Welcome to the New Order

[Scott of Hyperborea]

The seventeenth day of Stardance 5905, the Day of Dust and Lightning, is the day of our victory.

For too many centuries, the Babkhans have been a blot upon Lirikoth, the vast and fertiles territories to the south of the Island. This Day of Dust and Lightning, it ends.

Of the Nine who chose to trust Hesmi Jayandrion, five, already old during his reign, did not live to see this day. The other four have stepped down. The Colleges of Kawivelin have been...rearranged. The local assemblies will spend many days sorting through the politics of the matter, but this I know: I, who ritually renamed myself Yyiji Tonkothion, am Elder Prince. I have declared a Kai Aphmyarkaiph a Great What-We-Are-Becoming across all Lirikoth, under the signs of the Spiral, the Star, and the White Orchid.

The lands claimed by Kai-Raikoth, Greater Hyperborea, are as follows: the Hyperborean Isles, the Cimmerian Archipelago, Hyfrost and Bjorngard. The Star, Spiral, and Orchid have been raised in all these territories, not by force but by love.

The Queen of Night's Repentant Children and the One Hundred Eight Concentric Circles have been dispatched to Caligae and Viyajar respectively, to liberate them from Babkhan domination. The King of the South and his people now realize what we of Hyperborea have known all along: that the Babkhans of Elwynn are a stain on the Duchy, and they must be rooted out like any other infestation. When those two cities have fallen, we will march on Ardashirshahr and erase the name of the Great Traitor from the map.

There will be no killing or looting. Those are Babkhan ways, not ours. There will be a rearrangement of government, a reeducation of those who can be educated, and a deportation to foreign lands of those who cannot.

I invite all the people of Elwynn to join in our What-We-Are-Becoming by casting off foreign influence physically and spiritually. Those who raise the banner of the Star and Spiral and Orchid above their towns will be recognized as friends, and rewarded. Those who do not will be presumed in sympathy with the traitors until they prove otherwise.

In the meantime, I declare the following provisional renaming of cities: Ardashirshahr will be renamed Tielion Loki, "City of Loki", after the Kaiser who has most uncompromisingly opposed Babkhan influence in the south. Viyajar will be named Alumelith, "Fjord of Elith". And Caligae will be named Galisbeis, "Newly Reborn"

The three portions of Lesser Zjandaria will be renamed as follows: the northwestern portion will be "Raeyomen", the northeastern portion "Alumikoth", and the southern portion "Lokithiat".

Rai Avon-El, named as the Steward of Elwynn, is in Shirekeep, under Imperial protection. We extend that protection to his lands and people. No man who takes up arms in our What-We-Are-Becoming may harm any of Avon-El's personal holdings. However, we will not recognize his authority as Steward until he sunders all connection with Babkha. I feel confident that Duke Nider will support my decision in this when he returns.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Material correlates of Babkhan culture are to be removed wherever they are found. The most egregious Babkhan-style buildings will be rebuilt according to native architecture. Leuki Darmidion, designer of the Mountain Temple in Talisre, has been commissioned to create a new government complex for Bjorngard, to be called the Lirikothion Kaikidun, to replace the old brutalist Byzantipol designs.



(in other words, I was doing one of my periodic Hyperborean architecture experiments that came out less poorly than usual. It's definitely a different style than my previous attempts, but I like it, and I'll have to try to fuse it somehow.)

[Andreas the Wise]

Nice design!

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Thanks for commenting, Andreas. It's always nice to know people have looked at stuff I put a lot of work into.

[Iskander Mirkdale]

Original, yet distinctively Hyperborean.

[Andreas the Wise]

Thanks for commenting, Andreas. It's always nice to know people have looked at stuff I put a lot of work into.

I wasn't sure I should comment on the original anti-Babkhan stuff when it came out, but I felt safe to do so on the design. I always love your backstories (and your treasure hunts! They were awesomeness! When's the next one? )

[Prodigy Almighty]

That building has earned the right to be called nifty.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Caligae and Vijayar have fallen without resistance.

Conditions in far north continental Benacia are grim. The Babkhans, while they held power, enforced a strict apartheid system. Not only did Babkhans oppress the local Elw, but various Babkhan subgroups vied for power among themselves. However, all Babkhan nobles important or rich enough to flee country did so after the extent of Elwynnese cooperation with the Babkhan plot to seize the Sword of Vengeance came to light, leaving most cities and counties without functioning government. After a rumor spread that the Shah had melted the Sword of Vengeance down for scrap metal, the Elw population turned against the Babkhans and began massacring some in the most ethnically divided cities, especially Vijayar and Glenfiddich. In retaliation, the Ayatollah of Caligae declared a fatwa on the Elw, and gangs of Babki hooligans have been setting fire to Elw parts of some cities. The Talotal have estimated the death toll of the last month at about 3,500 Babkhans and 5,000 Elw.

The departing Babkhan nobles deeded their titles to successors; sometimes friends and family, other times the highest bidders. These new nobles are technically the legitimate authorities of the region, but are widely separated in competence. In some areas like Ardashirshahr, they have kept a semblance of order; in others, like Glenfiddich, they rule only in name.

Upon entering Vijayar and Caligae, we took drastic steps to restore order. We have instituted a carrot-and-stick "point system" to motivate Babkhans and Elw to cooperate with the reconstruction. Communities gain points by solving their own problems, and lose them by committing acts of violence. If a community loses too many points, they are subject to martial law, confiscation of property, and resettlement. Communities that gain points receive a greater share of the local resources and of top government positions. This has calmed the worst of the fighting, as has the deportation of one hundred ten of the worst offenders to Cimmeria.

Our top priority is to hold onto these security gains, and to get water and electricity working consistently by the first snowfall. Our long term priority is to replace all schools and madrassas in the occupied cities with Hyperborean-controlled institutions; this has already begun in Caligae.

The Elw are in control of Glenfiddich. We are sending several priests and experts there to aid in the rebuilding process, but will not be taking over the city. Our forces are currently camped outside Eliria. We intend to follow the North Elwynn to Islus, demand handover of the city, and then proceed to Ardashirshahr.

[Kaiser Loki III]

Is it the cold breeze, or the self-determination?

(Wipes away a tear.)