Willem Rivet
Artisan
Landgrave Forsythe,
Thank you for offering up this discourse in a manner that can be responded to. House Montague sees your valid concerns, and wishes to shed some illumination on some points brought forward. Hopefully, this will alleviate some stress from the Rathfallian populace to which your services are directed.
In short, it was much worse than you reported.
Conscription is how it was phrased, but by modern reckoning, the term would be slavery. Absolutely no choice was expressed nor implied in this "conscription". The homes, titles, lives and deaths of the populace were at the command of King (Sebastian) Seymour. And by all accounts, he was a wasteful and chaotic ruler. There is a reason King Sebastian was the end of the dynastic rulership of Rathfall, and the principal reason I dislike the naming convention of "Princess" and "Prince" for both Yvaine and Tristan. It implies a dynastic rule that those with an eye for history might take reasonable objection to. And something we should not forget is that they are not the only possible candidates for the office. By blinding ourselves to the other candidates, we leave ourselves open to manipulation.
As for Onder Astraea Leveilleur's question about recorded deaths, I'll say that there is power in what one says and doesn't say. And death can have so many meanings in Rathfall. Perhaps the public would have been served better if the Earth's Chosen had not elected to strike that record from the public eye?
As far as House Montague is concerned, King (Sebastian) Seymour is an object lesson in how to lose power you do not properly respect. It is a lesson I take firmly to heart, and those I take into my confidence at House Montague also do as a matter of course. Only by looking at our greatest failures with unblinking eyes can we hope to improve ourselves and provide a better future.
As far as Viceroy Magnus goes, I can only express my heartfelt frustration at someone with so much potential falling so short. And also, this record seems to suggest that the Viceroy was in the council of one vampire, when in reality, it was many. It also seems to suggest that vampires are a problem of the past in Rathfall, and that certainly isn't the case. Further, it seems to suggest that only at the end of the story was Magnus a vampire, and that is similarly incorrect. For the majority of the time Viceroy Magnus was in the public eye he was a vampire.
Now, to your call to action, Landgrave Forsythe.
It is no secret that House Montague, since its re-emergence, has been at every foray into the Blight. Our members have spent much of this time Blighted, recuperating at home, and returning to the Blight to continue our search for knowledge and weapons that can continue to push the Blight from our doorstep. This information is then copied and compiled for dissemination to the Mystweavers and to the Earth's Chosen, as the records pertain to their respective interests. As we take things from the Blight, we bring considerable danger unto ourselves, and have become quite adept at mitigating that danger. If one were to "raid" our holdings, one would invariably find both Blight and Necromancy, as we process that knowledge into meaningful formats for the advancement of society. This Necromancy is limited to objects recovered and magic recovered from the Blight itself. When an object of Necromantic power is judged to have no further merit, it is either surrendered to the Earth's Chosen or destroyed.
There are two exceptions to this rule. The crowns and regalia of past monarchs are kept for historical purposes. As many of these historical figures either were or are necromantic beings, these artifacts sometimes are necromantic in nature.
I understand this information is able to be weaponized by those with a mind to do so. My hope is that with all this context in mind, when the next attack upon our holdings comes, the argument is already made.
I will take questions.
Bryas Montague-Rumil
Prince Consort Pro-Temp
Thank you for offering up this discourse in a manner that can be responded to. House Montague sees your valid concerns, and wishes to shed some illumination on some points brought forward. Hopefully, this will alleviate some stress from the Rathfallian populace to which your services are directed.
In short, it was much worse than you reported.
Conscription is how it was phrased, but by modern reckoning, the term would be slavery. Absolutely no choice was expressed nor implied in this "conscription". The homes, titles, lives and deaths of the populace were at the command of King (Sebastian) Seymour. And by all accounts, he was a wasteful and chaotic ruler. There is a reason King Sebastian was the end of the dynastic rulership of Rathfall, and the principal reason I dislike the naming convention of "Princess" and "Prince" for both Yvaine and Tristan. It implies a dynastic rule that those with an eye for history might take reasonable objection to. And something we should not forget is that they are not the only possible candidates for the office. By blinding ourselves to the other candidates, we leave ourselves open to manipulation.
As for Onder Astraea Leveilleur's question about recorded deaths, I'll say that there is power in what one says and doesn't say. And death can have so many meanings in Rathfall. Perhaps the public would have been served better if the Earth's Chosen had not elected to strike that record from the public eye?
As far as House Montague is concerned, King (Sebastian) Seymour is an object lesson in how to lose power you do not properly respect. It is a lesson I take firmly to heart, and those I take into my confidence at House Montague also do as a matter of course. Only by looking at our greatest failures with unblinking eyes can we hope to improve ourselves and provide a better future.
As far as Viceroy Magnus goes, I can only express my heartfelt frustration at someone with so much potential falling so short. And also, this record seems to suggest that the Viceroy was in the council of one vampire, when in reality, it was many. It also seems to suggest that vampires are a problem of the past in Rathfall, and that certainly isn't the case. Further, it seems to suggest that only at the end of the story was Magnus a vampire, and that is similarly incorrect. For the majority of the time Viceroy Magnus was in the public eye he was a vampire.
Now, to your call to action, Landgrave Forsythe.
It is no secret that House Montague, since its re-emergence, has been at every foray into the Blight. Our members have spent much of this time Blighted, recuperating at home, and returning to the Blight to continue our search for knowledge and weapons that can continue to push the Blight from our doorstep. This information is then copied and compiled for dissemination to the Mystweavers and to the Earth's Chosen, as the records pertain to their respective interests. As we take things from the Blight, we bring considerable danger unto ourselves, and have become quite adept at mitigating that danger. If one were to "raid" our holdings, one would invariably find both Blight and Necromancy, as we process that knowledge into meaningful formats for the advancement of society. This Necromancy is limited to objects recovered and magic recovered from the Blight itself. When an object of Necromantic power is judged to have no further merit, it is either surrendered to the Earth's Chosen or destroyed.
There are two exceptions to this rule. The crowns and regalia of past monarchs are kept for historical purposes. As many of these historical figures either were or are necromantic beings, these artifacts sometimes are necromantic in nature.
I understand this information is able to be weaponized by those with a mind to do so. My hope is that with all this context in mind, when the next attack upon our holdings comes, the argument is already made.
I will take questions.
Bryas Montague-Rumil
Prince Consort Pro-Temp