[b]Marquette Commonwealth
City of Marquette
Morning[/b]

Isaac gritted his teeth as the wind howled outside, rattling the windows of his office. The marching soldiers outside caused the pen on his desk to move about, rolling across it's aged surface. It was funny to think that the desk had endured for so long. The Great Collapse tore down nations centuries old, yet this humble desk had made it. Prone to letting his mind wander, Isaac sifted through the papers on his desk. Dull material, to say the least. The Department of Security functions and acts on the labor of six men and women. The burden was immense, but with so few people, the doubts were cast aside. Today's report indicated an increase in merchant activity throughout the northeastern shores. Political relations with neighboring communities have been warm, but increasing shortages cause more to look elsewhere for their material needs. 

Isaac turned the page, looking at the segment dedicated to the western expanses. It didn't take long for him to sigh. He skimmed the lines, the news hadn't changed much. 

[i]Scouting parties......abandoned camp.....tattered remains....bandits likely culpable.....do not recommend further travel.....[/i] 

He stopped, unwilling to read more. Winter was always brutal to those in the peninsula, but nowhere was it worse than the west. Banditry and lawlessness created a toxic environment. What few communities that manage to survive hang on by the tiniest of threads, hoping for the next seasonal raiding party to pass by without a second glance. The military still remembered the stories about the battle at Iron River. Slaying bandits was always a popular move, but the logistics typically prevented most expeditions. Bounty hunters and others of martial repute often received contracts to hunt them, but it never solved the problem. 

Despite all the problems the Commonwealth faced, it never hurt to take relief in what it accomplished. Isaac frequented the nearby library, home to thousands of salvaged and preserved books. The preservation of knowledge is one of the key goals of the government, leading to merchants from afar traveling to exchange rare or valuable texts. Isaac particularly enjoyed works concerned with onomastics and linguistics. In a time when things are easily forgotten, names are usually the first to go. Nothing stays the same, but often one questions whether the new changes are positive or negative. That lack of control is what frightens so many. That their lives are put on a path with walls and forbidden gates.

Isaac stared at his desk, absent of a concluding thought. The Commonwealth teaches everyone that purpose is invincible. Without it one withers, but to embrace it is to defy the confines of "destiny". 

Feeling a realization hit him, Isaac shuffled the reports away into his cabinet. 

[i]"Perhaps purpose is all that remains from the sweeping tide of change. Where our wants and needs change, purpose has been the eternal tool to motivate one. All great feats are eventually forgotten, but purpose emerges to fulfill the eternal list of needs society and the individual requires."[/i]

Frederick came inside from the front entrance, weary and clearly sleep deprived. He looked at Isaac with some amusement, noticing the grin on his face. 

"Why the good mood?"

Isaac chuckled for a moment. 

"I found purpose in purpose." he remarked.

.