"I have never met a Mongol-chin or an Azmayincan so my guess may be way off, but I see a world where Romans can travel the entire world and see the wonders never imagined, savour foreign flavours, experience new music, travel between planets without the need of spaceships, and listen to new ideas. I honestly do not know if peace is possible, but I would be willing to try. If the gods of Rome want to fight the gods of Azmayinca, they should do it themselves instead of having the mortals do it for them. Certainly, it would mean a radical change in all cultures. But the world still needs government-funded research facilities - if not for the military, then for better medicine or better space travel. Well-trained armies need not only fight - they could prepare themselves for natural disasters, dangerous rescue missions, space exploration. Perhaps a three-nation peace-keeping force will be required.
But in the end, it is up to you. I have delivered my message and so my work is done."
The Emperor nods. "You are right. It is too much to expect that even soothsayers would always know the future, and when we make radical choices we expect unpredictable results. This will change the world--or it won't. If it does, it will be a legacy remembered for thousands of years, that Caesar Nicholas stepped out to seek peace with the rest of the world.
"When will you leave, and what do you need?"
You hear a faint sort of whistle from over by the door where you left Andronicus.
--M. J. Young
Sweet!
"Transportation and communications, mostly. Give me a few days to plan, your excellency, and I will present you with my proposal."
Okay...what will I need? This either has to happen in complete secrecy or simultaneously. Which probably means I'll have to bring the respective leaders to some neutral place - perhaps some planet in space or magical pocket dimension?
First things first. I need to talk to both leaders and have them agree. Language potions will be critical. I should ask the emperor if they have a better method. I'll need to travel to the capital cities of each nation. I'll ask Andronicus what cities they are. Presumably I can use Roman teleporters to the closest place on the border - then I will have to travel across land from there. Except that only works for Mongol-chin, I have to cross oceans to get to the Azmayincans. Oh yeah, this is doomed from the start. I look completely European, unfortunately, so I will be immediately considered Roman. I'd consider setting up some kind of disguise but it adds to the risk of being considered a spy. Probably best to approach them as genuinely as possible. On the other hand, I want to be able to observe the culture a bit before having to explain myself. Roman technology doesn't work across the borders - I wonder if my technology does? If I use magic to disguise myself, will their magics pick up on that? This is going to be tricky.
So, once I'm in the other country, I will have to find someone that won't immediately kill or capture me - learn enough of the language that my potions will work. Then I should find a priest or something and expalin the god-war thing. Then I should proceed to the capital and present my case.
Oh well, might as well get the initial information started:
Summary of questions for Andronicus:
1. What are the captial cities of Azmayincania and Mongol-china?
2. Is it possible to teleport somewhere close by?
3. What transportation is available to get me across the ocean to Azmayincan land undetected?
4. Is there any magic or god-given boon that is more reliable than my language potions?
5. Does Rome have any foreign prisoners I could talk to?
Answers to questions:
-
What are the captial cities of Azmayincania and Mongol-china?
No one knows what the capital cities are called. Satellite imagery suggests that the Mongolchin capital is in central Asia on a river that flows east. It is not certain whether the Azmayincan Empire has a capital, as there are several large and apparently important locations, two in the southern continent, one in the southwestern area of the northern continent, and one in the central area of the adjoining land bridge. -
Is it possible to teleport somewhere close by?
Teleporters are good as far as the borders of the Roman Empire; no one has ever materialized beyond that. For the Mongolchin, the closest location would be what was once Persia, but then you would have to cross the Himalayas to reach your destination; you are probably better off going into Eastern Europe, near the Ural mountains but south, and heading east from there--it's a longer journey, but avoids the worst of the mountains.As to the Azmayincans, Iceland is as near as you can teleport; they hold Greenland.
You might consider the alternative of traveling by air or water to one of the other borders. No one controls the oceans, and there has never been any trouble getting things to work in those areas. You could get a plane or boat to the eastern shores of Mongolchin and avoid the mountains entirely; similarly, you could sail to the southern continent of the Azmayincans and work your way inland from there.
-
What transportation is available to get me across the ocean to Azmayincan land undetected?
We do not know what they are and are not able to detect. They have intercepted our ships before, and done battle on the high seas using weapons we did not fully understand. Their primitive wooden ships are clearly operated by a magic superior to any we have known. They have also come after our planes flying on feathered wings. We developed stealth planes which we could not detect, but none of our enemies have ever used anything that seems like radar, yet they see our planes coming. -
Is there any magic or god-given boon that is more reliable than my language potions?
Probably not; in any case, Andronicus has never heard of anyone else using magic to speak with others--but then, there's never been a reason for anyone to do so. You might ask one of the priests, perhaps His Swiftness. -
Does Rome have any foreign prisoners I could talk to?
There are prisoners awaiting execution. They do not speak Latin, and no one has had any reason to speak with them other than to tell them that they are going to be executed--which they undoubtedly already knew. Andronicus can arrange for you to visit them in the prison in Corsica; you can probably go tomorrow or maybe the next day, by transmat, once he gets through the red tape of getting you cleared to speak with them. The army doesn't always like the Senate telling it what to do, so a bit of diplomacy is in order here. Should he try to make the arrangements?
--M. J. Young
There is still a lot of planning to do. Are the cities in North and South continents of Azmayincania on the coasts? How far is the city in Mongol-chin from the coast? I think I will have to try to come up with a magical stealth spell to approach these places.
First thing I will do is arrange for access to the prisoners.
Then, I will ask His Swiftness if Mercury can/will grant a boon of language to speak Azmayincan or Mongol-chin (or both).
The Romans have not detected any Azmayincan cities in the eastern areas of the northern continent, and in the western areas they are mostly in the south, and mostly inland. Four or five cities have been identified, all built around pyramid-like structures with flat tops, mostly deep in the jungles, although roads are visible.
The capital city of the Mongol-chin is located at the same spot as Beijing.
You have permission to speak with such prisoners as they have, none of whom speak Latin. None of the Romans know their languages.
His Swiftness says that he has never heard of anyone being given the ability to speak and understand a language permanently, but he believes he could confer that on you temporarily. You would need to come to the temple and plan to spend the better part of the morning (or the better part of the afternoon, if that suits you better) after which you would be able to understand any language spoken to you and respond in that same language for about a day. If you wish also to be able to read and write the language, that would be more difficult, but not impossible.
--M. J. Young
I will arrange to go to the temple of Mercury the morning before meeting with the prisoners. I want to be able to read and write the language. I make sure to bring my notebook and pencil, and the spell components for my Remove Fatigue spell (nothing). It's going to be a long night.
Hmm, I wonder if the spell would work on Pixie. It would be nice if he would finally get my jokes!
You arrive at the temple early; His Swiftness, who is perhaps slowing down in his years, arrives after you, and apologizes for the delay. He has apparently gathered some special components for the ritual.
It takes about three hours. Near the end of it he has you take a bite from an apple, dip your hands in apple juice and touch it to your eyelids, and put a drop of apple juice in each ear.
At the end he tells you that you should have no difficulty understanding what anyone says to you over the next twenty hours, or speaking back to them.
Andronicus rushes you to the transmats, which carry you to another location where prisoners are held. The weather is different--cooler, cloudy.
Again you have that impression of some sort of beings existing in the matter transmission realm.
Andronicus shows a small electronic clipboard to the people there, who review it briefly and nod. "Right this way, please," they say, and escort you to what looks to be a cell block.
There are twelve prisoners--eight Mongol-chin, three Azmayincan, and one Roman dissident. The foreigners have not been questioned, and the keepers know nothing of the Roman but that he has been put here for incarceration.
"Who do you want first?"
--M. J. Young
I will talk to the Roman first, out of curiosity.
They provide you with a private room, a table with a couple of chairs, very like a prison interrogation room. Soon they bring in a somewhat wild looking caucasion, long unkempt dark hair and beard, manacled and shackled, and they secure him to one of the chairs. A guard stands near him, armed with something that looks like a high-tech nightstick.
The prisoner looks at you.
"Who are you?" he asks.
--M. J. Young
"Just a guy. I'm here to talk with the Azmayincans but I've never heard of a Roman dissident before. Why don't you like the Empire?"
"I'm a pacifist," he says. "Really, I was a soldier, but was taken prisoner by the Mongolchin. It was the strangest thing--my body just stopped responding to my commands, and was dragged to their stronghold. They kept me for several years, and kept questioning me, studying me, asking me what it was that we used to block their powers.
"Eventually I escaped, but refused to go back into combat. I'd had enough. In fact, I spoke out and said that no one should have to risk going through what I'd been through. The generals didn't want my story getting out--bad for morale, they said--so they sent me here. Far as I know, I'm the only one like me--but then, I'm sure if there were more than one, the generals wouldn't let me know it."
--M. J. Young
"That's very interesting. I have some pull with the military so I may be able to help shorten your sentence. Tell me all you can remember about the Mongolchin. Did you notice anything else before you lost control of your body, like your attackers pointing a device at you, or making strange gestures? How do you know that they were asking you about Roman defences? Do you understand the Mongolchin language?"
"No device, no gestures--well, the pointed at me and spoke to each other, or I think they were speaking to each other, I couldn't hear them. But then, when they spoke to me--now, you're going to think I'm crazy, but sometimes when they questioned me they didn't really question me at all, the way you mean. The came to where I was, and they put thoughts in my head and got thoughts from my head, as if we were having a conversation but it was all in my head. Then at other times they would talk to me, but I'll swear they were speaking Latin--and more, it was like they were speaking my dialect. They used words and phrases that were entirely familiar to me from growing up in Spain but which aren't really used in Rome that much. It was like they knew my language--not just Latin, but Latin the way I speak it at home.
"So the army thinks I'm a traitor, and they think I'm crazy. I can't tell you different; that's what happened."
--M. J. Young
"I think that is what is known as psionics. They were communicating with you directly with their minds. Nasty invasive stuff. I don't have much direct experience with it except it causes nothing but trouble and pain.
"This is very useful information, soldier. I will definitely be speaking to the brass about your sentence. What is your name, rank and serial number?"
Unless he can add anything, I'll thank him and head over to the Azmayincans.
He gives you that information.
As you enter the cell of the first Azmayincan, he stares at you.
--M. J. Young
"Hello. My name is Graeme. I understand you are a prisoner of the Roman Empire and that you are from Azmayinca. I would like to ask you a few questions. First, what is your name? What village or city are you from?"
He stares blankly at you. You realize that you are speaking to him in Latin. In fact, you have no idea what Azmayincan sounds like. You feel like you could speak it, if only you could hear it.
--M. J. Young
"Huh, you can't understand me can you? Oh, come on now, just say something. Say that you can't understand me!"
I mime with one hand to indicate speaking, with my fingers as the top jaw and thumb as bottom jaw, opening and closing them, and beckon with the other.
You start miming this talking, and the guy gapes at you and then starts laughing. He laughs pretty loudly, too--and suddenly the guy in the next cell calls out, "Bear, what's so funny,"--and you have your connection.
--M. J. Young
"Ah, that's better. Laughter is good medicine. You like puppet shows or shadow plays? Well, first things first. So, Bear is your name? My name is Graeme and I come from a land that is not Rome, Azmayinca nor Mongolchina. I understand you are a prisoner of the Roman Empire and that you are from Azmayinca. I would like to ask you a few questions. First, what village or city are you from?"
His first reaction is that there is no such land that is not part of Azmayinca, Roma, or Mongolchin, unless you come from the frozen land of the south, and no one comes from there. His second reaction is to ask how you learned his language so quickly, but he does not pursue this--apparently he is familiar enough with magic that he guesses it is what you used.
He tells you the name of his village, a multisyllabic word that means something like village of hunters by the bend of the great river, but in the process he also asks why he should tell you anything. Apparently telling you the name of his village doesn't strike him as anything important.
--M. J. Young
"I come from a place beyond this planet. I arrived in Rome but now I am interested in exploring Azmayinca. I also find it dismaying that Rome, Azmayinca and Mongolchin must be forever at war. I hope to one day attempt to help the three powers in reconsidering the war. I'm here to learn a bit more before I travel to the borders."
He laughs when you say you don't want the war. "We want the same thing. We Azmayincans look forward to the day when the Romans and Mongolchin will stop fighting and swear allegiance to the true rulers of the world."
"How do I know this is not a ploy to get secrets from me, so the Roman army can invade?"
"What do you want to know?"
--M. J. Young
"I'm sure if you did know any secrets the Roman army has probably gleaned them from you by now. No, I'm sure you know that the world sits in stalemate. The Romans can't invade Azmayinca just as Azmayinca cannot invade Rome. That is why I want the war to stop. So that Azmayinca, Mongolchina, and Rome can finally put the fighting behind them and work together towards bigger and better things."
While I am talking I will write down several words in Azmayinca and write the english translations and pronunciations next to them.
"What I would like to know is if I could release you from prison, if you would be willing to take me to your home and help me learn your language and culture."
I assume that you are writing the words phonetically; the current magic does not give you the power to read or write Azmayincan script.
He becomes very intrigued by your use of the writing implement, and asks what you are doing. He also asks how the magic works in the writing implement, and why you have to move it so much--why do you not merely wave the wand over the stone and have the letters appear?
The man has apparently concluded that you are a priest. He says that he can take you, provided you use your magic to disguise yourself. If he is seen leading someone who looks Roman, you will be taken for a spy and he for a traitor, unless he can make it appear that he is your captor, in which case he cannot promise your safety. But he seems confident that you can do this--it does not seem to him to be a question.
--M. J. Young
Before I go, I ask him if he can perform magic when at home. If he can I ask him to describe a simple spell to me, such as how to get words to appear on a page.
After that, I thank Bear for his time and assure him that I will be in touch. It is time to talk to one of the Mongol-chin.
He seems offended that you would ask whether he can do magic; after all, any child can do at least some magic. He has been able to create messages in Roman territory, but but his ability to create tablets on which to write them is not so good.
Did you want a general description of "this is how we do magic" or did you want him to teach you specifically how to cause words to appear on a surface?
--M. J. Young
Either. I guess I would prefer him to teach me but a general description would be fine.
I think that to his mind it would be nonsense to teach an adult "this is how we do magic". For this man, it seems as if a pencil is completely incomprehensible but conjuring writing in soft surfaces is the norm.
He proceeds to chant or possibly sing in his native language. He has a beautiful voice. As he sings he waves his hands over the wall of his cell. Heiroglyphic-like images appear etched in the cement.
He explains that for this sort of magic, transfering words from the ear to the eye, many use one of several magical melodies keyed to language transformations, and of course the placement of each word with the fingers is crucial. You can sing the words out of sequence to make them fit the melody, but place them where they belong, and it becomes a contest sometimes to see who can create the most unexpected written messages by placing their words in the right order but singing them in an order that the hearers cannot unscramble before they see it.
He uses both hands, a sung verbalization of the words he wishes to write, and he must have an object on which to write, a relatively smooth surface. He cannot write on a surface that is too rough or which will not retain the shape.
--M. J. Young
Well, that is very interesting. He doesn't seem to invoke any god or spirit and yet he assumed I was some sort of priest when I started writing.
Perhaps it's a bit risky but I will attempt to duplicate this writing spell. I chant in Azmayincan, use both hands, and attempt to etch the words, "Pixie and the Messenger were here."
Quick questions/clarifications:
- You are not invoking any deity, but performing this much as any of your other magic, correct?
- I see you speaking in Azmayincan with the result that Azmayincan words are written. Is it your conception of this skill that it will only work to write Azmayincan words from Azmayincan speech, or is it that it will write whatever you say in any language in the language in which you say it?
- Your ability to speak Azmayincan right now is magically induced, and it is a language you do not know. Is it a requirement of the writing that the speaking be based on a magically induced ability to speak, or would it work as well were you to learn the Azmayincan speech?
- I had said that the Azmayincan "sang" his words; you changed it to "chant". Is this a meaningful change to something non-melodic, or is it intended as a synonym? Are you attempting to duplicate the melody used by the Azmayincan, or are you merely speaking rhythmically, or rhythmically in a monotonal form (single note repeated), or creating a simple melody as you do this? Does the melody matter, in that you would have to use the same melody any time you do this?
Answers:
- I am not invoking a deity.
- I had imagined that the spell would write in the language used, and figured as I used different languages I could get 'new use' credits.
- The spell has no requirement for how the language is being used - it merely transcribes what it hears.
- Actually, you said "chant, or possibly sang..." I do not have a great singing voice but I am mimicking the Azmayincan. From his own description, the writing seems to be fairly personal so I do not expect the melody to matter - it is a matter of personal style and probably similar to the quality of handwriting when using a pen. I expect my deep, chanting voice will come out similar to all block letters.
You produce the images in perfect clarity.
"You are a Pixie?" he asks.
--M. J. Young
"No, I am the Messenger of the Gods. This is Pixie."
I assure him that I will be back. I'm not looking forward to this, but I need to speak with the Mongol-Chin before my spell wears off.
"I have never seen a pixie. Odd, though--he looks a bit like a monkey. Not a kind I have seen, though. Is he as magical as the legends say?"
You enter the cell of one of the Mongol-Chin, and he says to you, "What do you want, Roman?"--in English.
--M. J. Young
To the Azmayincan:
"No, Pixie is the name of my monkey. I have never met an actual pixie either, but would like to one day."
To the Mongol-chin:
"I am no Roman, as your choice of languages would suggest. I come from a land apart from Mongol-china, Azmayinca, and Rome and I find the continual war between them a tragedy to the civilizations. I wish to imagine a peace between all the nations and would like to learn more about them before I travel there. What part of Mongol-chin do you come from?"
As I recall, you've got about a dozen Mongol-chin prisoners. Does it matter to you where this one originates, or where any of them originate, and whether they are all from the same area or scattered across the whole of the empire?
"There is no such--I beg your pardon, I do not mean to offend. I cannot imagine a place that is not part of one of the three empires. No empire is less than a thousand years old now, and for that time each has been expanding, claiming every piece of ground it can. We have searched the world with our minds, and flown above the skies to look down upon it. If indeed you come from a place that is not part of one of the empires, it must be a very tiny and isolated island to have avoided detection and conquest for so long against such odds. Or else you must be masters of obscurement, to have hidden yourselves from scrying eyes.
"I think we, too, would like to see an end to the wars. Do you think the Romans will surrender?"
--M. J. Young
I don't really care where they are from, I just want to start conversation and I would like to know what area I'm getting information about if they give me any.
"Do me a favour please, and speak in your native language. No, I do not think the Romans will surrender. But personally I think that all three cultures have evolved and matured to a point where they could exist together in peace. Imagine what could be accomplished if all the resources currently being put towards war were focused on space travel, for instance, or medicine. I'm sure there is much the Mongol-chin could learn from the Romans and the Azmayincans, and vice versa. Simply sharing instead of fighting would advance each culture dramatically.
"Now, what part of Mongol-chin did you say you from?"
He's from Nippon, an island off the eastern shore of the central empire. The others are from other parts.
He shifts to his language, and your spell enables you to converse in it.
He shrugs at the idea of going into space. He says his people have done it, and there is not much to see. He is surprised that the Romans and Azmayincans can do it, because the Mongol-chin have never been able to land their ships in Roman or Azmayincan territory.
In short, he's not persuaded that the other cultures have anything of value to his people. However, he does agree that fighting has not gotten anyone anywhere--the borders have been much the same for centuries, despite the efforts of each empire to extend its influence over the others.
--M. J. Young