The Red Century and the War of the Banners
The Mercy of George and Tyranny of Thomas
Upon the defeat of Queen Ella the Iron-Willed and the Woodland Folk at the Last Battle of Folk and Men against the forces of Grand Prince St George Montgomery and Old Hatlynshire, the Folk retreated from their home in the Moor and proceeded to assimilate into human society as a means of escaping the impending human led genocide. Hiding in plain sight to avoid the death of their dwindling population. In the succeeding era, known as the After Flight (AF), the folk would venture deeper and deeper into human society and by the time of the death of George Montgomery in 32 AF, the average folk looked indistinguishable from the average human. Yet beneath their disguises, the folk managed to retain some remnants of their old way of life and thus the old enemy of Man persisted within their own walls.
But all was not peaceful even decades after the end of the Doomed Campaign. For despite rumors that George Montgomery purposefully let the folk slip into human society as an act of mercy, the army still searched for remnants of the folk. During the reign of George, there occurred several abductions, killings and executions (often hundreds of individuals at a time) as the army would make public spectacle of eliminating the folk. The frequency of these killings would be inconsistent as over time the folk would be driven deeper and deeper into hiding. And by 32 AF, the hunt that, in the beginning, had conducted several executions a month, could maintain a rate of once or twice a year.
George’s only child and immediate successor Thomas Montgomery was considered far less tolerant compared to his predecessor. Many found him to be under the influence of his aunt and his father’s adopted daughter, St Annalise of the Burning Banner, who’d persuade him to start a secret order of militant operatives based in Tarthold Keep (presently known as the Crow’s Nest) in Great Borough. This elite unit, known then as Order of Tarthold, were tasked with seeking out and eradicating the folk and their descendants. Hence, during the early years of Thomas’s reign, Great Borough would become a den of immense slaughter for the folk people and any other unfortunate individuals who found themselves on the government’s bad side. This led to a quiet but large diaspora of folk away from Great Borough and to the newly emerging Outer Boroughs led by the New Industrialist Movement (NIM). And there they remained, killings still took place but at a much lower frequency compared to Great Borough. Many say that the diaspora of folk from Great Borough to the outer regions of Hatlynshire was the catalyst for their eventual rise to prominence.
Claude the Sickly, Alissa the Regent and Times of Peace
Thomas Montgomery died in the year 47 AF. During the reign of his successor, Claude Montgomery, the hunt for the folk was brought to a halt as the rising tensions between Great Borough and the New Industrialist Movement combined with Claude’s declining mental state kept the government occupied. This period was considered relatively peaceful with their only being five reported incidents during Claude’s nine year reign. It was during this period that the folk first began to prosper in trade and other commerce-oriented professions as the New Industrialist Movement believed the folk to be an over exaggerated myth, a notion most likely encouraged by the folk members of the NIM.
After the death of Claude by his own hand in 56 AF, his wife Alissa Cristenwall took over as regent in the name of her son, Carlton Montgomery, a decision that was met by harsh ridicule as many did not wished to be ruled over by anyone who wasn't of Montgomery blood. Alissa sought to gain popularity for her unpopular reign by reinvigorating the hunt for the remnants of the folk. However, by then the notion of the folk being a far-fetched, all but eradicated people had taken root in the public mind. This coupled with the accusations that she was using such a hunt as an excuse to rid herself of political opponents and other enemies of the House of Montgomery made her decision all but a failure. The reinvigorated hunt did see a rise in folk executions, but it was not nearly up to the level that existed during the reign of Thomas. However, Alissa did expand the band of secret operatives tasked with carrying out the hunt, renovating and expanding the old Tarthold Keep and turning into a miniature complex and she was the first to construct a rudimentary network of spies and loyalists in key sectors of government in order to carry out her will. However, her unpopularity coupled with bad decision making and her losing battle with the NIM led to the collapse of her support base and in the year 67 AF she abdicated her title as regent and gave the throne to her oldest daughter, Victoria.
The War of the Coin
Victoria, unlike her predecessors, is considered the true successor to the legacy of her great-grandfather George. During her reign, she would often disregard the ongoing hunt for the folk as her continued conflicts with the NIM occupied most of her time. She did keep a steady stream of funding for the Order of Tarthold, now known simple as the Tartman. But despite her unwillingness to pursue the folk her conflicts with the NIM indirectly affected the folk in a negative way. The folk, who were now thought to have been deeply ingrained within the structure of the NIM, had their prosperity and influence dependent on the preservation of the movement. A personal journal discovered by the Order of Intellegencia in the year 510 AF was alleged to have belonged to a folk man named J. Howard Martin, who was confirmed to have been the secretary of Mr. Corsman Gaft, the unofficial leader of the NIM. In regards to his people, he stated thus:
“There seems to be no end in sight for the wrath of Great Borough. Mr. Gaft has advised me not to worry about losing my holdings. He says the princess’s fire shall fade with time. However, I am not so sure. My friends in the neighboring boroughs tell me nothing but tales of riots and hysteria. And if even distinguished men of high rank such as them cannot the worsening fray, what hope is there for me? Perhaps I should retreat farther into the country. I know the government shall have no mercy on my family or me if the things I have witnessed in my youth are anything to go by. If there is anything I’ve learned in all my years, it is to always fear uncertainty…”
[Entry Dated to 75 AF, weeks before the assassination of Corsman Gaft]
Such deep connections between the folk and NIM meant that, by the end of the War of the Coin in 88 AF, when the Grand-Princess ordered the changing of Hatlynshire’s currency as per the instructions of Bernard Sorah, the ensuing collapse of the NIM under the tremendous economic pressure led to the folk once again falling from grace. As to be expected, the death of the New Industrialist Movement led to the loss of all the prosperity and influence the folk had gained over the past ninety years.
The End of the Red Century
The folk, once again politically and economically vulnerable, were now put in more danger as the Treaty of the Enterprises between NIM and the government gave the government greater power over the Outer Boroughs of Hatlynshire. Records suggest that killings once again increased, however it seemed that due to the public’s perception of the folk these executions were more secretive and done away from the public eye. Thus the records dating back to this era are considered inaccurate in their estimates.
These conditions remained the same throughout the last decade of the first century. Even during the short time period where Carlton Montgomery, Victoria’s younger brother, took power following the New Century Conspiracy of 99 AF. Despite Carlton’s paranoia, his somewhat brutal nature, his belief that the folk had infiltrated the government and were plotting to assassinate him and his increasing of the Tartman’s overall funding by an order of magnitude he failed to increase their overall efficiency. The reason for this is seems to have been the fact that, by that point, the folk had all become consolidated in small, well-hidden communities throughout the vast lands of the Outer Boroughs and the countryside, with them having mastered the art of secrecy after decades of persecution. However, Carlton is credited with introducing the Hunter’s signature angel mask into their attire in the year 101 AF.
After Carlton’s short and disastrous reign ended in the 105 AF and Victoria returned to power, the excessive funding Carlton had given the Tartman was repealed. And by that point their purpose had been reduced to being nothing more than the personal guards of the Grand-Prince. Meanwhile as the threat of the Tartman faded away, the folk had already begun rebuilding themselves. The number of records made during this era increased. This included a book of records made by a supposed historian named Adela Harpin of Grumundfort. With Grumondfort being the name of a small community of folk who lived near western the edge of modern day Morning Borough. In an entry made in the year 108 AF, she states thus:
“The mornings of present times are peaceful that they were not too long ago. For the Tartman and their steel have become but distant memories. Having lived through the horrors that the children of George conducted with such gleeful pride, having heard the stories of my father and his father before him, I must say in my opinion the children that roam the roads of Grumondfort these days live in no less than a paradise relative to the past…”
This statement proves that the folk had once again returned to a favorable position after the War of the Coin. It was also during this time that other early scholars and historians among the folk began to refer to the 1st Century AF as ‘The Red Century’. A term that has endured as, even when compared to later centuries, the number of folk killed during the first century remained unmatched.
The Second Time of Prosperity
By the end of the first decade of the 2nd Century AF. The folk had become consolidated in what was thought to have been hundreds of small communities stretching through the countryside and the Outer Boroughs. These communities were not physically secure and the populous seemed to have been extremely decentralized. The first evidence of centralized organization forming among these communities came in the form of the Guildsman Society, an organization whose earliest accounts date back to even before the end of the Red Century. The Guildsman were a group of educated folk who held occupations in trade, banking, law and other distinguished fields. They seemed to have been the first to establish lines of communications between the folk communities through the lands of Hatlynshire in a time when postal services in the far-flung regions were scarce and trains had not been invented yet.
The structure of the Guildsman Society was simple. Members were given power based on seniority and divided into factions or ‘Guilds’ based on profession. Their system of decision-making was a limited democracy similar to the methods followed by the early New Industrialist Movement.
But, despite the Guildsman being the oldest known folk organization there were also other various rising organizations. In the decades, following the death of the NIM new businesses owned by folk families began to emerge. Some of the earliest of these was the Venshire Medicine Company founded by Eli Venshire Sr. and the Morrow Mining and Commodities Corporation, founded by John Morrow. Both of these companies were considered relatively new and small entities among the larger companies owned by families like the Gafts. But due to their relative age and size the end of the War of the Coin did not impact them enough to bankrupt them. After the war ended, these once small businesses achieved rapid growth by acquiring the assets of now defunct NIM companies during the last decade of the Red Century and the first decade of the 2nd century. Companies such as the Hatlynshire Bank founded by Morgan Hatly and the Everton Entertainment Corporation founded by Phineas Everton were thought to have also originated during this time.
One of the major innovations that occurred during Victoria’s second reign was the invention of the first rail locomotive by Mr. Alexander Stephens in the 112 AF and the opening of the first rail line between Georenberg in Great Borough and Fentenbury in the Borough of Hatles in 115 AF. The expansion of the rail industry during the period gave rise to the Morning Railway Company founded by Edward Cornelius Morning who collaborated with his longtime associate Andrew Demon, founder of the Hatlynshire Steel Company, in order to create the rails used by the M.R.C. With the addition of rails came the expansion of the press outside of Great Borough and this led to the rising of the Angelmore Press and Paper Company founded by William R. Angelmore. The expansion of the land and property sector also led to the rise of the Bernstein Food and Land Company, founded by Jacob Bernstein.
By the early 120s, folk people became more and more dominant throughout the Outer Boroughs. Yet despite this second wave of prosperity, the folk would remain a decentralized community. And while it is not known exactly when the idea of uniting the folk under one banner had come about as evidence suggests it was concept dating back to even the reign of Thomas, by the mid-120s it had become a very popular idea amongst the folk industrialists and the upper classes of the Guildsman Society. The popularization of this idea is thought to have been one of the leading reasons for the formation of the Circle.
In the summer of the year 128 AF, the heads of the families of the present day Great Houses met in Wittenheart Hall, a building owned by the Hatlynshire Bank, in Hatles Borough and signed the agreement that would become known as the Great Unity Accord and by doing so they would form the foundation of the Circle. It was believed that the Phineas Everton had invited various high-ranking members of the Guildsman to attend yet they declined. The reason for this was believed to have been the clashing beliefs between the two groups as the Guildsman were committed to a democratic system based on professionalism, which contrasted with Circle’s oligarchical structure which was reminiscent the late New Industrial Movement. Yet in the years succeeding the signing of the Great Unity Accord, the Circle would become increasingly popular as they welcomed any folk resident into their ranks unlike the exclusivity of the Guildsman.
The Guildsman themselves however, would expand. The modernization of the 110s and 120s would lead to several new Guilds like the Train Worker’s Guild and the Steel Worker’s Guild. This mutual growth would lead to competition between the two groups. Meanwhile, another group would also come to power by the end of the 120s. Since, while the Circle and the Guildsman appealed to a large majority of the Folk, among the masses there also existed a group who wished to return to the days before the Last Battle of Folk and Men. These groups wanted to reinstate the monarchy of the Folk and rebuild the Old Kingdom. Hence, they disagreed with both the Guildsman and the Circle in both their societal structure and their goal to stay hidden. These monarchists would eventually find leadership when a man named Canton Carmonite appeared onto the stage claiming to be a descendant of the long lost line of the House of Sternwood, a line that was thought to have died out after the death of Queen Ella. He allegedly provided evidence for his claims. But by the present day, the evidence he apparently provided no longer exists. Carmonite himself was a wealthy individual, with his father (a man allegedly named Nicholas) having been the founder of Carmon & Co Gunpowder Makers. But despite the unverifiable authenticity of his claims his cause would gain traction among the folk who wished to return to the glory days of the folk. With the support of his followers and his steadily increasing power, Carmonite would declare himself King of the Folk in 131 AF and he would name his organization the Order of the Crown of Branches.
(Note: Paul Wellsworth Parton, a NIM engineer and inventor of Demonum Borough invented the first guns in Hatlynshire during the War of the Coin in the year 83 AF.)
Over the next decade, these three major groups would slowly spread their influence among the folk. There would be moments of both alliance and conflict between them. The Order of the Crown of Branches would become more and more militant as the years went on with their being several instances of the Order retaliating violently against those who openly criticized Carmonite or his inner circle. Meanwhile the Circle was gaining more and more dominance in the financial and industrial sectors of the Outer Boroughs. It would soon become the wealthiest of the three groups while the Guildsman would remain the group with the most members. Records suggest that even during this time there were fears that these entities would soon collide over their differences. As a historian named Gregory Haromore noted in the year 137 in his work, A Chronicle of the New Century:
“The days grow darker as time march on. Canton’s peasants arm themselves with guns and powder made in their king’s own factory whilst the prideful beasts of the Circle sleep in their hordes of coin. Enough coin to outfit an army twice the size of Carmonite’s, if need be. My fellow contemporaries here among the Guildsman quake in anxiety yet also shiver in excitement. For it has been centuries since our people have had cause to fight each other instead of the royal house of Great Borough. And as historians, being present during such a rare occurrence is truly a great honor as much as it is a great burden…”
Haromore’s fears would later become a reality, since five years later in the year 142 AF. The War of the Banners would begin.
The War of the Banners
The War of the Banners would begin in the late summer of 142 AF with what was known as the Tapston Tragedy. When a group of Tartman would discover and raid a neighborhood of folk families living in the community of Tapston in the Borough of Demonum. It is unknown how the Tartman discovered the neighborhood or why there was no warning since both the Guildsman Society and the Circle, the organizations to whom the vats majority of the residents of Tapston pledged loyalty to, had both planted many spies in the lower stations of government in order to warn of oncoming threats. Tapston itself was an unguarded and open neighborhood hidden in plain sight. The raid on it would lead to the deaths of several folk families. Records estimate the deaths numbered in the hundreds. At the time, it would be the most devastating attack on the folk since the end of the Red Century.
The Tapston Tragedy would once again prove to the government that the folk were not eradicated. But unlike the approach taken by the government in the past, the decision was made to keep the existence of the folk a secret. This was done both as a way of preventing public hysteria and panic and as a way of maintaining the narrative the government had successfully wiped out the folk. Hence, on the human side, the Tapston Tragedy would be covered up as a riot turned arson incident conducted by local rabble-rousers protesting against the government.
Grand-Princess Victoria had passed away in the year 135 AF, her brother Carlton had passed away years prior. Therefore the new co-rulers of Hatlynshire, the twin sons of Carlton, William and Wyatt Montgomery immediately took the news of the Tapston Tragedy as a sign to enact reform, as it was clear that government arrogance had led to the folk slipping through their fingers and festering for decades. They would disband the old Tartman order and reform them as the Hunters. They would also renovate Tarthold once more and rename it as the Crow’s Nest before proceeding to wipe it off Hatlynshire property records. The Brothers Montgomery would send the inner chambers of government into a new level of secrecy and security and many consider this the true birth of the Order of Man.
The Tapston Tragedy would also spark conflict among the folk groups that had come to hold complete dominion over folk society. The Guildsman Order was sent into a panic as they tried to figure out the cause of the tragedy. Several members would begin to direct the blame onto the Order of the Crown of Branches, siting the incident as a ploy of vengeance executed by Carmonite. The Circle would also cast suspicion onto the Guildsman, as several of the families who had resided in Tapston were workers of the Tapston branch of the Hatlynshire Steel Company. The Circle had long accused the Guildsman of attempting to infiltrate the Circle-held corporations by threatening and intimidating the workers, who had all sworn allegiance to the Circle. They accused the Guildman of exposing the location of the Tapston community with the hopes of drawing attention to the Hatlynshire Steel Company, and thereby exposing the Circle to government wrath. But Arthur Rosehall, the head of the Steel Worker’s Guild, refuted this claim siting how the tragedy had negatively impacted the Guildsman. This would prompt the head of the House of Demon, Daywin Demon, to deliver a speech at the Tapston Branch of the HSC rallying his workers against the both the Guildsman and the Order of the Crown of Branches, the latter of which he also suspected.
“Do not fret, dear men. For this display of aggression made by our foes will not be free from retribution! They stoop to calling upon the government dogs to do their bidding in the hopes of driving a knife of fear into our hearts, but I tell you now that we will not relent! We shall not stoop so low and in the end, we shall be triumphant! My heart bleeds for those we have lost, and I implore you all to keep your loved ones close to you. The bleak shadow of strife and disunity may loom over us today, but heed my words when I say we shall overcome it!”
- Excerpt of Daywin’s speech, delivered in the fall of the year 142 AF. (His speeches could later earn him the name Daywin Silver-Tongue)
Meanwhile, the Guildsman would continue to blame the Order of the Crown of Branches with vocal members increasing their ridicule of Carmonite’s increasingly aggressive rule. The most vocal of these critics was Mr. Cecil Gatenberg, the head of the Banker’s Guild, who had lost some of his own family in the Tapston Tragedy. Carmonite would respond to this outcry from his opponents by arming his followers and threatening violence against his critics. Several incidents would follow where members of the OCB would ambush high-ranking members of the Guildsman, in some cases the property of these members would be destroyed in acts of violence. All the while Hunters would come into the Outer Boroughs in droves. This would continue for a period of about a year, and it would culminate in the winter of 143 AF. When a group of Carmnite rioters would target the home of Ceil Gatenberg, which was located in the community of Harnesby in Hatles Borough. The riot and he would burn down Gatenberg’s house and his family would be forced to leave Harnesby. But these setbacks only seemed to strengthen Gatenberg’s resolve. For in early 144 AF, whilst in the company of his close associate, the head of the Historian’s Guild Nelia ‘Nel’ Penhouse, he would devise a plan to fight back against the Carmonites. A week later, Carmonite would meet with Calvin Hatly, the head of the House of Hatly and the Hatlynshire Bank and propose the idea of a unified folk army, which, unlike the militia-like forces of the Carmonites, would be a fully-fledged force, funded by the Circle and managed under the Guildsman Society. According to records, Calvin would reject Gatenberg’s proposal siting the threat of escalation and the rocky relationship between the two groups. And since the Guildsman Society lacked the resources to create Gatenberg’s vision his ideas were never realized...
...until a few months later in the year 145 AF, when the Hunters struck.
The Massacre of Galletown , the First Wittenheart Conference and Escalation
The Brothers Montgomery had spent 3 year reforming the government and the Hunters after the Tapston Incident. Throughout those years, they had sent Hunters into the Outer Boroughs in search of other folk settlements, but due to the decades of secrecy and the relatively rural nature of the Outer Boroughs, they initially were unsuccessful in accurately locating folk communities. However late in the year 144 AF, the Hunters stumbled onto the settlement of Galletown in Everton Borough. Galletown itself was a settlement dating back to the days of the folk diaspora of the 30- 40s AF. But instead of eliminating the settlement like they had done with Tapston three years prior, the Hunters would observe the settlement for a period of six months, gathering information about the inner workings of folk society. They would subsequently gather information about several members of the Guildsman Society, the Circle and the Carmonites. However, sometime after this the Hunters would launch a full-scale assault on Galletown for reasons which remain largely a mystery even in the present day. The most widely accepted theory as to why the attack happened is the one concerning the Scarlet Letter of Galletown, a letter that was supposedly sent from Galletown a mere twenty four hours before the attack on the settlement containing a plea for aid, implying that the sender was aware of the presence of the Hunters. But the existence of the letter is debated, as are the identities of both the sender and the receiver. One theory suggests the sender was an actor working for the Galletown Theatre, which the Everton Entertainment Corporation owned and operated. This theory hinges on the fact that the widely accepted receiver of the letter was Mr. Phineas Everton II. However, others suggest the letter was in fact sent by a member of the Historian’s Guild, a claim that was supported by the fact that the contents of this letter was brought to the attention of the Guildsman Society by Nel Penhouse, who allegedly showed it to Gatenberg before it was brought to the attention of the Circle.
(Note: Others suggest the letter was received by Everton first and it was he who sent it to Penhouse, who some claim was his second cousin given that there were several letters found in the Everton Family Archives addressed to Penhouse and thought to have been written by Phineas Everton II. Some of these would mention Penhouse’s mother, with Everton referring to her as ‘Aunt Edda’. This has led many to assume that Everton was referring to his great-aunt, Edith Everton, whose life and marital family were not mentioned in the archives. However, such claims have never been proven)
A little over a week after the arrival of this letter in Hatles Borough, news of the Galletown Massacre would spread around the folk community, shaking to it's core. Records of the incident state that the settlement was burned down to the ground; its thousands of residents were all supposedly executed with some scholars who claimed to have visited the remains stating that the bodies of the residents were all buried in shallow mass graves near walls covered in blood, which implied that use of firing squads. Although there is some evidence that the conflict wasn’t one sided as these scholars also state that the bodies of several Hunters were discovered buried in a nearby hill.
Once the news had reached Hatles Borough, all three major factions would gather in Wittenheart Hall to discuss the situation. Here, Gatenberg would once again bring up his proposition for a united army, this time backed by Nel Penhouse and a majority of the Guildsman Society. Calvin Hatly would also give his support towards Gatenberg’s proposal and, in the book ‘The Times of Kin-slaying’, he is recorded as having stated the following,
“Much is yet to be discussed among us fellows, much of our strife thus far has been about petty power. But I think now, in light of these current events, it would be beneficial to all of us if we simply put aside our petty squabbles and give our utmost attention to his [Gatenberg’s] plan. For we stand no chance of meeting the Brothers Montgomery in the field of battle lest we stand together like our revered Kings and Queens of Old…”
Phineas Everton II would also support Gatenberg. And eventually it was decided to put his strategy into action. However, conflict then arose, as Canton Carmonite would insist that, in order for such an army to function, the three factions of folk should merge. He would use this argument to reinforce his claim that he was rightful leader of the folk, ordering the Circle and the Guildsman to submit to him. Both parties would decline, which would lead to Canton declaring them as traitors to the folk before declaring that the Order of the Crown of Branches would form its own independent armed force separate from the forces of the Guildsman and the Circle. However, in order to prevent further conflict Norman Arthouse, an engineer and head of the Rail Worker’s Guild, would suggest a defensive measure as opposed to Gatenberg’s offensive strategy. His proposal called for the construction of safe havens for folk people that would be completely secure from government attack or probing. However, many would point out that such an endeavor would require a far greater amount of resources. However Canton, seeing opportunity to boost his own power among the folk, gladly accepted Arthouse’s proposal, this would prompt the other two groups to act accordingly. In the end, the First Wittenheart Conference as it was called, ended with the Guildsman Society and the Circle aligning with each other in order to enact both Gatenberg’s and Arthouse’s plans whilst the OCB continued to work alone.
The Race for Safe Haven and an Era of Heroes
It wasn’t long before competition arose between the OCB and the joint alliance between the Circle and the Guildsman. Starting from the year 145 AF to the year 156 AF both sides raced to build the perfect folk safe heaven whilst at the same time building up armed forces. The Guildsman would form the Soldier’s Guild with its first head being famous strategist and former militia leader Harry Molderman. Canton would subsequently establish his own Brotherhood of the Crown, led by his close follower and enforcer James V. Warder, a man many considered to be the most skilled fighter of the pre-war era.
There would be many attempts at constructing safe havens. First, the Circle constructed a comprehensive network of walled neighborhoods with only a single entrance and exit designed by architect Franklin Galletti. The first of these neighborhoods would be called Galletti Homestead in Angelmore Borough. Records suggest that Circle initially intended for Galletti Homestead to be expanded in order to fit the entirety of the folk population. However, this design would be criticized for its lack of outside mobility and its confusing design. And to make things worse in 149 AF, less than 4 years after construction has started, the incomplete homestead was raided by the Hunters. The ensuing battle between the folk soldiers and the Hunters, labeled the Galletti Incident, led to the death of at least three hundred residents in a single night. Many consider the lack of multiple points of entry and exit to be a leading reason for the high casualty rate. The apparent failure of his creation would lead Franklin Galletti to hang himself, and the Circle and the Guildsman subsequently abandoned the project.
(Notes: Some scholars accuse the Brotherhood of the Crown for informing the Hunters of the location of Galletti Homestead which led to the subsequent sabotage. However, such statements were never proven.)
Meanwhile, the Carmonites would make their own haven. Canton would commission architect George Yarnberg to build a large fortress complex he called Newkingdom. The fortress had several entrances and exits and was considered to be a very grand structure. Its outer walls would be built like facades to hide it among the streets and it had enough room to fit hundreds of individuals. Records suggest Carmonite’s grand vision entailed the construction of multiple complexes across all the Boroughs in a network. However before even the construction of Newkingdom was complete, many within Canton’s own inner circles began to criticize him due to his focus on the structure’s exterior appearance and his own lavish residence rather than its functionality, something which would delay the project’s construction. When Newkingdom was finally completed in Torsonton, Bernstein Borough (a location Carmonite had chosen since it was long fabled to be the resting place of Queen Ella Sternwood) on 150 AF, the residents of the structure would face lackluster amenities and the problems associated with living in a compact fortress complex. Within a year in 151 AF, the residents of Newkingdom would stage a mutiny against Carmonite. Within two days, the mutineers would light the structure on fire and Carmonite would flee. This would unfortunately mark the end of the OCB’s attempt at creating a safe haven. The failure of Newkingdom would also result in Carmonite losing a large segment of his followers.
While all this was taking place, there would be many conflicts, riots and minor battles between the Soldier’s Guild and the Brotherhood of the Crown. Settlements that were aligned with the Circle and the Guildsman would engage in conflicts with Carmonite controlled settlements. Those who could not join the official armed forces would form militia groups and rouge bands that would run amuck across the Outer Boroughs. All the while, Hunters would still swarm the territories bordering Great Borough, increasing the level of killing to levels that would almost rival the levels of the Red Century.
(Note: To prevent the Hunter’s operations from being made public, the Brothers Montgomery would order the newspapers of Great Borough to report any instances of violence as ‘Pro-NIM/Anti-Government conspirators waging war on peacekeeping government forces’. Subsequently covering up all major incidents under their narrative. This was made easier due to that fact that the remoteness of the farthest parts of the Outer Boroughs made it so that incidents that occurred there would rarely reach the ears of Great Borough)
Yet this time period was also considered a time of heroes, as the major factions lacked the infrastructure to properly manage the vast territories they controlled, small groups of armed forces and rogue bands would act independently, gaining reputation for their heroism in the process. Such bands would include the legendary 17th Company (nicknamed the Ghosts of Mistfort), a group of 20 soldiers led by Captain Gregory Morigan, who protected the settlement of Mistfort in the outskirts of Morrowyn Borough against over twenty five companies of Brotherhood troops and several battalions of Hunters over a period of nearly a decade. Another group, the Seven Mice of Golden Hill, a group of seven rouges led by Frederick Heartworth, defended the farming town of Goldmount and its surrounding settlements in Bernstein Borough for the entirety of the War of the Banners. Their participation is dozens of battles would lead to several of their surviving members being awarded high positions after the war, with Frederick Heartworth himself becoming Harry Molderman’s successor as head of the Soldier’s Guild. Yet another infamous group, the Blackbirds, a group of wandering rouges led by Agnes Clifford-Douglas who would supply and defend several settlements in Hatles Borough whilst working for and against both factions from time to time. However their allegiance would eventually be set in stone once Clifford-Douglas defeated James V. Warder in a infamous gun duel whilst defending the settlement of Janbury in 153 AF, leading to Warder’s death. There would also be other decorated groups, such as the 49th Company, who gained infamy for conducting assassinations of several important members of the Carmonites and the Hunters, the 61st Company, who took control of every government train station in Morrowyn Borough thereby disrupting the Hunter supply lines.
Eventually, Norman Arthouse himself would make the design for the ‘perfect’ safe haven. He along with his associate, architect and engineer Julius Polkton, would make a design that would combine the expansive street networks of Galletti with the compact and disguised nature of Yarnberg. Their design, called the Hamlet Project, was a design that would essentially act as a small town within the larger human settlements. They would propose their plans to the alliance in the spring of the year 152 AF and construction of the first hamlet, named the Artsburg Hamlet in Hatles Borough, would begin on the same year. The project was kept secret, kept only to the highest levels of the Circle and the Guildsman until construction was completed in the summer of 155 AF. Once Artsburg’s existence was made public, with the Circle and the Guildsman proclaiming it to be the perfect safe haven, it would cause the Carmonites to go into an uproar.
The Siege of Artsburg, the Fall of the Carmonite and the Great Unification
Carmonite, who had been steadily losing influence due to the failure of Newkingdom and the various losses suffered by the Brotherhood of the Crown including the death of Warder, saw the unveiling of Artsburg to be the end of his reign. Hence, he would send his forces in search of Artsburg with the intent of razing it. The Circle and the Guildsman, anticipating this, would fortify Artsbrug with the majority of their forces. The subsequent clash, which would occur in the early fall of 156 AF would be known as the Siege of Artsburg, a siege that would last four months from the fall of 156 AF to the spring of 157 AF.
However, by this point it had become clear to all sides that there was greater threat afoot. For whilst the OCB and the Circle-Guild alliance had been fighting amongst each other, the number of Hunters being sent by Great Borough kept steadily increasing. Through the course of the war, the Brothers Montgomery has taken the Hunters from a small order of a few hundred men and turned into a force consisting of nine battalions and nearly ten thousand soldiers. With their resources and manpower slowly dwindling after fifteen years of conflict and the Siege of Artsburg taking up a considerable amount of their remaining forces, the Circle and the Guildsman would call for the Second Wittenheart Conference in the winter of 156 AF. Carmonite would initially refuse this invitation despite the Circle and the Guildsman offering amnesty for him both him and his followers, stating to his followers:
“To engage in negotiation with those who have opposed us, those who have stood against our holy mission, those who have sunk to the bowels of treachery in defiance of our way, would be a great disgrace. Even if we were put their sins aside, it would akin to surrender if we were to approach the table with nothing to bargain. And it is my view that we, the righteous crusaders, will not surrender nor retreat till victory is at hand,”
But as it was becoming clearer that the folk would be doomed lest they focus their attention on the Hunters and knowing if Artsburg were to fall they would have no claim to a safe haven. The Circle and the Guildsman would take a gamble and redirect all of their forces located throughout the Outer Boroughs in order to break the Siege of Artsburg. Carmonite, receiving word of this, would retaliate by doing the same. This would lead to many settlements temporarily being left undefended. Once both forces had reached Artsburg they would engage in a week long fight knowns as the Great Battle of the Banners, with the Soldier’s Guild, the Brotherhood of the Crown and even several rouge groups participating. The battle would eventually become so large that it would gain the attention of the Hunters in Hatles Borough. This would lead to the battle being interrupted when the entirety of the Battalions of St Julian, St Caleb and the unified force of the Battalions St George and St Wren (unified due to being led by the same Saint-Legacier) invaded the field three days after the fight had started. Later scholars would describe the ensuing battle for the residents of Artsburg as apocalyptic. The total number of combatants present at this battle was over ten thousand. And while it was a mere feud compared to the battles of old it was considered the largest conflict between folk and men since the victory of George Montgomery.
Notable participants of the battle included Harry Molderman, who led the charge for the men of the Soldier’s Guild. Molderman would be shot atop of his horse by the second-in-command of the Brotherhood of the Crown, Jerryman Ansel. However, before Ansel could kill Molderman, he was ambushed and shot by Frederick Heartworth. The head of the Brotherhood and brother of James Warder, Mason Henrick Warder would lead the Brotherhood during the fight. Legends state that Agnes Clifford-Douglas and the Blackbirds were also present and that Clifford-Douglas and Warder engaged in single combat as Warder wanted revenge for the death of his brother. Yet the victor of this alleged clash is left nebulous, as Clifford-Douglas would survive the battle (albeit with major injuries) and Saint-Legacier Peter Alterson of the Battalion of St Julian would slay Warder during an offensive charge conducted by the humans. Carmonite himself would also be present; however, there is no record of him engaging in physical combat. The fight would escalate to the point where the gates of Artsburg would be breached, yet luckily, the residents of Hamlet had been evacuated prior to this due to the efforts of the 36th Company, led by Captain Jana Morris (nicknamed the Iron Savior). Who led the residents to safety whilst being under heavy attack by the Battalion of St George with it being stated that of the twenty members of the Company, only six survived. However, legends also state that Morris and her second-in-command Jackson Brim would kill Saint-Legacier Christopher Husterton by impaling him on the fountain located in the center of Artburg’s square (which would lead to the fountain being known as Hunter’s Hole).
Overall, once the battle had concluded. All four battalions of Hunters had suffered mass casualties and to withdraw with only a single Saint-Legacier surviving. Artsburg had suffered a huge amount of damage yet still remained standing and the Brotherhood of the Crown, drained of men and morale, was forced to surrender to the Soldier’s Guild and its allies.
Later, in the late of spring of the year 157 AF, the Second Wittenheart Conference occurred. Carmonite, forced to attend due to his lack of support and resource, would be forced to condemn his own cause, relinquish his title and condemn his followers in exchange for complete amnesty to every member of the OCB, who were all either removed from positions of power or integrated into the Circle. The Hatlynshire Steel Company also acquired Carmon & Co. Gunpowder Makers, now a struggling enterprise on the verge of bankruptcy. The Circle would also leverage the Guildsman Society, who had become increasingly dependent on the funding of the Great Houses throughout the war, and would convince them to merge under the Circle’s banner. This led to the signing of an amended version of the Great Unity Accord marking an event known as the Great Unification, which would lead to several changes in the Circle’s structure. The OCB and the Guildsman Society would be abolished as independent organizations and their components absorbed and augmented by the Great Houses.
In the coming years, the Soldier’s Guild would be transformed into the Institution of War, with Frederick Heartworth serving as he first Commander-General and as with members of the Seven Mice of Golden Hill, Captain Morris and Jackson Brim being awarded positons as Boroughman or other high ranks. The Historian’s Guild would be transformed into the Institution of Knowledge with Nel Penhouse as the first High Archivist, the Lawyers Guild would be extended into the Institution of Law, and the Banker’s Guild would be extended into the Circulion Treasury, with Cecil Gatenberg as the first Treasurer. The Institution of Administration would be established to manage the Hamlets through hereditary houses, with Norman Arthouse being made the Noble of Artsburg and first Grand Nobilier. Carmonite himself would be made the Noble of the later established Hamlet of Cantonberry, built on the site where he had built Newkingdom previously. The Brotherhood of the Crown would be disbanded and reformed as the Order of the Gratousy, personal guards of the member of the Great Houses. The heads of the Great Houses would then establish themselves as the highest authorities in the Circle, giving themselves the titles of Baron and Baroness. Thus was born the modern Circle, its subjects being called Circulions.
The 101st Company and the Campaign of Lies
Aside from the Great Unification, the three factions would also discuss their course of action in regards to the Hunters. Despite the combining of all their forces, the Circulions were still in no position to face the Hunters and Great Borough. However, Phineas Everton II proposed an alternative strategy. Everton, being himself a master of theatrics, would propose a campaign of sabotage instead of a campaign of open conflict similar to that of the ones waged during the War of the Coin. Humphrey E. Morning would further add to this idea by suggesting that the Ciculions target Great Borough’s mail system, which was transported from the Outer Boroughs using the Hatlynshire City Rail Company. Seeing this as the only viable course of action the Circle would unanimously agree to Everton and Morning’s plan.
A small force was created in order to carry out this operation; they were called the 101st Company or the Silent Hands. They were comprised of several members of other notable groups. With Ulysses Jacobson, protégé of Frederick Heartworth and former member of the Seven Mice, being the head. Jana Morris and Jackson Brim would also take part. Several members of the BlackBirds would also be brought in; Clifford-Douglas would be involved with the Company, though she would never take part in the field. Other members included Isaac Donovan, a legendary assassin of the 49th Company and several member of the 61st Company including their Captain, Forrest Gerston and Archibald Everton, oldest son of Phineas II.
The Campaign of Lies would last for a little over a year. The 101st Company would infiltrate Hatlynshire City Rail Company stations and Hunter outposts, mapping the Hunter’s secret network of letterboxes, the existence of which was first discovered by the 61st Company. They mission involved flooding individual lines of information with fraudulent letters and messages. Archibald Everton would often impersonate members of the Hunters in order to get the required signatures and gain access to required places. His ability to cleanly execute infiltrations and do accurate impersonations with minimal backup would earn him the title, the Many- Faced Baron. The Company would do its operations one Borough at a time, sending letters assuring the government of the eradication of the Circulions cause Great Borough to withdraw its troops from the Outer Boroughs. However, there would be open conflicts between the two groups, fights that would hinder the Company due to its low numbers. Isaac Donovan would be killed about eight months into the operation; Jacobson would lose an eye to an alleged knife fight among other setbacks.
Notably however, the Company where able to successfully assassinate Saint-Legacier Carter Wells, the only Saint-Legacier to survive the Siege of Artsburg, in Bernstein Borough alongside ending several high ranking members of the Hunters.
At last, the Company would complete the Campaign of Lies near the start of summer in the year 158 AF, after infiltrating posts in all eight Boroughs and even conducting a number of missions within Great Borough itself. The Brothers Montgomery, receiving the falsified information, would order the withdrawal of the majority of the Hunters, only leaving a miniscule portion left as a contingency. Upon the completion of the campaign, the 101st Company would be dissolved upon the request of its surviving members, many of whom would continue serve whilst the rest were reassigned or retired with honors. Archibald Everton would set the precedent for members of the Great Houses getting personally involved in the field in the coming centuries whilst many of the patriots who were killed during the war were honored as heroes.
“And so we have triumphed, in the face of all that attempted to hold us down. Risen from the ashes of that great battle fought so long ago, standing mighty like the shadow of the moon looming above this great city…”
-Excerpt from Daywin Demon’s address, delivered at Wittenheart Hall in the summer of 158 AF
The Golden Age
Once the war had concluded, with neither the Hunters nor other folk factions to deal with, the Circle would begin to prosper. Within the next 30-40 years, the number of Hamlets would be expanded to seventy-two (in a network similar to how Carmonite had envisioned Newkingom), containing the entirety of the Circulion population. This period would become known as the Golden Age of the Circle and it would last from the end of the war in the 158 AF, to the start of the Crisis of 287 nearly one hundred and thirty years later.
Carmonite, now Nobleman of Cantonberry, would be describe in his later life as a cruel, broken man and a drunk who seemingly would not accept his defeat. He would die under mysterious circumstances roughly thirteen years after the war in 171 AF. His only son, Canton II, would succeed him. The family would famously remain resentful of the Circle until Canton Carmonite IV would stage an act of revolt and rebellion against the Circle in the 287 AF, thus starting the Crisis of 287. An event that would once again bring forth the wrath of the House of Montgomery and the Hunters down onto the Circle.
- The Steel Queen and the War of the Coin
- Introduction I: The Circle
- The Organizational Structure of the Circle
- The Monetary Structure of the Circle
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