Arcane Insurrection

The Proclamation of Arcane Governance

Emperor Medyr 'The Mad', lost to his paranoia, is convinced the mages are plotting against him, and responds by issuing the Proclamation of Arcane Governance, which enacts a law requiring all mages to declare themselves and is registered in a royal registry. All mages must swear obeisance to a noble house, if not House Cadogen. No mage may make use of their arcane arts but by leave of the House they serve. The House to which they swear obeisance must provide their mages with papers declaring their patronage. Further, if a mage fails or refuses to swear obeisance to a House, these mages will be imprisoned and judged accordingly.

In the weeks after the Proclamation of Arcane Governance, many mages fled Gath, while others attempted to live peacefully outside Gathian cities and towns, getting what things they needed to live from nearby hamlets instead. Others rebelled and fought against those that tried to apprehend the now criminal mages whose only crime was to be talented in the arcane arts. Often, these confrontations were violent and destructive, which in turn worked towards turning popular opinion against the mages. Those mages that were captured, often after one such violent and destructive confrontation, were often summarily 'judged' on the spot, and killed.

Surreptitious Insurrection

Unbeknownst to the Emperor, a very real plot to depose the Emperor and House Cadogan, spearheaded by House Pryde who were famous for their powerful mages, was being planned and prepared. Fearing Medyr's progressing madness, paranoia, and growing brutality, they sought to remove what most saw as the single largest threat to The Empire - The Emperor himself. Though no other Major House was officially involved, several members of these Houses were, contributing funds for mercenary companies, or providing troops so long as those troops did not carry House Banners, or wear House tabards. In addition, the entirety of a few Minor Houses also joined, pledging not only troops and resources but the entirety of their lands and holdings to the effort.

When the Proclamation of Arcane Governance was issued, House Pryde believed their plotting had been discovered by the Emperors infamous 'Shadehands', launched their bid to overthrow the Emperor and House Cadogan, though preparations were not complete.

Inexorable Advance

Several minor houses join House Pryde in their offensive, and though the opposition was more numerous, they could not stand against the scale of destruction brought down by the mages of House Pryde, whose armies became an inexorable juggernaut courtesy of a large number of constructs they had secretly been building over the course of several years. When the advance of the rebellion slowed, House Pryde would send in their constructs to break enemy formations or destroy enemy defensive fortifications.

The War Grinds to a Halt

By the spring of 1873, however, the war ground to a halt. House Pryde could not replace lost constructs quickly enough and began sending more mages to the front lines instead. Though they had far more offensive power than House Cadogen and the loyalists, they were met with far greater numbers. Neither side was able to make appreciable advances on the other. Toops became entrenched, and casualties mounted.

The Traitor

Seeing that no decisive win was on the horizon, Owena Pryde believed The Empire was vulnerable to conquest from outside forces. So too did she believe that her House has overstepped far beyond its right to do so. According to Lady Owena, that was when she was visited by a Taur'Amandil, though there is none to corroborate her story. This being of legend confirmed Owena's fears, and worse: she told her that if this war continued it would tip the balance of the world in a direction that could very well lead to its destruction. To prevent this, the Lady Owena claims that the Taur'Amandil imparted to her the knowledge to fight the mages of House Pryde and then, with what is described as a 'folding of reality' the Taur'Amandil was gone.

Birth of the Order of the Iron Cross

The Lady Owena Pryde, armed with a sheaf of parchment hastily bound in a makeshift journal, fled from House Pryde in the night, sneaking into the imperial capital of Ennesburg where she gained an audience with the Emperor, throwing herself on the mercy of the Emperor. Surprising everyone, the Emperor showed mercy, promising not to destroy House Pryde, and then ordered the creation of the Order of the Iron Cross, specially trained knights capable of hunting down and killing the rebellious mages of House Pryde.

Reversal of Fortunes

Many of the best knights of House Cadogen, as well as other major Houses, flocked to the banner of the Order of the Iron Cross. Armed with knowledge and new shields, the Order began to make their presence felt. Wherever mages fought by arcane means, the Iron Cross lead the charge against them. House Pryde, and the rebellion began to lose ground. Week after week, the rebellion was pushed back until first one, and then several of the other houses broke ranks, bending the knee once again to the Emperor, and House Cadogen.

The Submission of House Pryde

In 1874, Lord Arlen Pryde was but a shadow of himself. Having lost most of his forces, been betrayed by his most of his bannermen as well as his own wife who often led the Iron Cross into battle against her husband, and with few remaining constructs, he sent a messenger to arrange for his surrender. Believing this act to be the end of his House, and the destruction of his line, Lord Arlen also arranged for his children to be taken somewhere to safety without knowing where so that he could not give away their location under torture. As terms of his surrender, he requested the Emperor allow the fighting forces of House Pryde to join House Cadogen, rather than to be put to death. Additionally, he requested mercy for his children.

The Mad Emperor, somehow remembering the promise he made to Lady Owena, now Lord Commander of the Order of the Iron Cross, showed mercy. Though he ordered Lord Arlen to be beheaded for his crimes and absorbed House Pryde's fighting forces, he allowed them to keep the constructs as a means of defense. Additionally, he stripped House Pryde of the richest part of their lands as a means of ensuring that they would never again be powerful enough to pose a threat to House Cadogen. As a final act of judgment, he ordered every mage of House Pryde that did not carry the family bloodline to be put to death. Thus the Emperor kept his word, but not without imposing severe consequences.