NationStates Jolt Archive

ooc: this thread is part of the rp being planned here:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=498544
edit: which now has an official OoC thread, without the irrelivant clutter, Here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11684224#post11684224 where we shall [hopefully] be keeping a tidy list of threads, and a [relitivly] up to date map.

oh yeah. at some point i'll go back and fix the titles so they all use Angerman spelling. and grammer


as ICly as a factbook can be:

Name [full, official]: Prinseij medAngermanlandz
Adjective: Angermanlandij [often abriviated to 'Angerman' or 'Angerij' in non formal contexts]
people [noun? adjective?]: ouhAngermanland [ouhAngermanlandij if it is an adjective]
Capital: Angerwraith
Population [as of last count. aproximate]: 1.5 million
Language: Angerman
Ruler: yePrinse Carmente, (litteraly transtlates as 'Great Prince Fire Spirit' in english. more accurate translation would read 'Ruler Char-mente') [titles to come as i work them out]

Teritory:

Angermanland streatches from the Skypeakix [Urals] in the east, to the Daylight Marcix in the west. to the north it peters out into lapland [or the ocean] as lands north of the Wintermarc (the arctic circle) just isn't worth it. the southern border is currently desputed, as Angermanland consideres it chould reach south between the Black and Caspian seas, while the Ralish empire [who drew our maps :p] consider it to be at some abstract point in the middle of the yeplains,upon all but the other border lands of Angermanland are situated.

[the Daylight Marcix are [currently] a line traced on a not-so-modern-but-definatly-more-modern-than-what-we're-playing (that is, the USSR is still around) map from Riga, to Minsk, to Kiyev, to Kharkov, to Volograd (stalingrad), to Astrakhan.]

the capital, Angerwraith, is located on a small penisula on the northern bank of the major junction in the Greater River, where it splits and heads east towards the Skypeaks, and north-west towards the greater lakes.

Angermanland is devided into 10 sontzin, those being: the Wintermarc, the Nordaylight Marcix, the Skypeakix, the Land medLakeix, the Sutmarsh, the Sutdaylight Marcix, the Prinsez Phiph, the EstQinexAngermanland, the NorQinexAngermanland, and the SutQinexAngermanland.

Political:

Angermanland's political structure is best defined as "orginized chaos" technicly speaking, on the grand scale, the yePrinse [prince/king/ruler] has absolute power. in reality, his job consists of what amounts to a giant juggling act.

every guild, every union, every noble, every village, every trade, every rank... all are represented in the system somewhere. at the local level, villages and their surrounding areas are represented by way of pure democracy. each village, noble, and significant other entity [based on membership, territorial control, and finances] are represented in one of the 10 sontzin Kounsles. each Kounsle has a yeKount, who heads it. useually, the yeKount is the named successor of the previous yeKount, however in instances where no successor was named, or the previous Grand-Kount was removed by way of a vote of no confidance [this can only be proposed after the Grand-Kount has held office for at least 3 years, and cannot be proposed more than once in 5 years. requires a 2/3rds majority to pass], a new yeKount is ellected by the people at large within that Sontzin, with each free adult [male or female] having one vote. anyone who makes the trip to the Sontzin's capital and signs their name on the vote card is an elegable candidate, provided they can prove litteracy and citizenship, which generaly reduces the candidates to nobles and the wealthy, though not always.

each Sontzin and each nationaly significant entity [including the military] are then represented in the same manner on the "Prinsez kounsle". while a greater majority is required to bring about a vote of no confidence in a yePrinse than in a yeKount, and only yeKount's are elegiable canditates to replace the current Prinse, the system is otherwise the same at this level.

Diplomatic:

err... more here when stuff happens. raids from eastern barbarians are not uncomen

Economy:

not poor.

the use of rivers in summer as, well, rivers, and in winter as "ice roads" allows for brisk trade in those times of year. the bulk of the land area is given over to timber and farming. [more details once i work out what raw materials are and arn't available] fishing of various sorts is also a major industry.

Military:

the Angermanland military consists of a standing army of 2000 ouhhalbardadeix [armed with a halbard, two 'eel' blades, and wearing leather armor, with steal poldroons, brest/back plates, bracers, and rimmed helmits], 1000 ouhjavalinadeix, [armed with a javalin sling, ten javalins (there are more carried with the army.) and two eel blades, and wearing leather armor, a steal brest/back plate and a rimmed helmit] 1000 ouhlanseadeix [cavalry wearing essentually the same armor as the ouhjavalinadeix, with the addition of a shiled. armed with a lance, 'riding bow' (poor quality, but better than nothing) and one handed mace] and 500 destreix [heavy cavalry, wearing full mail and plate. carry a 4 1/2 foot bastard sword and a onehanded mace.]

when needed, more troops can be called up from the various regions, and the marc-lordix tend to keep reasonable forces on standby if not fully active at all times. the border regions tend to provide less troops over all, with a greater proportion of light troops, while the inner region tend to provide more troops, and a greater proportion of cavalry.

the acadamies in Norisevon preiodicaly come up with new and unuseual equipement of various effectivness, among which a small balista capable of fireing racks of 10 shafts in rapid succession between reloadings is the most significant in reasent times.

navy:

the Angerman military navy is, at this time, non existant, however excessive numbers of riverships exist, makeing summer movement of troops very rapid.

Legal: Angerman law is a bit murky, with all sorts of juristictional issues [a side effect of the layerd and mixed system of governance] makeing it even worse. however, at the end of the day, what the yePrinse orders takes presidance. the judicial element of the Angerman state consists of the yePrinse as ultimate judge. he appoints Lord-medLaw-yaLoreix as cheif judges in each of the ten Sontzin, so as to reduce the load upon himself, and each of these worthys apoints beneath them a number of assitants and sub judges as they need and can aford.

while this does allow for all sorts of issues ariseing from the fact that the executive ultimatly controls the judicial, the judiciary it's self is locked into processes and the like by some of the very few binding laws that even the yePrinse may not change.

first, the state does not bring any person to trial. no trial is 'individual vs the state'. nor is it nessisary for the 'plaintif' to be the person who was actually wronged or will benifite.

the task of judge and, in some cases, jurers, is Not to decide who is write or wrong, but to discover the truth of what happend, and act accordingly to set things to rights. as a result, filing a suit against another person or entity carrys with it the implication that you may yourself be found to be in the wrong, or possibly a third party, or no one at all.

accordingly, there are no 'court fees' involved in genuin complaints and problems. sometimes, however, the court may fine all partys [or simply the initial plaintif] for waisting the courts time in the event that the entire inquirey proves to be uterly farsical.

lawyers, in the role of advocate, are not allowed within the court while it is in session. they may consult or advise their cliants, and can and do assist with the construction of contracts and the like, but the goal of the court is not to award one side or the other a 'victory' and the other a 'loss'. there is no compitition. the very nature of the court's enquires Should turn up if anyone lied or omited vital information. and to intentionaly lie under oath in a court law is one of the more serious non capital crimes in the Angerman law books.

the following crimes are punishable by death, and require a majority agreement by a jury of 25 members that a person has commited them, and at least 2 of the three judges [includeing at least one Lord of law and lore, and/or the yePrinse] to convict an individual of and punish them for:

rape
murder
treason [this is a crime against the nation, not the ruler]

for all crimes, upon reaching a verdict where in any party is to be served a sentence, the judges, from the options listed in the law books, will offer said party a choice of the two or three they think most suitable. the exception is rape which, due to several events early in the principality's history, has only one punishment, though it is delayed by one year and one day to allow for the possiblity of new evidance.

one of the more commonly chosen punishments, at least among men in times of war, is joining the military in a set position for a set period of time.

Language:

the angerman language is complex, but consistant. it's alphabet contains 25 charicters [a,b,ch,d,e,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,wordbreak], originaly designed for being carved into rock, etched into mettle, or carved into wood. as such the charicters are very angular. each has an alphabetical meaning [as listed above] or, with a modierfier, a full word meaning, a different modifier turns most into numerical/mathmatical values and symbols, while yet another modifyer denotes capitalisation, or can be combined with the word modifer to specificy Which word [some charicters have multipul word meanings] [[Q is being used to denote word breaks, and for conveniance C is being used in place of Ch].

G never makes a j sound as it does in english, and the j it's self most closely aproximates the sound of X in chinese words such as "Xiahou" [kind of z/sh/j hybrid], unless it is the first charicter in a word, in which case it makes the english j sound.

prefixes are used for prepositions and comparisons [some, more, most, etc] while suffixes are used for ownership, plurality, tense, denoting negatices, and what part of speach the word belongs to.

prefixes and suffixes do not affect the pronounciation of core words, nor each other.

[currently, for conveniance, the core words are still english, though often stripped down to their base form then reconstructed using angermanlandij grammer]

gramer takes the form: [verb?] object, subject [with the comma between object and subject] with adverbs or adjectives going before the noun or verb. prefixes and suffixes [when there are more than one on a word] are aranged in the order that best gives the meaning... if it were "of" 'one who is' of the core word, it would read 'medouh-' where as, if it were 'one who is of' it would read 'ouhmed-'
also 'does not own' would be '-velz' where as 'owned by [a] not [core word]' would be '-zvel'

due to the unuseual construction, it is sometimes nessisary for words to be hyphenated, such as 'shadowixz house'... it is fine on it's own, but the moment one begins speaking of multipul members of said house, it becomes nessisary to differentiate between 'multipul memebers of the house of shadows' and "member of the shadows which own multipul houses'... thus 'ouhshadowixz-houseix' becomes 'multipul members of the house of shadows' while 'ouhshadowixz houseix' becomes 'member of the shadows which own multipul houses'


Heraldry:

in Angermanland, heraldry is Everywhere. not only does it tell those around you who you are when you're wearing armor which conceals your identity, but it shows where you're from, what groups you belong to, your family, who taught you, what you do for a job.... Angerman cloathing may not make the man, but it does give one a fair idea of who someone is in relation to one's self. as a result, being unable to work out which title to use is a rarity, accidently makeing enemys with powerful groups is far less likely, and one always knows where one stands with reguards to most social issues.

of course, the heraldry reflects who a person is, it doesn't define them, and this is also well ingrained. one wears the symbole of the fishermans guild because one is a fisherman and a guild member. one does not become a fisherman and a guild member because one has aquired the fisherman's guild emblem.

all people, even those striped of all rank, title, and status as punishement for crimes, are entitled to wear their family's symbol. only their perants can take this from them, and even then it must be recorded in the official records that such was done, and if another portion of the family were to adopt the stripped member, they would be entitled to wear the symbol once again.

due to the nature of heraldric symbles and the Angerman system, odds are good that older people will have more complex heraldry. but this is not Always the case. in highly informal situations, Angermancitizens may not wear any heraldry at all, instead choseing to hang the dominant symbols of the group on banners outside the door, on the walls, or if out and about, simply on flagpoles stuck into the ground. useually, however, it is deemed more practical to simply wear cloathing with only one's own major symbols on it for normal occasions.

Religion: the ouhAngerman people belive in several gods and goddesses. as a rule, they do not worship these dietys in the traditional sense, instead beliveing that each god has a role that they are perfectly capable of forfilling with or without imput from mear mortals.

the Angermanlandij Panthenon comprises of :

Acidam, god of Order. brother of Stelni and one of the two creator gods, he forms half of the
dichotomy that keeps the balance of the world and rules over it.

Stelni, god of Chaos. brother of Acidam and one of the two creator gods, he forms half of the dichotomy that keeps the balance of the world and rules over it.

Lord Time, god of time. together with death and the fates(colectivly) lord time is one of the three inveitables. generaly fairly neutral and apathetic towards the plight of mortals, he is concerned with the maintinance of the grand mechanisesm that control the universe, keeping everything in it's proper place.

Lady Death, goddess of the underworld. second of the inevitables, according to the myths, lady death likes to keep busy, but not Too busy. if she intervines at all, it is as likely to be to prevent a full scale war, as to cause a minor skirmish.

The Fates, goddessess of mortal lives, and history of past, present and future. according to one of the great poets and prophets they are 'lady Vurshin, middle sister and gentle soul, radiating light and warmth.', 'the yongest, Shineer, wife of Stelni, flighty and always interested in the next thing, emited a harsh radiance, very clear, by which one could see even the darkest courners without trouble.' 'the eldest, Mornther, wife of Acidam, glowed a pure white. for one can only live with the past if one remembers only the good, and forgives all else'

how the ouhAngermanland people came to be where they are today has been lost in the mysts of time. how humans came to be on earth however, they have a tale of.

"originaly, the world had no sentient life. things ticked over nicely. death was mostly busy enough, though she had her minions do most of her work. time was content, as things ticked over nicely. Acidam and Stelni took pleasure in their creations and their wives.

but the fates were board. Vurshin kept busy enough, looking after the animals, but without sentiance, there was no history, nor inovation and advance towards a brighter future. the result was a very board and discontented Mornther and Shineer.

and so they pettitioned their husbands to do something about this problem. the brothers considered this for a time, leaving to the realm of the Gods, where the creator gods of all worlds met, and held councle. putting the puzzle to their fellows, they were offered seven races from various other worlds. small samplings only, but enough to begin with. unsure what would be most suitable, they accepted each one, and placed them upon the earth.

the result was an unmitigated disaster. lacking any better way to redeim the experiment, the Gods turned it into a challange, each backing a different race. the brothers had stipulated that their interfearance could not prevent them attending to their normal dutys, however.

some hundered years passed in this way, with no one side gaining true advantage. then the fates hit upon an idea. they were not creators in thier own right, but being the wife of one's ruler has it's advantages. and so they began working on what would become 'heros' for their sides. soon they found it nessisary to seak the help of lord time and lady death. finaly, however, their work was complete, and they took it before the brother-gods.

the brothers made a desicion 'very well. we shall create these heros. the last one remaining alive shall have the god of his race declared the victor.'

and so a new dynamic was introduced to the great struggle. and the gods were pleased with their heros. finaly, some 125 years later, only one hero remained. his name was 'Voy', which means man, void, or soul. as a reward, upon his death, Voy was given a singular honner. the brothers presented him to the councle of gods, and he was granted a place there in.

the brothers, takeing the advice of lord time now that the compitition was over, removed the competting races from existance. but they had liked the heros, and while Voy had been the greatest of them, all had been great in their own rights.

and so the gods created a new race, in the image of the Heros, and named them 'race ouhvoy'. the race of man."

this tale is used to explaine why the gods intervine so rarely in the lives of individual men. to have on take a personal interest in one is considered an honer, if not a blessing. for one must be a True Hero.

Philosophy:

the ouhAngermanland people have an interesting view of the world. their philosophys emphasize that all things have a balance point, and all things have layers and cycles. there is a time and a place for everything, even if that time is 'never' and the place is 'no where'. when something seems particularly orderd, it is but a thin vinner over a layer of chaos, within which is order once again.

to their mind history is cyclic, with each ruler comes first a period of semi-chaotic development and change as he establishes things as he wishes and thinks best, then a period of prosperity and true order, however brief, and then decay, be it from stagnation, the rulers death, external forces, or something else entirely. following this is a period of true chaos, from which arrises the next ruler, or great ruler, or great force, and the cycle begins again.

everything has a balance point. too much or too little of anything, too many or to few, will upset the balance. to their mind, Lord Time can fix the larger problems, and the fates the more minor ones, but they'd really rather not be on the reseving end of the metaphysical wrench and mallet, or surgions blade, involved in makeing the corrections. a balance point is not always the perfect center or middle ground, of course.

History:

what little is knowen of the factual history of Angermanland, is that various groups of people wandered into the region at one point or another, and settled their, living their lives in whatever manner suited them best. after a time, finding more established and orginized foes on all sides, they found it nessisary to coalless into larger and larger units, untill finaly the first yePrinse came to power, by way of a grand juggling act of diplomacy and force. the political sceen hasn't changed a lot since.

Social:

of key importance to one's position in Angermanland are three things: your family, your achivements, and your afiliations. one cannot change the first, and the third may not be entirely in your own hands, but the second is in your hands and your hands only.

it is a simple matter to create a new group for affiliation reasons. gather enough people [currently 10 is the minimum] chose a symbol for your heraldry that would not be easily confused with more highly 'ranked' symbols, nor too easily confused with the lesser symbols, pay the small price of the paperwork and it is done. of course, this is not something to be entered into lightly. all such groups must have official charters, and the Leader of such a group is held at least partially acountable for all actions on the part of all members [the exact extent of acountability varys depending on location, situation, and the charter in question]

horses are very significant in Angermanland. they form the power behind the bulk of agriculture, are mounts allowing more speedy travel accross the plains, confur a distinct personal advantage in combat, can provide food in an emergancy,and need only consume the two most abundant resorces in the nation, water and grass. as such, it's quite likely that even the lowliest pesant has access to the use of a horse or two at need, even if he doesn't own them personaly, while the richest men often own tens, hundereds, or on the larger stud farms, thousands.

cats, which somehow made their way up from egypt, are also wide spread and at least as common as horses, exterminating vermin, making good pets, and having a minor religious role [it is said that they can see death [the event] aproching, and that Lady Death has a certain fondness for them]. much like horses, it is rare for an angermanlandij household Not to have at least one cat.

Significant entitys:

Angerwraith:
capital city.

Skypeakix:
the Urals, eastern border of Angermanland

Mongolix:
barbarians from beyond the urals. Zachius killed a lot of these.

Daylight Marcix:
western and southern borders of Angermanland.

Norisevon:
acadimy city in the north. home of the great academys of learning, and responsible for much of angermanland's technoligical advances, as well as the place of training for prospective teachers and priests. Pi is technicly a member of one of the houses based here, but useually works wherever she happens to be, rather than specificly going back to Norisevon.

Shadowixz-house: [sic]
[house belonging to shadows, house of shadows] a 'secret society' of sorts... technicly recognized on the Angermanlandij scrolls of heraldry, it is unique amongst all others by way of it's official heraldric mark being a lack of any marking to represent it. the house of shadows has memebers scattered accross the knowen world forfilling many roles as their other comitments take them, operating what is useualy a passive spy network. they are loyal to the Nation of Angermanland, then to their own members, rather than to the ruler at the time. when one memeber requires information about anything, he sends messeges to the others, and their networks go a little more active as they aquire it, then send it back to the one who requested the information. useually, the ouhShadowixz-houseix operate indirectly, recruiting locals to actually do their scouting and spying, and generaly only have their spys do things that are in keeping with their dayly lives, rather than 'covert-ops'.... useually. Zachius and
Zenkath are both memebers of this interesting entity.

Zachius Lejor:
yeKaptan in the standing army, Zachius is currently in command of the army whihc will soon attack the Ralish's northern border. originaly from the town of Consest, he was trained in combat and the ways of war by master Ganju himself, and is a formidable tactician, able leader, and compitant stratagist. he is a memeber of the house of shadows, and makes use of this whenever nessisary to advance his own cause, and the cause of the nation. useually quite calm and logical, it takes quite a lot to provoke him to anger, as a rule. however, when enraged, all that stratagy and logic goes out the window and is replaced by what, on a personal level, is an almost irrisistable berserker. he is 24 years old.

Soma Kyo:
head of the kyo family, currently consisting only of herself and her yonger sister, Pi Kyo. a charismatic figure, she inspires loyalty and dedication in those around her... and borderline fanatasisem in many of her direct underlings. good friend of Zachius, at least compitant stratigist, and suppierior logistician. currently commanding the ouhjavilanadeix in Zachius's army. generaly quite serious and caring. 23 years old.

Pi Kyo:
younger sister of Soma Kyo, Pi is takeing a significant interest in Zachius at this point. at 17 she is one of the preeminant inventors in the nation. lively and energetic, Pi is something of a pyro-maniac when she can get away with it. inventor of the hawk troopers, and currently commanding a unit of such in Zachius's army. she was also involved in the development of the repeating balista, and is commanding the few of those in Zachius's army as well.

Phrideric: one of Zachius's retainers, currently in command of the ouhhalbardadeix in Zachius's army. at 52, he is probibly one of the oldest men still in active military service, and probibly the ultimate veteran.

Phencurc Delophen: sone of a yekount and 19 years of age, Phencurc has showen great skill at tactics and leadership, and his teachers and suppieriors think he will go far, given time. accordingly, he has been placed in Zachius's army as over all commander of cavalry. he delegated command of the ouhLanseadeix to one of his retainers, and is directly commanding the Destreix. he plans to prove himself worthy of his social rank, and deserving of higher military ranks as well. he has yet to fight in a true battle, and has been sent on this expidition as much as a test as anything.

ooc: more will be added as major people, places, events, and orginisations come into being/relivance... and when i remember allt he details of the legal system.

Skypeakix, Angermanland, eastern border, one of the few passes through the mountain range that gives the region it's name:

yeKaptan Zachius medConsest, of the family of Lejor, student of master Ganju, sat upon a rock and servaied the carnage below him. these eastern bandits had growen bold, and come forth in large numbers. like his own people, they were horsemen at heart, and knew how to make best use of it. sadly, however, these 'mongols' as they styled themselves, knew little of the way of the halbard and javalin. sadly for the raiders, that is.

his own men, some 50 regular ouhhalbardadeix, and as many ouhjavalinadeix, along with 100 ouhlanseadeix and another 100 ouhhalbardadeix gathered from amongst the local lords retainers, had ambushed the raiders in the pass at a narrow point not far from where it opend out into the flat planes. there had not been room for the mongol raiders to deploy or manouver.they had found themselves faceing a line of lances. not wishing to be charged by such, they had turned, only to find themselves faceing a line of halbards, set to recieve cavalry. the ouhhalbardadeix had climbed and walked along the cliffs which caused this narrowing at the exit into the open planes and got behindt heir foes. deciding they had no option but to fight, the mongols had begun to put thier bows to good use. this was expected. the for the most part armor and shields resisted the arrows, but not in all cases. as was to be expected in such situations, some men wree wounded, some dead, some horses lost.

the ouhlanseadeix had returned fire, after a fasion, with even less effect, and then it got messy. Zachius himself had lead the party who were responsible for this part. from both sides of the... well, he guessed it was best described as a gorge... Zachius's ouhjavalinadeix had dropped bales of flameing, alchole soaked animal feed. the men would be a bit miffed by this, an army marches on alchole after all, but had understood the advantages when it was explained.

the flameing hay bales had set the mongol horses into a wild panic. while the riders tried to control thier mounts, the ouhjavalinadeix began slinging the weapons for which they were named down from the cliff tops. of those fortunate enough to avoid death from above, a good third met death in the form of a halbard as their paniced horses charged the line of infantry and were ripped appart. still more fell directly to the flames, or to their horse's mad crashing about.... the remainder found out exactly why Angerman light cavalry favoured the lance. at the end, only three mongols still lived, and Zachius had ordered that the halbard line open and let them flee.

then he orded the dead mongols staked up along the borders, which were a days march back the way the mongols had come. they would learn to fear this land one day, or they would all die in the process.

"well sir, i doubt they were expecting That."
"no, Phrideric, i do not think they were expecting that at all. it is amazing what local knowledge and a good map can do to ones ability to achive victory."
"aye, sir, there is that."
"well, what do you want of me?"
"oh, right. a message arrived for you. from the prince himself, or at least his general vecinity."
"oh? and what did he have to say?"
"By the fates! you don't hink i would read your mail, do you sir?"
" Phrideric, you served my father as you now serve me. you have been our right hand and our distant eye. i don't Think you read my mail, master spy, i Know you do. now, out with it. what did he say?"
Phridric grinned "aye, now there's the rub. it's not so much what he did say as what he didn't, ifyou get my drift. you're to complete you task here with all haste, and return to the capital in no less than two weeks. the men are to stay here under the local lord's command incase the barbs come back. " Phrideric gave a consprital wink and an expression that may or may not have been a lear 'and it seems that the Ladys Kyo wish for your safe and speedy return, as they have a gift for you."

Zachius looked at his aid and servant blankly for a moment.

"oh, for the love of all that is sacred. Pi has invented another monstrosity, no doubt, and expects me to test it, while Soma will probibly somehow get me assigned to some task no sane person would take."

"oh, like as not, sir, like as not. and then both of those fine young women would insist on comeing along in person to see that it was 'done properly'"

Zachius sighed. "well, we'll just have to deal with it as best we can"

"as we always do sir."

"see to our gear, Phrideric. we leave as soon as i have finished giveing final orders."

"yessir!"

as Phrideric left, Zachius grinned to himself. it would be good to see the sisters Kyo once again, even if they did conspire to drive him stark raveing mad between them.

"this must be, in some small messure, how the Brother Gods feel all the time"

he laughed quietly, then turned away. below, a black shape flittered accross what had been a battle field not long before, and paused long enough to watch him turn to leave, before continueing on it's way.

In one of the many great houses in the capital, the lady Soma Kyo was attending to the administrative work required to keep a noble family's holdings and retainers, as well as debters, creditors, associates, business partners, and so on, payed, supplied, working, and advancing the family's goals.

it was unuseual for a woman to be the head of a family, but between a plague five years ago, various border skirmishers, duels, and various idiotic plots to forcibly depose significant figures [all of which failed], she and her sister were the only ones left. amongst their retainers, only their steward Mathius, some 15 Destreix, and a maid remaind. they had been stripped of their land, and thus most of their income. those who stayd did so more out of loyalty and a belife in their oaths than because it brought them any advantage. what income the family still had came mostly from Pi, the younger of the two sisters, selling various interesting inventions from time to time. they had been fortunate that Zachius, who's father had been a friend of theirs, had taken an interest in their well being.

KRAKTHOOM!

an explosion came from the open grassy area behind the house, shortly followed by a string of explicitives and curses such as no lady should know.

at least one obviously did. when Soma emerged from the house to investigate, she found her sister, looking slightly dazed, rather blackend, and very flattend, laying on her back not far from what appeared to be a small crater.

"and you wonder why i won't let you do this inside."

"things wouldn't BLOW UP as often if it were inside... stupid leaves and dirt and dust and animals and the Fates alone know what else get in the mix and screw it all up."

"you know as well as i do that that is mearly wishful thinking" Soma laughed "remember that time you managed to blow up a bird with .. what, a rock, some oil, and a cooking pot?"
"oy. don't remind me. i wasn't allowed out of the creeps sight, at all, for a month. do you KNOW how disturbing some of the things that exposed me to were? trust me, you don't want to."
"you shouldn't speak ill of the dead. especially dead relatives. even if they deserve it. which, i'll freely admit, a lot of our family did." the sisters shuddered at the thought of some of the behaviour their family members had exibited in the past.

"so, what were you trying to do this time?"

"well, actually, for once i was Trying to make something explode... though i was going for a more controled effect than That. it's more consistent than it used to be, but it's still horribley unreliable none the less. i figured if i could control the force of the explosion, much as those little toys i made direct steam to move them, i could use it to allow the hawks to fly further."

"hold on, back up, hawks?"

"you know, large, light, fly? hehe. i'll show you when Zachius gets here. he'll be ... interested, i think."

"ahh. the present?"

"ayup. apparantly the yePrinse has new task for him anyway. i figured these might help." Pi grinned wistfully "and mabey he'll take us with him? Shineer knows, he's always looking for more Destre on these adventures of his, and if he takes my latest inventions, he'll Need me to come along, at least to begin with."

"humm. hireing ourselves out as mercenarys, of a sort. might make enough money that we can afford to keep the horses. the strippend for those balista you designed is going to run out in a week or two."

"oh dear."

"yeup. now go get cleaned up. apparantly yet another round of suitors are trying for our hands... an attempt to 'keep us out of trouble' or some such... and the Prinse is useing it as an excuse for a party."

Pi wasnt' sure weither to curse or jump for joy. the prinse's partys were legendary, not for their excesses or failures, but for the shear amount of enjoyment all invited generaly gathered from them. . . on the other hand, the Last thing she wanted was to marry some random noble, merchant, or pesant.

fortunatly, Angerman law required the consent of both the head of the family, in this case her sister, and the would-be bride herself before a marage could take place. still sutors were a right pain in the..

"get going already! the last thing we want is to be on the Prinse's bad side."

"i'm going, i'm going!"

Crash!

"again."

cloppity cloppity cloppity CRASH!

"again."

"Mecal, come on. i'm exhausted."

"better exhausted now than dead on the field of battle, Master Phencurc. your swordwork is slow, that'll get you killed. you only stay in your seat against a lancer one time out of ten. you're training to be a Destre, Master Phencurc. you have to learn to take such blows in such a way as to not be killed or unhorsed, get past his lance and you'll win every time. use your blade and mace. Turn so the lance skips accross your armor, rather than punching into it!

or do you Want me to tell your father that you're incapable of this?"

"Warasix, NO! the last thing i need is him deciding i'm useless. something is going on, the army is preparing to move, and i will NOT be prevented from going!"

"good. now." Mecal set his shiled and lance once more "Again!"

Crash!

Angerwraith, one week later, royal offices:

"Zachius to see you, your Highness."

"good, send him in."

Zachius entered the small room, stood to atention, and saluted in the Angerman style, fist over heart and a slight bow from the waste. he wore simple clothing, with the bare minimum of heraldry, as one did when dealing with one's superiors many levels removed.

"Highness, i have returned as ordered, and am here to report my presence and carry out whatever task you asign me."

"good. i'm going to be very blunt. the historical cycle is begining to turn. already the courtiers plot against me. already the outer Kounts grumble, when they are not busy fighitng off those who would take our lands. i seak to divert them. there is a section of our southern border which adjoins that of another great kingdom... they claime dominion over lands belonging to our people. they did not take them by war, simply by being the most significant authority there, but according to our records, history, titles, and the original proclamation of unity, it is our land.

i intend for you to take it back."

"me sir? why me? i am but a Kaptain..."

"true, true. but those who would be generals can no longer be trusted. also, your superiors and underlings speak highly of you, Pi Kyo seems to be of the opinion that you're the only one capable of makeing use of her weaponary effectivly. and... the Kyo sisters are going with you. too many seak to use them as pawns in their plans, and those two would go with no others." he saw Zachius's expresion and chuckled

"before you object, they are bringing their household cavalry with them, more heveys for your horse, i know you'll like that, and they should both prove useful to you.

Phencurc Delophen shall acompany you, as commander of cavalry. he is inexperianced, young.. but like you shows great potentual.

you have leave, and will have writen orders to this effect, to draft or otherwise procure troops in the lands you pass through on the way to the border, should what we have available proove insufficiant for your needs. the rest is up to you."

"i will do as you order, Highness."

"good. see that you do. dismissed."

Angermanland, Sutdaylight Marcix, Expiditionary army camp, one day's march north of the border.

Zachius went over the papers on his folding campaigne desk once again.

four thousand ouhhalbardadeix, one thousand ouhjavalinadeix, two thousand ouhlanseadeix, and a good five hundered Destreix, something in the order of three thousand assorted camp followers and logisticians, as well as the two hundered men the Kyo sisters had recruited into their 'personal' unit, which was kept busy enough. well, those that were still alive and uninjured enought o remain busy, and he'd stopped botherin to count as that number was always in flux .

truthfully, Zachius was astonished that those two hnudered had not diserted already. the bulk of them were light cavalry by training, though in a more general sense than the ouhlanseadeix who made up his more regular force, but they had become test dummies for Pi's crazy inventions as much as body guards or soldiers. though he had to admit, the possibilitys presented by the 'hawk troops' as Pi had named them, were interesting.

Pi had put a lot of effort into this one, and it showed. after the first few runs, the gliders almost never failed at launch. though it had takeing three failures and two deaths to assertain what the problem had been. it was only by luck that the third man had survived the crash, but he had. apparantly, the locking catch at the 'nose' of the gliders wings had not been ... well, catching and locking. the force of being launched from what amounted to a vertical balista, combined with the piolet attempting to push the wings up and out to lock them in place, and ment that the catch's parts didn't meet smoothly enough, and were often jerked in and out of place several times before locking, by which time it was useually too late for the piolet to recover.

that particular problem was soon remidied, as were several other, less serious, issues. now the gliders themselves almost never failed, though it remained to be seen how they'd stand up to combat situations, and there was still room for human error. often rather Spectacular human error.

having established that equiping such troops with melee weapons was a waste of time, and that there was no possible way for them to throw javalins, various atempts at arming the gliders had been made. one involved small kegs of highly volatile alchole, which would have a fuse lit and then be released to drop on an enemy or other target. the flyers had been issued knives to cut the cords to drop them, as the knots required to hold the kegs in place were all but impossible to undo within the time it took for the fuse to run down and catch the alchole. one of the flyers had managed to drop his knife, fortunatly into a pond rather than on anyone, but had lit the fuse anyway, and attempted to untie the knots. the resulting flames had set the wings on fire, and the whole thing had become a rather spectacular funeral pier.

with that object lesson firmly in mind, the hawk's knives had been attached to their gliders by leather straps threaded through the hilt, so they would not be lost.

an alternative method of arming the hawks, which would proibly also prove useful, was a tube slung underneath full of javalins. the tubes design allowed only one to come out at a time... it sometimes jammed, but was less hazardous to the flyer. all they had to do was open the tube and dive.

it did, however, make getting into the harness and landing somewhat tricky. often the tubes would be jetisoned to allow the hawks to land more easily, which would damage them if they were dropped too high or the hawk came in too fast.

infact, the hawks had many weaknesses and flaws, however at this point none of them were intrinsicly fatal in their own right, and used well, the advantage they gave would be more than worth it.

Zachius was interupted from his museings at that point, as his various commanders arived for their briefing.

he had put Phrideric in charge of the ouhhalbardadeix, and allowed lady Soma to command the ouhjavalinadeix. she had been quite insistant. Pi would command the hawks herself. Phencurc commanded the cavalry, as the yePrinse had ordered, though he had delegated the command of the ouhlanseadeix to one Mecal, apparantly a family retainer of many years.

of course, that command structure only held untill he sent one of them off with some other combination of troops to do something else.

as the commanders took their seats, which were in truth mear cusions on a fairly plane woven matt, Zachius shook out a map of the campagine area. it was quite accurate and detailed in the north, as it started right where their camp was, but got progressivly less detailed and reliable the further south one went past the border.

"all right, Ladys and Gentlemen. for various reasons, we have been tasked with the reclamation of Angerman territory here." he indicated a stretch of land where the border took a bite into what would otherwise be a fairly neat arc. "and, perhaps, a little bit beyond, no? now, the fact of the matter is, our glorious leader requires this campagine for many reasons. to distract the nobles, who are grumbling already. to retake land that is rightfully ours but has fallen out of our control, and to better position ourselves in future dealings with the ouhnesut peoples. also, the last thing we need is for this area to rebele or revolt the moment we leave, so idealy we shall NOT be looting or pillaging villages, burning crops we don't need to, etc, or taking slaves."

he looked around at the assmebled comanders, gauging their reactions

" i am well aware that the men will not like this, However, i intend to use this territory to supply us as we take it, and it's citizens as labourers in civic construction. so, we need them alive, and we need them, if not overly loyal, at least not without any grevance enough to get them to take up arms against us in their own right. questions?"

"not a question, exactly" Soma spoke up "but perhaps if we were to use some of the campagine funds... buy what we need rather than simply takeing, it would aid your goals? then there will be cash in the hands of the local pesantry, making this a land worth a merchants time, and worth the risk, to come here, thus allowing more rappid intergration once we are done.

also, if they have more money than they need, and the merchants are bringing down food and luxurys to sell which will make up for what we are purchasing from them, leaving them no avoidable lack, they will be much harder for any enemys to simply buy off, as spies, or as rebles."

"aye" Mecal spoke up "i would suggest, however, that as rewarding as you make doing our will and keping the peace, come down hard on those who cause problems. if they have no compelling reason to rebel, and we have proven that rebelion will be met with swift death, they are will remain loyal.

not a traitors death, mind, death in battle. if we capture such 'patriots' and then impale them, it will be seen as harsh and unnessisary punishement, and make them marters. absolute slaughter on the field of battle, however, would make us seem an unbeatable force."

"you both have sound points. it shall be as you suggest. anything else? no? right. the lords in the surrounding area stand ready to mobalise reinforcements to aid us if absolutly nessisary, but i'd rather not call on them. at most, we shall use them to replace losses or to help seccure the new border. seven days from now, two days after the SelebrationQmedHeroix, we march. see that your men are ready. dismissed."

the commanders rose, and saluted in unison "Sir!" before leaveing.

Zachius slumped in his chair once more. seven days. seven days untill they tested the might of their armys against the largest and oldest empire in the knowen world. seven days untill they tested their inovation, technology, and training against the empire's experiance.

seven days in which to assure victory.

a guard ducked his head into Zachius's tent. "sir, Zenkath of the southern traiders guild is here to see you."

"send him in, we have much to discuss. only him though. i don't want any more people seeing what's in here than must."

"aye sir."

a few moments later Zenkath himself entered the room

"good of you to come, my friend. what news have you for me?"

"the Ralish empire is a but a thin vinear of paper and illusion. they may be able to rally armys to fight you, but the nation it's self... no, it will not hold. except for it's core, few parts are even directly under the empire's rule. save for the empire occasionaly collecting taxes and drafting soldiers, most people within it's borders wouldn't even know it exists. other parts are showing signs of simmering potentual for outright rebellion, or at least last my people heard anything."

"humm. this bodes well for my plans. but as useual, things Will go wrong. never the less... see what you can do about the area we are to march on. anything to our advantage. though if you must do something distructive, Try to pin it on someone else, humm?"

"pheh, you know i will. i understand you wished to speak to me in my more... official capacity as well?" the man laughed "i am but a humble trader and servant of our yePrince. what would a great marshal such as yourself want of me?"

"actually, by the paperwork i'm still a kaptain."

"whatever. you called on me as a merchant, not as your spymaster or as a fellow member of the house of shadows. i will gladly play all roles, but the first is the one which protects the others."

"yes, true. here is my plan...." and Zachius went on to outline the plan as he and his officers had discussed the day before.

"yes... yes. it will work quite nicely. and be profetable as well. i shall see what i can do about putting people to work in the area in preperation. though you have not given me much time."

"including our march, you have seven days before we cross the border. probbibly 8 before we directly encounter enemys. 10 or more, as like or not, before we have to fight any significant armys. indications are that their border defences did not anticipate large armys comeing from this dirrection, but are more geared towards comercial and legal issues. of course, this is official royal military reports, from commanders and lords and pesants, not true scouts and spys. i'm sure you can do better."

"that i can, brother, that i can."

Northern Aisa

The Alshorians sometimes called their empire by the name Aisa, or at least they introduced the name into the languages of some subject peoples where it better fitted their gramatical structure. It was a somewhat mystic term, sugestive of the cult of the Empire's geography, weather, and King.

North of Aridiris, life was quiet. The region was considered most remote, and though the economy was not bad, the fact that the people and the Empire were totally unaware of the coal, oil, and gas buried under this region, let alone of the potential uses of these dirty resources, didn't help the trade potential. Agriculture was fairly well developed, and while a little food was shipped across the western sea to Alshor, most was sold in the markets of Aridiris or exported to Angermanland in hopes of acquiring revenues enough to meet the increasing tax burdon.

Life wasn't bad, though not a patch on existing in Azaria. Still, the thousands of imperial citizens north of Aridiris rarely had to worry about serious unrest or famine, and plagues were plagues in any part of the world. Wind instruments, occasional village games, and the marvels contained within Ralish temples provided a reasonable enough degree of relaxation and marvel for the simple rural peoples of the area. The odd spot of wine or luxury food from somewhere in the Empire always made a trip to the market worth-while for the buyer as well as the agricultural seller, for the rivers and seas on either side of the region made transport fairly good, and limited the remoteness of an enclave on the far side of semi-autonomous Aridiris.

People here would certainly welcome some extra money, but it would only be good to them so long as exotic goods continue to flow in from the diverse corners of the Empire. With that in mind, and the probability of an immediate decline in supply following the outbreak of war pushing prices higher, it is likely that the adoration of a local here would not be especially cheap, and the fact that reasonable agriculture had enabled the growth of a healthy -if not exactly prolific- total population would mean that any campaign coffers would face significant strain in following the current plan of the Angermanlandji.

On the other hand, martial defences relied heavily on a concentration of light and somewhat obsolescent fortifications in the narrow gap between the region's two great rivers, the largely unguarded body of those rivers themselves, and the uncertain backing of Aridiris. The defenders themselves were relatively soft after years of calm, and had a core of just a few hundred well trained Alshorians expecting to raise peasantry in the event of any major conflict while awaiting the dispatch of the men of Aridiris.

Just west, the peninsula -called Kresh by the Alshorians- was a better defended place, having a good contingent of mounted archers and a pool of hard-living light troops.

(Kresh is, of course, Crimea, and the Ralish often describe the other northern lands in their empire as Rus, calling the Angerij 'Rusticans', which, of course, does go some way to supporting your nation's claims!)

Angerman army camp. one day before invasion.

a single day before the army was due to march, Zenkath appeared once more.

"brother" he spoke, having quickly taken in the absence of others within Zachius's tent "it is well that the House uses messenger birds for much of it's communication. so far as the empire is concerned.. everything's going to shit all at once.

the Osteian's were being quite civilised about requesting autonomy, if not total independance...

the Ralish murdered their Own messangers who brought the news, as well as any Ostians they got hold of, from the reports, ... dismantled.. the bodys, carved messages into them, and scattered them along the border as a warning. lady Hera has offered the Ostians the aid of the house's services.

the peoples from the islands to the west sent an ambasidor to the Imperial capital, intending to negotiate, from a position of strenght, for control of the access to the northern seas no our borders.

similar situation there, though we have yet to offer those peoples our aid.

as for local operations... i really can't say how effective they have and haven't been as yet. at any rate, i intend to leak this information back up through the official channels to the yePrinse. perhaps we can ... aquire more help than we had anticipated in the dismantleing of this empire..."

Zachius grinned "this IS good. and your plans are sound too. with the empire fighting on so many fronts, against what, from all reports, are enemys supperior in quality and equipment, if not numbers... oh yes..." he rubbed his hands togeather gleefully.

"between this and the many other surprises we have in store for them... strategicly, this war just got a lot easyer. humm. go, do what you need to... i need to get this army ready to move. Tomorrow, we use the fort wood to construct bridges accross the river... and then we March!"

Zenkath grinned also "as you say brother. as you say."

as he departed, Zachius also left his tent and began yelling orders. the entire camp was to be dismantled and packed. all signs were that the weather would hold, so even the mens tents were comeing down.

infact, he was planning to being marching Tonight, allowing the engineers and logisticians to sleep in the wagons. tommorow, the army would rest while the workers constructed the bridges. and then, the army would advance down the coast of the caspian sea untill it reached what was intended to be the new boundry, before swinging west along it, and then back north untill it had passed the whole re-aligned border.

as they went, the yePrince would send te rest of the regular army, as well as many new levies and engineers, and the Angermanlandij would do something they had but rarely ever done. they would build perminant stone castles along the new southern border, and build a wall to rivel even the most ambitious such projectes ever undertaken between them.

but first, they must clear the Ralish armys from the area, and make sure there would be no popular resistance.

this was going to be... interesting.

yePrinse Carmente sat in councle with three of his most trusted advisors, all of whome he had knowen sinse he was a child.

Alphurth, his cheif diplomat, Jangijahn, his Lord of Soldiers, and Kemthidahn, Master of the House, effectivly his prime minister. the information they had relayed to him was... interesting.

the small group had been sitting quietly for a while, after all reports were made, lost in their own thoughts as to the implications of the news which had reached them. finaly, Carmente spoke "my friends, it would seem that the Gods present us with a rather unique opertunity. and yet a rather unique problem. we must make contact with these nations and would-be nations... and yet, the Ralish, our chief enemy, and the chief cause of our alliances, sits squarely upon any and all routs of direct communication."

"Highness" Alphurth spoke next "it occurse to me that there are significant tracts of land between here and Kahlahdon which do Not belong to the Ralish, and only the narrowest which do. the ouhKahlahdon are a race given to strange ways... such as the construction of great boats capable of crossing oceans. perhaps, were we to contact them, we could gain passage upon their ships to make the rest of our connections?

these ouhAridiris people interest me also. our own river boats could make the trip along the coast of the Kaspian in good weather. though i belive there may be a more expediant way to reach them?"

this last was directed at Jangijahn, who responded after a brief pause to consider the merits of what it appeared Alphurth may be proposing

"ahh yes. young Zachius. well, it is possible, if things go well, that he may reach their very borders, or near enough. though truthfully, it'd be better to get to the ouhAridirisz border ahead of him, if you intend to make an alliance of some sort."

"there is that. as for the ouhKahlahdon... well, we'll just have to see what we can do.. Damn the Ralish! little tendrils everywhere. 'tis impossible to be where we need to be. and i'm loath to open another front just to allow the passage of diplomats." Carmente sighed "we'll just have to make do. perhaps the fates shall smile on us one way or another. still, i want to be as ready as possible if the opertunitys present themselves, understood?"

"yes, Highness" came the response.

"good. now, Kemthidahn, how goes the preperation for the border defenses?"

"everything is on schedual, your highness..."

A Caladonnian longship has arrived in the Baltic, with a diplomat requesting to speak with the ruler of Angermanland.

the area of Angermanland which reached the baltik sea as of relitivly minor importance to Angermanland as a whole. it provided fish and timber, and it's lords would raise troops to guard against seaborn invasions, and that was it.

it did, however, bost one thing that made it unuseual in all of Angermanland. in his eccentricy, one of the former lords had ordered the construction of a harbour for the larger ocean going ships, and the repair of ships captured in the defense against earlyer raids from the northern tribes.

as a result, it was the one place where anyone, however inexpertly, could meet a ship at sea, though they'd lose horribly if it came to a fight, or dock a ship too large to simply beach it's self safely.

later lords had seen no reason to alter this, as it brought in a few additional coins and luxurys not otherwise available, and the ships themselves had long been reffited to be mostly fishing platforms.

at any rate, the upshot of all this was that the ambasidor was met first by the fishermen at sea, then by guards at the dock, and finaly by the latest lord of the area, one Vikvikaj Kelphor Gustav.

Vikvikaj was filling in the paperwork regularly required of one in his position, seated in the halls high seat which was itself at a table on a low raised diases. the fact was, it was raised only so those at the back of the hall could see a speaker when it was full. in the grand scheam of things, a local lord was no great dignitory, after all.

and so he was found when the Caladonn ambasidor was brought before him. of course, he looked up as they entered, and then pushed the papers aside, welcoming the excuse to take a break from such adminstrative drudgery.

"well. who have we here? a forigner, obvsiously. not a scrap of heraldry upon you. come, come, speak up. you may have all day, but i, alas, do not."

A personal envoy of King Erik IV of Kalmaar, Ethelred the Brave, had been on a boat for a little more than a week before they made landfall in Angermanland. he had been given instructions to enter the capital of Angerwraith and seek an audience with the yePrinse Carmente.

Ethelred stepped off of the Knaar and onto the port(I'll assume Angerwraith is a port city). It was cold in the Baltic tundra but he had come prepared, from a land where tundra was the climate nearly year round and where you are trained from birth to fight the cold and defend against it. Layered with much muscle a a small enough layer of fat, his body was toned idealy for this weather and what chill he could feel was stopped by his caribou pants and wolf pelt.

To Ethelreds side was his loyal companion Ikaltheyr, clad in light leather armour and wielding possibly the largest battle-axe anyone had ever scene. It wasn't just his garb and accessories that were imposing, he was also physically frightening. A man no smaller than 6' 6" and wieghing no less than 280 lbs, he was a figure who was feared among his enemies and revered among freinds for both his brutality and loyalty.

So it was that these two Scandinavian men walked the streets of Angerwraith in search of the the quarters of the yePrinse Carmente. They were assisted by a trader they had met at the port who spoke both Angerman and Norse, he would ask for directions from citizens and then proceed to lead them in the direction they had told him. These men eventually arrived at the quartes of the yePrinse Carmente and Ethelred proceeded to inquire about an audience with the yePrinse.

ooc: i think i'll just ignore the referance to Angermanland being a port city [you can fix it when you get around to it :p] and assume you picked up the trader in the north [where i Do have a port], then came down with him along the rivers and roads. anyway, onward!

IC: one of the yePrinsez aids, searvants, asistants, or some other underling (he did not include his rank or function in his introduction, as he wore full cerimonial heraldry on admitedly less than fully cerimonial cloaths, as all citizens did when working in significant governmental posts, whatever their role there.) met them when they arived. after they had put their purpose to him, he disapeared through a doorway, and returned within a quatuer hour. this was understandable, as the yePrinsez Palase was large. it's construction and decore and so on were no greater or grander than the surrounding houses of the uperclass of the city, however it's duel role as royal residence and governement buildings ment it was quite ... big.


the servent returned as quickly as was possible, bowing slightly from the waist, barly enough to move his head forward, but with an acompanying slight downward tilt of the head and lowering of eyes, he informed them that, with all respect and apologies suited to themselves and the situation, they were unscheduald, and the yePrinse was busy with significant matters of state, however, he would meet with them as soon as the current business was atended to. it's nature precluded him from informing them of exactly what it was or how long it would take, but the yePrinse expected to be finished by midafternoon. there was a slim chance it would take the rest of the day, however, so in the event that he could not see them today, they would be the first thing on his list on the morrow.

reguardless of weather they were met today or the next, lodgings would be aranged for them, either in the palase it's self, one of the upper class hotels, or if their tastes ran that way, any other acomidation at any level within the city, from the lowlyest port tavern on up.

also, they were informed, with the exception of the yePrinse himself and his royal guards, and those specificly granted the privilage, no person was allowed weapons within the palase beyond this entry room (which did double duty as a kind of gatehouse/lobby arangement for those wishing to enter) and that their own would be stored in the armory during whatever time they were presant within the palase.

the area of Angermanland which reached the baltik sea as of relitivly minor importance to Angermanland as a whole. it provided fish and timber, and it's lords would raise troops to guard against seaborn invasions, and that was it.

it did, however, bost one thing that made it unuseual in all of Angermanland. in his eccentricy, one of the former lords had ordered the construction of a harbour for the larger ocean going ships, and the repair of ships captured in the defense against earlyer raids from the northern tribes.

as a result, it was the one place where anyone, however inexpertly, could meet a ship at sea, though they'd lose horribly if it came to a fight, or dock a ship too large to simply beach it's self safely.

later lords had seen no reason to alter this, as it brought in a few additional coins and luxurys not otherwise available, and the ships themselves had long been reffited to be mostly fishing platforms.

at any rate, the upshot of all this was that the ambasidor was met first by the fishermen at sea, then by guards at the dock, and finaly by the latest lord of the area, one Vikvikaj Kelphor Gustav.

Vikvikaj was filling in the paperwork regularly required of one in his position, seated in the halls high seat which was itself at a table on a low raised diases. the fact was, it was raised only so those at the back of the hall could see a speaker when it was full. in the grand scheam of things, a local lord was no great dignitory, after all.

and so he was found when the Caladonn ambasidor was brought before him. of course, he looked up as they entered, and then pushed the papers aside, welcoming the excuse to take a break from such adminstrative drudgery.

"well. who have we here? a forigner, obvsiously. not a scrap of heraldry upon you. come, come, speak up. you may have all day, but i, alas, do not."
The Praetor's ship docked in the harbor. It was a sturdy cog, built to withstand the seas of the North better even than Longboats. Longbowmen patrolled the ship's castles, but the Praetor went ashore with only a small escort. He entered the hall of the local lord, doing the bow requisite to one of probably lower rank, but from a foreign country he wished to impress.

"Greetings from Caladonn," he began. "I am Praetor Ragnar Morlan, and I come, as I said, from the island nation beyond the Ralish. We have heard tales there of a great war brewing in the steppes of the east, between yourself and the thrice-accursed Ralish. We ourselves have called for a great war against the Ralish, answered already by Osteia and Kalmaar. Obviously, coordination in bringing down our mutual foe is required when their power is so great. Therefore, I have come to establish relations between our lands."

The Praetor's ship docked in the harbor. It was a sturdy cog, built to withstand the seas of the North better even than Longboats. Longbowmen patrolled the ship's castles, but the Praetor went ashore with only a small escort. He entered the hall of the local lord, doing the bow requisite to one of probably lower rank, but from a foreign country he wished to impress.

"Greetings from Caladonn," he began. "I am Praetor Ragnar Morlan, and I come, as I said, from the island nation beyond the Ralish. We have heard tales there of a great war brewing in the steppes of the east, between yourself and the thrice-accursed Ralish. We ourselves have called for a great war against the Ralish, answered already by Osteia and Kalmaar. Obviously, coordination in bringing down our mutual foe is required when their power is so great. Therefore, I have come to establish relations between our lands."

"humm... well, i don't really have the authority to make such desisions, but i can confurm the rumors for you. for co-ordination, you'd best go to the capital... the yePrinse himself, or one of his cheif generals, is probibly your best bet.

my men will arange lodgings for you for tonight, supplys and mounts for the trip, and i'll send a couple of armsmen to guide and escort you on the morrow.

perhaps you would be so kind as to join me for dinner tonight? answer quickly, if you please... i have too much damnable paperwork to do to stand around chating to you any longer than i have to when i'm ment to be doing it."

ooc: i Assume one or the other of our guys speaks the other one's language, or they both speak some third language.. *shrugs*

Tag, until I can do a diplomatic boat :D (Over one page, can't tag. Annoying, no?)

(I assume that Alshorian (and its written form in cuneiform) is the language of diplomacy, where no other common language exists ;) )

(I assume that Alshorian (and its written form in cuneiform) is the language of diplomacy, where no other common language exists ;) )

ooc: more likely some hodge podge mix that, in this case, consists mostly of whatever Phil's sweeds speak, given geography and who is involved. anyway, the war thread has begun.. get over there and stop cluttering my thread :p

"humm... well, i don't really have the authority to make such desisions, but i can confirm the rumors for you. for co-ordination, you'd best go to the capital... the yePrinse himself, or one of his cheif generals, is probibly your best bet.

my men will arange lodgings for you for tonight, supplys and mounts for the trip, and i'll send a couple of armsmen to guide and escort you on the morrow.

perhaps you would be so kind as to join me for dinner tonight? answer quickly, if you please... i have too much damnable paperwork to do to stand around chating to you any longer than i have to when i'm ment to be doing it."

ooc: i Assume one or the other of our guys speaks the other one's language, or they both speak some third language.. *shrugs*
"That is understandable, and I thank you for your kindness. I would be honored to join you for dinner, but as I see you are busy, I bid you farewell until then." The Praetor bowed again, and left with his guards.

OOC: Yeah, my guys know Latin for a diplomatic language, as well as Norwegian, German, and of course, Caladonnian.

Should we skip the dinner and go to the yePrinse, or do you want to RP that?

ooc: i think i'll just ignore the referance to Angermanland being a port city [you can fix it when you get around to it :p] and assume you picked up the trader in the north [where i Do have a port], then came down with him along the rivers and roads. anyway, onward!

IC: one of the yePrinsez aids, searvants, asistants, or some other underling (he did not include his rank or function in his introduction, as he wore full cerimonial heraldry on admitedly less than fully cerimonial cloaths, as all citizens did when working in significant governmental posts, whatever their role there.) met them when they arived. after they had put their purpose to him, he disapeared through a doorway, and returned within a quatuer hour. this was understandable, as the yePrinsez Palase was large. it's construction and decore and so on were no greater or grander than the surrounding houses of the uperclass of the city, however it's duel role as royal residence and governement buildings ment it was quite ... big.


the servent returned as quickly as was possible, bowing slightly from the waist, barly enough to move his head forward, but with an acompanying slight downward tilt of the head and lowering of eyes, he informed them that, with all respect and apologies suited to themselves and the situation, they were unscheduald, and the yePrinse was busy with significant matters of state, however, he would meet with them as soon as the current business was atended to. it's nature precluded him from informing them of exactly what it was or how long it would take, but the yePrinse expected to be finished by midafternoon. there was a slim chance it would take the rest of the day, however, so in the event that he could not see them today, they would be the first thing on his list on the morrow.

reguardless of weather they were met today or the next, lodgings would be aranged for them, either in the palase it's self, one of the upper class hotels, or if their tastes ran that way, any other acomidation at any level within the city, from the lowlyest port tavern on up.

also, they were informed, with the exception of the yePrinse himself and his royal guards, and those specificly granted the privilage, no person was allowed weapons within the palase beyond this entry room (which did double duty as a kind of gatehouse/lobby arangement for those wishing to enter) and that their own would be stored in the armory during whatever time they were presant within the palase.

Ikaltheyr was a bit pertubred by the fact that he would have to leave his most prized posession but he would accomadate in honor of the yePrinsez status. Ethelred inquired about where a sturdy tavern with good music, fine women, and strong ale could be found. When his question was answered they promptly left for the tavern and engorged themselves in inumerable vices untill the yePrinse called for them.

"That is understandable, and I thank you for your kindness. I would be honored to join you for dinner, but as I see you are busy, I bid you farewell until then." The Praetor bowed again, and left with his guards.

OOC: Yeah, my guys know Latin for a diplomatic language, as well as Norwegian, German, and of course, Caladonnian.

Should we skip the dinner and go to the yePrinse, or do you want to RP that?

ooc: i don't know about straight to the yePrinse... but straight to Angerwraith works. go for it.

Ikaltheyr was a bit pertubred by the fact that he would have to leave his most prized posession but he would accomadate in honor of the yePrinsez status. Ethelred inquired about where a sturdy tavern with good music, fine women, and strong ale could be found. When his question was answered they promptly left for the tavern and engorged themselves in inumerable vices untill the yePrinse called for them.

ooc: i'm going to mess with time a little and work on the fact that the Caladonn ambasidors arive between you turning up, and the yePrinse calling for you... so we'll see what Caladonn has to say. depending how it goes, he may meet you both at once. keep it tidy.

OOC: I'm fine with Philli arriving too, we have good relations I believe.

IC: Angerwraith was certainly an interesting city, the Praetor reflected. Throughout Angermanland he had seen a great number of horses, beasts that were very rare in Caladonn. The heraldry might be even odder to one from the stark pragmatism of Caladonnian garments. Still, despite the alienness of this land, they had common cause against the Alshorians, and Caladonn would attempt to hammer out some sort of joint strategy.

Directed by his Angerman guide, the Praetor arrived at the Palace after sightseeing through the city, and requested an audience with the yePrinse.

the Caladonnian ambasidors were met by the same servant.

"welkome. iph you would be so kind as to tell me, at least roughly, what you wish to diskuss with his highness, we can speed the prosess along. there are many things rekwireing his attention, you see."

a black and white cat trotted through the room, on some unknownen errand of it's own, and a messenger left to inform Ikaltheyr and his party that the yePrinse would see them as soon as they arrived at the palace.

these meetings would take place in the great audiance hall. by the standards of most rulers, it was fairly plain. it's design, as with the rest of the palace, was such that it subtly impressed the greatness of the prinsipality, and the worthieness of the yePrinse for his all-but-sacred role, without giveing the impression of overwhelming supperiority or makeing the inhabitants seem small or insignificant.

the entire back wall was taken up by a massive heraldric painting, changed every time a new yePrinse came to power, to reflect his own heraldry as well as that of the nation.

of course, none of this was visable to the ambasidors as yet, as the hall was quite a way into the palase, while the entry way where they stood was on it's southern side, built into it's outer walls.

the walls themselves were not exactly impossing. unlike those of the city, they were not designed to withstand seige. if the palase it's self were in that much danger, it would have been evacuated, or deserved to fall.

Ikaltheyr and Ethelred arrived at the palace smelling of alcohol and various other vices. They awaited an escort to the yePrinse.

"I wish to speak with your ruler about our mutual war with the Ralish, trade, and a possible alliance... I hope he can find time to meet with me."

"I wish to speak with your ruler about our mutual war with the Ralish, trade, and a possible alliance... I hope he can find time to meet with me."

"ahh. indeed. i shall inphorm his highness. please wait here."

and with that, the servent turned and left the room to inform the yePrinse.

ooc: Phil, shall we say your guys arived After that little conversation between the servant and Caladonn? it all makes more sense that way.

IC:
Ikaltheyr and Ethelred arrived at the palace smelling of alcohol and various other vices. They awaited an escort to the yePrinse.

four palase guards entered the room from the doors that lead into the palase proper. their leader looked around and then spoke clearly, in a voice clearly more used to making it's self heard over battle fields, crowded city streats, or drunken nobility than quiet and busy burocrats and ambasidors.

he spoke in his own tounge, having no other, but one of the servants translated for the benifit of the Kallmar men, and another for the men of Caladonn

"the yePrinse will now speak with the ambasidors from Kallmar and Kaladonn togeather, as it is his beleaph that you come seeking the same things oph him. iph you will phollow me?"

with that, he turned and left the way he came, the ambasidors being forced to follow or be left behind. as they left the entry room, more guardsmen fell in around them untill their escort was twice the number of the ambasidors.

the guardsmen led them towards the center of the palase, past various buildings and people carrying out the day to day tasks. the sturctures were well built and Very clean, but not exactly ostentatious or lavish. the same was true of the people, at least if you were used to the heraldry and standards of Angermanlandij dress.

as they were lead into the Hall, the guards pealed off and took up places around the walls, and the leading guard announced them, for they had little or none of the heraldry that would useually allow the yePrinse (or at least one of his ready-to-hand scribes) to tell who they were, save for their names.

tradition then required them to give their own names and bow in the Angermanij style before the yePrinse would acknoledge them, but no one expected forigners to be aware of something that even the majority of the nations citizens were not.

and so the yePrinse Carmente spoke from his seat, again, servants translating "welkome, would-be phriends. tell me the names oph who you are, phor i already know who sent you and roughly your plases in the order of things. phor myselph, i am Carmente, yePrinse oph the ouhAngermanlandij and Angermanland itselph." he paused a moment, then smiled "though, perhaps it would be best iph you spoke one at a time, no?"

The Caladonnian ambassadors were pleased to meet their counterparts from Kalmaar. Though word had not yet reached them of the pact of bonding friendship between their lands, relations were still excellent with Caladonn's northern neighbor. The Praetor nodded to the Kalmaarians and his entourage bowed, before being led through the vastness of the Angermandij Palace.

Praetor Morlan heartily approved of Angermandij construction methods. There did not appear to be much difference between the stark pragmatism of Caladonnian architecture and that of Angermanland. Still, their confounded heraldry seemed a bit ostentatious and ludicrous to the Caladonnians, though they made no comment or sign, just like any self-respecting diplomat.

When they came to the Hall of the yePrinse, the Praetor stepped forward and bowed deeply, saying, "Greetings, yePrinse. I am Praetor Ragnar Morlan of the Imperial Republic. As you already know, I have come to seek friendship with your lands, and to discuss our mutual war with the Ralish, as well as trading concerns."

Ethelred and Ikaltheyr acknowledged their Caladonnian counterparts and bowed their heads in their direction before entering the room. Once within the Hall Ethelred stepped forward and said "I am Ethelred the Brave of Kalmaar. I am a personal envoy of the King and am here to adress the war with the Ralish and a possible alliance. My companion is Ikaltheyr, one of the Lords of His Majesties Army."

"simple enough." Carmente made a slight motion, and chairs were brought for his guests

"sit, be at ease. this may take a while. simple does not mean short or easy, after all. now, tell me what you propose, specificly? i already have an army in the south, taking territory that is rightfully ours, and probibly some that is not, from the Ralish. another army, as you may have seen, as well as all the engineers required for the defensive works and the associated materials are gathering outside the city gates. what would you ask of me, and what can you provide? we should get that out of the way before dealing with trade, as that can be deligated to the relivant officials, while the war cannot."

"Kalmaar asks for a unified front. negotiations have begun and most likely concluded on an alliance between Kalmaar and Caladonn and if all the nations fighting the Ralish were to join together with the same cause we could put enough pressure on the Ralish to force them into submission. All that is asked is that each nation support the other. If there is a strategic invasion of Angermanlandij lands by the Ralish or its allies then we will attempt to support you just as we would hope you would do for us." Ethelred sat back down and watched for what the yePrinse would do next.

ooc: what's with the italicised text? speach marks not good enough for you? :p

IC:

"well, that was less ...umm... hastle... than i had expected. we can basicly pass that on to the scribes to write up properly, sign it, and we're done. unless of course, you have specifics you want to work out first?

and what of you, Ragnar? what do you propose?"

Angermanlandij custom was such that, once one Knew someone's first name, that was what one called them by. if one had to make them distinct from any other with the same name, then one might use their family name, or make referance to their title, or that they were a memeber of such and such a guild or other orginization. it just got too confusing otherwise when every second man in a given town had the same family name.

OOC: Habit I guess.