To the Noble Houses of Rathfall, Unbounded, and the People of Our Beloved Land,
I spoke with several of the Unbounded last market about my concerns with a Montague potentially back in power. The fall of the Montague Royal Family marks a significant and tragic chapter in our shared Rathfall history and I believe it is important that more people know the full story behind it.
Within the first hundred years of the Second Wave, King Seymour Montague, in his attempts to combat the Blight, resorted to extreme and brutal measures that amounted to war crimes against his own people. His reign, marked by fear and paranoia, led to a series of atrocities that left deep scars on Rathfall.
Earth’s Chosen stripped the Montague’s of their family name within their records, removing them from any significant power within Rathfall.
I spoke with several of the Unbounded last market about my concerns with a Montague potentially back in power. The fall of the Montague Royal Family marks a significant and tragic chapter in our shared Rathfall history and I believe it is important that more people know the full story behind it.
Part 1: Mad King Seymour
Over 400 years ago, when the shadows of the Second Wave of Blight began to creep across our lands, the once-proud Montague family line, at the time known for uniting houses together to usher Rathfall’s power into a golden age, found themselves clinging to power with desperation and eventually became ensnared by the very darkness they sought to repel.Within the first hundred years of the Second Wave, King Seymour Montague, in his attempts to combat the Blight, resorted to extreme and brutal measures that amounted to war crimes against his own people. His reign, marked by fear and paranoia, led to a series of atrocities that left deep scars on Rathfall.
- In his effort to bolster the army, King Montague enforced mandatory conscription, indiscriminately drafting men, women, and children into service. Young boys and girls, some as young as twelve, were armed and sent to the front lines of the encroaching Blight, resulting in countless unnecessary deaths and lifelong trauma for survivors.
- Accusing outside rural towns and villages of harboring agents of Blight, the king ordered mass executions without trials. Entire communities were rounded up, and those suspected of collaboration or showing any signs of blight infection were executed on the spot. The bodies were disposed of in mass graves, often denied proper Spirit Farewells or local ceremonies, depriving families of closure.
- Any form of dissent was brutally suppressed. Those who spoke out against the king's methods were arrested, tortured for confessions, and executed. There is a corridor sealed off in the Whitecrown Palace that served as the torture chambers for the king, with many innocents subjected to inhumane treatment before their deaths.
- To sustain his war efforts, King Montague requisitioned food and resources from local populations, leading to widespread starvation. Entire regions were left destitute as crops and livestock were seized, and those who resisted were punished severely.
Earth’s Chosen stripped the Montague’s of their family name within their records, removing them from any significant power within Rathfall.