Strelok Rebellion

The Strelok Rebellion (also known as the Arvan Civil War) was a conflict that started August, 324Al and ended May 10, 325AL with the crowning of Lazlo Strelok as King Lazlo I of Arvas. The war was fought between House Strelok of the Hinterlands and the royal family, House Slavar. The war began when King Igor X the Bloodthirsty killed the family of Earl Lazlo Strelok during a feast while Lazlo was sick at his own castle. Lazlo rallied his Bannermen and went to war against the Kingdom. Eventually, the entire Southern Hills and many other nobles joined the rebellion. The war concluded with the execution of the entire Slavar family and the coronation of Lazlo as king.

While paraded as a tale of tradegy and revenge by Arvas bards, the war was likely religously and economically fueled as well. House Slavar had long stiffled the spread of Melodism from expanding out the Hinterlands. House Strelok were the most notable Melodists in Arvas and the Melodist clergy gave a significant amount of money and resources to the rebels. Furthermore, many of King Igor's decisions had hurt the coffers of the lords of the Hinterlands and Southern Hills so they were already eager for rebellion, they were simply waiting for a passionate leader like Lazlo.

Pre-War
By 300AL (225 years after the Prophet Titus's death) the entirety of the Hinterlands of Eastern Arvas, along with several inland communities, and the Kingdom of Bruma, had converted to the Melodist faith. King Igor had long claimed Melodists would destroy the traditions of Arvas but too many of his people had already converted for their movement to be eradicated. He placed many laws on where Listeners could travel and forbade any mention of anything Melodist in his court.

King Igor was also known as weak-willed during diplomacy. He was convinced by the recently crowned Austral King of Kalt to stop using Arvan miners and instead, import Kaltish iron and gold. Igor's tarriffs and taxes on the Southern Hills created poverty and a great deal of resentment. The Brumish, too, took advantage of Igor's cowardice. Rather than send the Arvan navy to protect his land, he simply told the fisherman and sailors of the Hinterlands to stay within a few hundred yards of the shore or be fined ludicriously. This was done to appease the Brumish kings and in hopes that Brumish raids would decrease in nature to the point where it wasn't a cocern to Igor.

The Blood Feast of Igor
The last week of July, 324AL was the date of a grand feast, hosted by the King in Riverstone. All the great houses of Arvas were invited but Earl Lazlo of House Strelok was sick so he sent his brother instead, During the feast, King Igor had ordered Lazlo's mother and sister to sleep with him at the same time. They and Lazlo's younger brother, Trevor. attempted to leave the castle in utter disgust but were stopped and imprisoned. When the two women refused the King's advacnes again, they were raped by the King's garrison and their bodies hanged from the top of the Riverstone's lighthouse. Trevor spit in the King's face as he returned to show the boy his mother's severed fingers. Trevor was burned alive atop the flames of the lighthouse with his sister and mother still hanging below.

Upon hearing this travesty, Earl Lazlo renounced his vows to the King and in the company of all his vassals, pledged to remove the king's head from his body himself. Lazlo had the entire, combined army of the Hinterlands and some Vagi knights who came to champion Lazlo's war as a religous movement to topple the sadistic, pagan king.

Battle of the Red Mud
King Igor knew that Earl Lazlo would rebel against him for his crimes so he ordered his brother-in-law, Ser Adolph of House Blackshield, to ride with an army of 500 Archers, 7,000 Hussars (light-horseman) and 2,500 Arvan Knights. In comparison, Lazlo had only 4,000 Hussars and about 500 Vagi Knights, an open battle was out of the question. Lazlo, however, knew his homeland well. The Hinterlands are a wet swampland and the horses bred there are often called "Marsh-Striders" for their natural skill at navigating the muddy terrain.

On August 25, Lazlo marched his army to a flat field straddling the border between the Hinterlands and the Arvan Sea of Grass. The Royal Army and rebels clashed for half an hour, the Royal Knights much better armored and clearly winning. Lazlo then ordered a full retreat back into the Hinterlands, fainting Ser Adolph to follow him and attempt a capture. The Royal horses and their heavy armor sunk deep into the mud of the Hinterlands and were stuck as Lazlo's horse archers circled and rained arrows upon them. Ser Adolph's archers had the good sense to stay out of the mud but without protections from the Arvan cavalry, the Vagi ran them down.

The muddy field where the Arvan Royal cavalry was slaughtered was coated in blood from the battle and thus the battle had gotten its name. Ser Adolph of House Blackshield was an honorable man, unlike his king, and fought to death. His last stand is the subject of a famous song; his armor was covered in filth, his leg was knee deep in the muck but he continued to fight the oncoming rebels, taking down ten men before being slain.

The South Joins the War
Earl Ishmael Gorrister had long suffered under King Igor's reign, the foolish king began importing Kaltish ore rather than using the Arvan metal widely available in the South, crippling the southern economy. Once he heard of Earl Lazlo's victory over the King's forces, he proclaimed him as his king and pledged the Southern Hills to his cause. King Igor was enraged and sent messengers to order all loyal lords of the South to remove Earl Gorrister from power. No one responded.

Earl Ishmael summoned his bannerman and began marching his army to the Moss Tower, threatening to burn the outpost and half the forest if the Forest Warden, King Igor's younger brother Ivan, did not surrender. The Rangers of the Kingswood, however, made the march from the Southern Hills to Moss Tower a living hell for the Earl, staging forest ambushes three times along the road and reducing the Earl's army significantly. Ser Ivan knew, however, that the Moss Tower could not survive a siege and so he fled with the rest of his rangers.

Battle of Vincent's Rest
The Royalist forces who survived the Battle of the Red Mud and the rangers of Ser Ivan Slavar fleeing from the Moss Tower regrouped in what would become Vincent's Rest, a town built around the monastery where Saint Vincent spent his final days. At this time, however, it was a simple seaside charter-town. At first, the local mayor did not want anything to do with the war but after being "persuaded," he ordered his farmers to feed the King's forces and the town militia to join their ranks. The town lacked walls but the Royalist forces did the best they could to prepare for the urban fighting.

Earl Ishmael and Earl Lazlo joined their forces a few leagues outside the town and made camp. Earl Ishmael knelt before the rebel king and swore fealty. But even back then, tensions between Lazlo's Melodists and Ishmael's Druids were tangible and there are accounts of many brawls between them in the rebel camp. The Rebels, however, had to assault Vincent's Rest as even if they had captured Riverstone and killed the king, the rebel army holed up with Ser Ivan Slavar would simply proclaim him as their king and prolong the war for several months or even years.

The rebels charged into the city at the break of dawn and fighting erupted inside the streets. The Rangers rained arrows down on the rebels as men were pulled down from their horses and buildings were burned with men still alive within. It was clear that no one would win in this chaos so the rebels pulled back and regrouped, creating a temporary ceasefire until late in the afternoon. Once again, they charged but the Royalists soon realized that only the heavily armored troops of the Southern Hills had entered the town. Lazlo's cavalry circled around the city completely and flanked the defensive position where Ser Ivan and the Mayor were commanding the town's defenders. Both men surrendered but Lazlo slit the Mayor's throat and then had Ser Ivan, who greatly resembled his brother, beheaded and his skull hanged from the Strelok banner.

Battle of Four Armies
At this point in the war, Lazlo's victory looked assured. Most of the lords loyal to the Crown had lost their armies or were dead. King Igor was afraid and desperate; he hired two mercenary armies to defend Riverstone and Standav. He hired the fleets of five Brumish Knight-Captains and the horseman of two Ukar Ogars. He told what was left of House Blackshield to let the Brumish enter the Gray River.

The rebels and Ukars arrived at Lake Nibeski at about the same time and were horrified. The Brumish Knight-Captains never intended to defend the King, they began looting and burning Standav. The Royalists were defending Riverstone from Brumish raiders, the rebels were fighting both the Ukars and had sent several soldiers to defend Standav from the Brumish. The battle raged and the Ukars seemed as though their horse archery was going to get the better of Lazlo's army and the Brumish were going to leave Standav in ashes.

A sudden storm approached and seeing it as a sign from the Holy Light, Lazlo charged once more. The winds blows the Ukar's arrow astray and the Lazlo's knights forced them into retreat back into the Reach. The Brumish ships near Standav were smashed to pieces and the Brumish raiders became fearful and demoralized. This sudden change of weather saved Lazlo's campaign and because of it, his personal banner became a lightning storm.

King Igor's Fall
After the Battle of Four Armies, Riverstone came under siege for two months and both sides knew no one was coming to save the Slavars. The rebels sapped the west wall and began pouring in. Lazlo personally lead the charge and tore down the doors to the throne room. He found Igor hiding in the kitchens and, as promised to his men, he beheaded the king and had his head displayed above the gates of Standav. He then had his men find the rest of the Slavar family and had them murdered. At last, King Lazlo had won his throne. He took pledges of fealty from lords of both sides of the war with King Igor's head in a box beside the throne.