Cull of '64

The Cull of '64 is a name informally applied by members of the Vale Verdial culture to a surge in violent crime that began in early 9964 AR and ended in late 9966 AR. The Cull is best understood as a confluence of religious, political, and criminal conflicts between the isolationist Asbestos Boys and the expansionist Verdant Order.

The Conflict

Prelude

Formed in 9966 AR from a group of rural, religiously-minded Vale Verdial men who resented the increasing influence of human and Rostran money in the Vale, the Asbestos Boys set about burglarizing ground-based customs warehouses in mid-9965 AR. The Asbestos Boys would then distribute some of the proceeds of their thefts to the needy, especially farmers; the goodwill generated by this activity meant that the Asbestos Boys could 'go to ground' by hiding in farmhouses and granaries, whereupon the owners would profess no knowledge of the Asbestos Boys' wereabouts to the authorites. While the Petalcap Vale Customs Authority did initiate investigations into these burglaries, they found little evidence and no (willing) witnesses to tie anyone specific to the crimes.
The Asbestos Boys remained undaunted by the potential consequences of their activities until they mistakenly stole a number of highly valuable crates of contraband goods belonging to members of the Verdant Order. Unlike the PVCA, the then-nascent Verdant Order had large amounts of money and influence to burn in hunting down the Asbestos boys, along with a corresponding lack of ethical qualms. Hand of the Order members uncovered several members of the Asbestos Boys and tortured them to death in the course of trying to get them to inform on their leaders.

The Engagement

A cycle of reciprocal violence soon developed between the Asbestos Boys and the Verdant Order. Whether directly engaged in by members of the organizations themselves or by various proxies interested in their causes, each faction tried to intimidate the other into submission by increasingly sensational and gruesome means. The conflict escalated from a few Hands and burglary ring members butchering eachother in the rural parts of the Vale, the violence soon spread into the urban centers. Asbestos fences and information-gatherers were sometimes scooped up into unmarked cars owned by the Hands, only to turn up dead in a ditch a day or two later. Meanwhile, those working for firms controlled by Verdant Order members found it difficult to safely move outside of the cities, as those caught at rest stops might suddenly find themselves under attack by angry farmers hewing at them with Vale gaffs.

Outcome

The Cull ended when numerous members of both groups were arrested and put to trial over the course of the years 9965 to 9667 AR. After all the known suspects were tried in court for their crimes, those found guilty were sentenced exile in the Distal Tesseract. As this was effectively a death sentence, the condemned were sent to Distal B by various means, including as test payloads for unproven airship and aircraft designs. In one notable case, in 9970 AR, sentenced members of the Verdant Order were loaded into a pressurized crew capsule to test out an experimental 'launch gun'; this pod did successfully parachute down in the targeted location in Distal B, but the project was ultimately scrapped when the device was deemed too much of a hazard to air travel for regular use.

Aftermath

Unfortunately, because the Verdant Order was (and remains) a wealthy and powerful organization deeply embedded in Vale political, social, and economic spheres, the larger organization was able to scapegoat their arrested members as individuals acting outside of the organization's knowledge or control. As a result, the Order was merely inconvenienced by the events of the Cull of '64, secretly seeing many more years of success before the first real injury to their power at the fists (and horns) of Ame Pfren in the Bamboo & Brass Resort.

Historical Significance

Legacy

It is possible that, having somehow survived the intervening years in isolation, the remnants of the Verdant-Order-in-exile might have been involved with carrying away The Horror Dusk Homunculi. As the Verdant Order remains a strong proponent of creating 'better' verdials to one day establish racial dominance over the Manifold Sky, these potential Racemic Verdial children would prove a boon for Verdant Order ambitions should they ever escape the Distal Tesseract.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Urban

Start Date

9964 AR

Ending Date

9966 AR

Conflict Result

All known participants were arrested, tried, and sentenced, though a few did evade identification and were never found. Dead-or-alive bounties remain open for any undiscovered participants.

Location

Petalcap Vale (municipality)

Belligerents

Verdant Order

• Verdant Order

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

• Punish the Asbestos Boys for opposing Verdant Order financial and political interests
• Frame the isolationist Asbestos Boys as 'products of criminal human influences,' 'enemies of the Vale's fortunes,' and 'societal dead weight' to gin up support for increased government authority and foreign adventurism

Asbestos Boys

• Asbestos Boys
• Vale Toil Front

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

• (VTF only) spur public resistance the Verdant Order
• Steal valuable trade goods
• Discourage foreign influence and commerce in the Vale
• Punish the Verdant Order for using lethal force on their members
• Evade capture by the Verdant order or Petalcap Vale Customs Authority

Petalcap Vale Law Enforcement

• Petalcap Vale
• Petalcap Vale Customs Authority
• Verdant Order

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

• Prevent further murders and reduce violent crime in general
• Arrest and prosecute all individuals involved in the conflict