Vignette:A Dance with the Solar General

he Solar Palace. A sublime structure, erected out of brick and masonry - us meek humans unknowing of when it was constructed. Glyphs adorn the facade - of great battles, kings, jesters, and mythological tales from an Empire long dead. The Palace stands in the center of Cuzka protected from vagrant elements through a vast moat. Us Yarovars, we might be inheritors of this Great Empire, yet we have barely cracked at its mysteries.

Modernization has greatly changed Cuzka. This city used to be a vast mountainous slum, refugees from the titanic wars that swarmed Osorra fled here with nothing but their clothes. It still is to a certain extent, poor beggars roam the street, prostitution is rampant, and gangs vye for control of the streets. Our "progressive" Menshevik administration has cleaned up the city to a small degree as Marshall Kozlov wants to turn this city into a prideful seat of our great Avalonian nation. The area around the Solar Palace has been restored in full glamour. Massive baroque buildings, statues of Osorrai mythological figures, and grand roads adorn the center. Soldiers keep watch and heavily patrol who can enter.

My father was a poor peasant back in Yarova, he came to Osorra to seek great riches. From his stories I know the journey was extremely treacherous yet he came here and tried to make a life for himself. My father wasn't much of a farming, he decided to try his luck at gold panning around Kakhab and later Okhrina. They were utter failures, merely condemning him to wretched poverty. He likely would've become a vagrant if he didn't join the wildcat oil industry around Okhrina. With oil my father became stupidly wealthy and quickly propelled himself to the ranks of the bourgeois. Yet our poor family has no connections to government, so he sent me, his poor daughter to be married off to some wealthy official.

I sighed at the misery of my days. Wealth had changed everything about my life. My father boarded me up to a boarding school back in Artemia. I had absolutely detested it and longed for my homeland. Now 18 I come back, not knowing anyone but my father's servant Alexei. He escorted me to the ball, telling me little of the state of the family business. My father had seemingly left me aside for my elder sisters and brothers.

The hall glistened with mirrors, stained glass, and golden chandeliers. Generals, businessleaders, and other high ranking men and belles filled the hall. I spotted Kozlov in the back with an entourage of men and ladies. I could only stare at the Marshall's grandeur - later he noticed me.

He offered my hand and we exchanged positions for a fair bit. Afterwards however he left to find another damsel in a sea of suitors.