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cheliax might not exist but taldor is still taldor
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Co-Empress Eutropia Stavia Porphyrogene, heir to Taldor by virtue of theoretically being full and co-equal ruler of it right now (which will buy you a drink, at the right taverns, and not much else), wears the second-fanciest headband in Taldor. Unfortunately, she spends all of her time in public, so her best headband is Splendor, the kind of Splendor headband that the world's best sorcerers scrape up the money to afford and lesser spellcasters stare at, their greedy hearts full of envy, and so all plans she makes she makes well below her potential intellect-if-she-had-fifteen-minutes-not-in-public, and even further below her potential intellect-if-she-could-prioritize-like-a-sane-person.

She's currently storming towards her father's quarters. This is not particularly unusual; they are well known to not get along, among the circles that know things, over Eugenius Stavianus being an unholy combination of eel, contract devil, and Maelstrom fiend, and Eutropia being both actually Good (a rarity in Taldor, maintained by those who maintain it by regularly hunting deadly monsters) and a political radical prepared to say in public that maybe Andoran isn't all bad, piracy aside. (Eugenius, meanwhile, is well known as a ruthless and cunning politician actually capable of accomplishing things in spite of the fact that the office of Emperor was stripped of practically all actual power when Aroden died, who nonetheless smiles on his wayward daughter in spite of her childish enthusiasms.)

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"What happened to the treasury? And why do half of our estates suddenly have new mortgages?"

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The wearer of the absolute fanciest hat in Taldor, which does Charisma, Intelligence, Wisdom and six other things besides, turns to his daughter.

"So, Eutropia. What's the most important thing that just happened?"

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"The vast majority of the population of Cheliax being saved from Hell. Where's the treasury."

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"No, Eutropia, that's important for other people, not us. Try again. What's the most important thing that just happened?"

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"Eutropia, dearest, what exactly are you going to do differently because the population of Cheliax is not damned? Will you stop killing monsters? Well, no, they'll still need to be killed. Will you stop trying to take power? No, no, you are Iomedaean and Iomedae's oath is 'one to save would be enough and one unsaved would be too late.' Do you think I'm working late because a million men aren't damned? Another million will be, eventually. Words of wisdom, darling, if you keep caring about things totally meaningless to your life you won't be able to keep it."

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"You asked. I assume you have similarly glib answers to 'Cyprian is free to conquer Taldor,' 'every weapon we own and the entire concept of armor is obsolete', and 'the Worldwound is now under control?'"

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"Oh yes! Quite a good one about Cyprian, really, shame I can't share it now. No, dearest, you're about to have the fancy hat."

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Her heart drops out of her chest. "Funny, I don't see any bags of holding on your belt."

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"Under the scroll of teleport in my desk."

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"Are you joking?"

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“Do I ever do anything else?”

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“Well, you appear to have spent practically everything we have!”

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“There’s new loans, we’ll get it back in no time.”

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Why? What on?”

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“You’ve seen the Reclamation rifles, haven’t you?”

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"I own one." And it didn't cost more than a minor magic item, considering they're useless without the ammunition until someone invents a spell for it.

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“You’ve seen the Alkenstar rifles?”

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"I haven't."

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"Oh, they're rubbish; hand-loaded like crossbows with a tenth the speed. I hear there's one man in Alkenstar who can fire three rounds a minute and he can't hit air at five hundred feet."

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She is not going to give him the satisfaction of providing him with a line he can puncture.

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“That’s why I hired fifty of their master gunsmiths and gave them a dozen Reclamation rifles to copy. What’s it Freedom says, ‘Invention is the business of free people, defending free countries?’ In turns out that, in fact, one out of two will do.”

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“And did they get it?” Lastwall has the first rifles, but if Taldor has the second and not just Taldor but the Emperor -

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“Oh no, they cursed me and told me it was inevitable and said I’d bring Abadar’s wrath down on them, since I clearly stole his divine prototype of all firearms from the First Vault. Their apprentices pulled it off, though, most of the way. The new Taldor rifles give off enough smoke to hide an army and have trouble going through both sides of a suit of full plate at a thousand yards.”

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In other words they’re the second deadliest weapon on the face of the planet. “That explains where all our money went."

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