Gra Gryning

[Cherico]

David Levi


It took days to get all of Frank's assorted things together, and it took a very long time to get everything on an airship, but when we did we flew in silence to the island.

"It's going to be great Igor."

Frank was absolutely extatic.

"Um yeah great."

The island was to be our new home, a place where we would perform secret experiments for the government for the rest of our lives, we would be hidden away from the civilized world. It was a prison.

"I can finally continue my grandfather's work in peace, maybe even perfect it without small minded simpletons getting in the way."

The ethical issues just kind of write themselves don't they? And I couldn't pretend they didn't exist. Creating artificial life, taking away it's agency, it's free will, to make new settlers for the country. It was inherently, by its nature, ethically wrong.

But I also saw the grim calculation. Israel at the moment had less then a hundred thousand people in total. Most of them were men and that disparity seemed to only get larger with time.

We didn't get many men with wealth, or men with prospects, and convincing someone to come over and live a difficult life as a farmer's wife? That was a hard sell. We were a nation with a grand total of one trade partner and out there there was Denmark, a nation of millions, a rich nation that had a base of operations in Iceland that wasn't too far away from us.

We were dropped off with supplies and Frank smiled in joy.

"I have been planning this since forever."

"Forever...right."

The airship dropped off food and supplies and lifted off. We were alone now.

"Doesn't this feel wrong?"

Frank blinked at me.

"What do you mean Igor?"

"Well we're basically making up slaves."

Frank shook his head and laughed.

"Nothing done out of love is ever evil Igor."

I stared at him.

"Ok. Explain how this is a good thing."

"Everyone deserves a chance to be loved, we're not creating slaves Igor, not really. We're creating wives and mothers. People whose purpose is to love and be loved."

"What about free will?"

Frank chuckled and then his laugh became manic, and dark. Like a laugh of a damned madman about to die.

"I once asked Merlin what the purpose of life was you know."

I stared at him.

"You have this creature who has been around for thousands of years, millions of years and he looks at me, straight in the eye, and tells me. 'I don't know, maybe we have to create our own purpose in life."

He frowned.

"I hate that idea Frank, that people are made to drift aimlessly without direction?"

"Merlin sounds like someone that wants his creations to be free."

Frank shook his head.

"Life should be lived with purpose, my creations wont have to worry about those doubts, they will know their purpose, and it is the greatest purpose in the world. Love."

He smiled.

"What about freedom?"

"What freedom? The freedom to be lonely, the freedom to live without being surrounded by loved ones? The freedom to die alone? That kind of freedom is not worth having Igor. I give my creations some thing our uncaring ever absent god forgot to give us. Purpose."

His eyes were full of a kind of mania.

"We will create a world without rejection, a world where no man is lonely, where every one loves and is loved in turned."

"What about women?"

"If you honestly think I wouldn't create a man to keep a woman company you don't know me very well Igor. I make no exceptions in this new kingdom of love, now lets end this talk about pointless morals. Glory awaits."

I followed Frank in the darkness, as my doubts consumed me.

 

[Cherico]

Project Odysseus

1815

Dear King Alexiadis

I wish to congratulate you on successfully managing to hold onto your crown. Part of this is no doubt due to your decision to marry a member of the russian family, a part of this was due to your eagerness to learn greek, to convert to the true orthodox faith and of course your worthwhile decision to change your name to something more fitting of a Greek king.

I know Napoleon was a dear friend of ours, and his loss pains us all, but your decision to choose expediency over past loyalty was wise. A king of Greece must be loyal to Greece first and foremost, and you have done so.

This brings us to our next point of order.

I understand your desire to go to war with the turk, I really really do. When I went to compass, I went there with the intention of freeing the greek people from their despotic rule. That has been accomplished, but we must face facts.

The turks are strong, they rule a large and rich empire with millions of people, we know nothing of their defenses. Our treasury barely has any money, our navy is small and weak and our army small. Our land, though rich in history and culture, is poor in mineral wealth and it's ability to grow food is anemic at best.

Greece as it presently stands, due to reasons of its current geography, is weak, poor and is surrounded by great powers that are hostile to it. Especially since our nation was created by Napoleon. If we go to war, we will be crushed and every thing we have worked so hard for will be destroyed.

If we build an army now, the great powers will notice and crush us. If we build a navy right now, the same will happen. I know it looks hopeless but I have read a book that has opened my eyes. A book by some man from China named Sun Zoo. It is called the art of war, and in it I have discovered what we should focus on. We should create a spy network. Now, I know you are an honorable man but the turk is not an honorable enemy and should not be treated as such.

To beat him we must use guile, we must bide our time, sharpen our blades and find ways to weaken him.

1816

Your Highness, I thank you for having the wisdom to listen to me. First of all, after a long search we have managed to identify the turk's spies in Greece. I know your first reaction is to kill them, and I understand this desire to kill traitors and saboteurs, but that would be unwise. The better decision is to turn them into double agents and use them to feed the turks false information.

The tempting thing to do is, of course, imply that we are strong and can defeat any army they send. This would be, in my humble opinion, a bad idea. Right now the Turk has two enemies who threaten its borders, Russia and Persia. We need them to concentrate their attention on these borders and neglect their defenses against us. Especially as we rebuild our fragile nation, this is not the time for conflict not when we are still so weak.

1817

We have managed to get some of our spies into the enemy capital, the enemy has officially closed themselves off to trade but its not difficult to fake the right papers that official merchants have. Information about enemy troop movements, the lay of the land, fortresses, trade, all of it is slowly coming in. The magic mirrors and carpets help, though we have to use them carefully.

The good news is that, despite the turk's screams of piety, corruption is actually pretty common. We are slowly getting agents in place, taking over brothels, and working our way slowly into the Calif's inner circle.

1819

We have managed to find a low level worker for the sultan himself. Thanks to some rather damning blackmail he is willing to work for us. I know it's tempting to squeeze him for everything he has but another thought occurs to me. We have agents in Russia and Persia now, we could use our information to help our mole rise faster. At the very least we can spread rumors.

1821

War, war between Persia and the Turk, we have used our spies to feed information to our young mole, and he is starting to rise up the chain of command. That said this war presents oportunity, there is a split between the Turk and the faith of the Persian. This is something we have ignored for far too long. The turk is a Sunni and the Persian is Shia, this split is much like the one between catholics and our true faith, but it is a split just the same.

The turk's lands in mesopotamia have large number of Shia. If we could provoke a rebellion, this could prove promising. In other news the russians are looking southward to expand. It would be counter productive if they actually captured Anatolia, which remains our main goal, if only because Russia's thirst for conquest can not be satiated.

But this is not too much of a worry. Russia is over extended, in swallowing Poland it found itself with a meal that is hard to digest. If we could start an incident and enrage Russia, we could let them do the job of bleeding the enemy dry.

1822

We have managed to harness the rage of the turkish court. They have clothed themselves more and more in religion, in their faith and nothing quite upsets a fanatic as much as someone who practises the same ideals differently. We have spread rumors and managed to intercept mail, making it appear like the Shia in mesototamia are not loyal.

This has finally born fruit, all Shia have been ordered to convert to Sunni islam upon pain of death. I'd love to take all the credit for the rebellion that is sure to happen, but this is something that has been building for awhile, we have merely lit the fuse.

1823

The south is in full rebellion, the Persians are gleefully backing it and we have finally managed to cause an incident. Through careful manipulation, and some enchantments on a few cannons, a Russian ship was fired upon.

With our mole we found out who could be bribed in the inner circle, guises were taken and the flames of war were fanned. The straits have been closed and the Turk is now at war with both the Persian and the Russian. I know it's tempting to join in but the turk is still currently strong, we must continue to appear weak and build up our forces and our strength.

1825

A peace treaty now exists between Persia and the Turk, despite our best efforts. We have managed however to help keep the Shia rebellion alive through misinformation and other underhanded means. We managed to successfully scuttle the peace deal between russia and the Turk. The war continues.

1827

Our mole in the inner circle has managed to convince the sultan that the single best way to control the rebellious Shia south is to send reliable Turkish settlers, to take their land and watch the Persian.

The turk holds Anatolia too tightly, too strongly, but if we can convince them to move into the empire and draw off their strength we can weaken their hold. To this end we have managed to continue to fan the flames of religious zeal and hopefully make peace a distant dream.

1830

Your father was a good man, I considered him one of the greatest leaders Greece has ever had. I know he looked weak to you but that was a part of the plan, a plan you must continue.

The turk and the Persian are at war again over the slaughter of their fellows in the ottoman empire, the Russian and Turkish armies remain at a stalemate and rebellion covers their lands.

The turkish resettlement plan is starting to slowly drain away the second and third sons of the turks further south, but there are worries that there are not enough farmers. To this end our agents have suggested that christians around the empire have their wealth stripped from them and be enserfed in Turkey.

I know it is hard to see good christians suffer, but we are laying the seeds of a great plan. If they are closer to us it will be easier for us to liberate them when the time is right.

1853

The shia rebellions have been put down, they have either fled to Persia, were converted by force or have been killed. Their property has been seized and a great exodus of turks is now taking place, meanwhile christian serfs replace the former Turkish farmers.

In other news the turkish financial system has been dealt a crippling blow. Jews handled much of the empires finances and banking. Our agents in the empire have managed to work with the current sultan's paranoia and now they are officially expelled from the empire upon pain of death.

The young nation of Israel has agreed to take in these refugees, and I have arranged for Greek ships to help ferry them, making us a profit of course. Without the means to raise funds properly the Turk will be forced to enact harsher laws and put down more rebellions.

Also the war between the Russian and the Turk continues at its slow pace.

Just as planned.

1856

That was close, our agents barely managed to scuttle the peace deal between the Turk and the Russian. The war continues on, our Magi forces have grown, as has our population and economy. Peace has been good to us, allowed us to grow stronger but it is not yet time.

1860

Another war between Persia and Turkey, it is doubtful that this conflict will last long, but it has prompted the sultan to accelerate the colonisation of Mesopotamia. Christians now outnumber the turks in Anatolia. They might be serfs but their numbers are growing as the turkish numbers slowly shrink.

1863

The war with Persia is over, the war with Russia continues. The Ottoman empire's wealth once seemed inexhaustible but it is now measurably smaller then before. There is hunger even in the capital and the Sultan grows ever more paranoid.

Our forces grow stronger in secret, our new air force and Navy are growing stronger. The great powers have dismissed us and I know that hurts one's ego but victory, in this case, comes only with deception.

1871

Despite the british empire's efforts to prop up the Ottomans as part of the great game, the empire is on the brink of self destruction. Their treasury is empty, their money is gone and generations of turks have died in meaningless battle. Despite the all encompassing zeal, despite the propaganda, after 50 years of nonstop war the turk is tired.

Likewise, Russia even though they did not put nearly as much personal, forces or effort into the conflict is also tired of it.

We must scuttle the next peace deal at all costs. They are on the ropes, the turk who once was the majority of Anatolia is now less then a tenth of the population. Without gold the sultan has been forced to use land, forced to scrap more christians to serve as serfs and now he is outnumbered.

Our forces must modernize and prepare.

1873

The long war between the Turk and the Russians is over, a peace deal has been signed, and the sultan has defaulted on his debts to the british and french empires respectively.

This has angered them greatly, the empire has called for mass demobilization, they are out of money, they are tired, exhausted and have been bled white. Now is the time to strike.

1875

50,000 magi, a middling sized navy, a small army and our airforce struck the capital of constantinople, liberating it. The Turk did not prepare proper defenses, not with a weak country on its borders, not with our long peace. We captured the city instantly, the sultan is dead, his family was dead and without leadership the exhausted turk could not fight as a coherent force. Within two years we captured the entirety of Anatolia.

Our campain was quick and rapid, we destroyed their armies, wrecked their navy and we have captured their defences and built new ones. The remaining turks have fled south and with no clear leadership the empire has gone into civil war.

We are victorious.

 

[Cherico]

David Levi


Frank and I put a large box on a cart, I blinked at the wheels.

"I don't think I've seen this before?"

I tapped the wheels with my hand.

"Rubber tires. The phenix empire had something similar to rubber on their world."

"Really?"

"Much lower quality unfortunately but someone saw the designs in the archive around 03, or 05 or some thing. You don't really see them outside of the US sadly."

we dragged the cart forward.

"Why not?"

"Exactly two places in the world can grow Rubber. Brazil and compass academy. They only grow in tropical climates and are finicky and oh yeah, if you try to smuggle them out of brazil? thats a capital offense and they will kill you."

"And Merlin got away with it?"

"Merlin single handedly defeated an entire country and lives on a different continent. They're welcome to try but it isn't going to end well for them and they know it. Still, these tires help wheels last longer and it's a lot easier on the suspension."

I nodded.

"Good to know. so they found the design for this in the archives just laying around?"

Frank shrugged.

"Yes."

"Just in the open where anyone can get to it."

"Humanity is the rightful inheritors of the phenix people's knowlege and power, so yes pretty much every thing they figured out is there waiting for people to grab it. Of course most of their technology requires a society where pretty much every one uses magic so not every thing is usable. Different tech base."

"Tech base?"

"The phenix created and developed magic so pretty much all their technology was based on it, humanity really didn't have any magic at all so our technology is based on the hard material science of the lower realms of power."

"So our technology is weaker?"

"Yes and No, given time we probably could have equaled them. We would just end up doing similar things in a different way. A poet said some thing about it once. The road not taken or something."

We stopped and Frank looked around.

"Good, this is the place."

We carefully brought out a large heavy box.

"The place?"

"Oh by the way, what's the largest known castle in the world?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Malbork Castle, it's located in poland and it covers around 45 square acres. I want to one up them. The old castle Frakenstine covered maybe half an acre at most."

"That was probally done for practical reasons you need people to help maintain a castle. You need servants and engineers and."

"I will not let my family's legacy be chained by practicalities. I won't let my lifes' work be chained by practicalities. When my family died, when I went to Compass, I dreamed of building bigger building better."

We placed the large wooden crate down on the ground.

"The Frankenstine family would build something so great, so strong, that the outside world would never dare attack us again. That the simpletons that held us in disdain would be forced to lie back in fear and Awe."

His eyes were manic.

"I had to trade favors, had to pay people, but for 3 years I studied architecture and then I had Merlin and others go over the numbers and now it's ready."

I looked at the big metallic ball.

"Frank?"

He walked closer to it and chanted in some unnatural language and stepped back.

"Iron, quartz, rubies, gold. Every inch of wealth I secreted away is here in this rock."

He pressed something.

"We better leave now."

"Frank?"

"Do you want to die?"

I had wondered why we carried just this one item on the cart.

"The cart."

He got on the cart.

"Notice how it's on a hill?"

I nodded my head.

"We're riding down that hill."

He took out a stick and I got on top of it with him. we sped downhill and I heard rumbling and the world turned black.

"Frank what's happening?"

"That would be the device sucking all available mana out of the nexus, when you get to this level of magic use you ended up taking out all the surrounding light."

Then I saw a red glow.

"Frank....what's that?"

"The lava probably."

"Lava...what's lava."

We continued rolling downhill as frank steered.

"It's the stuff under the earth's crust. Castles need building materials after all and I wanted the strongest stuff."

"So it's harmless."

"Oh hell no. It can murder us very quickly."

I turned around and saw red liquid flowing down hill.

"Frank...."

"I know Igor."

The heat got closer and I grabbed the stick trying desperately to make our cart go faster and faster.

"All of our stuff is going to be destroyed."

"That's nonsense, I purposely had every thing put outside of the lava flow."

I looked forward.

"Cliff."

Frank yawned as we went over the cliff. His hands moved and the water came up to greet us. We gently landed in the Icy cold river and floated away from the island. Frank brought out an apple and started eating it as I watched the lava consume our future home.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

I stared at the destruction in horror.

"Going to take a week or so before it's all finished."

He leaned back and tossed an apple at me.

"Let's eat some thing to celebrate. To victory and glory."

I ate the apple, hands shaking.

"Yeah, to that."

 

[Cherico]

Fall of the Ottoman Empire

Abul Husan


The Greeks insist that the empire was destroyed by a brilliant decades long intelligence operation, and it's true that operation Odessius was able to turn quite a few high ranking members of the sultan's court into puppets that purposely gave false advice. It's true that they were able to scuttle quite a number of peace treaties with ease and give the court falsified reports.

But other countries had inteligence operations aimed at their enemies, operations that were far more successful and still managed to do far far better. No, what led to the disaster that was the loss of Anatolia was a fault of the Empire's own making.

Quite simply put, the empire was a mess. It covered a host of cultures, ethnicities and religions. The absolutist government went through frequent periods of rebellion and civil war. The discovery of magic and the destruction of the barbary pirates was seen as both a primal threat and an opportunity.

If their subject peoples learned the mystic arts, there was a possiblity that they could use that power to free themselves. There were also quite a few imams who insisted all magic was inherently evil. The thought process at the time was that the empire could kill two birds with one stone.

Keep magic out and use religion to bind the country together. in the beginning this worked. The country was closed, trade was tightly controlled and the ottomans gained more direct control over their empire than they had had in generations. But this came at the cost of an increasingly expensive police state and the encouragement of extremism.

This would have been bad, but survivable, if the Ottoman empire had been a great power but those days were gone. The Russian, French, Spanish and British empires had all eclipsed the Ottoman empire in strength and the empire needed careful diplomacy in order to play them off against each other.

The closing robbed the empire of that capability and the encouragement of extremism caused a nasty feedback loop where people felt the need to claim to be more pious than their neighbors. Add to this an environment of literal witchhunts and you see where the beginnings of the fall came from.

These witchhunts were the most vicious, paranoid and deadly in Anatolia and ethnic turks had started the process of leaving Anatolia to get away from this toxic environment before the Greeks had a country, much less started their program.

This environment also led to the burning of the French embassy and then the devastating loss to Napoleon. The empire, if it had been more moderate, probably could have gotten it's balkan territories back but the victory against Napoleon only inflamed religious zeal. Austria, Russia and other countries feared for the lives of the Christian populations of the new states.

The closing also meant that the empire fell further behind in medicine, in technology and economically. Armed with magic and science the west experienced a baby boom. The population of the empire grew but not as quickly as their rivals.

Then war with Russia came. Normally the empire would have been able to count on help from England or France to weaken their rival. Due to the empire's growing problems this help and aid was more limited. The Empire called for a Jihad and the war began.

The empire did surprisingly well, the practiced and inculcated religious zeal allowed the empire to call upon its Sunni population to fight for it. Arabs, Kurds, Turks, all of them fought and despite lacking Russia's mystical might, despite one of the largest rebellions in the empire's history, despite the occasional attack from Persia, the empire did well.

It successfully fought Russia to a standstill but this came at a price, casualties and lots of them. Russia also had some major disadvantages, they were an empire that was overextended. The magic of their Gypsy allies was limited and they were involved in a separate quagmire in Poland and numerous other conflicts spread over the world because of the great game.

The Russians couldn't pour their full strength into beating the Ottoman empire and while they were more advanced than the ottomans, they were behind other european powers in technology, knowhow and economy.

The war ground on and on, with noone really gaining ground until a long last the two empires gave up in mutual exhaustion.

Then, at it's weakest moment, the greeks struck. They had been building up their military, their economy and had a modern, for the time, military strike force, one that was close to the capital. They struck the capital in a surprise attack and wiped out the royal family and the administrative center of the empire.

Exhausted and in chaos the empire lost Anatolia. A five year civil war followed and when the killing was over the Empire had 20 million people left. Most countries would focus on rebuilding at that point, but the empire needed a scapegoat and the christian population was a tempting target.

Christians and Jews had been prevented from joining the war effort. Their connections allowed them to smuggle medicine and knowledge from the west. These two factors meant that both populations grew in number, at a higher level even than their sunni neighbors.

The Jews had been previously kicked out of the empire but the christians remained. They were at that point a fourth of the population, at around five million people. The discussion came to a head and there was a talk about a purge and forced conversion, a conversation that came to a direct end when the French and British empires reminded the Ottomans that they were still deeply in debt and were incredibly weak.

A young Diplomat called for a compromise and suggested moving the christians into the French and British empires in africa. This compromise was agreed to and, over the next ten years, the ottoman empire forcibly removed any christians who would not convert.

When this was finished the empire, now reduced by a fourth of their population, was now finally at last religiously homogenous. The only fault lines that remained were ethnic ones.

These fault lines would be the ones that ultimately destroyed the empire once and for all.

 

[Cherico]

David Levi


We walked on the blackened land, every thing was burnt and destroyed. In the distance I saw a large castle.

"I do good work, don't I?"

We walked forward and the ground crinkled and broke under us.

"Looks strange."

"Based on traditional phenix architecture.Human beings can't pronounce it's actual name."

It sounded like bullshit.

"Really? please explain why?"

"The phenix language did not just use normal sound waves, they also used microwave pulses. Think of it like small blasts of heat."

The door opened. The building's edges were rounded, everything looked streamlined.

"Some french guy named it Art Deco."

"Looks different."

"Oh yes, its mostly a northen thing though. The southern states prefer neo classical, which is fine."

"Don't you find it odd that america follows the building traditions of dead empires?"

"People build upon the past, upon a legacy. The new is built upon the old, when you try to go around that you end up with disasters like the french revolution and we all know how that ended."

"With the french conquering most of europe?"

Frank frowned.

"Smart ass."

He snapped his fingers and the room lit up in a glow, he opened a door and smiled.

"The roses."

I stared at the vivid blue roses.

"Roses are not blue."

"These ones are."

I remembered a story.

"There are stories about impossible tasks, getting a blue rose is something that happens in fairy tales."

Frank smirked.

"So there's a story behind this."

Frank picked up a rose and put it into his hair.

"So any ways there was this man, who had fought in the american revolution, and he loved a girl deeply but her father didn't care for him at all. So he told him that he would only allow his son to marry his daughter if he brought a blue rose."

"And I assume he met Merlin?"

"They served together during the revolution while he was building his school. He asked him for help and Merlin, being the man he was, gave him the blue roses. We call them Yankee roses by the way. So he brought the roses to his father in law married the girl and they had seven children."

"Sounds nice. What happened to them?"

"They're dead, old age. Their children manage the family's florist shop where they still grow and sell yankee roses to this day."

Frank opened up another door and I saw a room filled with large glass tubes.

"What is this?"

He lovingly placed his hand on a tube.

"The future Igor, what you're looking at is the future."

He nuzzled the glass tubes and smiled.

"We're going to have to take a bit of a trip back to Nukk, hire on some people, some personnel."

I nodded.

"Do you know any one who can be trusted?"

My social circle was small but I did know one person who knew lots of people who would appreciate an out of the way place where you didn't have to worry about judgemental neighbors.

"Yes, I'm a friend of dorothy, she knows people."

Frank clapped his hands together.

"Excellent! lets go back right away."
​

 

[Cherico]

Raplh Essen


I looked up from my book as music played. Lee put a plate of food on the table.

"You skip through the books."

"The information isn't relevant."

Lee took a bite.

"You say you want to find out why the world ended, so why do you skip around?"

"Because those moments are not relevant to the answer."

Lee lifted an eyebrow.

"And it's boring."

"Those boring parts are what makes up life, but I do see your point. So a book on the history of Israel?"

"Yes."

Lee sat down.

"I don't see how Israel's creation would lead to the world ending."

"Every thing builds upon every thing else. Russia before the revolution used jews as a scape goat for all of russia's problems. This caused the number of jews in Russia to get lower as they left for other countries, and with Israel and the right of return and their policy of helping jews escape places where they are mistreated."

"The number of scape goats get lower and lower and suddenly the government doesn't have anyone to blame."

I nodded at Lee's words.

"And then the revolution happens, which leads to communism which leads to world war two and eventually to the end of the world."

Lee took another bite of his food and chewed carefully.

"That doesn't exactly paint a nice image of the russian people, does it? But it also feels off. Israel and Imperial russia didn't trade with each other and didn't really interact much at all. And Israel during the time period in question wasn't a great power. They were a minor country that existed in america's orbit and did some trade."

He chewed his pasta carefully.

"It might be a piece of what happened but I don't think it explains why the Russians decided to end the world."

"It's a factor though."

"Every thing is a factor Ralph. It doesn't explain why. That had to have come much much later."

We stared at jupiter glowing in the night sky.

"It isn't all bad is it?"

Lee's words shook me to my core.

"The world ended, over a billion people died, earth is a nuclear hellscape. Please explain how that isn't all bad."

Lee took a drink of a soda.

"That's going to be difficult."

"Why?"

"It's like explaining Moxie to someone who has never had it before."

I closed my eyes.

"Moxie....kind of tastes like a mixture of coke and doctor pepper."

When I opened them Lee was frowning, he took a swig from his bottle of Moxie.

"Very well. First of all the human race survived, over a billion people died and this was terrible and horrible but humanity survived, human civilization survived. For the people who died it was horrible but for the people who lived these countries now have planets worth of resources."

He paused.

"We went from dipping our toes into space to planetary governments, that's a big deal is it not?"

"We could have done that without the war."

Lee leaned back.

"And how long would it have taken? A hundred years? A thousand years? And all of this with earth's resources dwindling and dwindling. Would we have used that window of time wisely or would we, like the phenix, just have wasted time in a cold unfeeling universe?"

Lee took another drink of his soda.

"Maybe the crazy old kook we met in Japan was right? Maybe this is simply a phase humanity has to go through in order for it to grow up."

"I don't believe that Lee, I don't believe that it takes a nuclear war to get humanity to advance."

"Struggle breeds success."

"It also breeds failure."

"True but people remember the one person who succcedded, not the 20 who failed. Winners write the history books and humanity ,whatever it's faults, has won."

"And what was our prize?"

"Survival."

 

[Cherico]

Neighbors

Fred Maxwell


Canada and Mexico's developement was in many ways a response to their environment and their proximity to the united states.

Canada could take pride in successfully holding off the americans during the war of 1812, and holding the whole of Michigan during the war, but with the war over both canada and the british empire came to the realization that any future conflict with the united states would mean the loss of canada.

The americans had a greater population, they had the largest population of magi in the world and could produce magi of quality faster then anyone else. Their navy while not as skilled as the british navy, or as advanced, could fight it on roughly equal footing.

The american airforce though was something the british empire could never match in size or quantity, especially in those early days. To the south canada had a long indefensible border. To the east allied Israel, to the west, with the purchase of alaska, the americans again.

Plans were kept in place in case of disaster but the british empire and canada in turn decided that it was best to use diplomacy and trade and make sure to maintain if not good relations then neutral ones.

The americans for their part needed time to digest their conquest and settled into a long period of isolationism, content to limit their power to the western hemisphere for the most part. The border would remain mostly stable and the two countries would for the most part be at peace.

Mexico however was a different story. With the destruction of most of their fleet and loss of so many men and wide spread rebellion, spain realized that it had to prioritize what they would fight for.

South america was written off quickly, with independence being granted in exchange for safe passage of loyalists into mexico. Mexico with it's rich silver mines and resources would be the priority of the spanish empire.

These tactics however only delayed the invitable. In 1825 mexico finally, at long last, gained their independence. However the country was a complete economic ruin. Spain thoroughly looted the country of anything of value before they left.

There were also questions of who would be in charge, weak institutions and the problem of how to pay the troops who had fought so hard for the countrie's independence. The new country felt a deep sense of resentment and betrayal towards it's northern neighbor.

Many in mexico city felt that America had no right to buy it's western territories from Spain and that the land rightfully belonged to mexico. However the country was in no position to attack a country with a bigger population, a larger economy and had naval and air assets that mexico didn't have.

The new government discovered that they couldn't pay their troops and said soldiers responded to this news by overthrowing the government and creating a military junta. The Junta declared itself to be the sparta of the west and claimed that mexico was a country created on militant values and discipline.

The regime justified its existence on these values and deflected criticisms by focusing animosity and loathing upon its northern neighbor. During this time period mexico was an army with a country, instead of a country with an army.

The problem with this was that mexico simply could not afford that kind of military spending. The junta was notoriously corrupt, and positions were based on wealth and connections instead of merit, but the Junta could and did manage to convince outsiders that they were powerful.

The US Airforce, Navy, Army and marine core, by contrast, were always at risk of being defunded or dismantled. They desperately needed an outside enemy to focus the public's imagination.

And mexico became that enemy. Stories were sent to the newspapers talking about the mexican threat. The Junta used these american scare pieces as propaganda to their own people. In the minds of the two republics they were evenly matched equals.

There was just one small problem. It wasn't true. Mexico, at the point of the american civil war, had a population of 8.5 million people. America, due to emigration, a superior medical system and high population growth, had at this point of time a population of 47 million people, one of the largest economies in the world and was an industrial and magical power.

The slave states had been petitioning for an extension of slavery. Unfortunately the last concession the free north states made to them was texas. They would allow one last slave state to come into existance so the south made sure to make it as large as possible.

But they also desperately wanted to extend the time limit that had been built into the constitution. These efforts failed, over and over again. After years of being dominated by the south the north just wanted them to accept the slow natural death of slavery, Which they were unwilling to do. In 1860 the issue finally came to a head the south demanded a constitutional amendment legalizing slavery in perpetuity.

The north in response elected the abolitionist republican Lincoln to the office of presidency. The south rebelled, calls were made in every slave state to rebel against the federal government. Only texas voted against joining the new confederacy.

With the vote being very close, the confederacy looked for allies and asked Mexico's junta for help. They agreed at this point confident that they could easily defeat the soft gringos. In exchange for this help mexico would gain all of the western territory west of the missippi river.

The confederacy had around 9.1 million people, mexico had 8.5 million people, the remaining union had 37.9 million people roughly speaking the union outnumbered their enemies 2 to 1.

They had a much larger economy, they had more industrial power and they could use immigrants to bolster their numbers. There was also the factor that the union's military was going through a modernization phase and were replacing their percussion cap rifles with the modern bullet technology.

Mexico intervened and launched an all out offensive but logistics were poor, food and money were often hoarded and stolen by officers and their enemy had complete control over the sea and sky.

A decision was made to focus america's efforts on destroying mexico's feared army first and elite groups, like the silent legion and the Zone brigade, were sent to mexico.

Mexico and the confederacy did well at first. But both countries lacked industry and while both of them had magi the union had far far more. The junta which had declared itself to be an invicible fighting force proved to have severe weaknesses and collapsed.

America demanded a boarder adjustment, and demanded Baha from mexico as the price of peace. It is very likely that america would have asked for and gotten far more if the confederate states wasn't still fighting against the union.

Mexico agreed to the humiliating peace terms and then fell into civil war and revolution. America then focused it's efforts on finally beating the confederacy once and for all.

When the war was over the question of who would be dominant in north america was settled. The united states was the great power of the continent, mexico's dreams of glory vanished like dewfall in the desert.

The country wouldn't have a stable government that could peacefully transfer power until 1920.

 

[Cherico]

David Levi


Nukk was different now. The streets were emptying out as people moved into the interior of the country, into the star. A new capital was going to be built, new cities too. This was partially because of relaxed rules and partially because of land grants, but it was mostly because of the danes.

A few years had passed and they were out there, rebuilding their navy, rebuilding their power, and like hungry wolves they howled at the moon, eager for our blood. Nukk wasn't a defensible position, but the star....

In order to get into the star Danish ships would have to go up the river we created, through choke points we controlled. Every one in the country knew what it was like to be helpless, to not have any way to defend yourself, to not be allowed to.

We were using second hand everything from the americans, if things went bad then Nukk wasn't selfsufficient. But the star was. That was a place you could fight from, survive from, build upon.

I walked into the Gay bar and looked at the bartender.

"I'm a friend of dorothy."

The bartender shrugged.

"Lots of people are."

"I need to talk to her, theres work to be had, government work for her other friends."

The man nodded, he got up and left and I waited for him to come back to me.

"Well then, I think she will want to talk to you."

He led me to a separate room and closed the door, the old lady from before looked at me.

"So the government wants a deal?"

I shrugged.

"I got a position in the middle of nowhere, it's safe and they put me in charge of hiring."

The woman nodded.

"How many positions?"

"I'm authorized to hire around 3,000."

The woman frowns.

"There aren't enough people in the community to do that."

"If we limit ourselves to Israel. Would safety be worth converting for?"

The woman closed her eyes.

"I used to live in New York and I have connections in boston. Even then there are not enough but they can put out word. This work is secret?"

"Top secret."

"It would take time but my connections might be able to pull it off. I know about 50 people who are looking to bolt."

"Really?"

"A couple of them got found out and burned, we had to move them out of their town but we keep running into the same problem as before, we have no safe end point."

"I can provide that."

She stared at me.

"You remind me of him."

"Who?"

"My brother, before they killed him. He was a good man, you would have liked him. it's the whole reason I do this, despite the risks."

I took a breath.

"Thank you."

I gave her the address and walked out of the bar. It felt odd to be back in nukk, knowing that I wasn't going to stay.

"DAVID!"

I cringed and smiled at my father.

"What brings you back home, I thought you had a three year contract."

"Worked out some advanced training classes to speed up the slower children. the instant I found out about that horrid man dying I had to come back."

I remembered Zack stoically standing on the ground, remembered looking from my window as he was burned alive.

"I think things are more complicated then that."

Dad rolled his eyes.

"They really aren't. Now that he's dead and there are elections we can finally create a free and proper Israel, have things the way they should be."

He sniffed the air with digust.

"For example there was this horrible incident that happened while I was gone."

"I was working. What happened?"

"It's...I didn't tell you about this because it's disgusting and horrible but you are a man now. Some men....they prefer other men."

I kept my face still.

"Really?"

"Oh yes, it's horrible and vile. Apparently a group of upstanding citizens were going to deal with it but that horrid man stopped justice from being dealt out."

I shrugged.

"You don't say?"

"It won't be that way when we get into power David. This is going to be a holy country governed by gods laws."

"How was compass?"

I had to change the subject. My father's face metamorphosed.

"It was a place of wonder. I think I misjudged magic."

"Really?"

"It sounds a little bit like Kabala, just a bit more complicated, no devils are involved. Some of the children were horrible, of course, but with a little discipline they became proper students of mine. It's a tool, but we must make sure that we realize that it's just a tool and not a spiritual path."

"And Merlin agreed with this?"

"Insists on it, he's a strange creature but a good host, who treats men of the cloth and letters with respect, unlike some people."

I nodded.

"I wish you luck dad, I have a job up north however."

"Oh."

Dad looked sad.

"Really?"

"Yes, I honestly do wish you the best of luck dad."

"Thank you...look I haven't seen you in awhile David, want to go fishing or something?"

I smiled.

"That sounds wonderful."

And I meant it. Despite it all, I did honestly miss my father.

 

[Cherico]

David Levi


I watched the ocean with my father, our lines out.

"Heard about the star, you did good work David."

"Thought you hated the government."

He shrugged.

"I do, they came to power through illegitimate means David, they killed people. whatever they accomplished does not remove that stain on their history, you can not grow an apple tree from lemon seeds."

I watched the ocean crest and rise up.

"They're calling themselves the survival party."

I looked over at my father, his face was serious.

"The regime they're calling themselves the survival party. Their platform is simple, survival over anything else. That's the thought process of an animal David, can't wait until we give them the boot."

"And what will you do then?"

Dad smiled.

"We will install religious law, men of the book will be made into judges, the letter of the torah will rule the land. Leaders will be picked amongst this collection of men dedicated to holy life."

"And layman?"

Dad shrugged.

"This will be the only election where they get to vote or run for office, you can not have someone who does not know god's laws vote on the law or create it. I know that sounds harsh David but we have to do things that way for our principles. A land of Jews should be a land of Jewish principles, all of them, you can't just pick and choose."

My dad got up and stretched.

"Come on, we have fish to cook yes."

I walked with him back into Nukk and froze as I stared at two corpses swaying in the wind, I recognized them from the bar. My father and I walked closer and he studied the slip of paper strapped to one chest.

"Sodomite."

Father shook his head.

"This is too far."

I couldn't hold the fear out of my voice.

"You think?"

"Oh yes, at most they should have gotten a caning or the lash, and then a sermon about righteous behavior not...not killed! that's barbaric."

I stared into the dead man's eyes.

"Really, you would just cane them."

"Well yes David, I know you feel disgusted by their sin but you need to be able to forgive. They made a mistake, an error in judgement. You don't kill people for making bad choices, you present consequences and then try to lead them back to the path of righteousness."

I felt my eyes water up.

"I don't think people choose to feel a certain way father, I don't think it's a choice."

My father frowned.

"Stop that talk this instant David, what ever disgust you feel about these wretches they're still human beings. Now help me bring down the bodies."

"Why?"

"Because everyone deserves a burial David, everyone deserves to be prayed for. We respect the dead David, please tell me you haven't forgotten that."

I nodded and helped my father take down the bodies, we took them outside of town, I had in my wisdom brought my shovel with me. I was good at digging, an expert in the field, and while my father prayed for the dead I dug for them. We went our separate ways after that.

I headed to the house I shared with Frank and knocked. Inside I saw dozens of scared frightened men, looking at me with hope in their eyes and a kind of desperation.

"Oh Thank god you're here Igor."

Frank hugged me.

"One day and you get me over 30 employees! This is wonderful, first thing in the morning we are flying out of here."

The men sighed in relief.

"I know I give you a lot of grief Igor but I really am proud of what you did today, I thought it would take weeks at best to find a proper crew."

"Yeah, I do good work..."

"Can't wait to get started, the world's going to be a different place very soon."

I nodded.

"I know what you mean, I think we all want to get out of Nukk and get started as quickly as possible."

The men nodded in aggreement, fear in their eyes. When morning came we all left in silence without a word. None of us looked back.

 

[Cherico]

David Levi


"IT'S ALIVE!"

The first artificial girl produced at castle frankenstine.

"AH HA HA HA HA."

I didn't understand the attraction. Frank said he wanted to make the most beautiful woman he could but I felt nothing. Then again I might be a bad judge of that. The woman in question had light blond hair and pale skin.

Frank smiled.

"Eden?"

The tube opened and he gave her a coat, the woman looked confused.

"Who are you?"

"Your creator."

She staggered.

"Why was I created?"

She spoke oddly, in a jumble.

"To love."

"Love...this one's purpose is to love."

Her voice was hollow and unnatural.

"Yes...good, well Eden, I have a room for you. Get some food into you and all that."

She move slowly and awkwardly, like someone who didn't know how to walk properly.

"Did you see that?"

I stared at Frank.

"I did it. I actually created life itself, even improved on Grandpa's work."

"How?"

"You saw her skin right?"

She was pale, sickly pale.

"Pigment, melatonin, it's almost impossible to get right. Most of them end up being albinos, and by most I mean all of them until now."

"Good for you then."

"I know, so um . The men, why are they all men?"

I closed my eyes and sighed.

"I didn't want our workers being distracted by petty romances."

Frank lifted up a finger.

"That's brilliant! Why didn't I think about that Igor? Of course the men need to focus on our work, it's incredibly important but I need to talk about things."

"What things?"

"The family coat of arms, I want every one to wear them. The problem is that the Frankenstine coat of arms is just this ugly yellow and red mess Igor. So naturally I changed it."

"Why?"

"Because our family was changed by going into compass and our coat of arms must reflect this change."

He pulled some cloth off of a painting.

"It's a rainbow."

"Well this place used to be owned by vikings, the manliest men out there, and the rainbow bridge was a big part of their beliefs so thus rainbows."

I studied the symbol.

"Well we are a collection of men's men."

"Precisely. Uniforms, we're going to have to have uniforms made up."

"And the girl."

Frank froze.

"Well, there's a government program to find wives for lonely men. I have some criterias, can't drink to much, can't be an abusive jerk, that sort of things. Really there are a bunch of really good men out there who can't find a woman because they're too shy or disabled or kind of ugly."

"And that's who we're giving living breathing people to."

"I know! These are men who will appreciate having a good woman in their lives. I've put forward a program for women but there just isn't any demand. Too many lads not enough lasses as my grandpa would say."

"And you think that will change?"

Frank shrugged.

"Probably not, this is is a frontier. People prefer areas that are no longer wild, settled places, but that's not the kind of people who are going to be moving here for quite some time."

He shrugged.

"But that's not important. The important thing is the uniforms. Now, one of the men you brought here? An excellent tailor you did good work finding him."

"Good to know."

"Unfortunately, due to budgetary reasons, they have to be purple."

"Really?"

"Yes really. For some reason it's the only affordable dye you can get these days.

 

[Cherico]

David Levi


I looked down at the streets of Nukk in the darkness. There was an air of celebration in the air. The international observers were there to count and recount the votes in front of party officials. A woman looked at the world with blank eyes. Her hair was a light red, almost pink. I was worried about that, would people figure out what she really was.

Would the operation be found out, would we be outed, would we survive that process? Over 3 months I had worked hard to carefully build a safe place, a refuge for others like myself. It was fitting, a place dedicated to unnatural creations being a safe place for people like me who had unnatural desires.

"Rose, we will be there soon."

The targets...no. clients, have to think of them as clients, fit a profile. No alcoholics, no men who liked to brag and boast. We looked for quiet men, lonely men who were shy and wanted companionship. Who were lonely enough to not ask too many questions.

We landed on the ground and Rose followed me. Frank apparently used roses and flowers in the process for their hair and eye color. He was always so desperate to push the envelope, to create women with vivid blues, greens, and deep purple hair.

It was a struggle to keep him under control, keep him reasonable. I looked at the small shop ahead of me.

"Dudel's books. This is where my husband works?"

Rose's voice was flat and unnatural, I took a breath trying to control my beating heart.

"Yes."

Dudel Weiser, a man in his late 20s, didn't drink, was rather bookish and shy around women. Volunteered for the program. When I walked in, I saw him, he had an unfocused look on his face and managed to have a permanently disheveled look about him.

I couldn't help but notice that he was a survival party member, not something that was necessarily a wise idea in Nukk. It was where the Opposition was more or less headquartered. It had been a rough election.

"Dudel, I'm from the ministry of love."

He blinked and looked up from some notes. I didn't care for the name, it sounded authoritarian in some way.

"Oh good and, oh."

His jaw dropped.

"I'm um...um."

"You're my future husband?"

Roses words cut through the silence.

"Yes...yes I'm sorry I um didn't expect you to be so stunning."

He smiled and walked over to her, and tripped over himself. Rose smiled and helped him up.

"I think you're cute as well."

Dudel blushed.

"I um...well thank you."

I clicked my heels together.

"Rose is from the."

Need to think about some eastern european region no one knows about.

"The Ukraine, there was some nastiness there and...well she's recovering from what she saw there, what happened to her family."

Dudel frowned.

"Russians?"

"Cossaks, they wanted money and her family didn't have any...it's a common story unfortunately. We're dealing with a lot of refugees, good women but slightly damaged from what they survived."

Dudel went closer to Rose, his stance protective which seemed odd because he was a head shorter then her and gangly and thin.

"You're safe now rose."

"Thank you sir."

"Call me Dude, everyone else does."

I nodded and left the bookstore. My purple uniform fit well enough and on my upper arms were shields with a rainbow heart. The new symbol for the ministry of love. I passed soldiers, happy drunks, and nervous pacers.

"DAVID!"

I turned around and saw my father.

"How goes the election Dad?"

"Oh, we had a bit of difficulty, the party split again."

"Did you change your name?"

"No we're still the Jewish league, it's just that a bunch of people left for the popular judean front."

"Don't you mean the Jedean Popular Front?"

"No they split from the JPF. But it doesn't matter, there are over 500 political parties all striving to bring down the survival party. We can't possibly lose."

"I don't think that's how it works father, the new senate gives out seats based on percentage. You need at least 1% of the vote to get a senator, and the president requires a majority vote."

"Stop worrying David. With that many parties there is no way they can win and anyway we will surely put aside all of our squabling once we have won and the election is over."

That didn't sound realistic at all to me.

"I Wish you luck father."

"VOTE RESULTS ARE IN! VOTE RESULTS ARE IN!"

My father and I went to the town crier.

"Survival party wins the presidency, wins 80% of the senate."

I hid my sense of relief as father fell to his knees.

"No."

I put a hand on my father's shoulders.

"There will be another election in five years."

I gave him a quick hug.

"David, this is horrible."

"I know father, I don't normally do this but I need a drink."

I helped him up.

"I completely understand son. This is a time to drown one's sorrows. Maybe you could find a girl?"

I sighed.

"I'm sorry but my boss just demands more and more of my time."

"Oh yes, I forgot you work for that horrid man. But he is right about one thing David, you need to stop slouching it makes you look like a hunchback."

I hugged him again.

"Thanks for understanding father."

I walked over to the bar and smiled as I was let in. A few of these men got their wives from the ministry, I shook their hands, wished them luck and headed to the back room. I found a man with warm dark eyes and brown coco skin waiting for me.

"Kuupik, it's good to see you again."

"Here to talk about business."

I sat down across from him, my heart beating. Did I have the courage to do this?

"No...our party won, I was thinking we could maybe go out on a hunt and celebrate."

"And what will you be hunting David?"

I intertwined my fingers with his.

"You."

He smiled at me warmly.

"I never thought you would ask."

There in that locked room we shared a kiss. Maybe Frank was wrong about his dreams, maybe the world was flawed. But if all a kingdom of love needs is two people?

Then I've found mine.

 

[Cherico]

Your guide to Israel

Jeremony Clarkson -1980


Israel is a harsh and rugged country, but it's worth visiting and has much to see for any tourist who wants to go. The first thing one has to decide is why they are going to visit. Is it the culture? The natural beauty? or is it business?

The first thing you need to know is the environment.

Most Israelis live on the star, a series of islands deep in the interior of the country, or they live in the blue line, a series of cities built on the Zion river that leads up to the star.

These cities are built into and under mountains using magic and many of them have guns and artillery pieces pointed at the river entrance, left over from the 1800s, the world wars and our current cold war with the russians. They are there for security reasons.

You also find Isralis on the green line, an east to west ley line that bysects the country. The biggest city on the green line is Nukk which houses the best school of magic in the country. Nukk used to be the nation's capital before it was moved to new Jerusalem where it remains to this day.

Culture changes based on where you are, Nukk is the home to many left wing opposition parties and is quite possibly the most liberal city in the country. It is a fun place to visit and is a lot like a colder, darker, San Francisco. But the rest of the country is not like that and it is not wise to expect it to be so.

The underground cities of the blue line are mostly friendly places for tourists to visit but some parts will be closed off to tourists. This is for safety reasons, these are still active mines and not every thing is safe to visit, so keep this in mind.

The Star itself is very conservative and I recommend dressing the part. Keep your head covered and your body clothed.


Local politics.

Israeli politics is dominated by the theocratic Tikva party and the more pragmatic Sored. There are left wing parties, most of them located in Nukk, but they're for the most part a non- factor in Israeli politics.

Speaking of such; do not get into an argument with an Israeli if possible, they can and will argue for hours on end and have a tendency to raise their voice if they know their argument is weak.


International Politics

America- Israel and America have one of the longest lasting alliances in international politics with an alliance that has lasted over a hundred years now. Relations between the two countries are rock solid but to the Israeli in the street they see america and americans like an overbearing older brother.

They like us, and will gladly fight by our side, but they really do not like americans prodding into what they see as their business. Do not try to tell them how to live their lives and you will do just fine.

Denmark- Denmark and Israel have a long sordid history. Israel used to be known as Greenland and was a Danish colony before they lost it in the war of 1812. The Danes wanted for the longuest time to get this land back, the Isralis for their part obviously did not want to see this happen.

Denmark spent the 1800s boycotting Israeli goods, trying to sabotage their economy and running anti Israeli propaganda. This only ended with world war one but Israelis to this day have a negative view of Denmark.

Germany- Relations between Israel and germany were fine before the 1st world war. Then soured as German Uboats often sank Israeli shipping by mistake or on purpose. This got worse when Israel joined the war against Germany.

Nazi germany made this relationship even worse by holding hostage the lives of European jews and extorting oil, materials and other goods in trade for jewish lives. When Israel joined the war, Germany decided to put jews in to the same death camps that Slavs, Gypsys, homosexuals, disabled and other minority groups died in.

Israel, for it's part, has not forgiven germany for its actions in world war two and works together with the reformed west german country grudgingly.

Russia- Before the communist revolution Russia banned the purchase of all Israli goods, sent out antisemitic messages and encouraged the complete destruction of the jewish state. After the revolution they became communists...

Israel contains many people who were forced to flee russian oppression and their descendants. They loathe the Ruskies even more then we do.

Poland- During the long night where Poland was besieged by russia only two countries traded with it and recognized poland as a independent country, the united states and Israel.

To this day relations between the two countries are friendly

Other countries- Israel is a member of Nato and is a firm nato ally and is thus an enemy to communist counties around the globe.

 

[Cherico]

Ministry of Love

Richard Jensen 1981

1818-present day


Headquartered on Frankenstine island in frankenstine castle the ministry of love manages to be one of the most controversial aspects of the Israeli government. Yet despite being loathed by both religious jews, feminists and various other groups the ministry of love continues to exist to this present day.

The ministry of love was founded by Victor Frankenstine, grandson of the Victor Frankenstine who created the first homonculus. The young heir of the family was forced to flee the country after the war of 1812. When he arrived in Israel the country was in majority male and there was a need for brides. There were also worries about a demographic collapse and an invasion from Denmark.

The young Frankenstine offered his expertise to the young nation, in exchange for land and a place to conduct his experiments. The government agreed and, after the great reclamation, the project started in earnest. Hidden away in the far north the ministry created women for unmarried men in Israel.

This project stayed a near secret until it was leaked to the international press in 1838 causing international condemnation. Countries around the world immediatly put economic sanctions on Israel. Which probably would have been more effective if the countries in question hadn't already been in the process of enacting economic sanctions against Israel.

Rather then causing the project to die, the Israelis dug in their heels against foreign moral lessons. The country became angry at the world for once again trying to interfere with their own internal politics, seeing it as yet another attempt to destroy their nation. The united states for its part continued their military, economic and political alliance with the country. A few senators questioned the project but they were side lined.

The memories of the war of 1812, and the growing trade links that brought in increasingamounts of Israeli silver and gold, ensured that the alliance would stay firm. The country weathered the storm and the ministry of loves output of Homuculi women continued to grow.

These days the program has slowed down and there are more controls. In order to receive a homonculi bride one must prove that they are not an alcoholic and pass a strict drug test. They also must prove that they can sustain a family and agree to have a minimum of three children.

It's worth noting that recipients of the program tend to be government supporters and there are rumors of corruption, accusations that the government uses the ministry of love to buy support and legitimacy. That said the program's goal of expanding the birthrate did succeed and between the ministry's impact, natural childbirth, pronatalist programs and emigration Israel managed to raise their population to 10 million people by 1915, just a mere hundred years after the nation's birth.

By the time world war two came, through that same mixture, they had 30 million people. These days population growth has dropped off but the nation has around 70 million people. The worry of demographic destruction has long since passed and yet the ministry of love continues to exist. Maybe in time diplomatic and political pressure will finally end it but, for now, it continues to thrive and castle Frankenstine will continue its grim unnatural work.

 

[Cherico]

The Monroe Pact

1870-1948


The late 1800s saw a convergence of interests in the americas. After the civil war America was worried that a foreign power would intervene in it's interests or even invade like mexico had. In south america and the caribean the young republics had just defeated several waves of milatary coups, often backed by foreign powers, and did not trust their own militaries any more. Israel just wanted a stable trading network to compensate for repetitive international sanctions by antisemitic countries.

The Monroe Pact came out of these negotations. The nations of south america agreed to a military alliance with both each other, the united states and Israel. If one nation was attacked they would all agree to fight as one.

Then the countries who had unreliable militaries scrapped their army and Navy to the bone, making sure that the only ones left were strictly controlled. In some cases a military officer could only get ammo for practice shooting from the chief of police, who strictly rationed their ammo.

The money that would have been spent on the military was instead thrown into education, infrastructure and the economy. Soon after the establishment of the pact the problem of Tarrifs risked the destruction of the newborn pact. It took careful negotiation but there was an agreement to limit tarrifs to a maximum of 10% on Pact members.

Half of this tenth would be given to an infrastructure bank that came to be known as the PIB. The PIB would give out loans to various pact nations at low interest, zero interest and even negative interest based on the nations behavior during corruption.

If the money was pocketed by corrupt bureaucrats or obviously misspent then the country would be slapped with a 5% interest rate. If there were incidents but the government punished anyone who misused funds the interest rate would be 0%, and if everything was above board there would be a negative 5% interest rate.

This meant that a country that used their funds responsibly wouldn't have to pay the PIB back at all. Some countries like Columbia,Brazil, and Chile used the money to build up their countries. Others struggled but were able to mostly get their loans to Zero, like Paraguay and Haiti. Some openly cheated the system whenever they got a loan like Argentina.

Argentina would default on said loans but would be forced to repay their loans through their tarrif income. Out of all the nations involved Argentina cheated the system the most.

In 1875 Ireland petitioned to join the Monroe pact. The United Kingdom tried their best to freeze the Island from any continental based system for security reasons. Because of it's status as a catholic nation and because of pressure from Irish americans it got in, after some negotiation with the british empire to gain their blessing.

This blessing came at the cost of the pact being forbidden from allying to any european power. The Monroe pact, founded with the idea of keeping outside nations out of the western hemisphere, agreed. Over the next couple of decades this military alliance and trading network would help the young republics establish strong institutions, build up their economies and give the countries involved a long period of peace.

The pact also served to check the power of it's strongest nation, the united states, keeping it from abusing it's power over pact nations by preventing gunboat diplomacy or coups, further promoting stability. The pact would be challenged with the first world war and would help lead the allies to victory. the second world war would likewise end in victory.

The cold war between Russia and the United States ended the pact. The vast majority of members did not want to get stuck in a series of conflicts between the united states and the soviet union. The pact was for this reason dissolved in 1948, though the member countries stayed on good terms with the united states.

So, after more then 50 years of history, what is to be said about the monroe pact's results? The member countries became wealthier and more stable, their democracies became intrenched and the member states gained entrance into a stable trading network.

South america, and the central american states like Panama, gained a much increased standard of living and became developed nations. America gained a series of allies that helped them win the world wars. Ireland and Israel, who both had problems with outside nations messing with their trade, gained stable trade partners.

There have been talks about bringing the pact back but all of these talks have failed. In the end the pact made it's member nations wealthy and powerful enough to no longer need it anymore. It was in many ways a victim of its own success.

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs



August 4th, on August 4th the peaceful world I lived in, the peaceful Belgium I lived in, was destroyed by the Jerries. We didn't expect the attack, not really, not after so many years of peace.

"HOLD THE LINE!"

I saluted the propaganda poster showing a naval man, a sailor, an airman, a army boy and of course a wizard, with his wand out. The trench shook as another bomb hit.

"Bombardment!"

The line doesn't refer to the battle field line, it refers to the Namur line, a 50 kilometer long and 3 kilometer wide ley line, longest in belgium, our only real natural defense, or should I call it a supernatural defense.

On August 4th the Germans invaded. We lost every single battle. on august 20th in the city of Namur we finally stopped them.

"SECOND WAVE, SECOND WAVE!"

It took every single one of us, civilians, hedgemagi, actual miltary magi to do it but we stopped the hun in his tracks and by the time reinforcements came to crush us, the world was there and the lines of the war had been created.

Everything beyond Namur was held by the Jerries, every thing behind it was what remained of free belgium and our allies. We were so proud of our victory, sure that the end of the war was in sight.

"AMMO TO THE FRONT, AMMO TO THE FRONT!"

It's been close to a year now and it's amazing how much the world changes in a year. I went up to the front and saw that our unit was intermingled with some Tommies.

"DOES ANY ONE HERE SPEAK ANY BLOODY ENGLISH?"

I looked at the man.

"I do, we're heading to the front, enemy advance there, bringing Jagers."

"Oh Bloody."

We put on our gas masks as the ground shook from the bombardment. Holes opened up and we went up the ladders. The light of the moon shone down on us as we went up the hole.

"INCOMING! AIRSHIPS!"

I heard the scream of our guns and saw a fireball in the sky as the Jerry airship fell down in a firey wreakage. I looked around and saw the scattered hellscape beyond the walls of the Namur line. Out of the darkness, we saw them, 10 meter tall golems encased in blacked steel holding guns and swords.

Bagpipes played from the Tommies side of the wall and I looked for my suit. There I saw a giant dismembered corpse of a statue. I ran to it and jumped inside, willing my magic into the suit, and felt a sense of strain as it repaired itself.

"Guns."

A quartermaster shook his head. I saw a giant hammer and sighed in my suit. My vision blurred with a spell every thing in red, orange and purple as I picked up the hammer.

"TO BATTLE, MEN! OVER THE WALL!"

I climbed over the wall, my hammer strapped to my machine's armor with ramshackle leather, others followed me and we went over the wall. The world was filled with explosions and I saw my enemy number amongst the blackened jagars.

"Let's Dance."

He wouldn't have heard my words, not without me using mana I simply did not want to waste. My hammer lit up with the power of fire and his sword crackled with the sound of of lighting.

The Jager rushed forward, eager for my blood, I side stepped his golem and hit the back of the Jager's knee, a lucky strike, a lucky hit, the Jager went down and I continued hitting the blocky golem with my firey golem, finally cracking open the golem to reveal the man in side.

He was begging for mercy.

"Not tonight."

My hammer came down and I faintly heard him scream as he was crushed and burned alive at the same time. The remaining jagers retreated and we heard the screaching sounds of artillery.

"BEHIND THE LINES!"

I grabbed the offered rope and climbed up over the walls. It was going to be another long night.

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


"So we're not going to shoot them down?"

I sighed as I looked at the chess board.

"No we're not going to shoot down those airships."

"Which are bypassing our blockade. Can you please explain why?"

I sighed as I heard the sound of gunfire in the distance, probably another barrage from the hun.

"There's a pair of binoculars somewhere around here."

"I know what airships look like."

Great, just lost another rook, it doesn't help that I'm terrible at chess.

"Then you know who those airships belong to."

"Yeah the yanks, the Irish, the jews."

"Israel, not jews."

"They're all jews."

"All Israelis are jews but not all jews are Isralis, we have plenty of jews in our unit."

"Like Disralli, the damned cheapskate."

"Disralli isn't a cheap skate, He just doesn't want to lend you money Nathan."

"Why not. I'm good for it."

Great, lost another pawn.

"You really aren't, I've bought you how many rounds? Ever buy me a drink?"

"You don't drink."

Because, If I did, I don't think I'd ever stop.

"You can still get me a cup of coffee or some tea or something. It's a pattern of behavior Nathan, you keep saying you will pay us back and you never do. And the reason you don't is because you blow all your money on whores."

Nathan frowned.

"I send my money to my mother."

"My point still stands."

"Up your's Liam. And anyways isn't your mother with a married man?"

I shrugged.

"Yes one married man, how many men has your mother been with?"

Nathan took another one of my knights.

"She's not a whore."

"She slept with our commanding officer."

Nathan looked away.

"You should have the decency to not talk about the incident."

"If you want me to have that decency, let me win a game."

Nathan shook his head.

"Never, oh and check mate."

Damn it.

"Another game?"

"Sure, so why can't we just shoot down the airships, they're bringing the enemy food, ammo, medicine."

"Because the Monroe pact has over 20 countries in it. You pick a fight with one of them and they all fight you. Remember how spain got dogpiled?"

Nathan grimaced.

"So we cant do anything?"

"Not without costing us the war."

"The british navy is huge and with the french."

He's already killing my pieces like crazy, what am I doing wrong?

"The Brits can defeat the German navy, they can defeat the american navy. They can't defeat both at the same time, and anyway there's a good chance that Fritz will mess up that relationship, like they did with everything else they touch with diplomacy."

Nathan frowned.

"They're not that stupid."

"The Brits hate the Russians, Fritz managed to get them into an alliance. The French didn't have a problem with Fritz until they screwed that relationship up and managed to get the French to join an alliance with Ivan. They somehow managed to make the serbs sympathatic."

Nathan sighed.

"Damned Serbs, how are they doing?"

"They're being bailed out by the Greeks and the Russians."

"Weren't the Greeks neutral?"

"The Turks invaded, and then Fritz allied with them."

I smiled. I took out one of Nathan's pawns...and then lost my queen.

"So are the Italians going to join up?"

I shook my head.

"The King consulted some astrologer and they said that joining the war would bring doom to the country so they're firmly neutral."

"Cowards."

I sighed.

"Can you really blame them for not wanting to join this mess?"

"No, but still everyone's joining the war, it's like being invited to a bad party. sure it's terrible Liam, but it's rude not to show up."

I shook my head and the table shook as a bomb hit some place nearby.

"I lost again."

Nathan shrugged.

"If it helps you're getting better."

"I'm terrible."

"I didn't say you weren't Liam but now you play at the skill level of a 9 year old. Keep this up and you might be able to beat a sober adult who has never played the game before."

I hate chess

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


The ye old Prisoner of war camp.

The front does allow you some amount of leave and rather then spending mine drinking or boozing I'm spending my first day here.

"So I'm told you're the best chess player in the camp."

How the mighty have fallen, I was of course speaking of myself. Normally being the worst chess player of a unit isn't something to worry about. Except chess has become the game of choice these days.

Mostly because command took our playing cards and our dice, but it's still left me in a pickle.

"Yes."

"Good I'm terrible."

The man was older.

"I'd like to note that you're the enemy."

"A pack of cigarettes for your trouble."

"And that I'm a lovely person for being able to overlook that fact."

He brought out a chess set and I handed over a pack of cigarettes. He took black and I took white.

"We will play a practice game and see where your skill level is, hold nothing back."

I started playing the game and the old german sighed.

"And for a moment I was worried about losing the war."

I glared at him.

"We have one of the greatest alliances of nations on earth fighting against you."

The man shrugged.

"Yes, the work of the very best prussian diplomacy."

"You do realize there was a time when you were not at war with every one."

The man destroyed another one of my knights.

"I know, that was a result of Bavarian diplomacy, they are good at magic and beer. People like beer. Prussians are good at war."

"And?"

"Look they're a very simple people who are good at one thing and need lists and charts to do any thing else, including making love to their women."

I sighed as a lost a rook.

"Shouldn't you be more patriotic?"

"There was a germany before Prussia. I care for that Germany deeply, that is the country I fight and am willing to die for, but we are stuck with the prussians. Hopefully, after we defeat you, we can put proper germans in charge of running the country."

"I don't think you will win."

"I respectfully disagree and you really are rubbish at this."

I sighed.

"I know, but I am not an officer."

"Good because you have no head for strategy...Hmm I know a few tips, I will write them down."

I looked at the board taking my time.

"So why attack us?"

"Because you were in between us and France. The idea was to go through you, knock the french out of the war then defeat the russians and be home by christmas. It really was incredibly rude of you to get in the way of the plan. We could have all been home by now."

"Belgium is a country, not a road."

The old man lit a cigarette.

"And don't I know it, it's mud every where here. I'd much rather be home."

"I'd much rather you stay there."

The man took a deep puff of his cigarette.

"We are in agreement yes? Unfortunately our leaders feel differently and I am here instead of with my lovely wife and my lovely children."

"Planning on escaping?"

The old man shook his head.

"Heavens no! I fought honorably and lost a leg, which is slowly being regrown. I did my duty and have no desire to go live in the mud again."

I sighed.

"Checkmate by the way."

He pulled out some paper and started writing.

"You're too aggressive."

I frowned.

"Really?"

"Yes really. You're so eager to go on the offense that you risk valuable pieces for less valuable ones. You see only your next move and not the entire board. You play checkers before this?"

I nodded.

"It gave you bad habits, checkers is a lot more forgiving then chess. I wrote down a list of tips, now excuse me, I have to go brag to the others about defeating the enemy in the battlefield of the mind."

I sighed and got up.

"More lessons another day?"

The old man shrugged.

"If you live we will talk about it."

With that I left the camp. I didn't hate the Hun, not really. I hated him on general principle but if they stayed out of my very lovely country with it's lovely chocolate, waffles, fries and beer I would find them to be some what tolerable. But they decided to come in uninvited and rude guests simply must be shown the door.

"Liam!"

"Nathan."

We shook hands.

"Went to mock the hun?"

I shrugged.

"It was some thing to do, so your plan?"

Nathan smiled.

"To go visit the whores of course."

I smiled at him.

"You think your mother will bake cookies for us."

Nathan punched me in the shoulder.

"Bastard."

"Guilty as charged. now let's be off."

 

[Cherico]

Ralph Essen



"Reading a book?"

I looked up.

"Yeah, guy has the same name as you Liam."

He sat down next to me.

"Heard you had some kind of crazy mission that you wanted to do?"

I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I'm going to head into the soviet union and try to find out what the hell happened. You in?"

Liam closed his eyes.

"You do realize that sounds completely crazy right?"

"I know."

Liam sighed.

"I'm in."

"Really?"

"My other choice is spend my time on base wasting time. I'm in, hopefully I can keep you nutcases alive."

I got up and streched.

"I'd love to say that you won't regret this but."

"I understand this is going to be terrible, but I kind of want to know why the soviets went crazy myself. So I'm in."

I took his outstreched hand.

"Any good restaurants around here."

Liam grimaced.

"This shithole is in the middle of nowhere, the best place we have is Jollybee."

"And there isn't anything better?"

"Do you like pickled Herring?"

I sighed.

"Jollybee it is."

We walk side by side through the small naval town.

"By the way Ralph? how did Jollybee get so big?"

I shrugged my shoulder.

"No idea."

"Really? Wasn't the philippines an american colony?"

I grimaced.

"Wow, what did you people do to them."

I sighed.

"Spanish american war? we won easy, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So the Philippines initially revolted and they lost and lost badly. A lot of people thought this was the beginning of the american empire. Thing was someone sued the american government and the supreme court said that the constitution follows the flag."

"So?"

"So that meant that Philippino's had all of the constitutional rights that american had and that they could esssentally become a state at anytime, which would completely destroy the political balance of power."

I sighed.

"We then essentially had to bribe them not to become a state, and under the table tried to find a bribe big enough for them to make them become their own country."

"So it backfired?"

"The two countries get along just fine these days but yes it backfired hard. You will notice that there were no attempts at american colonies after that incident."

"I did."

We opened the doors and went inside the Jollybee.

"So new book, what's it about?"

"World war 1"

Liam nodded.

"Sounds interesting, but I'm glad sweden was able to stay out of it."

I nodded.

"Some times the best way to win is not to play at all."
​

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


"So who has the worst rations...our side by the way, not the hun."

I studied my beer as I thought about nathan's question.

"Normally I would say it's us, national pride speaking on that front but...hands down the british."

Nathan frowned.

"Really the british?"

I shrugged.

"Have you seen their rations? Eaten them? they're terrible, I mean by god they still use hardtack."

"That was due to a clerical error Liam."

"How long has that clerical error lasted Nathan? I just feel sorry for them. Sometimes I share my rations with them."

Nathan shook his head.

"Really how much did you lose gambling?"

I sighed.

"I have to give up my chocolate rations for another two months."

Nathan sighed.

"You really need to stop playing chess games for keeps."

"I know, give me a game of poker any time."

I heard an explosion and our tables shook. Aambulances rushed past us and I took another sip of my beer.

"Paris gun?"

I shrugged at Nathan's words.

"Probably, though if the hun insists on calling them that then he really should have the decency to target actual french men rather then our civilians."

I heard a buzzing sound and looked up.

"Nathan am I seeing this."

He sighed.

"Yes you are. That looks like one of those airplanes."

I grabbed my beer.

"I paid good money for my beer Nathan, I'm not giving it up...time to run?"

We grabbed our beers, and got ready to run, and then I noticed the symbol on the plane as it got within straffing distance.

"FUCKING FROGS!"

I heard laugher as it flew overhead, ignoring the terrified populace and heading to the front. I studied my beer, which was thankfully still more then half full. We shook our fists at the plane.

"Really hate pranks like that."

Nathan nodded.

"It's really quite rude Liam."

"Well they're french it comes naturally to them."

"Quite so...MOTHER ANOTHER ROUND!"

Nathan's mother was the owner of the bar. Rumors circulated about her having a dark past of some sort but she was only a widower who had a penchant for officers, older officers....our officers.

I would like to say that her relationship with our officer began with the war, in an effort to protect her only son, but that would be a lie. That relationship had been going off and on for some time now.

She walked out. She looked good for a woman in her 40's as she placed some beer on table.

"There you go my little prince."

Nathan gave her some more money.

"You know you don't have to do that son."

"It's the principle of the thing."

His mother smiled and took the money, an older man ran up to the bar panting and then smiled at her, she smiled back.

"Nathan? mind flipping the sign over to closed?"

Nathan sighed and got up while the two locked arms. He closed closed and locked the door and the two of us sat alone in the bar as the roof started shaking.

"Not a word Liam."

A bit of the roof's concrete landed on the ground.

"Nathan."

"Not a bloody word."

I sighed and took another sip of beer.

"So um...he got you into the exchange program?"

Nathan nodded.

"Yes, compass was a good experience for me."

He winced as another chunk of concrete fell off the roof onto the ground.

"Need help fixing that nathan."

He sighed.

"Probably....at least the noise cancellation enchantments are working."

The two of us finished our first beers and got on chairs, I used some cleaning magic while Nathan put the small chunks of concrete back into the bar's ceiling.

"So compass what's that like?"

Nathan sighed.

"Difficult but I learned a lot. Originally my plan was to go into construction but I managed to get home just as Jerry crashed the party."

"Got drafted?"

He sighed.

"Yes...same as you."

We went back to our drinks.

"So your mom and the commander?"

"Dad created the bar before I was born and got killed when someone got angry during a card game. He tried to calm them down and the man stabbed him in the throat."

"The man?"

"Was obviously hanged for it. Mother continued the business and met up with the commander, who was a widower, and they have been unofficially official ever since."

"Think he will ever marry her?"

"No..mother's big on a woman only marrying once, and it would mess with his children's inheritance in theory. So they're together but not officially...and that doesn't make her a whore."

"A Strumpet?"

Nathan punched me in the arm.

"Your mother's not that much better, really a married man?"

I shrugged.

"I will have you know my mother plays doubles with my father's wife all the time. Theyre all friends."

"Sounds positively french."

I shrugged.

"To the bastards then."

We clinked classes and had a sip as another chunk of concrete landed on the ground. Making our previous hard work completely worthless.

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs

Night duty, wasn't bad.

Well it was absolutely horrible if you were an unarmored sod. But I had my own golem so It wasn't that horrible for me. I looked at the perpetual Yellow mist that existed in No man's land.

The hun was the one who decided to try gas and it killed a lot of people at first until we realized we could simply have an autum mage push the gas to the german lines. That killed their advance in a pretty literal manner but Jerry doesn't like giving up so he tried again.

These days our magi pretty much keep the various types of very lethal gases in no man's land, managing to make a horrible place just a little worse. I checked my mask again and slowly crept up into no man's land. It was hard to see in the gas covered darkness.

Flares periodically lit up, I hugged the ground to avoid any concentrated artillery fire. Periodically the Jerries would sweep the land with machine gun fire, for safety reasons and to relieve any sense of boredom.

I continued to move slowly and changed my vision to infrared. I smiled as I looked at a nearby tree. I crawled around it, moving as silently as I could to the other side of it. I got up and brought out my hammer, I brought it up over my head and Smashed the tree hard.

The man inside the tree screamed as I bashed it over and over again.

The tree wasn't real of course. The hun liked to build artificial trees made out of steel and then made to look like real trees, snipers would hide inside the trees and spend their days waiting for someone to kill.

There were two ways to deal with that. Either hit the tree with a dedicated artillery strike or send out a golem fighter to handle it in person. It was cheaper to send me out, so off I went.

It's actually not a bad job to have. Snipers have it worse, the men who have to march in here without a load of enchanted steel plate have it worse and the poor bastards in the northern front?

Yeah...they have my sympathy. I'd much rather live in my very comfortable walls than have to live in dirt trenches. I hugged the dirt as the hun sent up another flare and moved along the ground. I slowly made my way to the next tree and discovered.

"Huh."

It actually was a tree, sure it was completely dead but it was a tree, I felt a sense of confusion for a bit and then crept up closer to it, and using the sharp point of my hammer carved a rune into it and crawled away, the tree burst into fire and I watched it burn into nothingness.

It wasn't that I hated nature but, if the real trees were gone, that would just leave the fakes which would make it a lot safer for my comrades and friends and less safe for our own snipers.

But to be perfectly honest? Every sniper I have met has been a rather lousy arrogant sort. I respect their job but no one really particularly cares for them. Maybe it's different in other countries but every sniper I've met so far has done a stint in the congo and has stories about their time there.

I'd rather not give such people a hand, they have already have way too many of those.

"God...God please get me out of this."

I smiled and crawled towards the noise.

"I, I just want to see mother and father again, please god I just want to live."

German, he was praying in german, I brought out my hammer and crawled towards a crater, the hun was praying on his knees in the crater, shaking, in the yellow haze he looked like a creature from another world.

"Please Jesus, I just want to get home alive."

It would be so easy to kill him, to snuff out his life. If I did so no one would really care and if I did bring him back alive command would force me to write some paperwork about it and I would have to go through a debriefing. Officially taking prisoners was an acceptable practice, unofficially we had to feed, cloth, and house them.

It was a use of resources that our country would rather not spend on people who invaded our country. So they forced us to fill out paperwork to discourage the practice.

"If you get me out of here I promise to live a good life."

Ugh, so much paperwork.

I put my hammer on my back and grabbed the man with my golem's arms.

"Hello."

My voice whispered into his ear and he squeeked.

"You have a choice, you can spend the rest of the war in a camp with your friends or I can kill you now. Shake your head no if you want to die, nod your head yes if you want to live."

The man nodded his head.

"Oh good. Well we will be off then."

I got up and ran to the wall, I heard some sputtering of machine gun fire as I ran to out lines, I banged on the wall and was let in, still holding the hun with my other hand. A officer walked up and stared at me and then frowned at the Jerry.

"You brought a prisoner."

His voice was laced with disdain.

"I felt like he might have information."

The officer shook his head as I placed the man on the ground. Some of my fellow troops gathered him up and dragged him away. The officer shook his head.

"You do realize I'm going to have to give you a full debriefing now."

"I'm sorry to trouble you."

The officer sighed.

"I'm going to give you extra paperwork for this, you know."

I got out of my golem.

"I figured as much sir."

"You lot really need to stop gathering up strays, all you're doing is making everyone's life harder."

"I'm sorry sir."

"I know you're sorry but you G-boy's keep doing it. The camp's full enough as it is, if we keep this up then we're going to have to be forced to ask the Tommies for help."

"Not the French?"

"The french have told us that it's time for someone else to deal with the prisoners for a change."

"Fair enough I suppose."

"Well come on, we have work to do."

I hated paperwork.

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


I hated the moon.


When the light of a full moon was out it meant that German guns, big and small, could see you in no man's land. For some reason natural sunlight wasn't as bad, the constant yellow haze that consumed no man's land obscured people.

This didn't mean attacking during the day was safe. But moon light....moon light was something where you had to be careful.

"We're attacking tower two."

The orders had been relayed, the hun had a tower that spewed forth mustard gas and helped keep said gas from their trenches, we likewise had enchanted towers that kept gas from our trenches. The effect made no man's land an even worse hellhole because the gas was prevented from dissipating. Instead it just hung on, lingering over the land like a curse.

I volunteered to be sent in alone.

Was it a smart move?

No, no it wasn't. It was actually objectively stupid but if I didn't go then they would have sent in a mass of mundanes to handle it. Many of whom were fresh meat and didn't understand the first thing about how things really worked on the battlefield.

I couldn't save them but I could give them some more time, more time to figure out how to survive, how to live and give them a chance of surviving the war and going home.

At the very least I was able to put in yet another request to command, the same request I gave them every time I went out on a mission like this. The same request that would be sent to a general and then the draft board.

I hugged the ground as an explosion hit nearby and then crawled a little closer. It was slow, so agonizingly slow, but I was patient. Then I got to the first trench.

I prayed my noise cancellation charms still had juice as I walked over the barbed wire. Then I hugged the ground again and got to the first trench. Two huns were manning a machine gun nearby and they were asleep. It didn't happen very often that I would get lucky like this but I didn't question it.

Instead I carefully got into the trench and then climbed out of it into the second trench and the third one, eventally I got past the last trench and was finally behind enemy lines. It was terrifying here, in the moonlight, hoping against hope that a mixture of gravity and silence spells would hold out.

But hold out they did even if it had taken a week's worth of work to make them. As I jumped around the Hun's base I got closer to the tower. Once I was there I took the pile of explosives off of my back and placed it on the tower. Then I carefully snuck back.

Once I was in no man's land I heard a distant poof as I crawled I saw the gas thin and then I heard the screaming.

It wasn't just mustard gas in the cloud, it was a variety of gasses to burn the skin, the eyes, to kill, murder and maim and now all of it was passing off into German lines. I got back to the wall without a scratch.

My commanding officer looked at me.

"I saw the gas thin... you pulled it off, congratulations Liam."

I got out of my golem my face covered in sweat as I took off my gas mask.

"It was difficult but I did it."

"That you did."

"My request."

My commanding officer frowned.

"You're not necessarily doing your brother any favors."

"My request still stands."

My commanding officer sighed.

"Albert Lannoy will once again be exempted from military service and banned from joining the military for another 3 months."

I nodded.

"Thank you sir."

"I don't know why you would do this. You're a bastard, he's the legitimate heir. Shouldn't you resent the man, even a little bit?"

I remembered Albert's smile, his kindness, his friendship while i was growing up.

"He's still my brother, sir."

I know command likes to manipulate me with that stick but Albert is a sickly man, a man with a good wife, a man with small children. He took care of me when I was a boy and now it's my turn to take care of him.

"When morning comes there will be an advance, you're exempted. Good work Liam."

I streched and went to my bed, I slept soundly through the artillery strikes, through the fighting. When I awoke from my slumber I was informed that there were no survivors.

Five thousand men from around the world had died, gaining nothing in no man's land. You think that would shock me, the horror of it all, the pointlessness of it all but by now I was just resigned to the madness of war. I think in the end we all were.

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs



The old hun nodded at me.

"Your chess is getting better."

Checkmate.

"But you're still terrible."

I shrugged, it was important to me to get better, I was tired of losing my cigarette ration every week. Sure I didn't smoke but it was the principle of the thing.

"I know."

"I met the boy you spared."

I looked up.

"Boy?"

The old man nodded.

"Yes boy, turned 15 and decided to lie his way into the army, foolish but all boys are foolish at that age."

I shrugged and we started another game.

"There are no wizards in the camp."

I blinked.

"What?"

The old man looked up.

"There isn't a single wizard in the camp. I know there aren't any camps specifically for magi, so why aren't there any magic folk in camp?"

I shrugged.

"I think it's the same reason why you keep losing in chess."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I have played against magi before, the seasons change them, influence their playstyle. You're a summer magi."

I frowned. I wasn't wearing a patch that told that.

"And you know this how?"

"Hard agresssive play style, Autum prefers speed, winter magi have a flexible playstyle and spring is all about defense, but I knew it even before we played."

I set up the board.

"How?"

"Because you magi always have tells. The magic affects people, changes them. A normal man gets loud and rowdy when he's drunk. A magi gets quiet, gets polite. Put that drunkard behind the wheel of a car and a normal person swerves and is dangerous, a magi will painstakingly follow every single stupid rule of the road."

I lost another piece.

"You're creatures of order, and that worries me."

"I thought Germans were all about order."

"A secret for you little belgian. Societies, all societies, loudly crow and exhalt the feature of their society that they lack the most. Americans scream about freedom and liberty while their society is a crazy quilt of rules and the tyranny of the neighbor. The british scream about politeness but actuallity wield rudeness like a scalpel. The french talk about logic."

I groaned.

"But a less logical people I can not find, and germans? We are children of chaos one and all. We hide it well but it leaks out despite our best efforts. The order is artificial."

He paused.

"You make it seem almost praiseworthy."

I lost another rook.

"In order to improve, one must acknowlege one's faults and compensate for them. stop."

My hand froze.

"Look at what you are charging into."

I sighed.

"It's a trap."

"Yes it is a trap and at least you reconize that fact now. Temper your fire with the waters of patience if you want victory."

I sighed as I lost another round.

"And that is the last game...you now play at the level of a small child."

"You're full of praise old man."

"You used to play at the level of a small stupid child, but there is improvement. Now leave, I have other people to swindle out of their cigarettes."

I handed over another pack and walked away, I sighed as I looked up.

"Damned yanks."

We had managed to successfully embargo the germans by sea, the americans for their part seemingly took it as a challenge, a reminder that though our alliance ruled the seas, they still ruled the skies and would do as they damned well pleased.

An illusion of an american flag trailed out behind the airship and it tipped its wings as if to mock us. I scowled up and looked at the camp commander.

"Any way to shoot it down?"

"Planes are scrambled but by the time they get here the damned thing will be past enemy lines...again."

I shook my head.

"They're just making the war longer."

The man nodded.

"People who sell to both sides don't ever seem to have a problem with that, but I'm not worried."

I stared at the guard.

"You're not worried about countries smuggling supplies to our enemies?"

The guard leaned against the wall.

"There are many oxymorons in this world, coldfire, slow winds, and german diplomacy. Sooner or later the Jerries will do something to get the pack right and angry and then, when they are pushed too far, those same airships will be dropping bombs."

I nodded my head.

"We can only hope and pray, speaking of which how goes the eastern front?"

The man frowned.

"Officially our brave russian allies are holding on, unofficially the great russian steam roller has sand and grit in its engines. They're losing a lot of people."

"We have the greeks on their side."

"The greeks are currently spending most of their efforts holding off the Ottoman invasion which is also going badly. Honestly sometimes I wonder how this whole mess happened."

"The serbs are bastards."

The guard looked at me.

"Officially I rebuke you for talking ill of our noble serbian allies, unofficially I agree with you. I mean seriously blowing up a hotel full of people? They deserved to get a swatting. I just wish they didn't get the rest of us involved in their nonsense."

He paused.

"Honestly what have the Serbians contributed to the world."

"Nikolia Tesla."

The guard paused.

"Fair enough."
​

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs





My golem was trashed and I was missing both an arm and my left leg below the knee. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and got hit with an artillery strike. On the front it was known as a lucky injury because it would take a couple months before your limbs would grow back and back to the front lines you would go.

Nathan, like me, was also lucky and lost both legs below his knees. He laid down on the bed next to me as we stared at the ceiling of a French hospital.

"I heard that French girls are more open about things."

I turned my head to look at him.

"I heard they're swimming with disease because of that."

"Stop being a downer Liam, we just lost our legs it isn't anything serious."

I shrugged.

"True, so I guess to pass time we should talk about things....rule of thumb not chess."

Nathan nodded.

"You really are rubbish at the game, but you are improving. Why, before the advance, I actually had to think a few times to beat you Liam."

We were silent for a bit.


"Liam....I can't remember the advance, the attack."


I gripped the bed with my remaining hand.

"I can't remember it either. but then again all the attacks, all the charges, all of the fights seem to roll into one horrible whole Nathan."

We continued to stare at the ceiling.


"So...compass what was it like?"

Nathan closed his eyes and smiled.

"Huge...as in bigger then some towns huge, it goes high in the sky and deep below the earth and it's just massive. You could explore the place an entire lifetime and keep finding new things."


"Oh."

"And there are people from all over the world and lots to do. They have this aquarium that's just massive and it's hundreds of years old, there are zoos, a recreation of the library of Alexandria, a massive library, and the planetarium."

"Yes?"


"You're able to see alien worlds and stars. It's beautiful and awe inspiring...I spent my free time there just seeing the worlds Merlin once saw."

"How long did it take you to finish that?"


"You can't..."

"Can't what?"


"There are billions upon billions of stars in our galaxy. Billions of worlds, of planets, and life is rare out there. So very rare. It's beautiful."


I closed my eyes.


"Do you think we're worthy of it? Of magic? I mean considering how we abused that gift...maybe we just were not ready for it. For that kind of power and responsibility."

Nathan sighed.

"Merlin once told me that no one is ever really ready for anything, that life just kind of threw stuff at you."

"That's...not very inspirational...."

I closed my eyes.

"So you think the war will be over when we're finished healing."

Nathan paused at my question.

"Probably not. But knowing how these things work we will be able to spend Christmas away from the front, which all things considered is rather nice."

Christmas. I remembered my last Christmas. Cold, shivering and fighting some Hun on the battlefield. Christmas in a medical hospital out in France, that seemed rather lovely actually.

"So I have never been to Paris."

Nathan let out a breath of air.

"Well bad news you still haven't, I found out from the nurse that we're in Lille."

I turned towards him.

"Never heard of it, then again I never traveled much."

Nathan frowned.

"It's known for textiles, protestant revolts and the plague. Really, as French cities go, it's quite lovely."

"A city known for revolts and the plague is lovely."

"The textiles are really quite lovely Liam. Why, the city's industry is so lovely there's a saying about it. Caves de Lille ! on meurt sous vos plafonds de pierre !"

I sighed.

"I really should have learned how to do translation spells."

Nathan nodded.

"There is a reason that it is a standard part of Compass' curriculum. Really, your family did not get their money's worth."

"I wanted to stay close to my family."


"Fair enough, I miss my family too, I... Before this war happened I thought about settling down, getting married. and you Liam?"


"Never gave it much thought. I had just finished my education when the hun decided to ruin things."


Nathan leaned back.

"She, the girl I mean, lived in the east. Whole area is controlled by huns now."

"I'm sure she will remain faithful."

"I rather doubt it Liam, I never told her how I felt, I swore I was going to tell her about it after I got back from a business trip but...well the Hun came and here we are. She's probably married to someone else now."

"Oh sorry."

Nathan moved his hand in exasperation.

"A nice French girl would make a decent wife. And if that isn't possible then we shall find bad French girls for a one night stand."

I laughed at his joke and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm glad you survived Nathan."

"I'm glad you're alive too Liam."


I stretched out my remaining arm.


"You're my best friend Nathan."

He shook my hand, and then held it tight. I don't know how long we held hands there, in that dark hospital room, until we fell asleep.

 

[Cherico]

Germ Theory and american culture

Hedrick Gruber



The discovery of Germ theory in the late 1700s was quite possibly one of the biggest contributions Compass ever made as an institution to humanity as a whole. Merlin's decision to freely share the phenix people's knowledge about virus' and bacteria is credited with saving millions of lives around the world.

And Merlin made sure to share this knowlege as much as he could. The patent for microscopes was released to the public. Microscopes were mass produced and men hired to spread the word about Germ theory.

There were worries about rural areas not getting this message, so free microscopes were given to parents and children in remote areas to spread the word. Language was put in a way that a layman could understand, photos were put in newspapers and teachers given extra pay to spread the word.

This messaging happened to take place during america's first religious awakening, rural priests, pastors and religious leaders took to germ theory in many cases more quickly than America's medically trained doctors who were skeptical.

The idea of disease being caused by 'evil' bacteria, and good bacteria doing things like helping make bread, cheese and other things appealed to their sensibilities. Disease was caused by bacteria corrupted by the devil and this was ingrained and imbedded in American culture.

As winter magi started to travel rural areas fighting disease, sometimes using the infamous spirit method, people saw magi fight bacteria infecting their loved ones in the spiritual realm. Many times they could volunteer to fight alongside them, deputized to fight this battle.

Because of experiences like this americans developed an odd personal loathing of germs. Germs became the minions and emissaries of Satan in the rural mind and culture. It wasn't an impersonal disaster anymore, the enemy of disease had a face in the public mind.

Stories of families gathering together with their guns and a winter mage to destroy a virus that went after a family member were told with pride. Oddly enough this made hiding disease less of a factor in american culture. Disease wasn't considered to be the result of a personal failing.

It was in many places considered the devil attacking good christian men, women and children, causing harm and death for his own sick amusement. The devil in the american mind was a plague bearer spreading illness and disease wherever he went.

In many respects this was helpful. Institutes that studied disease were often aided by religious communities, quarantines were often complied with more readily. But in many respects it was detrimental. American doctors, nurses and medical professionals magi and mundane developed a personal loathing of their stated enemies.

Outbreaks were not treated with the cold clinical detachement that was common in europe. Instead they were personal affronts which meant that resources were often wasted on people who were far beyond help. With diseases being treated more like gangsters and criminals than mindless bacteria and viruses.

This cultural issue would play out in the media. In children's cartoons viruses were malevolent monsters. At times bumbling, in others disturbing and evil. The stereotype of the crusading doctor, winter magi or nurse with a personal vendetta against a disease became ingrained in the popular imagination.

For better or worse Americans took sickness personally and developed a kind of perverse glee in wiping them out. This tendency at times led to misuse of resources but it also led to good things. Polio and scarlet fever were wiped out because of this approach to medicine. but the lack of objectivity sometimes led to bad preventable results.

At the very least having coworkers who became doctors because they swore vengeance on a particular disease is not helpful. What the americans gained in passion, they lost in objectivity. It is up to the rest of us in the European world to balance that tendency out. Together with American passion and European objectivity we may just wipe out disease once and for all.

 

[Cherico]

South Africa and Rhodesia

Zackery Hinds


South Africa and Rhodesia are respectively the last remaining white british colonialist states.

South Africa was colonized by afrikaners and british settlers later on after the british seized the colony. Rhodesia was thus created by a mixture of british settlers and middle eastern christians who were evicted from the ottoman empire during the 1880s. It was named after Cecil Rhodes, who helped reach the compromise that allowed these christians to flee the empire with their lives and property.

These orthodox christians also settled other African colonies held by the british and french empires. With the collapse of these empires the orthodox christians in the French empire fled to Algeria along with other French settlers, creating a majority population.

Likewise with the collapse of the british empire in africa Orthodox christians and british settlers concentrated their numbers in South africa and Rhodesia. South Africa prevented orthodox settlers from entering it, Rhodesia however welcomed them.

In time this made the white orthodox population amount to 80% of the population with a 20% black population. South africa's numbers were about the opposite with a 20% white population and an 80% black population.

The native black african population deeply resented and loathed being turned into a minority in their own country and started a revolt that lasted from 1962 to 1972. This revolt had several rebel leaders but the most well known was Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe alliance was backed by other African countries, the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. Rhodesia was backed by south africa, India and other western countries.

The Zimbawe alliance fought well and would become the cause celebrity for black nationalists and pan africanist but in the end the result was perhaps inevitable. Rhodesia was the recipient of orthodox christians who had been kicked out of other african countries, they had indians who had been kicked out of other african countries, europeans kicked out of other african countries.

These people felt like they had nowhere else to go, they had more magic, they had more money, they had more people and it was a war for their survival. The war became more and more brutal and the democratic government that used to control the country was removed and replaced with a dictatorship.

The new regime matched the rebels in brutality and then exceded them. Robert Mugabe was captured and publically executed in 1972 and with him his rebellion died. The regime then realized that it was a multi-ethnic hotspot just waiting to boil over again into another rebellion.

To prevent this from ever happening the dictatorship took a page from paraguay and instituted forced integration. Interracial marriages were no longer acceptable, they were mandatory. Black, arab, white and indian children couldn't just play together, they were forced to play together.

The only thing the regime saw as a common theme for the country was christianity and so the regime based itself upon it. It is hoped that in time Rhodesia becomes a democracy again but for now that seems unlikely. It is also unknown if their policy of extreme intergation will work or just cause a new rebellion in the future.

What is known is that with the rapture the black african population was given land grants on the new world, often in prime areas, in exchange for peace. And if peace doesnt come, the regime has no problems in using violence.

South Africa, by contrast, doubled down on their apartheid tactics, creating a superficial democracy where the franchise was limited and racial superiority was baked into the legal framework. Blacks were third class citizens at best and the regime became an open police state.

In the long run it looked like apartheid was doomed to the dust bin of history for reasons of population if nothing else. But the apartheid regime hitched its mast to america and, with the rapture, gained 100 million vat bred afrikaners. The black population saw that the fortunes had changed for the worst and, in desperation, revolted.

South africa became the first country in human history to use nuclear weapons in anger against its own people. When the dust settled over a million people were dead and the policies of apartheid only became more entrenched and brutal.

Both South Africa and Rhodesia are brutal regimes with a history of violence, but in time I think Rhodesia might become a democracy again, if one with a checkered and bloody past. I do not hold out hope for South Africa though, nor do many others who have studied the country.

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


"Hello."

Nathan winked at a a french girl in her nurse uniform, who looked at his wounds and walked away.

"Didn't work."

"Not this time, no. In fact I am very much sure that if I talk to 100 girls, 99 will reject me."

I frowned.

"So why do this then?"

"Because the 1 out of a 100 is really fun Liam. life is a numbers' game that can not be won unless you play."

"So you have reduced love into a mathematical equation, you're quite the romantic."

Nathan smirked.

"I will have you know that the phenix people considered math to be sacred and holy. Love is one of the most important things you can have in life, therefore mixing the two is romantic and sacred."

I sighed.

"I really wish I knew how to use a translation spell."

"I'd teach you but it requires either two hands or making some runes which would be a bad idea because you lost your dominant hand in the incident."

Nathan paused.

"Also why is it that you do not speak french? French is one of the national languages of belgium, you really should know how to speak it."

"I grew up in the north we all speak dutch over there, French is more of a southern thing."

"You're stationed in the south, how do you function?"

I sighed.

"They point at things and I smash them, it's not that complicated Nathan."

"Bonjour Mamoselle!"

The woman saw us, raised her nose, and huffed away.

"How many does that make?"

"13 but it's an unlucky number, there will be more girls."

I looked around.

"Notice how there, um, are not..."

"A lot of men? I noticed that too, French government has been drafting the men closest to the front."

"And the country's ok with that?"

"We're not really ones to talk, I don't know many belgian men who aren't in uniform."

I thought about it.

"So why are we having so little success? I mean if there are more women then men we should have our pick of the fillies."

"Well we are kind of crippled, that does seem to turn ladies off a bit."

I sighed.

"To the whore house?"

"I have no idea where that is liam."

"But you gave me that speech about textiles."

"Which doesn't mean I know anything about the geography of the place. Also, asking where the whores are is considered to be kind of rude."

"It's france there has to be a whore house some where."

"That goes with out saying liam, but the french expect people to just know where the whores are. It's one of the secret powers of the french."

"So french men have the power to sense where whore houses are?"

Nathan nodded.

"Along with knowing how to make a thousand kinds of cheese, how to tell where a wine comes from with a taste and bake bread that's extra crusty."

I sighed.

"I wish I had my hand back."

"Stiff upper lip Liam. you just lost a couple limbs, it's nothing serious."

"I know that. but it's still dreadfully inconvenient..."

I smiled at a passing girl who saw my limbs, turned white, and walked away.

"How the devil did people manage to get by before magical healing?"

Nathan shrugged.

"Maybe they just killed themselves or died in the streets or I don't know. I'm thinking about getting clocked."

I sighed.

"It doesn't take that much time for limbs to grow back just a couple months, think of it as a vacation."

"No seriously Liam, I'm thinking about getting clocked. You know, replace the legs with clocked parts."

I frowned.

"Only four places in the world make clockwork limbs, the yanks, the Israelis, the jerry's and the poles, and we're not on speaking terms with half of em."

"I know, I was thinking of getting something made by the yanks. they're pretty good about weatherproofing stuff."

"And the Israelis?"

"They're better at cold weather gear but I just want some thing that can handle a variety of stuff. I won't go for anything made by the jerry's."

"Because they're invading our country?"

"Because their clockwork limbs are overly complex pieces of crap. Seriously, even before the war, they had a reputation for breaking over the slightest nudge. The poles go for stuff that looks pretty, the Israli's stuff is too expensive."

"But they look real."

"I'd rather have some thing that will last. American clockwork looks like shit but it lasts. Want to go see if we can go get some limbs?"

"No, thank you Nathan. I'm going to enjoy my vacation and wait for my limbs to grow back."

"Up to you."

We wheeled ourselves forward, I looked at a newspaper.

"What does that say?"

"Price of starfish at record high, but that always happens whenever there's a war."

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs



We wheeled ourselves to the local magic quarter and I frowned.

"It's deserted."

Nathan frowned, staring at the now empty shops many of them boarded up. Occasionally we found the impoverished sleeping on the ground but, other than that, it was empty.

"I know..."

We continued onwards until we got to a shop that had it's lights on, Nathan opened the door and we walked in. A man looked up.

"Here for some clockwork?"

Nathan nodded.

"I was looking for something american."

"Which brand? Oxhorn, Lazerwolf, or Zildjian?"

Nathan blinked.

"Zildjian?"

"They used to make musical instruments. According to their pamphlet they used to be based in the automan empire where they were founded by an alchemist. And, when compass formed..."

"They left to learn magic?"

The man sighed.

"No, they had to flee the country because alchemy became punishable by death. and hey, if every one thinks you're up to witchcraft anyways? Might as well move to where it's common right?"

We nodded.

"They're a decent company but their gear is strictly civilian make."

Nathan nodded.

"What do you recommend?"

"What are you thinking of going up against? For cold weather gear nothing beats Israli made Frumkin clockwork. If you're a navy man, or just like water, my advice is go for Lazerwolf they make some of the best waterproof clockworks out there and all their clockworks include a gill system so you can breath underwater."

Nathan blinked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Lazerwolf is based on the west coast in Portland. They got started after the civil war, the army used Oxhorn clockwork parts and the Navy wanted to be contrary so they offered contracts to anyone who could make some thing speced for ocean travel."

The man paused.

"So Lazerwolf put their hat in. it's cheaper to just use the same enchantments than recreating the wheel so they decided to focus on sailors, merchantmen and any one who likes traveling by water. They make good solid stuff which never rusts and will keep you from dying in the water."

"But."

"But in a shooting war on the ground? Go with Oxhorn, good solid company based out of Kentucky."

He pointed at the boxes.

"What is that?"

"An apple with a spider on it, I don't know why Oxhorn has it on all their merchandise but they do. Maybe it's a religious reference, apple of knowlege and spider? Maybe that's some thing about industry. All I know is that they make damned good stuff."

Nathan frowned.

"Anything else?"

"I have a few limbs from Zeller, Bavarian company but I don't recommend it."

"Because of the war?"

"Because the germans make over engineered crap, you see they try to compensate for their lack of magi by trying to science things up as much as possible. And it works, it's less intensive to make."

He sighs.

"Magically speaking. But all of the articulations makes them fragile as all hell, they're prone to breaking at the worst times and they don't give you the dexterity that other brands give you or the sense of touch. And they're too fucking expensive. Sad thing is, Zeller's the best brand the Germans have."

"Anything else?"

The shopkeep opened up a box and we stared at a human arm.

"Skarbek, for some one who wants to go clockwork but doesn't want people to know about it. Great brand."

He tapped the arm.

"It looks like artificial skin but it's made out of alchemical plastic metal alloy, it has self repair features, it has human touch, and looks and acts just like the real thing."

He put the arm away.

"But it's not military quality and I find that most clockers want to advertise that they're clockers, so I don't recommend it."

Nathan nodded and forked over a military issued IOU, the man frowned.

"I'm sorry, I don't take those."

"The belgian military will gladly pay you."

"That's the problem, I'm not allowed to sell clockworks to you guys because of... Well, the whole congo incident."

Nathan glared at him.

"Really? We cleaned up our issues after we took the colony away from Leopold"

"Doesn't matter, Baha's one of the most important states the republicans have and they're still livid about what happened. I can sell to you as an individual but If I take that IOU I'm not going to be allowed to ever return home without doing serious jail time."

"So you're not going to sell to us because of an incident."

Nathan frowned.

"You guys killed over 10 million people, that kind of gets people really really angry."

"How many indians did you americans murder?"

The man frowned.

"A whole hell of a lot, but the thing is? Once they surrendered they gained the rights that all other americans had. We've had an indian president, we have had indians in congress, the senate, as governors and mayors. Can the congoleze even vote in your elections at all?"

We turned away.

"Yeah thought so. Look, this isn't personal. I'm pretty damned sure that you two didn't have anything to do with that business. But the folks back home determine who I'm allowed to sell to and Im not allowed to sell clockwork limbs directly to the belgian army."

Nathan looked him in the eye.

"The belgian people remember their friends."

"I came to europe to make money, not friends, but if you're able to trade that IOU for a french one then I might be able to help you."

"That's all you can do?"

"No direct sales folks. Private individuals yes, direct sale to the military no."

Nathan sighed.

"I thank you for your time."

The man shrugged.

"It's nothing personal."

"Anything you can tell us about the city?"

The man yawned.

"The magic district is dead, literally dead. The french basically drafted all their magi."

"Even the women?"

"Mostly in support roles but yes."

"Notice any differences?"

He sniffed the air.

"It's more polluted here, not as bad as London but it's polluted. Back home we get most of our electrical power and heat from the ley lines. Here in europe coal is everywhere. It's harder to breath here, sometimes you can't see the sky, don't know how you lot handle it."

"You get used to it."

The man shrugged.

"Wish both of you luck but it is what it is."

"Any other clockwork shops?"

The man sighed.

"Yeah but they're all staffed with Expats like me. Nearest place that's locally owned and operated is probally in Paris."

"Which is too far away."

The man shrugged.

"It is what it is."

We left the shop in ill spirits.

"Bloody Leopold ruins everything."

I put my remaining hand on Nathans shoulder as he quaked with rage.
​

 

[Cherico]

Clockwork

Tomas Veil 1958



Clockwork limbs and enchantments go back before the napoleonic wars. Out on the frontier people could and did lose limbs to infection, injury and other incidents. Often times people either didn't have access to, or could not afford, a potion regimen to regenerate their limbs. This was, after all, in the early days of magic when magic was rare.

Some Magi decided to use their training to make artificial limbs. These craftsmen were rare, their market limited at first but then the napoleonic wars changed that fact. soldiers, sailors and others lost limbs on the battlefield and with the british blockade getting a reliable potion regimen to fix these injuries was difficult. Smuggling clockwork limbs into europe was just easier, faster and didn't waste valuable healing potions.

The early clockwork limbs were more like articulated gantlets than the wonders they became in later years. They allowed people to use their arms and legs again but lacked the enhancements that later models had. Still these limbs served their purpose and, for some men, a metal limb was more useful to have in the field than comparatively weaker flesh.

After the napoleonic wars ended the clockwork industry had unfettered access to European and global markets again. This prompted more american magi to go into business but these magi faced competition. Winter magi or potion regimen could regenerate limbs. It wasn't enough to just replace flesh if one wanted to make a sale. Clockwork limbs had to be better then what they replaced.

The demand for quartz went up as these craftsmen added in more enchantments. They used material alchemy to make the metal stronger and lighter. They added enchantments to make them rust proof and tougher, gadgets and other enchantments were added into the limbs.

These enhancements convinced some people that clockwork parts were better then original parts and some people started to purposely maim themselves to replace their limbs with superior clockwork limbs.

The world saw the birth of the clocker subculture, the craftsmen banded together to create companies so they could keep up with demand. Clockwork parts were mass produced in magic rich america, in Israel, in desperate poland and, to a degree, in bavaria.

Each country developed their own ethos, Israli clockwork developed a reputation for being tough, hardy and weather proof, Polish clockwork was made to be invisible and look like real flesh, German clockwork often had the best aesthetics and american clockworks often had more enchantments.

Even with a dedicated subculture though the market for clockwork was always limited and manufacturers got ran out of the market by debt and other issues as time passed. These days there are only seven major companies worldwide that manufacture clockwork limbs.

The three american brands are Lazerwolf a west coast company, Zildjian an east coast company, and Oxhorn the clockwork manufacturer of middle America, all of them known for their skillfully made products, all of them surviving through lean times on military contracts. The companies used the military's rivalries to survive lean times.

Oxhorn got into the military market early, securing the army as their benefactors, Lazerwolf convinced the navy to be their patron and Zildjian used their proximity to local airforce bases to get their patronage. With there patrons secured the companies were able to grow and use these connections to export around the world, but they did have competition.

Frumkin an Israeli company would stake their claim to their countries markets and use that as a base to expand exports. Poland's Skarbek corporation would become the prime makers of hidden clockwork parts.

After the korean war, the oncekorean brand would enter the clockwork market and would dominate much of the sales of clockwork parts to east asia. And finally, in europe, the Zeller brand would be the only clockwork manufacturer to survive the world wars.

Albeit with a severally damaged reputation and the excution of their CEO for warcrimes, their board of directors for war crimes, and most of their senior management for war crimes. It's actually surprising the company survived at all considering its dark past but it has managed to continue on.

These days the variety of clockwork limbs has grown and you can find clockers in almost any major city in the world. They have taken their place next to beatnick, greasers and punks as one of the major subcultures of the world.

 

[Cherico]

Magic and industy


Malcom Little- professor of economics
1970



American industry is the envy of the world, producing goods magical and nonmagical of pretty much every type and, despite facing competition from lower priced labor in the third world, still holds its own.

One major factor in this is an educated populace, and the largest magical community in the entire world, but in order for magic to be of use in an industrial economy you need economies of scale.

America allowed anyone to learn magic without restriction and, outside of the south, was rich in leylines and magic. Unlike europe were magic was rare, magi were common and were forced by competition to diversify into different industries. Magic wasn't just a tool of war, or just the domain of the upper classes like in europe. Magic was a tool that was open to the working class.

These magi decided to use the power of the leylines for industrial uses, they created sawmills for lumber, perpetually moving grindstones to grind grain. They figured out how to make plastics and other materials and with open access to the secrets of the phenix people science and magic mixed together.

When electricity was put into industrial use magi discovered it was child's play to turn the power of the leylines into electrical energy. Buildings built on leylines had free power, as did factories. Magic power plants provided pollution free energy to areas that were not on leylines and this power was incredibly cheap.

The coal fired plants that dominated europe and asia could only survive in the deep south. The gasoline powered plants also found that they couldn't compete with the non polluting plants. Both industries were forced to rely on exports and transportation systems to survive.

This however was a good thing. Without the pollution caused by oil and coal powerplants american cities were cleaner then their european counter parts and ,as magical industry grew and coal was phased out in favor of cheap magical power, they just grew cleaner and cleaner in time.

To this day, even with our higher labor costs, the incredibly low cost of electrical power and the lower logistics costs still makes it cheaper to do manufacturing at home in the united states rather than moving manufacturing into other countries.

The benefits of magic in industry outside of electrical generation are plentiful. There was a time were diamonds were considered to be valuable. These days, thanks to the ease of transmuting carbon, diamonds with their complete and utter uselessness in storing magic or use as a medium for magic is regulated purely for industrial use.

Aluminum manufacturing is also cheaper in the united states, and that's just scratching the surface of magic in material science. When it comes to the new computers the ability of magic to cool temperatures is astounding and in the field of space travel magic can allow you to manipulate gravity, making it much more cost effective then the pure chemical program the soviets have.

Who knows what else will be discovered in the future as the power of the lost phenix people is mixed with good old fashioned human ingenuity.
​

 

[Cherico]

Liam Jacobs


I flexed my newly regrown hand and then sighed as I looked at my nonexistent legs.

"Bother."

"There's a shortage of starfish, Liam."

"I know."

The two of us wheeled ourselves around the hospital.

"LT Liam jacobs, LT Nathan Petters, I am Captain Chabot, french army."

We turned around and saw a french soldier, he had a blade strapped to his side.

"Yes."

"Both of you are familar with runecraft correct?"

Nathan and I nodded.

"Good, your skills are being wasted."

He handed us both some paper work, I looked through it.

"What is this?"

"You're being taken off the front lines and are being put into a support position."

I looked through the files.

"You're benching us?"

"Neither of you have legs, both of your battle golems got trashed during the advance and we need every and any enchantment we can get. And of course the price of starfish has skyrocketed so regeneration potions are being saved for the worst cases."

He sighed.

"Normally this would be handled by someone from the belgian military but they're a little busy at the moment."

I couldn't help myself.

"The hun's a terrible guest sir, no table manners at all."

That earned me a smirk.

"Well said, I'm going to help get you closer to the front."

We followed him out of the hospital and then he helped us into a car, our wheelchairs were stowed away and we started driving. It was silent, Nathan looked outside while I tried to think of something to do.

"So are you one of those Chabots?"

The man tilted his head.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know lightning."

"Yes...I am descended from the man, it's a bit of a tradition for us to join the army."

I looked at his sword.

"Is that?"

"It is. Justice, my family's ancestral blade."

"They say he traded his sister for it."

"Oh that nonsense? Jaque wasn't the heartless monster the pulps make him out to be. His sister fell in love with the magi, his father honored the match and, by all accounts, they were all good friends. I visited america once, the other side of the family owns a chain of hotels and they're lovely people."

"So that's Justice."

One of the most famous swords in world history like excalibur, I felt a sense of awe.

"So you inherited it?"

"Yes. When the war started my eldest brother inherited it. He died in no man's land. The army thought justice was lost forever then the very next day it shows up on my older brother's dining room table none the worst for wear. Then he also died some time later."

"And the army retrieved it?"

"No. Then, the very next day, I found it in my bed right next to me. This isn't the first time this has happened. Every time the sword has been lost, or stolen, it always makes it's way back to our family."

"Like a dog."

"Justice has served my family longer and more loyally than any dog ever could, but I see your point."

He patted his sword.

"Good girl."

"So, the job?"

The captain sighed.

"We have been moving bulls up to the front for their meat but there's no reason to let it go to waste right? So you will use them to make volunteers stronger and tougher."

"I would need more regents to get it done right."

"Unfortunately the war means we can't get those regents, we have to make due with what we have. Especially since the number of magi is plumeting pretty much everywhere in europe."

"Except Italy."

"Ah Italy, they bragged so much about how though and dangerous they were and the minute things get a little sticky? suddenly they're a peaceful people who value their neutrality. Cowards, an entire nation of them."

"Do you feel the same way about the yanks?"

"The americans are selfish and greedy but they're not cowards. A coward doesn't cross enemy lines just to sell their wares and at least they're open about their desires to make money off both sides. The Italians have this annoying holier then thou way of doing things that just rubs me the wrong way."

I nodded.

"So are we shooting down their blasted airships now?"

"Absolutely not."

I blinked.

"But we issued warnings, they should be fair game."

The captain nodded.

"And officially they are. But unofficially the americans have the third largest navy in the world, the largest airforce in the world and have two continents' worth of allies who will fight by their side. If they join the hun the war is over for us but if they join us the war is over for the hun."

He paused.

"That said, I wouldn't get too worried. This whole mess will be over by christmas."