The world is the Citizen Republic, and its only language is Citizen. Over the course of a century the Citizen Republic conquered its provinces, near and far, triggering massive waves of immigration and dividing the people of the world into two categories: citizens and outlanders. Beaten by the military might of the Republic, outlanders in the provinces gave up their independence to become colonies. The Republic built roads, hospitals, and schools in its new territories, forcing all outlanders to learn citizen, wiping out all other languages for good. Now the outlander legends of old and their telling have all but died out under the weight of the citizen tongue. But not everyone is willing to forget - for there is magic in the outlander tongues, and word-mages willing to learn to wield them in their struggle to end the tyranny of the Citizen Republic and to free the languages of the world.
14 parts