If we are animals, Majesties of Tortall, why should we help your travelers when bandits and pirates prey upon them?
If we are not animals, why withhold our arrows from two-legged hunters? We belong to this realm or we do not, is it not so?
If it is so, the Drell Hills centaurs require a place in the councils that serve Your Majesties, as the lords and guilds and mages have a place. We require a voice in laws that are made to keep the wives and children safe. Is this not fair? Is it not reasonable between peoples of craft and virtue?
We await your answer, Majesties.
in the hand of Wedon Padric, of Glassbrook village,
scribe to the speaker for the Drell Hills centaurs
His Majesty and I are inclined to support speakers for the Drell Hills centaur and the Royal Forest centaur enclaves in the Royal Council and the Council of Mages, George. What do you think? Also it is our belief that if we grant places to the centaurs, it should be done for the ogre clans and merfolk rookeries.
Advise Hostler Irhad: Need information with regard to Drell Hills centaurs: unity between clans had best be strong if we let one centaur speak for these eastern ones. Talk with this scribe, Wedon Padric in Glassbrook. Seemingly Nightmane trusts him with so unusual a document as this, so mayhap he trusts him with other things. Might Padric be worth bringing along as a Sparrow?
Copy to John Juggler with this note: Also contact Hostler Slowbrook and Harvester Crossways in the Royal Forest with regard to the centaur clans there. Might those clans wish to appoint a speaker for themselves united if it gives them a voice in the realm? It would also give us a way of learning how many clans are in the forest and where they’re keeping themselves.
Similar poking about must be done for the merfolk and ogres, with no time wasted.—W.M.
Inspected for hidden codes by John Juggler (graded “clean”)
June 20, 456
Most Honored Princess Shinkokami-sama,
Once again, permit me to say what a pleasure it has been for me to spend time with you, talking about your coming marriage and your forthcoming removal to my homeland. Truly a foreigner could never hope for a warmer welcome in the Islands than you have granted to my family. Your courtesy and kindness eased our longing for our home so much. We hope to do the same for you when you arrive in Tortall.
I am deeply honored that you have asked me to write down for you some of the things we have discussed about the differences between life in Tortall and in the Islands. Your own royal upbringing is such that your way will be easier than that of many of your fellow countrymen who come fresh to the Eastern Lands, but I understand your concerns. Here I will try to make note of what I feel will be your chiefest strengths, the areas where you may depend upon your Tortallan staff to assist you, and the areas which would be pitfalls to any foreign princess.
Also, please remember, you will not be left on your own. Lady Cythera of Naxen is to be your chief lady-in-waiting among the Tortallans. She is not only gracious and kind, but you will not find a lady more knowledgeable about the court, the palace, and their inner workings. Her husband, Sir Gareth the Younger of Naxen, is the king’s right hand. No couple is better trusted by Their Majesties, and you may rely on them as you would on my husband and me. We will be at court for some months, at least until your marriage, and you may always call on us when you feel the need. We live to serve you. Your own Yamani ladies are devoted to you and they have a great deal of common sense. Also, at some point, you will encounter our youngest daughter, Squire Keladry of Mindelan. She belongs to your betrothed prince’s group of friends. She will be delighted to see Your Highness again.
I have included a stuffy little pamphlet drawn up by the Royal Secretary of State’s office as a guide to the realm. I think you will find it amusing—we can laugh about it when I join you on your voyage to Tortall. It rather usefully includes a map of the realm and of the capital. I could not help but notice that your own map is getting rather tattered, and mine is little better.
Conversation and gossip
While in the Islands it is considered acceptable for a liege lord or lady to ask a vassal how many horse warriors and infantry they may bring to their lord’s service, or how many barrels of grain or other foodstuffs they harvest a year, as this, too, is a matter of concern for their lord, it is not considered polite to ask such things of other lords and ladies in these lands. The lines between overlords and vassals are far looser. Subordinate nobles may volunteer information along these lines, such as boasting about the number of barrels of wine they put up in one year, but the information is theirs to offer. The king may ask for it, but not as conversation, and he may not always get a truthful reply. The view of the queen by many of his vassals is so hostile that they would take her request for such information with great hostility unless it was a needful request for information in war.
Please do not ask if anyone has slaves. Remember, no one in the Eastern Lands is permitted to own them. Those people you see at work on road projects, in the quarries, in the mines, and on other tasks of hard labor are convicted criminals, not slaves.
Prince Roald may ask your advice on court matters, since you have not been a part of his parents’ intrigues or those of his parents’ enemies. He will be deeply grateful, I think, if the one you support first and always is him.
Forgive me for taking so personal a line, Shinko-sama, but I believe Prince Roald is lonely. I know that he is shy. It is not easy to be the child of beautiful, charming, strong-willed monarchs who took control at a very chaotic time. They have forced great changes on the realm, making enemies of some of their most powerful nobles, and have spent most of their children’s lives in combat. Those children have often been in danger, and all they know sometimes is that their first duty is to the kingdom. It would be good for the prince if, in your case, the kingdom had a kind, human face.
Public meals
We shall continue our exploration of Tortallan food, table manners, and conversation on our journey east. I know these things are proving difficult for you, as you are used to the neatness of eating sticks, the difference between our food and yours, and the way our public meals are staged. Among your own household, you may dine as you please, but I hope you will make allowance for the Tortallans who will be serving you. Yamani utensils and manners will be as difficult for them as Tortallan ways are for you. In time, our ways will become more familiar.
I understand that dining with both sexes, and with a partner not your husband, will also take getting used to. (Now you know why Piers-san and I took so many meals at home, rather than dine separately at noble houses. We enjoy our mealtime talks!) Treat your partners at meals with your usual courtesy, and you will do well. I know you will be careful to converse equally with each, so that neither takes offense. Lady Cythera should be able to learn beforehand who your dinner partners will be. She will tell you something about them so you will be better able to find a subject they enjoy. It is very fortunate that you are an excellent poet, archer, hawker, and rider, as there are few noblemen in Tortall who are not interested in at least one of these subjects, if not in that of the Islands in general. If you are the highest in rank, it is expected that you will begin the conversation. If the person seated on the side closest to Their Majesties is higher to you in rank—in your case, this would be one of Their Majesties, a visiting monarch, or His Highness, your husband—that person must begin the conversation. After you have spoken with that person sufficiently, you begin conversation with the person on your other side, who sits farther from Their Majesties.
Please steel yourself with regard to table behavior. Some of our rough country noblemen disdain polished manners, feeling that they lose their manhood if they try to act as those reared in the palace do. They will wipe their mouths on their sleeves, blow their noses on the ground or on their napkins, chew with their mouths open, bellow for their glasses or cups to be filled, and belch when they have had their fill. They disdain the use of the finger bowls or splash vigorously i
n them. Their ladies do better—it is their instinct to copy the queen, though some pride themselves on behavior that is as “bluff” and “hearty” as that of the men. Such persons must never guess that you are repulsed by their conduct, Shinko-sama. Those who are hotheaded will cry insult should you so much as widen your eyes. The clever ones will become your enemy—and the enemy of His Highness and of your future children. Many are already the enemies of Their Majesties and only look for an opportunity to go to their allies and say, “She is our enemy, too.”
The insults of commoners
When combat is not in question, should anyone below you in rank treat you with disrespect, you must allow your guards to settle the matter. Sadly, given the difference in manners between the Islands and the Eastern Lands, there will be occasions when you will be insulted in public by word or gesture. (Please note: As I told you before, unlike the Islands, here it is not considered a combat insult to call someone an animal name, such as monkey, cat, dog, and so forth. Some of these are even used affectionately. Allow your guards to judge such insults.) There are many offensive gestures in use in the Eastern Lands, but as with verbal insults, it is beneath you as a princess of Tortall to pay attention to any of them. Your male escorts—your husband or your guards—will punish in a fitting manner any who offer you such remarks. You must only show those who insult you a blank face.
Killing people
The main thing for you to remember, and the hardest, I think, is that in the Eastern Lands it is considered unseemly for ladies to fight. You may do so only when you have no guards at hand and to defend your person and the lives of your children, your husband, and his parents. You will bring shame upon the ruling house should you duel. Few ladies you will encounter are trained in combat. Of these, only Queen Thayet is equal to you in rank, and you can hardly duel your mother-in-law! Sir Alanna of Olau and Pirate’s Swoop is the King’s Champion, but her husband is only a baron, and her sword is entirely at the service of the king, your father-in-law. While she can be quite coarse at times, her bloodline is very old, her heart is good, and it would be every bit as difficult for you to duel your father-in-law’s Champion as it would for you to duel your mother-in-law. Moreover, I would not put it past Sir Alanna to refuse a challenge from you. She would feel it wrongful, as she is in the service of the realm to which you will be, in principle, wed.
Having said these things, I am certain that sooner or later you will feel it necessary to respond to an insult to your person or to defend yourself physically when attacked. This latter is more likely, as you may find yourself in a combat group with Her Majesty. In any combat, consider matters carefully, and choose your tactics to make more friends than you do enemies. Try not to kill anyone unless ordered to do so by the queen. Be sure that your ladies understand they are under the same restrictions. At present, no one here is used to the Yamani style of sword and glaive combat.
Apologies
The people of the Eastern Lands, as I have said before, will never apologize as often or as appropriately as you are accustomed to in the Islands. They will think less of you should you apologize as often as you are accustomed to, even if you do not truly mean it. Subtlety is not appreciated in my homeland. “Please forgive me” or “Please excuse me” is the deepest spoken apology you will receive from a noble, together with a bow. Those of the merchant class, the servants’ class, and the poorer classes will bow or curtsy depending upon their sex and dress, and their apologies, while graceless, will be plentiful, the more so the lower in class the offender and the greater the offense.
Your own apologies need go no further than “I apologize” or “I am sorry” to one below you in rank, together with a slight bow or curtsy. You may offer a deeper bow or curtsy to your husband and your parents-in-law, and ask them to excuse or forgive you, but you must never kneel and press your forehead to the floor as you would to the emperor. Should you offend them grossly, they will direct you to kneel, but I cannot foresee such a day in your future, my dear.
Should anyone in your service make a mistake or offend someone in some way, I know your own innate good manners will help you to apologize gracefully without injuring your personal status in any way. Should the person who has been offended demand restitution, your staff will advise you if this is proper and what is rightful if so.
As a personal note, you may consider keeping a small jar of pickled cherries and a bowl of sugared almonds in your chambers. I have it in good faith (from my daughter the squire!) that Prince Roald is quite fond of both!
I will greet you in Amakyo Seaport in two months’ time.
With my greatest hopes for your marriage and my greatest affection and respect for you, Shinkokami-sama,
I am your servant,
Greetings, Gentle Reader.
As you may be new to Tortall, this Guide is intended to ease your path and reduce unfortunate misunderstandings that may take place while you serve here as a member of your nation’s Diplomatic Corps. Be you an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ambassador’s Aide, or a worker in the employ of your country’s Embassy, you will find that reading this Guide will aid you in better understanding Tortall’s laws, customs, and practices, some of which may seem unusual to you but which Tortallans hold very dear.
Introduction
Bordered by Scanra in the North, the Great Inland Sea in the South, the River Drell in the East, and the Emerald Ocean in the West, Tortall is well located for trade in the Eastern Lands. The Drell allows for easy river access with Galla, Tusaine, and Tyra, as does the Great Inland Sea with Carthak and the Southern Lands, and the Emerald Ocean with the Copper Isles and the Yamani Islands.
The Tortallan population consists of a white-skinned majority with a brown-skinned tribal minority known as the Bazhir, which is believed to have originated in the Southern Lands. Now the Bazhir live largely in the Great Southern Desert of Tortall. While the tribes were under the theoretical control of the realm when centuries of conflict ended with King Jasson’s Treaty of Persopolis in 390 H.E., few Tortallans had amicable dealings with the Bazhir until 438 H.E., when then Prince Jonathan was adopted into the Bazhir’s Bloody Hawk tribe. Shortly afterward, he became a spiritual leader known as “the Voice of the Tribes,” a position of great influence and advisory power, which includes a seat on their Tribal Council—the first nonnative Bazhir to be chosen. As a result of King Jonathan’s unique position among the Bazhir, a significant minority have begun to integrate more fully into Tortallan society.
Slavery was formally abolished in Tortall in 249 H.E., by order of King Roger III (“Roger the Liberator”). It was the first nation in the Eastern Lands to do so. Long a haven for refugees, Tortall continued that tradition of freedom when, in 452 H.E., at the end of the Immortals War, King Jonathan permitted all Immortals who swore loyalty to the Tortallan Crown to live peacefully there, with the right to become full Subjects of the Crown with all rights pertaining thereto should they so choose.
In late 439 H.E., King Jonathan wed deposed Saren Princess Thayet jian Wilima and raised her to the position of co-monarch of Tortall. Queen Thayet not only rules alongside her husband, she also formed and rides to battle with the fighting command known as the Queen’s Riders. King Jonathan also chose the first woman knight in centuries, Sir Alanna of Barony Olau and Pirate’s Swoop, to be his Champion.
In addition to her other duties, in 440 H.E., Queen Thayet began an extensive school-building program throughout the realm, which continues to this day. As a result, Tortall can currently claim as high a literacy rate among its Noble and Merchant Classes as the Kingdom of Tyra, as well as a growing literacy rate among its Lower Orders.
Although all Gods and Goddesses are worshipped in Tortall as in most parts of the Eastern Lands, a majority of the men of the noble classes claim a special relationship with Mithros the Sun God. Most women of all classes claim a special relationship with the Great Mother Goddess and pray to her more than to any other deity. The Goddess is also invoked in Tortall’
s (and Galla’s, Tusaine’s, Tyra’s, and Maren’s) “Goddess Councils”—women’s-only courts for the handling of domestic matters, as well as issues and crimes dealing with spouse and child abuse, and rape. While these seem as if they might usurp the position of the royal courts, they are dependent upon a woman or child bringing a charge before the temple court, which many are reluctant to do.
Summation
Capital: Corus
Official Language: Common, as in the language common to all the Eastern Lands (Galla, Tusaine, Tyra, Maren, and Sarain) in addition to that country’s own tongue, should it have one
Population: 15 million
Rulers: At present, co-monarchs
Peoples:
-White majority—Ninety of every hundred
-Bazhir tribal Minority—Seven of every hundred
-Immortals—One of every hundred
-Other Nationals Resident in Tortall (Carthaki, Yamani, Raka)—Two of every hundred
Religions: the many gods of the Eastern Lands
Literacy:
-Among noble/knight class—Ninety-Five of every hundred
-Among merchant class—Ninety-Eight of every hundred
-Among lower classes—Forty-Five of every hundred
Size: Twenty-two to twenty-four days’ ride north–south (dependent upon conditions and hostiles); fourteen and one-half days’ ride east–west
Currency:
Gold noble, equal to 10 silver nobles, silver noble equal to fifty coppers
Copper nobles (commonly referred to as “coppers”)
Regarding Weapons Within the Palace:
While the number of men-at-arms you may keep with you outside the palace walls is subject to your own discretion, none may accompany you into the palace building proper. They will be escorted to waiting rooms and tended, their weapons held in safekeeping until you are prepared to leave. There are no exceptions. Should you fear for your safety while in attendance at the palace, the Palace Guard may appoint a guard for you.
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