Gabriel's Revolt

Revolution

Gabriel’s Revolt: The Moon Lord’s Defiance

Gabriel Vesuvius, Count of Vesuvia, was not a man born to obey. He was a visionary, a radical, and ultimately, a martyr. His rebellion against the Empire of Arcanaan was swift and brutal, a storm that promised change but was drowned in blood before it could take root.

The Cause and the Spark

The seeds of Gabriel’s defiance were planted long before his open declaration of war. As a noble of Castere, he witnessed firsthand the brutal realities of the Empire’s slave economy. He saw the suffering of chimeras, enslaved at birth for the sins of their ancient forebears, and the disdain for the nephilim of Sagus, astral-blooded beings denied citizenship despite their immense power and fealty to the empire. Gabriel’s vision was one of reformation: the abolition of slavery, the recognition of chimeras and nephilim as full citizens, and the establishment of a ruling senate in place of the imperator’s absolute rule.

It was a bold dream, but he was not alone in it. Gabriel’s charisma was legendary, earning him the moniker “The Moon Lord” from his followers, a title symbolizing the light of his ideals shining in the darkness of oppression. Many noble houses listened to his impassioned pleas, but few dared to fully commit to his cause. Those who did—House Althares of Miradell, House Tiberian of the Northern Marches, and the minor lords of the Sunless Basin—would pay the ultimate price for their defiance.

The War for Reform

Gabriel’s revolt began with a daring assault on Castere's ducal capital of Solva, seizing its armories and treasury in a move that stunned the empire. His forces, a mix of disgruntled nobles, freed slaves, and mercenaries, marched toward Arcana, the imperial heartland. Along the way, Gabriel sent envoys to the nephilim of Sagus, pleading for their support, but the astral-blooded remained silent. Some feared entanglement in mortal wars, others simply did not believe Gabriel could succeed. Their absence was a heavy blow, but the rebel lord pressed on.

Opposing him was Grand Marshal Caius Renatus, the empire’s foremost tactician, leading the Royal Army with unwavering loyalty. Renatus, a veteran of countless Numirian campaigns, knew that Gabriel’s forces, though inspired, lacked the discipline of the imperial legions. Under his command, the Royal Army crushed Gabriel’s allies in the Battle of Blackstone Fields, forcing the rebellion into retreat.

Undeterred, Gabriel waged a desperate guerrilla war, his forces melting into the countryside, striking from the shadows, and fading before the empire could retaliate. But the tide turned when the treacherous Lord Varian Castos, once a secret supporter of the rebellion, betrayed Gabriel’s whereabouts to the imperator’s agents in exchange for amnesty. In the dead of night, the Moon Lord was captured outside the ruins of Vexora, his dreams undone by betrayal.

The Trial and the Aftermath

Gabriel was paraded through the streets of Arcana in chains, a living testament to the empire’s might. His trial was swift and merciless, presided over by Magistrate Sylvaine Devarra, a judge of the Ostia Aterni, who declared him a traitor and sentenced him to public execution. Before the gathered crowds, Gabriel met his end by beheading, his final words echoing across the square: “You cannot unmake the dawn.”

His execution was meant to quell the rebellion, but instead, it ignited something deeper within the noble class. While his most devoted allies were hunted down and eradicated, whispers of discontent spread. The nobles who had hesitated to join him now feared that if one man could nearly topple the empire, an organized slave uprising might finish the job. The imperator, shaken by the rebellion’s implications, imposed harsher restrictions on the lower castes, but the cracks in Arcanaan’s foundation had been revealed.

Even the nephilim of Sagus, though they had not fought for Gabriel, watched with newfound wariness. His failure had proven that the empire feared them, and fear is a potent catalyst for change. Though centuries would pass before the echoes of Gabriel’s dream bore fruit, his name lived on, whispered by those who still believed in a world beyond chains.

Thus, Gabriel’s Revolt ended in blood, but its legacy endured in shadow and flame, a reminder that even a fallen moon can set the sky alight.