Chapter 168 - 165 - Prelude to the Night of Many Knives
Author's note: While historical records about the Legendary Smith in particular grow sparse beyond this point, records abound for the general deterioration of the Kingdom of Iberteria in general and the capital city of Cordova in particular.
Fifty-five years prior to James' arrival in the city of Cordova, the colonies in the newlands were abandoned and there began a two year period in which all the colonists evacuated the newlands as quickly as possible. The journey by sea was one month, with the record set at twenty-two days with the efforts of numerous wind and water mages.
From one perspective, the efforts of the Captains and Sailors of the ships that rushed back and forth were heroic: colonists were packed into ships to the limit of what a ship's stores could provide. Cargo holds were devoted to nothing but water and half-rations to allow even just one more person aboard. It remains to this day the largest and longest sustained evacuation operation in history. The sheer quantity of human lives saved is tremendous, and estimates range from eight-hundred thousands at the lowest to one and a half millions at the highest.
And yet an estimated half a million colonists were captured by the demons, presumed killed as the demons overran the shells of what had once been thriving trading ports.
From the perspective of the three countries closest to the newlands by sea—Iberteria closest by about a day of sailing—this was a humanitarian disaster.
The Captains of those ships simply took whoever they could to whichever port was closest, making no distinction as to nation of origin of the refugees. Corto, Libons, Atena, and Malago in Iberteria were overwhelmed by the first wave of refugees and after two years of inundation, never fully recovered. The trade that had once enriched their cities was now an immense liability.
Food shortages were common and unending, for over a decade. Due to the food shortages, it was impossible to arrange caravans to return the colonists to their countries of origin, the journey by land to which was measured in months rather than weeks. Journey by sea was impossible as every long-range ship was devoted for the full two years solely to the evacuation, and by the end of the evacuation most of the ships were held together by nothing more than tar and prayers to the gods.
Because the refugees couldn't be returned home, and in part because the majority of the refugees were women and children unaccompanied by male family members, housing was also highly in demand and in short supply.
A decision was made, independently but universally, by all the governors and magistrates and mayors and rulers by any other name in the areas flooded with refugees: avoid the formation of Avengers by any means necessary.
Children were prioritized first, and then their mothers.
Everyone else was left to figure it out for themselves.
Once a child turned fifteen and chose both their Classes, all state support was cut off to ensure that those resources could be devoted to other children.
The strategy was remarkably successful. There was no significant increase in the formation of Avengers above baseline levels.
No, the cost of this strategy was more subtle: resentment accumulated in the adults, particularly in the men.
Over time, the memories of the demon threat and the heroic evacuation faded. All that was left were the memories of state support visibly going to others rather than them, and vicious competition for scarce resources.
At first, the Farmers were relieved that their Class and Skills were in high demand. Later, after being put to back-breaking labor year after year under heavy taxes to support children who weren't theirs and women who weren't their wives, they began to resent the situation. And so a new fracture in society formed, between the native inhabitants and the refugees, even when they worked side by side in the same fields.
And yet, even when violence broke out between the two groups, the government clamped down on crime with an iron grip.
This, too, was to prevent the formation of Avengers.
Suppose someone's father died in a riot? Suppose someone's elder sibling was robbed and murdered in a back alley? Suppose the victim's relative was a child and on their Choosing Day they Chose vengeance and blamed an entire class of people indiscriminately?
The violence could easily spread out of control.
So while flames of discontent were stamped out immediately and forcefully, the embers remained smoldering.
A population increase of fifty to one hundred and fifty percent in the span of two years is simply not something municipal authorities can handle while meeting everyone's needs.
Food shortages largely ended ten years after the evacuation was completed. More land had been put under the till, and improvements in food transportation helped to alleviate local shortages.
The shanty towns that had formed took another decade to convert to more proper housing, even though that housing, too, was cheap and cramped and generally considered undesirable. During that decade, many of the older male refugees undertook the journey to return to their ancestral homelands.
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Many of the children stayed.
They knew no other homeland.
Many lacked fathers, and even memories of their fathers who had sent them away on the first ships.
Their mothers, too, were reluctant to uproot themselves once again, after years and years of suffering and insecurity, to undertake a long and dangerous journey to a land they had never seen and where it was dubious they would be received kindly.
So they largely stayed and endured the cold looks, the sneers of resentment, and the general lack of opportunities. The refugees and their children lived in the outskirts of the large cities, in hastily constructed housing, and formed tight-knit communities almost wholly separate from the original inhabitants.
It was at this point that the first generation of children of the refugees came of age, and seeking opportunities, migrated inland. Many of them arrived in Cordova, which experienced its own, minor version of the refugee crisis the coastal cities had.
But the city leaders of Cordova had the benefit of the experiences of the coastal cities, and rapidly acted to mitigate the problem. Land clearing and farming expansion was accelerated. Saint Alejandro's district, traditionally a slum where the poor and criminals were concentrated, was cleared and reconstructed into even more high density housing, though of higher quality, and once again it became a slum. Though now the poor and criminals were made to share the district with the grown children of former colonists.
Though food and housing prices rose, nobody went hungry and nobody went unsheltered. Nonetheless, resentment grew, and the first generation of refugees born within Cordova were raised surrounded by the poor and criminal.
Over the years, a stereotype formed that all those with odd-colored hair were refugees, and all refugees were some manner of criminal.
It didn't help that in many cases, the stereotype was correct. Records at the time show that forty percent of the refugee children born in Cordova Chose criminal Classes, Thief being by far the most common.
Amidst this tension, criminal organizations flourished. It was a golden age for the criminal gangs, as they had endless supplies of new recruits and endless customers who needed goods and services outside what the legal markets could or would supply.
Smugglers in particular had endless opportunities. When the city tried to control the influx of internal migrants, the smugglers got them over or under the walls. When the city tried to tax food entering the city, to ensure there was enough to support children and avoid the formation of Avengers, smugglers bought from resentful Farmers and brought the food into the city to supply the poor who couldn't afford the rising food prices.
The generations passed, and so it came to be that when the Legendary Smith first arrived in the city of Cordova, the situation was stable if tense. Resentment had built up on both sides, and even those who weren't directly impacted had the sense that they were on one side or the other.
The abduction of children and the slave trade were occasionally dabbled in, but always only for a short time until an Avenger appeared and wiped out those involved. Some time after the Legendary Smith arrived in Cordova, and as the situation in the city deteriorated, a new crime boss appeared who put her foot down: no kidnapping, no slaves.
This appears to be unrelated to the Smith's presence in the city.
But even the criminal gangs couldn't provide enough goods, services, and jobs for all of the poor and socially excluded.
So when the Demons began infiltrating Cordova with their agents, they found plenty of people they recognized who were amenable to causing problems for the city.
Sabotage of infrastructure.
Harassment of the government and law enforcement.
Infiltration of the army.
Leaking of secrets.
This subtle attack on Cordova, and many other cities, continued for years until the investigation into the Night of Many Knives uncovered the plot. Traces of Demonic influence were found, but the corruption had sunk deep, and the city's government was paralyzed.
The assassination of Marquess Sanchez, now recognized as the opening attack of the war that followed, was more damaging to the Kingdom of Iberteria than anyone could have foreseen.
First, his successors in the role of Head of Military Planning were simply not up to the task. The Army promoted the weak Count Toledano to the role, and he neglected it terribly, preferring to live a life of luxury and to abuse the prestige of his office. He was sacked and replaced by Count Muracio, a spineless puppet of the Crown Prince, who further weakened the military by spending most of his time ensuring the promotion of the Crown Prince's supporters rather than doing his job of organizing the military and planning for war.
The lack of planning is directly responsible for the general ineffectiveness of the military in resisting the Demon Invasion that was soon to come.
The Marquessate of Sanchez, meanwhile, had descended into inter-familial infighting. The Marquess had failed to name an heir in his will, and so bickering quickly escalated into the mobilization of various private military forces within House Sanchez.
The cowardly and weak King of the time let the situation escalate for over a year until the Princes stepped in to seize power for themselves.
The most competent elders of House Sanchez were imprisoned on trumped-up charges, and the bulk of the territory of Sanchez was reformed into a duchy. The Second Prince married the eldest of the late Marquess' granddaughters, and the Duchy of Sicilia was formed. The remaining territory was divided up into Baronies and Viscounties, awarded to the Crown Prince's followers within House Sanchez, and so the great and noble House fell.
It was, sadly, precisely these lands that lay between the landing site near Libons and the Kingdom's capital of Cordova, and which suffered the greatest casualties during the invasion.
And so the situation on the Night of Many Knives was thus: crime was on the rise in Cordova, House Sanchez had just been broken up and the Duchy of Sicilia formed, and the criminal elements of the city were reorganizing in response to a new crime boss who had appeared.
The city streets were no place for a young newly-wed woman to be walking alone after dark.