Carolus Conspiracy

The Carolus Conspiracy was a failed assassination attempt against Queen Hió of Etrand - queen consort of King Calhoun of Etrand - led by Carolus Marecling and several fellow conspirators. While the conspirators failed to assassinate Hió herself, several of her retinue got killed. In order to prevent a civil war or open rebellion, King Calhoun punished only the ringleaders and not only pardoned the other participants, but also revived the Fathred-cult, and made gestures towards his vassals, ensuring their position in the Kingdom.

Background
The predecessor of the then-reigning King Calhoun of Etrand, King Cairbré married a Half-Elf named Muyian of Artaburro. At the time, his marriage did not create a scandal, as the Bryantid dynasty was still a new and young dynasty, and it was widely understood that the child of a Human and a Half-Elf can only be Human. Additionally, since the Bryantid dynasty was seen as a "dynasty of fresh upstarts who were new to being kings", the more politically savvy nobility understood that it was necessary to marry a foreign sovereign's kinswoman in order to prove to the world that this royal dynasty was a genuine royal dynasty. Additionally, during the time of Cairbré's early reign, Etrand's relations with Dragoc and Froturn were still decent, and the king's future decision to expel the misssionaries was yet to taint Etrand's relations with Froturn and Dragoc.

By the time Cairbré's reign was over and Calhoun became the king, however, things have changed a lot. Relations between Etrand and the two Elven countries Dragoc-Froturn have become sour, ushering a new wave of anti-Elven sentiment in Etrand. While the queen consort Muyian remained popular due to her charisma and status as "almost a living saint", her successor Hió had no such luck - she was shy, she wasn't as culturally adaptable as her predecessor, and she was anti-social.

This, combined with the fact that part of the nobility was already resentful of Etrand having been gradually transformed into a de facto absolute monarchy, has led to fears of a new caste of Elves rising up to rule over Etrand and conquer it from within - in response a charismatic nobleman named Carolus Marecling emerged to the spotlight, starting the conspiracy to assassinate Queen Hió in 804 with the intent of sending a clear massage to King Calhoun. The conspiracy began.

Plot
As a way of sending signal to his fellow would-be-conspirators, Carolus Marecling petitioned to the royal government that tariffs should be placed on imported wine, so that Southern Etrandish winemakers can flourish better. Carolus also made baked-up claims that Elven visitors to Etrand were desecrating old, pre-unification era buildings, and that members of the Queen's retinue were publicly misbehaving. King Calhoun sent Carolus away with empty hands - Carolus was not disappointed, as this little bit of troublemaking was simply the means of sending a signal to like-minded noblemen. Soon, many of his fellow co-conspirators would join him.

The first casualty was suffered by the conspirators - Aelfwin Bréca personally tried to assassinate Queen Hió, but was killed by the queen herself, frozen by Ice Magic. Even though it was clearly an act of self-defense, word got out quickly that the king's wife was a murderer. Carolus once again petitioned, demanding that the Queen be punished and her retinue sent home - once again, King Calhoun responded negatively, and threatened to lock up Carolus if he wasted his time again. The conspirators retreated, but did not give up yet - one week later, it was first blood once again.

The first victim of the conspiracy was Coiry'yú Ariachió, one of the members of Queen Hió's retinue. Ariachió's carriage was assaulted and his throat was sliced by mysterious cloaked figures, who would then disappear and wouldn't be found. It was immediately assumed that Carolus Marecling hired the assassins, but the cunning nobleman defended himself claiming that he had nothing to do with the assassination, and even had the audacity to claim that his desire to have Hió's retinue deported was for their own safety. In the end, not enough evidence could be presented that would prove that Marecling is guilty - he was wrongly found innocent, and the conspiracy continued.

The second and third victims were Aióchi Górá and his lover Thyra Chyúreagna, who were both killed by cross-bolts to the head, and then their carriage was burned. The guards and the carriage's driver were killed as well, in order to ensure that no witnesses remained - after the corpses were found, a manhunt ensured, but none of the assassins could be turned up. Nevertheless, there was a major outrage over the issue, and the security of Hió's retinue specifically got enhanced as a result - members of the retinue, as well as the Queen herself were advised to stay indoors and be always accompanied by bodyguards, or else they would have to be accompanied by an army.

The would-be fourth victim, Ummetius Dóletul was accompanied by a large-enough group of mercenaries whom the assassins underestimated. The assassins were caught, and after a sufficent amount of torture, they confessed that they were hired by a group of nobles led by Carolus Marecling. More torture revealed the list of more nobles who were involved.

Aftermath
After the secret news got into the ears of King Calhoun, he ordered for the abduction of some of the involved nobles, so that more information could be gained from them. As the last group of assassins did not return, Carolus and his co-conspirators were getting paranoid and assassinations of royal representatives followed. Not soon after, the King marched the royal army to the residence of south, where he would forcibly arrest Carolus and all of the conspirators, and would put them into the Dungeons of Grandfolk until the verdict was made.

The guilty nobles were brought to court, where they were tried for high treason. The ringleaders - including Carolus himself - were found guilty and executed, while the lesser nobles were released with the excuse that they were only forced to take part in the conspiracy, but they were still forced to pay reparations.

The King has made the deduction that relations between the royal government and the nobility were not as good as he thought they were, so, in order to mend his broken relations with the nobility, he revived the Fathred-cult - which damaged his kingdom's relations with Froturn - and made various gestures towards the nobility, reassuring them that they were integral in the kingdom's well-being.

Legacy
The revival of the Fathred-cult damaged Etrand's relations with Froturn, and may or may not have contributed to the Etrandish intervention in the Froturnish Civil War and the Froturnish resentment of Etrand that followed.

While King Cairbré and King Calhoun both married Half-Elves - namely, Muyian of Artaburro and Hió of Artaburro - Calhoun's designated successor Bryant and his actual successor Orlónius both married fellow humans from Etrand, which lessened the nobility's fears of a new elven ruling class emerging.