These men are all talk; What is needed is action — action!
- John Brown's remarks at the New England Anti-Slavery Convention (1859).
Today was a beautiful night not like any other in Gemeinplatz. The moon was shimmering, the crickets were singing, the catgirls were being liberated. You know, the unusual.
An unlikely alliance was marching under the cover of the dark, that being an alliance of former slave turned newly recruited abolitionist wizard Ayomide and former radical abolitionist turned even more radical abolitionist John Brown.
"Alright, Mr. Brown, as we have practiced. You still remember your lines, right?" asked Ayomide getting closer to their target.
"Young lady, I may be an old man, but I am not all talk just yet." replied Brown. "I am still very much a man of action."
I hope you're not all talk, otherwise I'm getting captured again, thought Ayamide as she saw the mansion for the first time. Thankfully, her eyes were able to easily see in the dark, so she could observe the mansion clearly. It was a small one, a bit decrepit but some renovations had been done to it recently. The building was only protected by wooden fences surrounding it and the plantation area.
Brown carried around his trusty knapsack that he had filled with necessary supplies for travel. Food to eat, a fire starter to do what its name implies and a knife to stab slavers without wasting ammunition.
Ayomide seemingly only had a small bag. Thankfully she knew of one trick that allowed her to carry much more: extradimensional storage. While she couldn't maintain a space as big as more experienced magicians, she could still open extra space to carry most of the armor and weapons that John Brown had stashed in the cave.
"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted a lone guard stationed in a guardhouse at the entrance. Seeing that the people approaching were a limping old man and a young woman, he dropped his defenses as he ran towards them in concern. "Are you fine, sir?"
"Do I look fine, boy?" replied Brown at the approaching man. "I have many problems, boy, and one of them is with your vile ilk!"
"With my-" muttered the man before he was interrupted by Brown silencing him. The guard hadn't expected an old man to suddenly tackle him; he was unable to speak due to John Brown having put his hand over his mouth.
Ayomide was staring in shock. She was surprised at how agile old Brown was.
"Come on, young lady! Quit gawking, we've got business to attend to!" whispered Brown.
"R-Right!" responded Ayomide. "Ahem, [Paralyze!] Stand still you guarding prick, it's only going to get harder for you if you move!"
"Mmph! Mmrghh…" gurgled the guard. He lost his ability to move his muscles. Brown dragged the guard into his place at guardhouse and shut the door so that no one else would notice the paralyzed man.
Hiding in the dark and traversing the grounds easily with the help of Ayomide's night vision, Brown quickly entered the grounds of the mansion unopposed. Brown and Ayomide quickly made their way to their intended target. Passing through the main mansion and the farms surrounding it, the two arrived at a stone stairway that went underground.
"So, you say this is a dungeon?" whispered Brown looking down the stairway. "It definitely deserves such a title."
"Yes, it looks definitely like one." replied Ayomide. "They send the slaves to grind for items and gold in places like these when they aren't doing farm work. I've had to work in a place like this for… I don't remember how long."
"I'm amazed how people keep finding ways to exploit their fellow man even further." Said Brown with unconcealed disgust. "Let's not dilly-dally any further."
He and Ayomide went down the stairs, where they found a dark room that passed as slave quarters around these parts. It was cramped, dank, dark and smelt as one would expect such a place to smell.
Thankfully, common slaves that resided in places such as these weren't controlled 24/7 by magic that ensured their loyalty, which meant that they could play a crucial part in John Brown's plan.
"Who the- Thieves?!" exclaimed one of the slaves who noticed the intruders. The rest of the room woke up as well, though they weren't as concerned as they literally had nothing to their name that thieves could loot.
"Yes, we are thieves, here to help you steal back what has been stolen from you!" declared Brown. Ayomide lit up the room with [Light] so that the slaves could see clearly. "I shall not force you to fight, but if you wish to do so, then join me in storming the mansion of your enslaver, in the name of the Lord!"
"But the lord is the one who's enslaving us!" replied one of the slaves.
"I don't mean the lord of this mansion as… Forget it." said Brown. He gave up trying to give a sermon. Thankfully Ayomide was there to continue where Brown had failed.
"Brothers and sisters, you have nothing to lose but your chains!" exclaimed Ayomide with passion and enthusiasm that infected the slaves in the room. "I was once crawling in the dungeons like you, but I've decided that I should fight so that no one else shall need to grind for loot that they won't be compensated for! Who's with me?"
A couple of the physically capable slaves, and even the weaker ones, stood up with much ovation to support them. Ayomide took out the weapons and armor from the extradimensional storage to arm the slaves. Swords, spears, axes, maces along with helmets, chainmail, random pieces of plate… The freed men and women quickly formed a makeshift militia.
The slaves quickly informed Brown about the layout of the mansion, about the character of the owner, and about his personal bodyguard. Brown confirmed that he had enough people to combat the small garrison of the mansion, though he would have continued on with the raid even if he was the only man willing to fight against an entire army.
"Then, this is how we'll go about deposing that so-called lord of yours…"
Brown quickly debriefed the dozen people that volunteered. Prayers, wishes, and tears were quickly exchanged while those left behind parted with the dozen brave warriors. The warriors left the dungeon. They began their first battle for freedom and liberty under the protective cover of the night.
Six of the dozen, led by Ayomide, left to silence the guards staying in the barracks while they were still sleeping so they wouldn't cause any trouble. The rest, led by John Brown, headed for the mansion. They stationed themselves in front of the doors so that no one could exit the mansion without them noticing.
After a few minutes of waiting the barrack squad reunited with them after completing their mission successfully. The guards had been put to rest without alerting anyone.
It was now it was time to enter the mansion itself.
Brown raised his hand to signal that he was about to go in, and the rest of the warriors got ready to storm the building. He quickly lowered his hand as a signal, opened the door, and the rest of the team followed suit in breaching the building.
Things were quiet. No one seemed to wander the mansion this late at night.
…Or so they thought until Brown was pinned to the ground by an assailant that moved faster than he could notice them.
"[Bind]!"
Brown found himself unable to move with a knife pointed right at his neck. He noticed that the assailant had animal-like features similar to Ayomide, along with wearing a maid dress that was all familiar to a man of the 19th century.
Brown decided give diplomacy a chance. "Young lady! We are here to free you! In the name of the Lord, cease!"
All Brown got was a monotone reply. "Do not move an inch. Do not move an inch."
"Mr. Brown, she's under a mind-control spell! You won't get through to her with words." exclaimed Ayomide. The rest of the warriors were reluctant to advance while there was another life on the line.
"Then what will get through, young lady?" asked Brown. He was much calmer compared to the rest of the group despite being the one that could have his throat slit at any moment.
He had faced death many times along with literally dying once, so death wasn't all that stressful to him by now.
"This will! [Light]!" shouted Ayomide. A light ball appeared right in front of the assailant, causing her to jerk back and temporarily lose vision. Her binding spell also lost its effectiveness in this stunned state, freeing John Brown to grab her hand holding the knife away from him along with delivering a punch to the jaw with his other hand.
The warriors rushed to apprehend the assailant seeing that John Brown's life was not immediate danger,
"Excuse me younger lady, I hope you'll find it in you to forgive me after you're back to a sober state of mind." said Brown while he got up to his feet.
Brown wasn't in safety for long though. He heard the sound of a window in the upper floor breaking. Looking out the window they saw the figure of a man running away from the mansion.
"Quick, the bastard is getting away!" shouted Ayomide. The others, except for three people apprehending the previous assailant, rushed outside to stop the lord from escaping. Thankfully the man had injured his leg while jumping out the window, meaning he wasn't able to walk properly.
"You commie bastards never heard of 'private property'?!" shouted the lord in a heavy Southern accent. He aimed his crossbow and managed to hit one of the warriors chasing him causing some of warriors to freeze in fear.
Seeing the warriors hesitate, Brown shouted "Are you going to let the sacrifice of your brother be in vain?! Stop dallying and charge!" He quickly turned around the morale of the warriors as they ran with greater fervor than before to apprehend their oppressor.
Brown was still in great physical condition despite his age. He was the first one to catch up to the lord.
"Damn you! [Shield]!" said the lord as he casted a shining shield that encompassed him and Brown.
Brown was taken aback by the shiny field, but only for a second. "I see, the slavers of this land have different tricks up their sleeve. Interesting, very interesting."
The lord drew his sword and pointed it at Brown while laughing. "You're in a goddamn forcefield, stop being so calm!"
"I've already started the spark of something great, me dying again for such a great purpose would be no matter to me." replied Brown. He raised his fists in preparation for a fight.
"Die… Again? Are you like me, from Earth?" exclaimed the lord in shock.
"Yes, from the United States of America to be more exact."
"I'm- I'm from there too! Don't do this to your fellow American!" replied the lord. "I feed them, house them, give them work, what more do those uppity subhumans want?! Stop being such a hopeless bleeding heart, and come to your damn senses!"
"One feeds, houses and gives work to animals too, yet what animals lack is freedom. When one treats men like cattle and steals their freedom, then it is inevitable that they raise arms against you to get back what the Lord gave them."
"They should just accept their condition and work hard to pull themselves up by-"
"[Dispel Magic]!"
The dialogue between Brown and the Southern "gentleman" was suddenly interrupted by his shield disappearing. The lord was so frustrated that he hadn't noticed the fact that Brown was only playing for time by talking to him.
"Well then, whatever Satanic dark magic you've cast is no more. Your time is up." said Brown. He ran towards the lord, brandishing the knife he pulled out of his knapsack.
"No-"
The lord received a personal gift from John Brown in the form of a stab right in the face with extreme prejudice. He collapsed on the ground, never to rise up or oppress another ever again.
The former slaves erupted into a cheer upon seeing their enslaver defeated. Everyone quickly re-organized back in the mansion, some of them dragging their prisoners in front of the mansion to make sure none of them escaped.
Some worked on burying the body of one warrior who had been martyred along with the body of the magically brainwashed slave that had died during the chaos. After praying in many different ways for those who had fallen, and for those left alive, the group congregated in front of Brown.
"Now, people of the jury. I leave the fate of these captured men to you." declared Brown, addressing all of the former slaves numbering twenty-five that had gathered before him. "You are now all free men, though there is no need for me to say it. You've fought for your own freedom; you have all the right to use it as you see fit."
One of the people in the audience, who had just fought, raised a question that everyone else had in their mind. "Can we join you?"
"That is your own decision. Those who want to continue the fight beyond this one mansion, raise your hands!"
Everyone in the audience joined in raising their hands.
"Then, it's decided. To further our fight, we shall strip this mansion of everything that'll be useful to us! Weapons, armor, clothes, food, we'll take all we can back to the headquarters. As for the rest, we'll burn it down to the ground. We do not need someone else coming back here to enact similar suffering. If you agree with this course of action, then raise your hands!"
Everyone in the audience raised their hands again.