Liberation anthem. Part 1
The story of the Seeker Loom's first meeting with the free people, the Ravens. Written by an employee of the Archives according to him.
The first appearance of Ravens in the Wasteland reverberated with a thunderous echo for a long time. If you want to live in a world of eternal war for a long time, just make yourself known as loudly as possible. Instil fear. Make everyone remember your name.
T, a mountainous settlement in the east, has been considered neutral territory for many years. Even the Lunatics left it alone because there was nothing to take from the miners and farmers who tried to squeeze out of the dried salt soil. Local residents never fought, stole or participated in the permanent division of territory. They just lived — till the moment when together with songs of Ravens, “liberation anthems”, trouble appeared on their doorstep.
For the Seeker, the story of another local massacre is routine, almost normal, but we also mourn those who are gone while trying to find out what really happened. I was brought to the settlement of T by news of the emergence of a new group and the ensuing tragedy. After receiving a report from the scouts, I immediately followed the footsteps of the Ravens but arrived too late.
Without too many details, you know what a burnt settlement looks like. The scariest report has also been confirmed.
The Ravens took all the children with them.
This wasn't completely out of the ordinary — raiders not burdened with humanity took the younglings with themselves, intending to turn them into labour force oppressed by fear, but even they were smart not to kill all adults. At least a few were taken with them as slaves. This time the older ones were completely slaughtered. All this led to the most terrible thoughts.
Tracking the Ravens was easy, they didn't even try to cover their tracks. Their fast, garishly decorated cars cut through the Wasteland roads just as easily as the hot blades cut soft rubber. The messages that were received on the way, little by little deprived me of any hope of a happy outcome. Crows got involved in fierce fights, robbed trade groups, took away everything they wanted without a second thought. Their unpredictable actions displayed many more calculations every day that had seemed unlikely. Yes, the Ravens easily took away things they didn't own but did not kill those who did not attack them themselves. This is probably because they understood — this meant a chance to get involved in with groups connected with large factions with which it is unreasonable to conflict.
Every informant I met reported that the Ravens actually had children with them, obviously not their own. One mutilated raider even complained that he almost lost his hand when he tried to buy two teenagers as A “gesture of goodwill”. Perhaps, such an offer was too much even for Ravens.
Almost two weeks later, on the road, I heard more frightening news. The Ravens rerouted their colourful battle convoy towards one of our allied settlements, Terminal-45, still recovering from last year's siege of Gronch.
I was supposed to get there first and try to call for backup. We couldn't allow for more bloodshed.
Well… At the time, I had no idea what was coming.
To be continued…