Radio Address by Archon Antiochus Soter, in the aftermath of the fall of Ulon.



"My fellow Malassans. I fear a shadow has fallen upon Kervan; there is not a man alive who knows what Brouges and Syndintern intends to do tomorrow, much less five years hence, neither does a man know the limits, if there be any, to their eschatological, proselytising propensity. More so than ever, peace's lifegiving warmth, which so happily we have basked in, is threatened by the spectre of a global war of annihilation. 

The spectre is raised over every nation, state, and people, raised by the governments of many nations all in rapid succession falling to the syndicalists. But here I should be clear: There is no love lost between Malassan freedom and the authoritarians the Syndicalists have overthrown. 

So if the Syndicalists were not themselves authoritarian, I would applaud. If they were not themselves warmongers with the lowest regard for human lives, I would applaud. If they were not attempting to supplant liberty itself the world over with their perverse ideology, I would be praising them with the highest accolades my language permits me to bestow. Instead they unite, against each of their national and human interests, to subjugate the world and divide the spoils unto themselves. To exterminate those "vermin" who choose to be ruled differently than an intelligentsia in far away Brouges thinks they ought. 

Storied nations such as Naarden, Flamardie, Vallonia-Picardie, Dereham, Aldan; All are subject to an increasing measure of control from Brouges. The Brouges-dominated Dereham government has been compelled to throw away useful land and astronomical sums of treasure on a canal that will not contribute to the defense or economy of Dereham in a meaningful way all for the sake of a futile syndicalist effort to wrest the Northern Ocean from its historical guarantor, the republic we call home.

On the other hand I must repulse the idea that a global war is inevitable; though it may be imminent. I am sure it can be avoided because I am equally as sure that our fortunes are still in our own hands and that we hold the power to save the future, that I feel the duty to speak out now that I have the occasion and the opportunity to do so. I do not believe that Brouges desires war. What they desire is the spoils of war and the indefinite expansion of their doctrines. But what we have to consider here to-day while time yet remains, is the permanent prevention of war and the reestablishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries which we can. Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them, nor by burying our heads in the proverbial sand. They will not be removed by merely waiting to see what happens with hope in our hearts, nor will they be removed by a policy of appeasement. What is needed is a settlement, and the longer this is delayed, the more difficult it will be and the greater the risks will become.

This settlement cannot be predicated on the balance of power. A balance of power, especially in a bipolar system, that is, all the syndicalists vs all the non-syndicalists, is the worst idea imaginable. Nations do not wage war when they are certain to lose, but when there is a reasonable chance of success. The free states must band together to ensure preponderance, and thus overwhelm the Syndicalists should they try any more conversion by force. 

I go now, to hopefully join with the remaining leaders of the free world and draw a line deep into the sand. We can, and unless we plan on war, we must, accept the heretofore de jure expansion of Syndicalism as fait accompli, but we cannot allow them to advance to one more nation. Not one more nation, not one more capital, not one more city.

Thank you, and God bless Malassa."