Enough time had finally passed that she felt well enough to traverse back to the docks, the time that had passed through since the events of the riot, the makeshift efforts to try to bring order back to the docks, and yet, it was clear enough that things were not standing ot change , that the shift in philosophies and business practices that everyone had hoped for for so long would be realized. It was at that point it had become clear that it would not be the case. The docks, the animal that it was, was ultimately something that the people of Hargeon, or perhaps more specifically the politicians within Hargeon, would have to endure. There was just a fate that they could not reasonably hope to challenge against, despite their efforts, despite the promises made, the campaigning and the advocating for the betterment of the workers, the reality was simply just that it was out of their control.

160/2500

It should not have come as a surprise to anyone really. The docks had been a place where proper business practices had seldom existed, often spending more time being an instrument for businesses, pirates, loan sharkers, gamblers, thieves, and any other sort of malcontent being capable to invest whatever soft of effort towards practices that put themselves first and foremost within their way of life. It was how it had been for as long as anyone could remember, it was how it had been recently, and it was how it was going to be moving forward. Not for lack of effort on the part of the people of Hargeon, namely the politicians who viewed it as a means of righting a wrong that they viewed as having to be fixed. A problem that had been overdue towards being corrected, if one were to properly examine things. The issue had long existed within Hargeon, and it was only in the wake of the riots that any effort was being made to change it.

332/2500

But change that was prompted as a rushed reaction to try to appease the people was never a way that would be sustainable or otherwise work. The fact of the matter was that this effort of theirs was one that was far more built on the basis of quickly and ideally quietly taking attention and focus away from the docks, though one could have easily argued that the attention driven towards the docks would have achieved the exact opposite of what they were hoping for. That was in part the issue that was being faced throughout this whole endeavor; a complete lack of understanding towards the whole thing. The politicians seldom every cared about the docks, preferring to allow it to govern itself, but when that had failed, they hoped that it could be remedied by simple measures that typically worked for other industries, not appreciating the fact that the docks were not like a bakery that was trying to be built, or a bridge that required repair. It was a completely different animal.

506/2500

And their failure to recognize this fact, their insistence to try to repair the issues that were rooted within the culture of the Hargeon Docks, it did not translate. And while there was an effort to attempt to not just understand but fully appreciate the challenges that came with it, the deviation was far too drastic for them to ever quite understand in a manner that would have actually resulted in change. It did not help either that the groups in which they had reached out to try to help to repair the issues faced did not understand nor try to understand the issues either. The politicians wanted to make sure that the incident at the docks would not happen again, but they also wanted to make sure trying to improve those relations, fixing that culture, was something that was feasible in both a timely manner and cost a reasonable amount.

657/2500

Fully changing the way of the Hargeon Docks was something that was neither going to be quick, nor something that anyone truly believed would be able to happen overnight. It was going to take time, far more time than what anyone wanted to put forward. Problems like the riots were things in which captured the attention of the people far more than systemic problems like a wage gap between workers and the elite, or like that of working conditions that lent to numerous problems and exhibited a clear and apparent lack of trust or confidence towards the people as a whole. Those were issues that the people did not much care towards hearing or otherwise dealing with. The immediacy, the stories of the people who were pushed out of the way and nearly trampled, the crates that fell from below, narrowly missing peoples’ heads as they shattered into a million pieces of wood and whatever contents that were carried. Those were the things that were far more in peoples’ minds than anything else.

830/2500

Vyra knew that quite well, having been there on that day, having had a full view of it all happening, the danger associated with it, the growing anxiety amongst the group, countered only against the growing rage and anger towards the ships. More appropriate to say the rage directed towards the docks as a whole, the trading companies, the merchants, the ships and their captains, everything that was being campaigned against on that fateful day, it was nothing short of a release for something that was to inevitably come, regardless of how much one would have liked to believe differently. She had often spent her time at the docks, watching everything, utterly enthralled by the nature of the docks. The politics, the way everything seemed to operate and fun, she could not help but enjoy and watch it all, even if she lacked a bit of the understanding that came with existing in this world.

985/2500

In a way, she was no different than that of the politicians who tried to fix everything that happened in the docks, but she never pretended to know what was going on entirely. In fact, she preferred not fully knowing, as that enabled her to dream, to imagine, to believe and wonder just how much of the world outside of Hargeon, that went beyond the realms of Fiore were like. To know the darker nature of the docks and how they operated and worked, it was very difficult to know that information and still be able to dream accordingly. Particularly when it came to the trading companies. In many respects they operated in shadier efforts than that of some local gangs, being far more willing to use strong arm tactics or otherwise exploit both the merchants and also the people that lived within Hargeon. It was no secret that for women who were attractive, one of the most worthwhile jobs to try to acquire was working with the trading companies. And they never hid that fact.

1161/2500

The Demi-Human was in no position though to criticize or critique their hiring practices. The reality was that the trading companies were a huge area of profit for Hargeon, and while she had the luxury of being a close associate, if not even friend, to Blue Pegasus, or at the bare minimum a friend of Alisa Vollan, if circumstances were different, the trading companies would be a place that she likely would have loved to be have been working for. But, it was not likely that even then they would have hired her. Within Hargeon, discination was far from a rare thing, if not even a very common at that, particularly around the docks and the other poorer areas of the city. Demi-Humans, elves, other races were not looked highly upon, whether the reasons were founded in just deep-seated resentment, hatred, personal bias, or other reasons, it seldom seemed to matter. The only thing that mattered was the fact that it existed and because it did not affect the businesses in a negative way, it was seldom addressed.

1339/2500

It was just the way it was unfortunately. Behavior that had existed for years within the docks, in part due to those who came from lands that were not Fiore, coming in with their own perceptions and feelings towards the other races, eventually their feelings merging with that of those in Hargeon, eventually further blending together into a general mindset that was as much their culture. Then within Hargeon, that culture becomes more the norm and starts to further blend in, eventually to the point where people start adopting it or otherwise combining aspects of it together. While this was not the case universally, nor something exclusive to Hargeon, it was certainly becoming more prevalent in the past few years, only further amplified and driven by recent events. Collectively, it was a perfect storm to just allow this sort of behavior to manifest itself to the point that even the persecution that Vyra faced when she had first arrived in Hargeon, though reprehensible, it was something that would not have been stopped if it were not for Alisa’s intervention.

1518/2500

Within the Hargeon docks, that was perhaps one of the few elements that while it was known that it existed, there were little initiative or effort to go ahead and change the behaviors there. Racism was something that was so complicated to try to unroot and remove that it would have been more of a worthwhile endeavor at that point to completely close out the docks while the practices were stomped out, but that was neither possible from the pure sense of operation and the fact that closing down the dock, especially as it loomed closer and closer to the actual season of mercantilism, it would have utterly crippled the economy of Hargeon. It was no secret that Hargeon as much lived and died off of the success and business that the port had driven no shortage of growth throughout the years and though some winters had been rougher than others in terms of how long they crippled business into the port, the success that it had received in the months preceding always enabled it to survive.

1695/2500

To close the docks out, especially for something that was as uninteresting and insignificant to the people as overt racism towards Demi-Humans and non-humans may have, it would have been a deathblow towards any hope of building trust and confidence within the politicians of Hargeon. They had already been regarded as weak, unwilling to make effective changes to the city, and allowing Blue Pegasus to effectively run the city with their hands-off approach to numerous issues in the recent years of the city. Their handling of the Hargeon Docks, though many viewed it as nothing more than politicians trying to save face, as much was a test for them to ensure that they had some grasp upon the city, that they were not purely there to simply smile for the people while Blue Pegasus tended to the matters that the people actually cared about. Whether or not it was something that would be realized with the whole matter of the Hargeon docks, that remained to be seen.

1862/2500

As far as she was concerned, Vyra had little reason to believe that it was going to have been much different. In the past few weeks, almost immediately after the initial response towards, there had been a significant shift in how the docks were handled, at least towards security. And not for the better. Intent on making sure that they had a hand in how things played out, the politicians imposed a new change to the security measures that were more to their liking than that of what it had once been, but with that change came a new problem. In changing the security to their own people, the politicians and the city of Hargeon had effectively taken responsibility for all of the maintaining and security of the goods that were traded, unloaded, and packed there. Anything were to happen, and the city would cover all of the costs. And because they were paying, it meant that the trading companies saw little reason to actually protect their investments.

2030/2500

When she and Seras visited the docks, they saw that much of it remained as it had been the last time she was there, only about a week or so following the initial riot. There were still the security forces that had been hired by the city of Hargeon, and it seemed that they were so mentally and physically drained from being there, the scent of salt water, dealing with the foreign traders, and otherwise not being respected all being factors that effectively made them feel like they were worthless. It was a tough situation to be in, as the hours they were stationed were far longer than what they typically had to deal with, the conditions were hardly more ideal than what they had been used to, and though security forces seldom received a positive response, the nature of why they were at the Hargeon docks and whom they had replaced gifted them an even less welcome response than perhaps what even they would have liked.

2197/2500

It all lent to a mutual level of distrust, and as the pair ventured into the docks, Vyra as much hoping to reappreciate the area for what it had been, what it had given to her, as she did hope to provide Seras with an understanding towards why it mattered, it was hard to not ignore how cold the reception towards the two of them seemed to be. Hardly welcoming, though not quite dismissive either, it lent to a general atmosphere that almost encourage and incentivized those who were there to simply do their business and then leave. Whatever sort of comradery, interactions, or other sorts of activities that the people there may have hoped to achieve within the dock area, the general sentiment seemed to be that that was not wanted. Though they may have been open towards it before, moving forward it was becoming more and more apparent that interactions of that sort were not welcome or wanted.

2357/2500

Figuring that the sooner they were out of the docks the better, the pair ventured towards one of the unloaded ships, noticing a handful of guards who were shifting through what could only have been described as abandoned cargo. Wooden planks, packaging material, and various bits and baubles were thrown about on the ground just beside them, a trio of guards rummaging through the contents, taking out things of interest and putting them within small bags to their sides. Though at first tempted, Vyra was a bit surprised to see the positive reaction that one of them gave to her, beckoning her over, inviting her to join them in their scavenging. With trepidation, she approached, and was stunned by the warm reception she received, the guards at this point uncaring towards the situation of the merchants and the trade companies, taking to what they felt that they were owed. As such, they were all the more welcome to allow Vyra to join in the scrounging, and after a short time of going through and finding a few nice trinkets, Vyra bid farewell to her temporary scrounging companions and departed with Seras, thinking that the docks she once knew were no more.

2558/2500