Gone for Good

Hello everyone. I hope my previous lessons taught you some things about respect for nature. Unfortunately, the people of the Second Era had no chance to hear the lectures, so they did not have the knowledge, which led to what I will explain today. It begins with the era itself…

***

Taking Good Care

You all know the hu tax – mighty creatures that inhabit the forests of most of the continent, wandering alone, used as mounts by the bravest warriors of all nations. It is less common knowledge that they used to have a closely related species, known as on tax, or asate in the South. They were substantially smaller than their mighty cousins, and would usually live in groups. They were numerous in the eastern part of the Continent, but very rare elsewhere.

The presence of on tax was a nuisance for the inhabitants of the eastern regions – the animals were limited in their access to game, as hu tax would keep most for themselves, so they often aimed for domestic animals instead, as these were easier to find and often trivial to kill. The Southern-born village folk were not satisfied with that, but eventually found a solution. They would slaughter an animal every few weeks and place the meat around forest boundaries in baskets or boxes. This way, they couldn’t fully eliminate the attacks, but greatly limited their frequency.

The New Contenders

Our people established their own way of life after the Arrival, and would rarely take advice from the Southfolk. That also included farming and everything related to it. Once settlements had been established, farmers started to notice the presence of the small predators. In many places, the losses were unbearably high. Lacking the – however moderate – sense of respect for wild creatures that Southfolk had, they only saw one solution – to get rid of the animals for good.

The farmers would try to kill the predators themselves or hire hunters to do it for them. After a few decades, many hunters dedicated their life exclusively to hunting on tax, and the business was a major part of the Eastern economy. There were no boundaries – all packs were slaughtered on sight, and hundreds traced them in forests.

Approaching the Edge

The practice started to become concerning for the Southfolk. Delegations from Southern countries would often warn rulers of Revenith and the Cape about possible consequences of mass killing. They would not listen – the citizens’ wellbeing was more important to them. It did not matter that there were significantly less animal deaths than when the hunts started.

Eventually, the concerns voiced by the South became reality. Increasing numbers of on tax hunters started to report they cannot find any packs in the forests. By the beginning of the fifth century of the era, it became clear what had happened – due to the overzealous and greedy actions of the hunters, the predators were no more. Farmers were satisfied with the information, even though they hardly experienced the consequences of the existence of on tax in their lives. Nonetheless, not everyone was.

Firstly, killing the animals was important to the economy of the East. In the scale of the whole region, the lack of targets and hence collapse of the sector had little impact, but some provinces felt it greatly, and fell into crises that lasted as long as twenty years. Secondly, the rulers of the South were angry about the blatant disrespect for wildlife. Most only issued letters to the Emperor and the King, but some went further – most importantly the Emperor of Envear, who became distrustful of the East for all his life, leading to a significant decrease in trade between his country and our region.

I hope you can find a good conclusion by yourselves. Thank you.