MapleSAP Special: Justice Arrow 5:
Religion + History

It is Sunday morning in Henesys. The sun has risen above the Henesys Mountains, and is shining bright.
Today, most of the town is quiet. There are no workers except for slaves in the fields.
In town, the residents are gathering for worship at the Great Church of Jalonska in the center square.
Many of the men, women and children are dressed formally.
The church is a large structure built of wood, and can hold up to 900 people. Those who don’t attend this church
will gather at various spots around town.
Photos and video crystals are used by J.A. troops to record the session.
The atmosphere inside is rather tense and oppressive for the youngsters, including my team. All children are expected to behave as best as they can or face painful discipline. Here, corporal punishment is not condemned. One child leans to side on the bench accross from me and his father grabs him by the neck and takes him outside.
The adults talk quietly with eachother. Some of the servants and slaves present are ordered to sit in the back, faces down and to be praying for the entire two hour session.

Soon, everyone rises to their feet as a group of men and women enter: The priests, Father Hatch, Mother Azabelle, a group of nuns and monks from the local monastery; other senior church officials, the president of the Equitas council,
and the Chief of the Justice Arrow, Dan Jalonska, both flanked by top ranking J.A. bowmen. They walk to the front and sit in the front row while the preachers, monks and nuns take up positions around the altar. Father Hatch and Mother Azabelle both raise a hand and let it rest on a big book on the podium, and finally we sit.
“Let us have prayer,” they both say at once.
A minute of silence follows.
Things begin with a prayer spoken aloud by the Preachers, and everyone says ‘Amen’ at the end. Then he rambles on
about the religious morals, teachings, etc, that keep Henesys intact. He goes on to say that heathens from Kerning city are being punished and put to work to cleanse their souls, and soon they will become fine upstanding citizens.
A word of thanks is echoed to the Justice Arrow men and women present. Dan Jalonska, wearing his hunters’ hat nods.
An hour later of talking and singing gospel songs passes, and finally the J.A. officer who dealth with us the first day we arrived stands and talks: “It seems that the the rest of MapleWorld wishes question us; to test our morals, and our integrity, and of all, our pureness. Another team of snoops came to Henesys to take pictures, videos and to write of us.
Stand up, you bunch!”
I rise to my feet, followed by Hank, Rannbo, and Maria. We are with our assigned families, and separated. Chief Jalonska looks each of us over, while the officer continues to talk, “They wish to creat an article that would defeat KLON’s articles on their praising of our fine town,”
It’s hard to tell if that was good or bad.
After another hour of talking down undesirables to religious society and gospel singing, My team is surrounded by J.A. officers, and I came face to face with Chief Jalonska. He is a monster of a man in size and strength, but good looking as the purest of pure angels that once inhabited Orbis. Admittedly, I was unsettled answering his questions.
After about 25 minutes, I finally convince him we are here to reveal the good of the Justice Arrow to the world. Jalonska orders that I be issued a free-roam permi, allowing me to explore Henesys on my own so I can conduct my work. On the other hand, Hank, Rannbo and Maria are restricted to their homes, as they are needed in preparations for the upcoming Thanksgiving festival.
I spent the rest of today talking with the Justice Arrow’s top men, an unsettling six hours I won’t soon forget.

Nothing much happens on Sundays. Few of the local shops are open so the weekday workers may gather their food and supplies. Most of the people are at home with their families. Since there is not much else for today, it is time for a history lesson.
The Henesys Library and archives are near the Hen Park, not to far from the bowmen’s academy. My team are also permitted to examine the materials stored here. I ask the librarian if anything was removed for censorship, and she admits that some materials which are debatable, or may cause anger have been taken and locked in a safe.
The books, pamphlets and scrolls dating between Century 15 and the present, were all produced in Henesys, with a special section of select materials from out of town.

According to the research conducted on Saturday by Hank, Henesys was founded in 1530 by Lomi Jalonska, who also founded the Justice Arrow the same year. Over the next few hundred years, the J.A. fought a biter war between the invading Sharenians. According to these records, the Sharenians invaded Ellinia in 1672 and eradicated the fairy pupulation and took over the town. The Justice Arrow’s journals state the J.A. took Ellinia from the Sharenians and pushed them back. Several peace treaties between the J.A, and the Sharenians fail as the war continues on.
The J.A. ended up taking much of Victoria Territory with the aid of British and American settlers, allowing for the establishment of Kerning city and the take over of Ft. Perion which mining companies turned into an industrial mega-center.
In 1941 the Sino Army invaded from the Zhong-Go territory north and a bitter war was waged. The Justice Arrow pushed back the Sino forces (who completely wiped out the last of the Sharenians, according to the books) and retook Victoria by wars end. All this time, another war was also waged against undesirables who formed gangs and occupied the mountains and forests of Victoria. One such ‘enemy’ the J.A. finally eliminated in the 1970’s was the Mountain Pack and their infamous Ghost Platoon.
The J.A’s involvement in the Jungle War is not mentioned anywhere in these books.

In 1983, the Nutrition Fuels Act was passed by the federal government, eliminating all food production with formulas full of proteins and nutrients: HP Fuel (proteins, vitamins and minerals) and mana fuel (chemicals storing magic energy) by 1990. When Orbis ordered the closure of Henesys food production operations and sent the army in, the Justice Arrow staged an uprising, backed by the support of all of Henesys citizens. Word spread and the general civillian public protested wildly against the NF Act. A battle ensued and the Justice Arrow defeated the GMs and army.
After the national election, the NF Act was cancelled, and Henesys was granted third tier independence- The Justice Arrow was allowed to govern the people here as they please provided they meet several human rights standards.
3rd tier independence means that while Henesys was able to govern itself free from federal intervention, Maple law still applied, and the people were allowed to come and go at any time. The local GM’s only job is send monthly reports to Orbis.
The reason for 3rd tier independence is simple: The Justice Arrow and Henesys’ people hated and resented the government since MapleWorld was established as a country, and it was a needless hostility between the Justice Arrow’s Equitas Party and the federal government. The other reason- Orbis did not want to draw an international border around Henesys and isolate them.

These historic records seem convincing enough, but how accurate will they prove when weighed against records in Orbis?
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Next time, an execution takes place, and Ross’ team discover the actual slaves within Henny, while MapleSAP’s other employees journey to Orbis to gather information on the Justice Arrow’s history