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 The initial reactions to the Chosen appear to have been bewilderment and uncertainty, and they were variously hailed as representatives of the gods, or agents of their wrath, or as aligned with dark powers. Although the common people remained superstitious about them - an attitude encouraged by the priesthood, who saw a threat to their authority - they received a measure of toleration because of their immense usefulness to society, and the [[geopolitical:empire:council_of_six|Six Houses]] that ruled the Empire began to employ them in their battles with breakaway provinces. They became increasingly associated with the [[family:First House]], which provided the largest portion of the Empire's military, and became integrated with their units far more than occurred under the other Houses. The initial reactions to the Chosen appear to have been bewilderment and uncertainty, and they were variously hailed as representatives of the gods, or agents of their wrath, or as aligned with dark powers. Although the common people remained superstitious about them - an attitude encouraged by the priesthood, who saw a threat to their authority - they received a measure of toleration because of their immense usefulness to society, and the [[geopolitical:empire:council_of_six|Six Houses]] that ruled the Empire began to employ them in their battles with breakaway provinces. They became increasingly associated with the [[family:First House]], which provided the largest portion of the Empire's military, and became integrated with their units far more than occurred under the other Houses.
    
-This alliance ultimately served them in poor stead during what came to be called the [[history:storm_era:overturns:Divine Overturn]], which lasted from 12 to 16 Storm. The First House, having forced the submission of many breakaway regions of the Empire, had prepared to embark upon the reconquest of the wealthy [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:Abethine Coast]]. The [[ethnicity:abethine:|Abethines]], most of whose ruling matriarchs claimed descent from the famous general and namesake [[person:Abeth]] and remained allied to one another, made overtures to the Empire seeking terms for peaceful readmission. The other five Houses, seeking to put a brake on the increasing dominance of the First House, were inclined to allow the Abethines back into the fold with minimal concessions, much to the anger of the First House itself, who expressed the belief that the Abethines were not being appropriately chastised for their period of disobedience. When the First House was outvoted on the matter in the Council of Six, they responded by marching their armies on the heartland of the Empire, with the intention of restoring 'firm government'.+This alliance ultimately served them in poor stead during what came to be called the [[history:storm_era:overturns:Divine Overturn]], which lasted from 12 to 16 Storm. The First House, having forced the submission of many breakaway regions of the Empire, had prepared to embark upon the reconquest of the wealthy [[geography:sekhaa:region:abethine_coast]]. The [[ethnicity:abethine:|Abethines]], most of whose ruling matriarchs claimed descent from the famous general and namesake [[person:Abeth]] and remained allied to one another, made overtures to the Empire seeking terms for peaceful readmission. The other five Houses, seeking to put a brake on the increasing dominance of the First House, were inclined to allow the Abethines back into the fold with minimal concessions, much to the anger of the First House itself, who expressed the belief that the Abethines were not being appropriately chastised for their period of disobedience. When the First House was outvoted on the matter in the Council of Six, they responded by marching their armies on the heartland of the Empire, with the intention of restoring 'firm government'.
    
 The Chosen, and their magic, were employed by both sides in the ensuing war, which as a result was remembered as one of the most destructive of not only the Overturns, but of all the wars in history. Jungles were burned, the earth cracked, rivers diverted, cities torn down; the most terrible deaths were visited among soldiers and civilians alike. It was only after long campaigning and the alliance of the remaining five Houses with the Abethines - whose seniormost representatives were instated as the [[family:Seventh House]] - that the First was subdued. The bulk of the Chosen who had served with the First were massacred, and many of the rest, from both sides, were attacked by vengeful, desperate mobs. In an act of breathtaking political opportunism and historical revisionism, supported by the priesthood, the government portrayed the Chosen as demonic agents, having either caused the war or exploited both sides of it for their own ends, and the First House as their willing tools. The Seventh House proceeded to wipe out every member of the First House, from old to young, and the Empire attempted to exterminate the Chosen along with them. The Chosen, and their magic, were employed by both sides in the ensuing war, which as a result was remembered as one of the most destructive of not only the Overturns, but of all the wars in history. Jungles were burned, the earth cracked, rivers diverted, cities torn down; the most terrible deaths were visited among soldiers and civilians alike. It was only after long campaigning and the alliance of the remaining five Houses with the Abethines - whose seniormost representatives were instated as the [[family:Seventh House]] - that the First was subdued. The bulk of the Chosen who had served with the First were massacred, and many of the rest, from both sides, were attacked by vengeful, desperate mobs. In an act of breathtaking political opportunism and historical revisionism, supported by the priesthood, the government portrayed the Chosen as demonic agents, having either caused the war or exploited both sides of it for their own ends, and the First House as their willing tools. The Seventh House proceeded to wipe out every member of the First House, from old to young, and the Empire attempted to exterminate the Chosen along with them.
    
-Those Chosen that were not killed went into hiding or fled. Many of them huddled in the wastelands and ruins that had been created during the war, but as the Empire recovered were generally discovered as the lands were reclaimed. Others departed the borders of the Empire entirely, settling in lands that had less antipathy toward them. But one major nucleus of Chosen settlement was a rugged, isolated valley, nestled amid the southern rises of the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth]], technically within the borders of the Empire but beyond its notice or effective political control; it was initially named the Valley of Sanctuary, but eventually became known by the name of its original and primary settlement: the [[geopolitical:Citadel:]].+Those Chosen that were not killed went into hiding or fled. Many of them huddled in the wastelands and ruins that had been created during the war, but as the Empire recovered were generally discovered as the lands were reclaimed. Others departed the borders of the Empire entirely, settling in lands that had less antipathy toward them. But one major nucleus of Chosen settlement was a rugged, isolated valley, nestled amid the southern rises of the [[geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth]], technically within the borders of the Empire but beyond its notice or effective political control; it was initially named the Valley of Sanctuary, but eventually became known by the name of its original and primary settlement: the [[geopolitical:Citadel:]].
    
 The initial colony numbered only a hundred or so, and grew only slowly for many cycles thereafter; there were few new additions to the population from outside, for the Empire remained efficient at enforcing its extermination order against the Chosen and few escaped it. But as the Empire began its final decline after the beginning of the [[history:Vigil Era:]] and provinces and cities began to fall back on their own resources and focus on their own concerns, more Chosen began to survive long enough to escape, and, whether by chance or by divine guidance, to make their way to the Citadel. The increasing flow of incoming Chosen became a flood after the final collapse of Imperial authority at the end of the Vigil Era. The initial colony numbered only a hundred or so, and grew only slowly for many cycles thereafter; there were few new additions to the population from outside, for the Empire remained efficient at enforcing its extermination order against the Chosen and few escaped it. But as the Empire began its final decline after the beginning of the [[history:Vigil Era:]] and provinces and cities began to fall back on their own resources and focus on their own concerns, more Chosen began to survive long enough to escape, and, whether by chance or by divine guidance, to make their way to the Citadel. The increasing flow of incoming Chosen became a flood after the final collapse of Imperial authority at the end of the Vigil Era.
chosen/start.1705605146.txt.gz · Last modified: by shyriath