shellphones | Tutoring Request | VIDEO

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Tutoring Request | VIDEO | OPEN

Type: Video
Sender ID: forgeabettertomorrow | (Darin Altway)
To: Everyone
Subject: Darin needs some added perspective for his studies
Warnings: He's stupid

[Darin pulls back from the camera sitting at a drafting table in his home. However, instead of blueprints and sketches and diagrams, things you'd normally see on his drafting table and workstation, there's...an awful lot of textbooks. Darin reaches up and pulls the small pair of reading glasses from his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. No, he's not wearing them for show, he actually does wear reading glasses when he needs them.]

Okay, this is going to sound really really weird coming from me but...I guess I could use some help.

Does anyone understand how like...government works? Like, at all? Because it seems like a whole bunch of rules and guidelines that should be common sense until they aren't and the more I read, the more I feel like I've either understood this my entire life or I'm going crazy.

Plus? I never went to school so...anyone up for a spirited debate? Something? Anything? If I spend anymore time reading I think I might eat the next book.

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Oh, that is the Seat of Azem! No, in my memory the other members never needed to truly interfere in Azem's endeavours. But conflicts do arise, and resolving them is the duty of Elidibus - another member of the Fourteen.

[ While Hythlodaeus looks eager to be helpful and explain things, there is likely just a hint (a tiny one!) that he may be aware this is not, in fact, actively useful. ]

[ Ah, the classic pyramidal structure of society. How nostalgic. He nods along with Darin's explanation and leans a little closer to read as he listens. ]

...I see. A ruling class with a system of meritocracy beneath it. A way for the powerful to maintain and enforce a veneer of power whilst those 'lesser' fight for recognition. In addition, your kingdom favours mages and scholars. Those with no status, money, or wits are left to climb over themselves like crabs in a bucket. They have not the time to even think about revolting - which I'm sure your ruling class is keen to preserve.

[ He sits back and chuckles quietly. ]

Ah, excuse me. I implemented something very similar in the empires I built. Now, as for what I think...

[ He leans on one elbow and counts off his fingers as he runs through his thoughts. ]

Firstly, your kingdom began as a monarchy, aye? The shift towards a full meritocracy may or may not happen peacefully depending upon the politicking of those involved. Whether those merchants' and orators' silver tongues are put to use for good or ill. This always happens when you establish ranks of power amongst the populace. 'Tis an unstable and unreliable form of government, quite frankly. The moment the royal family dies, chaos ensues.

Secondly, you've mentioned merit but what of public works? Civil service? You will never eliminate poverty entirely as it is in man's nature to covet and hoard at the expense of others. What is being done to assist those struggling to work and keep them at reasonable quality of life? Or does your kingdom wash its hands of them and say, "Not our problem"? Does it simply trust in the genorosity of the wealthy?

Thirdly, if your kingdom values scholarly pursuits so heavily, what oversight is there to ensure they don't wall off the less talented? Who is in charge of deciding what is or is not public knowledge? Know that intelligence walks hand in hand with arrogance and information is the greatest double-edged knife one can wield. There is no such thing as an unbiased man.

And lastly--

[ He pauses for a moment, thinking. This has been a lot already. Without being there and living in the kingdom he can't make specific judgements. But if it's a matter of the cracks he would exploit... ]

...Lastly, I do pray your judges or juries aren't entirely beholden to the whims of your royal family. All it takes is one individual glutted on power to tip the entire system on its head. From what you have told me thus far, conditions are ripe for exploitation. I or my brethren could have easily insinuated ourselves into your kingdom's hierarchy, played upon the wealthy's insecurities, incited the anger of those left behind by your 'meritocracy' and class system both, and collapsed it all through bloody revolution.

[ He looks Darin in the eye now. ]

If you intend to pursue your relationship with the princess, know that you are but a figurehead for the kingdom. Do not presume to take upon the entirety of its people's suffering upon your shoulders, but be prepared to die for it all the same. Know that every one of its sins will fall to you, as well as every boon no matter how undeserved.

If you're going to have a king or a queen, they'd better give a damn about the actual people they're ruling.

On the other hand, they'd better not go so overboard on that bit that they're courting death every five minutes.

My elder brother. The one from the other world has long since left, and the Mycroft from my world has thankfully never arrived.

[ He doesn't miss his brother at all. Really! ]

He did not hate the royals. He worked for them and thought I should dedicate myself to the same.

[Darin was listening intently, even scribbling notes. Huh, so Emet-Selch founded his own empires. That's...just what kind of a guy was he?]

[He was about to ask, but then he went and had to talk about his relationship with Zelda. In a flash, Darin almost falls backwards out his seat.]

Wh-Whoa! WHOA!! Hold on a second!! I didn't— This doesn't have anything to do with Zelda! I-I mean...! Not...Not entirely...!

I...L-Look! I've just been thinking about my role here in this world! That's all!!

So each race had a representative on the council? And that representative would report back to the respective governing bodies? That kinds sounds similar to the guilds in my world. Each guild had a representative that took on negotiations between other guilds and lawmakers. Someone who had the interests of their people at heart.

Problem was that sometimes self-interests kicked in. It's really easy to have one man in your pocket as opposed to a group.

He worked for them?

Not gonna lie and no offense? But that sounds really awful. Before I met Zelda I thought all royalty was self-serving and pompous. In my kingdom theyd been hoarding power because the people were sick of being stuck in an outdated caste system.

So the Seat of Azem just kinda...steps in one someone gets out of line? And then Elidibus is the judiciary body?

But again, how can you guarantee that no one in that role would go rogue? That's a lot of trust to put in the hands of a single individual. And how are they chosen for the role?

[Darin blinks at that last statement.]

So uh...does your kingdom have a problem with royals that get in over their heads a lot...?

It looks like Espio beat me to the punch on our own world's system... or lack thereof. [~~Long live furry anarchy.~~]

But if it helps, one outsider to another? You're not the only one who feels nuts trying to make sense of it all. These things can get pretty messy, likely because of how many people are involved in the whole system — organizing it in the first place, running it, holding others to it, leading it...

Honestly, it's not too difficult to fathom, especially if I draw it out in the form of flow chart or something of that nature. Making it look like a blueprint kinda helps my brain understand it.

I guess my sticking point is just...the realization that there's no such thing as a foolproof government. All it takes is one bad actor and everything starts to grind to a halt. It's like if one gear gets rusted and cracked, it throws the whole array out of whack.

I mean... ultimately, it's a bunch of rules made up by people. So it makes sense that it can be changed or broken by people just as easily.

But it's probably a good thing that it can be, isn't it? Because the bad actor could just as easily be the chief of the whole system, or even the guy who drew up the blueprints. What if it kept running, no matter what happened to the gears inside of it? How would you fix the parts that weren't working?

[Can you tell he's had to deal with a would-be robotic dictator trying to take over everything? Because he's not going to derail the conversation to get into that. Yet. But it probably shows.]

So Government is just a perpetual work of optimization?

Honestly, that's a lot less complicated than it sounds. At least to me. Kinda makes me wonder what could have been changed with the way my kingdom has been governed.

Just a few. Only the ones who "made a contribution to the galaxy". Humans pushed back an invasion, asari found the Citadel and founded the Council with the salarians, and turians... well. We bombed the krogan into submission and released the genophage on them. But it's got the same problems as you're talking about. And the war just made that more obvious. None of them would help the effort until their own people were secured. Against the Reapers, that just wasn't possible.

I dont think you ever actually told me what Reapers were. Worse than a planet destroying god?

Didn't I? Damn. They're... yeah, I'd say they're worse. At least if a god destroys your planet, it's quick. They're sentient machines, probably the size of these Leviathans. And there's an army's worth of them. Organic beings are, to them, the same as livestock, or farm crops. They let them mature, evolve, develop technology and culture and history and then bam. They pop back up again, and harvest anything with an IQ. To process into more Reapers. Or turn into shock troops - husks. Indoctrinated, techno-organic monsters controlled completely by the Reapers. You're not fighting them half the time, you're fighting your own people.

Thats what you guys were dealing with?? Whats even their end game? Why keep doing this? Wont they eventually

I dunno

run out of life??

It's what makes sense to me, too. Keep what works, change what doesn't. You'd think it wouldn't be such a radical idea!

Why? Were there things you would've liked to see change?

They see themselves as the dominant species. Harvesting, reaping, organic life to maintain themselves. Once the galaxy's wiped clean, they go back to wherever the hell they stay between cycles. And let life evolve again until they're ready to come back.

In my world? Absolutely. The whole system of government was changing, but too much old blood was doing everything it could to cling to power. Keep the nobles in a position of lordship, keep the peasantry down, and making sure that people of low birth stayed there no matter how much they contributed.

Meritocracy was on the rise but that didnt stop a large swath of the aristocracy from digging in their heels and clutching at whatever they could keep. Not to mention, the royal family is in a bad position to rule in favor of anyone.

And that's before The Church got involved.

Short version? I'd throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one if I could.

So they just swoop in every several eons, clean house, then hope their bumper crop grows back?

Yeah pretty sure if I lived in your universe Id use all of my strength to fight them off too.

Yeah. That's pretty much it, exactly. Or it was... until recently. We could have used you, truth be told.

What really? What makes you think I could stand up to something like that?

And what happened recently?

... Are you serious? Do you not remember throwing an entire ship? The shark men?

["What happened"]

[Well, that gets him to actually smirk a little, on his end.]

Shepard happened. She... they were actually afraid of her. She'd killed more than one of them, and they knew it. And in the end? She managed to find a way to take them all down at once.

... yyyeah, I'd get a revolution going as quickly as possible. [That's rough, buddy.]

Wait, what's going on with the royal family? What bad position? I'm a little curious, since royalty can solve a lot of problems if they wield their power responsibly... or cause a lot more if they don't.

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