Another spreading of Treatise Flyers.

[Amora]

Amora reads the Treatise with a raised brow. She quickly sets forth using her resources to spread copies of this particular one through out most of Caer's Commons. Over the course of a few nights the guard captains would find a copy at their desks, and major politicians as well.

On Reforming the Empire of Varana
Part 1: Equality, the Law, and Justice

As was indicated by my previous series, this humble scholar was not simply going to debunk the arguments and ideas put forward by the Dasarian Mythologists, but also address the fundamental flaws within the Empire and suggest reforms. Those Varanite Apologists, whom I am certain reveled in my words and their attacks upon the ideas of the Mythologists are certain to find themselves enraged by my words here. I make no excuses for this, for I do not seek to prop up the failed policies of a collapsing Empire, nor do I seek to return to the failed policies of a fallen Kingdom. Instead I propose a new path, built on a foundation of ideas and concepts from both, built on a rock solid foundation of many Imperial Institutions, but stripping away that which corrupts, degrades, and causes long term harm to both the people and the Empire.

The first thing that must be looked at for long term stability and prosperity of the Empire is creating equality and justice for all, regardless of race, under the law. As it stands now, many laws are structured in a way to inherently favor humans above all others. From the formation of the Legions, to the amounts people must pay for certain things, this places humans above others while creating a situation ripe for resentment of the other races.

Yet, why this is done is not clear. Histories of the initial pact between Canas and Lochwar show no sign that Lochwar demanded humans be given the forefront, and later pacts between Lochwar and other rulers betray no bias towards humanity, as displayed by Lochwar's pact with Queen Elara. Nor is there any real advantage to it; rather, it simply creates divisions and lines where they need not be. The only thing it serves to do is create a closed mentality within the races, where like stays with like. While this may lead to an ordered society, but it also creates rifts between these groups that can then become wounds that fester and cause long term problems, rebellions and strife.

Why this had not happened yet is quite simple, the Empire of Varana has nearly constantly been at war for its entire history. While at war with an outside enemy, these groups could come together. The Legions, Talon and Claw Knights in the Great War against Dasaria were not the homogenous human-only Legions that we are familiar with, no, all the races in the Empire served within them, humans and halflings, dwarves and elves, orcs and gnomes, they all served together as members of those armies, each bringing their strengths and covering each other’s weaknesses. Now, this is not the case, and it shows in the weakness of the Legions and the effectiveness of many of the Dasarian irregular forces which use mixed forces.

It should be further noted that there is no evidence from within the Empire's history that pure human rule is necessarily better or more effective. In fact, there is evidence that non-humans are just as competent rulers, with Queen Elara of Iryrod managing a stable province of the Empire for the entirety of her reign. One that, in fact, has been spared much of the internal disruption of the Canite Heresy (though the reasons for that are more complicated than simply being under the rule of a non-human). Further, the Stronghold dwarves have long had internal home rule and have proven to be competent managers of their own holds, and loyal to the Empire.

This reform is fairly easy to implement, though the culture of the Empire will take longer to change. It will also serve to bind these other races better into the Empire, so that instead of being servants and an underclass that may grow to resent the Empire and eventually rise up in rebellion, they become fully vested in the Empire and learn to see themselves not as a "halfling" or "dwarf" first, but rather as a citizen of the Empire first.

But the changes also need to take into account more than simple species, but also origin. While it might seem just to even Dasarians, punishing the people of Duseric for multiple generations for the crime of supporting Canas was an overzealous move that only cemented them and their descendants supports for the Heresy, as they no longer had any investment in the Empire, becoming an underclass that had nothing to lose and everything to gain by siding with those that sought to overthrow Imperial reign. As has been amply demonstrated by recent events, it is clear this is exactly what happened, and now Canas has rewarded them, further gaining their loyalty.

In other words, when administering justice, the only thing that matters should be an individual's actions, not their species, creed or land of origin. Punishments should only be meted out to those who took the actions deserving of punishment, their descendants should not be punished for the sins of their ancestors. Treating people the same before the law will create trust between the races and peoples of the Empire, establish greater order, and, in the long term, create a more unified and stronger Empire, so long as justice continues to be served.