A Miner's Musing

[richky]

Radsul shouldered his pick wearily as he trudged up Miner’s Row to the apartments. It had been a good day of digging, but the evening’s announcement weighed heavily on his mind and seemed to add to the weight of his pick and the materials in his bag. At the apartment door he paused and lowered his pick to dig out the customary few dappers to tip the doorwarden before going on in.

Inside, Radsul dropped pick and bag at the door and stripped off his sweat-soaked digging gear, tossing the leathers into a corner to be dealt with later. What was it about the announcement that bothered him so much? Radsul sank down on his capryni hide rug to consider. The announcement had come from one claiming to be an envoy from the kami. It seemed that he had the support of the emperor, so Radsul supposed that he must accept that claim. Unfortunately, that made the rest of the announcement even more disturbing.

The karavan, according to the envoy, had opened a way to the ancient lands in order to strip them of their resources to build temples. Radsul could understand that this would not sit well with the kami; it was the response that the envoy reported that filled him with forboding. It seemed that the kami were powerless to prevent the rape of the ancient lands. They were unable to punish those that dug too fast and too hard as they did here. Not only that, but the envoy asked, in the name of the kami, that instead of working to help prevent this crime against the land, all were to join in, to try to out-rape the rapers!

Radsul shrugged and stood up. He could see no sense in it. Was the rumoured approach of Jena causing the kami to lose power, or did them never have any power in the ancient lands? Was this reaction, encouraging their people to participate in stripping the land of resources, a fear response from the kami, or was there something else happening?

Days later, Radsul’s questions weren’t any closer to being answered. He had continued his normal routine and avoided the madness of the ancient lands, but it could not be ignored. Talk and tension filled the streets. Tonight though, the talk had a different tone. Radsul paused to listen to a group gathered at Southgate. It was news from Fairhaven, something about hominists and a Tryker named Frydeswinde, and maybe an alternative to the madness. As he continued in through the gate, Radsul made a mental note to stop in at the guild hall after his bath. Kostika would know the truth of the rumour.

Strangely, Radsul didn’t feel as tired tonight, though the digging today had been hard. There was a bit of a spring to his step, and he whistled as he turned into Miner’s Row.

[richky]

** A hunched figure in white shuffles his way from the apartments in Miner’s Row to Cheapside Market. After a word and a nod from a merchant, he drags an empty packer box to an open space against the wall and climbs on top. **

“Fellow homins, draw near and listen! Though I have been inflicted with the bouncing disease and can no longer move easily, I still come out here to speak words you must hear. The editors of the Atys Chronicles are part of the conspiracy and won’t print my opinion, so I must resort to the tried and true method of a packer box in the corner of Cheapside Market.”

“Conspiracy, yes, you heard me correctly. All this temple building business is a Karavan conspiracy! Jena is coming to Atys with her cohorts, and obviously she does not want to find strong, united homins when she gets here. Do you honestly believe that the Kami would want us to strip the land of its resources and build great, ugly monuments in the desert? No! Rogue Kamis controlled by the Karavan have subverted our great leaders and pushed them into this squabble over temple building. Homins weaken themselves by fighting each other in hope of some vaguely promised reward while Jena waits and laughs! But I say that there is no reward possible that will compensate for the loss of homin friends and the weakening of hominkind. The only ones that win are those who seek to control homins, and these promised rewards will be just another way to control us. Mark my words, the day will come when all but the most blind will rue the day they turned their blades against their friends!”

“Stop the madness now before it is too late! Leave these Temples to the Slavery of Hominkind to crumble back into desert and forest and free yourselves of the chains you have loaded yourselves with. Seek the true Kami that teach the preservation of Atys and not its destruction. Turn away from the deceptions of Jena! Open your eyes and see that every homin we lose weakens us all”

** Seemingly at the end of his strength, Radsul stumbles down off of the box and leans against the wall for a moment before shuffling off in the direction of Miner’s Row. With a muttered curse after the retreating figure, the merchant pushes through the few puzzled spectators to retrieve his packer box. **