The Dark Revolt was a conflict that occurred in 200 PCE[1] between dissenting Obsidians and The Society, wherein the Obsidians attempted to free themselves from bondage and overthrow the Gold government.
Background[]
An Evening with Pierce Brown- Extended Q&A Footage
A timestamp from an interview in which Pierce Brown talks about the origins of the Dark Revolt
According to Pierce Brown, the Dark Revolt was caused by the Golds attempting to cull the massive Obsidian population down to more controllable numbers. There were many Obsidians bred for war during and before the Conquering, in order to use them as soldiers to conquer Earth. After the Golds successfully conquered Earth, the lingering population of Obsidians then had to find a place in The Society. Since Obsidians were restricted to roles involving war and combat (as guards, soldiers, etc.), the huge Obsidian population needed to be downsized in order to meet the shrunken demand of post-Conquering Society.
Major Participants[]
Kuthul Amun[]
Kuthul Amun was the warlord who became the king of the Obsidians and led his color in the Dark Revolt. He was killed during a battle on Mercury in the Waste of Ladon,[2] and his heart was added to the tip of The Sovereign's Dawn Scepter as a trophy.[3]
Major Events[]
Battle of Peitho[]
The Battle of Peitho was the last battle of the Dark Revolt in which the Obsidian rebellion was crushed by The Society.[4] Following the battle, Gold culled 90% of the Obsidian population.
Aftermath[]
To keep the Obsidians in check after the Dark Revolt, The Society confined the remaining Obsidian population not serving in the Societal military to the icy polar regions of planets such as Earth and Mars,[5] while the original settlements on other planets such as Mercury were destroyed.[4] The Board of Quality Control then conducted social and cultural re-engineering of the caste in order to ensure future generations of Obsidians would be totally obedient to Gold. The Obsidians' Mongol-based sociological structure was convereted to one based on the ancient Norse, and they were taught to believe that Golds were the gods of Norse Mythology.[5]
The use of technology was heavily restricted to introduce technophobia into Obsidian culture, and the Board used Obsidian shamans to implement strict rules regarding touching among Obsidians in order to discourage kinship among the color.[6]
The Board also inverted the division protocol implemented for Reds and changed the Obsidians' patriarchal social structure to a matriarchal one, with Obsidian religion being centered around the worship of the Allmother instead of Allfather.[4]
Some of the Obsidians who fought alongside Kuthul in the Dark Revolt managed to escape the genocide of the Obsidians, but pursuit from the Olympic Knights and Societal kill squads forced them to flee all the way to the Kuiper Belt. With the aid of captured Carvers, these Obsidians modified their bodies to better survive with the resources they had, becoming the first Ascomanni.
These Ascomanni became some of the last remaining speakers of the Obsidian language of Tetkjr, which was replaced with Nagal throughout the rest of the solar system. Within the Core, the only remnants of Tetkjr were phrases found in the ruins old temples on Mercury that were later rediscovered by Ozgard during the Solar War.[4]
Trivia[]
- Peitho is a goddess from Greek Mythology who is typically presented as a companion to Aphrodite, suggesting that the Battle of Peitho may have taken place on Venus.