Vrae Tala clause

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"You asked for my life, sir. This is the best I can give you." ― Kel Khiruev

The Vrae Tala clause is a last-resort method for a Kel general to thwart formation instinct. It is described in Raven Stratagem.

Description

Named after a doomed Kel general whose campaign failed because formation instinct constrained her to follow impossible orders, the Vrae Tala clause allows Kel general officers to suspend formation instinct regarding those orders if they believe their situation is untenable otherwise. To prevent abuse, the clause was designed to be fatal. Death is slow to allow final orders to be made and to be carried out, but officers who invoke Vrae Tala gradually sicken afterwards; symptoms include pervasive cold, a gnawing feeling in the bones, loss of strength, weight, and focus, especially when alone, derealization, fatigue, and collapse, ultimately leading to death within one hundred days after the clause was invoked.

On the twenty-fifth day after an officer invokes Vrae Tala, it is customary to place a quarter-candle by their seat at high table. Other candles mark later stages of the countdown.

Low officers are often unaware of the clause. High officers do not discuss it much, but they have a saying: every general is a clock.

History

When Shuos Jedao took over the Swanknot swarm, General Kel Khiruev considered resorting to Vrae Tala to kill him, but decided against it because she did not wish to commit suicide for Kel Command.

By the time Hexarch Kel Tsoro revoked Jedao's commission, Khiruev had come to believe that Jedao was a general worth serving, and she invoked Vrae Tala to hold the swarm for him. She had to explain it to him, since the clause's introduction postdated his death.

On the twenty-fifth day, Commander Kel Janaia noticed the lack of a quarter-candle at high table, and deduced that Jedao had not known about the clause when Khiruev invoked it and was unaware of the importance of the candles. She asked Khiruev to tell him and let him follow the custom correctly.

The clause's effects gradually increased over the next few weeks. By the time High General Kel Brezan retook the swarm, Khiruev had lost weight and the white streak in her hair had widened. She collapsed on the seventy-ninth day and was removed to Medical.

After the calendrical spike which made formation instinct voluntary, Khiruev, weak and bored with watching dramas from her bed in Medical, agreed to a birdform servitor's offer to bring her tools and gadgets to pass the time even though her high general had told her to rest. This small invocation of choice broke the hold that Vrae Tala had imposed through her formation instinct. Though her hands still shook, she realized after working on a broken watch for a while that her thoughts were clearer and she was no longer cold.