//------------------------------//
// 10 - Rewriting Common Sense 
// Story: EaW: A Republican Chick's War Chronicles 
// by CheshireTwilight 
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Controversial Trial of Radical Sparks Protests at Cloudbury Courthouse

While much of the focus over the last few months has been on the National Courthouse, a development in the Cloudbury City Courthouse has been turning heads. The Citizen Militia bannergriff – Tanya of the L-NRP – has been arrested for alleged connections to organized crime and criminal conspiracy relating to the June insurrection. In light of these damning charges, the courthouse has been party to rabid protesters claiming their local “hero” to be innocent of the charges brought forth by the Republic’s police.

Only time will tell if this so-called “patriot” is a popular hero, or a popular fraud.

- Article on page 6 of the Griffonian Republic National Newspaper, Der Republifaner (1st Week of August 1003 Edition)





August 15th, 1003 – City Courthouse, Cloudbury, Griffonian Republic – Tanya POV

The Cloudbury City Courthouse was a building that had been the estate of one of the former Duke’s many cousins and its reconstruction could not hide the trappings of that aristocratic heritage. The stone facade had black, rectangular rust-marks where bronze plaques once extolled the historical virtues of some ancient achievement or another. Those now-forgotten stories had been replaced with modern ones which often had newspaper reporters and crowds flocking to see the latest criminal gossip first-claw.

“Can you comment on the Court’s accusations?!”
“What is your relationship with organized crime?!”
“Have you been harmed?! Are you alright?!”

Camera flashes and journalists shouting questions; it was a common sight on the steps of the courthouse. Different than most crowds, however, the roughly one-hundred griffons were mostly from the slums. They were L-NRP supporters and Tanya’s acquaintances who had come out to support her. She might have been touched… if the gesture meant anything. As it stood, they were no better than gawking bystanders.

‘This… isn’t quite how I imagined I would be spending my 12th birthday.’

As was common for most orphans, their “real” birthdays were unknown. After all, most were dropped off illegally and without the proper paperwork to save their impoverished biological parents some money. Tanya’s parents had been no different. She did not remember it; at that age, her personality had yet to coalesce into her new body. As such, her birthday marked the 11th anniversary of her arrival at the orphanage, with an extra year added on to bring the date closer to her “real” age. That being the case, Tanya was still glad her childhood turned out that way. While the orphanage was not great, it was better than the alternative: being neglected by unemployed vagrants.

Tanya looked up at the clock mounted in a tower above the courthouse and stopped. She tugged at the pant-leg of one of her escorts. It was the same Lieutenant that had taken her into custody just under two weeks prior.

“It looks like we’re still half-an-hour early. Hold on for a minute, I want to speak to the press.”

The Lieutenant frowned.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I wouldn’t want you to make a mistake right before the end of your trial.”

Her escort had been amusingly polite over the past week. It was probably a ploy by the judiciary to get her to leak incriminating information that would hurt her case. It had also meant her time in the Remand Center pending the result of her trial had been… surprisingly pleasant. She had quality food and was allowed regular visits from the L-NRP or her lawyer, which greatly helped in getting her affairs in order.

Tanya gave him a wry smile.

“I’ll be fine.”

That being said, the Lieutenant would normally be right. As the saying went, “anything could be used against you in a court of law”, and the media had fewer scruples than most. Still, this was the day of closing remarks and the verdict. It would be too late for the prosecution to use anything she said against her now. Not only that, but for whatever reason, judges were elected in the Republic. The best chance she had for exoneration would be a public opinion coup. If the media made her imprisonment problematic enough, the judge might reconsider. She would normally be above using such underhanded methods, but her trust in the courts had been thoroughly undermined over the course of the trial. It was like they were out to get her regardless of her innocence! Perhaps the judge wanted to look tough-on-crime for his re-election and “socialists” like herself were the perfect fodder.

Tanya turned to the journalists, waving a claw in their direction.

“Hello everygriff! I’ll answer your questions one-at-a-time, please!”

She pointed to one of them.

“You, with the red-banded trilby.”

The female griffon straightened up, grabbing a pen and notepad from her shirt and pushing her way to the front.

“Der Republifaner, national news. The police are out to prove you guilty of criminal conspiracy. What’s your relationship with organized crime?”

Tanya let out a sigh of relief.

‘Good, a soft-ball question. I can only hope that means the Republic’s national paper is on my side!’

She smiled.

“No one I know is guilty of any crimes, as far as I’m aware. I can only wait and see with the rest of you if the prosecution’s allegations have actual merit.”

It was a stock answer to a stock question. Tanya could see that the reporter was frustrated with the response, but that was understandable. The reporter had no doubt hoped Tanya would give some new insight into the case as a “reward” for the easy question, but Tanya could not afford to take any chances.

Writing something down into the notepad, the Der Republifaner reporter flipped to a new page.

“I have it on good authority that the criminal kingpin known as “Red” is a known associate of yours. Do you have any comments on your relationship with her specifically?”

‘I see what she’s doing… By making outlandish accusations up-front, it undermines questions that the genuinely adversarial press might bring up. Once Red’s been called a “kingpin”, a “casino owner” seems positively tame in comparison. Really… Der Republifaner hires quality talent.’

Tanya chuckled.

“I don’t know anything about “criminal kingpin” but everygriff in the slum knows about Red. I used to do a few odd jobs for all the employers in the slum, including Red. Honestly, if she’s such a dangerous criminal, I don’t know why I’ve been arrested instead of her.”

She did not have to pretend to show her confusion about that. While she would hardly call Red a real criminal, at least she ran an illegal casino. Compared to that, Tanya’s association with her or with the GNRF’s officers was laughable. What had she done to earn her arrest? She was a nobody; just a 12-year-old struggling to open a business.

The reporter continued her inquiries.

“In that case, I have another question-”

Before they could finish, however, another reporter had cut her off. The new speaker was a male griffon who wore a flat cap and suspenders over a simple white shirt and black pants.

“I think you’ve had enough questions! You’re badgering the poor chick!”

Both the Der Republifaner reporter and Tanya were frustrated by the interjection, but she could admit that just answering “easy questions” from a single newspaper would hardly get the press coverage she wanted.

The new reporter continued.

“Den Uafhængige, Cloudbury news. How have you been treated? Have you been assaulted by anygriff since your arrest? You can tell us.”

Tanya frowned, knowing a trick question when she heard it. Den Uafhængige had pro-monarchist leanings and the last thing she wanted was to give the publication any ammunition. At least the Republic’s government was still somewhat accountable to the people. She could simply answer truthfully… but they might twist her words to imply that they were said under duress.

Rather than fall for the bait, she turned to her Lieutenant escort.

”Well, have you hurt me in any way?”

The Lieutenant was shocked.

”Of course not! I wouldn’t dare to harm Tanya! She’s been nothing but cooperative during this entire investigation!”

Tanya chuckled and turned back to the press, making to play the whole line-of-questioning off as a joke.

”See? I wouldn’t say my arrest has been pleasant, but assault? I’ve had regular visits from the L-NRP and my lawyer. The soldiers would have to be utter morons to try anything.”

The reporter appeared embarrassed as the Der Republifaner reporter chuckled, again proving she was on Tanya’s side.

A new reporter pushed their way to the forefront of the crowd.

”Socialistisk Presse, national news. Can you explain the current state of the orphanage you manage now that you’ve been arrested? Are your orphans okay?”

Gasps and sounds of shock rang out in the crowd. Tanya could not stop her face from cringing in frustration. She had been this close to avoiding any mention about her Co-Op.

’Damn it! Go figure that the socialists would barge into the worst possible question! If they start looking too deeply into what the orphans are doing, they’ll see the truth; that it’s a cheap workforce I’m exploiting!’

While it was a necessity considering her poor financial situation, it was not something she wanted out in the open. She knew from experience that the public never took the time to appreciate the nuance of a situation.

”Well… things are going well for the orphans. I’ve had somegriff giving them plenty of homework to keep them occupied. Really, I don’t want to get them involved in any of this, so perhaps we can just move on and-”

”What’s going on here?!”

Tanya was relieved to be cut off by the sound of her ”lawyer” rushing towards her from the far edge of the crowd.

Tobias Sivenhof was known to be a famous senator for the state of Døendejord south of Cloudbury, he was well respected as being impartial and having a strong sense of political propriety. He was not a lawyer; something the judge and prosecution had reminded her repeatedly during the trial. Tanya had been desperate to find somegriff else, but none were willing to take on her case. While he had a far better understanding of the law than herself, she also felt he was utterly incapable of keeping her out of prison.

Tanya glanced at the clock on the facade of the courthouse and pretended to wince. She still had plenty of time to talk to the press, but the conversation was no longer going in a direction she wanted.

”Ah, I hadn’t noticed the time. I apologize if I’ve held things up.”

Tobias frowned.

“That isn’t what I- No, I suppose you’re right. Let’s not waste any more time. This farce should end sooner rather than later.”





August 15th, 1003 – City Courtroom #1, Cloudbury, Griffonian Republic – Tobias POV

Tobias Sivenhof was one of the few genuine Centrists in the Republic.

He had seen the good and bad of all the major political systems and had no strong opinions about any of them. There were socialists that pushed for workers’ rights and those that just wanted brutal vengeance. There were capitalists that wanted to advance the boundaries of industry and science, and those that just wanted to line their own pockets. There were monarchists who oversaw the establishment of an educated and disciplined leadership, and those that just wanted to rule without merit. While he respected the citizens of Cloudbury for their political opinions and wished them all the best in competing for the victory of their chosen “team”, it was not a game he wanted to play.

Instead, he took his job as a Civil Servant very seriously. In Tobias’ opinion, the best way to improve the country was through its institutions: by making them robust enough to weather populist changes while vetting the positions within for incompetents and malicious actors. He had spent the last 20 years balancing the powers of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the national government. He had spent the last 12 years pushing more responsibility and accountability on an educated class of bureaucrats to run things behind the scenes. He had spent the last 5 years improving the standards of education and the regulations surrounding industry and agriculture. He did all this to create a strong backbone so that – regardless of whatever political system the people would build on top of it – Cloudbury would reap the success it rightfully deserved after so many years of hardship.

It was for this reason he was chosen to represent Tanya during the trial. Rikard had pleaded with Schnabel Sunglider – head of the C-NRP – to help in her defense, but there was nothing he could legally do about it. There was no hard evidence of any wrongdoing by the R-NRP or the mayor. Instead, Tobias had volunteered to investigate things. He was no lawyer, but having founded the judiciary, he had taken it as a personal slight that the institution and its proceedings would be anything but unbiased and politically neutral.

“Court is now in session for the verdict of Tanya of Cloudbury.”

Now that he was witnessing the current situation, he could only wince at his failure. There were no secondary judges, no jury of peers, nogriff in the courtroom at all save for the prosecution, the bailiff and a single stenographer. Tobias had known the situation of the City Courts was bad – he had spent some time over the past 20 years working to fix it – but the issues kept being pushed back. There had always been higher priorities; there was never enough funding; there were not enough judges or lawyers to take on the burden.

All those explanations just felt like excuses to him now.

Judge Hoffgriff alone sat on-high, peering down at the tiny chick before him like Boreas judging a particularly odious soul. It made Tobias sick; despite all his work in trying to build up and hone the institutions of the Republic, a court case was taking place with no oversight. As far as the Cloudbury Bar was concerned, the Judge was accountable only to himself. Once over, the case could not be appealed without direct authorization of the Mayor or the President. With the current situation in the Republic, Tobias knew better than to believe Kemerskai would get himself involved in yet another political scandal.

‘It’s unbelievable! There’s nothing I can do to stop this. Of course, I’ll be quick to bring word of this to Sunglider and work hard to patch up the legal loopholes, reprimand and review the judiciary, and create new legislation to prevent something like this happening again… but that will take months or even years to complete.’

In the meantime, Judge Hoffgriff turned to the Prosecution.

“Prosecution, if you could give your closing remarks so we can get this nonsense over with?”

The Prosecution – a particularly smug griffon named Reinhard Schultz – nodded with a smile.

“We’ve had witnesses prove that Tanya is a socialist, an extremist and a terrorist. We’ve had evidence – hard evidence – of her collaboration with the L-NRP and GNRF to destabilize and weaken the Republic in plots to overthrow the government. I could go on and on… but what would be the point? I can only lament that this case was brought up in the City Court instead of the National one, and so I cannot push for the death penalty. I can only hope that justice is served in the harshest and most severe way; that Tanya and her ilk can be put away long enough that their twisted ideology and methods can no longer cause further harm to the institutions of the Republic any more!”

Hoffgriff nodded approvingly before turning to Tobias with a frown.

“Now defense, if you would-”

Tobias refused to let him finish and slammed his desk hard.

“We’ve heard from anti-socialist mouthpieces ramble about “the corrupting nature of socialism”, my repeated and reasonable requests for character witnesses have been denied. None of the witness testimony or evidence were entered using the correct methods and were almost certainly tampered with, if not outright made up. The only solid piece of evidence connecting Tanya to any of the conspiracies purported in this court is her friendly nature with Red; a business owner in the slums without a criminal record and their meeting with the GNRF who – based on actual evidence – have repeatedly stated Tanya had done nothing to further their cause! That after all of this, you would want this innocent 12-year-old killed is so reprehensible I don't have words. I can only assuage my anger with this blatant miscarriage of justice with the fact that as a Senator, I have some measure of political ability to see that real justice is carried out-”

Hoffgriff slammed his gavel.

“You’re out of line! Mentioning politics outside the scope of this case is-”

Tobias pointed at the griffon and had to bite back a snarl.

“Out of line?! I hope whatever bribe or favors you received from this were worth it, Judge Hoffgriff! Your antics here have stained the honor of the Cloudbury judiciary and you’ve made an enemy of me. When I’m through-”

The Judge slammed his gavel again.

“Contempt of Court! I’ve found your conduct in this trial wholly at odds with your reputation. Well, do you want real justice so bad?! Have it! I find Tanya guilty of all charges! Tanya is to be removed from remand detention and sent to prison for no less than 5 years! Balliff, take these two out of my sight!”

Glancing nervously outside the window to the crowd of protesters, the Judge and Prosecution quickly fled out the side door.

The frustrated bailiff walked up towards Tobias and Tanya.

“Mr. Sivenhof, sir, I… I’m not sure what-”

Collecting himself for a moment, Tobias cut off the bailiff with a shake of his head.

“Don’t. Just… give me a few minutes to talk to my client.”

Seemingly relieved that he did not have to make any difficult decisions, the bailiff walked back to the far end of the room. Tobias felt his rage cool off when he turned to Tanya. Instead, he felt tears welling in his eyes and he crouched to get a better look at the chick.

“Tanya… I’m sorry it had to come to this. This – none of this – is something you should be bearing. These are the Republic’s sins. This whole situation should’ve never happened. I could go on about how the Republic’s institutions have been waning over the years but-”

Tanya chuckled, but he could tell it was filled with nervousness.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. While obviously your talent as a lawyer leaves much to be desired – if that last outburst is any indication – I’ve spent my whole life dealing with one disaster after another. Since my employer knows I’m innocent, I suppose I can consider this… unpaid leave. You did promise to get me out of prison, right? You, Sunglider and the socialists?”

Tobias nodded gravely.

“If it’s the last thing I do.”

Tanya gave him a sad smile in return.

“Then it’s fine. I’ll still have a job after all this is over and I can leave it out on my resume. Looking on the bright side, making a few allies in the C-NRP has made some of this nonsense worth it. Besides, there is one thing I can finally get done with so much newfound free time.”

Tobias tilted his head in interest.

“What are you thinking?”

Tanya looked distracted, and was toying with her hair absentmindedly.

“The one thing any so-called “political prisoner” can do. I’m going to write a book.”





August 18th, 1003 – Left-NRP Headquarters, Cloudbury, Griffonian Republic – Rikard POV

The mood was gloomy as Tobias Sivenhof, Clara Löwenkin and Ernst Thällgriff crowded into Rikard Astler’s office. Tobias finished his summary of the events at the courthouse, but did not make any excuses. It was clear that the griffon was almost as distraught as the rest of them regarding the verdict.

“…and that was that. I’ll admit I was somewhat more emotional than normal… perhaps I’d denied my political instincts for too long. All I can say is that I’m sorry… for whatever it’s worth.”

Of course, for the L-NRP, such verdicts were par-for-the-course. Everygriff knew of socialists that “pushed too far” in politics and were sent to prison on trumped-up charges. Rikard was the only socialist in the room that had kept himself out of prison; thanks mostly to his lack of direct involvement with any protests or strikes.

Clara – who had been in prison almost as long as she had been out of one – was fuming.

“If legal means have failed, we just have to go on the offensive! I know at least a thousand griffons who are itching for a little retribution against that so-called “court of justice”. We’ve had dozens of our people put behind bars with bullshit excuses, but it’s never been so blatant until now! Nogriff believes that Tanya is guilty of anything. If the judges and the lawyers are so adamant at throwing away the rights of the people, the people should remind them of their job!”

Tobias shook his head.

“Be reasonable, please! I’ll admit I want to do nothing more than knock heads, but that won’t solve anything! You would be undercutting any moral high-ground we have while muddying the issue. People on the fence about this won’t see freedom fighters seeking to enact justice, they’ll see bandits striking at the government while the army’s distracted in the north.”

Clara looked like she was going to give an angry retort, but she was cut off when Ernst grabbed her forelimb. Ever since the verdict, the Head of Propaganda had been a shell of his former self. Rikard could imagine what the griffon must have felt; Tanya was like a daughter to them all.

“I… I just returned from the prison. I have a contact within the prison guards and they’ve all promised to keep an eye on Tanya. I spoke to her and she’s… okay. She’ll survive. She told me that compared to her time in the slums, this is a… vacation for her.”

Clara turned to him.

“You can’t be serious! She’s-”

Clara stopped as soon as she got a look at Ernst. He looked halfway between being ready to cry or smash something. He clenched a claw hard as he turned to her.

“Tobias is right. We know the truth; we know the judiciary was rigged by the mayor who’s bought-and-paid-for by the R-NRP, but we don’t know why they’re so focused on Tanya. That confusion works in their favor. Everygriff will just see two political camps arguing with circumstantial evidence on both sides. We’ll fight, of course we will… but so long as the R-NRP control the national government and Mayor Nicholas controls Cloudbury… there’s nothing we can do.”

Rikard clapped his claws together.

“Alright, alright, I think that’s a perfect reminder to step back and focus on what we’re actually here for. Nicholas can’t continue being mayor and as a Councilgriff of Cloudbury, I’m already poised to replace him. As mayor, I’ll have the authority to call for retrials with proper oversight and legal procedure. Tanya can be set free by the end of the year.”

It had always been Rikard’s plan to become mayor. As one of the few elected positions with real power left – with the national elections put on hold – it was a chance to bring the L-NRP to the forefront of political discourse. He was confident that with that power, he could rebuild Cloudbury into a successful socialist project and prove to the rest of the country that socialism was the only path forward. Of course, that had been something he had planned to do in the future. The L-NRP still only had around 20% support in Cloudbury and that was mostly towards the party rather than himself. He could not let this situation continue, however. He had to try… but it would not be easy.

Clara turned to Tobias.

“The question remains if “Mr. Centrist” over here is willing to put his reputation on the line to free Tanya or not. With the way things are going, it might be possible to get Rikard elected in a fair fight, but we all know that won’t happen. Mayor Nicholas has been running a 24 hour slander campaigns against us, posters are on every street-corner and being the incumbent mayor has its own advantages. There’s a reason he’s been re-elected again and again.”

Tobias sighed.

“I realize now that I’ve let this continue for far too long. I have to take risks if I want to see lasting reform. That being said, I can’t be the only person making compromises here. I’m not here to prop up a Democratic Socialist as mayor. That’s not just my personal opinion either. Whether I wanted it or not, my supporters will think I’ve drifted too far from the center and drop their support. That means your electoral platform will need to change. No abolition of private property, no tax-breaks for co-ops or heavy-taxation of corporations. I could go on, but I imagine you get the picture.”

Rikard nodded.

“Agreed.”

Clara turned to Rikard in shock.

“Sir! You can’t seriously be considering that! You’ll look like your betraying the cause! What will the workers think?!”

Rikard shook his head and turned to Ernst.

“That won’t be a problem, will it?”

Ernst reluctantly shook his head in return.

“No… we can come out looking fine to our supporters if we spin it right. If we can’t push for anything ostensibly socialist, we can still campaign for worker protections, charity and repealing Nicholas’ anti-socialist policies. While I’m sure some L-NRP supporters will be disappointed, as Head of Propaganda, you can leave it to me to handle that.”

Rikard nodded and turned to Tobias.

“This isn’t just about Socialism anymore, this is about preserving a Republic worth fighting for. But once this is all settled, expect that I’ll be pushing hard for socialist policies next election.”

Tobias rolled his eyes.

“You haven’t won yet. If fixing the Republic was so easy, I would’ve done it at some point over the last 20 years. Anyway, we need to focus on our policies. Here’s what I think…”

They continued talking like that, but Rikard could not help becoming distracted. This might save Tanya, but in doing so, he was compromising on his own ideals. His mind went back to his last meeting with Moe Sparrowsbane.

‘Skyvania and Moe won’t be satisfied with a nation with such a wishy-washy implementation of socialism… nor would I. It’s like Moe had said, I’m letting myself get taken in by the “easy path”. Like the President, I’m just pushing the hard choices down the road and pretending like doing so is some noble sacrifice. No, I’m just being indecisive and weak. The nation will never heal so long as the capitalists maintain control of the means of production and corporations are free to exploit the workers. It’ll turn this nation into nothing more than another aristocracy, just with corporate leaders rather than noble ones. It would be like the revolution was for nothing.’

Rikard would play along with the Harmonists for now, but for how long? Skynavia and Moe’s army would come knocking on the Republic’s door for revolution in the coming years. He could not afford to leave the nation unprepared.

If that meant he needed to betray this new partnership to gain power for the socialist cause? Then so be it.





September 23rd, 1003 – Powder Bridge Prison, Cloudbury, Griffonian Republic – Tanya POV

Powder Bridge Prison got its name for two reasons: the bridge next door which forded the Cloudbury river at the southern edge of the city, and the prison’s former purpose. 200 years ago, the structure that would become the prison was built to be a gunpowder magazine. With two-meter-thick walls, a moat for protection and large interior spaces, it could house tons of gunpowder with little risk to the nearby city. However, with the age of the cannon and musket at an end, its transition to a prison was common-sense.

Unlike most prisons in the country, Powder Bridge had been used as one long before the Republic took over. Duke Plumenjar even held Republican prisoners there, which led to damage to the prison during a daring rescue in 980. Considering its history, many wanted the prison destroyed, but the cost of removing such a solid structure was expensive and there were few prisons in the country with conditions better than the squalor of a medieval dungeon. With its security, it became the ideal place to detain political prisoners that were at a high risk of escape.

For Tanya, the past few weeks had been surprisingly mundane. She knew – based on popular media and her former life’s upbringing – that prison was to be avoided at all cost. Prisons were filled with the aberrant and insane – the worst of society – and just a short stay would leave her reputation in ruins. In this prison – and the Republic in general – things were a little different. With the most dangerous criminals either being executed or leading bands of bandits in the north, the prisoners here were non-violent. In addition, her youth had worked to her advantage. The prison guards had said in no uncertain terms that “any harm that befell her would be returned a hundredfold.”

Of course, that did not mean things were fantastic; prison was still a miserable experience she would not wish on the innocent. The food was palatable but bland, all their time was spent indoors or with their wings tied up, and the proclamation of the guards about harming her had been a little too effective. Nogriff dared to even speak with her.

Tanya looked out of the bars on her cell to see a large crowd protesting outside again. She had learned from the regular visits from Ernst that they were protesting for her, but she had mixed feelings about it.

‘Should I be grateful that they feel so strongly about my release, or shameful that my incarceration is resulting in so much squandered productivity? Really, what are they trying to prove? If they have so much time to waste, they should be working to get me released… or doing something beneficial for me like investing in my business. Anything would be better than crowding around the prison and making a nuisance.’

Ernst’s visits also allowed her to keep track of her student-employees’ progress and assign new homework. Ernst had been hesitant to support her co-op at first – what with the lack of socialist dogma and her shady use of orphans – but she rebutted him with hard facts. Nogriff was going to take care of those orphans if not for her, and the goal of her business was to be impartial and fix the problems that all workplaces in the country had: capitalist and otherwise. The idiot capitalists needed to take their workers more seriously and the socialists needed to actually do their jobs. What finally got him to agree was pointing out her previous successes. She had mediated workers’ disputes in the past with that exact same logic.

‘Of course, impartiality is just an excuse. Realistically it’s a proven fact that the politics of the Republic don’t belong in the workplace. The only thing that should drive the economy are the Free Market, the Invisible Hand of Capitalism and Common Sense. Unfortunately, everygriff here seems to utterly lack the latter…’

She looked away from the window and at a pile of paper on a nearby writing desk. It was the initial draft of her book. Fixing the common sense of the Republic had to be her primary goal upon her release. She had considered flying away to nearby Capitalist nations like Skyfall or even liquidating her assets and living like a hermit, but those were no longer realistic options. Now that she had been involved with politics for so long, it was clear that the political ideologies clashing within the Republic were just setting the stage for what was to come. Authoritarianism from Communism, Fascism and ancient Monarchies was bound to plunge the continent into war. As it stood, she had the attention – for better or worse – of the top officials in the Republic. If she was to make it to retirement alive, she could not let that opportunity go to waste.

She would show everygriff what a workplace was supposed to look like, no matter how much their incompetence got in the way.

A bell chimed and her cell door was unlocked by one of the guards. It was lunch time. Stuffing her manuscript into her shirt, she was escorted to the cafeteria where she was served chicken meatloaf, cabbage and potatoes. She lamented the lack of salt, but knew the food was edible… no matter how awful it looked and tasted. She sat down at a table by herself.

As always, most of the inmates left her alone, with one exception. Recently, a writer named Cornelius Vinke had caused a riot in a beer hall and was sentenced to spend a week in Powder Bridge Prison to “sober up”. Normally, less secure Remand Centers were used for that, but Cornelius apparently had a habit of breaking out of those. Despite his strange behavior, Tanya had worked hard to ingratiate herself with the author. The griffon was famous for his political works: everything from criticizing Harmonic Monarchies to praising Republicanism.

Waving him over, Vinke sat down across from her. She gave him a bright grin.

“I’ve managed to finish my first draft. You said you were willing to look at it? I don’t really need any grammatical correction – I’ll hire a proper editor for that – but a successful author such as you might-”

Vinke waved a claw dismissively.

“Yes, yes, little chick. Verily, my prodigious intellect will help you. While in this cage of stone and steel, your amateur writing will no doubt serve as an amusing distraction.”

Left at that, the two ate silently. Vinke glanced at her writing in between bites, but after only 3 pages, he shoved it her way.

“Bah! I would not inflict such tepid and dusty prose on my most hated of enemies! Just look at this title: “Griffon Resources: Maximizing the Productivity of the Worker”. Is this a treatise or an instruction manual? Nogriff would be convinced by such drivel! Where is the passion?! The appeals to the heart and soul?!”

Tanya huffed.

“That’s just sophistry! If I couch my words in “flowery” descriptions, I’ll only be muddying the message.”

Vinke sneered.

“Well? Are you a sophist, or a nobody? Perhaps you’d prefer to have lived the aristocratic life. As a Prince of some Boreas-forsaken hell-hole like Aquileia, you could push your dull manifesto on your servants, but this is the Republic! Politics is not about truth, it is about inciting the masses! Revolution! Truth will let your message stick, but it will not drive griffons to your cause. Do you not believe in your convictions?!”

Tanya grimaced. 

“Of course I believe in this! The concept of “Griffon Resources” will transform the Republic into a global superpower! If only people would read it-”

Vinke pointed his meatloaf-skewered fork in her direction.

“They won’t read it unless you shout it from the rooftops with your writing! Paint the picture of this so-called glorious future with your pen. When Maar once again walks among us and the apocalypse comes, perhaps your amusing little theory will help one iota, though I doubt it. No, when the cultists controlling the empire finally show their schemes…”

Tanya let the griffon writer ramble about his religious nonsense in peace. It was far from the worst she had heard. Really, for an atheist like herself, it was no stranger than the fact that they believed in gods at all. While magic existed, she had yet to see power on the same level as that which caused her to be reborn as a griffon. Save the fact that a griffons’ mass should prevent flight, the strangely colored flora and fauna, as well as a few pieces of enchanted equipment, there was little evidence of anything supernatural in the world at all. Certainly nothing that could not be adequately explained by a scientific theory or two. If such “gods” existed, they seemed content to let their faithful suffer.

‘Still… perhaps Vinke is right… no he must be right. He’s the successful writer. I’d assumed that – like Japanese Dutch Learning (蘭学) of great western works such as Clausewitz’ “On War” – so long as my book was on shelves and my points were well made, readers would find and use it to make their lives better; that politics wouldn’t play any part. It’s the same stupid trap I fall in again and again. The Republic is not my Japan. I have to completely change my way of thinking! This country seems dead set on making me a radical and refusing to listen to anything but sophistry and lies. Again and again, strikes and riots keep happening, but they. Just. Don’t. Learn!’

Finishing her lunch, the bell rang again and she was escorted back to her cell. Looking in the distance, she could see the protests still ongoing. Tanya felt like an idiot for needing Vinke to remind her what was in front of her face. She had just been too stubborn to admit it. If she was adamant on setting the nation straight, she could not pull her punches any more. She needed to use all her knowledge of ideologies and the industrialized world to her advantage.

Looking down at her manuscript, she crossed out the title. In its place, she wrote something much simpler: “The Workers’ Struggle”.