KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
To make you bow and spit it out?
Korbin actually could expand on his concerns, and he made himself more comfortable. A new gleam entered his eyes as he launched into it; it might actually be quite interesting to wrestle mentally like this. He always did enjoy a good debate.
"Let's say the farm is established and it becomes a success. The tables of the Citadel all have ningo in sufficient supply. That would reduce the need for hunters to enter the Tundra. It's a dangerous job, after all, and no one would go out there if it wasn't necessary. More people take up ningo farming, but with the climate being what it is, suddenly the food for the animals aren't quite enough. You solve it by importing feed from other regions, or perhaps by building one of those greenhouses Loren talked about. That opens up for even more food production, and now Halo enjoys ningo, fresh greens and whatever else. Maybe there's a surplus; it's used to trade for other things from the outside. Cloth, pelts, lumber... No one hunts anymore, because the need to do so is gone. More time is put on construction, or transportation. Maybe more magic is used to make the Citadel warmer; Deepfrost might not even be reason enough to be isolated anymore. We wouldn't need the Tundra anymore."
It was not an impossible vision. It might take work, and years of planning, but it was absolutely possible. Korbin let the idea sit with the Warden for a moment, before he crushed it.
"And then... something happens to the portal. Or there's an attack like the one we saw just recently. Or maybe something goes awry with magic - it's happened before, to make Halo what it is now. What happens when the chain is disrupted, and no one remembers how to hunt, how to survive in the cold, how to live off the land?" It would be carnage.
"Chulane said it wouldn't come to that, but can you say where the point of no return really is? When does a farm stop being merely a farm and start becoming a revolution? Just look at the portals. A great idea, a clever innovation; no one would complain if that was all The Voice did. But it's not, is it? I bet the first things she changed were small too. Something innocent, only made to help. But it grew, brought her from mortal to what she is now, and we see her legacy in the Ascended. As far removed from the natural workings of the world as you can get." And that was his point. His fear, his objection. Maybe it was fine to only have one farm, maybe it wouldn't change the fundamental structure of this the community. But what if it did?
As for the complaints about him... He could only shrug. "I'm only a problem to them because I don't accept their versions of help. If they left me alone to sort out my own mess then we would be fine. I don't have a problem with them beyond the nosing into my life." Heck, he was only talking insane theories because he was asked about it. Korbin had never chanted his views on street corners or chased after newcomers to make them cry for coming here. "I've already said I'll take over the Kraai. Neron asked me for a job there and I accepted, so if left alone we'll both be out of your hair, and that would be the end of it."
Still, he gave Morgan a sidelong glance as he set the glass aside. "Better be careful though... what you said there smells of hypocrisy. You call the Ascended a threat but not the portals, and you accept Outlanders and change but not a whole new race of beings. That's a very slippery slope to be on. Not all the ascended chose to be what they are... they were brought here and made just as the Outlander Attuned. Are you going to say that one is bad but not the other? What about the Accepted, or the Abandoned - like the cultists that broke down the gate? Are you going to make lists of all the mages that come and go too?"
The raven didn't expect her to have any answers. He himself did not; only fears. It was a never ending list of possibilities, and he was incapable of seeing a path that did not lead to destruction.
"Let's say the farm is established and it becomes a success. The tables of the Citadel all have ningo in sufficient supply. That would reduce the need for hunters to enter the Tundra. It's a dangerous job, after all, and no one would go out there if it wasn't necessary. More people take up ningo farming, but with the climate being what it is, suddenly the food for the animals aren't quite enough. You solve it by importing feed from other regions, or perhaps by building one of those greenhouses Loren talked about. That opens up for even more food production, and now Halo enjoys ningo, fresh greens and whatever else. Maybe there's a surplus; it's used to trade for other things from the outside. Cloth, pelts, lumber... No one hunts anymore, because the need to do so is gone. More time is put on construction, or transportation. Maybe more magic is used to make the Citadel warmer; Deepfrost might not even be reason enough to be isolated anymore. We wouldn't need the Tundra anymore."
It was not an impossible vision. It might take work, and years of planning, but it was absolutely possible. Korbin let the idea sit with the Warden for a moment, before he crushed it.
"And then... something happens to the portal. Or there's an attack like the one we saw just recently. Or maybe something goes awry with magic - it's happened before, to make Halo what it is now. What happens when the chain is disrupted, and no one remembers how to hunt, how to survive in the cold, how to live off the land?" It would be carnage.
"Chulane said it wouldn't come to that, but can you say where the point of no return really is? When does a farm stop being merely a farm and start becoming a revolution? Just look at the portals. A great idea, a clever innovation; no one would complain if that was all The Voice did. But it's not, is it? I bet the first things she changed were small too. Something innocent, only made to help. But it grew, brought her from mortal to what she is now, and we see her legacy in the Ascended. As far removed from the natural workings of the world as you can get." And that was his point. His fear, his objection. Maybe it was fine to only have one farm, maybe it wouldn't change the fundamental structure of this the community. But what if it did?
As for the complaints about him... He could only shrug. "I'm only a problem to them because I don't accept their versions of help. If they left me alone to sort out my own mess then we would be fine. I don't have a problem with them beyond the nosing into my life." Heck, he was only talking insane theories because he was asked about it. Korbin had never chanted his views on street corners or chased after newcomers to make them cry for coming here. "I've already said I'll take over the Kraai. Neron asked me for a job there and I accepted, so if left alone we'll both be out of your hair, and that would be the end of it."
Still, he gave Morgan a sidelong glance as he set the glass aside. "Better be careful though... what you said there smells of hypocrisy. You call the Ascended a threat but not the portals, and you accept Outlanders and change but not a whole new race of beings. That's a very slippery slope to be on. Not all the ascended chose to be what they are... they were brought here and made just as the Outlander Attuned. Are you going to say that one is bad but not the other? What about the Accepted, or the Abandoned - like the cultists that broke down the gate? Are you going to make lists of all the mages that come and go too?"
The raven didn't expect her to have any answers. He himself did not; only fears. It was a never ending list of possibilities, and he was incapable of seeing a path that did not lead to destruction.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Nothing makes you turn around
