Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 33: The good, the bad, the ugly

Slavery and serfdom existed.

There were no laws in place to protect people from being forced into those positions and from abuse of those that found themselves in these situations with no choice. Because of how long-lived the Sidhe were, life-long contracts were rare, but they did exist.

In practice, every slave and serf should be freed within a specific proscribed period of time. But in reality, penalties and game playing often resulted in individuals trapped by the whims of politics and wealth in perpetual slavery, unable to free themselves, and in isolated cases their children.

They became property instead of people.

There seemed to be no real redress for individuals harmed from those Ranked that ruled. The society was based on archaic principles. Rule of law was replaced with might make right. There was only a bare-bones system of jurisprudence on a planetary scale, and none that allowed for litigation between Seelie and Unseelie.

Inter-planetary courts did exist for member worlds and Pantheons. But those courts dealt more with tort, with very little jurisprudence being devoted to criminal law. Still, what protections member Pantheons enjoyed was better than nothing. Talahm had little access, almost completely barred because of the insane policies of the Seelie and Unseelie monarchies, and their refusal to make the policy choices and concessions required for membership.

Civil liberties and protections were not even ideals mentioned between the Sidhe. Torture was practiced by both sides, which is how Caraid was conceived. His birth Seelie mother trapped and restrained by his Unseelie father.

The propaganda of the Seelie as creatures of light and beauty starkly contrasted with the truth. The light has its own evils, and powerful beings that justify their actions, motivations, and prejudices can be far more damning and destructive than any creature of the night. Crusades and pogroms were actions often taken by those who believed they were just and righteous.

And no greater evil existed than to slaughter or enslave others for the cause of good.

Utilitarianism made evil.

Just as the Seelie were not all good, the Unseelie were not all bad. They were capable of compassion, love, and selflessness. They were just more honest about their actions. Strange in a way, considered creatures of the night, they refused to hide their actions. Maybe it was because the ugly and the monstrous species members; Slaugh, Goblins, and Nightflyers had no way to hide the ugly truths of who they were and how they behaved behind pretty facades and smiling lies.

They were monstrous, they could live their lives behind illusion and subterfuge, but they refused to renounce who they were taking pride, instead, of the qualities that made them monstrous. Because they refused to hide what they were behind facades and conformity, their feats of goodness and mercy were often ignored and trivialized.

You would think that the Dungeons of Talahm would be populated by the creatures of Seelie and Unseelie. Monstrous sub-species and factions that could give rise to nightmares and horrors. Instead, these spaces were more often populated by mythological beings from other Pantheons.

Undead creatures from Hades. Skin-walkers from Native American folklore. Egyptian and Norse creatures of myth and nightmare that were woven into the fabric of Universal Constants. Assembled horrors that spanned and encompassed a multi-universal collective conscious of myths and legends.

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Every species had stories. Stories about how civilizations that had created fire, did so to fight back the darkness. Creating light to combat the nightmares and monsters of the unknown. The dungeons of Talahm were populated by the nightmares that permeated the memories which societies had fought and conquered.

The most surprising discovery I made was that the Seelie and Unseelie were a declining species.

Of the billions and billions of individuals that populated Talahm, the Seelie and Unseelie combined made up only 500 million individuals. Births were stagnating and was a large reason for this decline. But the biggest reason a quirk of nature exclusive to the Sidhe.

They were able to fade.

It was a phenomenon that affected all Sidhe, but for some reason, the Seelie and Unseelie were especially susceptible. At some point, the years and years of their existence became too much. Ennui, the sameness of Sidhe society, century after century, allowed for the stagnation of social paradigms. Those that could not bear the sameness simply gave up.

Nothing new inspired them.

They became bored with daily living and allowed themselves to fade away, to cease to exist. Slowly becoming ghosts in the ether. Until eventually, barely a whisper in the wind, even these incorporeal and ephemeral forms dissipated.

And they ceased to exist.

The sound of the suites main door opening and the sound of voices in discussion interrupted my research.

Mentally opening System: Time I realized I had been researching and skimming information for hours.

My stomach began rumbling, and I realized I hadn't eaten. In fact, I hadn't eaten anything since I'd been reborn.

Shutting down the desktop crystals, I decided to see who was in the outer room, I wasn't going to be able to learn everything about the world in one afternoon. And I was hungry, it was time to scrounge up something for dinner.

I wasn't surprised to find Cedric; I had after all given the front desk permission to give him access, but the two individuals with him I'd never met before. A stylishly dressed young woman, hair pulled back fiercely and tied into a delicate coif was listening intently to the conversation between Cedric, and another Seelie.

Stiff, formal, with movements exacting in nature, his mannerisms and vocal tonality conveyed a proper, even stuffy aura.

"Cedric," I asked interrupting his conversation, "what's going on?"

"Your Highness," he replied visibly startled by the interruption, "allow me to introduce Brianne Waite and Basil Henry.

"I was informed at the front desk that you had requested assistance with the candidates that would be applying to join and responding to the World quest.

"Squire Brianne is a Ranked Expert class scribe with high levels of organizational abilities. Brianne is a Journeyman level assistant. She should be able to help organize potential applicants' information for you and set up appointments to interview once she understands your criteria.

"Sir Henry is a Knight ranked Master class diplomat, Expert class Merchant, Journeyman class chef, Journeyman class blacksmith, and Journeyman class tailor. Sir Henry is a Master level butler well versed in maintaining and organizing a working staff of over a hundred people.

"The front desk asked me to stress that 'Jennie' was responsible for checking their backgrounds and references and if there was an issue, to discuss those problems with her."

"Sounds like they intend for Jennie to bear all the blame if they aren't suited?

"Only fair for Jennie to take all the credit if they are then," I replied smugly.

"What the front desk isn't aware of is that Jennie helped raise me. I consider the ties that bind us, her and I, as filial in nature. She has always been one of my mother's. If she went to the trouble of finding and recommending you, I would never be so ungrateful as to ignore her suggestion," I promised.

"Welcome. And thank you for agreeing to work with me."

"I'm not sure how many people are waiting, or what reasons they have to see me, so Brianne, first thing tomorrow, please begin organizing that crowd into lists. Try to separate them into valid reasons for a meeting. Those wanting to join my house or looking for work get top priority and I will begin seeing them immediately.

"Please schedule those with Management and Combat professions at the earliest opportunity. I need my own guards and advisors as soon as possible," I said, beginning the process of organizing the next day's events.

"Royal parties and politicians can wait a day or two.

"It probably isn't politically astute to make them wait, I'm sure they are used to being fawned over, so you can play up my ignorance. Let them think I'm unaware of how I should act based on my new rank. Stress my ignorance and naivety. My complete lack of understanding of royal prerogatives and protocols.

"After all, these skills are not standard and automatic when reaching a new Rank and don't come included as part of a new skill set. If they are left with the impression that I am a backward provincial, someone, utterly lacking in manners and insight, a simple, nave individual, easily distracted, even better," I concluded.

"Sir Henry. I would like you to sit in when I interview individuals hoping for positions related to daily household functions. I hope to eventually hire the entire support staff you would need to maintain a fief efficiently. I'll have to start barebones, but I'd like to find talented individuals that might become heads of their departments as and when I expand. And if I actually establish a fief," I concluded, still unsure what my future plans would be.

"I trust Jennie, but I'd still like to get to know who you are and what your expectations are before we get to work. I'd like you both to consider making this temporary assignment permanent. I know this all looks a bit slap-dash and things will certainly be frenzied and barebones for a bit.

"But.

"That's what happens when you become a Prince with no warning," I continued smiling broadly, happy to notice they smiled with me.

"Join me for dinner, so that we can get to know more about each other," I said.