A CALL TO WOMEN
Women of Chien Hao! The world of old is over. Much as we loathe to admit it, the glorious Empire has at last fallen. Trade on the seas, free from war and piracy, is free no longer. Brigands roam the lands and seas, preying on merchant and traveler. Our most ancient houses of learning have burned, generations of knowledge lost. Barbarians have overthrown their benevolent masters, and now the last lights of the old empire are small cities and colonies scattered across the World Ocean.
However, here in Chien Hao, we are lucky. We are a beacon of civilization, of peace and progress. Here we have a glorious tandem of both Chien and Imperial, our two peoples working together to extend this light. Already the Wind Princes have been broken. Already, the Dailan League has enticed even non-Imperials into civilization once more. We are doing so much.
And yet, we could be doing more.
For centuries, we women have done so little. We have given birth, raised our children. We have given patronage to temples and artists, and supported our husbands as they sailed away, be it to a war of blood or coin.
But is that all we are capable of? Being a wet nurse and spending money? The women here, noble by birth or virtue, are learned. Many of us have the mind of a merchant or an admiral, of a scholar or a senator. For the women of the great Chien cliques, negotiation is a second language. For the daughters of Imperials, warfare is in their blood; the ships of the barbarians will not stand when our Navy is lead by those with generations of conquerors standing behind them. We have been given educations that people can only dream of; we must use it.
The barbarians outnumber us, hundreds to one. All of us, man and woman, must be prepared to do what it takes to expand civilization. Sign up for the Navy. Join the Scholastium. Sail for the west. Do whatever must be done. For if we do not, this world of ours, this world that has been given to us by our ancestors, will be lost forever.
We cannot let this world parish. Women of Chien Hao! RISE, AND DO YOUR DUTY!
Women of Chien Hao! The world of old is over. Much as we loathe to admit it, the glorious Empire has at last fallen. Trade on the seas, free from war and piracy, is free no longer. Brigands roam the lands and seas, preying on merchant and traveler. Our most ancient houses of learning have burned, generations of knowledge lost. Barbarians have overthrown their benevolent masters, and now the last lights of the old empire are small cities and colonies scattered across the World Ocean.
However, here in Chien Hao, we are lucky. We are a beacon of civilization, of peace and progress. Here we have a glorious tandem of both Chien and Imperial, our two peoples working together to extend this light. Already the Wind Princes have been broken. Already, the Dailan League has enticed even non-Imperials into civilization once more. We are doing so much.
And yet, we could be doing more.
For centuries, we women have done so little. We have given birth, raised our children. We have given patronage to temples and artists, and supported our husbands as they sailed away, be it to a war of blood or coin.
But is that all we are capable of? Being a wet nurse and spending money? The women here, noble by birth or virtue, are learned. Many of us have the mind of a merchant or an admiral, of a scholar or a senator. For the women of the great Chien cliques, negotiation is a second language. For the daughters of Imperials, warfare is in their blood; the ships of the barbarians will not stand when our Navy is lead by those with generations of conquerors standing behind them. We have been given educations that people can only dream of; we must use it.
The barbarians outnumber us, hundreds to one. All of us, man and woman, must be prepared to do what it takes to expand civilization. Sign up for the Navy. Join the Scholastium. Sail for the west. Do whatever must be done. For if we do not, this world of ours, this world that has been given to us by our ancestors, will be lost forever.
We cannot let this world parish. Women of Chien Hao! RISE, AND DO YOUR DUTY!
