Lies, Dirty Lies, and Propaganda

[Indreams]

Yeshan paper production is up by 120% this year, meat 25% up, wool, 17% up, rice 44% up, wheat 21% up, iron 16% up, ....
Barony's meat production is down 12% this year, wool 5% down, grain 12% down, iron 4% down, ...
Land of Plenty, Join The Yeshan Empire!

Pamphlet airdropped into Fjord's by a daring Goldfish pilot.

[Indreams]

Chaladonians are deceptive, unscrupulous allies. Their science is the science of death. Their only concern is their twisted perception of balance. They massacre, pillage, and eradicate with aberrant technology in the name of the Order. They lie, manipulate, and mislead with honeyed tongues in the name of the Order.

Chaladonian witch-steel has now been widely reported. Chaladonians refuse to reveal the process of its production. Witch-steel I call it because Chaladonian witchery is involved. They take children and bleed them slowly over their smelters, so that the blood is infused into their witch-steel. It is evident in the way the witch-steel turns crimson when it is soaked in water.

With this witch-steel, they have reinforced their Demon-ships (Squid). And to cause more destruction to the world, they are supplying the Fjords with the same blood-steel. The Yeshans and Baronies were ready for a ceasefire; they were at a stalemate. By tipping the balance, the Chaladonians have prolonged the dragged-out conflict.

The worst and the most treacherous is an Arms dealer who deals on both sides. Chaladonians have done so. The new Minotaur gun, its heavy damage, incredible maneuverability, and unmatched range clearly indicated Chaladonian Origin. Only the order would invest their scientists to a death machine.

This Heavy gun has no Chaladonian use. They were created by Chaladonians to produce more mayhem in the battles between Fjord and Yesha. This is clear in the way neither Fjord lords nor Yeshan bureaucrats can explain the sudden appearance of this murderous weapon.

Yes, Chaladonians are behind both sides. Manipulating and dealing covertly. Chaladonians are more unprincipled than the Mercantile Guild, more savage than the Arashi League, more imperious than the Yesha Empire, and more tyrannical than the Fjord Baronies. They are the true evil, the real enemy threatening our World.

Sincerely Yours,

The Angelean Propaganda Ministry

Posted this on this thread: https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,5777.0.html

[HamsterIV]

A wise man once said "It is a fool who uses an unread book as a stepping stool." There are none more foolish than our barbaric neighbors to the north. Despite sitting on one of the largest caches of Pre-Cataclysm technology, the Angeleans have done little to recover the priceless knowledge of our ancestors.

They huddle for warmth in the proximity of devices their puny minds could not possibly understand. Artifacts of immense power are crudely bolted to their airships and used in a manner for which they were never intended. When their bumbling hands destroy a priceless piece of technology, it is thrown on the scrap heap and substituted with another irreplaceable ancient wonder.

Archeological expeditions have been sent into the Angelean Wastes to preserve these ancient wonders. Despite their noble intentions, our academics were met with violence, enslavement, and death. The Angeleans jealously guard their monopoly on ancient technology and would rather see it destroyed than to allow it benefit he rest of humanity.

There are none more qualified to preserve and understand ancient technology than Yeshan academics. As such the vast technological bounty of the north is rightfully ours. The Angelean scum who currently infest this area have proven to be poor custodians of mankind's heritage.

The road ahead is clear, we of the Yeshan Empire must drive out these ignorant savages and secure what artifacts remain for the good of all mankind.

May the ancients smile upon your work,

Provost of Ancient Studies,
Yeshan Central University

[Carn]

These Yeshan dogs are a menace to humanity. They believe everything under the sun is theirs. They have sent "archeological" expeditions into our sovereign land, without permission. They claim that these are unarmed and peaceful groups of scientists. But when approached, they fire without warning.

We all know what they are after. Our ancestral technologies must never fall into such hands. They call us savages? We are not the ones waging bloody war, after bloody war to take the land, lives, and freedom of others.

While our ancestors toiled in this harsh and frozen land, the Yeshans were safe and warm hidden in their mountains. They even have the gall, to have one family ruling them with an iron fist, and believe their lives better. They do not respect the principles of a senate. Their leader isn't chosen, he's just the lucky sap who was born into the right family.

Beware the Yeshans for they are masters of deceit. Beware them, for they always turn their hungry gaze our way. Beware, for they believe themselves to be superior.

Enlist today to halt the spread of the accursed Blue Veil
From the High Enlistment Office of the Republic

[HamsterIV]

Far to the south lies a decedent and weak people, the so called "Mercantile Guild." As the range of our raider class vessels increases so to has our contact with Guild vessels and people.

Outwardly their ships project strength with thick hulls and well maintained weapons. Yet if you look closer at the smooth hulls and gleaming guns you will notice a distinct lack of impact dents and powder burns. As far as most reports can tell their ships rarely see combat. During one ambush the doomed crew of a Guild vessel was seen frantically reading the instruction manual of the weapon they were supposed to be manning. The only thing a Guild sailor knows how to properly maintain are the engines they use for running away from battle.

This is unsurprising if you meet a Guildsman in person. They are fat from years of bountiful living, The hardest working part of their body is a silvered tongue, with which they will try to convince you to do battle on their behalf. While their promises of mutual profit may sound attractive, they are invariably lies meant to lead you into a trap. Never agree to a joint raid with a Guild vessel. They are more likely to shoot out your engines and leave you to distract what ever bandits they were trying to sneak past than to pay you at the completion of the mission.

Such pathetic examples of humanity make for poor slaves back in the mines of Angelea. Yet capturing these Guildsmen can be benefit an enterprising raider in other ways. Depending on their rank in the baffling hierarchy of the guild, our raiders have been able to extract sizable ransoms for the safe return of these corpulent slugs.

It can be hard at first to separate a worthless peon from a high ranking Guildsmen given their entire society's love for ostentatious clothing and tendency to exaggerate their personal wealth. By far the best way to tell if an individual will be worth a decent ransom is to check how winded they are after climbing a flight of stairs. The most successful Guildsmen hire porters to carry their over fed bodies up and down stairs. As such any ransom worth your time will find the activity most strenuous.

Sincerely Yours,

The Angelean Propaganda Ministry

[HamsterIV]

The world beyond the sacred shores of Chaledon is a desolate and unforgiving place. While all outsiders look upon our abundant farms and gardens with envy. There are non who cast a more covetous glare than the Arashi.

These desert vermin know nothing of agriculture or the delicate balance needed to keep the land fertile. The only thing their sun baked minds only understand how to loot from the dead. While there is ample water in the mountains to their north and in underground aquifers, the Arashi never bother with irrigation or digging more than the most basic wells. Their nomadic ways and loose tribal structure prohibits them from attempting public works projects necessary to turn their barren land into a sustainable ecosystem. Instead Arashi Chieftains provide for their kin by scavenging anything not strong enough to survive their desert. They care not if their next meal comes from a wild animal, from an unlucky merchant, or a wayward missionary.

This opportunistic approach to life explains why the Arashi venerate the vulture. They are both is a loathsome beasts that survive through the starvation of others. The Great desert which the Arashi inhabit is constantly expanding as a result of Arashi raids. By sabotaging irrigation networks and intercepting fertilizer shipments, the Arashi ensure there will be enough dessicated corpses for them to plunder.

The Order of Chaledon can not permit these Arashi scum to reshape the world into a dusty barren desert. While the other factions squabble over politics and territory they allow the Arashi to spread their corruption. Only The Order has the farsightedness to see the threat the Arashi pose, and thus it is up to us to put an end to that threat.

Respectfully,
 
The Chaledon Ministry for Truth.

[HamsterIV]

At first glance the Yeshan Empire look like stable trading partners. Certainly their appreciation of art and luxury goods put them leagues above the rabble of barbarians we have the misfortune to call our neighbors. However if you look closely into their so called "Yeshan Way," you will notice a underlying hatred of the free market values our society is based upon.

The children of the Empire are brain washed by the Yeshan Propaganda machine into blindly accepting whatever societal roll the ruling class has dictated for them. The "Yeshan Way" is a form of slavery more insipid than the chains and whips of Angelea. While an Angelean laborer will gladly hop a aboard an airship looking to find a better life, any similar offer made to a member Yeshan working class is met with a blank stare and an over repeated catechism.

Trading with the Yeshans can be a lucrative venture, but a wise Guildsman must be constantly vigilant that he and his crew are not enthralled by the honeyed lies of the Yeshan Propaganda Machine. Conforming to Yeshan society means abandoning the freedom and opportunity our leaders work so hard to create. While any citizen of the Guild may take to the skies and seek his or her fortune the Yeshan is bound to their land through invisible chains of dogma.

Even those fly Yeshan air vessel are not truly free. Each is bound to a rigid command structure which dedicates where they can fly and what they are allowed to do with their state owned ships. Such inflexibility prevents Yeshan captains from rapidly responding to the needs of their people. If one town had an abundance of grain and a neighboring town were in the midst of a famine, a Yeshan captain would have to fill out several forms in triplicate to obtain permission from high command to deviate from his patrol route.

To a profitable venture,

The Guild Bureau of Foreign Affairs

[Carn]

Greetings fellow citizens, it is my deepest regret to inform you, that the Baronies have made another push and managed to take one of our bases in Firnfield.

These Fjordlanders, they know nothing of freedom. They are stuck in an ancient system that was being eliminated before the Great War even began. The family you are born to, determines your lot in life. The believe in hereditary power, an anathema to all free thinking people. They have no way to change their lot in life, yet spew vague and warped drivel about honor.

Honor? By that they mean pride. Can pride feed hungry orphans? Can pride selflessly research the ancient technologies? The answer is no. They talk of these vague principals, but when questioned what they are, falter and fail.

They call us ruthless raiders, and savage killers. Yet they did not live in as harsh a land as we. They all bow before a man they call King, knowing that none of them can ever gain the title, or any of their descendents. They know no freedom, and do not understand the principals of freedom. To save them, they must be exterminated.

For the Senate and the Citizens of the Republic.

Anglean Bureau of Foreign Interests.

[HamsterIV]

Recently a puffed up toad of a man came to our tribe and announced that the Barron Something or Other had annexed the watering station we know as "Dusty Springs." He further stated any ships that wish to resupply there must pay a tax to the Barron. We expect this minor inconvenience to last for two weeks, a month at most. The Fjordlanders the Barron dispatched to enforce his "tax" look painfully uncomfortable in their ornate metal uniforms. His men, like the ships they fly, are woefully unsuited for desert travel. While gleaming armor and tailored uniforms may look impressive on the parade grounds, they make the regular maintenance needed to keep ships and weapons functional in our desert next to impossible.

These weak coast dwellers know nothing of hardship, having spent their entire lives feasting on the bounty of the ocean. Their ridiculous pomp and ceremony attest to a civilization that has more free time than is good for them. Their constant soldier pantomime may give the illusion of toughness, but in reality an Arashi Grandmother could out last any of these Fjord "soldiers" in march across the desert.

Like all would be kings, generals, and warlords who encroach upon our desert I doubt the men of the Fjords have the courage and will power to survive away from the easy living of their homelands. The desert sands cover the bones of a million of fools who thought they could tame it. No doubt this Barron will make a million and one.

Elder Kain of the Arashi

[snor-laxatives]

"Merchant's; dressin' all hoity toity, washing their hands for haf'n hour, looking down their noses at the rest of us common folk.  But theres something sick tucked deep underneath all 'at glitter."

"So there we was, soaring' through the sky's, on the border of the Vast.  I was cooking the meals for the crew of The Sapphire.  One day, out of the great blue and by the blessing' of the Sky Whale himself we run into a herd a' Sky Cows.  Captain orders us to harpoon one 'n for dinner.  I skin the hide, I cut the stakes, I season, I grill, I make the best stakes my two hands and grill fork have ever made... Cap'n pulls me aside, looks me 'n the eye through his monocle, an' asks me to "prepare for him one of the finest delicacies'.... Sea Cow Tongue and.... Sea Cow Testies...."
_{*repulsive grumblings from around the table*
"Who would eat a sea cow's sea bag"
"You have all that money, and thats what you spend it on?"}

"Foulest lookin' thing I ever put on me grill... Had to through away my good grill'n fork after that.  Merchant's got their grime just like the lot of us, they can just afford to dress it up."

--
Heard at a nearby tavern, from a grizzly looking man.

[Helios.]

the chaledonians think they are so clever, with their farms, their 'science' (as if these farmers knew the first thing about the open sky) and their soft hearts.  i have heard them say that their farmers work harder than anyone, but we all know they spend half of their time working out how to do less work, these 'acedemics' are nothing more than petulant children, trying to make their comfortable life COMPLETELY devoid of all strain. we know of course that it is that hardship that makes men out of babies, that without the testing desert, noone would truely know if they were strong enough to really be free. THINKING you are free is simply not enough. only when you have felt the desert sun on your back, and laughed it off, can you say that you can survive anywhere, that you can survive anything, that no man can set you against something you cannot overcome, that anything is possible: that you are TRULY free. these green worshipers think that a comfortable life is a good life, they dont even know how to look

janis, instructor of boys

[Tylow Star]

Mercantile Guild? Try Mercant-vile Guild. When you see one, what becomes apparent? Their lavish lifestyle? Their luxurious apparel? Their deluxe feasts and parties? All without thinking a simple question; where does it all come from?
You can't simply start a largish trade network and suddenly be grasping an empire!
I'm not here to think of any ridiculous theories about how Angleans are lizards and how Chaladonians follow are hive-mind. No, no, no. I'm here to state the obvious so that that which is hidden in plain sight is seen.
This "Mercantile Guild" is built upon paid criminals, slave-drivers and cold hearts. Vyshtorg looks nice in the eyes of a foreigner, or, indeed, a merchant. But once you enter without the prestigious outfit of a monarch, prepare to get beaten, assaulted, robbed and enslaved.
Anyone could get as rich as those merchants if they shared their moral code.
By which I mean the lack thereof.

To other litterate citizens of Abernathy, Chaladonians, or even the World,
Stay out of the Vastness.
Yours truly, Tylows Star of the Order.

[Tylow Star]

The Angleans Republic is impressive. Why do I call it impressive. Because a rag-tag of barbaric, viking raiders managed to form a state.
They are all to happy to proclaim their ancient technologies from the Old World. But I emplore you to question an Angleans as to the purpose of these genius technologies that could be saving the world from another Cataclysm, helping us finally become one with the serenity of nature.
I'll tell you what they do with these masterworks, as an Angleans would inevitably fail to inform you. They use it to raid, pillage, destroy and plunder. Our fleets don't sail to Firnfield, occasionally making a reluctant accompaniment to the medieval Baronies. We sail to defend Hanat and other northwestern villages and cities from the barbaric Angleans.
Their excuse for these brutal practices last seen several centuries ago? They are to busy digging up technologies, so they don't have the time to grow food or gather resources.
That is truly miserable.
These berserkers can't, with all these hyper-advanced technologies that our scientists can only dream of, undergo the simple task of growing a carrot.
I would make a joke, to cheer up the mood, but it seems it wrote itself.

To Averna, Chaladon and even the World,
You should probably do all those things you said  a you'd do, because Anglea is the result of hell freezing over.
Yours truly, Tylows Star of the Order.

[Tylow Star]

Besides some aforementioned issues regarding the ravaging Republic and the grovelling Guild, I should rather not inform you of humanity's failure, and instead gladly supply you with news of it's successes. Attached to this letter is a travel ticket onboard a new, beautiful traveller's ship by the name of Illion's Crystal, one that I myself have piloted a number of times, which takes you on a scenic route from most major cities to the Chaladonians capital of Averna, which directly proves all I say in this letter.

Long ago, humans sought complete industrialisation of the earth, casting aside every other living lifeform, from chick to sapling. They also sought control over this industrialisation, leading to a great catastrophe known as the Great War. This war sparked an earth-shaking event by the name of the Cataclysm.
We Chaladonians have recognised the error in the way of our ancestors. Luck has gifted humanity with a second chance, one that we will use as we were meant to; to let us become one with nature, and let nature surround us. As some misinterpret, however, this does not mean we want to become the hairy apes we were born from. No.
It is difficult to describe in words how perfect, serene harmony is like, but one must only glance upon our graceful capital to understand. Homo Sapiens has built a city that blends so naturally, so beautifully and with nature, and this we must celebrate. But we of the Chaladonians Order only see this as a beginning. We want it so that every city, from Kinforth to Vyshtorg, is one with the symphony of Earth, as Averna already is. That is our ambition. That is our goal. To make up for our mistakes and to love everything that lives once more. That is our hope.

To the citizens of the World,
I emplore you to visit on peaceful terms.
Yours truly, Tylow Star of the Order.

[Tylow Star]

I just looked on my past three posts, and, I swear to God, I DUCKING HATE AUTOCORRECT!