V. On the History of the Western Plains (excerpt)
Having thus examined the earliest and formative events in the history of the Western Plains, and having detailed their current state, I now turn to the issue of the separated state of the Plains villages, which are currently spread across the vast expanse, sometimes hundreds of blocks apart, if not thousands. Indeed, even among the closest of villages, such as is the case with settlements such as Eura and Lorault, which are barely a hundred blocks apart, little to no direct contact is made other than through trade. The closest approximation of non-trade related contact is in market towns, where Wandering Traders and villagers very rarely share stories or cultural works, such as paintings, in the gatherings of Market Hane.
Saracid pauses. "Do you understand all this?" he asks.
Alexius's brow is furrowed. "I think I do," he replies. He doesn't understand some of the words, and the language is hard to follow, but he gets the gist of it. He thinks he knows where the author is going with this. "Read, please."
Ramaf pulls out a map and tries to show Alexius the places mentioned, but he shrugs him away. Eura, Lorault, Market Hane: they are just names to him now. Concepts floating around in the imaginary plane. "Maybe later, Ramaf," he mutters. Saracid shrugs and continues.
Even to the most simple-minded reader, it is evident that the current state of affairs is wholly unsafe and unsustainable. Since the latest census measures undertaken in some of the greater villages show that their average populations fluctuate at around twenty to thirty heads per town, we can see immediately that villages are, for the most part, totally unable to defend themselves by themselves, so to speak. If it were not for the golems, those great guardians sent to protect us by Father Earth, our villages would be overrun by the night-beasts, and every town on the Plain would be totally annihilated and zombified. And it is evident to me from my travels along the South Coast that these invasions are all too common, for in those regions, entire villages lay utterly derelict and abandoned, left for the cobwebs and the zombies.
"How may of these zombie villages are there?" Alexius asks suddenly.
Ramaf looks up impatiently—he is also engrossed in Saracid's book now, enchanted by the old librarian's voice. "Not that many—just listen, yes?"
"Not exactly," Saracid says, frowning. "The Wandering Traders and the other villages say that there have been more village invasions recently. Hava Yal told me that some of the bigger villages in the north have died yesterday. Deresh and Aranua..."
Ramaf waves his hand dismissively. "You know how Hava Yal is. Just keep reading, Saracid, don't scare Alexius."
Alexius says nothing, only listens. Saracid picks up the tome and continues to read.
Furthermore, isolated villages are easy pickings for Pillagers, who still send patrols out from their dark homeland. And although it is true that the age of the great pillages has gone by, it is true also that, if the Pillager warlords were to one day stop fighting each other over their trivial quarrels (as I hear from villages around that area), and begin to redirect their attention to the villages of the Plain, the effects would be disastrous.
It is evident to me that the current state of affairs cannot continue, for none of the villages of the Plains, even the great ones, can escape this as they presently stand.
Then what is to be done? I observe that the crisis of the villagers is defense; for our greatest problem, as I have defined above, is that we cannot adequately defend ourselves from zombies, skeletons, and other creatures of the night; we also cannot adequately defend ourselves from the Pillagers, their counterparts of the day. The current aim, indeed the highest aim, should be collective self-defense, that is, defending ourselves from these threats. And defense can only be accomplished when the villages cooperate with each other and communicate effectively; some go as far as to say that the villages should unite themselves into one hypothetical Greater Village.
Should this be the case, this Greater Village would need three things for its success. Firstly, it would need a proper and adequate method of defending itself through whatever means necessary. Secondly, it would need a great population, for we have seen that a mere twenty villagers cannot hold out against a horde of zombies or an army of Pillagers, such as in the sieges of the past.
Thirdly, it would need a strong system of leadership, such as a council or a tribune, or indeed a single person, who could effectively unite these populations. And indeed, we have seen imitations of such leaders in the past, with the great generals Arahaman and Crer Yusault. But it is evident to me that the most difficult aspect of this hypothetical union of villages would not be defending it or conquering from it, but rather governing it. For the greatest truth of nature is that it is easier to conquer than it is to govern...
Saracid stops reading and looks out the window. The sun is setting across the Mer and the light has turned orange. "We'll continue tomorrow," he says apologetically to Alexius. "You should go home now, before night comes."
Alexius nods vaguely, thanks Ramaf and Saracid for their time, and walks to his house. He hears the golems clanking around, the farmers hastening to their homes, Spayer the Armorer shutting the door to his shop. "Ete sal, Alexius," he calls out. This land has no words for "good night". Instead, they say: "be safe".
Alexius comes to his house, shuts his door carefully to make sure the monsters don't get in. The torches flicker around the village and the golems lumber about. Far away the sun sets and takes its oranges and reds with it. The stars begin to shine. The first growls are heard from the forest.
It is easier to conquer than it is to govern, he thinks. He falls into bed and stares at the ceiling. He cannot get the names Caesar and Napoleon out of his head. He glances at the sword on the table beside him, glinting in the torchlight.
He decides to build a wall.