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Arcane: TTB: Ch. 43
🕑 Added 2025-02-10 22:02:11 +0000 UTCThe Book of Revolution specifically records a little-known history, the fall of the Shurima Empire.
The empire's last emperor, Azir, was betrayed during his Ascension ritual by his most trusted slave and strategist, Xerath.
Xerath pushed Azir aside and stole the power of Ascension. The ritual chamber erupted in blinding light. Golden magic meant for an emperor twisted and writhed, turning violent and uncontrolled.
The mistake in the ritual caused the Sun Disc's immense Ascension energy to leak out, its power fracturing reality itself. The sky split open, raining destruction upon Nerimazeth.
Possessing a mighty celestial army and standing unrivaled in the world, Shurima fell, turning into endless golden sands.
Human society evolved from a slave society to a feudal one.
But the book's purpose was not merely to record history. Instead, it shifts focus to discuss how, despite Xerath's betrayal, Azir had still intended to free the slaves.
As human productivity advanced further, feudal society inevitably emerged. This was an unavoidable historical progression, independent of anyone's will.
Slave societies were rife with contradictions and conflicts. The interests of slave owners and slaves were irreconcilable, a life-or-death struggle that played out across generations.
Even though slave owners had the power to easily suppress their slaves, the endless cycle of slave uprisings caused them to suffer continuous losses. Eventually, they were forced to compromise, their grip loosening not from mercy but necessity.
Thus, the slave society transitioned into a more advanced and stable feudal society.
At this point, the book introduced Viktor's main concern, Piltover and Zaun.
Or rather, the predecessor of both cities: Oshra Va'Zaun.
Piltover and Zaun once belonged to a single city, which had been part of the Shurima Empire.
After the fall of Shurima, Oshra Va'Zaun survived the Great Darkin War under the protection of the guardian deity, Janna.
However, it abandoned its Shuriman name and was renamed Zaun.
As a port city built along the trade route connecting Valoran and Shurima, Zaun held immense commercial value. The old maps in the book showed trade routes that still existed today, though now they served different masters. Ships still followed these ancient paths, but their cargo had changed from spices and silk to something far more precious, hope itself.
Driven by profit, Zaun decided to use alchemical explosives to construct the Sun Gate Canal at the junction of the two continents, bringing prosperity to the city. The promise of wealth blinded them to the price they would pay.
However, on the day of the canal's opening, a catastrophic accident occurred. A massive explosion split Zaun in two, one part of the city sank underground, becoming the now-polluted undercity, Zaun.
The portion that remained above became the upper city, Piltover.
The Progress Day festival commemorated the opening of the Sun Gate Canal. In the upper city, it was a celebration. But in the undercity, it was a day of mourning for those who perished.
Two cities, two truths, forever at odds.
The canal brought unimaginable prosperity to the upper city. In Piltover's streets, brass and copper spires reached toward the clouds, their surfaces polished to mirror-shine. Steam pipes wrapped around buildings like golden vines, releasing rhythmic puffs that joined the celebration of progress.
The air smelled of expensive oils and perfumes, masking the acrid stench that drifted up from below.
Meanwhile, in Zaun's depths, children played in puddles that glowed an unnatural green, their bare feet splashing through chemical runoff that would slowly poison their bones. The walls of buildings wept with toxic condensation, and even the rats grew twisted and strange. Pipes that carried Piltover's waste leaked their contents into Zaun's drinking water, turning it into a rainbow-slicked poison that the desperate still drank.
The vast trade it generated stimulated rapid technological and commercial development.
And eventually, with the roar of advanced machinery, the steam engine, Piltover entered the Industrial Revolution.
The outdated feudal system could no longer keep up with the rapid expansion of productivity. Piltover evolved into a commercial city-state controlled by corporate oligarchs, giving birth to a monstrous entity called "Capital."
From the moment this beast was born, every pore oozed with filthy blood.
Capital moved through the city like a plague, its invisible claws sinking deeper with each passing day. It didn't just walk, it slithered through boardrooms and council chambers, leaving trails of corruption that glittered like gold.
Its tendrils reached down into Zaun, wrapping around throats and squeezing until the only choice was submission or death.
The beast grew fat on suffering, its bulk expanding with every life it consumed. In Piltover's towers, it wore a mask of civilization, clean streets, polite society, progress. But in Zaun, its true face showed: a ravenous maw that devoured children in mine shafts, that belched toxic fumes into homes, that crushed hope beneath its massive weight.
Piltovans and land were quickly devoured by Capital. It demanded more cheap labor to generate wealth, its appetite never satisfied.
Its insatiable greed turned Piltover's gaze toward its twin sister, Zaun. It manipulated the ports, controlled the prices of essential goods like food and fuel, and squeezed the living space of Zaun's people, enslaving them and extracting their last remaining value.
Piltover freely dumped toxic industrial waste, poisonous gas, and garbage into Zaun. The waste flowed like black blood through Zaun's streets, seeping into its foundations.
Zaun became a sacrifice to Piltover's hunger for profit, a massive open-air dump and a source of cheap labor. The city itself became an altar where dreams were sacrificed to feed the beast's endless appetite.
Forced to the brink, Zaunites worked in mines for over 16 hours a day. Most did not live past 30.
Yet, if they refused to be Capital's slaves, they wouldn't last a week. The beast's hunger left no room for choice.
The cruelty of Capital was horrifying, it even found ways to force children into the mines, where none survived beyond a year. Their small bodies were just more fuel for the machine, their brief lives only measured in coins.
The mines devoured countless Zaunite lives, and every coin Piltover earned was stained with the innocent blood of Zaun.
After paying Zaunites meager and insignificant wages, Capital took back the last copper coin from their hands through goods and trade.
Zaunites became nothing more than expendable fuel for Capital's pursuit of profit. Their lives were measured not in years but in what value could be extracted before death claimed them.
Such brutal exploitation inevitably led to endless violent uprisings from Zaun. The beast's meals were often interrupted by the desperate struggles of its prey.
To suppress these revolts, Capital established the violent institution of the Piltover enforcers. Using advanced technology, it armed enforcers with lethal weapons, indoctrinated them, and erased their humanity.
They were made to believe that their actions were just, that they were upholding the law. The beast wore righteousness like another mask, hiding its true nature even from its own servants.
With no burden on their conscience, they could mercilessly slaughter any Zaunite who dared to resist, regardless of age or gender.
To further suppress Zaun's resistance, reduce suppression costs, and extract even more profit, Capital deliberately sowed discord between both cities.
The beast understood that divided prey was easier to devour.
It improved the living conditions of Piltover's citizens, providing them with a superior environment. The higher they rose, the deeper Zaun sank.
Through education, it glorified the virtues of Piltovans while vilifying the undercity's inhabitants.
Piltovans were led to believe they were noble and virtuous, superior beings, symbols of civilization, progress, and prosperity. The beast fed them these lies along with their daily bread.
Meanwhile, Zaunites were portrayed as uncivilized, crude savages, thieves and destroyers by nature.
They were deemed inherently wicked, irredeemable criminals, sewer rats lurking in the shadows, unworthy of sympathy, deserving of every hardship they suffered.
It was said that the barbaric and ignorant Zaunites did not understand the value of life, that they would kill each other over a mere scrap of food, living like wild beasts.
Meanwhile, the "civilized" and "progressive" Piltovans supposedly revered life so much that they would shut down an entire city's power grid just to save a single bird. Their compassion, like their wealth, stopped at the edge of the bridge.
Through insidious influence, Capital gradually corrupted the minds of all Piltovans, eroding their humanity and stripping them of compassion. The beast's poison spread through schools, newspapers, and casual conversation.
It positioned them naturally against Zaun, allowing them to guiltlessly indulge in milk and bread soaked with Zaunite blood. Every meal in Piltover was a communion with the beast.
Furthermore, through trade, technology, patents, education, funding restrictions, sanctions, and professional rankings, Capital deliberately suppressed and crushed any outstanding Zaunites.
It ensured that every effort made by Zaun's people would ultimately serve Piltover, preventing Zaun from ever rising. The beast's web of control was woven into every institution, every system.
Any Zaunite who wished to succeed in Piltover had to fully abandon their origins, assimilate, and become a slave to Capital. The price of success was the death of identity.
Otherwise, they would find every path blocked, denied investments, resources, and opportunities. Their contributions would be ruthlessly exploited by Capital. The beast consumed their work while denying them the fruits of their labor.
Even their basic safety would be denied, as Piltover's laws and justice existed solely to protect Piltover's elite. The beast's laws were as twisted as its morality.
The enforcers controlled by Capital cared nothing for the lives of Zaunites.
But should a defiant Zaunite ever achieve true success for the betterment of Zaun, they would face Capital's merciless retribution. The beast tolerated no challenge to its dominion.
Capital would stop at nothing, willing even to wage a war drenched in blood, to utterly destroy any hope of Zaun's rise. Its appetite for destruction matched its hunger for profit.
Under Capital's rule, Piltover would continue to drain Zaun's blood for profit.
For Zaun to secure its survival, it had no choice but to resist Capital's relentless exploitation. Even prey, when cornered, will bare its teeth.
The conflict between the two was irreconcilable, the smoke of war would inevitably engulf both cities!
The beast's reign could not last forever.
---
"So, everything Zaun has suffered, everything I have suffered, the true culprit behind it all is Capital."
Viktor's eyes were empty and lost. From the words before him, he saw the beast in its true form. Its body was a twisted mass of pipes and profits, joints made of crushed dreams and bones. Steam hissed from its jaws, not clean and pure like in Piltover's streets, but thick with toxic waste.
Every movement sent ripples through the cities: when it flexed its claws in Piltover's boardrooms, Zaun's children starved.
When it roared in celebration of progress, Zaun's streets trembled with fear. The beast's blood was black with corruption, but it ran gold with profit, feeding on the marrow of a dying city.
And he'd been feeding it all along.
Comments
Phil Meyering
Well that was dramatic. I would argue people kill people. Not some ephermal concept, but I can see where you are coming from. Even if this is almost pointlessly abstract.
