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« on: December 30, 2015, 07:08:13 AM »
...In the wake of mind-numbing arguments and a near-infinite cascade of some of the !@#$tiest behavior I have EVER witnessed in the political scene, echoing the utterly disgraceful ignorance and loathing displayed in the American Republican pre-elections, and you all know exactly what I'm talking about, Mr. Trump - and his douchebag opponents too - I channeled the personality of my lvoely Khets'aein and spoke exactly what she would wish to say upon witnessing the absolutely horrendous atmosphere currently at play in Riombara.
I LOVED Riombara on my old character, years ago before I quit. I brought Khets'aein there expecting the amazing realm I left when I was hospitalized for months, only to find a completely ridiculous and utterly disgraceful mass-hysteria at play, wreaking havoc as the hordes murder by the hundreds.
Sorry if I offended, but it HAD to be said. If you all want to COMPLETELY destroy Riombara, the bravo - job well done. If your ambition is ANYTHING else, sorry to say, but you're DOING IT AAAAAAAAAAAALL WRONG.
I have led HUNDREDS of realms, alliances, clans, empires, guilds, coalitions, federations, what have you, in thousands of games over the last two decades. What I'm seeing in Riombara today is not the worst, but on the path to it. If you folks don't get your !@#$ straight both IC and OOC, Riombara will be naught but a baked carcass, pecked upon by carrion as the sun cooks the maggots stirring in her once-supple flesh. A feast for the dead and dying.
I had to split it into multiple messages. I've posted it here as a single message for the sake of sanity and cohesion.
Enjoy it, hate it, complain, report me, do what you wish: but all that I said was done in-character, from precisely the perspective of my character, and quite honestly, they're her words - not mine. I was planning to have her be a rebellious assassin but, like with all my characters, she simply took on a life of her own.
Behold: Khets'aein Abheroth Aurea, the out-spoken bitch who you can always trust to speak her honest mind.
Request from Khets'aeïn Äbheroth Aurea (just sent)
message to all nobles of Riombara
Each and every one of you, this bickering must end or it will destroy Riombara.
Hear me and listen to the perspective of a neutral party.
Of the 27 noble dynasties in Riombara, only a select few - perhaps a dozen to a dozen-and-half - are capable of running for Ruler. Of those 10-15, many are content with the responsibilities entrusted to them and have no desire to rule. Of those who would like to rule for the good of the realm, a number dislike the increased responsibility and constant threat of outright hostility they've seen the prior ruler face on a regular basis. Of those unafraid, some may feel they lack the time, experience, or wisdom to lead. Those that feel they can handle it, are then cut down even further by myriad ambitions, desires, internal issues, faithful conviction, or their preference for a different title they'd much rather hold.
This leaves a very small, very particular niche of individuals as our likely pool for ruler election.
Each and every one of these individuals has seen the hounding of our former ruler and internalized it - mulling it over as one savors fine wine, or spits up the piss-poor moonshine of peasant stock. They have seen how necessary it is to defend one's self, and how the lowly tactic of slandering ones rivals is commonplace in modern-day Riombara. They see how the weak are hounded, the strong are attacked, and a stalwart defense is necessary to survive.
Frankly, what the hell do you expect when you create a hostile environment? For our future rulers to be silent in the face of conflict? To not speak out and voice their views in precisely the manner their own countrymen have seen fit to do? If you sit idly in silence, a louder opponent will steal your votes. If you show force, chances are SOMEONE will respect you. If you fail to defend yourself, your rivals decry your lack of self-defense as a sign of weakness and inability to rule. Faction after faction jumps up for their thirty seconds of fame, for their chance to he the voice of reason or antagonize and put to light the perceived weakness of an adversary.
In the current political atmosphere, it is impossible to choose a ruler in truth. We are all jaded individuals with our own flaws, dreams, ambitions, fears, worries, and issues - but when we stop working toward progress, we open the floodgates of internal strife and decadence.
I'm pretty damn sure that if a judge put their foot down and declared insults and slander would result in disqualification from referendum, this childish death-cycle would come screeching to a halt. Then, of course, the more forceful arbiters of such aggression, already rooted in their ways by the very defensive nature of Man, would throw a fit... They'd then face a choice - shut their bloody mouths and act like civilized, adult, human NOBLES, or continue acting like a bunch of bickering peasant children beating each other with sticks over who gets to lead the next imaginary adventure.
Look at yourselves. Are you proud of what you see? Are the perceived differences in your political rivals worth lowering yourselves to such a level of indecency and disgrace? Have you no gods-damned SHAME!?
With every attack and smart-ass comment, bout of sarcasm, and self-righteous declaration, you belittle yourselves as nobility and RIOMBARA as a respectable nation.
Oh, how our enemies would LAUGH if they knew how the Riombaran creed has come crashing down!
As a child, I was told grand stories of the greatness of Riombara. Of its strength and virtue in the face of adversity. Its conviction, its determination, its ability to reshape itself and secure survival and stability for its people. I was tucked into bed to the sound of Riombaran war stories and heroic bellowings, of the tact and grace of a realm most honorable. As an adult, I studied its history and legacy, met the expatriate sons and daughters of its glorious dynasties, and saw - time after time - the beauty and splendor of Riombara would one day stand before me and I as its humble daughter.
What the HELL happened?
Its not about Duke versus Duke, its not about our former ruler, its not about gold, its not about power: its this cutthroat insanity, a burden of incessant anxiety you lot have placed upon yourselves. It is a CANCER that eats away the very foundation of Riombaran society, that threatens to topple something FAR greater men built with dignity, respect, diligence, virtue, blood, sweat, tears, and their very SOULS! In your self-righteous strife, in the self-serving decrepitude of your unwavering onslaught of insults resplendent, and the inordinate, wholesale inability for two people to sit down like grown adults and work out their differences without death threats and belittlement, you have SPAT upon the memory of Riombara. PISSED upon the sacred soils of its sovereignty. BURNED the glorious tapestry of beautiful history it once beheld. BURIED its sense of dignity and virtuousness in a grave of bile and hate.
Rulership be DAMNED! Unless you lot can pick up your britches and act like grown men, it doesn't matter who "gets the fancy title" and earns bragging rights. In your ignorant lack of civility, honor, and humility, you will continue to doom the nation by perpetuating the stagnant death-cycle of incessant argument and finger-pointing all the same. Shove your inflated egos back down your bloated throats and GROW UP!
YOU SICKEN ME!
Not a SINGLE one of you, both the dukes AND those speaking out against them, are worthy of being honored citizens of Riombara.
Secession? Tyranny! Death threats! What are we, a bunch of god-damned BARBARIANS!?
You're like a bunch of school children who pull down each others pants for the glory of a quick laugh, not realizing - in the end- every single one of you look like idiots with your bare-asses exposed for all the world to see. You've made a mockery of everything that makes Riombara a place worth caring for.
If you refuse to hear it from your own countrymen due to whatever inane reasoning you summon up to glorify and justify your lack of decency, respect, and common courtesy, at least have the good grace to hear it from a complete stranger - more so, one who loves what Riombara ONCE WAS.
You have made a mockery of this beautiful nation, and were it not for the path I chose to walk, I'd run for election my damn self!
I see two choices here: either we disqualify all the dukes and let the remnants run, which really cuts the potential ruler pool down to a pitiful puddle, or you lot back down, swallow your tongues, deflate your egos, get off your high horses, stop trying to show off your fancy titles and tell us all about all the awesome things you claim you have or will do, stop trying to belittle your fellow COUNTRYMEN to a degree far worse than you'd do to actual ENEMIES of Riombara, put away your weapons, open your eyes, recall those virtuous faiths some of you supposedly take part in, pull up your big-boy pants and ACT LIKE GROWN MEN!
You're NOBLES, born of generations of diligent service, honorable fealty, heroic duty, faithful conviction, and reverence to national identity and the cultures that birthed you.
Stop disgracing your noble roots and spitting upon the graves of the cascade of better men who died to make YOUR LIFE POSSIBLE!
You think THIS is bad? You're welcome to pack your things and travel to a country of your choosing. I'd love to see how much your cry for the glory of Riombara then.
HOW am I to trust you to stand beside me in combat when I know the infantry line is split between 5 factions that would sooner kill EACH OTHER than the enemy who marches upon your shores and lays waste to everything we hold dear? How am I serve honorably if I fear an arrow or dagger in my back? How am I to trust YOU to rule and show grace and decency and good sense when you can't even keep your god damn mouth shut with dignity and a little self-respect?
You are the CANCER that weakens Riombara... But the path to redemption lies in forgiveness. In brotherhood. In agreeing to disagree.
Each and every one of us holds an opinion - born of our differing lives, divergent dynasties, conflicting passions, long-held dreams, fleeting ambitions, zealous conviction, a sense of righteous duty, a belief in undying loyalty. I understand that. I respect that.
What I, and quite obviously your fellow countrymen cannot respect is this absolutely horrendous cycle of he-said-she-said, of finger-pointing and blame-spouting and belittlement that DISGRACES every single citizen of Riombara with every spittle-flecked word forged in anger, fear, and misplaced aggression.
I speak to you now as a stranger. A neutral party. A newly-migrated Riombara expatriate. A lover of thy culture.
Lay down your arms. Put aside your anger. Recall what made you once love Riombara - the things that brought you happiness and tranquility, before this chaos did erupt and drag every single one of us kicking and screaming down to the most base level of inhuman barbarism born of strife.
You are the blood of Riombara. A million men lived and died to give you thy homes. Thy banners. Thy shields. Thy fiields. Thy dynasties. Thy very names.
Look upon yourselves. Do you see what you've become? Mere shadows of the men you were before. Enveloped by anger and greed, fear and ego, each of you desperately hoping the shape the future of Riombara yet seemingly helpless to shape your own reality first.
If you cannot get a grip on your own affairs, what right have you to lead a realm? Who are YOU to tell us how best to live our lives? How can you dare CONSIDER guiding a nation when you can't even begin to bridge the gap between its peoples? To mend aching old wounds? To stand up for what is right, no matter what the personal cost?
Remember what Riombara once stood for? That memory should be of a time less organized, less glorious, less mighty, less wondrous, less important than the present day. If you look back and thirst for what was, then quite obviously things took a turn for the worst at some point and, in your blindness, each and every one of you failed to see the truth of the matter.
These wounds must be healed. The bickering must be put to an end. This chaos shall end, or the thrice-damned sea-risen undead hordes will rightfully drag us back unto their deathly tombs, laughing as we sowed the seeds of our mutual annihilation.
Please. I will ask you this but once...
Just stop and listen. Riombara cries out in agony - she weeps as her children claw at each others' throats.
This madness must end if Riombara is to survive.
Just stop.
Khets'aeïn Äbheroth Aurea
Viscountess of Nemeno
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At that point, I'd be happy to help.
