[ACADEMY RP] Answers

[Mouren]

            Sedna closed her eyes and let out a long, deep sigh. Tonight, there would be answers. She took to the old rotting steps and onto her cramped cabin porch, and threw open the aging front door. The creak of long-rusted hinges echoed throughout the sitting room, followed by silence. Nanuk would be home by now, cleaning up the fish he'd caught from the river, she thought to herself. We could sit down and have a nice dinner together. But it had been many moons since the last nice dinner. Sedna's husband had left on an open-backed automobile with several other men from their village. They were headed to a big city, 'Eye-den.' There, he told her, he could save the way of life they held most dear.
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            It was in fact around two months ago that the man Nanuk was approached by the city people. They came by truck, carefully maneuvering along primitive dirt trails and untamed fields. Around a dozen men and women dressed in beige uniforms greeted him, and gave great warning- a company of loggers were coming this way. Nanuk had heard of them- men who tore down the forest, killed the wildlife, and pushed villages to abandon their homes and flee out to the west. Even now, his township harbored families from neighboring tribes who had fallen victim to the fate of the loggers. Nanuk listened intently, though his Anglish was shoddy at best.

            Hundreds of loggers and their machines, they said, and they would be here before winter. The forest- their home, would be reduced to nothing. The convoy from the city said they wanted to help give his people a voice. To save the great pines of Mouren. That if the village were to unite with them, they could all work together to take the loggers down. They just needed more villages, more delegate voices from smaller townships. Nanuk had never been one to trust outsiders, and he did not care for this talk of delegates and unions. But the threat of the loggers loomed heavy on his heart, and he sought to protect his village no matter what it took.

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            Sedna sat in her favorite rocking chair, clutching tight to a small iron box in her lap. She pulled up on the protruding bar, and it rose tall like a fishing rod. She turned the wheel on the front, just like Nanuk had said, and after several faint clicks she was greeted by the sound of crackling static.

*** Hello all you beautiful listeners out there, you’re listening to the Borderlands Broadcast, brought to you by our wonderful team here at Iden radio station. And boy, do we have some exciting news for you tonight. It seems television sales are on the rise throughout the nation, with these once-prized purchases now able to be seen in over seventy percent of Mourenian homes. That’s right; seven-tey percent! Government initiatives continue to subsidize expansion of utilities like television and internet services in rural areas, services that seem like second nature to us out here on the coast.

            And ensuring that our government will put its money behind those words is the Service Corps, the finalized name for the first branch of the Mourenian Defense Division! You heard it here first folks, anyone can volunteer to protect our nation, and make it a better place to live. Iden delegate Oran Byrne himself said in a speech this morning that “Combat training will be a vital part of a Corps members’ day to day life, but many other tasks are involved as well. Civil service, public works, and government-funded infrastructure projects will also fall under the duties of active service members.” But get this- two years of service, and any immigrant can become a vested citizen of Mouren, voting rights and all! And if you’re already a citizen, you get a free pass to any university in the country! An opportunity like this surely has the young men and women of this nation on the edges of their seat.

            For our last story of the night, four new settlements recognized by the Delegacy this evening, just in time for the vote on logging rights in the Amaaki forest. Always a hot button issue, this one, with some arguing that proliferative logging may be the economic boost Mouren needs to kickstart its dreams of vast infrastructure reform in the West. And folks, I’m happy to tell you tonight, that the votes are in- and we have our first national forest! That’s right, the Amaaki forest just barely squeaked out a 148-136 victory in the Delegacy today, and any trees west of the Ivruk plains are now off-limits for private logging companies. Any recognized townships within the area are still clear to cut the occasional tree or two, though, as they always have.

            And that’s about it for tonight folks, thanks so much for tuning in to- wait! Wait. I almost forgot! Ladies and gentleman, there was a man standing outside our offices this morning waiting for us to open. He was just so enthusiastic; said he was voting as one of the newly-appointed township delegates today. A Mr. Nanuk. He wanted me to be sure to send a message out to one Mrs. Sedna- he said, ‘We have a voice now. Our village is safe. I’ll be home soon’. Now aint that a love story for the ages! Two homesteading sweethearts saved just in the nick of time! We’ll be back tomorrow with the latest news, and until then- sleep easy Mouren. ***

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            The last vestiges of daylight twinkled in through the open cabin window, illuminating a single tear rolling down Sedna’s cheek as she gently rocked back and forth. Tonight, there were answers. Tonight, there was peace.