For those of you not present at the Pyr stage in Agora last night, 14th of February, Tidings bring you the speeches of the candidates for the Imperial Senatorial seat, which they so kindly offered:

Xalis Speech

"Once we were a great Empire, once the other homin feared and respected us, our strength, our might, our industry, our drive. Now what are we? Warriors to be run to when help is needed, grunting ‘Frahar’ to be ridiculed when we are not needed.

Without us Zorai would be a pool of goo. Without us Matis would be reigned over by an evil King. Without us the Tryker would be slaves.

We are the pre-eminent race on Atys, the warriors, the explorers. We take the sacred duty of hunting the dragon. We dwell in the harsh desert through choice and sacrifice much for the sake of others.

No more Martyrdom I say! No more shall we bear the weight of Atys on our shoulders! It is time we began to look after ourselves.

The Kami need to understand that we must build to be strong, they must stop holding us back from the full exploitation of the scant resources of the desert. We need to claim the rest of the desert lands across Atys as our own.

If they can make an exception, allow us to rip the materials from the ground in massive quantities in the old lands for their temples, if they can let us bore deep into the bark with these drills, then they can allow us to dig for the materials that will make us strong in battle.

The Fyrosian heart is so full of passion it needs room to beat. The deserts of Zorai and Matis are ours for the taking, ours by right. Payment for the sacrifices we have made for them.

Vote for me and take the path back to Empire.

Vote for me and regain what it means to by Fyrosian."

Dios Speech

"The future cannot be found in the past.

We must not always look to past glories and seek to repeat them, rather we should look to making our own, new, brighter future.

Our past is not all imperial finery and great victorious battles. It is us who disturbed the Kitin, it is us who set the fires. We have as much to be ashamed of as to be proud of and it is guilt, not responsibility that weighs us down.

Let no homin say that the Fyros do not live up to their responsibilities, let no homin say we do not learn from our mistakes. We have made those mistakes so that others do not have to.

Our future lies with the Kami, living in harmony with our land as the Zorai do. Theirs is a way of peace and preservation, one that us desert dwellers should know all too well.

As we waste not a drop of water so we must learn not to waste any other of the precious resources that Ma-Duk blesses us with.

Others must also be brought to the light and truth of this path. Our old allies the Tryker with whom we have shared water, and yes, even the Matis should be given a chance to mend their ways.

Together, as one, freed from the watchful eye of the Karavan we can explore our past and our history, we can discover more about Atys, about the Kitin, about ourselves

Vote for me, vote for peace, knowledge and learning."