Toll of The Corone Civil War

[The International]

Toll of The Corone Civil War

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Synopsis

Civil War has clutched the island nation of Corone for two long years. Although the forces of the Empire swarm the flatlands like scavenging ants, the rebellion has grown stronger over time. The Rangers and their allies have dug their heels deep in Concordia and the south-western flatlands, controlling food production from the Fields of Yarborough. Both sides are feeling the need to finish the conflict once and for all.

Trade in the Imperial Cities of Jadet and Serenti has trebled since the passing of winter, vast shipments arriving daily from Scara Brae and Fallien to keep the Empire thriving. The citizens of both cities feel imprisoned in their own homes as the Rangers cling on to the countryside. In the Capital city of Radasanth, forces are amassed and trained. The Armed Forces occupy much of the city as well as massive camps outside of it, to an extent it almost seems the Viceroys intend to crush the rebellion through sheer force of numbers. Radasanthians, who were safe from the original violence that sparked the civil war and once viewed the conflict with an apathetic eye from their relatively cozy home, are now feeling restless as the price of imported food rises.

In the hands of the Rangers Gisela has become a stronghold protecting fertile lands and waters, and a base for land and sea raids launched against Imperial troops. The people of Gisela hold steadfast to their beloved city alongside them as rebellion patrols watch over the fertile Yarborough farmlands. The massacre that sparked this very conflict is still fresh in their minds. The forest city of Underwood has become militarized and fortified, providing a training ground and sanctuary for the rebellion’s forces fighting throughout Concordia. However, with every passing day they grow more and more anxious of an attack from the Empire for they know it’s just a matter of time.

[Elrundir]

History of the Corone Empire



Following the assassination of Republican Assemblymen Arno Erriades (the Steward of Corone) and Aidan Johnston (the Grand Marshal), the Assembly declared emergency authority over the island nation. Blaming the assassinations on national enemies and weakness and instability within the Republican Government, the remaining three members of the Assembly quickly apprehended and executed all suspected perpetrators of the crime. Naming themselves Viceroys and declaring the Republic abolished, these three men brought the Corone Empire into being and with it promised an era of stability and progress for its people.

In the Empire, might makes right. Individuals rise through whatever means necessary and tend to be rewarded accordingly. For the Imperial government this is a matter of course: they have never shied away from doing whatever was necessary to secure their rule, leading to past events such as the violent quelling of the Giselan Uprising (referred to by the Rangers and their supporters as the Gisela Massacre) and the Razing of Underwood.

The Imperial government seeks those who can contribute to the war machine in some way—with their swords, their talents, or their merchandise—and will reward them accordingly. Those whose skills tend to more conventional peacetime trades, however, have found times rough in this war-torn society.

Leaders

The leaders of the Corone Empire are the Viceroys, former members of the Assembly that governed the Republic of Corone. The three surviving members of this Assembly share rule of the Empire. Publicly, they are rarely seen but often heard.

Viceroy Emien Harthworth is the former Master General of the Assembly, and is still intimately involved with the Corone Armed Forces. His control of this force is mostly unchallenged and he commands that control with an iron fist. Short and balding with dull gray eyes and a face showing a roadmap of wrinkles, Emien was a General in the armed forces but is now more suited to tactics—and command—than actual battle. He is humourless and absolutely without pity or remorse, an attitude that led him to order the culling of hundreds of dissidents during the Gisela Massacre.

Viceroy Sivien Arundiel is the former High Baron of the Assembly, and speaks for the aristocracy and royalty of the nation’s baronies. As such, his influence and connections are strongest with those who have the most coin, an advantage that has been used to great effect by the Imperial government since its formation. Thin and lean, the top of Sivien’s head is gleamingly bald while a ring of hair—mostly white, but still bearing remnants of its former black—sits around it like a crown. His green eyes have an arrogant turn to them, and he regards even the other viceroys with a certain disdain, as though neither they nor anyone else are really worthy of his time.

Viceroy Athenry Sergio is the former Revered Congressman of the Assembly, standing on behalf of the bourgeois and lower classes that make up the majority of Corone’s population. As might be expected from someone in such a position, he is the most charismatic of the viceroys. Short and fat, Athenry walks with a slight hunch and drywashes his hands often in a way that suggests deference, but the shape of his brown eyes suggests a plotting mind beneath the surface. He lacks a certain force of presence despite his silver tongue and therefore comes across as the sort of sniveling man who would sell his own mother to gain a moment’s reprieve against a more dangerous foe; when backs are turned, his will be the first knife to flash.



The Rangers


The Rangers are remnants of an age-old military organization devoted to the protection of the nation’s diverse people and beautiful landscape. In contrast to the strict military of the Corone Armed Forces, the Rangers were primarily trained as scouts and archers. They knew the land better than any other, as well as the people within it.

When the Corone Republic failed, the Rangers became the public face—and the central core—of the resistance against the newly-born Empire. Based out of their stronghold in Underwood, they strike at the Empire from the shadows, wearing the powerful CAF down while shoring up their own military. They rally around the virtues of freedom, democracy, and peace, which they believe the Viceroys of the Empire murdered in their sleep. Those who follow these are more than welcome among the Rangers, no matter their race or creed, and by and large their cities and towns have prospered under their governance more than the Empire’s have. Unfortunately, their military might falls far short of their foe’s.

Leaders

The Rangers are commanded by the Marshals, a group of people historically responsible for law-keeping in their own respective districts and now saddled with the responsibilities of leadership of an entire nation of rebels. They have gathered from the corners of Corone to lead their supporters into victory against the oppressive regime of the Empire.

Among the most respected is Marshal Edward Stormcrow, unofficial leader of the resistance and the man responsible for gathering the Rangers in a single place, under a single banner, to oppose the newborn government. He is a stocky, muscular man in his middle years with closely-cut salt and pepper hair, and a stubbly beard matching beard. Edward is seen as rather stark and humourless, but he is intelligent, crafty, and an able leader. He lost one leg in the Razing of Underwood and has since retreated from a number of his active duties, but he remains a galvanizing force for the Corone Rangers.

Marshal Tenniel Lisosian is a fair-skinned elf and long-time friend of Marshal Stormcrow. He has been described as the type of man who will go to his grave making jests: he has a joke for every occasion, no matter how grim. This disguises a keen strategic mind and a quick hand; he is one of the best shots in the nation, having augmented the training of his birth in Raiaera with the rigorous routines of the Corone Rangers. Tenniel wears his golden hair in a series of tight braids, and his clothing tends to be more colourful and ornate than the drab greens and browns of the rest of the Rangers.

Major Killian Jahaad is not a member of the typical Ranger command structure, but he is nevertheless an important figure in their number. He was at the heart of the Gisela Massacre as an officer of the Corone Armed Forces, working as a double-agent for the Rangers. Though there was nothing he could do to stop the great tragedy, he did help free Letho Ravenheart, Christina Bredith, and a number of other important rebel figures from imprisonment en route to their executions in Radasanth, and has since been a valuable source of strategy and insight into the workings of the Imperial war machine. With windswept brown hair and a baby face, Killian is charismatic and intelligent, and though he claims not to be much of a fighter, he is capable of holding his own with sword and bow.