The Wee Free Rats
Posted by Tenebry on 07/04/20
How strange, how novel! Word spreads of a play performed only in the Lowers, in places that change nightly, and range from Nightingale Park to the streets. The play? Something called "The Wee Free Rats". Plot's essentially this: a blue-silked princess offers a nest of rats a better life. Anyrat who accepts the offer becomes a collared pet, in a slightly nicer cage, bidden to exist and act at the princess's whims. The still-free rats rescue the captives, and their shabby nest is the stronger for solidarity.
The costume for the princess is exquisite, the costumes for the rats symbolically convincing. Although no kind of print advertisement exists, and the plays shift location, plenty of Lowers folk still manage to see the show. While the play exists at the level of metaphor, it's clear that it exists in response to anxieties about the nobility, and serves to fuel those anxieties. Anxieties are easily fueled in the Lowers right now; the desperate may desperately need help, but there's a streak of independence in Arx's most notorious district. They're neither servants or serfs. Chatter in the taverns and markets about wanting silk coin, but not silk control increases. Some robust characters take to calling themselves 'Free rats'. It's not what you would call unrest -- none of these sentiments are new. It's better to say that the play helps the Lowers frame their preferences.
The costume for the princess is exquisite, the costumes for the rats symbolically convincing. Although no kind of print advertisement exists, and the plays shift location, plenty of Lowers folk still manage to see the show. While the play exists at the level of metaphor, it's clear that it exists in response to anxieties about the nobility, and serves to fuel those anxieties. Anxieties are easily fueled in the Lowers right now; the desperate may desperately need help, but there's a streak of independence in Arx's most notorious district. They're neither servants or serfs. Chatter in the taverns and markets about wanting silk coin, but not silk control increases. Some robust characters take to calling themselves 'Free rats'. It's not what you would call unrest -- none of these sentiments are new. It's better to say that the play helps the Lowers frame their preferences.