During the last years of the Third Age of Unaris, two enemies, both highly positioned within the Empire, found a common bond in their weekly letters to each other around a game of chess.

The following is a record of their discourse as the Third Age started to come to its end. We'll post a few each week, so check back often.

LETTER ARCHIVES

Letter 10

B.H., Do not mock the High Seat of the Church of Unaris! How dare you! The Emperor has heard your words and vows that he will see to your organization as soon as the invasion if over! I write this in haste and anger for I am to leave immediately to see to the defense of the northern cities. Triumph, as you say, is not holding out too well, so the bulk of the Empire's forces will be used to drive the horse masters back toward the mountains and out of Persuasion and Reproach. Despite my anger over your traitorous blasphemes, I need your help, which I command you to give. There is some fear among the court that the mathics in the Restored Kingdoms may use this time of strife as a shield behind which they can carry out their most visible and devastating experiments yet. I am not yet sure what they intend to do, which is why I need you. The reason I believe you will help is that I will share with you a Church secret that I assure you is not available from anyone else's lips. I am enraged that it has come to this. Who would think that an intellect such as yours would be so witless when it came to the management of an Empire. Everything is at stake! The horse lord invasion, a fearful population...none of it means anything compared to what may come! The Empire must not only survive this invasion, it must turn its eyes westward and stop the mathic menace. I know that you do not believe, but trust that the Emperor and I have all of our people's best interests at heart. As I prepare to leave, I ask you this. Send agents, nay, go yourself to the Restored Kingdoms. Find out what the mathics know about the tempis incandarum, and bring the information to me. Speak not these words to another soul. I fear what even my own Church would do should the contents of this letter be revealed. I request that you return it uncopied to me with your next correspondence. Time is of the essence! a3 a6 M.

Letter 9

M, You're telling me bedtime stories about the Restored Kingdoms? Do not forget whose influence reaches farthest across the mountains to the west, my friend. It never ceases to amaze me how many things you can blame on the mathics, even when they are clearly not the ones you should be following. But, any more information than that is going to come at a price. But what should I expect from one who enforces his ideas on the entire Empire. Not even his ideas, but those of two imaginary beings who, if they do exist, have brought nothing but misery and destruction to the people of Unaris. You know as well as I that if your ideas were worth the sacred paper they were written on that you would not have to unleash your Knights Leucritis in order to ensure their potency! Besides, while you look to the west for learned bugbears, the horse lords have made their move in the east. This one I will give you for free - the Khan believes that the light in the sky is the finger of Nom, directing him to the west. Figure out a way to disabuse him, or his clans, of that notion and you can win the war without much bloodshed. B.H. P.S. Kh1 0-0

Letter 8

B.H., That is certainly an interesting take on things. You would do away with the Empire and place this land, not to mention the Restored Kingdoms that you seem to so admire, into the hands of barbarians who do not even observe the litany of the gods? That's a terrible shame, and besides, the fall of the Empire will do you no more good than me. Nor its citizens, for that matter. You see, the Empire is the only thing that keeps darkness from covering the world. It harnessed magic and put it into the hands of a responsible cabal; it drove back the wicked saurians that Nom himself sent to destroy the creations of Grode and Damedes; and it now protects its citizens from an unimaginable fate that you cannot begin to comprehend. It is the ultimate reflection of Damedes' goodness and Grode's brilliance. Even you follow in a long tradition of those who do their best to protect the Empire, even if you do so for your own profit. Why you will not turn your organization over to the Church is beyond me, we all want the same things. You could help the eastern cities prepare for the mounting challenge from the horse lords, and you could even turn your own "charm" toward negotiating a return of the traitorous lords in the Restored Kingdoms. They must not be allowed to pursue their blasphemous goals! Do they not understand that without the might of the Empire and unifying influence of the Church, that their freedoms will be curtailed by the growing darkness? Mathematics is completely uncontrolled, it is magic without the divine spark! Did you know that the mathics in Canon are attempting to locate the burial site of the Winter Warlock? They have "charts," or so they call them, that purport to locate not only his tomb but the location of the key to its opening! These pursuits cannot be allowed to continue. 0-0 Be7 M.

Letter 7

M, Hand it out on the street corner, will you? If I'm going to have to endure a sermon full of revised history every time I want to make a chess move, I'll knock my king down right now. Your equating of the Restored Kingdoms with the Northmen and the horse lords to the east, both of which are barbaric I will give you, is a charge that only your most slavering sycophants would actually believe. The Restored Kingdoms are little different from us, their distinguishing feature being the freedom of thought once enjoyed by the Unarians before your nephew took the throne. That freedom, to pursue knowledge and hone craft, was once the jewel in our Empire's crown. How do you think we have evolved beyond the heathens across the mountains? If you ever deigned to set foot on the streets of the city, you would find a populace bursting at the seams, constrained and frustrated by the fear that is spread by your army of traitor-hunters. This rotting from the inside will destroy us much faster and more thoroughly than our enemies beyond the gates. Sometimes I think the world would be better off without the Empire, start things over and develop into the free society that was the dream of our ancestors, and your predecessors. Nde2 e6 B.H.

Letter 6

B.H., The Church is the most important organization in the Empire! Since its founding, our only concern has been the well being and protection of the people of Unaris. Grode and Damedes protected this world to give us a chance to thrive, while the enemies of the Empire and the disciples of Nom only wish to see us destroyed! As to your quote, it is attributed to a disciple of Damedes who lived nearly 3,000 years ago, not to Grode. Allow me to quote the god himself, who said "All things are made in me, and in me shall all things find their purpose." As you can see, we were made to serve Grode and fulfill his vision, and the people of Unaris need the Church to guide them. Grode wishes for all men to be free, and only his divine will can ensure that. Near the beginning of time, after Grode and Damedes brought life to Unaris, they decided to let their most precious creations rule their own fate. Thus were born the Immortals. But folly was to be the hallmark of those elevated men and women. Wars were fought in their name. The Lord of Winter planted the seeds of destruction in the Sixth Tribe, and his minions almost succeeded in casting a long shadow of death over all of Unaris. The remaining "Immortals" attempt to rectify their folly by spreading their ways to man, thus granting us power over earth, wind, water, and flame. But man is flawed, and he used the powers of Grode and Damedes to destroy rather than create, to dominate rather than protect. The worship of Nom has since spread to all corners of the globe - save the Empire. The Church's influence is all that keeps our world's destruction at bay, it has always been a uniting force even in the face of overwhelming evil. Do not tempt fate by working at odds with us, we know what is best for the Empire of man, for we do the will of the creators, and through us they can protect us as they always have. Bc4 Qb6 Your move. M.

Letter 5

M, Thank you for the lesson. I'm certain my ancestors would approve of being remembered as tools of the Church. Do you really believe that all actions are defined by how they affect the Church? The history I learned spoke of an empire that valued the freedom of its citizens, provided them with books and the opportunity to learn whatever they pleased. The horse lords were seen as barbarians for their tribal traditions and ignorance of the learned professions, but now the Church would turn Unaris into that which it hates the most. You and your Knights Leucretis must know that information can never be contained, that for every book burned the spark of defiance is fanned in one mathematician's heart. Danthes III knew the benefit of an educated population, that the beauty of our empire could be spread throughout the world by all who knew of its greatness, and the reasons why. That is why he founded the great universities, including the one that you turned into a bloody battlefield. Don't you find it ironic that it was the Knights Unari, those early-empire heroes you spoke so dearly of in your last message, who prevented your own knights from carrying the violence into the rest of the city? I believe it was Grode himself that said "let the light of humanity rise from the ashes of its own folly." The question now is, who is doing the burning? Nc3 Nc6 --B.H.

Letter 4

B.H., Don't worry about the information you sought, I assure you it is safe within the Church vaults. The Left Hand is quite accomplished, as I'm sure you're now aware, and they will never let it pass from here again. I wonder, my enigmatic friend, if you know what the Empire was like before the Church became a unifying force for its people. Have you studied your history? One such as yourself who endeavors to alter future history should know what has come before. Allow me to grant you a window into the Empire's past, to a time after the drakes were defeated but before the Church rose in prominence. The rebuilding of the Empire was taking place under the direction of several strong leaders who had not been killed during the Saurian invasion. As the refugees from the Alfar and Dwalfar lands streamed back into the Empire, they were pulled this way and that by these warlords, each of which wanted to rebuild the Empire in his own image. Those on the edges of civilization were left to their own devices, virtually ensuring that they would be overrun by the barbarians from the north and east. It was in defense of these settlements that the first Church leaders rose up to unify the Unarian people once more. The Church recruited many of the old warriors to its cause, in essence becoming another warlord in the pack. These brave souls became the first Knights Unaris, and they rode throughout the land bringing more people to their banner. These knights were shining examples of all that Grode and Damedes had protected, and the people flocked to them in droves. In battle after battle the people of Unaris rose up against the warlords, until only a few were left fighting. These few met and decided to end their division, and to help the Church bring all good peoples of the world into the Empire. And thus did Grode and Damedes help once again shield their chosen people against the depredations of Nom. Nxd4 Nf6 --M.

Letter 3

M, It's interesting you should mention Persuasion, as I've recently lost a couple of men there. I assure you they were in service to the Empire, although their murderers rarely see it that way (single-minded, that lot, I'm sure you know the kind). I'm really not interested in the baubles they were carrying (I'm sure the street thugs have put those to good use by now). In fact, had my men not decided on some extracurricular activities in the first place, I would not be lacking that which they were carrying back to me. d4 cxd4 Your move. -- B.H.

Letter 2

B.H., Normally I would turn down your request for a new game, especially after what you got up to during our last game. But, I'm just back from Persuasion and I'm sure I'll need a minor distraction (which is all it usually takes to defeat you anyway). As to the blasphemy in your previous letter, I care not to comment, although I don't perceive mathematics to be among your interests, business or otherwise. Nf3 d6 --M

Letter 1

M, I'm happy to initiate Game 47 during these strange times of ours. Fire in the sky, restless hordes at the gates, and the promise that mathematics will someday bring down the world. Well, two out of three isn't bad, old friend! e4 c5 --B.H.