May be disturbing for younger ages... Secretary of Economy, Robert was summoned from his duties to King Mothos of Mothron. Surrounding the King were a dozen government officials, among them the recently promoted Generals 'ahmaq and Makar who held high positions, even for Tier 3 officials and were beginning to wield significant power. More power than they should have been given, Robert knew. "You summoned me, my King?" Robert asked. "Indeed." Mothos replied. "Since you are Secretary of Economy, you are in charge of taxation, am I correct?" "That is correct." Robert nodded. "Double the taxes." Mothos simply stated. "My Lord? Did I hear you correctly?" Robert asked. "I was about to come and ask whether we could cut taxes in half. After all, it would boost wealth among the people, and we have more money than we could ever possibly need coming from taxes." "You heard me correctly." Mothos replied. "I desire a little bit of extra income, for after all, have I not helped Mothron by saving it from Sogran?" "First off my King, it was not you alone who saved us from Sogran." Robert replied. "We were helped by many nations, such as UE. Secondly my King, you yourself vowed to not take much personal money for yourself. Are you really going to have excess in wealth and break a second vow to the people? You already broke the vow of colonization, and now you seek my King to break the vow of poverty?" "Do you dare defy your King?" 'ahmaq asked. "It was he who rescued us from the Sogranists, and it is he who will rescue us from Almushtari!" "Indeed." Makar agreed. "It is not your place, Robert." "It is not any of your places to speak in these matters!" Robert cried. "You are hardly more than regional leaders: Mere Governors and Mayors." "Silence!" the King roared. "Be silent Robert, for it I who decides who can speak and who cannot. Now follow my command, or I will have you replaced!" And the King continued to insist, and Robert at last conceded to the King's demand, doubling taxes as he demanded. Under the new taxes, even those who were once well enough now were barely able to survive, crushed by the taxation. People began to starve, and the corruption of Mothos was evident. If even the King could become so corrupted and weak, then what hope was their for Mothron? The people remembered the warnings of Shields City, and with horror they realized the truth. The truth was, in a lot of ways, while Mayor Erik certainly wasn't good, the people knew that he wouldn't have placed such heavy taxes. Not even Sogran himself had placed such heavy taxes upon the people, for even he knew it was foolish to do so. "Why oh why did we destroy Shields City!" many people cried to themselves, "For if we had not hired those mercenaries, then we could have put bread on the table for our children. Yet now, our very savior has turned against us, and his evil exceeds even those before him!" (although I would like to be clear, "more evil than those before him" is hyperbole. Yes, Mothos is being corrupted, but he is nowhere near the level of evil the Sogranists were.) Skuggi of Trog, the former Mayor Erik had placed over Trog for a short time has reemerged, a powerful political beacon of change, as have all the other Mayors which Strakraine and Mothron had thought could never rise again. With the corruption of Mothos, thousands are beginning to flock to Skuggi and his message of a new Kingdom, and rumors circulate that Erik's son will soon march to Monk City and declare himself a King to "liberate" the people of Mothron. The King was very angry at the rise of Skuggi and his friends, and Generals 'ahmaq and Makar (evil Sogranist spies corrupting Mothos and pretending to be good), have also condemned Skuggi and his friends. Already in such a short time, even after the war with Shields City, a greater war seems to be emerging, one that could possibly could have been avoided if Erik was not oofed (Not that I blame the GSTF, they did good. But still, there are cons to what happened) A three way civil war seems to be forming, those who are loyal to the King, the evil Sogranists under Almushtari, and a massive force from Shields City that was not present at Shields City when it was nuked in addition to tens of thousands of desperate civilians. This could easily become the biggest civil war since 2030, nearly 5 years ago now when Sogran made one last ditch attempt to destroy Mothron. And the stakes are just as high, if not higher... War is on the horizon, that is clear. It hasn't begun yet, but very soon it will...very soon...
Me for art Pixabay for music
