A harrowing, international war that was sparked by the death of Princess Ejiiri of Zukei. In the wake of the war, the Emperor of Zukei brought his entire nation into total isolation from the rest of Aen, forbidding anyone who was not Zukei-born from entering the nation under penalty of death.
Princess Ejiiri, daughter of Emperor Otagi Nakomori, was promised to Prince Hodari Mhiina of Miliim in an effort to unite Zukei and Miliim, both of who had already held a tenuous alliance due to their mutual hatred of Fainarr and its constant encroaching upon their territories, particularly with the new principalities of Vaernebo and Rossade to the north of their nations.
During the wedding of Ejiiri and Hodari, assassins wearing the garb of Miliim soldiers killed Ejiiri and many members of the Nakomori imperial family. Emperor Otagi successfully escaped and vowed vengeance against King Murtay, despite the king's insistence that he had not orchestrated the assassination. Otagi fled with the aid of his personal mage while his royal guard covered the retreat.
Attempts were made by King Murtay of Miliim to smooth things over with the Emperor of Zukei; these attempts were a joint effort with Zukei's longtime ally Aerdis, then led by King Aiden Ahren II. Unfortunately, the Emperor of Zukei would accept only the head of Murtay Mhiina's son Hodari--who had not left his chambers since the assassination--as a means of ending the feud between the two nations. King Murtay refused this, but maintained that he would continue funding investigations into the true force behind the assassinations. The emperor, however, stated that he would be leading his soldiers to war if King Murtay would not appease him.
With its hand forced, the Kingdom of Aerdis chose to solidify its alliance with Zukei. It cited a lack of evidence supporting Murtay's innocence as one reason, but the primary reason for this decision was that Zukei had been a longtime ally of the kingdom and, additionally, was directly adjacent to it. Starting a war with a much stronger neighboring nation was not in the cards for King Ahren II, and so he pledged his kingdom to the cause of Zukei.
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.
As winter approached and alliances were finalized, the battle preparations slowed, preparing to resume come spring. Miliim, however, seized this opportunity to better prepare themselves for the war to come. They set to work carving a tunnel through Indra's Shield west of Copari. The process took several months, but come the end of the second month in 199 AR, they were ready to burst free and begin the rush into Copari. This pass would come to be called "Mlinzjia", a mashup of the words int he Miliir phrase "The Marching Pass".
The Battle of Boragel was the first battle in the Courting of Ejiiri, which is especially notable because it did not involve either of the originating sides. Instead, this was a battle initiated by Aldurstein against Rossade, taking place in the city of Boragel. The battle lasted three days, ending when the gaian warrior Karatay Gubdarson breached the walls of the city and slaughtered more than fifty soldiers before dying, paving a path for Aldurstein to claim the city from Rossade.
The forces of Miliim burst from Mlinzjia and conquered the ill-prepared D'Casta within the hour. Conquering the city, though, proved easier than holding it against assailing forces. After fifteen days of siege, Murtay Mhiina gave the order to retreat through the tunnels. To cover this retreat, he had his dragon Dhahbuaes unleash torrents of acid upon the sieging armies and reduce the city walls to corroded rubble. The dragon could only safely complete one pass, as archers and ballistae sought to bring Dhahbuaes down. One sweep was all it took to buy time for a retreat, however, and Miliim began the long march back to Suorr through Mlinzjia, killing any who attempted to follow them. It was unfortunate that they could not hold the ground they'd taken, but they'd made sure it wasn't ground worth the enemy's resources in the process of departing.
While initial passage negotiations with Fainarr had been fruitless due to the kingdoms desire for additional territories, Fainarr had become more desperate for an alliance after the attack on Boragel by Aldurstein. Because Aldurstein had initiated battle in Rossian territory and was allied with Miliim, Fainarr had no choice but pursue an alliance with Zukei. After extensive negotiations, they secured safe passage through Aerdis and Zukei to march their troops up to Rossade from Buern for reinforcements. In exchange, the allies of Zukei were permitted to move through Buern and Kathaya, adding a great many options to the strategy of Zukei.
The war raged for several months across Elzveir. Little ground was gained by any side during this period, though countless lives were lost in the fray. Suorr was eventually occupied by Zukei and its soldiers, with Miliim-supporting Suorran mercenaries pushed back to Mlibali Gate, which would serve as the location of the deciding battle in the war against Zukei. In the midst of the war, the Republic of Copari would abruptly switch sides, betraying Fainarr specifically, but Zukei consequently. It led sudden, undeclared ambushes against Kathaya and Rossade, forcing the armies out of their camps. This earned them favor and trust with no nation, though the inability for Zukei to easily travel through Copari proved to make the relocation of the forces more challenging for the remainder of the conflict.
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In this final battle of the Courting of EJiiri, the forces of Zukei, Miliim, and their allies clashed at Mlijabi Gate between Suorr and Miliim. This battle raged for over a day in land and sky. The Aerdan General, Leandra Maciel, successfully breached the gatehouse and led the footsoldiers into Miliir territory, but the advanced weaponry of Miliim's allies--supplied largely by Suorr--kept pushing Zukei's forces back. Emperor Otagi Nakomori, astride his tremendous purple dragon Raijinaes, sought vengeance in the face of his army's possible defeat at the gatehouse. He urged his dragon forward to meet King Murtay Mhiina in the skies. Their dragons clashed there, but it was ultimately Murtay's dragon that slew Otagi's. The king and emperor then battled one another on the ground, with Murtay again gaining the upper hand, disarming Otagi.
While Murtay could have dealt a killing blow to Otagi, he instead dug his sword into the ground. He told the Emperor, even there in the moment when he could have killed him, that he had no desire to harm him or his people any longer. He swore once more that he had nothing to do with the assassination of his daughter and was disheartened that Emperor Otagi had so much distrust for him and that so much blood had been needlessly shed. Otagi, defeated and broken, surrendered to Murtay. Murtay would not conquer the emperor's territory, however. He simply asked that Otagi call for an end to the conflict, end his alliance with Fainarr, and retreat to his own soil. Otagi obliged.
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After the war, Zukei ended all of its alliances and retreated. The emperor never gave a complete explanation for this, but it is believed it was his distrust of all in Aen that led to this decision. It was still unknown who had orchestrated the assassination of Ejiiri Nakomori, and the emperor's sorrow over both his daughter's death and the death of his long-time companion Raijinaes had a tremendous impact on his psyche and foreign policy. In the coming years, the Wall of Zukei would be constructed to ward off those who would dare to enter the nation. Even Aerdis, a long-time ally and friend of Zukei, was pushed away by the emperor.
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