Early Days

The early resistance was disorganized, disconnected, and disparate in ideals. It took most of a year after King Shammos changed before it would have been accurate to refer to any resistance at all, as people slowly realized the change and word of the war preparations spread. In these early days, actions were often being taken by individuals, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. A mechanic sabotages airship repairs to slow the fleet. A messenger “loses” an important document. An important officer dies in a “mugging gone wrong.” All thorns in the side of Linnel, but none posing an actual risk, at least not on their own.

​

In the second year after the change, small cells had formed in many of the cities and villages throughout the Kingdom. Some of the larger cities had multiple cells that lacked a way to identify one another, and with a few exceptions few cells had any contact with other groups at all. Those that did were often cases where a single individual was able to connect the group through mutual contacts, something not terribly common. In the second and third year after the conflict began however, that began to change.

​

Contact and Couriers (Year 3)

By the third year, many cells were at least indirectly familiar with the actions of others. However, communication was always a serious danger. Most groups relied on a small handful of trusted individuals who supplied them with information. Often these were traveling merchants, messengers/post carriers, airship crew members, anyone with the ability to gain information and travel freely. Over time, many of these individuals gained a knack for identifying each other. Familiar questions heard in low voices at a tavern, seeing the same people talking to your own mutual contacts, etc. Individual runners began to contact one another to make themselves known. This loose web of contacts reached a critical mass, and independent of any group a disorganized information network slipped into place in a matter of a few months, allowing the greater Resistance to be much more effective at combating the forces of Linnel. It was this network which distributed the rings. While it’s unclear who exactly came up with the idea of markers, they became quickly popular with the couriers, as it allowed them to identify contacts in a city they hadn’t been to. They could then slip on their own rings and introduce themselves.

With communication came coordination, and cells unified into larger, more powerful groups. But as the groups grew together, ideologies clashed as well. 6-8 large groups formed throughout Lindin and extended into the neighboring regions, but they mostly fell into two categories. Those radicals who believed in violent action and that collateral damage was acceptable, and those who hoped to avoid harming the civilians and cities of Linnel, aiming only unseat the throne.

 

The Radicals (Years 4-5)

The Radicals were a handful of groups who tended to opt for violent and opportunistic attacks against Linnel. Their goals were often to depose Shammos (and often the rest of the nobility as well) at all costs, regardless of the damage to civilians and the kingdom as a whole. Some of the most severe radicals would have been fine with the collapse of Linnel altogether, though most were less totalitarian in belief. In general, the radical groups were responsible for the majority of violent attacks made by the resistance outside of the Falcons in the West. Fires and bombings at garrisons, raids on villages, theft of supplies, attacks at checkpoints, and open conflict with the army of Linnel were all oft-used tools of the radicals. Because of their larger numbers and aggressive tactics, they were usually more successful at gaining ground. This meant that by the 5th year, they had even gathered a reasonable fleet of airships. The radicals were generally more focused on Lindin itself, and had fewer resources and connections in the wider world. While a few cells maintained contacts or hideouts in Astana or Azimuth, few had any significant number of operatives active further abroad.

​

​

The Rebels (Years 4-5)

Smaller in number, the less-violent rebels preferred to avoid taking actions which caused the deaths of civilians when possible. They instead opted for sabotage, smuggling, misinformation campaigns, assassinations, and strategic maneuverings. To compensate for difficulties obtaining supplies and resources, couriers aligned with the rebels often searched far abroad for allies, making contact with groups in Eiri, Suna, Eren, wherever they could. Many fed information and gave support to other armies engaged against Linnel, or inserted themselves into the army or government or its support. Delaying shipments of weapons, fixing airships only enough for another flight or two, delaying those hunting for the resistance.

​

Operation Stormbreaker (Year 6-7)

​

The Conclave (Late Year 6)

In the sixth year, the cells growing in strength, some resistance leaders wanted to join forces as  a coordinated front. One such leader, a half-elf named Mattias Scourn, very quietly began to reach out to other cell leaders who had a long standing with the resistance. A paranoid man who feared traitors, Mattias would only allow contact with and through those who had been with the resistance since nearly the beginning, which meant that communication was slow and tedious. But after almost a full year of back and forth, Mattias had secured the agreement of many leaders from the central resistance. There would be a meeting to discuss ideals. To discuss terms of an alliance, and make plans for a decisive strike at Linnel, and hopefully shift the balance of the fight. Word of the impending conclave (but not the details) spread through the resistance, and members from across the region all had quiet conversations to discuss what they felt was best as an approach.

​

At the end of the sixth year, the conclave met in secret. Not all leaders decided to participate, but many did and in total they represented the better majority of all resistance members in the region. The Conclave discussed a variety of topics, but the most important was whether or not all would join forces in a single major action against Linnel. Eventually, two factions formed with two different ideas. Those aligned more closely with radical ideals wished to launch a massive assault on Dinnel, intending to take it out of the sky. Those opposed, led by Scourn, viewed that as a tragic waste of life, as it would result in thousands of civilian deaths. As an alternative, they wished to capture Outpost, denying the Kingdom access to its largest and most capable shipyards and giving the Resistance the ability to control the skies above and hopefully bringing Linnel to the negotiating table. However, after several days of negotiation they failed to come to an agreement, and both factions separated.

​

Dinnel (Year 7, the first day of Spring)

The radicals, being better-supplied and with their fleet of airships, felt that they could proceed with their plan to attack Dinnel despite the lack of support from those opposed. Intelligence from sources in Dinnel indicated that the floating capital would be vulnerable in a few weeks' time, as the army would be occupied with a large attack on Astana. The radicals gathered their forces, boarded their ships, and set course for the heart of the storm, planning to knock the city from the skies. They barely made it halfway before the trap was sprung. Dinnel’s vulnerability had been a lie, and the army was ready and waiting for the assault. A few ships escaped the initial ambush and made it to the Capital, but forces on the island were able to defend against the attackers and most were slain or captured. Those caught in the ambush dealt a blow to the army and its forces, but most were defeated.

​

Outpost (Year 7, the first day of Spring)

The majority of the remaining Resistance groups, despite having failed to recruit the radical faction, determined that the attack on Dinnel would likely provide them time and space enough to launch an assault on Outpost anyways. A large assault force gathered in a valley near the cliffs of Outpost and waited, intending to time their raid with the forces in the sky assaulting Dinnel. However, just before dawn (shortly before the radical fleet departed) many awoke to the sounds of crackling electricity above, and the sound of massive propellers cutting through the air. Dinnel was not a day’s travel away as had been believed from the intel, it was above them. And as quickly as this horrible realization set in, the bombs began to fall. A devastating and efficient attack that killed or injured most of those present in only a few minutes, and scattered the rest as quickly as they could flee.

 

The Shattered Aftermath (Years 7-10)

Within a few weeks of the abject failure of Stormbreaker, the wider Resistance largely collapsed. Many leaders and members having been captured, dozens of hideouts needed to be abandoned before they could be located by Linnel’s forces. Anger at the failure of intelligence and such a clear betrayal was leveled at the courier network. Scourn's paranoia had meant that most of those delivering news were old-guard, viewed as some of the most reliable. But the scope of the failure shattered the trust in the network, and communication ground to a halt almost as quickly as the word of the events spread. While many had survived Stormbreaker, the Resistance fell into disarray and was set back almost to the beginning, where they had been almost a decade earlier.

​

​