540 - The Siege of Seven-score Thousand Smokes

When the Goblyns of the South attacked the Empire during the Goblyn Wars, Aqulia's population swelled as the unfortified southern cities fell, and thousands of impoverished refugees filled the city streets and ghettos. A civilized city of twenty thousand became a mad rabble of some sixty thousand souls in the span of a year. Hunger, fear and plague broke out in the overpopulated shanties, a threat even more credible than the Goblyns outside the impregnable Dwur fortifications. Fires and riots were common, and the smokes of coal and incense were used to purify the plagues, until the city became soot-stained and known as the "City of Seven-score Thousand Smokes." Many turned to religion in their despair, and enterprising priests quickly gained a following for many a new god promising relief from misery.

The indignities of the rabble touched all but the wealthy, who hid behind private guards and strong estate walls, fearful of a rebellion. Arenas, lotteries, and dice games flourisned in the overfilled city. People sold their treasured heirlooms to eat, and more than one savvy merchant ascended into the aristocracy, particularly grain merchants. Through it all the Emperor kept the Imperial Granaries well guarded, keeping his legions strong and rationing food to the starving rabble to keep them one step away from rebellion.

When the goblyns reached the city wall and brought siege, vast militias of peasants and rabble were conscripted by press gangs that roamed the steets with clubs and manacles. The peasant militias were turned out with pikes to be slaughtered by the battle-hardened goblyns. Those who returned home were housed and fed by Imperial coin and grain, or adopted by the elite Imperial Legions. Desparate men volunteered for the "Grogs" to feed their starving families.

The Second Goblyn War lasted for many years, but eventually the city won its freedom. The lands all around Aquila had been devastated, but the Emperor claimed the goblyns would never return. Aquila was left a head without a body, a stately cit-state rather than a vast empire.