The Wingless’ Place In Royal Society

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Title: The Wingless' Place in Royal Society

Author: Jaggerauth

Written in the Common Tongue for the ease of understanding by the wingless.

For generations, the wingless in Ter Mur have served a particular societal niche: manual labor. These generations, of course, far extend past the generations of humans, as Gargl live for several thousand years, so each generation is a much larger expanse of time. Being wingless, up until recent, primarily meant being Gargl without wings.

They are of our kind, but lacking wings, and found their niche, mining in the Abyss or around the various mountain sides of Ter Mur. However, with the sudden influx of humans and elves into our world, the term ‘wingless’ now applies to them as well, but they are not laborers, nor should they be looked down upon as we have our own kind without wings. They have proven to not only be resourceful, but capable and generous with helping us return peace to Ter Mur. That does not necessarily mean they are equal to our Winged selves, though. Both positive and negative attributes of the wingless humans and elves will be discussed.

I was walking through the Holy City not too long ago when I saw a number of undead crawling their way out of the Tomb of Kings, besetting the area near the Shrine of Singularity under siege.

Who was it that came and met these terrible creatures with force? Not the Queen’s Royal Guard! It was the wingless humans and elves.

With the opening of the Abyss, a new danger threatens our world; one that is truly terrible and deplorable. I speak, of course, of the Slasher of the Veil. I spent some time in the Abyss collecting ancient tomes which have been left behind when I first encountered that monstrous demon. I would have been torn asunder if it were not for a group of humans and elves who were fighting it with blade and spell! Their dedication to the thrwarting of this most vile foe (I dare say, their diligence) rivals our very own, for just like us, they have established an outpost within the Abyss.

However, at this point I am uncertain if the shortcomings of the wingless can be overcome to be seen as true equals to the Winged Gargl. There are several facets which need to be examined in this regard:

Firstly is the lifespan of the wingless. Humans have very short life spans, perhaps around 100 years or less if lucky. One can not accumulate the appropriate knowledge in such a short period of time to be considered truly intelligent. The elves have a longer life span, but they too fall short of our kind in longevity. In this regard the elves are more favorable than humans, for they have greater potential for keen intellect.

Secondly, the inhabitants of Sosaria (that is to say, those who do not live in Ter Mur, but anywhere else) are prone to terrible disagreement and war. Gargl use the avenue of discussion to exchange ideas; the wingless use the avenue of arguments to exchange ignorance. Their kind have had many battles and wars over trivial matters, many of which I have documentation of. Such hot-blooded and naive mindsets would need to be overcome if they were to be our equals, but given their minute life-spans, it is uncertain whether or not they can accomplish this.

Thirdly, but not lastly, the wingless dabble in matters which they are not suited to dabble. This is mainly out of being naive as given in the above reasons. The wingless will attempt to harness magics which are all but impossible to reign in, thus causing great destruction and bloodshed.

A specific example of these poor, un-Gargl-like qualities can be illustrated magnificently by looking at the old battle of Stonegate. A human mage attempted to dabble in magic which was beyond his control to summon the Avatar (of whom we can appreciate, but understand that it is impossible for him to enter our world). This resulted in one of the land’s greatest wars, leaving countless deaths, and in the end the human mage was plucked from the world for he did not understand the magic in which he dabbled. The short-sightedness of these human actions and intentions have been repeated before and hence this time.

So there are the two sides of the wingless’ attributes. But where do they fit in with Royal Society? Their prowess and bravery make them valuable allies in many respects, but their unexpanded minds make them untrustworthy and petty. They are too capable for manual labor, for their talents would be wasted, but not intelligent enough to contribute to our more profound studies.

What I suggest is a wingless middle class. The wingless Gargl still make for excellent manual labor, as they are not capable of much else. The winged Gargl will remain as the leaders of Ter Mur, for they are the ones with the experience and knowledge required for such a station. Crafting and the Arts will remain primarily with the winged Gargl, with the exception of some of the wingless who have shown natural talent. Elven and human Crafts and Arts are characteristically short-sighted, often falling far short of true art and are mere replicas of physical objects, and thus humans and elves should not have much of a role in these areas.

What niches this leaves Royal Society with to fill is that of soldiers, assistants to the scholars, hunters, healers, apothecaries, stablemen, and clerks.

The non-Gargl wingless’ natural ferocity and hot-blooded disposition make them ideally suited for soldiery and hunting. The keener-minded elves, more so than humans, could prove fitting to assist our scholars with research. I have seen, firsthand, the care and skill with which certain wingless tend to the wounded, and can vouch for them to make excellent apothecaries and healers. Further, many of the creatures in Sosaria tend to act aversely to our kind, but heel to the humans and elves which they are more familiar, making them invaluable stablemen for creatures not of Ter Mur. Lastly, as the wingless have shown at least some tendencies toward keeping a certain amount of order, with proper supervision they could do well as clerks.

It is unfortunate that the wingless ones lack the discipline and, through no fault of their own, the lifespan required for true greatness as achieved by the Winged Gargl, but with appropriate guidance from us, they could find a place within our Royal Society.

-Lore Master Jaggerauth, Ter Mur Royal Library