The Great Dying

The Great Dying

(1667-1697), also known as Apocrita's Wrath, is Animalia's most devastating conflict to date, resulting in the extinction of over two-thousand families, the dissolution of the country Arthropodia, and the complete destruction of Holy Lamb Temple.

Pre-War Events

The Great Dying had its share of rising actions that now seem as obvious harbingers of the cataclysm to come: the signing of the Invertabral Alliance (1655): a document that solidified the formal relationships between the countries of former-Arthropodia and Molluscea, uniting the invertebrates as allies in trade, knowledge, and in the face of external conflict; the Newt Massacre (1660), an atrocity commited at the border between the former-Athropodia and Amphibania in which a group of Newt farmers thought to be spies were taken a prisoners and executed by members of the Hornet Guard; the Raid of Kekui Bog (1662), a then-unsolved crime in Amphibania, in which the community of Kekui Bog were slain in an overnight raid; and, most notably, the Coronation of Queen Apocrita of House Hymenoptera (1661), the wasp queen most often cited as the chief force behind the war.

The Invasion of Amphibania

The official start of the war is up for debate by some scholars (as it took quite some time for many of the key players to officially involve themselves), but most agree it started in the spring of 1667, when legions of Apocrita's army swarmed to the norther border of Arthropodia and into Amphibania. The surprise attack started with members of Hymenopteran ants tunneling beneath the soil to allow the Arthropodian forces easy access into the heart of the country. Within three days, King Atelopus of House Chiriquiensis surrendered and Apocrita claimed Amphibania in her name. The members of House Chiriquiensis, along with many other prominent houses of Amphibania, were slaughtered and feasted upon by Apocrita and her troops.

the Arthropodia/Amphibanian border

Involvement of the Mollusks

After the horrific invasion of Amphibania, all of Animalia was on edge. The leaders of Mammalia, Ornithuria, and Reptilia met and sent a Pigeon messenger to Apocrita to deliver a warning, asking her to take no further military action past her invasion of Amphibania. Apocrita agreed, but, still, many were wary of her intentions. It was public knowledge at this point that Arthropodia and Molluscea had the Invertebral Alliance over a decade ago. The fears that the Mollusks would involve themselves in Apocrita's warmongering were realized when no more than a year after Apocrita agreed to take no further military action after occupying Amphibania, the Molluscean Navy along with Apocrita's Crustacean forces waged a two-front attack against the isolated islands of Pescetaria. Within a month, the nation fell and Apocrita's forces once again carried out their glutenous celebration. King Arctodus of the former House Pristinus (now House Ursidae) sent another messenger, Sir Huskia of House Canidae, to Apocrita, asking her to recall her troops from both Amphibania and Pescetaria. Sir Huskia's bones were dropped from the sky off the back of one of Apocrita's Dragonfly Mounts days later, with a note attached declaring her fondness for dog meat. With this, Mammalia, Ornithuria, and Reptilia declared war.

The Arachnid Rebellion

After the declaration of war, an unexpected favor in favor of the Vertebrates was found in the open rebellion of the Arachnids of Arthropodia. Lady Hespera of House Araneae countermanded Apocrita's orders to invade Reptilia, instead pleading with the queen to heed King Arctodus' requests and withdraw from the occupied lands. A meeting was arranged for the two to discuss this request: a meeting from which only Apocrita exited alive.
After news of Lady Hespera's murder reached the Arachnids, they forsook their vows of fealty to Apocrita, bombed Butterfly Bay with silken chaos, and retreated north to join the Vertebrate's efforts.

The Thirty Years

A war that rages for thirty years holds unfathomable levels of horror. Massively rationed food, civilian casualties, whole houses wiped out left and right. Extinction became an everyday part of life, to the point where similar families of separate houses were forced to join under umbrella names of ancient houses long since expanded. Most notably, the houses of the frogs were so thoroughly annihilated by Apocrita's forces that many of the surviving members joined together to go under the old, broad name of Anura, leaving behind the subtle distinctions of their houses for the security of a single familial name.

"Faren and Regilas have... succumbed to her wrath. Mother, I am sorry to write this, but I fear I, too, have little time left. They did not go silently, Mother, nor will I. Our name will not be snuffed out so as not not leave any mark on this land; those ants will burn..."

— Otelith of House Grylio, excerpt from a letter to his mother on the eve of the Siege of Rattler Hills

The Decimation of the Holy Lamb Temple

Long had the Church of Holy Lamb held great sway in Mammalia. Helping throughout the war in efforts to feed and mend troops, as well as rehouse refugees of the two Invertabral occupied countries. However, the church did not actively participate in the war until Apocrita herself on the back of one of her Dragonfly Mounts annihilated the Holy Lamb Temple in a blaze of acid-flame. Also in the air that day were members of House Cathartidae, suddenly traitors to the Vertebrates (there house was all but decimated during the ensuing battle, leaving them crippled and quickly turned into prisoners for the Vertebrates). By a stroke of good fortune, St. Panos of House Capritania, foremost saint of the Church of the Holy Lamb, was discussing church resources with King Arctodus in Capritania Square. After seeing his people and his temple burn, St. Panos vowed to destroy the Wasp Queen.

The Death of a King and the Battle of Paper Hill

Not long after the Decimation of the Holy Lamb Temple, at the Battle of the Molluscean Archipelago, King Arctodus was slain in battle. With no living heir, as his sons and daughters had succumb to Apocrita's forces as well, House Arctodus was extinct. St. Panos became the de facto leader to many during the remaining years of the war. Known to be filled with a graceful, but vicious fury in battle, St. Panos was revered by Mammalians the world over. After his being in charge of Mammalian military efforts, the war began to swing in favor of the Vertebrates.

It was after a major Vertebral success at Gastropodia that the butterflies of House Lepidoptera offered to act as spies against Apocrita. As a major piece of the information gained through espionage, St. Panos learned of Apocrita's plans to construct a regal bunker at Paper Hill from under which she could communicate from safety through messenger beetles and many ant-dug tunnels. On the day of Apocrita's planned descent, hundreds of mammals, reptiles, and birds (including the raptorial mages known as the Mashhad Altuyuri and their newly trained Warlings) alike swarmed and overwhelmed Apocrita's forces.

As they battled Apocrita and her Dragonfly Mounts, St. Panos, fighting alongside his longtime friend Lord Tyrus of House Laniidae, was able to plunge his two ram's horn daggers into Apocrita. The Wasp Queen was dead, her body destroyed by the Mashhad Altuyuri. Soon after, the Invertebrate forces withdrew from their occupations and the Amphibanians and Pesceterrians were liberated. As one monarch fell, another rose. A council, known as the Pananimus Assembly was formed between the countries to determine the punishment for the Arthropods and Mollusks and the future of Animalia.

With a seven representatives (one from each country with the exception of Arthropodia) working together in earnest for the first time in history, it was decided that Arthropodia would now be named Exarthropodia, as the arachnids had been relocated; that the capitol of now Exarthropodia was changed from Hymenoptera to Lepidoptera, where the monarch butterflies could govern as dukes and duchesses after they turned spies for the Vertebrates; that those responsible for war crimes against the Amphibanians and Pesceterrians would be executed; and that the distinct countries of Animalia would unite as one: The Animal Kingdom.

Many arguments were levied as each leader vied for the position of king, but ultimately it came down between St. Panos of House Capritania and Tyrus of House Laniidae— two lifetime friends who were there to fight Apocrita at her last stand. While both were responsible for her defeat, St. Panos was the one to land the killing blows by piercing Apocrita’s breastplate with his two ram’s-horn daggers. Being edged out of kingship by his best friend was a raw deal for Tyrus, with some bitterness, ultimately swore his fealty to the newly coronated King Panos. The City of Capritania was made transformed from a modest keep to the United Hold and capitol of the eight lands, and the kingdom has lived in relative harmony for the next forty-five years under the leadership of the Capritanians.

Conflict Type

War

"Never before has Animalia seen a will and wrath so powerful, so as to level cities and leave leagues of carcasses, drained of all essence, scattered like auburn autumn leaves across our lands. Apocrita's conviction in Arthropodian superiority over all other beasts clouds her judgement in a haze of buzzing hatred that blackens the skies and rattles the ground. Selfless drones at her command, her impetuous warmongering endangers us all..."

— Spiziapteryx the Elder of House Raptoria

Apocrita as depicted by Provius of House Elephantidae