Whatever I feel strongly about...goodness, where to begin. Someone has to feel very strongly to write a book on one subject, you know.
[ hehe. he taps his fingers against the book, pulling a carefully pressed lily of the valley flower bookmark free of the pages and skimming through. ]
How about... a tale of a rebellion? [ is this the only one you've written out fully, sisi? yes but taair's eyes light up as he says it, a thrill. ] It's one of my very favorites.
You do have a point. My bad. [ they look at that bookmark curiously, but there's a nod anyway as they make themselves comfy against the counter while presenting him with a nice sangria. ]
[ excellent. taair opens his book fully, then, sliding his hands across the pages and turning it towards gabriel. he doesn't need to read this story - taair has it memorized - but he lets them see the illustrations as they go. ]
Very well. Then, Gabriel, let me regale you with a tale from my homeland. A true story in the history of Iria.
[ it becomes clear immediately that taair is a good storyteller. he follows the cadence of this story, its ups and downs, but more than that - the passion in his voice belays a deep, clear love from his subject. ]
In the year 985, my homeland - then known as the State of Iria - was under the control of the Papal States of Rodinia, as one of its many vassal states. In the archives of the Papal States, these years were golden and prosperous, and the Irians gathered the holy material of luxite and brought it to the capital of Lightgloam City, the Grand Sanctuary under the Radiance. In exchange, the Papal States protected Iria from her potential invaders, and kept the state prosperous and happy.
I won't bury the lede - as you can imagine, this is propaganda of the Papal States. In reality, luxite is not a holy material, but instead, an extremely potent, extremely valuable magical ore, utilized in many ways, but most often in powerful weaponry. The Papal States are one of the largest empires on our continent, and having just lost a large piece of their territory to a revolt not ten years before, they had every intention of using the luxite to subjugate the Irians and eventually restore their former glory.
The treatment of the Irians was abhorrent, and it was mitigated through the State of Iria's rulers, who were only puppets of the Papal State. The installed royal family taxed the poor citizens to pad the pockets of the Light of Sanctuary - ignoring their very duty to enforce law and order, so long as their tithes were paid.
No place was worse than those luxite mines. There, the Irians worked for trifles in dangerous, deadly conditions, to extract luxite, the very lifeblood of the country, so the Papal States could siphon it all away. Under their thumb, thousands of citizens perished - by mistreatment, by cruelty, by high crime, by starvation - but nothing changed.
Over the years of oppression and cruelty, the spirit of the people began to grow angrier, and angrier. And the miners, at the heart of it all, began to tell whispers of revolutions through the streets. The Papal States responded to angry protests and quelled riots, crushing opposition under their heels, but still, the miners persevered, preparing traps in their mines, gathering their weapons, and forming a plan to surge against the States and overthrow the yokes of oppression that had held them down for so long.
On a particularly hot summer's evening, the miners chose to make their stand. It makes quite the image in historical record, really. The well armed soldiers - clad in all white, carrying luxite weapons, supposedly blessed by the Radiant Themself - versus the miners. Dirty, starving, common, people, armed with pickaxes and homemade bombs, motivated by their want for freedom. For a better life. Their love for country, for each other, and for the beating heart of a nation that had never had a chance to spread its wings.
These miners and their leader, a brave man whose name has since been lost to time, surged against the soldiers of the Papal State within the luxite mines. And though it was a struggle to the very end, ultimately, the over-powered, over-armed Papal State soldiers were able to overcome the rebels, and captured them. As a show of strength, they chose to execute the leader in front of his men, to make an example of him.
When the leader was brought to the front, the captain of the Radiant Guard asked him if he was afraid, attempting to make a mockery of, or to perhaps to shame, him. After all, a man just moments from losing his life may just say many things to save it - and yet. The leader of the miner turned his head back towards his men, and at the point of a crossbow, he shouted, with all of his heart - "The only thing we have to fear is numbness and indifference!"
[ there's a brief pause for dramatic effect, letting the words of the lead miner resonate. ]
Barely a second passed between the man's words and the thunk of a crossbow bolt, landing in his chest. But this statement, this call to arms, incited the remaining Irians, who rushed the soldiers and-- instead of attacking them immediately, activated the traps they had laid.
The guard of the Papal States were only aware of a few of the properties of the luxite. They did not value the lives of the men who worked there, and rarely had to fully descend into the mines themselves, after all. Vague hints of danger were enough. Their weapons, powered by luxite themselves, had long been refined, so the guards were unaware of just how dangerous raw luxite can be. The traps set by the miners were made up of piles of valuable, precious luxite ore. And the reason that luxite ore is so dangerous is because with one false contact, one bit too much of heat - it will explode.
The miners, prepared to die for their cause had every intention of taking the Radiant Guard with them. With one well thrown firebomb, they set off a cacophonous explosion - destroying the mine in an explosion that rattled the very earth, cutting it off from the clutches of the Papal States, and killing themselves in the process.
As you might imagine, the Papal States attempted to pass this incident off as an accident, but it was too late. Information spread through the cities of Iria like wildfire. And while the miners' bloody sacrifice did not change everything, it became the scorch mark that ignited a revolution. The General of the King's Army, General Faris, turned on the orders of the State's monarchs and the Papal States, and under his military prowess, united the people's rebellion army with the well-trained, well-armed soldiers who no longer wished to follow the orders of the oppressors who held them. The tides, spurred by that explosion, turned.
Within six months, the cruel king and queen of the royal family were killed as the rebels swept the palace. The Papal States remaining guards were forced to flee the country and sign a peace treaty - and for the first time in her history, after hundreds of years of oppression, the Kingdom of Iria - an independent state, led by the former General, now King Faris - was born.
[ this is a lot. this is a lot, but gabriel's a good listener through and through even while they keep their hands busy making a drink for the first bit and even while their eyes are on the book looking at the illustrations and visualizing this. it's not a difficult story to follow, and the way taair tells it paints a very clear picture. they don't speak until he's finished, by which point they're leaning into the bar again while following along. ]
It's always classism in the end, isn't it? People who think they can treat those "lesser" than them poorly without consequences. I think I gotta agree with the leader that the only fear is numbness and indifference. Kinda like this saying, like... "if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything." I think more than anything the impressive part is that the miners didn't even care about living to see the impact. They just knew a change had to come, for a better future.
You... really like this one, don't you? [ this was so detailed and rehearsed that they're sure he's told it a hundred times. ]
[ taair listens, now - smiling, at if you'll stand for nothing, you fall for anything. ]
Precisely that, my dear friend. That phrase - it's something I try to keep close to my heart as well. I wish that I had even half as much courage as those miners did.
[ and... ah. the last question brings a twinkle to his eye - he turns his book back towards himself, warm as he lovingly turns the page. ]
That story is the story that started me on my journey to becoming a historian. Uncovering the truth of the Miner's Rebellion is one of my greatest achievements, and... even if it weren't, I think it would still be my favorite. It shows the strength of Iria's character - her passion, her ferocity, and her deep-seated desire for independence. It is a story that deserves to be told, so it is my honor to be able to tell it.
That makes two of us who. [ gabriel does not entirely consider themselves courageous in that aspect. but maybe some others. ]
I was wondering if that was the turning point. You know too much about it to have a passing interest. You tell it well. I think anybody would be honored to hear it from you, and to learn the history of Iria. History resembles change, right?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ hehe. he taps his fingers against the book, pulling a carefully pressed lily of the valley flower bookmark free of the pages and skimming through. ]
How about... a tale of a rebellion? [ is this the only one you've written out fully, sisi? yes but taair's eyes light up as he says it, a thrill. ] It's one of my very favorites.
no subject
I do love a good rebellion. Take it away.
no subject
Very well. Then, Gabriel, let me regale you with a tale from my homeland. A true story in the history of Iria.
[ it becomes clear immediately that taair is a good storyteller. he follows the cadence of this story, its ups and downs, but more than that - the passion in his voice belays a deep, clear love from his subject. ]
In the year 985, my homeland - then known as the State of Iria - was under the control of the Papal States of Rodinia, as one of its many vassal states. In the archives of the Papal States, these years were golden and prosperous, and the Irians gathered the holy material of luxite and brought it to the capital of Lightgloam City, the Grand Sanctuary under the Radiance. In exchange, the Papal States protected Iria from her potential invaders, and kept the state prosperous and happy.
[ he gestures on the page to this illustration. ]
I won't bury the lede - as you can imagine, this is propaganda of the Papal States. In reality, luxite is not a holy material, but instead, an extremely potent, extremely valuable magical ore, utilized in many ways, but most often in powerful weaponry. The Papal States are one of the largest empires on our continent, and having just lost a large piece of their territory to a revolt not ten years before, they had every intention of using the luxite to subjugate the Irians and eventually restore their former glory.
The treatment of the Irians was abhorrent, and it was mitigated through the State of Iria's rulers, who were only puppets of the Papal State. The installed royal family taxed the poor citizens to pad the pockets of the Light of Sanctuary - ignoring their very duty to enforce law and order, so long as their tithes were paid.
No place was worse than those luxite mines. There, the Irians worked for trifles in dangerous, deadly conditions, to extract luxite, the very lifeblood of the country, so the Papal States could siphon it all away. Under their thumb, thousands of citizens perished - by mistreatment, by cruelty, by high crime, by starvation - but nothing changed.
[ another picture here. ]
Over the years of oppression and cruelty, the spirit of the people began to grow angrier, and angrier. And the miners, at the heart of it all, began to tell whispers of revolutions through the streets. The Papal States responded to angry protests and quelled riots, crushing opposition under their heels, but still, the miners persevered, preparing traps in their mines, gathering their weapons, and forming a plan to surge against the States and overthrow the yokes of oppression that had held them down for so long.
On a particularly hot summer's evening, the miners chose to make their stand. It makes quite the image in historical record, really. The well armed soldiers - clad in all white, carrying luxite weapons, supposedly blessed by the Radiant Themself - versus the miners. Dirty, starving, common, people, armed with pickaxes and homemade bombs, motivated by their want for freedom. For a better life. Their love for country, for each other, and for the beating heart of a nation that had never had a chance to spread its wings.
These miners and their leader, a brave man whose name has since been lost to time, surged against the soldiers of the Papal State within the luxite mines. And though it was a struggle to the very end, ultimately, the over-powered, over-armed Papal State soldiers were able to overcome the rebels, and captured them. As a show of strength, they chose to execute the leader in front of his men, to make an example of him.
When the leader was brought to the front, the captain of the Radiant Guard asked him if he was afraid, attempting to make a mockery of, or to perhaps to shame, him. After all, a man just moments from losing his life may just say many things to save it - and yet. The leader of the miner turned his head back towards his men, and at the point of a crossbow, he shouted, with all of his heart - "The only thing we have to fear is numbness and indifference!"
[ there's a brief pause for dramatic effect, letting the words of the lead miner resonate. ]
Barely a second passed between the man's words and the thunk of a crossbow bolt, landing in his chest. But this statement, this call to arms, incited the remaining Irians, who rushed the soldiers and-- instead of attacking them immediately, activated the traps they had laid.
The guard of the Papal States were only aware of a few of the properties of the luxite. They did not value the lives of the men who worked there, and rarely had to fully descend into the mines themselves, after all. Vague hints of danger were enough. Their weapons, powered by luxite themselves, had long been refined, so the guards were unaware of just how dangerous raw luxite can be. The traps set by the miners were made up of piles of valuable, precious luxite ore. And the reason that luxite ore is so dangerous is because with one false contact, one bit too much of heat - it will explode.
The miners, prepared to die for their cause had every intention of taking the Radiant Guard with them. With one well thrown firebomb, they set off a cacophonous explosion - destroying the mine in an explosion that rattled the very earth, cutting it off from the clutches of the Papal States, and killing themselves in the process.
As you might imagine, the Papal States attempted to pass this incident off as an accident, but it was too late. Information spread through the cities of Iria like wildfire. And while the miners' bloody sacrifice did not change everything, it became the scorch mark that ignited a revolution. The General of the King's Army, General Faris, turned on the orders of the State's monarchs and the Papal States, and under his military prowess, united the people's rebellion army with the well-trained, well-armed soldiers who no longer wished to follow the orders of the oppressors who held them. The tides, spurred by that explosion, turned.
Within six months, the cruel king and queen of the royal family were killed as the rebels swept the palace. The Papal States remaining guards were forced to flee the country and sign a peace treaty - and for the first time in her history, after hundreds of years of oppression, the Kingdom of Iria - an independent state, led by the former General, now King Faris - was born.
[ the end!! ]
no subject
It's always classism in the end, isn't it? People who think they can treat those "lesser" than them poorly without consequences. I think I gotta agree with the leader that the only fear is numbness and indifference. Kinda like this saying, like... "if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything." I think more than anything the impressive part is that the miners didn't even care about living to see the impact. They just knew a change had to come, for a better future.
You... really like this one, don't you? [ this was so detailed and rehearsed that they're sure he's told it a hundred times. ]
no subject
Precisely that, my dear friend. That phrase - it's something I try to keep close to my heart as well. I wish that I had even half as much courage as those miners did.
[ and... ah. the last question brings a twinkle to his eye - he turns his book back towards himself, warm as he lovingly turns the page. ]
That story is the story that started me on my journey to becoming a historian. Uncovering the truth of the Miner's Rebellion is one of my greatest achievements, and... even if it weren't, I think it would still be my favorite. It shows the strength of Iria's character - her passion, her ferocity, and her deep-seated desire for independence. It is a story that deserves to be told, so it is my honor to be able to tell it.
no subject
I was wondering if that was the turning point. You know too much about it to have a passing interest. You tell it well. I think anybody would be honored to hear it from you, and to learn the history of Iria. History resembles change, right?