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The Violet Revolution
Prologue
Lacrimae Populi
Before the intricacies of the reign of Queen Koriand'r can be fully understood, one must be conscious of the issues at play in Tamaranean politics at the time. Although the Tamaraneans, over the span of hundreds of thousands of years of research, had managed to advance their technological progress to impressive levels, it was still a very conservative society in terms of social change. Although the entire planet of Tamaran was in theory a single absolutist kingdom, in reality feudalism had been dominant to some degree for millenia. In recent history, King Myand'r had shown himself to be exceptionally compassionate for his people but nevertheless a traditionalist who was unwilling to rock the boat of the kingdom's political state.
The short reign of Queen Komand'r, the eldest daughter of King Myand'r, was a much more complicated situation. Komand'r was typically self-serving and xenophobic, but at the same time she was exceptionally gifted with the skills requisite for effective political leadership and had tended to be more progressive on domestic policy. Komand'r's one great mistake, which ultimately resulted in the undoing of her reign, was her attempt to force her sister Koriand'r into a marriage with a foreign head of state. Nevertheless, Komand'r's short reign initiated the first great attempts at social reform seen on Tamaran since the political order under which she ruled was established. The dark-haired queen's reform proposals had made her very popular with the common citizens but her reign had been a source of great anxiety among the nobles.
During the regency period which ensued following the deposal of Queen Komand'r, Regent Galfore proceeded to take a very "hands off" approach to governing the kingdom. He was officially cloaked with the title of Grand Ruler, but he was never sovereign and as such lacked the authority to overrule the nobles, who effectively controlled Tamaran during the regency. With noble control deepening, the central government in Tamarus was becoming increasingly irrelevant to the political reality of the planet. To use a terrestrial analogue, Tamaran was beginning to resemble the Holy Roman Empire.
The nobles really had no concern for the welfare of the common citizens. Indeed, most of the nobles had been raised to regard the people as little more than fodder for their own aggrandizement. This aggrandizement was relative—it was the ultimate object of every noble to be superior to the other nobles. During the reigns of relatively effective monarchs like Korithus, Myand'r and Komand'r, nobles had sought superiority via the measure of the happiness of their respective populations, seeing as the strength of the government in Tamarus prevented more sinister manifestations of competition amongst the noble houses.
During the two recent interregnums, however, the weakness of the central government gave way to increasingly militant displays on the part of the nobles. Within sixteen months after Komand'r was deposed, the noble houses began raising their own armies to attack each other, triggering a number of contemporaneous feudal wars in which each of the noble houses sought to gain control over as much land as possible. The happiness of the people was no-longer the medium of competition by which the nobles contested one another, and so it was abandoned as a goal; now the only use the nobles had for citizens was as soldiers. Such a development would have never happened in the past, as the noble houses would have been too afraid of Tamarus intervening; however, Galfore's weak position was something of which the nobles were very acutely aware.
Against the backdrop of Tamaranean commoners fighting and killing each other in the name of securing greater power for their noble lords, more a greater and more longstanding foreign threat continued to loom on the horizon. Komand'r's attempt to pawn Koriand'r off in a forced marriage was in part a manifestation of the great antagonism Blackfire had felt for Starfire, but it was also a diplomatic gesture. The Citadel Empire had always been Tamaran's greatest rival, but by now there was no real contest. The Citadel controlled all of the Vega System except for Tamaran. With the Citadel Empire at the kingdom's doorstep, Tamaran needed allies, and the Swamp Moons of Drenthax IV were a great candidate for this role. It also helped that the Jewel of Charta had the ability of amplifying the natural fighting abilities of a Tamaranean warrior. With the unraveling of Komand'r's plot, the alliance never happened, and now a very divided Tamaran stood alone—the law of unintended consequences can be a bitch sometimes.
As Koriand'r returned to her home world, the reaction of the populace was one of immense hope. Although the relationship between Kori and Kom had an antagonistic tendency, the people saw that both sisters were ultimately the products of the same parentage. Moreover, the Tamaranean people were very much aware of Koriand'r's compassionate personality and hoped that she would be their great champion in times when their kingdom had been stricken with a greater malaise than any who were alive had ever seen.
But of course, the tears of the people upon the return of their prodigal princess were not entirely born of joy. None, or almost none, were certain that Kori could do what needed to be done. As she was appraised of the reality, not even Koriand'r was sure she could fix things. It seemed as though the only two individuals on the planet who were certain of her ability to set the planet right again were her dear k'norfka, Galfore, and her even dearer fiancé, Richard. But for every encouraging word that Dick Grayson gave to the woman who was betrothed to be his future wife, Kori could not shake the realization that he could not possibly have any idea what he was talking about—this was not his planet, and his only knowledge of its culture and history were what she had told him. Nevertheless, his unending support, she knew, would be an invaluable resource to her in her reign. Kori was not a natural leader, and she knew very well that there would be times when she would not know what to do; but Galfore and Richard would always be there for her.
As Queen Koriand'r's reign began, the only notice the nobles gave to it was what they were required by tradition to give. The only monarch in recent history who had ever tried to take powers back from the nobles after the nobles had already in fact acquired them was Queen Komand'r. Koriand'r had been instrumental in the downfall of her sister, and the nobles were very much aware of the animosity between the two. Among the noble houses of Tamaran, there was certainly a trust that the new Queen would not upset the new reality.
The people's hopes were hinging on the opposite. The people demanded reforms. The people needed an end to feudalism. They prayed for a government that would respond to their needs rather than allow them to be used as fodder for the aggrandizement of oligarchs. What they wanted was nothing short of a revolution, and it was their hope that their violet-cloaked Queen would deliver upon that for them.
Author's Notes
Well, there's the prologue for The Violet Revolution, which I intend to be a companion piece to my other story Ascension of the Beast. While the latter primarily follows Beast Boy and Raven, this one is meant to give a look at what was happening with Robin and Starfire simultaneously. It's probably not going to be as long as AotB, But I will attempt to make it hopefully as interesting.
This prologue is kinda short (although it's a few hundred words longer than AotB's prologue), but I just wanted to get it up to kinda set up the story. I'm not sure when I'm going to get to work on this in earnest, but I will probably be working on both stories at the same time. Since their timelines are going to merge into a shared sequel, I need to have both of them finished before I can advance to that.