His Soul is Marching On to Another World; or, the John Brown Isekai

CabbagePreacher · Jun 11, 2023

82nd of Spring, 5859
Mount Curry, Azdavay / Casamonu

With a plan set and ready to go, the people of the cave were working hard to prepare themselves for the big day, which would be on the last day of Spring on the 90th. The squads of the estate alternated holidays every decameron; the first squad comprised of the more experienced overseers would be on holiday that day.

The first order of business was to prepare for combat. Ideally, there would be no combat needed if everything went to plan, but it wouldn't hurt to prepare for the unideal to happen. Hakim and Tater were out in the open plateau with spears in their hands, being instructed by Brown and Ayomide.

Hakim threw a spear, twisting his arms in such an extreme manner that instead of flying up, it flew down right next to his feet. Tater had the opposite issue, where the spear flew directly up and, after almost causing another premature death for Brown by almost landing right on his head, landed at his feet.

Ayomide sighed and slapped her palm on her head (also commonly known as 'a facepalm'). "You don't need to twist your arms like that, come on." Throwing a spear wasn't exactly an exact science. "Hakim, release it a bit earlier. Tater, release it a bit later."

Hakim and Tater threw their spears again, doing their best to follow the instructions of Ayomide. Hakim managed to threw his spear horizontally, but the spear ended up tumbling in the air and spun around before hitting the ground like a harmless twig. Tater managed to throw his spear horizontally as well, but his lack of physical strength made the spear land with strength comparable to a wet towel slowly colliding with a pot made of solid mithril.

Hakim threw the spear to the ground in frustration. "It's so hard to throw these. Don't think we'll be able to get ready in eight days…" He took his axe that he had been carrying, and threw it toward a nearby tree. The axe hit the tree by the handle and dropped to the ground harmlessly, but this was still a better throw compared to a spear. "Just wish we could throw a spear like an axe."

"Throw a spear like an axe? How'd you do that, geezer?" Tater tried to imagine how such a device could work, but his brain came up with nothing. He then had an idea. "A big sling that throws spears instead of stones would work."

"A…" Ayomide elaborated on that idea, before coming to a sudden dead end. "That's just called a 'bow'. We could try making bows, how hard can it be?" Ayomide looked at Brown for help. "Old man, you said that you did a lot of shooting back in your day, you should know something or another about bows."

"Young lady, I've never held a bow or crossbow in my life." Brown was a man of the Beecher's Bible.

They had looted a crossbow off of the guards in Azdavay, but the usage of the crossbow was blocked by the fact that they had forgotten to loot the spanning mechanism for it. The crossbow was too heavy to be drawn by hand, so it had laid around the cave without seeing use.

"What'd you shoot then? A sling?" Ayomide was running out of ranged weaponry.

"No, a gun." Brown motioned his hands as if he was holding one. "You held it like this, I guess the closest thing this realm has are crossbows."

"Guns? I've seen some back when I was in Casamonu. They had one big cannon on the wall, and some carried small hand cannons." Tater carried his spear as if it was a hand cannon. "They held them more like this, however."

"Ah! I remember one as well, I think." Hakim paused to think of the exact details. "Umm… Right, right, I once saw an adventurer visit Jacob's shop with this weird metal tube. He called it a 'firearm', and Jacob rambled on about something called the 'second amendment' with the customer."

"…Old man, can you make guns?" asked Ayomide with great excitement. "You must've seen a lot of them. Making metal tubes don't sound that complicated."

"Young lady, do I look like Mr. Sharps to you? Of course, I cannot construct a gun just because I used them. It's not just a metal tube, you need the primer, the powder, the trigger mechanism… There's a lot to a gun."

Hakim raised his hand. "I know where to get powder! With lye and sour milk, I can easily make us some of that good, white stuff."

"We're not talking about pearlash here, Mr. Hakim. It's a different type of powder: gunpowder. However, it wouldn't be too bad if you could get us some pearlash." Pearlash (a.k.a. potassium carbonate) was used as a leavening agent; having leavened bread would be a great improvement to the quality of life in the cave instead of their current state of permanent Passover.

"…when did we begin talking about guns? Let's return to the issue at hand here." Ayomide had been staring at her spear intently after the possibility of having guns was shot down. If spears were to be thrown like axes, huh…

Ayomide was nothing close to an engineer, so nothing came to her mind for now. The rest of the day was spent with training which, in the end, didn't prove to be of much use.

17 May 2023 / 82nd of Spring, 5859
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Kim Seong-Min smashed his keyboard with fury never seen before on the Korean Peninsula. He had just lost a match at the last minute. "Damn these Chinese pigs, always cheating at the game!" said Kim, ignoring the fact that he was playing on the Korean server.

Just outside his office was Nirmal, who was unsure whether he should enter or not. He had learned, in his career on Earth, that interrupting these so-called 'gamers' during a fit of rage wasn't a good idea. He had good news however, so he decided to enter in hopes that Kim would calm down.

I gently open the door, and…

"Damned Japanese, two wasn't enough…" Kim was going on a racially charged tirade that had somehow shifted focus from the Chinese to the Japanese. He had already sparked a massive flame war among the other players in the in-game international chat. It took him a good minute to finally notice Nirmal standing by the door with a giant suitcase. "Hmm? What do you want, Nirmal?"

"Sir, if it isn't too inconvenient…" Nirmal placed the pitch-black suitcase on the desk. "The items you requested have arrived. This is all we could get without being caught."

"The… Right, the items I requested to help the Satō-Wang." He wretched a bit on the inside on the mention of this surname. 'Satō' was a Japanese surname and 'Wang' was Chinese, implying that Count Leon and his family must have been the result of a close Sino-Japanese relationship. This combination was a most dreadful one for Kim, and he'd rather execute that man's entire family rather than give him one groschen. Still, business interests superseded xenophobia.

Kim opened the suitcase, finding five M1 Garand rifles neatly packed together along with boxes of .30-06 Springfield cartridges to be used with the rifles. Having firearms without authorization was highly illegal in South Korea, but Kim couldn't exactly stockpile weapons in an authorized manner. With a bit of money in the right pockets, he had imported a few 'sporting' rifles over from the United States. Of course, in this case, sport meant 'hunting fugitive slaves', they were bad for business after all. "You've got the men ready too, right?"

"Of course." It wasn't hard to find men capable of operating firearms in a country where conscription was mandatory. "They've all been briefed on the Otherworld, and they're ready to step into the portal and go to Gemeinplatz as soon as possible."

"Great." Kim had the slightest hint of a smile on his face. He was happy to get back at the fugitives that had damaged his profits. "Send them over to the Count then."

"Right away, sir." Nirmal bowed down. "One last thing sir, I'd like to remind you that your sister's visit to Gemeinplatz is going to be happening on Sunday."

"Do-Yun's coming over to Gemeinplatz so soon? Right, then delay the sending of the men until then. It'd be better if I pledged those men with her and myself present." Kim thought that it'd be better if the Count saw the one oh-so graciously helping him out, and that it'd be good for his sister to see how far her brother had gotten. "Get me a fresh suit to wear for that occasion, from the same supplier in Milan as before." The one thing Kim loved more than inciting flame wars was having clothing that was fire itself.

"Understood, sir." Nirmal bowed again, and took his leave with the suitcase full of rifles. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of the door. It seemed that Kim hadn't noticed anything yet. He took a disgusted look at the suitcase full of weaponry, before making his way to the corridor.

The skyline of Seoul was visible from a window in the corridor. It was night, but it was light as day no matter the hour. Nirmal stared at the sky, which had no visible stars thanks to light pollution. "My brethren… I hope that I won't join you too soon. I still have a job to do." He hummed a somber elven tune as nonchalantly as he could, exiting from the premises of the office.

"And a man from Azdavay says: Hey, what are you doing escaping from here? Oh, a man from Azdavay says…" Hakim was humming a makeshift tune while preparing light snacks with Tater during the night. Brown was praying while standing in a corner as usual, and Ayomide was reviewing the map of the Algernon estate.

"Hmm…" Ayomide was predominantly occupied with the idea of a spear that could be thrown more easily. While she was able to use magic, her affinity in wind and light didn't constitute much in terms of offense. Sure, she could speed up a shot with wind, but having a faster shot to work off of would be of tremendous help.

…growl. Perhaps this wasn't the right time to think. Ayomide couldn't resist the callings of her stomach. She headed over to Hakim. "Whatcha cooking there?"

Hakim handed small balls of cooked dough in response. "I thought that cooking flatbread in smaller pieces might make it more digestible." He had been done with the cooking, so he turned to the chef's assistant, Tater. "Hand me a bar of soap, won't you?"

Tater obliged. "Here." Hakim did his best to clean the pot using some soap and water, and Ayomide watched while eating.

Suddenly, an unwelcome visitor showed itself on the entrance of the cave. It was a naughty slime, which had wandered towards them after hearing the smell of bread.

"Shoo, piss off!" Hakim wasn't having any of it so he instinctively used the only weapon currently in his hand: the pot. He swung the pot, and the bar of soap still resting inside of it flew out like a stone launched by a catapult. The poor slime was hit square in its non-existent face, and ran away in terror. "Another bar of the soap, please."

"Here." Tater handed Hakim another bar, and they immediately got back to work.

That soap flew pretty far, didn't it? The gear's inside Ayomide's flatbread-fueled brain began turning. What if… What if there was a spear inside that pot instead? She constructed what seemed to be a nonsensical sentence at first, before further deliberation on the topic began shaping something that might actually work. It doesn't have to be a pot. Just something the spear rests on while being thrown in the same manner…

"Yeuwrikah!" shouted Ayomide, who had heard about Archimedes' exploits from Brown but hadn't heard of how to properly pronounce 'eureka'.

Hakim turned toward Ayomide, with much confusion in his expression. "Yew re-cough?"

"Don't matter how it's spelled, what matters is that I just had an idea!"

In this chapter of the John Brown Isekai:

Kim Seong-Min has got the 'unnecessary nationalism' department well-covered.
(Original post by u/Blissfulss)

CabbagePreacher · Jun 19, 2023

It felt like I was forgetting something yesterday; turns out I forgot to update the John Brown Isekai. Sorry for the one-day delay.

84th of Spring, 5859
Mount Curry, Azdavay / Casamonu

"Soo… Do enlighten us o' Lady Orange, what's this?" Hakim was holding an odd device that looked like a wooden pot with a very elongated handle. "Do I throw this at the enemy? I don't think throwing spoons is going to help much."

"Indeed, young lady. I appreciate your enthusiasm to the cause, and I'm sure that the Almighty is pleased with your hard work, but…" Brown scratched his head "Pray tell, what are we supposed to do with this?"

"It's an 'Orange Spear-Thrower M1', or the M1 for short." She took the M1 off of the hands of Hakim. "It's like a pot, but instead of launching soap, it launches spears."

Hakim's confusion wasn't cleared up on bit. "Pots… they don't usually launch soap either."

"Watch and learn." Ayomide felt pretty cool after saying such a cliché line. She took one of the spears, and set it to stand on the 'cup' of the M1. Then she held the handle of the M1, while still holding on to the shaft of the spear, and swung the M1 around like how Hakim swung the pot without letting it go.

Much to Hakim's and Brown's surprise, the spear flew off in at an impressive speed of around 80 mph (~140 km/h), lodging itself into the ground over a hundred feet (30 m) away from Ayomide. "I think this pot's done quite a good job."

Brown couldn't help but clap at the performance. "Oh! May God bless you, young lady, that's excellent!"

"Can I try?" Hakim took the M1 from Ayomide, and imitated her in readying the spear. He swung it around, and the spear flew properly unlike his other tries. The only problem was the fact that he had instinctively let go of the device during launch, and the poor M1 flew along with the spear. "I guess… I could get used to it if I played around a bit more."

Tater had been watching them from afar. "Maybe we could find some bird feathers to add to the spears? You know, like arrows have. I don't know what those feathers do, but they must do something since they keep adding them."

"Well, don't matter whether we've got feathers or not." Hakim readied another spear to be thrown. "We've got something that we can make a tasty shish kebab with, that's all that matters."

21 May 2023 / 86th of Spring, 5859
Casamonu, Empire of Gemeinplatz

"I thought that you might be joking about all this 'fantasy' stuff, but… It's real."

Kim Seong-Min was taking a walk in the bustling streets of Casamonu along with his little sister, Kim Do-Yun (and his secretary, Mr. Nirmal). Flanking him were five bodyguards, all armed with the M1 Garand and an equally deadly sense of fashion.

Kim never felt this gratified in his life, turning so many heads with his designer suit and entourage of fancy bodyguards. All the time he had spent grinding dungeons and mastering the system for them felt worth it. Everyone on the street, from the paupers to the nobles, were removing their hats in salute at this impressive group of otherworlders.

A drop of sweat, formed from stress, dropped down from Do-Yun's brow. "Wow, I'm getting a bit nervous from all the people staring at us…" She nervously laughed as she waved back at the passersby saluting them.

"Don't worry, you get used to it." Kim adjusted his sunglasses (bought for an amount that equaled a couple months' minimum wage in Korea) "Besides, don't we deserve this?"

"I guess we do." Do-Yun continued smiling and waving "You must be very respected around here."

"Indeed! Your brother is the richest person in all of Northern Gemeinplatz. Ha-ha-ha!" said Kim. He cracked a laugh that sat somewhere between evil and forced laughter. He stopped to point at a castle that sat atop a hilltop. "Look, here's the castle of a genuine count. That's where we're going."

"A count? A real one?!" Do-Yun was excited at the prospect. According to her extensive knowledge, derived from the genre of otome isekai that might not be all too familiar to some of our readers, she… didn't know much about counts. She knew a lot about dukes, especially cold dukes from the north, but she hadn't seen many counts.

Still, a count was like a smaller, more compact version of a duke, what could go wrong? Nothing, obviously. Maybe this'd be the start of a beautiful love story. The story of a beautiful girl from another world and the aloof count of Azdavay…

Kim and his sister hopped on a carriage that stood on the bottom of the hill, and began their ride up the spiraling road. The bodyguards marched in formation; Kim had made sure to drill them in formation marching beforehand. Everything was about prestige, after all. His bodyguards were actually a bunch of random Korean guys without actual combat experience, but to outsiders their uniforms and march made them look like elite units. A man commanding such elite units looked elite himself, obviously.

They got off the castle gates, which looked mighty tall. The rest of the castle, compared to the 3D-generated marvels that Do-Yun saw in manhwa, looked less mighty. It was a castle after all: a military building made for a military function. The walls were made of drab brick, with there being only a few walls to break the monotony of endless brick. Thankfully the castle was redeemed, in Do-Yun's eyes, by the impressive mansion it contained within its walls.

"Is this the count's mansion?" Do-Yun stared in awe. It was a bit smaller than she imagined it, but the mansion stood ever so grand nonetheless.

"It sure is!" Kim laughed in a most smug and boisterous fashion. "His is not that big. Mine is bigger."

"I know. I've seen it multiple times." She was referring to the Kim family's estate, where their family had lived after Kim's fantastic business ventures bore fruit. "And I still can't believe the fact that I believed you got all that money for the mansion by investing in crypto."

"It wasn't a total lie. I sold all the Bitcoin I had bought in 2016 to fund my initial ventures into this world." His other ventures into crypto hadn't gone well. Eventually, even a man like Kim was able to realize a fundamental truth: one didn't get rich by investing in crypto, one got rich by making others invest in crypto. So, he had stopped trading, instead making plans to open an exchange operated by his own Isegye Company.

They passed the castle gates with no problem, Kim's countenance was well known around these parts, and were greeted by maids who began leading them towards the count.

Do-Yun was watching the maids with respectful intent as they travelled through the many corridors of the mansion. "They've got real maid outfits! Brother, can you get me one? I want to wear it as cosplay for a convention that's coming up…"

Kim didn't exactly want to order a maid outfit for his sister, wearing clothes of servitude weren't exactly a thing of prestige. Not to mention the fact that ordering such a thing for his own sister would feel really, really creepy. He was a sleazy bastard, even Kim was self-aware enough to admit that, but at least he was not a sleazy bastard. "I can buy you a dress that's far fancier than the daughter of the emperor himself would wear, how about something like that instead of the maid outfit? Though, maybe not too fancy as not to offend His Imperial Majesty."

"Ah? There's an emperor too?" The emperors tend to be the most handsome ones… I'd love to meet him, along with the crown prince. "I'd love to wear something like that to meet the emperor."

"Then I'll be commissioning one for you. The tailors in this world are pretty good, so expect something good." Kim turned around to Nirmal, who nodded to show that he was already making plans to commission the dress.

The group finally arrived in front of the most decorated room in the mansion: the door leading to the throne room. "Right this way, sir and madame." The heavy door needed one maid at each side to open, and even then, the maids struggled to open them. The hinges made a horrible creaking sound as the doors opened to reveal the grand throne room.

Count Leon was sitting on his throne at end of the room, he jumped up from his throne upon seeing his visitors. "Welcome Sir Kim. How great it is to see your presence in my throne room. Who would the fine lady next to you be?"

Kim bowed down to Leon. "Greetings, Your Excellency. This is my little sister, Kim Do-Yun."

Do-Yun politely bowed upon seeing the count approaching him. "Mannaseo ban'gapseumnida." Of course, she didn't know any Gemeinplatzian, so she did her best by greeting him in Korean. She was slightly disappointed upon meeting Leon: he was a decently handsome man, sure, but a man in his forties was way outside of her preferences.

"Ah?" Leon cleared his throat; he hadn't expected this sudden usage of Korean. He did his best to remember an accurate response. "Bawn… Bawngeibduh." He had completely butchered the language. The count understood this by the way Kim was staring aggressively at him. "Apologies, my Hangvuki is a bit rusty you see…"

Kim was grinding his teeth in anger. "A-ha-ha. It's no problem, Your Excellency." He was trying his best to avoid saying anything unsavory after seeing the Korean language be butchered by the count. "Let us get to the main event." He stepped aside to reveal his band of five merry men. "Here are the men for the Anti-Fugitive Operation."

The count examined the soldiers carefully, making brief noises like 'mhm' to indicate his approval. "They're only five men, but they seem to be of the highest quality anyone has pledged." He pointed at the bayonets adorning the M1 Garands "Especially the blades on these spears. I've never seen steel like it."

"Those are not spears, Your Excellency. They're… hand cannons, manufactured on Earth." He took a rifle from one of the men. "I'd like to have a demonstration, if that is not a problem."

"Sure, Sir Kim. I could bring you a few live specimens to-"

Kim interrupted Leon as soon as he could. "No- No, that's not necessary!" 'Live specimens' in this case referred to using injured and sick slaves, those who were already slated to die as healthy slaves were expensive, as target practice. Kim didn't want his sister to see that, nor was he a sadistic person who'd want to shoot someone else for fun. He was a sleazy bastard, not a sadistic bastard. "Just any far away target will do, let us go to the garden."

"Of course, sir." The group quickly marched on down to the vast personal garden of the count. There was a great, pale tree down there, which had a few bolts already stuck to it.

Kim raised his rifle, disabled its safety and appropriately sighted it to 100 yards (91 m) to shoot at the tree. Leon watched him, curious as to what enigmatic machinations the earthlings had cooked up. "Watch, Your Excellency, as I now fire eight shots at this tree in less than ten seconds."

"Wait, eight shots in… That's ridicu-" Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, ping!

The now emptied clip of the M1 Garand made its iconic clanging noise as it was ejected on to the ground. Kim wasn't all that impressed, the rate of fire from a semi-automatic rifle wasn't that awe-inspiring for a modern man like him who had operated a fully automatic assault rifle before. In contrast, Leon's jaw had dropped (literally) in observance of the machine spewing fire. He had only heard rumors of earthling weaponry before, to see one in action was something else. Leon approached the tree to saw how many bullets this enigmatic device had lodged in the tree.

"…one, two, three, four, five." He counted five bullet holes on the tree. "This is…" A very important question popped into his mind. "Can we buy these rapid hand cannons?"

"I'd love to sell these but…" Kim loaded another clip into the rifle. "…the Awmereighkan military would personally fly over from Chanakburg and annihilate us all if they caught a whiff of any native Gemeinplatzian troops using imported firearms." He pointed at the tree, filled with bullet holes. "Those guys have an entire continent for themselves, with a massive military all armed with weapons that are far, far more terrifying than what you've seen here. This hand cannon is just an antique used by their civilians. For recreation. You don't want to mess with them, I don't want to mess with them, nobody wants to mess with them." Kim was one of those overly nationalistic types, but even he had enough of a self-preservation instinct to stay away from provoking the Americans.

"…this thing is used by civilians?!" Leon instinctively took a few steps backwards from the rifle, afraid that he might touch it and be cursed by the Americans. "What… what has the Otherworld wrought upon us?"

Some (non-)historical context: The weapon (re)invented by Ayomide is the spear-thrower (a.k.a. the atlatl), used by various groups of humans (on every continent except Africa and Antarctica) since very early in the Stone Age. The spear-thrower acts as a lever over a long distance, increasing the energy (thus the speed and power) of the thrown spear compared to just throwing a spear by hand.

Modern earthling with a spear-thrower.

CabbagePreacher · Jun 25, 2023

You can read up to twenty chapters of the John Brown Isekai (and ten chapters ahead of my other work) ahead on my Patreon. I've reached quarterway to my first goal, of earning minimum-wage through writing, and now is time to reach the halfway point! Your help is greatly appreciated, whether it is through feedback, reviews, or Patreon!

(The next chapters of the John Brown Isekai were brought to you by the fine folks over from my Patreon:
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May their efforts to advance the righteous cause of the John Brown Isekai be never forgotten.)

I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me.
- Harriet Tubman, as quoted in Harriet, The Moses of Her People (1886) by Sarah Hopkins Bradford

90th of Spring, 5859
Estate of Sir Algernon, Azdavay / Casamonu

Today was the day. It wasn't yet the time, however, as it was just the morning. Shinasi and everyone else in the barracks woke up with the bell ringing. They lined up in front of the head overseer, and he again paid them their wages.

"Today is holiday for the first squad. Now git, and come back by night!" Upon the command of the overseer, the more experienced overseers of the first squad dissolved to make their way to Azdavay or Casamonu. They disappeared from sight on their steeds, most of them had enough money to afford one, while Shinasi watched them to make sure they were gone.

Shinasi's comrades would arrive by noon. He had to work as usual until then, and today's work was patrolling the small personal garden of Lord Algernon while the slaves worked to attend it.

The garden truly was a small one, and no impressive plants grew this high up on the mountain. Shinasi encountered Ejike and Ekene trimming a hedge with a pair of scissors. They came eye-to-eye, and quickly nodded at each other in silence to ensure that they were in on the plan.

Shinasi quickly marched away from them as if he had nothing to do with the siblings, only for him to encounter another pair of siblings. They were the children of Algernon and Leila, Shinasi estimated that they were no older than ten years old. Their small garments were fancier than anything Shinasi could ever dream to lay his hands on. He felt his own disappointing pair of pants be tugged; looking down he saw that the culprit was the sister. "Hey, mister."

"Yes, Ani?" Shinasi hadn't interacted much with the children.

"Do you want to play Awmereighkan handball with us?" Shinasi saw that Timmy, Ani's brother, holding a leather ball shaped like a lemon. He had participated in many a handball match in his youth, and Shinasi wouldn't say no to a way to kill time. "Sure."

"Then our goal is between these bushes, and your goal is on the opposite bushes." Ani backed away from Shinasi. "Let's go!"

"Wait, now?" Before Shinasi could properly ready himself, Timmy kicked the ball toward Ani and the match started. Shinasi dropped his spear and shield, in preparation to meet the little girl kicking the ball towards his general direction. He had always thought that the game being called 'Awmereighkan handball' was odd when players mostly interacted with the ball using their foot.

Putting aside idle thoughts, Shinasi met his foe and easily stole the ball away from Ani thanks to him being a fully grown adult. He then kicked the ball, the ball whizzing past Timmy and stopping somewhere between the bushes, and scored his first goal. He felt oddly proud of the fact that he had beaten a pair of noble kids.

While Shinasi was busy gloating over his victory, Timmy picked up the ball and launched it toward Shinasi's bushes, managing to score a goal. "Mister, your long, pike-like legs are no good. We're even now!"

"Oh, you brats. It's on!" Thus, Shinasi spent half an hour kicking the ball to-and-fro with the children. Many laughs were had, and everybody involved seemed to enjoy it until an intruder came to visit them.

"Shinasi." The aforementioned Shinasi turned around to see his temporary employer, Sir Algernon.

Shinasi instinctively bowed down the best as he could. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir, I just-"

Algernon stopped Shinasi mid-bow. "No, no- I just wanted to say that you were doing a good job. I've been watching you from afar, and dare I say, you've done a great job at keeping these little brats occupied." Shinasi raised himself straight, mumbling a few words of gratitude. "You know, I think you might be more suited at babysitting rather than an overseer!" Algernon laughed at his own joke and Shinas joined with his own awkward laughter. "Sorry for interrupting you, you may continue." He took is leave, leaving Shinasi alone with the kids.

Shinasi watched as Algernon left. That man's the father of these kids, isn't he…

"Mister?" Timmy threw the ball at Shinasi. He took it in his hands and threw it back at Timmy.

"Sorry, but I've got to go now." He took his spear and shield into hand, walking away from the scene as quickly as possible. Playing with the kids he'd help potentially orphan left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Are we there yet?" complained Tater. He, Brown, Ayomide and Hakim were marching on towards the copper mine. While they had originally planned to undertake this operation at night, it was deemed to valuable to attack during the noon when the veteran overseers were away on holiday.

Ayomide reprimanded Tater by giving him a slap on the neck. "Course we ain't there. Be quiet!"

Tater bowed his head, keeping accordingly quiet. Their group was doing their best to travel just off the path in cover of the trees. They wanted no trouble until they reached the estate, which they had reached just now.

Brown whispered to the group. "Alright, does everyone remember what they need to do?"

"Aye." It wasn't hard to forget what they had been rehearsing for an entire decameron.

"Then, may God grant us victory. Skedaddle!" Brown and Ayomide were the first ones to rise up from the trees, and in a way that might seem detrimental at first, walked on the path and approached the gate of the estate. There was an overseer standing guard in a wooden shack, overseeing the path from Azdavay.

The overseer noticed Brown, who was limping while being held up by Ayomide. He had blood smeared on his pants. "Sir? Are you fine?" He left his booth and hastily approached the pair.

"Man-bears… One of them ran up and-" Brown coughed, and almost fell off the hold of Ayomide.

Ayomide was visibly struggling to carry Brown. "Sir, can you help me carry my master?" She looked at the overseer with pleading eyes. "I- I'll do anything you ask for. Please!"

"O- Of course!" The overseer sheathed his blade, intending to help Ayomide hold Brown up.

However, Brown had a surprise in store for him. "What th-mmph!" The frail-looking old man suddenly jolted upwards with unexpected vigor and tackled the overseer, blocking his mouth with his hand. "I'm not fine, boy, for I am sick of your ilk!" He took out a long rope made of cloth he had kept from Jacob's establishment, and gagged the man. Ayomide helped restrain him further by tightly binding his hand and feet with a rope made of shepherd's reed's straw.

"That was some good acting, old man." said Ayomide as she tied the last knot on the rope. "I honestly thought that you were actually dying for a second there."

"I pray that I won't be dying in such a manner." Brown looked at his pants, covered in bird blood. "Such a shame, I hope that I'll be able to properly wash these later." The pair carried the man back to his booth, closing the door behind him. They then waved their hands toward the rest of the group, who were still in the forest, signaling them to go through the gate for the next phase of the operation.

One overseer down, nine to go.

Meanwhile, Shinasi was busy being on breaktime. He entered a small cabin, meant for overseers taking breaks. There he saw his occasional drinking buddies, Kasim and Melissa, chatting away with each other.

"Oh, Shinasi. You on break too?" Kasim noticed the two jugs being held by Shinasi "What are those? Got us something to drink?"

"Indeed, I do." Shinasi had spent all his newly gained 8 libras on wine. "Fine stuff imported all the way from Ancoire."

"Ancoire wine? I've… heard about it." Melissa shook her head as if she knew anything. She didn't, the only oenophile in the group was Shinasi. "Is it a good idea to drink so much when we're on the job?"

"Come on, the day's already over anyways." Shinasi placed the jugs on the table. "One is for me, share the other amongst yourselves."

"Eh? You get one all to yourself?!" Kasim seemed annoyed at this proposition. "Come on man…"

Shinasi smirked in the smuggest manner he could conjure. "Pfft, I bet you couldn't even last one cup." He took two cups from a cupboard, and gave them to Kasim and Melissa. "How about a bet? If you drink your portion before I finish mine, then I'll give each of you ten libra. If you lose, then you do the same for me."

Kasim didn't want to lose face, so did Melissa. "It's on!" They poured the wine into their cups, taking a big gulp. Both felt their throats burn up, and Kasim couldn't help but cough in pain. "What in the Otherworld is this? It's too strong… Is this even wine?" He looked at his opponent, only too see Shinasi leisurely drinking away without any problem. Kasim did his best to not lose to Shinasi, pouring himself another cup.

After around twenty minutes of pain, the combined coalition of Kasim and Melissa had emptied their jug before Shinasi. However, they had no time to celebrate their victory. They both felt nauseous, and were seeing even seeing doubles. "Whah- whah de hewl did you make ush dreink?"

Shinasi was casually sipping away at his wine. "Well, I'll have to tell you that grapes don't grow much in Ancoire. They don't make any proper wine there." He finished his cup, and poured himself more from his jug. He continued casually nerding out. "So, 'Ancoire wine' usually refers to rakija around those parts, they distill it, not once but twice, from molasses that they make from locally produced sugar beets. Gives it the bitter taste you've just experienced. Quite a strong drink, and I made sure I got the strongest one from the market as a gift for you two. For all I know, the ones you drunk might be thrice-distilled. Imagine that!" He intended to pour himself more again, only to find his jug to be empty. "Of course, I prefer wine so I bought plain old wine imported all the way from Esmira for myself… Oh, you've both gone asleep." He looked at the pair of unconscious overseers who couldn't hold the copious amount of ethanol in their system. "…I guess people to tend to fall asleep when I talk about these things."

Two overseers down, seven to go.

Thus marks the beginning of the adventures of Shinasi the Wine-Assassin.

And, if you want to see his further adventures now, then you're welcome to make your way to my Patreon where you'll find up to twenty more chapters of the John Brown Isekai (Disclaimer: Not all chapters are about Shinasi murdering people with wine)!

Even dropping just one dollar helps me out a lot; I could forget about work and begin writing full time if every one of my readers gave me one dollar a month.

CabbagePreacher · Jul 2, 2023

So, I've been trying to get back to the groove of writing since I had to slow down during the past month. Now that I've gotten back to a faster pace, the John Brown Isekai will be released biweekly instead of the previous weekly schedule. Next week will have a new episode on Saturday and Sunday, with the following weeks continuing as such. I hope that you'll continue enjoying the John Brown Isekai as it picks up from the snail's pace it has been going on.

Lady Leila was resting in her bedroom, reading a book about the wonders that laid on Earth. She was softly rocking back on forth on a chair, cozying herself by the fireside.

Today was a good day.

"On the island of Nehoun, carriages called the sheenkawnsen connect the entire island, allowing one to travel the Nehounchin realm in one day… How peculiar!" She turned the page to see hand-drawn illustrations of Japanese bullet trains, which looked like odd metallic snakes to her. "I wonder if we'll ever get to see any of these…" She put her hand on her belly, thinking such thoughts of idle semi-philosophy. Earth was a place that she'd love to visit as family one day.

She lazily stretched her arms, and turned to the next page. It was one on Japanese cuisine, which contained many items that weren't too unfamiliar to anyone in Gemeinplatz. Rice, curry and soy sauce had become a staple food item long ago thanks to every otherworlder bringing their own cuisine to Gemeinplatz. She glanced over this page as it contained nothing interesting, turning over to one with Japanese sweets. These weren't too alien as well, everybody had mochi at least once in their lifetime.

Still, speaking (or more accurately, reading) of sweets had made Leila crave some. She would normally go to the kitchen herself to order something, doing at least that instead of calling over a servant made her feel less lazy. But, carrying around another human being made it hard to go do just that, and she instead opted to look out the window to see if there were any servants in sight.

She saw Ekene and Ejike busy in the garden, probably trimming some hedges as usual. Leila called out to them. "Ekene, Ejike! The usual, please." The siblings rushed inside in response, as they would normally do. The only thing left for Leila was to wait. She was from a family whose only claim to fame was being very far relatives of the royal line, being able to command someone to do something was a guilty pleasure of hers that satiated the royal blood coursing through her veins.

Of course, this kind of lifestyle was built off of the back of countless bodies down in the copper mine, but she liked to think of this as a civilizing force for the darkskins. She had read about how savage the darkskin and demi-human lands were, with their tribes apparently containing no rule of law compared to the oh-so civilized Gemeinplatz. Leila didn't support the heavy-handed approach her husband sometimes had, who saw the darkskins as akin to dogs. She saw them more like children, ignorant and rowdy, in desperate need of the guidance of the lightskin race.

She heard a knock on the door. "Lady Leila, it's us." It was the siblings. Ekene brought forward a cup of tea and a tray of cookies. That was unusual. Ejike stayed behind, standing next to the door. Leila felt a slight hint of unease.

Click, clunk. Ejike locked the door swiftly as he could after taking a deep breath. Leila watched him, eyes wide open. "W-what are you doing, Ejike?"

"Please, be quiet as you can, mistress. We do not intend to hurt you." In stark contrast to his statement, he took out a kitchen knife while nervously pointing it towards his former master. "Please, do not force us to do anything rash."

Today was a good day.

"Sir Algernon!" Shinasi was running fast as his legs could carry him. He found Algernon resting in his lonesome. "Your wife, she-"

Algernon suddenly ceased his relaxing posture, "She's what?"

Shinasi took a break to catch his breath after running so quickly from the guard's shed. "She's… gone into labor sir! We've called over the midwife, everything, she wants to see her dear husband."

"She wants to do that?" A man being in the room during birth seemed odd to him, but he didn't see any reason not to oblige. "I'm coming, Leila!" He and Shinasi rushed over to the bedroom, both of them left panting by their swift run. Shinasi knocked on the locked door.

"It's me, and the master!" The door quickly opened up. Algernon rushed into the room, only to find the servant siblings and his wife, who was clearly not in any sort of labor.

"What's happen- ARGH!" Algernon's query was prematurely answered by the shaft of Shinasi's spear bashing against his kneecaps. He crashed to the floor, and the siblings rushed to restrain him.

"Damn you darkskins, and you darkskin loving motherfuc-mmrgh!" The siblings conveniently censored their former master by shoving a tablecloth in his mouth. The once grand Algernon looked quite ridiculous while squirming on the ground.

"That's the big cheese dealt with." Shinasi's eyes came into contact with those of Leila's, who were watching him with shock. "My sincere apologies, missus, for causing so much commotion."

The squad of Brown, Ayomide, Hakim and Tater had quietly advanced up to the slave barracks, which lay next to the mines. There were five overseers, all armed, watching over the slaves as they dug the open field mine.

The emancipationist squad stood at a slightly higher position, mining operations tended to lower elevation, and the overseers were too busy watching over the slaves to notice them. One of the overseers stood next to the door of the barracks, while the rest were in the mining field. One of them had a crossbow, while the rest had the trusty shield and spear combo.

Everybody took a deep breath. This was potentially the deadliest part, where actual combat would take place.

Brown gulped, and began putting the group's drill into practical use. "Alright, plant spears." They used the tip of the spears to plant them on the ground, so that they could quickly pluck them when firing. "Ready arms." They put spears on the M1, and raised them ready to fire. "And… May God grant us victory, aim at the guy in front of the barracks, and fire!" Brown shouted the last order, and everyone released their spears in unison.

Two of the flying spears found their target and lodged themselves inside the overseer in front of the barracks. Not many people could stand after being skewered by spears, and this overseer was no exception. He fell down, immobilized.

Brown gave no time for the overseers to react. "Now at the guy with the crossbow, ready arms, fire!" They all fired, but missed the crossbowman standing far away. The crossbowman had broken from his shock, and fired a bolt at the emancipation squad. Hakim was hit right on the knee, and subsequently fell down as his knee failed.

"Do not fret! Ready arms, fire!" Three spears made their way toward the crossbowman, and one of them got a lucky headshot. He fell down, dead by the time he hit the ground.

The remaining three overseers got into formation, forming an impromptu shield wall against their foes. Brown ordered his men to fire another round, but the stone spears only managed to lodge themselves into the shield without penetrating them. The emancipation squad prepared themselves for tactical retreat, except for Hakim who still couldn't stand.

Suddenly, one of the overseers fell down with a pickaxe lodged in his spine. They had exposed their backs to the slaves, and one the slaves had taken advantage to throw his pick. The two remaining overseers instinctively turned around to see who attacked them.

Brown had been praying for something like this to happen. It seemed that the Almighty had granted him His grace. "Fire!" Another round of spears found themselves flying toward the overseers, one of them fell down as a spear lodged itself to his flesh.

The last remaining overseer did the most rational thing he could, and threw down his spear and shield to surrender. He was restrained by one of the slaves.

Four overseers down, three to go.

Ayomide crouched down to heal Hakim, while Brown stepped forward to address the newly emancipated. "The time is come, ye who art the enslaved of this realm. We ought to obey God rather than men, and today we shall rid you of the man you have obeyed for so long!" He turned around to Ayomide, who had finished healing Hakim by now. Brown thought that her addressing the crowd would be more appropriate, since most of his usual rhetoric didn't work in Gemeinplatz, and she stepped forward in his stead.

Ayomide raised her voice as high as she could. She had been training her rhetorical skills as much as she trained in combat, having prepared a speech in case she needed to give one. "Brothers and sisters! You who are in bondage since birth, you who have been forced into bondage! You, the meek who shall inherit the earth of Gemeinplatz! You might have heard about the uprising in Azdavay, and let me tell you, it shall not stay an isolated incident." She raised her hands, pointing toward the lowlands visible from their position. "For the oppressed of this land have found themselves tired and beaten, and they now cry for sweet liberty! Now the flame of uprising has made its way to this estate, and I believe that my siblings here shall do the right thing and join us in fueling the fire."

Ayomide's rhetoric seemed to be much more effective. There were positive shouts from the crowd, as they raised their fists and picks. Her plan of agitating the crowd had worked. "We shall fight for emancipation, not for those of you in the mine, but for all of us. The slaveowners will arm themselves and fight, we'll drown them in our numbers. The adventurers will be paid to slay us, we'll slay them for free. The lords will levy their men, we'll levy ourselves without anyone telling us to where and when. We are what this empire is built upon, we only need to rise up from the foundations for the whole rotten structure to come crumbling down!"

The crowd was in a frenzy. Now that they were agitated, and therefore willing to listen, Ayomide continued on to instilling their cause into the people in the crowd. She turned around to present Hakim and Tater to the audience. "Now, my friend Hakim over here, he used to be a chef in a café down in Azdavay, Here's his assistant, little Tater. They cooked for others without end, the most delicious and delectable food you can think of. What'd they get in return? A bunch of gruel." The crowd sounded displeased; they could relate to such a situation. "You, you mine copper that is made into the fanciest things in all of Gemeinplatz. The emperor himself probably has his palace decked in copper, brass, bronze, everything that none of us can ever dream of even seeing. Yet, is a man not entitled to his own labor, his own copper? Do you deserve gruel for breaking your backs until you die? No, no I say, let us be free to eat the fruit of our own hard work!"

Ayomide had come to the last part of her speech. With a cause instilled, now was the time to for the grand finale: a call to action. "Now, to take back your freedom and liberty, to take back your hard work, to live and die with dignity, who is willing to fight? Who is brave enough to face poverty, war, and death with us? Those who do not have the courage, you are free to head to the dwarves in Zon'guldac. Those who do…" Ayomide added a pause here for dramatic effect "…rise up ye gallant children of Gemeinplatz! We have nothing to lose but our chains! Today, you have worked in the mines and must be tired. Next morning, we shall get together in the mansion and discuss our plan of action together."

Thus began a great war that'd irreversibly change an entire empire.

CabbagePreacher · Jul 8, 2023

It was night, and like many other nights, the overseers of the first squad had drunk themselves to an inebriated stupor. The world was their oyster, and oysters went well with booze. The newcomers would deal with anything that happened anyways; they needn't worry about their own state. With incongruous speech and laughter, they were on the path back, hearts carrying no worries or fears.

This group saw Shinasi at the gate. He saluted them while furrowing his brows. "You're a bit late."

They passed Shinasi without caring about his remark, only one of them stopped to reassure him. "Thatsh you Shenasshy? Dun't wurry, we'll short thish out… wif de big head oversheer. You keap thish plaesch shecyure, mmkay?"

"Don't worry, everything is all fine and dandy around here. As safe as it could be." Shinasi turned around to address the rest of the drunken crowd. "You all, quickly go to the barracks before the head overseer notices your absence!"

Shinasi received a solitary reply. "Yer not mah father!" Still, they didn't want to be berated by their boss, so they hurried to their barracks to rest.

It was dark out, so they noticed nothing out of the ordinary like the fact that there was no one else outside or the fact that the slaves were ready, with weapons and rope in hands, and positioned inside the barracks to capture every last one of them.

Without being able to put up much, or any, resistance, the last of the overseers were captured by the freemen of the estate. The raid of Sir Algernon's Estate concluded thus, with no casualties except for a few overseers.

1st of Summer, 5859
Former Estate of Sir Algernon (new name pending), Azdavay / Casamonu

With summer came more rain, combined with rising temperatures this made summer an unbearable, humid hell for many in the lowlands of Northern Gemeinplatz. Especially those otherworlders coming from a colder and dryer climate would be unlucky to find themselves sent here at such an inconvenient time.

Thankfully, for one certain American whom was known as John Brown, he was busy being high up in the mountains where the temperatures were cool and the air was suitably dry. He watched the dawn of a new day along with his newly emancipated comrades-in-arms.

Of course, they weren't here to leisurely watch the sun rise, as beautiful as the scenery was. Brown would have loved to sit, relax, and pray away while partaking in what he saw as the Lord's majestic Creation in full display. However, there were many things to do today. These things to do started with the carrying out of heavy justice.

All of the (now former) overseers were lined up in the yard for payday, of the non-monetary kind. The freemen were crowded together into the yard as they watched their former oppressors be thrown into such a sorry state, the tension and irony in the air feeling quite palpable to everyone in the yard. Brown and Ayomide marched on, as they inspected every single one of his special guests. They reached a pile, of rope and sacks, ready to get on with their business.

"By order of the Lord Almighty, we have gathered here to right what has been made wrong." Brown took one of the ropes, tying it into a noose. He further tied this noose to a cherry tree that had failed to bloom in the cold mountains. The freemen followed, preparing a noose for everyone on death row.

"Now, to make sure that there are no miscarriages in our justice…" Brown turned around to the audience of freemen "…does the jury agree that all these people, who are lined up in front of us, are truly guilty and deserving of their punishment?"

This question was only a rhetorical one, the freemen knew the answer, though there wasn't much to trial. In front of them were those who had beat, whipped and violated them to no end. Those who'd, if successful, would see them waste away in the copper mines. Life had been made hell for them up until now; the overseers had a lot to sow from what they had reaped. Hence, the response was uniform: "Yes!" The 'trial' of the overseers ended. They were guilty.

In an ideal world, Brown wouldn't have to hang anyone, or fight with anyone. In his heart, he was a humanitarian man of peace who saw the aforementioned as a waste of human life. Unfortunately, Brown hadn't been born in, and sent to, an ideal world. A man like him could only be at peace when he arrived at the Pearly Gates. "So be it… May God have mercy on your souls!"

With the command given, the crowd of slaves carried their oppressors toward the trees, and put them on boxes and chairs from the mansion. Some of the overseers were pleading, some were resisting, some had quietly accepted their fate. They were all gagged to prevent the use of magic, so not much could be heard from them.

With a harmony oft seen in orchestras, this orchestra playing the song of the oppressed, the chairs and boxes were kicked and the oppressors were left to hang.

"That's Kasim. Bastard was the one who whipped me yesterday." Ekene spat out the hull of a sunflower seed, quickly taking another one from a bowl. Her brother was doing the same as they watched the hangings from the second floor, where the room of the former mistress lay. The siblings were in a state of jubilee, but they were too tired from their grueling life of work to show it openly, contenting themselves with an internal feeling of alleviation.

In great contrast to the relaxed attitude of the siblings sat another pair of siblings and their mother, (soon to be not a) Lady Leila. Ani and Timmy were huddled together, while Leila was trying to assure them that everything was going to be fine (it was going to be fine, just not for their father). "He's going to a better place now…" With how he had treated the slave however, even Leila had doubts as to whether her husband would end up in a good otherworld.

"Oh, there's the big man." Ejike pointed at Algernon being carried by slaves. "He's gonna be gone in a moment now. Can't believe it." He spat out a hull, aiming at the balding head of Algernon. This shot somehow landed right on top of his head, though the moribund Algernon wasn't in a state to care.

His sister attempted the same, but Ekene missed by a wide margin. "I can't believe it either. We get to spit hulls on him all we like, and no one in sight is here to whip us."

Ejike stopped his sister from speaking further. "Ssh! That Brown is speaking." They could easily hear him through the window.

"Hear me, ye who art freed!" Brown stood in the middle of the crowd, Algernon in hand. This was to be the apex of the day. "The Good Book commands, 'blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy'. I ask of you: has this man shown ye mercy? Does he deserve our mercy?"

The response of the crowd was united and resolute. It was a big "No!" chanted by thirty or so souls in unison.

Algernon looked shocked at this united front. His brief stint in death row had allowed him to prepare his final words. "Have I not fed you, and clothed you? Have I not given you a job, and disciplined you to the best of my ability? What is with this ungrateful mob you've formed?"

"And you've fed yourself even more, you pig!"

"I never chose to work here!"

"Stick that whip up your arse!"

Brown didn't approve of the uncouth manner some chose to reply to Algernon, profanity was a big no-no, but he was happy to see the passionate response of the audience. "Well, Sir Algernon. I am a man of the book, and of many books. Let me give you another passage that I think all can agree on, be they Christian or heathen." He was the only Christian in the audience, actually, but he chose to ignore that for now. "'Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.' That is the Golden Rule, upon which I base my cause, and think that all should base their cause, upon." He leaned forwards, meeting directly eye to eye with Algernon. "Now, Mr. Algernon. Be honest to yourself and God. What have you done?"

Algernon briefly fell silent. It was clear that there was no clear way for him to survive today. "You are trying to run a circus consisting of these sad monkeys, out of some insane idea of thinking that these dogs are equal to you. I hope that your band of savages are taken out before they cause too much damage."

"I do agree that these people are quite sad-looking." Brown began pushing Algernon forward toward a noose "I'm doing my part, right now, by enacting punishment on the culprit who has caused such a sad state." One of the slaves covered Algernon's head with a sack "There's one savage to take out, Mister Algernon, and it is you."

Algernon was raised up with a chair. One of his former slaves stepped forward to deal the coup-de-grâce. "May God have mercy on your poor soul!"

With Brown's declaration, and a kick to the leg of the chair, Algernon was no more.

…I sense a great disturbance in the force.

Up, high up on the mountains sat a dimly lit room, occupied by one lonely man. He sat with his legs crossed, hands sitting on his lap. This man was Master Long Dong of the Supreme Heavenly Immortal Taoist Sect (or the Dong Sect for short), who had been attempting to reach a breakthrough for the last ten thousand years (or so he says, he had only been locked in this room for three years).

However, something sudden had interrupted his calm meditating session. A sudden irregularity in the weave of qi, as if a dozen souls had been condemned to death in these mountains. He focused his mind even further, seeing images of a group of spirits rising high above to the sky. What happened here? Sudden monster attack? Nuclear explosion? Someone making a sacrifice to some eldritch god? There weren't many people in these mountains; so many people dying at once was most unusual.

Dong attempted to channel one of the condemned spirits. To his vision came a portly nobleman, who seemed equally distressed and furious. "The empire is falling, sir! Gemeinplatz will be doomed if we do not stop them!" He quickly floated away, the spirits of the newly deceased weren't the most stable.

Gemeinplatz falling? Dong focused even further, trying to pierce the foggy veil that laid between him and the future. This technique of seeing the future was one taught to him by Diu Nei, one of the jade beauties who he could barely remember the jadely countenance of.

Foreseeing events wasn't beyond him; to a man that had travelled a myriad realms and a centillion li, seeing a glimpse of the future was like seeing Mount Tai. From the simple son of a factory worker in Shandong, Dong had become something much greater with every ascension into a further realm, every realm he learned new powers that he'd forget to use in later chapters of his extremely drawn-out story. Gemeinplatz was just another stepping stone in his journey to defy the heavens.

After a stient of intense meditation, vague and sporadic visions of the imperial capital of Hauptstadt flooded his mind. Those are… soldiers. Crumbling walls. Flags, people storming the walls… No these are not people. They're demi-humans, slaves, the lot. A strong, ancient presence stands behind them, commanding them… a Demon King of some sort? People are hanging. A lot of them. The emperor is dead. The empire is dead. A grueling war shall come. Thousands will die. His head was starting to hurt at this point and, due to the absence of painkillers to relieve it, Dong had to stop this sneakpeek into the future.

One of the disciples came running into the room, completely interrupting Dong's serene state. "Master are you fine? You have been screaming for the last hour…"

Dong quickly snapped back at the disciple "Didn't tell you idiots to not run in when I'm meditating?! Yes, I'm very much fine. One tends to scream when they're looking into the future, that's a normal part of how things work, disciple."

The disciple breathed a sigh of relief. "I- Is it… What have you seen, master?"

"…Terrible things." Dong slowly rose up from his seated position. "We must ready ourselves to save this realm if need be." Dong couldn't help but cackle. His pitiful sect had been stuck up here for heavens-knows how long, a heroic act could be all that he needed to win the favor of realm. Just thinking of the riches, and the jade beauties, pleased him enough.

"Get everyone together. Get in contact with the local government. We shall defy fate."

CabbagePreacher · Jul 9, 2023

"People! Folks! Gather around, gather around. No pushing, please." Brown and Ayomide stood in the middle of a large crowd that had formed in the former dining room of the Algernon mansion.

After the executions and an establishment of temporary order came the time to organize the freemen. Brown's men had already gained their favor by emancipating them, and they hoped that convincing the newly emancipated wouldn't be too hard. The former slaves of Algernon sat at the chairs, and on the ground as there were not enough chairs, waiting for the 'council' to begin its session.

Brown watched as the last of the men entered the hall. "Alright, I think we're settled. In the name of our Lord, and our Savior…" He looked around to see if everyone was present "…we hereby declare the Eleventh Session of the Provisional Council of Curry to be in session!"

"…the what?" One of the newly freed men voiced an opinion that mirrored many in the room.

Ayomide was tasked with an explanation that wasn't too alien, for Brown tended to go on long rants about 'the Constitution' and 'man's God given right to liberty' that weren't too popular. "Basically, instead of getting one leader to decide things for us and order us around, we do things…" What was that word again… "…dehmokraktikellie. Like how they do things in town halls, and…" Ayomide continued on with her explanation on democratic institutions until she felt that the crowd was educated enough. "…so, let us begin."

There was a murmur travelling among the freemen. It stopped as a young man stepped forward from among them. "Then, I'd like to ask a few questions."

"That is what you are supposed to do, young man. No need to ask for permission." Brown was happy to see the glimpses of participation. "What'd your name and question to this council be?"

"Bilal, mister. I work at the copper kilns." He took his own place at the center to address the crowd more effectively. "I was wondering about the speech your friend gave yesterday, about rising up and whatnot. Are… are we actually going to do something like that?"

"Yes. We're not stopping until we free everyone or we all die. Ayomide's statements are not rhetorical." Brown hesitated not in giving an answer, and the rest of his crew were in various levels of agreement.

Sounds of disbelief came from the crowd. Freeing all the slaves? While they were all locked up in some God-forsaken copper mine in an even more God-forsaken mountain? What were these madmen up to? They had all thought that they'd be making their way toward Zon'guldac by now.

"What's your plan sir?" It seemed that Bilal had taken the role of acting as a representative. "I think, and the others think, that it's obvious that we should be making plans for escape, not for stay."

"I'm not forcing you to stay here. Nobody is. Those who want to leave, can leave. I only ask you to lend me an ear and decide afterwards if you want to do so." Brown raised his voice. "I believe that, if you were to hear our plans, then you all would be able to make a decision that is beneficial to the commonwealth of the realm."

"Then let us hear, Mister Brown, your plan." Bilal crossed his arms, showing that acceptance wouldn't come easily.

"I'm happy to receive your cynicism, I'd rather have men thinking for themselves rather than those who are left as slave in their way of thought." Brown clapped his hands. "So, let us begin." He began circling around the dining table while talking, his hands clasped on his back.

"So, I understand that you might have some concerns. It is only natural to have those when you're going to face an entire empire. But!" Brown raised his voice "Let me remind you that we're facing an empire of lords and feuds. I, back in my home, had to face the might of an entire union of states!" Of course, Brown didn't exactly have the best of knowledge on feudal politics aside from the works of Shakespeare and other great writers. Still, if his assumption that this world would function similarly was correct, then it meant that the empire wasn't as united as it seemed at first glance. "Our enemy underestimates you, and looks down you as subhuman! Tell me, who will win: a united front of the downtrodden or a disunited front of delusional silver-spoon lords?"

Brown paused to let the freemen debate each other for a minute or two. The voices seemed only a slight bit more positive; this was a improvement nonetheless. The voices silenced themselves when Bilal raised another objection. "And so? The count or some other lord can still easily extinguish us with their retainers. What do we do about that?"

Brown wished that he had a map to point to during this presentation, but he didn't. He did his best by using the cutlery that was on the dining table. He began by placing a large silver cup and a smaller ceramic cup next to each other. "Now, on one side is the might of a lord. On the other is us. Of course, you might think that facing this Goliath requires us to become a goliath of our own. I'd argue the opposite!" He threw a small cloth over the small cup "We are in the mountains, concealed from their sight. They know not exactly where we are, and we can retreat if they do find out." Such tactics, as Brown had learned from the people of Haiti, would be plenty effective against an empire.

Brown flicked the silver cup with his fingers; he recoiled as his finger hit the hard silver. The cup was knocked backwards, slightly towards the edge of the table. "We can strike, and they'll know not when, who, or what hit them. The slavers do not slave others just for the fun of it; they slave out of their greed. If we hit them where it hurts, right in the economy, by raiding their estates, their businesses, then their strength will only further dwindle and dwindle while ours only grow with each man we free." This time he pushed the small ceramic cup to knock the silver cup toward the edge; hurting his poor finger wasn't worth it to make such a cheesy point.

"What is our end goal then?" Talks of David and Goliath were fine, but Bilal still hadn't understood what Brown hoped he'd achieve at the end. "Do we create a new country for the slaves? Force the empire to abolish slavery?"

"That is a good question, and I was just about to get to that point, young man." Brown nodded in approval. "If we force the empire to abolish slavery, then none of our problems will be solved. The ones who had participated and perpetuated that horrible institution would not be punished, in opposite, they'd be the ones in charge of the process for abolition. Tell me, do you think Algernon would have worked honestly to free you, or would he have attempted to find another way to exploit you? The empire cannot and should not be reformed. In its place shall be a republic, for the people, by the people."

With his coming to the new world came a new political climate for Brown and he had adjusted his plan for abolition to fit it. Back in the United States he had hoped to kill off slavery by freeing the slaves and forcing the federal government to eventually outlaw it. Of course, Gemeinplatz lacked any sort of democratic institutions that'd allow for such a chance, and Brown himself didn't like the concept of a monarchy or an empire. He was a man of the Constitution through and through, and he wouldn't be content with abolition.

The above proposal of Brown was quite a provocative one, even for the freemen. Monarchy was the norm; republics were limited to a few city states who, even then, only limited voting to a wealthy stratum. "But, Mister Brown, we're all poor here. If there's to be a republic, then none of us could vote."

"That's why I propose that everyone, of adult age and sane mind, should vote." Brown said something that was, according to the people in the room, more otherworldly than himself. "That's also the key to another question that you've asked: whether we should make a state that's separate to the freed slaves. I believe that such a circumstance would only cause further division and conflict." He didn't intend to establish an ethnostate of sorts. "We'd be in constant conflict with whatever remained of the empire. In such a scenario, either all the slaves get massacred or the people of the empire get massacred. Either way ends in massacre, and I hope that you'll agree that such a thing is a disagreeable outcome."

Indeed, 'massacre' wasn't exactly a thing that anybody in the room wanted. Still, there was one burning question. "But the lightskins wouldn't want to join in an uprising of darkskins."

"That is why, young Bilal, we have to get their support by liberating them too." He approached Shinasi, the only other man with white skin in the room, and presented him to the audience. "Do you think that the peasants, breaking their backs in the fields, are content with their lords? Would they not join us to overthrow their own masters? Of course, that is not as easy as it sounds. But, if it works…" he, with a swift slap, knocked the silver cup off of the table. It clanged loudly when it hit the floor. "…we'll have an inextinguishable fire on our hands."

Brown thought of the white Southern working class, who were about as racist as their upper-class. Being on the lower end of the social ladder ended up making them cling to ideas of racial supremacy with greater zeal than the landowning slavers, just so that they could feel a sense of supremacy. He hadn't gotten the details on the American Civil War that Jacob had mentioned, but the common sense of warfare dictated that those who had died on the frontlines to preserve slavery must have been the common men of the South who didn't own any slaves. He was sure that the lords here would attempt a similar thing, and that their subjects would be agitated and levied toward the slaves.

Still, things weren't too bleak, or Brown thought so anyways. The common man followed their superiors, in this case being the lords. With their lords gone, Brown hoped that the peasants could be educated to see the error of their ways. Perhaps this was idealistic, too idealistic even, but Brown hadn't gotten this far with pessimism. He wanted to die trying, not live idling, and he was sure that the Almighty would see him through to the bitter or sweet end that He had prepared for him.

The people in the room had stayed quiet since the silver cup dropped. They seemed to be in deep thought; joining such a fight wasn't a decision to be taken lightly. Fleeing to Zon'guldac was the safer and easier option, joining such a seemingly impossible revolution was risky and hard. However, Brown's fervor in speech and the way he seemed sure about victory had inspired others in the room.

Perhaps a revolution wasn't impossible; thinking that it wasn't impossible was the first step in making it possible. Brown had sowed seeds of doubt, and he hoped that he'd reap a whirlwind of uprising. He ended the silence in the dining hall. "I can see that you all need to have some time to think. Providence guides us in our every step, but our Maker has also given mankind the ability to distinguish, choose and do right… or wrong. Think, debate, decide, and I'm sure that the Holy Spirit will guide you toward the right decision."

With this, Brown stopped his speech. He'd hear their decision when the council would gather again.

CabbagePreacher · Jul 15, 2023

It was the night of the day that the freemen had held their council. The debate had raged on for a long, long time, after they had dissolved. So much so that no other work had been done for the day, except for some slaves making preparations to depart to Zon'guldac.

Far away from all this worry was Ayomide and Ekene, intending to take a soak in the mansion's bath. One of the things that Brown insisted they bring along was soap; Ayomide could now see why. The old man had been worried about the spread of disease within their ranks, and had taken special care to direct the newly freed men toward the bath. They happily obliged, taking a hot bath was something that no one would object to.

Ekene witnessed Ayomide's less-than human features when she removed the bear fur that served as her cloak. "You one of those demi-humans?" The girl approached Ayomide, clearly intending to more closely observe her tail.

"Indeed I am. Is that a problem?" Ayomide instinctively took a few steps back. Personal space, please.

"No, no. I've just never seen one. Never left this mansion, you know." Ekene breathed a sigh of relief. At least she could leave now. "I want to see all kinds of demi-humans and whatnot when I get to leave." She was smiling as the thought of all the sights that she might see out there in the larger world.

"Travelling isn't that easy, sister. The adventurers will hunt us down." She took her first step into the water as she talked "You better stick with us Brown folk."

Ekene joined Ayomide. She went silent for a few seconds to fully enjoy the water. "…but ain't that man a bit insane? He's talking about freeing everyone and toppling the big emperor man himself." In a world where hierarchy and monarchy were the norm, thinking of an egalitarian society did indeed seem like the fever dream of a deranged lunatic.

"I think he is." Ayomide closed her eyes. "Sister, you should just stick with a group if you want to increase your chance to survive. You don't have to follow him to your grave. I certainly don't intend to."

Ekene raised her brow. Something seemed off with Ayomide's statement just now. "You were giving all those fervent speeches about 'liberty or death'. Were all those lies?"

"No, I'm was not lying about that. I do think that we'll either live free or die." She looked at a far away distance, toward particularly nothing. "But that's our fate, isn't it? Most either leave to Zon'guldac, to a faraway place that they know nothing about, or they die while reaching there. In our case, we're either going to free ourselves in Gemeinplatz or find ourselves dead. This fact has nothing to do with the old man."

Ekene took one of the bars of soap from a corner, and began rinsing herself. "And all the other stuff about dehmokrasee?"

Ayomide seriously thought of this question for a while. "…I don't know." This was her honest answer. "I'm not exactly a philosopher or one of those political theorists. I don't really care whether the lightskins get to live under a better Gemeinplatz. Most of them can all go to an Otherworld, for all I care." Having been enslaved hadn't left much empathy in Ayomide, or any of the other slaves for that matter. "Still, the old man delivers on the emancipation front, and that's all I, and you, should care about for now. We can all bail out if he goes too crazy on the other stuff."

"I guess. I don't even know how I could reach Zon'guldac in the first place." Ekene handed her soap over to Ayomide. "Could you wash my back please? I can't reach there."

"No problem." Ekene turned around to let Ayomide reach her back. Ayomide recoiled when she saw the whip scars, some new some old, scattered around her back. They all looked like deep canyons of torn flesh, an unpleasant image of cruelty that said a thousand words in itself. "Holy… This is all Algernon?"

"Yes." Ekene remembered Ayomide healing Hakim's injured leg. "Can you do something about them with your magic?"

Ayomide shook her head, even though Ekene couldn't see it. "I can't heal scars, unfortunately. That's really advanced stuff that white-bearded hermits do." She began doing her best to rinse Ekene's back, trying to avoid the scars. Ekene still winced as soap made contact with her. "…What a bastard."

"Well, I don't think he was too cruel, compared to other masters I've heard about." Ekene didn't want to go into further detail about other horrors, so she fell silent after making this remark.

"Not to mention, thousands of masters live in Gemeinplatz..." Her and Ekene's horrors were only a miniscule part of the horrors that the entire institution of slavery brought. "And Brown always talks about how merciful his all-powerful god supposedly is. Not to mention the guys over at the Temple of the Divine, they've always annoyed me."

"…but doesn't his god also allow him to emancipate the enslaved?" Ekene asked a question that irked Ayomide, but she wasn't in the mood for needless theological debate. She didn't mind what Brown thought as long as he wasn't thinking anything malevolent. Ekene had another question. "Also, what's this 'Temple of the Divine'?"

Ayomide was surprised at the fact that Ekene was so sheltered. "I don't really know, since Jacob never allowed us in to their sermons." Most otherworlders tended to be irreligious, especially those from East Asia, so attendance among them was very low. "Apparently, they're guys who believe in a divine force that rules over the universe, pretty similar to Brown's religion. Pretty big deal in Gemeinplatz, far as I know. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them."

"Ah…" Ekene suddenly understood something that had bugged her for a long time. "I've always seen an old, clergyman visit Algernon once in a while. He muttered something about 'salvation' or whatnot, but he didn't like to interact with the slaves too much."

"Then he's from the Temple. They came around now and then to ask Jacob for donations." She stood back as she had finished cleaning the back of Ekene. "I scratch your back, you scratch mine?" She handed the soap over to her companion.

"Sure, o' majestic Lady Orange. Your faithful servant shall do her best to clean your precious back." Ayomide couldn't help but laugh; it seems that Hakim and Tater had already spread her reputation. A former slave serving another former slave in such a manner seemed so funny to both.

"Commence, peasant. Suitably rinse my back or else your back shalt be unsuitably rinsed. The Lord sayeth thusly."

"Aw, man…" Shinasi heaved a deep sigh, staring into the deep, dark unknown of the mountains. He was on guard duty, just like he had been before. Brown had chosen him as to not look suspicious to any passersby.

There wasn't anything stirring in the unknown beyond, so poor Shinasi had been left alone with his thoughts. He had joined Brown, on a sort of whim, partly for ideological reasons, and mostly for the sake of love that he hadn't fully confessed even to himself. He considered just running back to Azdavay, he still could, but he also equally didn't want to return.

The behavior of Algernon had steeled his resolve somewhat, but hesitation was a beast that was greater than any fantastic creature Gemeinplatz could throw at him. He wasn't a slave, he was a freeman that still had the potential to pull himself up by the bootstraps, or so his inner voice told him. But, would he be fulfilled if he did pull himself up, stomping on others on the way? Or did he want to throw the bootstraps away and forge a new path that was full of uncertainty?

"Hey." A voice from behind startled Shinasi. He turned around, shield up and spear ready to go, only to meet a person that spelled trouble for his troubled heart.

"O- Oh, Ayomide. It's you." He put his shield down, literally, and put another shield up, figuratively. "Please, don't arrive so suddenly. I'm on watch and alert; I wouldn't want to injure an ally."

"Right, I'm an ally now am I, Mr. Bounty Hunter." Ayomide approached him further. The woman that had saved him, and in most unacceptable fashion according to Gemeinplatzian society, poor Shinasi had sort of fallen for. "How's your watch going? Any fugitives?"

"There's a whole camp of them behind me." Shinasi nodded toward the mansion. "Not to mention the errant one in front of me right now. I don't know what to do when odds are so stacked against me." He had learned to play along with Ayomide.

Ayomide replied by laughing. "I see. You must have your work cut out for you then. Poor Shinasi… You're such a bad guard that you let a whole slave rebellion into the estate!" She stopped to go back to what she intended to talk about when she had arrived at the scene. "Anyways, I heard that you were looking for someone."

"Hm?!" Shinasi couldn't help but shout. He was worried that the conversation might steer to that point, and he looked visibly flustered. "Um, I-"

"And I was so worried for my dear adventurer friend, he might lose his job if he fails his quest. That wouldn't do, would it?" Ayomide shook her head to emphasize her point. She was visibly smirking. "Don't worry, I've found the one your query was about." Ayomide took out the red ribbon she had been keeping. "I'll deliver it to her whenever I have the opportunity."

Shinasi only got even more flustered as the conversation went on. 'Deliver it to her whenever I have the opportunity'? What's she trying to imply there? He took a good luck at Ayomide in his heart-thumping state. Women in Gemeinplatz had long hair; Ayomide always cut it short. The most beautiful of hairs were considered to be blond; she had an odd ginger color. The ideal for any person was skin that was indistinguishable from porcelain; hers was undistinguishable from the night. Yet…

Ayomide suddenly interrupted Shinasi. "Ahem, aside from that…" It was her time to get serious, and nervous. She shook around nervously, gaze averted from Shinasi, as she hid the ribbon behind her back. Speaking seriously, from the heart, was hard business for anyone as young as her. "You did a good job, some of us might have died if you hadn't found when your buddies had a holiday." She remembered the scarred back of her new sister, Ekene. "A lot of people are now free, with your help. Uhm… thank you." She had to force herself to say the last part. "…you're not too horrible, I guess."

"I- I'm…" Shinasi couldn't believe the last part. He wasn't sure if he might've misheard. "I'm what? Could you repeat the last part?"

"I said that you're not too horrible!" Ayomide's composure was now broken. She quickly began taking a few steps back. Being honest was a bit too much. "Good night to you!" She ran away, back towards the mansion.

Shinasi stared, slack-jawed, at the quickly retreating Ayomide. He had been at that position a while ago. I guess she can get nervous as well… He scratched his head, and couldn't help but dryly laugh out of stress. His heart was beating so fast that he could faint right at this moment.

I'm not seeing visions, right? I took care not to drink too much before my shift…

CabbagePreacher · Jul 16, 2023

2nd of Summer, 5859
Former Estate of Sir Algernon (new name still pending), Azdavay / Casamonu

Lady Leila was resting in her bedroom, reading a book about the wonders that laid on Earth. She was softly rocking back on forth on a chair, cozying herself by the fireside.

Today was not a good day.

She had woken up this morning, in hopes that maybe the whole slave uprising was just a nightmare, but the former miners marching up and down the garden leisurely had ridden her of that notion. All of yesterday's executions were real, her husband's death was real, and her current troubled predicament was also very much real.

Any moment, she thought, the band of savages that lay outside could end her life. Perhaps death would be the better alternative. She didn't exactly know what to do after being widowed so suddenly, left with two (plus one) children. Leila had no choice but return to the Earlywatch family she originated from, if she could survive that is.

Suddenly, a knock came from her door, distracting her from all the doom and gloom. "Are you in here, Leila?" Leila didn't answer, but her visitor rudely entered the room anyways. Her visitor was a demi-human, a darkskin, and her informal manner of address would have gotten her something worse than the whip anywhere in Gemeinplatz.

"I'm apparently supposed to take care of you, since Ekene and Ejike didn't want to do it." Ayomide didn't seem too pleased with her assignment. She wasn't that willing to return to duties related to masters or mistresses, nobody else was willing, hence why Ayomide had been the one left to take on this job. "Here, your food." She left a loaf of bread, made from shepherd's reed flour. Hakim hadn't gotten around to sorting through the mansion's pantry yet, and this was the best that they had.

Leila blankly stared at, what could hardly be called, the piece of food dropped in front of her. "So… are you planning to kill me or?" She didn't expect much from what she saw as a bunch of uneducated, uppity children.

"No, Brown was quite worked up about 'the Lord's mercy, Jesus Christ, think of the children and so on and so forth'. The rest of the freemen don't seem enthusiastic about hanging you either, you know, with the whole children thing." Ayomide clapped sarcastically. "Good job. You get to live another day."

"Eh?" This surprised the former mistress more than the uprising itself. The last thing she was expecting was any form of mercy. "What are you going to do with me then?"

"You're our prisoner, until you're ransomed off. You come from a noble family, right? They must have quite the load of spare money." Ayomide looked around the room, finding suitable quill and paper on a desk. She put them in front of Leila and continued with an air of formality, as if she was conducting legitimate business. "We hope that you'll be able to provide us with suitable funds. Also, write your letter with Awmereighkan letters. Brown will be checking what you've written to make sure you're keeping your part of the deal."

Leila was pretty sure that a deal required two consenting parties, but she also was pretty sure one couldn't object to being ransomed. "…Understood." She at least wanted to do her best to keep what had remained of her family alive.

The ex-mistress took the quill, and began writing her own letter for ransom.

It was another foggy, rainy summer day in Casamonu, but no matter the weather, the wheels of business needed to turn no matter what. Industry in Casamonu was always hungry for 'brown gold', so caravans were almost always making their way up from the city to the mountains. Today too, a group of porters from Casamonu aided by pack animals and adventurers made their way to the Mount Curry in order to buy copper. Their group wasn't too big; the tight mountain path was impossible to navigate with a large group.

One of their first stops was the Algernon Estate, a major producer of copper. Thanks to his abundant copper, caravans would often find what they were looking for at a good price there. Much to their dismay, however, they were greeted by a guard in front of the estate. The head of the caravan hailed the guard at the gate.

"Sorry, but we've got quite the plague going on in here, and those slaves refuse to work. No copper left in storage, either." Shinasi was wearing a cloth mask to emphasize his point of there being a plague.

"What? That's preposterous. I'd like to see your manager, young man!" The head of the caravan didn't seem too pleased at missing his cheap copper.

"Sir Algernon himself is currently too sick to meet you. I think, sir, it's better that you avoid going in lest you catch this awful plague yourself." Shinasi took out a letter from his pocket, along with a few groschen. "His wife wants to send her family back home a letter. Sir Algernon would be quite pleased if you could help the letter find its way."

The head of the caravan calmed down. He didn't want to fall ill either, so he had no choice but to oblige in not entering the estate. He took the letter and money from Shinasi; sending letters through passing caravans wasn't too uncommon up in the isolated mountains. "Good day to you, then."

"Good day to you too, sir." Shinasi watched as the caravan disappeared off into the fog.

Back at the estate, Brown was busy with convening the council again. "Gather around, no pushing." Today would be the day of decision. The crowd was smaller compared to yesterday, around twenty people had decided to make way for Zon'guldac. Perhaps a couple more would make their way in the following days. Still, Brown was pleased to see that around thirty people remained.

"I hereby officially… you know what, there's no need for formalities. We need action, not words. We have had more than enough speech already, I'd say." John Brown put his hands on the dining table where everyone had gathered. He took a good look at all the freemen once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, with the Almighty as our witness, are ye ready to fight for the freedom of your brothers and sisters in bondage?"

Most of the people had stayed here to answer just that. There wasn't much need for an answer, but some of the more creative freemen had prepared one that was concise. Bilal rose up from his chair, and delivered a curious item to the table: a copper spear head.

"The are some kilns in this estate; we've mostly turned copper into bars for easier transport, until now." He pushed the spear head toward Brown, who picked it up and raised it in front of his eyes to take a proper look. Its construction was pretty crude, with juts and imperfections everywhere, not surprising considering that it had been only made in the one-day period after the slaves' liberation. "We hope to continue developing ways which we can deliver copper in a faster and more efficient manner to a wider base of customers." He made the motion of throwing a spear.

"May God bless you, what sweet words you lend to my ears today!" Brown laughed as he patted Bilal on the back. "Witty remarks, and a will to back them up, the way a man should be. Mister Bilal, was it? And your comrades here." There was hope, even in a realm so foreign to Brown. Humanity, in its nature, seemed the same no matter were. "I'm afraid that the road ahead for our business will be rough, arduous, even boring to some extent. But, with Providence shining down with utmost grace upon us sinners, we shall pull through. Now, as I've promised, no more talk. Let us get to action!"

4th of Summer, 5859
Earlywatch Estate, Outskirts of Casamonu

Within the outskirts near any large settlement lay the estates of the noble sort, and Casamonu was no exception. From the estate of the Count himself to the lowliest and pettiest (in both senses of the word) estates of various knights and dames, along with the occasional big shot merchant who had found themselves lucky enough to grab some land.

Most of the houses were modeled after buildings on Earth, from grand castles of the Orient to not-so-grand American McMansions, for the nobility paid upmost importance to having otherworlder blood. It was the blood of heroes, kings and sex pests after all. Their blood was bluer than lapis, nobler than any revolting peasant, higher than the Heavens that stood atop them. Thus, they received their higher-than-divine right to rule over all under their shiny new boots they just ordered from overseas.

One particular exception was the Earlywatch family, as can be inferred by their surname, they didn't trace their lineage to any otherworlders. Sure, they had married other families to acquire some of that blue blood, but they still stood as an exception for having a surname that wasn't foreign. They prided themselves for being the descendants of the bastard child of a former emperor's third cousin-thrice-removed instead, which was a greater achievement compared to being descended by some guy from Shandong or whatever.

Despite their claim to great blood however, their estate wasn't that great compared to others. Their mansion was a small, reasonable one constructed in European (or 'Yoropean' as they spelled it) style, a style that was still somewhat in fashion. Its bricks had slowly begun to fade, and a couple shingles on the roof had gone missing without anyone bothering to put them back up. Only a couple peasants attended to the fields around this mansion, slaves were a bit too expensive, not to mention the fact that the owner didn't want anyone darker than limestone running around his place. This marked an example of the not-quite-uncommon-as-one-might-think phenomenon of 'being too racist to own slaves'.

The aforementioned owner was one Sir Baha Earlywatch, a knight under Count Leon. He was sitting in his office, slowly checking over droll financial figures that needed cooking. Baha would have loved to give this job to a steward, but he also didn't trust someone else to handle his property. Maybe he'd have been in a better financial situation if he did.

"Sir." One of his servants entered the room, letter in hand. He bowed down to greet his lord before continuing to speak. "A letter has arrived, from Lady Leila." The servant dropped the letter on his desk and promptly left the room.

Sir Baha casually took the letter to his hand. Leila was his sister, they continued to exchange letters even in her absence. I hope it isn't a letter that's full of complaints about her husband again… Baha sighed, but he was happy to keep in touch with his sister regardless of her tendency to talk about Algernon's treatment of the slaves. He should just get rid of his slaves if he dislikes them so much.

Baha couldn't complain too much about Algernon, openly at least, as Algernon was the cousin of Count Leon. To be honest, he didn't have much to complain about, Algernon treated Leila decently at the least. He thought that it was lucky that his sister had gotten married to such a close relative of the count, ensuring a secure position for the rest of the Earlywatch household.

The petty knight slowly opened the letter, expecting the usual as detailed above. "Dear brother, I hope that the Divine grants you Its favor and this letter reaches your hands without problem." Baha smiled upon seeing his sister's usual greeting. "Unfortunately, I think that Algernon has finally incurred divine wrath and I'm afraid that I've been caught in this wrath? Ha!" He couldn't help but laugh at this expression. She was probably going to talk about some minor inconvenience that had fallen upon the poor man. "The slaves have risen up and…" The letter was getting less funnier the more he read "…have executed Algernon? I'm currently a prisoner…"

Baha re-read the letter a couple more times to make sure that his mind was not playing any tricks on him.

No matter how many times he read it, however, its contents didn't change.

CabbagePreacher · Jul 22, 2023

5th of Summer, 5859
Casamonu, Empire of Gemeinplatz

An interesting letter had arrived at Sir Leon's desk today. He calmly read its contents, not sure whether to be happy or frustrated with the news.

"…and, Your Excellency, I implore you to gather your council and help me save my sister and avenge your kinsman as soon as possible. Your most faithful vassal, Sir Baha Earlywatch." Leon put the letter down, leaning back on his desk to think. He had thought that it was likely for some incident to be arisen due to the fugitives, but he hadn't thought that such a bold move was possible.

Killing a nobleman, kidnapping his cousin, and occupying a mine? Something afoul must be up, or so thought Leon. The exodus of slaves and this uprising couldn't have occurred without outside intervention. For all he knew, Leon was facing powers that far surpassed a border count like him.

Right now, greater powers or not, Leon had a situation he had to respond to. He didn't personally care much about his cousin, Algernon. Sir Algernon was a very far off relative that Leon had barely even seen and, to be honest, he couldn't care less about the death of one of his many cousins.

What Leon could care about was the killing of a nobleman in his territory, especially one of his kinsmen from the Satō-Wang family. Not to mention the fact that, if news of slaves occupying a mine in his territory got out, then it'd make Leon look weak and incompetent. He definitely didn't want his reputation being tarnished by a bunch of fugitives. Various guilds in Azdavay had gone bankrupt after the exodus, and merchants in Casamonu itself had expressed concerns about the safety of their jobs. This, everything about these uppity slaves, had to be stopped before it got out of hand.

The survival of the count's rule preceded the survival of some minor vassal's sister.

Thankfully, Leon wasn't an idle or carefree man. The count had calculated that the fugitives might strike back sooner or later. He had been busy politicking and calling in various favors the last month, doing his best to gather a voluntary response team of respected individuals from his county. Thanks to his efforts, Leon wouldn't have to personally spend a penny outfitting this force.

'Not spending a penny' sounded very delightful indeed. Leon patted himself on the back for a job well-done. "Hilmi!" His trustworthy servant came running into the room at Leon's command. The count took out a small stack of letters and handed it over to the servant. "Send these to the addresses written on them."

"Understood, Your Excellency." The servant bowed and took his leave. Leon was smiling at his own genius idea: pre-writing the letters he needed to summon everyone. He had just given the orders to summon the likes of Kim Seong-min and Long Dong. The count didn't know if all of them would come, he was sure some of them would shirk their responsibilities, but he didn't need much to retake the mines.

Now all Leon needed to do was patiently wait. Soon, this little insurrection would be crushed at little cost.

5th of Summer, 5859
Former Estate of Sir Algernon (new name ever pending), Azdavay / Casamonu

"Cemil! You're too far to the right. Move it… Yes, right there." Bilal commanded a group of miners from atop an incline. He had been tasked, after having shown his skills as a representative, with leading a group of freemen to strengthen the fortifications around the mine. The first order of business was to construct a trench around the estate to slow enemies down. Digging a simple trench was all too easy for a group of experienced miners. A dozen miners, armed with their shovels and picks, worked around the clock to realize this plan.

Lady Leila gave them precious time to prepare. Brown thought that no one would dare strike while they held a noblewoman hostage. Still, it wasn't a bad idea to keep the powder dry and have the men ready to fight in case Sir Baha wasn't willing to cede to their demands. For that purpose, Ayomide and Shinasi had been tasked with imparting their knowledge of combat to the newly recruited freemen. These two squads of miners and fighters worked in shifts, switching personnel every day.

A small group of kiln workers was also tasked with making javelins and other tools from copper, a process that was going slowly. They had previously only worked to refine impure copper ore into bars for easier transportation, meaning that they didn't have any experience with toolmaking.

Thankfully, copper wasn't too hard to manipulate and work with. The kiln workers had already managed to copy the makeshift stone spears by pressing them into clay molds. Molten copper could be poured into these molds to create new, better spearheads. Copper by itself wasn't particularly sharp or strong, but this method was much faster compared to knapping stone. Speed was important when one needed to equip an army of thirty men.

Feeding all of these working men was Hakim and Tater, who worked to forage the forests of Azdavay and Casamonu for food. With the help of the estate's kitchen, they could work to cook foods that were comfortably edible.

All of the above, however, was interrupted when a visitor came upon the gates of the estate. Riding up the path was a man on a horse, with his hands raised up to show that he was unarmed. From his attire, a one-piece suit and a bowtie, one could see that he was most likely some sort of servant. "I come in the name of my lord, Sir Baha Earlywatch!" He was quickly surrounded by a group of freemen carrying spears.

"Who might you be?" Shinasi, the new gatekeeper of the estate, split apart the sea of people to greet their guest. "Are you here to deliver, or are you here to make empty pleas?"

"I'm here to do both, if that's possible." The old servant jumped off his horse. He opened a large bag attached to the saddle, revealing various tools such as hammers and saws, along with a small sum of money. This servant didn't know why the slaves had such odd requests for ransom, he'd have only requested money if he ever kidnapped a noble. "Think of these as a down payment. My lord will not send the rest unless I get to meet Lady Leila, and her children, in person and confirm that she's fine."

"I'll be escorting you to her." Shinasi signaled the crowd to stand back. "Don't try anything reckless or your dear mistress' life will be forfeit." The crowd of freemen parted to allow Shinasi and the servant to pass through. The armed freemen followed them afterwards to make sure that the servant couldn't pull off any dirty magical tricks.

The servant followed Shinasi up to the second floor. There, Shinasi knocked on Leila's room. "Ayomide, you in there?"

The door unlocked. "Yes, I've been stuck in here for the last few hours." An annoyed Ayomide showed her face. She noticed the servant. "Oh, this must be the 'Ted' that the kids have been talking about. Come in, they're still alive." She stood right next to Ted, ready to dispel any spells that he might try to cast. Something like teleportation was rare in Gemeinplatz, but one could never be too sure.

Entering the room, Ted was happy to see his mistress and her children to be alive and well. They were in a much better condition than he anticipated. He had expected the freemen to commit unspeakable acts, but Leila seemed as fine as a newly widowed woman reasonably could be. The children seemed to be cheerful, but bored, and mostly ignorant of their situation.

"Ted? Is it Ted?" Ani and Timmy got up to greet this familiar face, while Leila sufficed with meekly waving at him. "Uncle! Are we going back? Father left so suddenly…" They surrounded poor Ted while pestering him with questions. He wasn't actually their uncle, but he might as well have been.

"Well…" He carefully looked over his shoulder to Ayomide. Ted didn't exactly know how to convey their situation to the children. He was honestly furious of the fact that he had to negotiate with a bunch of slaves. "You see, he has been suddenly assigned… to assist the emperor. We won't be seeing him for a while." The downfall of their father's death would have to be dealt by Lady Leila. "Your father sold the estate when he left, so we'll have to go back to living with Uncle Baha. Behave well, okay? He's currently trying to get your carriages ready for the trip back."

"Oh… Okay…" The kids seemed sullen at the prospect of Algernon's sudden assignment. They could feel that there was something much more serious going on, kids are creatures that are much sharper than they might initially seem, but they could also feel that the adults in the room wouldn't give them clear answers.

"And, mistress." Ted turned to addressing the woman of the hour. "Have you been doing well? These…" He was about to use an insulting word here, but he retreated upon realization of the fact that he was surrounded by armed slaves. "…slaves, they haven't done anything horrible, have they?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Leila heaved a deep sigh. "As fine as I can be in… such an unexpected situation." She herself was still surprised at the fact that no harm had come to her. Nothing else had happened, outside of a couple of verbal attacks whose perpetrators got a large scoop of admonishment from Brown (for it didn't bode well for one to insult a lady). Ayomide and Brown had protected her from anything graver than the aforementioned.

Ted asked again to confirm her response, and Leila responded in a similar fashion. He was trying to make sure that the mistress wasn't being forced to downplay the abuse committed by the slaves, but she seemed to genuinely not have had anything done to her. "I'm happy, mistress, to see that you are alive and well."

"Alright, had enough of your emotional chit-chat?" Ayomide's arms were getting tired of restraining Ted. "Bring the rest of the goods if you want to have a nice, long chat with her." With this she pulled Ted out of the room, locking the door behind her.

"As you've heard from our own Lady Orange. No recoupment, no reunion." Shinasi had fit into the role of a ransoming bandit pretty well. He felt oddly proud of this fact, and he also enjoyed the part where he got to indirectly order a nobleman to do something.

Shinasi quickly escorted Ted back to his horse. Their business was done and conducted, for now. "As our old man says, 'Skedaddle!'." The freemen watched as the servant disappeared into the horizon.

They knew not what'd arrive next…

"Halt! Who are you?" Shinasi turned around to look at the source of the commotion. There he found an enigmatic black figure clad with a dark shawl and a long dress, who kept a safe distance away from the freemen assembled around her. She was flanked by two figures clad in pitch black robes whose faces were obscured by hoods. Nobody in the crowd could decipher who she was.

"Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid of me." The one speaking was the enigmatic old woman who, judging from her position, seemed to be the leader of this group. Her face was scowling, not out of anger at anyone present, but out of great perpetual discontent from how mankind treated itself. Her face was wrinkled all over from years of endless fighting, in and out the battlefield. Only a kerchief was present to cover her head.

"I only wish to see old John Brown once more."

CabbagePreacher · Jul 23, 2023

Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public, and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought in the day, you in the night. I have had the applause of the crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being approved by the multitude, while the most that you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scarred, and foot-sore bondmen and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage, and whose heartfelt "God bless you" has been your only reward. The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism. Excepting John Brown, of sacred memory, I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have.

- Frederick Douglass' letter to a certain someone (1868)

Old John Brown sat in his new room, the former dining room of the Algernon estate, inspecting what might be the most important item in the entire building: a map detailing Mount Curry and its immediate area. He had found this map while looking around the late Algernon's office. Other copper mines, farms, villages… All were noted on one gargantuan piece of paper detailing bits of information about these locations. This would be pretty useful for their future expeditions, and Brown had already began constructing further plans in his head.

Ayomide came into the room, carrying two cups of tea. "Old man, you still staring at the paper?" She set one cup down for Brown, and took a sip from the other. Getting something to drink other than slime soup felt heavenly.

"May God bless you, young lady." Brown accepted Ayomide's offer for having a tea break. He leaned back on his chair, his old spine making concerning cracks as he did. "I wish we had someone else that could read, but alas." These sorts of jobs requiring literacy had all been left to Brown. Latin script was pretty commonly used in Gemeinplatz, as Brown had observed in his visit to Azdavay, and items like maps usually had transcriptions in English written under native Gemeinplatzian script.

Ayomide stared at the map with a blank expression. She was unable to read any of the text on it. "Man, I wish I could read." Knowledge was power; the slaveowners definitely didn't intend to distribute power to their chattel. "All of these symbols look too complicated to learn. Too many of them."

"It's not too complicated, young lady. The English alphabet isn't, anyways, I don't know anything about this other writing that they use in this realm." Brown leaned forward to point at a point on the map that was spelled with an "A". "For example, this is pronounced as 'a'. A. There are twenty-five other letters like it, learning them all shouldn't be too hard."

"Eigh. Eeeigh." The odd way that an English speaker like Brown spelt 'A' didn't help Ayomide much in understanding anything. "Eigh? Which place has a name beginning with eigh?"

"Azdaweigh. The town that we had visited, young lady." Even if the local language had been somehow beamed into his mind, Brown wasn't adept at pronunciation.

"That's pronounced Az-da-vay. Not Eigh-zee-da-weeigh, whatever that's supposed to be." Ayomide took another look at the letter 'A'. "I'm guessing that this is supposed to be pronounced more like '[aː]' not '[ˈeɪ]'. We're not in Awmereighka, old man. Nobody here pronounces anything like that."

"Is that so…" Pronunciation was a battle that was fiercer than any battles Brown had in Kansas. Even with divine intervention, it seemed, he wouldn't be able to stop pronouncing "A" differently. "Oh Lord, guide me in pronunciation." He took a sip out of his tea to calm himself down. "No matter my pronunciation, I plan on getting to teach everyone how to read and write eventually." Currently, the former Algernon estate was operating in a mode of full mobilization which left no time for A's, B's and C's.

Literacy would have to come after they were sure that they could defend this place, or organize an orderly retreat if they couldn't. Realistically, Brown thought, they had to retreat from the estate. He didn't plan on staying here for long anyways, guerilla warfare like the one he planned to conduct involved not having any known place that the enemy could assault. Staying immobile in a known location was the worst case scenario. Still, before the local forces could mobilize to meet him, Brown planned on using the estate as much as he could before their inevitable retreat.

"Mister Brown, hello? Anybody there?" Ayomide waved her hand in front of Brown, who had spaced out while thinking of future plans.

"Sorry, young lady. I was just following a train of thought that happened to pass by." Brown took a deep breath. The future was the future; the present was the present. He needed to focus on what was in front of him right now. "I think it'd be best if I trained someone to be a teacher, someone who has decent command of this realm's language."

"Guess I can do that. I don't mind learning how to read and write. I could teach the rest." Her time in the service industry as a waitress had already given Ayomide a decent grasp of Gemeinplatzian language. Learning to read and write didn't seem to be too daunting of a task: memorizing twenty-six letters wasn't exactly the hardest thing in the world.

"Great, young lady." Brown seemed pleased at her willingness to learn the ABCs. "Then… Let us begin right now, if you are not occupied." He grabbed an errant sheet of empty paper, and intended to write some letters on it, before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "…Or not. Come in, we're not busy."

A small group entered the office, which was a lot more than Brown had expected from a single knock. This group of freemen was armed with spears, and they surrounded a smaller group of three people.

Brown was about to ask what the meaning of their visit was, but he immediately stopped once he realized the existence of a certain old woman among the ranks of the smaller group. The old man rubbed his eyes two or three, trying to make sure that he wasn't seeing some sort of illusion. The familiar figure still stood in front of him, as real as anything else in the room.

"Praise be to the Lord, is that…" Brown rose up from his chair to show respect. "…is that really you? I had heard about one 'Miss Moses', but I thought that it was impossible for it to be you!"

"As real as you are, Brown." The old woman slowly walked toward Brown. "I knew that you were not the type of man to lay calmly, moldering in a grave."

The crowd of freemen looked at each other, confused as to what connection these two people might have. Bilal stepped forward to voice their concerns. "Who's this woman, Mister Brown?"

"Right. You probably haven't been acquainted." Brown stepped aside to present an old friend to the people in the room. "I bring you one of the best and bravest persons on the American continent and on this realm: General Tubman as we called her."

"Harriet Tubman. Former conductor on the Underground Railroad and…" Tubman walked toward the two people she had brought along with her. "…current conductor of the League of Canaanites."

"So those queer hooded figures talking about 'Miss Moses'…" Brown definitely remembered seeing the same sort of dark, hooded people back in his flight from Azdavay. "…they were your men?" His smile widened greatly. "It seems that General Tubman has outshone us once again." None of the men in the room, except for Brown and the men of the league, had ever seen Tubman. They weren't sure as to what Brown was alluding to by "once again".

"It is only by the grace of God that we've been able to get so far, Brown. So far back in America, and so far here in Gemeinplatz. The Lord hasn't deserted us in any trouble." Tubman didn't forget to add an obligatory dose of Christian humility.

"Indeed, let us not forget that." Brown added a few more words of praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit before continuing. The freemen watched while these otherworlders participated in this odd ritual. Ayomide yawned; she had seen this same thing play out far too many times whenever the old man achieved something. "…Now then, General Tubman, please sit down. Join me for some tea, and let us talk of business as usual."

"That'd be nice, yes." Harriet took a seat, along with her hooded comrades, and the crowd of curious onlookers dispersed. They weren't exactly interested in eavesdropping on a conversation between two close comrades, not to mention the fact that they had actual work to do.

Ayomide soon came back with a fresh cup of tea for her new sister. "Here you go, Miss Tubman." She took a few steps back to properly introduce herself to this friend of John Brown. "I'm Ayomide from Azdavay." She instinctively ended up performing a curtsy, an act that was still engrained within her from the maid café. Ayomide was under mind-control at that time, of course, but her body still remembered how she had been moved.

"Oh, what a nice young lady you are." Tubman was a bit surprised at how refined Ayomide seemed. Her wearing clothes 'borrowed' from Sir Algernon, Lady Leila's clothes were a tad bit large for her, made her look like she was supposed to be the owner of the estate they were standing on. A silk waistcoat and pants (Brown was shocked when he learned of the fact that woman wearing pants was common in Gemeinplatz) made Ayomide look uncomfortably sharp for her own tastes.

"Thank you, mistres- Ahem, Miss Tubman." Ayomide had to stop herself from being overly formal. Her gaze shifted toward the strange hooded figures who had been standing quietly, watching them while they had been proceeding with the introductions. "…So, who are these people?" Ayomide pointed at the strangers.

"Oh, they?" Tubman turned around to meet her followers. "Come on, we're with our allies. I don't need to tell you to uncloak."

The figure on the right took off her hood, revealing a face that Brown and Ayomide had ended up making themselves familiar with. "Sorry. Just a force of habit." It was Kyauta. "Though, I don't think introductions are necessary for me."

Yes, I've been all to closely acquainted with you and your knife, thought Ayomide.

Brown knew Kyauta too, though not as closely as Ayomide, for she was a character that he had met in the first chapter of his life in this new realm. "Glad to see that the Holy Spirit guided you to safety and good company."

"Indeed, I have been guided to a good place." Kyauta, having stopped being in mission mode, found herself a chair to sit down and relax. "Vaiz, I believe it's your turn."

"Right! Right, it's my turn." The other figure who revealed himself was a young man. He looked out of place in this gathering of freed slaves, with his skin colored like fresh milk that had been left in the sun for too long. His eyes were crystal blue, like a clear river under daylight, and his locks had color that wouldn't be off on the bark of a tree. His teeth were mostly intact, which was pretty rare in a land like Gemeinplatz where dentists were as common as unicorns on Mars.

"I'm Vaiz, priest… or former priest of the Temple of the Divine. Peace be upon ye." Vaiz acted timidly in his introduction, and his appearance was one of a young man from a well-off family who hadn't seen much of the world yet. "They kicked me out when I tried to teach The Hallow Word to demi-humans, you see. The people of Casamonu didn't take kindly to me doing that…"

"A priest?" Brown hadn't been able to gather much information about religion in Gemeinplatz. He had no qualms working together with anyone of good character who professed abolitionism, regardless of creed. A younger Brown would have began arguing with this man over doctrine, an older Brown still planned to do so later in their free time, but with age had come wisdom as to when argument and debate was appropriate.

"Y-Yes, sir." Vaiz took off the rest of the black robes to reveal the white robe of a priest. He took out a small skullcap from his pockets and put it on to complete his hallow outfit. "With Divine guidance, I intend to right the heretical doctrine of the Temple barring our darkskin and demi-human siblings from seeing the light."

Vaiz seemed to gain a whole lot more fervor at the last part of his speech, casting off this timidness. Thus began, unbeknownst to many, a grand schism and reformation within the Temple of the Divine.

Note: The "certain someone" mentioned in the beginning quote is Harriet Tubman. So, who's this Harriet Tubman that Brown's so acquainted with?

Harriet Tubman (born in the March of 1822) was an American abolitionist who began her life as a slave in Maryland. She was, like all the other slaves, abused greatly by her master and the overseer, and after having a heavy metal weight thrown at her head, Tubman began experiencing hypersomnia and strange visions that she thought were premonitions from God. As once can guess, direct communication from the Lord lead her to being deeply religious. She escaped in 1849, returning afterwards to rescue the rest of her family from enslavement. Tubman didn't stop with her family though, she continued to liberate slaves (around 70 of them) from the South and lead them to freedom in the North (either in the free states or slavery-free Canada). Her acts in freeing the enslaved made her come to be known as "Moses", in comparison to a particular prophet who lead the Israelites out of slavery.

"I bring you one of the best and bravest persons on this continent — General Tubman as we call her."
- John Brown introducing Harriet Tubman to Wendell Phillips.

Tubman and Brown were acquainted in the April of 1858. She herself hadn't participated in violent action like Brown, but she agreed with his plan of action for the Raid on Harper's Ferry. Tubman agreed with helping Brown in terms of intelligence (as she had oft trodden the states between the North and South) and recruitment of the formerly enslaved for his planned rebellion. Unfortunately, Harriet Tubman wasn't present when the raid finally launched. There are several different theories put forward by historians as to why she might have been absent, some think she might have been going through a bout of illness due to her head injury, some say that she might have been busy recruiting even more people for Brown elsewhere. Tubman was illiterate, meaning that there are no records written by her.

After Brown's death and the beginning of the American Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union Army as a scout and a spy. She lead the Raid on Combahee Ferry, an expedition of 150 black troops, freeing another 700-800 slaves.

"Colonel Montgomery and his gallant band of 300 black soldiers under the guidance of a black woman, dashed into the enemy's country, struck a bold and effective blow, destroying millions of dollars worth of commissary stores, cotton and lordly dwellings, and striking terror into the heart of rebeldom, brought off nearly 800 slaves and thousands of dollars worth of property, without losing a man or receiving a scratch. It was a glorious consummation.... The colonel was followed by a speech from the black woman who led the raid and under whose inspiration it was originated and conducted. For sound sense and real native eloquence her address would do honor to any man, and it created a great sensation." - A contemporary newspaper reporting on the raid.

For her service, Tubman was never given a proper salary or any other form of compensation (can you guess why? It starts with "race" and ends with "ism"). She was in constant poverty for the rest of her life. She was able to scrape by, thanks to working various jobs and receiving support from her supporters. Only in 1899 did Congress approve to give her 20$/month (8$ from her pension and 12$ for her service as a nurse), though her job as a scout and spy in the army wasn't acknowledged. Tubman passed from pneumonia in 1913 (her last words being "I go to prepare a place for you"), penniless, surrounded by friends and family.

His Soul is Marching On to Another World; or, the John Brown Isekai

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