The Influence Of The Old Survyaian Empires Is Still Felt
On a clear enough day, travelers could and did see the hill-crowning citadels above the many-layered walls of Peffu Empe all the way from the riverside. No matter how wistfully Silapobenk gazed at the capital of Pavvu Omme Os, however, Stadeskosken would not be allowed in. For that reason he did not gaze at it at all, wistfully or otherwise. Silapobezor did. Though less interested in the possible financial gains to be made there, the shared sentiment of all Explorers moved him. Dou ke Lenmo behind them had been a town not without its minor fascinations, but members of that class never stopped at one when two was out there somewhere, waiting discovery by a motivated pioneer.
The other employees enjoyed their trip across the musical country, as they had come to think of it and as Dispatches From a Crass Endeavor described it. Even Millim Takki Atsa sometimes sang as she rode, which she did not off in the distance as she had implied but right in the middle of the convoy. Later, many Adaban tourists felt some disappointment that Pavvu Omme Os was not in fact a nonstop concert, though few were silly enough to say so out loud.
Though difficult for anyone walking or riding along to perceive, the land in that region rose until the Meggi Tem and its shores became a valley that ever deepened up to the border between Pavvu Omme Os and Yean Defiafi. One citadel on the heights to the north, another to the south, and a network of walls and fortresses between formed Wamkessi Toltes, the Invincible Fortress.
The government had erected that complex for the benefit of potential visitors from Yean Defiafi. Ommes and permitted Adabans conducted their business in the town guarded by those defenses, also known as Wamkessi Toltes for all that people had tried over the years to popularize distinct names for the civilian section. The fortifications and the town relied on each other, reasoned most who knew what toltes and wamkessi meant in the first place. Foreigners cared even less.
Which the government encouraged. The best thing was to take absolutely no interest in their surroundings, Captain Sottius Pokku Ektum Aipke told them. “I am sure you were told the rules and restrictions elsewhere in Pavvu Omme Os. While those are still in force, there is an additional consideration here because our current treaties with Yean Defiafi enjoin both sides to monitor travelers who intend to pass over the border minutely for signs of espionage or sabotage to be undertaken against the other country. You will accordingly be under observation at all times. Any attempt to evade observation will result in a revocation of permission to cross the border. Permission to participate in the market would not be rescinded in that event.”
The Stadeskosken representative pondered that. “An important distinction, though after reviewing our budget for accommodations, I think it better for us to pass straight into Yean Defiafi without stopping for the market.”
Captain Ektum, as the pamphlet suggested Captain Sottius Pokku Ektum Aipke ought to be called after her marriage to some fellow named Whosits Ektum Whoever (though courtesy also allowed Captain Pokku Ektum), blinked. “It will take time to process this many Adabans.”
“You will find us very cooperative,” Silapobenk assured her. “I don't imagine minor delays will trouble us, and major ones are quite unthinkable. The Yean Defiafi authorities await our arrival, after all.”
The Stadeskosken employees hoped for her sake Captain Ektum refrained from gambling, since it was too obvious when she thought she had something good. “To facilitate the process while maintaining the necessary oversight, your people are going to be placed in government lodgings. There is no sort of rent involved, obviously, and regulations meals are served at no expense, though many officials prefer to dine elsewhere.”
Silapobenk either pretended to think it over or actually did. Even Dirant could not decide which. “If such arrangements are already made, it may be that will alter my plans.”
Captain Ektum relaxed and escorted the Stadeskosken contingent to the appropriate building, which included stables and a yard plus a garage for wagons all as convenient for a commercial army as a military one. Millim Takki Atsa tried to get a government bunk herself, but only foreigners could take advantage of that generous offer. She left in search of more expensive accommodations while the Adabans carried out their usual preparations.
This time Silone added some advice to his instructions. “It's easy to presume when the other party has some power over you that it is supreme in all ways. Don't deceive yourself. Government Ommes are still Ommes, and they still want what we have. A captain who interferes will soon meet a major who was looking forward to peach liqueur. You always have leverage if you understand what is wanted.”
“I understand,” Dirant said. “Influence is mine to wield as long as I'm the only Ritualist here.”
“That's an excellent example of a failure to find proper leverage. I've calculated there's no need to preserve anything for the rest of the trip, so you're just another pair of hands from now on.”
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“Why did I ever attend Todelk University classes?” Dirtwo wondered, but nobody could provide an answer.
The precautions of the military republic of Pavvu Omme Os in Wamkessi Toltes were not without result. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during Stadeskosken's stop there, not even an incident so trivial as someone running into a face he had hoped never to see again after what happened, to say nothing of monster problems or a sudden invasion. Nothing unusual happened the next day either when Captain Ektum and her detachment saw the convoy through approximately fifty gates, give or take forty-two, that offered access to the strip of territory between Wamkessi Toltes and the Defiafi stronghold of Conoybarvi. Those two fastnesses glared at each other like a wealthy bachelor uncle's two nephews who at all times devoted some part of their intellects to calculating whether their inheritance would cover their needs or if the other heir simply had to go.
Calling the place Defiafi proved the speaker had read the pamphlet as a conscientious traveler ought. “Out of the myriad entertainments available in the prosperous kingdom known as Yean Defiafi, the most beloved by its inhabitants must be mockery of those who refer to their country as Yean and its people as Yeans. For the meaning of yean is land, knowing which fact the absurdity of the term becomes obvious. The sophisticated traveler will disarm the locals by referring to the country as either its name in full or Defiafi, meaning “of the Twins.” Do not, upon learning that, make the mistake many of our countrymen have made and thereby exposed themselves to further jeers of inferring defiafi is the word for twins in all circumstances, that being the genitive case while afiafi is the nominative. As for the inhabitants themselves, Defiafis, Survyais, and Survyaa are all acceptable terms. While there are Survyaa in other countries, several states of Greater Enloffenkir not excepted, the Defiafis care nothing for them and therefore regard as wasteful any effort to avoid confusion. A caution is here necessary that regardless of what terminology the traveler employs, the inhabitants will inevitably devise some basis for calling him stupid.” What a place, the Adabans agreed. Certainly a country. Millim Takki Atsa shared with them the contents of an Usse booklet entitled Methods to Endure Condescension in Yean Defiafi that she assured them all Omme wayfarers praised as indispensable.
Worries about their reception created trepidation not at all justified by what happened when they entered Conoybarvi. Even the soldiers smiled under their steel helmets adorned by mighty crests. The local officials did not give such a stern reception as Pavvu Omme Os's or any at all; it was left to Silapobenk to report to the proper office where the bureaucrats had him sign here and here before sending him on his way with wishes for success on the commercial venture. The Defiafis bought from and sold to Adabans without scruple and showed such enthusiasm in explaining everything a tourist needed to know that the travelers became overwhelmed and somewhat resentful, since the locals clearly believed people outside Yean Defiafi lived in caves with a curtain drawn over the entrance while they punched one another for fun and drank dirty water from animal skulls.
Still, there was a lot to explain. Greater Enloffenkir and Pavvu Omme Os may as well have merged into one super-country when contrasted with Yean Defiafi. For one thing, those westerners all set their family names second while the Defiafis put it right up front. More materially, its architects favored roundness, both in the overall shape of their plazas and buildings and in the domes atop many of the latter. Some great piles boasted multiple domes at different elevations, sometimes alongside pitched roofs. To pull off a combination of elements the residents judged the height of art, as seen in the houses that sent triangular bay windows projecting from mostly straight house fronts which at times curved back from the street to provide a harbor for an elegant almond tree. When it came to color, Defiafi exteriors eschewed the solemn, intimidating reds, browns, and grays of the west in favor of bright limestone washes and dome-covering copper that returned the sun's greetings.
Regarding personal fashion, the travelers had trouble deciding whether some Survyais were with it while others not or if not being with it was the most with-it thing for someone in Defiafi to be. Anything went up top from flat caps to top hats, tricornes and bonnets included. Men for the most part slicked their hair back and cultivated mustaches of various styles in modest sizes, rarely a similarly restrained beard, while women generally incorporated some sort of braid in their arrangements, whether a single long braid, twintails, crown braids, or a little tail not so far unlike the northern Omme style. The motive in all cases had to do with minimizing the tendency to curliness in Survyaian hair that elsewhere on the continent was accentuated, if only by non-Survyaian artists eager to demonstrate their technique and patience when it came to detail.
Below the neck, the man about town favored a jacket with broad lapels in some shade of red or blue and either a pair of rather tight pants or a kilt of a length variable depending on the wearer's confidence in his lower physique. Favored it, but showed no hesitation to walk around in robes with loose sleeves to match the kilt if the mood took him, or else a thicker knit garment if the cool autumn winds degenerated into chilliness in his opinion. Personal judgment counted for much in Yean Defiafi. Quite a few women opted for the warm knit top while others challenged modesty by means of dresses whose sharply plunging necklines were concealed by ruffles that seemed as if they might flap in the wind to reveal something exciting despite being sewed or starched so that they never would. Then there were the sashes tied into giant bows the Adabans saw but did not quite comprehend.
What those people needed as the season grew colder was llama wool according to both Stadeskosken and its customers. The amber and pearls did well, but it seemed no one outside Greater Enloffenkir cared for mabonnpaper. Perhaps the winds failed to be gentle enough. Grapes and grape-related products found buyers even in the face of local competition from honey-derived versions, some lots of which Silapobenk purchased for sale either back home or, better yet, in Saueyi. Regardless of which product was better or more to the purchaser's taste, wealthy Defiafis who came to market surrounded by servants refused to leave without acquiring something from abroad, an attitude which Stadeskosken deeply appreciated.