Children of the Earth

The People's Discontent

The People's Discontent

Shaman Finn went out every afternoon to meet with people in an effort to help ease some of the strain caused by the curse over the land. No matter how tired she was from working her dead 'garden', she still came out here daily. The unwashed masses drove her nearly to collapse each time, but she kept coming back.

In a way, Talen could admire her dedication. She was stupid, but dedicated.

Talen had tried and failed to get an audience with the king that morning. He couldn't find him and it wasn't until a servant told him that their illustrious king spent the morning chopping vegetables or firewood or any other such nonsense that he realized that the king was even more barbaric than he had initially feared. When Talen went to investigate, hoping he had been informed wrong, he was horrified to find the king helping in the healers' tent.

How far could a man fall? It was one thing for your kingdom to die. It was something else entirely to allow your pride to die with it. Talen wouldn't be caught dead chopping firewood in a filthy apron no matter how many lives might be saved from it.

So instead of trying to bother the king, he had followed the lady shaman down into town. He found himself incredibly curious about her.

And how she came by that little creature in her pocket.

But she didn't do anything at all interesting.

She went into the town. She plopped down on a dry fountain rim, then began giving away energy that she didn't have to spare to anyone that came begging for it. For the life of him, Talen couldn't understand why shaman were to devoted to everyone but themselves. Charity was cute and altruism was admirable, but how far was one expected to take it?

Talen and Finn's power came from the same place. It did the same thing. However Talen was considerably more powerful, able to manipulate energies she couldn't. And no one saw him giving it away for free as though he were a sideshow performer dancing for tips. He was smarter and more practical than that.

These people didn't even care about her. It didn't take long for Talen to realize that and he was only observing from the far end of the square.

People begged for help. They thanked her. She almost fell over. Then the next person would rush forward, hoping to get her attention before she collapsed. She was nothing to these people. They were driven to desperation by their own problems.

Desperation...

Hmm...

Talen felt a smile grow. Desperation he could use.

As he was standing there, watching the shaman work, he spotted Counselor Holith coming down from the palace. His son wasn't with him today. After what Talen had seen between the men, he wasn't surprised. However, as Holith was shambling across the square, Rael started walking towards him from one of the side streets. Probably from the direction of their home.

Talen watched as the son caught up with the father. He was too far to hear what they were saying to each other, but he was in a good position to see their facial expressions.

Holith looked happy at first. Then the aggravated expression on Rael's face made that smile fade. Holith started to say something, Rael cut him off.

They started arguing. It was soft, but it was heated. Rael was far more invested in the topic than Holith appeared to be. The old man looked tired, almost annoyed at the discussion. Such that it was. It appeared that Rael was just snapping more than discussing.

Rael's movements caught Talen's attention. Jerky and angry. But tired. He was wasting away from the lack of food and little water he was given. His clothes were old, and the lank and baggy way they hung on his frame told Talen that he had once been a man of strong stature. He had fallen quite far due to the famine.