Amaran Terrorism

Amaran Terrorism refers to an ongoing crisis in the region of Volodaria: a series of campaigns of espionage, sabotage and terror that have severely disrupted trade in the area, as well as caused a major refugee crisis. These campaigns are perpetrated by followers of Amar, based in the Free City of Amara, who believe that it is their mission to purge the south of imperial influence and restore the ancient Aelder Wood. The Empire of Nara Tok has so far been unable to properly quash the Amarans, suffering a major military defeat during the Siege of Amara, mostly due to the Amaran alliance with Aelluin, the Summoner, a powerful member of the Maea Sundemari.
The Amaran movement began in the early fourth century IF, when the prophet Amar rose to prominence in the town of Viala. Amar claimed to have received a message from the goddess Daisha, benefactor of the ancient Aeldrin people. Amar told the Vialans that the goddess had grown angry with the failures of the Volodarin, and that she sought loyal followers, who would survive her eventual wrath. Amar encouraged the citizens of Viala to join him, in returning to their spiritual roots, and reclaiming the stolen lands of their ancestors. While Amar was eventually arrested and executed, his mission survived him, his final words becoming a battle-cry for his followers: Ilar-i Vad. Rebirth through Blood. The Qai'din were never able to fully excise Amar's cult from the town, and over the decades their influence only grew, as they set about indoctrinating the discontent in Viala and the surrounding towns.
The Amaran cult remained underground for many years, before finally becoming active again during the early years of Thaerseimai. In 393 IF, riots and violent protests began to occur throughout the town of Viala. The insurgents employed magical explosives in operations conducted against the city's garrison and government. In 396 IF, these operations culminated in the Amarans taking control of Viala's parliament building, and massacring the town council. When the Vialan garrison attempted to take the building back, they were attacked by cultists hidden among the city's civilians, and many were killed. Remnants of their forces continued to combat the Amaran rebels for several weeks, but to no avail. Eventually they were wiped out, almost to a man. The Free City of Amara had officially been born.
The Amarans were not content to rest upon their laurels - their ambitions were far greater than Viala. The Amaran cultists were able to contact the Sundemari, who provided the Amarans with weapons and military training, for their own incomprehensible reasons. This allowed the Amarans to expand their military operations on neighbouring towns and villages, taking many captives and slaughtering any who refused to join them. Amaran troops also conducted raids on trading caravans between Astria and the Halfling Crews, as a means of isolating the Qai'din in Astria.
This military campaign was accompanied by campaigns of sabotage that took place across the region. The Amarans hid agents among refugees fleeing from their own forces, and were able to set up networks of their sympathisers throughout the largest Astrian settlements. A year after the Amaran rebellion, the cult of Amar began to employ these networks in missions meant to destabilise the Amaran government, and scare away imperial loyalists. Their agents employed magical explosives and poisons to assassinate key government officials, and disrupt important pieces of infrastructure, spreading terror through the Imperial settlements. The Amaran campaign stretched as far west as Astria and Luria, the very limits of the Qai'din's power. Fearing for their lives, many imperial citizens fled west, to Lucrenia.
At the height of the Amaran offensive, they were able to strike a blow at the very heart of the Qai'din. Magical bombs were planted within their councillors own chambers, killing three of their number. The catastrophe was barely contained by Astrian authorities, and for a long time, the city's populace grew wild with terror, and many suspected Amarans were killed by vigilantes. In the ensuing investigations, the city's authorities uncovered a large cell of Amaran sympathisers across the city's lower classes, however they were unable to capture these sympathisers before they were captured and lynched by scared Astrian citizens, who would go on to form the Vala.
Even after the success of the Vengeance Campaign, Amaran spies continue to support a culture of fear and violence across the region. General Vraidan Ffandor's failed Siege of Amara has severely damaged the Empire's reputation within the area, and as time passes, the continuing success of Amaran spies has destroyed all faith in the Qai'din government. Rumours continue to grow that the Emperor himself has plans to finally eradicate the Amaran threat, and take personal control of the troublesome province, though these rumours are poorly substantiated.