Soulthieves: Dreamer's Isle (Kolland) pogrom subplot (unedited).
Another subplot musing.
For some reason I ended up reading the Wikipedia article about Herschel Grynszpan today. He was the Jewish kid who, by assassinating a German diplomat in a fit of rage, unwittingly instigated Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Though a more random act than that of Gavrilo Princip (the teen assassin that nailed Franz Ferdinand and supplied the casus belli for World War I), it's always interesting when one person's not-so-well-thought-out action can have such dire consequences, especially when they're so young since they probably couldn't have thought it out better anyway.
More broadly, the idea of pogroms appeals to me... I mean... well, you know what I mean, or at least you should given the subject of this post. In the Soulthieves context, I can envision civilians, or even official Crown forces like the Regular Police or the Special Constabulary, carrying out pogroms against particular populations. As usual, Westlands Province would supply the most comprehensive and reactive opposition to such actions anywhere in the country, but in some provinces, like Nouskis or Aldunees or maybe even Koiri Heights, power majority populations could well support and participate in such activities.
I was musing particularly on one province, the one which I recently restyled Kolland.
Kolland is situated in the north, comprised of the offshore island of Kolland. Its only boundary of note is an offshore boundary with Kolak Province at Mathar Bay to the south; it also technically shares offshore boundaries with Aldunees to the west and Northlands to the east. It is otherwise entirely bounded by the Endless Ocean. Topographic features include Kuuku Plain, Kolland Plain, Od Woods, Hehi Heights, the Hehi Mountains, and Nayra Desert. Settlements include the Villages of Ebami and Lamna; Ebami is the capital. Other features include the Tortoise Tunnels and Mount Kramatan.
Kolland has always stood among the most intriguing locales in Oggamund. Its small size and isolation led to the development of many unique characteristics. The island historically comprised the Principality of Kolland, and has a rich lore, in particular telling of a mysterious man in green washing ashore after a shipwreck. The stories tell of how he banished all nightmares from the island and awakened its patron deity, the Dolphin of Storms, atop Mount Kramatan. Statues depicting the man, as well as his alleged Kollandite platonic friend Mirna, stand in Ebami and Lamna.
The Principality long had problems with troublemakers. Roving gangs of these creatures frequently terrorized the island folk and otherwise tried to be a nuisance. A small force eventually left the island in order to terrorize people across Mathar Bay in the area of the lower Kolak River. The Principality deemed this an unacceptable transgression of its passive stance and made efforts to correct the injustice to Kolak, but they were unable to set down the renegades, who grew more and more irritating and, indeed, dangerous all the time. People left offerings at the statues of the mysterious man in green, praying that he might return to awaken the Dolphin of Storms once again and end the nightmares.
Kolland struggled for a very long time to hold back the renegades before the Oggamundans arrived. The Koiri had by then long established the Kingdom of Oggamund, which had almost reached its full territorial extent, and they were aware that Kolak Province actively traded with the small island nation. Kolak’s merchants indicated that the Principality was weak and ripe for annexation, which would have served to make trade more efficient. The King of Oggamund and the Princess of Kolland struck up the Treaty of Ebami whereby Oggamund would annex Kolland in exchange for military support against the renegades. With that, Kolland became the final addition to Oggamund. However, the promise of military support in the treaty was vague, and Oggamund sent only a nominal force to Kolland. The peaceful islanders were disheartened by the perceived betrayal, and due to the recency of the treaty it remains fresh in the minds of many of the older longer-lived residents.
Today, Kolland Province has tried to forget the past and remain functionally independent. It maintains some trade with Kolak but has otherwise retreated into itself, continuing to face the renegades on its own and maintaining jurisdiction over local matters, legally or otherwise. It is the only province in which it is expressly illegal to kill dolphins and whales. The royal line remains with the young Princess Arkada, and while she holds no de jure authority, she is still viewed as the true ruler by Kolland’s populace and she does act independently on behalf of her subjects. The Governer is not at all bothered by this; in fact, Governer of Kolland is coveted as one of the cushiest high positions in the country due to its de facto nearly comprehensive lack of responsibilities. The Crown of Oggamund itself remains largely uninterested in the goings-on in Kolland. Isolated, frightened and alone, the Kollandites continue to dream of the return of their saviour in green, but some feel that he has moved on to different adventures and may never wash ashore again.
(Just some notes on this: Kolland and all is a tribute to The Legend of Zelda series, in particular the fourth game and one I especially like, Link's Awakening; the inspiration of the mysterious man in green should be fairly obvious unless you're completely unfamiliar. There are a few other Zelda references in the game so far, but this is by far the most extensive and flamboyant. It's all very cheesy, and that's all right. It may of course be revised heavily later if broader story developments require it. And to clarify, the "longer-lived residents" would be elves, and possibly gnomes; humans of the time would be long dead by now.)
Kolland is certainly one of the more unique places in Oggamund, with one of the more unique cultures. The Crown doesn't tend to bother with it much, but one could easily envision a scenario where groups of people - or police - could be stirred into a resentful frenzy, for exampe over its unique spiritual inclinations or the ostensible flouting of Crown authority.
Unfortunately, it's Westlands Province that could be complicit in any hostile actions against the Kollandites. I mentioned in the languages post that Westlanders are particularly rambunctious socialists, and they do view it as a responsibility on their part to defend the defenceless. Kolland fits this description. Kolland is an extremely sympathetic case to Westlanders, and as in many other cases they have organizations dedicated specifically to the cause of Kollandite nationalism.
Kolland Volunteer Army
A nationalist militia whose stated purpose is to voluntarily serve Kolland and its attendant Prince or Princess. It is comprised wholly of foreign volunteers. Founded in Ebami by Westlands expatriates, but officiated by Princess Arkada.
Westlanders For Kolland
A militarist organization in Westlands specifically concerned with Kollandite nationalism. A strong supporter of the Kolland Volunteer Army. It encourages sensitivity toward the plight of Kolland, toward its relative isolation and vulnerability, and toward its pacifist culture; in light of those considerations, it holds it as a responsibility to serve the Kollandite national interest.
Note that because the Crown otherwise pays little attention to the predictably peaceful Kolland, there is no Special Constabulary division there, and the presence of the civilian Oggamund Patriots Army is practically non-existent. There should, however, be an at least nominal Regular Police and Oceanic Constabulary (coast guard) presence, if only to keep up appearances.
Because the cause of Kollandite nationalism is very strong among Westlanders, it could be this that catches the attention of Crown authorities or other pro-Crown groups. Westlanders are, after all, viewed as the bugles of revolution, and the Crown would love any excuse to act against Westlands if such an action was practicable; the highly talented Westlanders would rise up in such massive numbers in self-defence that it would make such an operation, in the least, extremely costly.
On the other hand, Kolland is a peaceful place, unlikely to rise up to defend itself. It would require a much smaller concentration of money and force, perhaps just the Police present and a few additional Army and Air Forces resources. To a largely blind Oggamund populace, Kolland could easily be painted as collaborating with subversive organizations in Westlands, and in that light as basically supporting civil unrest, sabotage and terrorism. The backlash from anti-Crown groups, particularly those in Westlands, would be furious, but if an action in Kolland occurred swiftly enough, the revolutionaries would follow predictable paths and be easily intercepted and engaged in many fronts by an at least numerically superior Crown force. The Patriots Army could factor, being welcomed by the Crown command as a sort of low-quality but abundant light infantry.
The Kolland action itself would basically take the form of a pogrom, whereby the settlements of the island get trashed and ethnic Kollandites get arbitrarily arrested and beaten in the streets. Needless to say, innocent people would die, and not in insignificant numbers. There would be an immediate (and vehement) response by the Westlands-backed Kolland Volunteer Army, but the stationed forces would likely be relatively small and unable to contain a strategically well-executed pogrom by Crown forces before reinforcements could be organized and deployed from distant Westlands, among other places. But there is a question as to whether a decadent administration can indeed execute the pogrom efficiently, which would give the well-trained Westlanders some leverage in the short term; however, that would be more of a delay than a suppression, as the Crown could more readily deploy help to the island. Any excuse the Crown can get to burrow into the morale of Westlanders, they'll take; humiliating Kolland in the process is just gravy.
The exact moment that sparks the pogrom could vary. For example, Governors of Westlands are frequently assassinated, so in such a case, the Crown may elect to strike a moral blow to Westlands indirectly by striking at Kolland. Another idea is that a misguided Westlander might assassinate the Governor of Kolland. And basically any act of terrorism allegedly perpetrated by a Westlander in Koirola Network, whether guilty of not, could serve as the spark as well. Westlands' interactions with the rest of Oggamund offer a lot of possibilities that way. I have decisions to make.
As for you, the player and hero, there is a choice here, just as in the student demonstration subplot. You could choose to support the Crown side. You could be asked to help the forces in Kolland trash the place, or you might be asked to monitor the situation in Westlands and just try to interfere with the rebels' communications and logistics. Even before that, you might hear critical information from Westlanders and report it to Crown authorities; this might be the impetus for the pogrom.
On the pro-Kolland side, you might be asked to serve in the Kolland Volunteer Army at some point, and especially if you have a Kolland Volunteer Army affiliation, you'll be expected to respond to the call to arms when news of the pogrom reaches you (probably by mail). If you can't arrive in time to stop the pogrom in earnest, you might elect to wreak vengeance on the Police, but another course of action would be to go to the aid of surviving locals and fulfil their requests. If you do arrive in time, needless to say you'll be in a hell of a fight; the KVA would be outnumbered, with opposition only threatening to increase, but if you could manage to use your heroic abilities to hold the Crown forces at bay long enough, basically escalating the confrontation into a more-or-less civil war battle from a strategic standpoint, you'd give your side time to get reinforcements. Of course, this could very well all lead down a bad road in the end anyway; as I mentioned, the Crown could take advantage of the dispersal of rebel forces to subdue them with sheer numbers. As such, you would have to achieve some level of efficiency in your actions to balance the timelines appropriately.
The third option is more entrenched in a broad, long-term game strategy. If you've worked on your Diplomacy skill, you might be able to keep heads in the Crown and/or Westlands forces cool enough to delay or avoid the Kolland pogrom, among other things. Or, if you have a high Seduction skill at the critical moments, you might simply be able to dissuade people of the relevant actions that way, but that's obviously a high-risk option for a number of reasons (e.g. race, sex and orientation), particularly since you'll be dealing with politics of high levels and strong motivations. Aside from being high-risk and dependent on other factors, though, the Seduction option has the potential for an immediate and powerful effect; Seduction requires no appeal to reason and can quickly turn the tables.
I've been writing this long enough. So there's this for now.
For some reason I ended up reading the Wikipedia article about Herschel Grynszpan today. He was the Jewish kid who, by assassinating a German diplomat in a fit of rage, unwittingly instigated Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Though a more random act than that of Gavrilo Princip (the teen assassin that nailed Franz Ferdinand and supplied the casus belli for World War I), it's always interesting when one person's not-so-well-thought-out action can have such dire consequences, especially when they're so young since they probably couldn't have thought it out better anyway.
More broadly, the idea of pogroms appeals to me... I mean... well, you know what I mean, or at least you should given the subject of this post. In the Soulthieves context, I can envision civilians, or even official Crown forces like the Regular Police or the Special Constabulary, carrying out pogroms against particular populations. As usual, Westlands Province would supply the most comprehensive and reactive opposition to such actions anywhere in the country, but in some provinces, like Nouskis or Aldunees or maybe even Koiri Heights, power majority populations could well support and participate in such activities.
I was musing particularly on one province, the one which I recently restyled Kolland.
Kolland is situated in the north, comprised of the offshore island of Kolland. Its only boundary of note is an offshore boundary with Kolak Province at Mathar Bay to the south; it also technically shares offshore boundaries with Aldunees to the west and Northlands to the east. It is otherwise entirely bounded by the Endless Ocean. Topographic features include Kuuku Plain, Kolland Plain, Od Woods, Hehi Heights, the Hehi Mountains, and Nayra Desert. Settlements include the Villages of Ebami and Lamna; Ebami is the capital. Other features include the Tortoise Tunnels and Mount Kramatan.
Kolland has always stood among the most intriguing locales in Oggamund. Its small size and isolation led to the development of many unique characteristics. The island historically comprised the Principality of Kolland, and has a rich lore, in particular telling of a mysterious man in green washing ashore after a shipwreck. The stories tell of how he banished all nightmares from the island and awakened its patron deity, the Dolphin of Storms, atop Mount Kramatan. Statues depicting the man, as well as his alleged Kollandite platonic friend Mirna, stand in Ebami and Lamna.
The Principality long had problems with troublemakers. Roving gangs of these creatures frequently terrorized the island folk and otherwise tried to be a nuisance. A small force eventually left the island in order to terrorize people across Mathar Bay in the area of the lower Kolak River. The Principality deemed this an unacceptable transgression of its passive stance and made efforts to correct the injustice to Kolak, but they were unable to set down the renegades, who grew more and more irritating and, indeed, dangerous all the time. People left offerings at the statues of the mysterious man in green, praying that he might return to awaken the Dolphin of Storms once again and end the nightmares.
Kolland struggled for a very long time to hold back the renegades before the Oggamundans arrived. The Koiri had by then long established the Kingdom of Oggamund, which had almost reached its full territorial extent, and they were aware that Kolak Province actively traded with the small island nation. Kolak’s merchants indicated that the Principality was weak and ripe for annexation, which would have served to make trade more efficient. The King of Oggamund and the Princess of Kolland struck up the Treaty of Ebami whereby Oggamund would annex Kolland in exchange for military support against the renegades. With that, Kolland became the final addition to Oggamund. However, the promise of military support in the treaty was vague, and Oggamund sent only a nominal force to Kolland. The peaceful islanders were disheartened by the perceived betrayal, and due to the recency of the treaty it remains fresh in the minds of many of the older longer-lived residents.
Today, Kolland Province has tried to forget the past and remain functionally independent. It maintains some trade with Kolak but has otherwise retreated into itself, continuing to face the renegades on its own and maintaining jurisdiction over local matters, legally or otherwise. It is the only province in which it is expressly illegal to kill dolphins and whales. The royal line remains with the young Princess Arkada, and while she holds no de jure authority, she is still viewed as the true ruler by Kolland’s populace and she does act independently on behalf of her subjects. The Governer is not at all bothered by this; in fact, Governer of Kolland is coveted as one of the cushiest high positions in the country due to its de facto nearly comprehensive lack of responsibilities. The Crown of Oggamund itself remains largely uninterested in the goings-on in Kolland. Isolated, frightened and alone, the Kollandites continue to dream of the return of their saviour in green, but some feel that he has moved on to different adventures and may never wash ashore again.
(Just some notes on this: Kolland and all is a tribute to The Legend of Zelda series, in particular the fourth game and one I especially like, Link's Awakening; the inspiration of the mysterious man in green should be fairly obvious unless you're completely unfamiliar. There are a few other Zelda references in the game so far, but this is by far the most extensive and flamboyant. It's all very cheesy, and that's all right. It may of course be revised heavily later if broader story developments require it. And to clarify, the "longer-lived residents" would be elves, and possibly gnomes; humans of the time would be long dead by now.)
Kolland is certainly one of the more unique places in Oggamund, with one of the more unique cultures. The Crown doesn't tend to bother with it much, but one could easily envision a scenario where groups of people - or police - could be stirred into a resentful frenzy, for exampe over its unique spiritual inclinations or the ostensible flouting of Crown authority.
Unfortunately, it's Westlands Province that could be complicit in any hostile actions against the Kollandites. I mentioned in the languages post that Westlanders are particularly rambunctious socialists, and they do view it as a responsibility on their part to defend the defenceless. Kolland fits this description. Kolland is an extremely sympathetic case to Westlanders, and as in many other cases they have organizations dedicated specifically to the cause of Kollandite nationalism.
Kolland Volunteer Army
A nationalist militia whose stated purpose is to voluntarily serve Kolland and its attendant Prince or Princess. It is comprised wholly of foreign volunteers. Founded in Ebami by Westlands expatriates, but officiated by Princess Arkada.
Westlanders For Kolland
A militarist organization in Westlands specifically concerned with Kollandite nationalism. A strong supporter of the Kolland Volunteer Army. It encourages sensitivity toward the plight of Kolland, toward its relative isolation and vulnerability, and toward its pacifist culture; in light of those considerations, it holds it as a responsibility to serve the Kollandite national interest.
Note that because the Crown otherwise pays little attention to the predictably peaceful Kolland, there is no Special Constabulary division there, and the presence of the civilian Oggamund Patriots Army is practically non-existent. There should, however, be an at least nominal Regular Police and Oceanic Constabulary (coast guard) presence, if only to keep up appearances.
Because the cause of Kollandite nationalism is very strong among Westlanders, it could be this that catches the attention of Crown authorities or other pro-Crown groups. Westlanders are, after all, viewed as the bugles of revolution, and the Crown would love any excuse to act against Westlands if such an action was practicable; the highly talented Westlanders would rise up in such massive numbers in self-defence that it would make such an operation, in the least, extremely costly.
On the other hand, Kolland is a peaceful place, unlikely to rise up to defend itself. It would require a much smaller concentration of money and force, perhaps just the Police present and a few additional Army and Air Forces resources. To a largely blind Oggamund populace, Kolland could easily be painted as collaborating with subversive organizations in Westlands, and in that light as basically supporting civil unrest, sabotage and terrorism. The backlash from anti-Crown groups, particularly those in Westlands, would be furious, but if an action in Kolland occurred swiftly enough, the revolutionaries would follow predictable paths and be easily intercepted and engaged in many fronts by an at least numerically superior Crown force. The Patriots Army could factor, being welcomed by the Crown command as a sort of low-quality but abundant light infantry.
The Kolland action itself would basically take the form of a pogrom, whereby the settlements of the island get trashed and ethnic Kollandites get arbitrarily arrested and beaten in the streets. Needless to say, innocent people would die, and not in insignificant numbers. There would be an immediate (and vehement) response by the Westlands-backed Kolland Volunteer Army, but the stationed forces would likely be relatively small and unable to contain a strategically well-executed pogrom by Crown forces before reinforcements could be organized and deployed from distant Westlands, among other places. But there is a question as to whether a decadent administration can indeed execute the pogrom efficiently, which would give the well-trained Westlanders some leverage in the short term; however, that would be more of a delay than a suppression, as the Crown could more readily deploy help to the island. Any excuse the Crown can get to burrow into the morale of Westlanders, they'll take; humiliating Kolland in the process is just gravy.
The exact moment that sparks the pogrom could vary. For example, Governors of Westlands are frequently assassinated, so in such a case, the Crown may elect to strike a moral blow to Westlands indirectly by striking at Kolland. Another idea is that a misguided Westlander might assassinate the Governor of Kolland. And basically any act of terrorism allegedly perpetrated by a Westlander in Koirola Network, whether guilty of not, could serve as the spark as well. Westlands' interactions with the rest of Oggamund offer a lot of possibilities that way. I have decisions to make.
As for you, the player and hero, there is a choice here, just as in the student demonstration subplot. You could choose to support the Crown side. You could be asked to help the forces in Kolland trash the place, or you might be asked to monitor the situation in Westlands and just try to interfere with the rebels' communications and logistics. Even before that, you might hear critical information from Westlanders and report it to Crown authorities; this might be the impetus for the pogrom.
On the pro-Kolland side, you might be asked to serve in the Kolland Volunteer Army at some point, and especially if you have a Kolland Volunteer Army affiliation, you'll be expected to respond to the call to arms when news of the pogrom reaches you (probably by mail). If you can't arrive in time to stop the pogrom in earnest, you might elect to wreak vengeance on the Police, but another course of action would be to go to the aid of surviving locals and fulfil their requests. If you do arrive in time, needless to say you'll be in a hell of a fight; the KVA would be outnumbered, with opposition only threatening to increase, but if you could manage to use your heroic abilities to hold the Crown forces at bay long enough, basically escalating the confrontation into a more-or-less civil war battle from a strategic standpoint, you'd give your side time to get reinforcements. Of course, this could very well all lead down a bad road in the end anyway; as I mentioned, the Crown could take advantage of the dispersal of rebel forces to subdue them with sheer numbers. As such, you would have to achieve some level of efficiency in your actions to balance the timelines appropriately.
The third option is more entrenched in a broad, long-term game strategy. If you've worked on your Diplomacy skill, you might be able to keep heads in the Crown and/or Westlands forces cool enough to delay or avoid the Kolland pogrom, among other things. Or, if you have a high Seduction skill at the critical moments, you might simply be able to dissuade people of the relevant actions that way, but that's obviously a high-risk option for a number of reasons (e.g. race, sex and orientation), particularly since you'll be dealing with politics of high levels and strong motivations. Aside from being high-risk and dependent on other factors, though, the Seduction option has the potential for an immediate and powerful effect; Seduction requires no appeal to reason and can quickly turn the tables.
I've been writing this long enough. So there's this for now.