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Editor's note: Richard flexes his creative muscles and reminds us that war affects more than just the people who fight it. -Jay
For four hundred years my people lived a quiet life at the outskirts of civilization, in a small town called Land Lock. We resided by the sea, sharing an island with the city of Riceh. We had no knowledge of war or conflict; we filled our days by cultivating the surrounding environment and constructing monuments from copper and wood.
From time to time we heard news of great discoveries. Messengers brought word from our distant capital that friendly people had been discovered across a vast ocean. We sent brave people to found new settlements far from civilization where barbarian tribes reigned supreme. We heard rumors that our homeland was training great warriors, the likes of which the world had never seen.
My people had little care for these developments, or for the supposedly magnificent advancements happening on the homeland. We knew nothing of the impending disaster which was long in the making.
Invaders came from across the sea. Strange warriors in jaguar masks wielded spears and shields. Some even rode fearsome chariots. They attacked without warning from the beach. My people scrambled to defend the town and fought valiantly against fatigue and initial heavy losses. But the invaders numbered too many. They overwhelmed our defenses — a single squad of untested soldiers trained in the art of the bow — and ransacked the town. They razed buildings and monuments that we worked so hard to build. Families died in a bloody slaughter.
The invaders occupied our homes. My great grandfather was outside of the town helping to build a rice farm when the attack came. He never made it home. Some say the invaders captured and murdered his unit. Others say he killed himself upon finding his home occupied and his family dishonored. We may never know the truth.
For two generations, the surviving townspeople fought tooth and nail for our liberation, but the invaders were too strong. They had planned the attack for thousands of years, waiting for their right moment. We had taken no pre-emptive measures against invasion — thinking noone would dare attack — so we offered little resistance. All our men of fighting age died in the initial battle. With nobody to fight for us, some people began to accept the occupying presence. A few even grew to love them. Rumors abounded that our kinsmen were coming from the homeland with a great army, but noone believed them.
The people from Riceh stayed away. They lacked the strength to aid us, and feared that their city would soon be occupied too. We stood alone against the invaders, cut off from the rest of our civilization. Soon, our homeland would forget us, and we would become one with the invaders.
Just as my faith wavered and I thought our people forgotten, our kinsmen from the capital disembarked near the town. The townspeople saw them in the distance and rejoiced, for surely they would easily defeat the uncivilized invaders who seemed neglected by their own civilization. Our kinsmen came with scores of archers, both mounted on horseback and on foot. Some of our kinsmen wore armor from head to toe. These so-called “knights” struck fear into the hearts of our enemies.
They quickly dispatched the invaders and marched into town amidst much fanfare. They had not forgotten us. We undertook a great war with the jaguar invaders. Many other troops followed this first wave. Our people began mobilizing for war. We joined the cause and started the construction of defenses for our town. We will maintain contact with our homeland. Foreign devils will never again occupy Land Lock.
I will avenge my great grandfather and crush the jaguar invaders. We will show no mercy, for they took our lives, burned our buildings, and destroyed our innocence. The uncivilized jaguar people will now face the full force of our magnificent civilization. Nothing can stop us.
