It would have been easier for there to have just been changes made to the way the Hargeon docks handled affairs, at least that was what the man mused in his drunken stupor. With everything that had been happening throughout Hargeon in the past couple of months, it was becoming more and more common that people had begun to remark towards the changes, the affairs of what was going on, the politics, everything was subject to discussion and debate, and at this point the relative intelligence, ignorance, soberness, none of those factors seemed to have been a huge point of emphasis moving forward. Dialogue was something that seldom was appreciated, seldom received, at least historically in the past. It had often been viewed as a sort of taboo that people would be permitted to give widescale criticism towards things of Hargeon like that of the docks, the affairs of the trading companies, things of that sort. But it seemed things were starting to change.

164/2000

Whether it were the conditions of the docks and the political game that was being played throughout the aftermath of the entire riot incident, or whether it were just general dissent and frustration that stemmed from things of the past, be it the long winter, the poor traffic that was faced by the city, efforts by some merchants and trading companies to impede and limit distribution of wealth, there were no shortage of things that would have prompted frustration and disdain among the people. Also considering the more varied political implications that seemed to have been taking place, namely those that extended outside of Hargeon but still impacted the city in some manner or another, especially given the ambitions of some politicians that sought to increase their influence on the Fioran stage by involving themselves in such matters, it seemed to the common person of Hargeon that their opinions mattered less, that they were less valued.

320/2000

Hardly a new feeling, it was common, though something that often was not spoken about openly. It stemmed in part from the nature of how Hargeon’s economy worked. It limited people to one of a few limited roles, be it merchant, dock worker, sailor, vagrant, commonfolk, or farmer. Though not the entire list, nor the most accurate representation of the associated affairs and jobs that went into those respective roles, but it was often easier to broadly categorize them within those fields. And the public perception towards those roles unfortunately lent to the common perception of the people. Someone who spent much of their life as a dockworker, despite how intelligent or educated they may have been, often would have been viewed from the perspective that they were no different than the simple man who never went to any form of higher learning and simply just spent their time lugging boxes off of a ship.

475/2000

Effectively, unless someone were either born into wealth or otherwise had a role like that of a successful merchant, they tended to be viewed with a level of persecution and dismissal that often came with that of a drunk. While significantly different in terms of the warranted respect that ought to have been given, Hargeon had a problem with the upper class of the city being seemingly the only ones who mattered. Particularly those who were born into wealth, they were the ones that often carried themselves with the most animosity towards others, even towards those who had the fortune of rising from the bottom and eventually becoming wealthy themselves. But to build a successful career and work their way from poverty to wealth, to those who were among the Hargeon elite, they were still just poverty who got lucky. They were not one of them, and therefore, they were not worthy of the respect that should have been received.

635/2000

In fact, it seemed that even those who had been born into wealth but came from other areas, be it Era, Magnolia, Marigold, it did not matter from where as they would find themselves no better than that of those who rose up from poverty within Hargeon. If one were not from Hargeon, they did not merit being considered amongst the elite. In a few explicit examples, there were those who may not have either been from Hargeon or otherwise wealthy but still were given some level of respect, but these were more limited to that of successful actors or politicians, people whom were believed that their respective influence and friendship could be considered worthwhile. It was a limited amount of people that fell within this realm, as even for actresses, of which there were no shortage of them, it would have only been those who were considered famous or otherwise had a bright future ahead that merited the interest.

795/2000

What was complicated was how the people treated Blue Pegasus. Whether it were out of fear, respect, jealousy, or a desire to get within her good graces, there was no lack of respect and admiration towards Alisa Vollan, the Blue Pegasus guild leader, but the respect was not equally shared amongst her guild. For the members themselves, depending on their respective relation to Alisa, their own individual rank within the guild, or even their relationship to that of the person in question, it could have been that they may have shown respect to the Blue Pegasus member, or might otherwise regard them as someone who was no better than the simple commonfolk of Hargeon. Of course, this was behavior that was only held in private, or more specifically, outside of the circle of influence that was Alisa. Never would they dare bad mouth the Blue Pegasus guild in front of Alisa, but within their own circles, they thought very little of them, thinking of them as effectively some sort of hired help that could be employed, nothing more.

973/2000

Surprisingly, to some degree the feeling towards Blue Pegasus was to some degree mutually felt, at least amongst some of the people within Hargeon, notably those among the most poor and otherwise most shady persons within Hargeon. The Underworld of Hargeon, the ones who worked within the docks, and otherwise helped fuel the shady businesses that engaged and occurred there, it was hardly surprising that they felt negatively towards Blue Pegasus, especially given how inclined or likely it would have been that the jobs that they took would interfere with their own affairs. Though, the ones who would most likely be subjected to being at risk, namely the crime bosses that effectively operated these sorts of illegal operations, had long figured out means of trying to avoid being detected, whether by the Blue Pegasus guild or those within Hargeon whom would have more immediate reason to want these operations ended. Thus had helped lead to the status of the current Hargeon docks, and everything that had come with that.

1142/2000

And with the way the Hargeon Docks had been allowed to manifest itself, it also enabled for it, the people who worked within it, and those that benefited from its operation to spread their current philosophies and positions. People who worked there, while they may not have agreed with it, eventually they found themselves agreeing with them in some way or another, whether by indoctrination or otherwise finding themselves being drawn to the world. And understandably so, given the appeal there was to the easy work, the easy money that was driven by the businesses, and how quickly one’s opinion would have stood to change when the income that was being brought in was more than what they stood to make over a much longer elapsed amount of time in their previous profession. If Hargeon or Blue Pegasus sought to end up bringing that future to a potential end, it would be only natural that people would be apprehensive, if not even angry towards the idea of going to something different.

1313/2000

The politicians had only made the situation worse when they tried to fix things in the wake of the riots within the docks. Though it could have been argued that Blue Pegasus’s involvement was infrequent, typically only deriving from situations that either directly affected the guild – which those who operated the dock affairs made sure as much as possible to avoid – or otherwise were employed to take care of. By themselves, the guild and those who ran the docks seldom interfered with one another. There was simply neither any need nor benefit to either side drawing conflict with one another. But with the recent attempts to try to try to overhaul the culture at the docks, it was being interpreted immediately as actions against that of the trading companies and criminal organizations alike. Not a case of reforming the culture, but rather instead a deliberate act of war being waged upon them. Thus, sentiment like that of the drunken complaining and anger that had been hauled towards the politicians, they were as much deliberate as they were reactionary.

1491/2000

Pushing public opinion against the politicians was proving to be one of the better weapons that the people of the Hargeon docks had against the attempted reformation. Making them sound like the enemy was one of the more tried and true ways of winning over the heart and minds of the people, much like how the politicians had tried to frame the riots as though it were some hugely honorable endeavor that the people had been clamoring for. The only difference though between the two was that the efforts made by those in the docks were fueled by genuine sentiment, not that of the politicians who were trying to fight a war that nobody wanted. A war that was affecting everyone, both those who were directly affected and those who were not. And Vyra found herself in the latter camp. While she was not actually someone who was impacted by the docks, having been there only as a frequent enjoyer of the ships arriving and departing, even she could see that the changes that were being forced upon the docks was affecting everything.

1674/2000

The enjoyment that she often could have taken to just watching the ships come and go, there was some level of apprehensiveness that she had to conduct herself with. It was almost as though she had to worry about her own safety, despite there being a much larger security presence thanks to the private military contractors that had been hired by the Hargeon politicians. A face, even a face that had been often seen among the docks, at this point had to be viewed with a level of skepticism and doubt. If they were not someone who was working for or with the docks, it was prudent that they be viewed with some level of doubt and suspicion, even if it were something that she wished weren’t true. She had hoped that the amount of time she had been there, having ventured to the docks as often as she could when she first arrived within Hargeon, would have caused them to trust her. Though, it was clear that if there were distrust towards her, more of it would have been tied towards the current political situation as opposed to it being towards her.

1867/2000

In a way though too, that she was such a common face proved to be valuable to Vyra, especially given how often it had been that the two sides, the dock locals and the hired help, seemed to fight. Disagreements and arguments often led to one side or the other actively trying to harm the other. Whether it meant willfully ignoring their jobs, leaving things exposed such that the politicians would have to pay for it, somehow or another, much like how it seemed it was playing right now, it meant that Vyra would be able to walk out of the dock with something that she could eventually pawn off for some jewels. As sad as it was, each trip to the docks had been proving to be a wealthy venture for her, to the point that if she were not living with Blue Pegasus, she may have been able to afford a place of her own, for a short time anyways. This time around, she found herself with nothing fancy, a small gold ring with a large sapphire gem within the fitting. It was nice, one that she found herself almost wanting to keep for herself, but she knew that the value of it was much more worthwhile being sold than retained. Whether it were that she was becoming jaded or cold, the fact that she was no longer looking back had her believing that maybe this was just the standard thing.

2110/2000