Ludwigshafener Civil War

The Ludwigshafener Civil War was a civil war that took place in Sankt Ludwigshafen and started in XIII.1693 AN. It was fought between the national government located in Sankt Ludwigshafen and Siseranist insurgents that had their base in Molkhof. The civil war began when the national government tried to abolish human sacrifices performed by Siseranist cultists in Sankt Siserakapelle.

XIII.1693

After failed harvests in Molkhof and the loss of a fishing vessel from Hinterdünen, Siseranist priestesses claimed that their goddess Queen Sisera's wrath was kindled by the rise of the Nazarene faith in Sankt Ludwigshafen, and that it had to be appeased by human sacrifices. Twenty-four children were captured and offered to Queen Sisera in a gruesome ritual. A dozen were captured in Molkhof to be sacrificed, of which six boys and six girls, all over the age of ten but below the age of sixteen, and a dozen were captured in Hinterdünen to be sacrificed, of which six boys and six girls, all over the age of ten but below the age of sixteen. The news of the capture of these twenty-four children was conveyed by Nazarenes to Klaudius Buchsteller, president of Sankt Ludwigshafen.

President Klaudius Buchsteller sent a messenger carrying a letter to the Siseranist temple in Sankt Siserakapelle ordering that the sacrifices should not continue, and that all children should be released and restored to their families. The messenger was captured as well, his hair was shaven and even his tongue was cut out, and then he was sent back to Sankt Ludwigshafen with a letter that stated that the ritual would proceed as was planned. When the messenger returned to Sankt Ludwigshafen, and delivered this letter to the Stadtparlement, and when they learned about his torments, an emergency session was called. The Stadtparlement resolved that all of those who participated in the sacrifice and who did nothing to stop it if they could, but also all those who participated in the tormenting of the messenger and who did nothing to stop it if they could, would have to be captured and to be imprisoned without the possibility to be released.

The Dragonerkorps Ludwigshafen was sent toward Sankt Siserakapelle to forcefully stop the sacrifices of the children to be made, but when they arrived the Siseranists were already expecting them and they had taken up positions with their weapons and they did fire their weapons upon the dragoons. The dragoons retreated from the reach of the Siseranists and they sent out scouts to convey the positions of them, and even whether the sacrifice had already been made. After a day the scouts returned and they told that alas, the sacrifices were already made, but also that the Siseranist had entrenched themselves very well, with machine guns and cannons even and that the dragoons would not be able to defeat them. The dragoons wept after they heard the news, and when news of the sacrifices reached Sankt Ludwigshafen, all the people who heard it wept also. For it was a gruesome and evil thing that had happened in the land. And the Stadtparlement conveyed once more, and some members of the parliament said that the Siseranists should be utterly destroyed, while others maintained that murder was wrong, even to punish a murderer. No agreement was reached on the first day, and the parliament rested during the night. And on the second day a messenger from the Siseranists arrived at the Stadtparlement, while it had just opened its session. And the messenger was allowed to read aloud his message, in front of the entire parliament. And the messenger declared that as the Stadtparlement had tried to stop the sacrifices, which they said were necessary in the eyes of Queen Sisera, the Siseranists did no longer wish to associate with the Stadtparlement of Sankt Ludwigshafen and they declared that they had appointed their own ruler, which was a woman by the name of Elijahna who had been crowned queen. The parliament sent the messenger away to answer Pretender-Queen Elijahna that the Stadtparlement rejected the seccession.

XIV.1693

Two days after the letter of seccession had been presented to the Stadtparlement, President Klaudius Buchsteller called for the mobilisation of the Bezirkbürgerwehr in Sankt Ludwigshafen, Albertshof, Nordtal and Simonshof. These being the towns where less than ten out of a hundred citizens profess the Siseranist faith, in order to not let the Siseranists infiltrate the Bezirkbürgerwehr. The captains of the militia were also instructed not to call for the mobilisation of any man or woman that would profess the Siseranist faith, but only those that had been baptised and confirmed in the Ludwiggian Reformed Church. A total of 7,000 men and women were mobilised to fight in the war against the Siseranist insurgents, and were marching towards Molkhof.

XV.1693

As the Bezirkbürgerwehr marched towards the Siseranist enemy, they encountered Zorah, who was leading a group of armed Siseranist insurgents and even the donkeys they brought with them, and the donkeys carried bags, which were heavy but it could not be seen what was in them. And Joseph, who was a captain with the Bezirkbürgerwehr stopped the Siseranists and inquired of them what they planned to do. The Siseranist Zorah explained to him that it was his task to go to Sankt Ludwigshafen and deliver the bags, which he claimed to contain valuables to the Stadtparlement to bring these valuables as a gift. He claimed to have been sent by his masters to the Stadtparlement to offer these valuable as a gift to make peace between the Siseranists and the Stadtparlement, and that they would also surrender those amongst them who had participated in the sacrifices. Joseph welcomed this development, and the possibility of peace, as he had not been keen to go to war with the children of the brethern of his fathers. So he escorted the Siseranists to the city, and they brought the donkeys with them, that seemed to struggle with the heavy weight of their cargo. When they reached the capital President Klaudius Buchsteller was suspicious of the Siseranist offer of peace, but Joseph convinced him to give peace a chance. And the entire Stadtparlement, and the elders of the city, including the elders of the church convened together with the Siseranists to hear what they had to say. Zorah insisted that before the talks would commence, that he would offer his gifts to the council, and in their greed they agreed. But when he opened the sacks that were on the backs of the donkeys, there were no gifts in them, but explosive devices, nuclear bombs even that the Siseranists had acquired from Jingdao, in order to destroy those that tried to destroy their religious traditions. And when the bombs were made to explode by Zorah, behold, it was the end of the city and all that dwelt in there. Even the donkeys of the city did not survive, nor could anything of value be plundered from its ruins as it had all been reduced to dust and glass.