Stonesky Riots

The conflict along the Stonesky reaches of the Godswollen River were the most successful resistance to the hegemony of The Gleaming City since its founding. It forced a significant change in the policy of the Merchantry of the Torrent, and saw a siesmic shift in the power struggles between the Lords of Fire.

Sparks of resistance

The Fall of Damnation was one of the greater tragedies to befall the peoples of Ardi Kokufa as the Gleaming City sought to expand its influence, and had been used by the agents of the Gleaming City as a warning to others who might attempt to resist their domination.
While The Flaming Brand were publicly celebrated for the victory within the towers of the Gleaming City, many among both the Merchantry of the Torrent and Lords were quietly appalled at the outcome. The primary holy missions of the Merchantry is to increase the following and worship of the Lords and the Holy Caldera. The decision to destroy the Dam Nation had the undesired affect of increasing dissent where previously there was none.
In the aftermath, the dissent was growing palpable along the banks of the Godswollen, even to the stronghold at the Stonesky Drainage. Under a disorganised banner of revolutionaries, including a young Impetine the tensions erupted into the Stonesky Riots.

Escalating conflict

Agitators across the many villages saw the acts of the Flaming Brand as a threat to their own survival and freedoms, and many young dissenters flocked to the calls for resistance.
The riots began haphazzardly, but soon became organised under an alliance of various gang leaders. it became a guerrilla war up an down the Godswollen, with the resistance targeting the trade ways of the Merchantry, and undermining the worship of the Lords though propaganda and direct destruction of places of worship. This brought down harsher and harsher retribution from the Flaming Brand forces against the trouble makers, which did little to suppress the anger of the people. Many died in fires that ripped through the underground tunnels of the Stonesky, and many more at the hands of the Deks as they ruthlessly tried to quell opposition.
As the conflict escalated, the Lords could feel the impact of the reduced worship as a significant weakening of their Tethered Godlings, and some among them realised that this put at risk the sustainability of their power and could not be allowed to continue.

The Peacemaker and the Risen Lord

Two of the most powerful Lords at the time, Shimshak and Gaulchoros, argued that worship through fear and subservience would be an acceptable outcome, and pushed to increase the harsh quelling of dissent.

However, one of the most popular leaders of the Stonesky resistance called Impetine wanted to see an end to the conflict that had seen so much death and suffering along the Godswollen. She made her way to the Gleaming City and met in secret with one of the lesser Lords called Ukobis. He was a particularly progressive Lord, who had argued publicly for leniency and greater inclusion in order undermine the causes of the dissent rather than try to quell it altogether.

by Midjourney

Impetine brokered a deal with Ukobis, and together they convinced the Holy Caldera to agree with this change in policy for the Flaming Brand. In exchange for a ceasing of the conflicts, the peoples of the Stonesky would be given more autonomy for trade and water rights, and would have a representative within the Flaming Brand in the form of Impetine herself.
Ukobis sponsored Impetine's attempt at becoming a Lord of Fire, to fill the position vacated by the death of Kholkosi. This very act caused an upheaval within the hierarchy of the Lords themselves, and saw the massive loss of influence and worship previously enjoyed by Shimshack, Gaulchoros and their allies as the peoples of the Stonesky flocked to the banners of the hero Impetine and the Peacemaker Ukobis.
This made Impetine the first non-Avatar from The Mortugurra Incursion to be accepted into ranks of the Lords of Fire and to tether with her own Godling. The event has become known as the Apotheosis of the Risen Lord, and was the first sign of a more progressive leadership in the Gleaming City.