Oppression is not in deeds only. It is in the Proscripts' words, and their words infect our tongues, and our tongues infect our minds, and in this way we learn to doubt ourselves.
How many generations of Grotians have grown up blindly accepting the implication of words such as "grotty", lived out their lives never questioning their assigned place in the world? How many outsiders, never hearing of Grotians or Proscripts, use "underground" carelessly to mean "hidden away"?
Because that is what we are. We are hidden away from the Proscripts, and we are hidden away from ourselves.
If we are to become truly free, then we must first free our souls. We must find ourselves, cast away the words that they put on us like chains to bind our thoughts, stand up to our own self-doubt first. Only then will we be ready to stand up to them.
I have looked in the cracked and grimy mirror. I know what we are. I have examined my soul.
We are Grotian, and we are underground.
We are the undercurrent, the undertones, the subtext, the foundation of your world. Your towers rest on our shoulders and backs. What will happen to them when we shrug them off like the old coats you throw away for us to wear?
We are from beneath, but we are not beneath you. We are the roots of your society, and you will be uprooted. We are rising from the deep.
We are Grotian, and we are underground.
--Asphodel Storm
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