To say the meeting had not gone well would be a bit of an understatement. The lords of all the great clans had been there, obeying his call. He had guessed that at least some of them would be unhappy about the promise he had made on their behalf—he had not expected an actual challenge to his authority.
But just because it wasn’t expected didn’t mean Emperor Renault wasn’t ready for it. Of all the birds who might defy him, he had even expected it to be Lord Gabriel of house Vengeance. It could only be Gabriel, the most ruthless bird in all the Accipion Empire.
Gabriel had given an impassioned speech, repeating aloud what he had only dared to whisper until then. That Gaius had not just lost his courage, but his mind. Gaius had forfeited the right to rule, and it should pass immediately to his family instead. Needless to say, that challenge had to be answered.
It was a shame, in its way. Gabriel had once been a friend. He didn’t look forward to killing him.
Scythia’s great arena was filled with birds, he could hear them even through the thick stone walls of the preparation room. A dozen of his Plumage Guard stood around the outside of the room. In the days of his ancient forefathers, they would’ve been covered from head-to-paw in glittering polished steel. But gunpowder had changed all that, made metal armor that could’ve cost the wealth of a household near useless. These days their armor was made of cloth woven from metal fibers, which could stop small bullets or even the blade of a knife.
Needless to say, the survival rate of the Plumage Guard had declined in the last few generations.
Gaius wore something similar, though the padding was somewhat thinner, more made to insulate than it was intended to stop a sword or a bullet. There were some ancient weapons that had retained their power, even through the years. The same weapons Equestria hadn’t asked them to give up. If they had, Gaius would’ve taken it as the symbol of everything Lord Gabriel had insinuated.
The doors at the far end finally opened—not the ones leading into the area, not yet. It was his wife, along with half a dozen of the latest engineering team she had trained. They pushed a heavy wooden cart between them, or rather his wife watched as her young engineers pushed it. Stored within was the reason the emperor—and the other great and powerful warriors in the empire—did not need either metal armor or firearms.
“Well, it’s as ready as it will be,” Guinevere said, stopping the cart before him. She alone the guards didn’t watch closely—her students provoked a little notice as they approached, with a few more guards moving close to him. Just in case. “You’ll want to give them a good show. No doubt Gabriel will be as prepared as we are.”
“His preparation will not save him,” Gaius said, rising from the bench, and making his way to the opening in the cart. He took the same sturdy stance he had been trained in in his youth, when his father had insisted his only son be proficient in the use of the family heirloom. The artifact could easily break the limbs of an unprepared bird who donned it too quickly. “Today is a day of punishment. I will show the other lords that disobedience will not serve them here. I will remind them why I am the emperor.”
“I’m sure you will,” Guinevere said, in a tone that just bordered on the insubordinate. It was not a voice he would’ve tolerated from anyone else. But his wife was an exception to all that. Someone needed to keep him grounded.
She moved around to the other side of the cart, along with all her engineers. The guards retreated from near the entrance, a few of them looking visibly intimidated. Such overt magic was a rare thing in Accipio, given how few magical residents lived there. None of their training or their weapons could protect them against what was trapped within the metal container. An artifact left over from a terrible time, when monsters had ravaged all the world alike.
Guinevere pulled sharply on a lever in back, and the metal door swung open. The spell leapt out, like a furious insect, filling the air with an angry buzzing. It found Gaius.
His training prepared him for this, and he had forgotten none of it despite his age. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and waited for the magic to work. It took only seconds for the armor to form around him, weighing him down enough that there was a brief strain against his legs. Dark metal in overlapping plates, like a gigantic angry turtle. It was called Voidsteel, named for the light-devouring quality of the metal, as well as its resistance to the overt magics possessed by other races (like ponies). Wearing it, Gaius was nearly a foot taller than he was without, an imposing figure that could easily break furniture or even buildings if he wasn’t careful.
A few of the engineers dropped into nervous bows as the spell was complete, though from the annoyed sounds Guinevere made it was clear that was not what she wanted of them. “I have a bit of news for you before you go out to eviscerate old Gabriel,” Guinevere said.
Within the helmet, her voice sounded louder than it might outside it, as his senses were enhanced. Not just sound, but sight, vibration, everything. The armor did not allow its wearer imperfect senses. “Go ahead.” The helmet did not muffle his voice, though he could remove it if he wished. It was, rather, enhanced, so much that he had to speak very quietly so as not to echo through the stone ceiling and be heard by every bird on this side of the stadium.
“The Equestrian has arrived. Our son has decided they would be better served by observing the event from our private box than waiting in the palace.”
The likely consequences of that decision raced through Gaius’s mind in a few nervous seconds. If he won, that would mean some sensitive pony consort watching the ruler of another nation brutally dismembering one of his colleagues. If he lost, the pony would be trapped in the proximity of a new emperor, one who had risen to power on the agenda of invading Equestria. The first thing he would probably do was kill the pony, and send their head back to Celestia as a sign of what was to come.
You couldn’t even do an invasion correctly, old friend. You care too much for bravado and remembering old defeats. “I guess I’ll have to give her a good show, then. Show her what the birds are really like.”
“Her,” Guinevere repeated. “You impress me, husband. You didn’t assume Celestia would send a male?”
“Of course not.” He walked past her, massive boots shaking the floor beneath him. The arena was one of the few places in Scythia that was built to handle the stress such armor put on a building—he would’ve shattered the paving stones of a common road. “Equestria is the placid sow to our hungry lion. I would not be surprised if fires there burned cold.”
“The reward of your strategic education astounds me as always,” Guinevere said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. But whatever else she’d been about to say didn’t make it through the sound from outside—chanting, it seemed like. Gaius’s opponent had evidently taken the field.
Gaius had to get out there, or else Gabriel might win the crowd without him even being there to answer. “Sounds like it’s time,” he said. “I hope Gabriel’s son can lead Vengeance better than his father.”
The only answer was Guinevere’s laughter as two of the Plumage Guard flung the doors open for him.
Gaius emerged into the cleared field of the arena to the sound of thunderous cheers. The arena rose around him in many tiered levels, with those possessing the most important family names near the fighting ground itself, and those of decreasing importance spread further and further out. Even the slaves had seats near the upper tiers, though he wasn’t sure how slaves would be able to see much without a bird’s sight.
Gabriel was standing in the very center of the arena, wearing Voidsteel armor just as Gaius was. Every artifact was unique in some minor way—Gabriel’s had a spiny ridge running down the back, as well as glowing red eyes. The voice of his enemy boomed through the arena, proclaiming how Gaius had sold the whole empire into slavery, how he would see the ponies put silver collars on even the highest birds. How the ancient enemy was decadent and weak, ripe to be conquered.
Gaius let him talk—another Clan Lord had that right, though he did march slowly to meet him in the center of the arena. His own Plumage Guard filed behind him, three solid ranks now. Fifty of its hundred members were here. He imagined they were in for a frustrating few minutes, considering how little opportunity they would have to protect him.
Eventually Gabriel finished blustering, and Gaius himself stepped forward. His own armor had one advantage Gabriel’s lacked—its unique trait was the wings, which could lift it into the air and fly as fast as any bird. So far as he knew, it was the only set of Voidsteel in all the world that could enable its wearer to fly. It would belong to Clan Vengeance if he lost today.
Gaius hovered twenty meters or so in the air, trusting his guards to warn him if Gabriel decided to begin the bout early. By sacred law, they could not raise a claw to protect him, though their firearms would’ve done no good against Gabriel even if they did. “Lord Gabriel has offered you one path, Birds of Accipio! Vengeance has always been quick to remember our failures, and slow to see wisdom. If it were up to him, some of you would still be starving, because we held too tightly to the memories of our ancient methods of farming. Your soldiers would still be fighting with their claws, because we were too foolish to educate our wise and use their gifts.
“The time of another great change is coming. We cannot ignore the fire rising from below, and we cannot stop it. We also cannot fight two wars at once. Accipio must devote itself completely to surviving nature’s assault. If we split our forces, divide our resources between confronting the Equestrians and the natural threats assailing us, we will be defeated on both fronts. For the sake of every bird, for the sake of our great conquests and triumphs together, we must proceed in cooperation with Equestria.”
“You see?” Gabriel interrupted from below. His voice was exactly as loud as Gaius’s, but somehow the crowd seemed to be listening closer to him anyway. It was also against the rules. “He would see all of you turned into a gelded parody of yourselves! Gaius would build another Griffonstone!”
Trying to hold Gabriel to the strict letter of the code today would only strengthen his rival’s case that Gaius had grown too weak, and no longer trusted in his own strength. “I will not!” he countered, and abruptly he stopped flapping his wings. The armor dropped straight down, less than two meters away from Gabriel. The other bird retreated, apparently unable to judge the course Gaius would fall.
The armor caught the impact, reverberating through the stadium like a bird striking a gong. Gaius spoke into the silence that followed, his voice echoing from all around them. “It is not brave to fight a war we cannot win, no matter how justified. If you follow Gabriel, you will follow him to your deaths. We must face the enemy beneath our claws together. Equestria is a mighty enemy, a worthy adversary. But if we do not secure a future for our children first, it will not matter.”
“We will see,” Gabriel called. “Let all the honored birds among us bear witness! Our claws will decide what path Accipio will take.”
I wonder what would happen if they killed each other. Nice chapter.
Gabriel seems more the "beserker" than the "knight". As in he doesn't think ahead in duels.
I know this is probably underestimating the sod, but he seems brash and quick to act, so I can only assume it happens to be the same in combat as well.
8564765
War of succession and the griffons will run out of time.
Griffons really need to learn about centralized government and cast aside such petty things such as feudalism and clanship. You'd think for all the wisdom the emperor held in regard, he'd learned that as well.
Nice read. Looking forward to the future.
That's it, adding this to my favorites!
8565031
Well that'd work out for Equestria at least. Not so much for the slave races under griffon control tbough.
8565045
centeralized government is even worse the fedualism
8565031
When you say it like that, I wonder if that's the direction Star is going to take.
8565791
Only a horribly misinformed person would ever claim such a thing.
8566214
um no jsut look at the soviet union, Nazi Germany, China, North Korea.
I imagine I we’ll get frustrated at stubborn cultural misunderstandings, but feel sympathy for many on all sides. I’ll be following this.
8566601
Very extreme examples, the USA is a centralized nation compared to the Feudalistic nations of the past. Feudalism essentially makes nations within nations, and those tiny nations cannot (or rather will not) share their resources. The Feudal Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, an "Empire" which stretched across modern Germany, United Provinces, Northern Italy, Austria and Bohemia, could at times be matched in terms of Wealth and Available manpower as the dukes of Normandy. Feudal nations cannot access anywhere close to the full resources of their lands, often lead to instability within themselves thanks to powerful vassals, and depend on highly rigid caste systems which restrict social advancement and leave you stuck in the position you where born in, often also leaving your country with incompetent rulers. Every modern nation today is a centralized nation compared to those feudal ones, and I guarantee Feudal nations could not have reached the level of wealth, technology, production and social equity of any centralized nation, yes, even Nazi Germany, the USSR and North Korea.
8566642
that is an issue with how the US has changed over time. the founding fathes didn't want a centralized government. they rebelled against one. The representive that doesn't even live i nthe area he represents will make bad desicions for that area
8566601
And thus proving my fact. You have literally no idea what you're talking about. Every single country today is centralized. Every successful empire and every successful nation in history has gotten better because of more centralization.
Do you want civil war every time a monarch dies? Feudalism. Do you want to be a slave to lords that own the land you live on? Feudalism. Do you like roads, hospitals, schools and the like? Sorry, you cannot collect taxes because of Feudalism. Another nation is attacking you? Sorry, you have to ask your lords for an army which they very much can just deny or turn against you in support of the enemy.
There is a reason we stopped using feudalism. Because it's simply not able to cope with a modern society. Centralization is key to everything you have around you. Without it, you would most likely starve and live a generally horrible life unless you were of noble birth.
And notice most of the nations are in trouble because of it.
That reads a bit like the shardplate from The Stormlight Archive series. I suppose any form of magical armor would at least a little though
8566904
Oh good, I'm not the only one who thought of that. Plus there's the highly combative culture, the incredibly stringent gender roles (including male illiteracy) and the unending war against a frustrating enemy who never comes out and fights properly.
This certainly explains how griffons have kept a stranglehold on so much of the world. That devastating tech advantage cannot be overemphasized. And the Voidsteel is only going to further complicate matters with Equestria...
8567249
Oh yeah that's right, the male illiteracy combined with the female dominated engineering was also making me think Stormlight Archive. I was thinking that last chapter but didn't remember to comment about it.
8566601
Denmark, France, Portugal, UK...
8566750
The US was a confederation from 1781 to 1788, under the Articles of Confederation. In 1788 the Constitution was ratified, and the US became a federation, which is a form of centralized government.
So if by "changed over time", you mean "over the course of the first 7 years" (where "first" is overlapping with the tail end of the American Revolution), then sure.
8569382
the Constitutution. allowed a limited Federal Government. One that has sadly grown since. and most of those countries are havign issues because of Centeralized governments. The farther a government is form it's people the more out of touch it becomes.
8566750
The founding fathers idea was for extremely self sufficient communities, but the problems with that idea is one, it doesn't reflect the technology of the modern age, two, entirely self sufficient communities have no need to trade, so ideas don't get shared, unique goods don't get traded etc. Three, it's near impossible to create a proper military to defend those communities, especially if the opponent is more centralized, small government is a big part of why America did so poorly in the war of 1812 that they got their capital burned to the ground. And if you try to argue about how America won its war for independence, one they had the help of the French and Spanish, two the soldiers and officers who won the independence war were almost universally supporters of centralized government after it was over
8569647
no the founding fathers in the end wanted a government that answered to the people. Look at the constitution. WHile that have a national government to take care of boarders and and such there was also powerful state governments closer to the people. Hence Not Centeralised.
8570012
The United States is a centralized government that exists at the sufferance of the people, which, while a fairly unique position to be in, does not make it non-centralized.
8570296
nope.
8570012
Firstly, I don't think you understand what a centralized government actually is. Centralized governments don't mean the people have no say in it, it just means that things like taxes, laws, budgets, infrastructure etc are all managed from a central organisation. And the inverse is not true either, non-centralized governments don't mean they have to listen to the people, if you think Feudal governments gave many shits about the opinions of their citizens then you have no understanding of what feudal societies where actually like.
Secondly, even the governments of the individual States are centralized compared to feudal societies, where as in feudal societies the most important government organisation was often just the lord of the town, US State Governments are(and where) massively centralized compared to those feudal societies.
Thirdly, by virtue of having a central government which could pass certain laws over the states, could collect taxes from those states, maintain an army for those states and maintain a foreign policy for those states which they themselves could not do, the US government created by the US founding fathers was still far more centralized than Feudal Governments.
8571514
>mfw you started an online argument.
I don't believe he gets it, bro :P
8571514
no Centeralized government is everything in one spot. the european nations don't have state capitals the way america does. the reason america exists is becasue the colonist got sick of a government so far away dictating laws on them.
8571751
What like, geographically? You have a very simplified view on the world. Because you know that for example, the US government is not geographically all located in one place right?
And European countries do have states with state capitols, the capitol of Bavaria in Germany is Munich, the Capitol of Brittany in France is Rennes etc.
And yes the Americans did revolt because they where sick of a government across an entire ocean dictating some of what they could do (among other things) but you'll note that Washington DC is significantly closer to any American State than London is.
EDIT: Also, none of this is disproving the fact that Feudal governments where so much worse than Centralized ones. Nor the fact that the entire history of the American government alone has been far more centralized than Feudal governments.
8571780
The founding fathers balanced the best they could between a federal and a state government. Thus decentralized.
8571833
And my point is that even those individual State governments and the National government that shared power with them where centralized compared to Feudal governments. My other point being that Feudal governments where still far worse forms of government than centralized ones.
8572656
nah you have a chance of a good lord and worse case can move eleswhere. in a fully centeralized government there is no where to run.
8572760
...
1. Even a "good" Feudal lord often won't give many shits about their peasantry beyond their ability to pay taxes.
2. You where equally if not a bit more likely to get a tyrant of a lord, or far more likely to get a lord who was completely indifferent. And even if you do get a "good" lord, he could be an incompetent one, or murdered by a relative etc.
3. There is a feature in Feudal societies called serfdom where if a peasant was ever unable to pay their taxes (a very common occurrence in feudal societies) the peasant would then become a serf, a slave to the land, and then unable to move, you could also be born into serfdom, and there was no easy way, or even just challenging way, to get out of serfdom.
4. Even if you weren't a serf, moving to another village was an extremely risky proposition, you could get attacked by bandits along the way, there might not be any good farmland available in your new village, and, unless you have an specific trade (something rather hard to learn in Feudal societies) chances where you'd go unemployed at your new village.
5. Modern centralized governments often have emigration laws which make emigration to another place relatively easy, so if you really want to "run" it's actually quite easy.
6. this still doesn't change the fact that Centralized governments allow for more powerful, stable and wealthy countries.
8573205
depends on style of centralized government. some maybe but others not so much.
Does your country have a constitution and/or a federal government in literally any capacity?
No
> Yes
It's centralized. It doesn't have to dive headlong into an autocratic state -- it's still centralized. If your country has defined even a theoretical authority higher than your local leadership, it is centralized by definition, no matter how much you yell about the Founding Fathers (half of whom were strong federalists and explicitly wanted a stronger centralized government anyway).
8565031
Either that or the undercard bout abruptly becomes the feature match which decides the championship.
Okay. It is blatantly obvious from the way they talk that they respect absolutely nobody besides themselves. I would find a way to free the slaves and just let the dam volcano burn the rest of these megalomaniacal, homicidal psychopaths. I can see no good coming from letting them live. They are evil, plain and simple and they would see good individuals enslaved or murdered just for fucking fun. I say it would be better to just let them all die.
Anyone who ever has or ever will voluntarily own another like a possession is evil and wicked in every way. No person who has ever 'owned' another is redeemable. Slave owners are a cancer to be cut out of society before they can spread their corrupting influence.
8566904
Ooh, someone else who is a fan of Brandon Sanderson?