it was a game of castles where both armies had come out from behind their hillocks and the final moves had commenced , roland 's father had said , and as was so often the case with popular revolutions , that game was apt to be over before many in the baronies of mid-world had begun to realize that john farson was a serious threat ... or , if you were one of those who believed passionately in his vision of democracy and an end to what he called `` class slavery and ancient fairy-tales , '' a serious agent of change .