The Recent Past (CCW)

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It’s 621 Kq, and Celtheste is about to enter a Civil War, but how did we get here?

By Imera Purporea, MMa

Five Celthestan States
It’s been nearly four hundred years since Celtheste was united, and then only under the rule of a foreign empire. Since then, the region has been divided into anywhere between four and eight sovereign states, all competing and warring against each other for dominance in the region. As it stands now, there are five major players: Wacuin & the Indrissey, a proud but impoverished agrarian Kingdom, struggling to transform its feudal structure while keeping its ancient traditions; Great Caltania, an imperial juggernaut with a very popular queen, despite the pains of a rapidly modernizing economy and widespread conflict amongst its diverse populations; Castra, a savvy socialist city-state that has been steadily gaining in wealth, power, and territory; Dahanaem, a mostly homogeneous society with a well-balanced economy, run like a tight ship by an absolute monarch; and The Empire of Maslan, the wealthy but increasingly ineffectual bureaucratic state ruled for a millennia by the Mage University.

Legacy of Echo VII
When Echo VII ascended to the throne of Great Caltania, Celthestans didn’t quite know what to expect. She was the illegitimate offspring of an aggressive king and the daughter of an Oinosi rebel. Her very existence was treasonous. In spite of the public weariness towards her, or perhaps because of it, she took Caltania and the world by storm.

While Echo’s father and grandmother had expanded Caltania’s borders further than any of their predecessors, the expansion was sloppy, and rebellion was constant. So Echo set out to transform her empire from an indecipherable mess into a well-oiled machine—and for the most part she was successful: She made use of Caltania’s vast stores of resources by building mines and factories. She stripped local authorities of power in favor of centralization and more democratic reforms. She expanded and modernized her military forces to heights unmatched by the other Celthestan states. And when she was ready, she waged war after war against her neighbors, eating up disputed territories left and right. She seemed unstoppable all the way up until her brutal (and still mysterious) assassination. Echo’s legacy looms large and she remains a polarizing figure. She certainly propelled her nation into the future, and by extension, the rest of the Celthestan states, who raced to catch up. But her tactics were blunt, even brutal. Critics will point to her forced relocation of thousands of Oinosi from their homes in Silvy-Bluecolumn to their ‘ancestral lands’ in the south, or to the harsh conditions of her mines in county Kierdeans. And of course there was the bad blood she sowed with her neighbors; a price her own people would pay when the Capalesian invaders arrived and the rest of Celtheste refused to come to their aid.

Capalesian War
On the first day of spring, 610 Kq, the Capalesian Empire went back on their promise to Queen Echo VII and invaded Caltania’s southern territories. In the midst of a succession crisis following Echo’s death and under the burden of several punitive measures placed on them by Castra and Wacuin, the Caltanians were helpless to respond. A month after the initial attacks, they officially abandoned their three southern Onosh Kingdoms, Kataborros, Barudasmas, and Amunondros, to be devoured by the White Tiger, Capaliso.

This Empire, the youngest and last true superpower in the human world, was on a winning streak and showed no signs of decline. They were (and still are) wealthy, meticulous, efficient, and technologically superior. But their true source of power was their deference and friendliness towards non-human nations. It was this trait that ranked them among the most hated Empires in history. They were thought to conquer human nations and sell them off to Strangers in the east. So it was no small thing when the Onosh Kingdoms began to fall to the Capalesians and the Celthestan States were too busy politicking amongst themselves to address this threat on their doorstep.

Battle of Kelanineia
It was ultimately up to a band of nine, who would become known as the Stronghold Heroes, to put up significant resistance at a critical moment. When the Capalesians reached the Stronghold of Kelanineia, this tiny group miraculously held off an entire army for twelve days, not for any individual state, but in the name of an Allied Celtheste. By the time they were finally overwhelmed and captured, word of their efforts had spread throughout the entire land. This was the spark that began the Capalesian War in earnest.

The battle was a wakeup call, not just to the seriousness of the Capalesian threat, but to the failure of the Celthestan states. It had become apparent that a divided Celtheste could not survive the modern world, and more importantly, protect its own population. The events at Kelanineia also spurred ordinary people into action, people who saw commoners, foreigners, and even outlaws among the Stronghold Heroes and decided that Celtheste belonged to them, too. The early stages of the war reflected this movement, with the vast majority of the battles fought by local militias, fringe groups, and organized crime. The next wave of support came from commercial and industrial leaders, who financed and supplied the militias, and maintained and protected the vital transport routes. The Battle of Tortreath, saw these reinforcements bear fruit, as a fleet of merchant ships delivered a decisive blow to the world-class Capalesian Imperial Armada.

Formation of an Allied Celtheste
Despite a handful of high-profile victories, however, the first seven months of the war were bloody and disheartening. Caltania’s capitol, Carvenac, was captured, along with many of the southern strongholds. Many of the coastal towns and rural regions in Masslea, the Magelands, were burned. A surprise attack a far north as Bellbre in Wacuin, ended in massacre, and created widespread panic. Perhaps the most long lasting damage, however, was caused by the Parmusian Blockade, which cut off trade at critical points along the River Luca, the lifeblood of western Celtheste. This caused massive food shortages and crippled the economy throughout the region.

The tides only turned when, at the urging of the now escaped Stronghold Heroes, all five Celthestan states entered into an official alliance, and deployed a joint military force, the Celthestan Legion. Within weeks, the Legion retook Carvenac and broke the blockade. In the next three months, they won back much of the south and made headway in the Onosh Kingdoms. The turn was abrupt and Capaliso was facing larger, more global problems as well. And despite the Empire’s previous victories, the Celthestans had been bleeding them through guerrilla attacks and other forms of resistance for more than the effort was worth. On 8 Martis 611 Kq, the Peace of Kambrast was signed and the war was over. Celtheste had faced the great power head on and won.

Efforts for Peaceful Unification
Morale was high after Celthestans successfully expelled their Capalesian invaders. Anything seemed possible. And the war, though short, changed everything. People from across the land had learned to work and fight alongside each other. A new sense of identity was forming; one that transcended borders, languages, religion, ethnicity, and class. Conversely, trust in the states was at an all-time low. Because of their infighting and insularity, the states had failed to protect their populations, in some cases altogether abandoning them. Instead, Celthestans looked to the Alliance leaders that had delivered them, namely the Stronghold Heroes, the Celthestan Legion, and the institution that contained both of them.

The Allied Realms Celtheste, more commonly known as ARC, was the provisional authority that had facilitated the war effort, and afterwards continued to coordinate interstate collaboration. Beyond overseeing the Celthestan Legion and to bolstering defense measures, ARC also supported war recovery and established a universal postal service. They financed much needed infrastructure projects and modernized transportation. But ARC was a treaty organization, not a government, even if everyone expected them to be. In many ways they were exactly what was needed at that moment: popular and apolitical, committed more to a general sense of unity than any vision for the future. But they were ultimately unable to make any serious progress towards a united Celtheste.

Failure of ARC
The problem with ARC was that it was dependent on the very states that it was being pressured to abolish. And this awkward dynamic plagued any unification talks they tried to hold. Case in point: the negotiations that began in 614 were shrouded in secrecy and scandal, to much public dismay, so ARC responded by chartering a more open and democratic body, the Macna Diceriat. In response, the Empire of Maslan completely withdrew its substantial funding.

It all really began to fall apart when a newspaper investigation accused several of the Stronghold Heroes of foreign collusion. Several more scandals followed, along with the dissolution of most of ARC’s agencies and projects. The final blow came when ARC’s Court of Peace convened to resolve a dispute between Castra and Dahanaem. Instead, it ended with a coup in Dahanaem and Castra’s complete withdrawal from the Alliance. ARC had unraveled, and with it, the best chance for a peaceful path towards unity.