Honestly, this might be an important question in the long run. His answer to this could tell us a lot about how the laws and social rules of the Sambian Empire work. Knowing where the lines are of what you can and cannot say could be important eventually. Clearly the lecturer believes that he won't get punished, so there's some measure of leeway by default, or merely in this particular circumstance.
They have a good grasp of mathematics which have practical uses (such as in accountancy, engineering, or architecture). They have a much shakier grasp of purely theoretical maths.
Ironically, considering Philander's former surname, I'm not sure if they would have figured out Boolean logic (or predicate calculus, which is somewhat related). Not because it's excessively complicated, but simply because they have no real need for it.
Indeed, I think Green Flame is the main reason why you would ask the questions about elves. It's not as if you know any other elves. (Dorian himself doesn't count. As a half-elf, he has the same rights as any other Sambian.)
[] "If I were to resurrect an old and long-forgotten god who wants to destroy this city and take the land for himself, would that be good for the economy? Or bad?"
See, this is why I didn't want to attend the lecture. They talk about depressing things and build sand castles.
[x] "If we end the wars with Rhuzad and the Wranni, what will all the soldiers do?"
There are no jobs, plus a lot of money ends up hoarded by the noble families. Gee, I wonder where all the soldiers are going to go for work.
So they need to do everything at once, end the wars, abolish slavery, increase taxes, curb the noble houses, alienate existing allies and ally with ancestral enemies. Nothing that a couple reforms won't fix!
A boy sitting near the front, raises a hand rather diffidently, and – when given leave to speak – suggests that someone might be arrested for sedition if they said otherwise.
'That is one problem which I feel could be solved or at least alleviated by the abolition of slavery,' says Pessimides. 'Too many menial jobs are done by slaves when it would be better to hire free men who would do a better job and – just as importantly – go out and spend their wages on various necessities and luxuries, thereby creating opportunities for other people to make money and stimulating the economy.'
'And so, for revenge, or to prevent another rebellion, or for some other damn fool reason, it was decreed that all Wranni were to be exiled from the Sambian Empire on pain of death. Many of them fled north, across the sea, to the lands of the Ryk. Others went west, to Quellonia or Enishar, to the lands of the Dunhas or Sini, or any of the small chiefdoms of the mountains. Many of them serve as mercenaries, fighting for foreign kings. Only those with Sambian blood were permitted to stay.' Pessimides sighs frustratedly. 'What a waste!'
[x] "If we abolish slavery, won't the Kingdom of Aspitolm be upset with us? They depend on slavery for everything and they're one of the few trade partners we've got left."
[x] "If we end the wars with Rhuzad and the Wranni, what will all the soldiers do?"
[x] "What about elves? Do you think they should get paid or not?"
Vote closed. Thank you, everyone. I hope to update sometime this weekend.
Edit 1: Also, I'm going to use this post to throw some dice. See below.
Edit 2: Does anyone else other than Philander want to come to the Apathy Society with Dorian?
1-2: No one
3: Athamas decides to tag along whether you like it or not.
4: Isolia agrees to tag along.
5: Venta agrees to tag along.
6: Both Venta and Isolia want to tag along.
Adhoc vote count started by Chandagnac on Aug 1, 2020 at 10:10 AM, finished with 17 posts and 14 votes.
[X] "If we abolish slavery, won't the Kingdom of Aspitolm be upset with us? They depend on slavery for everything and they're one of the few trade partners we've got left."
[X] "If I were to resurrect an old and long-forgotten god who wants to destroy this city and take the land for himself, would that be good for the economy? Or bad?"
You raise a hand. Several members of the Mathematics Club do the same, all of them seeming eager to ask questions or give their own opinions. In deference to her position as President of the Mathematics Club, Mr. Pessimides points to where Elantria Jabtoreth has raised an elegant hand, indicating that she should speak first.
'The Kingdom of Aspitolm is one of our most important trade partners. Slavery is endemic to their culture; they depend on it for everything. Wouldn't they be angry with us if we decided to abolish slavery?' she asks.
'Undoubtedly so,' says Mr. Pessimides without much concern. 'But what you should understand is that, these days, Aspitolm is relatively poor and very much in decline. Gone are the days when they had a great seafaring empire with outposts on all four continents. Their over-reliance on slavery has stifled creativity and innovation, made them lazy and indolent, and – worst of all – given them an inflated idea of their own capabilities. In recent years, they have conquered a handful of tiny islands in the Sea of Squalls, islands which traditionally belong to the Queli, and have been rattling their cutlasses and various other weapons at the Kingdom of Rivayne, but I don't expect anything much to come of it. Rivayne is only one of a dozen nations which are part of Greater Quellonia, none of whom like each other very much, but they all hate Aspitolm. If they're not careful, the Aspitis will end up in a war which they cannot possibly win. The Queli have no great seafaring tradition of their own, but they could easily rectify this deficiency by hiring Wranni mercenaries to teach them.' He pauses, takes a deep breath, and changes the course of his explanation: 'It's worth noting that the Aspitis don't make the best use of their slaves. After years of bloody rebellion, they are so terrified that their human chattel will rise up against them that they tend to execute or mutilate any slaves they even suspect of harbouring rebellious thoughts. This despite the facts that slaves are very expensive and their need to brutally maintain their system of slavery probably costs more money than it makes." He sighs deeply. "It will all end, sooner or later. With careful leadership, it could last another a couple of decades, but after that… Aspitolm will fall, eventually. Within your lifetimes, I have no doubt.' He glances around the lecture theatre, at each of you in turn. 'Does that answer your question, Miss Jabtoreth?' he asks finally.
'Yes, thank you, Mr. Pessimides,' she says with a nod. 'That was very informative.'
The lecturer glances around the room, selects someone else at random, and says, 'What was your question, young man?'
'If we end the wars with Rhuzad and the Wranni, what will all the soldiers do?'
'There are many problems within the empire which they would be useful for dealing with,' Pessimides replies, somewhat evasively. Then, after another deep breath, he gives a more complete answer: 'I know many of you are the children of nobility, so you might not enjoy hearing this, but please listen carefully. The Imperial Legion consists of an enormous number of soldiers, all of them sworn to serve the emperor above all other loyalties. If the current emperor were not a mere puppet being manipulated by various "special interests", he could use his vast army to curb the power of the nobility, strip them of their traditional rights and privileges, and centralize power in himself, becoming an absolute ruler. Perhaps it would be for the best if he did so. It won't happen, of course, but perhaps it should.'
Someone else puts a hand up. Pessimides acknowledges him with a glance. 'Yes?'
'Are we going to get into trouble for listening to this, if it's considered to be seditious talk?'
'You're all wizards, aren't you?' The shabbily-dressed scholar shrugs his shoulders. 'Wizards are expected to be eccentric, so they're given quite a lot of leeway. I wouldn't advise you to go up to the emperor or any high-ranking noble and insult him to his face, but what you discuss in private with each other is relatively safe. Besides, it is possible that someday, after you graduate from this school, you will become advisors to a prominent lord, or regional governor, or even the emperor himself. In that role, you will have to be able to think for yourselves rather than mindlessly repeating whatever you're told to believe. Therefore, your headmaster is quite keen for you to hear from different viewpoints, even if some of them might be rather unorthodox.' He pauses, looking thoughtful. 'I don't ask you to accept whatever I say without question, or to believe that I cannot possibly be wrong, or to think that my viewpoint is the only one which matters. All I ask is that you think.'
At last, Pessimides points to you and asks, 'What was your question, young man?'
'What about elves? Do you think they should get paid or not?' you ask.
He hesitates. 'In terms of the economy, elves are somewhat… problematic. They don't need to eat or drink, they barely need rest, and they can do the work of several ordinary mortals in less than half the time. Fortunately, there aren't very many of them. I don't approve of the tendency of their rich owners to keep them as bed slaves rather than get any useful work out of them, but…' His voice trails away. After another sigh, he continues, 'Within the Sambian Empire, elves are considered to be property rather than people. Therefore, anything I have said about slavery also applies to them.'
You slump in your seat, appalled by this latest revelation. So, that means… Green Flame is a slave?!
Next to you, speaking out of turn, Philander pipes up, 'Well, if the empire basically has to turn around and undo all the dumb things it did, and it doesn't, what will you be doing when it falls?'
The lecturer glares at him and seems on the verge of turning away and not answering. However, he seems to decide that it is a question in need of an answer, so he says through gritted teeth, 'If the empire falls, it won't simply vanish into the dust. I should imagine that there will be dozens of successor states laying claim to various parts of it. I will seek to become an advisor to whichever local ruler seems strong and wise and with a stable enough kingdom to be able to make good use of my advice.'
There are a few other questions after that, but the lecture is soon at an end. Elantria Jabtoreth gets up and warmly thanks Mr. Pessimides for delivering such a "stimulating" and "thought-provoking" lecture. Meanwhile, you turn to 'glance at Phil and ask him, 'So, what did you think?'
'It wasn't as boring as I thought it was going to be,' he grudgingly admits. 'I might even have learned something useful." After a moment's pause, he continues, "Hey, when the empire finally falls, what do you say we start our own country? I'll be the king, of course. And you can be…"
Hey Dorian, what do you want to be when you grow up? (Choose one)
[] "Hey, if you're going to be the king, I want to be…"
-[] "The first minister, in charge of the government."
-[] "The chancellor, in charge of the treasury."
-[] "The chief general in charge of the army."
-[] "The court wizard."
-[] "The high priest."
-[] "The spymaster."
-[] "The queen."
--[] "Why does everyone keep going on about hormones?"
-[] Something else (write in).
From listening to Pessimides' lecture, Dorian gained 2xp towards Knowledge and the possibility of gaining the 'Politics' specialty for it.
"The queen" is an obvious joke option and they're too young to be thinking about romance yet, but since Dorian was unwittingly flirty with Venta recently, I thought it was only fair that I gave him the chance to do the same for Philander. This quest will be an 'unwanted harem' comedy in no time!
Ah yes. No one fancies being that one guy stuck with meting out a punishment to a mage when they can bend the rules of Creation to their will. Better to ignore their antics and pretend you didn't notice anything until you can't ignore it anymore.
I suppose they get away with breaking a lot of laws.
[x] "Hey, if you're going to be the king, I want to be…"
-[x] "The royal diviner, in charge of all matters mystical."
Fate, lore, history, predicting the future and making sense of the past. If we have time magic in our blood, it's one of the natural applications of our abilities.
[X] "Hey, if you're going to be the king, I want to be…"
-[X] "The first minister, in charge of the government."
-[X] "That or rich with no responsibilities. Maybe just in charge of parties."
Being in charge of parties sounds fun.
Overall, I liked the chapter. The answers made sense and nicely expand the edges of the setting.
Indeed. In this setting, becoming a god is not particularly difficult at all. However, if Opernus Prentigold found out about your desire to become a god, he would probably sneer at you for your lack of ambition.
Fate, lore, history, predicting the future and making sense of the past. If we have time magic in our blood, it's one of the natural applications of our abilities.
It also includes the Explorers' Club takeover somewhere along the way.
I like the potential these guys have, if not their methods. Therefore, lore and history.
I figure the more useful we are to them, the more say we can have in what happens to things they (we?) discover. Maybe it's not every day they get to rob an ancient tomb, but I'd like to be there next time they find something like a sleeping god.
"It's worth noting that the Aspitis don't make the best use of their slaves. After years of bloody rebellion, they are so terrified that their human chattel will rise up against them that they tend to execute or mutilate any slaves they even suspect of harbouring rebellious thoughts. This despite the facts that slaves are very expensive and their need to brutally maintain their system of slavery probably costs more money than it makes." He sighs deeply. "It will all end, sooner or later. With careful leadership, it could last another a couple of decades, but after that… Aspitolm will fall, eventually. Within your lifetimes, I have no doubt.'
AND SO THE SNAKE CONSUMES ITS OWN TAIL
AHAHAHAHAHA! Die, slavers! We can only hope their rulers are incompetent enough that the fall will be soon and that the ruling class will be thrown to the masses for proper justice.
You're all wizards, aren't you?' The shabbily-dressed scholar shrugs his shoulders. 'Wizards are expected to be eccentric, so they're given quite a lot of leeway.
He hesitates. 'In terms of the economy, elves are somewhat… problematic. They don't need to eat or drink, they barely need rest, and they can do the work of several ordinary mortals in less than half the time. Fortunately, there aren't very many of them. I don't approve of the tendency of their rich owners to keep them as bed slaves rather than get any useful work out of them, but…' His voice trails away. After another sigh, he continues, 'Within the Sambian Empire, elves are considered to be property rather than people. Therefore, anything I have said about slavery also applies to them.'
You slump in your seat, appalled by this latest revelation. So, that means… Green Flame is a slave?!
I think in this context she's more like a volunteer firefighter. She should still be paid, considering her peers are, but she could leave as she pleases, I think. I hope.
And we all applaud you for it! These were fun to read!
Hey Dorian, what do you want to be when you grow up? (Choose one)
[x] "Hey, if you're going to be the king, I want to be…"
-[x] "The court wizard."
-[x] "The queen."
--[x] "Why does everyone keep going on about hormones?"
I say this because it will be funny, and because Philander's name compels me
Inserted tally @unmatchingsocks@veekie@Flashkannon
The queen is winning right now, so if you want it to win its okay, its a valid vote, but if you just vote as joke note that you might cause it to win, so maybe you would want to change your vote
Adhoc vote count started by Blademaster on Aug 3, 2020 at 6:12 PM, finished with 16 posts and 11 votes.
[x] "Hey, if you're going to be the king, I want to be…"
