The Last War

"The worst part was that we only had ourselves to blame for The Last War. We could blame the gods for the Emancipation War, and the plants can't object to us blaming them for the fight against the Verdance, but The Last War? That was just the result of a bunch of poorly thought out alliances, too loose treaties, and ridiculous territory disputes. And that turned into the largest war in centuries. Absolutely ridiculous when you think about it." Erewan Thanom, Historical Scholar

The Last War was one of the largest and most brutal military conflicts in Ioran history, and is classified today as the most recent of the five cataclysms. It officially ended in 1052 ARG with the signing of the Treaty of Unkombe, which marked the end of the Age of Regrowth and the beginning of the The Age of Reflection.

The Start of the War

While the eventual scale would be much larger than anyone could have anticipated, there were three major conflicts that led up to The Last War.
The first took place on the continent of Haileh, where the newly crowned queen of Leior decided she was finally going to fulfill the dreams of her ancestors and unite the continent under the banner of the Leior Empire. This meant breaking The Treaty of Lhenoa and declaring war Moki'Seh and Nekala, who quickly established the Sehneka Alliance to resist Leior's aggression.
After Leior's declaration of war and flagrant breaching of an international agreement in 965 ARG came the second major conflict that lead up to The Last War. Nyota and Askar declared their support for the Sehneka Alliance and began to send aid to the two nations as they had agreed to in the treaty. However Akhi, who had initially signed the Treaty of Lhenoa, chose to betray the agreement and began sending both troops and supplies to Leior. This decision angered both Nyota and Askar, and skirmishes began to break out between them and the Akhi. When Xohil realized that the Akhi were preoccupied with a war on three fronts, they chose to invade Akhi's eastern border in an attempt to expand their own territory. Soon after, Xohil platoons began to raid Askari border towns in search of resources, and fighting broke out between those two nations as well. Before long, much of south western Uleon was embroiled in an all out war.
The third major conflict took place on the border between the continents of Eovara and Uleon, in what is now modern day Tanoshira. Zehl and Ahv, seeking justice for the lands that had been taken from them in times long past, declared a joint war Irjia. While this effort was initially supported by the surrounding nations of Chihun and Yozhov, public opinion of Zehl and Ahv gradually began to worsen as the nations pushed further and further into Irjian territory. Eventually, Yozhovi diplomat Kasparov Diozek attempted to step in to mediate the conflict, but was killed by an Ahvo gunman who wanted the war to continue. This dragged Yozhov into the conflict between the three nations, further complicating matters in Eovara.

A Century of Conflict

Nearly one hundred years of war raged across Iora as alliances were formed, treaties were made and broken, and battles raged. The myriad conflicts that arose during this time are too many and too varied to list out in full, but the result of them left much of the world's surface scarred and broken. Over time, the original impetus for the war was forgotten, and it became a vengeful back and forth between major global powers.
Eventually, as support for the war dwindled among the younger generations, many nations turned their gazes towards the eager arms of technology. At first, they built large scale war machines. Massive tanks, walkers, and airships that would clash with one another until one or both could no longer move, at which point their crews would swarm from them like bees from a fallen hive, engaging in ground level skirmishes until a victor was decided. The bones of these machines can still be found all over the world, and are a common target for salvagers hoping to make a quick profit.
Towards the end of the war, prominent weapons developers turned their attention to smaller scale projects. This change in direction lead to the creation of the Aetheric Synapse and Neuron Intelligence Systems (ASANIS), robotic humanoid soldiers that could take the place of the ever dwindling number of human soldiers in the field. Initially developed in Nyota, the technology was successfully reverse engineered by several other nations, and before long, much of the battlefield was dominated by ASANIS. With this reliance on aetheric constructs came an increased need for mages and engineers in the field, and many nations began to offer sizable incentives to anyone who was willing to escort the ASANIS into battle.

The Founding of Tanoshira

by MidJourneyAI

Many believe that the Founding of Tanoshira was the event that truly signaled the beginning of the end of the The Last War. Fifteen years before the signing of the Treaty of Kyodai, a ceasefire took place in the war torn lands between Irjia, Ahv, and Zehl. The soldiers and generals, tired of seemingly endless fighting, defected from their armies to form a new united force. News of this agreement quickly spread throughout the ranks of the nearby platoons, and one by one they began to join this new army, hoping to put an end to the fighting in Eovara. Before those on high could stop it, the army had captured the walled city of Kyodai, declaring it the capital of the newly founded nation of Tanoshira. Many towns and villages in the area, tired of the constant fighting in their territories, swore their allegiance to this newly founded nation.
Before long, Tanoshira spread from the banks of the Sirae Ocean to the shores of the Nihaya Ocean, and several major cities such as Meishan and Iwakoshi had pledged their allegiance to it. The surrounding nations, powerless to stop the rise of the country, were forced to watch as the lands they had spent so long fighting for united under a common banner.
For the first few years of its existence, Tanoshira was a very insular nation. Once their political power had been established, and more importantly recognized by several nearby world powers, the nation began to open its borders to all who sought to escape The Last War. Refugees from all over Eovara and Uleon began to spill into the nation, and its major urban centers grew substantially in a very short time.
Before long, foreign diplomats in Ahv, Zehl, and Irjia were convinced to recognize Tanoshira's independence, and the country became a fully established gateway between Uleon and Eovara. Once Tanoshira took its place between the three warring nations, hostilities between them began to dwindle. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Kyodai in 1050 ARG, finally ending hostilities between Ahv, Zehl, Yozhov, and Irjia.

The Abstraction

"It's not like there was some huge explosion. We just woke up one morning and noticed the trees outside our windows seemed to be melting up. We didn't have time to pack anything cause we could feel whatever was happening worming its way into our bones. We just had to leave. If we went back now I doubt any of that house would still be there."

-Nidawi Molimo, Abstraction Survivor

Though the war had ended in Eovara, fighting still raged in Haileh and Southwestern Uleon. With no end in sight thanks to the increased use of the ASANIS, many wondered if the war would ever end. It was therefore a mixed blessing the day that The Abstraction appeared within the borders of Moki'Seh.
Without warning, a massive zone of dense Aetheric radiation had sprang into being north of Moki'Seh's capital, utterly destroying everything caught within 50 miles of its center. The remaining area suffered from severe distortions in the fabric of reality which decreased in intensity the further one was from the center of the event.
With the appearance of the Abstraction came a feeling of communal exhaustion among the nations still participating in the war. Less than one week later, The Treaty of Eilki and the Treaty of Unkombe were signed, officially extinguishing the last embers of the war.
But the mystery of where The Abstraction came from and who is responsible for it still persists to this day, and some fear that the technology that created it could resurface at any moment. Perhaps it is this fear that keeps another war at bay for now, but after nearly one hundred years of conflict, the world will take what it can get.

The End of the War

by MidJourneyAI

The Three Treaties

While the long lasting effects of The Last War are still being determined, it was the Three Treaties that truly marked the end of the global conflict.
The first treaty was the treaty of Kyodai, signed in 1050 ARG. In it, it was agreed that the nations of Eovara would recognize the independence of Tanoshira, and that all hostilities between the three main nations in the conflict would cease. This treaty also returned some of the ancestral Ahvo land to them, citing poor treatment of its citizens by Irjian authorities. It also established an international council called the International Peace Council (IPC) in Tanoshira that would oversee political disputes between the nations of northern Uleon and southern Eovara. This organization would later go on to become the world's central council in 51 ARF, and continues its work to this day.
Two years later the Treaty of Eilki was signed, which began by dissolving the Leior Empire. This allowed Tui and the Makhah Confederacy their freedom once more, though these new nations would be watched over by envoys from other foreign countries until they could stand on their own two feet again. The acting Leior monarch was also forced to step down, and left the throne to her son, Zakaria Jeziel. Zakaria, seeing the destruction wrought by his mother and grandmother, was more than willing to adopt a constitution to limit his own power, and has been a staunch advocate for peace since his coronation in 28 ARF. The treaty also secured support from the IPC for Moki'Seh, which was on the verge of collapse after The Abstraction appeared within its borders.
Finally, the Treaty of Unkombe, signed two days after the Treaty of Eilki, decreed that Akhi's empire would also be dissolved and its lands returned to their original owners. It also placed sanctions on the Akhi for their betrayal of the Treaty of Lhenoa, and forced them to pay reparations for their crimes. It placed similar sanctions on Xohil, though the sentence was slightly lessened as they had not broken an international treaty. All in all, there is still a fair amount of tension in southwestern Uleon, though the treaty seems to be keeping any additional conflicts at bay for now.

The Aftermath

Outside of the effects of the Three Treaties, there are many ramifications from The Last War that are still felt to this day. Chief among them is a global sense of general exhaustion with the very concept of war and a desire to examine the circumstances behind the conflict. This desire is what ultimately led to the Age of Reflection receiving its name.
Additionally, many nations are still working to clean up the mess the war left in their territories. This includes reestablishing towns and villages destroyed during battle, disarming fields of landmines and faulty ASANIS units, and building or rebuilding large swaths of infrastructure lost to the war. But it is not just physical messes people are attempting to repair. The IPC has been working tirelessly to rebuild the bonds between world powers and reestablish trade networks throughout Iora, but it is a slow process, and as of 76 ARF is no where near done.

The Awoken

The final major consequence of The Last War was the appearance of The Awoken. After the war, most functioning ASANIS units were recalled back to their facilities to await further orders or to be salvaged for parts. However, while in stasis, a not insignificant percentage of the units began to reactivate of their own accord despite having sat untouched for many years. These ASANIS units reawakened with strange new intelligence and self-awareness, and have dubbed themselves 'Awoken'.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

965 ARG

Ending Date

1052 ARG

Maps

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  Ioran Political World Map (Pre War)

  The political and topographical map of Iora prior to The Last War.