Post by Sire Halfblack on Jul 8, 2008 11:16:05 GMT
Major Events in Deci IM 1007
The madness of King Blackjack resulted in "Da Grate Fire of Blackjack" when he ordered the torching of Cheapside. When asked why he with a distinct lack of eloquence explained that he wanted to see what lay beneath. The horror visited on Deci however was not as great as it could have been. Such burns not being uncommon in the city in its history and that which could burn being relatively little, so whilst the council were horrified at a vast amount of their work being undone it was not as critical as it could have been and the city recovered remarkably well over the year. Scholars however will point out that Blackjack's reasoning was not without some merit. It is well known that Deci is built upon itself, successive generations building on top of it, what is much less well known is that Deci has no Mittlenacht shadow. It is also rumoured that to descend into the city beneath is to actually travel back in time where little has changed and the aforementioned facts may well be connected. It would seem possible that King Blackjack wished to see such for himself.
Long frustrated by the series of ritual strikes said to have originated from Deci against them and the lack of action to stop it or punish those perceived as responsible Eartholme, lead by Lady Alcaster, brought three tithes to the Convention of Nobilty.
The First: "That Deci be cast from the Empire. That it shall be punished thereafter as a foreign power waging ritual war upon the Empire – punished through means of arms and ritual."
The Second: "That the Governing of Deci is to be taken into the hands of the Covenant. Further, that it shall be made to pay a substantial punishment in both goods and to Eartholme. Further that reparations be made in addition that specifically cover damage to life and property."
The Third: "That Deci be made to pay reparations to Eartholme in consequence to loss of life and property."
Just scant hours before the Heralds announced the decision of the Lords The Chancellor personally declared that Troy Majius would be removed as Governor, in contravention of the eventual result of the tithe. Although entirely within his power and rights as Chancellor this single act was to set a chain of events in motion that would echo across the years.
With the Convention of Nobility rejecting the first two tithes and only accepting the third the Senate were placed in a no win situation, Eartholme had made it clear that they would not accept money for the lives of the slain and the only tithe the Nobles accepted was a payment for reparations by the city of Deci for the deaths caused by the ritual strikes. The unspoken implication from Eartholme’s stance was that if asked to accept a payment of money they would rouse the Earth Dragon and have it tear down Deci. A very real and feasible threat.
In an attempt to make a reasoned judgement of the nightmare weirgeld tithe that had been placed before them the Senate decreed that transfer of a certain parts of Deci territory to the control of Eartholme on a temporary basis and that a percentage of all produce within the Deci territories be sent to Eartholme.
The Finance Minister, Anath Halfblack, the man widely regarded as probably the only person able to enforce such a decree, warned the Senate that whilst initially this seemed an equitable solution in actuality the tithe was unenforceable. He then ignored their further requests to enact it, with the response he had more constructive things to do then rob Deci’s people of their chattels and if the Senate wanted the city’s goods then they would have to come and collect them themselves.
The short lived Governorship of Duke Ruatha Stoneheart, lasted little more than a month. Ill advised and pure bad luck had the new Governor turn up in Deci with 100 of the Senatorial Guard right in the middle of an attack on the city by a number of Tribals and Werewolves. In the assault five of the city’s Lords of Nobility were attacked. The assassins despite their were nature were utterly shredded by ghostly ritual defences that haunt the city although not before four Lords of House: Claugh, Gelmanslew, Hail and Rath were killed. It soon became obvious that the Tribes were guided by the wolves intimate knowledge of the city and that much was a diversion as an attempt to attack the Nobility.
In the morass of confusion the excitable Cheapsiders, on seeing Imperial colours raised in their city, made no discrimination between invading Tribals and a perceived Imperial invasion and attacked Duke Stoneheart's retinue. The Duke made it to the citadel with but only 20 men surviving. Just a few short months later the Duke left the city, having been barely seen for his tenure, in frustration at the city's attitude towards law and governance.
A few weeks later King Blackjack tore down the Citadel using its very ancient stone to forge his own little castle in Cheapside. Fortunately for the city the Citadel had been long abandoned by the council, each possessed of their own more secure seats of power scattered throughout the city.
Towards the end of the year Gabriel Drake, a Drave of the utmost integrity and fairness accepted the post of Governor of Deci, following discussion with the more obvious powers in the city, having very quickly realised that he could not govern the city without their direct support.
The Ex-Watch Captain of Thimon and Ex-Senator for Justice was one of the few outsiders prepared to try and help the city. Along with the new Governor arrived Dirk Draken, to act as Mennihaft. He had been invited to the post by Duke Stoneheart and welcomed to the Nobility by Lord Majius. Dirk very quickly blended in with the local Nobility, seeming to become as one of them with startling speed…