The Great Drought
Real-world date: 2026-09-05
Author: Stella Heartwood
I woke up, on the estate. I hadn't had a good days rest in many weeks. Half the crops on the farm had failed, and I expected most of the remaining crops to fail as well. Drought had hit the farm hard.
I decided to ride into town that day. I knew the union was on hard times, but my expectations were shot through the heart. Main street was crowded, but not because of booming business; it was the lack of it. There was a starving Demeralian family on the side of the Bright Wolf Saloon, and several more lining the streets. Each looked famished in their own way. Children, their mothers and fathers, all emaciated, and tired.
The General Store was closed, and a crowd had gathered outside it. The owner, a good man I had been acquanted with very well, had been yelling, "We have no food!" for quite some time. The crowd was not pleased. It looked as if a riot was about to break out.
Just as tempers flared, I raised my voice, "Everyone!" I yelled. The crowd, innantely familar with my voice, face, and name, turned their heads.
"Hard times have fallen on us indeed. I'm not sure we have seen a crisis this big since the disasters that caused our migration to this land. But we migrated here for a reason."
I turned my head around, arms laid open. "We built this great town, together. As Coronadans, we have created a land to be proud of. We should act like it. We're all starving, we're all suffering, but that doesn't mean we are barbarians. We survived many a crisis before, and we will survive again, because we are Coronadans."
The crowd was still displeased, but understood. People walked away, but not to much. Many within the crowd were unemployed, either because the mine was out of operation, or the fields were dead, or because the economy was generally in the gutter. Something needs to be done.
If the different towns of Coronado collaborated on a deeper level, then maybe we could survive this crisis. Collaboration, the work that led to the founding of Coronado, is our only way out. It's time to summon the towns, and work on a better future for our great nation.