The southern third of the Empire is ruled by Rhagaea, widow of the murdered emperor. For her, politics is personal: all men want their families to inherit what they have, and if you loved Arenicos then you will support the rights of his heirs. Arenicos was indeed loved, and also there are some Calradians who believe that the endless squabbling and civil wars can only be overcome by a king, or, if necessary, by a queen.
Rhagaea's philosophy:
Whoever wins this war, landlords will cheat tenants, city guards will demand bribes from merchants, warriors will rape farmers' daughters, husbands will beat wives. The plague and the flux will take more lives than all the evils of man put together.
I will strive to be a good queen, but I can offer no guarantee that my heir, or my heir's heir, will not be a monster.
I could marry Lucon or Gario, and save thousands of lives. But men are willing to fight for me, though it gains them nothing, for no other reason that the throne is my right. I will not betray these men.
People will think back on my victory and think, "Heavens smile on those who are in the right."
Rhagaea's philosophy V.2:
I am fighting because the Emperor Arenicos named me, the mother of his children, as his heir. That is how it has been done the past 100 years. The Senate are a bunch of greedy squabbling rich old men, and there is good reason why the people no longer accept them as their masters.
I do not proclaim any lofty cause. Whoever wins this war, landlords will cheat tenants, city guards will demand bribes from merchants, warriors will rape farmers' daughters, husbands will beat wives. The plague and the flux will take more lives than all the evils of man put together.
I will strive to be a good queen. I will pursue policies that I believe to be sensible, such as persuading the Aserai and the Khuzait to accept imperial citizenship and join us rather than harass our frontiers. But I can offer no guarantee that my heir, or my heir's heir, will not be a monster.
I could marry Lucon or Gario, and save thousands of lives. But men are willing to fight for me, though it gains them nothing, for no other reason that the throne is my right. I will not betray these men.
If I win, in centuries to come, people will think back on my victory and think, "Heavens smile on those who fight for truth."
YES - WOMEN CAN JOIN THE SENATE
NO - SOLDIERS SHOULD BE PROVIDED PENSION BY THE STATE
YES - FOREIGNERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BECOME CITIZENS
NO - SLAVES SHOULD BE ABLE TO BUY THEIR FREEDOM
NO - SENATE SHOULD NOMINATE THE EMPEROR
<!-- for queen rhagaea - you may wonder why it matters. under a good king or an evil one, landlords will rape their tenants' daughters, watch captains will demand bribes from merchants, masters will beat apprentices, husbands will beat wives
Well, perhaps it does not matter. But the common people - if the good king triumphs, even if it costs tens of thousands of lives, they will tell it to future generations. That right beats wrong. And perhaps the wrongdoers will be a bit more afraid, perhaps the righteous will be a bit bolter.
Lucon says he fights for the return of the old laws, that prevented tyranny. I do not believe that.
Garios says he fights for his own men. Him I believe
The Empire... Learned to love it.
So long as the ruler is from one faction, there will be war.
Men fight civil wars because they cannot stand to see one from the other faction lifted above them, to see his imitators in their alleys elevated by his glory.
Do not think it will end with the death of Garios or Lucon.
The ruler must come from above. I am not aristocrat nor populist. I am a foreigner. I am the memory of a dead man, my husband, a cold man who gave no one is full counsel.
"Rhagaea knows she would be a good Empress, and that the time is right to establish that a woman can inherit. Believe me, I am the last to dispute that only men can sit on the throne. But if Rhagaea is empress, then it is only one easy step for her mad daughter Ira to inherit it,
"We are the family of the martyred Emperor. Every man wishes to leave what he has to his children, be it a tiny patch of land or the imperial throne. Everyone in Calradia, rich or poor, grasps this. The universal principle of inheritance, not the obscure laws of the Senate, is what makes an Emperor in the eyes of the people."
"I will strive to be a good Empress. I'll do my best. But I know well that whoever wins this civil war, landlords will still cheat tenants, city guards will still demand bribes, warriors will still kill men to steal their cattle, drunken husbands will beat wives. The plague and the labor of childbirth will take more lives than all the evils of man put together."
"Still, men are willing to fight for me, though it gains them nothing, for no other reason that the throne is my right. I will not betray these men. If I win, in centuries to come, people will think back on my victory and think, 'Heavens smile on those who fight for their rights.' That is all one can do."
Ira is the daughter of Rhagaea, one of the three claimants to the imperial throne, and the slain emperor Arenicos. At one point, her father appeared to be grooming her as his heir. But though she took well to military campaigns, she also displayed a wild side unbecoming of imperial dignity, carousing in taverns with other young aristocrats and even appearing in the arenas as a gladiator. She is Rhagaea's heir-apparent, but her mother makes no secret of wishing to find her a responsible consort to ensure the continuity of the dynasty.
"I am the daughter of the Emperor Arenicos. If I were his son, all the Senate would be tripping over their beards and walking sticks to swear allegiance to me. One day I will stand before them as empress, and they will give me their oaths."
<!-- Men should be ruled by something greater than themselves. We cannot have a god come down and rule us, so let us have a man or woman that we treat like a god. Call him a king or an emperor, I don't care. Let her be an empress or a queen. Just stop this filthy squabbling between faction and faction and let one person rule. -->