Kerry Skydancer wrote:I'm tempted to take you literally, and say that one human couldn't possibly beat the entire Racconnan society.
First we need to know -why- such a thing would occur even if it were theoretically possible. The Villages would make a great trading partner. We'd be more likely to encourage immigration from them if they're overpopulated.
Leaving the current attitude toward immigration firmly aside, (after all, we can't really get by without all those eager folks from Mexico working our fields), it's pretty easy to imagine.
First of all, consider where the Seven Villages would have to be if they existed in the Real World. Sub-tropic swamp, plenty of Spanish Lace on the trees, an environment that favors creatures such as raccoons and gators (and their intelligent semi-relatives, the Rac Cona Daimh and the Gragum); closest match is Florida, down near the Everglades.
(Yes, Ralph, we all know the Seven Villages aren't meant to exist in our reality; we're just building a castle in the air, here.)
Now: Imagine that we suddenly discover an entire civilization has been hiding in the Everglades. They've used some form of cloaking device to hide themselves from our eyes and cameras all this time; they appear to be midgets in raccoon suits, wearing archaically-styled clothing. Their technology visibly appears to operate on different principles from ours, and includes a form of levitation which does not use magnetic rails, some form of robotics (e.g. Kestrel's golem), and certain effects which appear similar to magic.
Now, in the first place, humans are the boogeymen of the Rac Cona Daimh; not to the point of being irrationally terrified of us, but to the point of knowing just how treacherous and stupid we can be (and that's bad enough). Their reaction to knowing we have somehow breached the Mistwall isn't likely to be pretty. Most likely, all the Guardsmen in the Seven Villages wil be put on alert, luftships will patrol the border, and the trained wizards will be stationed at strategic points along the circumference.
We've just discovered these people have been hiding inside our borders for an indeterminate period, and now they're in an elevated military condition. Our response, naturally, will be a limited military reaction of our own; station the National Guard in the area.
From this condition, one of three things will happen:
1. Negotiators will begin talks; trade will be established; all will end well. (This is, sadly, an unlikely scenario. The Rac Cona Daimh are theorized to have been living inside our borders for years, a fact that will be capitalized on by the fearful.)
2. Negotiators from both sides will meet, hammering out an agreement whereby the Rac Cona Daimh will be allowed to keep the land they already hold. As non-citizens, of course, they will not be allowed to vote in local or national elections, but will not be required to join our military, either. (This is reasonably likely; it's the same arrangement we have with Native American tribes. Unfortunately, it depends on the Rac Cona Daimh accepting a restriction to their "reservation", which messes with the probabilities a lot.)
3. Any attempt at negotiations will be ended when someone gets panicky and semi-accidentally starts a skirmish (could be on either side). In the resulting conflict, our industrial might is likely to come out on top, though the "magical" abilities of the Rac Conans will present difficulties; we're optimized to face a technologically-advanced force such as our own, not an enemy that can create illusory duplicates (dust simulacra), levitate, and throw energy bolts at us... all with a low-metal technology. In the end, however, our ability to churn out more soldiers will prove superior, and the Rac Cona Daimh will be conquered. (Excepting the swamp tribes, who are likely to put up a guerilla defense for years yet.) With no place to deport them to (they claim the land they held was theirs, after all), the survivors will eventually be allowed to establish a colony on American soil, under the watchful eye of the government. That will be after the interrogations, of course... we have to be sure they don't have any bio-weapons or chemical weapons hidden away somewhere. (I'm not being facetious; this one is, sadly, the most likely of all, ending with disgruntled Rac Cona Daimh living on a reservation established in a place the government is willing to do without... this is how the Native American tribes wound up after the battles, remember. The seperation came much later.)
#2 is likely, assuming all goes well. If things go badly, however, #3 is incredibly probable.
Yours truly,
The wolfish,
Wanderer
)