Synopsis of the Coglapse by Basilius Drake

Basilius Drake

SYNOPSIS OF THE COGLAPSE

CHAPTER 1: THE STATE OF THE COG

It is January, Cogmas has ended and there is hope for a year of prosperity and growth. This was the common mindset of the citizens of the Confederation of Garxijos during the new year, one short lived and fraught with dreadful irony as time went by. I am Basilius Drake, citizen of Helsia during the crisis known as the Coglapse. I write this so that those who wish to know the story of the fall of Eldham’s greatest democracy may know it and learn from it.

It is important to note that – contrary to popular belief – the CoG was not a country. It was a collection of autonomous nations united by an identical foreign policy determined by a government which they voted on. This government was not able to interfere with matters between “states” (as they were known) unless it threatened the aforementioned foreign policy. Many within the CoG were not aware of this (a fact that still confounds me) and this led many to make foolish decisions that could have been avoided had they done research on the confederation they had joined. This will be extremely relevant later so I ask you to remember this fact.

The optimism of post-cogmas times were quickly squandered by the January Upheaval, where the Imperium of Uraka attempted an invasion of the entire North East of Eldham. Emperor Neo backed down after a huge coalition was formed against him, though not before Uraki bandits wreaked havoc in roddinbrok and CoG, creating anti-Uraka sentiments that will also be relevant later.

Now dear reader, I must address the subject all former CoG citizens are wanting me to address (and no doubt expecting me to spare the feelings of): the Republic of Helsia. Helsia did not join CoG of its own volition; rather it was given to the young confederation by Ravenguard after they pulled out of the territory, having been occupying it since the Helsia-Ravenguard war. Many in Helsia were not happy about being in CoG initially, but realised it was for the best and decided to throw their lot in with the confederation. The issue was, Helsia had been partitioned by Ravenguard before being given to CoG and the Helsians were furious at this. They negotiated for months to get their homelands back (a fact the SPG would later ignore) and finally made progress with the reclamation of Caisteal in December. I witnessed this victory as I had arrived in late November. I remember the celebrations for this was not just reclamation of our homeland, but a period of huge growth for Helsia, such as the nation had not seen before nor again as I write this in late February of the New Year.

Grander Stultum had been the powerhouse in the CoG in its early days, but Helsia quickly grew to rival them and with this growth they overtook Stultum as the old wolf’s strength began to wither. As a result Stultum and its leader became firmly anti-Helsian, believing them to have designs to conquer the entire confederation. I intend to be as unbiased as possible here but I must say – no matter how biased it may seem to some – that Helsia had no desire to take anything more than its homeland. This was the main reason for the state’s fear of Helsia and it is tragic that they believed this lie for so long. This was the state of the Confederation of Garxijos prior to the Coglapse. End of chapter one.