Agora Dozen

The Agora Dozen refers to a group of Renegades who managed to briefly retake the Agora of Stygia from the Smiling Lord during the Great War. Twelve Renegades (or thirteen by some accounts), lead by a woman known as Lucia believed him to be no better a ruler than Charon and wanted to show the weakness of his regime. They managed, between most of the troops of Stygia being stationed at its walls due to the Fourth Great Maelstrom and the Grim Legion's overconfidence, to attack and destroy the few soldiers left to defend the marketplace and claim it as theirs.

The Smiling Lord immediately responded; the Agora Dozen had not even held it for a day when the Grim Legion troops fell upon them. Some said they were captured and soulforged; others saw them pulled into Oblivion, and still others claimed they escaped. Perhaps the most powerful, and most believed of the tales, says that all of the Agora Dozen attained Transcendence through their actions.

Although their action was brief and seemingly fruitless, the power of the story of their bravery and reward shows how weak the Smiling Lord's grasp of Stygia really is and spurs other Renegades, Heretics, Loyalists, and even the Guilds to rebel, undermine, and otherwise inconvenience the Grim Legion at every turn. The prisoners of the Yellow Springs use the rebellion as an inspiration to free most of their number from the Paper Cage. Most damaging to the Smiling Lord's plans, however, is the loss of support from the Emerald Legion; the Emerald Lord, seeing the weaknesses of the Grim Legion, withdraws his troops and people from the new regime, making the decision to throw his power behind the Loyalists and hoping to choose the winning side in the impending battles.