Prideful Folk

Structure

The Prideful Folk were not a traditionally structured organization, as there was no hierarchy within it. Members did not have roles they were stuck in, nor did they answer to anyone but Gon Solin. The idea behind it was to move away from traditional structures of power, which were oppressive and held back free thought, and instead to be fluid in allowing people, and the organization as a whole, to express themselves.   Still, there was a leader of the group, as Gon Solin organized all actions of the group, and appointed regional leaders for the different branches throughout the world. What this led to was Solin themselves holding back some of the expression in the group, while she was able to express herself however she saw fit in the moment. His ideas for what the Prideful Folk had to be (peaceful and accepting, never pushing back too hard, but always visible) were controversial to some, who tried forming new fronts in the movement, but were always shut down by Solin, who insisted that such developments needed to be made through joint discussion together.  

Offshoots

The Prideful Folk began in the city of Stallbourne, but they spread out around the world at the start of the Age of Justice, through major cities thanks to word of mouth and the actions of the remaining founders. The original group became known as the Prideful Folk of Stallbourne, and other groups included:

• The Prideful Folk of Alzirgos
 
• The Prideful Folk of Ruzrugh
 
• The Prideful Folk of Camor
 
• The Prideful Folk of the Korvian City
 
• The Prideful Folk of Grandstone
 
• The Prideful Folk of Nerodil

It was Alzirgos and the Korvian City especially (two cities where queer folk were already able to live out and proud as Solin pushed them to) that bolstered the movement, helping it to spread around the world. These cities made the organization more than an underground movement, but instead a phenomenon that helped people accept themselves.   Despite all of these groups, some larger than the original, the Prideful Folk of Stallbourne remained the head of the organization, even after it became part of the new World Court. Under the World Court, it became a more structured organization, led by affiliates of the Court itself, with even the Stallbourne branch being nothing more than a branch of the World Court, and its members all getting strict roles and titles for their jobs.  

Characteristics

Of course, the major characteristic of the Prideful Folk is their queer identity. The Splitting of the Self ritual that changes one's gender has become important in the subculture, largely because a majority of its founders had undergone the ritual and proudly admitted to it, but those who are homosexual, asexual, and other forms of queer are also welcomed into the Prideful Folk. There is much disagreement on whether allies are allowed to identify as Prideful Folk or if wearing the fashion and such is reserved only for those who are, themselves, queer, but even Gon Solin never denied questions like those outright, saying that it was good to have allies involved to protect those that needed protecting.  

Fashion

The fashion associated with the Prideful Folk subculture is bright, often sparkly and garish. Major colors include pinks and blues, as well as a strong association with rainbows thanks to an old Gnomish legend about following a rainbow to ones true identity. Many Prideful Folk wear revealing clothing, as a part of the culture around the group is accepting their sexuality and that includes being more open about it in public. Heavy makeup is also used, with more outlandish styles rather than more "natural" looks.   There is no set look for a particular gender, and people are allowed to express themselves with any identity they please, be that masculine, feminine, more androgynous, or somewhere completely separate from these ideas entirely.  

Art and Music

Prideful Folk art is often bright and in-your-face, most famously with large street murals on buildings and roads depicting rainbows, queer love and identity, and (post-Griffinglow) the burning of structures of power. A juxtaposition between peaceful love and the destruction of oppressive systems can create a muddied identity for some outside of the Prideful Folk, but those within the subculture insist it meshes better when one is closely tied to the movement.   There was no music associated with the movement until the association with Kathleen Ramone and her so-called "punk" revolutionary style took over in the community. It shows a desire to move past the completely peaceful notions of Gon Solin in some areas, while still acknowledging that it was Solin meeting and working with Ramone that brought her ideas and music into the organization, as she herself was not part of it, nor did she agree with their methods (though she supported the Prideful Folk living their lives and hated the World Court).  

Attitude

The Prideful Folk attitude is one that, in contrast with many other revolutionary subcultures, is rather friendly and open to everyone. It promotes kindness above everything else and insists on normalcy in all things except, of course, the way the Prideful Folk themselves present. They are to make themselves known whenever they are around, but to not make their identity seem like anything out of the ordinary. Instead, their boldness in being themselves is meant to make that identity itself normal, and in many ways it has. Since the Prideful Folk became a worldwide movement, more people dress in brighter colors and openly announce themselves as queer.   Prideful Folk are encouraged to go about their lives and jobs as normal, for if they are fired or discriminated against, demonstrations can be performed against those that did this to them.  

Peacefulness

The major determining factor of whether one is among the Prideful Folk or not is their relationship to peaceful forms of protest, demonstration, and lifestyle choices. Soldiers cannot be part of the Prideful Folk, neither can those who violently stand against their oppressors. One must renounce all forms of violence in order to truly be one of the Prideful Folk.   At the very least, that was Gon Solin's view, and it has remained immortalized in the movement, but that is not every member of the Prideful Folk's view. Mickey Griffinglow, a member and the successor of Gon Solin as leader, was also a member of the Army of the Revolution. He loved explosives, and believed that the threat of violence and use of it when absolutely necessary was crucial to actual successful movements for societal change. Some Prideful Folk movements since have aspired to Mickey's ideals rather than Gon Solin's, creating a divine of "Soliners" and "Mickeys".  

History

In the late years of the Age of Unrest, a fear had been building up in the city of Stallbourne. The rest of the world saw traces of the rising power of the World Court, what with their increased role in world events and various incidents and coups sponsored by them, but in the city where they had their headquarters, the citizens felt it more than anyone. Tyranny was taking hold, and the identities and ideals of individuals were being wiped away.   The major incident in Stallbourne was the first act of true revolution, as Fepar and Ildid Tilrak, alongside Ordoth Mardaar, broke out of the Marshal and, alongside Phund Monet, founded the Army of the Revolution to violently oppose the World Court's oppression. This story was turned into something else around the world, like Fepar and the others had attacked the Court, but the residents of Stallbourne saw it themselves, and they knew why. They felt the growing tension in the city and believed there was little they could do. But Fepar's revolution and later the Revolutionary Proclamation he issued, even if some disagreed with it, was a call to action that none could deny. A call to do something other than wait to die.   A group of seven friends in the city of Stallbourne feared this more than anyone. They gathered in the basement of the Halfling known as Jilwyn Freefall, who had already been hiding after her Splitting of the Self, fearing that the World Court would not allow her to remain as the gender she chose. She gathered her friends together, fearing that she couldn't go outside and that it may be the last chance she had to spend with them.   The seven friends promised to not compromise on their identities in the slightest to appease the World Court. Jilwyn said she would rather die than live another day as anyone but herself, and the rest agreed. They swore to each other in that basement that they would never take a step back, never give in to anyone at the expense of themselves, and it was in that agreement that they became the first of the Prideful Folk.   The organization itself, however, was not formally formed until their worst fear happened: Jilwyn Freefall was killed on the street of Stallbourne. Having been inspired by her friends to live proudly, she went outside, but the next anyone saw of her was Gon Solin, who found her hanging on the street, a display from some bigot. He didn't know if it was someone affiliated with the World Court or someone just taking their rulings to heart, but either way that was the decisive moment for Solin. To see their friend strung up, as if the very sight of Jilwyn was meant to be an insult. But Gon Solin took it as something else: a sign of what was to come. A sign that her appearance had meant something, just her standing there, even hanging there.   After they'd cleaned their tears, Gon Solin gathered the remaining friends and they marched on the street of Stallbourne, all of them in bright colors, in memory of Jilwyn. Others saw this, as the six friends walked around the ringed city, and joined in, for the first peaceful demonstration of the Prideful Folk.  

The Movement Forms

Gon Solin received a letter the next day from Judge Alpha, demanding them to stop all acts against the World Court or else to face legal action. She burned the paper and called all of the Prideful Folk together, saying that they needed to do more after the previous demonstration. They decided to spread the word to those they'd met at the march, and Solin bought a warehouse in the city to use as a headquarters. In this warehouse, with everyone sympathetic to the cause that they could gather, Solin announced the formation of the Prideful Folk as an official group dedicated to peaceful demonstrations.

"Jilwyn wanted to live her life, but they stole that from her. They stole it because the very fact that she wanted to live was too much for them, so that's what we need to do. We need to keep living, as loud and bright as we can make our lives.   We will not fight... not like they do. It is enough that we speak out, that we let them see us. If we raise our fists against them, they will use the superior force of their armies to wipe us out. It is our words that make us better than them, it is our lives that make us worth watching! So we will be proud of those lives, every day that we have left... for Jilwyn."

— Gon Solin

Here, the movement solidified into the original Prideful Folk organization in the year 531, and their momentum only grew from there.   Notably, while Fepar Tilrak and his revolutionaries had served as inspiration for the movement, Gon Solin denounced the methods Tilrak had taken. Tilrak was painted as a violent criminal, an insane man, and was said to be a danger to the entire world by the Court. If Gon Solin believed that or not is up to interpretation, but she did not want her followers to be perceived that way, and so she made sure to distance her movement from Tilrak's. Fepar tried recruiting the Prideful Folk, but Gon Solin even tried to rat out that Fepar had approached them as a way to get into the World Court's good graces.  

Fates of the First Members

Other original members went on to found other branches of the organization, or help spread the movement elsewhere. Each did so with their own flair, with Pabana deciding to proudly display her identity through the medium of wrestling, creating the "character" of Pabana who was a much bolder version of herself, wearing bright colors in memory of Jilwyn and so that, no matter what, even when she wasn't saying a word, everyone watching would know that Pabana had undergone the Splitting of the Self as well, and had transitioned to live how she wanted to live. Professional wrestling became entwined with the movement of the Prideful Folk, and many in the subculture still see wrestling as a way to maintain affiliation with the movement.   Noful Sisdane was the member who brought the movement to Udai, stopping first in Ruzrugh and finding capable people to lead there, and then to the Korvian City, where they were accepted gladly and lived many years, running the Prideful Folk of the Korvian City until the new King, Monster, began taking power with the help of the World Court. Sisdane decided to leave, seeing things may be dangerous and knowing that there were others in Udai who needed to live proudly. It is believed she died outside of an Orcish camp, mowed down by arrows before she ever identified herself to them.   Ricner Tallheart was the one who went to the Kingdom of Man. He didn't have as much success, managing to start one chapter in Nerodil before he was arrested by Timar Forestarm, the Court Wizard at the time. A Nerodil chapter was started to free Tallheart, but was closed down when Forestarm overthrew the monarchy and became King. Alongside the shutting down of the Nerodil chapter, Forestarm is believed to have set up an execution date for Tallheart a decade or so out from the coronation, though he never went through with this and Tallheart was freed by the revolutionary Vodron Nutsk after Nutsk killed Forestarm.   An Leaftop first traveled to the Draconian villages, but while in Evity, they were pulled aside by Drorthod Lormorn, who had just retired as Village Chief. Lormorn warned that some people may not take kindly to a change of traditional values, and Leaftop decided to leave the Draconians for the time being, going to Camor instead. There, Leaftop found more success, starting a chapter of the Prideful Folk and staying for some time before moving on to Dwarven Territory. While they did not start a chapter of the Prideful Folk organization there, the movement has grown, as they found a better way to appeal to Dwarves. They opened a bar in the city of Balberg, called "The Prideful Folk" and found Dwarves who later joined the subculture to help run it after they passed on.   Only one member maintained an under the radar approach. Little as known about the founder who went by the name "L", because they seemingly vanished after the first march, and the bright colors and showy actions of the others were so distracting that others never noticed L. If L ever went on to do anything is unclear, and no one ever discovered L's identity. Unlike the rest, it seems they did not decide to live proudly like Jilwyn.  

A Halt to Momentum

Everything stopped in 548, when the Grand Crowning rocked the world. All fears of global tyranny under the World Court were confirmed as simultaneous coups sponsored by the Court installed sympathetic leaders on most major seats of power. Alongside this, Fepar Tilrak was crippled and his allies were driven mad, leaving little more than his proteges and children in charge of the revolution.   Thus, there were now two revolutionary figures leading the charge (though Shatt Gunn, the adopted son of Fepar Tilrak, was now officially in charge of the Army of the Revolution, not many took him seriously so quickly). Instead, it was Morendyn Cobath, leader of the Modan Freedom Fighters (an offshoot of the Army of the Revolution), and Gon Solin. Morendyn was in hiding, and vanished completely after the Grand Crowning, moving in the shadows. This meant that when most people looked to someone after the Grand Crowning for revolutionary beliefs, the first one on most minds was Gon Solin, and the first idea of what was "revolutionary" in this period (the turn of the Age of Justice) was the idea of being part of the Prideful Folk.   If the actions of the founders first brought the idea of the Prideful Folk to the world, it was this period that first made people believe in the importance of their mission. The remaining members of the Army of the Revolution tried quelling the civil wars started by the World Court, while Gon Solin and the Prideful Folk eased the minds and hearts of the citizens and convinced them that they would be okay, they just needed to remember who they were and never let the World Court take that away from them.   In many major cities, peaceful demonstrations popped up in the name of the Prideful Folk. Gon Solin was proud to hear the news spreading, hearing about their influence across the globe (especially as so many friends continued dying). Most of the people who broke the news refused to tell them that most of these demonstrations either resulted in them being ignored by major leaders or the demonstrations being quashed with violent force.   In Udai, many of these Prideful Folk groups were saved by the forces of Morendyn Cobath, who helped them go underground to hide from potential threats. The Institute of Maya Zaman shielded those in Ruzrugh, but the Korvian City had to fend for itself. Some believe that, if not for Morendyn and his allies, Udai's revolutionary forces (peaceful and violent) would have all died after the Grand Crowning, and so even he is considered an honorary member of the Prideful Folk movement, though he detests the association, as he'd tried reaching out to Gon Solin just like Fepar did, only to be met with silence, supposedly going on record saying:

"If Solin wants them all to die proudly, they'll have their way. I can't protect every idiot who runs into every sword pointed at them for the sake of 'living on their own terms.' I have a war to win."

— Morendyn Cobath

Much criticism has been levied at the way Gon Solin handled this position of fame. They could've used the Prideful Folk movement to make real change and stand up against the World Court, but instead they continued leading marches and never sponsoring anyone around the world who actually advocated for or tried to make real change. All of that was too dangerous to endorse, and so Gon Solin was content just leading weekly (or eventually monthly) marches, saying that eventually the World Court would have to listen.   People grew tired of this in the twelve years between the Grand Crowning and the return of prominent revolutionaries like Shatt Gunn to the world stage, but the Prideful Folk's influence was still felt. The movement was no longer the popular method for revolting, but it had at least kept the flame alive in the years when the Army of the Revolution was unable to act. When Shatt Gunn began inspiring the people again, people were ready, and when Bhukk the Studious released the Contract of Heavenly Laws, it was the fact that much of the world had already been prepared to stand up (and had failed to make any change in peaceful revolt) that led to the violent riots that overthrew many World Court backed leaders in the aftermath.   To add onto that, the leading force that spread most of Bhukk's pamphlets was Pabana, one of the Prideful Folks founders. While Morendyn had failed to get Gon Solin on his side, he'd convinced Pabana to lend a hand thanks to a familia relation with one of their members, showing that the two revolutionary fronts didn't need to stand in opposition to each other. There was reason for them to work together, and Solin would see this soon.  

Two Sides of the Revolution

The city of Stallbourne would be attacked by a rogue monarch in the year 560, leaving it isolated. The citizens feared what the World Court would do when they had no one else to watch over and police, but there was one revolutionary present who had no fear (anymore, at least): Lorakaen Shinebright.   She needed allies, and found Mickey Griffinglow. Griffinglow was a former member of the Prideful Folk who had, during the height of the Prideful Folk organization, gone too far, creating explosives in an attempt to target World Court facilities. Gon Solin had kicked him out, but still Mickey took Lorakaen to Gon Solin, thinking the Prideful Folk could help Lorakaen out.   Gon Solin was not as open to this idea, as Lorakaen was part of the Army of the Revolution. They still helped Lorakaen in whatever ways they could, but they hesitated to lend too much support or officially declare her an ally. When there was a threat of World Court forces being after her, Lorakaen left Solin to not threaten any of the Prideful Folk (save for Griffinglow, who was still willing to help).   But Lorakaen was threatened, while saving the lives of innocent residents of Stallbourne (including members of the Prideful Folk), she was ambushed by the Judges of the World Court and put in a situation where she would likely die. Gon Solin was aware of this and, instead of allowing it, they stepped in, leading one final march in the city of Stallbourne. This event distracted the Judges of the World Court, allowing Lorakaen a swift exit from their clutches, and turned their attention instead to the mastermind, who marched his way straight into their custody: Gon Solin.   A massacre resulted from this. Solin expected to be arrested and for those that joined them to be arrested as well, but it is said that 75% of those who marched with Gon Solin were killed, and the rest were taken into custody, including Solin herself. Gon Solin was locked away until a trial could be held, where they were tried for inciting rebellion and causing the deaths of those on their side who the World Court had killed.   The others tried alongside Solin included Gram Sternripper, a nobleman who had kept his allegiances to the Prideful Folk secret while funding illegal queer groups in Nerodil (including the one he and his husband belonged to), and Kathleen Ramone, a leading figure in the Army of the Revolution whose major cause was freeing slaves around the world. Many question if it was here or in the moments before he threw his support behind Lorakaen Shinebright, but it is said that before her death, Gon Solin eventually conceded that the Army of the Revolution was not the true enemy, but it was instead the World Court, and that they should have dedicated the energy of the movement to stopping the World Court instead of halting the momentum of violent revolutionaries.  

Post-Solin

The Prideful Folk as a group came to an end with the arrest of Gon Solin, the final trial of the old World Court before the Invasion of Stallbourne by the Army of the Revolution and their subsequent reformation of the Court. Solin's trial was rushed, as it began simultaneously with an attack on the Marshal, causing the Judges to preemptively declare Solin not guilty. While those present insist the Judges did not see that as necessarily true, the world later took this as a symbol that all the things Gon Solin and the Prideful Folk fought for (acceptance, a place in the world, and the right to be themselves without fear of discrimination or hatred) had finally been won.   In the world after this, the Prideful Folk had no real place as an organization. Chapters still existed throughout the world, but they became affiliated with the reformed World Court, and the Prideful Folk of Stallbourne in particular (which were once led as a revolutionary force against the Court by Solin) became an extension of the World Court itself. Buildings owned by the Prideful Folk were now offshoots of World Court facilities, with the Court using the umbrella of acceptance they had offered to hide their dealings, and actually still not fully accepting the queer folk that they claimed were welcome in the Prideful Folk.   The peaceful organization, with no way to push back, was once again co-opted by the very tyrannical force it was meant to oppose, masking the rise in the power and corruption of the organization while offering minimal tangible benefits to those that fought for it and were represented by the group. Solin's legacy, as a revolutionary individual who fought to live a life true to herself, was tarnished by the enemies she once tried to stop. Still, the Prideful Folk movement lives on through the branch organizations, the aesthetics that people still keep alive, and the attitudes that remain, and Solin is still honored for beginning the movement and carrying the torch to the end of the first World Court.   There are some in the subculture who still keep up the belief in the Prideful Folk as Gon Solin wanted in their final moments, a truly revolutionary Prideful Folk with no allegiance to any state or hierarchy. One that may adhere more to Mickey Griffinglow in terms of violence over peacefulness, but still refuses to bow to anyone or compromise in its identity.