[The Panther]

Just as I had predicted, Pythium is dead. Our lizard allies finished off the final purple province. And I am also VERY pleased to note that the undead nation is almost nearly dead too. It will be a cause for great celebration when the land of Inland is fully cleared of the Ermor blight and thus all purple nations. Cheers for Ulm! Cheers for Vanheim! And even, I must admit, cheers for the Inquisitors!

So, what next?

Well, just as I had been fully expecting for some time, Ralph, my favorite (and only) uncle, waltzed into the Queen’s Chamber with nary a hello. Even though I spotted him in my mirror, and he knew that I had done so, I continued to brush my hair to let him squirm for a bit before I turned and addressed him. “Ah, my dear uncle, welcome to my chamber!”

“Good morning, my Queen.”

OK, so he put me in a good mood with this one. Am I no longer the little girl, his niece? Am I now really the Queen of Man? Apparently so, if Ralph believes this to be true.

I then inquired very cordially, “What news of the world these days?” Of course, I kept myself fully aware of the news of the world, but it would not hurt to repay him the favor to acknowledge him as the Man Minister of State. Those small courtesy things are so easy to do and so often overlooked.

Ralph answered, “Well, Selena, Pythium is dead.” I simply nodded, for he knew I knew that. He continued, “And leaderless Ermor is also nearly dead.” I nodded again, waiting for him to get to the point. He did. “And we are now fully enclosed once again by our neighbors.”

This seemed to need a reply. “I see. And does this mean we now live in peace?” I knew the answer to this one, but I wanted to see what he would say.

“Not necessarily. You see, the rest of the Pretenders still do not acknowledge you as the true God of Inland. You are nothing but the Queen of Man to them.”

“And this is a problem?”

“Of course! How can the nation of Man prove your divinity without the rest of the lands worshiping you? How can we keep the world at peace forever until you are the sole leader? We will always have petty squabbles and war until you are crowned as the Supreme Being of All the World. We MUST continue towards this final goal.”

Now, there was a time (and not all that long ago) when I would have argued against these harsh words. Back when I was living deep in the Forest of Avalon quietly with my mum in peace, I would have never considered such grand thoughts as presented to me by my uncle. I would have been quite happy just to leave the world alone if it left me alone.

But I now know better. The world is a nasty place. Look at Cibragol, who tried mightily to annex the entire land in a HUGE hurry before he was finally called to task and killed. Look at the undead, utterly destroying VAST tracks of my lovely forests. Look towards the Inquisition, who is now complaining at Man (!) because a couple of my death sages decided to summon a few wimpy dispossessed spirits in order to kill off our mutual sworn enemy. Heck, most of those dead spirits died for the second and final time in the many battles anyway.

And look at T’ien Ch’i…

Huh? T’ien Ch’i??? Who the heck are they? I have never ever seen a Chinese soldier. I have never even once met with their reclusive leader, Pasha Tzu, or any of their diplomats such as the odd Prophet Yuck Fu. I have not read a tale from them in years. Heck, they might not even still exist. Perhaps the Overseer News Network is totally wrong about this mysterious race of Chinamen.

I had to smile at myself over this little joke. Of course TC does exist. Of course, Pasha Tzu does exist. And of course, they have NEVER done or said ANYTHING wrong to me or the fine nation of Man. In his death throes, Cibragol tried to enlist the Chinese on his side to save himself. And the wise leader Pasha Tzu showed his intelligence (in accordance with the mysterious Tzu philosophy) by staying away from a losing cause. I even have reason to believe that TC is now helping with the invasion of the blighted lands of Ermor in this righteous Cause to Rid the World of all Purple Banners. No, let’s leave the mysterious T’ien Ch’i off my list of suspects for now. I have no border with them anyway, though ONN does claim to know where they are located.

Now, I had been thinking about this for quite a while and I know what I want. But it never hurts to get the opinion of a man as wise and worldly as my dear uncle. Ralph was waiting very patiently for me to finish my musings. I studied his face, but he was as impassive as a rock. Men…

I began, “Well, Ralph, I have studied the latest ONN map plus our own intelligence reports closely. We are bordered by six nations. Let’s consider them all.

“First and foremost is Vanheim. We have had a border with them from nearly the beginning of time. Back when you and I were leading our army, we went straight to the provinces of Darkwoods and Stone Grave Mountains. We did that to try and seal the mountain pass against the undead horde to our north.

“But Vanheim took affront at being so close to their homelands. Heck, we did not even know they existed over there back then. We only knew about the undead at that point.

“So, Vanheim sent that annoying diplomat and his thinly veiled threats in response. Threats! Against me!!! I surely put them in their place.

“But they were very smart. They recalled that idiot diplomat and sent the wonderful Valkryie Mirima to talk peace with me. What a bold move. What a brilliant stroke of diplomacy. She and I got drunk off the best wine in the land. And more than once too.

“So, we reached an agreement with Vanheim. We kept Stone Grave Mountains as well as the Rockside Spring and Mineral Cave magic sites I found there. We gave up some waste territories in which Vanheim likely found their own magic sites. We even gave them the province of Tenera, which they still have yet to subjugate.

“We had a bit of disagreement over the coastal province of Gintmark. They wanted it, but we took it first. That province then revolted against my righteous rule. You probably recall that I decided that perhaps they didn’t want me as a ruler, plus my army was deep in Pythium territory, so we let it go. Vanheim has since taken it, but that is of no consequence. I had more or less obliquely agreed to let them have it anyway.

“So you see, dear uncle, we have managed to always solve every problem amicably with Vanheim ever since Mirima was appointed to deal with me.” I did not mention the private message Mirima recently sent to me alone. I did not want to hurt my uncle over the fact that Vanheim deals directly with me instead of through our Minister of State like all other nations.

Ralph took my pause as a need to reply. He said, “So, Vanheim is our most steadfast ally. We should not invade them, right?”

“Absolutely correct. Vanheim is off the list for war. Next, we look at C’tis. And here is a very interesting thing: The lizards treat us as we treat Vanheim! Their Dragon King Cole, or leader or ruler or whatever it is that they call him; He deals with you, not me! Just like Mirima deals with me, not you. I find this interesting. So, I must ask you this question because you know Cole far better than I. Should we invade the lizards?”

Ralph considered the direct question. Of course he had already been thinking about this issue for months (just as I had) and probably previously reached a private opinion about the Yellow Banner nation. And now he was going to make his private opinion public.

Ralph said, “Cole is very trustworthy. He is so incredibly powerful physically that he does not have to lie or practice any subterfuge with anybody. He is not afraid to tell the truth to anybody about anything. Thus, I inherently believe everything he says. So, based on my dealings with him, plus my spies, plus his performance in the War Against Pythium, I would offer the very strong opinion that he has no desire whatsoever to wage war upon Man. He can be fully trusted.”

“And their army?”

Ralph answered, “Strong, powerful, dangerous.”

I considered those words. I had not heard this opinion before right now. But his opinion did back up my own private ideas. So I said, “Then, we leave the lizards alone.”

“Yes, we do. And furthermore, based on their performance against Pythium, I would have to say that were we to call on C’tis for assistance in the future, they are likely to help us if it is in their own interests. We definitely should leave them alone. They have been steadfast allies. They did help us kill Pythium.”

“Fine, the Yellow and Red Banners are both off the list. So, what about the other Purple Banner? You know full well that the entire Land of Inland has joined forces to rid the world of all Purple Banners. We should help to the end, right?”

“Not necessarily, my Queen. Ermor is nearly dead. Other nations have already suffered much troop loses subjugating the undead, most especially Ulm. If we join in on mopping up the few remaining Ermor provinces, the nations already at war may take affront that we are taking the spoils without fighting any tough battles.”

I replied, “Besides, their lands are worthless anyway.”

Ralph offered a quick rebuttal. “No, Selena, they are not. Despite having no population, no infrastructure, and no taxable economy, those blighted lands are full of great magical sites. They produce a very nice gem income for whoever takes them. In fact, I find it greatly amusing that Marignon now holds the former capitol of Ermor and ALL the death income that has resulted from conquest of their lands. It must cause a splendid conflict deep within the Inquisition.”

I spoke softly, almost involuntarily, “Ah, the Inquisition.”

Ralph answered gravely, “Yes, the Orange Banner. With the destruction of Pythium, they now have the longest border of any nation with us.”

“Do you trust them?”

Ralph instantly blurted, “Hell no!!” He quickly added, “Um, sorry about the language.”

I laughed, “No problem, uncle, I have heard far worse than that on the battlefield. But do go on.”

“Well, you know they are now complaining at us because some of our sages summoned some wimpy dispossessed spirits. But, I must admit that I do not know who runs that nation anymore. Unlike the powerful Cole clearly in charge of C’tis, the quiet Aftial may have lost control of her own nation. Every since she died in the Mountains of Madness, she has come back from the dead changed somehow.”

I shuddered at the thought. Coming back from the dead? That was the scariest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. It was also one of the major reasons that I do not lead our army anymore. I simply cannot bear the though of this happening to me. I breathed deep, summoned my courage, and asked, “So, who is in charge over there?”

“No one. There are a house divided. In fact, Selena, one of their own religious houses has been secretly practicing their own death magics.”

“NOOOO!”

“Yes, Selena, they have.”

“But they have issued proclamation after proclamation denouncing all use of death magics!”

“Oh yes, they surely have. And so, they could have their own internal revolt. They could begin to fight among themselves. They are highly unstable, I assure you of that.”

“So, we should invade them immediately because they are so unstable?”

“No, Selena, we should not. An unpredictable army is also a dangerous army. An unstable nation is also a dangerous nation. Plus, they are our AYE allies. Perhaps it is better to let them self-destruct and pick up the pieces sometime later.”

These words eerily matched my own thoughts just yesterday. It therefore must be the correct answer. I said, “I agree, Ralph. I have heard their army is so zealous that they always fight to the death. We would take significant losses fighting them.”

“Well, your conclusion is valid, but there is one minor error in your reasoning. Not all of their army is composed of zealots. They can and do retreat and even rout! After all, they let their own Queen die in a particularly rough battle.”

“Yuck! I am VERY glad I am not the Queen of Marignon like poor Aftial. I really do feel sorry for that woman. So, scratch Marignon from the list. What about Ulm?”

“They would be laughingly easy to kill. We could conquer them in no time with practically no losses. It is hardly a test for Cleges and our mighty army.”

“So, we should go for them?”

“We could, Selena, but I see no particular reason to do so. Recall that there were the first of the nations to invade the undead. The Purple Banners to our north were popping up everywhere. If not for that early invasion from the Men of Iron, we likely could not have killed Pythium. We would have had to watch our northern border FAR closer than we actually did. Plus, you have been cheering on Ulm for years now. I know you secretly admire them and all their heroes in the Hall of Fame.”

“Yes, Ralph, I do. It would be slimy in the extreme to kill them after they had done the entire world such a great favor.”

We both went silent, for we both knew there was only one nation left on the list. Ralph voiced our mutual thoughts, “That leaves Pangaea.”

“Ah yes, Pangaea. A very secretive nation.”

“And a very peaceful nation, Selena.”

“I fully agree, Ralph. We have had a border agreement with them for nearly as long as Vanheim. Both Pangaea and Man have fully honored that agreement. They even did not take advantage of our temporary vulnerabilities when we were killing Pythium.”

Ralph said quietly, “So we have nothing against them. They have done nothing wrong.”

I looked up at my uncle and bored deeply into his eyes. I wanted to clearly see his reaction to my next words, “Not true, Ralph. They do not worship me. They actually worship that unknown pretender Vesnaeai. They have not spoken one word to me or to you in many, many years. Have they not?”

“No, Selena, I have heard nothing from them.”

I continued. I could see that Ralph was agreeing with me. “And they have shown that they will always fail to acknowledge me as the Supreme Being. My spies have reported the presence of at least 10 temples erected in Pangaea which were built to honor that unknown failure of a pretender called Vesnaeai. That is a grave affront to me.

“And you know one other thing, Ralph? They fly a Green Banner, same as us! That is truly a slap in my face. That is an affront to our entire nation. And they also have claimed to have the most skilled nature magic. They even erected a Mother Oak in their homeland! BUT WE ARE THE NATION OF NATURE!!!! Not Pangaea.”

Ralph was clearly surprised by my vehemence. He did not know I had it in me. I finished with, “So we should kill them and rid the land of the false Green Banner. We should eliminate them.”

Ralph replied, “It won’t be easy.”

I was momentarily surprised. “No? Surely they will be easier than Pythium.”

“No, Selena, they will actually not be easy to kill. I expect they will be harder to eliminate than Pythium was.”

“But Ralph! We lost so many troops in the Battle of Pythium!”

“We will lose many more in the battle of the Green Banners, if it comes to that.”

“Will we win?”

“Yes, we will.”

Ralph’s quiet assurance of our eventual victory solidified my opinion that had been months in the making. I said forcefully, “Then let’s do it. Send a diplomat to them and inform them that we will invade their homeland in the seventh month of the fourth year of our Lord.”

Ralph was truly shocked at this. He blurted, “But Selena! Why give them a 2 month warning? Our army is already in position because of the Battle of Pythium on their doorstep! Why not go in right now?”

“Because, Ralph, they have indeed been very honorable to us. They have never done anything truly wrong. They might have erected too many temples, and they may fly a Green Banner, and they are truly masters of nature magic. But they can hardly be blamed for doing precisely what they do best. Heck, I likely would have done the same exact things were I the Queen of Pangaea instead of the Queen of Man.

“Ralph, I owe Pangaea full honor. I owe them a fighting chance against us. Without honor, how can we get all other nations, like C’tis and Vanheim and Marignon and Ulm, and even the mysterious T’ien Ch’i to acknowledge me as the eventual Ruler of Inland? Ralph, I will always be honorable in all my dealings with all other nations who share this land.”

I then concluded most strongly, “Issue them the warning.”

“I hear and obey, my Queen.”

“Good. Now, I will prepare the Second Proclamation of Man for all to read. It will be ready before the end of the month. This document will hopefully justify this new war in the eyes of all other nations. And thank you very much, uncle. I do value your opinion highly.”

Ralph smiled at me. I knew he loved his niece. I have always known that. He bowed deeply to me and left my chamber.

Of course, I have always loved him in return.