Post by Dowan White on Jun 24, 2017 22:49:54 GMT -5
[nospaces]
Piety and peccancy, and never the twain shall meet.[break][break]
Dowan had ever been a man of the world, and as such was far from the sort of eternal here-after mindset that plagued the hearts of other men. He was satisfied with his sins and wore them, if not as badges of honor upon his chest, then as armor around his heart. The world he had known was one of dogs eating dogs, survival of the fittest. What were scholarship, love and mercy when compared to power, greed and seduction? It was simple; they were illusions placed like crumbs of bread to lead the starving astray. Those so desperate for purpose, for power, for pleasure would sacrifice it all for the misconception of purity that others provided. It filled their hollow lives and kept them stupefied like sheep.[break][break]
Others followed the shepherd’s path, gathering flocks of the ignorant about them to use for their own ends. Wool to warm and meat to feed, taking whatever, whenever the need.[break]
Dowan smiled at his own little rhyme and knelt down on the cave floor, pushing the tip of a scrap-metal blade into the ground there. He worked it in small circles, patting the ground, feeling for something beneath the stone and loam. Dirt covered the gloves of his hands, the legs of his heavy winter coat and pants. His entirety, in truth. There was not sufficient wood to burn for a warm bath, and one would freeze if they got themselves wet for long even in the very relative warmth of their caves. Other settlers had made shelters closer to the surface during the scorch, then the mild season. Many might even be there now, eking out a life for themselves in spite of the cold that had come to the world.[break][break]
If they had, Dowan pitied them the chill that must sweep through each night. He and others like him has ventured deep into the caverns and ravines of the mountains, searching for an escape from the heat of the Scorch. One of them had found a comfortable place and made it his home, and he was glad to share it with others… should they toe the line he set down. What choice did many of them have? Dowan himself was a miner by trade and knew the ground well, but he could not conjure food and water from thin air, or survive off the land.[break][break]
Levi Kramer could fend for himself just fine. Had done so, down in this cavern of his, all through the trials of the scorch months. When others had stumbled upon him he had either dealt with those that threatened his security or welcomed those that could and would contribute to his growing community. Back on earth he had been many things; husband and father, survivalist, preacher. He had brought with him the know-how of the paranoid and doomsday-prepper, the clothes to survive a desert or a winter hellhole, a ranger’s knife, and the good book. Dowan had to admit he was impressed; with just those things he had found a way to live down below the surface, safe from the weather above. As more and more had joined them, they had each found a way to make life a little bit better, until a system had worked itself out and a comfortable sort of village had grown.[break][break]
Light might have been one’s first concern. How were people to survive in total darkness, after all? Had the God he claimed to serve been less loving he might have needed a generator and lights to shine upon the darkness, but lo! As he had gone deep enough, long enough, some two hours trek down into the maw of the earth he found the world was alight with a blue and green glow. A bioluminescent fungus lined the walls of this place with verdant green light, while an algae gave the waters of an underground lake a bright blue shine that cut through the darkness well enough for man to see by, after adjusting. The water was too poisoned to drink straight from the source for the algae was unkind to the innards of those who tested it, but the dysentery it caused was not usually fatal. The mushrooms lining the walls proved safer, not only edible but with a savory broth-like flavor that made them excellent to suck on.[break][break]
More than mere mushrooms existed below however, for the rapidly growing and dying mushrooms that sprouted all about the cave were ample foodstuffs for the darting palmworms that had found their way down here. Several clusters of the coral-like creatures lined walls and central parts of the cavern, eating the rotting matter of the fungus and anything else that happened to die within their reach. The palmworms were tasteless food, but food all the same. In fact, that was what Dowan had been busying himself with for the last while, digging at the ground to uproot a few for everyone to eat. [break][break]
They proved excellent sources of keeping the cave clean, too. One large cluster in a sunken ravine was fed sluice through an aqueduct they had fashioned from bent metal sheets off of a dropship. This took care of their “necessities” and did much to prevent disease. The palmworms also proved useful in creating a mortar out of their secretions and the clay near the lake, which when dried would hold stones together almost as well as concrete. They had begun constructing several standing structures in this fashion, not only creating homes for each person that made up the village but forming community buildings as well.[break][break]
Most notable was the castle, which was a large structure that Levi had created to serve as his house of worship and seat of power. Like Dowan, the man was about power, never mind that he dressed it up in the word of God. But man to man, he could respect Levi’s position and that he would use whatever was at his disposal to keep his power. Perhaps one day they’d come to a head… but for now, Dowan simply followed the man with the castle. And why not? Levi’s leadership had led to the creation of the kiln and the meat locker; an oven for firing clay into pots and other shapes, and a stone shed packed with ice and snow to keep actual meat fresh for longer. True he might not have made it all himself, but it was his vision that had gotten them this far. His personal favorite addition had been during the mild season, when a pen had been made for Ursa to hibernate in during the winter. They hadn’t realized just how harsh winter would be of course… and were especially glad for the large docile creatures now, which served as glorified heating blankets.
Piety and peccancy, and never the twain shall meet.[break][break]
Dowan had ever been a man of the world, and as such was far from the sort of eternal here-after mindset that plagued the hearts of other men. He was satisfied with his sins and wore them, if not as badges of honor upon his chest, then as armor around his heart. The world he had known was one of dogs eating dogs, survival of the fittest. What were scholarship, love and mercy when compared to power, greed and seduction? It was simple; they were illusions placed like crumbs of bread to lead the starving astray. Those so desperate for purpose, for power, for pleasure would sacrifice it all for the misconception of purity that others provided. It filled their hollow lives and kept them stupefied like sheep.[break][break]
Others followed the shepherd’s path, gathering flocks of the ignorant about them to use for their own ends. Wool to warm and meat to feed, taking whatever, whenever the need.[break]
Dowan smiled at his own little rhyme and knelt down on the cave floor, pushing the tip of a scrap-metal blade into the ground there. He worked it in small circles, patting the ground, feeling for something beneath the stone and loam. Dirt covered the gloves of his hands, the legs of his heavy winter coat and pants. His entirety, in truth. There was not sufficient wood to burn for a warm bath, and one would freeze if they got themselves wet for long even in the very relative warmth of their caves. Other settlers had made shelters closer to the surface during the scorch, then the mild season. Many might even be there now, eking out a life for themselves in spite of the cold that had come to the world.[break][break]
If they had, Dowan pitied them the chill that must sweep through each night. He and others like him has ventured deep into the caverns and ravines of the mountains, searching for an escape from the heat of the Scorch. One of them had found a comfortable place and made it his home, and he was glad to share it with others… should they toe the line he set down. What choice did many of them have? Dowan himself was a miner by trade and knew the ground well, but he could not conjure food and water from thin air, or survive off the land.[break][break]
Levi Kramer could fend for himself just fine. Had done so, down in this cavern of his, all through the trials of the scorch months. When others had stumbled upon him he had either dealt with those that threatened his security or welcomed those that could and would contribute to his growing community. Back on earth he had been many things; husband and father, survivalist, preacher. He had brought with him the know-how of the paranoid and doomsday-prepper, the clothes to survive a desert or a winter hellhole, a ranger’s knife, and the good book. Dowan had to admit he was impressed; with just those things he had found a way to live down below the surface, safe from the weather above. As more and more had joined them, they had each found a way to make life a little bit better, until a system had worked itself out and a comfortable sort of village had grown.[break][break]
Light might have been one’s first concern. How were people to survive in total darkness, after all? Had the God he claimed to serve been less loving he might have needed a generator and lights to shine upon the darkness, but lo! As he had gone deep enough, long enough, some two hours trek down into the maw of the earth he found the world was alight with a blue and green glow. A bioluminescent fungus lined the walls of this place with verdant green light, while an algae gave the waters of an underground lake a bright blue shine that cut through the darkness well enough for man to see by, after adjusting. The water was too poisoned to drink straight from the source for the algae was unkind to the innards of those who tested it, but the dysentery it caused was not usually fatal. The mushrooms lining the walls proved safer, not only edible but with a savory broth-like flavor that made them excellent to suck on.[break][break]
More than mere mushrooms existed below however, for the rapidly growing and dying mushrooms that sprouted all about the cave were ample foodstuffs for the darting palmworms that had found their way down here. Several clusters of the coral-like creatures lined walls and central parts of the cavern, eating the rotting matter of the fungus and anything else that happened to die within their reach. The palmworms were tasteless food, but food all the same. In fact, that was what Dowan had been busying himself with for the last while, digging at the ground to uproot a few for everyone to eat. [break][break]
They proved excellent sources of keeping the cave clean, too. One large cluster in a sunken ravine was fed sluice through an aqueduct they had fashioned from bent metal sheets off of a dropship. This took care of their “necessities” and did much to prevent disease. The palmworms also proved useful in creating a mortar out of their secretions and the clay near the lake, which when dried would hold stones together almost as well as concrete. They had begun constructing several standing structures in this fashion, not only creating homes for each person that made up the village but forming community buildings as well.[break][break]
Most notable was the castle, which was a large structure that Levi had created to serve as his house of worship and seat of power. Like Dowan, the man was about power, never mind that he dressed it up in the word of God. But man to man, he could respect Levi’s position and that he would use whatever was at his disposal to keep his power. Perhaps one day they’d come to a head… but for now, Dowan simply followed the man with the castle. And why not? Levi’s leadership had led to the creation of the kiln and the meat locker; an oven for firing clay into pots and other shapes, and a stone shed packed with ice and snow to keep actual meat fresh for longer. True he might not have made it all himself, but it was his vision that had gotten them this far. His personal favorite addition had been during the mild season, when a pen had been made for Ursa to hibernate in during the winter. They hadn’t realized just how harsh winter would be of course… and were especially glad for the large docile creatures now, which served as glorified heating blankets.
