In entering the service of the Company, any Abheski possessed of the virtues we exalt above others – these being leadership, initiative, clarity of thought, and financial acumen – may become successful and the very envy of their fellows. Further, with proper training and discipline these virtues may be cultivated and promoted; so that in the training of cadets, the Companies do their utmost for the benefit of these young officers, and thereby the benefit of the Abheski nation.
To truly benefit the nation, we must first understand who we Abheski are; a nation of diverse parts, no doubt, but possessed of a common history.
We came to these lands from abroad – it is not known where exactly from. Some believe that one of the distant lands of Ycairn is the place of our origin, but most agree that we came from another world. Traditional belief across much of the continent holds that we came from the Sun itself, but others believe our origin is from Fasaath, or Kombyeny, or another point within the night sky.
We Abheski are an industrious, creative, and innovative people. Having tamed patches of the wild expanse of the lands, building towns and farms and trading posts, the most successful and prosperous of our ancestors founded the five great cities – Zhikav, Vilv, Otvev, Mirsvr, and Lansk.
Though we live alongside other peoples, we hold ourselves apart. The Abheski have distinguished ourselves twice by mastery over the skies – first, in building the mighty towers that soar over our cities. Some of these towers are centuries old, and stand strong to this day, the least of them stretching higher than fifty people. In the last few generations, our supremacy over the air was proven again in being the first nation to recreate the science of powered flight; our ships, lifted by mighty dvint, broke us free from the shackles of the land.
Trade is the blood of the Abheski culture. Spread across this harsh and hostile continent, ever taming the ancient forests and defending against the great beasts, our trade is what makes the Abheski prosper above all other people; and the Companies are the pinnacle of Abheski trade. Not restricted to one province, we can deal in goods from across the known world. Not bound to the paths of the rivers and coastlines, we can go anywhere our airships can carry us. Abheski goods are prized from the tents of the Anshessi to the outposts of Hoitan, and if an Ebwari baron wants to exchange letters or goods with a Nalmyan chief, it is most probable that an Abheski vessel will carry their intercourse.
There are other practices that mark us as a peculiar peoples among our neighbours. All nations have their own calendar of celebrations and holidays, and the most important of ours is The Yearsrise festival. Though we differ on which precise day this takes places, Abheski always celebrate the end and beginning of the year around the time of winter solstice. Other peoples reckon the year differently: the Erthani begin at the spring equinox, and the Ebwari count from the height of summer. Other nations practice more curious calendars yet.
Our other important festivals are the First Feast, which in ancestral times celebrated the first hunt after each winter; and the late summer Meetday, where the harvest traditionally begins and the year's differences and disagreements are put aside.
Each city and town observe their Founding Dates. These may variously remember the day the first settlers began to build their new homes, or the day the first Spire was finally completed, but always are celebrated with great revels and public entertainments.
Though we are all Abheski, we may have slight differences in our speech. The rapid speech of a city-dweller may sound different to the calmer pace of a settler from the deep forest; the clipped vowels of Otvev are readily distinguished from the rounder syllables of Zhikav; the plain words of the groundsfolk contrast with the florid oratory of the wealthy classes. All these however are still Abheski, and can readily talk to one another; just try to understand the harsh Hoitani or the singing cadences of the Ebwari to hear how truly different language can sound.
Extract from A Child's Primer and History of the Abheski, published by the Temar Company Press
Please excuse the errors of my language – I am communicating in your tongue for the first time in the medium of letters, being previously only accustomed to speech and the simplest ledger-keeping. I write to you as an acquaintance and business agent of Ostkin te Ateyr. I must report with heavy sadness that he has died. It is unknown to me how those in your country treat the death of your kin – please be comforted that we have extended every possible respect to his passing, in the manner of our own people. As his chief associate in this land, I have charged myself with the handling of his remaining affairs and the return of his effects to his home. The contents of his office will be shipped back to Mirsvr with the next Company vessel flying that route.
I shall give you an account of what I know of Ostkin's final days and passing. As you are no doubt aware, Ostkin was in Ebwar seeking to enter the local mining buisness on behalf of your firm. He had promised capital and many materials to a number of local enterprises, and had become well known and well liked among the controllers of the local commerce – hosting most agreeable parties for those of us involved in the trade, and showing us the great delights that the Northern culture has to offer.
We all saw what prosperity could be brought to Ebwar by association with Ostkin, and the Companies, and the noble city of Mirsvr most particularly. Please be assured that none of us who traded with Ostkin would have dreamed of harming him, and we had not a hand in his death. Rumours and speculation of Spires depravations in Anshess and other foreign lands carry no currency among the traders of Ebwar, who seek only a peaceful and mutually profitable relationship.
It was at one such gathering, held three nights ago, that we last saw Ostkin. It was an affair typical of his gatherings: a dozen or so local captains of enterprise, a handful of Company officers, Ostkin himself, and on this occasion two more unusual figures: an Erthan river trader and a curious person of obscure origin, a squat man with skin the colour of Azen wood and peculiar clothing, claiming to be a nomadic trader.
This final person engaged very little in the society of the party, and refused all food and drink excepting a cup of water and syrup. Late in the evening, he secured a private audience with Ostkin, and they retreated to a side office.
I hope I do not breach any social precedents if I tell you that Ostkin seemed reluctant to be alone with this person, and that shortly after they emerged, Ostkin begged forgiveness for calling an early end to the evening, and retired to his own chambers before all the guests had left. He seemed most perturbed by whatever discourse passed between him and the mysterious trader.
He was not seen the next morning, nor during the day. He had never missed an appointment in Ebwar, and his absence was soon noted. An examination of his chambers, undertaken by me personally in the presence of his secretary and a captain of the Temar company, revealed no clue to his whereabouts, except for a packed travelling chest, as though he was preparing to leave Ebwar. His appointments-book revealed that he was not due to return to the North, nor travel elsewhere on business, for more than twenty days.
It was last night – on the evening of the second day of his disappearance – that his body was discovered at an abandoned mine, not far from the Companies' shipfield, which Ostkin was considering acquiring and reopening under the management of your firm. A local boy, tasked with exploring the workings, spied him through the window of the mine office. Though he had been missing for less than two full days, he appeared to have suffered a great illness – his skin was drawn, his face was gaunt, and he appeared much older than his years. No cause of his death could be definitively established – though an older mine captain summoned by the boy confided in me that it greatly resembled a wasting disease that afflicted the miners of Anshess, where he once worked in his youth. No such disease has ever been known among the Ebwari.
A further curiosity arose from this tragic situation. The office in which Ostkin was discovered was locked, but no key was found within the room – the only copy was in a workshop across the yard. Thus I must unfortunately assume that malicious agency or foul play is somehow involved in Ostkin's passing.
I regret that I must communicate with you under such tragic circumstances. I regret further that the acquisition of the mine by your firm will no longer be possible as we do not wish to open up a working that may have poisonous airs, so close to our homes. The delivery of Ostkin's effects to your offices has been arranged, and should any further issues pertaining to his business here arise, I will contact you immediately.
