Order of the Yellow Rose

Princess eDonistadled aka Doni, also known as The Yellow Princess, is one of the key players the Twin Rose Wars (as seen by Memoirs of the Twin Rose Wars/ Magenta Rose set of submissions. You need to look at these posts, for these to make proper sense.

In terms of historical serendipity and impact, one of the most important acts in the world was the 'accidental' creation of the Order of the Yellow Rose. The existence of the Order changed the course of world events.

The creation of the Order started with a pique Doni or Princess eDonistadled aka Doni. Doni hated The Order of the Magenta Rose Knights that looked over her mother and her. She wanted fun knights of her own. So she asked her step father to create a minor order for her, and in a moment of fatherly love, he did. And to be fair, he allowed Reisha to do so too (creating the Order of the Green Rose). Both orders were to be under the command of the First Knight of the Magenta Rose Order.

The Yellow Rose became her symbol and the symbol of her order. It is unclear if it was because she was initially a Yellow leanings of the Blues and Yellows of The Colors or if she just liked the color. (Given Doni's personality, it was probably the latter. By taking on the color, just as 'The Colors' were just starting up, she became inexorably linked to the Yellows.

The Order started as one of youth. Doni wanted companions roughly her age. She recruited young nobles (many who were in University) and knights just earning or soon to be earning their spurs. With so many 'fine young men' around, more young girls, beyond Doni's friends, began to hang about. Of course where there are young nobles, there are coins. Where there are coins and bored nobles, there are minstrels, bards, poets, and so on. The order seemed less a knightly order and more as the entry requirement for various social events (some planned and some impromptu).

The Order did protect the Princess, mostly by just 'hanging about her'. Most were there to have fun or spend some time away from the university. They spoke as young men are wont to do, of great deads they will do and the world they will make. Doni believed almost every word of it. Young Lord Renly, a charismatic young rake, began to espouse upon the ideal political philosophies. With his silver tongue and simplified view of things, it all seemed wonderful, a paradise. The group started to embrace them, thinking that they could remake the world.

Slowly, even Doni began to pick up on this trend. It was over this first year or so that she changed from a girl full of fairy tales, dreams, and chivalric tales of knights, princesses, and dragons to a girl full of grand ideals of a better society, fairy tales of total social equality and shared wealth. She began to mouth the need for change (as others in the circle did).

Renly and his group of young nobles formed the most radical core of the Order of the Yellow Rose. They, thinking themselves quite the political operatives and more intelligent than the rest, attempted to manipulate court to promote their ideals. They supported the Duke, only because he was their best hope for 'real change'. They began to spy upon the Blues for him, passing along pieces of information to promote his cause. Unbeknownst to the Duke, they began to quietly, but actively, work plots towards his succession.

Before this time, the Blues and the Yellows of the Colors were more informal groupings, simply people of the same general opinions and political leanings. However because of Renly's crew's somewhat clumsy plottings, they galvanized The Blues into a more organized faction. As a united front, The Blues can began to work for their goals and were quite effective. This led the Yellows to organized and actively work on their goals. This internal conflict in the court created The Greens of the Colors. Then the process of government began to slow to a crawl.

While the Human Kingdom mourned the death of Mathius the Great King, Renly and his cabal began to actively work for the Duke's succession. They even went as far as to hire assassins to deal with the Viceroy and his first man Ser Bargos. While those assassinations did not go off as planned, Renly and his cabal managed to remove a few 'targets of opportunities' in the chaos. They had others in The Order, even Princess Doni, providing them intelligence of The Court and various nobles.

The main players in the Blues and Yellows were unawares that this Cabal in the Order of the Yellow Rose were the ones pushing the issues. Each thought the other side's leaders were the ones doing the plotting. This created the enmity that started the open conflict of the First Rose War.

To help secure the Duke's position and to give him a greater air of legitimacy, they thought to 'bring the Queen to the Duke's side'. The problem was she would not aid him willingly (and she might of, but at the time she was living in deep grief for her husband). They began to arrange for a 'forceful removal' of Engled, The Queen Consort. However, she discovered the plot against her (though not knowing the details) and left the palace.

The lines were drawn and the Call to the Banners were made. The Order of the Yellow Rose rose to the Duke's Banner, bringing the Princess along with them. While some members of the Order of the Yellow Rose did join the ranks and showed some merit, most were 'less than ideal warriors'. These young courtiers and scholars were better suited to being spies and the occasional unexpected assassin than warriors in the field of battle. The Duke generally ignored The Order's agents and Renly, but grudgingly admitted that they were occasionally useful. Princess Doni was helpful in swaying Greens and those who were totally neutral to his cause.

The Order of the Yellow Rose continued to operate independently of Doni's wishs. In truth, The Order had not been hers for several years. However, she saw them as her protectors, rather than her Order to command, so she did what the more senior members (usually acting under Renly's orders) told her to do. Thus The Princess became a pawn in the war. Most of the time she was a political operative, swaying others to the Duke's cause. Being a 'prize', she was sought after by the Viceroy's forces. She was often used as bait or a distraction for various schemes and plots. (And often put in harms way). She was overjoyed when her Mother joined the Yellow Side. However, her 'friends' endeavored to keep the two in separate locations for 'safety reasons'. Especially since they did not want her to learn what her mother knew about the Order's less than savory activities - including the kidnapping attempt early on.

The First Rose War did not go well for the Duke. Some of the Order were thinking of 'leveraging' the Queen Consort to a foreign power for arms, money, and possible man-power. The Princess would of denounced this plan, but she was kept in the dark. Not that it mattered, she was captured by The Blues before it came to pass.

As the Duke surrendered, The Order of the Yellow Rose dispersed. Having planned for this, they went 'underground' to avoid prosecution for their various crimes. Except for Renly, most would of been simply dismissed for their roles.

Over the Viceroy's reign, The Order of the Yellow Rose, became the boogyman of rebellion. The Order took on a very different character. They became criminals to support themselves (dropping the occasional yellow rose or card with a yellow rose at the scene of the crime). While they mostly robbed or killed Blue Nobles, they eventually began not to discriminate. (All the while the Viceroy's forces began to fret about possible political movements and actions, when really it was nothing more than random crimes). While they did keep the dispersed Yellow forces in contact with each other, they were mostly just criminals with noble blood.

Upon the Viceroy's Death, the Blue forces began to fall against each other. Mostly this chaos was caused by a deft political stroke or two by Young Lord Renly.

The Few, what the remaining members of the Order of Yellow Roses who were not common criminals now took to calling themselves, returned to The Duke's Banners as a much older and wiser force. Most aquitted themselves quite well during the Second Twin Rose War. Almost all were pardoned for their various crimes (except for some of the most heinous acts).

The Order was Retired from the Rolls one year after the final battle of the Second Twin Rose War.

Historical note: Only the most serious scholars or students of conspiracy/ espionage really know what Young Lord Renly's little band did and how much impact they truly had. The common face of history does not really mention them or what they did. The only reason people still know of The Order is a small monument to them and their duties to the Duke in south district of the capital.