Notes

This story is, of course, about the witch hunts during the (late) middle ages. Any woman that seemed a little odd, or did things the church forbade, was quickly branded a witch. And if you were caught, you were “tested”.

A test that would lead to your death in any case. The most famous tests were the stake/pyre and drowning.

At the same time, “healers” invented the most insane recipes and medicines. Eat weird food, rub weird things over your body, say or do even weirder things each do. It all made no sense, while the most common recipe was of course to “pray to God” and he’d heal you (if you were worthy, or paid the church a lot of money).

How could this happen?

The bigger question is: how could such a large group of people believe or play along with such nonsense?

This story aims to explore that.

It’s partially due to ignorance. People often think that knowledge or progress is “forever”, that we only know more each year, but that’s simply not true. During the middle ages, civilizations such as the Indus or Sumer were already ancient … and at the same time more developed in many ways, including medicine. Knowledge is lost if it is not used, or suppressed, or everyone who knew the thing has now died.

On the other hand we have peer pressure. People are the product of a long evolution that rewarded belonging to a group and being against those other, strange groups. As soon as somebody invents stories about witches, everybody quickly assembles at the safe side and parrots these statements, otherwise you will be called a witch soon and burned at the stake.

And yes, such peer pressure is so “natural” to us, that many people fool themselves and don’t even realize they’re doing it. People twist it all with their thoughts, to “excuse” their behavior or that of their group. People modify their memories to something that is more comfortable. These are the many tricks ingrained in our brains because they used to help with survival in the distant past.

How does this end?

Another interesting question is how such ideas disappear. These days, everyone knows it’s insane en we’ve stopped burning witches (or punishing people without due process, in most parts of the world).

But the last witch was “only” burned a few hundred years ago? So how does this sentiment disappear?

Well, as the story hopefully sets up, when enough people dare speak up and rebel, causing a revolution of some sort. The end of the witch hunts roughly coincides with the period we call the Enlightenment, which is called that way because people were finally saw the light: they saw the truth and the nonsensical practices caused by their rulers and the church (often the same thing).

Peer pressure (or freedom of assembly) is a knife that cuts both ways. It can be used for terrible things; it is also needed to stop such movements and turn the general direction of culture the other way. If everyone in the Middle Ages had written some logical essay, but otherwise stayed at home and allowed everyone to have their own opinions, we would have never had this Enlightenment.

Similarly, I am certain there are things we deem normal (or even good) nowadays that will be looked at with a frown in a hundred years. Maybe people look back a century from now and think: “Sheesh, such barbarians, they forced people to PAY for the right to use INTERNET!”

About medicine and healers

At first, I wanted to include real recipes and medicines, but the story simply lacked the space for it. So everything is made up and intentionally left slightly vague to make the story possible.

No worries, there will be enough stories about medicine and the biology around it in the future.

The most important “lesson” from this story—like how every story in the third cycle has a general lesson from Ardex—was always “no growth without failure”. Or: “you only learn by trial and error, falling and getting up again”.

No medicine was found perfectly at the first try. Recovering from an illness is usually not a straight line: you have better days and you have worse days.

If you look at history, the most important property of a civilization is perhaps its ability to bounce back after setbacks. Imagine what would have happened if people had just given up after their first attempt at making fire. (Whatever that might have been. Maybe a Fire Prayer to their god, or blowing their hot breath onto twigs.)

Hopefully, the story explores this well. The only thing that matters is today and what you will do/try/learn now. Only look back to learn from your oldest mistakes and what didn’t work. Don’t look too far ahead, because then everything is meaningless by definition.

The Wise Owl talks about a heaven that is perfect, one that will exist if people persevere and keep trying to grow and get better. I’m personally not sure that is true. I think perfection doesn’t exist, not the first time you try something and not the millionth time.

But is that a reason to stop trying every day?

Characters

• Catia (black cat): from a rich and powerful familie (owns lots of land and commands others), but becomes ill and can’t find a medicine. Feels defeated and wants to just give up, but learns along the way to keep trying each day.
• Felicia (black cat): has to lie and play along to belong to a group and receive food, after her parents disappeared and left her homeless. Once she starts helping Catia with “potions”, she has to constantly be on the lookout and prevent being branded a witch. A reveal about her parents makes her lose hope too.
• Wise Owl (Aria): best Healer of the country. Always wears three glasses. Only accepts you if she knows she can save you. Owns the Book of Meaning—taken from Felicia’s parents, with agreement from Companions—and thus all its knowledge. But it merely made her bitter and negative, also ready to give up.
• Dormas (dog): An old dog with lots of power/respect, loved in the neighborhood, the first to accept Felicia and give her a home. But his habit of drinking alcohol makes him sick and eventually kills him—even though he believed, until his death, that this wasn’t the issue.
• Fonza (fox): the most fierce and aggressive of the group. Has many secret or terrible habits (such as killing fish from the rivier to eat them; remember that fish in the Saga of Life are hundred percent legal inhabitants of a city with all the rights of the other animals). Relies on the lies and protection of the group to continue doing so.
• Chef: the chimpanzee introduced in The Good Chef.