William's Speech

Initially given to the Council of Lords and an undetermined number of Merrowcrest citizens. Distributed across the North and Midlands.

Things have been wrong for many years. They have been wrong since I was a boy. Like everyone else, I spent a long time simply doing what I could to make my life better, hoping that somewhere along the line, nature would take its course, and something would change.

Then things did change, for me. For the most part, a series of accidents have brought me to this path. There are those who say I planned this all my life, that it has always been my intention to usurp power. So, I'll take a moment to explain myself; explain why we're all here, why I've done this.

The greatest news in a man's life is the existence of his child. It will change him, and redirect his priorities and the lengths he is willing to go to in order to protect his home. By now, it's well-known that his Majesty had my wife, the Princess, and his unborn grandchild, imprisoned for reasons even I can't fathom. And I know, it looks like a purely reactionary response from me to a threat to my family.

It isn't. After I'd taken my wife out of that dark, damp place, I thought on how I felt. I thought on how temporarily helpless it made me feel, and how miserable it was to have my family kept away from me, imprisoned and underfed, cold and unhappy, unable to make decisions, unable to call for anyone who'd help - and not for lack of ears nearby. And I suddenly felt fortunate.

Because it struck me that this is how every low-born, common, hard-working man in Singarth feels. How is a man supposed to take his wife and children away from somewhere dark, damp, cold, undernourished, unstable and impotent, when that very same place is what they call home?

That's why I'm here. I have in my hands the King's Speech, and in what I say here, I'm supposed to counter it. Let me read to you the only parts of it that hold any meaning for me; 'Feed my men, and they will gladly guard your halls... No man is unimportant in this time of need'.

Hear the mighty words of your King, who offers you protection in exchange for what little you have; is it not his duty to protect you regardless of what you do or do not have? Is it not his Crown that weighs more in coin than your bread, is it not him who should be enabling you to protect yourselves and supporting you when you are unable? Is it not him who owes you loyalty for every penny you have spent, every grain you have given that could have fed your children? No man is unimportant, he says, not in this time of need. What of every other normal day, what of every day he doesn't need you to protect him with your blood? I don't need to slander him, because his actions and limp words speak far louder than I ever could.

He can talk all he wishes. Singarth has heard enough of talk, and it's well past time for action. It's well past time that tax should be appropriated to means, it's well past time that houses should accommodate the full span of a family, it's well past time that firewood and medicine and grain became staple, given aspects of life. It's past time that you were heard, and the way you wish to live came to fruition. That time is now. It's late, and it's just words, just promises, but it is here now, if you wish it.

I'm not a King. My name is William Alexston. I was born in a hut in Bayhunt. I spent my childhood sleeping with the dogs. I lost six of my siblings, and my parents, to the cold and hard work. I have killed men and boys in defence of this country, in defence of you; I do not wish to kill any man, but I will do so, if it is for your betterment, your safety, your will. A King is a servant, he is there to serve you, not Lord his whoring, drunken ways over you and then tell you to live differently. Singarth was great once. Now we die in the mud in hope that we can feed our children tomorrow.

I don't stand here alone. This isn't about choosing your King, it's about choosing your future. Myself, my wife, the man who may be your Pontufex, a General willing to defend you with her life's blood, Scytrans willing to trade freely and join with you when you stand on the precipice of war. This is what Singarth could be; it could be nurtured and not condemned, held up and not oppressed, affluent not poor and above everything else, it could be whole again. We have a union here of hearts and minds that think alike and wish for better, powerful minds who can and will do your bidding.

The future is in Mormount. The future is in us. All you have to do, is say the word.