Unity

[Saffron]

The tidal wave of flames that all but engulfed the city of Kierkgard is beginning to calm.  While the air still smell of thick smoke, one could say, the worst of the fire is over.  Here and there, the sound of buildings can be heard collapsing, sending yet more blackened ashes into the air.  Here, in the safety of the Field of Freca, about half of the two thousand people who lived in Kierkgard gather, under the direction of Tet’Nak and Carac.

Here, people continue to tend to the wounded, and people still wander around aimlessly, in shock.  Women hold crying children in their arms, cradling them gently, trying to soothe them.

A bulk of the people have regained their senses and are beginning to stand up, and ask questions.

“What happened?”

“I heard that orcs attacked.”

“That’s not what I saw.”

“There were looters.”

“Who attacked?”

[Tet'Nak]

 Tet'Nak cannot help but get in on the rumors. To one person, he shrugs, saying, "I heard the Guardians fled like cowards!" He walks away, hoping not to get involved in who might have started the rumor, though it is certainly truth in his eyes. The old man watches the new mob, which is just a mixture of the rabble that made the attack and the rabble that lives inside the mountain town that now burns. He has no way to know how they will react. They are angry, that much is for sure, but can they be convinced the way they need to be convinced. Tet'Nak looks around, attempting to explore the quickest way to flee if needed. He has been nearly killed by a mob once before, he does not need to have it happen again.

[Carac]

Face streaked with ash and clothing still stained with blood from the fighting before the gates, Carac watches the people as well. He listens to words being spoken and knows it is only a matter of time before he or Tet'Nak are recognized.

He spots the older man in the crowd and nods towards a crack in the southwest corner of the field. With his back towards this crack he steps on to the base of Freca's statue and calls out to the crowd.

"People of Kierkgard! You have questions, well I can give you answers."

[Saffron]

The rumor that Tet’Nak starts immediately spreads like the fire that burned their homes.  Yes.  Where are the Guardians?  Why are they not here?  Did we not pay dearly so that we can live safe under their protection?  

Then all eyes turn to the young man who steps forward.  Since everyone is covered in soot, it is difficult to tell who is and is not a resident of this city.  But blood?  . 

Suddenly, there is silence as the residents of Kierkgard begin to notice that some men are armed and dressed while others wear their nightshirts and wear nothing on their feet.

“Did you burn down our homes?”  A plaintive female voice, shaking with emotion, asks the first question.

[Tet'Nak]

With a slow step toward the nearest clear path, Tet'Nak watches as the mob begins to ask questions. He wonders what Carac will say, and, he decides to let him speak. The old man nods slowly, to what, it is unclear. "Damn Guardians," he spits out, acting as if he had nothing to do with the attack on the city, or the fire that blazes still. He will be damned if he says anything about setting the first fire to a buildings just because he felt like insighting panic in everyone around them. "The Guardians," he says to a man next to him, "I saw them throw fire at the attackers, tried to burn them out, maybe?"

[Carac]

"No," Carac states flatly. "I did not burn down your homes! For it was not I that barred honest and hard working men and women of Dunland from the markets of Kierkgard Dun! There was a time when men would travel from all of Dunland and be welcomed in the Holy City, but now they are barred because they are not known to those at the gates? These men and women pay their tribute to their Chieftain's the same as you, but they are barred because they will not pay another tribute to the Guardians?!

He bats a lock of hair from his eyes and continues. "Nor was it I that horded the goods of Kierkgard's market in the tunnels beneath the old temple, while their own kin outside the walls in the Old Village were starving!"

He points to a woman with two children clinging to her side. "If your children were starving and your neighbor merely sat and watched while gorging himself on food, what would you do?"

He doesn't wait for an answer. "No, I did not burn down your homes, because I am not the one who brought this wrath of Kiern down upon you! Everytime the city has allowed itself to become corrupt, the mad priest, Nireryn, the False Dove Kaile...Kiern has poured his wrath down on this city with fire.

"As always the blame lies again on those who decieved you and led you astray. It is the Guardians who burned your homes."

[Saffron]

“Do not speak ill of the Holy Warriors!” An old woman cries out.  “Such insolence to those who gave their lives to protect us!”

There is a loud sound as someone smashes a vase full of potpourri to the ground.

 “Shut up, Old Woman.  The youngun tells the truth!  Some of them Guardians weren’t so holy that they couldn’t resist taking a coin or two from the merchants.  Yeah, that’s right.   I’ve seen it.  You’ve seen it!  I know you’ve all seen it!”

The crowd looks away murmuring, while the indignant resident continues.  “I was startin’ to get tired of their ways.  Sure, some of them were good people but I ask you.  Have you even seen an orc lately?  NO!”

Another man rises to his feet.  “They took my huntin’ bow and gave me a scrub brush.  Now all I do is scrub them Kiern-damned cobblestones all day.  I did it because they told me that was the way it must be.  The new way.  Well piss on me grave if I’m tired of it!”

[Tet'Nak]

Tet'Nak sighs a breath of relief. He tears off his cloak and walks, in a roundabout way, toward Carac. He moves up next to the man after a few moments and waves a hand. "Orc? There are no orcs in Dunland! I have traveled the hills! There are none! These Ceanni and Guardians have stolen your hearts with their lies! They have kept you cooped up here to take your wealth, your pride, and your very lives!" He shakes his head, "What is this other than slavery!?! When is the last time they have risen up and raided our hated neighbors! When? They do not need the spoils of war, they have you to steal from!”

[Carac]

Carac says, "Yes!" Carac exclaims agreeing with Tet'Nak. "The blame does not end with the Guardians. The Great Clans are bloated and corrupt as well, why did the Ceanni sit back and allow their people to be fleeced by the Guardians? I tell you why, because they do not care what happens to you. They care only about your tribute and nothing more. How many of you have ever even seen the Ceann of your clan? How can he care for you and know what is best for you when he does not even know you?"

He swings around on the base of the statue to face another part of the crowd. "And you ask, 'Who burnt our homes?', but I ask you, Were they really your homes? If you took sick and were unable to work and therefore unable to pay the tribute required to Ceanni and the Guardian's would they not remove you and replace you with someone who could contribute more to their wealth?

"There was a time when tribute was just that, tribute. It was given not out of obligation or fear of losing one's livelihood it was given out of respect. The Ceanni then knew all those in his clan and cared for them in ways our leaders of today have forgotten. Today you, your homes, all your belongings are nothing more than property to be used as some unknown Ceann wishes.

"So, even though Kiern has unleashed his wrath upon the Holy City, he also gives us the oppurtunity to show the Ceanni, the Guardians and all others that we are tired of being property!""

[Saffron]

Great laughter erupts from another side of the Field.  It starts soft and slow, a deep, low, belly laughter that resonates from the depth of his gut until he is reeling back, mouth wide open laughing.

“It took a fire to wake us up from our slumber.  We have all been asleep for years now, denying who we are.  I now do not care who started the fire.”  The soot covered grizzled man looks over the city that is now bereft of any tall buildings.  “Losing everything has set me free.” 

He smiles towards Carac and Tet’Nak.  “I remember who I used to be, now.  Yes.  I remember the days when we paid tribute to our clan out of respect.  When we fought for what was ours.  I remember answering the call of the Chieftain.  I remember killing our enemy instead of hiding behind walls, in fear.  Yes.   I remember the days when the only thing we feared were our wives’ tongue lashing.”

[Tet'Nak]

With a nod, Tet'Nak points toward the fire. "Let this place be cleansed by flame! Let your hearts be cleansed by that same fire that burns." He takes a deep breath and continues, "Leave this place to the ash. Let only those that ignore the call of freedom linger in the ash and soot of this place of oppression! No longer is this place holy, but unholy! A place where only tribute and slavery are made. LET US LEAVE THIS PLACE BEHIND!"

[Carac]

Carac swirls around points towards the man who steps forward. "YES!" he exclaims. He pauses then as Tet'Nak speaks.

He is right we must leave this place behind. We must continue what was begun here, we must cast aside the Cheiftains of the great clans. Show them that we are not Stag, Wulf, or Bear, but Dunlendings! And we will not be robbed of that which we have sweated and toiled over! Together as Dunlendings we will take back our lives and our freedom.

"The blood of those who oppose us will be the path that leads us to the true cause of all our misery, all our suffering. The Forgoil and we shall take back not only Dunland, but our homeland!"

[Saffron]

For one glorious moment, they are: united in their newfound freedom, they rise up as one – as Dunlendings --  to cheer their liberators to vow vengeance to their enemy to spit upon this unholy place to celebrate their freedom.

But will such unity last?