Messages

[In a calligraphic hand, on expensive parchment.]

Dear Secretary to the Director of Nadim District Ash & Sail Company:

My name is Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya, a daughter of Mother Baz'eel, and currently a Legate of the League of Purple, serving the satrapy of Ephia's Well.

As I am certain you are aware, Ephia's Well had over a year ago entered into contract with Gohari Heavy Industries to invest in and assist in the construction of our "new district," intended to be of mutual economic benefit for our satrapy and our partner corporation.

However, much has changed in a year. After the conclusion of our long war, in Ephia's Well there is now widespread, determined opposition to the excesses of Gohari Heavy Industries' business practices. I know that as a corporation steeped in traditional and proper operation, you understand the peoples' concerns. There is great appetite here for exploring our options as to alternative business partners.

While Ephia's Well takes its contractual obligations seriously, I observe that in business, at times arrangements are no longer suitable to the best interest of both parties. Thus, such arrangements can be mutually and amicably set aside without unfortunate legal entanglement. As of now, negotiations are ongoing, but I reiterate that the population of Ephia's Well is eager to move on from old arrangements which may no longer serve us.

A legitimate opportunity for new arrangements could be eagerly progressed, to the great benefit of all involved.

Knowing your corporation's participation in the corporation selection process previously undertaken by Ephia's Well, I write to you with eager hope that your interest in this great, mutual benefit may be rekindled, and that you would consider investing in our home.

While Gohari Heavy Industries has begun significant investment into their own equipment and assets, the amount of investment they have transferred directly to Ephia's Well is minimal and is not an obstacle.

It is true that I am one Legate of two -- as you know, our Ephian government is bilateral -- but this is a time of great opportunity, and I believe your interest would yield fruit, if the seed is planted. I believe you will find that, should that seed be planted, the legal soil for its growth would be most fertile and welcoming.

Please do communicate this to your Director and know I am available via correspondence or meeting for any questions or concerns.

Yours,

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya
League of Purple
Ephia's Well

[In a calligraphic hand, on expensive parchment.]

Dear Secretary to the Director of Hanahara Textiles Corporation:

My name is Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya, a daughter of Mother Baz'eel, and currently a Legate of the League of Purple, serving the satrapy of Ephia's Well.

As I am certain you are aware, Ephia's Well had over a year ago entered into contract with Gohari Heavy Industries to invest in and assist in the construction of our "new district," intended to be of mutual economic benefit for our satrapy and our partner corporation.

However, much has changed in a year. After the conclusion of our long war, in Ephia's Well there is now widespread, determined opposition to the excesses of Gohari Heavy Industries' business practices. I know that as a corporation steeped in traditional and proper operation, you understand the peoples' concerns. There is great appetite here for exploring our options as to alternative business partners.

While Ephia's Well takes its contractual obligations seriously, I observe that in business, at times arrangements are no longer suitable to the best interest of both parties. Thus, such arrangements can be mutually and amicably set aside without unfortunate legal entanglement. As of now, negotiations are ongoing, but I reiterate that the population of Ephia's Well is eager to move on from old arrangements which may no longer serve us.

A legitimate opportunity for new arrangements could be eagerly progressed, to the great benefit of all involved.

Knowing your corporation's participation in the corporation selection process previously undertaken by Ephia's Well, I write to you with eager hope that your interest in this great, mutual benefit may be rekindled, and that you would consider investing in our home.

While Gohari Heavy Industries has begun significant investment into their own equipment and assets, the amount of investment they have transferred directly to Ephia's Well is minimal and is not an obstacle.

It is true that I am one Legate of two -- as you know, our Ephian government is bilateral -- but this is a time of great opportunity, and I believe your interest would yield fruit, if the seed is planted. I believe you will find that, should that seed be planted, the legal soil for its growth would be most fertile and welcoming.

Please do communicate this to your Director and know I am available via correspondence or meeting for any questions or concerns.

Yours,

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya
League of Purple
Ephia's Well

[Penned in a calligraphic and flourishing hand. The writer was likely in a good mood.]

Dear Attendant al-Chahi,

After the Ramieton Fashion Show, I spoke with Ms. Illydo about arranging introduction between the Legates and this mysterious woman the locals told me of, she who owns so much land in Ramieton and employs the settlement's Brown Hawk guards.

As your Fashion Emporium has no doubt dealt with this important woman of Ramieton in securing your expansion there, Ms. Illydo directed me to you that you might make this introduction.

The Legates of Ephia's Well will await your word. It will be wonderful to begin trade and greater connection between our home and charming Ramieton.

Yours, in gratitude,
Legate Lujayn al-Farisyya

[Received]

[Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam bint Suhaila bint Khumail ibn Ghaffar ibn Tuzrum al-Farisyya]

To the singular Edmund Lothere,

I remember that early conversation between us. It was in Elossi's; I said I was not interested in politics. I believe at that time I was mere nights, perhaps a week, into what I had planned as only a visit to Ephia's Well. When I set out from Baz'eel to this satrapy I was fully intent on temporary scholar's work here, and the delivery of my father's condolences to Ricardus Saenus, but how could one avoid politics in those early months of IY 7789?

Alexandria's extremity and your approval were on full display. The religious intolerance laws, so estranged from Baz'eeli enlightenment, were freshly on the books with my friends victims thereof. As those injustices mounted I resolved to remove Alexandria and yourself from office, as you clearly could not be trusted with power. It was the right decision then and I would make it again.

Months later, your own time as Legate only reinforced my resolve. Multiple, illegal, unilateral actions with the Stele of Law, in violation of Legatial procedure, with real risks, such as your thoughtless exile of Peyton Monroe. And then this conflation of your own role as a titled advocate with the health of the satrapy's jurisprudence, such that you tuck into more sweeping legislation the title's creation and name yourself as its holder and advocate's guild leader. If it were another granting their crony a title, you would be howling. Could you not have earned the title on your merit?

It is an example of exactly why our relationship is cyclical, and why you believe me two-faced regarding you. On one day you impress me and my adulations expressed are genuine, and the next day you act reprehensibly and earn my scorn. Then later you impress me again with some singular act...and around and around we go! This is not me being a manipulator; it is my reaction to a man who has such potential but frequently buckles under the weight of his baser impulses.

I recall how tenderly I felt for you in the Temple of B'aara. As you wept over your conflicted conscience, over your rebellion against Alexandria's misdeeds, my empathy for you and my desire to support you, as a friend, was true. You spoke of how it pained you to realize how easily and commonly murder was wielded as a political tool. I remember you told me of how Alexandria considered its use. In support of you, I expressed the enormity of our home's loss if you, a man who truly cared for the common good of the people, would succumb to your addiction. By the Mother, I meant those words.

Later, you returned to Alexandria's side, you claimed, after winning certain concessions from her. Certain guarantees. I had so looked forward to the new Edmund you might become, and you backslid!

I heard dark things later, too, Edmund. Even now, months after, I hear little bits of corroboration. I have heard my own murder was planned. I doubt now I would have survived through the election if Alexandria had not died at Bet Nappahi. I would have gone into the election as the clear favorite, even if Alexandria had lived. We both know what the woman was capable of, and that my life was nothing to her when weighed against her ambition.

You would have condoned my murder. Oh, you may have shed a tear. You may have drowned yourself a few nights in drink over the necessity of it. But I believe you would have condoned it because you are a fanatic and it would have been in the service of your righteous cause.

You dare to call me righteous? You are the one who could only ever dream to vote for your own league, believing the other two are intrinsically harmful, and have said as much in your treatises. And when people are intrinsically harmful, are invariably detrimental to the righteous cause, it is moral to destroy them, no? Such is the twisted logic of the fanatic.

You are the one for whom the ends have justified the means, Edmund. Not I. Do you not remember how you spoke of how Luther Donisthrope's House Orza, and their rise to power through murder, made a mockery of your Peerage's attempt at justice and jurisprudence?

The unresolvable conflict between us shall always embodied in your words one night at the Soot Lamp, months ago. Denain de Jonquille had finished speaking of how a new world might rise from the "ruins" we find ourselves in. You agreed and hoped the "old days" (that is, the halcyon days of your Peerage's peak) might return in your new home.

You spoke as if our Sultanate is nothing to you; as if it something to be swept away and replaced. People like you have come here as hopeful conquerors, in your hearts; if you had an army, you would overthrow what is here and remake this desert in your vision. All you brought was ash, however, and so the pen is all you have. And a knife. With the glory of restoring your old world on offer, but more beautiful than before, what is a little spilled blood compared to such promise? So I think you tell yourself. If not, why go back to Alexandria?

Call me a grifter all you like. By the end of my term I will have done more to make real the League of White's ideals (in keeping with the compassion for our refugees expressed in Princess Faziima's tenets) than you or Alexandria ever managed to achieve. I already have, in fact, by not betraying your league's tenets, as you both did. Alexandria betrayed them by instituting religious intolerance laws in exchange for a cheaper Voice, which betrayed the White's tenet to make Ephia's Well a sanctuary for all; you agreed to a higher Voice cost in exchange for... yourself as a Palatial Advocate, it seems.

Thank you for your letter. It has only strengthened my resolve and thereby restored some of the sanity which every Legate seems to lose in the role.

P.S. I remain quite proud of my family, who have always eschewed ambition in favor of service. They are soldiers, not politicians or nobility, and they did not teach me to lie or to grasp for my own ambition, but rather to serve our Sultanate.


My father's daughter, indeed, I am,
Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam bint Suhaila bint Khumail ibn Ghaffar ibn Tuzrum al-Farisyya

[A letter sent by ashsail to the office of Burhan al-Farisyya, of the Second Legion of the Sultan's Janissaries, in the Watchful Tower overlooking the jewelry district of Baz'eel.]

Dearest Burhan, beloved brother,

My, but these Ephians are a trouble!

As goes the popular opinion in Mother Baz'eel, Ephians are nigh-invariably without good manners; their speech and characters are rough, as befits a frontier people. Their unsparing rigor suits well in wartime but is a poor fit for peace. There are some exceptions to this, in facade if not in truth: some Ephians hail from "civilized" places, or were even raised as "nobility" (determined by which 'noble' was best at murdering their kin) or with "wealth" (now ashes), or were "educated" (in how to use a sword, mostly) and pretend to good manners; yet even these are swift to abandon gentility for, often, no reason at all.

The most well-mannered Ephians are those who eschew politics and so have no need of etiquette for dealmaking, while those with the most to gain from negotiation do conduct themselves with all the charm and empathy of a poorly-fed beast. When one wants a civil conversation and possibility of mutual benefit, best to send for a barefoot Kulamet trailing sand across the floor, an independent veteran or some hungry laborer; when one wishes a fruitless and vicious argument, look no further than the Ephian Accord officers (with few exceptions).

These people, brother! The magnitude and immediacy of their entitlement and narcissism presents a dual shock: one, that their grievance arises with such little provocation, and two, that they begin to snarl and roll about their eyes even in the midst of presenting their proposals. "If you would please," they begin, and here they stoop, green scales multiplying to cover all their body, "grant me," they continue, now exhaling breath steaming visibly through sharp fangs, "the matter I discussed in my letter," as they proceed to writhe and toss about the floor, wrecking the furniture, while I sit ready to pour us a cup of tea. When I finally speak and point out my displeasure at a basilisk's presence in my office, they declare to the gods my betrayal of our storied friendship, my great foolishness and unsuitability to my role, and then finish by asking if they can have what they requested, and I had better give it or else, with a final whip of a tail to shatter a chair and a finishing comment on how my hairstyle is out of fashion and my scent is rank.

You might imagine I exaggerate, Burhan, but quite literally, more times than not, these people have insulted me with the first words out of their mouths when they seek to make a deal, often before we have even sat down. It is bewildering behavior, giving me cause to wonder whether they want a deal at all, or if it is merely pretext to have fun at my expense. "Oh, you should have seen her face," they cry later, gleeful over wine.

At the issue's heart must be their uneven and unpolished upbringings. Some of these people were nothing more than common criminals, uneducated orphans, or those raised with inviolable birthrights, accustomed to giving orders to servants. They have no concept of saving face, of recognizing that dignity is important in relationships. Their habit is taking through force and intimidation. For who else would think one can angrily demand the capitulation of a person over whom one has little leverage, and then expect them to grant one's desire, even if they were planning to grant it?

If I did not take my duty seriously, if I did not truly have Ephia's Well's prosperity at heart, if I did not feel, in some cases, that I owed certain individuals considerations, I would happily do the opposite of their requests, paying back spite with spite.

However, I was raised better. Holding to my promises is a matter of honor which our father taught me well. I would never betray my duty to the settlement. But why must they make it so unpleasant? [This last word is underlined three times.]

Dear brother, I appreciate the opportunity for catharsis. I must write more often. Please do tell me all of your latest news in your reply.

With love,
Lujayn, your favorite sister

Being able to check a book at will would be less restrictive than being an approved scribe who has to walk to the Stele.

My concern with a leaked book is not about an unscrupulous PC being able to hide activity from the Ephian govt, it's about hiding activity from people outside the Ephian govt.

[In a neat, utilitarian hand.]

Dear Aurelio,

Our hours have not aligned, so I send you our proposal via this letter.

200,000 for a lease to Aurelio D'Lyon, with improvements paid for by you; travelers and caravans permitted through; the Sultan's Janissaries quartered when they pass through, which is allowed; the state sets any taxes or tolls, of which you may receive a fair portion; it is Ephian territory, the people there are of Ephia's Well, and the laws and policies of Ephia's Well preside there, enforceable by the Sultan's Janissaries; in case of inheritance, the state can renew the lease or offer fair value for the property and improvements; no Shade.

The extent of the territory is up for discussion.

- Legate al-Farisyya.

(a copy is sent to Vellyn Lhyrian)

Something like this would make doing crimes and shady stuff as Legate a lot harder. I don't think that's a good thing. People would make spreadsheets with treasury data and make noise about any changes. Keeping it as something of a black box creates the possibility of suspicion and drama, which is good for the game.

I don't think assigning a scribe name or consequences to a 'treasury book' would prevent them from being quickly leaked.

I agree with FSP that the treasury status should be learned through RP.

[Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya]

Dear Preparator,

Expect action on this soon! By the way - I look forward to hearing the sermon we discussed!

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya

[Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya]

Dear Scribe al-Mirza,

I am indisposed today, but let us discuss this tomorrow.

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya

[Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya]

Dear Nadiri Vosk,

I shall keep you apprised as potential with Tlonsiyya develops. Personally, I believe you would be a fine addition to such a delegation. Ever have I valued learned opinions; regarding machinery and industry, I am hardly an expert!

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya

[Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya]

You will have your answer on your return, Mister Faranos.

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya

[Lujayn.]

Aurelio,

A conversation between us on this matter is overdue. I will be indisposed today but I will seek you tomorrow.

Lujayn.

[Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya]

Thank you for your report, Balladeer. I also heard the Apothar's report.

I am authorizing swift action, pending my co-Legate's approval. It will be announced.

Legate Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya