User:WeiryWriter/Rose Empire
“A Grand, the race who led the empire. That robe of blue and green indicated a minor functionary who had passed the tests for government service, but not risen high in its ranks.”
—Day 2
“The guards were Strikers—or, well, that was the Grand name for them. They had once called themselves Mulla'dil, but their nation had been folded into the empire so long ago that few used the name.”
—Day 2
“Strikers were well regarded by the Grands, and their Elevation was not unheard of.”
—Day 2
“Actually, she reminded herself, the Heritage Faction still rules, so...
The emperor would be from that faction, as would the council of five arbiters who did much of the actual ruling. Their faction lauded the glory and learning of past cultures, even going so far as to rebuild their wing of the palace as an imitation of an ancient building.”—Day 2
“Yes, the Grands called Shai's powers an abomination, but the only aspect of it that was technically illegal was creating a Forgery to change a person. Quiet Forgery of objects was allowed, even exploited, in the empire so long as the Forger was carefully controlled”
—Day 2
“You requested arbiter intervention in your execution, as most prisoners do.”
—Day 2
“Emperor Ashravan of the Eighty Suns—forty-ninth ruler of the Rose Empire...”
—Day 2
“Our resealers are the best in the world.”
—Day 2
“If [Ashravan] were replaced, the five arbiters in this room would lose their positions—which, by imperial politics, would be a huge blow to their status. They'd drop from being the most powerful people in the world to being among the lowest of the empire's eighty factions.”
—Day 2
“They hated Forgery, or so they claimed. They walked on imitation floor tiles past copies of ancient vases, they let their surgeons repair a body, but they didn't call ny of these things "Forgery" in their own tongue.
The Forgery of the soul, that was what they considered an abomination.”—Day 2
“'The official explanation for why the emperor hasn't been seen these last two days...is that he's been in mourning for the death of his wife.... Once the hundred days of isolation are finished, they will demand that Ashravan present himself to the court.”
—Day 2
“She also wore clothing far more fitting than that dingy dres. A flat, red, calf-length skirt and buttoned blouse. The Grands would consider it unfashionable, as among them, ancient-looking robes or wraps were the current style.”
—Day 3
“You could tell a lot about a person from the way they designed their seals. This one, for example, had a sterile feel to it. No real art, which was a contrast to the minutely detailed and delicate beauty of the vase itself. Shai had heard that the Heritage Faction kept lines of half-trained Forgers working by rote, creating these pieces like rows of men making shoes in a factory.
'Our workers are not Forgers... We don't use that word. They are Rememberers.'
'It's the same thing.'
They don't touch souls... Beyond that, what we do is in appreciation of the past, rather than with the aim of fooling or scamming people. Our reminders bring people to a greater understanding of their heritage.'”—Day 3
“She didn't like Strikers, but she liked the empire less, and the guards were really just another kind of slave.”
—Day 3
“...the figure removed his hood, revealing a face with milky white skin and red eyes.
Shai hissed softly through her teeth. 'And you call what I do an abomination?'
...
'A Bloodsealer. You invited a Bloodsealer into your palace?'
'This one has proven himself an asset recently... He is loyal and he is discreet. He is also very effective. There are...times when one much accept the aid of darkness in order to contain a greater darkness.'”—Day 3
“This table, she suspected, had come from far-off Svorden as a gift to Emperor Ashravan's predecessor. The strained relationship with Svorden had then led the emperor to lock it away and ignore it.”
—Day 12
“'You must understand,' Gaotona said, 'I don't subscribe to your pagan superstitions.'
'Yes, you worship the sun instead,' Shai said... 'Or, rather, eighty suns—believing that even though each looks the same, a different sun actually rises each day.”—Day 12
“...Ukurgi, where the provincial flag is predominantly green.”
—Day 12
“The Heritage Faction continued to dig up and revive ancient feasts in an effort to sway public opinion back toward them.
It wouldn't help. The empire was not a republic, and the only ones who would have a say in anointing a new emperor would be the arbiters of the various factions.”—Day 17
“I have decided, at long last, to agree to the demands of my faction... I will offer myself for the position of emperor...”
—Day 17
“The [Imperial Seat] has a thriving clandestine smuggling trace...”
—Day 17
“The empire was not a terrible thing. Neither was it a wonderful thing. The empire simply was. The people suffered its rule because they were comfortable with its little tyrannies. Corruption was inevitable. You lived with it. It was either that or accept the chaos of the unknown.
Grands were treated with extreme favoritism. Entering government service, the most lucrative and prestigious of occupations, was often more about bribes and connections than it was about skill or aptitude. In addition, some of those who best served the empire—merchants and laborers—were systematically robbed by a hundred hands in their pockets.”—Day 42
“The mountains of the Strikers bordered Dzhamar, where the swamps of the Bloodsealers were located. Their hatred of one another ran deep, perhaps deeper than their loyalty to the empire.”
—Day 42
“Grands told stories of dark witchcraft, of Forgers placing seals on a person's feet while they slept, changing their personalities. Invading them, raping their minds.”
—Day 42
“Life in the palace, life as part of an empire that clicked along like a clock. Everything worked. Oh it didn't work as well as it might. But it did work.
...it didn't require laziness to be swept up in the working of imperial bureacracy—to tell yourself that next month you'd go and demand that your changes be made. Over time, it had become easier and easier to flaot along the course of the great river that was the Rose Empire.
... He'd focused more on the beauty of his palace than on the lives of his subjects. He had allowed the arbiters to handle more and more government functions.”—Day 59
“...mother of light... Mother of lights...”
—Day 70
“'I don't think most Grands would take the time to study soulstamps. They would eschew what they considered evil without ever trying to understand it. You've changed your mind?'
'No,' Gaotona said. 'I still think that what you do is, if not evil, then certainly unholy.'”—Day 70
“You are of the Heritage Faction. You surround yourself with relics that aren't truly relics, paintings that are imitations of ones long lost.”
—Day 70
“One of the Strikers guarded Atsuko of Jindo during his visit to the Rose Palace... Atsuko caught a sickness, and was stuck in his bedroom for three weeks.”
—Day 76
“'The Jindoeese and my people are not the same... We may have been related long ago, but we are completely different from them now.' Grands. Just because people had similar features, Grands assumed they were practically identical.”
—Day 76
“Palace Strikers were all literate. It was required of any imperial civil servant of at least the second reed.”
—Day 97
“...in the Southern Provinces.”
—Day 97
“The poor Strikers would probably find themselves assigned to some remote outpost of the empire for the rest of their lives, guarding the passes leading down to the distant Teoish Peninsula or the like.”
—Day 98
“She almost bowled over a southern ambassador in red priest's armor.”
—Day 98
“...the assembled arbiters of the eighty factions...”
—Day 101
“...a servant of Frava's Symbol...”
—Day 101
“The [Imperial Seat] rolled across a group of seven large hills; a major faction house topped each of the outer six, with the palace dominating the central hill.”
—Day 101
“...a single Reo rune...”
—Day 101
“...the nearby [to the Imperial Seat] Sogdian Forest...”
—Day 101
“Lance Alvein: How was the Fjordell Empire not aware of the existence of the Rose Empire during the time of Elantris?
Brandon: The connection between the two will be explained in future Elantris books, but a quick answer is this: Fjordell was aware of the Rose Empire, but doesn't consider the location to be holy, so they didn't really care that much about it. There is also no easy natural way to travel between the two. If you remember, Shai did run into the Fjordell ambassador.”—986#7