WTFBT Expanded: Ayers Civil War

The Ayers Civil War, which lasted from 324 to 335 SM, was a tragic chapter in the history of the Riverlands. It tore apart the children of King Yahya Ayers, known as the Garden.

Cause

After King Yahya's wife and children were murdered by the Ebony Clan in 297 SM, he helped create the Five Great Lands of Mystos in 300. By the end of the year, Yahya was still solemn over the loss of his family, but he knew he needed an heir to support the new alliance. Yahya believed that following King Ruben Ayers’s footsteps and recreating the Drownded would be the best way to continue the Ayers family line. In 301 SM, at age 66, Yahya bought Mara cocoettes from around the world and brought them to Waterbrook. Unlike Ruben’s concubines, who had one child and disappeared, Yahya had multiple children with multiple cocoettes. By 322 SM, around thirty children had been named by Yahya, and these children were known as the Garden.

The Garden

Thirty children, who Yahya fathered, populated the Garden. His favorite cocoettes were his firsts, Tiphayne and Gaella, sisters from the Kingdom of Valley Pines. Together, the sisters had twelve of Yahya’s children. Tiphayne had five: Jarrah, Nimah, Gentian, Forsythia, and Heath. Gaella had seven: Garlen, Eirlys, Sorrel, Florian, Calla, Olearia, and Aster.

Cirina, from Nempur, who died in 320 SM, had six children: Phlox, Lyli, Anthon, Keilo, Kamala, and Ximena. Eriki, from Ihphy’s Archipelago, had four children: Cosme, Ione, Jhessamyne, and Fennel. Gyaleen from the Summerlands had two sons: Lupin and Sinna. Soyon, from Eeccess, had only one child, Gladolia. Twins Linnea and Lore were the only children of a Solamar woman named Helkie, one of Yahya’s most beloved cocoettes.

Helbrin, Yahya’s last cocoette, was only twelve when brought to the Riverlands from Zilaidat. Her iridescent-colored eyes made her a favored bedmate for the ailing Yahya. She gave him his final two children, Ixora and Jonquil. When the Ayers Civil War started, Helbrin took her children and left.

Timeline

Discontent in the Garden

Days before Yahya's passing, Jarrah brought his daughter, Amaryllis, and his lover, a commoner, to the Water Castle to meet her grandfather. This surprise angers Yahya, who felt Jarrah destroyed the family's legacy by not having a child with a known Mara. Yahya demands that Jarrah abandon the child and find special cocoettes, as he did. Jarrah refuses, saying Amaryllis will be his heir regardless of her abilities, adding that Crysta Moors would want a child from love and not obligation. The mention of his dead wife embroils Yahya, and he has the small family arrested. During the arrest, things escalated, and Jarrah's lover and Amaryllis were murdered. Yahya had Jarrah released after their deaths, recognizing that his son was a broken man as he once was.

Still, Yahya was unforgiving. A day later, he declared his second son, Garlen, the next Lord Protector of the Riverlands, skipping over Jarrah. The news shocked the other children in the Garden, who conspired against Garlen, believing he was unfit to rule. The night before Yahya's death, the Garden, excluding Garlen, plotted to seize Waterbrook and give it to Jarrah as initially planned.

Two days after Yahya died, Garlen was declared the Lord Protector, and a coronation was planned. Jarrah led the efforts to murder Garlen and take the Divine sword that would be presented at the coronation. A small faction of the Garden, called the Beckons, did not want a civil war to begin. Cosme of the Beckons warned Garlen that most of the Garden was planning a coup, allowing Garlen time to prepare before the coronation.  

At the coronation, the five strongest of the Garden, known as the Weeds, began the rebellion. Eirlys started the uprising by striking Cosme in the chest with an arrow—but did not kill him. A battle broke out, and the Dykon protected Garlen as planned. The tides turned quickly, and the Garden rebels promptly realized they would not successfully usurp Garlen. Four Garden rebels died during the battle, causing some rebels to yield and pledge allegiance to Garlen.

Jarrah, who was not part of the Weeds, successfully took the Divine sword and quickly escaped with the Weeds and any remaining rebel siblings. The group, now known as the Bloodkin, traveled north and settled on the banks of Obsidian Lake. Helbrin, the youngest of Yahya's cocoettes, took her children and left a moon after the coronation. Garlen and the Beckons gathered troops to search for the rebels but were unsuccessful.

The Beckons Grow Stronger

In 326 SM, Garlen disbanded the Council of the Riverlands and made the Beckons his advisors. Throughout 326, Garlen gathered support from House Galan and House Hyde, who were related through the Drownded via marriage alliances. Both houses agreed to the marriage of Raquel Galan and Brea Hyde to Garlen Ayers. In 327 SM, when Garlen learned that Helbrin and his youngest siblings lived safely in Zilaidat, he left them alone. The same year, he gave up on the search for his other siblings, hoping the Bloodkin would not attack Waterbrook. Garlen married in 327 and led a small army through the Wetlands into the new year, still unable to find the Bloodkin. In the summer of 328, Garlen stopped in Galley's Stream, where some of the Bloodkin were seen.

Gladolia, one of the weakest of the Bloodkin, noticed Garlen and his two new wives walking through the small town. Having been severely injured during the botched rebellion, Gladolia fell into a rage, her Art awakening. When she went to attack Garlen, Cosme knocked her out, and Garlen allowed Cosme, who had been slipping into the Darkness since his devastating injury, to keep her as a prisoner. When the Bloodkin learned about Gladolia's capture and subsequent torture, the Weeds marched toward Waterbrook with a makeshift army to rescue her.

Assault on the Long River and the New Dark Lord Protector

As the Bloodkin rode down the Long River, Garlen, House Galan, and House Hyde stopped them while Cosme, Gladolia, and Garlen's now pregnant wives continued to Waterbrook. The assault lasted for three weeks and ended only after heavy losses in Bloodkin's army and Garlen's unfortunate death.

When news of Garlen's death reached Waterbrook, his wives strangely lost their pregnancies, and Cosme immediately named himself Lord Protector. Raquel and Brea, who loved Garlen and were still mourning him, were uninterested in remarrying. Cosme enslaved the two women, forcing them to marry him to continue the alliance between houses. At the end of 328 SM, Raquel and Brea were pregnant with Cosme's children. In 329, Cosme brought an alchemist to experiment on Gladolia, whose eye color had changed from brown to bright pink during torture. He also had the Dykon track the Bloodkin. By the end of the year, Gladolia succumbed to her injuries from the torture Cosme and the alchemist had inflicted on her, but Cosme had the information he needed to make the Beckons stronger. Anthon and Ximena were the first Beckons to be experimented on. In 330, the Dykon followed the Bloodkin near Lake Obsidian to a small fishing village called Arcadia. Cosme rushed his troops north to eradicate the Bloodkin, with his brother, Sorrel, commanding the army.

Battle at the Black Lake

Sorrel arrived at Arcadia in 334 SM and had the Riverlands sack the growing city. Jarrah and the Weeds defended - with Jarrah using the Divine sword. When Lyli, a member of the Weeds and rumored lover of Jarrah, was stabbed through the chest by Sorrel, Jarrah went berserk. He used the sword to wipe out Sorrel and the Riverlands army, but doing so made Jarrah lose control of himself.

The remaining Bloodkin watched as their half-brother continued to fight, even though there were no more enemies. The four Weeds decided to stop Jarrah’s attacks. Eirlys sniped with her bow as Nimah and Ione went face-to-face with Jarrah. The battle intensified until Jarrah stabbed Ione - killing him. Phlox joined the fight, using his brass knuckles to knock Jarrah out. When it became clear that that was impossible, Phlox knocked Jarrah to the ground and smashed his head in, killing him. Nimah, heartbroken over the death of her brother, took the Divine sword and walked into Obsidian Lake, promising that no one else would go mad from the sword.

The Weeded Retribution on the Water Castle

In the aftermath of the battle, Eirlys and Phlox lead the Bloodkin in a revenge plot against Cosme. In 335 SM, the Bloodkin slipped into the Water Castle in the middle of the night and targeted the Beckons. Phlox went straight to Cosme and bashed his head in, retaliating for what he had to do to Jarrah. With Cosme dead, the Bloodkin searched the other Beckons. Anthon, the strongest Beckon, was targeted next. Kielo, the strongest Bloodkin, succeeded by slitting his throat after the two had battled throughout the castle.

The final Beckons, Florian and Ximena, fought for their life in the throne room against the Bloodkin. When Florian fell to one of Eirlys’s arrows, Ximena screamed so loudly the throne room shook. She then began to glow a bright white before slaughtering Eirlys and Phlox. With the Weeds gone, Ximena turned her attention to the remaining Bloodkin. Seeing the power that radiated from Ximena, the Bloodkin no longer wanted to fight and yielded, promising to follow Ximena. Ximena, however, was no longer conscious, so her body continued the slaughter. She flung her hand, and the floor broke apart, taking out three Bloodkin.

Linnea Ayers stopped fighting and watched the massacre unfold, trying her best to figure out what to do. Ximena continued on her rampage, destroying the Water Castle. A Dykon approached Linnea and explained that the Beckons had gone through experiments to strengthen them and that Ximena had unlocked her Art. The Dykon told Linnea that they had an allure-heightening elixir to fight against Ximena, but Linnea had to promise not to kill Ximena.

By the time Linnea promised to spare Ximena’s life, only a few Bloodkin were left. Linnea and her twin brother, Lore, drank the elixir, and their bodies glowed blue. The three fought as the other Bloodkin escaped. Ximena realized the Bloodkin were running and diverted to attack her remaining half-siblings. Lore attempted to stop her, but Ximena murdered him before quickly slaying the rest. Linnea’s rage grew, causing her to get stronger. The fight intensified, and Linnea’s only goal was to murder Ximena. But, when Linnea noticed that Ximena was crying during the fight, she decided to hug the woman instead. The embrace immediately calmed Ximena, who collapsed, ending the battle.

Although Linnea wanted to kill Ximena for murdering the Bloodkin, she also knew that Ximena was sure to feel the same way about her. Linnea sat with Ximena and waited until the woman regained consciousness. When Ximena opened her eyes, she began to sob, saying she witnessed what she did but could not stop her body. Linnea forgave Ximena, and the two promised to protect each other, being the last of the Garden to live and effectively ending the civil war.

Aftermath

In 336 SM, Ximena and Linnea were named the Duo Queens of the Riverlands, although their technical title was Lord Protector. After the war ended, Linnea had the Dykon move their headquarters to Lismure and become Re'ins, holding contracts with anyone they wanted instead of the entire group being committed to House Ayers. The two women ruled the kingdom together, and by 340, the kingdom had returned to its former glory, and the River people were pleased with how the two women ruled.