Harbinger Coup

*"Stin Cepel belongs to humans...Drow and half-bloods should go back to where they came from."*

*-Seaorin*

The Harbinger Coup is the general term used when referring to the events leading up to Reclamation. Sometimes, it can refer to the specific coup itself, and other times, to the period of time when Seaorin, Gramorn Duskfell, and the Harbingers of Purity controlled Stin Cepel.

#### Origins

To understand the roots of the Harbinger Coup, one must understand the motivations of the various actors who carried it out.

##### Seaorin and the Harbingers of Purity

First, a group called the Harbingers of Purity. The group was a longstanding but unpopular group dedicated to the idea that Stin Cepel belonged to humans and humans alone. They longed for the days before the Shadow Wars, when the Kingdom frowned on outsiders and made morality and Bahamut worship central to its existence. Since the introduction of the Drow and other species, they felt the humans had been marginalized - in their own country.

The Harbingers were created in the years directly following the end of the Shadow Wars. They had some prominence then, but over time, their influence waned. In the years leading up to the Coup, the group was at its lowest point. An ambitious man named Seaorin changed all that. From his family's coffers, he bankrolled the organization, recruiting new members in secret, bribing officials and hiring bandits to aid in their efforts, and obtaining new items and powers.

Through these efforts, Seaorin was found by Gramorn Duskfell, the head of the King's Guard. Gramorn cornered him, but, much to Seaorin's surprise, did not arrest or kill him, but proposed that they work together towards a common goal - overthrowing the Royal Family.

##### Gramorn Duskfell

Gramorn Duskfell was a well-respected military officer who rose through the ranks to eventually become the leader of Stin Cepel's military forces. He always had a brutal streak, but was fiercely loyal to king and country. One day, Gramorn found a Temple of Cyric, high in the Planewalker Mountains. In it, he found a Book of Cyric. He took this book and, over time, it tainted his mind and created a connection with Cyric himself, imprisoned in a gem buried deep in the Freezing Wastes.

Gramorn, through intermediaries, hired a group of mercenaries to find the gem and return it to him, which they did successfully. With the help of Seaorin, Gramorn would eventually release Cyric from his prison and imprison Jenova there instead.

#### The Coup

Seaorin, meanwhile, traveled to the Faewild in search of power. He made a pact with the Autumn Queen. His first use of power was to kill Aurora Carter, who he viewed as a traitor to the race by being with Pointy, an Eladrin. This drove Pointy on a path of vengeance.

When Seaorin returned, he and Gramorn began putting plans in motion. They hired gangs of bandits to blockade the roads; they found loyalist soldiers who would fight for their cause; and they plotted a time when the Royal Family would be together.

The coup itself happened quickly. Gramorn led Seaorin into the throne room, where the Royal Family sat, waiting for visits from their people. In a flash, the two struck down the King, Queen, and two of their three children, as well as one of the Shadeweavers who had been there protecting them.

Meanwhile, Indar, the other Shadeweaver, grabbed Princess Vyra and ran up the stairs with her. Gramorn and Seaorin followed and had the two cornered...until Indar Planeshifted away. The Sandstriders witnessed these events, which set them on a path to eventually overthrow the Harbingers.

#### The Era

The Harbingers held control of Stin Cepel for almost a year. During this time, they worked with Lolth, the Spider Queen, to relocate thousands and thousands of Drow and others to the Shadowfell, under her rule. They set up prison camps where they forced halfbloods to do hard, manual labor. They made agreements with the Grey Council of Vitaurum and plotted to expand the Harbinger way past the borders on Stin Cepel. One of these ways was to provide troops to the human side of the Civil War of Woestijn.

However, it was apparent that Seaorin and Gramorn were not on the same page. Eventually, Gramorn began to cut Seaorin out of important meetings, decisions, etc, and seemed more bent on creating chaos than pushing the human agenda. Enraged by this, Seaorin decided to return to the Faewild to entreat the Autumn Queen to give him more power.

Unfortunately for him, Pointy had also returned to the Faewild. Seaorin was killed by the Sandstriders.But that was not the end.

Cyric, who had been the architect of this coup through Gramorn, reincarnated Seaorin as his servant. Seaorin was more powerful than he ever had been before. He used this power to kidnap the Princess, kill Indar, and take her to his tower in the mountains. When the Sandstriders came to rescue her, he trapped them all in mind prisons and made back for the capital.

#### The Battle of Broumov and Reclamation

The Sandstriders eventually broke out of those mind prisons, and returned with Vyra to Dryadis. They organized all of their allies from around the continent and in the Faewild - a diverse group including Dragonborn, Half-orcs, Elves, Eladrin, and sympathetic Humans, as well as others - and made plans to end the Harbinger occupation once and for all.

Whether due to arrogance or ignorance, neither Seaorin nor Gramorn had accounted for the possibility of every army on the continent coming together. They were summarily defeated, culminating at the Battle of Broumov. Gramorn, who traveled to the central square to face down Vyra, was slain by Evangeline Krost (who later took his job). Seaorin was killed by the Sandstriders. Thus ended the Harbinger Coup.