I'M NOW THE KING of what used to be Mesodania.
I have split what used to be Mesodania into four kingdoms. However, each new Kingdom is still to be ruled by me, Justin Imperiale.
In the new order, the southern part of what was once Mesodania was called Pharisa, until I sold the name to Avuls and it'll henceforth be a separate kingdom, called Ubia.
The central part of what was once Mesodania will henceforth be a separate kingdom, and it'll still be called Mesodania.
The western part of what was once Mesodania will henceforth be a separate kingdom, called Furat.
The northern part of what was once Mesodania will henceforth be a separate Kingdom, called Clegodania. I also added large chunk of the northern part of Avuls to Clegodania, as a result of selling the Pharisa name to Avuls. The addition of the large chunk of Avuls was the final thing that convinced the Clegs to accept me as their King.
I'm also now the King of Characene, a small nation to the South of the old Mesodania. Characene was once the Republic of Characene, but it couldn't defend itself against the old Mesodania. I freed Characene and then established myself as absolute Monarch. The citizens of Characene find that my rule is pretty much the way they want things, and with me as King, they're now safe from invasion.
In the process of becoming the King of Mesodania, I learn of a tribe in a remote valley of Mesodania. The valley is high in the mountains that separate Mesodania from Avuls, at that point. The valley is called the Valley of Dreams by the people who live there, although the official name for the valley isn't nearly so fancy and is the name of a North Continent surveyor of more than a century ago. There are rumours in Mesodania that the people in the Valley of Dreams use magic. I check the legend of the Valley of Dreams and learn that the legends indicate that Lord Vorell almost certainly stopped there. I also learn that the people of the Valley of Dreams have fancy silver plates that must have come from somewhere other than Mesodania, since there's no record of silver mining in Mesodania. There's very little use of silver in and around Mesodania and I strongly suspect that the plates, or at least the silver for the plates, came from another world, via some sort of gate, similar to the way that the people of Glyon move back and forth to Corin.
I don't have time, right now, to explore a gate, if indeed there's actually a gate. I have a lot of problems just ruling the former Mesodania.
I establish ruling councils in my new kingdoms, to make some of the day-by-day decisions and require less of my time. Unfortunately, there's a tradition of corruption in the area of the former Mesodania and, as a result, I have to execute some of the ruling council members for trying to steal money from the kingdom they were to help rule. The executions halt the corruption problem, that was thought by many to be unsolvable. Dead men tell no tales and they also steal no money.
I have now added several more kingdoms to my rule. The new kingdoms have problems that need to be solved. Unfortunately, the old kingdoms also have problems that need to be solved.
I do have some victories to savour. I have arranged for advanced civilization training for some of my Zayan subjects, so that they can raise as many crops as they have the water to support and no more. I also have arranged for advanced civilization training for other of my Zayan subjects so that the prediction of weather, including future rainfall amounts, is much improved. As a result of the training, my Zayan subjects are now raising more crops, earning more money and paying more taxes.
I'm using the Zayan tax money to solve more problems for my Zayan subjects and things are going pretty well in Zaya. There are still a lot of problems to be solved, but the Zayan citizens can see progress.
The changes that I made in Goloman and Helgryn are beginning to take hold and my subjects in those countries now have decent paying jobs and are seeing improvements in their lives. Again, there are still a lot of problems to be solved, but the citizens can see progress.
I'm also seeing changes in my own life. After I defeated Gaiton, I learned from my swords, mainly Gaiton's sword, that it appears that a living being is defined by a matrix of elements. The elements of the matrix are something like pictures only they're multi-dimensional entities.
Even with the aid of my swords, I can currently visualize only a small part of my own matrix, but I can see what could be done if I could see and manipulate its elements.
One of the first things that I see in my matrix is my own location in three dimensional space. Normally, a being's location in space is defined by three axes, X, Y and Z. The X and Y axes are locations in a horizontal plane, the Z axis is elevation. (However, from my matrix, it seems that there are actually more than three axes in normal space.) From information I have gathered from his sword, it was possible for Gaiton to use his mind to manipulate at least his own X, Y and Z location point. The process that Gaiton used isn't really clear to me, but I may be able to discover exactly how Gaiton did it, with a bit more investigation, now that I have some time. The ability to move more or less instantaneously in space would be of an enormous amount of use to one who lives the kind of life I do. However, since Gaiton didn't move in space, during our fight, I assume that some preparation is required before a being can do so.
I can't begin to even see the very large part of my own defining matrix. However, I now have time and I may learn more, particularly as I study what I can see. The first step is for me to learn how Gaiton was able to manipulate the matrix values with his mind. I suspect that my swords can provide me with at least clues as to how to manipulate my own matrix.
In addition to being the King of several nations, I'm also the King of The Sky. As the King of The Sky, I must be able to defeat any warrior in one-on-one combat. Thus, I work with my swords, pretty much each day. My workouts are intense and conducted against sword provided shadow opponents of great skill.
At the end of one very difficult physical workout, Gaiton's former sword finally manages to tell me something about manipulating my own X, Y and Z location in space. The information will be shared with my other swords and more information may be forthcoming.
Manipulation of my own X, Y and Z location in space is a purely mental effort and depends on my knowledge of my own current X, Y and Z location in space, my knowledge of the new X, Y and Z location in space and also upon time.
Changes in my X and Y location are not really too much trouble to effect, provided that I'm not in motion. Transferring from perhaps a moving ground vehicle to another location isn't the problem, it's the fact that my velocity also transfers. If I'm moving at fifty kilometres per hour in the ground vehicle, I'm still moving at fifty kilometres per hour, in the same direction, in the new location, but without the vehicle. The disappearance of the moving vehicle could result in my impacting, perhaps a wall, at high speed.
Small changes in the Z component of my location aren't much of a problem. If I need to adjust my altitude by a few centimetres, no problem. However, I can't adjust my Z location upward any more than I could jump. If I adjust my Z location downward too much, it's like falling off a cliff. I do manage to test some small movements in my X and Y location, with no ill effects. However, I'll have to think about the problem, in depth, before I try more movement. (There's something that I should see about the movement, but can't quite see yet.)
I have just about convinced myself that I'm well on the way to solving all of the problems in my New World Kingdoms, when I get a call from Tapu, the Aurano (ruler) of my New World South Continent Empire.
Things are going well inside the New World South Continent Empire, but there's a problem on the southern border of the Empire.
Tapu needs my help.
