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the Warlords began fighting among themselves. The Red Emperor’s death set off a series of succession battles with no clear resolution. And so Nikan split into the Twelve Provinces, each headed by one Warlord. For most of recent history, the Warlords have been preoccupied with fighting each other. Until—”
“We won the war because losing Speer made Hesperia intervene. And, uh, Hesperia’s naval abilities were vastly superior to Mugen’s. They won the war over the ocean theater, and Nikan got looped into the subsequent peace treaty. The victory wasn’t really ours at all.”
The heroes of the Trifecta have been reduced to one; the Emperor is dead, the Gatekeeper is lost, and only the Empress remains on the throne.
Red Junk Opera got their name, you know. The founding members were martial artists posing as street performers to get closer to their targets.
“Power dictates acceptability,” Kitay mused. “If the capital had been built in Tikany, I’m sure we’d be running around dark as wood bark.”
Hesperians had only one church. They believed in one divine entity: a Holy Maker, separate from and above all mortal affairs,
Hesperia’s government maintained order.
The priests of the Order of the Holy Maker held no political office but exerted more cultural control than the H...
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The Empire, in contrast, was a country of what Rin labeled superstitious atheists.
“And so religion is merely a social construct in both the east and west,” Rin concluded. “The difference lies in its utility.”
Mugen doesn’t have shamans. Hesperia doesn’t have shamans. They worship men whom they believe are gods, not gods themselves.”
“The Nikara believe in icons, not gods,”
They’ve prioritized ritual over theology.
Why were you able to defeat your classmates in the trial? Because they learned a version that is watered down, distilled and packaged for convenience. The same is true of their religion.”
War
doesn’t determine who’s right. War determines who remains.”
Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.
