The Meritocracy
In a great palace/fortress somewhere in Faerûn, in a hall of white marble with tasteful and delicate decorations in gold and mithril, on top of an enormous golden coin set into the floor, stands a huge round table cut from a single piece of black arboreal onyx inlaid with a graceful yet powerful symbol. Around that table stands dozens of gilded thrones, each of them identical but with the emblem of a nation carved into the back to appear over the head of the person sitting therein. Humans of every race and colour sit in those thrones, elves, dwarves, orcs and goblins all have their places there and in the place of honour, in a throne slightly larger and more ornate than the others, sits a fat little man with eyes burning with pathos and conviction.
"There is only one way for this world to survive the challenges ahead. I know, I have seen some of what may befall us all should we fail to accomplish our sacred duty to the planet and its peoples. The nations stand divided by fear, hatred and suspicion while the legions of Hell spread ever increasing destruction and carnage. Meanwhile, hypocritical intellectuals attempt to undermine the only force that can hope to bring sufficient strength to the mortal races to withstand the raging storm. They claim our confederation is a force of oppression, they claim we remove free will and replace it with unthinking belief of our doctrines and rule. They claim this is evil. Rubbish!
The dead have no free will. The slaves of Hell and the Elder Ones have no freedom. The poor and the desperate have no options to exersize their free will for they are all slaves to circumstance. What is free will to those who don't have the knowledge and wisdom to use it? What is freedom to choose when you lack sufficient understanding of the consequences of your choice, the consequence of either choice. Freedom, used wrongly, is a dangerous tool, one that must be learned trough years of hard study, one that will take a society, at the current state of advancement Toril is in, generations to master fully. Until the people of Toril have had the time to learn those lessons we, the wise, must shelter them in their youth, and provide the means for them to grow into maturity. Our opponents do not understand, refuse to understand, the necessity of our work, and they may yet succed in breaking the bonds that hold our nations together."
He lifts his fine crystal glass, drinks a mouthful of expensive chessentan wine and looks at the other members of the ruling council conspiratorially.
"We must therefore act to cement the unity within our confederation trough means of policy so that it will endure even after our blessed magic has been brought down. We must give our peoples a reason to remain as brothers to maintain their love for one another and this world. We must act rapidly to improve the lot of our peoples. Where people are starving they must be fed, where people are suffering their pain must be soothed, where people are opressed they must be given the illusion of freedom." He looks at the representative from Dambrath. "There can be no doubt that we will need the support of our people in the times ahead. It is therefore necessary for us to do some things some of us may find distasteful. Remember, what we do is for a greater cause. We must be the saviors of Toril."
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*To ease the trade between and within our nations we must create uniform taxation, trade-laws and regulations and streamline our separate burocracies and integrate them into one an other internationally.
* We must make greater efforts in hunting down and either destroying or taming dangerous beasts and monsters raiding against our roads and outlying settlements. Bandits must either be eradicated or recruited into our armies. Our people must be free of fear, only then will they dare to invest into future profit.
* The people must also know that they will be treated fairly and consistently by our authorities. They must trust us to do the right thing, if they don't they will only work grudgingly or under threat. Creating the mechanisms for such needless opression will only be a needless expense. There must be an end to corruption and discrimination within our legal systems. Our laws must become more humane and utalitarian, their purpose must be to civilize the society, not to terrorize it.
* All religions must be treated according to their usefulness in a civilized society. Religions espousing chaos, uncontrolled destruction, disease, death and madness must be countered. Religions espousing obedience, lawfulness, honour, life, power, wealth and skillfullness must be encouraged and, if possible, made into an extension of our legal and executive authority. Not to make the religions into empty, soulless tools for our use, but to encourage them to adapt into a symbiosis with our governments, so that both they and we will prosper and be strong when society gains strength and prosperity.
* The level of education of our populations must be increased. We are now printing books with gnomish enchantment that will swiftly increase our peoples' knowledge in all socially acceptable fields of study. Agriculture, Business, Craftsmanship, Martial Arts, Psionics, Magic, Military Tactics, Law (so that they won't unwittingly break the new Code Gomenei), Our brand of Humanitarianism, Nature and Monsters, etc, etc. We must make sure that those books are widely distributed within our nations and all territories that join us. Our productivity and power will rise drastically because of this. This, our reforms and the new unity and loyalty of our populations will make us able to resist all those who would damage our new world order.
* For that purpose we must also undertake a complete reformation of our military forces. The military chain of command must become more streamlined. Our regular forces must be organized into precice units of precise strength and capability. 10 men, 1 special force, 1 one mark officer. 100 men, 10 special force, 10 one mark officers, 1 two mark officer. 1000 men, 100 special force, 100 one mark officers, 10 two mark officer, 1 three mark officer. Etc. The officers and the special forces will be individuals with strong leadership and combat abilities, We must also create numerous companies of more specialized use. Hero-companies for combat against powerful and magical foes, Intelligence and counter-intelligence companies for covert actions and defence against terrorism. Police companies to maintain the rule of law and protect our people from crime. Planar and monster companies for such beings we have managed to capture or recruit. I recommend that you all read the books on military strategy of Gustav the Iron, there are many useful insights to find there.
* We must also explain to the people, in terms that they can understand, the necessity of our work. We must do that without any magical domination or suggestion so that the people will well remember the benevolence of our rule even if our magical hold over them should be disrupted. We must preach the vaules of Unity, Prosperity, Wisdom, Solidarity, Labour, Lawfulness and Acceptance of legitimate authority. We must also teach them why we are the legitimate authority, we have the arguments but we must make sure that they reach the population. As a tool of learning I have written a national anthem for our great confederation (Perform: 176). It will be played at every suitable oppertunity, whenever the people have cause for celebration. It will become our most powerful and enduring symbol.
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Edena- My goal is to create a strongly patriotic and Lawful state with Neutral and Good tendencies, taking care not to alienate moderately evil elements within our societies. (allowing for some regional variations, we are not trying to force naturally Evil peoples to act Good, but we do strive to make Chaotic races Lawful) It is our intention to create a society where every Lawful and Neutral individual can feel at home.
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Ahh, Lord Melkor
. Welcome back my old friend. I've missed you.
