[Fwd: [Mid] How Talymar gave Ealdoremere back its name]

[Brian Matthews <" wilthain-nospam"@handy-man.com>]

Poster: Brian Matthews <" wilthain-nospam"@handy-man.com>

Thought this a story worthy of being shared ..... any more out there like it?

Kellene Stets wrote:

> Good evening, all,
>
> As usual, this story comes with my standard disclaimer. I am retelling
> it as it was told to me, and I cannot be sure I have all the details
> correct. If anyone else knows more, please add it! Yet also, I ask that
> we all remember that this piece of Midrealm history was an unhappy and
> frustrating time for those who lived it, so if it comes to any debate
> of rights or wrongs or details, I charge you to do it with courtousy
> and respect.
>
> Many, many years ago, the Middle Kingdom was a very large place, filled
> with wondrous peoples and shires of all types. It was a whole place,
> for no parts of it had broken off  to form a new kingdom. Calontir was
> still an idea spoken of at post-revels and prinicipalities did not
> exist. So large was the kingdom, and so dense was it, that the kingdom
> officers worried that they could not directly supervise and support all
> the local officers as they deserved. So those who administered the
> kingdom broke it down into something they called "regions." These
> regions had no identity, no awards or heraldry or powers. They were
> simply geographic break-downs with an intermediary in the chain of
> command, to make it easier to see that their needs were served by the
> Curia. Yet these regions had to be called _something_ and so eventually
> they came to have names. Names like Northshield, and Oaken, and
> Pentamere, and Ealdoremere. They forgot that names have power. This was
> to come back to haunt them.
>
> At first, the kingdom found the whole concept of "region" to be very
> strange. They were all Midrealmers. Why did they need a region?
> "Bureaucratic nonsense!" some cried."Power-hungry idiots," others
> whispered. Yet some simply accepted it, and went on having fun. In the
> region of Ealdormere, fun was the goal. They were a lively bunch, and
> decided to celebrate their region-ness for entertainment. They created
> a regional champions tournament, and the winner became the Champion of
> Ealdoremere.
>
> Within the Kingdom, however, there was some concern over this. The
> Powers That Be watched it carefully, for they were concerned that the
> regional champion might usurp the powers of the Crown. That would not
> be right nor fitting. Here history is vague, and perhaps mercifully so.
> Who among us would like to know history only to know who to blame for
> its stresses? Some say the regional champion did indeed begin to usurp
> the powers of the Crown. Some say that the Powers that Be feared what
> this increased regional identity would mean for the kingdom, and wished
> to remove it for what they saw as the good of the realm. The truth is
> lost in the mysts of time. But in any case, the Powers That Be sent out
> the word that the regional identity was a bad thing. They forbade the
> names of the regions be used, and in fact, forbade even the word
> "region" to be used.
>
> The people who lived in the geographic construct that used to be called
> the Region of Ealdoremere were very unhappy at this. They felt they
> were unfairly quashed for something that did no harm. They were angry
> at the Powers That Be, and felt unfairly treated. And their anger and
> confusion brought them closer together, and made the identity that had
> been taken away grow stronger underground. Communication and
> understanding between the no-longer-a-region and the Powers That Be
> grew more strained.
>
> Yet time passed, and as happens with all things, the cycles moved on.
> Old Powers retired to their well-earned rest, and new lives and new
> thoughts took up the mantle of leadership. One of these new lives was
> Talymar, then King of the Middle Lands. Talymar knew and loved the
> people of the geographic-construct-that-was-forbidden-to-be-called-
> Ealdoremere. He understood the concerns of his predecessors, who feared
> that the Middle might be destroyed utterly if regionalization became
> the birth of new realms. Yet he also believed that the true power of
> the Crown is the ability to say "yes." Change is frightening, but not
> necessarily bad, and he was resolved to help his kingdom change if it
> wanted to.
>
> So he travelled to the far north of his lands, there to hold a great
> court. And at the end of that court, he stood up, and spoke to his
> peoples of the geographic-constuct-that-was-forbidden-to-be-called
> Ealdoremere. And He announced that if they wished a name for
> themselves, then as King, it was his right to give them that name. And
> he gave them the name Ealdoremere, and the people were happy.
>
> I wonder, would that region ever have become the Principality of
> Ealdoremere, soon to be the Kingdom of Ealdoremere, if they had not
> drawn together as they did? First they came together in joy to create a
> regional champion. Then they came together in frustration at being
> denied their pleasure. And from that, I suspect, came the seeds that
> grew into the Midrealm's second son. A few years later, Tadashi and
> Ariaki made the region a Crown Principality, then it became a
> territorial principality. Perhaps Their Majesties or Their Highnesses
> will be the last Midrealm monarchs to rule that land. May it be so.
>
> Garlanda
> From:  kms3@ix.netcom.com (Kellene Stets)
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--
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"We are born naked,wet,and hungry...then things get worse" Anon.
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                             In service.....
                            Wilthain Westbram
                    http://www.angelfire.com/nj/thain/
remove "-nospam" from address to reply


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