Firetooth / Stonefoot

High Chief Artog Aedsword.  An orc of extensive travel and great pride in all things Orcish, but whose House tradition and primary supporters lay firmly rooted in Orthodox Aedak - the faith of only half of orcs, not counting the Feorfeorwistanorccs of Mogui.  Among the Chiefs of Orcland, Artog was the one with whom Acca could sincerely state that she did not know where she stood.  On the one hand, her father's martyrdom and her own personal contribution to the war against the Sacrye were debts he was likely to recognize.  On the other hand, her new titles and her incorporation of the Feorwistanorccs into the realm might not sit will with the High Chief, whose interests lay in maintaining the status quo as far as the balance of power within Orcland.

At the very least, the High Chief had not been so bold as to disrupt her coronation ceremony or the ensuing feast by bringing forward any objections publicly.  Not that they would have carried any weight in her own Palace, where the Chiefs of other Great Clans had no authority beyond the retinues they had brought with them.  But nonetheless, she appreciated that Artog had decided against trying to embarrass her or cause a scene.  So it was that the next morning, she arranged for a meeting with him in the Palace gardens.  There, she hoped, they could speak both privately and as equals.

Chieftess.  Artog's position on her new titles was made clear before he even spoke them aloud.  An understandable position, she could admit, though she hoped to convince him otherwise.

"I'm glad you brought your concerns to my attention," she replied warmly.  "Allow me to alleviate them.  As I am still Chief, regardless of my higher titles, I and my clan remain in Orcland.  Should I ever intend to withdraw from the charter, I will do so explicitly.  My position as Queen simply reflects the dominion of my Crown over the many small clans in the realm grouped together in the Waepenbora class, as well as the position House Boarsplitter has held for several generations as First among the Stonefoot Houses.  We simply do not represent the same sort of polity as the other Orcish Clans, or even as my father inherited three decades ago."

She began to walk through the garden at an easy pace, waving for Artog to follow.  The morning sun, shining through a canopy of leaves and vines in structured arch-ways, glimmered softly on her armor - she wore the breastplate and helmet-fused crown of her father today, that the High Chief would understand her position did not represent some anomaly or reversal in the course of Stonefoot history.

"As for your concern over usurpation...do you mean to refer to the Firetooth title Guardian of the West?  I believe history and geography should resolve any misunderstanding: Simply put, your West is not our West.  When the Firetooth Clan claimed their title centuries ago, they themselves and their neighbors were the West, which they guarded against the Wasteland hordes.  But for the Stonefoot, your hearths have always been the East.  But for the sake of clarity, the Chief Priest was careful with her words when she crowned me: Warden, not Guardian, and Far Western, not Western.  The title is meant to affirm my overlordship over the many small, disorganized clans of the Far Western steppe - I rule them as protector and civilizer, not adding them to the Stonefoot realm by right of conquest.  Indeed, it is in this spirit of uniting Stonefoot with the many other clans in our growing realm that I have declared a greater realm of West Orcland.  Which, I will emphasize, ever remains part and parcel of the yet greater union of Orcland."

"Aedakfaesten is no longer our only holding west of Docgalanda," Acca pointed out in return.  "Such a title would have not reflected the reality of the situation.  For that matter, while perhaps the Firetooth once guarded against threats from the West, that meaning of your title has no doubt lost some of its relevance.  Surely the Firetooth Clan does not claim to protect against the Wistanorccs of Jaggedfist, Stonefoot, Ironskull, and Ironspear?"  There was no condescension in the Queen's voice, only earnestness.  She hoped the Firetooth did not mean to hold to a title that might brand her own kingdom as a potential enemy.  Nor one that would deny the realities of geography.  "It is now my realm that sits at the Western edge of Orcland, no matter what titles I may claim.  It is my realm that will bear the brunt of any raids or campaigns from the Dydorists, should they decide to cleanse the land of us according to their faith' vile principles.  Have we not a right, therefore, to our own title to reflect the situation?  Not to usurp your own, but to acknowledge something new?"

The concerns over her Queenship, small clan grievances, and orcish tradition were another matter.  A more complicated matter, which might require some illustration.  Acca meandered towards a collection of vines bearing their first grapes.  "I am sure you recognize this plant is not of native Orcish origin.  In fact, an orc as well-traveled as you surely recognizes these vines and their grapes as thoroughly Southern.  Yet, this variety - a hardy one native to the lands of the Southern Tribes, colder and drier than those that feed vines in Byrnia and the Khaitis-lands - it thrives in our Orcish soil.  More than that, it is of use.  It brings extra enjoyment to those who would that a feast serve more than mead and ale, and at a much lower cost than importation. 

She stopped walking, raised a gloved finger, and leaned in slightly towards Artog.  "More to the point, House Boarsplitter grows it on many plots in our demesne, and it adds to our income more than would barley or oats or wheat.  Of course, we must not grow it in excess: Those other crops we need for our granaries, and any feast must have its fair share of mead and ale after all.  But why should we, for the sheer principle of orcish pride, reject this fine plant and all it has to offer?  Who would call this garden uglier for it?  Who would call my feasts poorer for its wine?

Acca leaned back and began walking again, always at her relaxed gait and easy pace.  "Even the Firetooth, you must admit, have taken from the South those techniques they found useful.  The flintlock, close order drills, standardization of caliber, even the jiien - all which served you well, and which in no way compromised the Firetooth character.  Well, for the Stonefoot Clan and House Boarsplitter - hillfort folk, builders of walls, the rocky crags over which the Hordes cut themselves and bled before reaching your gates - we had different needs.  The Survaekom model of authority built an entire system of great fortresses, garrisons, and disciplined marching-hosts.  The guns and coin we learned from you, but this we could only learn from them.

"Perhaps this is no comfort to you, whose Clan often skirted the danger of being crushed under that system.  You endured because of your difference and stubborn insistence on tradition, as much as any innovations you took in.  For us, on the other hand, there was no question of whether we would stay Orcish or lose treasured lands to foreign settlers; only the threat of our own neighbor orcs, who spoke the same tongue and organized themselves much like us.  When we assumed the role of finishing the work of your missionaries in the Wastes, I believe incorporating a new model was the only way forward.  Had House Boarsplitter not taken the lead, had we not taken inspiration from the Survaekom and started down the road to the Kingdom proclaimed yesterday, we would have weakened and melted.  Every House would have guarded its castles and lands selfishly, like the feudal lords that nearly undid Waentaer Khaitis or those that sapped Elon of all its strength, perhaps even forming new Clans if Stonefoot membership grew inconvenient.  We needed strong authority to bind us together, and my House was up to the task.

"Yet, like the grapes, these models are merely tools to preserve and advance ourselves as Orcs.  Perhaps grander and deeper in scale, but not a replacement for our traditions.  You will not find us singing Southern songs instead of our own, speaking Southern tongues outside of diplomacy and trade, recognizing Southern authorities, or hiring Southern magistrates in place of our honored bards.

"And," Acca stopped once again and turned around fully this time, now in the sunlight between two small canals feeding crystal water through the garden, "as for your concern about small clans and houses, I believe this is where we have improved over the Southern formulas.  My House's accomplishments over many decades has been to address these questions in an elegant manner, integrating these orcs into the State rather than performing brute massacres in Survaekom style - the lesser Clans and Houses are now Waepenbora in civil and military service to the Kingdom.  My titles are not a declaration of new ambitions for my realm, but the acknowledgment of great works over great time that we have finally completed.

She smiled.  "I understand your concern for the balance in Orcland.  But I ask that you understand my own concern for the interests of my realm, and that you trust that I advance them in the greater name of Orcland as well.  This brief instability, this rise in the power and influence of Clan Stonefoot, it is not directed against you or the other Clans."  Except insofar as the Firetooth sought hegemony over Orcland, but this Acca would not say aloud.  She was hoping to mend bridges, not burn them.  "If Clan Stonefoot has risen from Squire to Thane, whatever your concerns over the unusual arms and armor it has chosen, is it not that much better a companion fighting at your side?"

The Queen chuckled.  "Surely you cannot expect me to promise that not a single minor Clan or House, should it become unsatisfied with its position, will appeal to the Orcland Council and claim itself independent in an attempt to secede?  What I can promise, however, is that even within these Clans and Houses there will be witnesses to pacts of vassalage, and that there will be written contracts as further proof.  It has been the way of my Clan to draw in others with the promises of useful work, martial pride, and just reward as nobles.  Not some base, extralegal conquest within Orcland."  Not that the Stonefoot Army had never cut down clansfolk and marched to occupy holdings in the Wastes, but the key distinction was that the later had first pledged loyalty - so they were rebels, not legal equals.  "So it is with the Kingdom of Western Orcland, only with their rank and responsibilities properly formalized as Waepenbora."  That was to say, with the last loopholes closed.

"And as for the larger question."  She looked Artog in the eye and bowed slightly, just enough to communicate a hint of deference.  "I, Queen Acca Boarsplitter of Western Orcland, do acknowledge the authority of the Elder Council and the High Chief, just as my father did and his line before him back to Chief Erog Boarsplitter."  She paused.  "Does the High Chief, in turn, acknowledge the Queen?"  Acca's stance remained gracefully tilted, awaiting Aedsword's response.

Acca smiled as her posture effortlessly, almost unnoticeably, returned upright.  "The Queen would surely obey.  Is not a Clan of only five votes compelled by the initiatives of its more influential cousins?"  She half-smiled, willing to play along but unwilling to concede to the Firetooth's deliberate illusion of consensus.  "But I am equally certain that such a Queen, with her Clan given representation proportionate to its reach and responsibilities, would obey too - this one as a willing equal, not a conflicted subordinate." 

This was not the first time a Stonefoot Chief had brought up the topic in the back halls of Orcland politics, but prior Chiefs had not possessed much in the way of leverage, nor a realm of requisite power and population to justify their demands.  Queen Acca Boarsplitter, in this moment, had both.

The Queen allowed her half-smile to extend into a full one.  "I understand."  She nodded, in part to acknowledge Artog's commitment to make an effort, and in part to show her genuine gratitude.  She had not been certain whether Aedsword's Orcland-first reputation and rhetoric had simply been a cover for the two-century-old story of Firetooth Chiefs seeking Firetooth hegemony.  Now, she was more confident that the orc was true to his supposed convictions.  "It will be my honor to join you on the battlefield, along with the full host of the Royal Army of Western Orcland."