The Tol Gresk Rebellion

The burnt timbers of the former Temple of Tol Gresk were a solemn monument in the center of Fyr Gresk; though much of the city was still dotted with ruined and burnt buildings, the central market area overlooking the river had more or less been fully rebuilt, with the exception of this monument. Thanie examined the placard that was fastened to one of the less-damaged posts.

This building was the site of the final victory of the 4th Cavalry during the Tol Gresk Rebellion, and stands as a symbol of the bravery of our Etoilean soldiers in securing victory for Progress.

Magistrate Haideri shook his head. "Thousands of good Etoileans were duped by a religious fanatic into dying pointlessly. I would not have named this a victory." The Magistrate knelt down at the ground and sifted the dirt with his gloved fingers, as though he could feel the ash. "Thanie. Why do you suppose I brought you here?"
The girl frowned. "I suppose a cheerful picnic isn't the correct answer, Magistrate?" She sighed; Haideri hadn't even cracked a smile. "This is the cost to Etoile when the Magistrates fail in their duties." The words came out with the dullness of over-repetition.
"Correct." Haideri stood up, his black coat brushing his knees. "Had the Magistrates secured Sarah Loirress for questioning regarding her 'temple reforms', Fyr Gresk would be a thriving city, and not a ruined shell. Remember this building, Thanie. Our duties to the people are never ending."

The Conflict

Prelude

The founding of the Principality of Etoile and the embracing of Progress demanded a shift away from the old paradigms of the petty kingdom era, and one of those shifts was religion. Progress, while not incompatible with faith and religion, had no particular use for it in the era of Power and rational thought, and religion and religious institutions were set aside in all political power structures. Many of the pre-Unification states were religious or theocratic in nature, and the power dynamics of these states were disassembled with the founding of Etoile.
Naturally, this did not sit well with the more organized religions, who suffered major losses to their influence, wealth, and prestige (though the First Princeps permitted their continued existence, provided they did not attempt to influence political matters). One of these religions was that of the Greskites, adherents of the teaching of the Temple of Tol Gresk, a monotheistic religion of a former theocracy of the same name. Easily the wealthiest of the organized religions pre-Unification, the Greskites were one of the more difficult conquests for the Kingdom of Nasse during The War of Unification, with fanatical soldiers willing to die for their faith. Upon the fall of Fyr Gresk (the capital of the state), the Temple's great material wealth was seized and sold in order to fund the continued war efforts of the King of Nasse, and several of the large temple worship complexes (which also served as military staging sites) were demolished. Strict rules were put in place after Unification, limiting the amount of money that the Greskites could raise through their religious services and capping the amount of assets the organized church could own. At this time, the tale of The Pyre of the Faith had become well known, and the Temple had no desire to see their religion entirely extinguished, so they simply retreated from the stage and practiced their faith for the span of roughly forty years.
Events in 675 changed matters. One young Greskite girl, Sarah Loirress, who had read stories of the old theocracy and the glory days of Fyr Gresk, claimed in public to have visions of a Greskite rebellion and the overthrow of the faithless Principality - but first, the organized church that had acquiesced to the conquest had to itself be cleansed of its impure elements, a schism between the Radical and Orthodox wings of the Greskite faith. This was the spark that ignited a dormant fervor in the Greskite community, with all of the temple clerics of Tol Gresk replaced within a season, with radicals advocating for revolution. Attempts by the Principality to first appease the faithful failed, and the Greskites reacted harshly when the Principality attempted to arrest members of the Temple for violent conspiracy. The District Commander of Fyr Gresk was assassinated late in third season, setting the stage for a revolt. The Princeps of the time mobilized the Etoilean Fourth Cavalry Division to suppress the revolutionaries, who had expelled all officers of the Principality from Fyr Gresk and had begun to fortify the city.

Deployment

The Radical faction of Tol Gresk were estimated to number just under ten thousand, though of these, perhaps two or three thousand were men of fighting age. Loirress was well informed of the movements of the Etoilean ground forces and planned a defense-in-depth of Fyr Gresk, a block-by-block fight for every building, in order to convince the Principality that the bloodshed wasn't worthwhile. She was aware of arguments within the Principality proper regarding the free practice of religion, and several journal writers published pieces sympathetic to the plight of the Radical Greskite worshippers, who they portrayed as chafing under the illiberal and oppressive knee of the Principality.
For their part, the Fourth Cavalry Division numbered sixty assault prow Power-Wagons and ten siege launchers, accompanied by eight hundred armored infantry. In a post-battle report, the division commander noted that he was under orders to not significantly damage the city, so his siege launchers were of no practical value in pitched urban fighting.

Battlefield

While the city was fortified and the main thoroughfares into the town were barricaded with hastily-dug earthworks, Fyr Gresk was rebuilt after The War of Unification without rebuilding its city walls, which had been handily breached and destroyed during the war. This meant that smaller teams of soldiers could infiltrate the city at night. The defenders had identified several buildings in the city to be used as fortified hardpoints to hold reserve units as reinforcements, but the city itself was split into thirds by a river fork - whoever held the crossings would control the city.

The Engagement

The Fourth Cavalry had arrived on the outskirts of Fyr Gresk on the 50th day of Fourth Season, but no fighting broke out until the 58th, as the commander on scene attempted to secure the surrender of the revolutionaries and the evacuation of civilians. On the evening of the 58th, with no diplomatic progress, the cavalry entered the city in small teams dispersed on foot, simultaneously attacking grain stores and armories. It was notable that the Greskites again fought to the death, as their forebears did during Unification; progress through the city was slow and bloody, though the hastily trained fighters under Loirress were no match for the trained infantry of Etoile. Official accounts indicate that no building was burned or destroyed by Etoilean forces and that all fires were set by the defending Greskites, but, as always, battlefield reports are at best uncertain.
After roughly five weeks, the cavalry had gained control of all river crossings, and most of the city had fallen with the exception of the main Temple complex at the center of Fyr Gresk, where Loirress and her most fanatical followers were prepared to make a last stand. On the third day of 676, however, the soldiers on scene awoke to a massive fire engulfing the Temple. The Etoilean commander has sworn in his official account that no soldier under his command set the blaze; nevertheless, the rebellion ended with five hundred burnt corpses being sifted out of the ashes of the last Temple of Tol Gresk.

Outcome

Fyr Gresk suffered less damage than would be expected during the weeks of street-to-street fighting, but the damage and casualties were extensive enough that the city was deemed not worth fully repairing. The Greskite religion, having lost its main center of worship and most of its most fervent adherents, was eliminated as an institution; even the Orthodox Greskites were forced to sign statements affirming their abandonment of their faith and their embracing of Progress. The soldiers of the Fourth Cavalry returned to the Etoile Capital City to a hero's welcome, having suffered remarkably few casualties and with their heroic exploits fawned over in the Etoilean Record.

Aftermath

Fyr Gresk is still an active settlement but is no longer the seat of a District; the District of Fyr Gresk was subsumed into that of a neighboring district. The city itself remains partially in ruins, with a population roughly ten percent of its pre-war number (as most of the Etoileans that evacuated the city never returned). Policy changes regarding organized religion were put into effect; in essence, while anyone was free to practice any faith on principle, large organizations that managed any particular faith would be placed under direct control of a Rector, a new Principality position reporting directly to a Minister-at-large of the Palace of the Princeps.

Conflict Type

Rebellion

Battlefield Type

Urban

Start Date

50th day, Fourth Season, 675

Ending Date

3rd day, First Season, 676

Conflict Result

Elimination of the Greskite organized religion

Belligerents

Etoilean Ground Forces

Greskite Crusaders

Strength

4th Cavalry Division, 800 armored infantry

~9500 Greskite followers, ~2500 fighting men

Casualties

~50 dead, 200 wounded

~7500 dead, many by self-immolation

Objectives

The suppression of the Greskite Rebellion, the arrest of Sarah Loirress

Local independence from Etoilean rule, the re-establishment of the Tol Gresk Theocracy