They came
Last speech of Gleb Polzin given to the Assembly of representative of the Dahran Cities in Tara. Colons from Jamaedo (aka the Sisters-Islands) had arrived about a century ago on the shores of Darah, a land composed mostly of independent City-States. The colons quickly established their dominance, through alliances and conquests. At the time of that speech, most of the cities South of Tara have fallen under their control. The Assembly has been established nearly forty years ago without accomplishing much. Soon after this speech is given, Tara will fall, and the representatives will decide, without their respective governments approval, to pronounce the Confederation of the Free Dahran Cities.
They came from the sea, they swept our shores, and they settled. For a long while, we thought that was it, that they would grow their town along the cliff, that we would trade with them, that everyone would live in peace.
We were wrong.
When first they allied themselves with the neighboring cities, we thought nothing of it. It was part of their economic expansion. Their presence on the markets grew, they started to mix with the locals, sometimes just trade partners, sometimes becoming life partners.
When one of their leader, a woman who controlled the biggest part of their financial strength, married the king of Arkesh, we thought nothing of it. It was just one more alliance. But it wasn’t. It was the beginning of a drastic change which would break our balance, break our ties, and lead to the collapse of so many.
That woman did not just bring fortune to her king and husband. She brought him a knowledge of warfare, unlike ours. Weapons able to dampen magic and destroys protective seals. Weapons throwing fires far above our walls and into our homes. Cities after cities fell on their conquest. And what did we do?
We fought among ourselves. Convinced, the only way to stay strong was to conquer our closest neighbor. We could have put a united front then, but we refused. We chose greed and our personal good, hostile to the idea of embracing brotherhood, and we still are.
They’re at our doors. Sweeping not only our shores, but our lands. Taking our food and our homes. There are refugees among us, with no city to go back to. Any of us could be next. Are we still to do nothing?
Today, we stand proud representative of our cities. Tomorrow... but is there even a tomorrow?
Dear colleagues, I ask you to consider the motion one last time. Affirm the confederation of our free cities, to keep our independence, to keep our liberties. Let’s unite!