(10-10-2015, 05:59 PM)Virella Wrote: Seeming this topic recently came up, I wonder, what is the status on the Castrum the Garleans hold lorewise? Do they still occupy them all, did they abandon some posts?

J'brohka Wrote:At Master Alphinaud's request, the Maelstrom has taken measures to deter any further exploration of the caverns beneath Castrum Occidens. So long as the castrum remains, however, we must keep watch for signs of imperial activity.

Back and Fourth Wrote:Alphinaud informs you that a unit of Crystal Braves was ambushed by Garlean forces during your absence. Worse, it seems that one of the unit's members was captured and taken to Castrum Centri.

Doman Connection Wrote:An imperial squadron has set forth from Castrum Oriens on a mission to destroy an Alliance communications-jamming device in the South Shroud.

E3 Interview Wrote:Q: There’s a silhouette visible from Monument Tower in Coerthas that looks exactly like Castrum Marinum, but the size and angle seem to be all wrong. Does Marinum have a twin out there?

Fernehalwes: Oda-san says that this is a place called Castrum Aquilonis. The Empire started building it, but it was way too cold; the climate was way too harsh. They stopped halfway through, it’s now abandoned. That’s all I can say, because that’s all that’s been written.

(10-10-2015, 07:21 PM)Chris Ganale Wrote: It utterly boggles my mind that the Empire was allowed to creep back in and reclaim Castrum Meridianum. Between the damage dealt to the garrison's forces by the WoL and his raid party, and the entire northern Eorzean Alliance that smashed their main forces in the field at North Than, there's not a single reason at all why that fort shouldn't be flying an Alliance flag right now.

(10-10-2015, 08:09 PM)Chris Ganale Wrote: If they were so readily capable of steamrolling Eorzea, they wouldn't have failed three times already.

(10-10-2015, 08:09 PM)Chris Ganale Wrote: If they were so readily capable of steamrolling Eorzea, they wouldn't have failed three times already.

(10-10-2015, 08:16 PM)Oli! Wrote: They're also interested in capture, not nuking everything and dancing on the ashes.

(10-10-2015, 08:09 PM)Chris Ganale Wrote: If they were so readily capable of steamrolling Eorzea, they wouldn't have failed three times already.

(10-10-2015, 08:16 PM)Oli! Wrote: You can either chalk it up to the Garleans knowing what they're doing, or the Alliance being hilariously incompetent and partying it up while the Garleans snuck themselves back in, but the point is that they're back and resupplied either way.

The Rising Chorus Wrote:The Doman watch reports that forces from Castrum Centri have been scavenging materials from the wreckage, but that otherwise the distant monument has shown no signs of activity. Given the imperial presence, a stealthy approach will be necessary.

(10-10-2015, 09:07 PM)Sounsyy Wrote: EDIT: And, as far as why Garlemald has failed to take Eorzea three times, well... Gaius van Baelsar who was famous for already toppling four city-states, took Ala Mhigo, the greatest military force in all Eorzea in a single night. And their first full on invasion was only crushed by Midgardsormr and the might of Dravania - but remember that was just one of Garlemald's fourteen legions.

(10-11-2015, 09:25 PM)Valeera Wrote: It's important to remember though that Ala Mhigo fell so easily in large part due to factors beyond sheer Garlean might: the nation was divided and already crumbling from a civil war, and parts of the populace even welcomed Garlean "assistance". I think the story would have been very different had Garlemald been forced to contend with Ala Mhigo on even ground; not to say they wouldn't have eventually won, but they would likely not have done so nearly as cleanly.

Lodestone Wrote:The highlands of Gyr Abania in the eastern reaches of Aldenard were once under the control of a martial nation known as Ala Mhigo. It was, perhaps, the historically conflicted nature of the territory that forged the country into a significant military power. Even as this aggressive nation sent its forces to conquer in the west, it repelled repeated attempts at invasion from the east. In the Year 1557 of the Sixth Astral Era, however, it finally fell to the incursions of the Garlean Empire. From that time onwards, the country became merely another imperial territory under the governance of its usurpers. Though the people of Ala Mhigo once revered Rhalgr, the Destroyer, as their patron deity, any such religious observance has since been forbidden by the controlling authorities.

Lodestone Wrote:Legatus of the XIVth Legion, the imperial force currently occupying Ala Mhigo, van Baelsar is possessed of a natural flair for wartime command equaled perhaps only by his sensibilities as a governing administrator. Among his numerous accomplishments is the conquest of five enemy cities, the political conversion of which he also oversaw. In subjugating Ala Mhigo, van Baelsar employed subterfuge to stoke the fires of civil unrest, a masterstroke which led to the nation’s capture without the need for a protracted siege. However, the unanticipated appearance of a primal shortly thereafter prompted the Empire to halt the legion’s advance. The legatus has since remained in Ala Mhigo, where he rules as an imperial viceroy.

Tyon Wrote:We had heard that Ala Mhigo's armies were more than enough to fight off the Garleans. Tidings of her demise were...disheartening, to say the least. And now there is word that Garlemald has made a stronghold of the ruins. It is from there that they launch their winged monstrosities, such as the one which destroyed our own airship. Their juggernauts have been spotted in the skies over every part of the realm, and their silver-clad soldiers are becoming a regular sight in the borderlands. Aye, it would seem the Garleans mean to unleash their full wrath on Eorzea.

The last king of Ala Mhigo Wrote:As I likely explained if you have ever bothered to ask me about monks and the Fist of Rhalgr, the King of Ruin, Theodoric, was a ruthless despot and tyrant. It should come as no surprise, then, that he was the last king of Ala Mhigo. But the tale of his rise and fall is the stuff we historians live for!

Theodoric's lust for power was such that nothing less than absolute rule would appease him. To counter the political influence of the Fist of Rhalgr, he proclaimed his kingship to be the product of divine will - ordained by Nymeia Herself. What followed was a crusade which sought to exterminate the monks entirely. Yet it was the truly depraved acts of barbarism to come that would shake Ala Mhigan society to its very core. This ensuing era of terror was what earned Theodoric the title "King of Ruin."

After the massacre at the Fist's main temple, religious opposition to Theodoric nearly disappeared altogether. He then began purges of the Ala Mhigan royalty, seeing any and all potential pretenders to his throne dead and buried - regardless of house, loyalties, or standing. Beheadings were commonplae, carried out daily. Before long, it looked as though Theodoric would have no heads left to take. But he then turned his wrath upon any soul with a claim to the throne, no matter how remote. After that, it was to be the empowered nobles and wealthy merchants.

Fearing for their lives, they professed their innocence to the queen, pleading for her to stay her maniacal husband's hand. She attempted words to assuage his lust for power turned lust for blood, but he was deaf to her appeals. Finding no recourse, she conspired with a group of nobles to murder Theodoric. Yet before the regicide could take place, one among them betrayed their plot and for their treason, the king saw them all less a head.

This only served to compound Theodoric's paranoia and insanity. Distrustful of all, his purges now became little more than random executions, claiming lives of noble and beggar and all in between. It is not difficult to imagine what transpired next. The palace became a despicable gathering of sycophants and backstabbers, and the commonfolk scarce left their homes. Seeking heads on which to lay blame for worsening conditions, Theodoric turned the axe upon his most loyal followers. When the oppression became too much to ear, the people revolted and stormed the palace. The royal guard (Corpse Brigade) cast aside their vows and allowed the Ala Mhigans to pass.

A noble revolt? For the best, no? False! It was the absence of leadership and solidarity in the wake of this chaos that prompted Garlemald to attack! In the end, Theodoric was lucid enough to judge suicide preferable to death at the hands of an angry mob. He ended his own life, and with it, his reign of ruin and his own bloodline. Or so it was thought at the time! But Theodred, a nephew to the king, was hidden by his mother in a remote temple of the Fist of Rhalgr which had survived the purges, and thus he escaped his uncle's fury.