War in Concordia Timeline
June 6, 1998
David disappears from King Meilge’s castle in the Kingdom of Willows at the beginning of a planned tour of Concordia with his new queen, Faerilyth.
Faerilyth intends to carry on as queen in her husband’s place while he is lost. However many others do not trust the Queen, and believe she may have been part of the plot against David. Morwen, David’s sister, refuses to acknowledge Faerilyth as queen.
Lenore, David’s young heir, moves to Mab’s Court at Caer Palisades, the capital of the Kingdom of Apples. Faerilyth continues the tour of Concordia as an act of faith in her husband’s continued survival.
January, 2000
Parliament of Dreams meets once again to try to resolve the issue of succession. After endless debate, members are at each other’s throats with no clear winner and dozens of sides.
May 17, 2000
The “tea party” in Boston Harbor (aided by pirate raiders from the Fiefs of Bright Paradise) galvanizes the nobles into a frenzy and outs the commoners on alert that they had better act quickly.
April 19, 2000
The Battle of Coldfort takes place, consisting of a commoner assault on the freehold of Coldfort. A young female troll named Idrisia rallies the defenders and they win the day, but the violence spreads to nearby freeholds. This is the “official” beginning of the War for Concordia.
July 17, 2000
The appearance of Danwyn ap Gwydion from the Dreaming and the beginning of his Crusade of Dreams.
September 12, 2000: Rotgut Redhelm and the Urban Renewal League begin their campaign of terror with the massacre of all the residents of Mount Granite freehold.
March 13, 2002
The Kithain Against Tyranny, an offshoot of the Urban Renewal League bombs the Duchy of Palmetto in Charleston, South Carolina, giving Meilge cause to demand that something be done about the violence which spread from the Kingdom of Apples into his own realm.
Meilge enacts laws restricting travel and forcing kithain to register in his kingdom and swear a weak fealty oath. He also calls for the restoration of Concordia as a united kingdom with Faerilyth as it’s acknowledged queen. Any who would oppose Faerilyth’s claim, Meilge declared as supportive of the chaos and violence engulfing the kingdom, as only a strong central ruler would be able to get the situation under control.
July, 2002
Sir Seif, ward of Caliburn, disappears while searching for David. Many take his disappearance as the loss of any hope that David might return.
Tthe enigmatic Count Briant ap Daireann arrives in Concordia, declaring himself to be the heir of the dethroned ancient Unseelie rulers, who have been non-existent during the long years of Seelie reign. He claims that David has gone for good and that it is now time for the Unseelie to rule. Devoted proponents of Unseelie rule immediately begin to rally around Count Briant in opposition to the claims of Sir Danwyn ap Gwydion who had arrived in Concordia prior to the Count and claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne.
Count Briant begins spreading rumors that Meilge was responsible for the kidnapping of David, and uses insinuations to drive a wedge between Meilge and Mab.
Meilge enters into talks with Mab on behalf of Faerilyth, believing that if Mab would support the new Queen most of Concordia would follow.
January, 2003
Talks break down between Meilge and Mab. Mab accuses Meilge of being behind the plot to kidnap David, and insinuates that Faerilyth was part of the plot as well. In response, Meilge declares Mab to be a warmonger and enemy of peace, as well as a tyrant, and over the next year works to stir up popular opposition to Mab while supplying and arming rebels in her kingdom.
May 22, 2004
Desperate to put a stop to Meilge’s support of rebels, Mab sends an army, led by Sir Danwyn ap Gwydion, to invade the Duchy of Chesapeake and is met by an army from south near the site of the battle of Anteitem. This marks the first clash of kingdoms as part of the War for Concordia.
Count Briant leaves Mab’s court and goes over to Meilge declaring his abhorance for Mab’s invasion and offering himself as an informant to Meilge. Count Briant advises Meilge to invade in the Kingdom of Willows to make an example of what happens to aggressive rulers.
September, 2004
After successfully repelling Queen Mab’s forces Meilge invades Pennsylvannia and begins a long campaign to dethrone Mab.
January, 2005
In the dead of winter Meilge is forced to withdraw from the Kingdom of Apples after a bloody battle decimates his army near the battlefield of Gettysburg.
May, 2007
Meilge invades the Kingdom of Apples a second time, this time with a much larger army, after imposing a draft on his subjects. The army’s stated goal is to seize Tara Nar from Queen Mab, set Faerilyth up as queen and put an end to the chaos and bloodshed.
After the defeat of Meilge’s first invasion and his concurrent second invasion, Count Briant gathers a large following of Unseelie fae who demand a return to Unseelie rule and reject King Meilge because of his support for the Seelie Faerilyth. Briant leaves the Kingdom of Willows with a handful of his most loyal followers and begins touring the kingdoms of Concordia spreading his message.
March, 2008
After a long and bloody campaign and a seige of Queen Mab’s Caer Palisades, Meilge is again forced to admit defeat and return him.
Meilge continues to blame Mab for all that is wrong in Corcordia and promises real change including greater opportunities for commoners and more equitable distribution of glamour and other vital resources. Meilge goes so far as to demote several of his dukes and replace them with commoner rulers, who happen to be unquestionably devoted to him. He also levies heavy glamour taxes on freehold owners so that the glamour may be redistributed among the kithain, while he quietly keeps a large tithe of it for himself. He even goes so far as to propose changing the Escheat to include a Right to Glamour.
Meilge invites other rulers in Concordia who wish to prove their good faith with the commoners and prevent the bloodshed seen in the Kingdom of Apples to sign on to his redistributive program as well. The Kingdoms of Northern Ice, Grass and Pacifica soon follow the reforms of the Kingdom of Willows in response to pressure from the lowest levels of kithain in the kingdoms.
Meanwhile, Count Briant draws increasingly large crowds as he travels through Concordia. He supports the reforms of Meilge, but claims that the king of Willows, because of his Seelie leanings does not go far enough. Briant instructs his followers to support Meilge’s reforms but to continue pushing for greater change. Briant instructs his followers to use whatever means necessary to bring about their revolution, even if it means bringing destruction and devestation to the rulers of Concordia so that they will begin to understand the need for real change.
June 6, 2008
Seelie kithain across the kingdoms begin to protest the heavy taxes being confiscated by corrupt rulers in the name of fairness and liberty. The grass-roots movement, is characterized by many loosely-connected, locally-organized groups calling themselves the Parliamentary Patriots and demanding a return to the Parliament of Dreams and a Concordia similar to what it was in David’s time only without any high king or queen. The movement owes much of its ideals to the Common Rights Society, which has been around for some time, but is only now finally having it’s ideas gain traction in mainstream fae society.
The Patriots participate in marches and rallies across Concordia, drawing more kithain to their cause. Of course they also face fierce opposition as their message of equality angers nobles who believe they are born to rule, and commoners who believe nobles should be banned from the leadership positions they have abandoned too long. Meilge along with other ruling class nobles and many unseelie attempt to brand the Parliamentary Patriots as backwards, uneducated, and mean-spirited, however the movement continues to grow.
October, 2009
Briant arrives in Kingdom Pacifica and is welcomed into the court of Queen Aeron by her consort, Count Vogon ap Ailil. In this kingdom dominated by powerful Unseelie leaders and a population of changelings eager for radical change Count Briant’s message finds unprecedented support. Enormous crowds gather to listen to Briant as he calls for the Kingdom to unite and fight for the regime change they desire. Rather than wait for the Kingdom of Apples to solve Concordia’s problems Count Briant states that Pacifica should declare their own Unseelie High King and demand the other kingdoms recognize him or face invasion and occupation.
January, 2010
Count Vogon ap Ailil declares his support for Count Briant as the next High King. The Counts begin recruiting an army, ostensibly to protect Kingdom Pacifica from the violence and aggression of the other kingdoms.
February 19, 2010
Queen Aeron declares that the military buildup in her kingdom threatens their peace with their neighbors and demands that Count Vogon put a stop to it.
February 20, 2010
Contrary to her previous statement Queen Aeron makes a public anouncement declaring that the kingdom has a right to build an army after all and their neighbors should not be threatened by a kingdom which is only exercising it’s right to defend itself. Aeron also makes known her intent to marry Count Briant.
March 1, 2010
Duke Gorvendil of Caer Emerald in Seattle reluctantly investigates his brother, Lord Feng on suspicion that Feng is concealing some plot against the Duke.
March 15, 2010
Duke Gorvendil is found dead in his garden, murdered by poison. Lord Feng, supported by Count Vogon, inherits the dukedom and all investigations against him are dropped. Lord Feng takes the former Duke’s consort, Lady Iris, as his own.
November 5, 2010
The Patriots march on Meilge’s palace, and with the support of many of Seelie nobility in the Kingdom of Willows, force the king to allow elections in the duchies that wish to participate and to end the confiscation of glamour. The elections lead to the reinstatement of some of the nobles Meilge had earlier deposed and the ousting of many of Meilge’s hand-picked puppet rulers. Queen Mary Elizabeth, seeing the change of public opinion, is quick to reverse the reforms in the Kingdom of Grass as well. However, the kingdoms of norther Ice, and Pacifica, with their more radical leanings resist the Patriots and double down on their policies of strong central governments working to impose equality.
In the kingdom of Pacifica Queen Aeron’s closest advisor, Count Vogon ap Ailil works with Count Briant and other prominent unseelie leaders across Concordia to create a counter movement to the Seelie Patriots calling for Unseelie rule in Concordia. Count Vogon is rumored to work with or at least support the Commoners Liberation Organization and the Kithain for a Free Tomorrow, and even the Urban Renewal League, though these commoner organizations would probably bristle at the idea they would associate with a sidhe.
July, 2011
The larger Count Briant’s army becomes the more unrest grows among the people, and pressure to disband or downsize the army from neighboring kingdoms mounts. Count Vogan faces opposition to his plans from every side, with the commoners uneasy about a sidhe-led army occupying their kingdom, the Seelie Patriots, though small in number, vocally oppose the taxes needed to maintain the army, and anti-war fae, more numerous in Pacifica than other kingdoms, vehemently oppose the military build up.
August 30, 2011
Caer Emerald is destroyed by an unknown attacker employing forbidden banal arts. With the sudden and explained attack on the freehold the kithain of Pacifica suddenly realize how the violence from the kingdoms around them is beginning to spill over into their own realm. Almost immediately public opinion shifts in favor of the army.
October, 2011
Commoners, mostly Unseelie, along with a few Unseelie noble sympathizers bound together, calling themselves the Uprising. They movement is largely spontaneous, though members of the Commoner Liberation Organization and Kithain for Free Tomorrow are heavily involved in it. The Uprising members occupy major freeholds in all the kingdoms, beginning with Tara Nar and spreading out to other capitals.
The Uprising camps claim to be non-violent and do not initially attack the nobles in the freeholds they occupy, however, they do antagonize and attempt to goad the knights guarding the freeholds into confrontations and in some places violence soon begins to erupt.
Rulers across Concordia face the dilemma of deciding how to deal with the Uprising. Queen Mab attempts unsuccessfully to remove the occupiers, only to have them portray themselves as martyrs and return once the knights leave. Meilge claims to agree with the demonstrators and shift the blame on the Seelie nobility for being unwilling to change. Mary Elizabeth affirms the right of Uprising to gather but has her knights watching them closely vowing that any acts of violence will be punished severely. Laurel of Northern Ice and Aeron of Pacifica as Unseelie sympathizers support the Uprising, though they too must be cautious, as they are also a part of the status-quo ruling party.
Rumors of Fomorian Sightings amidst the chaos have been getting more wild. Strange Denizens that tickle the minds of the oldest of the changelings, those with the deepest memories think they remember battle, war in a midst of trees... another rumor, of a freehold risen, not of denizens, of Gallain, Thallain, nor even Kithain, but of the Ancient Ones themselves, thick with banality and sounding the bells of war, as the sounds of steel for their ancient forges craft dark weapons to combat the descendents of the Tuatha.