Chapter 145: Power Plays

### Story Date

Thursday, 1 September, AD 1043/6552 ε.Κ/23 Muharram 435 AH/23 Guei-Yue Huangyou Era Year 1/23 Tvímánuður ÅrO -1/23 Elul AM 4803

## Story Chronology

### Previous Chapter

The Fair Fame Never Dies Of Him Who Has Earned It

## Appearances

### Locations

Nagai
Selymbria
Berk
Paris
Bianjing
Vedrarfjord
Azaq

*The roots of the present lie in the seeds of the past. The seduction of painting the times of our ancestors as blessed, as ideal, as better, is ever-present. But the drumbeat of progress marches forward, not back! For all of the relative advantages that our ancestors had over their neighbors, it is important to remember that such advantage was relative! Old Berk, for all of its mythologized acceptance and welcomeness, was still an unequal authoritarian society! Let us not forget that there was obligated combat service and disdain for anyone that could not martially contribute, incredible centralization of power and control of resources in the hands of a small minority in the form of the chief and clanheads, whose word could be literal life or death at a whim, a communal outlook that prioritized the rights of the group over those of the individual, and active pressure on outsiders to assimilate and conform with the majority!*

*Oh yes, they accepted the individual deviations from the norm in gender, religion or sexuality… but only so long as those people were able to materially contribute to the survival of the tribe! This was hardly a society of perfect egalitarians, as many try to now paint it. Yes, they gave nominal equality and freedom to thralls who would otherwise have no investment into their society, but it was strictly nominal acceptance, and based entirely on pragmatic reasoning, as they could not afford to waste capable bodies! But the freedmen were still a lower class, denied most access to the structures of power! For all of the egalitarian trappings, Berk was still held in the grip of a scant few, who could demand the very lives of everyone else at their whim! Yes, a ‘Chief Takes Care Of His Own,’ because doing otherwise would be wasting his soldiers!*

*And all of that was before the ending of the Dragon War—and within three years of that, the very same people who are now mythologized as ‘accepting and welcoming’ repeatedly moved to keep power in their own hands! The structure of this very body dates back to those early power grabs! The Conclave of Houses and the Chamber of Commons are unequal bodies whose inequity can be traced back to the greed of those who are unjustly venerated—*

*—Lord Hardnut House Thorston IV, From Speech delivered to the Conclave of Houses of the Grand Thing, before being removed from the chamber; his remarks sparked a vocal protest and a brief fracas among the assembly, during which the Speaker attempted to call for order, and there was a motion to have his words stricken from the minutes of the Grand Thing’s records*

## Synopsis

* Naphtali gets Mulan to help him organise his documents while on their voyage.
* Macarius gets Florian to help him with herding sheep.
* Stoick, Hiccup, William and Esther discuss what to do with Brittany after Henry has been killed. Stoick decides that he will need to speak with Henry of the Capets directly to pick a regent for Duke Conan they both can agree on. He asks William and Esther to start building a list of candidates.
* Astrid introduces Conan and Hawiz to Stoick, and Hawiz informs them that the plan to rape her to sire a bastard for Brittany was Joan's idea.
* Joan meets King Henry of the Capets and primes him into being more hostile to Berk.
* The Song Emperor informs Kurya that they accept his offer of dragon training, but they want him to train another in the techniques and that person will do the actual training. Kurya is also informed that the Pechenegs are embroiled in a civil war.
* Fishlegs finalises the proposal of formal social castes for Berk's territories, with increasing rights and obligations the higher the caste.
* Fishlegs accepts Fishswill's proposal of the two of them being a line of communication between Hiccup and the nobles Fishwill has befriended, so that any grievances can be handled before they get out of hand.
* Uilleag offers to help the Jews design their city if the proposal to give them their own city passes.
* A messenger reports to Drago that they found a Dragon Nest, and that Özhan’s men found the same nest. Drago orders his forces to take that nest before Özhan’s men can.
* The Citizenship Conclave approves Fishswill's proposal for a Two-Chambered Thing.

## Characters

### Humans

* Fa Mulan
* Li Shang
* Mala
* Naphtali the Radhanite
* Macarius
* Stoick the Vast
* Hiccup clan Haddock
* William of Normandy
* Esther bat Rivkah clan Haddock
* Astrid Hákonsdóttir clan Haddock
* Conan Breizh
* Hawiz Breizh
* Henry of Francia
* Joan of Brittany
* Henry's marshal
* Henry's herald
* Henry's chaplain
* Kurya
* Kuanfu
* Emperor Zhao Zhen
* Fishlegs clan Ingerman
* Ruadhán mac Conleth
* Merida Dunbroch
* Fishswill Horsechipsson
* Hákon Mortensson
* Uilleag mac Flan
* Kasim
* Drago Bludvist
* Unnamed messenger

### Dragons

* Florian (first named appearance)

## Analysis

### Epigraph Tie-In

* The epigraph is Hardnut IV's speech on how the Hooligans of Hiccup III's time were not mythologically egalitarian, with one point of contention being that Berk's Thing is two-chambered. The chapter shows the Citizenship Conclave voting to implement two-chambers for Berk's Thing.