After assessing possible plans moving forward with the Woodrow County situation, I decided to take a tour of the manor.
In the manor everything looked the same with a similar red and white color scheme. I saw the head butler, Amber as well as a bunch of chefs I didn't bother to learn the names of.
Eventually I made my way over to the library.
I need to learn more about this world. Starting with anything I can learn about ascended and then some things on history.
I picked up a book titled, "The province of the twelve gods." I saw it in the non-fiction section, so I assume it's real.
I started to read it, "Our world comprises of four equally spaced continents, the northern continent located on the geographic north pole, the southern continent located on the geographic south pole, the demon chasm and the angel line which both exist on the equator.
In accordance with the divine grace, each continent is overseen by three of the twelve gods.
The northern continent by The God of the Starlit Shadow, The God of the Shifting Hourglass, and The God of the Golden Convention.
The southern continent by The God of the Final Tombstone, The God of the Promised Dream, and The God of the Lightless Horizon.
The demon chasm by The God of the Desolate Rift , The God of the Approaching Velocity, and The God of the Blighted Obscurity
The angel line by The God of the Gilded Consonance, The God of the Revitalized Return , and The God of the Radiant Sundial."
After that small catch up on history-a-five-year-old-should-know I headed out on my first order of business, securing another power source.
Ah, what should it be, what should it be? Wrong question. What can it be? What are my options compared to the current level of civilization? We're surviving fine on Woodrow County wood. So it can be something not that heavy. Should I go for coal and other fossil fuels?
Coal should already exist, yet there is some reason why Hearthflame City refuses to use it. I'll go ask Amber.
I called the head butler to my office and after a short delay, he arrived.
"What is it you need, my liege."
"Why doesn't our city use coal for our heat instead of relying on a foreign County?"
He looked shocked, "Will all due respect sir, coal is far more expensive then wood even when the Countess overprices."
"And why is that so, esteemed head butler?" I asked, genuinely curious now.
"It is because coal is only found in the southern continent, patriarch."
"Let me ask you this head butler, why is it only found in the southern continent?"
"That is outside my area of expertise, master." He responded
"No, it isn't." I reprimanded him
I explained further, "Being Head Butler requires you to be more open-minded and analyzing then this, Amber. This world is a is sphere." I said while spinning the globe on my desk.
"The sun is positioned away from the sphere with the closet point of the sphere to the sun being the hottest, a.k.a. the equator line that runs through the angel line and the demon chasm. Following me so far?" I asked
He shook his head, cueing me to continue.
"Alternatively, this means that the top and bottom of the sphere; the northern and southern continent are the coldest. You must be aware that coal comes from the ground beneath the ice of the southern continent. That fact alone makes me want me think that there's coal underneath us as well."
He looked shocked, "Amber, set up a job petition for miners, 15 bronzes by the hour. Do you know of any local cave entrances?"
"No, sir." He responded.
"That's fine. We'll just have make our own then."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, blow a hole in the ground. You and I both know that our prestigious family has enough funds to acquire explosives on top of maintaining our territory, so let us blow a hole in the ground, Head Butler."
In Hearthstone Square, downtown area of Hearthflame City
Harrison looked around, anything for food. He came to Hearthflame city because of the empty promises made by the ruler of this land. He thought he could make money as a pioneer, yet the only thing he found was a way to burn it.
Everything is more expensive in Hearthflame City, this was because everything is imported.
The City of Hearthflame had no natural resources of use.
For them or for others.
This was a realization Harrison made shortly after his arrival here.
Now he sits sits here alone, by a wooden fire.
A Woodrowan fire.
Burning the excess trash of their swindling condemner.
Some of the citizens' couldn't even afford that excess, so they burned the bodies of the deceased instead.
Reminding the people of Hearthflame that they are no different than the wood they burn. That they are also their condemner's excess trash.
A page fell into Harrison's fire.
It just laid there silently upon the writhing flames which attempted to ignite it.
All things shall have their goodness burned away, only to fuel the more depraved of beings.
Shortly after his arrival, this was a thought Harrison began to live by. So one can understand his surprise when a mere piece of paper was all it took to refute his apocalyptic views.
In a quick motion he saved the page from its treacherous fate, not that he needed to, after all the page could not be destroyed unless he read it or an appropriate authority was used.
It read, "You live in a sad narrative, oh so sad!" next to those words was a crudely drawn sad face, that even a toddler could have drawn better blindfolded.
It continued, "In actuality though, not as sad as you believe! Let's deconstruct your situation.
The dreaded Mabeline Woodrow condemned your fates to a frozen hell!
You think her unbeatable but that is not true. She may be an ascetic, but she is not a god.
She follows the same social rules as all of us do, and this is where she can be struck.
Due to ice's compactive power over time, the southern continent discovered coal. What will happen if you dig down in the ice, foretell?
I could explain it but I believe you already know such an answer.
So Come To Valentine Manor! Come With Your Aching Muscles, Your Hopes, And Your Dreams! So That One Day Those Muscles Shall Ache No More, So That One Day The Land You Were Promised Shall Be The Promised Land Once Again, And So That The Superiority You Dreamed Of Shall Be A Dream No Longer!
Foretell your hearts out, your lord, The Great Vanitas Valentine."
Similar papers flew around the town square inviting their wielders to the grand manor.
Upon a marble balcony stood a white haired shorter man excluding an aloof madness tailed by a blue haired butler, their clothes fluttering in the snowstorm.
"My lord, I don't mean to be impertinent, but how exactly do you know that coal exists under this ice and exactly where it is?"
"I don't Amber, but you'll come to see that it doesn't matter."
"Why is that sir?" He asked confused
"The narrative already accommodates such a development. It holds the necessary requirements for exploitation."
"I'm afraid I'm not understanding, sir."
"Fine, I'll dumb it down for my favorite butler." I said, "I discovered the underlying narrative these past few days when researching the situation of the people, and then cross-refenced that with a view of the outside pressures and influences of the surrounding territory, A.K.A the Woodrow County.
I then introduced another narrative, the situation of coal in the southern continent.
It is common knowledge that coal is a natural resource of the southmost lands. I then deconstructed this belief when stating to the citizens that coal is a natural resource beneath the ice, hence now both the ideas that coal being a natural resource of the southern lands where large amounts of ice are found and the idea that they will strike coal here are both true."
He looked at me with a pained expression.
"Ok, fine. I'm an ascended, I want to find coal, so we will find coal."
"I think I understand the greatness of ascension now sir!" He said with stars in his eyes
I walked to the edge of the balcony to give a speech, "People of Hearthflame! Citizens of the Valentine Barony! Due to the egregious, despicable, self-serving, dismissive, and forthmost cruel actions by the foul Countess Mabeline Woodrow, you have been trapped in what happens when hell freezes over, absolute desolation.
And do you know why a person in charge who calls themselves 'noble' would ever do something like this to the good, hard-working people of Avantgarde?"
I paused for dramatic effect,
"IT IS TO SAVE THE VERY FACE THAT SHE PUPPORTS! DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE TO HER, A FUCKING PUBLICITY STUNT!"
I calmed my voice and put my hand on my heart,
"As lord of this territory and its people, I WILL NOT STAND FOR SUCH ATROCITIES! THE VALENTINE BARONY, A NOBLE HOUSE OF AVANTGARDE SHALL NOT STAND FOR IT! REMIND ME, WHY DOES IT SAY THE AVANTGARDE EMPIRE WAS FOUNDED!?"
Some voices responded, "To guard against barbarism!"
"AND WHAT IS THAT ABHORRENT COUNTESS DOING?"
A lot more voices responded, "Barbarism!"
"AND AS CITIZENS OF THE GREAT EMPIRE OF AVANTGARDE, WHAT SHALL YOU DO?"
"END HER!" Nearly everyone echoed in excitement.
"When I sent that handcrafted letter to each and every one of my able-bodied citizens I told you all to 'foretell your hearts out'. I don't know what each one of you predicted when you read that, or if you even understood my meaning.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS, IF WE MINE COAL TO ESCAPE HER FILTHY CLUTCHES, THAT BY SUMMER, A NOOSE WILL HANG OUTSIDE HEARTHFLAME GATE!"
Cheers echoed though out the audience as I continued, "MY HEART FORETELLS OF A PROMISED LAND TO ALL BUT ONE! MY HEART FORETELLS OF A TIME WHEN THE SNOW WE FEAR BECOMES SACRED! AND MY HEART FORETELLS THAT THE CITIZENS OF HEARTHFLAME WILL STAND UPON THE CORPSE OF A COUNTY BY SUMMERS END!"
Cheers ran throughout the plaza.