Working For What?

War Of The Wing-Men, XV.

After a military defeat:

rolling mist;

stony dales;

chill twilight;

hopeless hunger;

wood burned;

land scoured;

worms eaten;

dank dark;

sullen volcano -

"...only the wind and the rushing, glacial waters lived." (p. 103)

Well, sure. We were waiting to see what the wind was doing!

Poul Anderson writes a detailed description which I try to summarize rather than quoting it at length.

However, where the Eart'ska work:

fires burn;

wheels turn;

lathes chatter;

hammers thump.

The fat Eart'a, van Rijn, has roared down protests and kept the factory working.

"Working for what? thought Trolwen, in a mind as gray as the mist." (ibid.)

That is a very good question and not one that will be answered here tonight!