Jacob patiently observed the interactions between the party and the villagers. Whether it was a blessing or a curse, the people the rest of the party marked bound them together. A relationship between demons and vessels, serfs and lords.
Yet not being one of this world, Jacob was internally rebuked by his opinions developed in a more civilized "time." He was an isolationist when it came to foreign policy, so that dictated is unwillingness to involve himself in the native peoples' affairs at first. Yet now it was biology which stayed his hand. Ecology reminded him of island giantism - predators at the top of the food chain amassing in size and existing uncontested for their position in their self-perimetered realm. The brands taught him of a different story though, a much more sinister one than with Komodo dragons in Indonesia.
Looking to Kong with reservation, Jacob hesitantly took a few steps towards the women and bowed. "Do forgive the lack of manners in my companions, ladies. Unlike the rest of them, I did not spread my curse - if that's what we have with these demons - to you. I did not want to cause you pain - which is why I did not draw my sword against you." He looks at each of them, giving them long gazes with his blue eyes. "Look at me. Do I look like I come from this land? I don't. We are from someplace else - a different world. A world with no gods or demons. So please see this is tough for us to understand. But as they are bound to protect you now - and must do so with their lives - they cannot do it well if they don't know how things work in this realm."
Jacob looks with pleading eyes towards the woman who'd named the patrons (or matron in Kong's case). "You seem wise in the ways of the divine beings. Please help me understand this plight so you can be better protected. You said you don't recognize my marking?" Jake exposes the sigil on his armor, giving her a chance to respond. "Not knowing the power I am connected to makes it difficult to fulfill what obligation I might have. I have only two questions for you; please hear them out."
"Barathiel appeared in a vision I had. He seemed upset. Could you tell me more about who he is and why he would feel that way?"
"Last, I would simply like to know about the person who put all the other markings on you before. It seems those who came with me were not the first to do so."
The old woman blinks at Jacob, and mutters under her breath, but finally gives a jerky nod. "Fine fine, just nae claim no be demons. 'Course ye be demons, ye say it ye'self, ye came not from here, but from where there be no gods an demons. If there be only demons there, ye not consider that demons." She shakes her head as if that should be obvious to any demon. "Me know symbol, seen before. Jest no member what demon lord it be for." She shrugs and walks stiffly over to a nearby rock and sits down on it.
She's quiet for a bit, and then she speaks again, both eyes closed, as if trying to remember things from long ago. "Barathiel be God of Sun, Warrior God, Wrecker of Vengeance. He be tall with muscles an great sword of vengeance. Celistine be the Goddess of Death, Ice Crone and Punisher. She be ancient wit white hair and skin, like pale corpse, weelding bloody mancatcher. Korbran be God of Birth, Healer and Farmer's Weal. He be hale and hearty, with a full beard and wielding a mallet." Her speach changes slightly, as if speaking the words from the memory of someone else speaking them. "In Olden Days, de world be run by demons, and people worship demons as gods. Den de true gods come an wage war on de demons. Dey wall de demons up behind de Demonwall. De poor people who worship de demons den told not worship demons. De people dat worship de demons anyway be Apostate. De children of Apostate be Apostate. When Apostate die, Celistine eat dere souls, so dey no be reborn to be Apostate again. Or she give soul to odder gods to eat, so no Apostate again. Demonspawn, de priests or servants of de demons that bear dere mark, dey be tortured for tousand generations by Celistine for sins before de be et." She finally opens her eyes again. "No be demons from wall dat me told of for sin me da's da's da's da was alive. He be priest of Demon den, so me be Apostate. Me Da might hae know ye Demonmark, remember old names. But me don't. Only dose." She seems to deflate a bit. "De mark, dat be de god's mark. Be on me from birth. Be sign me Apostate."
Neri sighed as Jacob launched into a lie about knowing it would cause them harm, but as promised, kept his mouth shut, and didn't correct him. He hadn't expected him to follow Sterling's way of thinking, that it was better to control a situation, and all those involved with a lie, than to trust them with the truth. But he was still much more friendly, and wasn't trying to use Neri's Mark to enslave the old woman.
"Thank you for that." he nods to the old woman. "Who did your ancestor worship? And are there any other places we could find Apostates to free, hopefully without killing anyone?"
He looked to the others, "Four generations is, what, between 50 and a hundred years? It means that Nazi zombie we spotted probably came with the last batch. That means folks with basic ideas of cars, electricity, radio waves and the like. But we haven't seen any truly modern technology at all.. so either they didn't get far... Or they didn't see the point in remaking the old world."
Sterling takes out a quill and paper and starts writing calculations. Actually a generation is about twenty years, and given her probable age, it would be closer to one hundred and fifty years. Sterling corrects Neri absentmindedly.
"Sorry. I started being active when I was thirteen. I figured that without hope, and with extreme boredom, they might start that early or earlier here... and without contraception, that'd lower the age of a 'generation'. So I was going with around sixty years for the generations, and not a day over forty for the priest's scion." Neri grinned as he said the last bit. Names would make this so much easier, Neri thought.
The time frame, would put it at a corresponding date of post Industrial revolution, at or near the US Civil war. Interesting.
Sterling uses his statistical knowledge to expand on what the old woman had said.
Assuming the population growth for the apostates is -72.23 percent…the camp probably started with around 11 Thousand.
They would probably want the standing army to be culled from the closest available resources.
The generational lock on resources suggests the need for a rapid ramp up and isolation. Assuming logistics prevented effective travel past a few hundred miles in a reasonable time frame.
The non apostate growth rate should mirror post industrial rates of earth. Since technological growth appear retarded, that rate should be straight lined.
Assuming at max 30% were designated apostate… then that would mean a population of about 1.5 million within 500 miles today.
The Probable distribution for rural vs city, means at least 3 large cities within 500 miles. Barring unknowns
Recreating technology is not easy. Jou need to make ze tools to make ze tools to make ze tools. Most people get lost in zere very quickly. Lead me to a junkyard and I can make an amasing array of defices, but I haff never pulled my own copper wire.
Kong shrugs, considering the possibilities.
Vith magic afailable, who vould bozer vith ze difficult climb to recreating technology, efen if zey had ze ability?
I get the feeling that technology froze shortly after the 'god' war. Especially for the apostate community. It may be a side effect of magic, or an oppressive church. Probably both. This is effectively the dark ages for this planet.
"With magic, you could directly make the things you need. That means that you could create more permanent, less taxing solutions. Like, if I had a spell to let me talk to you wherever you were, I'd say that'd be inferior to a cell phone, in that we'd still have to carry junk around to make it work, -and- we'd have to maintain the spell. It just stands to reason that making a helicopter could be of use in ways a flying broomstick would not. At the very least, guns would have a degree of merit... Though I wouldn't want to be the guy responsible for introducing that particular invention."
Jes, but...are jou assuming it vould come about naturally on a vorld zat had nefer seen zese defices, or zat some few people from our vorld zat made it here vould remake a sousand years of technology in a lifetime?
According to my research in the mansion, They came from our world. As far as technology...It's a matter of infrastructure. They had pulled wire in the village, which had to use industrial techniques. The set up in the tannery used mass production principles.
The clocks they were producing, are another indication they are not strangers to machinery mechanics. But I have a feeling it's been locked at that level for some time.
The reason for our technological advances back home are four fold.
Ready availability of knowledge...Printing press, mass produced books.
Education, adding to the pile of knowledge already accumulated.
Population growth, even with a restrictive bell curve, a growing population would have a larger and larger pool of smarter and smarter people.
Lastly, A free market system, that allows for the incentive to create better and better technologies.
These principles would be true for all humans, wherever they are found.
Clocks?
Kong looks genuinely puzzled.
Yeah, clocks
"I'm With you, up until the free market part. A lot of great things were made without the need of getting rich as an incentive. I mean, there are the benefits of being famous, and of making people happy, or just to make their own lives easier. The first guy to build a ramp, or shape a wheel probably didn't stop to think about how rich he'd be. But... the ability for ideas to be financed, I'll give you." Neri paused for a moment. "Why am I even bothering to discuss the merits of economic plans like they're an important thing? It's like everything I believe in, you believe the opposite. Never mind, carry on." He frowned at that thought.
I nefer zaw any clocks. Did zey make zem? Tanneries are older than dirt. Clocks...are different.
Yeah, they were producing them in a workshop
A vorkshop? Und you felt ziss was...unimportant?
Kong scowls as he realizes he's going to explore everything personally, or interrogate anyone who does.
The bard hunched down next to the old lady on the rock. "It sounds unfair you are being punished for your ancestors' actions. I am truly sorry for that - and for the pain we have caused you. But I will try to make it up for you." He holds his hand up in the stereotypical Native American fashion for a greeting. "I'm Jacob. What's your name?"
I felt it was vital to inform my opinions. However, my opinions don't always seem to have merit with this group. You're welcome to come along when I investigate, and I will share my deductions with you...If you'd like
For instance based on the data the old woman provided. There should be at least 3 major cities within a 500 mile radius
"What?" Neri looked to Sterling, "How could you -possibly- figure that out with how little we know?"
Surprisingly...Sterling ignores Neri
Kong rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
Nobody's opinions 'always' haff merit. Ze fact zat zere are indications zat ziss society is more zan ztuck at a medieval level is not chust opinion. I vould assume jou know ze difference.
Now That I know you're interested. I'll make an effort to keep you up to date. Frankly, you really haven't been putting out a curiosity vibe until now.
Neri just shook his head at Sterling, a look of pity on his face. The guy spends a month in a house, while everyone else is trying to figure out the situation, then says everyone else Isn't interested in finding answers. He'd let Kong speak for himself on the topic, as Sterling was more and more becoming a waste of Neri's breath.
"Alright. Back up, we skipped the important part. You found out about the people before us and didn't think to mention it? When we didn't even know there -were- people for sure? Why not? For that matter -how-? No wonder it's like you have all the answers. You're keeping them to yourself. I will -never- understand what goes on in that head of yours."
Kong opens his mouth as if to say something, but nothing comes out, and then he turns to go see how Jacob is doing.
Sterling says offhandedly to Neri. Morons never understand anything
Nature calls and Sterling heads off to heed it.
"Good point. Thank you for explaining the gap between you and understanding anything that hasn't been a game to you. Case in point." he motions to Kong as he walks away.
"Kong. I'm gonna need some sort of Lee-way on this bickering thing. This is just... outrageous."
Neri moved over to join Luna, given that the 'spawn' apparently didn't have anything more to say to him. Granted, it seemed reasonable, since most everyone else never really had much to say, either. "Sorry, I was trying to find out more about what's going on. What'd I miss?"
Shortly after darkfall, and things calm down. Sterling moves close to the woman and child. He speaks quietly to them.
I come from a world that is very like this one. 7 Billion human beings, who struggle, suffer, and strive to live their lives. We have religion too. It's dizzying how many different ones there are. For most, the story of how demons came to be is the same.
The one true God created holy angels to serve him. His first and most loved was Lucifer, the light bearer. Eventually, Lucifer believes he knows better than God. A war in heaven ensues as Lucifer tries to wrestle away God's throne. Of course it is impossible to beat God, and Lucifer is thrown out of Heaven, along with the rebellious angels, into a pit. Lucifer becomes known as Satan. The pit becomes known as hell. And the angels become known as demons.
It is a story of good and evil. Or at least that is how it is taught. I would argue there is a different interpretation. God so loved Lucifer because he had given him free will, otherwise how could he rebel. God so loved Lucifer, that he gave him a kingdom to rule instead of killing him. God so loves man, because we remind him of Lucifer so much.
You were born into bondage. But you have free will.
Good night.
Luna repeated herself to Neri about how they couldn't bring the towns people along. "If we take them with us it just puts more work on us when we can barely stay alive, where are we going to get food for them and how can we protect them when wide life nearly kills us?"
"Well... ideally, we can take them behind the wall. They'll be completely safe there. We already know the place provides adequate amounts of food... and I feel like we really need to regroup, anyway. I'm sure Kong will be able to restock on potions, things like that, as well. As long as we can convince people to turn around for it. It's really the only option we have."
At some point Harry will come back with a deer to be butchered. He can handle this himself if need be, but he figures the camp followers are probably pretty handy at it, and it is to feed them anyway.
Between the deer that Harry brings back, the food Luna appropriated in town, and the food the townsfolk brought with them, the entire group eats a very good meal. The townsfolk are excellent cooks, better by far than Harry. Although a lot of that might be having the correct supplies and spices. It's certainly the best meal they've had since they left the inn back in the clearing.
The woman and child don't respond to Sterling, she looks pleadingly at the old woman, but she just shakes her head in a jerky motion. She shoo's the woman toward the fire and the deer that Harry brought back, and she reluctantly goes over to help field dress it. She does everything she can to avoid touching Harry or anything Harry has directly touched.
As the meal is being prepared, the old woman eyes Jacob, and then snorts finally. "Me be Mahb. Dat be me girl Arna, and dat be me girl Krona. Da boy be me gran bairn Trobit. Da girl be me gran bairn Slota." Arna is the mother of the boy, Krona the mother of the girl. "Arna be mute, but no dumb. Trobit no talk much, he no like talking 'round his mum. Krona talk, but usually only insults."
The woman with the knife, who's chopping up deer meat with gory efficiency snorts. "Wonder who hell I got that from." She says starchly, slapping the younger girls hand when she reaches for a piece of meat. "Cook it first, demonspawn." She says with exasperation. The girl makes a whining sound but pulls back, licking her lips at the sight of the meat. "Don mind her, we no get meat offen."
Sterling address Mahb between bites The old man who died last night. He was your husband?
"Thank you, Mahb - and you too, Arna, Krona, Trobit, and Slota - for giving me a chance to apologize. What happened in the city was horrible. I don't want it to ever happen again."
Jacob looks to the dear being butchered. "Harry is a good hunter. When I was young, my father taught me to do some bowhunting, but I never practiced enough to be as good as he is. However, since I arrived in your land, I seem to have some control over water. I can create some if you're thirsty. And it's clean, I promise - it's what I've drank for many days now."
Jacob takes out his waterskin and fills it, drinking if they doubt to show them it's clean. Then he fills any containers they have if they would like - or lets them drink out of his if they have none.
"If they agree to even go into the houses, if they do have infinite food there, if they agree to even stay, if we even survive the trip back. They will just make life harder for all of us."
A frown creased Neri's face, "Yes, a lot of ifs... and all of them are worth the potential to save a life, right?"
"Not if it gets us killed in the process"
Neri sighed. "No... I guess not. So hopefully they'll be willing to go behind the wall." He looked to Mahb, expectantly.
I keep hearing jou say ziss. I don't know if zey can go behind ze wall.
Kong looks at Neri, and shakes his head.
Jou put a lot of faith in an untezted hypothezis.
"I'm basing it off of the fact that I don't believe -we- could. But Id told me that my armor would let me. Why would the armor protect me, but no one else?" Neri tilted his head. "I just don't believe that Id would tell us that we need something that we didn't need, you know? And... I mean, surely one of our 'Demons' knows whether or not it's true. Have any of you heard from them since we left?"
"How exactly are we going to use the armor for more than one trip? Once someone wears it, it is on the other side. You expect them to throw it back to us? Of course we have to assume the armor survives that. I'd say that plan is nuts. We're stuck with them and that's that. We should just find somewhere to blend in and this time not say something really dumb like we're from the other side of the demon wall. "