by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

Post

Region: The North Pacific

The canadian peoples republic wrote:The soldiers continue to hold on to their guns. "N-No, what happened here?" One of them asks. Another has a walkie-talkie close to his mouth, ready to call the Greatlyians, if the signal works.

The Arnatic Conglomerate - greedy slave-drivers - forced their people, my ancestors, to toil away in order to make weaponry to sell off to other nations so that they could murder each other’s people and devastate each other’s lands to create refugees to funnel into the Poorlyian factories to make more weapons. It was a cycle of unspeakable viciousness, a cycle of violence and pain and death.

After Nikolaos “Santa” Greatien, the founder of Greatly, escaped Poorly with a small group of refugees, one of Poorly’s neighbors decided that they had had enough. They bought a massive superweapon from the Arnatic Conglomerate; then turned it against them. That is why this cursed place is a sort of artificial island off of the shore of Greatly, why so much of it lies below the water. The weapon was so powerful that it shifted the very tides; sinking Poorly entirely while allowing the island that Greatly was established on to be uncovered from the sea. Everyone - the Conglomerate, the arms dealers, the slaves - drowned. It is said that, if you stand perfectly still and silent, you can hear their chains and manacles, still clamped around their skeletons, being rattled by the tide far below - or perhaps by their ghosts. The metal creaks beneath Haym’s feet as he shifts his footing towards the ledge.

Greatly was founded to prevent anything like Poorly from ever happening again, to prevent Nikolaos Greatien from needing to gain the nickname “Santa”. In fact, do you even know why he gained that nickname? A slight edge of anger has crept into his voice. It was not because of his generosity or caring, no. It was because by age 40, his lungs had been so thoroughly caked and covered with coal dust that he could barely creak out a word. Even worse, his hands were much too cramped and arthritic to even write. Can you believe it? One of the greatest philosophical minds in history, and we may never have known his greatest revelations or philosophies because of the infernal machine of war.

And in order to prevent war, I believe that we must continue going towards peace. If we must become radical to steer others towards moderation, then so be it. We must establish a state of absolute pacifism, free from the worries of war - or at least, that is what I believed. But now? Now... I am not so sure whether I was correct at all.

He finally turns back to the soldiers, and his eyes have dimmed. He looks exhausted. You know, my Canadian friends, I was the one who shifted your nation towards the course of pacifism. I was the one who swayed the vote to attempt to ensure peace. Now, let us see if I have succeeded. He lifts one foot backwards, off of the edge of the dizzying drop behind him, and gestures to one of the soldiers. You, please - convey the principles of pacifism to me as you understand them. I must know whether what I attempted... well, whether it has succeeded or failed.

The canadian peoples republic and Vellanaro

ContextReport