[!] The following is sent out to all across Eden through noticeboards, with the original copy being sent to the Palace in Al-Khadir. The original copy of the letter was sent to Al-Khadir in a small box, accompanied by a wedding veil, a candle, and a pair of rusted rings - perfect for a wedding that won't occur [!]
THIS DAY
THUNDERDAY 12, HIGHSUN, 1559
To the Unloved of Anjyarr
To the Unloved of Anjyarr, Sig'Vyl Al-Buthara,THIS DAY
THUNDERDAY 12, HIGHSUN, 1559
To the Unloved of Anjyarr
Unloved, you have lived a long time. We of the Dominion cherish this gift of old age, seeing it as an opportunity for wisdom to be imparted onto our youth, and the fruit of a long life full of service, loyalty, and love. You did not take well to your last lesson, which we will remind you of: "A leader who rules only for their own selfish perversions, is a leader who does not rule for long." You have not taken to your studies, but we will offer you this next lesson in despite of that. A ruler and his land are bound, like husband and wife. The citizens looks to their leader, not simply as a figure, but something more - a guardian, a provider, a stable hand that holds them. It is a marriage; a vow that cannot be broken. But you, unloved? You have no grasp of commitment.
You cast aside Kape Roth, leaving it to ruin and to be defiled by those who would not cherish it. You did not appreciate it, throwing it away as though it were your forgotten wife. Thankfully, stronger and more loving hands reclaimed it, picking it up and saving it from its oppressors. The love that may have been there, is gone, and like your bond with it, you remained divorced from reality. You return - not as a minstrel reclaiming lost love, but as an old man desperate to fill the emptiness he created. Your poetry, however uninspiring, will not rewrite history. The world has not forgotten how you left your past love, and sees now a pitiful scene of a boy chasing the one that got away. You crawl back, like a baby with his rattle, not out of love, not out of duty, but out of fear. A fear that history will forget you, remembering you only as the unloved glutton. A fear that you will leave little but dust behind in your reign.
A ruler does not own his land. He is wedded to it. He must fight for it, bleed for it, suffer and sacrifice for it. You? You show no commitment - not to a wife, not to a home, not even to your past love which you swore to protect, and then abandoned. And so, you make war, because war is easier to handle than regret.
[!] The passage continues, split in two - addressed to a secondary, more important audience than the first [!]
To the People of Anjyarr,
I do not write to you as an enemy. I do not wish for your sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles, to die. I do not wish your cities to burn, nor your families to suffer. But your Unloved Glutton, does.
He drags you into war, not for survival, not for justice or security, but for his lust and gluttony. When the bodies of your and my people lay strewn on a field, when flames consume our homes, when ruin comes to Eden, he will not be the one who pays the price. You will. And for what? A cove? A place he long abandoned, a place he remembers only now, believing he can take it back? There is no honor in this war, no just cause. There is no great victory waiting on the other side of loss. There is only blood, spilled for little more than a pirate's breeding ground.
The Dominion offers you a choice.
United, we of Eden will work to rid this world of his poison, stopping war and inevitable suffering. 12,000 Andros. That is my offer for peace, to any in Eden who would take this task up. It is an offer greater than our sum for Kape Roth, because our aim is not the cove, but the preservation of peace and the Anjyarri State. A ruler, within his marriage to country, is not there to do what is easy, but to do what is right. In place of a ruler, who fails to fulfill his end of the pact? Someone else must wed themselves to the spirit of Anjyarr. It will be difficult, no doubt, but we have no choice but to make this sacrifice. 12,000 to the one who does what must be - who delivers the Sultan bound by hand and feet to the gates of Luminion, so he may be tried for his crimes against humanity, against Anjyarr and the Dominion both, and we may find peace once again. Or? You may fight. You will fight and die in a needless war, for a man who is needlessly on a throne that is not his.
We of the Dominion carry a Dream, a promise of a future paradise which we work to make. A future of prosperity, strength, and unity. I believe, that with this conflict's end, we will be closer to achieving our vision than ever before. And it is my hope, that the Anjyarri people, will rise in rank to join us in achieving this Dream, for all.
Signed,
Varyian Theris
Ia'Cilmeri of the Dominion of Corithiel,
Therri'cill of the Enlightened Kingdom of Luminion,
Guardian of Purity,
Warden of Corithiel,
Theri of the Glade of the Dragons
Varyian Theris
Ia'Cilmeri of the Dominion of Corithiel,
Therri'cill of the Enlightened Kingdom of Luminion,
Guardian of Purity,
Warden of Corithiel,
Theri of the Glade of the Dragons