A Jaded Life

Interlude: Down at the farm

There was something deeply wrong about the buildings before Cassie Grim, Cleric of Frigg. Many of them were broken, ruined, but not in the same way that the remnants of the old world had crumbled. The destruction wasn’t as total, making it clear it had been a gradual process rather than the sudden, brutal shift in reality that had devastated their old world. It looked like this had been the result of perfectly ordinary neglect and lack of maintenance, rather than some supernatural factor. The general layout of the buildings before her was familiar, so terribly, tragically familiar, as it was a place she had helped build just a year ago.

Cassie had helped build it, only to get pushed to the side more and more, forced to make decisions she considered less and less palatable with every choice she had to make. Eventually, she couldn’t square the demands of the farm’s newly elected leaders and the realities of the situation. Things simply stopped adding up, their projections becoming wilder and further removed from reality. They were building their ideas and plans on a foundation that made sand seem stable, and simply assumed that reality would somehow accommodate them, instead of becoming a solid wall that would crush their hopes and dreams.

When it became obvious that the council, elected by popular demand and the strange idea that democratic processes would return the world to the way it had been before the change, would continue to ignore all her suggestions and needs, no matter how rational, Cassie had decided to step away. Just like a couple of others had.

They had taken a few people, rarely groups larger than four or five people, and ventured out, going somewhere else. Nobody really knew where they had gone, but given that the world was still somewhat dangerous, that wasn’t a surprise. Still, Cassie hadn’t been willing to become a wanderer, homeless and lost in the world, so she had gathered a bunch of like-minded people, people who were willing to follow some simple commandments based on Cassie’s faith in Lady Frigg’s and go from there.

Those commandments were quite simple, in numerous cases so obvious that people felt strange they had to be spelt out, but that only made them more impactful. If a commandment about the preservation of the hearthfire, the sanctity of guest-rights and the protection of the household stood at the same level as one that prohibited murder, people took those things seriously. And the commandments, alongside a certain work ethic, a couple of divine blessings and a good amount of luck had been enough to get their newly created community through the winter.

Not easily, not comfortably, but they had managed to survive, and when spring rolled around, they had started to thrive. Their community was united in purpose and in faith. The realisation of just how close they had come to disaster was enough to wash away much of the dissension and mould them into a unified whole. Ritual, prayer and discipline became a cornerstone of their lives, with everyone willing to pull their weight. They had seen what could happen if people weren’t willing to do so.

And it hadn’t been pretty.

Now, coming back to the farm was a trial for Cassie. The Demonther, they had called her, and she had believed it. Believed that her faith in Frigg would allow her to tend the fire, to protect the home and hearth. On Mundus, she had started to lean into her self-chosen role, but when the game became reality, when the world broke, and no home remained untouched, no hearth unbroken, the role suddenly became something more. Her old name, her old life, they all ceased to matter, and she became the Denmother, willing to protect those seeking shelter at her hearth.

And Applegate Farm became that shelter; it was where she had planned to tend the fire and protect her flock. Only, it hadn’t worked out, and now, the farm was in ruins. Some buildings were still standing defiantly, though their need for maintenance was visible, even from afar.

The fencing, once the first line of defence against any intruder, was still there. But where it had once been manned by rough men, ready to do violence in protection of those seeking shelter behind them, it had decayed into a toothless barrier, barely able to keep out an adventurous critter, let alone an actual threat.

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Near the fence-line stood an old, sturdy tree. It was difficult to tell which sort, maybe an oak or something like that. Cassie remembered the children playing in its shade during the summer. She could remember Jade sitting under that tree, giving a magic lesson while her child, Sabrina, though they had taken to calling her Luna, for her unique eyes. It had been pleasant, hopeful, the playing children acting as a reminder that the world would continue to spin, that humanity had been injured, that they were all bruised and beaten, but they could recover. It might take time, years, decades or even centuries for some things, but they would recover.

Now, the tree was abandoned, the leaves gone and not a single child in sight, just the bare trunk, with a few crows sitting amongst the branches.

Driven by nostalgia, Cassie walked over, the few people who had come with her staying nearby, keeping watch and guard, just in case something unforeseen happened.

“Haven’t seen one like you before,” a voice called out, shaking Cassie from her memories.

Looking in the direction the voice had come from, she immediately spotted a man approaching her. Probably human, though it was a little hard to tell with the dirt and grime, it might have been something else. Not that it was likely, but given that Cassie herself had become a dwarf when the Road to Purgatory reached its end, she wasn’t making any assumptions.

“We’ve lived here for a while. A few months, shortly after everything changed,” Cassie explained, looking the guy over and not feeling overly enthusiastic about what she saw.

“Eh, that so?” the guy frowned, coming a little closer, “Maybe I do remember you,” he continued, “Looking for those hoity-toity fucks who took charge here back then? They owe you money or something?”

For a moment, Cassie was taken a little aback by the language and the suggestion that they owed her money, or that money had any value. Then, she simply shook her head.

“No, just wanted to see the old place,” she replied, “Has seen better days, no?”

“Damn sure it has,” the guy nodded, “Could be worse though. The council back then did their best to get us all fucked right and proper. All, projection this, trajectory that, reserves and plans, just a lot of bleating, claiming that it was everyone’s fault but theirs when the food started to get short,” he let out an angry laugh. “But we sure showed them. Food was enough. We just had to cut the number of mouths to feed,” he added, the grin on his face now turning into a grim, ugly thing.

“What happened?” Cassie asked, even if a part of her insisted that she didn’t need to know and probably didn’t want to, either.

“Hung them, right and proper. Just like in the good old days, when the crooks get caught, they learn to dance on a rope,” he explained, his eyes flickering to the sturdy branches above her head.

Cassie barely managed to keep herself from shaking her head while she wondered under what rock the guy had hidden for the last hundred-odd years. The way he talked, the way he apparently thought, there was nothing normal about it.

“I see,” she nodded, “And the rest? The people who were living here at the time?”

“Some left, some stayed, all were put to work,” he shrugged, “But that’s not why you are here, is it? You just wanted to see the buildings, right?” The guy’s voice was now a little mocking, threatening. Not that Cassie felt threatened, she was confident in her power, but a small voice in the back of her head was nagging her to avoid confrontation.

“True, I think we have seen everything I wanted to see,” she nodded, stepping back a little, closer to her escort. “And now, we’re going to leave, without making any trouble for you, or anyone else,” she declared, making sure to keep on her guard, her vigilant stance immediately copied by her guards as they retreated out of the area. The guy kept watching her, and, as she looked around, Cassie was almost certain that other people were creeping around the area, following the hedges and staying out of sight. Maybe caution on their part, maybe an attempted ambush.

“What was that?” one of the guards asked her, once they had put some distance between them and the ruined farm.

“I have no idea,” Cassie admitted, “But I really don’t like this.”

They would have to keep an eye on their old home. Just in case.