Livday, 6th of Sapunar, 11th Year of the Stringless Era

  “Reality is cruel,” Theria whined as she sat down by their table. “One day you travel with an adorable elephant, next you come ‘home’ to a moron and a maid.”

  “Love you too,” Oras drawled and sipped on his stew. It was their midday meal in the inn that they had chosen to stay in. He wasn’t eager about it, but they had needed a day of downtime to fix the damages accrued on their clothing over the previous journey. They were another gold poorer now. “Did you learn anything useful?”

  “Nope, nothing at all,” Theria sighed.

  As per Oras’ desire, they had also spent that downtime investigating new rumours. The haul, this time around was disappointing. “I picked up nothing of note either,” he reported.

  “Interesting. I caught a couple of rumours from the west I consider of import,” Celia said.

  “Really?” Oras pushed the remainders of his meal aside to make room for the map. “Do tell then.”

  “A series of failed reforms occurred in Turkyurt. In Serokyurt, the king held a procession that was cheered by the people. Erde has arranged a marriage with an important baron in Serokyurt,” Celia listed.

  Oras and Theria exchanged a gnce. Awkwardly, the Dragonblood cleared his throat. “That’s on us. You wouldn’t know none of that is news.”

  Confused and deeply unappreciative of that confusion, the blonde requested, “Expin, Master?”

  “Let’s start with Serokyurt.” Oras tapped on the nation. “You know how Kumsyurt is a Harem Duchy?”

  “I recall, yes?”

  “Serokyurt is the original Harem Kingdom. It was founded by Serok the Great about 300 years ago, who conquered most of southern Cursoria, and was instrumental in turning Midyurter culture into what it is today. When Serok died, the inheritance ws partitioned the nd. Most if it went to his son with the most wives, Serok the Younger, while other territories were given to his brothers. Kumysurt is a duchy that was created in that split.”

  Celia nodded, to indicate she was still listening.

  “Since then, Serokyurt has been in a constant cycle of partition and re-absorption. In any case, the current king of Serokyurt, Gyrtim, is a thoroughly average king. He has a harem of only 9…”

  “Only?” Celia asked. “I was under the impression that the maximum is 5 wives.”

  “They don’t be followin’ the Supernatural Elephant over there,” Theria expined. “So he ain’t bound to that reasonable limit.”

  “To the point, Gyrtim is average, but popur. The nobles like an average king,” Oras continued his expnation. “All of his processions are cheered on. He doesn’t make anything worse or better and Serokyurt is in no poor state at the moment.”

  “Which is extra clear when the people look over the border to Turkyurt,” Theria added.

  “Which,” Oras picked up from there. “Is a nation that has only existed for 4 years. It’s the inheritance of Gyrtim’s younger brother, Turkan, who is… well, rumours describe him as anything between an invalid and an idiot. Fact is that he is not fit to govern. Another batch of failed reforms just means that the day Turkyurt gets re-absorbed into Serokyurt is getting closer.”

  “And Erde?” Celia asked.

  “Erde started out in the south-east of its current territory as a northern march of Serokyurt. It split off during an inheritance, then the son of that prince turned out to be a diplomatic genius. He made a deal with the Stringless to the north. They would be given monetary aid in their rebellion against the empire and, in return, Stringless would marry into noble families in mass.”

  “A good deal for the Stringless,” Theria remarked.

  “Midyurter culture was entirely dominant at that point, which meant polygyny was, as Nature intended, widely honoured. Marriages with Stringless were and are especially prestigious.”

  “Good for you,” Celia remarked with a light, sarcastic smile.

  “Indeed,” Oras agreed with a serious nod. “Harems, Stringless, and the fact that Stringless only have female descendants… the prince used this to begin a widespread marriage schemes. He and his kin had many daughters, which assured alliances, which then had daughters that assured more alliances. Erde is a Harem Kingdom on paper, but calling it a confederacy of princes is more correct. It is a nation held together by family ties.”

  “Their continuation of their marriage policy beyond their borders is just regur, then?”

  “Yup,” Theria answered. “So… if that’s all we got, then I guess nothing really happened in the st two weeks, huh?” She rolled her head. “Wonder what’s happening with that raid on the underwater city?”

  “Probably still preparing. It must take time to brew the appropriate number of water breathing potions.”

  “Guess so… and what’s our next move?” Theria asked. “Take advantage of the depleted adventuring pool?”