Mask of Winters Addressing The Council of the Confederation of Rivers

I thank the representative of Great Forks for her words and wish her family further health and prosperity. Her achievements are matched only by her beauty. I thank, too, the Council for affording me this opportunity to speak at such an august and wise body and express my hopes that satisfactory resolutions can be achieved on this day. Many speak out against the Council, calling it a useless body filled with meaningless debate and corruption, but I dismiss their criticisms.
I have seen with my own eyes that the Confederation of Rivers has taken many great strides forward and represents a beacon of progress to all of Creation. But the stink of rank hypocrisy creeps into these chambers, and the smell of it worries me. I listen to the harsh and undeserved words leveled against my fine city by the representatives of Lookshy and Marukan, and I wonder why this respectable body allows such deceptive, twisted rhetoric to be spoken here? If not truth, what does the Confederation of Rivers stand for?
We are not your enemies. Thorns was once an oppressive puppet regime that sought to expand its territories and waged war against all of the River Lands, but our armies have stopped them, liberated their people and given all of the Confederation of Rivers a new chance at peace. For this, we are accused of butchery.
Why? Within your very midst lies Lookshy, a nation built upon war, a nation that prospers from death. Its people have unleashed far more devastating weapons in many of their ill-conceived campaigns than we have, and yet, you turn to us and accuse us of saber-rattling and the death of innocents? Or perhaps you fear my nation because we allow the dead to walk side by side with the living?
Sijan is honored today and I greet her representative but how is Thorns any different from this fine nation? In both, the dead are honored alongside the living. Indeed, the people of Thorns greet their long lost ancestors with joy and revel in their newfound sense of legacy. If you do not fear Sijan, why would you fear us?
If you would speak of oppression, look to the vile trade of slaves in your very midst. Thorns stands boldly with Nexus in condemning this abominable practice. Man should not bend before man, but stand before him as an equal. We work diligently with the Guild to provide the walking dead as a substitute for the denigrating practice of slave labor, so that when mortals have shed their crude husks of meat and bone in favor of the finer garments of ghostly gossamer, their bodies can continue to work for the betterment of their descendants.
Concerns have been raised over the Marukan situation. We have apologized for an accidental incursion of soldiers into Marukan territory. They were engaging in a war game and accidentally strayed too far. For the loss of life and damage to property, a settlement has already been reached and the sum of money travels even now to the Marukan capital. Regarding the two disputed villages of Shenden and Three-Steeds-Dancing, the first was always the property of Thorns, and I encourage the representative of Marukan to brush up on his history and re-examine his maps.
The second chose of their own will to overthrow their local government and pleaded with Thorns to accept them as vassals. We could not refuse their request. This can be negotiated, but the final decision falls to the people of Three-Steeds-Dancing. I hope we can allow truth to freshen our breaths and wipe away the stink of dishonesty. Only when we can stand with one another as brothers, assured that we can trust one another, can we be strong. Any disunity among us will only weaken us, making us easy prey for our enemies.
I surrender the floor to the speaker of the Council. Thank you.

Type

Manuscript, Historical