"We Are One Island"

The motto of the Unity was taken from the message sent by the first conduit vessel to travel between islands. The phrase "We Are One Island" was inscribed on a wooden plaque carried from the northernmost island to the southernmost and back within one day, a feat impossible under traditional sail.

Purpose

The exchange of fresh fruit and rare flowers were, by themselves, sufficient proof that the conduit boat had made a successful journey.  Walemin used the plaque as a means to draw the public's attention to the technological achievement, and promulgate her vision of a community of islands united in advancing human mastery of natural forces.  The choice of medium was deliberate--in practical terms, wood was sturdy enough to survive without needing to take special precautions, and it could be recovered easily if accidentally dropped in the water; in symbolic terms, splitting the plaque represented the separation of islands, and rejoining the pieces represented the conduits joining the islands into a single entity.  Which, conveniently enough, Walemin would lead.

Historical Details

Background

The ship conduit system, intended to connect the Middle Isles and speed up trade traffic between them, had been planned for nearly thirty years. Construction on the first conduit had begun in 1993 Vol, with the goal of completing the passage between Mraydor and Galtern before the end of 1999 Vol. Walemin believed the conduits would have as significant an impact on the islands as geothermal energy did, and planned to use the event to mark the beginning of a new calendar era.

History

At sunrise on the first day of the 2000th year of the Volcanic Era, Walemin stood at Mraydor's governmental dock next to the ship that was about to take the first voyage between islands on a conduit laid across open sea. She held a thin sheet of unmarked wood between her hands. In front of the crowd gathered for the new year's festivities, she snapped the sheet in half over the edge of a tall stand. Walemin placed one of the halves on the stand, with its jagged edge facing up. The other half she set on top of a wooden box containing freshly-picked flowers and passed both to the skipper of the conduit boat, who carried them aboard.  The crew cast off the lines and raised sail out of the harbor; then, at the loading point of the conduit, the sail and mast retracted and the boat sped out of sight.
By evening the new year celebration was winding down, but the crowds stayed.  Just before sunset the boat appeared--"as if out of the sky", some described it--and returned to the same dock.  The skipper disembarked, carrying the same box and the same piece of wood, and presented them to Walemin.  The box held several firm dropfruits, which grew only on Galtern and (as anyone who had been there knew) lost their texture and shape within a day of being picked.  The wood was no longer blank--the governor of Galtern had written on it "We are one island."  Walemin held the two pieces and fitted them back together, the broken ends matching perfectly.  On the lower half she wrote "1st day - 1st year - Era of Unity".  She placed the now-complete plaque on the stand, declaring "You have witnessed today the birth of a new era!"

Legacy

The plaque remained on display on Mraydor for the next forty years.  As the Unity's emblem, it was seen everywhere in the cluster, a constant reminder of the Uniter's authority and power.

Medium

Wood

Authoring Date

2000 Vol

Location

Mraydor

Authors

• Walemin