Chapter XXIII

The ancestors had told Kalvyn Silverlocke to hold off his assault on King Therion's castle until after Therion's army had invaded Nihilus, but this did not mean Kalvyn was idle. Kalvyn knew he would need reinforcements, more rebels for his cause, to make his army as formidable as it could be. Sure, he could call upon the ancestors for help in battle, allow them to control the bodies of the fallen, but nothing could beat having a living, human army to conquer your enemies. The victory felt so much more like the people's victory than merely his that way, and he was not about glorifying himself or conquering, he was all about setting the people free.

Kalvyn's most common method of recruiting folk for rebellions in the western city-states had been to write pamphlets and books, talking about the abuses of the tyrannical governments and calling for action against them. Many people, including slaves, would read these pamphlets, become enraged, and join him in throwing off their oppressors. Since he came to Nihilus he'd found that he was unable to use this method, since most of the populace was illiterate, more so even than in Arx, because their sacred canon was not written in any book but rather held in oral tradition. The people of Nihilus, during the few times they even used any form of writing, would usually use the simpler of two alphabets; a small collection of simply-drawn pictures that each represented a word or idea. This language had been invented to make trade and commerce in marketplaces easier. They could simply put the symbol for “ale,” for instance, next to the price, represented by the symbol for money and tally-marks. Nearly anyone could “read” this, but it simply didn't convey the sorts of complex messages one would need to convey in order to recruit people for a revolution. One could not simply put the symbol for “king” and the symbol for “bad” next to each other and expect to win over many followers. Such arguments needed to be more subtle, nuanced, complex, and thought-provoking.

In Nihilus Kalvyn had to rely on spoken word. Thankfully, he was a good, strong public speaker, with a deep and motivating voice. He had his agents infiltrate towns and villages, learn who among the populace was most disgruntled, and tell them of rallies where like-minded peoples would meet. At these rallies Kalvyn would then speak to the crowds that gathered about revolting against King Therion. These rallies were never in places of any real consequence to Kalvyn, and he always encouraged those attending to wear masks, just in case those who decided not to join the rebellion after hearing Kalvyn speak decided to report the rally to the local authorities. Of course, Kalvyn's agents often had to seek out and slay anyone who attended the rallies and refused to join, simply because by then they knew too much.

The newest rally was at an old, run-down inn, one that had failed because of the heavy taxation on the city. For a long time, the citizens of that particular city had been very wealthy due to the discovery of an excess of gold in the local mine, and people flooded in to work those mines and make their fortunes. Even after the gold itself was mostly gone prospectors kept coming back, seeking more gold, and the city made a fortune catering to those prospectors. Then Therion decided that the kingdom needed some of the city's wealth and imposed major taxes on it, taking everything they had and using it to outfit his army. The people of this city had plenty of reason to want to see Therion ousted.

“Good people,” Kalvyn began his speech, talking to a large crowd of mask-covered faces. “Do you remember the glory days of this fair city? The days when this inn was open, and prospectors would spend whatever money they had on alcohol, beds, and pleasurable company? Do you remember the days when your children's futures were secure? When you didn't have to worry so much about how to afford to feed, shelter, and clothe them? Do you remember a time before beggars and pickpockets lined the streets? Before there was any need for either? That was the way things were before King Therion and his appetites. To feed his vanity he plans to wage war on Arx. He claims it is for the good of mankind, to free us from this prison, but according to the sacred stories cannot only Prunikos, the ruler of all daemons, do that? he is blasphemously elevating himself to Prunikos' place, and in the process taking all of your hard-earned wealth, leaving you to live in poverty! And as if this wasn't enough, not only does he take your money, but he takes your people! I'm sure you must have heard by now, as word spread, that General Qenneth has begun conscripting soldiers. Yes, General Qenneth, the beloved war-hero, has become so corrupted by Therion's influence that rather than use the forces he's been provided he recruits common-folk, who have no experience with battle! Shall we sit by and watch these tyrants kill your sons and daughters? Your husbands and wives? Your brothers and sisters? I say nay! Cast off this vicious tyrant! Let him meet Prunikos face to face and explain to her why he couldn't wait for her to bring freedom and salvation to all of us herself! Let him explain his arrogance and his 'need' in the Courts of the Void, and let him see the cost of such pride!”

The crowd cheered, and Kalvyn knew that he had them, well, most of them. His one good eye scanned the crowd to find those who seemed skeptical, or perhaps even outright uncomfortable in the crowd. Since he couldn't see their faces he couldn't tell what they were thinking by their expressions, but their body-language said a lot. His eye did settle on one person who was shifting uncomfortably, and seemed to only be clapping because everyone else was.

Once the crowd had quieted Kalvyn pointed out the skeptical man. “I see we have someone in our midst who disagrees. Don't be ashamed, sir!” Kalvyn always made sure to call even commoners “Sir,” even though such a title was usually reserved for members of the military or nobility. This served two purposes; it was more respectful than “Sirrah,” and it unconsciously implanted in their heads the idea that they could be part of an army. “Come on up here! I welcome a rebuttal. Yes, I'm serious! Don't look at me that way. I'm not angry that you don't agree with me, sir, come on up!”

The man hesitantly joined Kalvyn at the front of the group, where he stood on a make-shift stage that had been added to bring Kalvyn high enough for the whole crowd to see. The man could feel all of the eyes of the whole crowd watching him and felt queasy at being so on the spot. “...Good evening...” the man said.

“Good evening, sir, before we begin our discussion by what name can we call you? Obviously not your real name, sir, make one up. It's just easier to carry on a conversation when you have a name to call someone.” Kalvyn said.

“Umm...Horace, Mr. Silverlocke.”

“Horace, good to meet you. Tell me, why do you disagree with what I've said here today?”

“Umm...”

“It's alright, don't look at the crowd, look at me, tell me what's on your mind.” Kalvyn could tell the man was nervous, and this was a good thing. It would make any argument he made sound weak and cowardly, but Kalvyn wanted to at least appear as if he was trying to help him, make the people believe he did everything he could to give this man a fair shot at arguing his point. Really Kalvyn was far more prepared for this, and knew all sorts of subtle ways to make people with stage-fright uneasy. It was manipulative, yes, but Kalvyn had decided long ago that it was fine to manipulate people for their own good, to manipulate them into doing the right thing for themselves and for others.

“King Therion...is far too strong for us to stand against,” Horace said. “I heard about what he did to the assassins who attempted to take his life...what he did to their families.”

“I ask you, then, Horace, is it any better that our families starve now? Or that they're sent off to war to fight, kill, and die? Therion is already killing our families!” Kalvyn said. The crowd roared in agreement and approval, which made Horace feel ever-more foolish for even arguing.

“he can't be killed this way!” Horace said, “Maybe...if we wait it out...”

“Therion is still young, and has maybe as many as sixty more years of natural life left. Sixty years! With how much damage he's done already do we really want to wait to see what he does in sixty years? Do we want to see not only our children but our grandchildren suffer because of him? With his ambitions we may not even have any grandchildren! He'll force our sons and daughters into his army to fight his bloody wars and they'll all be fed to our enemies' blades! What's more, he's bound to lose sooner or later, and the enemies he's made will come here for retribution! You think they'll just limit that to attacking Therion himself? Or will they pillage every city in Nihilus, take what they want, and slaughter our people in vengeance for what was done to them?” Kalvyn had seen this happen enough times between warring city-states to say with great confidence that this would be the outcome of Therion losing one of his wars if he was allowed to go on for too long. Kalvyn hoped that when he attacked Therion during the upcoming war with Arx, as his ancestors had told him to do, that the Arxians would prove to be more merciful than that.

The crowd again roared in agreement with Kalvyn, and Horace felt even more like a fool. Under more normal circumstances he could have kept making arguments against what Kalvyn was saying, some great ones, such as “Wouldn't a rebellion just make Therion lose and bring our enemies' wrath down on us all?” or “If Therion should be waiting for Prunikos to act shouldn't we be doing the same?” but he was far too flustered to even form such thoughts in his head, and so he looked like a coward and a fool in front of the crowd. Kalvyn had succeeded in thoroughly humiliating his opponent, and Horace could say nothing more than, “I guess you're right...”

Many others in the crowd had been skeptical as to whether or not they should follow Kalvyn Silverlocke into a revolution, but seeing the only one daring enough to argue against him fail so utterly they were now convinced that Kalvyn truly knew the right course to fix the kingdom. Therion needed to fall for Nihilus to ever see peace and prosperity again, they were sure of that now.