A Tome Knight's Manifesto
The Chief Rabbit's "If Not Us, Then Who?" Speech
“A Tome Knight's Manifesto," also known as The Chief Rabbit's "If Not Us, Then Who?" Speech, was a speech by The Chief Rabbit Queen Sable Aradia delivered from The Warren on December 31, 2020. The aim was to inspire a discouraged populace following the disastrous First Word War and rally support for rebuilding efforts, as well as to accept the numerous calls for the Literomancers who had ultimately stopped The Undead Horde to form leadership in the wake of society's collapse.
Document Structure
Clauses
In her speech, the Mother of Bunnies acknowledged the daunting nature of the task at hand, and spoke gravely on the depths of the losses without dwelling on them. She also spoke to the deep uncertainty that plagued the moment, but urged people to not let this deter them from the effort. She characterized everyone, literomancers and non-literomancers alike, as fallible beings labouring under doubt and fear that they would not be up to the immense challenges. But since they were the ones who were here to do it, and no one else could, they would find abilities they didn't know they possessed. Working together, with everyone doing their best to do their part, they could, and would, overcome.
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Rhetoric
The Chief Rabbit's speech characterized the rebuilding effort in the wake of the destruction as an act of courage. It invoked a deep stoicism in Canadian culture and a sense of practicality and self-reliance in American culture. Perdita Mane, then a BBC anchor, said that to her, "it felt like the King's Speech on VJ Day. The Chief Rabbit is calling upon us all to do our part." It reached out to working class people by describing literomancers as taking on one of many jobs that needed to be done. Some have criticized this in retrospect as being cynical, since this speech contributed to the development of the Protectorates system, but others have pointed out that it may have been Queen Sable's own working class background that influenced this. The speech also openly promised that "Tome Knights" would put their lives on the line to be "a bastion for all living beings." "And if they are willing to do that," Mane said, "how can we do less?" Rhetoricians have observed that Queen Sable's speech was not polished. Alexander Cushing, professor at Oxford, wrote:The Chief Rabbit has an instinctual sense of words that will inspire, but she clearly had no classical training. In a way, however, this was perhaps even more ideal to her purpose. She spoke from her heart and did her best under the circumstances, and this is what she was asking us to do.
Publication Status
Since most television stations were not yet online following the collapse, and internet media was spotty, the speech survives only as a digital audio recording, broadcast by radio over most of North America and part of Europe. However, audio recordings have been widely reproduced, and the text of the speech is publicly available online and in libraries around the world.
Historical Details
Background
The zombie apocalypse of The First Word War and the subsequent events of The Restructuring devastated society. Governments had collapsed. Millions were dead, and the comfortable world view that all had lived with, that denied the existence of magic, was irrevocably shattered.
In the aftermath, literomancers seemed to provide the most hope of some security. They had stopped the zombie tide, and they had powers that most other people did not understand. People looked to them in the hopes that they would provide that stability.
History
Sable Aradia, Chief Rabbit of House Lapin, like many other literomancers, had found herself in a position of leadership, even over military units who were cut loose and drifting, looking for any direction against the Undead Horde. She visibly hesitated for more than a month before delivering this speech. It is widely believed that she was hoping the "proper authorities" would be restored.
The future Queen of the Lapin Protectorate announced that she would address the public from the hill at Becker Park, near the Warren bunker, on New Year's Eve. About 5000 people, and most major media outlets who were able to make the trip, braved light snowfall to listen to her address. She was joined by Siobhan the Writer, Leader of House Chiroptera, ShyRedFox, Leader of House Kitsune, and Darth Nikolas, Leader of House Meles, and the Leaders of the other existing literomantic Houses signified their intentions to embrace the Code of the Tome Knights within the first week of 2021. Most of the House Leaders were coronated by their Protectorates within the next year.
Public Reaction
It can likely be said that the speech achieved its aims. All known literomancers at the time embraced the speech as a new code of conduct and accepted its mission. There was some pushback from those who did not trust the monarchal nature of the system of Protectorates that resulted from this declaration, or those who did not trust literomancers, regarding them as "witches." However, in general, the public reacted with overwhelming positivity and rallied to the cause.
Legacy
Queen Sable's speech marked the ratification of the system of House Protectorates that currently dominates world political and military structure, and led to the formation of The Treaty of the Great Houses. Literomancers who swore to the cause became known as Tome Knights, and the essence of her speech formed the oath that each Tome Knight swears to. While this system is not without its critics, the world has now seen several Word Wars and other significant supernatural threats, and it has weathered them all without any subsequent societal collapse. In many ways, there have even been broader societal advances, such as the reduction of climate change and great strides towards world peace among its living sapient cultures, Human and non-human alike.
WIP
Streamer
Missing
Status: Location Unknown
Deceased
Status: Deceased Character
Retired
Status: Retired Character or Article
Type
Statement, Political (Manifesto)
Medium
Digital Recording, Audio
Authoring Date
December 31, 2020
Location
Authors
Signatories (Characters)
Signatories (Organizations)
If not me, then who?
I have a few random documents for my world, but I hadn't thought to post the wider effect of them in this way. Some info, but usually just a history blurb then the document. I am going to use this for inspo on my stuff. For the Tome!