| The Reunion |
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Arzix-Constantinople Estates
Constantinople, Core, Ryccian Empire Anastasios had seen something that turned his world upside down. A Queen, a head of state, serving him, her employee, tea? What in the worlds was this?! He spoke of his family, as it was clear now that this King wanted to converse. He did not reveal much, lest the King innocently divulge his family's ambitions. What an odd pair...a King that talks to his servants and a Queen that serves tea to them...what next, the Emperor himself serving him biscuits? Anastasios hesitated to drink it, paranoid that it was some sort of test and that these foreign monarchs were creating a trap to see if he was disobedient and did not know his place. He took the cup, and...nothing happened. No screaming, no shouting, no reprimandment, no scolding, nothing. Just that luxurious Alshen tea going down his throat, held by a cup of the finest, handcrafted Juno porcelain. If the Queen knew how expensive Alshen tea was, she would have not served any cup whatsoever. Instead, she would have kept it all as a souvenir. It was pleasant to feel like an aristocrat, even if he was only drinking fancy tea for a couple of minutes. Then, the King told him to not refer to himself as a "servant". Well, what is he to do? That is the title of his job, is it not? How weird...perhaps this was some sort of drastic dialectal divergence? He walked behind the King and Queen, and he began to whisper to his coworker that was attending the Stoinian Chancellor. They were both absolutely astounded at what had just happened, and the other was shocked that the Queen had allowed Anastasios to taste Alshen tea. Normally, they would not chitchat like this, as it was not proper, but they were confident that these Stoinians would tolerate it. They did not comprehend what language their masters spoke as they traversed the palace grounds. It sounded as some sort of...weird, garbled Tigonese? They knew this aristocratic language in order to communicate with more demanding clients, but even this did not allow them to understand their strange tounge. At last, they had approached the Emperor and the Chancellor. The Empress Dowager was chatting with her relatives. The Chancellor, being a Velpan, did not understand Tigonese. He had no time to study it properly, so he only knew basic greetings and a baker's dozen of words. The Emperor did, and, for the benefit of the Chancellor, he responded in English. "Salut, Roi Andrei. This is the Minister of Finance of the Ryccian Empire, the Lady Algenia" "Salut, Votre Majesté. I am Lady Josefina Alicia Maria Litia Algenia Valois, Countess in Algenia. How do you fare in this marvelous morning?" "Regarding the use of...French, you have said? I believe you mean Tigonese?", said the Emperor "In any case, the use of Tigonese has a storied history, but in short, was spoken by an ethnic minority thousands of years ago, but it is now a language utilized by the elite for their conversations. That ethnic minority has not died off, as they have a presence on one planet not far from here, but no other place uses such a tounge anymore for native speech" "Esquire Cindyn, s'il vous plaît, apportez-moi une tasse de thé Alshen, si vous seriez si gentil (French: Please get me a cup of Alshen tea, if you would be so kind)" "Oui, m'lord" The Emperor's attendant went off to get a cup of tea, as was ordered of him. "Say, King Andrei, has your servant been of use? We did hire an excellent employee for this service. If you have any inquiries regarding this service, you may speak at your leisure"
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
"So far so good, Lady Valois. This is quite a palace you have right here. Might I add that you look quite Ryccian, especially your clothing."
He then turned towards the Emperor. "How fascinating. It is the same language as our French. It seems you have taken the practice from Terra. As we ourselves did, it is a language associated with higher culture within our realm. Though It has lost its general importance. We ourselves have such an ethnic group. Perhaps your Tigonesians also are famed for their pastry? Like a croissant or a baguette." As soon as he mentioned the word servant, he had a small burst of inner anger. Though nothing he couldn't hide. Only snorted at the word's mention. "You see your majesty. We do not use our fellow Terrans in such a manner. We consider it a form of discrimination amongst our own. Which you should have gathered by now, we aren't fond of. I already made it clear to Anastasios here, that upon further visits of Stoinian Officials they shan't receive any of these ... servants. Nonetheless, he has proven himself to be a good conversationalist. Do not worry, it was my will to hear him speak. Not his own initiative. You know they are people too and we should treat them as such. They aren't soulless machines, for God's sake." He then did a Orthodox Christian cross a custom universal within the Stoinian Star Kingdom. Though perhaps the Ryccians could see it as a form of insult. Regardless the King did it anyway, he couldn't quite care if it offended them. Pacifica: Myria, Sallodesia, Stoinia • A1-0: Stoinian Star Kingdom • Aurora: Kingdom of Threnebor
Arzix-Constantinople Estates
Constantinople, Core, Ryccian Empire Ah, the famous croissant! It was a delicacy if prepared with the finest materials. In fact, Cindyn was coming with one right now along with the tea. "Merci beaucoup, Esquire" "As a matter of fact, yes, they are known for such foodstuffs like the one I hold in my hand. How curious, is it not?" As he heard the King speak of the practice of servitude, his feelings were mixed. He detested the cold and stern attitude the clients had with their servants, but he considered it alright to hire such a person. After all, it was merely a service being freely provided by an employee. "I see...I am in the minority who believe that conversing with servants is adequate, and thus I am delighted to share that point of view. We shall take note of this for posterity" As the King did that signal, most ignored it as some foreign gesture, but the Emperor was reminded of something. It was something he read long ago...what wa- Wait, no way. The Cristians? Those still exist? The Emperor was surprised. "King Andrei, you are a...Cristian, if I recall from those books? Does that ancient religion linger in your people still?"
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
The King was astonished, he hadn't insulted them for once. They spoke French and now apparently recalled the Christian Faith. The Faith most Stoinians held quite dearly and was pretty much engrained in their society. And above that, they also had croissants? They truly were their lost brethren.
"I believe you mean the Christians. And yes, I myself am an Stoinian Orthodox Christian as is my wife. The Chancellor is a Protestant Christian, a reaction towards the old Catholic Christians. These three variants are based on the Bible our Holy Book, though different interpretations are what divide us. Though after our colony was founded the Orthodox and Catholic reformed their liturgy, due to problems on our colony. It is quite ancient indeed, but not as ancient as Jewish and God let's not forget the Buddhists. The last two are even more ancient than the Christians. Then there is Islam, which is the youngest of all those religions." He looked at the Emperor's reaction and he was quite surprised to see such an interest. "We have hundreds of archives about all these different religions, perhaps we should send a few missionaries once an embassy is established? I assure you they will teach you all about these different religions in person. I only hope that Christians in your Empire aren't associated with any old Imperial Religious Crusades like there used to be back on Terra. It's a good thing those dark ages are long past us." Pacifica: Myria, Sallodesia, Stoinia • A1-0: Stoinian Star Kingdom • Aurora: Kingdom of Threnebor
Arzix-Constantinople Estates
Constantinople, Core, Ryccian Empire Buudism? He had heard of Eeslam (OOC: Islam) before, but not of Buudism or Juwish. And what in the world were the Cruseids? "...That is the religion my ancestors practiced until 4,500 years ago, when it was forgotten almost completely. Records on these ancient religions are sparse nowadays. I would certainly be interested to learn more of it"
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
"I will make sure the embassy will have these Christian missionaries. I am sure there will be dozens of men looking forward for such positions. Their knowledge far exceeds my own. It is indeed to lose a religion, especially one so influential in ancient Terran history. Though I doubt you would know that."
He said with a rather proud tone. At least someone hadn't forgotten their traditions. "But while we are on the subject of religion. What are the major religions within the Ryccian Empire?" Pacifica: Myria, Sallodesia, Stoinia • A1-0: Stoinian Star Kingdom • Aurora: Kingdom of Threnebor
Arzix-Constantinople Estates
Constantinople, Core, Ryccian Empire Religions? Humans had none in the present. There was agnosticism, atheism, spiritualism, star-ism...but nothing as concrete as religion. "For the Human race and most other species, none. A few aliens do retain their religious beliefs, but even they are waning today"
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
"A pity. One can learn from it how to live or seek comfort from difficult questions. Not something to be thrown away so easily."
He let out a sigh. "Now was there someone you would like me to meet?" Pacifica: Myria, Sallodesia, Stoinia • A1-0: Stoinian Star Kingdom • Aurora: Kingdom of Threnebor
Arzix-Constantinople Estates
Constantinople, Core, Ryccian Empire Unlike most nobles of her social ladder, Josefina had actually suffered poverty. She recalled going hungry sometimes due to a father that was addicted to gambling and drugs. He wasted their personal fortune, and when she and her mother pleaded their wealthy families for help, they were ashamed of being related to them, so they declined to even associate with them. She was intelligent, and thus did get a fully-funded scholarship to study at her university, but she had to work harder than most to both aid her family with their finances and to keep her grades sufficient enough for her scholarship. As a result, she alone regained her immediate family's socioeconomic status, something her mother was forever grateful for. Her father had already died due to drug overdose, but, on his last day in the hospital, he thanked her and begged her to forgive him. Despite it all, the crippling debt, the social humiliation, the days they went hungry, all that work she had to do to recover what he had lost...she did. He died in peace. Josefina internally was close to breaking in fury when the King called her "Lady Valois", as she hated her maternal extended family the most. She understood that, with her long name, the King may have misunderstood and interpreted her first surname as "Valois", but it was "Algenia". The Valois were not even nobles. They were Tigonese commoners, but they had struck it rich a few hundred years ago. The noble Algenia family denied purely out of social shame, and thus she hated them too, but the Valois went even further, with many of their relatives lambasting her mother for being an idiot for marrying her father and practically laughing at her face about her misfortune. If murder was legal, she would take the opportunity to hire assassins to kill them all. She attempted to hide her passionate fury, but a slight expression of annoyance escaped her clutches at that moment. She was happy to see that these Stoinians were more down-to-earth than her social circle. She was one of the few nobles of her status that did not have a servant, as she saw it as both as a frivolous monetary excess and a reminder of her family. A tear rolled down her right eye, as she remembered her father passing away whilst she was holding his hand, telling her that he was proud of her for working so hard and showing him humility, and that he was grateful that Josefina forgave him. She quickly wiped it off, desperately hoping none noticed, but she knew the King had. No time for personal feelings. Work comes first. She knew enough to be aware of her duty. "Your Majesty, I greet you once more. I do thank you for the remark on my clothing, for it is the style of the Core. I do wish to converse with you regarding your nation. Pray tell, what economic activities are your people renowned for?"
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
The King noticed Josefina's small expression, though he didn't quite expect such a responce. Was it something he said? The title he used? He was confused and even more so when he noticed her tear. He he accidentily insulted her? The Emperor didn't react as to support that claim.
He pursued to educate the Ryccian Finance minister with a rather proud tone. "Let's start from the ground up. Within our Kingdom we have dozens of mining operations, we also make sure that most of these planets if consisting of life, aren't heavily affected by it. Or at least we try. Our mining industries are quite decentralized you see. It has become that on those same planets we have hunting reserves, though I understand that practice has become quite unpopular with your people." "From there resources are transfered to our industries, mostly ship building and infrastructural projects. Though I imagine ours aren't yet as sofisticated as yours. But perhaps the most interesting subject is our ethnic merchandise. You see most of our planets are focused on certain ethnic groups, dating fron Terra herself. They each have their own culture and thus ethnic musical instruments, clothing and different motives. They are quite affordable, nearly every Stoinian can afford those things. Though they are often made in more primitive manners than yours I assume. Nearly all products are made by a hand's touch." "Another aspect is our agriculture. We have thousands of fruits and vegetables which you never heard of. Meats as well. Our most renowned farmers are the Boers, which can make nearly any inhospitable land, flourish with crops." "Might I ask what the Ryccian Empire is renowned for? Except the clothing of course. That much I gathered." Pacifica: Myria, Sallodesia, Stoinia • A1-0: Stoinian Star Kingdom • Aurora: Kingdom of Threnebor
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