"Hurry up or we'll be late," Ariadna fussed as she impatiently waited for her mother to lock their door. One thing she loved more than anything about this day was that they didn't have to go to the farm this day. Moreover, she got to wear her favorite dress and shoes.
"Alright, alright, let's go," the mum said as she took her daughter's hand.
"Mom, where are we going?" Ariadna already knew all this, but she wanted to hear it again.
"Right over there, sweetheart," The mom answered. Looking at her destination, she couldn't believe how long the queue was. She had thought that by coming here early, she could beat others to the queue, but now she realized several others had the same idea.
"Why are we going there, momma?"
"To be registered as citizens of Tristan Kingdom!" The mom replied with joy.
The same scenario was happening all over Tristan. Following the announcement made the day before, they were all required to go to the local area-head and be registered there.
In truth, after Lord Kabu declared his submission to the Queen, the others had followed suit. What had sold them though was the passionate speech of the Arch-mage.
"I have lived for many years and seen many things, however, this was a dream I thought I would see come to fruition. A chance for our continent to be united under one sigil, one ruler. So I say this, If you would have me, Great Queen, then I submit to your rule."
Many had not been so stoked by the idea of submitting to a different power, but they understood that times were changing. They either remained on the obstinate side and lose everything, or submit to the Queen and keep whatever power they could retain.
What pissed off the King of Fulah was that the Queen was portraying her conquest as a good thing. For all their faults, at least Gumina did not try to hide who they were behind some self-righteous justifications.
However, the idea of citizenship served to appease them. The idea that anyone with a Tristan citizenship would receive the same rights and treatment wherever they went was very motivating not just for the monarchs but their aides as well. Moreover, the allies were guaranteed free registration for all their citizens, rich or poor.
However, to make citizenship work, Barda needed to come up with a proper documentation process. This gave him quite some sleepless nights. The best option was to come up with a computing database. That would have worked fine but he needed to invent the computer first.
Patch and quill, while readily available, did not seem the most reliable method. At the time, Barda did not have a choice so he had decided to come up with a laminate. Since he could now process crude oil to form plastic, then getting laminated copies was not that hard.
There was one thing that he needed though. A way to tell someone was who they claimed to be. Barda had no photographing technology and he couldn't very well expect everyone in Tristan to be drawn. Furthermore, there was no such thing as fingerprint analysis or biometric technology.
Help came from an unexpected source. Now that the Order of Lord Abu was involved, so was magic. In addition to the parchment, one was required to bleed on the piece of paper where their details were written.
It had taken 2 weeks of planning and collaboration between Barda and Lord Carwin. This lord was one of the leading innovators and mage-geniuses in the Order. He was relatively young for his position, just 120 years but he was a Grand-Mage. He also held considerable authority in the Order since he was one of Lord Abu's advisors, the youngest.
The Order was supposed to provide the parchments on which the information would be written. This was so that they could enchant the parchments first to achieve the desired effects. As per Barda's insistence, the parchments were supposed to be of equal length and breadth.
During the process of registration, the registrar would inscribe the name and location of the citizen as neatly and clearly as possible. Next, the new citizen would bleed on the parchment. Curiously, the parchment would absorb the blood completely.
In the 2 weeks that the mages had been working on modifying the parchments, Barda had been working on making a laminating machine. Barda chose a mechanical laminating machine that was easy to handle.
He had to make them mechanical since he had not introduced the idea of a chip to the public. The most modern mechanical laminating machine patents were very easy to use. All they needed was a continuous supply of clear plastic and heat. The user would turn a lever.
In the process of creation, Barda had added a brand of the Tristan sigil at what would be the back of the ID cards. This ensured that he had to train the users on how to properly place the parchments during the process of lamination.
2 weeks of intense labor had passed just like that. Barda and Lord Carwin were pleased by what they had created. They had burned a lot of resources to get to where they were, but the end product was good.
At first, they had wanted to roll out the project across all cities at once, but Barda had vehemently objected stating the need to roll out bit by bit. Many had thought it was a political move, but he couldn't roll out to all cities at once.
A lot had happened in the 2 weeks. Once word got out that Tristan had become a Kingdom with the backing of Lord Abu, many cities that had sided with Gumina quickly changed sides. They came begging to be included in the Kingdom. Out of the 9 other cities, Reuze only had 3 cities and Gumina left on their side.
All newcomers had to pay a hefty price as goodwill to be accepted into the fold, which further elevated the status of citizenship. Everyone was curious about this thing, and the new benefits it would bring.
To get everyone to show up, the 2 weeks leading up to the mass registration in Tristan had seen a massive mobilization to this effect. Even bards in taverns would sing of the glory of Tristan, and to be a part of this great Kingdom, one had to be a citizen.
Naturally, on the day of registration, there was a massive turnout. It seemed as though the registration that was scheduled for 5 days would be done in the first. It was a process that went on from dawn to dusk and by the end of the 3rd day, there was no one left to be registered.
Some people opposed the use of blood in the cards, claiming blood magic to be evil. However, Barda was out of ideas. Others opposed the formation of a kingdom and claimed that this was nothing but conquest, but these had been in the minority.
For starters, many commoners in the continent did not know anything about magic, whether it was good or evil. Hence they just took it as it was. Secondly, the idea of a Kingdom was not new to many people.
There had been several talks of unification of the city-states under one roof. However, with the balance of power as it had been, there was no one willing to give up their throne. However, with Barda and Lord Abu tipping the scales, Tristan became the automatic Kingdom, all others falling under their roof.
Perhaps this was why there were very favorable conditions and amicable decisions. I say amicable, but, if you stepped in the negotiating rooms, you'd see a whole different environment. It seemed the war that wasn't fought with swords was being waged with words, but at least it was bloodless.
"Lord Barda, I would like to invite you to my home," Lord Carwin approached Barda on the 5th day of registration. According to the schedule, the next registration would happen in the Green Mist Mountains, Lord Abu's abode. The registrars were given 2 days rest.
The following week they would train and assist in registering the disciples of the Arch-Mage as citizens as well.
"I am not sure I am indisposed at the moment,"
"Alas, you didn't know? His Excellency Lord Abu has invited Her Majesty the Queen to the Green Mist mountain ranges as a special guest. I suspect you will be part of her entourage. In that case, would you do me the honor of visiting my home?"
"The honor would be mine, Lord Carwin." Over time, they had become fast friends, but Barda felt that this request had something else planned for him. Barda decided to agree and see what that was all about.
"Lord Barda, the Queen requests your presence," a guard walked in and said.
"I guess that's it," Barda said as he walked towards the palace.