OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Eldorai lore and the Shadow Knights. Sub some ic propaganda.
Image Credit: N/A.
Canon: N/A.
Links: Eldorai. Inspired by the Marseillaise and the Internationale. Special thanks to [member="Valiens Nantaris"] for helping with this submission.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Media Name: 'Rise of the Brave Children against the Tyranny of the Crown'. Or, to shorten it, 'Rise against Tyranny' since the Eldorai make everything so damn long.
Format: It is a song that serves as the unofficial anthem of a rebel group. So a common format is simply singing it. Can also be distributed through hologram, audio recordings and so on. Basically any way you'd spread a song.
Distribution: Scattered.
Length: Minuscule
Description: 'Rise against Tyranny' is a revolutionary song composed by Lysae Tarinn, an Eldorai revolutionary. It denounces the Eldorai Matriarchy, the Monarchy and urges the 'daughters of Ashira' to rise in revolt. It has been adopted by the Shadow Knights, a faction of Eldorai dissidents and renegades who have broken away from the Matriarchy to build a new order.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Author: Originally composed by Lysae Tarinn, a leading figure in the Green Ribbons, an Eldorai rebel movement.
Publisher: Appropriated by the Shadow Knights, especially their more radical groups.
Reception: Popular among many Eldorai revolutionary groups. It is quite common for Eldorai revolutionaries to claim that they are the true inheritors of Lysae and the Green Ribbons - and to brand rebels who do not belong to their group as charlatans. Unpopular among Eldorai monarchists. Given the message, this is no surprise. It is officially prohibited in the Eldorai Matriarchy, though the days when people were executed for singing it have ended under the new liberal regime. Reactionary Eldorai, who think the Matriarchy has gone soft on traitors, really hate it and treat singing it as a capital offence. The Masculine Anti-Defamation League criticises that the song has nothing to say about Eldorai males. Even the most egalitarian revolutionaries are apparently not that egalitarian. Sadly, Eldorai males still face a glass ceiling. Reception outside of the Eldorai sphere or Firemane is probably very small. The Eldorai are a marginal actor, after all, and their Byzantine politics are not easy for outsiders to grasp.
FORMAT INFORMATION
The most common format is simply people singing it. This is sometimes accompanied by the use of musical instruments. The text is well-known among members of the Shadow Knights and other Eldorai rebel movements. It is also often played during military marches, parades and official ceremonies. It can also be transmitted via audio and holographic recordings and so on. Basically, it can transmitted and spread in any way feasible for music.
CONTENT INFORMATION
The song has the following text:
Arise, daughters of Ashira,
The time of destiny has arrived!
Against us, tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised,
Do you hear, far and wide,
The roar of those who would resist?
We must make our stand, never yield,
Sisters, the tyrants will never stop until overthrown!
To arms, sisters,
Form your legions,
Let's march, let's march!
Let their tainted blood
Water our land!
To arms, sisters.
What does this horde of slavers,
Of traitors and nobles want?
For whom have these vile chains,
These irons, been long prepared?
Daughters of Ashira, for us!
Eldorai, awaken!
Peace among us, war to the tyrants.
To arms, sisters.
The Crown oppresses and the Church lies.
Edicts strangle the oppressed.
Tithes bleed the unfortunate.
And where does the gold go?
Into mansions and palaces.
To arms sisters.
Fear not the Queen's bloody hounds.
Freedom awaits us.
A world of equality and sisterhood.
Tear down the palaces,
Claim what is ours,
With fire and blood.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Officially, all good Eldorai are united. They all believe in the Great Goddess Ashira - and in the other Eldorai deities, though they're less important. They all believe that the Star Queen is the Goddess' viceroy and that her decrees reflect divine will. However, the Eldorai are far less united than they would like. Indeed, their race has a history of divisions and strife. In many ways, they have often been their own worst enemy throughout their blood-soaked history. As the Rogue Knight Ylaea Althena is fond of saying, three Eldorai are a church, four a schism and five a civil war.
All those Eldorai considered renegades are labelled as Dashdae Eldorai. This is commonly translated as Dark Eldorai, though it is a bit of a misnomer since it has nothing to do with the Light or Dark Side of the Force. They want to overthrow the Matriarchy and implement a ‘pure’ government and defy the Goddess. At least that's one way of looking at it. Of course, it is more complex than that, and the Dark Eldorai include a myriad of different and competing groups under a broad general banner.
Some want a mageocracy, some a military dictatorship, some want equal male rights, others a Republic (though generally one with a limited franchise) or a monarchy under a different dynasty. Some seek accommodation with outsiders and believe the Eldorai can learn from them, others think all non-Eldorai are foreign devils and that only fervent belief in the Goddess Ashira can lead the Eldorai to salvation. Others again worship Illyria, considered an evil goddess in Eldorai orthodoxy for rebelling against Ashira. In the eyes of these rebels, she's the patron deity of the downtrodden.
Yet they are all lumped together as Dark Eldorai, a name which automatically prejudices opinion. Centuries ago, during a period called the Time of Troubles on Kaeshana, there was a group of radicals called the Green Ribbons. These revolutionaries sought to overthrow the monarchy and pursued a radical egalitarian agenda. They proclaimed that all Eldorai women would be equal under the heavens. However, the insurrection was crushed, though it would be a long time before the Matriarchy was stabilised.
One of the leaders of the Green Ribbons was a radical firebrand called Lysae Tarinn. Lysae was a charismatic revolutionary leader dedicated to the overthrow of the Eldorai Matriarchy. She composed 'Rise against Tyranny' to give the rebel armies a revolutionary song that would inspire them to fight against what she identified as the forces of oppression. The song proved to be very popular among rebels. Unsurprisingly, it was banned by the Matriarchy.
Unfortunately for the rebels, their attempt to topple the Monarchy and usher in a new world failed. As with so many rebellions, the Green Ribbons eventually dealt themselves far more wounds then the royalists did. Ironically, Lysae was assassinated on suspicion of not being 'enough of a rebel' and having 'reactionary sympathies', according to a cadre of extreme anarchist rebels. One cannot help but suspect that she - a lifelong revolutionary who had suffered in a royalist internment camp - would have found this very irritating, had she seen it.
However, the insurrection was crushed, though it would be a long time before the Matriarchy was stabilised. Though the modern Dashdae differ from the Green Ribbons in many ways, they often regard them as forebears. When the False Aspasia, a demagogue and charlatan who claimed to be a dead claimant to the throne, launched a rebellion against Queen Tirathana VI, she called her followers the New Green Ribbons. Alas, the false Aspasia turned out to be as much of a despot as the queen she opposed and her rebellion was defeated. The Shadow Knights are another group that has tried to depict itself as their successor. In modern times, the Shadows were faced with the challenge of building their own society after having broken away from the Matriarchy. At first they were formed to protect the Forsaken of Kaeshana. Later they formed a migrant fleet, attracting dissidents from among the Eldorai and their Tygaran cousins.
By their very nature, the Shadows are a coalition, albeit a heavily militarised one. Many of their members used to belong to revolutionary cells that fought against the Monarchy, such as Daymana Thael's Red Eagles and the Caerith Haraya. Others are former soldiers of the Crown who grew disillusioned and defected or went into exile. 'Rise against Tyranny' was already popular among the radical cells. Thus it has been appropriated by the Shadow Knight leadership.
There were Illyrians and Rationalists who complained about the references to Ashira in the song text, as they dod not worship her. The response to this argument was that, whether she is seen as a goddess or not, Ashira was the first Eldorai. Moderate voices have pointed out that the song no longer fits the modern Zeitgeist. They argue that it should be replaced with something that is less combative toward fellow Eldorai. After all, the Matriarchy no longer rules over all Eldorai or claim to do so. Thus it would be better to move on from old grudges, especially since the elves face more dangerous threats. However, the hardline radicals and militant republicans wholly endorse it.