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.
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.
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.
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.