The City of Altier 5: Fiction

Riots in Altier

(Part 5)

After losing his best friend and wife in the ruins of Stonebridge the lone warden, Terallion, returned to Altier with his report. However, rather than finding the shining capital of mankind, he found a burning city divided by class warfare and crumbling beneath it’s own weight.

While the wardens had been away the attempts of the aristocracy to maintain peace only served to exacerbate the discontent in the lower city. The ruling class of Altier had chosen to withdraw what little peacekeepers they had stationed in the lower city in order to better protect themselves and the upper city.

With the peacekeepers gone, fearing for their own well being, the trade caravans also ceased to venture into the lower city. Without any sort of regulation and dwindling resources, the poorly educated, poverty ridden populace of the lower tiers of Altier quickly began began pointing fingers and seeking a scapegoat.

Terallion had not been the first warden to return with news of the new threat facing Altier. Just a few weeks before, other wardens had returned with similar information. Faced with an existential crisis the aristocracy quickly issued a draft requiring all able bodied young men to enlist unless they could pay a fee of twelve gold pieces of, um, uh ... gold! 

The protest among the lower class Altierians was initially meant to express anger towards the draft, however, it quickly turned into race riots against the the light skinned dark haired northerners. While few upper city dwellers saw the refugees as a problem, the majority of lower city inhabitants viewed them as parasites leeching off their already limited resources.

- by Charles VanMeter -