The Rending War

The Rending War is the overarching term given to the series of conflicts that eventually led to the end of the Five Empires period and the collapse of all five empires dominating Iscarion. The name describes the incident, at the end of the war when, in a final action to assault High Ashad Isha and The One Hundred Thousand in the newly-formed Duum Canyon, the Basati Senate under Gavani Mukhadori attempted to rip a hole in reality itself using Heka. However, the Rending War is generally understood to have started with the Basati invasion of Northeast Keshwar across The Great Takla (see map below, blue line).

Five Empires Political Map 500-10 FEA

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The Conflict

Prelude

At some point in or around 50 FEA, the Basati Senate received information that the Keshwari Scion had re-discovered and begun to make use of an ancient technology known as The God Machine. This intelligence should have been passed on to The Council of the White Tree, whose job it was to monitor the use of heka, kata, and ana-based technologies to prevent a repeat of the devastating impact of The Last War.
The Basati Senate had recently been dominated by the power-hungry House Mukh, under Gavana Mukhadori (who later made himself Basati Emperor after his initial successful campaign to capture Keshwari territory). Rather than send the intelligence to White Tree, House Mukh used this as an opportunity to invade northest Keshwar, claiming that this was a response to a Keshwari breach of the White Tree Accords.

Aftermath

The long-term effects of the war, especially The Rending, destabilised not only the Iscarion and Ameron continents for centuries to come, but also the fabric of reality itself.
The first Rending established a Gap in what would later become Amin Duum. However, this created a cascade of instability in reality, and over the first one hundred years following the end of the war, six other Gaps opened globally. In a desperate attempt to prevent reality from collapsing altogether, High Ashad Isha bound herself to the root Gap in the Nas Ashca. This meant she was permanently trapped there until the Gaps could be permanently closed.

Historical Significance

Legacy

Members of The Five Nations and then, later, Amnari Alliance were able to travel with the assistance of the Ashcan Draegunim (dragons) to the site of the other Gaps. They established settlements in each location, which all became part of the formal Amnari Alliance between 500-1200 AIA.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

50 FEA

Ending Date

1-2 AIA

Conflict Result

Collapse of all five empires, widespread political and economic instability, and the eventual rise of the Amnari Alliance.

Location

Amaresh

Maps

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  Five Empires Political Map 500-10 FEA

Belligerents

Basat Empire

• House Mukh

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Control of The God Machine and by extension, dominance over the other four empires and the White Tree.

Keshwar Empire

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Retaining control and access to The God Machine, as well as dominance of the other four empires.

Turat Empire

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Preventing the escalation of the conflict and loss of territory to the Basati Empire to the north.

Tikhtai Empire

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Maintenance of territory. They provided initial support to the Basati invasion of Keshwar and allowed Basati war machines access to the northernmost territories of the Keshwari Empire.

Ganjapur Empire

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Prevention of war. Owing to the unusual position of Ganjapur, it maintained neutrality for a long period into the conflict and attempted to bolster the White Tree.
However, its high vulnerability to Basati attack to the west left it with little option other than to lend support to the Basati in the Council of the White Tree.

White Tree

Led by

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Maintenance of balance between the Five Empires, conflict de-escalation.