Conflict

Conflict teaches us something about ourselves.
I reflected on that train of thought as I stared at the ruined, war-torn walls of Brindle.
War, or large-scale conflict, destroys lives. It tears them apart, further apart than one might be able to mend in a lifetime of trying.
But it's not content with just killing. Those who survive it are left just as damaged, if not more, than those who died, shell-shocked by the loss of their comrades, changed, twisted into people who are hardly recognizable, completely and utterly different from whom they were before.
I wouldn't consider myself a violent person, but after the war, after watching my friends, my fellow soldiers, get crushed by siege weaponry, or cut down by enemy blades or archers, I would pay any amount of Gold, Kill anyone, to have prevented it from breaking out.
The war changed me as well.
It was inevitable, I guess.
When the cult of the Red Hand began its invasion of Brindle and its surrounding lands, we tried to negotiate, to reach some kind of agreement, so they wouldn't slaughter our people and burn our villages to the ground, but they ignored our feeble attempts at Parley, and continued with their massacre.
Conflict should be prevented at all cost.
Both inside the city, and out.
That was the lesson they drove into us from birth.
That's how we survive, they said.
Don't steal, Don't Argue, and overall, don't cause trouble.
So we tried. We tried to talk, to bargain our way out of trouble,
but like a rabid animal, they just kept coming, killing and burning all that was in there path.
And the only way to stop a rabid animal is to put it down.
And we tried that.
We went against our Beliefs, against what we were taught from the cradle.
When they attacked us, we fought back, and that in itself changed us.
Gone were the happy, smiling families, even after the war.
Fear had been instilled upon them, and only time would see it banished.
But the memory of near-Annihilation is hard to forget.
I talked about how we won the war, but I didn't mention how close it was, and how many were lost among the way.
When the Red Hand arrived at our gates with their siege weaponry and their innumerable amount of warrior, we despaired. What hope did we have against that amount of enemies?
They were better equipped; more experienced, and had the ability to fight without holding back.

We were raised not to engage in any argument, Brawl, or, dare I say it again, Conflict, were forced to fight for our very existence.
Naturally, we were at a disadvantage.
The war raged for few weeks, and in that time, we lost many people.
Hundreds of women and children, killed because someone made a wrong decision,
Thousands of soldiers, dead on the field.
That changes a man, it really does.
We won this war because of five unlikely people.
They were unremarkable travelers, simply passing through, when the Cult of the Red Hand struck, sealing off any escape.
When the fighting grew heavy, they stepped forward and offered assistance.
They cast aside their cloaks, revealing armor and weapons, and the warriors they were.
When the walls were breached, they were there to meet the charge of foes head on, and they beat them back.
Then the end came. Under the cover of darkness, the Leader and high priest of the Red Hand,
Azarr kul, infiltrated the city, bypassing the city guards.
He confronted the strangers, who had turned back his forces, and they fearlessly challenged him to combat, and he foolishly agreed.
By Sunrise, Azarr Kul laid dead on Brindles Battlements, for his entire army to see, and they just gave up. Their moral at its lowest because of their fanatical leader's death, they surrendered and were dealt with appropriately.
I guess what I got out of this,
is that some people are made for Conflict. They seek it out and do what they can to resolve it, or they fuel it. they make it better, or they make it worse.
Others are not. They, like the people of Brindle, avoid conflict like the plague, and structure their entire lives around preventing it. they do all they can to Live their lives in harmony and balance, and are the most susceptible to the revelations that Conflict can bring upon people.
But one thing I've learned overall, is that no matter what kind of person you are,
Conflict will teach you things about yourself, things you didn't know. Things you didn't want to know. And above all,
Conflict should be avoided at all costs,
No matter the price.

-Unknown Soldier,
Day 27, harvest month.
Year 1435