I suppose your now wondering what a culling could be, and rightly so as many of the peasants had never seen one and found themselves wondering the same thing.
Senani of course had studied such a thing in his days in school. He now found himself searching for any relevant bit of data from his studies with his cousins as one of the guards moved toward him and Luna.
Senani first brought his mind back to a single word.
Magic.
Magic had been banned in the lands long ago as no magic could be cast without some for of payment, and few truly understood what a single spell could cost.
Senani however, knew more than most as he had found the prospect fascinating. Each school of magic had a different form of "payment"
· Necromancy would sacrifice the soul of a living creature to restore life to a corpse. Any spell cast from this school would require a payment of life, be it in blood or the soul of the living.
· Technomancy was rather unpredictable as it dealt with many forms of machine. It often increased the strength of natural disasters, or simply caused one depending upon the strength of the spell cast.
· Divination would reveal your secrets to those that you chose to discover information about magically, this could either be the most dangerous, or the least depending on the type of person you were and the type of secrets you possessed.
· Elemental magic would invoke an opposite status on the area from that of the element of the spell you cast. For example if you cast a fireball, the area would become extremely cold, depending on the size of the fireball, you could potentially invoke a new ice age.
· Charm magic could reduce your own charisma and reduce your lifeforce. Yet having the ability to sway the opinions of others was often considered worth it.
· Geomancy would allow you to change living things, be they animal or plant. Its payment was never understood, and the repercussions could be dire.
· Healing magic was often placed in the same category as blood magic or necromancy as all of them required fees in lifeforce or blood.
· Blood magic paid the cost in blood or lives, yet none truly understood its strength of uses. Even in the ancient times before magic was banished completely, it had been outlawed.
After recalling magic, Senani found himself focused on a single word.
Culling.
Culling's were a method of punishment for the peasant class or criminals among the nobles or merchant class. They were rare and in recent times unheard of.
In essence the Church of Hukratism would all for "sacrifices for the greater good" and place the living into the great machine. It would hum to life as the screams of the person were heard, echoing louder and louder. The sheer terror and agony would result in a single pebble escaping from the other side of the machine.
No one knew what those pebbles were or what their use was. Though Senani recalled there were only four reasons the Church of Hukratism would typically call for a culling.
· War
· Population Control (This was highly debated among the educated, House Olear's teacher firmly felt this was the primary reason for a culling.)
· Criminal eradication
· Practitioners of magic had been found
The guard grabbed Luna's hand with a disgusting smile of glee as he forcibly pulled her toward the stage, forcibly bringing Senani back to reality.
The speaker on stage began speaking as he observed Luna being dragged to the stage.
"You are all extremely lucky to be a part of the first culling of this century. I am Hukrat Thelonious, and I and my temple guard will be hosting the event today. This lady that you see being brought forward will be the second of our sacrifices.
Luna has been found to be a witch that practices the vile art of witchcraft. On this her sixteenth birthday she would come fully into her powers. Fortunately, we were notified by House Olear before she could complete use her powers of charm upon the young nobleman Senani. Today I fully fear she would have become entangled with him, forever enslaving him to her wily charms.
As to the rest, we will first sacrifice Diego, leader of the Cast Iron bandits. He and many of his men were captured in a recent raid.
We will then call names. If your name is called, you will step forward. Your noble sacrifices will elevate your position in your next life."
Senani found himself dumbfounded by this revelation. How had House Olear known of Luna?
As he battled himself internally over the how's and whys, Hukrat Thelonious escorted Diego into the great machine.
As the gears roared to life, Diego's screams began to emanate from the great device. His screams rose to such a level that it began to cause physical pain to Senani and all the peasants present. Remarkably the guards and Hukrat appeared to be unphased.
As his screams of fear and pain roared louder and louder, Senani made his decision.
He began to move toward the nearest guard. As he approached the guard, he quickly drew his sword and slashed at the guard's throat.
The guard was caught so fully off guard that he could only grasp his now slashed throat as he fell to the ground trying to breathe through the slit in his throat, his every breathe coming out as a gurgle through the blood that now pooled around him.
No one heard the guard fall. Diego's screams continued to persist as Senani moved from one guard to the next, carefully slitting their throats and moving ever closer to the stage.
Within moments, there remained only one guard, the one that had drug Luna to the stage, and now continued to hold her still.
Luna was the only one among those on stage not bound in some way.
The guard watched the machine, reveling in the screams that emanated from within.
He did not realize that Senani had approached, until he felt a strange sensation as his head began to fly toward the ground, no longer attached to its body.
Luna shrieked out in surprise as she realized she had been freed.
Hukrat Thelonious turned, as Luna stood close enough that he alone could hear her.
He gasped in surprise as he examined his current situation.
Never in all the years the church had existed had anyone interrupted a culling.
Senani charged toward him as the Hukrat considered his vulnerability.
Senani swung his sword, clearly aiming for the Hukrat's neck. As it approached it simply stopped moving.
Senani reared back and attempted to swing again.
Again, it stopped moving just short of the Hukrat's neck.
Thelonious chuckled as he recalled the protections bestowed upon Hukrat's when they were elevated above the typical clergy of the church.
As Senani continued to attempt to slay him, Thelonious calmly proclaimed. "I bear the protections of my god. No mere mortal can slay me. You have accomplished nothing here but your own demise young Senani. The guards you slew will go through the machine just as your little wench will."
Senani continued to strike the throat of Thelonious. Yet he remained unable to make contact.
Thelonious raised his hand as he laughed manically. A strong burst of air emitted from it. It cleanly struck Senani, knocking him back into the bound prisoners behind him, taking them all to the ground.
"You can not face the power of a god" roared Thelonious as Senani again rose from the ground.
Senani again charged at Thelonious, viciously striking Thelonious from all angles. Not a single strike connected.
Luna realized that Senani could not win this battle alone. She carefully began untying the bonds from the bandits around her.
Now freed, the bandits gathered the weapons of the dead guard's and joined Senani's attack.
Hukrat Thelonious laughed manically as the group struck at him, not a single blow contacting his flesh.
By this point, the screams had died away, and a single stone lie in the end of the machine.
With the sound dying down, the peasants looked to Hukrat Thelonious, and gaped in shock as they realized that Senani was currently battling him.
The Hukrat continued to laugh manically as he raised his hand for another strike.
As he raised his hand, the stone in his necklace shattered.
As it shattered, Senani's next strike sliced cleanly through Hukrat Thelonious's neck.
His expression quickly changed as he found himself flying. His vision slowly fading away as his head began to roll upon the stage.
Seeing the Hukrat fall, the bandits began to remove any valuables from his and the guards' bodies. They quickly equipped the armor that the guards had and looked to Senani for acknowledgement.
Senani had not considered the ramifications of his actions. He had simply desired to free Luna.
He only now realized that he had jeopardized the lives of all present. The peasants would be slain mercilessly by the church once the death of a Hukrat was discovered.
He now had many decisions to make, and not much time to do it. He spoke clearly and with purpose as he removed the necklace from the ground and placed it upon his neck.
"Five of you men place the corpses in the machine one by one. Gather the stones and bring them to me. This might buy us a bit of time.
As to the rest of you, I need ¼ of you to gather all the supplies that you can find within the village. Bring them to the edge of town, at the opening that leads to my home.
Those that remain, go to the merchant district. Loot any weaponry or supplies you can. We will need everything to survive. I realize this will alienate us from the merchant caste, but if we don't do this, we will not survive the coming winter.
You bandits, I need you to come with me. We are going to venture toward the noble district, recruit as member as we are able, and loot everything that we can. There we will find resistance in the guards of the nobles. Yet resistance will be minimal, as those that live in the city are poorer even than my own family. They will have few guards.
Move now and move with haste."
Those present quickly moved to do as Senani requested. The donkeys, horses, and wagons that were gathered from the merchants were quickly laden with the merchants' own goods. Few resisted, the number of peasants was simply overwhelming.
Those that did resist, were slain, striped and fed to the great machine.
Within a matter of hours, the entire peasant and merchant districts had been striped of all valuables. Some among the merchants, had willingly joined the peasants, those that had not, cowered in their homes. Fearful of the peasant's revolt.
Senani led the bandits into the noble district. They did not immediately encounter resistance. In fact, the nobles seemed to have a rather high esteem for those present, at least until they saw the necklace upon Senani's neck. It was clearly a relic from the church, worn only by a Hukrat, though with the stone clearly missing.
Seeing the change in stance and demeanor of the nobles, Senani decided it would be a great time to speak. "Hukrat Thelonious lies slain. His guards lie slain. If you resist, you will face a similar fate. I am taking the peasants and we are leaving before the wrath of the church befalls us.
Those of you that wish to join, may gather all your possessions, and accompany us.
Those of you that do not wish to join us, may humbly donate to our cause. I will request a mere half of your food stocks, weaponry, and armor. As well as all your horses, donkeys, and wagons. They will be needed for us to survive the winter."
The nobles gawked at Senani's request. Sending their 10 guards to surround them.
The oldest among the guards was clearly past his prime, though his grey hair spoke to his vast experience. This gentleman quickly stated. "You are taking away the peasants but to what end? Why should they follow a noble from an impoverished house? What can you promise them aside from a definite death alone in the woods?"
Senani considered his words before he responded, at this point he was basically making it up as he went. "I promised them nothing. The peasants are smarter than many nobles I know. They simply realize that if they do not join me, the church will blame and destroy them. They will become an example to the other villages nearby.
I can't guarantee our safety, though I am working to attain it however I may. That is the only reason I come to you. It is after all my duty to protect those that decide to accompany me."
The old man smiled as he moved toward Senani. He prostrated himself upon the ground and spoke. "You may call me Maximus. I have waited many years for someone to realize that the peasants were not livestock. That it was a noble's duty to protect them. To that charge, it would be my honor to aid you however I may."
Senani forced the man to stand and join with him and the bandits as the guards around the gawked in fear and awe.
Maximus had been a mighty weapons master in his younger days. He had trained many among the royal guard before he had left, out of a strong sense of duty to those that were less fortunate than him.
With Maximus by Senani's side, two more guards moved forward and joined him. The remainder sheathed their weapons, moved to the armory, and began to load small amount of weaponry and armor they're upon carts.