Feline Wars

It felt, in that moment, like there was never any other choice. With heat radiating from the floor of sand beneath their feat, with wind steadily reconfiguring the mountains of sand around them, with growls rumbling from the creatures of sand at their side, Dria the Dauntless made one choice out of many. They drew their blade. And they charged.

The Feline Wars took place in 202 AD, ranging from the Dawn to the Evening of that year. While it caused relatively little damage to humanoid populations, it is widely considered to be one of the inspirations that sparked the Element Wars some two hundred years later.

Prelude

The Mistrunners

The first of the Quiet, 202 A.D. ushered in a year that promised to be as peaceful as the last. It had been well over a century since the Elements had been established. A kind of normality had settled over the land. That normality included the spirits that slinked through the peaks of the Spring Rim.
For a long time, the spirits were considered myth or legend. They are described in historical texts as long, lithe creatures with four limbs, a tail, and a silver mane running down their spine. Some of the spirits reportedly bore silver markings on their flanks as well. In the early hundreds, however, the sightings grew more and more common until it was undeniable that these spirits existed. They came to be called mistrunners, named for their ethereal appearance and the speed with which they moved.
Eventually, interactions with these creatures moved beyond simple sightings. Most encounters were harmless. People quickly discovered that they could communicate with the spirits, for all that they didn't appear to understand or speak language. They proved to possess a sharp intellect, possibly even sentient thought. They also began to demonstrate the powers that they were capable of commanding, either through their physical strength or through the use of magic.
The so called "mistrunners" were incredible, certainly, but even the most incredible of creatures fades with age. And so interactions with these spirits continued until they too were normal. Until something shifted.

The Change

In the Dark, 201 A.D. a sound like lightnig striking a tree echoed across the land. This marked a distinct change in the spirits. Where before they were rare, silent figures that disappeared as quickly as they appeared, they began to appear across the Spring Rim in droves. Where before they were solitary, sighted one at a time in remote locations, they began to be seen in groups that gathered and grew as more creatures joined.
And where before they were faint misty figures, marked with details of silver, they now took on color and robustness. Their pelts, now distinguishable as fur both short and long, were distinct from one another and shaded in the varied colors typically carried by felines. They still appeared ethereal, but they stalked upon the mountains with a physicality they lacked before.
The most startling change, however, was how the creatures began to attack one another with a ferocity that shook the trees.

The Ishvai

This was how the two sides first emerged: through dream and through image.
The Clan of Dreams put those they encountered to sleep and then communicated with them clearly in their mother tongue as they dreamt. The Clan of Clouds conveyed messages via images formed from summoned clouds, less precise than their counterparts but capable of use while all parties were conscious. Both strategies had their benefits and their drawbacks. But it was the Clan of Dreams that were able to give the world a name: the Ishvai.
The Ishvai, they called themselves. The ones who run across rock and snow and sand. The ones who tear the flesh of their enemies. The ones who protect their own. They could not explain where they came from, however. They had always been there, they said when asked, via dream and via shapes. Where did you come from, they asked in return. Nor did they ever make clear why they battled against one another. Only that in order for one Clan to survive, the other must fall.

Course of the War

Engagement

Looking back on events, it is rather surprising that people didn't involve themselves in the conflict between the Ishvai Clans sooner. A full month and a half passed in which the Ishvai raged through the mountains without interference. Then, in the Dawn, 202 AD, a group of mages struck a deal with the Clan of Dreams: the mages would aid them in their fight in exchange for knowledge of the powers they weilded.
These mages were the first, but they certainly weren't the last.
The Clan of Clouds naturally struck their own bargain in order to keep up with their enemies. And once word spread, groups began to step forward to volunteer of their own volition. They joined either the Reverie or the Storm, as the humanoid contingents of the respective sides were called, for many reasons. A desire for knowledge, a desire to aid some friend made amongst the Ishvai, a desire to be part of an historic event, a desire to defeat some player who had joined the battle on the opposing side. Whatever the reason, people began to flock to the ever more dangerous mountains to pledge themselves to this mysterious cause.
And so the war continued, claiming more and more mortal lives as it went.

Migration

Overtime, the fighting shifted. For reasons that people could not quite understand, the Ishvai began to migrate their battles further and further east. By the Noon, the war had all but abandoned the mountains, shifting instead to the deserts of the summerlands.
This shift made the fighting much more brutal as it became more difficult to hide or ambush in small numbers and more advantageous to mount large scale attacks. Resources also became more scarce, causing fierce battles for control of oasises and food sources for the mortal creatures that supported the conflict.

Banishment

There is some debate about the true source of the Banishment. Word spread amongst the Reverie and the Storm, this much is known. There are records of opinions on both sides regarding this possibility. Some supported the idea of banishing the Ishvai, having grown indifferent to their cause over the course of many violent encounters, or possibly having lost hope of achieving their original goal, or maybe even having long since achieved it. Others disavowed this option, denouncing it as cowardly, a sabotage of goals yet unachieved, an abandonment of the Ishvai friends they had gained.
Yet, no texts state with any definitiveness who (or what) took the choice upon themselves in the end.
The Ishvai spirits disappeared during the final battle between the Clans. It took place on the 21st of the Dark. Long minutes had passed since the Reverie had met the Storm and they mingled with violence and forgotten animosities. Mortal bodies mixed with ethereeal forms, magic mixed with might.
Then, a sound echoed across the land. A sound like lightning hitting a tree.
And the Ishvai were gone.
With no fanfare, with no struggle, with no final words or explanations, the Ishvai spirits were there one moment and the next they were gone.
It took several moments for the battle to die down as the combatants realized that their companions were gone. There was tension as the two sides, now with no Clans to claim allegiance, regarded one another. And then, slowly, person by person, the sides dissolved. The Reverie ended. The Storm dissipated.
And the Feline Wars came to an end.

Legacy

It didn't take long for the Feline Wars to fade into memory. In the end, a few people managed to gain reknown or fortune or favor through the conflict, but many more simply returned to their lives. They were changed by the violence they'd seen and committed, yes, but the world moved on.
Within a few years, it became a saying. To fight a Feline War was to join a conflict or cause destined to fail or turn out pointless.
Centuries later, the strange phenomenon would be dug up as a kind of historical curiosity popularized by a bard called Erinya the Huntress. The struggle would be simplified into its heroes and villains and told as fireside stories featuring both fictionalized and real figures from the period.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

10th of the Dawn, 202 A.D.

Ending Date

21st of the Evening, 202 A.D.

Conflict Result

Banishment of the Ishvai Spirits

---

Sides

Clan of Dreams
and the Revelrie

Clan of Clouds
and the Storm

Walking through the streets, you notice a small knot of children having an intense conversation. You are just on the edge of deciding not to interfere when one of them straightens up and makes eye contact with you.
"You!" the child shouts, pointing a stubby finger in your direction. "You gotta come tell us what you think."
You wander over, a bit hesitant. Another child shoves a stack of paper into your hands. Looking down, you see that it is a pamphlet. Carefully created from pages folded in half and words scrawled in the handwriting of a kid trying their best. On the front it reads:
"Which Historical Figure From the Feline Wars Are You?"
You look back up at the children to find them watching you expectantly. "Well?" the first child asks, impatient. "Aren't you going to see who you get?"