So, I was
right in my belief that the Haven Council was talking with our new
neighbors. I was also right when I said
that they would claim to be ex-marauders.
The Council has decided to take them at their word, which I guess I’m ok
with. Trust has to start somewhere. But before starting any kind of trade
agreement, they wanted to be sure that the new kids were telling the truth
about leaving their past behind. And
that’s where I came in.
I was part
of an inspection team. The Council
didn’t want to send any of the official Haven diplomats because they’re too
high profile. Our neighbors would know
they were being tested and assessed. So
they sent me to get a read on this group on the down-low. Officially I was a bureaucrat in charge of a
Haven inspection team to check for slaves, drugs, weapons of mass destruction,
and so on. Pretty much anything that’s
considered illicit or would prove our neighbors have not left marauding behind. It was a fairly superficial deception and one
that our new neighbors no doubt saw right through. I think Haven wanted them to know that they
were being assessed with more than just an inspection team, but didn’t want to
be totally blatant about it.
So I spent
the better part of half a week over there while the inspection teams went over
every inch of this mobile little town.
They have a number of vehicles, but there’s a core fleet of campers and
trailers. They then set up shop in a
neighborhood or area that is easily defendable.
So they have a permanent settlement, but the heart of their settlement
can be packed up and moved in very little notice.
Which makes
sense, because they’re marauders.
Ok, maybe
I’m not being fair. The inspection teams
found no slaves, no excessive weapons stockpiles, no significant amounts of
illicit substances, and no one I talked to seemed to allude to any kind of
marauding. Here’s the thing though: they
didn’t admit to any marauding at all, past or present. We already know that these guys have
ex-marauders among them, so to not even admit to that? It makes them sound coached.
There was
also a severe lack of women. I’d say the
ratio was about 10 men to every woman.
So is this because the majority of women are used as slaves? The women who were there were clearly not
slaves, though they also were clearly not equals. It reminded me of things I’d seen and read
about biker gangs. A kind of
institutionalized sexism where the women were seen as subservient to the men,
almost to the level of property, and would periodically get passed around. I really got the feeling there was a similar
arrangement here. It’s abhorrent to me,
but to call it slavery? It’s not.
Everyone was
forthcoming when I asked questions and started conversations, but at the same
time I can’t shake that they’re hiding something. Then again, everyone is hiding something in
this day and age. There’s plenty I keep
hidden for myself, so I can’t fault them for doing the same.
So now we’re
back in Haven and The Council will likely decide to be friendly towards our new
neighbors and open some sort of trade.
And on the surface, there’s no reason they wouldn’t. There’s no reason to believe that these guys
aren’t trying to make a new life and leave the violence behind. And yet, I just don’t buy it. I’m wracking my brain, trying to figure out
if there’s something I noticed without realizing, some warning sign that I’m
only aware of in the back of my mind. I
don’t know. Maybe I’m just prejudiced. We all survived this plague on a healthy dose
of paranoia. Maybe it’s hard to turn it
off. Or maybe I’m right and these guys
are going to come at us when we’re at our most vulnerable. We’ll see, I guess. If they are marauders, they can’t keep their
nature hidden for long.
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