As the Republic came to know the Resolve’s awesome and terrible power in defeating nearly two entire outfits of Church forces, the Ecclesial Authority would respond in kind; not only against that of the Resolve threat, but against any and all whom would dare even consider wielding the powers of magic and the arcane. On Paedrig’s Day of 1313, a formal decree issued by the Venerated Church’s Council of Bishops was made; magic was considered a blight against one’s own immortal soul, and any whom dared to practice it would be subjected to execution without trial or jury. In mere days, word of this decree traveled far and wide across the far reaches of Vitaveus. What would soon follow would be the literal slaughter of thousands of Republic citizens at the hands of both the Church, the Inquisition, and even the laypeople of the Republic itself. Those that were known to study the art of the arcane were slain in the streets and alleys of the Republic, often by the hands of their own neighbors.
No consideration had been given to the fact that the average arcane user’s prowess over magic had been infantile at best; if one was known or even suspected of having dabbled in the arcane arts, their life was essentially forfeit. The Church, its’ Templar along with the fabled Inquisition Corps, now roiling with excitement and bloodlust over the declaration of a “crusade of this generation”, wasted no time in bringing forth “divine justice” to those that, only a week prior, had been the very people they had been oath-bound to protect and serve. Homes, farms, shops and property of suspected magic users, now simply referred to as “witches” by those of the Cloth, were burned to the ground. Those even thought to have been associated with witches – witchkindred – were often executed in the streets as well. Only when time would permit, these collaborators would be treated with what would become customary treatment of those suspected of witchcraft: crucifixion or being burned at the stake. Literature concerning the arcane had been further deemed illegal and immoral by the marauding Church forces, and it was burned in great pyres whenever and wherever it was found, with those found in possession of it suffering a similar fate. This frenzied Inquisition against magic and the arcane had reached across every corner of the Republic, lasting for nearly two months, and was punctuated in many areas with civil unrest, rioting, rampant property damage, and other collateral crimes against humanity. This period of unrest would be come to known as the “Purge of the Witchkin”.
During the horrors inflicted upon Republic citizens during the Purge, the Resolve took a grand opportunity to make their intentions well known. In each city that the cabal had made their presence within during their trek across the kingdom a year prior, those supposedly blessed by their mysterious powers of Miracles had become stricken with misfortune. Those that the collective of warlocks and witches had healed of the turned feral and mindless. Grateful souls that were cured of blindness were stricken with horrifying visions of otherworldly creatures, speaking of dreadful sights of daemons and Ill. Those that were bestowed the gift of hearing were damned with voices beckoning them to commit atrocious deeds upon their fellow man.
Yet it was the mute whom had been chosen to deliver the Resolve’s true message to the forsaken Republic. Across the Republic, thousands of the misfortunate whom were blessed with the supposed Miracle of Speech raised their voices in unholy unison, their cacophony revealing the true nature of the Resolve’s deceit:
“The End is Nigh for the Children of Decus; may their Torment sew the seeds of the New World”.
The Church, its’ Templar along with the fabled Inquisition Corps, now roiling with excitement and bloodlust over the declaration of a “crusade of this generation”, wasted no time in bringing forth “divine justice” to those that, only a week prior, had been the very people they had been oath-bound to protect and serve.
Following the Church’s inquisition against witchcraft, a considerable void was left within the Republic. The Resolve, now having seemingly vanished into the frontier lands of the Western Territories, proved to have had been an unassailable force of unfathomable power. The Torment continued to ravage the Republic, with every alchemical and apothecarial treatment devised by the Foundry and Apothecary Corps proving to be ineffective. Magical practice and even research had been deemed wholly heretical, despite that the only known cures to the Torment had been that of the Resolve’s incantations of protection and magical spells of healing. With the Republic burning, it had become begrudgingly and painfully aware to the Ecclesial Authority that an understanding of magic was vital to the survival of the Decusian peoples, not simply for divining a cure to the Torment, but out of fear of the Resolve one day returning to conquer and subjugate an unprepared Republic with the super-weapon of magic, of which no match to existed within the armories of the Decusian war machine.
While it was an inarguable fact that, surreptitiously, select Chapters of Templar and cloisters of those within the Authority had been engaging in the state-sponsored study, documentation and perpetuation of magical practice for countless centuries, their prowess over the mystic arts were but a fraction of that seen on display by the Resolve. Furthermore, such work towards the mastery of the arcane arts could not be relegated to the shadows if any true progress was to be made – only a minute portion of the population had appeared to be “attuned” to be able to practically use and harness the powers of magic. Thus, the Church had turned to the millions of laypersons whom, just months prior, they had hunted with impunity for the mere speculation of practicing magic. A new bureaucracy would be required – one under the purview of the Church, but seemingly independent from its influence. This bureaucracy would walk the fine line between seeking salvation of the Decusian peoples form the threat of the Torment and Resolve while also keeping ever-in mind the lessons learned from the Act of Blasphemy, the infamous event that had been responsible for deeming magic heretical and a threat to the eternal salvation of mankind in the first place. A new faction would be thus be birthed, under the close supervision of the College of Bishops; a collaborative of enlightened minds whom would research, develop and perfect the magical arts; this collaborative would be come to known formally as the Consortium of Mages.
Magical practice and even research had been deemed wholly heretical, despite that the only known cures to the Torment had been that of the Resolve’s incantations of protection and magical spells of healing.
As 1313 came to a close, a new day and age of the Republic had come to pass. A kingdom divided, both literally and figuratively, constituted the New Republic. With the western half of Vitaveus considered Blacklands, the Eastern Baronies were but a shadow of their former self. The Church, whose favor and power had never been so solidified since the days of Old, reigned over every aspect of life with an air of authoritarianism never before witnessed. Following the Darkest Dawn, a tentative sense of order had been regained, paid for in the blood of tens of thousands of citizens. All across Vitaveus, even the most progressive Decusian reverted to their faith; for if such a thing as Magic existed, undoubtedly the other stories of Old were not folklore, but accounts of reality in the flesh.
And thus, the word of the Church had now been unquestionable. And it was with this unquestionable word that the Church did rebuild the ailing Republic, solidifying its’ control over the Eastern Baronies, shoring up the borders of the Midlands, and in but a few short years, setting its sights farther. By 1315, with the Baronies under firm martial control, the Church now focused its attention to reclaiming control over the entirety of the Midlands, intent on reclaiming absolute control over the continent by any means necessary.