The Rising (Part 1)

It was a troubled time.

The rebels were winning many battles, but the war was still on. They were gathering mindshare, and large and small kingdoms, warlords and kingdoms were joining their cause - which led to serious levels of distress in The Empire. They gave their followers a new hope.

But then the Empire struck back.

It sent out its fiercest warrior, laden with riches and promises. He went round the land, rousing troops to rise above what he implied to be "the peasants" and to align with the true cause - world domination by the Empire.

It is not easy to do such a thing, and so, to ease the way into the fortress, he donned the guise of a messiah. It opened doors to him and his legions, and he was welcomed by the most powerful in the land. Others saw this, and opened their doors to him as well.

But while his offerings of aid may have been genuine, he quickly abandoned the disguise to reveal his true purpose - to quench the fire of the freedom that was growing in the land.

He used time-proven ways of conquest- magnificient gifts, promises of salvation and of a better land. He offered these with a subtle threat - "hark my words, lords of this land, and do not succumb to this cancer growing within your territory, this cancer they call 'freedom'. Take these gifts, and use them well - by using them to buy from me the tools to govern your land."

And the lords bowed to The Empire's warrior, and took his gifts, and his words, and swore allegiance.

They had all but forgotten the warning that one of their own wise men, named Enn-Vee-Thal, had uttered years ago - "do not use the tools from that foreign land, for we know not what they are made of, and they could be used to enslave us!"

But no one remembered those wise words. They agreed to use his tools, and his legions, to rule their own land, little realising that they did not need them at all - these tools and these riches were already theirs for the taking, right here in their very land.

But they were blinded by the glitter they saw through their windows, and the "not of this land" nature of these tools, and presumed them to be better than theirs, for such was the way they had been brought up to think.

And so the land started falling, for the second time in centuries, to the rule of a foreign empire. And the way was the same - come to trade, stay to conquer.

But deep in the heart of the very land that that the Empire's warrior was trying to conquer, a not so small group of rebels was already at work, undoing the damage.

They offered true help - not fish (or just pictures of them), but the art of fishing. Not trinkets and toys, but ploughs, axes and tools to help build a strong foundation.

And they offered that which was most valuable of all - true patriotism and a love for their land, which they did not want to again see being conquered and ruled by foreigners, as it was until half a century before.

And so they worked hard, day in and day out, to put together their own offerings of knowledge, utility and hope.

But the lords of their land rejected their offerings, terming them inferior and incomplete, and even dangerous.

The plea for aid to their cause was rebuffed by the Czars of their land, the barons who were building their fiefdoms using the Empire's tools, foresaking their own.

But the rebels struggled on, knocking on door after door, never letting denial discourage them.

And they saw moving pictures of their own lord shaking hands with the Empire's warrior, beseeching him to settle down on their own acres of land, to bring "wealth" and "employment", and promising to use the Empire's tools to rule them.

The rebels continued in a stealthy way, hiding in shadows, but always there when needed.

When a trader was in trouble, and needed succor from the cross of license, they sprang to his aid.

When people found themselves invaded by pests inflicted by the very tools the Empire had mandated, the rebels jumped from the shadows, and fought side by side to beat back the plague.

When the minds of innocent children were in the danger of being corrupted by attempts to turn the Empire's tools into means of "education", they cleansed the young ones' minds, and gave them knowledge, and therewith freedom, instead of slavery.

Their hope was that their rulers, the lords who aligned themselves with the empire, would see the error in their ways, and would rely on their own people for tools to help govern the land. And indeed, this is what these people had to offer, and willingly so.

The mighty lords of trade saw this, and said to themselves - "here is something that we can see as truly valuable, and it is free to all those who want it. This is something we must support, nourish and allow to grow, so that freedom will be not just theirs, but that of everyone who wishes to emulate their example."

And indeed, it was the Empire's greatest worry - that other lands would see the successes of the people they had termed "rebels", and would follow their ways. This was already happening, in the far away lands of Pay-Rue, Jair-Money and Nammy-buya, where people had started rejecting the Empire's advances, and had chosen the ways of freedom. Even in their own midst, the Empire saw its armies choosing to use these free tools, instead of those mandated by the Empire!

And so the lords of trade came forth, and opened their coffers to the people that were called rebels. They made available resources unimaginable, and in gesture after gigantic gesture swept away the depression and the pain caused by the Empire's warrior.

The rebels, who were called that no more, took these magnificient gifts, and created a pool of knowledge and of learning, which they shared with thousands and thousands of people.

The people, who were once called rebels, and now once again were called "citizens" instead of peasants who had no right to choose their own future, found that their fight for freedom had just advanced one major step.....

...To be continued