village-capture (May-2025)

(Temporary Submission, until/if i do an actual art piece)

The Easy Choice The Square is rife with battles, but the death toll of these struggles is actually less than one would expect. That is to say, needless killing of civilians just isn't a thing. Leaders needn't invoke fear with reigns of terror, conquerors seldom need to worry about rebellions from within (though it is known certain political players can start 'riots'). The choice for these rulers isn't the carrot or the stick, as they find providing neither is best for everyone.

With very few exceptions (like, patriotic capital cities), when a tribe's city is taken, the citizens (usually a band of nomads entering modernity) change their colours without hesitation. They realise it is futile to resist, and unlike the more nationalistic capital-city dwellers, don't feel so strongly towards their previous tribe. They don't care who provides them bread, so long as they're able to eat.

Sociologists ran a study a couple years ago on invoking nationalism within these freeform citizens. Through evil tugging of strings, they used cities as their training grounds, rulers as puppets—some forced to commit atrocious deeds, while others to garner love and loyalty. The conclusion of these hellish experiments were what everyone has already known—overcompensating always resulted in failure. On one hand, being too harsh almost always incited rebellion—studies show a 92% increase in riots in cities with more dictatorial tendencies. On the other, being too kind killed the economy, and the cities that attempted this almost certainly collapsed on themselves.

And so, for both conquerors and citizens, accepting that some things are out of your hands is the easy choice.