The Freystorm Rebellion and "The Lord of Dragons" Garrick Ward

The Freystorm Rebellion is one of the most recent military and political conflicts in Cornay, led by the self-styled “Lord of Dragons” and insurrectionist Garrick Ward in Freystorm Bay—a vital shipping bay surrounded by a defensible rock belt known as The Steps. Freystorm Bay previously belonged to House Asterland, a peace offering between House Sunjoy and House Asterland after they seized the throne. Ward, like many residents of the bay, believed that Tobias Asterland, a loyalist rewarded with Freystorm Keep after betraying his family to the Sunjoy rebellion, murdered the rightful heirs—the twin children of the last Asterland Queen—entrusted to his care.

For hundreds of years, the twins became a symbol of unrest among the peasants loyal to their previous monarch. The betrayal of the Asterland family and the supposed breaking of guest rites when Tobias allegedly murdered the young boys fueled this unrest. Years of continued cruelty from the nobles of Freystorm Bay and heavy taxation from the Lord of the Keep, who focused on taking cuts of food due to the infertile soil and reliance on fishing, led to whispers of rebellion. These whispers eventually reached the ear of a sea captain from the Cornayan Navy named Garrick Ward.

Garrick Ward was a lowborn son of a fisherman, a man with no titles or land to his name but a deep understanding and interest in military history. He spent days pouring over historical texts in his old captain’s cabin as a young man, studying the tactics and philosophies of the greatest Cornayan Generals as well as their foes. Ward lacked the national pride that blinded many knights and commanders, allowing him to view Agaarian, Shehiri, and even Elvish generals with a warrior’s respect. Because of this, Ward slowly became a tactical powerhouse, amassing the respect and following of many lowborn infantrymen in the bay. Ward believed in a basic philosophy, inspired partially by a misinterpretation of the Agaarian proverb "Q'ur wun, qam hiaw," which translates to "Nothing is Taken, All is Earned." He believed that the Asterland nobles who occupied Freystorm Bay were descended from traitors who stole the home of their kin and slaughtered children to secure it. By extension, he believed that the Sunjoys who currently sit on the Cornayan throne were equally guilty of usurpation and dishonour. It was with this belief that Ward led the early stages of a rebellion that would breathe fire across the tides of an empire.

Initially, Ward led a fleet of ships to hold The Steps, blocking ships from leaving through the use of boarding parties and occupying the gaps between the misty rock belt. This tactic was an effective shock to the system that cut off the bay from the rest of the empire via sea, but quickly imperial naval forces would take back the bay via land. In an attempt to flee, Ward led his small fleet to the small islands of The Steps—rumoured to be nesting grounds for dragons. These rumours would prevent the imperial fleet from following but led Ward’s fleet into danger. If the rumours were true, the ships would be destroyed in dragonfire. Landing on the islands, Ward was met with the sound of dragon wings flying in the distance. It would only be a matter of time until one of the large beasts spotted the small fleet and decided to attack. Ward ordered the fleet to dock in a cave, hoping that the covered environment would keep the ships safe from aerial attacks.

On the night of their third day on the island, when food was limited and water more so, the encampment was visited by an elderly man—pale in skin and bearing teeth sharpened down into points. The man claimed to be a priest (although when asked which God he worshipped, he would only respond with “the true gods”) and the only living person on the island. He dressed in long woollen robes dyed a sickly red and carried a rod with a cracked sea glass head. The priest asked to meet with the leader of the encampment and was brought to Ward by the men at arms. The priest presented Ward with the rod he carried, which he claimed could direct the dragons. No one is sure what happened in Ward’s cabin between the priest and the rebel—only that when they emerged, the rod was in Ward’s hands and his face seemed grim and haunted. Ward tested the powers of the rod by directing the dragons away from his fleet as they left the cave, turning all of the beasts non-hostile as they sailed to the island's beaches. A small ruined naval fort became Ward’s keep for the first part of his rebellion—a place known by the men at arms as The Helm.

Ward mastered his control over the dragons of The Steps for a year, using them to cut off Freystorm Bay entirely—sinking any ships that tried to pass through the belt. He demanded that Freystorm Bay be granted independence from the Empire, the Asterlands be handed over to his forces to be tried and executed for tyranny, and that he himself be named Lord of Freystorm Bay—thereby forging his own name, title and legacy. The Imperial Throne did not grant Ward his requests. Instead, it tasked the Asterlands with the capture of Garrick Ward and the quelling of his insurrection. This led to several open battles between The Steps Rebels and House Asterland’s Men at Arms, many of which were easy victories with the dragons on the side of the rebellion. These battles eventually culminated in an invasion of Freystorm Keep, the ancestral home of House Asterland and the most vital naval fortification in the Cornayan Empire.

The invasion of Freystorm Keep was short and had fewer than ten casualties. Garrick Ward landed on the beaches of the bay bearing a banner of truce—a fleet of only five ships behind him and a horde of some twenty dragons. Ward met with Ser Thomlin Asterland, son of the current Lord of Freystorm Bay: Lord Almeric Asterland. Thomlin was a legendary knight, famous for his brilliant swordsmanship that earned him the nickname “Blade of the Tides.” Ward had a respect for Thomlin, as Thomlin had respect for Garrick—both men were excellent swordsmen who came from a naval background, having fought in the same naval wars. Ward offered terms of surrender to Thomlin, stating:

“The Freystorm Bay will fall to the flames of my dragons, so I grant you the merciful right to surrender. Failing that, I grant you the right to an honorable death. Face me alone, and your armies will be spared; they need not be punished for the sins of the banner they are forced to bear.”

Thomlin is noted to have sighed and stared out to sea for quite some time before returning with:

“My father will not surrender our home, even if it means the desolation of it. I am not my father. I will face you here on the beaches, so that they may be spared of your fire and fury.”

The agreement was made, and a runner was sent to Lord Almeric to join them on the beaches as a witness. The message was also sent to captains of the Asterland army by request of Ser Thomlin, who did not trust his father to uphold the bargain. As predicted, Almeric refused to leave the safety of the keep. Ward and Thomlin shook hands on the beach alone, witnessed by two bannermen and Ward’s primary dragon, Maelstrom. They fought for around eleven minutes without tiring before Ward drove his sword through Thomlin’s neck, causing him to splutter and bleed out on the beach. Ward executed Thomlin cleanly to end his suffering and walked up to the city gates followed by his bannermen, to which the gates were thrown open and the captains surrendered the city. Lord Almeric was taken hostage before his trial, where he was offered a trial by combat or by a council of judges. Lord Almeric saw no chance of escape from the council of judges' hatred of his family, so he took the option of trial by combat. He was swiftly killed on the beaches of Freystorm Keep.

Thomlin’s body was buried in Asterland tradition by sea burial, set alight by Ward in a sign of respect. Almeric’s body had no such rest; he was left on the shores to bloat. And so went the old Lord of Asterland, lying dead in the rock pools of the home his ancestors were granted for selling out their siblings to their enemies. The only members of Asterland nobility to escape were Ser Thomelin's wife, The "Black Swan" Lady Amira, and their child. Lady Amira fled with the company of her father-in-law's captains, to whom Ward had granted mercy, into the hospitality of House Warren at Stormberg. The Warrens had long been loyal to the Asterlands, fighting alongside them for centuries in the empire's various conflicts, and offered Amira and her household safety until the crown stepped in to depose the rebellion threatening its subjects. Lady Amira pleaded to the Queen herself for support to take back her late husband's ancestral seat but, as letter after letter arrived, the Queen ignored her every call. Some say Queen Guinnevere viewed the Asterlands as betrayers of sacred vows, though some say she wanted the richest and most influential house removed as a threat, all we know for certain is the Asterlands called for aid and the Throne turned its back. Now, questions fly across the realm of what the Black Swan of Asterland is to do next? Will this be seen as a sign of betrayal? And if the Queen is to deny the richest house in Cornay, who will she protect?