Last Thread: the Endgame
"No." Sun Snake said it quietly. He had been hunched after his first speech, as if drained. Listening to the commotion with passive eyes, as if just analysing what was said. Even Rain Feather's stirring, empassioned speech had somehow pained him for some reason. However, something in what Rain Feather had said finally provoked a small word from the Kai. The word seemed to pull him upright, reluctantly. He said it again, with a sigh. "No."
He looked to Rain Feather, then Lehnar, then the rest of the group. "Kai and Ishir did not work separately. Kai may be the more prominant, of course. When the Sommlending were called across the seas to Northern Magnamund, it was with Kai's sword in their hands, Kai's symbol on their banner, and with powers that we named after our god, eventually. Execept, of course, the powers of magic, and empathy, and healing we now enjoy and codify are more likely the aspects of Ishir and Her influence. And while we all know the Sommerswerd was gifted to the King, weilded by the King, there was something else the Sommlending carried with them. Five things, infact. It is a story Swift Fox could tell you, but they were gifts from Ishir, given when five warriors asked for the goddesses's wisdom. Five gifts that were powerful, and yet if used together by all five, were more powerful still. Perhaps the rival of the Sommerswerd. And yet, it seems that as with Ishir's name, and Ishir's grace, the knowledge of them and the lesson of them have faded. To the point we did not even know we could be saved, without the Sommerswerd."
Sun Snake nodded to Swift Fox. "Swift Fox can tell you the history and lesson of them in depth, but the point is this. Ishir herself worked closely with Kai. So closely we forget that, and yet still she guides us and protects us. Her biggest lesson was in forcing five wildly different individuals, with a common goal and respect, to find a way to work together to unlock the greatest power. If only we had those items now. No, wait, we do. Four of them right here in this place. And the fifth is in the possession of Valador, and we do not believe he knows what he truly has. If we look to the gods for inspiration, then let us consider Ishir's gentle message to us. We have in our hands, as if fated, something that binds five powerful individuals together. If we can but find those five people to weild it, we need never squable over the Sommerswerd as a prop. We could allow it to be wielded by a true champoion out in the world without fear of losing our only weapon against the darkness. All we have to do is defeat Valador, rather than succumb to his corrupt nihilism. All we have to do is truly defeat his schemes, and the truly find a way to work together as Ishir told us we should."
Sun Snake looked to Rain Feather. "The Kai Lord were wiped out once. It was so easy for darkness to gather together and destroy that symbol, it seems. But of course, it was never the Kai Lords and Sommlending. The Sommlending came from the sea, and went to where the Darklords were, planting alliances as they went, not conquering. And it was the Sommlending together that pushed the darkness back, blessed and not blessed. And then the Sommlending settled in the small area clensed, and set themselves - skilled and unskilled - against the darkness. When the Kai were all but wiped out, that was not the end, because the people endured. Lone wolf might have slain the Gourgaz, but as you say it was Prince Pelnar, with his troops, that held the darkness at bay. And it was not the Kai Lone Wolf, it was the loyal Sommlending and Kai Lone Wolf. He fought to the Prince's side. He had a mission that was greater, and yet when he saw his prince was in danger, he acted as a son of Sommerlund. He slew the Gourgaz depsite being only an initiate not because he was chosen of Kai, but because he fought for his prince. Blessed or not, both fought the people. And together, they held back the darkness enough. It may have taken Lone Wolf longer to fall, but both eventually fell in that goal. Not blessed and unblessed, but Sommlending doing what was right. Lone Wolf was the dutiful son of Sommerlund when the Darklords came again, torn in his duty. And it was Ulnar who had the courage, knowing the spirit of Sommerlund, who gave Lone Wolf the blessing to continue and restore the full power of the Kai Lords. Lone Wolf did not take it. He gave his trust to the people, despite his power, and the people gave their trust, despite theirs. Rain Feather, you are not listening to Lehnar. If you cannot even convince an ally of the order to give you leave to fight the darkness outside the norders of these lands, how are you going to convince other nations to allow the order inside their own borders to fight the fight? Are we to be shadows sneaking in to lands, acting with only our own autonomy? Do you see the danger inthat, given you may unite the order, but then be toppled the next day when we deal with Valador. Either because his gift of your return can be undone, or because there will be enough people who cannot accept the full truth of your return. And even if you last through that, you will eventually give the leadership to another. Do you truly trust the next leader with such autonomy? If we do not have you, who else do you see staying true to the greater good with no balance?"
Sun Snake then turned to Lehnar. "And you are not listening to Rain Feather nor Summer Wasp. And if you can question the loyalty of one such as Sabre Fox, perhaps you are not truly listening to yourself either. Perhaps once, it was the Sommlending, blessed and unblessed, who fought the darkness united, when that darkness was concentrated behind the Durncrag mountain range. But Naar has always been insidious, his champions and allies come from all sides now. Now it is Magnaund, Sommlending and not, who fight the fight. And just as before, there should be no difference seen. Kai's blessings fall further from home each year. And yet, Sommerlund has in the past stood as a symbol. We never left our lands to conquer, we sent envoys. The Sommerswerd was not lost when the first order of Kai were all but wiped out, because Sommerlund trusted its greatest ally with that blade, a symbol of unity. Kai Lords are now only half Sommlending. And yet Durenor gladly sends the Kia Lords here, despite the fact it puts those people direcly under the command of the Sommlending royalty. And Durenese only make half of those outsiders. Other nations still have allowed their own blessed warriors to be assimilated, put under the rule of Sommerlund. We did not cling to our power, nor seek to enforce it, and alwaus stood as a symbol of championing the battle against Naar. We have had so much loyalty shown to the ideals of Sommlund. We have had so much trust placed in Sommlerund. So now listen. Quite rightly, as the darkness grows, as the fronts grow, as more Kai Lords appear outside the borders of Sommerlund, the truth shows. The order is not Sommlending, the order is only Kai. Only the fact of the blessings - blessings that may just be as easy to manufacture are steel - hold disperate people together. You say the order is not loyal, and yet you seek to bring to heel half an organisation that has shown nothing but loyalty to a foreign nationality. Repay that trust, be the empodiment of what Sommlending is. Someone who is not afraid to give away personal power to empower allies, because that is how you show that such loyalty is trusted. Someone who is not afraid to demand the best of those allies, because you are living up to that ideal yourself. Do not balk at having to play politic with the order, succeed at it, show us it is possible so that other nations will know this can work. That you, when you are King, can create a network of allies through the order that has never been possible before."
Sun Snake looked to Summer Wasp last. "You seem eager to leave, rather than stay and fight. But we need strong opinions, we need to challenge each other. Whatever leader is chosen needs four others to pull at them in many directions. There are so many ways you can topple, if you try to balance on such a knife edge as we need to balance upon to succeed. This is almost impossibly hard, yet together we can do it. And that needs you to stay, at least for the moment, I believe. And yes, we do not cripple people we argue with to gain their accent. If a council has five people, each must be able to veto. Aside from a leader able to otherwise break a tie, all voices must be equal. You are right, it is doomed to fail if everyone is pulling for themselves. We must give power to each person, but that person must take the responsibility seriously. They must be trusted with power, so they know that they are respected. And given that respect, can therefore respect the others. And therefore, if four disagree with a fifth, then perhaps that fifth does not instantly veto petulantly. Perhaps that fifth does something for the good of all, respecting all other views above their own. And if they can do that, then when that lone voice vetos, they will in turn be trusted that it was not done selfishly nor casually. It is difficult, near impossible, for that to work. And yet the history of the order, the history of Sommerlund, and the history of Magnamund seems ripe with such stories of the near impossible becoming true."
Sun Snake looked back to Rain Feather. "I truly do trust you to be our leader. The reason I cannot support you is merely the situation we find ourselves in. We do not know your fate, we do not know how fragile you are in position, until we defeat Valador. And we cannot defeat Valador until we resolve the leadership, it seems. I would not hesitate to support you the second the threat of Valador and his ability to damage you physically or politically, or compromise you in any way, is gone. Until then..."
Sun Snake sighed. "However, you said we must fight, and you are right. And you have kept trying to pull me along in your quest to unite the order all this time. I am very tired though. We have lost the Grandmaster. I have lost my master. The order I love seeks to pull itself apart, the country I love seems to want to hasten that process." He looked to Sun Fox sadly. "I've seen someone pull themselves out of an impossible darkness, and yet they may well have to give their life away rather than spend the length of it atoning." He looked back to Rain Feather. "I have seen someone pull themelves back from death after selflessly giving their life, and yet that second change may well be cruelly taken away on the whim of an evil man." He looked to Shining Peaocock. "I seemed to come to a place of respect with someone who none may have thought I could, and yet the faith I asked him to show may well be shown as hollow." He looked back to Dawn Sword. "I took on a student who knew neither Sommerlund nor the order, but trusted me that they were both worth that loyalty. And yet..."
Sun Snake sighed again but turned around and stood up straight. "I am very tired, but I can see I do still need to fight to honour what was lost, and to fight for what is still here. And so, I think there is one last thing I am able to do that no one else can. And that is formally nominate myself for the position of leader."
My cunning plan of a long wall of text and sneaking that last paragraph in should work, I fully expect everyone to just nod and say 'yes' without having read it properly :)