The Cropburners
"Look, their methods work. There hasn't been a major outbreak of eclipse blight since Antor Vale, and the minor ones are taken care of rather swiftly. I don't have to like them, I just need to step aside and let them work."A sub-division of the Order of Trees, the Cropburners were formed some centuries ago when the eclipse blight threatened to escape Antor Vale. They are formed from people who are not quite devout worshippers of Rosaly Arbora, but people prepared to act without hesitation or mercy when it comes to preventing a major outbreak of the blight again. To that end their name describes their function aptly: they arrive and verify the presence of blight before getting down to the task of burning affected crops and soil. They do this with considerable efficiency, in order to protect other fields from picking up the blight.
The eclipse blight is a terrible thing for farmers, as it very much can destroy yields of crop for many years if unattended. Furthermore, it can spread quickly in communities which grow a significant amount of sunwheat. The Cropburners' greatest fear is not the blighted crop making its way to people and causing sickness, but the blight adapting to afflict other similar grain crops to sunwheat. As critical as their function is, there are very few farmers who look forward to seeing a team of Cropburners arrive in the area. A common phrase which follows the order is "nobody wants to be in another Antor Vale".
Public Agenda
"It is Our opinion this blight cannot be allowed to spread as it did inside Antor Vale. For the good of Our citizens, the Order of Trees must elevate those willing to act decisively, thoroughly, and without pity."The Cropburners' goals are very simple despite the process of meeting those goals having many more complications. Their goal is to prevent another outbreak of eclipse blight like Antor Vale, and to do so they are known to go to serious extents. In previous generations this was often done by seizing afflicted cropland and disposing of the plants in fire. The investigations were reportedly performed with such speed, they would often arrive near dawn and have the bonfires going before sunset. It is said most farmers understand the threat of the blight, and cooperate fully. This is less than completely true, as the potential for the blight to spread to other crops than sunwheat has not really been grasped outside the Order of Trees. The reaction is more one of resignation, as the Cropburners are authorized to take any actions necessary to contain the eclipse blight once it has been confirmed.
Comments