Red Flag

*Posted by : Winteroak on Mar 30, 2018, 2:54pm*

Dusk - 20th August - The Steamworks, The Silken Mill - Early Morning

A new day rose in Dusk, a day like all others before it. The noise of factories and a sea of humanity flooded the streets of the Steamworks. Another day of toil. Another day where workers would suffer inhuman conditions in exchange for food stamps or miserly wages. Another day they would toil for their masters.
Factories were noisy. People had to shout above the rattle and hiss of machinery. They breathed air full of dust, oil and soot. Iron and steel works got so hot that workers dripped with sweat and often got injured and burnt. Flames and sparks lit up the sky darkened by smoke from factory chimneys that endlessly fed the Maelstrom.

Today some in the shadows hoped that before dawn returned this day would signal the beginning of real change in Dusk.
Of better condition for all its workers, for a better life for all those that toiled incessantly.
Close to 150 men and women stood in the courtyard of the Corbet's Silken Mill. The textile factory was the largest and oldest of its kind in the city where close to 1000 souls toiled under brutal daily conditions.
Many of those were children. Child workers in the mills did the most unskilled work. This was often the most boring, repetitive and tiring work. A child could spend all day tying ends of cotton or cleaning fluff from the machines. Children as young as five were put to work in the mills. The welfare of children was completely non-existent currently and they worked as long as adults for less than half the pay.
Jobs like doffing and piecing were assigned to small children often and many waifs in the city had been maimed because of it only to fired from their roles.
Very young children worked extremely long hours and could be severely punished for any mistakes. Arriving late for work could lead to a large fine and possibly a beating. Dozing at a machine could result in the accidental loss of a limb.

People were beginning to realize how bad these conditions were in many factories and the time was right to start to campaign for improvements. There would be a lot of resistance from factory owners who felt it would slow down the running of their factories and make their products more expensive.
The 150 strong stood in the courtyard of the mill. A picket line. Most of them members of the textile cell of the Red Crew. Today they would turn away all those that wished to work. All those that did not see the benefits of their actions. The gates had been chained, doors blocked and machines disconnected.
They knew many of their fellow workers would join in their demands. Better pay, more safety, long term contracts for skilled workers. They would not be moved today.

Some of their most misguided brethren would attempt to cross the lines and enter the factory. Some heads would probably have to be bashed. Not everyone could see further than their next meal or what they were trying to achieve.
They knew the Constabulary was not equipped to deal with something like this. Eventually someone in Paramount Hill would send for the militia. But they were ready. Here and there a gun and not a few blades were hidden. And of course if things did not go as planned a very big surprise was in store inside the Mill.
They would not leave until the spoke to old man Corbet or whoever owned the place now that rumor of his death was spreading.
And of course they hoped their actions would lead others to follow their lead.
If the Dockers and Railwaymen took to the streets with the Glassblowers and Rodbusters groups, Dreggers and Slugger, surely they could push for real change.

Today the Red Flag of revolution was flown over Dusk...