Rebellion's Ridge

60 years have passed since the Leaders of the Ore Hills Rebellion, Exemplars of Pride, gave their lives for Virtue. Their names resonate across Mournwold hills; Esme Hooper, Mary Digger, Ezekial "Zeke" Boon, Henry Killinghall, Maggie John, and Tom John. As the pickaxes ring out, driving their Legacy deeper into the stone, the Great Work commemorating them stands ever taller. 'Rebellion's Ridge' is dedicated to them, together, and their Virtuous lives. They have waited long enough. Just as the Assembly of Pride first Recognised their Exemplarhood, so too does it request a Writ of Consecration for this sacred site. Let it draw pilgrims to its sanctuary; let it remind a territory stricken by the Jotun bootheel time and time again: Plan. Arm. Enchant. Resist. Exalt. Remember.

Jedediah Boon, Pride Assembly, Upheld with a greater majority 296-10, Summer Solstice 388YE

Overview

• The leaders of the Ore Hills Rebellion are exemplars of Pride
• Jedediah Boon raised a writ of consecration to see Rebellion's Ridge consecrated in their memory

The leaders of the Ore Hills Rebellion were recognised during the Winter Solstice 386YE following historical research on the rebellion commissioned by Vaclav Mladenovich Kosti a year prior. The judgement to recognise them was originally raised to the Pride Assembly by Jedediah Boon. Rebellion's Ridge, built by order of Alfred Aewulfson-Boon, as the Bearer of an Imperial Wayleave, has been carved in their image: towering figures, their heads held high and storming towards their destination.

Now built, with a potential consecration with true liao on the horizon, the attention of the territory is focused on the General Assembly and what they might do at the upcoming summit. They're about to step into what could be one hell of a fight.

PLAN, ARM, ENCHANT, RESIST, EXALT

Inscribed at Rebellion's Ridge

The Tipping Point

• The General Assembly can enact a mandate to consecrate Rebellion's Ridge during the Autumn Equinox
• If enacted, every personal resource in Mournwold will suffer a two-rank penalty after the Autumn Equinox
• If enacted, the mine owners of Mournwold will elect the Senator for Mournwold
• If not enacted, Marchers with congregations in the Mournwold will be able to preach rebellion after the Autumn Equinox

The decision to create a true consecration for the heroes of the Ore Hills Rebellion is enormously political. How could it not be? These are people who fought, against, their fellow Marchers. The took up arms and rebelled against the order of the day because they demanded changes to the way the Mournwold was run. There's Loyalty in that - and tremendous Pride - but it's impossible to celebrate their Pride without celebrating what they stood for. At the point where the General Assembly chooses to approve a dose of the most precious substance in the Empire being used to celebrate their lives and encourages everyone to draw inspiration from them then...

Fair words won't bury grudges.

Marcher Proverb

Well people are going to do exactly that. Miners from all over the Mournwold are going to go and look at the statues that have been raised to honour people who fought and died for their right to run the Mournwold. Their hearts will swell with Pride, and every single one of them will be inspired to copy the example of the Ore Hills Rebels. That is arguably the point of exemplars after all - they set an example - you're meant to imitate them. If the General Assembly approves this consecration, then they are encouraging the miners of Mournwold to repeat the actions of the Ore Hills Rebels.

The impact of that will be huge. The fact is that miners have been the majority in the territory since it was first conquered by the Empire over three hundred years ago. "A Marcher, a Marcher," as folk say, and the people in the Mournwold are Marchers in every way... bar one. They have deep roots and long memories - as these statues show, they don't soon forget. They're fiercely independent, proud and stubborn and they're governed by consent. They pick their leaders, and they don't let people push them around. They stand their ground and refuse to bow their heads to tyrants. And they hold their traditions dearly - they like things just the way they are.

But one thing makes the Mournwold different - only a little - but that little bit matters. In the Marchers they often say that land matters above all else, and in Upwold and Mitwold - and even Bregasland - that largely means the same thing. It means great tracts of farmland; it means fields full of crops and hills with animals grazing. But land is hard and stony in the Mournwold; there's little good farming land to go round, and what matters here - arguably - is not farmland. It's the mines.

When chickens come home to roost, look for the fox.

Marcher Proverb

That was the heart of the complaint of the miners all those years ago. Marchers choose their own leaders - that's what the traditions say. That's how it should be. That's how it is - everywhere but the Mournwold. In the Mournwold, the farmers choose the leaders - and the miners look on.

It doesn't have to be this way. The civil service have consulted the Marcher egregores and asked them if the Mournwold senator could be elected by the miners of the territory. They immediately fell to arguing with each other, but after a lot of prevarication they eventually confirmed that it could be done. It could be done in the Mournwold at least. Nowhere else would they stand for it.. But here... they might.

Plant a grudge in the soil, it will last a lifetime. Set it in stone and it will last forever.

Marcher Proverb

Of course they were careful about giving an answer for a reason. They understood full well that this is likely to be a helluva fight. "Do you want to start a Cousins War?" asked Jack rhetorically. Well, probably rhetorically. One thing is for sure: this is not going to be an easy change. As the philosopher says "the future is always born in pain." Everyone is keen that the fight should take place with shunning, or pots, pans and rough music if aimed at the people, because as awful as that is, it's better than the alternative. But it's important to remember that the alternative is still there if the louder option fails.

Either way, there is going to be a lot of arguing. And a lot of shouting. And a lot of pointing fingers. Ironically at this point, it's not even clear that the General Assembly can duck the question; now the writ of consecration has been sought and approved by the Pride Assembly. If they refuse to uphold the mandate, that'll likely cause as much trouble as if they pass it, given that sends an equally clear signal to the miners (it says "shut up, you'll get nothing and like it" as Jack points out to the annoyance of Jack). So at this stage it's less about whether or not there is trouble and more about which kind of trouble the General Assembly would like, and which side of this centuries-old simmering feud they'd like to get in bed with.

Whatever happens now is that this is going to light a fire in the Mournworld. If Rebellion's Ridge is consecrated as a memorial to the exemplars, it will put a torch to a conflict that has simmered in the territory for hundreds of years. Miners everywhere will take up their tools, their picks, and their shovels, and they will stand their ground and refuse to be cowed. In the Mournwold, they outnumber the farmers, and with the backing of the General Assembly, that will carry the day.

The Mourn should embrace its past. We send (named priest) with a dose of true liao to consecrate Rebellion's Ridge and call for change in the Mournwold.

Synod Mandate, General Assembly

If this mandate is enacted, every personal resource in the Mournwold will suffer a two-rank penalty for a season after the Autumn Equinox. Once the mandate is enacted, miners will demand change, and the farmers will argue with them for it. Ultimately though, the miners will get their way. The farmers won't give up their power easily, but with the backing of the Empire behind them, come the Spring Equinox - the next time the senator for Mournwold is being elected - they'll be picked by the miners of the Mournwold and not the farmers. The procedure will stay the same, but the people making that decision will be the folk with picks, rather than ploughs.

If this mandate is not enacted, it will create a lecture for every Marcher priest in the Mournwold to preach rebellion. There will be an opportunity for them to encourage their fellow miners to take up arms and finish what Esme Hooper, Mary Digger, Ezekial "Zeke" Boon, Henry Killinghall, Maggie John, and Tom John started. They will receive no liao if they undertake this lecture, but the more of them who choose to do so, the more the anger of the miners will be stoked.

Pride in small things, loyalty to great ones.

Marcher Proverb

No Compromise

• There is no room for compromise here
• Any decision will not affect any other Marcher territory

Sadly, there is no room for compromise here. The Mournwold can have their landholders choose the senator or the miners choose the senator; they can't have them both choose the senator. Either the Marcher tradition that land is everything takes precedence, or the tradition that people choose their own leaders takes precedence. In the Mournwold, that will mean the miners choose their leaders - either the senator is elected by characters whose resource is a farm or by characters whose resource is a mine. The egregores, the guardians of Marcher tradition, have confirmed that either is acceptable to the general populace, but it must be one or the other.

Whatever decision is taken, it won't affect any other Marcher territory. "Thin edge of the wedge" arguments will cut no mustard with the Marchers in the other territories - the bulk of the NPCs who live there are more than happy with the way things are.

OOC Design Note

Changing how a territory elects their senator is not normally a part of the game of Empire. Profound Decisions choose how senators are picked for OOC reasons, based on decisons we make to try and create the best game we can. We talk to players out-of-character all the time, and occasionally we take an OOC decision to make a changes to the election method, as we did with the Dawnish elections a few years ago, based on feedback and our assessments of the game.

The Mournworld is different, because it was designed to be a political conflict that players could change in-character from the start of the game. The conflict between the miners and the farmers for political power is a theme of the Mournwold, we tacitly encourage players to engage with it, and we would only ever do that if real change was possible. Marcher characters have done a lot of in-character work to get to this point, and we've foreshadowed this moment in previous winds of fortune that have all led up to this point.

The essence of Empire is all about making profound decisions - this is a moment for Marcher characters and their allies across the Empire to make that choice. It's a moment for generational change in a nation that does not like change - it's important to understand that it won't come round again in this generation. Once the matter is settled, one way or the other, then that will be the end of it for now.

We'd like to remind people that those involved in this judgement are player characters, and not members of our NPC crew. We would also like to encourage people to reread the section on roleplaying conflict and bear them in mind.

Further Reading

• Rebels and loyalists - 386YE Autumn wind of fortune after the recognition of the Ore Hills Rebels
• The Ore Hills Rebellion - historical research regarding the Mournwold rebellion in which miners and yeofolk fought