Helen of Anarchia: 1. Before Birth

Far away from the overpopulated continents, an island country Anarchia with about fifty thousand people and land size as big as Maldives with all its islands together rested in the Indian Ocean. Some of the older inhabitants of the country said that they were a part of a larger country hundreds of years ago but many big earthquakes over years separated them from the rest of the world. They had no contact with the hundreds of millions of people living far away from them in various big islands connected by several means of transport and technology.

Anarchia had no government or any kind of ruler. All the citizens of the country were free to do whatever they liked. Whoever wronged another citizen by stealing property or injuring were punished by the people after public discussion of the matter. The murderers and rapists were killed publicly by decapitation. Things used to become complicated when there were lack of witness and evidence to prove any crime. Because of a constant fear of criminals, people walked on the streets in groups and lived in houses built close to each other.

The houses were made of mud walls, bamboo pillars and straw roofs. Fish and rice was the main food in the country. There were five major businesses in the country. Most of the people depended on two of these businesses, agriculture and fishing. The weapon industry produced spears, knives, spades and sickles mainly to be used in agriculture and fishing. The textile industry produced long rectangular clothes which people wrapped around their body. The other and the most important business was of education. Remaj Janaut was the head of the school which primarily taught language and arithmetic. The brightest of students got the opportunity to learn the technology to make ships run by dozens of pedals and paddle wheels, or medicine.

Laku Janaut was the only son of Remaj Janaut and he studied shipbuilding. He was the sharpest student in the school. As his upbringing in an educated family fed his curiosity, he became even more curious about things. At the age of eighteen, he had decided to build a ship and travel and find other islands like Anarchia and see how other parts of the world are. The ships Anarchia’s finest minds made were quite small, needed many pedallers and sailed slow. But since, they had not seen other kinds of ships, they were satisfied with whatever technology they had. The shipbuilders focused on efficient design of paddle wheels, sails and external features of the ship. Laku Janaut with the help from his father Remaj Janaut had already begun building the largest ship of Anarchia to go on a voyage.

Helena Larkin helped her father in his fish business. They were one of the richest fishermen in the country. Helena Larkin’s father had designed a unique sort of net where fish got enmeshed unlike other nets where fish had to be surrounded from all sides by net and trapped in the center. These nets were kept in water for hours and a large amount of fish got stuck in these which the fishermen collected and sold. It became easier for the fishermen to catch small fish. The only disadvantage was that large fish tore these nets.

Laku Janaut and Helena Larkin fell in love when they were in school. Moments of separation were the most painful moments for them. And after school, these moments increased in lengths. Thus, they decided to get married. Their wedding was lavish. Hundreds of guests from all around Anarchia were invited. Dozens of goats and hundreds of chicken were sacrificed for meat, the rarest of fish dishes were served and dozens of people were paid to play music. It was the most glamorous wedding that Anarchia had ever observed.