The Watcher's Monologue

I don’t blame the Christians; the old stories say that some of them were decent enough folks. Nor do I blame the Muslims, or that mythical group called the Jews…hell, I don’t even know if we had all that many Jews around these parts. I don’t blame the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Wiccans, or any of the other cults of the old world. All the old cults had their beliefs about the way the world worked; their convictions were so strong that they fought wars with one another over who was right and who was wrong.

I don’t blame the scientists, but in some ways they were just as bad. The tinkering of the inventors, the theorising of the ivory tower researchers, and the experimentation of the practical technologists gradually eliminated the unknown. They defined the world into what they could see, and what they wouldn’t believe. But they were like mayflies seeing only a tiny fraction of the world’s season, gauging their knowledge on a single volume of life’s encyclopaedia.

I don’t blame the Mayans, the Hindus, the Shamans and the Aboriginals with their beliefs in the great cycles of the universe. They might have been able to do something when the age turned, but no one listened until it was too late.

I don’t blame the atheists and sceptics, they didn’t believe because they needed proof in front of their eyes; proof that the world wasn’t ready to show.

I don’t blame the greedy capitalists who used their influence to hoard the resources of the world; they had simply fallen prey to the lust for power, the envy of one another and the pride that they could do no wrong.

I don’t blame the communists or socialists, who survived far better into the new age; sharing their resources but eventually falling prey to greedy tyrants of the same type who ensured the rapid demise of the western world.

I don’t blame the domesticated beasts, simply bred as food and companions for the teeming masses of humanity. I don’t blame the wild animals, hidden in the last remaining vestiges of wilderness in the world, trying to eke out an existence in the way their ancestors had done for hundreds of thousands of years.

I don’t blame the angels, the demons, the spirits, the monsters who hid in the shadows of the world; they were merely fulfilling their duties to fate and destiny. They had their own myths and legends; but unlike the masses of humanity who had forgotten the mysteries of shadowy legend in the dazzling light of progress, the legends of the outsiders were kept alive. When the age turned, they weren’t the aggressors of the darkness; they were simply the ones who were most ready to take advantage of the situation.

I don’t blame the powerful spiritual beings we once called gods, even though we now know they exist. They are a part of the great cycle just like the rest of us.

Unlike most of the survivors in this world, I don’t lay blame on anyone. There’s no point. Things happen. Those who pointed fingers first, the politicians, the captains of industry, the military generals, they were either the first to die or the first to go missing (never to be heard from again). Those who pointed their fingers next, the militia groups, the angry mobs, the scientologists, they didn’t last too much longer. Those who focused on survival, those who actively learnt about the changes in the world, they became the foundations of the cultures we now know…and every time one of them points the finger of blame, another flicker of civilisations light is extinguished from the world.

I don’t blame…but I do wonder whether the world is better illuminated by civilisation or shrouded in the darkness of instinct and myth.

I just survive…and watch. 

I'm starting to develop some flavour text for Walkabout. Trying to develop some oblique background for the setting; these writing will cover a variety of perspectives that can be combined by players and GMs to reveal the world. This is just a hint of what to expect.