Jules of Kumsu

Jules of Kumsu
Jules performing on the corner of Kumsu Market Street, November 1943
████	c. 2018, Kumsu
Died	Unknown (presumed post-2043)
Cause of death	Starvation or displacement
Occupation	Street musician
Known for	Naming the Hunger Riots of Kumsu
Instrument	Cello
Notable work	The Lament of Empty Shelves (1943)
Location of unrest	Kumsu, Ulmarka

Jules of Kumsu was a street musician in the coastal district of Kumsu, a working-class port city on the northern seaboard of Ulmarka. ████ circa 2018, he played a battered cello at street corners throughout the late 2030s and early 2040s. Known for improvising melancholic tunes during times of economic hardship, his performances became a local fixture before the onset of the regional crisis that would define his historical legacy.

The 2043 Ulmarkan Famine was a famine in the Ulmarkan Empire between January 2043 and June 2044, in which an estimated 2.8 to 3.6 million people died of starvation and related disease, most of them in the coastal Ulmarkan Protectorates and the northern districts of Ulmarka. Witnesses recalled that as authorities attempted to disperse the agitated masses, Jules began playing a melody described as "so sad it made the air heavy." When officials ordered him to stop, he refused to cease his performance until he had finished his piece. This act of defiance while violence erupted around him gave the ensuing disturbances their name: the Hunger Riots of Kumsu.

The famine did not weaken the regime of Emperor ███████. The government refused most foreign aid, suppressed reporting of the deaths, and blamed the shortages on sanctions and on followers of the Cult of Landon. Archives from 2044 note that the riots resulted in dozens of injuries and several deaths among the displaced, though the music itself played no causal role in the fatalities. Despite the violence being attributed to hunger and desperation rather than sonic aggression, the name stuck permanently in historical accounts of the 2043 Ulmarkan Famine.

The government refused most foreign aid, suppressed reporting of the deaths, and blamed the shortages on sanctions and on followers of the Cult of Landon. His instrument was recovered by a local scavenger two days later on a nearby quay; it was found still playing an unfinished phrase, a detail that entered urban folklore within weeks. Memorials to the event appear in district records and school histories of Kumsu, but his exact fate remains unknown, with some locals suspecting he perished from starvation or displacement during the subsequent crackdowns.

Jules was born in the working district of Kumsu on the coast of Ulmarka. His parents were labourers employed in the shipyards and canning factories that serviced the Salt Coast, a region heavily affected by the Protectorate Wars and subsequent martial law. By the late 2030s, economic conditions had deteriorated sharply as grain shipments were diverted to supply military outposts and elite households in the interior.

He began playing music on street corners throughout the early 2040s, using a second-hand cello he had acquired for about sixty credits. His improvisations focused on melancholic tunes that reflected the mood of the district: hunger, cold winters, and the quiet desperation of families standing in line for rations. Local shopkeepers sometimes paid him small amounts to keep the noise level down during delivery hours, but others viewed his presence as a necessary soundtrack to their daily suffering.

During this period, he was noted for his ability to adapt his melodies to match the immediate atmosphere. In moments of intense rain or snow, his playing would slow and deepen; in times of relative calm, he played lighter, faster passages that suggested hope rather than despair. These variations made him a favourite among residents who found solace in the rhythm of his bow against strings.

On an unspecified night in 2043, crowds gathered outside food warehouses in Kumsu to protest starvation and empty shelves caused by harvest failures across Ulmarka. The 2043 Ulmarkan Famine had begun that year after a cold, wet summer destroyed crops in the north-eastern provinces. Hunger drove desperate measures: families ate bark and boiled leather scraps; children were sent out to beg for crumbs from passing trucks.

When authorities attempted to disperse the agitated masses, Jules began playing a melody described by witnesses as "so sad it made the air heavy." He stood on a raised crate near the warehouse entrance, ignoring shouts from police officers who tried to approach him with batons. When officials ordered him to stop, he refused to cease his performance until he had finished his piece.

• 2043 Ulmarkan Famine
• Kumsu
• Ulmarkan Empire
• Protectorate Wars