Trolley Cars
The Trolley cars that run between Stetson City and the heart of Patchwork Fields were an experiment by the Council of Inventors workshop.
Some hundred years after Onfa Bremin's death, the Council of Inventors had delivered on the promise of inventions to ease the suffering of the people of Merida. But the idea of mixing magic and invention was still controversial. No one else wanted the experimental technology built in Tylren. When the idea was proposed, many citizens of Tylren protested. They still thought that the still very new Council of Inventors was a bunch of crackpots. After a lot of long meetings, someone proposed that the trolley car experiment be run in the far north, deep in the heart of Patchwork Fields.
The idea that it would be out in the remote area of the Fields, trundling over and in some cases, hovering, over the pools and bogs and dangerous wildlife of Patchwork Fields was a relief to some. I think they expected it to fail. The people of Patchwork Fields certainly didn't trust the new trolley. Some young troublemakers watched the inventors and magician install the tracks from their boats in nearby streams. They heckled them for a week until one of the magicians cast darkness around the trolley line. Out of fear of giving the alligators a chance to sneak up on them, they left off.
Once the trolley was built, the inhabitants watched the shiny 2-car red and silver trolley wind its way over the tracks that wove their ways around the pools and the hidden waters of the Fields. They were certain that the trolley would tilt over off of the track or one of the alligators that hid in the grasses and cattails would dart out and drag one of the rich spoiled passengers out of their seats and into the murky waters of the Fields. Instead, the tracks that were magically charged and recharged by the passage of the trolley cars back and forth between Wassailing Gale and Stetson City repelled the alligators and kept them a good distance away from the cars.
Rich folks from as far away the capital city of Tylren itself came to Stetson City to ride the trolley all the way to Wassailing Gale. They would get off, get an ice or a sweet cake from Dalley Lovey's stand, and then get back on the trolley to return from whence they came. A few months later, Dalley had a fine new restaurant near the dock from all the rich folk coming into town to enjoy the trolley car ride. And they demanded that the Joint Council build trolley cars all over Merida. Life changed for many all across Merida.
In Patchwork Fields, the trip between home and Wassailing Gale was shorter and children were not lost to alligators. Riders were able to dangle their feet off and as the cars drew close to the few stations between Stetson City and Wassailing Gale, they were able to jump off. Children that lived along the tracks grew used to riding the trolley cars into Wassailing Gale to go to the little school that was established. And with the school, came the means for generations that had lived and died in Patchwork Fields began to leave. Mind you, not all of them left. Some stayed to continue fishing the deep waters off of the coast. The Trolley cars opened a window to what had once been a quiet, almost claustrophobic place.
Some hundred years after Onfa Bremin's death, the Council of Inventors had delivered on the promise of inventions to ease the suffering of the people of Merida. But the idea of mixing magic and invention was still controversial. No one else wanted the experimental technology built in Tylren. When the idea was proposed, many citizens of Tylren protested. They still thought that the still very new Council of Inventors was a bunch of crackpots. After a lot of long meetings, someone proposed that the trolley car experiment be run in the far north, deep in the heart of Patchwork Fields.
The idea that it would be out in the remote area of the Fields, trundling over and in some cases, hovering, over the pools and bogs and dangerous wildlife of Patchwork Fields was a relief to some. I think they expected it to fail. The people of Patchwork Fields certainly didn't trust the new trolley. Some young troublemakers watched the inventors and magician install the tracks from their boats in nearby streams. They heckled them for a week until one of the magicians cast darkness around the trolley line. Out of fear of giving the alligators a chance to sneak up on them, they left off.
Once the trolley was built, the inhabitants watched the shiny 2-car red and silver trolley wind its way over the tracks that wove their ways around the pools and the hidden waters of the Fields. They were certain that the trolley would tilt over off of the track or one of the alligators that hid in the grasses and cattails would dart out and drag one of the rich spoiled passengers out of their seats and into the murky waters of the Fields. Instead, the tracks that were magically charged and recharged by the passage of the trolley cars back and forth between Wassailing Gale and Stetson City repelled the alligators and kept them a good distance away from the cars.
Rich folks from as far away the capital city of Tylren itself came to Stetson City to ride the trolley all the way to Wassailing Gale. They would get off, get an ice or a sweet cake from Dalley Lovey's stand, and then get back on the trolley to return from whence they came. A few months later, Dalley had a fine new restaurant near the dock from all the rich folk coming into town to enjoy the trolley car ride. And they demanded that the Joint Council build trolley cars all over Merida. Life changed for many all across Merida.
In Patchwork Fields, the trip between home and Wassailing Gale was shorter and children were not lost to alligators. Riders were able to dangle their feet off and as the cars drew close to the few stations between Stetson City and Wassailing Gale, they were able to jump off. Children that lived along the tracks grew used to riding the trolley cars into Wassailing Gale to go to the little school that was established. And with the school, came the means for generations that had lived and died in Patchwork Fields began to leave. Mind you, not all of them left. Some stayed to continue fishing the deep waters off of the coast. The Trolley cars opened a window to what had once been a quiet, almost claustrophobic place.
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