Imperial Invasion and Occupation
The Empire invaded Anglesey for its usual reasons: greed (for Anglesey's natural resources), ambition (successful invasion = more prestige/power/wealth) and paranoia (any neighbour is a possible danger). Topography and other factors meant the conquest would not encompass the entire island.
In the conquered areas,the occupation was especially brutal. Since the Imperials had greatly overestimated the island's wealth; Imperial taxes and fees squeezed the Islanders to near starvation levels. After a few decades, ambitious men realized there were more lucrative places to make wealth in the Empire and attention shifted elsewhere.
But, rather than make Anglesey's plight better, the Occupation entered a new and horrifying phase. The island came to especially attract those who were weak in their position, moderate in their wealth, strong in their magical talents, and utterly unscrupulous in how they advanced their own interests. Magical experiments claimed untold local lives and warped the minds and bodies of many islanders who were 'lucky' to survive the experimentation or the magical/chemical contamination of their environment. Locals continued to live in abject poverty as every last bit of wealth was squeezed out of them by the Imperials. A few - a very few - Imperials tried to curb the worst of the abuses or treat the locals humanely. However, such 'weakness' was regarded not only as distasteful, but dangerous as it would make the Imperial rule 'look weak'. The combination of Imperial military efficiency and the ruthless use of powerful magics made revolt seem impossible.
History of Anglesey and the Empire
In the conquered areas,the occupation was especially brutal. Since the Imperials had greatly overestimated the island's wealth; Imperial taxes and fees squeezed the Islanders to near starvation levels. After a few decades, ambitious men realized there were more lucrative places to make wealth in the Empire and attention shifted elsewhere.
But, rather than make Anglesey's plight better, the Occupation entered a new and horrifying phase. The island came to especially attract those who were weak in their position, moderate in their wealth, strong in their magical talents, and utterly unscrupulous in how they advanced their own interests. Magical experiments claimed untold local lives and warped the minds and bodies of many islanders who were 'lucky' to survive the experimentation or the magical/chemical contamination of their environment. Locals continued to live in abject poverty as every last bit of wealth was squeezed out of them by the Imperials. A few - a very few - Imperials tried to curb the worst of the abuses or treat the locals humanely. However, such 'weakness' was regarded not only as distasteful, but dangerous as it would make the Imperial rule 'look weak'. The combination of Imperial military efficiency and the ruthless use of powerful magics made revolt seem impossible.
History of Anglesey and the Empire