Desan Empire
Aug 10, 2015 17:24:55 GMT -6
Post by pixel on Aug 10, 2015 17:24:55 GMT -6
A signature blipped on the bio-scan display, its appearance accompanied by an alert sound. The pilot adjusted the crawler's instruments toward the object, bringing the periscope to face it.
"Raiders?" Kamin suggested. He could sense the elevated state of the bodyguards sat around him, and felt the grip on his rifle tighten.
"No, sir," The pilot said with a thinly-veiled smirk. "Just a plant, remarkably enough. Stay at ease."
"Oh." Indeed, the display showcased a sapling, with much of its roots exposed, fluttering wildly in the wind behind the cover of a pair of rocks.
The crawler's engine revved and the pilot redirected it along the course to its destination. The display filtered back to its default data, keeping tabs on the status of the bio-scanner.
"Wait," Kamin said. "I want to look at it a moment longer."
The pilot's face was a mask of complete confusion. "What?"
"I want to look at it for a second more. The plant."
"All due respect, Kamin, but we're already late for the execution."
"It's an order."
The pilot let out a sigh and calibrated the instruments towards the plant and brought the display closer to Kamin.
Kamin gazed upon the image, shutting out the outside world. The sapling had already started to bloom magnificent yellow petals and in the center of these, a dome rose, covered with tiny bristles. For a brief second, the wind picked up, and the bristles lifted off to follow its sway.
For a moment longer Kamin was lost in his thoughts. The others in the transport were seeing the same image he was, but Kamin had a feeling he was the only one that knew the significance of what he had just witnessed. He glanced away from the image and stared into the pilot's eyes, casting his own sense of urgency into the young Desa's mind.
"Get us to the execution and hurry. Double time!"
His mouth opened as if to point out the contradiction, but he was wise enough not to use his voice. He withdrew back into the driver's seat and set off. The guards mumbled and murmured to one another, but despite their proximity Kamin could only guess what they were saying. It was not a hard guess, of course. They were just as befuddled as the pilot.
---
After what had amounted to a long drive through the wastes, Kamin finally arrived in the Elder Chambers of the Mejorul dynasty's capitol.
Hanging from the ceiling in a near-complete circle were eight pods bearing telepathy matrices, and in seven of those were faces that Kamin knew well: the other principle members of the Mejorul family.
In the center of it all was a small pedestal on which laid a mangled figure lying in a pool of blood. Although most likely a Desa like Kamin himself, he could hardly recognize any physical trait that would distinguish him from a pile of refuse.
"Kamin Harkastbeim. You missed the execution. The main part of it anyway." So said Mejorul Valisileinad Reyemereleim, Hangwan Lifaa Shen, or Chief Lawgiver. His name meant "He who looks toward the rise of the sun" and so it was commonly said of him that he is the most enlightened of the Elders. That is what was commonly said, but to Kamin, was absolutely not true.
"It seems that you lot managed just fine without me." Kamin glanced at the bloody mess on the floor.
"Perhaps. But, missing your power, his death was not the relatively painless one that we had promised. As you can see, he writhed in agony. We do not like to send humiliated souls to Huyao. As you know well, Kamin."
"Oh, don't give me that mangizlian drivel. If it was such a big deal then you would have waited for my arrival before commencing."
"Enough." So said Mejorul Iksvesannahir Tenhtninevbeim, Shengmadei Hangwan Mikarkhikaoke or Chief of the Merchant Clique. "We will proceed with the procedure as is dictated, despite Kamin's tardiness."
Iksvesannahir waited a moment, gauging the disposition of the rest of the elders. Thanks to each of them being in telepathic matrices, as is customary, such a thing was easy. Everyone was elevated, anxious, and yet exhausted - having just spent a great deal of energy for the telepathic execution. Soon, Kamin was seated and the Elders were ready to proceed.
"With the death of this Desa, so ends The Age of Disillusionment and Decay. An entire age of our society's history is, as of now, over." He paused to let the statement sink in. "For my part, I have never before witnessed, let alone attended, a mass telepathic execution. But over the last few years, the remnants of our society have displayed their disheartenment and desperation, eventually culminating in pronouncing and judging the High Elder of the previous dynasty to have lost his way, to have become... ineffectual. They have elected to terminate his appointment in the harshest manner. Perhaps it is all well and good that the matter of his death was so humiliating, against custom as it may be. So begins the hegemony of Mejorul house - the first dynasty from inland to rule over the coastal peoples. We shall dye the walls of Anquandisho white in honor of our name."
He waited a moment for the good news to be accepted. "But the gravity of our situation is extreme. I believe our Hangwan Jituanzu, our new High Elder, understands this better than any of us." The lights dimmed and a beam illuminated Kamin.
Kamin gathered his thoughts, remembering what he had come here to speak about. "Desadifang is near-incapable of sustaining life. Our home, our cradle, is dying. Our efforts to maintain the biosphere have less spectacular results each year. The water tables, agricultural yield, and temperature decrease annually... As does our population. Desertification along the coasts has proceeded with little opposition."
"The only consequential course of action available is to make for ourselves an empire among the stars. Along the way here, and part of the reason for my delay, I witnessed an omen. Surrounded by hundreds of lani of huwandi (wasteland), there was a single sapling, hardly mature. It reached into the dry cold air with its flower which had bloomed against all odds. From this flower sprouted seeds which leapt into the wind. These seeds will find spots to grow. To survive."
"The determination of this plant to thrive in our dying environment should be an inspiration to us. We now possess the capability to live among other stars - and perhaps we will never truly leave Desadifang, our treasured home - but life here will only get harder. We must be like the flower. The stakes are high, elders. The stakes are our civilization, our species. We all know the stories written more than a century ago, those that romanticized space as a new frontier, as an adventure to be had. They romanticized it, and turned it into a fantasy. If the Age of Disillusionment is to have truly ended as you say, then so must also end this misrendition of reality. The truth is, Elders, yes - we will go to space - but we are not doing it for wealth, for power, not even for the sake of discovery. We must do it, for our own survival - as the climax of our timeless struggle against death on this world."
"Raiders?" Kamin suggested. He could sense the elevated state of the bodyguards sat around him, and felt the grip on his rifle tighten.
"No, sir," The pilot said with a thinly-veiled smirk. "Just a plant, remarkably enough. Stay at ease."
"Oh." Indeed, the display showcased a sapling, with much of its roots exposed, fluttering wildly in the wind behind the cover of a pair of rocks.
The crawler's engine revved and the pilot redirected it along the course to its destination. The display filtered back to its default data, keeping tabs on the status of the bio-scanner.
"Wait," Kamin said. "I want to look at it a moment longer."
The pilot's face was a mask of complete confusion. "What?"
"I want to look at it for a second more. The plant."
"All due respect, Kamin, but we're already late for the execution."
"It's an order."
The pilot let out a sigh and calibrated the instruments towards the plant and brought the display closer to Kamin.
Kamin gazed upon the image, shutting out the outside world. The sapling had already started to bloom magnificent yellow petals and in the center of these, a dome rose, covered with tiny bristles. For a brief second, the wind picked up, and the bristles lifted off to follow its sway.
For a moment longer Kamin was lost in his thoughts. The others in the transport were seeing the same image he was, but Kamin had a feeling he was the only one that knew the significance of what he had just witnessed. He glanced away from the image and stared into the pilot's eyes, casting his own sense of urgency into the young Desa's mind.
"Get us to the execution and hurry. Double time!"
His mouth opened as if to point out the contradiction, but he was wise enough not to use his voice. He withdrew back into the driver's seat and set off. The guards mumbled and murmured to one another, but despite their proximity Kamin could only guess what they were saying. It was not a hard guess, of course. They were just as befuddled as the pilot.
---
After what had amounted to a long drive through the wastes, Kamin finally arrived in the Elder Chambers of the Mejorul dynasty's capitol.
Hanging from the ceiling in a near-complete circle were eight pods bearing telepathy matrices, and in seven of those were faces that Kamin knew well: the other principle members of the Mejorul family.
In the center of it all was a small pedestal on which laid a mangled figure lying in a pool of blood. Although most likely a Desa like Kamin himself, he could hardly recognize any physical trait that would distinguish him from a pile of refuse.
"Kamin Harkastbeim. You missed the execution. The main part of it anyway." So said Mejorul Valisileinad Reyemereleim, Hangwan Lifaa Shen, or Chief Lawgiver. His name meant "He who looks toward the rise of the sun" and so it was commonly said of him that he is the most enlightened of the Elders. That is what was commonly said, but to Kamin, was absolutely not true.
"It seems that you lot managed just fine without me." Kamin glanced at the bloody mess on the floor.
"Perhaps. But, missing your power, his death was not the relatively painless one that we had promised. As you can see, he writhed in agony. We do not like to send humiliated souls to Huyao. As you know well, Kamin."
"Oh, don't give me that mangizlian drivel. If it was such a big deal then you would have waited for my arrival before commencing."
"Enough." So said Mejorul Iksvesannahir Tenhtninevbeim, Shengmadei Hangwan Mikarkhikaoke or Chief of the Merchant Clique. "We will proceed with the procedure as is dictated, despite Kamin's tardiness."
Iksvesannahir waited a moment, gauging the disposition of the rest of the elders. Thanks to each of them being in telepathic matrices, as is customary, such a thing was easy. Everyone was elevated, anxious, and yet exhausted - having just spent a great deal of energy for the telepathic execution. Soon, Kamin was seated and the Elders were ready to proceed.
"With the death of this Desa, so ends The Age of Disillusionment and Decay. An entire age of our society's history is, as of now, over." He paused to let the statement sink in. "For my part, I have never before witnessed, let alone attended, a mass telepathic execution. But over the last few years, the remnants of our society have displayed their disheartenment and desperation, eventually culminating in pronouncing and judging the High Elder of the previous dynasty to have lost his way, to have become... ineffectual. They have elected to terminate his appointment in the harshest manner. Perhaps it is all well and good that the matter of his death was so humiliating, against custom as it may be. So begins the hegemony of Mejorul house - the first dynasty from inland to rule over the coastal peoples. We shall dye the walls of Anquandisho white in honor of our name."
He waited a moment for the good news to be accepted. "But the gravity of our situation is extreme. I believe our Hangwan Jituanzu, our new High Elder, understands this better than any of us." The lights dimmed and a beam illuminated Kamin.
Kamin gathered his thoughts, remembering what he had come here to speak about. "Desadifang is near-incapable of sustaining life. Our home, our cradle, is dying. Our efforts to maintain the biosphere have less spectacular results each year. The water tables, agricultural yield, and temperature decrease annually... As does our population. Desertification along the coasts has proceeded with little opposition."
"The only consequential course of action available is to make for ourselves an empire among the stars. Along the way here, and part of the reason for my delay, I witnessed an omen. Surrounded by hundreds of lani of huwandi (wasteland), there was a single sapling, hardly mature. It reached into the dry cold air with its flower which had bloomed against all odds. From this flower sprouted seeds which leapt into the wind. These seeds will find spots to grow. To survive."
"The determination of this plant to thrive in our dying environment should be an inspiration to us. We now possess the capability to live among other stars - and perhaps we will never truly leave Desadifang, our treasured home - but life here will only get harder. We must be like the flower. The stakes are high, elders. The stakes are our civilization, our species. We all know the stories written more than a century ago, those that romanticized space as a new frontier, as an adventure to be had. They romanticized it, and turned it into a fantasy. If the Age of Disillusionment is to have truly ended as you say, then so must also end this misrendition of reality. The truth is, Elders, yes - we will go to space - but we are not doing it for wealth, for power, not even for the sake of discovery. We must do it, for our own survival - as the climax of our timeless struggle against death on this world."