Editing Iron Gold Conflict

''“A Leader is a Dealer in Hope.”''

== '''I . Whitemaw in Flames''' ==
It began with broken glass. Squabbling, arguing, and words laced with venom dominated the halls of Velkoryn’s stronghold. Debates over law, succession, and the fate of the kingdom left the gathering blind to all that was happening outside the walls, as it seemed each noble was more interested in advancing their vision than reaching any real compromise. Shouts, the sound of snow crunching beneath poorly made shoes, and the sight of torches were first seen in the treeline just beyond the walls. Then… a great storm.

Scribes, academics, and witnesses described what they saw as a manifestation of something divine, though some used the term only as hyperbole. Nonetheless, sheets of snow and hail struck the castle with such intensity that the very glass that protected the crown society hall shattered under its onslaught. The guards atop the walls were forced to take shelter, and Thul’s troops camped nearby had begun to retreat. Only the druids, the closest followers of Aodh, and any mages nearby could discern what was happening. The wrath of a growing resentment left unchecked had now snapped, and was coming for all they deemed responsible for it. 

A large mob of peasants stormed the walls of the castle, setting fire to the reconstructed gate and preparing to storm the castle itself. At the head of the mob charged Aodh himself, wielding a combination of magic and blade as he scaled the walls to assist his followers. Bloodsworn and Thul house guard fought together, but were pushed back or cut down. Rage and desperation drove these people, and none with the skill of arms would instill fear in their step. Inside the castle, Ajai and Hans Thul tirelessly commanded the garrison, barking commands and organizing a defense as Lord Tallwood assisted in preparing an escape route. The arguments that dominated the castle had been long forgotten when the first gate fell.

Prince Arthur and Lord Thul were among those who took to the courtyard to aid in the defense, along with Dornzar and Valmias who had taken the walls at first contact. In a desperate effort, Violetta was allowed to take up arms in defense of the royals, and joined the Prince and Dominour outside. Many fell before them. Tales would long regale the sight of enemies now reconciled, fighting back to back against an unstoppable horde. Lord Fiann himself had arrived late, but was now trapped within the courtyard with his men who were now defending the gate with the others. What was a simple request for land might now become his grave if he didn’t fight, and fight he did. 

The attack soured, and soon the courtyard was swamped by angry peasants and Aodh himself. Prince Arthur had gone missing, and Velkoryn had left with Violetta to secure the Princesses inside. Fortunately, enough time had been bought for Lord Tallwood and Princess Lucilla to find a viable exit. With the bloodsworn and princesses in tow, the nobles would begin their escape to the snowy wastes of the north. Outside, Valmias had found Aodh and engaged him in a duel, attracting the attention of the soldiers around them. While Aodh was quite magically adept, the skull legionnaire of House Dungeon was a brutal fighter, a brute himself by all accounts. Steel met steel, as the mad dogs of Aodh’s mob gnashed their teeth with the potential of their leader dying in front of them. That fear, as Valmias raised his sword with each precise strike, came to pass. Instead of letting the brute have his way, the peasants swarmed. Knives found weaknesses in the armor and pitchforks attempted to pierce plate armor. Then, from the castle entrance. Velkoryn, Leto Tallwood, and Violetta de Piedmont charged from the barricaded defenses, their retinues and entourages behind them. The peasants fell before them in droves. Violetta, once a guard to Oweth himself, fought Aodh and saved Valmias from certain death, dragging him back toward the castle with the help of Ajai Thul. Caine Desserimont fought alongside Leto and Velkoryn, the three demonstrating great proficiency as the peasants attempted to fight them in vain. Yet the ferocity would have its day. 

Even in the brief reprieve, the Lords were forced to retreat from the castle. The storm continued to batter the walls and castle innards. Snow covered the dead and hail pelted the armor of those inside. Fleeing from knife-wielding revolutionaries, the nobles used secret tunnels once built by cultists in the days of House Blackblood to reunite with the princesses who had already used them to escape into the white expanse. Before dawn, Whitemaw was put to the torch.

== '''II . Anarchy and Opportunism''' ==
They say a lie will have its day before the truth sees the light. Stories spread throughout the kingdom, from the Forks to the Moors to the Greenwood southward to Aracellia and the First Republic. The royals had been slaughtered, and the peasants had won. Aodh would come to be hailed as a great hero among his followers. The man who brought down an oppressive kingdom, the man who killed the titans of nobility. While these stories filled the hearts of radical elements with great joy and splendor, they inspired fear in the noble class. Fears of revolution became commonplace, and without royal guidance to help them many nobles would come to fear the peasant’s rope more than imperial institutions. Those fears were not unwarranted.

First they came for Aracellia. A realm locked down by tight restriction became the perfect breeding ground for radicalism. Peasants, led by a charismatic figure among the merchant class, stormed the barracks of townships in Cholsey, Ruevogne, Laitones, and Descluse. Allegiance broached across economic class, as all who lived outside of aristocracy were harmed by trade restrictions. These rebels branded themselves by a new name, freeing themselves from even the authority of northern druids like Aodh. They dubbed their movement the ‘Plaisignon League’, an ode to their leader of the same name. Pierre de Plaisignon became a mythic figure among the revolts of the south, a man whose words inspired surrender in even the most ardent supporters of House Viellery. 

Provinces began to pick sides, while some fell to rebellion. Pierre quickly stormed Auxerre-Sur, Beun, and Epiny, securing his eastern flank against armies from Pays d’Ete. Meanwhile, Viellery had organized her own army under the command of her generals, quickly retaking Ruevogne and Cholsey. It wouldn’t be enough. Democratic sentiment spread across Coeuronie as foot shortages afflicted the minds of its victims with the wind of change. New and organic rebellions, though the truly sporadic nature is still debated, sprouted up in Nerpois, Saint Prille, and even Aracellia itself. The army fought bravely and admirably, but when it was discovered that the members of House Viellery had fled their castles, the final nail had been driven into the coffin of the Aracellian hierarchy. 

Vicious repression and violence followed. The establishment of what would be infamously known as the “Plaisignon Courts” saw nobles, even those who protested the trade restrictions, face the headsman's axe. A new device of execution, the guillotine, saw hundreds of aristocrats massacred simply for their status. 

In other regions of the kingdom, the sentiment continued to infect the minds of the peasantry with mixed results. In the Heartlands, peasants who expressed great anger at the inquisition in the past had taken the opportunity to attempt a similar rebellion as that of Pierre de Plaisignon, but met stiff opposition. Inquisitors from Houses Fletcher and Janus were quick to restore order before the flames reached Wakendor, though the provinces of Holtwick, Wheatloss, and Strummingway could not be saved. In the Moors, a similar rebellion broke out in the province of Fingul. Dinnren, Swindon, and Tonwys all saw the death of their nobility and the establishment of commoner councils called the ‘Druid Communes'. In Amiett and Caeriolet, the nobles had already fled to their countryside estates out of fear. 

A realm in chaos. House Ruhl in the Fells had disappeared entirely, splitting the territory in two between loyalists to Friedrich in Ruddleburg and loyalists to Ruhl in Niederland. Clashes erupted in Nordweg and Grauerbau as both sides solidified their claims. Primea suffered peasant revolts under the Plaitignon doctrine in Polissus, Brie, Leujou, and Makras. With Lord Borja missing, Thyresia became a hotbed for violence. 

Finally in Arandous, calamity and old grudges. For some time, the peasants had full control of Arandous and the surrounding countryside, lacking the palace to complete Aodh’s vision. However, to say they were dormant during this period is to miss the true genius of their plot. Deep tunnels had been dug underneath Arandous, hovels being built into the sewers as they spread toward the palace. It is speculated that dwarven radicals assisted with this, but it was never confirmed. Then, a ground quake. Inside the palace, bloodsworn and servants alike scrambled to escape as the structure of the palace itself began to destabilize and collapse in on itself. As the palace staff fled into the countryside, the palace’s destruction saw its completion with the destruction of the King’s estate. By the end of the day the property was in utter ruin, looted and ransacked by peasants from Arandous. 

== '''III . For the Love of the People''' ==
On the island of Wight, the sound of horns bellowed from the damp wooden decks of the Bronfyre fleet. Aboard stood the bastard Prince himself, with his entourage of commanders behind him all clad in their proud armor. Just across the small stretch of sea between them and the island, the first wave of Bronfyre troops had made landfall and had begun their assault. It seemed, for better or for worse, the islands of Maireann and Wight both suffered from Plaitignon’s southern rebellion. A man named Dietrich Tisch, a merchant from a peasant family, took over the island after violently seizing arms belonging to the beleaguered barracks.

A great battle for the island ensued. Armed peasants held the line valiantly in towns across both islands, proclaiming themselves as the heralds of freedom and democratic rule. In Witchbed, Marton led a small force of heartland troops to take back a peasant stronghold, crushing the local garrison and capturing several leaders. In Soarsted, the bronze armies suffered a defeat by ambush after Dietrich attacked them in a mountain pass. The bloody conflict would last almost six months, with neither side really shifting the tide and the local townsfolk making it difficult for the Bronfyre invaders. On Maireann, the bronfyre forces faced more stiff resistance. Marton had ordered an army led by Erasmus to storm Dunlow, the old township of Clive. The peasants there had rallied under a similar democratic banner, though a far more radical druidic form than the one formulated by Dietrich Tisch. Their leader had fashioned himself as Clive the Second, claiming to be the lost son of the old folk hero. This whipped up the peasants into a frenzy, charging the landing force of Commander Erasmus with their seized armaments. 

It was only due to Erasmus’ great skill accumulated from the Siege of Arandous that he was able to prevail, and soon Maireann fell into Bronfyre hands. The island of Wight fell shortly after, the Dragon Isles now firmly in the hands of Prince Marton. 

News of revolts and successful democratic revolutions reached the ears of nobles across the realm. Some banded together, notably in the Heartlands. Inquisitors, Fletcher soldiers, and volunteers from Camden’s Plain united together under the banner of the Triumite Church. The Holy Concordat, as they would come to be called, began marching across the Eastern Heartlands and Cliffs regions to assist in keeping the peace. This did not go without pushback.

As charismatic rulers rose up in Aracellia, the Highlands, and the Dragon Isles, a similar phenomenon arose in the Northern Cliffs. Under the banner of depowering what he viewed as a corrupt church, a man named Emiliano Barral led armed militias of Neo-Orthodox rebels in the northern Cliffs, seizing the provinces bordering the Heartlands. The Naclerians had been swept up in the crisis at Whitemaw and were not able to muster a significant defense in time. Countless nobles were decapitated in brutal campaigns, and churches belonging to bastionist minorities were put to the torch. Stories of inquisitors being hung from wooden stakes and crosses became commonplace in the untouched countryside. Such defilement had not been seen since the sieges of St. Jenavene in the East. 

A war ensued on the border of the Cliffs, as the Holy Concordat arrived to do battle with the rebels. These rebels were not only well equipped, but supported by the local levy and the captains that led them. Percival Fletcher, Edward Fletcher, and Wilmot Janus led the campaign, forcing the rebels out of Porthaven and Whistlewood before clashes began in Monterroja and Ansierra. Emiliano Barral’s folk legend among the people had grown to such a degree that the fanaticism outran any prior fear of the church. Inquisitors earned their worth, preventing potential ambushes by weeding out rebel elements in small villages across enemy territory, but suffered significant losses in turn. Ombardo and Marzaria became the new standard bearers for rebellious sentiment in the region, establishing peasant councils to manage their villages and throwing off the chains of their prior nobility. Despite their early momentum and Emiliano’s reputation, the Holy Concordant had successfully pushed the rebels southward to their holdings in Ombardo, Terrin, Piele, and Marzaria, but were unable to pierce further without incurring the wrath of the Cliffs nobility. They returned as heroes to Wakendor however, having showed to the realm that there was still order and strength in the aristocracy. 

== '''IV . The Councils of Fate''' ==
In Aracellia, Dietrich Tisch, who had escaped prison in the Dragon Isles, met with Pierre de Plaitignon and Emiliano Barral to plot their next course of action. Aodh was notably absent, but a representative of the druids was sent from the northern rebel garrison at Whitemaw. They knew it was only a matter of time before the nobles mustered a force that would overcome their peasant rebellions, unless they united together against them. Pierre de Plaitignon held great sway over the others, having gathered a peasant force large enough from Primea and the Grapelands to overcome even the nobles who had tried to retake their holds. Bickering over the exact powers of the new government lasted for days, with each side needlessly shaming one another for their lack of democratic obligation and commitment to the cause. Nonetheless, the three signed a treaty declaring a Republic of Reveia, aligning themselves with the peasants and criminals who had taken Arandous. 

Countless provinces saw small-scale unrest, either fearing the rebel invasions or supporting them. House Jaycemour under Celia’s leadership struggled to calm down her own people who had begun to take up the cause of Plaitignon’s call. Soon, she was forced to flee to safer estates in the north of her territory. The call of the Republic set new fates in motion for a Kingdom in turmoil.

At the time of the Republic’s convention, a similar meeting had been held, a beacon of hope in the darkness of rebellion. In Chernovin, the royals had been encamped for some time with the Iron Marshall’s army, a mustered force of almost ten thousand strong. Inside the army’s command tent, the fate of the Kingdom had come to be decided. No longer the same bickering known to layer the crown society meetings of days past, an air of cordiality permeated the cold, brisk air of the tent’s interior. Men and women who had now stood by one another in combat, enemies who saved one another from bloody death and execution, now worked together for the good of the kingdom. Nonetheless, the discussion lasted for several hours, and extended past several days of negotiations. They broached the disappearance of Prince Arthur and Princess Emilianne, the death of Prince Gallburt at old age, and the situation in the Kingdom between the Irons and Golds. At the end of the sixth day, an agreement was reached. The Empire of Reveia had been formed within the confines of a command tent, a power-sharing agreement between the now titled Empress Lucilla and Emperor Velkoryn Valestios. The House of Valestios, a merger of the Thul and Corinfyre bloodlines, would be the forge upon which gold and iron were melded together. 

Cheers erupted in the camp as soldiers and bloodsworn alike discovered newfound hope in what would be called the Great Compromise. Morale was at an all-time high as Lord Tallwood, Lucilla, Velkoryn, and Ajai Valestios took command of their respective armies. A new crusade would come to the south, to bring the Empire’s new authority to the people of Reveia, and to crush the Republic under its heel. 

== '''V . A Continental War''' ==
The first skirmishes began in Daxwell and Leffington. With the Empire’s armies still marching south from the cold north, the Holy Concordat picked up the slack in defending the remaining aristocratic territories. Pierre de Plaitignon gave the command to his ruthless revolutionary comrade Gillot Desjardins, a criminal who had been freed from prison in Lanconne and a former captain of the Aracellian army. Gillot led a rebellious cadre of Aracellian cavalry to Daxwell where they would clash with an army led by Lords Janus and Fletcher. Percival himself dueled Gillot on horseback in a battle that would be dubbed the first real battle of the larger conflict. The two were said to have fought fiercely in the field, each removing the mount advantage from one another and continuing their bout on foot. Sword struck shield, and dagger thrusted for gullet as the battle pressed on. Meanwhile, as the mud reached the knees of many knights and republican rebels, horns blew from the northwest. Banners from House Lionette crossed the hillside as soldiers from the Moors streamed southward to reinforce the Concordat army. In response, Gillot and his army almost immediately pulled back in retreat, somewhat impressively so for an army of commonfolk. Gillot himself had suffered a serious blow to his shoulder, Percival having found his mark with a dagger thrust, suffering only a few grazes on his thigh and gut in return. The two returned to their camp, the former in shame at his loss to the seasoned noble. 

In Leffington, an army under the command of Emiliano Barral besieged the local Schafer family, featuring seasoned Cliffs soldiers who defected from House Naclerian. They won decisively, crushing a Concordat inquisitor force that hadn’t expected them to reach Leffington as quickly as they did. Similar brutality washed over Leffington, with several inquisitors and church officials being massacred by mob violence. Their infamous army became widely known as the Monterrojan Legion, a terrifying and brutal cohort.

After a month of marching and resupply, the Emperor and Empress Valestios arrived at the head of a large army at Wakendor. Bearing the flags of a new House, they crossed the Veridian to begin retaking holds lost to rebels in the Heartlands. Gillot’s garrisons in Honeyhill and Churning surrendered immediately, and several Republican leaders were hung from the ramparts of the castles they looted. Gillot’s army was forced to retreat from Stowebridge, finding solace and refuge in Liscombe with another army under the command of Pierre himself. Barral, taking the hint from losses in Honeyhill, removed his army from Leffington and returned to Porthaven. 

In the Moors, Lords Lionette, Rozsca, Contador, Rist, and Laherrerian besieged the rebel holds in Swyndon, successfully routing the druid army and handing the territory over to Lord Lionette. Rebels in Dinnren, Caeriolet, and Amiett fell over the next few weeks despite heavy and ruthless ambushes carried out by Republican partisans. In return, a rebel army from Wardyth put several triumite churches to the torch in Scarbruin, destroying the inquisitor chapter houses and hanging the leadership. The Empire’s army, now commanded by Lord Rozsca, would be trapped near the Godsbane for several months before they were granted a reprieve. 

The remaining Piedmonts faced a serious problem. Republican armies had been eyeing their lands for some time, and Pierre himself had already expressed his intent to hang them with the rest of the nobles. Acting from their territory in Couronnova, the Piedmont army sailed with assistance from the Naclerian navy to Vilenos, sieging the rebels there and capturing their leadership. Then, they would go on to fortify the island and move their family there to escape the violence which was quick to follow them. Couronnova, like Leffington and many other towns like it, were taken by the Plaitignon armies. Cordell and Laurent, acting as quickly as they did, saved the Piedmont family from certain death. 

The next several months saw brutal fighting over territory in the East and West Midlands. Hillshire Hall and Farcaest constantly swapped between rebel and imperial control. Under the leadership of Lucilla and Velkoryn, the Empire’s army secured Beckhollow with help from a Janus army. Only due to Lucilla’s medical expertise were hundreds of northern troops able to be saved. Lord Tallwood and Ajai Valestios laid siege to Farcaest in the fourth month, and Ajai finally slew Gillot Desjardins on the battlefield after the latter attempted to escape capture. Fortifying their position, the two prepared to face an army from Couronnova that never came. 

Instead, the Plaitignon army, which had reached over 15,000, united with the remnants of Gillot’s force at Lessholdt and marched toward Porthaven. There they merged their force with Barral’s Monterrojan Legion and together marched north around the Cunningwood. On the sixth day, Velkoryn and Lucilla’s army fell under attack while they were encamped by the largest Republican force amassed during the war. The Battle of Churning would end in a decisive victory for the Republic, ending with the capture of both the Emperor and Empress. Momentum in the war immediately flipped. The Republic held victory in its grasp, if not for their poor position behind enemy lines. Late in the night, while Pierre and Barral prepared to face the army at Farcaest, Lord Rudolf Dungeon and Hans Thul broke into the rebel camp to free both the Emperor and Empress. Both were found in the command tent and promptly freed after learning of their impending executions. In the morning, Pierre recalled his army from Churning to regroup in the Grapelands. Emiliano Barral had disappeared, only for his body to be later discovered in Leffington with a slit throat. 

After a year of fighting, the Monterrojan Legion had disbanded or returned to the fold of Cliffs nobility. The remaining Barral loyalists were executed in Castolonia by a force belonging to the Piedmont and Naclerian levies. While the territories were still quite tense, order was temporarily restored and the Barral rebellion was formally ended. In Olivosa, a large rebel army led by Dietrich Tisch lost decisively to an army led by Lord Valencourt and Exuro Victorum. Dietrich himself fled north to Borleone to fortify with the Plaitignon army. Rebel leaders in Makras were locked up or executed by Valmias and Aldona Schafer, who had escaped the trouble in Leffington and had found refuge in Triav. They would join the army in Olivosa, crossing the river to Chatirou and Valenoix. 

The war finally ended with the sieges of Cholsey, Ruevogne, and Borleone. Velkoryn and Lucilla, now freed from captivity, led a united front against Pierre’s army, crushing it on the field. Pierre caught the stray lance of Lord Tallwood, who had led a flank charge from the right. The charismatic leader of one of Reveia’s bloodiest revolutions died in the mud of Somerdell, his face disfigured from the hooves of horses and his body soaked in his own blood. Dietrich Tisch struggled to control the masses, and was hanged in Aracellia for failing to uphold the democracy he had promised to them. Aracellia fell two days later where twelve remaining Republican generals were shot by crossbow bolts. 

The Republic died that day, but the landscape of Reveia had forever been changed. Aodh, who had fled to Logori Kupe, was now the most infamous man in Reveia.