FireMaiden
Grade A Bitch
"Can't you feel it?" An old man cries to the crowd, calloused hands clutching an old tome, his eyes wild and his beard matted. Torn robes soaked by rain, he alone stands before a few listening ears, pity and annoyance mixed on the faces among the crowd. "Astoria is out of balance, you can feel it in the air, a sour scent to chill our bones. We must listen! It is a call by our god, the one who will abandon us should we ignore it!" His cries fell on mostly deaf ears, citizens of all races more interested in their daily lives than the ramblings of a mad man. "We humans have been here two centuries. We have killed, pillaged, taken advantage of this land and it's angry, and we're trapped! Trapped in a cycle perpetuated by our leaders! The nobility who claim all is right with the world, King Sebastian is a grieving man who needs to give up his throne." As his spiel continued, the crowd's interest grew, knights wearing the king's colors approaching the crate the old man stood upon.
"The loss of the princess was tragic, but it should give no man to victimize as the king has!" He bellowed. "Our taxes have risen, we are left starving, groveling on our knees, and begging for scraps! And do the inhumans' help us? No! They too turn a blind eye to what he has done! To what he will do!" The man insisted, taking a step back as the knights grew closer, his rag wrapped feet touching the edge of his makeshift podium. "Our Queen needs to step up! We need someone who will look upon the faces of their people and take pity! Take pity on the sick and weak. Pity on the children and their mothers. A leader who would not send our children to their dooms! A monarch that will wright the wrongs of the past!" His wild eyes turned to the knights who now stood before him. "Here! The dogs of his majesty attempting to intimidate the truth into silence! I will not stop, I will no yield until you all see-" The man cried out a metallic clunk hit the box, causing him to tumble back into the mud. A few, dry chuckles fall from the royal soldiers as two moved on either side of the old man. Stooping down, they grabbed his arms and hoisted him up, turning to drag him off toward a steel cage on the back of a large cart. "He'll lead us to war!" The man shouted, fighting against the armored goons. "King Sebastian will be the death of us all, heed my warning!"
As he was dragged off, the few citizens who had been paying attention quickly moved on, the man's frantic rambling being forgotten as soon as the man was out of sight. But the man's words held some truth. Something is wrong with Astoria, something evil is brewing just under the surface of blissful ignorance of the citizen of the human empire. They can see it, it's right in front of their eyes, but they chalk it up to a grieving king, and are content to wait for their lives to improve. But there are some who see past this. They understand that something more is happening, or at the very least, it won't get better. So the question is, what are you willing to do for Astoria?
Last edited:
