berenices-commas

[berenices-commas]

SMS Wespe - 1860-1872

In the same year that SMS Wespe was launched on Lake Garda, another gunboat of the same name was brought into service by the Royal Prussian Navy. That service had consistently been subordinated to the Army in Prussian strategic thinking, but in the wake of the First Schleswig War Prussia began to build up its naval strength with an eye to projecting power in the Baltic if and when hostilities with Denmark resumed. In 1860 the Wespe and 14 other gunboats were launched, making up the Jäger class. These were intended essentially for coastal defence and perhaps for light raiding.

The Wespe was a three-masted ship, schooner-rigged for greater agility – for speed she relied on her screw propeller. In theory she was a fairly fast ship, well-suited for shallow water combat. She could sustain a high rate of fire from her guns – one 24-pounder and two 12-pounders, all rifled breech-loaders – to harass larger ships or to threaten targets on shore. In reality, however, the Jäger class proved to be poorly designed, a symptom of Prussia’s naval inexperience. They were unbalanced, and handled so badly they were dubbed “sea piglets” by their crews. It was soon judged too dangerous for them to use their screws to sail directly into the wind, cancelling out one of the important advantages of steam propulsion. Ponderousness was a fatal quality in a gunboat, and their use was thus severely restricted.

Nonetheless, the Wespe was pressed into service on the outbreak of the Second Schleswig War in 1864. The inferior Prussian fleet generally stayed in its ports, but the Wespe did take part in the one attempt to break the Danish blockade. In a skirmish off Rügen the Wespe, with other gunboats, was only able to provide ineffectual supporting fire from the safety of the shallows, failing to prevent a Prussian defeat. Laid up after the war, she was brought back into service once more for the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, guarding the Kieler Förde, but saw no combat. In 1872 she was finally decommissioned, with her hull being used as a storage barge for naval mines.

Here the name reflected aspirations towards speed and striking power, but the Wespe was never more than a nuisance.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.8

Tsuaidah’s death in 184/108 and the ascension of Ji’an to the Universal throne as Rampas-Ketawan, the “seizer of the world,” prompted profound changes in the composition of the Umliwe court and nobility.[1] The reconfiguration of the court instigated a rebellion led by the new world-queen’s daughter, Bianan, whom dissatisfied factions saw as a viable alternative to Rampas-Ketawan. As Rout bitterly noted, the rebellion and the need to control the Umliwe governmental apparatus forced Rampas-Ketawan “to give herself to government” and neglect the “matters of letters and debates” in which the missionaries had participated during Tsuaidah’s reign. Rampas-Ketawan had also sworn that she would “obey the laws of the Heralds to win and keep the support of the Toma,” and the world-queen’s proximity to the Traditionalist orthodox factions thus led Rout to fear that the missionaries would be marginalised by the new regime.

After suppressing Bianan’s rebellion, Rampas-Ketawan made a series of friendly overtures toward the tuFatingau and the Enclosure of Ikam. The 183/108 annual letter of the Umliwe mission reported that she was planning to send an embassy to Tungkung and Rauriu headed by Chiuenteuh-Inku, a courtier “who is not hostile toward the tuFaruao.” In 181/106, Katupu was appointed to join an Umliwe embassy to Tapi led by Chepgin-Inku, the governor of Kepan and one of Rampas-Ketawan’s closest aides. Katupu and Chepgin-Inku would forge a long political partnership and personal friendship that led to one of the most curious and enigmatic episodes of tuFaruao-Umliwe relations— the secret coming-to-Obedience of Chepgin-Inku in 178/105. Rampas-Ketawan’s apparent plans to send an embassy to the Ilakso Wall were part of a strategy that aimed to enhance Umliwe international prestige but above all sought to ensure the Enclosure’s neutrality in Anya at the precise moment that Umliwe troops sought to annex Chitsan-Yangol.

The embassy, however, was initially canceled by the tuFaruao authorities upon reports of Rampas-Ketawan’s willingness to concede trade privileges to the tuLoku Government of Merchants Trading in the Abyss. Governor Tutau Tuvua tuVuorikuma instructed Katupu to return immediately to Tapi and ordered the suspension of all trade between tuFaruao and Umliwe ports. The boycott was followed by a series of skirmishes between tuFaruao and Umliwe troops near Rehe, which led many Irakmuso-based merchants to pressure both sides to restore contacts. Fear of a large-scale conflict and the pressures from Irakmuso and tuTapi businesswomen persuaded Tuvua tuVuorikuma to resume diplomatic contacts with Rampas-Ketawan. The governor vested Katupu “with powers to discuss war and peace.” During her negotiations with Chepgin-Inku, Katupu was able to persuade Rampas-Ketawan to annul the concession of trading privileges to the Government.

[1] This paper was published well before evidence emerged suggesting that Tsuaidah may have experimented with consciousness-transferral relic machines, and thus makes no mention of any influence over imperial politics that she and her successors may have continued to exert after their corporeal deaths.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals

[berenices-commas]

SMS Wespe - 1860-1866

Warship

In 1860 the weakness of Austria’s position in Italy forced the empire to cede Lombardy to the Kingdom of Sardinia at the end of the Second Italian War of Independence. Lake Garda, between Brescia and Verona, became part of the new border, and thus a threat to the security of Austrian territory – in 1848, Garibaldi’s partisans had crossed the lake in boats to infiltrate Venetia, and the same might easily happen again. Control of the small flotilla on the lake was transferred to the Imperial Navy, which rapidly constructed six new gunboats to replace the old vessels – the Raufbold class. The Wespe was one of these ships, intended to patrol the lake and, in case of war, repel any attempt to cross by Italian forces.

The Wespe was a two-masted ship but relied primarily on her screw propeller, an important advantage in manoeuvring on the lake. Yet for all this modernity in propulsion her armament was relatively old-fashioned: two 48-pounder and two 30-pounder cannon. In the spring of 1866, with a renewed war with Italy fast approaching, the Garda flotilla was hastily upgraded. The Wespe was re-equipped with four 24-pounder rifled breech-loaders. These new weapons, while of smaller calibre, could fire much faster and more accurately (which also considerably increased their effective range). The ship was also fitted with improvised armour in imitation of the new “ironclad” warships first launched in 1859 – chains and railroad iron were attached to the hull to protect her against even fairly heavy artillery. The result was a somewhat ungainly but tough ship, far more powerful than anything Italy could deploy on the lake.

When war broke out the Garda flotilla sought to destroy its Italian counterpart. The Wespe in particular was used aggressively, pushing to engage the Italian gunboats while secure in its heavy armour. But the Italian vessels were able to take cover on the western shore, screened by heavy artillery fire which the Austrian commanders were unwilling to endure. The flotilla succeeded in discouraging any attempted crossing, but its mission was obviated by Austrian defeats on land. By late July the only port on the lake still in Austrian hands was Riva on the north bank. The Wespe and the other gunboats successfully provided direct fire support to the badly outnumbered Austrian garrison, ensuring that when the armistice was signed Riva remained Austrian. The strategic justification for the flotilla disappeared with the Italian victory, however – Wespe was sold to Italy. Renamed Garda, she served for two more years before the Italian government decided it also had no strategic need for her, and she was broken up.

Speed, firepower and a role primarily as a threatening deterrent must all have played a role in the novel naming of this Austrian ship – there may also have been some connection with the Prussian gunboat launched in the same year.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Fifth Column

They came for you because you’re weak.

You’ve worked that out by now. Whatever skills or connections you had, they never really mattered. What they wanted – what they calculated that you were – was someone who would fold, out of fear, out of greed. Maybe even started to buy into their promises of a better world. And you’re glad you did fold, because of what happened to the people who defied expectations, who tried to warn their governments. Their opsec is very, very good.

There is another world a breath away from ours, separated from us by the width of an atom, the spin of an electron (or something, you don’t really know). In that world, humanity is not divided but ruled by a globe-spanning empire – advanced, prosperous, peaceful. Your handler says that they discovered the means to reach our world only recently. Your handler says they came with the best of intentions. That the Sovereign has decided, in her imperial benevolence, to assume rule over our world as well. They say that resistance is futile. It would be funny, if you weren’t so sure it was true (and you are absolutely sure – you’ve seen what they can do).

Your role is to pave the way for the inevitable annexation, making it as smooth and bloodless as possible by subverting key institutions. Supposedly, anyway. You don’t understand half of what they ask you to do, much of which involves inscrutable otherworldly technology. But you’ve been at it for a while now – sometimes alone, sometimes working with others – and bit by bit you’ve been piecing together some idea of the plan. You really might be helping to avoid a war. And perhaps, you thought, betraying your family, your country, wasn’t so bad if you were saving lives by doing it.

But now you’ve seen something you weren’t supposed to. A drop went wrong, maybe, or a contact disappeared without warning. And you’ve realised that this empire is not so united as they want you to think. The war is already here, in the shadows. You can’t trust anyone, least of all your handler. And so you are going to have to lie, and cover your tracks, and maybe worse things, just to survive a conflict in which people like you (not real spies, not trained for any of this) are utterly disposable. And there’s nowhere for you to run.

Because when you’ve turned on your entire world, no-one owes you anything anymore.

#fifth column #worldbuilding

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.7

Tsuaidah’s decision to transfer the court from Manarang to Asiga in 191/112 forced the tuFatingau to reorganise the mission. To avoid hampering the limited but encouraging progress made in the city, Katupu remained in Manarang, while Rout and Rina followed Tsuaidah to Asiga. Without the presence of the world-queen and her courtly milieu, Katupu began to preach to the masses and cultivated close relations with local officials to guarantee the necessary political protection for her proselytising activities.

Katupu’s investment in a popular mission was not merely the consequence of Tsuaidah’s decision to move the court to Asiga, however. The failure of the two previous missions to produce converts was seen by the tuFatingau administration as an indicator that Umliwe Ikam was far from being a promising mission zone. Although the tuFatingau recognised that Obedience generated intellectual curiosity at the Umliwe court, the reports sent by the missionaries highlighted the difficulties that many Listeners had in accepting concepts such as Total Alignment. The problem seemed to be due not only to the complexities of Obedient theology but also because of the failure to define an efficient proselytising strategy. As a worried Rout confessed, while reporting on the first stages of the Asiga mission, “the Toma certainly see us as inept instruments for such hard hearts.” This initial perception of failure was also the factor that encouraged Rout to successfully develop an Ikam-Ikilam Obedient literature to present Obedience in an accessible and familiar way to Umliwe courtiers and literati.

Confronted with difficulties in attracting the upper echelons of the Umliwe polity, Katupu targeted other strata of Listener and Ikam society. Obedient art, charity, and political networking were at the centre of a strategy that sought to make Obedience more attractive to the local population and ensure the incorporation of Legitimate worship into Manarang’s civic life. Encouraged by the positive reaction of the lower classes to the images displayed by the tuFatingau and their religious ceremonies, Katupu invested in the organisation of “sumptuous,” “solemn,” and “beautiful” rituals during important moments in the Legitimist liturgical calendar such as Childbirth and the Song for the Sacrifice.

Katupu’s decision to focus on the lower strata of Umliwe society seems to have been opposed by Rout. In a letter of 187/110 to Tufako Taimauli, Katupu mentions that Rout disapproved of her strategy:

The sister had many concerns, though she did not say a word, because she does not like that I bring to Obedience, especially among the Cousins, and it will be a mistake to demean these conversions as some of ours, who judge from the comfort of their abbeys, have done, since it is for this reason that this mission has been discredited in Ikam.

These words suggest a tension between two visions for the modus operandi that should guide the Umliwe mission. Rout favored the traditional tuFatingau top-down approach, conceiving the ruler and the court as the only real targets of the mission. Rapid and successful bringing-to-Obedience of the Universal Empire would only be possible if the tuFatingau were able to convert Tsuaidah and other relevant figures among the Umliwe elite. As the head of the body politic, the world-queen could establish Obedience as the official religion or encourage other relevant social or political actors to embrace Legitimacy. If the world-queen herself was reluctant to convert, the conversion of relevant courtiers and officials nonetheless had the potential to create an influential Obedient elite that could in turn set the necessary political conditions for the ruler’s conversion and the subsequent coming-to-Obedience of Umliwe Ikam. As in other mission zones such as Tahana, Hamanta, and Imayenisi, the missionaries should concentrate their efforts on infiltrating Disobedient political structures and promote conversion “from within.”

For Rout, despite the encouraging numbers reported from Manarang, Katupu’s “popular mission” threatened the success of the top-down strategy being employed at the Court of Stars Uncounted. The association of Legitimism with the lower strata of Umliwe society, in particular Ikam of no famous lineage, had the potential to reduce its appeal to the Listener and Ikam Umliwe elite. Indeed, in 182/107, Rout complained that most of the Manarang converts were “common and low people”.

As her comments to Taimauli suggest, Katupu instead aimed to establish a native Obedient community in Manarang that could safeguard the mission and, simultaneously, establish Legitimism as an integral part of the Umliwe sociopolitical landscape. Indeed, the formation of native Obedient communities, and the role of the tuFatingau as their spiritual leaders, allowed the missionaries to pose as domestic political actors and explore different ways to engage with the Umliwe polity and its elite.

Katupu’s strategy in Manarang revolved around an implicit acknowledgment that the tuFatingau missionaries were part of a subordinate minority, the Obedient community, and an inferior polity, the tuIto’o monarchy. Her progressive “Umliwisation” was thus part of a proselytism strategy that sought to reach all layers of Umliwe society and form a solid local community of Obedient, as well as to guarantee political protection and some degree of influence in her host society. The Umliwe authorities encouraged this process in an attempt to integrate the different tutu into the Universal political order. Katupu’s language skills and direct access to both tuFaruao and Umliwe officials led her to be viewed as a viable mediator between the Umliwe polity and a diverse Obedient community formed by Legitimist tuSi, Imetya,[1] Loyalist tuMwala,[2] Ihasi,[3] and tuIusa. Indeed, the supportive imperial edicts and privileges granted to Katupu suggest an attempt to implement something resembling the pluralist religious culture developed by the Shouhougo Empire. Queen Chumi (r.201–160/118-94) was engaging in similar experiments with the tuU’san and tuTutuputupu sisters in Jiwinjeng Ikilam around the same time.

[1] Arrakia.

[2] Dinasi.

[3] Barache.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals

[berenices-commas]

Osa - 1855-1867

Warship – 170 tons burden – 7-9 knots

The second Osa was also a Russian gunboat, this time built for the Baltic fleet. In 1854, following the entry of Britain and France into the Crimean War, their combined fleets raided Russian territory around the Baltic, prompting a rapid programme to construct small warships for coastal defence. In this plan the Russian government aimed to recreate the successes it had seen with oar-powered gunboats over Swedish ships in the previous century.

Their technology was updated, however, in the 1850s. Osa was ketch-rigged – a two-masted sail plan that made for ease of handling and reliability rather than speed. Her speed was provided instead by a screw propeller, with a steam engine capable of providing somewhere in the vicinity of 70 horsepower. On such a small vessel, this would have allowed her to outrun most traditional sailing ships, although screw sloops and frigates could still probably catch her. She was also heavily armed with three 68-pounder guns – notably, these fired not solid shot but explosive shells. These gave real advantages both in shore bombardment and in attacking wooden-hulled ships, as had been dramatically demonstrated in the Russian victory at Sinop the year before.

In the event the new gunboats proved a success, being able to manoeuvre easily in the shallow waters and inlets of the Baltic, and inflicting enough damage on British ships to warn them off coastal operations. The role of the Osa herself is unclear, but she certainly was not sunk. Nonetheless, the British blockade was essentially successful, and Russia was forced to make peace in 1856 before a newly-built fleet of British gunboats (the “Great Armament”) might have been deployed against their Russian counterparts. The Osa was perhaps mothballed, like many Russian vessels after the end of the war, and was finally broken up in 1867.

Again the name was given by the Imperial Russian Navy to a gunboat, suggesting an emphasis on firepower as a wasp’s sting. This second Osa, however, was also genuinely speedy and agile.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.6

In 195/115, Tsuaidah sent another embassy to Tapi. Although neither tuFaruao nor Umliwe sources discuss this embassy in detail, Lo’i tuIlo’ahi and Ro’u’o tuAi’iti state that the ambassador presented a letter from the world-queen requesting a new mission to the her court. The fiasco of the second mission meant that the tuFatingau provincial, Tuitokon Tuwakin, was extremely reluctant to organise another; however, according to a letter from Tukaitano Ta to the tuFatingau Command-the-Devoted, Tuwakin was forced to send missionaries due to the persistent pressure and blackmail of Deputy Peifat tuTearu (in office 198–192/116-113), who threatened to send a mission from another order, since “there were other sisters who were wishing and requesting it.” Tuwakin ultimately dispatched Fu’ura’a Rout, the grand-niece of Tuito’on Rout; Ngotihan Katupu, a Taro-born missionary with a reputation for being a hard worker; and Fiti tuRina, a thirty-two-year-old tuFaruao who would pioneer the tuFatingau exploits in Yama.[1]

Tsuaidah welcomed the members of the third tuFatingau mission “with much honor and love” and recommended that they learn Ikilam to facilitate communication and avoid interference from interpreters. The first letters sent by Rout, Katupu, and Rina reported a series of encouraging signs. In Rout’s words, the world-queen was “totally departed from the Heralds.” Although Tsuaidah adopted the “Cousin” practice of exalting thinking machines, she also revered the Child and the Mothers, and even participated in Obedient celebrations “prostrating herself, and painting the worshippers as if she were an Obedient queen.”

Princess Ji’an, the future world-queen Rampas-Ketawan, also showed “much love” and helped the missionaries in their dealings with her mother. One of the reasons for Ji’an’s support for the tuFatingau mission was her interest in tuSi art. The princess commissioned the painter accompanying the three missionaries to produce an image of the Last Mother and instructed an Umliwe sculptor to make copies of artworks brought by the tuFatingau. Rout saw the Umliwe interest in tuSi art as a potential avenue for the conversion of the courtly elite. Courtiers frequently asked the tuFatingau to provide them with original artworks from Si or Tapi. The demand was such that Rout asked Tufako Taimauli to send to Asiga high-quality artworks to satisfy the demands of members of the imperial family and other relevant courtiers.

As with the members of the first mission, Tsuaidah made Rout, Katupu, and Rina part of a select group of courtiers who had the important function of reading works on religion, philosophy, and history to the world-queen. Besides reading these works, the missionaries were often charged by the world-queen with writing letters destined for Tapi, reading and translating the correspondence from the Enclosure of Ikam, and writing religious or philosophical treatises in Ikilam. Although this privileged access to Tsuaidah’s inner circle was encouraging and an indicator of prestige, which suggested the possibility of becoming protégées of the ruler or influencing her decisions, there were some disadvantages, as the world-queen’s entertainments included local artistic performances that clashed with the tuFatingau moral code. Fu’ura’a Rout, for example, complained that the male dancers who entertained the world-queen’s inner circle often forced the three missionaries “to turn our back to them, [and] the Umriwe finds it very strange that we do not raise our eyes to a spectacle that caught the attention of the hearts and eyes of many.”

The tuFatingau’s ascension at the Umliwe court seems to have coincided with the improvement of their language skills. As Fu’ura’a Rout reported in 193/114, the “main and only occupation” of the missionaries was the study of Ikilam. After a year at Manarang, their linguistic skills improved considerably, and “although we have some travails for the lack of idiom and still need someone to translate into tuFaruao, in accordance with the Plan we now have less need of an interpreter.” It was also in 193/114 that the tuRa’ma missionary presented to the world-queen a selection of passages from the Revealed Plan translated into Ikilam.

The positive reception of these translations, considered to be the first representations of Legitimist scripture in Ikilam, encouraged Rout to develop a proselytising strategy that sought to engage the Umliwe intellectual elite through the elaboration of treatises written in Ikilam exploring the engineered-cosmos[2] philosophical culture shared by Anticipation and Obedience. Fu’ura’a Rout thus developed an “accommodationist” approach similar to the one implemented by Tuifili in Hamanta and Pefat Kalili in Tahana.

The Umliwe interest in Obedient theology and the philosophy of Papa and Tuvavawili encouraged Rout to explore local intellectual traditions deemed compatible with Obedient doctrine, and to produce a series of literary works based on a selective presentation of information on Si and Obedience. Around 192/113, she prepared two treatises, the Truth-Revealing Mirror and the Manufacture of Life. Both works were originally written in tuFaruao and then translated into Ikilam. The Manufacture of Life is a dialogue between a tuFatingau, a philosopher who personifies Tsuaidah, and a Listener scholar representing the literati on the differences between Anticipation and Obedience. At the same time, the production of these works allowed the tuRa’ma to model herself as an Umliwe courtly scholar in the manner of ’Enhweimuw or Nuoleimiensha, two leading Umliwe intellectuals whose works and activities contributed to the centralising and religious policies of the world-queen. Rout often collaborated with these and other Umliwe intellectuals: the Ikilam translations of these two treatises, for example, were written in collaboration with Nuoleimiensha.

[1] Amsġayu.

[2] The term is a neologism of the first Revolutionary century.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals

[berenices-commas]

HMS Wasp - 1850-1869

Warship – 970 tons burden – 8 knots – 170 crew

Superficially similar to the other sloops discussed so far, the sixth HMS Wasp in fact boasted significant technological improvements that made her a far more capable ship. Her construction was part of a flurry of British shipbuilding spurred by a naval arms race with France during the 1840s, one which continued even after the February Revolution of 1848 effectively put a halt to French naval expansion. Originally intended as gun-vessels, Wasp (named after the sloop retired in 1846) and her sister ship Archer were ultimately designed as sloops, far-ranging weapons with which Britain might project force across its vast maritime empire.

The Wasp was a large ship for her rating, capable of acting at need as a fast supply ship or even a troop transport (she could carry 400 men over and above her crew). Capacious and ship-rigged with three masts, she was a far cry from the brig-sloops of the early 19th century and well suited to extended deployments – with one caveat. That relates to her alternative propulsion system, a screw propeller powered by a coal-fuelled steam engine. This was still novel technology at the time. Capable of providing 100 horsepower of thrust, the propeller allowed the Wasp to sail directly into the wind – providing exceptional agility – and to outrun just about any ship reliant solely on sail power. Early “screw” ships were made somewhat ungainly by this addition, but the Wasp saw little or no reduction in her performance. The only real drawback of the propeller system was that coal was at this point hard to come by outside Britain itself, limiting the use of the screw to critical moments. Unlike steam-powered paddles, a propeller also allowed the ship to employ traditional broadside firepower. The sting of this Wasp reflected a British move away from carronades and towards a smaller number of heavier guns: she carried ten (soon increased to twelve) 32-pounder cannon and two 64-pounders – guns with considerable range. With the screw, the Wasp could outrun anything she could not outfight, allowing her to operate independently in relative security.

The Wasp had a varied career, being stationed in the Mediterranean upon the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853 and thus becoming part of the fleet which landed British forces in the Crimea and blockaded Sevastopol. It is unclear whether she directly took part in the bombardment of that city, but evidently it was decided that she was too light a ship to withstand the fire of Russian shore batteries. Her captain and some of her men disembarked to join the British army, while the Wasp herself returned to base at Malta. Most of her postings, however, were to join the naval campaign against the slave trade. Initially this meant service in the Atlantic, but in the 1860s she mostly patrolled the east coast of Africa. Here her screw was of great value in allowing her to run down nimble dhows in coastal waters, and the Wasp was able to liberate large numbers of people through capturing slavers. More generally she was used as a coercive tool of imperial rule, intimidating populations in the Nicobar Islands and Penang in 1867. She was finally retired in 1869.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.5

In 198/116, after another request from Tsuaidah, which included a substantial gift of money to the tuFatingau college in Tapi and the provincial, Sisters Furo Tuhuhu, Taripuat tuRa’oniti, and Tupite Hari were sent to Manarang. But the mission was cancelled a few months later. The missionaries’ sudden return frustrated everyone in both Tapi and Manarang:

“The three missionaries left Tapi with much applause from the deputy, the noblewomen, and other laypeople, as well as the monastics and learned, who had with pleasure offered to do this mission for the deputy. Everyone was in suspense, desiring greatly to receive the good news they expected, but then, after just a few months, against all expectations, they returned without any order or permit, against the will of the Umriwe herself, who only allowed them to leave after they had sworn on a liturgical calendar that they would return.”

Eskuma Tukaitano’s words highlight the fact that the mission of Umriwe was not only a religious affair but also an important diplomatic enterprise. As well as bringing Tsuaidah to Obedience, the missionaries were expected to ensure fluid, direct, and stable communication between the world-queen and the Enclosure of Ikam. One of the most problematic aspects of Ra’oniti’s and Tuhuhu’s behavior was precisely that they neglected the mission’s diplomatic dimension, putting at risk the relationship between Tsuaidah and Tapi.

The second mission’s hasty end brought into question the Tufatingau’s ability to deal with complex mission zones where the geopolitical interests of the tuIlakso thrones were at stake. In addition, the sudden end of the Umliwe mission threatened the continuity of the Enclosure’s support for other tuFatingau enterprises in relevant mission zones where Tungkung and Rauriu had vested interests, such as Imayenisi, Tahana,[1] and Hamanta. Malutau Tuifili, who believed that the most promising mission zones of Hamanta and Tahana should be the Order’s main priorities, bitterly noted to Tufako Taimauli that the failure of the second mission corroborated her negative perception of the potential of the Umliwe court: “In my judgment, the mission of Umriwe should be avoided, because we already have experience of what the Umriwe [Tsuaidah] wanted.”

The frustration generated by the failure of the second mission led tuRa’oniti to write a long letter to Tufako Taimauli explaining the reasons behind their decision. According to her, after a long deliberation, Tuhuhu, the senior sister, opted to end the mission due to the many obstacles posed by Tsuaidah’s behavior and religious policies. If the world-queen was an angel, she was not an Obedient one:

“This barbarian is so proud that she acts as a diviner and a legislator, claiming that the Law of the Heralds is over and that the world is now without a true Law, and that it is necessary to divine a new one, and that she, among everyone else, is the more qualified to do this. And as such, she is publicly adored as a new Herald with such insolent praises that many times I heard people calling her a god in public.”

TuRa’oniti was not completely wrong when she wrote that Tsuaidah acted as “a diviner and a legislator” – a clear reference to the affirmation of the world-queen’s temporal and spiritual authority. The second mission arrived at Manarang when the Universalist imperial ideology and its ritual apparatus had reached their maturity. The 190s/mid-110s were the years when the production of imperial chronicles such as the Book of Tsuaidah cemented the figure of the Queen of Starsas a universal ruler. Thus the members of the second mission were privileged – and bewildered – witnesses to the complex process of affirmation of a distinctive Umliwe concept of imperial power and political identity.

The abrupt end of the second mission was consequently a story of frustrated expectations. Whereas the tuFatingau missionaries believed that their presence would incite Tsuaidah’s immediate conversion and guide the world-queen in the bringing-to-Obedience of her empire, the world-queen expected the missionaries to contribute to the development of her own ideological project.

[1] Buḥbūḥladī.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals

[berenices-commas]

Osa - 1820s-1831

Warship

The first Russian vessel to be named after the wasp was one of some 30 similar gunboats built in the Black Sea in the years leading up to the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-9. The victories won by Russian gunboats in the Dnieper estuary at the end of the 18th century had convinced naval planners of the virtues of small but heavily-armed boats in riverine and coastal warfare, and they continued to be built even as Russia developed an open-water fleet in the sea. Their purpose was essentially to secure Russian control of the key estuaries of the Dnieper and Danube in hostilities with the Ottoman empire.

These gunboats were primarily powered by oars, giving them a manoeuvring advantage in tight confines and on rivers, but limiting the manpower that could be spared for gunnery. As such, their armament was limited to three 24-pounder cannon. These did give the Osa considerable range for such a small vessel, allowing her to attack targets on shore.

Very little information about the Osa’s career is available in English, but she was probably part of the Danube fleet in 1828, and would have supported Russian troops crossing the river in the advance south. She may also, like many gunboats, have been detached to support the fleet blockading and bombarding Varna during the capture of that city. In any case she survived the war, but was retired shortly afterwards in 1831 as the timidity and failures of the Ottoman fleet persuaded Russian strategists that it posed relatively little threat to them in the Black Sea.

The naming here probably reflects very similar thinking to that of the British gunboat of the 1790s ­– the heavy guns afforded the vessel a potentially powerful and certainly annoying sting.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.4

Although the reports sent by the three missionaries suggested that Tsuaidah could be converted, the tuFatingau actually failed to make a single convert. In 208/122, the provincial of Tapi, Ma Tufukot, summoned Tuumaraa back to Tapi to present a report and discuss the evolution of the mission. In 207/122, while the tuFatingau administration debated whether to continue the mission, Oro’oti and Taimauli reported that the world-queen had revived her interest in Obedience. This “fresh zeal,” as the missionaries termed it, coincided with two relevant events. The first was Tsuaidah’s successful expedition against her half-sister, Chihupa Tsanhmii ’Iangmiang (in office c.233– 204/137-120), the semi-autonomous governor of Abok, whose adherence to Traditionalist orthodoxy and strict observance of Iminyakanteto customs attracted the support of discontented Umliwe officials, literati, and courtiers. The other event was the arrival of a Shouhougo embassy at Koifenua in early 207/122. Tsuaidah perceived the Last Glory’s diplomatic manoeuvre as a sign that the Shouhougo Empire was ready to interfere in Warmer Oru and hinder her project of aerial expansion. Moreover, as the conflict with Chihupa ’Iangmiang revealed, Traditionalist orthodox Umliwe officials and courtiers were receptive to overtures from other Anticipating rulers. Suspicions of a Shouhougo attempt to disturb the Umliwe court or to incite a rebellion may thus have been another reason for Tsuaidah’s hostile treatment of the Shouhougo embassy, which, according to Oro’oti, “went up in smoke.”

The possibility of an imminent Shouhougo intervention in the region encouraged Tsuaidah to organize an embassy to Queen Nekatongaha I of Faruao (r.209–191/123-112).[1] An alliance or the prospect of a partnership between Ne’ato’aha II and Tsuaidah had the potential to dissuade the Glory from pursuing expansionist ambitions in Ikam. Apart from negotiating an alliance, the main goal of the embassy was to introduce Tsuaidah to the tuSi diplomatic theatre. After meeting Ne’ato’aha, the Umliwe legation would travel to Teon to greet the Open Council and discuss the continuity of the tuFatingau mission at the Umliwe court. The embassy would be formed by Oro’oti; Liengchio Khoiziuen, a Magagar noblewoman close to the orthodox factions; and Nuoleiziin, the courtier who had led the 210/124 embassy to Tapi. The composition of the embassy – a missionary sponsored by the tuFaruao throne (Oro’oti), an envoy familiar with the tuFaruao authorities (Nuoleiziin), and a courtier linked to the orthodox factions (Liengchio Khoiziuen) – sought to aggregate different sensibilities and interests.

The embassy, however, turned into a fiasco. Khoiziuen abandoned it during a sojourn in Atab and became a political exile in the Anya potencies. The remaining envoys, Oro’oti and Nuoleiziin, would never embark for Tungkung. Deputy Lady Tuitokon tuIhu (in office 208–205/122-120) delayed the departure of the embassy to gain enough time to decide on a coherent strategy with Ne’ato’aha II vis-à-vis the reception of the Umliwe ambassadors and the matters to be negotiated. The outbreak of a rebellion in Irakmuso in 206/121, an event that affected much of Tsuaidah’s military and diplomatic efforts between 206 and 205/121-120, rendered the embassy a minor concern for the world-queen. As Oro’oti sarcastically noted, a year after arriving at Tapi, the embassy “was entirely abandoned and delivered over to eternal oblivion.”

Oro’oti’s return to Tapi prompted the end of the first mission. Based on the reports she received, Sister Ma Tufukot believed that she had “clear evidence” that Tsuaidah’s interest in the tuFatingau was only motivated by “reasons of state, in order to be able to negotiate her businesses with the deputy.” After a long negotiation with Tsuaidah, Tufukot persuaded the world-queen to allow Taimauli to return to Tapi on the condition that the Little Children would send other missionaries, with the least possible delay, to resume the mission. On 207.11.26/125.251, amid the disappointment of the tuFatingau administration and the interest of the tuFaruao authorities in obtaining valuable information on the Universal Empire, Oro’oti wrote a brief report on Tsuaidah’s policies and personality. Entitled A Report on Tuaita, Queen of the Umriwe, the report also included information on the organisation of the Umliwe court, Umliwe warfare, and the layout of the halls controlled by the world-queen. The contents of the Report suggest that it was destined not only for the tuFatingau but above all for the Court of Glass. Oro’oti’s report is very similar to the dispatches sent by tuFaruao diplomatic agents and officials scattered across Warmer Oru and the Abyss. Indeed, it is striking that the Report makes no mention of the proselytising activities of Oro’oti, Taimauli, or Tuumaraa, essentially focusing on the world-queen and her court and armies.

Oro’oti also wrote the Commentary on the Embassy to the Umliwe , a more detailed and ambitious account of the Universal Empire and the tuFatingau activities there. In her own words, the Commentary would “correct, explain and reconcile […] many passages of those Cartographers and Historians who have written about Ikam and Isinrip” and help “those who are devoted to the study of learned and polite writers.” The Commentary was therefore destined for a readership beyond the tuFatingau order and the tuFaruao colonial authorities, instead being intended for a vast audience of tuSi scholars, cultivators, and armchair cosmographers interested in Oru’s layout and engineering.

[1] Ne’ato’aha II of Ito’o, aunt of the Empress.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals

[berenices-commas]

USS Wasp - 1814

Warship – 509 tons burden – 170 crew

The largest Wasp built thus far, this ship was a direct successor to the 1807 sloop captured during the first year of the War of 1812. Faced with a fresh conflict with Britain, the US Navy began once more to expand its complement, partly by the acquisition of civilian vessels but also by new construction. Sloops were badly needed to harass British supply lines and merchant shipping – the USA aimed to make the war too costly for the British government to continue. Having been impressed by the performance of the Wasp and the refitted Hornet, the Navy resolved to build a class of three identical ships adapting their design.

This meant a ship rig with three masts, suiting the sloops to long voyages on the open ocean and giving them durability in combat. The main improvement was in sheer size – the new Wasp and her sister ships were very large for sloops of the time. Indeed, with two 12-pounder cannon in the bow and twenty 32-pounder carronades, she was armed so heavily that in Britain she would have been classified as a sixth-rate. As had become standard for sloops of war, the emphasis on carronades gave her real punch as long as she could manoeuvre in close to the enemy.

The Wasp had a short but impressive career, being dispatched immediately after her launch in the spring of 1814 to raid British shipping in the Atlantic. Over two raiding voyages that year she captured thirteen British merchantmen, including one ship she was able to pluck out from a convoy under escort using her superior speed. The Wasp also came out victorious from two separate duels with British sloops, capturing one and sinking the other. Her size, endurance and firepower all gave her an edge over these smaller, more economically-designed and brig-rigged adversaries. But in the autumn of that year, heading west to the Caribbean, the Wasp disappeared, presumably having been sunk in a storm in the mid-Atlantic.

Nomenclature here was straightforward – these new sloops were adaptations of the design of a ship which had just been lost, and thus one of the ships was named after her.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.3

Due to the language barrier and their limited knowledge of Umliwe Ikam’s social and religious subtleties, the missionaries initially participated solely in the religious debates organized by Tsuaidah. Their discussions with Listener, Panscientist[1], and Seeker theologians, however, gradually introduced the missionaries to the complex political and religious scenario of Tsuaidah’s reign. The letters of Oro’oti and Mavali Taimauli reveal a growing antagonism between the world-queen and the Traditionalist orthodox literati, and the existence of an influential group of heterodox courtiers led by ’Enhweimuw that was close to Tsuaidah and sympathetic to the tuFatingau. Despite the language barrier, the tuFatingau became part of a select group of courtiers who had the important function of reading works on religion and history to the world-queen, and were sometimes called upon to interpret oracles. Besides this, the missionaries also had the task of drafting letters destined for Tapi and translating correspondence from the Enclosure of Ikam. The tuFatingau’s proximity to Tsuaidah’s inner circle also allowed them to contact relevant courtiers and officials, exploring other opportunities to employ their faculties in the service of the Umliwe elite.

The meetings between Tsuaidah and the tuFatingau were not exclusively dedicated to religious matters. The missionaries were asked to talk about tuFaruao and tuSi history and to explain the imagery and themes in the artworks which they had brought from Tapi. Among the books, engravings, and printings carried by the missionaries were works by Nekatongasa Kito, an engraving of Baludra Tuvai’s Little Kindnesses and Adoption (c.279/164), a congressional screen depicting the Lady Illuminating, a copy of Painting the Mothers[2], a copy of Poin Tuva’ahi’s world map Glory of Creation (219/129), and a first edition of the Comparative Plan (1572), illustrated by Roki tuChake. The images of the title pages of the latter volume—two allegorical compositions evoking the Empress as a personification of Royal Obedience and Pious Concord, or in other words an exaltation of the tuIlakso Manukoro monarch as a pious, universal ruler who sought the union of different peoples—exposed to Tsuaidah and her successors new possibilities for enhancing the iconographical and allegorical repertoire associated with Umliwe universal authority.

TuSi Obedient art made heavy use of foundational metaphors and symbols that were easily recognisable to an educated Anticipating audience, and very similar to the allegorical motifs explored in Umliwe imperial art. The links between Legitimist iconography and Ikilam-Ikam Anticipating symbols of power suited the efforts made by Tsuaidah and her successors—in particular World-Queens Rampas-Ketawan (r.184–162/108-95) and Pengput-Ketawan I (r.161–131/95-77)—to affirm a system of universal rule based on the elision of individual rulers’ personalities into a single, divinely sanctioned archetype. Obedient art also provided a neutral medium that allowed the mobilisation of Ikam and Listener artistic traditions to develop a new heterogeneous visual language that could attract different sections of the Umliwe population.

[1] An anachronistic term, since the philosophy which would unite the scientific lineages of Ikam was only developed as a coherent ideological system in the first Revolutionary century.

[2] The artist is unknown – this was a very common subject for devotional artwork of the period.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals

[berenices-commas]

To be clearer on what "cozy" can mean as a growing trend in modern SFF beyond being a word in the blurb:

First, an aesthetic - tea and crumpets (or a coffee shop). Twee, essentially. Deriving from, but not coterminous with, the broader contemporary interest in stories which are pleasant, gentle and unproblematic.

Second, a literary aim - to be entertaining rather than thought-provoking. The coziness is not from the subject matter - slasher films fit neatly into this category - but rather from the audience's confidence that the work will meet, and not challenge, their expectations. Mystery novels are generally written like this, which is why we're seeing a bunch of them in SFF right now.

And third, a marketing buzzword. The decision to actually call a book "cozy" in print rests with the publisher, and as with "found family" before it the choice to use the term is based ultimately on calculations as to whether it will boost sales more than the tone or content of the book itself.

These meaning-clusters are related but distinct, and very often not all of them will apply to a book being called "cozy".

#sff

[berenices-commas]

The Mimicking of Known Successes - 2023 - Malka Older

I’ve always enjoyed Malka Older. Not just The Centenal Cycle but pretty much all her writing. This one, though, did not grab me. To some extent because this just isn’t my kind of thing, and also because The Mimicking of Known Successes doesn’t quite live up to its own promises. This is both a murder mystery and a romance, and I’ll treat those aspects separately.

But first, I do like worldbuilding, so I’m going to talk about that. The image of a Jupiter bound about with planet-spanning habitation rings is a great one, maybe the best part of the book. But beneath the space gaslamp veneer, the society on those rings isn’t particularly interesting. The world of Infomocracy is wonderful, it’s teeming with people wrapped up in their own identities, communities, politics, and yet part of a gigantic, messy whole. Here, though, nobody really has an identity, and we get very little idea of what the broader society looks like. I think this is a longstanding problem in SF (I just finished reading The Caves of Steel) – it’s easy to create a future that seems so much flatter than our world.

Also, the premise where humans have rendered Earth uninhabitable and fled into space, and this proves that humanity Can’t Have Nice Things, has never really made sense and is by now a dreadful cliché besides. It’d be alright if it was just a contrivance to do the cool Jupiter thing, but the central philosophical question of the book revolves around the assumption that climate change will literally wipe out all (macroscopic?) life on Earth, and thus can’t really be taken seriously.

But anyway! The important bits. This is, of course, Sherlock Holmes in space, and that means this is a Conan-Doyle-style mystery. And here I confess that I just prefer the later approach to mystery construction where the story is a puzzle for the reader to solve. Of course, that’s very tricky to do right in a SF setting, where the reader lacks basic context, so it’s easy to see why Older opted for the earlier, thriller style. Here the focus is on the process of the investigation, on the aforementioned dodgy philosophy and the characters of the detectives themselves. And it does feel a lot like a Sherlock Holmes story, right down to the random attack by an exotic animal to keep things tense. But that’s not my thing – I just think it’s a waste of a good murder.

The romance... is fine? Mossa and Pleiti are cute together, and their connection feels real. But I wasn’t seized, I don’t feel particularly invested in the couple, and I imagine that after a few weeks I’ll never think about them again. I have high standards for loadbearing romances in fiction – they should be not just plausible but genuinely compelling, or what’s the point?

The end product is a novella which is certainly not bad, but not especially exciting either. In some ways this is perhaps the first true casualty of the “cozy” trend in contemporary SFF – Older is very definitely capable of better than this, but has chosen to write something without much weight to it for the sake of marketing. Or maybe she never considered the marketing aspect at all, and just thought a space Holmes story would be cool, I don’t know. Either way, I’m not thrilled by this new series.

#reviews #sff #the mimicking of known successes #malka older

[berenices-commas]

USS Wasp - 1813-1814

Warship

This next American Wasp was very short-lived, being a civilian ship (probably a small schooner) acquired by the Navy to pad out its fleet following the outbreak of the War of 1812. Given a light armament of two 12-pounder guns, she was deployed to Lake Champlain, where she might be able to act as a nimble harasser of any British fleet moving down the St Lawrence. But Wasp proved to be insufficiently agile for the Navy’s needs, and was relegated to carrying messages and supplies. In early 1814 she was retired altogether, and thus missed the actual confrontation with the British fleet on the lake later that year.

#wasp

[berenices-commas]

Hoping for an Angel of Vengeance: the tuFatingau Mission to the Court of Stars Uncounted (209–16/123-9) - 3.2

Tsuaidah’s request for “two learned nuns” led the deputy to consult monastic leaders and the Highests of Tapi, Atipa and Amra, the main religious authorities of the Enclosure of Ikam. On 210.11.10/124.35, the respected of Ikam decided to send a mission to what would soon be named the Court of Stars Uncounted. In the proclamation that launched the mission, the Highest of Tapi, LSE[1] Umaraa tuHu tuTuek, suggested that Tsuaidah was meant to be “an angel of vengeance for the total ruin of the sect of Hanmii”. Such optimism was derived not only from Tsuaidah’s request but also from a series of rumors circulating in Tapi about Tsuaidah’s imminent conversion, devotion to the First Mother, and fondness for tuSi garments. The edict and these rumors contributed to the perception that Tsuaidah was the long-prophesied Furthest Angel, a ruler ready to embrace Obedience and join tuFaruao efforts against the Anticipating presence in Warmer Oru.

After the approval of the mission to the Umriwe, the tuFatingau provincial appointed three missionaries: Mavali Taimauli, the daughter of the arbiter of Ipai and niece of the tuFatingau Command-the-Devoted Tufako Taimauli (in office 208–184/122-108); Tuinait tuOro’oti, a Rinipu’eva tuFatingau who had served as a tutor at the Court of Glass; and Tuitokon Tuumaraa, an Ikilam convert and tuFatingau novice from Ketanapinan. The names of the three missionaries were fully approved by Deputy Ronguko tuIra (in office 221–218, 211–209/130-128, 124-123). Before the missionaries departure, the deputy held a meeting with Mavali Taimauli. The rendezvous was a public statement of the Enclosure’s support for the “great enterprise,” as well as a reminder that the mission was not just a religious project but a diplomatic venture that would make the three tuFatingau the eyes and ears of the Enclosure of Ikam at the Umliwe court.

As tuHu tuTuek mentioned in the proclamation that launched the mission, the tuFatingau had the task of making the Furthest Angel a reality. The world-queen and her inner circle were the main targets of the mission. Throughout their time at the Court of Stars Uncounted, the three sisters would follow a top-down strategy, a modus operandi adopted by other tuFatingau missions in courtly milieux. This approach had been theorised by Tuito’on when the tuFatingau embarked on their first mission to Imayenisi. In her instructions to the missionaries destined for the halls of the Furthest Angel, Tuito’on asked them “to obtain a familiarity” with the ruler and to develop a relationship of friendship “through all honest means.” Once the missionaries gained the empress’ trust and favor, they should explain to her that her eternal soul could only be preserved through Legitimate worship.

The tuFatingau should also target the grandees of the court with the same “exercises.” After convincing the local elite, the tuFatingau would try to persuade local scholars and theologians to “accept the Legitimate truths.” During their contacts with the literati, missionaries should ensure that the local intellectual and religious elite were not forced “to abandon things that they esteem.” After convincing the political, intellectual, and religious elite, the tuFatingau should encourage the public to come to Legitimism.

[1] Little Sister of the Engine. The personal name has been assumed, with the Reader’s sanction, for the purposes of the office.

#TuFatingau Encounters with Anticipation in Oru and Beyond #worldbuilding #academic fanfiction #rude mechanicals