I needed to make sure I scored high enough to qualify for becoming a military-sponsored climber when I graduated.
Even if I did rescue Tristan before graduating, I still had no interest in joining the military. Military service had destroyed my great grandfather’s mind. The military had taught my father to “discipline” me into success. I didn’t want to end up like either of them.
“Today, we’ll be discussing Valia’s relationships with the most prominent kingdoms on Kaldyn. We’ll discuss the smaller kingdoms, as well as kingdoms on other continents, in future classes. We’ll begin with our geographic neighbors. Dalenos in the north and Edria to our south.”
The mention of Dalenos made me think about Jin. There were a considerable number of foreign students here, but I’d only seen a handful of others from Dalenos. They were notoriously insular. Not necessarily xenophobic — they didn’t seem to have any problems trading with Valia or with our own students visiting them — but my impression was that they were very patriotic and that most of their citizens weren’t very interested in learning about our culture.
Professor Meltlake turned one hand upward and opened her palm. “If this is Valia...,” a white cloud, roughly triangular in shape, but with deep gaps that presumably represented bodies of water, “Then this would be Dalenos.”
She opened her right hand, and a blue cloud manifested. This one was more rectangular in shape. It formed along the north western angle of Valia’s triangular shape, stretching both further west and north. The rectangle had a large chunk missing from the center, and another on the southern side. The first one represented a big lake with a name I could never remember, and the second presumably signified the Unclaimed Lands — territory infested with vicious beasts that had never been fully settled.
“Dalenos is unique among our nations in that they are directly led and guided by one of the visages — Katashi, the Visage of Justice. While we use the term “kingdom” for simplicity, they are not a kingdom in the traditional sense; their monarch is largely a figurehead. Katashi, and by extension his priesthood, control all legal and military forces in the region. Thus, it is more accurately referred to as a theocracy.”
A student I didn’t recognize stood up to indicate she had a question. Professor Meltlake turned her head. “Yes, Constance?”
“Aren’t we all theocracies, then? I mean, don’t we all follow the same Goddess?” Constance asked, sitting back down.
Professor Meltlake shook her head. “While all nations on the continent do revere Selys, praise be to her name, most of our governments draft their own laws without direct guidance from the visages. Each of the largest nations — often colloquially referred to as the ‘Four Powers’ — do have some form of guidance from a patron visage. This generally comes in the form of occasional advice to the rulers or council. In Dalenos, Katashi and his priesthood directly control the rule of law. If there is a significant dispute, the priesthood can escalate the question to Katashi directly. He spends much of his time living directly among the people of the city in his grand cathedral.”
Another student stood up. “Does that mean that Dalenos is more important than the rest of our nations?”
Meltlake actually laughed. That was a rarity. “They’d certainly like us to think so. Historically, however, it’s more complicated than that. Five nations, including our own, used to have a visage that lived among them and helped govern in some capacity. While Dalenos would claim that their visage’s presence means that they’re the only ones who still deserve the honor, the rest of our governments tend to think we’ve just outgrown needing divine oversight. As for who is right?”
The professor shrugged. “That’s a question for the visages, not for me.”
The student sat down, a thoughtful expression on his face.
All I could think about was how glad I was that we didn’t have a visage watching over us all the time. One encounter with Katashi had been more than enough for my tastes.
Meltlake glanced around, presumably checking for more questions, and then continued after a few seconds. “Dalenos is the home to the Tortoise Spire. Of the six Shifting Spires, the Tortoise Spire is the least explored; mostly due to how difficult it is to earn the right to explore the tower for non-citizens. While all other nations allow travelers to explore their Shifting Spires for a modest fee, visiting the Tortoise Spire requires an application and interview process. This process can often take months, or even years. Thus any visit to the Tortoise Spire must be planned far in advance.”
“Next,” she waved her right hand, manifesting an expansive red cloud that stretched beneath both of the two existing ones, and even further out to the west, “Edria. Or, more formally, ‘West Edria’ and ‘East Edria’, though the distinction is falling apart these days. Edria is the single most powerful military force on the continent.”
She squeezed her hand, illuminating a flickering boundary between the two portions of Edria. “During the Six Years War, Edria invaded our bordering kingdom of Kelridge. At the time, Kelridge was a part of Dalenos. Dalenos’ queen was a Keldridge native. She remained in the nation during the invasion, refusing to surrender even when Edrian troops had surrounded her fortress. Along with her loyal retainers, she endured a full year of grueling siege, hoping that her allies from Valia or Caelford would push back the Edrian troops — but we never succeeded in dislodging them. They called her the Unbroken Queen.”