The Deer in the Sun

Floryan's hands moved quickly threading the needle back and forth through the thick fabric. His grandmother had taught him how to embroider as a child and sohe had always said that he should never work after sunset because candlelight was not good enough for fine needlework. He glanced at the rich warm light spilling out of the new lightstone his boyar, Danica, had recently purchased and smiled to himself. Times change, he thought. Then he glanced down at the half finished design of a spider that he was embroidering on to the storytellers coat. Some things are timeless I suppose.

The coat was nearly finished now, a beautiful garment of bright fabric patchwork. He knew Danica had paid 4 crowns for it as was, when she purchased it, but the flamboyant boyar was not satisfied and had instructed Floryan to spare no expense decorating each panel with appropriate embroidery. She intended the coat as a gift to Alina, the travelling storyteller who was due to visit the vale in Spring when the snows thawed.

The rumour in the vale was that the boyar was sweet on the storyteller, and was hoping the expensive gift would persuade Alina to tarry a while. Danica had overheard Raina joking about the upcoming visit in the kitchen last week and the poor schlacta had spent the next week pulling double guard duty afterwards, which had done absolutely nothing to quell the rumours. To be fair, half the vale was smitten by the storyteller, wandering the roads of Varushka was a dangerous but exciting life.

"Mind on the job" his grandmother's voice rang out in his head. She'd learned to embroider from her grandfather who learned it from his uncle. She had been fond of pointing out that schlacta who took their mind off the job in battle ended up dead, with the implied threat that the same fate awaited Floryan if she caught him not paying attention to his needlework.

He redoubled his efforts - he was behind and needed to catch up. It would be him pulling double guard duty if Danica's gift was not done in time for the solstice.

Perhaps the true tragedy of the Cold Sun is that it will never understand why the things it destroy matter.

Overview

Driven by an implacable hatred of creativity and expression, the forces of Cold Sun have relentlessly targeted important cultural sites across the Empire, destroying the First Voice Glade, the Unbound Steel Hall of Lost Chapters and the Grand Conservatory of Music. They were far from the only sites attacked and only the brave actions of the Empire's heroes prevented the outcome from being much worse.

Even as the Empire's armies have turned the tide of battle against Cold Sun, the Pride Assembly has called on nations to create new sites of beauty and culture. What better way to defy this force of oblivion than to create a lasting monument designed to showcase artistic expression they claim. The aim of the Assembly was not to build valuable sinecures, generate wealth, or procure precious metals. The goal was to preserve and promote the lasting works of art and culture that would be there for generations to come.

The costs involved are not small and with many nations committed to supporting the Grand Inspiration of the Way there is little to spare. However both Varushka and the Imperial Orcs have spoken on how best they might celebrate their pride. For the Navarr however, the war with Cold Sun is not yet done.

Language is the pinnacle of civilisation. One of the greatest gifts granted in our freedom was the expression of reading and writing. With great Pride I propose that a folly be raised to advance Imperial Orc culture and art at this time of great cultural revelation for our peoples. Any single person can write words on a mountainside but to create a language of symbols depicting the worth for a nation, that is something more. A project to grow alongside our pride as we would add new words and worth each year and for many generations to come. Our project would start by collecting twenty words that speak the heart of our culture from across our people and I would paint a symbol for each word of great worth collected.

Gralka, Imperial Orc Assembly, 385YE Winter Solstice, Upheld (Greater Majority 185-23)

The Library of Worth

• The Imperial Orc Assembly called on the nation to collate the words that speak the heart of the nation
• A Library of Worth could be built to house the proposed words and symbols

The Imperial Orcs rose to the challenge with Archmage Gralka's judgement passing with a near-unanimous greater majority. Her vision was based on the Imperial Orc love of the written word. Literacy is widely admired by most Imperial Orcs and is a prized skill among the descendents of Thrace, who see it as a symbol of their freedom. Every orc knows that there is powerful hearth magic in writing. All writing possesses an element of worth, as it captures the essence of an event or person, and contains it within the text.

Some Orcs are confused by the idea, wondering if the Archmage plans to literally create a new language of symbols. However most assume that the plan is to find individual words that capture the heart of Imperial Orc culture and then to paint symbols of those words. Besides being a brilliant if somewhat controversial magician, the Archmage is also a renown artist. Her offer to create symbols, one for each word of great worth collected resonates with many. Symbols are a vital part of Imperial Orc culture, and something that speak strongly to every sept in the nation.

Most imagine some kind of pictograms. Gralka's art often employs strong forms presented with simple elegance to evoke the idea they encapsulate. The more mystical Illarawm suggest that something more abstract would be just as good, while many Ethengraw plead for fine illustrations perfectly rendered with attention to every detail to make the picture as realistic as possible. In the end everyone agrees that such matters are best left to Gralka and whatever artists she can recruit to help her in this endeavour.

Library of Worth

Commission Type: Folly

Location: Skarsind

Cost: At least 14 white granite, 42 crowns

Effect: Establishes a collection of words and symbols in Skarsind. The nation can add one word and the accompanying symbol each season to be added to the collection.

Constructing the Folly

• The folly would need at least 14 wains of white granite and 42 crowns to build, but could be bigger
• The Imperial Orcs could use a mandate to encourage people to support the folly once it is commissioned

The original idea put forward by the Pride Assembly require a substantial commission, something of substance that can encompass the nation's Pride. The Imperial Orcs are by far the smallest nation in the Empire, but their Pride makes them first among equals. To begin the project requires a commission to be approved by the Imperial Senate, which must be at least 14 wains of white granite and 42 crowns, but which could be bigger. There is no upper limit, beyond the scale of the nation's Ambition, but of course the materials would have to be found.

One way to do that would be to encourage the nation to contribute what resources they could spare. The Civil Service calculated that a suitably worded mandate could persuade the Imperial Orcs to provide 4 wains of white granite and 8 crowns each season to support the Grand Inspiration of the Way, but the nation elected not to do that. That Prosperity could now be invoked to support the new Library, it would only be effective once the Library is commissioned, but it would mean that the nation could not support the Grand Inspiration until the Library is complete.

Pride conveyed by words alone is vain boasting. We send {named priest} with 25 liao to ask the septs of Skarsind to support the Library of Worth. Let us come together to find the words and symbols that speak to the worth of the whole Imperial Orc nation

Synod Mandate, Imperial Orc Assembly

If this mandate is enacted, the Imperial Orcs will donate 4 wains of white granite and 8 crowns to support the commission each season for the next year. This will exhaust their capacity to support other important causes; it will be impossible to use a mandate to urge the Imperial Orcs to support another commission or similar project that needed help.

One matter that is not yet clear is where this new Library might be built. There are a few interesting suggestions. The Tamazi propose putting the library inside the The Will of Wintermark, to ensure that it is appropriately protected. Possibly the name could be changed at the same time, to make the fortification sound a little more Imperial Orcish? The Sannites agree but others worry that this suggestion might offend the Wintermark.

Great Library

Commission Type: Folly

Location: Skarsind

Cost: 60 white granite, 180 crowns

Effect: Establishes a great library in Skarsind that incorporates the Library of Worth. The nation can add one word and the accompanying symbol each season to be added to the collection.

The Ethengraw have a rather different take. They point out that this emphasis on writing is something that primarily speaks to the Sunstorm sept. Every sept thinks writing is important - it is a powerful hearth magic - and all the septs agree on the importance of symbols. However three of the six septs of Skarsind have great commissions raised to celebrate their Pride. The Illarawm have their ossuary, the Yerende their garden, and the Ethengraw have the Black Forge. But neither the Sannites nor the Sunstorm have a great monument to the Pride of their sept. Rather than create something small and readily achievable, why not build something vast and monumental, something that demonstrates the Pride of the Sunstorm sept is every bit as great as any sept in the land.

Skarsind has no significant library despite the importance that the whole nation puts on writing. Why not go further, why not use this opportunity to build a great library, a wonder of the Empire, a vast repository that can collect books from all over the world. When the Ethengraw ask how it is that the Empire does not have such libraries already, the troubled history of Emperor Nicovar is explained to them. After some thought their reply is simple - "The Empire didn't have Imperial Orcs then."

Of course it would take the nation years to build such a Great Library even assuming Skarsind's charity could be extended beyond a year. But there is no reason at all that individual citizens could not supply wains and money to support the commission. The Virtuous inspire others to greatness they point out.

Whatever is decided, the Imperial Orcs would need to obtain a commission and chose a suitable location for the Library of Worth.

Fellow Varushkans, with the Cold Sun in our midst it is as important as ever to look to the future generations and the legacy we will leave them. We the National Assembly invite proposals for a hall of fabric arts in Karov to inspire others to greatness so that they may ever strive for excellence in the trades of weaving and needlework of which Varushka is so Proud.

Anatolij Paukov Zorkin, Varushkan Assembly, 385YE Winter Solstice, Upheld (Greater Majority 312-0)

Warp and Weft

• The Varushkan Assembly called on its nation to celebrates its legacy in weaving and needlework
• A Hall of Fabric Arts could be constructed to promulgate weaving and embroidery

The National Assembly of Varushka upheld a statement by Anatolij Paukov Zorkin calling on the nation to build a hall of fabric arts in Karov. The judgement passed with a greater majority, winning the unanimous support of every priest who voted. The civil service, have suggested the settlement of Vorota. This fortified settlement is ideally situated; roads lead south-west and south-east to Temeschwar and Weirwater respectively. These roads bring merchants selling fine wool, linen, and silk that are used by all kinds of seamstresses and tailors to create beautiful things. A Hall of Fabric Arts could exalt these crafters by extoling the beauty of what they have made from these raw materials. People would travel from across Varushka to visit and learn from experts, safe in the knowledge that the arts of embroidery and weaving were never lost.

The judgement by the Assembly causes many wise ones to nod in agreement - it is hard to think of something that better celebrates the skills of Varushkan crafters than the arts of weaving, tapestry, embroidery, and needlework. Wealthy Varushkans are famous for the beautiful embroidered designs that adorn their clothing. Less prosperous Varushkans decorate the hems of their garments with tablet embroidery. Wealthy boyars decorate the cold halls of the north with plush carpets and rugs created by Varushkans using traditional looms. In Varushka the Prosperous enjoy the fruits of their labour by wearing their wealth.

Yet despite this, embroidery, tapestry, weaving and needlework are not something the nation has traditionally celebrated and promoted as emblematic of Varuhska. It is as if this crucial part of the nation's psyche were being overlooked when discussing their culture and customs. In their infinite Wisdom the Varushkan Assembly have identified something that has for too long been overlooked. With enough commitment that oversight might be rectified.

Hall of Fabric Arts

Commission Type: Folly

Location: Karov

Cost: At least 14 white granite, 42 crowns

Effect: Establishes a hall of fabric arts in Karov to inspire others to greatness so that they may ever strive for excellence in the trades of weaving and needlework

Constructing The Folly

• A simple hall would require 14 wains of white granite and 42 crowns, but could be bigger
• The Varushkans could use a mandate to encourage people to support the hall once it is commissioned
• A great hall would require 80 wains of white granite and 320 crowns and would see the wiki updated

The Pride Assembly's proposal requires only a modest commission, big enough to celebrate the nation's Pride, but not enough to tax it. By territory, the Varushkans are the largest nation in the Empire and are certainly one of the richest. The hall would require a commission to be approved by the Imperial Senate, which must be at least 14 wains of white granite and 42 crowns, but the nation could create something much bigger if they put their mind to it. There is no upper limit, beyond the scale of the nation's Ambition, but then the nation would have to dig deep.

Like the Imperial Orcs, the Varushkans could appeal to the Prosperity of the nation to support the hall. The Civil Service calculated that a suitably worded mandate could persuade Varushkan to procure 20 wains of white granite and 40 crowns each season to support a grand project. The nation deigned to support the Grand Inspiration of the Way, but that means their prosperity could be directed to support this hall. It would only be effective once the hall is commissioned, but it would mean that the nation could not support the Grand Inspiration or any other similar project until the it is complete.

Great Hall of Fabrics

Commission Type: Folly

Location: Karov

Cost: 80 white granite, 240 crowns

Effect: Establishes a great hall of fabric arts in Karov dedicated to promoting the traditional Varushkan arts of weaving and needlework and demonstrating the crucial importance they have in the nation. We will update the Varushka Culture and Customs page of the wiki to add a section devoted to the importance of embroidery, weaving and needlework in Varushkan culture.

The people of Varushka have wealth enough that they would be comfortable supporting this Hall of Fabric Arts instead, if the National Assembly asked them to. Miryem Vitkova Vorotav has provided the following wording for a mandate to the civil service:

Strive for excellence in that of which you are proud! We send {named priest} with 50 doses of liao to ask Varushkans to fund the Hall of Fabric Arts. Let no coin go unspent.

Synod Mandate, Varushka Assembly

If this mandate is enacted then the people of Varuhska will provide 20 wains of white granite and 40 crowns - sufficient to cover two thirds of the labour costs - each season. This will exhaust their capacity to support other important causes; it will be impossible to use a mandate to urge Varuhkans to support another commission or similar project that needed help. If a simple hall of the scale envisaged by the Pride Assembly is constructed then it will be completed in a single season, leaving only a tiny shortfall of 2 crowns that seems unlikely to be beyond the heroes of Anvil.

But Ambition teaches that if you to aim high, nothing is beyond your grasp. Varushka is a rich prosperous nation, it could attempt something much more grand. It could build a great hall at Vorota or anywhere in Karov, that could double as a school teaching the fabric arts, weaving, embroidery, and other forms of needlework. Such a commission would start a renaissance in the fabric arts, reminding all Varushkan of their traditional heritage and strength in these skills and bringing them to the fore. Once complete, it would change the nation, restoring the prominence and emphasis that such skills should, arguably, have always had in discussions of traditional Varushka culture. (OOC Note: We would update the wiki page for Varushkan culture and customs to include a new section on the importance of fabric arts in Varushka to reflect this emphasis).

Such a project would take a year to complete, if it relied purely on the support generated by the mandate. There would leave a shortfall of 10 thrones, that would have to be found somehow.

Unnatural Light of Day

At the core of our nation is our fight against the vallorn. The armies of Cold Sun have targeted and destroyed trods across the Empire, and their continued presence prevents their repair. We are bound by our oaths against the vallorn to fight these forces of Cold Sun - these fights are now one and the same. We call on Navarr to point the fire of their Ambition towards the unnatural lights of these scions, into the same Vigilance and Wisdom they point towards the Vallorn.

Oleander Ashwood, Navarr Assembly, 385YE Winter Solstice, Upheld (Greater Majority 430-32)

• The Navarr Assembly called on its nation to fight the scions
• The Assembly can enact a mandate to encourage members of the nation to defeat the last armies of Cold Sun

Since the armies of Cold Sun first appeared they have proven a dangerous foe; the deaths in defence of the Pool of Silver Clouds and the attacks that followed across the Empire easy proof. After that came the armies, legions of scions marching through Day regio across the Empire and damaging the trods in several territories. The honed edge of oblivion started to unpick at the threads that kept the Empire together.

After the Winter Solstice the strength of the Empire crushed more than half of Cold Sun's armies; only two remain in Imperial territory as the blossoms of spring start to appear. One of those armies, the Empty Hands, is in Miaren; the heart of the Navarr.

Carwyn Fiverings is a broker based in Seren who, like most people, wants to see this army utterly destroyed. Carwyn will do what ze can to support any Navarri who sends their military unit to support an army fighting Empty Hands, but the broker knows that the people of Miaren will be able to do so much more if they receive the backing and support of the National Assembly of Navarr. As such, ze has presented the following mandate for the National Assembly of Navarr.

Despise that which threatens what you watch over. The Empty Hands remain in Miaren. We send {named priest} with 75 doses of liao to ensure that this army of scions does not live to see the beauty of Seren in summer.

Synod Mandate, Navarr Assembly

Nathair Autumngale has provided the wording for an alternative mandate:

The Empty Hands march on the site of the first binding of thorns, and the birthplace of our nation. We send {named priest] with 75 doses of liao to ensure that this army doesn't desecrate this site with their presence.

Synod Mandate, Navarr Assembly

If either of these mandates is enacted it will encourage the people of Miaren to support those Navarri who support an army against Cold Sun, providing two random herbs to every military unit that supports an army fighting the Empty Hands. These mandates are considered to be competing.

However recent fighting has demonstrated that military units alone are not sufficient to defeat Cold Sun. The forces of annihilation can only be defeated when Imperial armies stand against them. If an Imperial army does not move to Miaren with an offensive order to attack Cold Sun, then all Navarr armies will suffer a penalty of one fifth to territory captured and casualties inflicted this season reflecting the loss of morale that they are fighting on the borders when they should be defending their homeland.