The Deverenian Rebellion
Rise of the Rebellion
Recent events, though, that’s where things get really juicy. In a routine purging of dissidents, Ne’er-do-wells, and the literate, the Church of the Storm labeled a local school teacher, Keziah Loris, as a dissident and spy who dared to teach the peasants dangerous things like reading and writing or history. A sham trial, okay all trials are shams in Deverenia, was held and Keziah was hanged in the public square by Master Inquisitor Mastus himself. Much to the chagrin of the Inquisitor, her body disappeared over night, despite being under guard, and the woman was found in her makeshift school. Not one to give up, that Inquisitor burned the school and the woman, but it didn’t stick and she simply reappeared the next day. Unsure of how to handle the situation, the woman was thrown into the deepest cell they had and left to rot.
It didn’t take long for the rumors to spread of an immortal witch that had the power to stand against the oppression of the Church of the Storm and the High Prince of the land. The Lady Jenia Aedroud, Prince of Fovoham, was a barely present leader who spent her days stealing from her people to fuel her lavish parties and obsession with beautiful things. Of all the princes, local resentment was the highest in her province of Fovoham. It also didn’t help that she had recently executed the brother of her own personal guard for “treason”. Her personal guard, with help from some mercenaries, opportunists, and most of the common people, invaded the Prince’s home during one such party and proceeded to butcher every single family member of the Aedroud family along with those belonging to the Church. They freed the imprisoned Keziah and announced that an armed revolution was nigh.
Seemingly overnight, dissidents, impoverished minor nobles, and angry peasants rose together to battle the remnants of the Aedroud family and its forces. The Revolution, led by the ex-personal guard captain General Finnith, was ultimately successful. With that success, the rebellion became emboldened, and a surge of angry chaos swept across the nation with the Black Sun and the High King as their prey.
The next to fall was Prince Blackthorne of Algost. Allies of the Rebellion in the form of wandering freedom fighters, do gooders, outside agents no doubt from Valadir or further north all flocked to the cause. The woman Keziah had been labeled the “Angel of Freedom” and a quasi cult sprung up around her. Part of the angry mob loosely re-organized as the Army of Western Deverenia which proved to be semi-coherent. However, the greatest ally of the rebellion were the rest of the High Princes. You see, so arrogant were the rest of the princes that they would be able to handle a rag-tag warband, and so unwilling were they to sacrifice personally to help a rival Prince, that the rest of the Princes simply sat by and watched as first Aedroud fell and then Blackthorne followed. I heard a rumor in the meeting hall that when news of Blackthorne’s castle being destroyed by a falling airship reached the High Prince Rellion that he said, “I’ll have to thank the rebels for killing that unlikable bastard for me.” So that about also sums up how the Princes feel about each other.
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