Boemian thought experiment

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Rock of the Fraternity
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Boemian thought experiment

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Let us consider for a moment, the Boemian tasque of the Vistani.
In his Guide to the Vistani, Van Richten describes the Boemians as bitter, resentful towards giorgio, yet also full of self-hatred. When among strangers, they are always on stage. When among themselves, they are frequently mournful. Amoral, rather than immoral, they care not for a giorgio's joy or sorrow, as neither has anything to do with them.
Theirs is the paradox of envying outsiders for having a homeland, yet loathing the idea of settling down anywhere, the need to cater to people they perceive as childish and rude, yet needing their coin.

Let us consider the Boemians as described.

Now let's say a caravan of theirs rolls into a new domain. The men start fiddling, the women are ready to razzle-dazzle and offer prophecy as they move into a small village.
For the locals to slam doors and shutters in their face is hardly unexpected; giorgio are rude, after all. What does strike the Boemians as odd is that no one tries to drive them out; as far as they can tell, the townsfolk are huddling in abject terror inside their homes. An inquisitive child presses his ear against a door and says he can hear the people inside praying in whispered, trembling voices.
The caravan rolls out of the village, just to be safe; a scared giorgio is a dangerous giorgio, after all, as fear turns to violence. They set up in a nearby forest, hold the doroq and settle in for the night.

Come the dawn, and the tribe's scouts find a surprise; apparently the villagers crept out of their homes in the dead of night, and left a lot of supplies and money on the road. Attached is a note that politely, but also abjectly begs the Boemians to stay away, 'For you are strange and frightening to us'.
No matter where they go in the domain, it is the same. They barely catch glimpses of the locals, who appear to be smallish beings, humanoid but not human, and who hide in terror of the Vistani and anything else that is strange behind thick walls and barred doors. At no time do the locals become hostile. The supplies they leave in an attempt to bribe the Boemians to stay away are all top quality, none of the food is poisoned, the coin is valid currency.

The Boemians do not need to put on a show. The locals want nothing from them, other than that they stay away. Nobody is harming the Boemians, nobody is driving them away.

How do you think this tasque, which is amoral but not immoral, and which is used to persecution, would react?
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