What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Homesteading?

[Samantha McManus]

Though it got her a few funny looks, after awhile Sam was able to puzzle out the location of the congregation of the Reverend Jonathan Bliss. She didn't want to figure out if she'd fit in a wagon, so a few hours later she's following wagon tracks southeast of the town to the edge of the homestead.

[Narrator]

Tracking the path isn't all that difficult. There's no proper road but a vaguely beaten path that the sparse vegetation struggles to reclaim. To her left the terrain slopes up towards a plateau and soon is replaced by a cragged cliffside. But perhaps more notably is the appearance of vegetation other than dry shrubs, cacti and small yellow-green islands of sharp grass. Here and there actual green sprouts from the ground as small trees and flat, sprawling patches of leafs. Within another ten minutes of walking the path is flanked by chest-high weeds and grass swaying in the hot afternoon wind and in the distance Sam can spot a surprisingly sturdy palisade hugging the cliffside, encircling what must be the compound, judging by the thin lines of smoke and tree-tops visible beyond the tall fence.

In the very back of the compound, pressed up or perhaps even partially hewn into the cliffside is a church, it's tower placed away from the front, instead seeming to touch the cliff. It's partially shaded by the cliffside but Sam can still spot the sun glinting off something. Water is running from the church tower's window near the top in a small but constant rivulet before spilling onto the roof and being caught by stone gutters. It looks like the top of the tower was intentionally built up around a natural spring. Around her the tall grass whispers in the wind and there's an oddly consistent pattern to the swirl. Something feels off and it takes her a moment to realize it's the fact that the grass continues to move for a couple of moments even after the wind subsides.

[Samantha McManus]

"That better not be you. I'm not ready to give a pep-talk to grass," she mutters as she makes her way to the palisade.

"Guess they're a bit better defended than they let out," she observes as she heads for the gate.

[Narrator]

For a moment Sam might think the grass actually responds to her, but no, somebody is calling to her from the gate, it seems.

"Ho there!" a man waves at her over the palisade. It's less than ten feet tall but high up enough that he must be standing on some kind of platform partway up. "What brings you all the way out here? Sun's setting and it ain't safe outside after nightfall."

[Samantha McManus]

"Get the feelin' you don't need all this for a few coyotes," she says, doffing her hat.

"Heard about you folks in town."

[Narrator]

"Well, hope you didn't listen to them too well. Some of them got funny ideas about this place. So you just came all the way out here to have a look-see? I'd be remiss if I didn't at least offer you a sip o' water and a bite to eat. Plenty to spare for those who come with good intentions." he calls back, side-stepping Sam's noting of their fortifications.

[Samantha McManus]

"Sometimes a town just gets to feelin' that some folk are strange. I don't pay that much mind. If you wanted to show me around I'd be grateful."

[Narrator]

There's a moments hesitation as the man narrows his eyes and glances back over his shoulder. Then he puts on a bright smile again and waves Sam closer. "Certainly, ma'am! Just a moment!" he says and hops down from his perch. A couple moments later he's pushing open the gate to let Sam inside.

"Not a lot of folks who find their way here not on a wagon with one of our own, but it warms my heart someone would! S'what a haven should be all about, after all." he says and through the gate Sam can see what seems like a small wonder. Lush green fills the space within the walls. Fully grown fruit trees, fields of tomatoes and lettuce, things that this desert would struggle to support even in small numbers, no matter the amount of water poured on it. There's even the sparkle of a small pond, the shore ringed with with lily pads and reeds.

[Samantha McManus]

"Ain't never seen a spring that can do this much," she whistles as they walk.

[Narrator]

"Course not, ma'am. It's Father Jonathan's doing. He was lead here by the words of the Lord and it's our hard work and devotion that spread the Bliss." he explains as he leads her into the compound. Aside from the church there are multiple buildings arranged loosely around the pond and fields. A number of people are out and about, mostly working in the fields, tending to crops, though some are sitting outside, working on fixing up tools or sewing clothes. Everyone is wearing the same kind of clothes, simple white (or slightly off-white by Sam's modern standards) shirts and dark pants or ankle-length skirts, not always distributed along expected gender lines.

There's a strange atmosphere she now realizes spilled past the palisade but is much stronger here. The air feels more substantial somehow, like she can almost see the curls and swirls of air around her with each movement, but when she tries to focus on it it's never quite there. But even beyond that the plants are off somehow. A little too symmetrical? No, that's not quite it, but there definitely seem to be an unusual amount of repeating patterns in the curls of leaves and gnarls of bark, in how the hip-high wheat moves in the wind. They pass a nectarine tree and the man picks a small fruit off a branch to offer to Sam. "Here, consider it a small show of hospitality, as thanks for being open-minded."

[Samantha McManus]

"Can't help but notice y'all are a bit... nontraditional," she says as she takes the fruit.

[Narrator]

"Sure are. I had my doubts about it too." he says, misreading Sam's opinion on the matter. "But the Reverend said somewhere along the way the folks who wrote down or translated the good book musta gotten things wrong cause look at this place. It wouldn't be this bless-ed if God was disagreeing with what we do. Reverend John says the letter of the law is how man seeks to distort the holy spirit. Sooner or later he reckons they'll come out here too, once the war's settled down and no matter who wins, one of 'em is gonna come and try to put their rules on us."

[Samantha McManus]

"There's gotta be some things y'all live by, though. Even if you're not the buttoned-down folk people expect."

[Narrator]

"We do still follow the word of God. S'just that the reverend helps us read and understand it better y'see? It's... strivin' to be better than we are by the original sin. Asper... aspri... rational? I can't explain it too well, but I'm sure the reverend or sister Alleah will explain it to you better if you ask them. What the reverend realized when he found the Bliss here in this place is that we can't never go back to the Garden of Eden until we show God we can make one fer ourselves right here on Earth. And then we'll all be welcomed back to the Kingdom of Heaven."

[Samantha McManus]

"Wasn't the original sin about disobeyin' the rules and gettin' burdened by a whole lotta knowin'?"

[Narrator]

"Well yes, I s'pose? See this is why I'm not a preachin' man. It makes sense to me the way the reverend talks about it but I'm not doing the best way of tellin' it to you and passing on the word. I reckon sister Alleah's due back soon, goin' by the sun's getting low, so why don't you join us for supper and listen to her tell the gospel."

[Alleah]

The man continues giving Sam a quick tour around the place. Not that there's much more to point out, really. The church in the cliffside, communal housing, a couple sheds and barns. They've just about circled around the central lake back to the entrance when the sound of an approaching wagon makes him excuse himself to check on the arrivals, only to open the gates right away, letting Alleah and Thrax ride on into the compound.

The woman spots Sam and smiles brightly, hopping down and handing the reigns to the man who'd been accompanying her to town.

"Well would you look at that." she says, putting her fists on her hips and looking amused. "You coulda said something and we would've given you a ride too."

[Thraxion Ord'Rakar]

Thrax chuckled. He briefly considered pretending to be from this other dimension but decided that he didn't have the patience for it. Also, why bother? "Hello again, Red. Fancy meetin' you here of all places."