The Miner's Rebellion

WIP - Summer Camp 2023

The Miner's Rebellion occurred in 5285 EA, one hundred and fifty one years ago, in the capital city of the The Aestra merfolk, Aeth. What began as a peaceful protest became one of the bloodiest days in Aeth's history, and led to the dramatic reformation of miner's rights.
The miners of Aeth's two viridescenite mines had been growing discontent towards the long hours and poor working conditions for several years. When the leader of the Aestra slashed wages after a year of low production, things reached their tipping point.
It started with a small group who refused to go into work, and day by day this number grew. They would gather at the entrances of the two mines and refuse to move or work until their wages were restored and they had better working conditions. Other citizens of Aeth joined in the protest, bringing the miners food so that they could continue their stand. The leader refused to negotiate; he was of the opinion that the miners would crack and return to work long before he did.
About a month after the protest began, it started to spread to the other mines at the other settlements, mainly because they were being pushed harder to make up the deficit. After several months of this, the Aestra began to experience a shortage of viridescenite, as they used up their entire stockpile. Attempts to trade with the Ikaspi, who it was known had a very large stockpile, were made in vain.
The leader of the city began to crack down on the miners who had started the protests, attempting to bar citizens from bringing them food, hoping to starve them into compliance. It did not work, but tensions between the city's enforcers and its citizens began to grow. Scuffles began to break out between the enforcers and the people trying to bring food to the protestors. The leader wanted to put an end to the protest with violence, but was persuaded not to by those around him who saw the situation for the volatile circumstance that it was.
It is unknown if what happened next was an accident or deliberate, but on the 14th of Vatrus, 5285 EA, a young girl was killed during a struggle with law enforcement. This ignited the protests into a full on rebellion.
The fighting raged for four days, during which time over two hundred people lost their lives. The fighting did not spread beyond Aestra, because the city was immediately locked down, with no one allowed in or out. The other protests continued peacefully. Nearly a third of the deaths were of enforcers, and the rest were civilians.
Urged by those close to him, the leader called for peace and gave in to some of the miner's demands. By the dawn of the 19th, the city lay quiet.
The consequences of the rebellion were that legal restrictions were put on the number of hours miners were expected to work, and the wage was restored back to its ordinary levels.