Editing Rén Self-Defense League (section)

===First Iteration (1890-1928)===
The Rén Self-Defense League was initially established against the backdrop of the [[First Great Migration]], when crop failures and the passage of the [[Land use in Laeral|1888 Land Tenure Act]] led many Rén men to migrate to [[Riverlands]] urban centers such as [[Hanshui]] for the first time. As these Rén men faced economic hardships and racist harassment in cities, the RSDL emerged to provide banking and mutual protection services. The first chapterhouse of the RSDL was located in [[Neidong|Gaolan]] and founded by veterans of the [[War of the Seven Provinces]], with other chapterhouses quickly springing up in other Riverlands cities. The RSDL quickly developed esoteric practices, including initiation rites and other secret rituals. The RSDL also became interwoven with the Minjian Conclavist movement, with RSDL members among the militiamen fighting during the [[Peichen Secession Crisis]]. 

After the Avrainville Plot, an attempt on the life of [[René Gramont]] in 1928, the Rén Self-Defense League was banned by presidential decree as part of a broader crackdown on Rén nationalism during the [[Republican Era]]. This ban expired with the end of the Laeralian Republic.