Chapter 11 (Part III): The Tick of Kingstown

Watching events unfold from atop the castle keep, Syliva had had to exercise a great deal of restraint. She had held off from attacking the guardsmen at the barracks or the gate, because she realized that directly intervening in that fight would fully turn the city against her. It was better that she be seen as overly permissive or under-attentive with respect to her troops, than to be seen actually charbroiling a cadre of law enforcement officers for a second time.

Instead she issued a formal statement that she understood why there was some confusion in the wake of recent tragedies, but she expressed regret that rogue elements of the KCG had obstructed her security force’s ongoing investigations, going so far as to aid in the escape of fugitives. However, she formally condemned any further violence (now that there wasn’t much left to do), and expressed the desire that everyone should set aside their differences and come together as one people.

That didn’t happen.

Despite Syliva’s attempts to eliminate the Neo-Monarchists, they were loud, they were violent, and they were growing. Stories like the one from Defiance and others that seemed to be popping up everywhere simply made them bolder.  At the same time, the Firebrands boiled in the streets, wanting something to attack, and occasionally clashing with the Neo-Monarchists. Medes was too preoccupied with the renegade guardsmen still holed up in their barracks to do much about it, and the unrest enhanced Syliva’s unpopularity. While The Vulpine Post reviewed her speech very favorably, the other heralds were now in open rebellion, and instead printed stories about a woman stirring up the people in the ghettos, cityguardsmen 'valiantly' defending the gutter trash that lived there, and the dramatic, last minute arrival of the highway guardsmen. (The White Rose, of course, was not mentioned in any of the reputable stories.)

Many of the rebellious heralds propagated rumors that the woman from the ghettos – the same woman who had taunted Syliva in the marketplace – had been garnering the support of the Neo-Monarchists by running about the streets of the city picking off the men Syliva had sent to hunt them down. She’d even fought alongside the guardsmen at the main gate, and that had apparently elevated her from rogue vigilante to semi-legitimate leadership.

Many of the heralds ‘speculated’ that their darling heroine would do more soon, and encouraged people to be ‘ready’ because, they were sure, when ‘it’ happened, you wouldn’t want to miss it. Syliva didn’t know what ‘it’ was and sicced Baryd and Medes on cracking some skulls trying to find out information, but ‘it’ started before any of them knew expected. One morning, in the very early hours, one of Medes few patrols was ambushed. Many of the men were killed before their mysterious assailants retreated. ‘Mysterious’ – Medes had said he was certain the attacks were Schroeder’s doing, but many of the heralds had been very sure to cover their conflict in detail, providing twice daily updates to the city, and emphasizing that the ‘rogue guardsmen’ had been pinned inside their barracks with their families, no one moving in or out.

Eventually, Medes couldn’t justify the full siege outside of the barracks, and sent his men to hunt for the rebels picking off his men. Personally investigating, it didn’t take him long to figure out that the attackers were using the catacombs to move through the city, lying in wait for his patrols and then disappearing into the tunnels. While he was occupied with that, though, action finally took place at the barracks. The rogue guardsmen opened their doors and disgorged a motley group of elves, orcs, dwarves, halflings, and immigrant humans who fled down Gate Street towards the eastern gate. By all appearances they were refugees who hadn’t made it through the gate before, and had been forced to retreat to the barracks with the rogue guardsmen.

Investigating rebel bolt-holes in the North End, Medes had been unable to respond to the sudden activity, but the restless Firebrands were quick to converge on the group, prepared to massacre them in the streets. Syliva had been happy with that – perhaps it might finally sate their appetite for blood. It didn’t work out that way, though. The guardsmen still holding the East Gate had already opened it for the refugees, and faced with the oncoming tide of Firebrands, abandoned their posts and fled through the gate with the refugees. Unsupervised, the mob of Firebrands had chased them out of the city and around the northern bank of King’s Lake to Mudville, where many of the other refugees were holed up.

Those fleeing the city, however, proved less than helpless. Almost as one, they’d turned on the Firebrands, drawing concealed weapons, and prepared to fight alongside the guardsmen and a large number of civilians coming from the refugee camp in Mudville. Although Syliva would not have foreseen it at the time, the Battle of Mudville ultimately earned its own place in the history books. A mixed force of guardsmen, civilian volunteers, and White Rose enforcers held back a growing tide of Firebrands that poured out of the city and marched around the banks of the lake to attack the refugee camp. The orc volunteers claimed that King’s Lake turned red from the blood pouring into it, but that was something of an exaggeration.

In reality, the fighting subsided soon after Marcus’s reinforcements, the enforcers of eastern Caelia’s “Starborn” family, arrived in force.  With the most zealous fanatics having run into the jaws of death early in the fight, those remaining were quickly subdued when Schroeder’s men inside the city recaptured the gate and slammed it shut. The surviving Firebrands were pushed back into a box, trapped between a closed gate, a lake, and two small armies. Staring down dozens of elves with centuries of combat experience and at least a hundred orcs ready to vent their anger, the surviving Firebrands surrendered and were taken back to Mudville as hostages. If Syliva wanted to smite the refugees sheltering there, she’d have to incinerate her most ardent followers.
She did consider it. She considered burning Mudville to the ground, but What’s-her-name convinced her that wasn’t a realistic option. As much as she hated to be ‘talked out of’ something, the little human was right. She needed love or fear to rule, and if she incinerated the imprisoned Nationalists, she’d lose what little love she had in the kingdom. Syliva had argued that it would instill a great deal of fear in its place, but What’s-her-name had pointed out that most of the people in Mudville were residents that were not directly involved in the conflict. If she slaughtered a thousand Caelians who’d done nothing to slight her, everyone would believe that acquiescence to her will did not guarantee safety. Fear would no longer motivate people to obey her, and her grip on the kingdom would loosen.

Syliva needed to free her supporters and punish the rebels, but she had to do it surgically. If she held back her fire and fought solely tooth and claw, she could rip apart the rebels while her troops evacuated the residents of Mudville and liberated the captives. Once that was done, the small city would be a free-fire zone. She’d satisfy her supporters not only by rescuing their brothers, but by burning Kingstown's gutter-trash in their refugee shelters. Then she’d simply move the displaced survivors into the largely depopulated capital and make a big to-do about rebuilding it all.

Yes, yes, it was a good plan. Except, by the time she realized what had happened, most of her men were spread out across the city pursuing the troublemakers inside the walls down into the catacombs. They were not ready to engage in what would be a rather complex operation, and when Medes reported back to her, he didn’t have good news. Of the men he’d sent into the catacombs pursuing the rebels, almost none had re-emerged. Somehow, the bowels of the city had swallowed over 250 armored men. Medes came asking her to join their men in a full out assault on the Cityguard barracks, but she knew that wasn’t a viable option. Doubtless, the Cityguard was responsible for her troubles, but they’d been low-key about it. Violently attacking the Cityguard without obvious provocation – especially without responding to the unfolding “hostage crisis” across the lake – would need a strong justification. She needed time for Baryd to construct eyewitness accounts and to finish crafting his grandiose but simple narrative which would definitively vilify the recalcitrant guardsmen.

Medes was obviously surprised when Syliva ordered him to send most of his remaining guard into a defensive posture, bringing them back to the castle, or sending them to posts at valuable business assets. Syliva knew she was on the back claw, but she was not a fool. Stopping a backward slide would mean digging her claws into the ground.

Dig in, get control, and then push back.