The Body Divine

The discovery of a new vein of ore on one end of the world might cause a drop in the price of linens in another, by reducing the cost of tools needed to harvest and manufacture them. This, in turn, might motivate a change in trade policies, which tips existing hostilities into open war. War spreads disease, which in an agrarian society could cause food production to plummet. The resulting skyrocketing prices can make it difficult for people to get their hands on food. And that can topple empires.   Of course, it might not go that way. Perhaps the vein is never found. Perhaps the price of linens doesn't change enough to notice. Perhaps cooler heads prevail, and war is averted. Perhaps powerful magic ends the war swiftly, or cures the illness, or augments food production. Perhaps.   Harvesting the ore, making the linens, preserving peace, shedding blood, tending the sick, raising crops. These things all require effort and dedication, time and labor, strain and vigor. Perhaps someone, somewhere along the chain doesn't have what it takes, or the nerve to give it.   It is said that there was nothing for the gods to make the world from but themselves, and they tore themselves to pieces in order to do so. Two truths follow from this: all things are one, interlocking and interwoven; all action requires sacrifice.