The Herrgaran Insurrection was a violent uprising within the city-state Hercinia against the rule of the
Principality of Antiva. The history of this uprising serves as a backbone for the defiant, anti-institution sentiment often found amongst Hergarrans.
It occurred several centuries ago.
The Conflict
Prelude
During Antiva's expansionist era, it claimed land all up and down the eastern coast of Thedas. Unlike other kingdoms and nations which pillaged and conquered cities to expand, Antiva's territory grew through cultural expansionist efforts. People in neighboring territories would so frequently be exposed to Antivic arts, fine foods, and academics which would result in them slowly conforming to Antivic cultural norms. Over time, these neighboring territories would come to be ruled by those who had been convinced that to join Antiva was to join a cultural golden-age.
One such place where this occurred was a Free Marcher city-state, Hercinia. For nearly ten generations, Hercinia remained under the distant rulership of Antiva. More and more during these decades, Antivic aristocracy found themselves moving to Hercinia for the lucrative business opportunities. Its prime location near the Waking Sea and the hard-working attitude of the Hergarran people lead to the extremely wealthy of this foreign, mercantile class exploiting Hergarrans.
Anti-Antivic sentiment began to grow for quite some time in the city-state, with rebels employing stealth tactics to infiltrate and strike at the Principality's elite. However, the Hergarran Insurrection is considered to have officially started with the assassination of Antiva's King Adorno.
Once it was clear that Hercinia was in an uprising, Queen Giulia then paid every known mercenary she could find to reconquer the city-state in the name of her deceased lover. Warfare was mainly conducted by sea just off the coasts of Hercinia. To protect herself, the queen fortified Antiva City and had a fortress surrounded by water built for her. Sparrow Island, as it would later be named, became a supposedly impenetrable safe-haven for the kings and queens of Antiva during times of crises. Despite this, the battling never came anywhere close to Antiva City.
The conflict lasted just over 7 months before Hercinia could fight no more, due in large part to their inferior navy. It became clear to the Antivic elite, however, that their exploitation of the Hergarran people might incite the wrath of other Free Marcher city-states so over the years they began migrating their business ventures elsewhere.
The Antivic aristocracy quickly leaving and taking money out of Hercinia's economy sent the city-state into a downward spiral and began an economic depression there. Many Hergarrans were forced to emigrate to other places where their skills as manual laborers would allow them to survive. This is why it's so common to find Hergarrans in so many places in eastern
Thedas.
For those who remained, they became even more fiercely independent, territorial, and protective of their own culture. Outsiders might suggest that their culture shares some resemblance to Antivic culture, but a native Hergarran would be quick to state that their culture is uniquely its own. It has even come up more than a few times in history for rulers of Hercinia to make claims of ousting and protecting from the influence of Antiva from their city-state, but usually this is just a nationalistic sentiment that means very little.
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