Brainy was cleaning Papa Smurf's library. Just like thousands time before. Brooming the floor, dusting off beakers, test tubes, washing the lab dishes.
One wax-sealed book that was not previous times on the shelf when he was cleaning the lab draw his attention. Papa Smurf was not around and Brainy took the opportunity. Watching on both sides, to be sure noone's watching him, he carefully removed the wax seal and opened it.
It was written in strange letters. He leafed through the book. After tens of such pages, he reached the page with the normal Smurf letters. Top side was in strange letters, the bottom side had transliterated lines in normal Smurf letters. Kind of Smurf Rosetta stone.
It contained a line of text about the masses of Smurf bones in secret graves in caves here and nearby and a scarce report about large-scale murders of Smurfs three centuries ago.
Papa Smurf came in and saw Brainy above that book, looking at the content.
"Leave it immediately!" said Papa Smurf.
Brainy, blushing, leaning his head downwards, said "I already read something. Something about some ... Rampage. What is that, Papa Smurf?"
Papa Smurf sighed and said "That day had to come once. I have to tell You, once this genie is out. There's no sense to hide this anymore. That was three centuries ago. "
"Grandpa Smurf was like me now, and I was a Smurfling back then." Papa Smurf sat and continued, watching downwards at the floor in front of him, relying his elbows on his knees.
"Do you know why there's no Smurf Villages in our Cursed Forest for hundreds of miles away?" said Papa Smurf, turning his head towards Brainy.
Half an hour later that day...
After the Brainy's discovery of the book, the word spread throughout the Smurf Village. Bunch of curious Smurfs ran from all sides asked Papa Smurf "What was that, Papa Smurf".
"All right my Smurfs", said Papa Smurf. "Calm down, I will tell you."
Papa Smurf started talking. Grandpa Smurf entered in the room and sat down by Papa Smurf, as nothing happened, watching Papa Smurf and other Smurfs, just nodding with his head as Papa Smurf narrated. As if he already knew everything.
''It would be the worst situation to turn this into the cycle of vengeance'' said Papa Smurf.
''Until now, we were able to hide this and now it can't be hidden anymore. But we must see that it does not lead to new instability.'' said Grandpa Smurf.
"Smurfs must not commit murder. Smurfs must be good and happy. If we perpetrate the evil deed, that's a one-way-road. Smurfs than transform into the evil elves and it is nigh-on-impossible to restore the Smurfs back to normal. We are good specie, but we easily get agitated, our temper, once it breaches the inhibitions, strongly gets out of hand. If we find out all the details about this evil deed, we might become vindictive, and turn violent, perpetrate murders. We are like angels, and once we became fallen, we became fallen angels, like devils. That is not our way. 'Humans and Smurfs will all be better off if we adopt the old Smurf practice and bury the hatchet forever''.
The events three centuries ago were as following.
Tensions have been growing for ages in the Cursed Country between humans and Smurfs, which were long held together by strong leadership of the grandgrandfather of the Good King's. There was a wrong belief that Smurfs cause the famine, deseases and bad luck, as well as the myths that the Smurfs keep rich deposits of gold, silver and gems, but the true guilt was on the mice and the global warming. The myth about the gold, silver and gems were like many medieval myths about the forest dwarves. In the good times many did not take these beliefs and myths seriously, and found that more like a fairy-tale. On the contrary, the human tribe of The Hellevils were bigots and they fully believed in that.
After the years long draughts and later years long floods, the Hellevils took the rule in the Coursed Country by force, and called on the holy war against the Smurfs. Hellevils' propaganda and their pretorians brought heavy times for Smurfs. The Smurfs were originally persecuted because of the Hellevils' belief. The enemity erupted throughout the Cursed Country, there was so many volunteers and Smurfs could not hide for long. At that time the Cursed Forest had many Smurf Villages. After Smurfland was invaded by the Hellevils, the country was torn by guerrilla warfare. The blinded, hungry and furious Hellevils were drived to commit acts of brutality against Smurfs. Hellevils' occupation forces allied with a local Evil Sorcerers movement, created a puppet allie that made atrocities against the Smurfs. The Smurfs and Evil Sorcerers have already fought against each other, and Smurfs now had to fight against the Hellevils invaders. The Smurfs were not versed for fighting and the use of weapons, and they not knew to kill. Why should they? They knew only to put to sleep.
An estimated total of 100,000 Smurfs were killed, both in combat and in atrocities and reprisals against Smurfs. The fighting was one-party show. Not a single dead Hellevil. In the Smurf oral memory, that fighting was remembered as The Rampage. After the rampage parties found that there was no gold in the Smurf Villages, and that Smurfs do not hide the gold in some hidden piles in the mines or caves, the Hellevil rampage turned into the sadistic bloodbath party. In the Smufs history books there are testimonials that most of the Hellevils' victims were adult male Smurfs. In addition to male Smurfs, also the Smurfettes, Smurflings and baby Smurfs were killed.
The evidence of the killings of thousands of Smurfs by Hellevils , emerging within weeks of the inauguration of new King in the Cursed Kingdom, reopened Papa's old wounds.
Some Smurfs even now fear the effect of the atrocities now being brought into the open. The evidence of the Hellevils atrocities lied in masses of Smurf bones found at the bottom of caves, trenches, holes and escarpments in Cursed Forest. But no Smurf knew that. They only knew that that part was forbidden for them by Smurf patriarchs and they were obedient to that order.
It took months for the hiding Smurfs that survived to took some courage and reestablish the village after the Rampage.
"We were collecting the hiding Smurfs in the forest for months later. They were in the hollow trees, crown of the trees, bushes, caves, reed-patches, moss. Many died from malnutrition or consuming unripe or uncooked forest fruit. We buried them on the site.
Most of them were apatic. Some have gone insane from the terrifying scenes they saw. We heard them, since they were shouting and singing unintelligible words. Many were haunted with flashbacks and vomited, so we found many of them by the traces of vomit and stink, since they lost the sense for hygiene and not cleaning themselves after urinating and excrementing. No wiping. We had to tie them, so they won't hurt themselves. We made them seat on the couch and fed them. For the rest of their lives. They were like animals. Over the time the forgot to speak at all. They were uttering sounds like animals, puffing, roaring and mumbling like animals. When was time to wash them, we were taking them out, pouring the buckets of water on them and rubbing them with the giant brush, still keeping them tied. Once we made the mistake and untied a Smurf. He jumped madly with a furious look in his eyes watchin us around him, jaws closed. He scared us. We stepped back. I told to fellow Smurfs to move away, to make him passage so he can leave the circle, since he has been feeling endangered. He ran towards the woods. We never saw him again. Months later we discovered on a meadow a crunched Smurf skeleton in a bear's excrement, uncovered by strong rain. Smurfs feared of humans for centuries ever since. Smurf patriarchs feared to talk about the Rampage.
They wanted for their Smurfs to be happy.
Now...
After three centuries of frightened silence, statements by witnesses, Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf, have come forward.
"Many times I saw a Hellevil driving a peasant cart of wounded Smurfs in the last half of that winter", said Papa Smurf.
"It continued even after the rampage campaign ended".
Later that week Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf took the courage and led the group of dozen Smurfs to The Site. They disclosed the site of a mass grave in the three caves connected by steep escarpment near the Cursedham Downs.
"I was hiding in a nightingale's nest on the top the tree. A rainy day with dark grey clouds. A cold breeze was blowing. My poor fellow Smurfs, starved after weeks of poor nutrition, were disrobed on the site, freezing and shuddering on a cold breeze, hugging their own bodies trying to warm themselves. Beside them was a heap of Smurf trousers. The sparrows later told me that Hellevils used Smurfs cloth for the socks and bags. I watched Hellevils soldiers lining the Smurfs up, one by one, bring them to the hole in the roof of the cave, shoot them in the back of the head and let their bodies fall into the pile at the bottom." Papa Smurf sighed.
"The murderers alternated after a dozen shots, so their muskets would not overheat. Then the murderers used the hammers and sickles. Sometimes certain Smurfs survived the execution and shouted and cried. The executor then simply kicked the limp Smurf corpse with the deformed head or still living heavily injured Smurf in the cave abyss."
Smurfs that were killed with the musket and hammer at least had no much to suffer, except the last moments of sobbing, anxious awaiting of inevitable cruel death, watching his fellow Smurfs. The Smurfs killed with the sickle had terrible end. Many were not instantly dead. Poor Smurfs were screaming in agony, crying for help. Killing lasted whole day. The executors grew tired.
Some of them in the meantime got conscience awakened and they realized what evil they did, started crying, vomiting and shouting insanely. Many never turned normal.
The remaining executors were too tired to kill, so they tied tightly the Smurfs with the linen rope in the groups of ten, the executing the first, and then watching the cruel mechanism work, with final end of chain of Smurfs falling to the cave bottom.
The air was stinking, with the smell of the Smurfblood, Smurfbrains and other Smurfs' organs and body liquids. So much dead bodies attracted the flies and wasps. Four hours later, the next cart with the big cauldron arrived. It was full of quick lime. The Hellevil soldier ordered the serfs to take the cauldron. They bent it slightly and poured the quick lime on the heap of blue meat down.
Still living Smurfs screamed in pain as the quick lime reacted with their bodies. The screams and the active lime woke up some unconscious Smurfs that were still alive. The lime covered the Smurfs, and only the waving gesticulating hands above the surfice and some heads popped out trying to breath. One cauldron was not enough so later that day and another cart with the cauldron came, this time with the slaked lime, since the Hellevils ran out of the quick lime.
"Smurf skulls with holes at the back, bullet fragments, crutches and wrist and arm bones bound with rope are all clearly visible in the remains", said Papa Smurf to his Smurfs. "I'll show you".
Smurfs used spelunkers' gear to descend the cave's sheer limestone walls to reach the bones, about 370 feet below the surface. "The depth of the pile of bones is still unknown to me", he said. ''As far as I know, they came every day for three weeks and from time to time thereafter.'', said Grandpa Smurf, a patriarch who said that he saw tied Smurfs being transported in manure bags to the cave in carts while he was tilling a plot. ''I heard more screaming than shooting, and there was a lot of shooting. 'I could hear the voices of Smurfs and Smurflings'' he said. ''Night and day they came. While we were hiding in the tree crowns we heard the screams at night.''
The Site, which was a taboo for the ordinary Smurfs for centuries, was not the only killing site. The Cursedham Downs is just one of several known sites where Hellevils settled accounts with Smurfs.
Since Papa Smurf told his fellow Smurfs about the Cursedham Downs and first Smurf expedition visited The Site, the news of the Cursedham Downs cave broke out by Reporter Smurf, and Smurfs started asking more and more questions. Grandpa Smurf went into the secret room of his house, closed for other Smurfs except the Papa Smurf. He cast the spell on the wall and the door appeared. He the door and descended by the stairs, that were unused for decades. The group of Smurfs followed him. The stairs were four floors deep. They got into the basement.
There was a library with the sealed books on the shelves. Grandpa Smurf opened one book and started reading. Smurfs stood with appaling faces, widely opened mouths as he read them centuries old reports about mass graves and massacre sites. Smurf historians have estimated that the Hellevils killed from 70,000 to 100,000 Smurfs just for fun within weeks of the rampage's end.
Such estimates are not exaggerations, said Papa Smurf, who narrowly escaped one of the massacres.
Most of the victims were Smurfs who fled from the looted Smurf Villages or were trying to flee at the end of the rampage. They were caught by the peasants, stored in the bags with the manure and brought to Hellevil King's soldiers. On the basis of the limited evidence now available, Cursedham Downs cave contains 2,000 to 3,500 Smurfs, most of whom were wounded Smurfs who were defending the village from the trees, but were eventually caught went they descended. He discounted some reports that the caves and the escarpment might contain the remains of as many as 40,000 Smurfs. ''Nobody knows for sure,'' Papa Smurf said, because the Hellevils set the guards near the sites, so no Smurf could climb out and that no one can help poor Smurfs. ''Papa Smurf, we must excavate it to find out the real answer'' said Brainy. Handy and Hefty later that week that announced that they would gather a expedition, including friendly human experts, to investigate the cave and Smurfs' overall casualties.
While accounts of Hellevil atrocities have been written on the parchments in the Smurf Village, the issue was made public in Smurfettes' Village only after the disclosure of the Cursedham Downs grave last week.
The good human King came later, beat the Hellevils, trialed them and severely punished them. The edges of the Cursed Forest have transformed into a alley of gallows with Hellevils hanging. Hundreds of them. The good King set a new policy toward the elf beings, changed the guardians and Smurfs no longer feared repercussions, but the Smurfs still remained nonconfidential toward the humans until today's day. The caves and crimes still remained the secret. It wasn't in the interests of the King's regime to expose the caves, but because the victims were Smurfs and the Hellevil's adherents would then no longer be able to pin the blame for the famine and diseases on the Smurfs as a whole. Justice was satisfied.''
In the post-rampage era, the Good King that liberated the country, paid his debt to the Smurfs. Long ago they saved his life, so he reorganized the country, leaving the Smurfs to nominally exercise a wide degree of autonomy. A series of human witnesses have come forward to report seeing large-scale murders, painting a grisly picture of mass murder by the Hellevils led by Dark King.
The revelations are certain to produce an emotional re-evaluation of the Hellevils among humans, of Dark King and of the his rule in the Cursed Country he dominated for 35 years until his death in a battle. Nevertheless, the Smurfs were safe only until his death, and in the meantime the Good King kept most real authority in its hands.
To underpin his legitimacy, the Good King fostered an image of himself and his party as humane, heroic liberators of all of Cursed Country's people. ''When I heard that Hellevils carried out the killings, it made my head spin because it went against everything I was taught in school'' said human resident of the Cursedham Downs who said he learned of the killings years ago but kept silent because he feared the Hellevils' soldiers. "The liars Hellevils told us that they fought for our side and for our people. From the neighbors I know the truth," said the serf. "It never became clear to me why they did this to good Smurfs who were forced to fight for survival.''
Both ordinary Smurfs and Smurf patriarchs have expressed concern that the disclosure of the mass graves might worsen the already-tense relations within Cursed Country, especially between Smurfs and sorcerers.
Today in a clearing in Threesix Ridge, in a mountain region about 55 miles south of Cursed Forest, where Evil Sorcerers killed many Smurfs, Grandpa Smurf, Papa Smurf and 300 Smurfs took part in a requiem and reconciliation ceremony. The Evil Sorcerers mocked these commemorations as anti-human.
Two nearby escarpments contain the remains of as many as 16,000 Smurfs. Later the Smurfs conducted similar rites in the mountains.