The '35

**The '35**, officially the **Great Unrest of 935KF**, or the **Great Saffira Riot** was a period of political intrigue and unrest which culminated in an enormous riot that took place in Saffira City. The unrest initially began to grow when newly ascended Emperor Viktor II forcibly closed the Imperial Parliament, but flared up into rioting when Carl Loar, a liberal member, was assassinated in broad daylight on a major city avenue.

Much of downtown Saffira was destroyed, and anywhere between 16,000-20,000 people were killed.

## End of an Era

From 821KF onwards, Kymuria had been governed constitutionally by the bicameral Imperial Parliament, which was comprised of 1000 constituencies from around the empire and shared power with the non-elected Noble Chamber. The monarch's power remained theoretically absolute, but was bound to a pact of concordance with the Prime minister to respect the authority of the chambers.

Initially, power was held and contested by large party blocs such as the Conservative and Imperial party or the Nascent Coalition, but these blocs were dependent on popular, powerful figures to form and maintain them. From 893-935KF, no party held more than 35% of the seats, and government became impractically slow. Prime ministers could and sometimes did change bi-monthly, and there was no direction or plan to government policy. This was exemplified in the 'Angry Turns' period of 899-907KF, when each year, either the radical William Scotus Highfield would take power and institute a series of reforms, or the hardcore conservative Lord Laurence Laurgne would take power and reverse them.

There had also been a shift in attitudes among both property-owning voters and the working masses. The loss of overseas territories and the burgeoning industrial revolution had significantly reduced the willingness of people to support status-quo parties like the Conservative and Imperial Party, while the leftward parties had become increasing radical, thus alienating too many of their still moderately reform-based voters. In short, there was a growing frustration with the declining Kymurian situation, stagnant economy and lack of reform.

Since the inception of the Imperial Parliament, a group of nobles, traditionalists and churchmen had vehemently opposed its existence via newspapers and pamphlets. They were known as the Thirty-Nine group.

Viktor II ascended power unexpectedly in 935KF after the sudden death of his father. At 22 years of age, he had been educated since the age of eight by the ultraconservative Friar Belmont of Monsra, a member of the Thirty-Nine. He had come to detest the ailing institution of parliament, and sought to restore a pre-812 state of affairs, establishing Cyrothian absolutism as the nominal form of government. His three recent predecessors had adhered to the principle of Divine Governance, in which the Emperor's role was that of a spiritual and cultural figure, far above the dirt and indignity of practical politics. Viktor did believe in keeping the monarchy out of political intrigue, but felt that the present circumstances were extraordinary enough to warrant radical action.

Three weeks after his lavish coronation in the first month of 835, Viktor began to put his plans in motion. He dismissed all members of the privy council and appointed his own, all members of the Thirty-nine. Friar Belmont was made head of the council. They began to draft what would become the *Writta Lomvargo* soon after.

## Murder of Carl Loar

Two months following a coup attempt and just a week after the badly-received publication of the *Writta Lomvargo*, Carl Loar, a practising lawyer and massively popular liberal spokesman, arrived back in Saffira having just successfully prosecuted a case in Krahull. He left his office in Fitzerwin at 11.am and was walking to the Grand Fitzerwin Hotel to have tea with his nephew when a lone gunman in a shabby raincoat and white Dannenholm Hat jumped out from a facade and fired a single shot from a small sparkpowder pistol. The shot hit Loar's chest and he collapsed to the ground.

The man in the Dannenholm Hat fled north towards Princess Mary Borough, chased by a determined crowd. A Constabulary officer, Sgt. Bregon, was able to grab hold of him, and, aware of the angry crowd, pulled him behind the metal shutters of a closed jeweller's shop. Some witnesses claimed that the man Bregon grabbed was not the man fleeing the crowd, and that the popular Dannenholm Hat made mis-identification a problem.

As the crowd banged upon the shutters and the Sgt. questioned the man on his actions, all he could do was cry, "Don't kill me, O mighty Sir. O Lady of the Heavens, save me!"

Following that, the shutters were beaten in, and the doors were charged by the crowd. Sgt. Bregon snatched the man's personal papers and wallet from his coat as the crowd surged in and despite the pleading of both men, the man in the white Dannenholm hat was dragged into the street and kicked to death by the crowd.

He was later identified as an unemployed man called Charles Jack Wilder. It is claimed that at the time of the murder he was unemployed, and his neighbours described him as a lazy sort of dreamer and an extremely quiet and reserved man. He was living in the South Duncalm borough with his mother, who was his sole financial support. He apparently had some history of mental instability and had been seeing a charitable psychiatrist named Bertrand Harley for at least eight months before the murder.

Wilder's last visit to Harley is reported to have taken place on April 7, two days before Loar's assassination. Harley declared that Wilder had had a dream about King Huw, who told him to 'save the realm.' Harley suggested that Wilder shouldn't infer too much from it, but Wilder seemed to treat it as a religious experience. On this same day he purchased the pistol and the next day he bought gunpowder and ammunition. John Haron Brown, a friend of Wilders, testified that he had sold him the pistol when Wilder had told him that he was going treasure hunting in the Badland Mountains and would need a sidearm.

## Riots

Loar had been an immensely popular and beloved figure among the Saffira working and middle classes. Upon hearing of his murder, people from everywhere in the city rushed to the city centre. A large crowd formed outside Vawndon General Infirmary, the hospital where Loar died.

A few hours later, the Emperor was notified of the murder and growing unrest and called for his Privy Council. After dumping Wilder's body outside the Royal City, the crowd attacked the guards with stones and bricks. Many carriages, omnibuses and symbols of royal authority were burned. A few hours later more controllable violence exploded in other cities, including Copa, Krahull and Olsra.

The leaders of Loar's Reform Liberal Faction pleaded from a balcony to the crowd to stop the violence, but it was useless. The mobs tried to force entry to the Royal City but were cut down by the army. Police and army units moved onto the streets without orders and began to fight the crowds, bolstered by Black Talon members.

Many hardware stores were raided, people armed themselves with pipes, hooks, steel rods, hatchets, saws, and machetes. Some policemen joined the mobs rather than face a lynching. Others were confused and waited for orders that never came.

A decisive factor in the uncontrollability of the riots was that many barracks were isolated and overwhelmed. The crowds murdered soldiers before taking their weapons and ammunition.

The first major building to come under attack was the office complex of *The Century,* a rabidly Ultraroyalist newspaper that had published a series of articles calling for 'loyal subjects' to 'stymie attempts at traitorous resistance, by any means necessary.' The mob stormed in, beating up staff and destroying any press or writing equipment that could be found. A gang of demolition crew workers rigged the building with dynamite and blew it up. All rioters and staff inside were killed. The collapsing building took out many other structures surrounding it, and the pile of rubble crushed many stood nearby.

At about 3:00 p.m, the mobs broke into the Royal Kymurian Constabulary headquarters. The major in charge, Horace Acheton, came out unarmed to plead with the crowd, and gave orders to his men not to shoot. The mob trampled him and seized weapons and ammunition. The building was burned down.

Ultraroyalist aristocrats and notables attempting to leave the city had their carriages seized and burned, but few were directly harmed. However, many houses in the upper class and conservative-voting district of Whattock Farm were broken into, looted and any inhabitants, even servants and workmen, were lynched.

The initial riots were followed by widespread confusion. Civilians took to the streets of the Old Chamber and Greyar Boroughs to sack public buildings. Among these were the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Health, the offices of the Chief Justice and the Ministry of War. The rioting also extended to random private properties with 157 buildings in the downtown area suffering serious damage, 103 of which were completely destroyed.

Since the Angelican Church had maintained a position of staunch support for the monarchy's actions, many clerics, churches and church-owned properties were attacked. Four parish churches suffered fire damage, but most had the protection of loyal parishioners or Black Talon Squads.

Another target of the mob were prominent Floresians, since the region supposedly provided a great deal of support to the monarchy. Some 400 Floresians were lynched.

Many were killed over struggles for stolen goods. All sorts of merchandise was carried off to the poorer outlying districts. People started to sell the stolen objects at extremely low prices, or just exchanged the merchandise for alcohol. In the following days, a market for selling the stolen goods was set up, which was known as the "All-Kymurian Flea Market."

Viktor II, after his guards had driven off the mobs that were attacking the Royal City, could do little to temper the rioting. His troops stationed in city barracks were either under siege themselves or had begun to fight the mobs without orders to do so. He was deeply shaken by the upheaval, although ultimately, it convinced him that order had to be restored soon, before further such things occurred.

In other towns and cities throughout the empire, political tension did not run as high, and so most people reacted with a mixture of bewilderment and grief to the news of severe violence. Whilst state authorities re-organised following the riots, noblemen, squires, burgomeisters and notables formed "Public Order Commissions," that sought to make sure those that had lost property and family in the chaos could be charitably compensated, and that those known to have perpetrated serious crimes were prosecuted.

The rioting and violence that followed Loar's murder resulted in the deaths of 6000-12000 people, with 4000 more hospitalised with injuries.