The War of Secession

More commonly referred to as "the Last War", the War of Secession between the Merebian Empire and the Alliance of Independent Races lasted from 305 IC to 314 IC at which point the Treaty of the Eight Thrones was signed, bringing an end to the hostilities.

Background

A full history lesson of the Merebian Empire is almost impossible to succinctly state here but suffice it to say that power in the Empire is centralised not only in the region of Dominus but also between Humans and Dwarves. The alliances between Dwarves and Humans is central to the strength (economic and military) of the Empire and when that is threatened the full might of the Empire is brought into play.

Geographically though the bulk of the economic and military force is based in Dominus, and more specifically, in the southern half of Dominus. This means that the northern countries of the Empire (Chundria, Thorast, Erganth and Lyrazante) are used to protect and serve the northern half of Dominus.

Hence any force that desires to weaken or destroy the Empire has to either attack/weaken the southern half of Dominus or the counties to the north. In 305 IC the forces of Yuritan attempted to do the latter by forcing Chundria to secede from the Empire and using that as beachhead to invade Thorast and northern Dominus.

Chundria

Chundria is significant among the nations that make up the Empire as it was the first nation, ruled by Humans, that was not either invited or asked to become part of the Empire. Instead it was 'claimed' as an Imperial Province in 180 IC, after the Empire had sent decades protecting it from raids from Kalevala. Although the Empire paints this as a necessary act to formalise the protection it afforded to Chundria it was also strategically and politically useful to the Empire. The position of Chundria, between Thorast and Minosha was a useful 'buffer' and it also afforded a route up to Kalevala, giving easy access to the northernmost regions of Oberon. In addition the rich soil of Chundria was vital to help feed an ever-increasing Imperial population.

However, the Royal Family of Chundria always viewed their new Imperial masters as just another set of invaders. They tolerated the increased trade, technology, magic and military protection as being a useful by-product of what was, in effect, servitude. Hence it was no great surprise that, at the end of the 3rd century IC, the Chundrian Royal Family began to contemplate a future outside of the Empire. Chundria planned to do the unthinkable - to secede from the Empire.

Yuritan

In 303 IC the warlord Corolang, under the advice of the General was successful in forming an alliance with Nallurok to the north and Mortarch to the south, uniting the nation of Yuritan and effectively halting any eastwards expansion of the Empire.

Minosha

To the south-west of Chundria lays the nation of Minosha, home of the Minotaurs. Minosha, a sea-faring nation, had long had to contend with both Alea'Zhim and the Imperial Navy seizing its vessels, even the ones conducting legitimate trade between Minosha and Ophidium but (for the most part) had neutral relations with Chundria itself.

Early on in 304 IC Chundria began secret negotiations with Minosha offering up the potential for lucrative sea trade between Minosha and Kalevala and (potentially) Academia, making them less reliant with trade solely with Ophidium. It would also, hopefully, provide them with some defence against the slavers of Gryphos. In return Minosha would safeguard Chundrite vessels in forming new trade with Ophidium, reducing the reliance of trade with the Empire.

However it was obvious that such a deal would not be accepted by the Empire and Minosha, with no stomach for either an escalation of naval entanglements or (at the extreme) an invasion by the Legions in a land war, was unwilling to go further without some additional support. So, in 306 IC, Minosha approached the Alliance, with a request to purchase aid.

Instead the Alliance had a counter-offer; for Minosha to nominally join the alliance so that any attack against them would also be seen as an attack against the Alliance.

Minosha accepted the offer, returned to Chundria and ratified the trade deal.

Legions

Almost as soon as Chundria began making trade runs between Minosha and Ophidium the Imperial Navy started to take an interest. A sudden increase in the number of Minoshan vessels around Chundria was seen as a potential invasion. At the end of 304 IC the Empire decided to increase the presence of the Legions from 4 to 6, sending the 51st and 53rd legions to the region. Chundria immediately declined to allow the ships carrying these legions to dock, blockading their own harbours with both Chundrite and Minoshan triremes. Additionally, 3 dozen warships from Mortarch and Yuritan were sent, sailing around the southern coast of Ophidium, to "help to keep the peace".

The inevitable sea battle ensued and heavy casualties were taken on both sides. Eventually though the Chundrite-led forces were victorious and the Imperial ships returned to Dominus, carrying with them notice of Chundria's intention to secede from the Empire.

The Emperor (Justinian) was furious not only with Chundria but with the Alliance and, after spending a couple of months recalling Legions and the Navy formally declared war on the Alliance. The date was Untrebus 11th 305 IC. The forces of the Empire were dispatched immediately towards Chundria, intent of taking control of that nation back into Imperial control - by force if necessary.

Invasion

Corolang's forces, now almost completely under the command of the General, had of course been expecting this provocation to lead to all-out conflict. Nallurok and Mortarch were (as ever) hungry for war and this shared enemy only strengthened the Alliance. As soon as the Imperial Naval presence around Bal-Morath was reduced sufficiently, the General directed the Mortarch forces to sail to the south of Bal-Morath and attempt to land. Meanwhile, Yuritan forces split into two; one half attacked the north coast of Bal-Morath, the other half sailing north to join with the Nallurok fleet headed for Lyrazante.

The Imperial Navy was already at their rallying point of Untegurd (off the south coast of Thorast) when the news of the first attacks on Bal-Morath and Lyrazante reached them. The Emperor had also ordered a dozen Legions to march to Karameizante (in Dominus). Suddenly the east coast of Dominus looked very vulnerable to attack.

Meanwhile the Alliance forces had successfully breached the sea defences of Bal-Morath and Lyrazante, allowing them to set up beachheads and begin the invasion of these nations. In Lyrazante the remaining three local Legions (approx. 15,000 men) were sent to engage whilst in Bal-Morath there were just two "floating" legions (the 60th and 61st).

War on Many Fronts

The Emperor was faced with a dilemma;

a. continue sending his deployed sea and land forces to Chundria, almost certainly reclaiming that nation but potentially losing Bal-Morath and Lyrazante

b. Split these forces, no longer ensuring a resounding victory in Chundria but defending Bal-Morath and Lyrazante

c. Send smaller forces to Chundria, Bal-Morath and Lyrazante and use the remainder to defend the east coast of Dominus, possibly losing all the former three but definitely keeping the latter.

Justinian chose option c. Sadly this was exactly what the General had hoped and with the Imperial forces split across such distances a long and protracted war began.

Reinforcements and Advances

By 306 IC the war had been going moderately well for the General. Not only had the Alliance forces become entrenched in Lyrazante and Bal-Morath, but Chundria has been retained and the Goblins of Urkarus, eager not to miss out, had also joined on the Alliance side. Meanwhile the Imperial forces had taken heavy loses but was still holding firm thanks to the vast resources of the Empire (both mundane and magical). The real goal though, to land on Dominus, had not been possible and the General knew that he would need access to the wealth of Merebia (as well as devastating blow to Imperial morale of losing the city) if he was going to address the power of the Empire.

Help would, unexpectedly, come from Alea'Zhim. Alea'Zhim had managed to maintain its neutrality for centuries. Its Pharoahs had always had cordial relation with the Empire but with the power of the Djinn on its side never felt threatened by it as other nations might. Alea'Zhim had, however, long been the provider of the Touchstone network (a Djinn teleportation matrix that links cities within the Empire) under the agreement that it only be used for peaceful purposes. The Empire though had started to use the network to send information, spies and even prisoners across its lands, much to the Djinn's dismay but in late 306IC the Chancery came up with a plan: they would send via the network devices that would turn the tide of battle in Lyrazante and Bal-Morath. The exact nature of the devices has never been revealed but it is known that one of these accidentally fired early, destroying a touchstone in Ervaux. The Djinn were horrified and immediately shut down the touchstone network.

Of course, teleportation circles created by the Cerulean Chancery were all still active but they required a Chancery operative of suitable power to cast the necessary spell. Additionally, many teleportation circles had been erased for fear that Alliance mages may discover the 'address' and use them to launch a similar style of attack. The loss of the the Touchstone network at this early stage was hence a significant loss in flexibility.

Stalemate and Tragedy

The years 307 IC to 310 IC are best remembered as the 'quiet' period of the war: both sides continued to reinforce their positions and, in between frequent skirmishes on land and sea neither side gained nor lost significant land. In the Empire though the tide of public opinion against the war was slowly turning. The Empire's repeated show of 'invincibility' was clearly not a reality and many people, faced with a continual drip-feed of losses in their own families, couldn't understand why the might of the Legions couldn't destroy a "few" Orcs, Goblins, Minotaurs, Hobgoblins and Bugbears.

Meanwhile, in 308 IC, old age caught up with Corolang, leaving the General at the head of the Alliance.

In truth the biggest problem was that of supply lines. The Empire had relied heavily on the crop production of Chundria and building up new supply lines from within Dominus to feed armies thousands of miles apart took multiple growing seasons. Even with the assistance of the Druid population the land couldn't sustain magically accelerated for more than a couple of seasons.

to cap this off, in the Summer of 310 IC, Emperor Justinian died. Quickly replaced by his son Emperor Ephestus.

The 65th Legion

Ephestus was a highly educated man who hated the thought of so many lives lost and immediately directed the Chancery to come up with a solution. There is a famous quote that is alleged to have been spoken by Ephestus when ordering the Chancery: "... I don't care if you just put a thousand scarecrows in a field as long as they can all lift a sword and fight for the Empire - I just don't want to send another dead son home to their parents!"

The Chancery's response to this was rather more literal than anyone might have suspected. Within a year the Chancery had built thousands of mechanical men - the Constructs. Originally intended to be the first of 100 legions, the 65th Legion proved to be highly effective. It was not to be until long after the end of the war that it would be revealed that the reason why no further legions were built was because they were animated by the souls of departed soldiers. Apparently when Ephestus found out he likened the Constructs to undead and requested that no more be made - he'd find alternate ways to end the war.

Battle of the Brind

Worse news was to come in 311 IC: A small ship carrying 30 Hobgoblins had managed to land on the west coast of Thorast. Led by the Hobgoblin chieftain, Varnal the Mighty, this force began calling themselves "The Red Fist Army". By 312 IC Varnal's forces had grown to 400 and they became a major threat to the SW coast of Thorast until their eventual defeat at "the Battle of the Brind" at the hands of the 33rd Imperial Legion.

Fightback

The success of the 33rd Legion also exposed a network of families, with ties to Chundria, who had been working against the interests of the Empire. Whilst the impact on the war was likely to be minimal (or non-existant) removing such families gave Ephestus some room to carry on his efforts to end the war (after all, it had only gone on for so long because of 'spies' working against him).

This 'purge' coincided with a number of small but morale-boosting victories in Lyrazante where the Elves won battles against Orc forces.

Diplomacy

Behind the scenes though neither side had envisioned a war lasting nearly a decade. The Orcs in particular (with their short natural lifespans) had felt the strain of years in the battlefield and had started to desert from Lyrazante (leading to the aforementioned victories) and although the Hobgoblins were prepared to see the war out, the Bugbears were also getting restless. Meanwhile, a depleted Imperial Army and Navy were not able to recruit quickly enough to deploy in the numbers they were at the start of the war and many noble families were refusing to send their sons and daughters to battle, causing a significant number of 'commoners' to do likewise.

Secretly then, talks began between the Empire and the Alliance aimed at ending the war.

Ceasefire and Treaty

Finally, in 314 IC the Treaty of the Eight Thrones was signed. Chundria returned to being part of the Empire, the Alliance forces returned home and new boundaries and trading arrangements were drawn up. So that a 'cause' for the war could be clearly established the entire royal family of Chundria was executed - their head placed on pikes at the entrances to Bervoshe. A new Royal family of Chundria (handpicked by Ephestus) was installed in 315 IC.