RP: Wavering between the profit and the loss.
Date: June 11th, 2005
Characters: Gawain Robards, Ollivander
Location: Streets of SHH
Status: Public
Summary: Gawain goes for a bit of a walk, dwells on considerations that don't make him particularly comfortable.
Completion: Incomplete
By most all distinct accounts, they were progressing very well. They as a whole, a society that had come through a war and pulled itself together. It had reformed with remarkable celerity, given the extent of the damage. Yes, there were inconveniences yet to be dealt with, but these details of everyday life continued to receive attention and their reinstitution seemed imminent. They had learned first to live with war, and then to pull directly from it, to grant themselves an almost sudden peace.
Even the inconsistencies in this quiet seemed to have receded. Those early incidents--the fire, the vandalism--had been rare, and the individuals involved (Still unidentified, for the man captured had never spoken) had kept quiet of late. There was much for the Aurors to do, certainly, always more to patrol and always cases to consider, but these had been comparatively minor. This was, certainly, a fortunate situation. Rather remarkable, in truth.
Quickly, too, they seemed to have directed themselves toward the reformation of society, of structure itself. There had been a meeting recently which seemed to have run quite well, regarding electricity, the school, a museum, among other matters indicative of a return to accustomed--accustomed... he hesitated over the word; it had been too long, but never long enough to destroy such inclinations--life. He had not been present, involved instead with a matter of the Aurors, but the sources were as trustworthy as he could hope to find.
Fewer disturbances by far, and a decidedly more peaceful intermingling of oft unlikely individuals. They had come together admirably.
And yet he was uneasy. Even now, venturing from headquarters for a brief respite--and now over half a year since the declared end of the war--he could not dismiss the impression of of some undefinable instability. However much Gawain may have wished to believe in the overriding goodness of man--however much he might once almost have believed this--he had as witness learned much of other marked tendencies, and had found that these would not be so easily overcome.
They had come together almost too quickly. Yes, it was fortunate, and yes, he was glad of this peace. Yet they had left too much untended. The war had forced issues that would not resolve themselves. Matters of enemy and why, of motive and of murder that seemed almost to have been wiped away.
Not that it would be better to throw these issues forward, or even to handle them extensively. Yet to cast them aside almost entirely... This would come back to them.
He could not discount his uncertainty. However ungenerous it might seem, it wasn't ridiculous. He had spent much time considering and reconsidering the matter, applying it to all that he could recount, from one angle and then another and so on; each time, it seemed that certain factors failed to work themselves or even to be forced into working correctly. Yes, unknown factors must exist, but there were too many matters that hadn't settled at all. So long as they reminded, there existed the potential for their sparking a repeated occurrence of past mistakes.
The war had unraveled much that had simply been left aside. These strands must be collected somehow, before they moved too far distant to effect any proper mending. They had set so much out of joint, and to see it now as such, so skewed--Perhaps that was it, then. Perhaps it was only a self-perceived sense of disorder.
He had never been comfortable with any state of great uncertainty, nor with matters that remained unresolved. The war had left many of these, and he wished to see them tended to. There must be some justice here, some payment by and for all. Justice and memory, yes, it seemed that both were necessary.
Was this so, though? He thought yes, saw logic in support of his belief. But for a certainty, perhaps he could not say. Would it be better to allow a cleaning of slates? To act as if the crimes committed in war had been of a different era entirely, a world removed? To some extent, perhaps some great extent, this had occurred.
And they had all--no, not quite all, but representatives, many parts of the whole--been guilty of crimes, of murder. Murder of different degrees, to different purposes, and how would these best be considered? Indeed, to his mind they must be considered, must be judged and properly handled... But by who, and how?
And was it better? The question returned here and again, and he thought to believe so. Yet was there not a chance that it might be best to let all start again? To forgive every incident--how could this be done, how could all be waved aside so, as if it had not impacted--and to clear the scales? Any handling the issue might become the very cause its perpetuation, any unfriendly reminder a prompt to return to old ways. Yet he could not fully believe this, however he reasoned the matter.
Perhaps, after so much, he simply could not move on.
Gawain paused only briefly, considering. It was possible. There may have been too much impact to overcome. He may have become too much attached to what he had seen, forgotten how to rely on development (if, indeed, he had ever known such a way).
Not that he wished to return to the old, nor that they had been better situated before. There had been difficulties, there had been corruption. Yet they couldn't ignore these. Without some consideration and ensuing preventative measures, could they expect to avoid the gross distortion that they had so often neared?
It might be possible. And it might be true that he could not look beyond inhibitions that had developed without his realization, though he saw no great logic in this, either. It was an answer, but not a sufficient one.
Consider so much. Again he walked. Even if this stood as the truth of himself, their society would require a more stringent system of justice. It might be best to recommend this again, particularly as the Ministry returned. Gawain felt that it wasn't quite his place to force this issue, yet it must be made obvious. And that, he felt vaguely, could only be the beginning. The hints of allowable power, of who to consider best placed as overseers of justice, spoke of complications. This might be the most appropriate direction of focus.
In the meantime, consider and remain calm. Continue consideration, then, evermore; there would always be questions. The necessary course of action was to sort through these and make some near-certain decision.
Characters: Gawain Robards, Ollivander
Location: Streets of SHH
Status: Public
Summary: Gawain goes for a bit of a walk, dwells on considerations that don't make him particularly comfortable.
Completion: Incomplete
By most all distinct accounts, they were progressing very well. They as a whole, a society that had come through a war and pulled itself together. It had reformed with remarkable celerity, given the extent of the damage. Yes, there were inconveniences yet to be dealt with, but these details of everyday life continued to receive attention and their reinstitution seemed imminent. They had learned first to live with war, and then to pull directly from it, to grant themselves an almost sudden peace.
Even the inconsistencies in this quiet seemed to have receded. Those early incidents--the fire, the vandalism--had been rare, and the individuals involved (Still unidentified, for the man captured had never spoken) had kept quiet of late. There was much for the Aurors to do, certainly, always more to patrol and always cases to consider, but these had been comparatively minor. This was, certainly, a fortunate situation. Rather remarkable, in truth.
Quickly, too, they seemed to have directed themselves toward the reformation of society, of structure itself. There had been a meeting recently which seemed to have run quite well, regarding electricity, the school, a museum, among other matters indicative of a return to accustomed--accustomed... he hesitated over the word; it had been too long, but never long enough to destroy such inclinations--life. He had not been present, involved instead with a matter of the Aurors, but the sources were as trustworthy as he could hope to find.
Fewer disturbances by far, and a decidedly more peaceful intermingling of oft unlikely individuals. They had come together admirably.
And yet he was uneasy. Even now, venturing from headquarters for a brief respite--and now over half a year since the declared end of the war--he could not dismiss the impression of of some undefinable instability. However much Gawain may have wished to believe in the overriding goodness of man--however much he might once almost have believed this--he had as witness learned much of other marked tendencies, and had found that these would not be so easily overcome.
They had come together almost too quickly. Yes, it was fortunate, and yes, he was glad of this peace. Yet they had left too much untended. The war had forced issues that would not resolve themselves. Matters of enemy and why, of motive and of murder that seemed almost to have been wiped away.
Not that it would be better to throw these issues forward, or even to handle them extensively. Yet to cast them aside almost entirely... This would come back to them.
He could not discount his uncertainty. However ungenerous it might seem, it wasn't ridiculous. He had spent much time considering and reconsidering the matter, applying it to all that he could recount, from one angle and then another and so on; each time, it seemed that certain factors failed to work themselves or even to be forced into working correctly. Yes, unknown factors must exist, but there were too many matters that hadn't settled at all. So long as they reminded, there existed the potential for their sparking a repeated occurrence of past mistakes.
The war had unraveled much that had simply been left aside. These strands must be collected somehow, before they moved too far distant to effect any proper mending. They had set so much out of joint, and to see it now as such, so skewed--Perhaps that was it, then. Perhaps it was only a self-perceived sense of disorder.
He had never been comfortable with any state of great uncertainty, nor with matters that remained unresolved. The war had left many of these, and he wished to see them tended to. There must be some justice here, some payment by and for all. Justice and memory, yes, it seemed that both were necessary.
Was this so, though? He thought yes, saw logic in support of his belief. But for a certainty, perhaps he could not say. Would it be better to allow a cleaning of slates? To act as if the crimes committed in war had been of a different era entirely, a world removed? To some extent, perhaps some great extent, this had occurred.
And they had all--no, not quite all, but representatives, many parts of the whole--been guilty of crimes, of murder. Murder of different degrees, to different purposes, and how would these best be considered? Indeed, to his mind they must be considered, must be judged and properly handled... But by who, and how?
And was it better? The question returned here and again, and he thought to believe so. Yet was there not a chance that it might be best to let all start again? To forgive every incident--how could this be done, how could all be waved aside so, as if it had not impacted--and to clear the scales? Any handling the issue might become the very cause its perpetuation, any unfriendly reminder a prompt to return to old ways. Yet he could not fully believe this, however he reasoned the matter.
Perhaps, after so much, he simply could not move on.
Gawain paused only briefly, considering. It was possible. There may have been too much impact to overcome. He may have become too much attached to what he had seen, forgotten how to rely on development (if, indeed, he had ever known such a way).
Not that he wished to return to the old, nor that they had been better situated before. There had been difficulties, there had been corruption. Yet they couldn't ignore these. Without some consideration and ensuing preventative measures, could they expect to avoid the gross distortion that they had so often neared?
It might be possible. And it might be true that he could not look beyond inhibitions that had developed without his realization, though he saw no great logic in this, either. It was an answer, but not a sufficient one.
Consider so much. Again he walked. Even if this stood as the truth of himself, their society would require a more stringent system of justice. It might be best to recommend this again, particularly as the Ministry returned. Gawain felt that it wasn't quite his place to force this issue, yet it must be made obvious. And that, he felt vaguely, could only be the beginning. The hints of allowable power, of who to consider best placed as overseers of justice, spoke of complications. This might be the most appropriate direction of focus.
In the meantime, consider and remain calm. Continue consideration, then, evermore; there would always be questions. The necessary course of action was to sort through these and make some near-certain decision.