Post by Keira Stokes on Jul 6, 2009 17:40:30 GMT -5
My house background probably shows my writing style (http://inwiki.wikispot.org/House_Skaoi), but it's a story/background, not an active RP. here's something stolen from my most recent RP thread in IN:
The classical music dies. The Skaoi servants seem to believe this indicates something, and the guards who have drifted around a bit immediately find their posts again. Servants disappear from view, apparently to refill beverage pitchers and goblets. From a back door, a solitary gray wolf enters the chamber, walks to the side of the Skaoi place at the table, and sniffs the air. While most of the audience's eyes are on the strange pet, heavy armored footsteps come from the same door that the wolf had walked through.
At first sight of the source of those heavy footsteps, the Skaoi guards slide one powered armor boot into alignment with the other with a loud scraping CRUNCH. As one, they clasp their right fist against their left breast with a SNAP. The three figures who emerge from the door are two heavily armored bodyguards, and the Kaiser himself. After they stop in front of the crowd, one guard proclaims "Hail! Kaiser Harri Skaoi! Duke of Alnitak, Baron of Aludra Secundus, Imperial Warden of the southeast!" and is echoed by every Skaoi in the room "HAIL!"
The Kaiser takes a moment, in the silence, to survey his guests. His cool green eyes don't betray a gram of emotion or a sliver of boredom or interest. He's not the tallest man in the room, but he does command a certain presence. Whether it's the preternatural calm, the battle-scars, the quivering servants or the crisp uniform, the man does possess something of an aura. After the silence has grown deafening and the guards have begun to sweat, he begins.
"Honorable guests. I've called you here to discuss the state of our union. I'm sorry to say that that state is atrocious. Conditions in the southeast are deplorable. And it is our job, as leaders and statesmen, to renew this once-proud sector." He pauses for a moment and again surveys the room. "The list of impoverished planets is a long one. Pleione, Navi, Alnitak, these are just a few otherwise resource-rich worlds that have been cast into abject poverty by war, anarchy, famine and plague. Meanwhile, planets like Kornephoros and Hamal have become swollen on money. The price of medical supplies is so high on Hamal that the lower half of the population simply can't afford them. Ironically, the destitute people of Alnitak have better healthcare. Meanwhile, both have rising crime and famine rates."
"In days of old these disparities would not exist. In the days of the old empire, medical supplies from Alnitak would be shipped to Hamal, pumping much needed money into the Alnitak market and offering affordable healthcare to the citizens of Hamal. Those old routes have run dry, the merchants too frightened to carry goods from one planet to the next for fear of being pirated, raided, destroyed and murdered."
"This is our failing. Every noble house in this room is responsible, and it is *this* generation that must right the wrongs of our forebears. Instead of squabbling over petty titles and misplaced senses of ownership, we should embrace the fact that free trade benefits every house, every race, every creed. When the manufacturing facilities of the Southeasten Kingdom hum with the production of goods. When the mighty trade ships begin taking precious food and textiles and industral goods to where they're most needed, our planets may ascend from their wretched state. This is a combined effort, and ultimately our individual success will hinge on the success of the whole."
The Kaiser begins pacing. "We are on the cliff's edge, my friends. We live in the densest, most anarchic corner of the galaxy. If one of us falls into the ways of our forebears, of rabid violence, of jealously guarding entire planets for our own use, while they can only use 10% of the planet's resources, I fear it will mean the fall of every house in this Commonwealth."
"I do not plead for cooperation for selfish reasons. The Commonwealth of the Southeast is my charge, and I do not intend to let it fall into the disrepair it once suffered. I would die for duty. Likewise, I would kill. The southeast *will* prosper. It *will* be brought to order. This should not be the cesspool of the galaxy. We are too determined, too proud and resource-rich to be reduced to a mob, squabbling over scraps. Competition is necessary, but anarchy is anathema to the trillions of citizens of all races that call out for order, for civilization and for prosperity."
"You have my pledge, leaders of the Commonwealth, that I will do everything within my power to make the wealth of this quadrant rival- nay- exceed any other corner of the Old Empire, but I *need* your cooperation. I would never impose a law where it is not my right, but I would have you all convinced that the only way we'll ever be more than a pack of squabbling minnows is if we set aside the petty isolationism of old and join as one linked market."
"Which is why I'd like to turn the floor over to you, my noble allies and friends, to discuss the creation of a shared currency, a common language and general agreements involving the protection of planet-enriching trade and public works. First, currency. Many of us use the Old Empire coin, others use species or planetary specific money. I believe we should embrace the new Imperial tender, the Solar. Objections, opinions?"
The Kaiser takes his place at his seat, as if to sit down as soon as someone else offers to speak.
The classical music dies. The Skaoi servants seem to believe this indicates something, and the guards who have drifted around a bit immediately find their posts again. Servants disappear from view, apparently to refill beverage pitchers and goblets. From a back door, a solitary gray wolf enters the chamber, walks to the side of the Skaoi place at the table, and sniffs the air. While most of the audience's eyes are on the strange pet, heavy armored footsteps come from the same door that the wolf had walked through.
At first sight of the source of those heavy footsteps, the Skaoi guards slide one powered armor boot into alignment with the other with a loud scraping CRUNCH. As one, they clasp their right fist against their left breast with a SNAP. The three figures who emerge from the door are two heavily armored bodyguards, and the Kaiser himself. After they stop in front of the crowd, one guard proclaims "Hail! Kaiser Harri Skaoi! Duke of Alnitak, Baron of Aludra Secundus, Imperial Warden of the southeast!" and is echoed by every Skaoi in the room "HAIL!"
The Kaiser takes a moment, in the silence, to survey his guests. His cool green eyes don't betray a gram of emotion or a sliver of boredom or interest. He's not the tallest man in the room, but he does command a certain presence. Whether it's the preternatural calm, the battle-scars, the quivering servants or the crisp uniform, the man does possess something of an aura. After the silence has grown deafening and the guards have begun to sweat, he begins.
"Honorable guests. I've called you here to discuss the state of our union. I'm sorry to say that that state is atrocious. Conditions in the southeast are deplorable. And it is our job, as leaders and statesmen, to renew this once-proud sector." He pauses for a moment and again surveys the room. "The list of impoverished planets is a long one. Pleione, Navi, Alnitak, these are just a few otherwise resource-rich worlds that have been cast into abject poverty by war, anarchy, famine and plague. Meanwhile, planets like Kornephoros and Hamal have become swollen on money. The price of medical supplies is so high on Hamal that the lower half of the population simply can't afford them. Ironically, the destitute people of Alnitak have better healthcare. Meanwhile, both have rising crime and famine rates."
"In days of old these disparities would not exist. In the days of the old empire, medical supplies from Alnitak would be shipped to Hamal, pumping much needed money into the Alnitak market and offering affordable healthcare to the citizens of Hamal. Those old routes have run dry, the merchants too frightened to carry goods from one planet to the next for fear of being pirated, raided, destroyed and murdered."
"This is our failing. Every noble house in this room is responsible, and it is *this* generation that must right the wrongs of our forebears. Instead of squabbling over petty titles and misplaced senses of ownership, we should embrace the fact that free trade benefits every house, every race, every creed. When the manufacturing facilities of the Southeasten Kingdom hum with the production of goods. When the mighty trade ships begin taking precious food and textiles and industral goods to where they're most needed, our planets may ascend from their wretched state. This is a combined effort, and ultimately our individual success will hinge on the success of the whole."
The Kaiser begins pacing. "We are on the cliff's edge, my friends. We live in the densest, most anarchic corner of the galaxy. If one of us falls into the ways of our forebears, of rabid violence, of jealously guarding entire planets for our own use, while they can only use 10% of the planet's resources, I fear it will mean the fall of every house in this Commonwealth."
"I do not plead for cooperation for selfish reasons. The Commonwealth of the Southeast is my charge, and I do not intend to let it fall into the disrepair it once suffered. I would die for duty. Likewise, I would kill. The southeast *will* prosper. It *will* be brought to order. This should not be the cesspool of the galaxy. We are too determined, too proud and resource-rich to be reduced to a mob, squabbling over scraps. Competition is necessary, but anarchy is anathema to the trillions of citizens of all races that call out for order, for civilization and for prosperity."
"You have my pledge, leaders of the Commonwealth, that I will do everything within my power to make the wealth of this quadrant rival- nay- exceed any other corner of the Old Empire, but I *need* your cooperation. I would never impose a law where it is not my right, but I would have you all convinced that the only way we'll ever be more than a pack of squabbling minnows is if we set aside the petty isolationism of old and join as one linked market."
"Which is why I'd like to turn the floor over to you, my noble allies and friends, to discuss the creation of a shared currency, a common language and general agreements involving the protection of planet-enriching trade and public works. First, currency. Many of us use the Old Empire coin, others use species or planetary specific money. I believe we should embrace the new Imperial tender, the Solar. Objections, opinions?"
The Kaiser takes his place at his seat, as if to sit down as soon as someone else offers to speak.