| The Real Dirt On The Mole People |
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Problems With The Mole People Are Just Starting To Surface
But with unrelenting residential growth, this delicate equilibrium hangs in the balance. Humans are beginning to infringe on the subterranean dwellers' underground lands with sewage & water systems, new landfill projects, large-scale swimming pool construction, not to mention secured underground parking. The quiet lifestyle of the usually peaceful and gentle Mole People is being disturbed and uprooted. Social anthropologists warn that unless something is done soon the Mole People may dig deeper and eventually come back to hunt and eat the Surface Dwellers, or at the very least enslave the humans, condemning them to an eternal servitude of ore mining, mushroom picking and Mole People manicures. Growth isn't just on the surface, however. The Mole People civilization has also been expanding substantially in recent years. A subterranean urban sprawl is undermining homes and shopping centres, due to a strong underground economy and a lack of natural bedrock. Taking advantage of their core strengths, the Mole People have developed a strong mining industry, solid investments in mineral and precious gem exploration, and the exploitation of gullible humans using popular homeopathic remedies like echinacea and edible clay. On the surface, things seem to be fine between the two neighbouring species, but resentment simmers not far below--and above--the surface. Some humans, who believe that the Mole People are beneath them (well, they literally are), claim that the dirt-digging denizens are responsible for creating sink holes and are intentionally undermining the foundations of Surface City. Vast networks of tunnels, caves, and chambers have been found stretching just under the metropolis, sometimes mere meters below the lowest parking level. The Mole People, on the other clawed hand, claim that new human-built foundations are endangering the lives of infant moles by rupturing the ceilings of activity hives or flooding entire travel tubes with ruptured water pipes. Many think that both sides are making mountains out of mole hills. But in an ugly incident last year, a newly-laid sewer pipe broke when it fell through a historically sensitive Mole People cavern. A spate of mysterious sewage system back-ups followed, until the Surface City mayor agreed to pay for the cost of cleaning up the cave. The Dirty War, as it was called, was the impetus behind a series of summits where human and Mole People leaders dug into issues that affected both species. Fortunately, none of the participants were afraid to get their hands dirty and many buried resentments were unearthed and grievances aired. Issues that had been kept in the dark were brought forward and discussed. There was some mugslinging at first, but to the Mole People, that was just good clean fun, and they eventually paid the humans' drycleaning bills. The challenge, now, is to see whether it was all just hot air, or whether a real change in attitude and understanding has been forged. 
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