The Town and People of Knot
“What is a demon, but an agent of their own agenda?” — The last recorded words of the founder of Knot.
For hundreds of years, in the middle of almost nowhere, has existed the town of Knot. This town was built on an ideal by one man, a strong man, both charismatic and clever, at least by that day’s standards. This man built this town–or at least go others to build this town for him–with just his tongue and the repetition of a single message, “Where there is land, there needs be people. Where there be people, Nowhere will forever be land.”
Originally, the town was named as such–Nowhere. But, too often people got confused and so the name was changed soon after. It’s been the Land of Knot ever since. At least, that’s what the people of Knot called it. For outside of Knot, very few even considered its existence.
The founder preached his message to anyone who would listen. Soon, the town was bustling and each hut full. The town of Knot–or, at the earliest days, Nowhere–was on the rise.
One thing, they would all come to learn, is that being in the middle had its privileges. Trade, mistaken and lost travelers, and all manners of different folk would find Knot and hear its message. Many moved on, but enough stayed to grow the city into a bustling, landlocked port.
One thing that they would all also come to learn, however, is that being in the middle of Nowhere, wouldn’t be able to sustain anyone for very long. As the cities and towns and empires grew around them and the world continued to grow, it wasn’t long before Knot was no longer a place to stumble upon, but a place to avoid altogether. Eventually, that avoidance led to ignorance, and as fate would have it, ambivalence.
For if you truly don’t know about something, how can you either care for it or hate it?
In the end, it wasn’t hate or care that was the death of Knot, but something worse; ambivalence.
