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The state of the creative arts in Londeac and Tamlaght, the two nations that most concern the history of Princess Bronwyn's first two decades, could scarcely be more different. In Londeac, and especially in its capital, Toth, is the full flowering of an intellectual and artistic renaissance. Art, science, philosophy and literature are not only making seven-league strides, but have the full backing and encouragement of the state. In Tamlaght, on the other hand, art scarcely exists. This is due in large part to the influence of the Church of Musrum and in only slightly lesser part to an inbred xenophobia that is assiduous in shunning any ideas that are not indigenous--and Tamlaght is strikingly impoverished in that regard. Painting and other graphic arts are practiced and tolerated only so far as they support the Church--indeed, would probably not be tolerated at all if it were not for the general illiteracy of the people, leaving the illustrative qualities of art the only media the Church has for its propaganda. Philosophy exists only as it relates to theology, sculpture is limited to depictions of saints and national heroes, painting to icons and church decorations, poetry and music to hymns and glorification of Musrum. In fairness, it must not be thought that art is entirely dead in Tamlaght. Even centuries of the Church's effort to control every intellectual pursuit has not been entirely sufficient to stifle all creativity. Still, isolated as its writers and artists are from the rest of the world, Tamlaghtan arts in both technique and content fall far behind those of Londeac. The fine arts tend toward landscapes, still lifes, religious and historic subjects and maudlin genre paintings while literature is for the most part represented solely by lurid "ten-pfennig pulps", children's fantasies, romantic novels, picture magazines and comic books. The nude in galleries and in print is virtually unknown, though a few artists have been able to depict the undraped figure under the context of myth or religion.

Londeac, on the other hand, encourages and supports all of the arts without discrimination or restriction. Its cafes are crowded and noisy with debating philosophers, poets and essayists, its theaters and music halls bright, its galleries filled with paintings and sculpture imaginative, controversial and ofttimes shocking, and its bookstores packed with lurid novels fraught with great significance and wicked ideas. Moreover, Londeac actively supports the sciences, its great Academy of Sciences being responsible for many of the theoretical and practical advances--from the electric light to the telephonophotoscope--that made life in Londeac so pleasant and were enjoyed in every nation on the planet, with the exception of Tamlaght, of course. This liberal, cosmopolitan atmosphere has extended naturally to every aspect of Londeacan culture, from popular music to theater to fashions in clothing.

It hardly need be said that Londeac, and Toth in particular, was a revelation to Princess Bronwyn, who only knew of its wonders by reputation. After the initial jolt to her puritan upbringing--which was not insignificant--she took to the new freedom in much the same way someone lost for weeks in the desert takes to a gin and tonic.