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The Fleet of the Tiger Eye
The Free State of Mentendon is a member of Virtudom ruled by the House of Lievelyn. However, despite practicing the Six Virtues, Mentendon believes in critical thinking and in seeking knowledge—its doctors are much more advanced than those in other countries in Virtudom because they’re allowed to study more, and it maintains diplomatic and trade relationships with the Empire of the Twelve Lakes and with Seiiki. It has a robust university system and maintains historical records on the East.
The Free State of Mentendon Quotes in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The The Priory of the Orange Tree quotes below are all either spoken by The Free State of Mentendon or refer to The Free State of Mentendon. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
‘[The Seiikinese] let us stay here so they can trade with us and absorb odds and ends of Mentish knowledge, and so we can give the Warlord at least a hazy impression of the other side of the Abyss, but we cannot go beyond Orisima or speak heresy to the Seiikinese.’
‘Heresy like the Six Virtues?’
‘Precisely. They also, understandably, suspect outsiders of carrying the Draconic plague—the red sickness, as they call it. If you had taken the trouble to do your research before you came here—’
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Chapter 9 Quotes
‘You want to broker a military alliance with the East,’ she murmured. ‘You want to call their wyrms…to help us deal with the awakenings.’ […] ‘Fool. Headstrong fool. When the queen discovers you wish to deal with wyrms—’
‘They are not wyrms! They are dragons, and they are gentle creatures. I have seen pictures of them, read books about them.’
‘Eastern books.’
‘Yes. Their dragons are one with air and water, not with fire. The East has been estranged from us for so long that we have forgotten the difference.’ When Ead only looked at her in disbelief, Truyde tried a different tack: ‘As a fellow outsider in this country, hear me. What if the Inysh are wrong, and the continuation of the House of Berethnet is not what keeps the Nameless One at bay?’
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Chapter 18 Quotes
‘Purumé, you must publish these findings. Think of how anatomy would change.’
‘I would,’ she said, with a weary smile, ‘but there is one problem, Niclays. Firecloud.’
‘Firecloud?’
‘A restricted substance. […] If a dragon breathes it in, it falls asleep for many days. The pirates can then sell its body parts.’
‘An evil practice,’ Purumé said.
Niclays shook his head. ‘What has that to do with blossom sleep?’
‘If the authorities believe my creation might be used for similar means, they will stop my research. They may even close down our practice.’
[…]
Niclays sighed. ‘Unless things have changed dramatically in the years I have been away, I doubt [Purumé’s findings could be published in Mentendon]. Pamphlets change hands in some circles, but they are not approved by the crown. Virtudom does not hold with heresy, or with the knowledge of heretics.’
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Chapter 69 Quotes
‘I have no soul to sell, honoured Miduchi. But I may yet earn one,’ Niclays said. Saint, he was hot. ‘You see, Jan did leave someone behind, someone who I still care for. Truyde utt Zeedeur, his granddaughter. I want to be what he was to her, and to do that, I must be better. I must be good. And this is the way.’
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The Free State of Mentendon Term Timeline in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The timeline below shows where the term The Free State of Mentendon appears in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...get him to Orisima, the island trading post where people from the Free State of Mentendon are allowed to live and conduct business.
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...Outside is a woman who knows Niclays’s name. She explains that she has a smuggled Ment with her and will return for him tomorrow. Shocked, Niclays refuses to house the man....
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Seiiki has been closed to outsiders, except for the Lacustrine and the Mentish, for centuries now as a protective measure against the Draconic plague. Newcomers—and any Seiikinese who...
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Chapter 2
...hears that the intruder had a key. Katryen informs Ead that Oscarde utt Zeedeur, the Mentish ambassador, arrives today. Ead’s job is to find his daughter, Lady Truyde, and make sure...
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Chapter 4
...the Presence Chamber with the other Ladies of the Privy Chamber, ready to receive the Mentish visitors. Twenty-eight-year-old Queen Sabran sits on her marble throne. Sabran looks exactly like all her...
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...heir—and she notes that this marriage would give Inys more access to Eastern jewels, as Mentendon trades with Seiiki. Margret suggests the real problem with Aubrecht is that he was once...
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Chapter 5
...and Sulyard is not worthy of her. He threatens to write to Prince Leovart of Mentendon to expose the affair, but Sulyard says Leovart died recently. Prince Aubrecht now rules Mentendon.
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Chapter 6
...the Inysh version of the story, describing the Nameless One’s birth from the Dreadmount in Mentendon a thousand years ago. He flew to Lasia, spreading a plague, and he demanded daily...
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Chapter 9
...skepticism. Truyde insists that the Inysh are too willing to believe what they’re told. In Mentendon, they value education and proof.
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Chapter 14
Prince Aubrecht prepares to leave Mentendon, and the palace in Inys prepares for his arrival. As nobles arrive for the festivities,...
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Chapter 17
...Aubrecht’s marriage to Sabran will cause Inys to be more accepting of converts like Ead (Mentendon is more welcoming). Trying to find a topic that’s less fraught, Ead encourages Aleidine to...
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Chapter 18
...but he’s also anxious—the men still have his letter from the Governor. Just then, in Mentish, a voice calls Niclays’s name. It’s Eizaru Moyaka, a surgeon Niclays trained alongside Eizaru’s daughter....
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...be used for nefarious purposes. Niclays doesn’t think Purumé would be able to publish in Mentendon, either—“Virtudom does not hold with […] the knowledge of heretics.”
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...at court. Eizaru assures Niclays that this isn’t a big deal—the Warlord often speaks to Mentish settlers. And until he goes to court, Niclays can enjoy Ginura and be a tourist.
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Chapter 24
...with Aubrecht. She plays cards with her ladies and worries about the expense of defending Mentendon from wyrms. Ead, for her part, is both frustrated (the Inysh know nothing useful about...
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Chapter 25
...hope that maybe he can live the rest of his life here. Soon after, a Mentish ship docks, and Niclays receives two letters. One is from Aubrecht, explaining that Aubrecht can’t...
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Chapter 30
...herself in her chamber to mourn, while Aubrecht’s body waits to be taken back to Mentendon. A few days after Aubrecht’s death, Margret catches Ead in a hallway and reveals that...
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Chapter 35
...his meeting with the Golden Empress approaches Niclays with supper to tell Niclays, in perfect Mentish, that he’s now the Golden Empress’s master surgeon. Introducing herself as Laya Yidagé, she explains...
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Chapter 36
...came, or the stillborn baby. Sabran is alive, but she now has an infection. A Mentish expert has declared that Sabran won’t bear another child. For now, only Dr. Bourn, the...
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Chapter 42
...how he loved knowledge, going off on a tangent about how Virtudom doesn’t understand how Ments can follow the Six Virtues while studying so much. Just then, the Golden Empress, Padar...
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Chapter 61
...reach the deck and pretend like they’re pirates. Tané hears some pirates talking about a Ment, whom she’s certain is Niclays Roos. She desperately wants to kill him, but she instead...
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Chapter 73
Niclays is now in Brygstad, Mentendon’s capital city. He spent time recovering in Inys and is now here to advise Princess...
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