The following comes directly from the journal of Savannah Sylvanas.
13 Julla, 1084 MT
Today was another challenging experience for me. I knew that my tribe was a bit different than the city, but I could never have imagined how much different. When I heard stories about The Kingdom, I always expected it to be vibrant and full of life. I believed that everyone here would be able to follow their dreams and build a real life for themselves. I was wrong.
It is true, there are some freedoms here that I did not enjoy in my tribe, but overall I feel that Erathal simply offers the guise of prosperity. Beneath the illusion of free choice and opportunity, there is a real sickness. The Kingdom is ruled by a lazy bureaucracy, and no one within the system seems to care about changing anything. It is corrupt and unjust, and I find myself terrified of living in such a place.
On one hand, it was refreshing to be asked what I would like to do for a profession. I asked to become one of the labmages, working with the Rangers to ensure that the city remains safe from outsiders by analyzing evidence at crime scenes. It’s an exciting prospect, but after speaking with the head mage I am not worried it will be nothing but more red tape.
The entry requirements to start training in their magic are abysmally low. Most of the other mages are mere hucksters and hardly know enough magic to do anything of note. Though I would never admit it to my parents, I now look back and am very thankful for the training I received as a druid.
Of course, the thing that really disturbed me was the proctor system that they have in place here. After requesting to be allowed citizenship as a lab mage, I realized that I would be getting a plot of land handed to me. I am always wary of things that come without a price, because I understand someone, somewhere had to pay that price.
More worry-some than the land allotment though, Erathal apparently works on a food allotment system as well. This food is given to citizens based on their perceived worth by the crown. As a lab mage, I will be well taken care of, but if I had opted to become a farmer I would have lived as a peasant. This worries me. After all, one of the main reasons I left my tribe was the communal attitude that everything ought to be shared evenly.
Is there nowhere on Evorath where people actually trade value for value?
__________________________________
Hailed as the J.R.R. Tolkien of the 21st century, Joseph Macolino is the author of the Evorath series, providing good fantasy books to those looking for heart-pounding action in a magical world.
