Those that discriminate against the unwanted races in this nation take a page from the lands of Whitekeep. They are not killed, instead sent to a large school where they are forced to learn about whom it is they hate. And the worst part is? The bracelets they must wear. Until they "graduate", they are no longer capable of telling any lies, especially, not to themselves. Kids are easy to teach lessons of kindness, respect, and diversity, it's the older teens and adults that are hard. -- Anon Guest
Prejudice is an insidious disease. It creeps into the ears from the mouths of those who shape us. It sidles in through news and the way its told. It's also made stronger by separation from those who are the targets of the prejudice. It's why the phenomenon of Unwelcome People has lasted so long.
When entire groups are kept out with walls, armies, and weapons, it's easy to maintain that prejudice.
The cost of the armies, the walls, and the weapons are simple to justify. After all, the price is necessary to keep the citizens safe from That Horrible Other. And those on the other side of the walls insist that the raids are necessary to keep their way of life and their children safe from That Horrible Other. Prejudice does go both ways, and its wellspring is willful ignorance.
Adventurers are often sent out against The Other to keep them down, foil their plans, recover some macguffin that's of a certain importance. Many who send the Adventurers out forget important things about Adventurers.
Things like: They have a memory worse than a housefly. Things like: They're intensely curious. Things like: They never do what one might expect.
Long story short, a Harukh raider fell in love with an Elven princess. This, in combination with the fact that Traders will exchange anything for gold, meant that their only common tongue was Broken Trader Talk. They established, in order: an understanding, a relationship, a family, and a little city.
In this case, The Horrible Other was strictly the people who failed to understand. If people came to rout out one side or the other, they found themselves in a pickle. The Elves, Harukh, and half-breds worked together to round them up, and set them into a huge building known only as The Facility.
Holyn rubbed at the bracelet that would not come off hir wrist. Chafed at the idea of being trapped in this enormous edifice. There were Others all over the place. Greenskins and their mutt children with decent, honest, and pure Elves.
Ze was hungry, and refused to eat food handled by those green abominations against rational society. How all of them managed to stay in a city without spoiling the soil forever was a mystery that Holyn wasn't interested in.
The halfbred who brought hir food had returned with sweet nut cakes. A common childhood treat that involved nuts, berries, and sweet tree sap. Mashed, pounded, and often moulded into small animal shapes.
These were rondles in the shape of sleeping cats.
"Erilie told us these were your favourites," said the abomination. "You need to eat, sir."
Erilie? Hir beloved daughter? "What have you animals done to her?" Why did ze bother to ask? They would only lie to hir.
"I know you won't believe me, so I have an offer. Eat, and we will let you talk with her."
Ze didn't trust them to serve unspoiled food, so ze cast a spell of purification on it. It was very strange. Ze couldn't sense the spellwork doing anything. Nevertheless, ze knew the magic had gone through the food, and snatched a palm-sized rondle, retreating from hir captor.
Hunger won, but Holyn made sure to chew properly. Ze didn't want to choke on anything in the cake.
It tasted like home.
Erilie always snuck a little cinnamon into the mash. Holyn could taste it. She'd made these. She'd made these recently. The tears flowed before ze could stop them, and his captor gently ushered hir to a little booth, where a charmed barrier prevented hir from touching his beautiful daughter.
Ze immediately spoke in High Elven. "They haven't hurt you?"
Erilie showed hir how well she was, and spoke the truth. "I'm under good care, Rennie. These people are good people."
"No! They're animals! They're beasts! They're tricking you into believing their lies! Next thing you know, they'll be killing you for their stews. They eat pets, you know."
"I've never seen them do anything of the sort," said Erilie. "They're not what you say there are."
"They've poisoned your mind," ze whispered.
"I'll keep making little treats for you," said Erilie, her eyes sad. "Please let the healers look after you? I promise they won't hurt you."
There was another Elf entering the room. One dressed in a mixture of Elven elegance and horrible Harukh leathers and weaving. He, too, had eyes filled with pity and sorrow. "You have a long road to travel, and much to learn. Rest assured that Erilie is under my care. As she rests assured that my daughter is seeing to your care."
Holyn turned hir head slowly, finding features in the halfbred beside hir similar to that of the Elf accompanying hir daughter.
"The bracelet keeping you here can only come off once you accept others who aren't Elves," repeated the halfbreed.
Ze was lost. They were all lost.
[Photo by Bozhin Karaivanov on Unsplash]
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