War of the Empires: Difference between revisions

The '''War of the Empires''' was a continent-spanning conflict fought roughly '''300 cycles''' ago between the '''[[Directionland|United Empire of Directionland]]''' and the '''[[Southern Federation of Kingdoms]] (SFK)'''. The war began after a prolonged period of diplomatic breakdown and border militarization and culminated in a Directionlandic counteroffensive that destroyed the Federation’s core and dissolved the SFK after '''eight cycles''' of fighting. It is widely remembered as the most devastating war of the recorded era on [[Mundus]].

In the south, the kingdoms of '''Jalbarra''' and '''Yaxton''' and the '''Grand Duchy of Greater Urq''' opened talks to federate—initially framed as a response to border disputes with '''Ruulran''' and years of pressure along Directionland’s southern marches. The process produced the '''[[Southern Federation of Kingdoms]]''', a centralized military coalition under a “King-Emperor.”

Directionland was thrown into crisis when the Federation’s first missive to the Directian embassy in '''[[Jalbarra]]''' asserted a historic claim on '''[[Kingsvalley]]''' and demanded an immediate Directian military withdrawal from the border. A commonly cited paraphrase from the embassy file reads: <blockquote>''“Kingsvalley rests upon lands pledged to the Southern Crown; withdraw your banners and yield the valley, or we shall take what is owed.”'' </blockquote>In Ironwood, the warning '''accelerated negotiations''' already underway among Directionland’s cities, duchies, and kingdoms. Less than a cycle later, financial backing from '''[[St. Stylinson]]''', '''[[Gandry]]''', '''[[Simonville]]''', and '''[[St. Niam]]''' helped finalize [[The Great Unification|the '''Great Unification''']], electing '''[[King Ethian IV]]''' as the first Emperor of Directionland and establishing a bicameral government.

The SFK struck first at '''[[Kingsvalley]]''', brushing aside local militia and drawing Directionland’s nearby field forces toward '''St. Stylinson''', the nearest major stronghold and the empire’s former de facto capital. Contemporary analysts long treated the Kingsvalley push as the main blow; post-war staff studies call it what it was—'''a feint'''. (Kingsvalley would gain later notoriety for a much later portal event; at the time its fall was mostly strategic misdirection.)

The third stroke followed at once. A larger SFK army, '''hidden for weeks in the mountains''', descended into '''Gandry'''. With Gandry’s soldiers committed to Grelian, the kingdom could not recover: '''the [[Grand Sanctum of Alessa]] burned''', foundational archives were lost, and '''Grand King Ultimer III''' and his family were killed in the sack of the royal seat. By the end of the campaign’s opening phase, '''Kingsvalley, Grelian, and Gandry''' were under occupation—and Directionland faced invasion from '''south, west, and east'''.<blockquote>''“Dear Theodren, King—''

Under SFK occupation, '''Gandry''' suffered systematic destruction and subsequent agricultural collapse. The burning of the '''Grand Sanctum of Alessa''' erased swathes of religious and civic memory—including the scaffolding scholars once used to group saints in '''Triads of Stewardship'''—and fueled a refugee wave that reshaped settlement patterns for generations. '''Raven’s Nest''', for example, remembers its founding as a wartime refuge bound to the cult of '''Saint Nerva'''. Across seven grinding cycles, neither side achieved a decisive breakthrough.

* '''[[Directionland|United Empire of Directionland]]''' — Centralized empire (capital '''Ironwood''') with a professional army and a growing engineering corps centered on '''[[St. Niam]]'''.