Fortress of the Swamp Queen

All art is mine unless otherwise credited <3 - Theo/invadersforever

Rise of the Swamp Queen

The Swamp Queen's reign took place during the Second Faerian Civil War. Accounts disagree on the Queen's gender, so they/them pronouns will be used in this article.
The Swamp Queen was a radical Warlock leader who gained a strong following during the closing days of the Storm Dynasty. Following the assassination of Emperor Storm the XVI, they lead the founding of the first Warlock kingdom.
Ths was unheard of, as prior to this the Warlocks had been viewed more as a sub-cultural movement than a distinct culture. While the first warlocks were, in fact, a social movement in an effort to legalize magical experimentation, the groups who fled Emberton had developed their own society in the swamps.
During the Second Faerie Civil War, the Swamp Queen and their followers formed the Kingdom of Zerala, named after the infamous warlock botanist Zerala the Mad. Zerala served throughout most of the war as a safe refuge for Warlock, Nature Mage, Wild Mages, and anyone fleeing the horrors of the war.

Construction of the Fort

Key to the safety of Zerala was the Swamp Queen's Fortress, a massive fort that guarded the Kingdom and provided a refuge for civilians should the Kingdom ever come under attack.
The Fortress was constructed the same year as Zerala was founded. The Swamp Queen themself oversaw its construction, and later planned and led its defenses. The fortress is made of stone, with a massive set of brass covered doors. It has five large towers on the outer wall, two smaller towers on either side of the gate, and sufficient infrastructure within the walls to support the population of Zerala though several months of siege.
The Fortress is also rumoured to have had all the latest in magical defense innovation. As a kingdom for warlocks this makes sense.
While the fortress was initially built to be a practical defense building, it became more fancy as the years went by. The Swamp Queen had a policy that the Fortresses design would be re-evaluated and ungraded at least once a year, and more often if any impressive innovations had been made. This not only kept the fortress at the top of the game defense wise, but also gave time to add art, decorative architecture, and a library rumoured to include all known warlock writings at the time.

Reign of the Swamp Queen

The Kingdom of Zerala was able to survive much of the war unscathed. No one particularly likes battling in a dense swamp, and the impenetrable fortress provided great defence. Additionally, the Swamp Queen themself commanded quite the terrifying presence on the battlefield. While they rarely engaged in combat, it was not uncommon for the Queen to go alone to warn off any armies that got too close to Zerala's borders.
To those outside of Zerala, the Swamp Queen was a terrifying, but refreshingly neutral entity. Peaceful enough to warn them they were too close, but dangerous enough to handle entire armies single-handedly.
To the inhabitants of Zerala, the Queen was a loyal and compassionate ruler who took great care in protecting their people. Zerala was one of the few good places to live during the War.

"You see, at night we could hear battles, sometimes 10 or even 5 kilometers away. You could here the fighting and see smoke and magic flying. I was really scared on those nights.
But then my parents would tell me that the Queen had already gone out, and that the fortress was prepped. As long as the Queen and their knights were here, nothing could hurt us."

A warlock who grew up near Zerala, in an interview about forgotten historical figures

Fall of the Swamp Queen

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. However, it isn't entirely clear what that end was exactly. Zerala was thriving under the Swamp Queen's protection, and none of the local kingdoms were willing to touch it. All seemed well.
And then one morning a battle was spotted on the horizon, but the Queen was not seen leaving to establish the border. Concerned Zeralan's soon also noted that there were no fires burning in the guard towers and no one had seen a knight leave the fortress in many hours. A small team of warlock fighters were sent to investigate the fortress. What they found was truly harrowing.

"We.. we first knew something horrid was afoot when we opened the gates. All the defenses were down, they had been smash, slashed, burned, all deliberately destroyed. And then we started finding bodies."

A member of the search party, recounting what was discovered in the Queen's Fortress that day

What exactly happened to the Swamp Queen and their knights remains a mystery. One of the most popular theories is that one of the neighboring Kingdoms launched a covert attack during the night. However, the Swamp Queen was neutral and no one tried to overtake Zerala for quite a while, making this seem unlikely.
Another theory is that some kind of fight broke out between rival factions of knights. This theory is considered even less likely though, as there is no evidence that factions existed within the Fortress and none of the knights were positioned as though they had been fighting each other, or even fighting at all.

Cursed Or Sacred? The Mystery of the Ruined Fort

While we may never know what happened to the Swamp Queen and their knights, one thing is for sure. No one after the initial search party has entered the old Fortress and lived to tell the tale.
The first instance of this occured when a nearby warlord conquered Zerala about a year after the Swamp Queen's death. Out of respect for their dead Queen, and fear of what may have killed them, the Zeralan people had not entered the fort since the morning of it's fall. However, the warlord wanted to get her hands on whatever treasures and secrets the fort held.
A scouting party was sent to the ruin, but never returned. After a second scouting party also disappeared into the ruins, the warlord began to suspect the land was cursed. In response to this, the local Zeralan’s began praising the ‘sacred’ ruins for killing the conquers. Zerala passed hands several more times, with quite a few of the owners attempting to enter the Fortress. All attempts failed when those who entered failed to return.
Finally, the Kingdom who owned Zerala signed a treaty with the new Emperor Eternity I, making it officially part of the newly reinstated Faerie Empire. During the Eternity Dynasty, Zerala and several other regions were granted limited autonomy.
As proceedings in the official dissolution of the Faerie Empire continue, Zerala may soon become their own independent kingdom again. Whether or not it will last without the Queen’s protection is unclear, but many locals are optimistic.

“I’ve seen dozens of flags fly [in Zerala] over the years, but so long as our Queen’s fortress stands they mean nothing. We are Zerala, whatever you try to call us. And we have persisted, so that we might always be Zerala. In the name of our Queen, Sovereign of the Swamps, and her knights, we will have our own flag again.”
--Speech by the high councilor of the Zeralan province, at dissolution negotiations in Emberton

Type

Fortress

Parent Location

Faerie