June

1848

Leon, Nicaragua

It was not unknown in the Republic of Nicaragua that across the sea Revolutionaries have been popping up against injustice and prejudice of the monarchies in Europe. While Nicaragua was no monarchy, the Republic that ruled was one of corruption, infighting, and autocratic leadership. Because of this, there was no surprise among the people of Nicaragua that something begun to stir, this something happened to be in the form of a 20 year old university student, Orlando Ros. A keen follower of the left movement, even being a penpal of Robert Owen, Ros desired a better world for his fellow Nicaraguans. A student of Philosophy and Political Science, he was the epitome of an idealist student, born to a somewhat rich family of plantation owners, having seen the danger and corruption of wealth.

As a rather... revolutionary fellow, his publications at university and the conversations he would have with his fellow students placed him on the radar of the National Guard, as he was a possible terrorist in the making. As he was a known target of the National Guard, he was subject to arrests, harassment, and even beatings. While his family's reputation saved him from more intense harassment, he was still under fire by the oppressive Nicaraguan government. At first, his harassment was minimal, merely a warning from the National Guard. However, this escalated greatly after his first published work, "Red Dawn" was released to the public. The book was 140 pages, written over months of work, primarily written by Ros but edited with the help of his Nicaraguan Student Union. Once his book was published he was quickly expelled from university and placed under house arrest with National Guardsmen watching his every move. His arrest and expulsion caused ripples to occur within Leon, especially among other university students.

Within a week student-led protests begun to fill the streets and educational facilities of Leon. In one case students captured the Tridentine Seminary College of Saint Raymond and placed the Rector into captivity! The students held out in the College for three days before the National Guard broke through their defences and arrested the students. However, not all went to plan and three of the twelve students were killed when a shot went off, causing the Guardsmen to fire back. On inspection, the students were completely unarmed. With the murder of the students in placed on every headline in every newspaper, tempers flared. Peaceful protests would turn violent, with National Guardsmen firing upon protesters or even fixing bayonets and attacking them while they chanted.

The National Guard knew that holding Orlando Ros under guard would only escalate the protests further, they released him but kept him under watch by Secret Officers. The release of Ros was counted as a victory for the left-movement within Nicaragua, with many of the university students claiming to be "Rosians", students of Ros. Now, the book circulates Nicaragua freely, however, it is rumoured that the purchase of said book would place you on a list and within a certain amount of time, you would be visited by the Guard.

With Ros no longer in jail, he would be able to continue to lead protests and speak on behalf of the Rosians and many disadvantaged peoples across Nicaragua. This is assuming he would be allowed to continue his rabble-rousing as a young firebrand and that his popularity would last longer than merely a few months as a local celebrity.

Quotes from Red Dawn

"My God is none other than the people. Only the popular masses are omniscient and omnipotent and almighty on earth. Therefore my lifetime motto is: The people are my God."

"The people are the masters of the revolution in each country. The revolution can neither be exported nor imported."

"He who feeds you, controls you."

"All exploiting classes, after all, constitute a reaction against history; they are the target of revolution."

"The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end."

"Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws."

"We Socialists are not reformers; we are revolutionaries. We Socialists do not propose change forms. We care nothing for forms. We want a change of the inside of the mechanism of society, let the form take care of itself."