"I spent around five years in Emaris. Of course, I took a couple leaves here and there, but they were like a few weeks at least to three months at most."
"Did you miss home in your time there? Got a bit homesick?"
"Hardly, to be honest. Emaris was beautiful. Its people, culture, everything about it was serene and calm. Not only that, but I was happy to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who were open-minded to all cultures. Their book stores were full of books translated from various galactic cultures and I still have a couple of them with me, in fact," said Thodrig. "But let's start from where it all began, when I first arrived in the tropical planet."
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It was nice to feel a fresh gust of air. After spending a week in a ship and another week in the Zana system's starport for quarantine and to get vaccine shots for various Emarian diseases (just like Geneva), I was beginning to get a bit 'space-sick.'
Although I can't help but feel a bit tired already. I have spent my life in Nordam and Emaris isn't exactly a perfect match in terms of climate, but I am sure that I will adapt to this eventually.
A young Emarian woman approaches me and two servants head inside of the transport ship in order to grab my trunk.
"Good morning, Iridar. My name is Hanahoka, a diplomat of her majesty Empress Ketrilla XVI," she says. "I was assigned to be your guide as well as translator for the duration of your stay.
To show respect, I bow and say, "Good Morning to you as well. May my time here be of use to Emarians and Nommarians."
It was a bit fascinating to hear another species speak Standardized Nommarian. The government's adamant stance on isolationism led to attempts to translate alien languages being rejected. But that didn't stop aliens from translating ours.
We and the servants walk down a bridge that goes over a small stream and leads to a large palace that stands before me. Although the Nodammia Complex back at home outclasses this palace for me, I still appreciate the xeno architecture it exhibits.
"This is the Olymac Palace, the seat of government of the United Kingdom of Emaris as well as where the royal family lives."
"Tell me more about Olymac. I am genuinely curious about him."
"Olymac the Great was the first Emarian Emperor. He unified the various Kingdoms of the world and their kings, dukes, and barons all bowed before him," says Hanahoka. "Several regions in Emaris are governed by Kings and Dukes, but that is where all their power extends to. They are still subjects of the Empress and the Empress holds control of any extra-planetary territories."
"Fascinating," I reply. However, I feel like Hanahoka is being a bit distant. Am I perhaps annoying her or did Jargim leave a bad impression back when he was here?
I continue to follow Hanahoka and she opens the doors that led into the palace.
The palace interior is adorned with masterful murals, beautiful paintings, archaic sets of armor, and picture-perfect crystals. I see various servants setting up tables and chairs in the center of the room, a few are spreading table cloths over them and a couple more are hanging additional decorations.
"What is happening here, Hanahoka? What are these people preparing for?"
"Two days from now there will be a festival that called 'Osimas,' meaning 'Osi's Festival,' which celebrates the changing of seasons from the dry to the wet. We believe that our god of fertility and good harvest, Osi, is preparing to help the farmers with their crops by sending rain and not celebrating this festival will prevent him from sending rain."
"So the Emarians believe in several gods?"
"Yes, we do. We believe that all faiths are true, in fact," Hanahoka replies. "We believe that every god and every afterlife exists in a dimension above our own. Every soul goes to whatever destination they believed in. A good Nommar will go to the paradise they believe in; a human Buddhist will live again, and those who have none will descend into nothingness."
"That's fascinating... us Nommar believe that only our faith is true while all else are false."
"So do a lot of religions. We believe that this is because of the sense of superiority that many of us harbor deep inside. We believe that it is not faith that leads to hatred and suffering, but rather it is our chaotic desires, who corrupt them to fulfill our own selfish wants and needs."
Those words kind of strike a cord in my heart. I feel like that is how our government is. Although men like High Ruban Vatoris are good, I feel like our species believe in a sense of superiority that comes from the fact that we were the chosen of an elder race. "Your religion has some interesting beliefs. As a diplomat, those are ideas I can live by so that I could fulfill my duties of securing good relations with other peoples."
Hanahoka does not respond. We then walk up a large flight of stairs and toward a hallway with several doors on both sides, at the end of the hallway is a balcony that provides a view of a vast ocean that surrounds the palace.
We walk toward a door and Hanahoka unlocks it with a pair of keys.
The servants tell me to go inside first. The room has a large window that looks at the bridge I crossed, and I see the transport ship leaving the area. The servants place my trunk down and they exit the room.
"I will take my leave now, Iridar. If you need me, you can use your holo-phone and call the palace service and just tell them my name," Hanahoka says to me.
She begins to walk away. "Wait! When could I speak to the Empress regarding certain... accusations my people hold against yours?"
"Oh yes! I forgot about that. Sorry, Iridar," Hanahoka replies. "Her majesty has scheduled a meeting with you after supper."
"Alright, thank you Hanahoka."
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I had supper in my room, with the palace servants serving me traditional Emarian fare. After eating, an Emarian servant knocked on my door informed me that the Empress was requesting my presence.
He escorted me to a wing of the palace that held the office of the Empress where she managed the United Kingdom of Emaris from. Standing in front of the door was Hanahoka, who was clearly there to act as my translator.
"Good evening, Iridar. I am here to act as your translator and to inform you of the etiquette you need to follow when you meet her majesty Empress Ketrilla XVI."
"Alright. Tell me."
She then took around ten minutes or so explaining to me the many strict rules that came with conversing with the Emarian Empress. Some of them were practical, to make it harder for an assassin to attack her, while some where part of the Emarian religion.
After that, the servant then held the door open for me and we both entered the office of the Empress.
Upon entering the room, I saw the Empress expectantly looking at the door. As part of the guidelines Hanahoka outlined for me, I proceeded to kneel before her and she did the same as well.
"You may stand up, Iridar, Nockas." As I stand up, Empress Ketrilla then adds, "Iridar here needs no translation, Nockas. I have extensively studied Standardized Nommarian. You may take your leave.
Hanahoka then kneels, saying, "Thank you, your majesty."
As Hanahoka leaves the room, the Empress motions me to seat across her table. I take my seat and she offers me a cup of some liquid substance.
"It is Rock Tea, would you like one?" asks the Empress.
"I am full from supper, your majesty. Thank you."
"I am aware that you were sent here by the Nommar Order to discuss the cultists."
"Yes, your majesty. Apparently, the Flagship of the Final Crucible sought refuge in the Baas system, which you controlled."
"Unfortunately, we did supply them," says the Empress. "The flagship came to the Baas system and said to the officers there that they were an embattled minority who were fighting a tyrannical government. Of course, we do not view the Nommarian Government that way, but we believed them and we helped them."
"Were you aware of the acts of terror they committed?"
"No, we were not. We were rather skeptical of them, which is why we only gave them enough resources to build a shipyard and a few ships. But rest assured, we regret those action after finding out the truth."
"That is good to hear," I say. "Unfortunately however, the Nommarian Government demands some form of reparations because of the casualties inflicted by the Final Crucible, especially the HOS Naioga corvette's crew."
"We have plans. Tell High Ruban Vatoris this: to apologize for the support we gave the Final Crucible, we are planning on providing the Holy Nommar Order ten units of energy, five units of alloys to repair their fleets, and fifteen units of food. In exchange of some of the Order's rare crystals which our nobles use in their accessories; at least five units should suffice."
"That sounds great, your majesty. How long will this proposal last?"
"Around fifteen years."
"I will be sure to inform his holiness about this. May this lead to peace and prosperity for our nations, your majesty."
"I am sure it will, Iridar. You are dismissed."
I proceed to stand up and kneel before her again. "Thank you, your majesty."
"Thank you as well, Iridar."
I leave the room, triumphant. I can't help but think
wow, I am good at this.
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I am currently planning on increasing the amount of images in each post. This is mainly to keep the story engaging and exciting as I begin to decrease the pace it follows in this new chapter. Let me know if you guys are okay with more images or not.
This was also to make up for the fact that this entry wasn't exactly aar-ish because it does not give any insight into any major events. Rest assured, the next entry will be more focused on major events and please let me know if you want less of these filler entries.
