Revaelorians

United through shared opposition to the empire and a desire for traditional Elvaran ways, Revaelorians are an underground subculture of the Malvarri peoples—though they would not thank you for referring to them as such!   Revaelorians view the Emperor as a usurper, and regard the empire's violent oppression of the people of Revaelor as tyrannical, ungodly and illegitimate.   Concerned with justice and restoring the Duchy of Tarryn to power in Elvara, some Revaelorians devote their time to minor acts of resistance in a political powder keg of a city where opposition can mean execution. Even identifying as something 'other', as Revaelorians do, is an incredibly dangerous act that can lead to trouble with the authorities.  

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A rejection of Malvarri ways...

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  In other parts of Astaeria, those who reside in the empire are now referred to collectively as 'Malvarri. For the minority in the old lands of the Duchy who still consider themselves Revaelorian, this is an incredibly offensive generalisation.   To Revaelorians, 'Malvarri' is a title that can only apply to the aristocracy and nobility, who have been elevated to their positions of power by an unconstitutional regime at the expense of the true heirs of Revaelor.   They do not revere the Emperor or his kin and consider themselves traditionally Elvaran, influenced by high elven culture and aeons of shared history between species. They begrudge the materialistic takeover of Embari culture which is peddled by the new nobility, and seek a return to a simpler way of life, with greater autonomy and political freedom.   Revaelorians broadly follow the teachings of Ethera and the Twelve, valuing and championing etheral magic, rather than seeking to persecute it as the Empire does.   Though the empire still grants limited religious freedom, for many the Emperor is a heretic representing dark chaos in Ethera's perfect world.  

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An underground movement

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  Before 1331, to consider oneself a Revaelorian was the norm in the Duchy's capital. Among native Elvarans, it was an identity that transcended class and species and connected people through shared history and values.   The massacre of Duke Tarryn's loyalists during the Vanguard Revolution, however, exemplified the new regime's intolerance of political opposition. Many Revaelorian statesmen and women were murdered in cold blood, and those that escaped had to assume new secretive identities amongst the poorer classes of Malvarron.   The last 75 years of the Empire's rule have continued in much the same bloody fashion, with radical social change and the subjugation of difference and dissent.   For those longing for a return to the days of the Duchy, those desires must be kept hidden from the omnipresent ears of the Cogs and the The Black Cloaks, unless they wish to face the consequences.   However, acts of Revaelorian resistance still occur from time to time...  

Flying the flag

  In the Aranor of 1349, several of the Empire's standards on official government and military buildings were replaced with the green flag of the Duchy, much to the empire's embarrassment.   This would occur several times that year before the culprits, three Southend farmhands, were finally caught and executed for treason.   Before they were hanged, they were reported to shout, 'Long live Revaelor. Long live the Duke of Tarryn.'  

A mutinous melody

 

"Let the butcher in blue fear our blades,
Forged in the oaths our fathers made,
As their standard falls 'neath Tarryn shade,
The crimson debt shall be repaid."

Refrain from the song 'The Crimson Debt'

  In 1393, a local bard by the name of Vin Goran, was arrested by the The Black Cloaks at the Silver Dragon Inn, Lowtown, for performing a song titled the Crimson Debt.   The lyrics are deemed highly treasonous because of their apparent call to Revaelorian rebellion.   Vin was later released from prison, separate from his tongue.  

A brazen act of sedition

  On the 20th Elva 1405, Emperor Lucciano's only living daughter, Princess Lucia, was reported missing from the royal palace under suspicious circumstances.   The resistance movement known as the Wardens of Ethera soon took full responsibility for her kidnapping.   In a public letter to the Emperor, the group made many ransom demands, including that the 'tyrannical usurper vacate the rightful seat of Tarryn'.   Though dissent has always landed one in trouble with the empire's forces, the rebel group is now specifically illegal under Emperor's Decree XXXV. Anyone suspected of furthering its cause is to be executed on sight without the need for trial.

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