Author: Plemency

The Hayato Kingdom’s Economic Miracle

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02/04/733 ASU

The first of the children born in the Hayato Kingdom after our initial meeting with the issei are enjoying their 30th birthday this year, and many of them already have kids of their own. An entire generation who’ve only known the existence of the Protectorate. It’s a momentous occasion for any civilization.

The Hayato have made great strides in modernization and industrialization, though they’re not at the level where they can build their own starships. Through taxing their citizens, the spoils of expansionist wars, and foreign investment, the Hayato Kingdom is seeing record economic expansion year over year and are only a few decades away from reaching parity with similarly sized Protectorate states.

This has predominantly been achieved because the Hayato are the only ‘real’ isseian civilization, compared to the many disunited and warring clans. Their institutions are strong, their leadership has solid legitimacy, and they aren’t threatening to break into civil wars. There has been friction with some traditionalist clans who rejected the idea of leasing land to aliens to build factories on Hayato soil, but they were pacified through political maneuvering.

Through these factories which exclusively hire Hayato citizens alongside alien specialists, and from Hayato citizens traveling off world to study in foreign universities, the Hayato have gained technical expertise. As the economy grows, so does the Kingdom’s taxbase, which is then reinvested into the economy.

The Axis have similarly built ties in the colonies and a few powerful clans on Tsuchi and Daichi, however they don’t have the numbers, institutions, stability, or civic mindset to replicate Hayato’s growth. When the clans raise money, they immediately purchase guns, artillery, and ammunition. Their position requires them to address short term emergencies.

After nearly 30 years of investment, the Hayato economy is bigger than the rest of the issei combined.

Greater Lift Means Greater Speeds, Zeppelin’s Newest Tech

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04/08/572 ASU

Half a century ago zeppelins reached their maximum cruising speed of about 90mph. The problem is that helium gas is too volatile and hydrogen doesn’t have enough lift. Adding engines for speed requires more hydrogen, which requires a bigger frame, which require more engines and fuel to use. The last great addition was lighter firemoss fuel which squeezed out an additional 2mph, but we’ve been unable to improve since.

Until Queen Olympia’s formula for vaalige gas dirigibles was publicly released following her death.

Vaalige gas trapped in special metal containers provides lift similar to cosmic updrafts, which allowed for the Queen’s famed super yachts to float around the sky. If their vast amenities and décor were removed, engines would allow faster airborne travel.

Which is exactly what the companies: Derifax Manufacturing, Kobos Heavy Industries, Zero Sum Motor, Luftwagon, and J-D Engineering have set out to accomplish. Each of these became major military production companies during the war, so they’re flush with enough cash to pursue this sort of adventurism.

Their goal is to strip away all but the essentials and strap so many engines to the hull that they develop the fastest crafts available. Once that’s done, they’ll start adding features back in so the crafts become usable for sale. The end results will be the optimal synergy of speed, carrying capacity, and comfort.

The president of Olympus Air released a statement: “Pursuing this is a fool’s errand. The people don’t want to reach their destination faster, they want to have an enjoyable, affordable journey. It’s not about profit – we could easily cram ten times the amount of passengers in our cloud cruisers – and we could take away systems to boost speeds, but Olympus Air is a luxury brand. Slower speeds mean longer travel times, which means prolonged relaxation.”

Isseian Colonization Faces Constant Conflict

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17/11/727 ASU

The migration of issei clans to foreign colonies has begun to slow with only 20,000 colonists leaving the two worlds so far this year, and the total emigration count has achieved 1.5 million. Many were driven into exile because of the Hayato Kingdom’s wars of expansion, which have taken a pause after conquering large swaths of the mainland Tairiku’s habitable zone and granting control to loyalist Hayato clans.

The colonies were haphazardly designed and poorly thought out; a random collection of settlements with no consideration for how it would be governed. The price for this failure has been a low boiling series of border skirmishes and clashes as nobody is sure how they’re going to get along, or who will be in charge.

The clans of Tsuchi’s habitable strip were heavily influenced by the Hayato Kingdom and their network of prehistoric ‘radio’ terminals that are linked across the two worlds. Their cultures are similar, and their dialects are mutually intelligible.

The Protectorate didn’t involve itself in the colonization process and failed to stop the D’Sev’s influence.

The Hayato Kingdom is our ally. Many of the colonists came from clans displaced by the Hayato. The D’Sev had an easy job of convincing the clans that allying with the Axis against the Protectorate would help them destroy Hayato and return to their homeland. Furthermore they’ve assisted the migration of these bitter clans to the larger colonies, such as Arasuka of northern Arcadia. That colony was intended to be a bulwark against the D’Sev, but now well over half the population hate the arcadians because they’re a loyal Protectorate member state.

While the Protectorate maintains strong ties to Kinpatsu due to its proximity to Pelratha, and Ashataria is a domain of North Santor, the D’Sev are making inroads with Osutaria, Wacca, and Hataka.

Impatient Aliens Demand Faster Airships

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08/11/536 ASU

Zeppelins are a fine technology, a leisurely trip through the clouds. While not as fast as trains, zeppelins may travel over mountains and waterways, cruising at a steady pace perfect with all the amenities one needs for a multi-week trip.

The max cruising speed for most airships is around 30mph because they prioritize comfort over speed. It takes seven days of travel to go from the capital of Pelratha, Korgathan, to the current capital of the Pel League, Gerbocken. A passenger ship is also about seven days, but a train requires 21 days due to circumventing the south-eastern sea. Centuries ago, the trip would have taken months on zemtak or older sailing vessels.

Despite traveling faster than any human in history, the people of the Protectorate just can’t take their time and enjoy the trip.

“Time is money in this age, old man,” a cirathan businessman, Milo of Ardashi said erroneously. “We don’t have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for our investments to grow for centuries, we need to work work work!”

Ardashi is a city state on the Alkeline Isles, situated between Pelratha, the Pel League’s core peninsula, and the Black Isle. The islands are full of docking spires as most zeppelins pass through the island chain, making it an ideal centralized hub.

Milo’s company, Ardashi Value Freight, has worked tirelessly to develop ultra-speedy zeppelins perfect for important businessmen needed all around the planet, and has developed the Compact 11.

At nearly half the size of typical zeppelins, the C-11 is named because it has a max capacity of 11 humans – passengers and crew – and can reach a top unaided cruising speed of 83 mph. At the cost of nearly all cargo space and amenities, one can go from Korgathan to Gerbocken in just two days!

The Soga Clan’s Shameful Resettlement

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01/13/724 ASU

Isseian history is the history of snow and ice; of periods of existential unity against the snow demons contrasted by prolonged periods of ‘internal strife’. The people of Isseio Alpha – Tsuchi in their language – had never been unified. Like most of elven history, they were at best split across petty kingdoms and clans whose power would wax and wane with the centuries.

The exception was the equatorial islands that make up the Hayato Kingdom. They’ve remained unified for centuries, exporting their culture and language east and west.

In the landmass to Hayato’s west, the Soga clan resided.

At times warlords of their own petty states, at other times vassals for a dominant power, sometimes even Hayato. The Soga survived through snow demon invasions, famine, and diseases, at their peak reaching over 75,000 members and controlling 3,000 fields.

Recent decades saw the Soga considered a minor clan. Great historical prestige and the guardians of several mountain shrines, but only 314 members and 11 fields.

When the Hayato Kingdom invaded the mainland, the Soga clan’s chieftain upheld his oath and marched under the Tairiku’s banner.

They were then all killed by old, cheap, surplus bolt action rifles.

The Hayato gave each defeated clan a choice. Resettle to the fringe of the habitable zone as a vassal or exile. This ultimatum was considered incredibly belligerent for isseian history, but the remaining 150 members of the Soga chose to leave the planet.

The travel to Arasuka was long and bitter, but they arrived in 716.

The Soga have used their religious expertise to travel the frostlands, building shrines and temples to their old gods, and administering rituals for their forlorn, exiled peers. Their territory is already 50 standard fields, and the vast array of clans rely on them for religious continuity with their homeland.

New Regulations For Zeppelin Travel

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09/12/503 ASU

The Peldak Protectorate is a military alliance, not an empire. The peldak legions defend the people, sometimes from themselves, but the Senate has no ability to interfere in the day-to-day affairs of the member states. But elves are nothing if not adaptable, and recent humiliations at the hands of Queen Olympia have taught us greatly.

Lord Protector Serrick Pearlmire began his administration with a flurry of activity, ashamed of the consistent embarrassments since the end of the Ardennes Flare Up. He sent his best and most trusted advisors – frequently his children and grandchildren – across the Protectorate to inflict the right amount of subtle political pressure. He’s using a blade point rather than a hand cannon.

However, last year Lord Protector Pearlmire’s daughter, Celina, went missing on one of her many trips across Eroberen. She and her noble entourage of 72 Senatorial representatives took an airship across a 700-mile stretch of open ocean, but they never arrived at their destination.

Today, the Lord Protector officially announced an end to the search as not even the fishmen or Slavani have found the wreckage. In his memorial speech, he introduced a bill and leaned on the Senate to affirm it.

All soldiers and government workers are restricted from taking flights longer than 250 miles (7-10 hours of cruising speed). The zeppelin must either stop at the docking spires, or cruise close enough for the workers to document their passage.

To the degree that there are any ‘civilian’ peldaks, they will voluntarily follow the restriction. Peldaks make up such a large percentage of local economies that this will effectively force zeppelins to bend to our will. Manufacturers and airlines already cater their services to elven customers, such as sacrificing speed for increased cargo capacity and amenities, so the 250-mile restriction will soon become standard.

The Great Isseian Migration

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22/03/721 ASU

The population of issei living abroad in colonies around the Protectorate has reached a new milestone of one million emigrants looking for better lives in warmer lands, with over 120,000 leaving their planets last year alone.

Most immigrants are from Isseio Alpha. They’re a mix of the hardy folk that have settled the edge of the habitable region for many generations, and the recent exiles who were pushed to the fringes by our new allies the Hayato.

The Hayato Kingdom was the first group we made contact with when arriving on the planet, situated near one of the few updrafts in the non-glacierized oceans. They’ve quickly modernized in the past 20 years and are expanding their borders. It’s rare to see a member state capable of doing things on their own; Hayato hasn’t asked for legionary assistance once.

Across the habitable strip, clans closest to the equator are farmers, making best us of the land, while clans on the north and south fringe are warriors who defend the inner clans from raging ‘snow demons’. As Hayato conquers, they push farmer clans to the fringes, settle their own clans in the arable land, and many of these clans decide instead to migrate to other worlds, given the opportunity.

The flow of migration has concentrated on five planets.

Arasuka, in the north of Arcadia. 270,000 colonists.

Ashataria and Osutaria, in north and south Relgan, respectively. 210,000 colonists.

Wacca, on Vrakoli’s two most northern rings. 180,000 colonists.

Kinpatsu, on Ciratha, just south of Pelratha. 160,000 colonists.

Hotaka, on Gorsko in the southern Zelazo Range. 100,000 colonists.

The issei on both worlds speak mutually intelligible dialects of the same language, Kotoba, and share similar cultures. However, each colony is currently just collections of independent clans living in the same area, rather than functioning nations.

Greatest Champion Of The Sayran Council Now Rests

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13/08/674 ASU

After a glorious 113-year reign as the Batal Kibir, the champion of the Sayran Council, Dirar Hamza has died from sudden organ failure – a common death for sayran as strong as he because the dense, rigid muscles of his torso put too much strain on his organs.

He came to power in 560 after besting the then-Champion in single combat and taking his position.

Sayran society revolves around structured and orderly duels, where disputes are solved by clans putting forward their best warriors to fight. The Great Clans, those that sit on the Sayran Council, cannot survive without strong duelists. While the Great Clans may bicker on the council, the council’s champion, the Batal Kibir, is only sent to defend the council, or ensure their will is enforced. He is the strongest sayran alive.

Dirar Hamza was victorious in over 900 duels on behalf of the council (which doesn’t include the challenges to his position). He blocked over 50 coup attempts and brought rebelling clans to heel for decades. Dirar created a prolong period of peace and stability despite the surrounding chaos of the AEE.

Dirar’s most famous act, now a very popular poem among clan singers, was Under The Moon’s Bloody Gaze. In the year 618, enemies of the council used procedural tricks to schedule 13 duels with the Council’s Champion in a single night. He accumulated damage and fatigue over that long night, but nevertheless pushed through and defeated the best the anti-council faction could bring.

Most Champions are ‘cursed beings’, and in exchange for great powers have debilitating weakness that’s eventually found and exploited, leading most Batal Kibirs to reign for under a decade.

Batal Kibir Dirar Hamza was not a cursed being. He was simply a monstrously strong sayran who had no weakness to exploit.

Isseian Clans Colonize The Frozen Extremes

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02/11/715 ASU

For eons the Issei suffered on their twin frozen worlds, Isseio Prime and Isseio Alpha.

The former’s axis is tilted 90 degrees, so the north and south pole are bathed in pure darkness or light during the long months of winter or summer respectively.

The latter is far from their sun and only a 1,000 mile strip around the equator is habitable.

Their bodies are adapted to handle the cold better than most, and they tend to overheat easily.

With their recent admission into the Protectorate, and their ability to survive low temperatures well known, economic opportunities are popping up across 14 planets.

For example, the north of Relgan is the Ashari Tundra. Officially ruled by North Santor, Ashari has always been sparsely populated despite the vast amounts of proven mineral reserves. If the issei can develop the land with NS funneling aid and resources, it could be extraordinarily profitable for everyone. It could protentional spark conflicts with neighboring countries who now see a reason to claim the land.

The islands and peninsulas that surround the north pole of Arcadia are currently home to the most developed isseian colony, called Arasuka, which has about 4,000 colonists. The territory is over a million square miles of land, and the issei clans have already introduced hardy winters fruits perfect for the far north. The arcadians aren’t particularly interested in economic benefits, they want a permanently settled ally to the north which will, hopefully, prevent the D’Sev from making use of the region.

Conversely, the Axis Powers are funding colonization efforts of their own, such as on Relgan’s Southern Continent, Hapish, laying just beyond our dependent: The Eluid Commonwealth. This will require us to increase the garrison on an already secure region, at no extra cost to the Axis.

Culture Clash Causes Kitomai Spying Scandal

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24/01/760 ASU

The planet Kitomee is home to two major alliances, and a dozen smaller, unaligned powers. These alliances have been at each other’s throats for decades longer than we’ve been in the system but have avoided full scale war due to the death and destruction that would certainly follow. When the Protectorate arrived 20 years ago, neither side wished to alienate us for fear of their rival getting an advantage.

With access to the Protectorate and the vast field of talent from 50 worlds, both sides decided to utilize this resource and hire spies, particularly the sharads.

The sharads were hired to use their unrivaled stealth skills to spy on rival powers, political dissidents, underlings, and even the Peldak Protectorate. The sharads, of course, completed the task flawlessly and gave their employers treasure troves of information, even more than they wanted.

But during and after their assignments, the sharads had been congregating in the Sharashado Entertainment Kharak, located in a neutral port city, Honiko. The sharads openly blabbed and bragged about their work, telling every bit of gossip and state secret they’re learned to each other, and every information broker who knew where to sit.

Kitomai media are calling it the worst security breach in their history.

The sharads fundamentally do not understand the idea of conflict between humans. For millennia, their world survived in conflict against horrible monsters, and they see every sharad as a brother, which makes other humans like their strange looking cousins. They were fine with spying on fellow humans because it was like a game and didn’t understand that revealing those secrets will cost a lot of people their lives.

Informants revealed, sources named, counterespionage must now put in a lot of effort to close these leaks, and the Kitomai states were humiliated from the affair.