The Scrolls of Discouragement are an ancient item used to break the Awoken’s spirit. Designed to be a plan to assist the person to better suit the needs of the Shadow People. The shadow people and their loyal servants create these scrolls to break the will of people that start to display thoughts of their own. Thoughts that go against the way the shadows operate. Ideas that would cause them to lose their precious soul sucking control over the people. The scrolls are just one method that they use to do this. Rather than embrace the ideas and thoughts of others and actually try to implement those ideas they completely dismiss the ideas. Dhuan soon acquired a set of these wonderful scrolls all of his own, lucky him.
He had ventured in to discuss with his boss, Vernon Drytmardan, the idea of taking on additional responsibility beyond his normal job scope for additional compensation of course. Why should anyone not be compensated for their skills and intellect. This of course is where Dhaun went wrong, to think that people should be treated as though they matter and that they should not be expected to be taken advantage of. How dare he do this. Vernon explained to Dhaun how worthless he was, how much extra work it takes to work with him. How it was affecting his sleep and health. How he would rather have some vagrant off the street with no knowledge of what needs to happen then to work with him.
Keep in mind that Dhaun has been working in this field for quite some time and is very passionate about the work and helping the people of the Lheshayl School District. Sometimes that passion bleeds out into the work place much like when a person bleeds out onto the ground. It just kind of flows out of them covering the ground in the red iron soaked fluid.
This acquisition of those scrolls, as well as the conversation that lead to them, has made it quite difficult for Dhuan to be motivated to come to work for several months. Being forced to work and do things that are typically found in a higher level job and pay reflective of that job. Not being able to say anything for risk of termination Dhuan continues to show up and work and do things that he is not getting paid to do on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Vernon is looking for anything that he can use to invoke the full wrath of the Scrolls of Discouragement and use that to discontinue Dhaun’s employment. A job that he looked at as a career rather than just a job. This field was not a stepping stone for him on his way up some imaginary ladder. It was something that he loved doing and loved being able to help people with.
The work call box for Dhaun stopped working, Vernon was not able to contact him. “Will this be the thing that he is looking for”, Dhaun thought. The Federation of the People is a group that is supposed to protect the rights of the workers. Supposed to ensure that the contracts are being followed and that the good of the people within the federation are being looked after and treated fairly. They are also supposed to be there to represent the people whenever there is a conflict like this one. This only seems to happen when they feel that it is needed. Dhaun had asked for it and the federation decided not to show.
Dhaun thought to himself, “Nothing will ever change unless we the people stand and unite against this common enemy”. These things that are happening the situations that the shadows are causing are the whole reason the federations were founded so many years ago. The working conditions and being used and thrown out like some soulless lifeless being are what the federations fought and died so hard to prevent. Now, years latter the same things are happening again and because the Awoken amount to so few, there will be nothing that they can do. No hope of reversing the tide of destruction this is causing the learners. They will see that it is expected to be treated like a lesser being much like the kings and queens of old treated their subjects. Back when laws were not as enforceable as now, a time when killing people resolved all conflict with them and the killer roamed free.
These times were again upon Dhaun only they operate within the Shadow People, controlling and manipulating the strings of the marionette dolls. The Loyals must be converted. They must see that if the people do not say enough that soon they will have their souls sucked from them. They will become the soulless zombies that the Shadow People like so much. Continually stealing the life from them never to regain a sense of dignity, only feelings of eternal worthlessness.