The train tour across the country has completed successfully. Aethelflaed reports that expansion of the civil service “continues”. Currently, she is limited by speed of communication. Viirad has only just begun to be able to produce radio equipment, most of which is currently being used by the military. Telephone wires, while present in large cities, do not connect the rest of the country, leaving the fastest mode of communication still being mail. The new railroad should speed things up, but Aethelflaed notes Ambrosius did not operate a public post service during his rule of Barrad, the infrastructure for which has been a part of the aforementioned expansion of the civil service. Press and mail are the primary ways in which information flows, and both will need to be developed enough to properly absorb the existing institutions I will be taking over in my conquests.

On a related note, I have just teleported Fernando Zessa back to Kasa. The Watchers in the Darkness recommended him to me as a journalist who was respected for truth and somewhat famous, maximizing the chance the story would spread on his return. The day I got off the train, I teleported myself to him after scrying his location and then teleported him into a cell here in Viirum. After a few days of isolation, I deemed him interview-ready and did the interview. The interview itself was quite entertaining.

The stenography machines I acquired proved their worth as my staff was able to use one to transcribe our conversation. Following it, I used a spell to duplicate the transcription. I left him with one, of course, but I kept one for myself as well, which I will put below for posterity.

Viirum, Viirad
October 1st, 1011
Interview by Fernando Zessa of Viira Lehtola

Fernando: Where are you taking me? What is this room? (Pause) You’re Viira Lehtola.

Viira: Well researched, Fernando. Please, take a seat.

Fernando: I suppose then my imprisonment is your doing, your (Pause). Sorry, what are you claiming to be these days? Is it “Your Majesty” or do you feel more like “Your Eminence”?

Viira: It has occurred to me that no proper form of address has been made for deities. Even Celestia is referred to simply as “princess”. In lieu of an existing term, my servants have stuck with “milady”.

Fernando: Right, I see. (Pause) I see this conversation is being transcribed as well. No audio recording? Surely you could have spared a record for me.

Viira: Enough. It seems your wit and bravado have not been deteriorated by your time in my cells. I believe you have surmised your purpose here, but to ensure there is no misunderstanding, I will state it. You will interview me. I will give you the transcript of the interview, and you will publish a story about me in Kasa. Continue your impertinence, and I will kill you.

Fernando: (Pause) Very well. (Pause) May I ask as to why you chose this moment for this interview? I understand there is much unrest in Barrad at the moment, but the news that crosses the border is little.

Viira: I am preparing for war. When I invade, I expect all Kasans to know the name of their new goddess.

Fernando: Oh. But what of the rest of Pentarchy? Is this a unified decision? Also, this is the second time you’ve referred to yourself as a deity, but I can’t recall this ever being the case in the past.

Viira: To answer both of your questions, I have gained great power, magical and political, in the past months. I killed Ambrosius, and the rest of the Pentarchy now bows to me. I have renamed the nation Viirad in light of this new change, and the rest of the world will soon fall under my hoof.

Fernando: That is fascinating. There are rumors in Kasa about all of this, but no one was able to confirm any of it. (Pause) Sorry, can I have a notebook and pen? I know you’re transcribing this, but I need to write some of this down.

Viira: So be it. (Gestures)

Fernando: Well, I think what every Kasan wants to know is - why?

Viira: Specify.

Fernando: All of it. We can start with why do you seek this destructive path in life? You’re a seer, so wealth and power are practically guaranteed for you. Why go to Barrad and start an empire? The common interpretation seems to be that you are simply a maddeer, but I would like to hear what you have to say about it.

Viira: It is true that wealth and power were given to me in Olenia. However, they were only given to me because I was special there. Most of my time was spent helping a nobledeer’s crops grow or with some other asinine task. It is quite dull. Many of the other seers I knew chose to move to Hindia for a change in scenery as they haven’t had a natural-born seer in hundreds of years, but the Hindian Yarils are no different from the nobledeer in Hjortland. It was stifling. When I saw the magic of the other races, I sought to achieve the same power they did, and I couldn’t do that in Olenia.

Fernando: But why not? With the wealth and power afforded you, couldn’t you buy the tomes you needed?

Viira: You understand nothing of magic, Zebra. Did you know that there are only a thousand seers in the world? That means there are no magic schools in Olenia whatsoever. Books are helpful, but only to an extent, which means all of my training came from learning from other seers. The books are all also written by unicorns and changelings, whose magic differs from my own. I left Olenia because there was no other option to increase my powers.
Fernando: I see, so you traveled the world to gain magical knowledge. When did that desire become one to rule a nation, and as you said before, the world?

Viira: Oh, that was always the plan. What use is power if it is not used? Look back to history to see the nations that dominated the world. Equestria would be nothing without their princesses. In ancient history, Tambelon was led by the magic of the Father of Monsters, Grogar. Look how the Yetis did it. They possess no magic, but what was it that the Storm King sought from each of the kingdoms he conquered? Magical artifacts. Everycreature knows magic is the way to make your mark on the world.

Fernando: But what of the griffons? They’ve had their empires over the course of history without the same overwhelming magic.

Viira: That is what separates the good and the great. No griffon empire has lasted like any magically backed empire has. Grover II, Arantiagos, they rose and fell. The Storm King’s empire, without inherent magic, is already almost all gone, but yet today, we still both sit under Celestia’s sun. Observe what Faust has decreed upon the world; so many races blessed with magic, and yet so many without it. All the magical races have had their fair share of time, but the deer have been left behind. I am different. I have power. It is my responsibility, no, my right to assert my authority for all of deerkind.

Fernando: Well, that explains the why, but surely not everyone agrees that it should be you, right? Wouldn’t Austurland and Olenia disagree you should be the divine ruler of all?

Viira: I have no illusions they, or Kasa for that matter, will bow willingly, but that is of no importance to me. I will make them bow like I made the Barradians bow.

Fernando: Through threats of violence? That doesn’t seem like a sustainable practice. I don’t think it would be too far-fetched to suggest your philosophy is not, er, mainstream.

Viira: On that we can agree. I have mind controlled a significant portion of Viirad’s population, and I will soon do the same for Kasa and beyond. Who knows? Perhaps you will be affected as well.

Fernando: (Nervous laughter) I’m not leaving here without a, um, mental adjustment, aren’t I?

Viira: Oh, I don’t plan to do anything to your mind today. If I were to mind control you and then send you back, that reduces the probability that the story will spread. If your editor found out you were mind controlled, I don’t think she would publish your story. I’m not taking that risk.

Fernando: If I am not under your control, I could also not report on your story at all. Isn’t that a risk as well?

Viira: You’d really give up the scoop of the decade? Besides, maybe I’ve already influenced your subconscious to make you want to get published.

Fernando: Have you?

Viira: You tell me. Do you feel mind controlled? Do you feel like you have to get this story published?

Fernando: I, uh, well. Yes, to the second part, but, um, no to the first.

Viira: Good.

Fernando: Good because you have mind controlled me or good because you haven’t?

Viira: Well, we wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise now, would we?

[Transcript continues]

I look forward to seeing what Zessa makes of this. I also gave him photographs of myself and the new flag of Viirad. With this information the denizens of Kasa should be well equipped to recognize myself and my nation within a few weeks. In the meantime, I must reduce my magic use to recover from my extended use of the mass mind control spell and complete invasion plans with Ceadda. I still feel charged with magic residue from my lengthy castings, and I must be ready to cast again upon the start of war.

Author's Note

I tried to estimate the number of seers in the world given their supposed rarity but also prevalence in the tech trees of the deer nations. Hindia has deer tech with seers despite Twinkle Sprinkle's guide to Ostkranbi suggesting there are no seers in Hindia. I solved this apparent contradiction by making Olenia just export a bunch of its seers.