Artemis

It has been three months since my last post but can I write again in that little tail of Afghanistan I had? It looks like it's still free!

[quote name='TheShammySocialist' timestamp='1299991772' post='2662403'] [b]OOC: Shambala (owned by Artemis) has been inactive for 25 days, kthnx[/b] [b][size="6"]Timuridian Forces Cross Shambala Border[/size][/b] [i]Timuridian Government Statement[/i] "In the interests in maintaining peace and stability for the people of Shambala, the Greater Timuridian Empire hereby declares the former Shambalan nation as a protectorate. The Timuridian military will establish a civilian government from local tribal and civilian leaders, to ensure that local sovereignty and rights are protected, and will coordinate efforts to provide civilians with whatever aid they may need. We do this in the interests of the stability of the Central Asian region, and should a government form in this area, we will lend it our support, if we approve of it, but for now, we declare Shambala as under Timuridian protection." [IMG]http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa325/VictorDeltaRomeo/sigsham2final.png[/IMG] Amir of the Greater Timuridian Empire, Prince of the Southern Steppes, Guardian of the Khyber [/quote] OOC - Shh!!! Shambala was a secret kingdom. No one knew it was there!

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It fills the free time my normal free time fillers fill when they can't fully fill that free time.

[IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t248/ArtemisLW/heartsleft.png[/IMG]Happy Birthday GPA![IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t248/ArtemisLW/heartsright.png[/IMG]

[quote name='apriland' timestamp='1295678389' post='2591401'] I always wanted to be Matt Damon, so that works out well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5qajitmZd0 Sorry, I had to go see about a real life. [/quote] I went to see about one for a while. OMG what am I doing here? [quote name='han fei zi' timestamp='1296018142' post='2601984'] Hi Sophia. [/quote] Shh... I go by Artemis now. [quote name='atrophis' timestamp='1296261739' post='2608191'] April, you forgot to mention nice things about myself. [/quote] I'll take over for her. You have nice skin.

Poor moon GOONS You should have listend to me and become hippies.

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I'm late but I'll join too

Inside the King's offices legal and religious experts were searching through hundreds of government records looking for anything about outside contamination. Monks and clerks sat around the room buried in old tattered scrolls silent except for the erratic shuffling of dusty papers. The Kingdom of Shambala had only existed for six hundred years but fake records went back thousands of years. The truth about these records was lost long ago. For the Shambalese there was no question that the kingdom was ancient. There had been very few cases of outside contamination in recent years and the experts were forced to go deeper and deeper into the archives far beyond real history. The King could create any law and give any punishment he liked. Normally he liked to rule with a balance of intelligence and compassion, through his mind and through his heart, but this situation was not normal. If anybody else had contaminated the kingdom or any other persons been contaminated his choice would be clear and he would call it compassionate. But his heart wouldn't believe it about Terashi and his daughters. He had to ignore it and so needed examples from history to guide him. Standing over a table and examining a long scroll from two thousand years ago a young monk spoke over the rustling papers. "I found another example here, your majesty." The king said nothing. There wasn't much hope that this example would have anything new. The monk explained what he found. "In this case a man stole an artifact from the outside that the Trusted Monk had brought with him to study." The monk stopped for a moment. "The man was put to death." In all the examples so far anyone contaminating or contaminated had to be killed. The King hoped he could find a way to purify the contamination without destroying it but there were no examples of his happening. The second best option was exile but that might expose the kingdom to the outside even more. Years or even generations later those exiled or their descendants might return with outsiders following them. An older monk spoke up. "Your majesty, I believe that in all these examples execution is the only option." "Is there nothing in the religion that says contamination can be purified from the body without destroying it?" asked the King. "Terashi has the training and discipline to fight it but the evil will always be part of his soul. The princesses..." The monk stopped to choose his words. "The princesses have no training."

[quote name='apriland' timestamp='1295594520' post='2588761'] Dear Sophia/Artemis, I win! Glad I stayed around long enough to get in contact with you again though. [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=20561"]I am [i]totally[/i] Matt Damon now![/url] [/quote] I always wanted you to be Matt Damon!

Social harmony had been disturbed enough that night. After Ayame left the table the topic of barbarian art ended quickly. To keep face for the royal family and themselves all the guests swallowed the governess's and Suilen's explanations without question. Ayame was just a child and despite the importance of protocol children could be forgiven for breaking it. She was feeling sick and always had an active imagination. Children all over Shambala made up stories about the outside. The book she brought to the table was of Shambalese art that had been never seen before because it was an important royal heirloom. Everything fit perfectly. It all made sense. But after the dinner doubt returned to some of the guests. They would go on believing and never talk about it again but maybe that book was from the outside. The child inside them was still dreaming. For the royal family it was still a crisis. After the guests left the King, the Queen and Terashi had a careful look at Ayame's book. "I have never seen this book. It is definitely not a part of the royal collection and the writing is neither Shambalese or Kadeigo or Peshago. We have no other books in any other language. Do you recognize it brother?" said the King passing the book to Terashi. It was Terashi who had given the book and all the other books to the princesses. He wasn't allowed to bring such things into the country but there was no customs department in Shambala. He was the only person allowed in and out of Shambala. The guards let him come and go without questions. Terashi was one of the most trusted and respected men in the Hidden Kingdom. His knowledge of religion was not matched. He was wise and a pillar of Shambalese values. As he held the forbidden book in his hands he weighed the consquences of his deception. He wanted to educate the princesses and not have them grow up fearing and hating the outside. Suilen would be queen one day. She should be the last to be afraid and hate others. But in the moment Terashi couldn't do openly what he was trying to do secretly. He wanted to undermine centuries of isolation and suspicion but instead he betrayed Ayame to defend it. "It's written in Yulepago. Actually Yulepa has more than one language." said Terashi. He couldn't pretend it wasn't a foreign language. "More than one? So it is from Yulepa? Is it their art?" asked the Queen. Terashi struggled for an explanation but what else could he say? "It is their art. I've seen it before." said Terashi. The king frowned and looked gravely at Terashi. "How could this evil have gotten into the kingdom, brother, and into Ayame's hands?" he asked. Terashi paused. How could that book have gotten into the kingdom? Long ago with some other monk? A peasant was sneaking passed the guards? An iron bird dropped it from its claws? [i]Stop lying both of you! That look of anger and pain in Ayame's eyes when she shouted this across the table.[/i] Terashi swallowed. "I brought it into the kingdom." "Oh dear. Good you didn't mention that at dinner. How did you lose it?" the Queen seemed a little relieved. She thought maybe Terashi needed it for something. This was almost acceptable as long as no one else was exposed to it. At least no one else was getting things from the outside. Maybe it was the only book of its kind and the damage done to Ayame wouldn't be much and could be reversed. "I didn't lose it. I gave it to the princesses." Both the King and Queen looked puzzled. The King repeated the words in disbelief. "Gave it to the princesses?" "Yes. That and other books. The princesses love art books especially." Terashi expected anger but all he got was looks of confusion. His aura of holiness and wisdom was hard to break down. [i]There must be still some explanation.[/i] "You gave them barbarian art books?" the King asked slowly. "Yes I did, brother." "What for?" There was a rising sharpness in the Queen's question. Her confusion was breaking. "Because I have been outside. I am only one alive in Shambala who has. Everything we teach the children is a lie. They are not barbarians. Look, that art is beautiful. Their culture is rich. Their technology is so advanced if I explained it you would never understand." The King said nothing but the Queen turned quickly to anger. "Listen to this! The outside has corrupted you and now you have corrupted our children!" "It is our system that corrupts the children..." "Evil monk! We cannot hear any more of your words!" The King interrupted. He tried to hold back his building anger while maintaining his respect for the brother and organizing his thoughts. "Please please let's calm down. Terashi, what you said isn't true." "How do you know it isn't true? You have never been to the outside. I have." "The evil outside is powerful. That's why we choose only the incorruptible to go there. You must fight its influences, Terashi." The traditional view of the outside world was so indoctrinated in the King that Terashi's pleads had no effect on him. "Brother, it's [i]not true[/i]. Let me explain." "While you fight that evil we must keep it from the rest of the kingdom. Its influences will destroy the purity of Shambala. Then who will save the world when it ends?" The King spoke like he was lecturing his children on the Shambalese ideology. One day ago the idea that he would lecture like this to his brother, the highest monk in the kingdom, was impossible to imagine. From this short lecture the Queen's anger turned to despair. "You forget the worst part! What you have done to Ayame! And Suilen! The future Queen! My daughters!" Terashi realized that he could never explain the truth to the King and Queen. The King was confused but there were certain things he had to resolve. His brother and envoy to the outside had betrayed the kingdom's trust. He was corrupted by the evil and even corrupted the royal princesses. The kingdom had to be saved from that evil at all costs. He wasn't a father or a brother. He was the king.

[quote name='Margrave' timestamp='1294864923' post='2573360'] OOC: As someone who has spent time in Afghanistan, I am very interested in how you intend to portray the nation. The Hansa will be pleased to establish diplomatic relations with you whenever you go public. [/quote] OOC: I don't know anything about Afghanistan so you probably won't be interested. I don't plan to go public soon but my characters will go out into the world soon. I hope they can visit in Hansa

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1294731715' post='2571846'] I quote the 5th line in the first post of the thread, "In addition, requests to change your colour may or may not be listened to." [/quote] Shambala is much too big and please make it invisible. (I mean thank you )

Again the dinner party went silent. Because protocol was so rigorous young children usually did not attend the formal dinners not even royal children. But Ayame was 14 now and no one expected this kind of rebellious behavior from her. Noble children were supposed to be disciplined by her age. The breaking of protocol left everyone confused about what to do. The King and Queen could not intervene to discipline their children in public and they definitely could not apologize for her behavior. What was worse was the apparent presence of a foreign artifact at the table. Ayame sat down again beside Suilen. "Actually I don't believe Yulepa exists either. Yulepa is the style I think. This art is probably from Inchu or some place. My sister thinks its real. Right sister?" The governess rushed into the room. "Please forgive the Princess Ayame. She hasn't been feeling well lately. It's my fault I thought she could attend tonight. I'm very sorry everybody." "Oh poor child." said Lady Nantou. "That's OK. I don't think any of us were too disturbed. When I was a child I imagined many things about Abia, Yulepa and all those places." said Terashi trying to ease the tension. With an explanation and an apology out of the way the Queen spoke up. "Suilen, why don't you take your sister to her room and help her lie down?" "I'm not sick. I'm fine. Look at that book Lady Hokusei." Ayame said defiantly. Lady Hokusei was flipping through the book and seemed impressed. "I've never seen this kind of art before. Where is it from?" asked Lady Hokusei. She wouldn't believe or admit to believing it was from the outside. "I told you. It's from Inchu or maybe Yulepa." said Ayame. Suilen interrupted. "It's Shambalese of course, Lady Hokusei. It's from the royal private collection. Very rare and old. Come on Ayame. Let's go lie down." Suilen stood up slowly and hooked her arm around Ayame's. "YOU TOO? Stop lying both of you!" Ayame looked over at Terashi. "It's not Shambalese. Look at the writing. It's from the outside!" Suilen and the governess pulled Ayame and guided her out of the dining hall. All the while the governess bowed and apologized profusely. When they returned to their room the governess left to get a cup of tea for Ayame. The two princesses were alone. "How could you lie like that? Everybody was laughing at me! Why can't you all just tell the truth?" Ayame was furious. "Ayame, we can't tell anybody. You know this." Suilen tried to touch Ayame's shoulder to calm her down, but Ayame pushed her hand away. "Why not? It's silly and stupid. All those fat boring nobles going on about meaningless things. It's so... empty. We can't eat. Uncle Terashi. We have to lie about everything." "Ayame..." Suilen had no idea what to say. At the dinner table she wanted desperately to defend her sister but her didn't have the courage to go against the social tradition. Ayame might be forgiven for her age and even Suilen if she had spoken out but even though Suilen always dreamed with her sister of flaunting protocol when the moment came she couldn't bear to attack their world. There was safety in upholding the lies she didn't believe. Now out of the moment she regretted her choice. "Ayame, I'm sorry." "Sorry about what? It's too late. I already told everyone. I'm in trouble now but I don't care." "I'm sorry I didn't help you." said Suilen. Suilen was older and taller than Ayame but suddenly felt weak, distant and small. Ayame said nothing. She wanted to stay mad at her sister. She sat down on the floor and stared out the window into the black night of the Shambalese countryside with hatred in her eyes. When the governess returned with the tea Ayame said nothing and let it go cold.

Formal dinners with the royal family were hardly dinners at all. They were performances and the hosts and guests were all actors. The princesses hated them and couldn't understand why their parents insisted on holding them. They secretly vowed that when they grew up they would reform the tedious and rigid practice. What they didn't know was that similar vows had been made by every royal prince and princess before them with no success. Dinner began with the royal family being announced in the hall followed by every guest being formally presented to the King. For Suilen and Ayame this was half an hour of standing and bowing. It ended with the guest of honor, tonight the monk Terashi, being introduced to the family and then the guests. After the introductions the royal family was seated, and then the guests sat down in order of precedent. At this point, the roles were reversed. Rather than allowing the royal family to go first the guests would begin eating and the royal family would not. It was customary all over Shambala for guests to start eating before the hosts but in the case of the royal family it was considered beneath their dignity to be seen eating in public at all. And so while the guests happily consumed the best food in the kingdom, Suilen and Ayame had to sit stoicly and make small talk with the great dullards of Shambalese nobility. While getting ready for the dinner Ayame continued to protest. "We don't always have formal dinners when Uncle comes back." "Why tonight?" "These stupid shoes are so uncomfortable." "I hate formal dinners. I get so hungry" "Uncle hates them too." "It's on too tight." "Tonight I'm going to grab some rice from Lord Hokusei's bowl" "and chew it with my mouth open." Every formal dinner Ayame made these kinds of threats but never followed up with them. The governess stopped taking her seriously and so did Suilen but Ayame really meant it. She just couldn't build the courage to act. "Tonight I can do it" she always thought but then "next time I'll do it." Dinner was performed as usual. Ayame again failed to make good on her promise. Midway through dessert Lady Hokusei, who was sitting near to Suilen, decided to ask the princess the most interesting question in the world. "Princess Suilen, how is school going?" she asked. Suilen smiled. "It's going well Lady Hokusei." "That's nice to hear." Lady Hokusei smiled back and tried to think of another question. There was an awkward pause. "What's your favorite subject?" Suilen smiled. "Painting." "Oh that's excellent. That was my favorite subject too." Lady Hokusei sipped her tea. "Do you like painting too Princess Ayame?" Ayame was too transfixed on the mochi balls in front of her to hear the question. Suilen elbowed her. "Sister, Lady Hokusei asked you a question." "What?" "Oh I just asked if you liked painting like your sister does." Lady Hokusei repeated. "Yes." Ayame gave a delayed smiled. "Do you have a favorite artist? It always good to emulate someone." Ayame thought about this question for a second but was again distracted by the mochi. Suilen had to elbow her again. "Not one but I like Yulepano artists best." Lady Hokusei burst out laughing. "They have artists in Yulepa? I thought that country was a myth." "They do and they are much better artists than in Shambala." said Ayame. Suilen elbowed Ayame again and cleared her throat. "WHA-T?" Lady Hokusei kept laughing. "Oh you crazy child." "What?" "Such imaginations! Those barbarians can't appreciate art." "Yes they can!" The hunger and Lady Hokusei's boorishness was angering Ayame. "Uncle Terashi! Do they have art in Yulepa?" Terashi was sitting near his brother, the King, and chewing on a mochi ball. He swallowed. "I don't know. I've never been there." "They must not." said Lady Hokusei. "No no no, that's ridiculous." said Lord Hokusei beside her. "But-" Suilen elbowed Ayame again. "WHAT? Stop it! Uncle, they have art outside, right?" Ayame knew she couldn't say it but she wanted someone to say it. "They do, but it's not very nice. Few colors and ugly proportions." Everything had piled on Ayame at once that night. The sudden formal dinner, the rush to prepare, the boorish nobles and the hunger. She almost had enough and now, her favorite uncle, the uncle who smuggled those art books to her and her sister and always told them not to believe what adults told them about the outside was publicly betraying her. She knew why he was doing it. They all had to keep it a secret, but now she couldn't take it anymore. Not even for Uncle Terashi. Ayame reached across the table, grabbed a mochi ball and stuffed it in her mouth. The room went silent. One could only hear the chewing and smacking of the sticky mochi in Ayame's month. "Excuse me. I'll be right back." she said muffled through the partly chewed mochi. She stood up and walked out of the room. The Queen shot a sharp look at the governess, who ran after Ayame. Suilen moved to follow her too but a stern look from the Queen kept her in her seat. Lord Nantou, who sat on the otherside of Terashi, broke the silence. "Monk Terashi, your tea cup is empty." Lord Nantou grabbed a teapot and refilled Terashi's cup. The conversation slowly returned. The King and the Queen continued to fake pleasantries while Suilen stared at the plate of mochi. In a few minutes having evaded the governess Ayame returned to the dining hall and placed an art book in front of Lady Hokusei. "Yulepa." she said reaching over Lady Hokusei's shoulder for another mochi.

OOC: Thanks for the compliments. I asked for my nation in Afghanistan.

I want to claim a spot in Afghanistan in the Wakhan corridor. It's the tail that sticks out from the east. Called Shambala but it's too small to appear on the map. Just saying so here.

In the cold clear sky over the hidden Kingdom of Shambala the sun was setting behind the mountains. Suilen, the eldest of the two royal princesses of the kingdom, wrapped in a wool blanket and lying on her bed on her stomach flipped through a small art book from a land beyond the mountains. The book was old and tattered with pages missing and written in a language Suilen couldn't read and in a script she had never seen. Though Suilen wished she could read it she was she was so enchanted by the beauty of the art work it didn't much matter to her. She could make up her own stories about who these people were and what their lives beyond the Shambalese mountains were like. She stopped at a bronze bust of a woman. The woman was wearing a crown with a round purple jewel on the front. Her eyes were closed and her bronze hair twisted down and across her bare chest collecting at the bottom to form the base of the sculpture. She turned the book and held it up to her sister Ayame who was reading another art book on the bed beside her. "Look at this one!" she said. "Cool, is that an egg on her head?" asked Ayame. Suilen turned the book back towards her and stared at it puzzled. "It's a jewel stupid! She's a princess. Like us." "Let's see." said Ayame grabbing the book from her sister. "It's made of glass I think." "Purple glass? Too bad we can't read it." said Suilen. She tried to grab the book, but Ayame held it away. "I can read it. It's Abiago." Ayame said smugly. "You can't read Abiago!" Suilen said. Ayame held out the book like their teaching reciting the history of Shambala and pretended to read "the woman in this sculpture is the daughter of the 37th king of Abia and the great great great granddaughter of Scheherazade. They say she was so graceful that she could carry an egg on her head and not break it. One day she got drunk on rice wine and dropped it. She slipped on the broken egg and broke her neck." Suilen grabbed the book from her sisters stretched out arm. "Don't be silly! That's not from Abia. Neither was Scheherazade. It's Yulepago. Look all the women have white skin and color in their eyes and some have yellow hair or red hair." "How do you know what Yulepago looks like? Maybe it's about Yulepano art but written in Abia." Ayame opened her book to Suilen "See this book has white people and yellow hair but it's a different language." Suilen examined the other book and sure enough it was written in a different script. "Yulepano art must be famous all over the world if they write about it in so many languages." said Suilen. "I don't think Yulepa is real. They make these pictures because they imagine strange people with yellow hair." said Ayame. "Yurepa must be real," said Suilen turning away from her sister to face a map on the wall. It was a supposed to be a map of the world but much of it was inaccurate or outright false. Mythical kingdoms rose up from behind the mountains of Shambala. Yurepa, Kadei, Eiron, Inchu, Abia. Ayame believed that few of these places existed. She was always the skeptic despite her age. Suilen wanted to believe. "How can there be so many differences in the art of Yurepa and it's not real? We see so much from them. It is their history. Kadei is just like us. Eilon and Alabala are the same. Inchu doesn't change much. These places are probably not real because they never change." "Shambala never changes." said Ayame. "And that's why the rest of the world doesn't know about us." said Suilen smiling. "Because we aren't real?" Ayame stopped suddenly. She could hear footsteps echoing down the hall. Suilen heard them too. She looked startled. "Hide everything!" The princesses grabbed the art books and stuffed them under their beds. They grabbed Shambalese poetry books off their shelves and pretended to read them. There was a short knock at the door before it suddenly opened. The princesses governess entered the room. She looked stressed out. "Her Highness the Queen has asked me to tell you that dinner tonight will be formal." said the governess. The girls moaned incredulously. A formal dinner meant spending hours preparing in ritual purification, doing their hair and getting into their beautiful but tedious court attire. "That's not fair. We don't have time to get ready! Why a formal dinner tonight so suddenly?" asked Suilen. "I'm not going." said Ayame defiantly. The governess glared. "Because your uncle Terashi has returned from the Sutan." said the governess. The girls expressions suddenly changed from incredulous to excited but they quickly hide their emotions. The governess didn't notice. Terashi was the younger brother of the king, a monk and the only man in the kingdom permitted to travel to the lands beyond the mountains. Although the kingdom isolated itself and hid its existence in the Wakhan mountains from the world, it still needed to keep some secret contacts outside mostly with the tribes just past the mountains for trading purposes. Every generation the king appointed a monk from the temple to do this. Because the world was evil only a monk could be trusted to go into it. The evil would attach to the monk's soul but with his training he could fight it. It was considered a honorable sacrifice for the kingdom. The girls were supposed to fear the outside like everyone else but Terashi secretly tried to teach them not. He said there was good and evil outside the kingdom and there was great beauty. "You're right there is no time. That's why you have to start getting ready right away. Princess Ayame, don't make me call your mother." warned the governess. Ayame pretended to reluctantly agree. "Oh OK fine." She threw her book across the bed. "We were studying you know." The governess laughed. "Sure you were. Come on let's go!"

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