A man stormed into the bar of the servants' quarters, soaked from the downpour outside. Closing the door, he glanced around at the hushed patrons, confused. "Haven't you heard of this new Ordinance from the Council?"

The bartender shook his head. "What new Ordinance?"

"Taxes." He answered. "Taxes on our wages that we don't even see! We're trying to pay off our debts like good people of society and Council says 'It's income. Pay taxes.' This is an outrage!"

"Well how much is this tax?" A patron questioned.

"And how do you know it's real?" Another asked.

The man pulled a flyer from his coat and unrolled it, laying it flat on the table for all to see. The servants gathered around as the wizard read:

'The Ordinance of Wages. By decree of the Council of Bayfield, an income tax of twenty percent is to be levied on the wages of any person(s) in indentured servitude.'

He looked around. "A tax, I can understand. A tax of twenty percent, I cannot. At that rate, we will be servants forever!"

"Servants forever." Someone echoed. "They want to keep us servants forever! We'll be slaves! This must be stopped before it's too late!"

"Stop the taxes!" It was taken up as a chant and the servants rushed through the rain to protest their employer's decision. Ashley and Terrance Winchester awoke to angry screams outside and immediately called an emergency meeting. The meeting was adjourned shortly afterward with no action.

A few days and several protests later, the same man came back to the bar with the paper and slammed it on the table. "This is ridiculous!" He shouted. "We petition, and we protest, and nothing has been done. But shall we give up?"

The patrons raised their fists. "No!"

"But shall we do?" Someone asked. "As you've said, we've petitioned, and we've protested and to no avail."

The man, the leader of this growing unrest, thought. As he rolled up the ordinance, he said, almost to himself, "They may take away our jobs. They may throw us in prison. But we will not give up." He looked around at the other servants and spoke. "It's time to take this a step further." He held the paper aloft for all to see and addressed it.

Staring at paper, he addressed it. "Ordinance of Wages— you wage taxes; we wage war!" The document burst into flames. In a throng of cheers, the servants rushed out into the night, zealously screaming for justice. "You wage taxes; we wage war!"

Someone ripped through the Winchester's pristine lawn with jagged black thorns that night. The Council came together— 21.6%

"You wage taxes; we wage war!"

Someone flooded the Kinley's prized garden the next night. The Council came together— 23.2%

"You wage taxes; we wage war!"

Someone singed the phrase into the wall of a servants' quarters with silver in the next few nights. The Council came together— 46.4%

As a last act of defiance, a man zealously launched a fireball into his employer's house, which burned down and killed everyone inside. Before the Council could raise taxes, arrest the man, or even find out who he was, the servants stopped.

Council had matched everything they did with an increase in taxes, which were ignored. But, that night, the servants painted their motto on the walls and shut the doors of their quarters. They refused to work and they refused to pay. It was a blockade of service.

Society coasted for about one week without servants before things began their rapid plummet. The servants remained stoically locked away despite pleas and threats alike and the queen was alerted. The unrest she had dismissed was about to blow up in her face.

Queen Guinevere XVIII needed an immediate solution. If something wasn't done soon enough, a large majority of her people would lead a full-scale rebellion and seize her throne.

Mere days before angry mobs stormed the palace, victorious word spread far enough to calm them: the servants were freed from the tax and the penalty of debtors' prison. They could return to society as full members. In the same notice, to appease the rich who just lost all of their workers, the queen wrote they would be replaced and could only leave when replaced.

With one decree later named the Replacement Letter, Queen Guinevere had regained control of Runethrop. Now all that was left to do was to find a large supply of replacements, and in a timely manner to avoid another uprising.

The queen reached out to her western neighbor, the Emperor of Gaila.