Alliances Forged

Diplomatic action

In the coming days, alliances are forged as various nations take sides in what is soon to be an especially devastating cross-continental war. Fainarr and its principalities sought to ally itself with either Zukei or Miliim, petitioning on multiple occasions to join the fray in exchange for additional territories, but both sides of the war rejected these offers... at least initially.

The inevitability of war sank into the hearts of leaders across Elzveir--and across Aen itself. A grand-scale war between Zukei and Miliim seemed unavoidable at this point, and so various national leaders began discussing who they would ally themselves with. Fainarr, in particular, was eager to seize this opportunity. On several occasions--not just at the beginning of the war, but throughout it--they petitioned both Miliim and Zukei for allyship, promising vast armies, weapons, and road access in exchange for additional territory when the war was finished. Neither Miliim nor Zukei accepted such offers, at least at the start of the war.  

Kathaya, being a close ally of Fainarr, was in a difficult position as well. It was instructed by Fainarr that in order to maintain their own alliance, Kathaya would only pledge itself to a force to which Fainarr was also pledged. Without Fainarr pledged to either side, Kathaya was also expected to follow suit. This barred all of central Elzveir from being traversed by Miliim and Zukei, as standing armies from Fainarr were positioned on the borders of Buern and Kathaya to prevent traversal without a solidified alliance. This was made more complicated by the recency of the Kathayan Rebellion that had turned it into a Constitutional Monarchy, with many citizens having differing views on how to handle the matter, but parliament's hands tied by their allegiance to Fainarr.

Military Movement Complications

With the ability to move armies by land made difficult by Fainarr and Kathaya, Miliim and Zukei were forced to turn to other means of moving their soldiers. This meant that an alliance with Suorr and Copari was incredibly essential, as that was the most direct path connecting the nations without access to Buern and Kathaya. Suorr, being an anarchist society without national leadership, was complicated to form an alliance with. Miliim, however, was able to secure this allegiance by flooding Suorr's economy through purchasing thousands of mercenaries. With this significant financial influx, the people of Suorr were more willing to allow Miliim's armies to travel through and stand in their territory, particularly since Miliim made sure that the majority of the soldiers in Suorran cities were local mercenaries, which put many of the citizens in each city at ease.

The problem, then, was Copari. Copari had historically been a staunchly neutral nation in matters of war, preferring to supply resources to either side of a conflict in order to enrich themselves. Now, however, their territory was needed for traversal. Copari initially leaned toward Zukei, being adjacent to them, but the acquisition of military forces in Suorr by Miliim complicated these matters. Still, Copari has a mountain range between themselves and Suorr, and so made the decision to side with Zukei--particularly after the elven empire threatened to crush them if they did not allow occupancy.

The Queendom's Decision

Aldurstein took several months to finally make a decision. In the end, the Queen of Aldurstein, Asta Fadaldottir chose to ally herself with Miliim. This, she claimed, was because she had become convinced through the investigations of her own allies that not only was Miliim innocent in matters pertaining to the death of Ejiiri Nakomori, but that Fainarr was guilty of it in their efforts to break up an alliance. Aldurish leadership's hatred and suspicion of Fainarr was in their blood, being descendants of Princess Karina Basaran, and this was an opportunity to push Fainarr farther from their borders. Aldurstein's involvement was not the boon Miliim had hoped, as they had little interest in fighting Zukei. Instead, they used this as a means to make a renewed effort against Rossade and Vaernebo, hoping to expand their control of the north.

Finalizing of Alliances

And so Suorr and Aldurstein were allied with Miliim while Copari and Aerdis were allied with Zukei. While Fainarr and Kathaya sought to remain neutral, the principalities of Rossade and Vaernebo were unwittingly at war with Aldurstein. This was proving to be one of the most devastating and grand-scale wars in Elzveir's recorded history