Ascension Riots

The Ascension Riots are a sequence of protests and riots that took place throughout Caelester in response to Giles Baxter proclaiming himself Steward of Caelester, despite being a foreign lord who had only recently arrived in the city. They were violently supressed by the Iron Guard, the Steward's private army. These riots marked the transition of Caelester's political system from a benign monarchy with a largely elected advisory council to a militarily backed despotism.

Peaceful Protests

Protests began in a haphazard and disorganized manner - individuals or small groups refusing to follow orders given by patrolling members of the Iron Guard. Most of these were strictly peaceful demonstrations though some groups were set upon and beaten. Before long, people started arranging larger demonstrations, eventually culminating in a march on the Steward's compound led by the city's survivng Guildmasters.

Retaliation

Nobody expected the ferocity of the response. As the column of marchers reached the compound, the Iron Guard revealed several Cannon they had set up to meet them, and fired upon the unarmed crowd without warning. Grapeshot tore into the crowd, causing people to panic and flee in all directions. Hundreds were killed in the initial volley, and hundreds more were put to the sword by the Guard's cavalry, who swept in to disperse the fleeing crowd.
This was the first of many clashes throughout the city. Angered by the brutality of this attack, the populace turned on the Iron Guard. The violence that was once sporadic and generally limited to fisticuffs grew into a series of lethal ambushes across the city. However, these efforts did not last long - entire neighbourhoods where such ambushes took place were burned to the ground, with the residents, already reeling from the recent earthquake, left penniless on the street, their belongings stolen or destroyed. Over the course of a month, these ambushes petered out, with most of the perpetrators killed by the Iron Guard, a few after being turned in by civilians hoping to preserve what little they had left. The survivors, dispirited by their dwindling numbers and the collaboration by their fellow Caelestrans, went into hiding. Today, many of them act in support of the Guildmaster's Council, in hopes that one day they will overthrow the Steward.