AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

Last edited by Jes on Sun, Mar 14 2010, 8:29 AM, edited 1 time in total.

The following script can be found on pamphlets entitled Simplicity I, which seem to have been left in small stacks around the major Surface cities, within libraries and placed near centers of activity with small "Take One" signs placed next to them. It's quite possible that the small, hooded individual responsible for placing them there was seen doing so. The individual's intent by placing the pamphlets is uncertain.

I.

Thunder rolls; lightning strikes. The storm ravages the countryside, tearing into my family's fields. We'll be out of a lot of money this time. The storm is terrible. I can feel the house shudder under the force of the howling winds. It's not the strongest of foundations, so I worry that it won't be able to take the beating offered by the storm. But this happens every year. Our house still stands. I suppose I am just paranoid. Regardless, I pray Talos doesn't feel the need to take our home anytime soon. This is the only thing my family has. I haven't married yet, so I'm still here with my parents, tending to these fields.

I wish I could be like the Cordorian nobility. I wish my hands were smooth and soft, instead of dirty and calloused. I wish my hair shined and smelled of the many floral soaps and shampoos available in the city, instead of sporting this mess of dirt that smells of rain and fish. I can't imagine I'll ever find a suitor who will want me. I'm plain. I don't have anything to offer, except a piece of land that can't even survive the rainy season.

Mum says I shouldn't be so negative, since she hadn't been any better off and she had managed to find Father. I wonder if she knows how lucky she is. There are plenty of people who don't ever get to marry and have their own family. It's a delicate situation we're in. Cordor is primarily run by Waukeen's servants, despite what the social structure claims. With all the adventurers in the area, we don't really get a chance to partake in grand sales or auctions like we used to. Inflation meant to adjust for the gold that adventurers bring into the market cripples countless small, poor farms and fishing families each year. How are we supposed to pay for our supplies when our sources of income provide only a fraction of the cost? Adventurers don't need tomatoes and corn; the kinds of things they do need, we couldn't possibly produce. These Mythal crystals or weapons and armor enchanted with the kind of magic that we simple people wouldn't even be able to comprehend? What is a farmer to do?

The lightning is getting closer. As I look out the window, I can see a trail of smoke through the rain. The Codmans live that way. I hope they're all right. Their youngest daughter came down with an illness last week. They can't afford a cleric and the Salandran Temple is too far away, not to mention incredibly dangerous to get to. So poor little Enmy can only fight through it herself with what little we can find out here for herbs.

That reminds me. It's my turn to go out toward the coast to look for said herbs. The nibblers will be there, so I can only hope that I don't have to go all the way there. Mum will need help tonight. The Lakeford family is coming over for dinner. I think my parents are trying to put me together with their son, Roland. I can understand why they would suggest it, as their family is slightly better off than ours. But there are two problems with their intentions. First, he has no interest in me. Second, he is a pompous, self-centered wretch that I would sooner strangle than marry. The man cannot see beyond his own petty desires and carnal needs. I realize the intent behind the Temple of Love was not for it to become a brothel, but it did open a new avenue amongst women of few morals. It's easy to claim one thing and do something else. I saw him once. I know where he goes and what he does. I can only take pleasure from the fact that he is well aware that I had found him out. I never have to worry about being deceived by him. I wonder how many of the women he sees are aware of just how little they mean to him. I imagine that his willingness to part with his gold is incentive enough for them to ignore the truth.

Well, I suppose I should make ready for my trip toward the coast. Let us hope that I return and can continue to write this.

There is nothing further in the pamphlet.

*Vaelmith looked at the pamphlet curiously, quirking his eyebrow and taking a copy to reference against any future writings*

*one dwarf passess by seeing the wall of text and shrugs too lazy to read it*

Xaviera nods from time to time as she reads the pamphlet. On reaching the penultimate paragraph, however, she frowns deeply and sets out to inquire as to the identity of the individual who has been distributing them. That night she has a chat with any of South Cordor's working girls who happen to show up in the Temple of Love, reminding them of her agreement with the Council and requesting that they neither conduct nor arrange business within.

Much like the first, a second pamphlet is distributed amongst the same channels. This time, it is entitled Simplicity II.

II.

As you can see, I survived the nibblers. A mixed blessing, I would say. Upon my return from the Coast, I found that the Lakefords had come early. I passed the herbs I had found to my mother and offered to help her prepare the meal as promised, but it seems that Madam Lakeford is as friendly to the notion of a match between her son and me as my parents are. She immediately insisted that I instead go out back and help Roland with the firewood and that she would help my mother. Obviously, she didn't mean for me to help cut the firewood. Roland is a strong and fit young man. Handsome... I know what her intent was in sending me out there while he was at work with the hatchet. Had I been anyone else, it may have worked.

Despite my own feelings, I humored them and went outside to find Roland. To my slight surprise, he was actually doing as he had been told. He attempted small talk, but it didn't hold. I had no desire to speak with him and I don't think that will change anytime soon. I was busy ignoring him when he felt the need to ask me why I am so cold with him. The only thing I could manage was a glare before I went back inside. Dinner was similarly silent and I think our parents finally saw the tension between us. Unfortunately, I think that only encourages them.

I have some coin saved. It's raining again today, so I'll wait for tomorrow, but I want to go to Cordor and buy something nice for myself. Perhaps a dress. I haven't had anything nice since before the flood came and destroyed most of our belongings. I know material things are not really all that important in life when it comes down to it, but can you blame a woman for wanting to feel like a woman? This constant need to don little better than rags wears on me. I want to know what it feels like to wear silk.

Granted, I don't have enough coin to purchase a silk dress, but it's good to have a goal, right? Aside from marrying and raising a family, there's very little expected of me. I might as well give myself an expectation, a dream. This mortal life is too short to spend miserable.

There's someone at the door.

I decided to grab this book before we left so I could write on the way. I'm on a cart right now. The oxen are being rushed, so it's hard to write this legibly. The visitor I mentioned before came from the Codmans' home. Little Enmy is in trouble. Her sickness has taken a sudden turn for the worse. The runner told us that the Codmans are requesting our presence to help in any way that we can. My mother and I have the most experience with herbs and medicines in this part of the frontier, so it's only natural that we've been summoned. We left without the runner, since he had to get to a few more houses, so our cart is less protected than I would like. Kobolds are like rats in this area. I only hope they choose to leave us be. I think I saw a scout a few minutes ago, so I'm very nervous. I'll ask the cart driver if we can go any faster.

Retrieving a copy, Vaelmith pondered to himself and rubbed his chin.

Considering his past experiences as a writer and in a bardic academy, he pondered to himself trying to gauge the intent of the writings.

Xiladei gets his hands on a copy of each, take a partial interest.

[Major Surface Cities] Pamphlets

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