The Triumph of Ex. (extract taken from Understanding the past, a school textbook by Prof. Mufudazi Flowers) Chapter 8 Ex flourished in secret. Its population grew, its founders died and were remembered through their books. The only one of the Forty Foolish Travellers not to write about the origins of the city was the arch-founder Sarah Featherstone. "She kept meaning to," wrote one of the others. "She never got around to it." Nonetheless, her opposition to everything Goolooian remained intact through the generations. In Exian legends, Gum Gooloo was all the parents who had ever rejected their offspring, a place that sneered at bravery, a lazy, ugly, dull little town with no imagination. The Exians felt themselves superior to this unknown, unseen enemy city. It had been part of Sarah's dream that one day her city would triumph spectacularly over the people that had disregarded her explorations, and after two centuries of growth her anger bore fruit. Her people assembled outside the council chambers in a humming mass, many of them scarcely knowing what they were there for, only that this was the place to be and that a significant event was about to occur; then, leaderless but motivated by a single urge, they streamed out of the city, through the hedge maze, and south toward Gum Gooloo Gum Jublet. Many of them were terrified. "It was as if we were being forced forward by a ghost," reported one. He went on to swear that the ghost had been Sarah. Other Exians said the same. The unplanned army swept out of the Forest of Ex and into the first aristocratic state to stand in their way, the state of Faraway. The Archduke Faraways were a family who avoided the conflicts that tore apart the other states, preferring to take on the role of peacemakers. They let the Exians pour through their country unmolested and then quietly sent warning messages to the other families farther south. Treaties were hurriedly drawn up, promising the intruders safe passage if they refrained from hurting anybody. The intruders agreed. The families were of no interest to them. They only wanted to reach Gum Gooloo. Gum Gooloo was not in contact with any of the families at that time, so the invasion arrived in their city unannounced. The vanguard of the Exian army entered Gum Gooloo at dawn and were met by a yawning, insomniac crafter of jointed clockwork silver fish who had decided to take an early morning stroll to clear his head. At first he greeted the strangers with, "Hello!" and "You're up early!" and then, as more and still more people swelled forward out of the dawn mist, he decided that he was partaking in a lucid dream. The crescent moon still rode the sky and a weak tea-coloured sun was barely illuminating the fog; the fish manufacturer felt himself surrounded by human shadows living in a cloud of sepia. Later he declared that he had known some of them as one knows the people one meets in dreams even though they do not look like anyone we have met in our waking lives. He felt that one of them was his best friend, but could never describe the man's face afterwards. Gum Gooloo fell easily. The Exians simply walked into the city and announced that they were taking over. There was no Goolooian army to oppose them. The citizens of the first city had never imagined that anyone would want to invade. Even the aristocratic families had always left them alone, out of respect or disinterest. What defense did they have except stubbornness? Even after they had signed a paper formally admitting their defeat they refused to acknowlege it in their minds. The Exians found themselves taken less than seriously by the people they had conquered. It was very frustrating. These people had been outclassed. Why couldn't they give their conquerers the satisfaction of seeing that? Short of killing people (an unpopular and stupid idea, quickly dismissed) there seemed to be no way to break the Goolooian resolve. "We'll send an ambassador to live here. We'll open the country up. Whatever they like to imagine, we've still won." This was the Exians' eventual decision, as stated by Miroslav Minim. In the next chapter we will find out what happened to the Exians on their way home to Ex, and how the aristocratic states were robbed of their power. " Go ahead to the next chapter, The Decline of the Aristocrats or back to the Timeline.