Arcaea/Military Archives/The Third Great Ethialan War
Overview
This war saw the destruction of Ethiala, and the prominence of Arcaea in the north of Far East Island. By the conclusion of the war Arcaea had established herself as a leading power on the island, a significant achievement when so recently she had been reduced to only two regions.
Narrative
Lasanar's collapse was long and messy. One of the realm's that sprung up from the dead giant's corpse was the small fiefdom of Papania, led by High Lord Anatrok. At the outset of the war, Ethiala claimed that Papania was the spiritual successor to Lasanar - a claim with little evidence to back it up - and that therefore reparations were due from Papania for Lasanar's past crimes. These were fairly poorly veiled excuses; Ethiala simply saw a temptingly weak target on their Western border. Arcaea, however, took exception to this unfair assault upon a young realm. Many Arcaeans also had personal grudges aganst Ethiala's King Keffer, as amongst other crimes he had tortured King Jenred. The state of Ethiala's regions was appalling, in any case, and there was essentially a humanitarian issue on top of all other qualms. The idea that Ethiala should take more regions to mismanage seemed ridiculous.
Although originally the war appeared to be merely a matter of Ethiala, Cathay and Greater Aenilia bringing their far greater strength against their smaller enemies, a vibrant military and motivated leadership on the side of Arcaea dramatically altered the scales. Aenilia's entry on behalf of Ethiala proved a problem as they attacked without warning on Arcaea's capital via Lasop and were to prove the most vigorous of all opponents, but support from Ohnar West at several key moments balanced the sides and Ethiala itself simply crumbled. Their regions were so badly managed that taking them over required little effort. At one point, Ethiala's city (once capital) of Talex was allowed to become rogue. Priest Dren of Magna Aenilia Ecclesia took the city with the general populace's support, bringing it to Arcaea. Since Greater Aenilia was also a key member of Magna Aenilia Ecclesia there was some religious backlash, but the dishonourable entrance that Greater Aenilia had made into the war effectively meant that the matter was moot and Talex remained a part of Arcaea. Early on in the war Arcaea had been on the back foot, but the remainder proceeded with relative ease.
The first assault upon Ethiala's capital, Topenah, proved disasterous. The armies of Arcaea were poorly prepared, and Topenah's walls were strong. However, the second assault was carried out in good order, and ultimately Arcaea took the city just in time to prevent every last soul from being starved to death.
Conclusion
Arcaea began with just having Remton and it's surrounds, and took a total of three cities in the war; Talex and Topenah from Ethiala and Lasop from Greater Aenilia. With these came several rural regions. The victory was a complete Arcaean one, leaving her stronger than ever.
