Albion's war with the Unseelie Court

**Albion's war to permanently erase the Unseelie Court** took up a substantial majority of the events of *The Court of Five Thrones*.

## Appears in

Major canon:

*Game Theory*

*The Court of Five Thrones*

## Details

Albion sent his forces to harass the Unseelie Court, partially out of hatred for Gwyn ap Nudd's 'betrayal' of the Seelie Court by hiding his true alignment for so long, and a disgust for Unseelie land fae. With greater numbers in soldiers, more equipment, and a vast amount of wealth to draw on, the Seelie military nearly overwhelmed the Unseelie Court. Alysia mer Malakhy served as Albion's Polemarch, or War General. Davix also took part in various battles, and led a contingent of Mages. Fighting was tense, but not officially an attempt to erase the Unseelie Court. After Gwyn took Ondine's advice of calling in life debts that Seelie fae owed him - to simultaneously strengthen the Unseelie Court and weaken the Seelie Court - Albion went to the Unseelie Court himself, and declared war to permanently erase the Unseelie Court. Gwyn implemented the Red Path strategy with Gulvi Dubna Vajat's aid, wherein she and other assassins went after elite Seelie targets, to weaken the Seelie Court.

At the start of his kingship of the Unseelie Court, Gwyn was faced with no military, crumbling weapons and armor, and subjects who had largely abandoned their Court. He pushed to gather families who might be lured to donate funds, that the Court could then use to pay for soldiers, equipment, Mages, and healers. He created a council of War Generals, gathering many species of Unseelie fae for experience and combat expertise, to advise him and control the campaign. His council included a wide range of fae:

* Baw (wokulo)
* Burralga (dhinnabarrada)
* Dogwill Borough (common fae)
* Euryale (gorgon-naga)
* Hai-Hong (sea fae)
* Ifir (marid-djinn afrit)
* Kerri
* Kyoufu (boru boru)
* Luma (angittay)
* Magisakuna
* Mu (kitsune)
* Ocypete (harpy)
* Prince Vane (fie ellyllon)
* Zudanna (kudlak)

Gwyn struggled to hold his council's command, as most distrusted him for the millennia of his serving with the Seelie military where he obliterated Unseelie forces, and killed a number of their loved ones. Mikkel revealed Dogwill's status as a double agent for Albion, and Dogwill was eventually removed for interrogation and later executed. The council's distrust culminated in Ifir's mutiny (pushed by Ash Glashtyn), which Gwyn defeated. In so doing, Gwyn killed Magisakuna, Kyoufu, and Ocypete, but imprisoned Ifir. This greatly cut the forces the Unseelie could rely on, particularly concerning Ocypete's people, who refused to return. Kabiri later called in a life debt for Gwyn to restore Ifir's status and return him to combat.

Gwyn sought out the aid of Marika and the Nain Rouge to form a Coalition of the Classless, to try and stop a permanent breaking of the balance of the fae realm, which would occur if the Unseelie Court was destroyed. Albion grew increasingly difficult and paranoid, and started going after inter-alignment communities, including the Ambaros Marid-Djinn cabal, trying to recruit and/or blackmail its Seelie side and weaken a strong Unseelie force. Albion interrogated anyone he believed might be working for the Unseelie, and potentially executed some of them. Seelie fae - beginning with the Seelie trows - began fleeing the Seelie Court, and begging asylum with the Unseelie Court.

Some time later, Vane revealed his status as an assassin for Crielle ferch Fnwy when he attempted to murder Gwyn during the Wild Hunt. He failed - due to Mikkel's intervention - and committed suicide. Because there was inter-alignment violence and murder - Unseelie Vane killed Seelie Mikkel - the King of the Forest ended the Wild Hunt forever. The fie ellyllon Vane led were imprisoned and deeply mistrusted by the Unseelie Court from then on.

Future fighting was bitter, and losses were great, particularly for the Unseelie Court. Albion's forces went after the Unseelie Courtlands, and came to the very gates of the Unseelie Court, devastating the remaining Unseelie forces. The war only ended when the Coalition of the Classless gathered (representing an equal number of Seelie and Unseelie classless fae). They laid sanctions on both Courts, ending military engagements between them (outside territorial disputes) for a decade, halting Albion's meddling in inter-alignment communities, and Gwyn's assassinations and calling on life debts.

## Notable Battles

During one battle, Gwyn and Albion fought each other directly. Gwyn fell for Albion's trap, thinking he could end the war for good. But Davix quelled Gwyn's light, and Albion filled Gwyn's lungs with seawater. Fenwrel the Mouse-Maiden restored Gwyn's abilities for a brief moment, and Augus Each Uisge ordered Gwyn to keep going. Gwyn managed to use his light to badly injure Albion, and then withdrew the Unseelie forces.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 18 June 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/4283271. Chapter 4: Suspicions.
2. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 17 October 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/5474447. Chapter 14: Pearl.
3. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 26 December 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/6404462. Chapter 23: Confrontation.
4. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 27 March 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/8003448. Chapter 37: Explosion.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 June 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/9186013. Chapter 46: Masque.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7205945. Chapter 29: Classless.
7. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 24 July 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10022663. Chapter 53: Arrow.
8. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 26 June 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/9517437. Chapter 49: Battle.
9. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 14 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10409742. Chapter 56: Islands.
10. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 3 July 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/9645504. Chapter 50: Wayward.