaimed himself restored to a throne his last ancestor held centuries ago. In the intermittent time, his family had been reduced to the status of woodland-dwelling bandits out in the Cragenmarch, admixing with all manner of highwaymen and criminals. Having spent his formative years raised on tales of Johannian greatness and Novellen perfidy, in between bites of hardtack and roasted rat, this glorified desperado developed a hatred for all Balian represents. For decades, his goal was the extermination of the royal dynasty that rules our country, and still this is evident in his rhetoric. After a storied career as a terrorist living in a cave, he managed to connive his way into a throne through pure circumstance, and now expects the faithfulness which he refused to give any other ruler. 

 

As Balianese, we appreciate merit, diligence and loyalty. I was initially uneasy when I heard that the Royal Duana’s foreign policy was realigning to treating such a person with kid gloves, but I contented myself with the fact that at least the Aunishman’s rhetoric against Balian would subside. As it happens, old habits die hard. Despite the signing of multiple treaties with the Royal Duana, the new Fratricida of Aaun has done nothing to moderate his own anti-Balianism. Every third sentence he utters, he proposes the eradication of all Novellen ‘usurpers’, condemns the ‘tyranny’ of our predecessor realm, the Petrine Empire, and lauds himself as the glorious liberator of humanity. Even today, in the context of a full-scale revolt against him, he smears his opponents as ‘Imperials’, ‘Petrines’ and ‘Novellens’ as if these labels constitute the worst a person can be. 

 

His contempt for our country, and our heritage, has not reduced despite the favorable treatment the Royal Duana has offered him. Given that he was a key part of the initial Harvest Confederation incursion against Atrus that led to the response of the Canonist princes, this should come as no surprise. Never has he shown any contrition. He has managed to evade all justice for that offense, purely through chance, so why now should we risk Balianese lives to help him continue in his ways?

 

(A depiction of the Harvest Confederation’s attack on the Baron of Castelorena’s wedding in 1891.) 

 

But perhaps most significantly, there is no reason to suggest that this dithering chieftain is in any way competent. Having inherited - through connivance - the territory developed by his predecessors, his only resource has been to strip off these land assets and grant them to more capable men. His rhetoric, condemning the Petrine Empire for its predominantly successful policies and instead espousing the absolute rights of vassals, has backed him into a corner where he simply cannot be recognized as a ruler at all. There is no concept of what it is to be an Aunishman. There are Adrians and Minitzers and Viennese (though only a handful), but not a single Aunishman. It is a national fiction bastardized from centuries old religious texts, and over the course of his powerless ‘reign’, this ruler has done nothing to develop such a thing.  

 

Conservative estimates indicate that only 2-3% of Aunish commercial activity takes place in a territory the ‘king’ has any control or influence over. The remaining 97-98% is instead facilitated by his vassals, the bulk of which is under the control of the insurgents who have so far only defeated him in battle. What kind of sovereign is so jeopardized that he controls only his palace at Vienne? It is true that Adrian commerce has flourished, but the King of the Aunishmen has never encouraged it with a single coin. 

 

We Balianese should bear no will against this Sarkozic rebel, for he has simply capitalized on the system - or lack thereof - maintained by his erstwhile master. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, this sovereign has doggedly clung to these ideologies out of sheer, acrimonious spite for us Balianese and our Petrine ancestors. Now, his realm is imperiled because of this intransigence. It is not our role, given all the factors I have enumerated, to help him out of this mess of his own creation. 

 

His Majesty, the late John I, understood the truth of the Aunishman’s dilemma. I pray that you esteemed dones and donas of the Royal Duana may advise his heir of his father’s own wisdom.

 

Vale,

Almeida

 

“Resistiré!”

(I will endure!)

 

A Balianese folk song, derived from one of the ancient proclamations of Peter III, Holy Orenian Emperor.