THE PLIGHT of OLD STONES and its EFFECT on MISTLOCKE

[LiAlH4]

THE PLIGHT of OLD STONES and its EFFECT on MISTLOCKE


A Treatise on Poverty and the Solutions of the Broken God; Second Edition  

 
 Father Mororn Glaemril; of Ilmater and the Disciples of St. Sollars the Twice-Martyred
 
 Second Ed published in MISTLOCKE, Hammer 22, 1381 DR, for the Brotherhood of Mercy with the aid of the Society of the Shining Hammer. First ed. published in DAMARA, Ches 19, 1368 DR, at the Monastery of the Yellow Rose. Reprint HIGHMOON, Alturiak 4, 1373 DR, at the Abbey of the Lavender Chrysanthemum.

 

~--------~

 
 The purpose of analysis to  gain a better understanding of a specific topic by dividing it into  smaller sections and addressing them in turn. We shall here analyze the  effects of poverty upon Mistlocke as a whole by examining in detail: the  definition of poverty, its role in the propagation of suffering and   communal decay, its history in Mistlocke, and the solution offered by  the faithful of Ilmater in seeing this affliction ended. By  understanding the plight of the impoverished, we open ourselves and our  community to new benefits by reducing crime, expanding the trained  workforce, and improving our sense of community. By addressing and  ending the CYCLE OF POVERTY which has entrapped many otherwise  productive citizens, we shall improve the quality of life and strengthen  our defenses in a way that is without precedent in the long history of  Mistlocke.
 
 
 

I.

 
 Poverty defined is the  inability of an individual to acquire for his person or family the basic  necessities of survival, which are food, shelter, and security. This is  a simple enough concept looked upon from the lens of the distant  observer, but it underscores a deeper set of societal problems. In order  to understand the nature of poverty, we must address its root causes.  The fault lies not within man himself, for few would willingly choose an  unstable, volatile existence over one of stability and comfort. Rather,  the fault lies in varying combinations of outside factors which  inevitably render it impossible for an individual to maintain his  family.
 
 These contributing factors  assume a wide array of forms, ranging from on one hand the overt ravages  of war to the more innocuous and insidious prevalence of habits such as  drinking. Rising prices of food, heavy taxes levied by the ruling  class, and the price of housing all likewise have their place as  contributing factors in the descent into poverty. It is important to  note that rarely does a single one factor damn a man into a state of  poverty; it is the pressing weight of many such influences which drives a  man to the brink of homelessness, when a final push is made by an  unforeseen calamity to leave him with nothing. Be it a lack of  professional occupation due to decreased trade in a region, the closure  of a farm due to the ravages of wolves, or an infestation of foul  monsters in a normally-safe place of work, the position of the poor in  any community is a tenuous struggle to stay one step ahead of poverty.  Once one descends into such a state, extricating one's self becomes  difficult in the extreme.
 
 One of the chief features in  any analysis of the plight of the impoverished is the recognition of the  difficulty of escaping that state without aid. Without funds for  clothes, food, and a proper home, a man is forced to address the needs  of survival before anything else. This daily search leaves little time  for focus upon what he must to do escape the bonds he now finds himself  constrained by. Denied by necessity the leisure of pursuing new work or  learning a new or useful trade, he is kept in this state of bondage for  as long as the circumstances which placed him in poverty persist in his  homeland. Without external assistance to alleviate the need for the  daily hunt for food, shelter, and security he will make little headway.  Even donations of coin ultimately have little effect, for rarely will  they be put to a use other than the acquisition of food or temporary  shelter. It lessens his burden slightly, but rarely to the point where  he has the time necessary to devote to developing the skills and time to  begin new work and resume his stable life.
 
 It is these aspects of poverty  which lead inevitably to the Cycle of Poverty which is widespread  throughout Faerun. Denied a stable existence but still possessed of all  the emotions of any sentient being, the children of the impoverished  will find themselves in similar conditions to those of their parents,  but with even less chance of escaping them to live a stable and  productive life. Denied through their entire lives the ability to learn  trade, they will without aid go on to propagate further generations of  people whose lives are bound and constrained by the affliction of their  forefathers. It is this cycle which is perhaps the most damning aspect  of poverty, for it denies those trapped within it the opportunity to  learn a trade and become productive at any point during their lives.
 
 Drastic and rapid removal from  the taint of poverty by external forces is at this point the only hope  for most people trapped within this cycle. This is a difficult and  involved process, undertaken by few but the clergy of Ilmater. It  involves providing shelter, food, and safety while seeing those damned  to an existence of poverty given the opportunity to pursue a trade or  service valuable to the community. If no intervention occurs, the  impoverished are doomed to an existence of suffering and a life which is  a drain on the community of which they are a part.

[LiAlH4]

II.

 

With  the nature of poverty defined and examined in detail, bearing in mind  the destructive cycle which it produces, we must now assess the effects  which acute and obtuse levels of poverty have on communities large and  small. It is undeniable that the individual trapped within poverty acts  as a drain upon the community in which he lives. By definition producing  next to nothing, having no presently-needed trade, the impoverished  draws his sustenance from the supplies of the community at large, often  by means of crime and other uncivil activities. This resulting drain on  the community absorbs the resources of law-enforcement, costs money  through trials, and fosters an atmosphere of tension and hostility  amidst the actions of the impoverished-turned-criminals.

 

Small  communities generally lie upon two ends of a single spectrum of  poverty, for the lack of multiple tradesmen and craftsmen usually means  any man with a skill or trade can find gainful employment regardless of  season. The unemployed can find work often in the farmlands, as  laborers, or even militiamen through most seasons. Due to the close-knit  nature of such communities, the poor often have a harness through  family and neighbors which will protect them from descent into true  poverty. Indeed, such small communities can rarely afford in the long  term to have a drain on their resources as would be produced by a  habitual beggar or criminal. Thus, the obtuse effects of poverty are  practically nonexistent within such communities.

 

By  contrast, widespread, acute poverty within a small town or village is  devastating and often spells the demise of that settlement. Poor  harvests, the raiding of fell creatures and foemen, or plague can  rapidly compound to produce a situation where maintaining the settlement  is untenable, and it is abandoned. Rampant poverty within a small  village thus poses an existential threat to the town, for poverty means  additional resources drawn away from safeguarding the village or  producing the harvest of next-year. Such conditions must be addressed  swiftly if the town is to survive in the long-term.

 

Large  communities and cities present an entirely different scenario with  regard to the effects and role of poverty within the area. Obtuse  effects of poverty upon cities are seen in times of bounty and  prosperity, where opportunities afford all but the most destitute an  avenue of escape from the bonds of poverty. Here, however, the cycle of  poverty continues to damn the children of the impoverished, who languish  without trade or avenue of escape even in times of prosperity. Crime  remains ever-present, but the power of guilds of thieves and the  prevalence of criminals is downplayed. On a whole, however, the  prosperity of a city tends to play down the underlying causes that drive  people into poverty, setting the impoverished aside as an unfortunate  casualty as the majority of the populace focus upon wealth and avarice.

 

In  times of war, pestilence, and strife, the role of poverty in a major  city is a magnification of the effects seen in times of peace.  Inevitably as more individuals whose livelihoods are derived from trades  and crafts within the walls fall victim to homelessness and  impoverishment, rates of crime within the city skyrocket and the city  itself risks falling victim to the same cycle which grips many  individuals in poverty. Over time, the city will lose many of its  skilled laborers to migration or death. As this happens, their children,  growing up without the same education or apprenticeships, will be  without the ability to perform in the roles their fathers once did;  leading to a decline in industry and trade within the region. The city  itself shall not die, for most undergo their own cycles of prosperity  and decline, as harvests and wars come and go, but they shall suffer in  relation to their neighbors who do a better job of addressing the issue  of poverty within the walls.

[LiAlH4]

III.

 

With  a frame of reference establishing the effects of poverty on a spectrum  of communities, we turn now to our own situation within the town of  Mistlocke and the dangers the widespread poverty here presents to all.  We live in what must be described as a small town with considerable  advantages over many villages upon the mainland. We maintain an imposing  wall and have a steady stream of adventurers to call upon to act as  militia in defense of this community. The surrounding forest provides  game and arable land unusual for our climate and situation. We further  have a strong core of nobles and officers whose guidance has thus far  steered Mistlocke away from disaster at the hands of H'bala and the  denizens of the forest. Nevertheless, with our position comes  significant problems, compounded by recent events. Foremost among these  is the poverty now rampant within a pseudo-village of its own contained  within our walls, the Old Stones.

 

The  recent mass-migration of people away from Nebezzdos through the actions  of the Dreamers and the luck of many trying the mountain passes and  other routes has left Mistlocke with a much larger population than it is  capable of supporting comfortably. With the arrival of people already  starved by poverty, many previous victims of the vicious cycle with no  trade, Mistlocke was faced with a difficult decision. The impoverished  who could not aid the community without draining its resources were  given little and relegated to a life within the only free 'shelter'  within the town, the Old Stones. Given a choice between existence in  this place and a life beyond the walls at the mercy of the forest, most  have understandably chosen the Old Stones.

 

The  result is that the Old Stones have become a desperate slum. The Muster  does not go there, and Mistlocke in general shuns the building and its  inhabitants with an  aversion toward the foreigners and poor of that  place which is reminiscent of many large cities. It has in effect become  a consolidated district of poverty, where the desperate cling to  whatever peace they can find. This 'peace' often takes the form of the  regular imbibing alcohol or the more-insidious junksnuff, both of which  help to further dim the hope of salvation through gainful employment.

 

Yet  Mistlocke, despite isolating the problem to a specific building, has  not escaped the repercussions of such widespread poverty within its  walls. Indeed, the isolation may have increased the dangers posed to the  town by instilling feelings of abandonment and rebellion among the  people of Old Stones. Crime has already taken a firm hold in the place,  with the insidious junksnuff being sold openly beyond the reach of the  Muster and its people devoid of any other means of survival.

This takes its toll upon the  community in gold and food, reducing the amount of both available for  trade due to theft. Resources which normally go to guarding the building  and reducing the prevalence of crime are spared in the short-term, but  the threat of open rebellion and more dire violence as its inhabitants  grow more desperate negates any such benefits in the long-term. Left to  fester, crime derived from poverty will take a serious and perhaps  damning toll upon this settlement and offer a back-door for any attack  by outside powers or the results of internal strife.

[LiAlH4]

IV.

 

With  the threat of poverty and suffering within Mistlocke well-established,  we now turn to the solution offered by Ilmater and his faith upon Toril.  Ignoring the plight of the suffering and the impoverished in any  situation inevitably leads to social decay within the community and the  ruin of those who would cast aside their gaze from so obvious a problem.  The solution to this goes directly to the definition we have  established and the nuances of the condition which we have delved.

 

Poverty  is in essence the lack of basic needs for an individual; the absence of  shelter, food, and security. In the case of the Old Stones, the people  have tenuous shelter (cold and damp though it may be), but lack food,  security, and a lawful means of providing for themselves. In order for  the cycle of poverty in Mistlocke to be broken, each of these must be  addressed in turn, through a single source. A construction effort must  be undertaken within the Old Stones, that we may create for the poor and  impoverished a place of refuge where they shall find help and in time  their feet. This will take the form of a small shrine to Ilmater, whose  faithful shall bear the cost of maintaining the shrine and the Toil of  caring for its clients, with rooms dedicated to providing shelter and  food to the people within.

 

In  time, as the poor begin to look anew to Mistlocke from this place of  refuge, they will see the generosity of its people in aiding this  construction along with the opportunities presented in the village.  Trades shall be learned, the workforce shall expand, and a massive  section of our population presently maligned shall be give once more to  our community in a lawful and constructive way. When our walls are  beset, the people who we have helped lift themselves out of poverty  shall rally to their defense. We shall gain new neighbors, friends and  allies against the forces of Plague and Famine as we grow our farmlands  and patrol our borders. All of this takes time, but we must grasp  swiftly this solution offered to us.

 

Poverty  can only be conquered through the compassion of the community in which  it exists. No small settlement such as Mistlocke can long survive such  gross and devastating poverty as exists in the Old Stones. We must take  it upon ourselves to bear the suffering of these people that they may be  by the grace of Ilmater lifted forth from their bondage. It is we of  the clergy of Ilmater who shall ultimately stand guard upon the front  lines of this fight, but ever shall this remain a project undertaken by  the community at large. We must undertake this Toil for the sake of our  community, our town, and our future here in Mistlocke, lest we permit  the cycle of poverty which is underway within our walls to stifle our  growth and endanger the future of this town.