Battle of the Rooftops
The Battle of the Rooftops was a short-lived uprising in the city of Birdseye, in which a small rebel group (known subsequently as Municipalists) was defeated by a much larger force of Roughguards. Much of the battle took place across the city's rooftops, giving the conflict its name.
Although the uprising ended in defeat for the Municipalists, the battle and its aftermath marks the beginning of the tensions between the Prince Regent and the citizens that have plagued the city ever since.
The Conflict
Prelude
On 11th Batast, 702, Prince Regent Edgar Terana declared that the jurisdiction of the City of Birdseye ended at the gate to the Bridge District, as the Bridge itself did not exist when the Act of Union was ratified. On the basis of this declaration, the Prince Regent claimed all taxes raised by the numerous shopkeepers and merchants of the bridge - a sizable portion of the city's entire economy - were payable to the Crown, and not to the city authorities. The reaction to the prince's claim came shortly afterwards, with an angry mob gathering on the bridge and burning an effigy of the prince regent. To the citizens of Birdseye, the prince's claim was more than just an attempt to seize the tax revenues of the Bridge; it was an attack on the sovereignty and self-determination of the city itself. In the face of public outrage, the Lord Guv attempted to negotiate with the Prince Regent, but was unsuccessful in reaching any common ground. In the eyes of the citizens, the Lord Guv and the municipal government was considered to be a reluctant accomplice in the prince's plan.
Deployment
In the days that followed the prince's declaration minor instances of conflict and resistance occurred: vandalism, fights, and other minor disturbances. Approximately a week after the prince's declaration, however, on the afternoon of Ennuary 5th, a large gathering of citizens formed in May Rannen Square, at the entrance to the Fairmaid Markets. At first, the gathering was angry but peaceful. As the afternoon wore on, however, the mood of the crowd grew increasingly restless, and more and more people began converging on the square.
Hearing of this, the prince ordered a detachment of Roughguard troopers to the markets, to prevent the protest becoming more unruly. The order backfired, however, as the presence of the Roughguard - a Birdsavian force, following the prince's orders - incited the crowd even further. Fighting broke out, resulting in the death of one trooper and three citizens.
As the scene descended further into chaos, reinforcements arrived to help the Roughguards control the situation. The arrival of the reinforcements caused many in the crowd to disperse, and return to their homes and businesses. Some, however, were prepared to fight, and so a series of street battles ensued between the Roughguard troopers and the defiant citizens.
The rebels, vastly outnumbered, lost more and more ground. In an effort to escape the troopers, the rebels - who came to be known as Municipalists - fled to the city's rooftops, where the architectural topography allowed them to hide, dodge, ambush and evade their pursuers. The Roughguards followed them onto the roofs, however, and thus began the battle of the rooftops.
Battlefield
The battle took place across the rooftops of the city. Due to the topography of Hoy's Torn and the city's architectural idiosyncrasies, the rooftops create a landscape with many ridges and valleys, corners and crossing points, towers and trenches. These features, along with the general reluctance of the non-combat population to turn on the Municipalists, made it very difficult for the Roughguards to subdue the rebels, as they had the ability to launch ambushes and disappear quickly before being overwhelmed.
While the combat eventually spread to almost all parts of the city's roofs, the fighting was fiercest in the area close to the Fairmaid Markets.
Outcome
On 9th Ennuary, shortly before midday, the remaining Municipalist rebels surrendered to the Roughguards. They had failed to incite a general revolt against the Prince Regent, and had suffered heavy losses. The Roughguards and Silkfaces, by contrast, had survived with relatively few casualties, and were gradually encircling the remaining fighters. Following an ultimatum to surrender, most of the rebels - 49 in total - permitted themselves to be taken into custody. A handful of the remaining combatants deserted the cause, and returned in secret to their homes.
The fate of the captured rebels now needed to be decided. In the city of Birdseye, treason is punishable by death, but there is an ancient law, the Law of Clemency, that can be invoked by those who surrender voluntarily. Once invoked, the law states that the citizenry may hold a referendum to decide the fate of the outlaws, with the results being either death, banishment or pardon. On the 13th Ennuary, therefore, many citizens gathered to cast their vote.
Fearing that the prisoners would escape execution, and that such an outcome would undermine his rule of the city, the prince ordered that all of the captured rebels should be killed immediately, before the votes could be counted. This order was carried out by the Silkfaces, while the Roughguards - unable to resist a direct order from the prince - were powerless to stop the bloodshed.
News of the massacre spread quickly through the city, and would likely have sparked fresh violence. Unwilling to underestimate the anger of the people a second time, the prince ordered an immediate crackdown. For the first time in the history of the city, patrols of Silkfaces were seen on the streets, and anyone voicing some form of dissent or anger was quickly dealt with. A climate of fear began to take hold of the city, which is still pervasive today.
Aftermath
The anger at the massacre was not just because it was a brutal act, or because if defied the peoples' right to vote on the matter. Much more seriously, the massacre was perceived as evidence that the autonomy of the city - something deeply valued by all Birdsavians - was being violated, and that the prince regent was determined to undermine all of the city's institutions, laws and traditions in his pursuit of total control over the city.
Birdsavians had always been relatively happy with the union they had formed with Cestrania. They had been granted the opportunity to continue running their lives more-or-less undisturbed, and the prince regent had been generally liked and respected. Indeed, the arrival of royal courtiers had brought a considerable economic boon to the city, and given many local citizens the opportunity to prosper.
The actions of Prince Regent Edgar Terana, however, revealed how fragile their security truly was, and threatened their autonomy and their culture. For loyal Birdsavians, the Prince - and the Union - were now seen as existential threats to their city. In the years since the battle and the massacre, anger and resistance have grown throughout the city. The royal response has consistently taken the form of crackdowns and arrests. The Silkfaces have become an ever more visible threat on the city's streets. People speak in fear, lest the prince's spies overhear them, and numerous stories abound of people disappearing for some act of defiance or apparent disloyalty.
The city authorities, meanwhile - including the Roughguard - have been reluctantly obliged to tow the prince's line. While it is common knowledge that the Roughguard are unwilling accomplices in the prince's reign of terror, they have nonetheless lost the respect and admiration of the populace that they had enjoyed for so many years.
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Urban
Start Date
5th Ennuary, 702
Ending Date
9th Ennuary, 702
Conflict Result
Defeat of the rebellion and capture of 49 Municipalist fighters
Location
Belligerents
Roughguards
Municipalists
Strength
411 Roughguard troopers
18 Silkface agents
18 Silkface agents
126 rebel fighters
Casualties
12 killed
9 wounded
9 wounded
39 killed
13 wounded
49 captured
13 wounded
49 captured
Objectives
To defeat the rebellion and restore order to the city
To incite a city-wide rebellion against the Prince Regent, with the goal of forcing a renegotiation of the union between Cestrania and Birdseye
11th Batast, 702: Prince Regent declares the jurisdiction of the city government ends at the gates to the Bridge District
5th Ennuary, 702: riots break out at May Rannen Square between Roughguards and Municipalists. The riots evolve into the Battle of the Rooftops
9th Ennuary, 702: remaining Municipalist rebels surrender to the Roughguards
13th Ennuary, 702: Birdseye's citizens assemble to vote on the fate of the captured Municipalists
13th Ennuary, 702: Silkfaces, following orders from the Prince Regent, execute all 49 captured Municipalists in Roughguard custody
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