"No more."
The Exiles Din was a long-planned rebellion, one heralded by
The Uncrowned Kings in their wisdom and justice. After meticulous and dangerous planning, they only needed to solve for one variable to start their revolution: how to stymie reinforcements from their oppressors home nations?
The answer they settled upon was not a popular one, with each of the five knowing the potential serious repercussions. But, it was their greatest chance, as their enemies alternatives would be much slower and transport far fewer soldiers.
To win the war, and free their people, they would have to break the very land itself.
The Conflict
Prelude
It was Ermelinde the Uncaptured and Vadimir the Unrelenting who initially came up with this strategy. Tanguy the Reaper and Gofaint the Fallen each knew that the presence of the land bridges made the threat of reinforcements all too real. While Afallon would still need to dredge through the snow that is now Laputa in order to get to the Seat, they had their methods of doing it quickly. Atalanta, meanwhile, had no such difficulties and ample soldiers ready to move.
The art of Druidry wasn't a rare one, even if the Beastfolk of the Seat were quite adept at it, so all temporary measures were subject to being negated, and they couldn't waste every Circle on just two regions for constant upkeep, the Seat was a large land and would have many battlegrounds. So, permenant measures had to be taken. Vadimir, while not a mage himself, knew much about what the Druids could do, and Ermelinde had the know-how and connections to make it possible.
It took quite some time to convince the various Druid Circles to agree to such a drastic measure, but eventually a consensus was reached. Vadimir involved himself to provide the militaristic defense, while Kharis helped the logistically-minded rebels-to-be prepare for the fallout in advance.
Then, the time came to shatter the land.
On the 6th day of Blooming Spring, the Exiles began their great work. In the Roaring Isle to the south, at the time a prison colony, mass protests were breaking out to various levels of intensity, drawing away many of the Atalantan eyes in the south. Tanguy, for his effort, snuck behind enemy lines across the southern land bridge with a small team of saboteurs and set off explosives around their barracks, drawing that sides attention as well.
In the northern fields of the land, near present-day Fairwell, Gofaint distracted as many as he could, saying that their patrols needed to stay behind for a special sermon, given to him by the gods above. It worked for the most part, aided by the fact that many of the Mars Seers did not wish to venture out into the artic snow, even as the spring rains made it a touch more tolerable. When the northern protests started, he did his best to delay and stall their mace-hands, "for safety's sake" of course.
Then, the earth began to shake.
Ermelinde sat at the edge of the southern land bridge, as Blyudát Snéžnyj, a powerful elder from Vadimir's clan, held vigil at the northern bridge. Throughout The Seat, either hidden deep in the forests, sequestered in their homes, or hidden in The In-Between Places, Druids of all stripes sat together and connected their power to one another via the leylines. A circuit spanning across the entirety of The Seat of Giants was connected, and they pleaded with the land.
As the effects of their collected magic began to work, the opposing armies quickly realized what was going on, as their own magic sensors were going haywire. This gave the Druids a bit of help, actually, as the sheer amount of mana being transmitted throughout the country overloaded many of these sensors. But that advantage wore off quickly, and armies raced to assail these dissidents.
Each side would find their way being halted by surprising forces. To the south, Atalantan infantry racing to take the head of The Uncaptured found themselves thrown from their steeds like sacks of potatoes, as Vadimir and his warriors stood ready. Blyudát and her sisters to the north needed no physical armies, as they didn't expend all their magic towards shaping the land. As the sparse units left in the snowy north came to their position, they were halted by herds of wildlife, all staring at them with ravenous, vengeful eyes. Few Afallonians know how to combat a squadron of Polar Bears.
For the cities full of protestors, they had their protectors too, as Tanguy provided those of the Roaring Isle with the chance to take up arms and finally begin to strike against their Atalantan jailers, and Gofaint finally got to announce his true feelings to his fellow Mars Seers. All over The Seat, rebellion began, with ready soldiers appearing from The In-Between Placecs, and weapons landing in the hands of the prepared citizenry, all organized by the wise Kharis Floros.
The drudic spell ennacted by Ermelinde and Blyudát turned the land bridges into chaotic places, even before they fully split. The ground shook, sinkholes and caverns began to spread, and the soft soil and grass churned and twisted. This was not a challenge for Vadimir's forces or the beasts to the north, as both were used to traveling and fighting on snow and ice alike.
It took three days for the serious changes to be ennacted. Originally the Druids wanted to sink the land bridges into the water fully, but as they spoke with the land and the sea it was clear that would not be possible, even with their power. So, the path of shattering was taken, with two full days of casting in order to shatter those lands and a third to stabilize them and the ley lines as they fell into place.
By the time the Exiles needed to fall back, a large portion of their respective enemies had already been routed from the other side of the land bridges, and while the forces already in the Seat were formidible, the Exiles had prepared for their extended fighting. Half of the assembled Druids would shift their focus to defense, taking the forms of animals and erecting thick defenses from magic and nature, while the other half including the leaders kept the work to stablilize the leylines and the change, so that no magical backlash would occur, as it would've been fatal to who knows how many of the Druids.
By the seventh day, the armies realized they were routed far more than they were prepared for, and so fell back to their barracks and prisons to strategize, and The Exiles as well took their hidden passages to gather and coordinate their battles to come. This was the first strike of The Exile's Din, and it would be far from the last.
The loss of the land bridges, and the shock at what The Exiles were capable of, stymied new platoons entering for some time, although eventually they would find naval passage. It also lit the fuse for many would-be revolutionaries who were simmering at the time, turning it to a full boil with one clear message: "We can do this."
After the dust settled and
Magnum Opus was founded properly, the Strike was still a sore sticking point. No war or revolution is bloodless, but the destruction of the land bridges killed many soldiers and civilians alike, and ruined dozens of trade routes and businesses. While all sides recovered and found new ways around this geographical change, with even the land and waters itself settling into place, those who remember the strike well still have their sores about it.
Historical Significance
The Strike of Exile was one of the most ambitious acts of druidic magic Edda has seen. Large covens of landshapers had done work to stabalize the land, to enrich it, but to destroy it? That had not been seen since the age of the gods. It set a terrifying precedent for the Druids and Witches of Magnum Opus, no matter how often they swore it would not happen a second time.
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