Church Uprising

* House Rilis
* House Torelle
* House Dorenis
* House Irellen

The **Church Uprising** was a civil war on the Summerset Archipelago that took place shortly after the death of King Aerel I Arana, as the Church of Alaxon had grown weary of the Isles' new foreign rulers, and were disgusted by their irreligious practice of incestuous marriages. While King Aerel I had done much to soothe the tensions with the Church, his successor Daethen I Arana was a sinful and cold-hearted man who did not care for diplomacy, and allowed relations between the Throne and Church to deteriorate.

In 1E 440, three years after Daethen's ascension to the Marble Throne, High Aldarch Elwin III declared an anathema upon the tyrannical King Daethen, calling all pious lords of the realm to raise their banners against the Aranas. Many of the great Houses either sided with the Throne, or remained neutral in the conflict, with only House Liaren answering the High Aldarch's call. Dozens of lesser Houses, however, joined the High Aldarch in rebellion.

The Uprising eventually ended in 1E 445, following the death of the young King Anumaril I, and his uncle Viseriel I's ascension to the Marble Throne. Recognising the brutality of the seemingly endless conflict, Viseriel I took the path of diplomacy and worked throughout the first year of his reign to bring High Aldarch Elwin III to the negotiating table. It was then that peace was finally brokered, and a compromise was reached between House Arana and the Church, resulting in the Principle of Exceptionalism.

## Prelude

Following the death of King Aerel I Arana in the early winter of 1E 437, unrest began to brew across the Summerset Isles, and whispers of war reached the ears of the royal court. It was believed at the time that those Houses which not too long ago had been independent kingdoms, would seize the moment to rebel against House Arana and overthrow their foreign rulers. Keeping with the example set by her late husband, Dowager Queen Alyssare Arana aided her son, the now King Daethen I, in getting control over the nobility and putting to rest the possibility of independence movements.

For a time this seemed to work, and the royal court in Eldarhall was able to relax. However, King Daethen was a cold, sinful, and uncaring man, who delighted in ruling through fear and made far more enemies than friends. In 1E 440 the High Aldarch Elwin III broke the tension across the realm by declaring an anathema upon the King, calling on all the pious followers of the Church to rise against the tyrant and overthrow the "incestuous abominations" ruling over them. While the High Aldarch's respect for Aerel I kept tensions from reaching a breaking point, Daethen I had done little to increase his favour among the powerful clergy. This, mixed with House Arana's already taboo and sinful cultural practices, was too much for the Church to bear.

## The Church Uprising

Following the High Aldarch's proclamation, many lords across the realm answered the call, some motivated by piousness and others by prospects for glory and opportunity. House Liaren, the rulers of Shimmerene (the city in which the Monastery of Serene Harmony is located) were among the first to answer the Church's call-to-arms. They, however, would be the only great House to do so. Houses Andorin, Torelle, and Rilis rose their banners in favour of the Throne: the Andorins were bound by blood with the marriage of Linaarie Andorin to Daethen, and the King used his wife as a quasi-hostage to force the Andorins' hand in the war; the Torelles were bound by a similar bond with the marriage of Rhaethen Arana to Lord Janos Torelle; and the Rilis' joined out of duty, as Lord Tranian Rilis was serving as Daethen I's Warden of the Isles. House Heleyn elected to remain neutral, safe within the Vale of Eton Nir, although this did not stop its lords and commoners from choosing sides.

Despite most of the great Houses joining with the King, many lesser lords answered the call of the High Aldarch instead. Thus, the total manpower of the great Houses was much less than it otherwise could have been, and in terms of total numbers both sides of the war were roughly equal. That was, however, until the High Aldarch encouraged clergy across the realm to preach to the commonfolk about the "holy cause", prompting the creation of many peasant armies and militias, which swelled the numbers of the Church's forces.

### Mobilisation of the Aranas

With the High Aldarch's declaration, King Daethen I Arana flew into a rage at court. Daethen purged Eldarhall of any he suspected of plotting against him, or who had suspected sympathy with the High Aldarch's cause. Priests were among the first targets, although Rhaethen Arana was able to save the lives of several dozen of them after convincing Daethen that executing them all would only further prove the High Aldarch's point. Those priests that were spared swore oaths of fealty to Daethen in Eldarhall's throne room, and many were used by Rhaethen as spies after the fact as repayment of their life debt to her.

King Daethen and his mother Alyssare Arana gathered a royalist host at Alinor, which included House Dorenis of Cey-Tarn. Atop their gryphos, Nereon and Rhea, they moved north to join with House Arana's host coming east from the Norlands. Lord Mulvarion Andorin was not keen on aiding the King, and may have even joined against him had it not been for his sister's marriage to Daethen. Queen Firen was kept in Eldarhall under watchful guard, a silent threat to the Andorins to ensure their loyalty. Despite sending his forces east, Lord Mulvarion remained in Lillandril.

Lord Tranian Rilis was serving as Daethen's Warden of the Isles at the time of the war's eruption, and in the King's absence he was expected to rule the realm from Eldarhall. As such, he sent ravens to Firsthold to have his kin raise Auridon's banners as quickly as possible and cross the Auridon Strait to join with the rest of the royalist forces. Auridon, however, is a vast and long island which takes time to marshal its complete fighting force. Lord Tranian's son Sirion worked together with Firsthold's castellan, Lord Aubryn Irellen, to call the banners.

Princess Rhaethen Arana remained at Eldarhall with Lord Tranian to help him govern the realm. While Tranian was the official regent, King Daethen gave Raethen consent to act in his stead and secure the interests of their House, particularly should Lord Tranian prove disloyal. To this end, Rhaethen tended to her influence like a growing weed, spreading it wherever possible and building a network of spies loyal to her alone. Over the course of this war, Rhaethen's spies would prove useful in aiding the royalist cause, and in keeping Lord Tranian informed about events in the realm which required attention.

Raethen personally wrote a letter to her husband in Sunhold, Lord Janos Torelle, informing him of the royal call-to-arms. Similarly to the Rilis', Janos would take time in gathering the armies of the Summerlands, which Church forces eagerly exploited.

### Battle of the Summer Hinterlands

With the great Houses raising their banners, Lord Artos Liaren knew he needed to act first to catch the royalists by surprise. All the great Houses needed time to marshal their forces, but Artos had the advantage of plotting the war with High Aldarch Elwin III, granting him the ability to inconspicuously amass fighting men closer to Shimmerene prior to the war. These men alone would not win him the war, but they provided Artos a manpower advantage that other Houses did not have. House Torelle needed time to amass its host from across the vast Summerlands, a similar problem faced by House Rilis in Auridon, but on a larger scale. Meanwhile, the Arana host from the Crownlands would predictably move north, joining with the Andorin host, before moving east to Shimmerene.

To take advantage of this situation, Artos marched his host south and west, into the Summerlands. Along the way he gathered more men from his vassal lords, and instructed lords from northern Elorne to gather at Shimmerene. With his host he struck hard at the Torelles in the Battle of the Summer Hinterlands, who had a sizeable host but were still organising themselves and gathering more men. The battle resulted in a decisive Liaren victory, with Lord Janos Torelle falling back to Sunhold to wait out the expected siege.

### Fanning the Flames of Faith

Lord Artos pursued Janos to Sunhold, but did so primarily to keep him from escaping the city and raising more men in the Summerlands. To this end, Artos never attempted to assault the city, and merely kept it under threat of siege. A sufficient number of men from his host were kept at Sunhold, while Artos and the bulk of his forces travelled through the Summerlands to bring the local lords and commoners to their side. The region was vast and populous, and the prospect of winning over lords and commoners to the Church's cause could tip the scales of war in their favour.

Many summerlander lords agreed to join Artos, feeling little loyalty to the upjumped House Torelle which they felt did not deserve the power they held as High Kinlords of the Summerlands. Commoners also elected to join Artos, flocking to the Church's cause in the thousands.

Simultaneously, High Aldarch Elwin III had sent ravens and missives to priests and Aldarchs across the Summerset Archipelago, urging them to preach to the denizens of their towns, villages, and cities to join the Church's holy cause against the Aranas. This resulted in vast unrest across the realm, with many lords and commoners electing to take up the Church's star banner and make their way to Shimmerene.

## Notes

1. ↑ Many denizens of Auridon boast of it's size, claiming that it is as large as half of the Summerset Isle. In reality, its size is more equivalent to a third, which is still exceptionally large.
2. ↑ King Daethen I's brother Viseriel was still in Eldarhall at the time, but it's likely that Daethen distrusted him too much to grant him any degree of power while off on campaign.