Dellinian Court Incident (MA 1028)

The Dellinian Court Incident of MA 1028 refers to the deaths of nearly 150 Dellinian officials during a meeting of the Royal Council of Dellin. The meeting, which was scheduled to discuss the recent invasion of Sýsto by Toltus Alvedi, was abruptly ended when an unknown member barred the doors and set the Thyrion, the private Dellinian council chambers, on fire. The crime was believed to be a protest against Dellin's nonintervention policites in Magella. Although a suspect was never officially named, and no one was ever prosecuted for the deaths, the culprit is thought to be the Prophet Darius, because of the content of certain extant letters between him and the future Interim Protector of Dellin, Saria Gérine.

Prelude
In MA 1027, the forces of Toltus Alvedi invaded the island of Sýsto, north of Magella, initiating the Golden War. Alvedi made his base on the smaller satellite island of Arnor and quickly attacked Awe Orunve on northern Sýsto. The government of Awe Orunve, headed by Hervias Aomeor (Alvedi's initial target), petitioned for assistance from it's neighboring Magellan kingdoms, Cíona, Judea, and Ponco, and also it's original imperial capital, Dellin. Judea and Ponco offered military forces and goods, while Cíona also committed some goods. Dellin, however, declined to intervene. They claimed that Awe Orunve was a rebel nation because, despite Dellin's claims on Sýsto, the local government insisted they were a sovereign nation. The city of Awe Orunve, after a few months, succumbed to Alvedi's forces and was destroyed. Hervias Aomeor was captured and some of the Orunvian survivors of the war were able to flee to Judea. Alvedi than set his sights on the remaining Severine, on the Magellan mainland.

In late 1027, a council between delegates of Judea, Ponco, and Cíona met to discuss any plans regarding the looming danger of Alvedi's troops. Judea and Ponco, both injured from the Golden War, expressed a willingness to retaliate, but suggested they would be unable to without the support and assistance of Cíona. The Kingdom of Cíona, under their new Council-Leader, the young Jeroran politician, Kanta Contoya, refused to help and opted to remain neutral. Judean leader, King Regent Midorus Judea, feared an immediate attack from Alvedi and wrote a letter, also signed by Poncoan king Roland Ponco, requesting military intervention from Dellin. Dellin's king, Asrael Weséllan IV, refused, again suggesting that Dellin was unable to assist due to the rebellious attitudes of both judea and Ponco. (Indeed, Dellin still claimed political and legal right to all of Magella, but the Kingdom of Ponco claimed complete autonomy. Judea, however, considered itself an Independent Commonwealth of Dellin). Judea and Ponco, without any external military aide, did not retaliate. The forces of Alvedi would not attack, however, for more than ten years, until the Battle of Cíona, the first battle in the struggle between Magella and Alvedi.

Dellinian Motives and the Incident
A possible motive for King Asrael's unwillingness to intervene in the potential attack on Magella is Dellin's deeply-rooted imperial aspirations. King Asrael was very interested in creating colonies that would expand Dellin's boundaries. Though Dellin still, technically and legally, owned Magella, the independence of Magella's nations troubled Weséllan. He wanted to reclaim the continent and possibly believed a major war in the region would weaken both sides and allow Dellin to eventually conquer Magella and Sýsto. The Royal Council of Dellin, a body of 150 members that mostly acted as a political and social arm of Weséllan's regime, immediately passed decrees 1) asserting Dellin's international neutrality (which was mere propaganda, since Dellin had ancient imperial roots in Alondin and more recently had invaded Daiden and Elvía) and 2) officially naming Judea, Ponco, and, posthumously, Awe Orunve, as nations rebelling from Dellinian rule, and therefore exempt from the laws and protection of the Dellinian Union.

Meanwhile, the Prophet Darius, fearing that Alvedi was poised to attack, traveled to Dellin in MA 1028, staying with his friend, Saria Gérine, in Rose City. He wrote a series of letters to the Royal Council regarding the threat and requested a royal audience. He was declined. Shut off from Dellin's political institutions, Darius constructed the plot which would eventually become known as the Dellinian Court Incident. He initially hoped Gérine would participate in the plot, due to her political aspirations and anti-monarchy sentiments. (She was a member, and future leader, of a secret Dellinian political organization that wanted to overthrow the monarchy, the New Nympheor Council). [Have the plot be about persuading, or killing? Maybe he just kills out of anger?]