The True Story of the Manumit Rebellion

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I am writing this confession of my own accord, in search of absolution, but also to deliver a stark warning. I was part of a local manumit group, hiding in the woods near Maragir. I joined them, deceived by their blatant lies about our knyaz. By the time I realised they had deceived me, it was too late. I was forced to give up all my belongings to the rebels, who threatened that if I tried to leave, I would ‘suffer for it’.

I have never met Crake or anyone else important, but I witnessed the Maragir rebels doing horrible things, not only to those they considered their foes, but to innocent people as well. They stole grain from two villages. They went to a graveyard, exhumed dead bodies and robbed them of everything they were buried with. They cut off an orphan child’s ears ‘as practice’. They poisoned a well, and after two people died, they blamed it on the soldiers. And they made me do many other things so abhorrent that I won’t mention them here. Only my confessor shall know about them.

After two months, I finally managed to escape. Today I know that I shall never go back to Maragir. And I warn everyone: stay away from the manumits, at all costs! If you know where they are or what they are planning, tell the soldiers at once. Spare yourselves and your loved ones the atrocities I had to endure.