Attack on the Isle of Midalios

The Attack on the Isle of Midalios, colloquially known as the Horror at the Hippodros, was a catastrophic act of destruction that destroyed much of the isle of Midalios in the city of Rydoon, killing thousands and delivering widespread damage.

## Background

### The Election

The former Archon of Pylodes, Iolita qu Harmonia, was killed alongside her retinue in the Attack on the Pearl Ward, during which a similar form of destruction was unleashed, annihilating much of the Rydooni part of the upper class housing, as well as the Howell manse. Further damage was dealt, resulting in around eighteen-hundred deaths and nine-thousand serious injuries from either the detonation or the shrapnel and debris cast over the city. Accusations and investigations were instigated, but as the dust - or lack therein - settled, the need for a new Archon to replace Iolita sparked a new election race, with nine major candidates soon emerging.

* Arler qu Regas
* Bior the Boulder
* Kypris qu Harmonia
* Ochon qu Galanis
* Rover Custard Augustine
* Tinia paa Wormswoe
* Valshoon
* Vankeshtad
* Zorylre paa Zilmunta

After months of canvassing across the Castes - Praised to Blessed, four front runners - Arler, Rover, Tinia and Valshoon - would ultimately move forwards to be put to the remaining Archons, Archonos and the Hierarch to discuss and pick from amongst them one to join their ranks. Intending to make the announcement at the start of the Kroan Games, people of all walks of life made their way to the Hippodros of Midalios in anticipation of the proclamation, and to watch the newly elected representative compete in the first of the events, as is tradition.

Rover, alongside his father Felix Sorbet Augustine and his friends Faustus, Arnica and Anivia would find themselves comfortable seating in the southwestern edge of the stadium, with commanding views over the competition field. Here, they would be joined later by Valshoon, sharing in fresh-baked ginger biscuits and other sweet treats, surrounded by other members of the Virtuous Caste in a packed stadium.

### The Wedding

A year prior, at a dinner held in Howell Hold for Faustus Howell, it was announced that Foebe Howell was due to wed the Archonos Aratus qu Regas, a move intended to try and further tie together the interests of Howell Holdings and the Hollow Concord. In refusing his own marriage pact with that of Isabellis, Faustus sought to fake his own demise, taking instead the mantle of Sigmund for a year. Plotting alongside Ashewan Norvegicus and Euora however, he did not put aside his concerns for his youngest sister, and so sought to help her escape on the day of her marriage, travelling to the city of Rydoon to enact this.

Having messaged ahead to the Merry Few to get a boat ready to facilitate their escape after they retrieved her from the Archon Tower on the southern edge of the Hippodros, they travelled with Rover and a few other residents of Amber Run to the city before starting to enact their plan.

Aided by Lazarus of the Slatevale & Darda Travelling Hall of the Macabre and Occult, who had been hired to perform at the event, Ashewan and Euora managed to infiltrate the tower, using a combinations of guile and magics to spring Foebe from under the watchful eye of Lance Highcreek, and making an escape that would eventually culminate with Foebe using *Polymorph* to turn into a Giant Eagle to fly them away from the encroaching guards pinning them in place from the floors above and below. Witnessing this escape, Anivia and Arnica gave chase through the air, shortly after moving to hide themselves using the arcane in a hope to not to rouse suspicion as they soared through the air after them. The chase was eventually stopped by the sudden appearance of Fiona Howell, who dispelled the transmutative magic being used by her sister to carry them to safety, sending the fleeing party tumbling several dozen feet into the waters of Lake Endeen. Expecting flame to then reign down upon them from above, they found Fiona suddenly absent - and thus managed to continue their swim and flight to the mainland to the south.

## The Attack

Ongoing investigations in the culprits behind the Attack on the Pearl Ward had preciously managed to track Cassian, seemingly the last surviving member of The Wildguard save that of Zylvari and Dane Evergreen, to the city of Aviacrest. Having fallen in and been coerced to act on behalf of the Fate's Path gang, his liberation from servitude to the group came at the cost of his immediate arrest by the Solace Summit, who interrogated the elf before eventually relinquishing him into the custody of Kypris qu Harmonia and Ochon qu Galanis, who petitioned the Aethnarch directly for leave to take Cassian back to Rydoon to face justice. Anticipating this, Vincent Frostbrooke, and a pair of attendees likewise travelled to the city of Rydoon to bring the evidence they had managed to gather to the Guild of the Guerdon, as per Rover's suggestion that such information would no doubt prove invaluable to the trial.

About half an hour before the opening ceremony was due to start, Ochon and Kypris made their grand arrival to the Hippodros, Ochon atop his winged lion Archathos, Kypris in a flying chariot pulled by a pegasus. Presenting Cassian to the crowd with leering shouts and cheers of triumph over tyranny, they made declarations of the progress of justice, pledging themselves to be servants to the city with each remaining breath, even if neither of them had been selected to serve as Archon.

Moments later, seemingly deliberately triggered to coincide timing wise for a maximised sense of irony, the same subsonic thrum, tenderness at the temples and bleeding at the ears preceded the detonation from somewhere on the southeastern side of the stadium as it had in the city of Whittengrove, before a mote of energy like a roiling arcane storm started to expand at startling rate, consuming all in its path and rending it to naught - not even dust. First to fall were the stands immediately present, then the Archon Tower, glass shattering, and trailing a brief plume of flame before fading into nothing, and then the rest of the Hippodros, extending to the base of the hill upon which the statue of Kroai known as the Titan of the Battlemistress stood, sending the four-hundred foot construction teetering, before falling into the destruction and likewise being rended to naught. Continuing to expand to a diameter of just over two and a half thousand feet, the scale of ruination would take days, weeks and months to truly comprehend.

With much of the rest of the party just clear of the blast radius by means of their prior escape alongside Foebe, Faustus, Rover and Felix would only be saved by the efforts of Valshoon, who activated an emergency arcane safety exigency enchanted into his ring - but in transporting more individuals than anticipated caused the piece to overload, detonating his hand into a bloody stump as they appeared somewhere in a private warehouse in Estaemarl.

### Casualties

By nature of the all-consuming destruction of the detonation, counting the exact number of casualties proved a nigh impossible task, particularly when factoring in details such as the Hippodros not only being at near full capacity, but the presence of innumerable merchants, athletes and performers across much of the isle, as well as travellers and tourists staying upon Midalios and intending to bear witness to games later over the duration. Although more than half of the landmass of Midalios was eradicated, the majority of deaths were solely upon the island, the westernmost isle in the city's isolation from the others by means of several thousand feet reducing the collateral damage caused by shrapnel and debris compared to that experienced in Whittengrove. However, the detonation occurred in a far more densely populated area, and so even conservative initial estimates placed the approximate casualty number to be in excess of twenty-thousand. Over time, it would be eventually established that the true total was over half this again, settling on a total of around thirty-two thousand individuals, more than the entire population of Viridell.

The vast majority of the casualties were that of the Praised and Honoured Castes, although numerous families from amongst the Virtued and Blessed were likewise caught in the explosion, having arrived in anticipation of being guests of honour for the wedding of the Archonos Aratus and the daughter of the Lord of Howell Town, Foebe. Comparatively, no fewer than a thousand individuals hailed from outside the Hollow Concord, although that did called towns and cities across the continent home. Of this, some were invited to the wedding, while others were visiting the city seeking to bear witness to the famed Kroan Games.

#### Notable Casualties

* Blessed Caste:
	+ Ampier qu Orthan, Archon of Midalios, alongside near all of the Orthan family
	+ Arler qu Regas, Archon-prospect, brother of the Archonos
	+ Kypris qu Harmonia, Archon-prospect, alongside all the rest of the Harmonia family
	+ Melissa qu Kazan, Archon of Peroda
	+ Ochon qu Galanis, Archon-prospect, alongside his winged lion Archathos and near all of the Galanis family
	+ Rania qu Xenakos, Archon of Tike, alongside all the rest of the Xenakos family
	+ Celenwe Lithtaur, Hierarch of Golgyra
	+ Numerous members of the Barulois, Kondoui, Mavros, Myron, Nasseus and Toles families
* Virtued Caste
	+ All members of the Abysos, Callis, Campona, Erikon, Goldbrow, Lebares, Rithos, Sarris, Sinitida, Taurinui, Truemantle and Vulci families
	+ Numerous members of the Caprae, Haven, Helydos, Imbrena, Runa, Stoutcut, Turiaso and Zacastro families
	+ Osthar paa Cyrinni, former three-time champion of the Kroan Games
* Honoured Caste
	+ Galmor ohd Catri, Owner of the Four Sails
	+ Thon ohd Lebissos, Mercenary-Commander of the Offering
* Forgotten Caste
	+ Cassian, Werespider, Member of the Wildguard
* Treasured Caste (Foreigners)
	+ Lance Highcreek, Imperator of Caterwaul
	+ Four of the eight members of the Tytox
	+ Vincent Frostbrooke, Régysseur of Amber Run
	+ The members of The Slatevale & Darda Travelling Hall of the Macabre and Occult, except Lazarus
	+ Members of the Merry Few
		- Ruby
		- Urnik Zraseth
		- Yuchi
* Landmarks
	+ The Hippodros of Midalios
	+ The Titan of the Battlemistress
	+ 70% of the landmass of the isle of Midalios

## Responses

One attack was a nightmare, something deeply unpleasant and jarring to the core, but enough that given the passage of time, might be pushed aside, retained only as a distant and uncomfortable memory. A second attack, seemingly marginally larger and more powerful that the first - and this time delivering a far greater death toll due to its placement in a cultural hub during an acclaimed event, sparked widespread dismay, panic and terror, with thousands fleeing the city to surrounding settlements. Others instead stayed, keen to consolidate what they still had to their name, grieve their losses, and find solace in offering aid to their neighbours.

Presumed dead with the destruction of the Archon Tower, the Archonos Aratus qu Regas would make a sombre return to the city, having been *Teleported* to safety by the actions of Fiona Howell, who likewise managed to rescue Fonteyne Howell and her children Fiora, Felicia and Fabian from the destruction using her arcane abilities. Unsurprisingly declaring the attack as a Critical Incident and evoking legislation in light of being the last surviving member of Conclave of the Hollow Concord - the other three Archons and the Hierarch all killed and other potential individuals untested for such stresses - enacted a series of emergency powers that would allow him to guide the city forwards throughout the aftermath and recovery with immediate effect, preventing any delays to the provision of aid and the start of investigations that would be otherwise caused. Travel to the isle of Midalios was promptly banned to all but those authorised to do so in fear of further casualties caused by the scale of destruction to the island with units from both the Rydooni army and navy instead ordered to engage with the clean-up process in lieu of civilian efforts. Hundreds rush to pledge themselves to the military in order to aid in the efforts themselves, and are subsequently put to work. Meanwhile, thousands of refuges are sent up the River Hallus to the city of Saltwharf, occupying the houses emptied by the departure of their original residents to the city of Rydoon over the preceding years, providing them with secure and sturdy steadings in which to find some semblance of respite.

Amongst other decrees and edicts, the Archonos was quick to outlaw the Sect of Renewal amongst growing calls of anger throughout the populace, tasking the Aoratosi with hunting down all known members to be taken in for questioning. Bounties were subsequently placed by the Guild of the Guerdon on the Sect members, with sums of gold offered in exchange for information leading to their arrest, and greater sums still for those engaging in their capture.

As occurred following the Attack of the Pearl Ward, governments and other factions from across the continent made declarations of support, decrying the acts and promptly making a series of offerings of aid, provisioning all manner of aid - arcane, health & wellbeing, logistical and manual labours. Much of these would prove to be instead dedicated to repairing the damage dealt elsewhere in the city, working alongside Rydooni efforts dictated by the Archonos that put a steady focus upon the self-determination and efforts of the Hollow Concord to spring back predominantly under its own strength.

Even with aid, the damage dealt in geography and societal terms would require more than a few spellcasters, a few boxes of bread, a few hours spent acting as a listening ear and a few labourers. Multiplied up and out thousands of times over, even with aid, it would takes years to truly recover, if ever.