The Bitterdale Rebellion

A conflict between the Empire and the various appointed Bandards of the Bitterdales, united by Earlwarden Ganu-Michino the Younger Earl Lathos Ganu-Michino the Younger of Fort Hoarbrand in open rebellion against the Empire.
The seeds of the Bitterdale Rebellion were planted during the Bitterdale incursions of 1606 EY, when goblinkin tribes were driven south of the Glittering Peaks by hunger. Earlwarden Lathos Ganu-Michino the Elder entreated the Second Empire for aid, asking for the garrisons stationed at Tor Harrian to detach troops to assist in the defence of the Dales. This request was denied, and ultimately, Earlwarden Lathos the Elder fell in battle defending Ambrette, a small town within the Dales. His fall was witnessed by Lathos the Younger, who inherited his father's title and a burning hatred for the Second Empire that had denied them aid.
The Bitterdales had been a mostly self-sufficient people, and resentment towards and Empire who offered little in the way of aid but collected tithes and taxes had been growing. Earlwarden Lathos the Younger found a powderkeg ready to be ignited, and soon began to foment rebellion among the Dale Lords.
In 1613 EY, against some slight purported to have been made by the captain of the garrison at Verbridge against one of the Dale Lords, Earlwarden Lathos marched his forces south and united with the other Lords to take and hold the garrison, expelling or taking prisoner the troops within. With this action, open rebellion against the Empire began.
This conflict has smouldered for the past seven years. Tor Harrian's resources, already stretched thin, have allowed them little lee-way to mount a counter-attack and re-take Verbridge and bend the Dales back to the will of the Empire. The Empress knows that open rebellion cannot continue, however, without putting her reign over the Empire at risk. Sooner or later she will commit forces to the retaking of the Dales, and given the pride and fierce independence of the common people of the Bitterdales, as well as the resentment harboured by the Bitterdale peerage, a bloodbath is likely to result.