A Legacy of RefugeesThere were nearly a million or so Wenchuanese in Sombreland.
The ares known as the Five Provinces, near the Wenchuan Border, had been dealing with refugee problems for years. It was contained within rather sterile and bland reports issued to the Royal Court, but information was beginning to trickle towards the Princess-Regent, Alavaine. The refugees had arrived at a rate of almost a thousand a day, people arriving with nothing, some not even fully clothed. Thousnds of unassimilated refugees were packing the harsh northern scrub desert. The places they arrived at almost instantly created squalid slums, jumbles of lean-tos erected by those fortunate enough to have materials to build with.
The Royal Army did its best to contain the massive refugee crisis, but the Wenchuanese had been like a flood, and it spilled over containment efforts. At the very least, they tried to contain them within refugee camps, and yet still they came on. Over twenty years later, some were still in the camps, but they had become shantytowns from which people worked. Though they were foreigners, speaking the language poorly and having no caste, they often did basic jobs like factory work, errand running, mining, lumberjacking and other dangerous, dirty work that many Sombrelanders refused to do for caste reasons. Sombrelanders would not marry them, but illegal prostitution (not proper courtesans, but street walkers and cheap brothel prostitutes) was unacceptable. Illegally, and for some foreigners passing through. Others were junk sellers, recycling what little they had.
One great concern was how the foreigners were impure. Thonists urged purges of them; and some purges did take place, largely at the hands of angry mobs, hating that the foreigners were there, that they were undercutting employment for the lower working class, with Thonists desiring to get rid of bad foreign influences with their weird politics. Others, on the other hand, listened. Some conservatives in the government called for official purging, while others, more liberal, argued that the population needed a labour boost and that it was contrary to the laws of purity to scorn those in need. King Orian IX had largely left this to the Provincial Governor-General and the local military and police commanders to deal with.
By the time of the ascension of the Princess-Regent, Alavaine, the matter had dissolved into a situation where there were former refugee camps turned shanty villages and towns, where the Wenchunese were common to see packing boxes, running errands, recycling junk and selling their bodies. They were considered, by most, to be degenerate but simply there; it was hard to imagine life without them.
The incursions began to stop from 2003 onward, as a new commander, General Sobarian Arimey, took command in the area and staged raids across the border, which were harsh and fierce, and, it was rumoured, burned out any refugee camps or villages on the other side along with warlord encampments. A rough barren area, almost impossible to cross, was created in some of the key areas of the borderlands. Following this, overlapping forward operations bases were established to control the border, along with air patrols and mining.
Among them were a group called the Black Fan that wanted to fight for greater rights for the Wenchunese, seeing themselves as residents of Sombreland. Though others among them dreamed of going home, in particular there were young men and women who had known no other country. They were among the upper class, such as it was, of the Wenchuanese in Sombreland. Among them was a young man called Wu Choi, who dreamed of freedom, had a legacy of socialism in his thoughts, and dreamed of liberating Sombreland, not just for the Wenchuanese, but also for Sombreland...
Galador, SombrelandIt was said that the Princess-Regent was descended of the goddess of the Moon, Daelon, and how could it be otherwise? For she had fair skin, soft blue eyes, delicate features, a voluptuous and yet neat and trim figure beneath her gowns and robes, and was pure, as any royal who had never been touched by the opposite sex was pure. Her heart was so gentle and good that many were in awe of it, and were silent, hearts in their throats, as she passed by, deep in thought upon matters greatly concerning to the Regency.
There were so many things to worry her! There were at least three nations, two of them extra-regional, that wanted the Kingdom's uranium, for one thing! And Kerebos had asked for an air base in the country, and it seemed that they were keen to start building it. They were bringing in food supplies to help deal with Sombreland's harvest, which had been damaged by soil erosion and bad weather. There were still the issues related to the refugees, and the Thonists as well. There were liberals who wanted to change the way that government was practiced, and there was all the money that had been sent improving the Ministry of Defense, though she was not sure how much of an improvement it really was. It seemed more, to her, to be that they had bought a lot of equipment her people barely knew how to use. The Princess-Regent tried to comfort herself, but she honestly, truly, felt almost sick thinking of what troubles beset her.
It was her determined policy that she should carefully weigh the influences of foreign nations in her dealings. One of her great concerns was that no foreign nation should be able to truly dominate Sombreland. It had been her grandfather's policy; it would be hers too...
To comfort herself, she sang a song that a court poet had composed in honour of her beauty and grace while her lady-in-waiting, the lady-Countess Uwanda Carnelian, played gently upon a guitar. She sung directly to her divine ancestor as she hung in the night sky, looking up with a sweet and pensive expression.
The Sun's dear flame, that lovely dame, the Moon's celestial highness;
There's not a trace upon her face of diffidence or shyness:
She borrows light, that, through the night, mankind may all acclaim her!
And, truth to tell, she lights up well; So I, for one, don't blame her.
Ah, pray make no mistake, we are not shy;
We're very wide awake, the Moon and I!She lowered her head when her song was done, and reached out to hold her friend and lady-in-waiting's hand. Then her beautiful eyes shut, and she sat quietly in the garden with the night breezes stirring her softly.
To: His Excellency, Maki Kojiro, Shogun of Nifon
From: The Princess-Regent Alavaine de Cressa
Subject: Diplomatic Relations
Encryption: Private, Eyes Only
To His Excellency, the Shogun of Nifon,
I am overjoyed to have heard a direct response from you, Shogun. I hope you do not think it rude of me, and please put it down to my inexperience, but perhaps there is a misunderstanding. I do not ask you to save my country from my inexperience, but rather to receive the benefit of your advice and counsel.
I would like for our countries to explore closer trade relations and mutual political and diplomatic support. We are close to being neighbors, surely we should be mutually supportive? I would like to ask that we mutually have officials from both countries explore the possibilities this could result in. Some that come to mind are making trade easier, perhaps your country assisting with my country's greater development, with your country having some kind of share in the resources brought out of mine. I do not wish another foreign military base to be built in my country at this time, but perhaps closer military relationships might be suitable/
I look forward to hearing from your excellency.
Sincerely,
Princess-Regent Alavaine de Cressa