Confederacy of the Dispossessed

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The Confederacy of the Dispossessed is a resistance movement arising out of the Green of southern and eastern Keltia as well as northern Eura, active as of 1717 AN. It is believed to have coalesced in response to a series of offensives launched by the Raspur Pact to gain control of territories recently vacated by the Haifo-Pallisican Imperial Trade Union.

Towards the end of 1717, the Confederacy of the Dispossessed achieved more or less full control over Moorland following the Evacuation of Moorland. This would be mirrored by successes in Normark and Ostland throughout the final months of that same year.

Organisation

As of 1717 AN the Confederacy of the Dispossessed is believed to be formed of twelve corsair fleets operating in the Sea of Storms and a thirteenth fleet operating in the Strait of Haifa. The highly independent nature of these piratical fleets, each purported to be under the command of a captain-general, has meant that, in spite of the rumoured existence of an "Emperor" amongst their numbers, has meant that they seemingly lack the cohesion necessary to form a state. Nonetheless, their access to warships, military hardware, munitions, supplies, and trained naval crews, combined with their willingness to rove far and wide in plundering expeditions as well as in support of the disinherited of the Green, means that these corsair fleets, specialising in sudden descents on under defended coastal regions, could become a significant threat for years to come.

The Disinherited

The Disinherited form the mainstay of the fighting power of the Confederacy on land. Formed from amongst the defence forces and private military companies of the former regime in northern Eura, southern Keltia, and along the shores of the Strait of Haifa, these militia fighters primarily operate in warbands forty to one hundred and twenty strong but can form into vast divisions and leagues capable of dominating entire regions, especially when operating in conjunction with the corsair fleets.

Conflicts involving the Confederacy

• Wars of the Disinherited
  • Evacuation of Moorland in northeast Keltia
  • Operation Jungle Bolo in eastern Eura
  • Operation Purple Splendor in southeast Keltia
  • Operation Thunder Drop, in Haifa and Blore Heath proper, and the Sea of Storms
  • Siege of Dalen (1717– ), in Dalen (aka Jangsong)

Notes

For the moment an ideas spitballing page - the ravenous land hunger of the established powers causes a powerful and implacably vengeful new force to rise from the Green of Keltia, threatening destruction and chaos for all.

Imperial Federation

Inland

These people also cause a huge amount of trouble to the Imperial Federation, neutering their goals of setting up a large territory in the area. Inland, the Imperials find themselves to curtail their ambitions near Haifa proper. Instead, they forced to settle for sticking close to the Haifa peninsula in for the time being, with ambitions beyond that stifled by short-term financial crunches from colonization elsewhere, coupled by near-term economic woes in rebuilding North Valora following its annexation.

The ground phase of the war outside of Haifa proper proved to be a protracted campaign, with the map itself changing due to the scale of destruction necessary for the Imperial Federation to achieve a permanent hold over its new dependency, with surrounding regions proving progressively harder to hold. The situation initially stabilized at the end of 1718 AN, with the Imperials finally able to gain an offense footing as the Sea of Storms was finally secured against any possible reinforcement by seaborne Corsairs operating from Micras's equatorial atolls (some of which the Imperials ended up conquering in turn for themselves).

However, numerical disadvantages force the Imperials to make slow progress, relying near totally on artillery, aerial, and naval supremacy to keep the enemy from overrunning the few land possessions the Imperials manage to conquer.

Sea of Storms

At sea, the collapse of Bassarid authority in the region causes an unprecedented explosion of pirate activity in the Sea of Storms. These pirates are mostly based out of Haifan cities, most notably Blore Heath, which becomes the center of a short-lived pirate kingdom shortly after the Bassarid collapse in this area. Dealing with these sea-borne pirates goes through three phases marked by the following events: the Anarchy, the Siege of Blore Heath, and Operation Thunder Drop.

Although during the first several months they manage to wreak havoc on lightly populated areas, the Imperials nonetheless make short work of blockading the coastline near Blore Heath proper, starving out most of the corsairs otherwise dependent on Haifan supplies for survival. The city surrenders after a short blockade after the Imperials manage to sail into the Strait with long-range gunships, and the citizens and corsairs alike in the city are given generous terms rather than face a destructive, costly invasion. The surrender of the city cuts remaining corsairs completely off from the Keltian mainland.

Mass defections occur in 1719 AN as the Corsairs take advantage of generous surrender terms, as they lack safe ports in nearly all of eastern Keltia. Most eventually surrender their armed ships, stolen goods, and turn over the locations of remote atolls used by rogue partners still at sea in return for amnesty and, for valuables not originating in Imperial territory, a bounty as compensation.

For the rest, the Imperials get to work and finally manage to destroy most of the remaining Corsair fleet at sea using the full might of their navy, freed up from blockading Valora. It takes a long time, but Operation Thunder Drop concludes with the Imperial seizure or destruction of the final pirate bases, discovered in a range of widely dispersed atolls along the Equator in the midst of Imperial-controlled oceans. Many corsairs remain at large, but never again pose more than a routine security threat at sea.