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Description

A servant set down a plate and a flask on a finely polished stone table. On said plate was a set of dainties with a name beyond the capacities of human vocal cords. Seasoned stripps of meat and a compound made of pulverized sweet potato and the juices of fruit delicately cooked with oil and a fair bit of magic involved to create fine helical sticks. They were reserved for the Diviner Caste of the Raptors and were optimized for their tastes in any case. Combined with a dark beverage that would count as a mild mana potion in human circles it made for a welcome mid afternoon snack for Hatchling Of The Evening Stars, Thirty Forth in the line of the Throne of the Empire Of The Inland Sea. A brief respite in between the usual diplomatic dealings with other Empires and consultation with subordinates in the Satellite Cities. He lounged back on a saddle like seat and relaxed. To his annoyance an attendant came in with an usual artifact in her talons.

"Your Excellency." She said automatically. "We have a message from the High Kingdom!"

He gave a quick snort of exasperation. "Very well." With that the attendant set up a bronze holder and inserted a glowing Linkglass before making her way out with a fine unobtrusiveness that eighty thousand years of breeding could achieve. As she left the image of an armored hominid resolved itself above the servicable but inelegant communication system.

"What news do bear, High Marshall of the Sea?" Evening Stars said, putting the title of the High Elven commander in his own tongue.

"I've heard about your ruling about the Fidelium matter and I must protest!"

"I presumed as much. Lady Faiyin has made your Kingdom's opinion on the matter clear." With casual hand waves he caused the flask to levitate and poured it's contents into a cup of finely crafted porcelain.

"And it deserves repeating. The Corrupted Ones have violated your treaty in seeding their minions onto the Southwestern Continent. This could not be a more obvious plot against your realms!"

"That this is a move by the Outcast States is true enough, but regardless this move did not violate the armistice."

"And why do you constrain yourself as such legalities which the Drow hold in contempt?"

"Because a war with them now would disrupt the balance of power and jeopardize numerous treaties and destabilize the Celestial Realm. There would almost certainly be a war between the Empires and most likely a major one. In any case a Deal is a Deal even with one we despise."

"Are you saying that some of Celestial Realm's Empires would side with the Drow?" The Marshall replied

"No," Evening Stars said "I am saying that the ruling Dynasties of the Empires would consider that terminating a treaty on marginal grounds would be in of itself a sign of weakness. Termination clauses would be taken out, trade deals would suffer and our position within the Celestial Realm would be marred for centuries to come. Societies are built on a foundation of reliability Marshall, and our civilization's foundations are granite." He casually lapped at his drink.

"Save for the Drow who've made do with Treachery and Cruelty." The Marshall spat "We know that the True People are thoroughly civilized, but expecting anything close to honor from the Dark Elves can only end in misery and pain."

"Never the less, there is a case that could be made in their defense. This collection of humans they released in the south is of marginal concern in any case."

"It may be small now, but undoubtedly they'll expand it."

"So what if they do? So far they've sent members of their worker caste and a small group of human warriors trading service for rare metals, all of which are simple humans that the Dark Elves can only loosely oversee and monitor." The concept of mercenaries was to Evening Star's mind (and in the minds of most True People) a sign of the weakness of hominid society. In most situations all members of the Diviner or Supervisor caste had to do was to give an order to a member of the lesser castes and they'd do it. Each caste had been bred for their specific purpose in society and submission to proper authority. The Empires traded with each other and there was some trade between cities and provinces within them, but said transactions were done with goods, economic obligations and political concessions or obligations to provide said things at a latter date. The idea of a group of master-less killers who'd fight in exchange for who was willing to pay them the most lumps of gold was perverse, but as long as they stayed clear of the Celestial Realm their existence was tolerable.

"And those poor souls view their masters as Divine Agents and that their only hope lies in obedience to their will. They've been twisted into fanatics."

"Some of them and to a degree. We've seen others flee their masters." Slavery was seen in a similar light to mercenaries by the True People. There was no need to abduct random low caste members and beat them until they obeyed out of fear. Similarly rewards for good service was a secondary means of motivation. Whatever efforts had been made the Dark Elves to breed in compliance to their dominated humans were not only new but scattershot, token and undermined by constantly bringing in feral stock. "But more to the point this is not simply a matter of the individuals present. At ten millennia your High Kingdom is still a Juvenile in this world and we feel that it can endure for Myriads to Come. The same can not be said about the mayfly domains of men. A Dynasty of their Priest Kings may be worshiped as the kin of their gods and in 256 years its surviving members are dung collectors. Warriors who dominate a society may in turn be dominated by merchants in five generations. Any stability they may enjoy is a transient thing. They Fidelians may be overwhelmed by a host of Goshon" he used the name for those grassland peoples that was up to date from his tutor's lessons 283 years earlier "or the commissioned warriors may seize control or the Drow might loose interest in this project, but even if none of this happens and Fidelium not only survives but thrives in a century's time it will have diverged and grown on it's own lines in a century or two. If they want to die either with their masters 102 years hence when the ceasefire expires or destroying the perimeter, we will oblige them. But for now they may be an annoyance, but a tolerable one."

"Wise Diviner," the Elf said with more pronounced frustration "with all due respect there have been troubling developments recently. The Drow have been striving to replicate the machines of Infrastructure and at least some of their vile efforts have yielded fruit. Their firelocks and cannon now shoot farther, faster and harder. All nine states now have ships with steam engines to propel them and at least two of them now have Ironclads of their own. But what they are building now worries me less than what they will be building twenty or forty years hence, which is pressing here as they will send some of their infernal devices to their puppets in Fidelium."

In truth there was some concern about this. Cannons had been an unpleasant surprise during the scoring of the Third Empire in Exile a millennia ago and subsequent encounters with them in more recent centuries had given airship crews a grudging respect for the mundane fire tubes. The notion that they were being improved and improved so rapidly was something that should not be dismissed. Even so he waved a hand with a helical stick in it. "We shall consider this, but still this will not change the fact that even with a few improved guns they can not hope to mach the might of the Celestial Realm. The Skies remain in our talons and the greater the threat they pose to the Celestial Realm, more of it shall rise to burn them off the continent when the time comes with your assistance." He gave a quiet signal which summoned the attendant "But when that day shall be is our decision. And with that and for now, I bid you and your kingdom farewell." Before the Marshall had a chance to response the Attendant had taken the glass, silenced it and was removing it from his quarters. With that Evening Star went back to his snack and tried his best at salvaging what remained of his respite. Latter that day, he was pleasantly surprised that he succeeded.

From the Beginning
Previous: Infrastructure: Part Three Hundred and Three
Next: Infrastructure: Part Three Hundred and Five

Description

A servant set down a plate and a flask on a finely polished stone table. On said plate was a set of dainties with a name beyond the capacities of human vocal cords. Seasoned stripps of meat and a compound made of pulverized sweet potato and the juices of fruit delicately cooked with oil and a fair bit of magic involved to create fine helical sticks. They were reserved for the Diviner Caste of the Raptors and were optimized for their tastes in any case. Combined with a dark beverage that would count as a mild mana potion in human circles it made for a welcome mid afternoon snack for Hatchling Of The Evening Stars, Thirty Forth in the line of the Throne of the Empire Of The Inland Sea. A brief respite in between the usual diplomatic dealings with other Empires and consultation with subordinates in the Satellite Cities. He lounged back on a saddle like seat and relaxed. To his annoyance an attendant came in with an usual artifact in her talons.

"Your Excellency." She said automatically. "We have a message from the High Kingdom!"

He gave a quick snort of exasperation. "Very well." With that the attendant set up a bronze holder and inserted a glowing Linkglass before making her way out with a fine unobtrusiveness that eighty thousand years of breeding could achieve. As she left the image of an armored hominid resolved itself above the servicable but inelegant communication system.

"What news do bear, High Marshall of the Sea?" Evening Stars said, putting the title of the High Elven commander in his own tongue.

"I've heard about your ruling about the Fidelium matter and I must protest!"

"I presumed as much. Lady Faiyin has made your Kingdom's opinion on the matter clear." With casual hand waves he caused the flask to levitate and poured it's contents into a cup of finely crafted porcelain.

"And it deserves repeating. The Corrupted Ones have violated your treaty in seeding their minions onto the Southwestern Continent. This could not be a more obvious plot against your realms!"

"That this is a move by the Outcast States is true enough, but regardless this move did not violate the armistice."

"And why do you constrain yourself as such legalities which the Drow hold in contempt?"

"Because a war with them now would disrupt the balance of power and jeopardize numerous treaties and destabilize the Celestial Realm. There would almost certainly be a war between the Empires and most likely a major one. In any case a Deal is a Deal even with one we despise."

"Are you saying that some of Celestial Realm's Empires would side with the Drow?" The Marshall replied

"No," Evening Stars said "I am saying that the ruling Dynasties of the Empires would consider that terminating a treaty on marginal grounds would be in of itself a sign of weakness. Termination clauses would be taken out, trade deals would suffer and our position within the Celestial Realm would be marred for centuries to come. Societies are built on a foundation of reliability Marshall, and our civilization's foundations are granite." He casually lapped at his drink.

"Save for the Drow who've made do with Treachery and Cruelty." The Marshall spat "We know that the True People are thoroughly civilized, but expecting anything close to honor from the Dark Elves can only end in misery and pain."

"Never the less, there is a case that could be made in their defense. This collection of humans they released in the south is of marginal concern in any case."

"It may be small now, but undoubtedly they'll expand it."

"So what if they do? So far they've sent members of their worker caste and a small group of human warriors trading service for rare metals, all of which are simple humans that the Dark Elves can only loosely oversee and monitor." The concept of mercenaries was to Evening Star's mind (and in the minds of most True People) a sign of the weakness of hominid society. In most situations all members of the Diviner or Supervisor caste had to do was to give an order to a member of the lesser castes and they'd do it. Each caste had been bred for their specific purpose in society and submission to proper authority. The Empires traded with each other and there was some trade between cities and provinces within them, but said transactions were done with goods, economic obligations and political concessions or obligations to provide said things at a latter date. The idea of a group of master-less killers who'd fight in exchange for who was willing to pay them the most lumps of gold was perverse, but as long as they stayed clear of the Celestial Realm their existence was tolerable.

"And those poor souls view their masters as Divine Agents and that their only hope lies in obedience to their will. They've been twisted into fanatics."

"Some of them and to a degree. We've seen others flee their masters." Slavery was seen in a similar light to mercenaries by the True People. There was no need to abduct random low caste members and beat them until they obeyed out of fear. Similarly rewards for good service was a secondary means of motivation. Whatever efforts had been made the Dark Elves to breed in compliance to their dominated humans were not only new but scattershot, token and undermined by constantly bringing in feral stock. "But more to the point this is not simply a matter of the individuals present. At ten millennia your High Kingdom is still a Juvenile in this world and we feel that it can endure for Myriads to Come. The same can not be said about the mayfly domains of men. A Dynasty of their Priest Kings may be worshiped as the kin of their gods and in 256 years its surviving members are dung collectors. Warriors who dominate a society may in turn be dominated by merchants in five generations. Any stability they may enjoy is a transient thing. They Fidelians may be overwhelmed by a host of Goshon" he used the name for those grassland peoples that was up to date from his tutor's lessons 283 years earlier "or the commissioned warriors may seize control or the Drow might loose interest in this project, but even if none of this happens and Fidelium not only survives but thrives in a century's time it will have diverged and grown on it's own lines in a century or two. If they want to die either with their masters 102 years hence when the ceasefire expires or destroying the perimeter, we will oblige them. But for now they may be an annoyance, but a tolerable one."

"Wise Diviner," the Elf said with more pronounced frustration "with all due respect there have been troubling developments recently. The Drow have been striving to replicate the machines of Infrastructure and at least some of their vile efforts have yielded fruit. Their firelocks and cannon now shoot farther, faster and harder. All nine states now have ships with steam engines to propel them and at least two of them now have Ironclads of their own. But what they are building now worries me less than what they will be building twenty or forty years hence, which is pressing here as they will send some of their infernal devices to their puppets in Fidelium."

In truth there was some concern about this. Cannons had been an unpleasant surprise during the scoring of the Third Empire in Exile a millennia ago and subsequent encounters with them in more recent centuries had given airship crews a grudging respect for the mundane fire tubes. The notion that they were being improved and improved so rapidly was something that should not be dismissed. Even so he waved a hand with a helical stick in it. "We shall consider this, but still this will not change the fact that even with a few improved guns they can not hope to mach the might of the Celestial Realm. The Skies remain in our talons and the greater the threat they pose to the Celestial Realm, more of it shall rise to burn them off the continent when the time comes with your assistance." He gave a quiet signal which summoned the attendant "But when that day shall be is our decision. And with that and for now, I bid you and your kingdom farewell." Before the Marshall had a chance to response the Attendant had taken the glass, silenced it and was removing it from his quarters. With that Evening Star went back to his snack and tried his best at salvaging what remained of his respite. Latter that day, he was pleasantly surprised that he succeeded.

From the Beginning
Previous: Infrastructure: Part Three Hundred and Three
Next: Infrastructure: Part Three Hundred and Five