(Original Work) The Exchange

           ‘I, Audicus Lens, Imperial Scribe of the Empire of Arvenis, shall write of one of the races that inhabit our fair land of Lania. These words shall be held as official account on matters pertaining to the race that is transcribed into the pages of this text, and shall be consulted when dealing with matters concerning the race in question. The powers vested to me in this sacred charge are given by his grace, chosen by the Goddess, the Emperor, Tanus Deris I, in the year of the Arvenis Empire 1547.

 The Irsazi

             The Irsazi is a species that lives in the Southern Deserts, a dry land dotted by gigantic pillars of stone located far beyond the Skyman Mountains that serve as a barrier between us and the rest of the world. They live in great Hives beneath the ground, in the soft and damp soils that lies beneath the sands. Most of the day-to-day living is conducted in their hives, as the Irsazi are generally uncomfortable with venturing above-ground, especially during the day.

The sun and winds of their desert homes are harsh, which the razorwinds that can kick up due to the loose sands of their homes can score the flesh from a Human in the time it takes to register the pain. The sun can also burn any creature caught in it in a mere hour, making the surface of the desert inhospitable during the daytime. Any activity that occurs with the Irsazi should be either inside a hive or at night, as to avoid the hazards of the desert.

The Irsazi have an ant-like society, which the queen is the mother or sister to all of her subjects and is the head of state. The caste system that the Irsazi employ is based on biology, unlike that of our own Empire The caste of an individual is determined in the larval stage, which the harchling is given a specific mixture of chemicals to induce maturation into the desired caste.

  The Castes of the Irsazi are as follows:

           Merchant-Caste: The Merchant-Case is the ‘main’ caste of an Irsazi hive, and is the primary caste that the other species interact with. It is the most versatile caste, only called such because it is an outside label. The occupations of the Merchant-Caste include, but not limited to: Overseers of the Drudge-Caste, merchants, priests, diplomats, tacticians, scientists, civilians. There are no warriors in the Merchant-Caste; all combat situations are handled by a specific Warrior-Caste. The Merchant-Caste has the second highest amount of intellectual ability of all castes, and are only surpassed by the Queen. In times of extreme emergency, the Merchant-Caste acts as the last defense for the hive, along with the Drudge-Caste.

             Warrior-Caste: The best way to describe the Warrior-Caste is the idea that they are an ‘Enlarged Merchant Caste’, which they sport thicker carapaces as protection. Their fingers are fused together, with the thumb migrating to the individual’s ‘wrist’. This creates a sort of claw mechanism, which has been shown to bend Imperial-forged steel with the greatest of ease. Individuals in the Warrior-Caste are able to form basic strategy when, but their intellectual ability is considerably less than either the Drudge or Merchant-Caste. They are the second most seen caste, usually acting as guards for the Merchant-Caste or hired mercenaries. A secondary function of the Warrior-Caste is for heavy labor, which they are used to clear tunnels when the Drudge-Caste cannot, but the act is still subordinate to the defense of the Hive.

             Drudge-Caste: The Drudge-Caste, which can also be referred to as the Menial Labor caste, are the lowest caste in the Hierarchy, below the Warrior and Merchant. They act as the main food-gathering caste, and act as the farming workforce for the Hive. They can also become effective hunters when groups of Drudge-Caste are paired with an Overseer. When not used for farming, they are the miners, digging in earth with their claws for the metals and stone needed for everyday Hive life. A secondary function of them is the ability to become diggers, which they dig into the earth to expand the Hive and connect the different Hives together. The Drudge-Caste is the largest caste, as many are needed for any project that the Merchants undergo to finish quickly. Their intellectual capacity is lower than both the Merchants and Queen, but is still higher than the Warrior-Caste. They are the second-least seen of the Castes, as they usually spend their time deep in the bowels of the earth, performing the tasks that keep the Hive running. The Caste can be versatile, though this versatility is markedly less so than the Merchant-Caste. Due to this lack of malleability, they join the Merchant Caste as the last line of defense for the Hive.

             Queen-Caste: The Queen is the ‘Highest’ caste of hive, which there is only one per brood. The queen is either the biological mother or sister to each member of the brood, which all castes are subservient to their queen. The queen is the ruler of the brood, akin to that of our fair Emperor. She can promote others as political ruler under certain circumstances, but this circumstance is rare in normal activity. In the event of an emergency, the queen can be ‘disposed’ by other castes, but the act must be a unanimous decision by rulers of each section of society. Ex: The Queen behaving erratically, which drives the Hive into ruin. In an optimal situation, a chosen larva is specially prepared to become the Queen, with a drone being brought in from another brood. In a critical emergency, a female of the Merchant Caste can become the Queen, but the process is considered ‘Sloppy’ and is usually temporary until new Queen is old enough to ‘Ascend’. The temporary Queen is then disposed, as a ‘pure’ Queen is viewed as superior.

             Hives usually contain four unrelated Queens and respective broods. The Broods will usually mate with one another, but will contact other hives if their Queens become related. Queens can leave their Hive and build another, but this is a very rare occurrence, as Queens are created only when they are in demand. Queens are independent with their brood, but must convene with the others if matters concern the entire hive. Each broods defend and gives loyalty to Hive, but loyalty to their Queen outranks that of the Hive.

             Individualism among members is present, but is highly discouraged when dealing with the greater hive. Individuals from any particular Hive will use ‘We’ when referring to the Hive in any public matter, but will switch to ‘I’ when referring to personal matters. Criminals are rare in the hives, but are still a factor of life. The harshest punishment an Irsazi can receive is exile, as death is seen as a ‘release from duty’. Individuals can leave hive to seek his or her own destiny, but the culture makes such occurrences few and far between.

             Larva, while pre-determined to be a caste, do not have the ability to choose profession. There is no general education in the Hive; the larvae are instead taken to a part of society in need of workers. The education for the profession is handled by the eldest members of the occupation. This promotes interdependence on the other professions in society. The Drudge is the most independent caste, but requires both direction and tools from Merchant Caste and protection from Warrior Caste. The Warriors require both food from Drudge and medicine/direction from Merchant.

             While the Irsazi have gods, they believe them to be absent or otherwise uncaring or the species. Instead, they rely on spirits for guidance. Similar to their caste system, the spirits have ranks. At the top are the primordial spirits of the Elements, such as Fire or Water. Below are the spirits of wealth, luck, healing, and etcetera. After them are the spirits of tasks, including cooking, hunting, or blacksmithing. Each profession has a ‘patron spirit’ of this caste, often invoked while performing said tasks. At the bottom of the castes are the spirits of those who have passed on, which all of the living castes belong to. Irsazi are extremely protective of their religion, and insulting it in one’s presence can lead to entire hives shunning the speaker. Their corpses have no funerary rites, as they believe the body is only the (now emptied) shell of the spirit. Often, they will cannibalize the corpse as to not allow it to ‘go to waste’.

             Their language is, perhaps, the most astounding thing about them. Instead of relying purely on the spoken word, like we do, the Irsazi have a complex system that mixes noises and the tapping of their own exoskeletons to give meaning, context, time displacement, and more, giving it a complexity that rivals our own. The tapping of different body parts, the frequency, the fingers involved, and the volume of the taps can divulge so much about what the Irsazi wish to say. To understand this complex communication technique, there are both Human and Irsazi translators willing to teach any of those-‘

             Aera stifled a yawn as she read through this part of her people’s history. The dusty tome tickled her nose and caused her to grimace, the girl half-tempted to put it back onto the shelf. These things were over thirty cycles older than her, written in a time long since passed. Tanus Deris was long since dead, his grandson now seated on the throne. The Irsazi have gone from an unknown species halfway across the world to a common sight in the capital, even Cyferi being an uncommon, but not rare, sight in the streets.

             She closed the book with a snap and put it back up on the shelf. The library was full of these dusty tomes, many written by the author of the Irsazi and more by the scribes he had trained to replace him and help the lords write decrees and keep records. Her own company this day, however, was a candle that sputtered and flickered in its dying throes. She took up the candle and gave one last look to find anything of interest before moving on.

             Her eyes, missing the insignificant piece of parchment the first time she perused the bookshelves, now landed on the yellowed and crinkled piece of paper. With her free hand, she swiped the paper from its resting place on the shelf and opened it, beginning to read the contents inside. One eyebrow shot up immediately upon recognition of the recipient of the mail, and the unmistakable handwriting of the author.

             ‘Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor of Arvenis and Lord of Humanity, I send greetings,

             The Irsazi are nothing like we ever experienced before. Even contact with the Cyferi could not have prepared us for meeting them. They’re insects, my liege, -insects-. Ones taller than even the tallest guard I have with me, and those are only the ones sent to greet our party. Their people live underground is vast structures carved from the very earth, lined with vents to the outside and glowing plants for light. Even the deepest places I visited still felt like a breath of fresh air.

             From what I can understand, they say that it is fortunate we have arrived in the night, since the days in this infernal desert bake them in the sun and the wind tears the shells off their backs. This must be immediately noted by any other teams your majesty wishes to send, so they do not die before they reach the Irsazi.

             From what I see, they can possibly be fast allies of ours, and much more stable than the shifting moods of the Cyferi tribes. Their skill in alchemy is unsurpassed even by our greatest minds, and their metalwork is beautiful and intricate. Their iron supplies seem to be always low, and they are fascinated by the clothes we wear. Clothes, sire! With the amount of sheep and ore we have, we can trade them for food for centuries, if not millennia, to come.

             Speaking of their alchemical skill, sire, they did save Darius from an infection that would have surely killed him. He was wounded in the Cyferi attack mentioned in my last letter, but took a turn for the worse as we travelled farther south. If it weren’t for them, it would have to have fallen on Your Grace’s shoulders to tell your brother that his son was slain by the Cyferi. As it stands now, we can continue negotiations for safe passage through their territory.

             It looks like their people are separated into caste based on physical appearance, with similar appearances going into the same caste. Their soldiers are larger than the average Irsazi, with the strength to move boulders aside. Their workers are much smaller, with a pair of arms on each end of their body. It’s highly fascinating, which I will be sending sketches with my next letter.

             The Irsazi are the key to our survival. Food is abundant in their homeland, despite the top of the land itself being a desert. They serve us all different kinds of foods and drinks, with entire banquet halls stuffed to the brim with food for the Irsazi to eat. The hunger we face, now that the Sky Men’s food supplies are entirely gone, will be a thing of the past.

             Tanus, as your high advisor and your friend, I implore you, command your lords to accept the idea of the Irsazi to help us. I realize it was bad enough for you to send us out to find the Irsazi, but I beg of you to force them to understand what this means for their children and grandchildren. It would be between life for their family or death for them and their peasants.

 May the Light of the Sky Men Grant You Wisdom, Your Imperial Majesty,

-          Audicus Lens’

             Aera stared at the piece of paper, dumbstruck by the casualness of how Audicus

addressed the former emperor. She had known he was childhood friends of Tanus Deris, but to speak to him so plainly in an official letter was unheard of. Taking a moment to clear her head of this revelation, she quickly folded the paper back up and dropped it into the satchel on her hip. With her now-dead candle in tow, she raced out of the library and into the street proper.

             The capital of Arvenis grew out of the first city the Sky Men built on Lania, but the toll of them leaving the Arveni had turned their orderly city into a twisted maze of streets and alleys. Only the Emperor’s sanctum and the area around it retained the original vision of the Sky Men, which grew smaller in comparison to the city by the year.

             One of the houses in this section was her destination this night, the windows dark from the outside. She proceeded into the house straight away, not bothering to knock before she entered. An old man lay on a cot on the other side of the room, his wrinkled features smoothed by a pleasant dream. Aera, instead of immediately waking the man, went over to the candle on a weathered desk and lit it, filling the room with a soft glow.

             Slowly but surely, the candle’s light slowly caused the old man to waken, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with wrinkled hands as his vision, blurred by sleep and night, adjusted in the face of the candle. When he finally cleared his vision, he turned to look at Aera, whom occupied a chair against the adjacent wall.

             “Aera, my dear… What is the matter? It’s late at night.” The old man, dressed in nothing more than a sleeping gown, slowly crawled out of bed, aided by a staff carved from the pine that the Sky Men brought with them. Aera simply stared at him for a minute, unable to speak, until she dug into her pack and pulled out the note. She offered it to the man, who took it with a surprisingly even hand and started to read.

             After a minute, the man sighed and put down the note, sitting in the chair by the desk and staring into the candlelight. Aera stared at him still, silent in her judgement of him. Finally, after a few minutes of quiet, the man turned towards Aera. “He was my friend, you know,” the old man said, staring at the young woman. At her silence, he signed and looked towards the note again. “I know what you’re thinking, but, truth be told, I believe my urging got him to accept the Irsazi’s help. We were dying, Aera. A few sacrilegious comments to an Emperor was worth saving our people.”

             Finally, Aera spoke, “It wasn’t that… I just did not know that you knew him so personally, grandfather. I know grandmother died in the famine before that, but… I guess I didn’t really appreciate what kind of work you and the Emperor did for the people.”

             Audicus formed a quiet, tired smile at her words, a hand placed on the back of the chair as he stared at her. “And few still will ever know, Aera. Of how Tanus and I saved us. But… Perhaps it’s better that way. Less people to want to lynch me for speaking frugally to an Emperor.” He shrugged quietly, then stood once more and shuffled back to his bed. As Aera stood and went to the doorway, Audicus licked his fingers and pinched the candle out, and, with one final look at each other, Audicus laid down for bed and Aera, once more, disappeared into the night.