Post by numberhawk44 on Aug 10, 2016 9:54:58 GMT -5
The Marxon Incident, occurring in 2579, remains the most deadly event to occur on Camvonian soil since the days of Sarpadia.
In 2564, a group of disaffected townspeople, mostly from the Bare Isle, formed the Luddite Party, a political group dedicated to fighting the influence of technology. From the very start, the group was always dangerously militant, calling for purges of the great cities of the empire and claiming responsibility for murders. But around 2575, they began a string of targeted assassination attempts on leaders of the Progressive party, and were forcibly driven underground in 2577. Around this time, a new leader of the Luddites arose: Colin Flynn. A radical even by Luddite standards, he began to devise a plan to raise a revolt against the government that would bring technology to its knees. He quickly organized bands of irregular Luddite militias, and they began raiding government convoys and terrorizing the villagers. The heart of his activity was the western Bare Isle, and when the government declared a state of emergency there, he decided ti was time to act. Under the cover of darkness on January 11th, 2579, he and over 200 of his followers smuggled themselves and a giant, magically operated bomb into the heart of Marxon, a small city in the heartland of the Bare Isle. Placing the bomb in the local shrine to the Fallen One, they waited until the midmorning rush of worshippers before setting it off. The initial blast killed hundreds, and then the armed thugs with rifles mowed down many more. Quickly seizing the city from the stunned police and militia, Flynn then sent signals to his lieutenants around the western Bare Isle. Moving as one, they captured convoys, took outposts and occupied villages. By the end of January 12th, most strategic locations around Marxon had been taken, and Flynn declared the Kingdom of Lizos, capital Marxon. When the government heard of this, they decided that the police and irregulars they had been sending over weren't enough, and sent an entire army group to deal with the rebels. In the week that followed, the rebel kingdom overran half the Bare Isle, conscripted thousands of peasant mercenaries, and destroyed every machine they could find. In addition, anyone caught with a machine was summarily executed. Tales of these horrors reached the Camvonian soldiers, and stiffened their resolve to take back the Isle. On January 20th, a fleet of Camvonian airships engaged 4 captured dirigibles. The rebels were handily defeated, ending the only air battle of the war. Meanwhile, the 9th Army began its drive to crush the rebels. Trained soldiers fought zealots, zealots fought partisans, and amidst the chaos, the horror of the revolt continued. Slowly, though, the 9th Army made progress. By January 31st, they had reconquered half of all rebel-held territory. Sitting in his makeshift palace, a converted stately home in Marxon, Colin Flynn despaired. He ordered his bodyguards to conscript what was left of the populace and build a massive wall out of whatever scrap they could find around the inner city. Meanwhile, he ordered his remaining soldiers in the field to begin guerrilla tactics. A further three weeks passed, with the rebels losing more and more ground, but making the Camvonians pay for every inch. Gradually, Marxon became isolated from the main body of the revolt. By February 17th it was completely surrounded and the siege began. The makeshift walls had the unexpected advantage of being nearly immune to cannonballs, and the Camvonians had to wait for new, ultra-modern artillery to be shipped in from Elunia. Meanwhile, the south-eastern Bare Ise was hellfire as the Luddites adopted scorched-earth tactics, but Flynn's lieutenants knew they were only delaying the inevitable and sent a messager to Flynn talking them that they could only hold them for another month or os. But the message got garbled somewhere along the line, and what Flynn heard was that all revolt outside Marxon had been crushed. Devastated by the news, he attempted to commit suicide but failed, merely injuring himself. This was a major blow to morale, though, and many Luddites began to desert. On March 1, the new artillery arrived, and within the hour the Camvonians had broken through the wall. The final assault was chaos, as suicide attacks by fanatical Luddites sidrupted Camvonian ranks. But by late that night, the Camvonians were just a block away from the house where Flynn was recuperating. In a final push, they stormed the house, and Flynn was killed fighting alongside his last remaining loyal soldiers. By dawn, the city was in government hands. The next day, after news of Flynn's death reached the holdouts elsewhere, the remaining rebels put down their arms and surrendered to the Camvonians.
An estimated 25,000 people were killed during the revolt, nearly half from Marxon. The Luddite party eventually clawed its way back into semi-legitimacy under a series of new leaders. But the stain of the events of 2579 still hangs over its head, and it's the most hated political party in the Empire. Most of the western Bare Isle has recovered, and memorials to those killed during the Luddite's three-month reign of terror dot the countryside. Marxon lost nearly all of its civilian population during the revolt. Today, it is a small agricultural village nestled within the ruined buildings and crumbling walls of what was once the site of the mot dangerous revolt in Camvonian history.
In 2564, a group of disaffected townspeople, mostly from the Bare Isle, formed the Luddite Party, a political group dedicated to fighting the influence of technology. From the very start, the group was always dangerously militant, calling for purges of the great cities of the empire and claiming responsibility for murders. But around 2575, they began a string of targeted assassination attempts on leaders of the Progressive party, and were forcibly driven underground in 2577. Around this time, a new leader of the Luddites arose: Colin Flynn. A radical even by Luddite standards, he began to devise a plan to raise a revolt against the government that would bring technology to its knees. He quickly organized bands of irregular Luddite militias, and they began raiding government convoys and terrorizing the villagers. The heart of his activity was the western Bare Isle, and when the government declared a state of emergency there, he decided ti was time to act. Under the cover of darkness on January 11th, 2579, he and over 200 of his followers smuggled themselves and a giant, magically operated bomb into the heart of Marxon, a small city in the heartland of the Bare Isle. Placing the bomb in the local shrine to the Fallen One, they waited until the midmorning rush of worshippers before setting it off. The initial blast killed hundreds, and then the armed thugs with rifles mowed down many more. Quickly seizing the city from the stunned police and militia, Flynn then sent signals to his lieutenants around the western Bare Isle. Moving as one, they captured convoys, took outposts and occupied villages. By the end of January 12th, most strategic locations around Marxon had been taken, and Flynn declared the Kingdom of Lizos, capital Marxon. When the government heard of this, they decided that the police and irregulars they had been sending over weren't enough, and sent an entire army group to deal with the rebels. In the week that followed, the rebel kingdom overran half the Bare Isle, conscripted thousands of peasant mercenaries, and destroyed every machine they could find. In addition, anyone caught with a machine was summarily executed. Tales of these horrors reached the Camvonian soldiers, and stiffened their resolve to take back the Isle. On January 20th, a fleet of Camvonian airships engaged 4 captured dirigibles. The rebels were handily defeated, ending the only air battle of the war. Meanwhile, the 9th Army began its drive to crush the rebels. Trained soldiers fought zealots, zealots fought partisans, and amidst the chaos, the horror of the revolt continued. Slowly, though, the 9th Army made progress. By January 31st, they had reconquered half of all rebel-held territory. Sitting in his makeshift palace, a converted stately home in Marxon, Colin Flynn despaired. He ordered his bodyguards to conscript what was left of the populace and build a massive wall out of whatever scrap they could find around the inner city. Meanwhile, he ordered his remaining soldiers in the field to begin guerrilla tactics. A further three weeks passed, with the rebels losing more and more ground, but making the Camvonians pay for every inch. Gradually, Marxon became isolated from the main body of the revolt. By February 17th it was completely surrounded and the siege began. The makeshift walls had the unexpected advantage of being nearly immune to cannonballs, and the Camvonians had to wait for new, ultra-modern artillery to be shipped in from Elunia. Meanwhile, the south-eastern Bare Ise was hellfire as the Luddites adopted scorched-earth tactics, but Flynn's lieutenants knew they were only delaying the inevitable and sent a messager to Flynn talking them that they could only hold them for another month or os. But the message got garbled somewhere along the line, and what Flynn heard was that all revolt outside Marxon had been crushed. Devastated by the news, he attempted to commit suicide but failed, merely injuring himself. This was a major blow to morale, though, and many Luddites began to desert. On March 1, the new artillery arrived, and within the hour the Camvonians had broken through the wall. The final assault was chaos, as suicide attacks by fanatical Luddites sidrupted Camvonian ranks. But by late that night, the Camvonians were just a block away from the house where Flynn was recuperating. In a final push, they stormed the house, and Flynn was killed fighting alongside his last remaining loyal soldiers. By dawn, the city was in government hands. The next day, after news of Flynn's death reached the holdouts elsewhere, the remaining rebels put down their arms and surrendered to the Camvonians.
An estimated 25,000 people were killed during the revolt, nearly half from Marxon. The Luddite party eventually clawed its way back into semi-legitimacy under a series of new leaders. But the stain of the events of 2579 still hangs over its head, and it's the most hated political party in the Empire. Most of the western Bare Isle has recovered, and memorials to those killed during the Luddite's three-month reign of terror dot the countryside. Marxon lost nearly all of its civilian population during the revolt. Today, it is a small agricultural village nestled within the ruined buildings and crumbling walls of what was once the site of the mot dangerous revolt in Camvonian history.
