Broken Crown
The Iron Empire's yoke has been cast on the region of Ceralus. Independence has been replaced by tyranny. Freedom has been throttled by the Empress's Law. So claims the Broken Crown, also known as the Rebel among the people of the Empire. The Broken Crown is a loose alliance of the different resistance groups that exist in the wake of the Empress's rise to power and the subsequent expansion of the Iron Empire. It has its roots in the Imperial Exiles, those aristocrats of the halcyon (in their telling of the story) days of the Old Iron Empire, before the Age of Storms. Since then, it has been bolstered by those refugees and dissidents of Ceralus whose nations were conquered by the Iron Legions over the last two centuries or their descendants.
Though they lack the wealth and organization of the Iron Empire, the Broken Crown are not without their own resources. Their spies keep watch on the Empire from within and without. The Broken Crown does maintain a small army (compared to the size of their enemy) that is highly mobile, striking against the Legion in regions where the anti-Imperial sentiment is high or where there is a chance for unrest, but it rarely stays to hold such cities. Its members work with different undergrounds in the periphery, training and nurturing the resistance cells that sprout. It hires mercenaries to strengthen its forces when pitched battles are needed, trading the loot it seizes from its raids to pay for their contracts. The greatest asset to the Broken Crown is that there is not one branch of it that knows everything, no single person who can claim to be the lynchpin that holds it together, not even their 'leader', the Rosethorn, whose bounty grows higher by the year.
Structure
The Broken Crown relies on a cellular organizational structure out of necessity. If one cell is compromised or taken out, it will not spell the end of the entire Broken Crown. As such, there are very few members and fighters of the Rebel that know the larger picture. There are usually one or two members in a specific city or region that have connections outside of that area, often the ones who trained the initial members in organization and combat. The military leaders of the Broken Crown likewise maintain their own forces, acting with coordination between each other but ultimately as each sees best. That way, should one army be destroyed, the others can continue to fight.
The Rosethorn is considered to be the "High Commander" of the Broken Crown. She leads an army of her own and it is her banner and iconography that are known throughout the Iron Empire, despite the Imperial's Bureaucracy's efforts. She receives reports from the other commanders that gives her an idea of the general state of their efforts across Ceralus.
Culture
The Broken Crown portray themselves as freedom fighters striving to overthrow the tyrant, the Empress, and bring an end to the Imperial Bureaucracy. They have been influenced greatly by the rhetoric of the Jeweled Cities of the Gold Coast. However, given the nature of their organization, each cell has its own tactics, culture, and reasons for fighting. The only thing that unites them is a desire to see the Empress overthrown.
Public Agenda
The Broken Crown promises to overthrow the Empress and restore freedom to Ceralus.
Assets
The Broken Crown's assets are limited in comparison to the foe they face, but they have four standing armies, two of which have the capacity to lay siege, though most of their efforts are lightning strikes, ambushes, or sabotage against the Iron Legions. They have funding from supporters among the Merchant Families of the Jeweled City and some from the Convocation, though never enough to truly draw attention from the Imperials. Most of the Merchant Families hope the Broken Crown will cause enough chaos to disrupt the Imperial Bureaucracy enough to have less control on the markets within the Empire. The Broken Crown have no strongholds, but they do have cities that sympathize with their efforts, particularly those where Imperial control is enforced through punitive measures to keep unrest in check.
History
The Broken Crown has its origins in the Imperial Exiles who fled during the rise of the Empress. They retreated beyond the borders of their collapsed empire, to the Gold Coast, the Peninsula of the Stormwatcher, or to the splinter kingdoms of Ceralus that had broken off during the Age of Storms. The Imperial Exiles intended to raise their own forces and to take back the Empire from the Empress, but they kept being driven back further and further as the Empress expanded her borders, sweeping through Ceralus. Kings were overthrown and the descendants of the original Imperial Exiles were joined by others who had not been ousted from power. Thus the Broken Crown was born from those dispossessed of their titles and lands.
The early days of the Broken Crown, or as the common folk of the Imperial refer to all discontents, the Rebel, was one of limited success. The Imperial Bureaucracy was a weapon in and of itself and the Iron Legions were considered unbeatable in the field. The Broken Crown would strike where they could for supplies, but they never had much momentum. As the borders of the Iron Empire grew though, those who had had generations without Imperial control began to chafe under the Empress's Law. The Broken Crown fed the flames to keep the sentiment growing. As the Legions began to become stretched along the growing borders, the Broken Crown began to gain more success.
Following the annexation of Scarmouth and the permanent garrison of Iron Legions that has been stationed there, the Iron Empire's expansion has slowed as its military forces are already pushed to their limit. The Broken Crown believes these next few years will be the best opportunity they have to gain momentum against the Empress. However, the only reason she has not committed more efforts to stopping them (such as her feared Chosen) is that they have not yet proven themselves a threat. If they are to strike, they will need to be ready for when the Empress turns her eyes to them...
"Break the Chains"
Type
Illicit, Rebel
Alternative Names
The Rebel
Demonym
Rebels
Leader
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
