The Ilkhatal Freedom Movement (IFM)
Founded by James Connor and Padraig Collins in 1789, the Ilkhatal Freedom Movement (IFM) has always been considered the army of the Ilkhatal Rebellion. From the beginning, the movement’s focus was on creating a guerilla army that could outlast the Shivian traditional army in the hills of the Killbraugha. James Connor disagreed with this philosophy and left in 1795 to form the Killer Liberation Army. Despite this break, James and Padraig remained on friendly terms, tried to coordinate attacks, and James risked attending Padraig’s funeral in 1799.
Padraig was no one’s picture of an ideal rebel leader. Bespectacled, frail looking, and owning only one suit, Padraig survived as a wandering math professor, offering classes to any Ilkhatal willing to pay him. He was often arrested for teaching without a license and outside an official room-the Shivians having passed strict laws regarding when and where an Ilkhatal could be taught and by whom. It is theorized that he and James may have met in jail, some even claiming they were lovers, although the evidence is circumstantial at best.
Padraig knew the IFM could never win in a conventional war nor would they generate the international support needed. Instead, he planned on creating an underground government and army that could apply just enough pressure on the Shivian citizenry, forcing them to walk away. The IFM worked mostly in the Killbraugha, leaving Shvia to the KLA. They targeted the Shivian overseers, land developers, bankers, and officers who were slowly migrating to the Killbraugha. They also incited riots and protests amongst the Ilkhatal population, combining worker’s rights with Ilkhatal nationalism. This brought about serious reprisals and Padraig and most of the IFM leadership were arrested during a mass protest and executed in 1799.
Padraig’s death destroyed the IFM, making it a useless entity until the 1820s. James Connor would try to revive the IFM after Padraig died, but could not properly control it from Shiva, and the few survivors ended up fighting amongst themselves.
When the First Shadow War started in 1804, the survivors of the IFM found themselves facing a potential Shadow invasion while a Shivian government that still refused to acknowledge their rights, threatened to draft them and turn them into cannon fodder. A few Ilkhatal tried to support James’ efforts to resist the draft, but the IFM remained a dormant resistance movement for most of the war.
The First Shadow War decimated much of the farmland in the Killbraugha, leaving many Ilkhatal poor and starving. The Shivians also burnt down various Alanist churches, turning what had been a political and social war into a religious war. Additionally, Shivian industrialists and railroad executives were carving out large chunks of the Killbraugha for development and extraction, hiring Ilkhatal at miserable wages without any medical coverage.
This combined with the tragically heroic stand at Trippé (that the Shivians refused to acknowledge. A statue would not be built for the Ilkhatal heroes until 1822, by Korens) made the Ilkhatal in the Killbraugha murderously anger and ready for revolution.
The IFM returned in 1816, although it was a sputtering existence until two domineering and ruthless Ilkhatal took over: Marcus Galloway and Kerry McNair.
Marcus was from central Killbraugha and was an Alanist who would have become a priest if the Shivians had not burnt own his monastery in 1811. Kerry was from the southern half of the Killbraugha, the area rich with minerals and resource and was richer than the rest of the country. Because of this, many Shivians lived in this region. He was an accountant, one of the few Ilkhatal who managed to gain a proper education. How Kerry and Marcus met is unknown, but in 1817 they took over the IFM and returned it to its militant roots. While Marcus recruited and trained their members, Kerry, and later Margaret and Sean Leland, focused on funding and arming their movement. Margaret, who joined the IFM in 1820, contacted Indarium smugglers who were selling arms used during the First Shadow War, the Gargainian Civil War, the Rubicon Civil War, and the various Indarium rebellions of the 1820s. Margaret and Kerry would use these connections to create a complicated web of weapon smugglers, ensuring they would always be one step ahead of the Shivian authorities and never short of weapons should a smuggler or two be compromised.
Kerry also implemented a strict chain of command, turning Marcus’ well trained, but unruly warriors, into well trained soldiers. Kerry, often calling himself Marcus’ second in command but really an army chief of staff, focused on logistics while Marcus focused on morale, recruitment, and tactics. Together they would assassinate the chief of police of Leister (the Killbraugha’s capital) in 1823, destroyed the Shivians’ spy network in 1826, and force the Shivians to declare a national emergency in the Killbraugha in 1824.
By 1826, they were a formidable foe for the Shivian Empire and seemed within inches of liberating the Killbraugha from Shivian control.
Padraig was no one’s picture of an ideal rebel leader. Bespectacled, frail looking, and owning only one suit, Padraig survived as a wandering math professor, offering classes to any Ilkhatal willing to pay him. He was often arrested for teaching without a license and outside an official room-the Shivians having passed strict laws regarding when and where an Ilkhatal could be taught and by whom. It is theorized that he and James may have met in jail, some even claiming they were lovers, although the evidence is circumstantial at best.
Padraig knew the IFM could never win in a conventional war nor would they generate the international support needed. Instead, he planned on creating an underground government and army that could apply just enough pressure on the Shivian citizenry, forcing them to walk away. The IFM worked mostly in the Killbraugha, leaving Shvia to the KLA. They targeted the Shivian overseers, land developers, bankers, and officers who were slowly migrating to the Killbraugha. They also incited riots and protests amongst the Ilkhatal population, combining worker’s rights with Ilkhatal nationalism. This brought about serious reprisals and Padraig and most of the IFM leadership were arrested during a mass protest and executed in 1799.
Padraig’s death destroyed the IFM, making it a useless entity until the 1820s. James Connor would try to revive the IFM after Padraig died, but could not properly control it from Shiva, and the few survivors ended up fighting amongst themselves.
When the First Shadow War started in 1804, the survivors of the IFM found themselves facing a potential Shadow invasion while a Shivian government that still refused to acknowledge their rights, threatened to draft them and turn them into cannon fodder. A few Ilkhatal tried to support James’ efforts to resist the draft, but the IFM remained a dormant resistance movement for most of the war.
The First Shadow War decimated much of the farmland in the Killbraugha, leaving many Ilkhatal poor and starving. The Shivians also burnt down various Alanist churches, turning what had been a political and social war into a religious war. Additionally, Shivian industrialists and railroad executives were carving out large chunks of the Killbraugha for development and extraction, hiring Ilkhatal at miserable wages without any medical coverage.
This combined with the tragically heroic stand at Trippé (that the Shivians refused to acknowledge. A statue would not be built for the Ilkhatal heroes until 1822, by Korens) made the Ilkhatal in the Killbraugha murderously anger and ready for revolution.
The IFM returned in 1816, although it was a sputtering existence until two domineering and ruthless Ilkhatal took over: Marcus Galloway and Kerry McNair.
Marcus was from central Killbraugha and was an Alanist who would have become a priest if the Shivians had not burnt own his monastery in 1811. Kerry was from the southern half of the Killbraugha, the area rich with minerals and resource and was richer than the rest of the country. Because of this, many Shivians lived in this region. He was an accountant, one of the few Ilkhatal who managed to gain a proper education. How Kerry and Marcus met is unknown, but in 1817 they took over the IFM and returned it to its militant roots. While Marcus recruited and trained their members, Kerry, and later Margaret and Sean Leland, focused on funding and arming their movement. Margaret, who joined the IFM in 1820, contacted Indarium smugglers who were selling arms used during the First Shadow War, the Gargainian Civil War, the Rubicon Civil War, and the various Indarium rebellions of the 1820s. Margaret and Kerry would use these connections to create a complicated web of weapon smugglers, ensuring they would always be one step ahead of the Shivian authorities and never short of weapons should a smuggler or two be compromised.
Kerry also implemented a strict chain of command, turning Marcus’ well trained, but unruly warriors, into well trained soldiers. Kerry, often calling himself Marcus’ second in command but really an army chief of staff, focused on logistics while Marcus focused on morale, recruitment, and tactics. Together they would assassinate the chief of police of Leister (the Killbraugha’s capital) in 1823, destroyed the Shivians’ spy network in 1826, and force the Shivians to declare a national emergency in the Killbraugha in 1824.
By 1826, they were a formidable foe for the Shivian Empire and seemed within inches of liberating the Killbraugha from Shivian control.
