HBHK: Arrogance in Character
Been a few weeks, so I thought I’d share a bit more from the ongoing HBHK project.
One of the biggest challenges to this particular book is trying to convey the arrogance of the Kuritas (as it’s from the perspective of a Combine historian) without sounding overdone and silly but still convey important information. The trick is to use the proper turns of phrase and word choice, which makes the entire process a tad challenging. By a factor of ten.
The only other option is a textbook-style read, which is, to be frank…BORING. With the difficulties this series already faces, I’ll do whatever I can to boost this last installment’s success.
Initial feedback from my reviewers has indicated I’ve been pretty successful in hitting that arrogant-yet-informative balance I want. Hopefully those who do read it in full will agree.
Okay, enough rambling.
From History of a Nation
Jason Kurita: Force in Motion
“As many of you are aware, the Free Rasalhague Republic—Republic for short—did not begin in 3034. While the name is new, many students of Combine history recognize the Republic as the proud descendant of the ancient Principality of Rasalhague, which lasted seventy years before Coordinator Shiro Kurita began to absorb the nascent kingdom in 2330.
“During the long process of slowly bringing the Principality into the Combine, Shiro and his descendants used the low-level conflict to unify the entire realm into a cohesive power to rival the nearby Steiner empire and the Federated Suns, with only the Terran Hegemony a stronger stellar nation.
“It could be argued that independence-minded rebels within the newly named Rasalhague District caused the turmoil and ill will between the Combine and Rasalhague people over the next several decades. The most infamous example of this being the bombing of Vladimir Kurita’s estate in 2375, killing Coordinator Tenno’s sister and causing a chain of events that lead to many years of brutal tyranny among the Rasalhagians due to Jason Kurita’s personal sense of revenge over the death of his father and family.
“Yet it can also be argued that because of the rebels’ action, those events led to Daniel Sorenson’s birth (from Oma Kurita—Jason’s sister) and subsequent exile among the Rasalhague public, bringing to light the awful truth of Jason Kurita’s tyranny. Daniel’s reign as Lord of Rasalhague and Warlord of the District helped heal the rift between the Combine and its people. More importantly, it set the stage for the McAllister Rebellion against the Von Rohrs line and saved the Combine from madness—and destruction.
“In 2510, the Principality formally joined the rest of the Combine and enjoyed peace under Siriwan McAllister-Kurita for the first time in decades.”
—Lecture notes from The Ronin Crisis; Tai-i Chris Wheeler, Sun Zhang Academy
From Pillar of Teak; Universities and Other Higher Learning Institutions
The Imperial Institute of Technology
This is as high-level as Kurita technology studies get, though for three centuries it played catch-up to its counterparts in Houses Davion and Steiner. Over the last few decades, IIT has benefited greatly from the data recovered in the Helm Memory Core along with the large amount of Clan salvage and technology recovered from former Jaguar and Nova Cat worlds. The influx of technology requires an increase of scientific and technical minds and instructors, a position IIT officials are more than happy to find themselves in.
Only the best and brightest, with high science and math aptitudes, will be tracked through the Draconian school system to arrive at the institute’s main campus on Xinyang. Cadets at a few academies may elect to spend a year at IIT before graduation if they pass the institute’s stringent application battery of tests.
From Pillar of Gold; Sociopolitical Structure
RULE 2832.10
If conducted at Unity Palace, seppuku can only be performed in the Courtyard. A raised dais of teak, measuring ten meters square, is placed seventy meters from the north end of the plaza border and can be no closer than eighty-eight meters to the Throne Room entrance. The dais is to be one meter in height and the front faces to the east.
Thirty minutes before the ceremony, four one-meter wide shoji panels made of Imperial rice paper are placed around the dais at a distance of ten meters; they are placed at the cardinal points of direction. The south panel contains the name and flag of the recipient’s homeworld. The west panel contains the emblem of the recipient’s service unit or government branch. The north panel contains the recipient’s family crest. The east panel contains the emblem of House Kurita. Behind each panel, a single stick of incense is to be lit.
The implements used are placed on the dais fifteen minutes before the start of the ceremony. Witnesses and other participants enter the Courtyard from the east entry arch to the single stroke of a bronzed gong. The gong is struck with an ivory staff no larger than 50 cm in length.
The honored recipient enters the Courtyard from the west entry arch. His body, after the ceremony, will leave on a steel bier covered in a white cloth through the east arch. His head will exit the Courtyard through the north arch, to be placed in a location to show the wisdom of the Dragon. Witnesses and other participants will exit through the east arch, after the honored recipient.
The ceremony will be conducted at the appointed hour with no delay.
—Written Guide to the Court and the Servers, Volume I; Unity Palace, 2714