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From: troll@sug.org (Alex Newman)
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Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 11:01:04 EDT
Message-Id: <9404111501.AA00430@bridge.sug.org>
To: carolingia@bloom-beacon.mit.edu
Subject: Re: rolls of the kings


Fondest greetings to you all,

I address myself to the words of Anton Zimnovaduba, called
'Winteroak', and of Toshi-don;

I do not know Aoenghus -- either within the Society or in the modern
world.  I did not know the person he killed, and I am only partially
aware of the circumstances surrounding his arrest and eventual
conviction. 

I am a person living in the modern world.  I vote for my president on
election day, and I commiserate with my friends when the president
does something stupid.

I am Boyar Aleksandr Yevsha.  I live in a shadowy time between the
14th and 20th centuries, and a mythical place called the 'Kingdom of
the East'.  My king proves his worth by the strength of his arm and
dies every six months.  Regardless of his whim, his personality, his
decisions, or his policy, he is my king by right of arms and grace of
god.

And once he has been king, it is not for me - nor anyone else from
slave to noble - to deny that he once was king.

As a modern man, the thought of murder appals me.  But, strangely, as
a subject of the king of the East, the thought of a king being
stricken from his place in the rolls appalls me almost as much.

Anton, in his wisdom, says:

<>The Russians do not deny the reigns of Ivan the Terrible, or 
<>Josef Stalin. 

True, but the Russians - speaking as one - have never been conquered,
at least according to the Russians.  The mongols might feel
differently, as they ruled Russia for almost 300 years.  Any record of
that time has been destroyed in Russia.

Toshi heard Anton and replied:

<No, but they sure left out some important stuff for a long time...
<(History is written by the winners, and all that.) I seem to remember
<that some Egyptian Pharoahs did a little editing, but I admit I would
<have to do some searching to verify it.

All of this is true.  History _is_ written by those who live to write
it, and many who have gone before have recorded histories that we now
know to be untrue.  The fact that others have changed the past does
not give us permission to do so.  We strive in ourselves to be better.

Aoenghus was king of the East twice.  Whatever else he may have been
or become, that fact should never be forgot.

I remain,
	your obedient servant...and angel,
	Aleksandr Yevsha, House Sinister
	Guildmaster, Worshipful Company of Carolingian Storytellers

	troll@bridge.sug.org