Jean Johnson

[wartcap]

Dear sir,

I recently recieved, via post pookrah (smaller, less teeth), my copy of The Song. Delighted to have it, at last, and the Ultra-Tongue (Trade Paperback Edition IV) you sent me is translating it perfectly, HOWEVER...

Could you, as the official scribe, pull me through the murk that is the constitutional monarchy of Nightfall? When I moved to East Beach last year, I was told I was a subject of Queen Kelly. I know I'm a subject because it says so here on my Katani passport papers.

How is it then the chickens are citizens? I assumed it was because they were rebellious and it was a joke, but now Mikor is 'the newest citizen'. Are citizens not from republics? Like the Outworlder's France? They behead their King and all become citizens.

Also, chapter four declares Katan to be an empire. Empires and ruled by Emperors, or Empresses, not Kings and Queens. Therefore, 'Like most empires, Katan was technically run by its sovereign', should read, 'Like most sovereignties (or realms), Katan was ruled by its King.' Or the like.

Thanks for clearing this up,

Confused ex-Katani saltblock salesman.
Two for the price of one! Buy em quick! Nice and salty!!!

[Jean]

Greetings, Ms. Wartcap;

My profuse apologies for the delay in responding to your query. Someone got the brilliant idea of lining a songbird cage with your letter, and then forgot that we don't actually allow songbirds as pets in the Ministry Building, here on Nightfall. (So at least your paper wasn't pooped upon, thank goodness.)

A "citizen" is just another name for a civilian. A member of the populace. An inhabitant of a particular place, associating with that region's self-identity. This holds true, irrespective of the type of government in place.

While the "citizenship" of the infamous Nightfall chickens is indeed a joke...it has been deemed wisest not to mention this in their presence, as they are a wee bit feisty. (Point of record: betting on which will win in a death-match, a Nightfall chicken or a mekhadadak, has been outlawed. Mainly because that sort of match has been deemed too violent to actually watch. The results of the bone-monkey vs. mekhadadak battle are still on hold, due to ongoing investigations of accusations by the mekhadadaks that the bone-monkeys were using ability-enhancing potions, and the bone-monkeys attempting to suck out the metacarpals of anyone trying to get close enough to take a blood sample for analysis. If there is any change in the near future regarding that impasse, we'll let you know.)

In the universe wherein Nightfall resides, there are actually 2 kinds of empires. The first kind is formed when 2 or more kingdoms join together. This becomes an empire with a King and/or a Queen. If two of these empires join together, their rulers become Emperor and/or Empress.

Katan was formed from 2 kingdoms (please reference Volume V: THE CAT, which should have been shipped to you in the interim; mention is made of this particular, historically significant event within that tome), so its rulers are called Kings and Queens. The continent of Aiar, formerly the Aian Empire, used to be a conglomeration of many small kingdoms that banded together in clumps of empires, which were eventually unified under the aegis of the Emperor of Aiar (also nicknamed the Mage-King, as this was one of the first of the ancient lands to insist on its rulers meeting certain magical-strength qualifications).

Oddly enough, the supreme deity of Aiar's Pantheon was called the God-King, and not the God-Emperor...though until the Convocation is restored and the God-King is re-summoned (presuming He can be made manifest again, since it is unclear how much of a worshipper base He still has back home), historians can only speculate as to why He was addressed by this lesser title, and not by the more important one...

By the way, we'll have a lovely, oversized shipment of waaaay too many saltblocks headed your way 'round about April of next year. Would you be so kind as to ensure you have room in your local warehouse facility?

Thank you very much for your patience, and I hope this has helped to relieve some of your confusion. Or at least clouded the issue with facts.

Yours,
Ms. Jean
jumped-up peon from the secretarial pool
_________________
Scripto, Ergo Sum
Or, a four-leaved clover saltirewise slipped vert.