January Rollout Article

[Trekman]

http://ac.turbine.com/?page_id=440

Rollout Article

The old Viamontian woman shuffled across the room, cradling a bottle of wine in her hands. She brought the wine to the table and presented it to her guest, a younger Gharu'ndim woman dressed in blue Amuli armor. The younger woman inspected the label and sighed appreciatively.

"I never expected to see another bottle of Bonniduenne in my life," she murmured. "The grace of the Poet be upon you, Grand Mother."

The older woman laughed as she poured out two glasses. "Please, Hashina, you may call me Elgenia. And it is my pleasure to share one of my last bottles with you. I will also give you a bottle to bring back to your gracious Queen. I know that the grapes in this land are an inferior vintage to what we had in Ispar."

Hashina accepted a glass and raised it in toast. "To the success of our shared ventures, both public and private," she said.

Elgenia, the Grand Mother of Silyun, clinked her glass against Hashina's. "A worthy toast," she said, and took a long sip. "Though, speaking of sharing, there is one matter I wished to discuss with you..."

Hashina arched an eyebrow. "I must warn you that I am not empowered to discuss any other terms beyond those which we have already ratified, and the... informal cooperation agreement."

Elgenia nodded amiably. "As I expected. Call it a suggestion, to bring up with your Queen when you speak with her again." Hashina nodded, and she went on. "I think that the name of this realm we will forge together should be changed. I do not think a name like 'New Aluvia' is suitably inclusive of all Her Majesty's subjects, even before my people arrived here. It is, perhaps, best suited to region of riverlands and mountains that the Aluvians themselves claim in Dereth, but not to name the realm as a whole."

Hashina considered that. "Personally, I agree with you. We just never bothered much about names before. After our three nations escaped from the Olthoi enslavement, we were too busy with matters of survival to give it much thought. And those of us of Sho and Gharu'n were too happy to find a secure alliance to quibble much about names. Elysa did much to bring us together in the early days. And then there was all the trouble with the Hopeslayer, and then the Virindi..."

"I understand how that could be so, and I understand that, if there were no, ah, competing kingdom in Dereth, the name would be moot. But you must understand that my people in particular might not be so enthusiastic to join a realm named after a country with which we have warred for centuries. How would you like, for example, to be sworn to the Kingdom of New Milantos?"

"I take your point," Hashina said, grimacing. "Though I hardly think Aluvia and Milantos are comparable nations, I will mention it to the Queen."

"Every comparison has its limits," Elgenia agreed. "But let us move on to other matters," she said. "I know you are eager to share intelligence on Varicci and the movements of his armies."

"Of course, but there are many other things my Queen is curious about. For instance, let us discuss these Fiun creatures and their unique trials..."