A Plea To All Fair Realms

## Overview

A Plea To All Fair Realms was a seminal scroll in political persuasion produced by then Patriarch of Helmont, Forkoux Fyth, in October of 200 AG. The scroll was in the form of a latter addressing the perceived failings of the incumbent King, Barren II Grenthyx, to uphold principles of plurality, freedom to criticise authority and generally upholding of basic rights. Published two years after his coronation, Forkoux viewed its prescription as essential to exposing the King, pressuring this demand through establishing trade embargoes that would need to be collectively established by most Kingdoms, thereby forcing the King abdicate. One of the chief motivating factors behind wishing to instigate a trade embargo was a response to the king's ongoing blockade of Contra, Helmont and to a lesser extent, Llanoreid. Recognising Barren to be ultimately a vulnerable child prone to rash decisions, he wished to teach the young king a lesson using his same methods, to show that the suffering and cruelty he inflicted upon the famine-devastated people of Contra through him realising that he could be negatively affected by using trade flows in this way - though to a less severe degree. Although not achieving its aims, the scroll started the Uprootings which eventually saw the King executed and thus the end of the Grenthyx Dynasty.

## Contents

A Plea To All Fair Realms

Dear 13 great Kingdoms, duchies of the Grenthyx Dynasty,

A fatal blindness has befallen this Continent. In spite of the indisputable outstanding progress it has seen since the inception of the Grenthyx Dynasty, in what follows, I will submit with candour that this Continent has, of late, began to fail: its checks on power extinguished, its humility expunged and its integrity shattered. A distance, the breadth of which can now only be compared to a vast chasm, has torn open and stretched the arteries that necessarily connect rulers to their subjects beyond recognition. But this is but one fatal blow, whose culprit is not one man, but rather the manifestation of longstanding contempt for their subjects on behalf of some rulers and nobility.

No, the principle cause of this blindness to outright injustice and foul practice is that of the current Royalty and his Council (or lack thereof). The King - though but a child - is nonetheless of sound enough mind to believe in his incredibly poor judgments, so must bare some responsibility for the innocent blood spilt: directly in the case of the recent suppression of protest in the Capital, and indirectly prior to that, in the case of the reckless trade blockades designed to suffocate the fruits of many of my own subjects’ livelihoods. The role of his council most not be understated, however. Their exploitative and self-interested councel has doubtless been among the chief contributing elements in the perpetuation of these acts - akin to the voluntary severing of the already manifestly strained arteries. Hear this: these acts are utterly unforgivable, and if the Royalty and his Council do not make amends and attempt to revive this land, the sheer quantity of blood spilt into the chasm threatens to, in due course, violently drown even the King and his conspirators.

Further, I am dismayed, on what strikes me as a daily basis, at the refusal to even acknowledge these travesties. I fear a thick veil of complacency has descended upon many whom are the intended recipients of this plea. To you, I say this: I appreciate that your reasons for abstinence are not, in most cases, an outright abdication of moral consistency. It is, I recognise, rather that you feel your actions alone, however noble in intent, are insufficient to elicit change, and will invariably invite unwelcome punishment from the Royalty.

It is with this in mind that I suggest success lies only in our ability to mount a collective show of peaceful defiance. Active conflict, on the other hand, is not viable for the reason that this would make the complete dissolution of the entire Dynasty inevitable, risking a time of upheaval and creating an enticing power vacuum to be filled by those who deserve it the least - the sycophantic warmongers. Therefore, I am calling for the deposition and trial of the King, rather than the end of the Grenthyx Dynasty, which I believe to act as a force for good in mediating the affairs of the Continent. They have lost this ability with its present King, but I have unwavering faith and trust in certain other members of House Grenthyx. Quite aside from political reasons, I, for one, simply cannot bear the thought of impulsive conflict treating human life with disregard so extensive, such that one would contemplate sending subjects to their deaths as the first option to achieve their aims. This would be an abandonment of our duty as rulers to rule.

Instead, and most importantly, I wish to advance a solution that will be assuredly peaceful but nonetheless effective. Its effectiveness lies in the willingness of you all to implement a radical set of trade policies towards the Dynasty, eventually forcing it to hear our requests. Along with Archon Tíras Theôs of Mhordyn, we have formulated a general set of guidelines that, if all recipient kingdoms follow, will bring Barren (second of name) to diplomacy and negotiation. I will firstly stress that it is merely vital that each kingdom implement this guidance; not that each Kingdom implement identical embargoes.  I of course recognise that ceasing all trade with the Chaestlands is impractical above all, so it is only natural that kingdoms closest to the Chaestlands should want to continue a degree of trade. What matters is the cumulative effect of multiple kingdoms adopting even mild embargoes. I trust you will examine the following request with great care and with a delicacy that is consistent with the fragile, torn state of this Continent.

Fair Reams - Plea for the following action

Introduce trade embargoes (adaptively) against the Kingdom of the Chaestlands.

Introduce non-compliance with any and all Grenthyx-sanctioned laws created beyond the date at which you read this.

Introduce a stern invitation to any of your own nobility who currently reside within the borders of the Chaestlands to return to your Kingdom’s own borders at the date of your reading this.

Introduce a request for any Chaestish nobility with residences (and who reside in, at the time of your reading this) in your Kingdom to return to within the borders of the Chaestlands.

Do not sanction any adverse recruitment or build-up of any kind of your forces in order to maintain our peaceful standing.

Do not engage forces in any irregular actions that impedes on the borders of any other kingdom so as to ensure peace.

Suffering need not be the norm. Talk with one another to resolve, seek disputation above war, and above all else, I implore each and every recipient to recognise the intrinsic worth and value of all human lives. We are duty-bound, not just hierarchically, but also morally, to act in accordance with this.

Thank you.

Forkoux Fyth

## Ramifications

The Plea's terms were adhered to by few. In fact, Fyth's close friend, Tíras Theôs of Mhordyn, was the only other leader of a kingdom to adopt the changes. Notable responses included that of Lythe Armitage and Airibi I Root, who were unified in detesting its softness to the Dynasty and merely saw it as appeasing the King. Ch'mazi, who had met with the King soon after his coronation, was unwilling to compromise C'thardjia's prosperity. Though immediate ramifications were few and far between, the scroll set in motion events that would kick-start the Uprootings. This came to bear when, in March of 201 AG, Mhordyn's House Preôs was attacked in response to the King's discontent with Tíras' long term adoption of Fyth's policies. In effect, this kick-started a new phase of the conflict which saw it move from a trade war to open warfare. Ramifications beyond the Uprootings and the text's place in history was discussed at length by scholars by 301 AG, with some seeing it as the most wilfully misinterpreted declaration of sense and others contesting that its contents were always going to doom The Continent to an era of conflict and political unrest.