The sun had just risen in the East, casting its pale glow over the ancient and iconic Free City of Myr. It should have been a usual day with people going on with their work in the warm glow of the sun, but a stark silence was gripping the city for the past five days.
Hardly any living soul was visible in the streets of the ancient city. The major shops and workshops dealing in the famous Myrish glass and lace, which were a center of activity and chaos from the early morning, lay deserted and abandoned.
The doors of brothels remained closed and inns serving alcohol were shut. This was a result of the lockdown that had been imposed on the city by the Magisters. Only soldiers were permitted to walk the streets. For strict patrolling. For anyone who dared to defy the lockdown, the consequence was swift and absolute. Death. No mercy for anyone who defied this new law.
Even peeking too long from your window or trying to talk to your neighbour could have been considered an offense. Only a select few merchants were allowed to distribute items of basic necessities from house to house. Of course, at a price.
But those smallfolk who lived on a hand to mouth basis were facing the hardest brunt. The lockdown had already been in effect for five days, and with each passing day, both their food stocks and their wallets were getting empty.
A lot of families were on the verge of starvation, but the foolish Magisters who had imposed the lockdown paid no heed to their suffering.
Their minds were only fixed on repelling the incoming attack from Lord Aeos. And given what had happened in Yunkai and Meereen, they were considering the smallfolk and the slaves as his conspirators. And thus, their only thought was to imprison them in their houses.
They did not want an internal rebellion to break out. It did not matter to them if a few people perished in a man made famine because of this lockdown. Saving their positions as the rulers of the city was the only thing that mattered to them.
Yet, this was not all for the city. Although the soldiers were allowed to patrol the streets, and it looked like they had the trust and confidence of the Magisters, it was not so. The Magisters were skeptical of the soldiers. Only a selected few soldiers, free men, who had been close to the Magisters from the beginning, were the ones guarding their mansions and their families.
On the streets, everything was seeming fine. But a massive current was brewing beneath this surface. The smallfolk had already been disgruntled with the Magisters, and they had been waiting for Lord Aeos to come and liberate them. But now, this action has been the final nail in the coffin. The suppression they were being subjected to was fanning the flames of discontent. The smallfolk and the slaves were already angry, and this action had made them angrier.
And today, that silence had been shattered. Out of nowhere, when people woke up in the morning, they found a few parchments thrown across their roofs and streets. Just like in Yunkai and Meereen, a message was inscribed on those pieces of parchment, and a single message had been enough to cause a storm and chaos in that silent city.
The Magisters had been surprised at how the parchments had been thrown across the streets and then were further surprised at the message.
Spreading the parchments, though slightly more difficult compared to Yunkai and Meereen, had not been an impossible task. Patrolling in the city at night was very light, and only a few soldiers roamed at night.
And thus it was the time Lord Aeos's spies in the city had acted. They had the message in their hands. They copied it onto the parchments, and then using the cover of darkness, the parchments were thrown across the streets and the roofs. Although compared to Yunkai and Meereen, the message would permeate a bit more slowly among the smallfolk and the slaves. Quite a few people were uneducated and, though they had the parchments, they would need to find someone who could read the message to them. But even if they did not know what the message on the parchments was, they knew that Lord Aeos was coming. They only had to live through a few more days. Their liberation was on the way.
To the smallfolk and the highborn, to slaves and freemen, to men and women, to the masters who rule and the many who are ruled. Hear me.
I am Aeos, The Monarch of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, founder of an empire where no man or woman wears the yoke of slavery.
An empire where the necks of people are not clutched with a band of slavery.
An empire where wealth flows not only to the mighty, but to any who would work for it.
An empire governed by laws and order, and not on the whims of the rich elite.
An empire where no one is tortured or slaughtered simply for being poor, or powerless, or born in chains.
An empire where the daughters and sons are not snatched away from their mothers to be turned into slaves.
You may wonder why these words reach you now. What purpose lies behind them?
Know this truth.
My army marches even now as you read this message. And not only to your city but also to the city of Lys and Tyrosh.
Four days from this very morning, my soldiers will be at your walls.
And what do my army carry with them? Liberation. Freedom. Dignity.
I know that your cities have been gripped in inhuman lockdown. Why? Because the elite of the cities think that the residents of their cities would betray them. That they would welcome me with open arms.
But they never wonder why this is happening? Their entire lives they never spared one single thought about their residents. The magisters never worried if their small folk got their fill of stomach or not. Never worried if their small folk have a roof over their head or not.
And when I am coming to provide these things to them, they wonder why they are ready to welcome me with my open arms?
To the magisters of Tyrosh, Myr and Lys, who are the perpetrator and protector of this order. Who pride themselves on their false sense of greatness. Do not resist.
Your cities will be reshaped as part of my empire. Whether you want it or do not want it.
So, hear my counsel. Open your gates when me and my men appear. Bend your knee. It shall not be your defeat, but it shall be your wisdom. Your foresight. Stand on the right side of history. Claim the prosperity and security my rule will bring.
Cling to your lives and let them flourish under new laws, rather than perish in useless struggle against me.
To the slaves and the smallfolk, the oppressed, the humble and hungry of your cities.
A new dawn of revolution approaches. Let its fire smolder in your hearts. Let the seeds of revolution sprout in your heart.
But hold your hand. Wait for me.
When my army will stand at your gates, then the hour of your freedom will come. Then shall the revolution truly begin.
Then shall your fate be yours alone to shape.
For I am coming.
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