Messages

Apothar Azimi,

If you wanted Asherias to be a Legate, you would have voted for her. My absence is one flaw; your vacillation and opportunism, your tendency to latch onto the next-best option to better your own personal interests is another. Why did you support the Gold League? Why did you try to cow Asherias into dropping the race and being "mentored" under the same tyrant you condemn here? Why do you pretend to care about the White League, when you never did?

You don't have to put up pretenses in our letters.

Go ask Argent for another crooked title assigned to your understudies to bleed the treasury dry, go ask for more licenses to rip out of the Scribes' hands, go ask for more, and more, and more.

You'll get nothing from me.

Regards,
Ahmet Yildirim

Mr. Fonzuvi,


We have indeed been sorely embarrassed, and democracy's spirit has itself been dealt a heavy blow it shall struggle to recover from in the coming months. I have no doubts in my mind that my co-Legate will at once begin to weave webs of lies, deceit, and subterfuge which will only hurl us further back into a pit of retrogress, and that he will sooner give the city entirely to the control of the Accord than to help in achieving my selfless, republican dream.

It was a serious mistake you've committed, but it was a mistake done with good intent. I would be remiss if I forgot to admit to no small degree of personal responsibility for bringing about this error, as I was half of the ultimate authority in passing it, and so dear sir, if you had to step down for this, then who's to say I shouldn't?

Remain in your position, Mr. Fonzuvi. There are few men with your talents and your strong sense of duty and honour in this world, and we'd be in a far sorrier state to have lost not only that law, but also you. Let us dare to struggle again to rid our Pyramid of its chronic corruption piece by piece, letter by letter. Should that we fail catastrophically, and that the plutocrats and patricians, fattened with the stolen syrup of victory, begin to snicker and sneer at us as they hold onto their still-bleeding whips of inequity from the heights of their power, then our children shall be reared by the lessons of our failures, and from our mistakes they shall bring forth a more brilliant fight than we could have ever envisioned.

I shall leave you, sir, with a fine epigram from one of the Magus's pedagogic pamphlets. I believe, and I'm paraphrasing here, that it went something like this: "Failure is the bitter seed of sweet success."

Respectfully yours,
Ahmet Yildirim

Mr. de Clercq,

It is the position of the First Seat that this law should be reinstated exactly as it was with only an added clause to make an exception for the Warmaster, as this was sincerely an unintended oversight and mistake in a moment of haste necessitated by extenuating political circumstances, and was a rather embarrassing blow to what should have been a surge of momentum towards bettering the city's legislation. In your letter you remarked that this law ought've been "further vetted" by the Scribes, but this law was entirely written and drafted by the Scribes. Understand that I tell you this not that I should absolve myself of responsibility, as I am ultimately responsible for this error, but only to tell you that these honest mistakes do happen no matter how prepared you may think yourself to be.

This is all to say that my view is that the Accorded Governance law should prevent functionaries of the accord to don another hat without first doffing one or the other. Otherwise, if they were to doubly serve as functionaries of the Pyramid in any capacity (e.g. Vizier, Master-Merchant, or any of the various other laughably corrupt "positions" in our government), then they would do so with a significant degree of bias and crookedness and the whole of the citizenry would suffer for it.

It's my desire, and the desire of my League (I should hope!) that our work be put to serve the construction of a true democracy lacking all arbitrary divisions while energetically combatting the venal opportunism that plagues our city to this very day. Without the clause preventing members of the Accord obtaining titles, then they will continue wasting away the treasury's funds to pay certain individuals who are already being paid by the government yet another wage's earnings, paid for by the rest of us and only to their individual benefit (as well as the career-politician who won a vote or two from that diabolic pact). How can we entrust members of our citizenry with not one, but two official appointments, and not expect them to act completely in bias? How many more times will we need to throw away tens of thousands of dinars through these petty, meaningless bribes that build nothing? As it stands, the system encourages our Legates to seek, for vanity, re-election, and not dutiful abolition of the Pyramid's countless flaws and contradictions. This must go!

It is true that interests of man will (almost) always be coloured by what furthers his own interests, but I should sooner have an independent Vizier than an openly flagrant pawn of one Accord signatory to dictate the entirety of our diplomatic treaties to the sole benefit of the Tower and not the city (and that is if they ever get so bold as to work, something of a unicorn in our city), which we certainly cannot abide. Do not misconstrue this as some bitter sally at the Eagle's Mount; there have been innumerable other examples of all the many members of the Accord being given sham titles as a means to bribe a vote or two, and in some of these cases they were invested with genuine authority and power! The conflict of interests is to be minimized as far as possible if we're to truly preserve and construct a democracy according to Asterabadian principles.

I should go so far as to add that that this is not even the complete Magisterial reform as I would personally have it, for if I had the support of my co-Legate, I would be most pleased to make Magistrates a position elected via a popular vote, with the stipulation that they would necessarily have to pass some manner of qualification or another, not (as it currently functions) to be given through the whims of a single individual who may or may not have personal vested interests in this appointment that counter the interests and well-being of the city and its people. We're giving the legal power of life and death to friends of the Legates, and not to those whom the position fits best. Could we be any more crooked?

Clearly, we have committed a most grave error in forgetting to clarify the Warmaster's exception. Why then, given all I have just said, do we excuse the Warmaster's from this much-despised wearing of two hats? It's because as a Lieutenant of His Sublimity's Legions, his duties and interests align exactly with his duties and interests as the chief general and war-authority of our collective troops and. In this relationship, there is as little conflict of interest as possible, but in other cases, there are more conflicts than stones in the Nusrum.

Unfortunately, this is all to waste, as I am of the opinion that passing this law now is something of a dream. It will undoubtedly become something of a political battle between our seats, and it shall not be so simply rectified due to my partner's vast repertoire of trickery and subterfuge. Democracy has been dealt a serious blow by the Majordomo, much to our chagrin, and the movement to reform our nation has undoubtedly been delayed and forcefully dragged by the collar into the depths of retrogress.

If, however, it turns out that my pessimism (which I would argue is more than reasonable given how arduous it has been to assure that my co-Legate would pass even the things he has publicly promised in the recent past) was unnecessary, and that the Second Seat gave their full assent to reinstate the law with the singular exception for our armies' field-marshal being added, then I would both rejoice and offer consent, hoping it should come to pass on the Stele as swiftly as possible.

Respectfully yours,
Ahmet Yildirim

Lieutenant Colmes,

I've elected to give them money instead of taking away your position as general. I don't want the Banda directing the theater of war. I hope you'll appreciate this, even if it means I'm giving you more work and more responsibility.

I also fought, and won, on getting a law passed to ban Accorded Magistrates and Accorded title-holders (with a wage paid for by the people's treasury) in all capacities. I hope you'll appreciate this.

I'm still working to pass the rest of my reformations. It won't be easy.

I've sent a letter to the Bey. It went as well as you'd expect. He said he's willing to let him go if we work a plan to save Grimes without a trial, without threatening "the peace of Ephia's Well", and without "the war effort being imperiled". We're going to have to think of something, fast.

Plainly, it's my fault that I failed to communicate my intentions to you beforehand. The Bey rightly chastised me on this. If I did, I bet we wouldn't be in this mess now. For that, I'm sorry.

Respectfully yours,
Ahmet Yildirim

Sorazin Bey,

You should reconsider your order to Sergeant Grimes, sir. He does not have to die. He should not have to die.

I had a plan to save him. Your orders have come, rather unfortunately, to undo all of that. His sacrifice is entirely unnecessary. Unnecessary! It's nothing but a ritual slaughter to appease bloodthirsty butchers who'll never be appeased with anything but dinar, and dinar we're already going to give them.

Rescind the order to have him march to his death, please. Help me save his life.

Respectfully yours,
Legate Ahmet Yildirim

Tesrin Hray 27th,

Cowards, traitors, and imbeciles all about me.

I am a fool to have ever thought I could do anything. It's rotten to the core, gangrenous and festering. Swarms buzz about its melting face, and what an ugly face it really is.

They were right. Democracy'll never come in this theatre. How is this sham, this autocratic mirage any better? Exiles, exiles, exiles! March them all to the gibbet, Iakmes be damned. Gods, o' Gods! If only THEY could see! If only this League was anything more than a viper's nest of cowards and opportunists.

I don't know anything— anything! Have I gone mad? Am I the only one, the only one, the only one in this miserable city that truly believes in democracy? I can't stop laughing. What a jester I am! What a tune I dance to! "Jump, dog, jump!" they yell into my ears, and the worst of it all is I'm inclined to oblige! Gods curse me.

They want to tear me apart. They want to tear this city apart. They want to tear his dream apart. What use? It's never lived a day to die.

Forgive me, my mentor, my friend! Crack your whip on my back as you should, but you must forgive me. The immortal spirit of man lies shackled, and I haven't the strength to break the fetters. I'm all alone in this marsh.

Alone.

Dear Physician,

Both the seats have agreed to see your venture invested with funds. The delay is a cause of bureaucracy, and not us ignoring you, as you may begin to think.

You'll have your funding.

With regards,
Ahmet Yildirim

Lieutenant Colmes,

I've done all I can for you. Your inaction has necessitated I make some decisions of my own.

We have to talk. Swing by my office when you've the time.

Respectfully yours,
Ahmet Yildirim

Condottiera Rosseau,

This has to end. These excesses are spilling over the brim, making a mess of everything. People are dying. More people will die if we don't fix this.

I urge you to make the time and visit me in my office at your soonest convenience. We have to speak. This won't end well for anyone, not you, not I, not anyone save Iakmes if this keeps going the way it has been.

I won't be cowed, and you've made it rather evident that neither will you, but I am willing to be amicable and cooperate. The question is: are you?

With regards,
Legate Ahmet Yildirim

Won't have internet for 3 days!
Nevermind! Technician managed to work miracles.

Apothar Azimi,

Yes, I agree with your assessment.

Regardless, my Magistrate made his decision, and I will stand by it. I may have personally chosen a different path had I presided over the case, but I was not there, and so, I can only stand behind him. I hope you can respect that.

Respectfully yours,
Legate Ahmet Yildirim

Apothar Azimi,

I greatly respect your wisdom and advice, as you are well aware, however, I must stand by my man's decision on this day and justify it. I must face cowardice and so, I bravely proclaim that his choice was the right one. It was the right decision, and moreover, a clever one, regrettably spoiled by the disobedience of the Fourth. He didn't do this by my command, request, or suggestion, but I still applaud him for his ingenious judgement.

Indeed, I applaud him, I exalt him, and I laud him! What would you have had your man do in turn? Let her off scot-free, because of her status as a "made-woman" in the Banda Rossa? Would your man have had the gall to sentence her, or would he have made the "reasonable", the "sensible" decision and let her off with a scolding? I wonder the looks on everyone's faces if that'd happened.

Conscripting her would have both humbled her and cleared her name. Conscripting her was the only way to not undermine the state, the Janissaries, and to not terribly damn the Banda (as would have been the case in an execution). It's a shame both her pride, and the soldiers' passions (and flagrant disregard for procedure) led to this. She was not meant to die. Rest assured that everything will be taken care of.

Respectfully yours,
Legate Ahmet Yildirim

Preparator Tariq Salah,

I have a great respect and love for men of the cloth, and I hold you Preparators in the highest of esteem. It is precisely this high opinion that I hold for you that I must make an order of you to perform a duty that most befits men of your fraternity.

I hereby order you, by the authority invested unto me by the people's indomitable will as an elected official of the First Seat, to seek out the remains of the deceased Prince Zosmere Never-Crown of the fallen hold of Got Valdhazr, and to see him rightly buried as befits the common dignity of all the desert's people.

Seek out Durgin Doomed-Oath and work together with him in unison to see this done. I trust your ability and your judgement, and if there is ever anything you would require to achieve this task, do not hesitate to inform me.

Respectfully yours,
Legate Ahmet Yildirim

Doomed-Oath,

The dead lie in their graves and the sins of yesterday mark a stain on our souls. How can we undo that? How can our debt ever be paid? Tight itself is twisted.

In the end, those accountable will pay their debts in full, but who is to say when and by whom? Only the Gods know the answers to these riddles.

I can never do right by your fallen people, but I can make sure that never again will we commit that same sin.

Respectfully yours,
Ahmet Yildirim

[//OOC: 3rd of September, Tuesday, at 10:00 PM GMT+0]

Honoured Sisters,

I am planning to host a show of political unity on the Verdant Stage in the Krak-des-Roses, and I would be most honoured to have you in attendance. I will be giving a speech to show the White League's unification, friendship, and fraternity, and we will hold aloft the banner of progress and collective liberation together as we march onto tomorrow with sure steps and readied hearts.

Food, drink, and entertainment will all be provided and served as befits your esteemed status. Your busy time would be well spent in this gathering, I assure you.

Your presence would be a boon to us all, honoured guest, and I hope to see there you on that blessed day.

Respectfully yours,
Ahmet Yildirim

//OOC: 3rd of September, Tuesday, at 10:00 PM GMT+0