Revolution of 1441

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The Baldur Revolutions, better known as the Revolution of 1441 (1441–1455) was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of Eon, during which the Baldur governmental structure, previously a representative republic, with feudal powers for the aristocracy and racial elders, underwent radical change to forms based on the principles of collectivization and absolutism under a series of dictators and governments pro temporium.
These changes were accompanied by violent turmoil which included the invasion of Malvont City during the Battle of Malvont, vast bloodshed and repression during the Culling, and warfare involving every other major power in Eon. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Ruin of Baldur and two separate restorations of the republic. In the century, Baldur would be governed at one point or another as a republic, a constitutional puppet monarchy, and as two different absolute dictatorships.
== Causes ==
Lady Elan, a member of the Baldur Ruling Council from 1323 to 1436, who had emancipated the Drow in 1336 and passed a range of local government and military reforms, was assassinated on March 1, 1436 by members of the 'The Scarlet Brotherhood', a small terrorist group, using a large black dragon while on a diplomatic mission to Goneril. Her successor to the Elven Seat on High Council, Charilus, was a reactionary who governed with an iron fist. Both the state and the churches were subordinate to this autocracy. As a result, a schism emerged among members of the ruling council. Chairman Grax, the leader of the senate and the controller of Baldur Civil Defense Force, aligned with Charilus, Xoth and Zhoth, the representatives of Elves, Illithids and Orcs, respectively, supported the idea of an aggressively expansionist agrarian paradise, or "Homeland for the Orcs" free from the vice and misrule imposed by crime-ridden Baldur, Malvont and Barrensburg. After an assassination attempt on Grax by the Circle of the True in Landover was linked to Edmund Vargus's The National Army of the Senate, Grax marched the troops under his command into Baldur (City) and overthrew Vargus as Head of State on October 31st, 1441.
== The Culling ==
The Ride of Nerul (31 October 1441 – 27 July 1442), also known as the The Culling was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions within the revolution, the Graxians and the Saviors, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution." Estimates vary widely as to how many were killed, with numbers ranging from 16,000 to 400,000; in many cases, records were not kept, or if they were, they are considered likely to be inaccurate. The extension of civil war and the advance of the newly formed Revolutionary Army of the Senate on foreign territory produced a political crisis, and increased the rivalry between the Graxians and the more radical forces under Brezcar the Bold; the latter were eventually grouped in the paramilitary faction called The Saviors of the Revolution, and had the support of the Baldur (City) population. The remaining chairholders formed the more leftist political group, the Graxians, to counteract their more radical brothers.
The Baldur government established the Absolute Dictatorship of Orc, which was ultimately dominated by newly-titled Highman Grax, in order to suppress internal counter-revolutionary activities and raise additional military force. Through the Revolutionary Army of the Senate, the Culling's leaders exercised broad dictatorial powers and used them to instigate mass executions and political purges.
== War in Malvont and Goneril ==
See main article: Battle of Malvont
The Great War, which broke out in 1441 shortly after the revolution, brought death and suffering to millions of people regardless of their political orientation. The war was fought mainly between the Revolutionary Army of the Senate under Highman Grax, consisting of radical revolutionaries, and the monarchists of Malvont City and Goneril. The Revolutionaries had backing from nations such as the Nyasa Civilization in the south, whereas the monarchists had superior landmass and and help from The Company. The overture battle was The Battle of Malvont, a daring amphibious invasion of the island city which involved the use of chromatic dragons as air support for a fleet of battleships constructed in Port Wyatt. The battle was a moderate success: the invading army proved unable to take control of the inner circles of Malvont, leading to a year-long stalemate in which the Malvont loyalists suffered from mass starvation and incredible hyperinflation.
In 1442, with the Malvont royalists still persisting under siege and the people worried about an army amassing in disputed territories on the northern border with Goneril, Highman Grax faced a major setback. The internal conflict with the Saviors, the excesses of The Culling, and the slow pace and expense of war in Malvont had left the Revolutionary Council extremely worried about Grax's abilities to maintain control over the people, and the sudden famine and persistence of the Red Plague had weakened public support for the revolution. With winter setting in and much of the food supplies in Baldur running low, it seemed unlikely that Grax could maintain the Malvont campaign without causing extreme domestic scarcity. His solution was a preemptive strike against the forces massing in southern Goneril, with the hope that the campaign could supply enough grain, timber and ore in the short term from reserves in Barron's Touch and Barrensburg to support the siege in Malvont City as well as rekindle the popular belief in the invincible powers of the Revolutionary Army of the Senate.
== The Assassination of Highman Grax ==
: See main article: The Battle of Graxboro
During the season premiere of Season Five, Highman Grax was successfully assassinated by a coalition of counter-revolutionary groups while making a speech before an amassed army in Graxboro, Baldur. Individuals claiming or otherwise credited with the assassination include Aura Larellian of the Circle of the True, Mayor Tyro Avampour of Tindermarsh, Janadan Vishnu of the Malvont Resistance, Sil'meelen of The Holy Returners, Claire of the Malvont Assassin's Guild, and Ethan of Malvont, Ulfgar, Jaxis of Icewinton, and the Dread Pirate Gauve of The Toggenburg Corporation).
This death was a major setback for Grax. Although he was promptly resurrected, his assassination caused incredible harm to popular support of the Revolution, and provided enough time for his opponents on the Revolutionary Council, the Saviors, to seize control of the capital. Saviors member Marcus Fairlan named himself the Supreme Council of War Commerce and Brezcar the Bold seized emergency control of The Absolute Dictatorship of Orc. During this time of chaos, Brezcar promoted Pyotar Umarov to commander of the Malvont Fleet, and publicly denounced Charilus and other members of Grax's faction as "royalist-roaders," which sparked a whole new round of Culling.
== The Liberation of Malvont ==
Grax's campaign into King's Reach in Goneril was unsuccessful. Due to the internal disruptions cased by the assassination and stronger Goneril forces than expected, by fall 1442 the Revolution no longer had enough supplies to maintain the siege through the upcoming winter. Grax faced little choice but to abandon the Malvont Campaign entirely on December 1st and refocus his armies on disabling Goneril, especially Barrensburg, before Barron Ganth could properly mobilize. If Grax could obtain a favorable armistice with the Barron, he could secure his legitimacy as the Absolute Dictator of Orc and maintain political control in the face of the mounting superiority of his rival revolutionaries.
== The Ruin of Baldur ==
See main article: Ruin of Baldur
The Ruin of Baldur was a series of events set in motion by an attempted coup d'etat by time-shifted Evil Baudin and certain rogue elements within the Saviors revolutionary movement, including Marcus Fairlan. Evil Baudin attempted to seize power in Baldur by opening a Frozen Fate recently recovered from Ravinia during an open-air ceremony in Baldur (City) on Feb 1st, 1443. He intended the fate to come alive and blast the city off the map during a period of time where more than a third of the Revolutionary Forces were stationed within city limits, as well as the opposition figures Grax, Charilus, and Xoth. If the Fate had actually gone off, it would have killed an estimated 900,000 people within city limits alone, not counting an additional toll it might take on the landscape, material plane, or multiverse.
The release sequence was interrupted by The Company and counterrevolutionary forces led by Sluf, despite the best efforts of allied antirevolutionary Barron Ganth. The battle resulted in the complete destruction of Syscian's Tower in northern Baldur, the capture of Marcus Fairlan, and a citywide battle royale between The Saviors, The Graxians, and various counterrevolutionary factions.
==The Southern Liberation==
See main article: Battle of Baldur
On Febuary 10th 1443, a joint operating task force of armies consisting of Malvont marines, Holy Returners, Corinthian exiles, and Rebecc-is of Goneril standard bearers stationed in Barrensburg, led under the command of exiled political leader Edmund Vargus, launched a massive amphibious assault on Port Wyatt, Baldur, where there was stationed one eagle and eight cohorts of National Revolutionary Army standard troops. After a long battle that waged for three straight days through the city streets, the task force was able to take control of the small ship-building city and effectively rout the powerful Baldur navy's primary tie to the eastern front. The troops, under the command of revolutionary guardsman Horatio Fenn, retreated to the capitol city. There, Grax ordered the retreat of his armies from the several fronts in order to create a single massive legionary force which he launched by means of his navy toward The Southern Continent. Vargus, with the help of his northern allies, liberated the capital city without a fight on Febuary 28th 1443 and instituted, with the help of resistance leader Sluf, the first Restoration of the Republic.
Category:Historical Events