The Empress' Defiance
A Call to Arms
"Together, we are DRAGONS!" - Empress Tiareliana Matenai
War is common across Corindar, but the Great Draconian War remains unique in the manner of how it was started and continued when a moment of peace was thought to be in reach, and in the political shift of perspective of the nations involved in the war. While it was true that Arkthen struck the first blow against Draconia, once the war had come to a standstill and a peace summit was called, the war was undoubtedly reignited by the Empress of Draconia, Tiareliana Matenai. Delivering her defiance at the summit, the Empress used the opportunity to assassinate the Arkthenian king and launch a series of counterattacks with previously-hidden forces. In the wake of the event, word of The Empress' Defiance was spread to sow fear in the hearts of Molkartian citizens, and to establish the Empress and her people as bloodthirsty defenders of their homeland that would not back down when victory was in sight. Across Molkarta, both the Defiance and the series of bold moves the draconians followed with in the war were met with a level of shock that the Empress took great advantage of. Over time, discussions rose as to whether the draconians were not indeed deserving of the right to protect their home against future attacks from the Arkthenians, but the scale of violence and destruction they brought to bear against their enemy was enough to squash this argument. Following the end of the war, the Empress' manifesto was cited multiple times during the enforced peace treaty, and called upon as "reasonable proof that, left unchecked, the Draconians of Molkarta will follow in the ideals of their Empress and strike out again." Due to this, heavy sanctions were placed upon the draconian nation, and a forced demilitarization campaign took place over the next decade.
Historical Details
Background
The Empress' Defiance was born amidst a war between the nations of Arkthen and Draconia. Tensions were high between both nations, with the draconian people aggressively undercutting the price of goods they sold across Molkarta, goods that filled a similar economical niche to Arkthenian exports, and Kelarkthen had made their affront incredibly public to the point that their members of the Molkartian Merchant's Guild were censured and nearly ordered replaced. Pushed by what they saw as unfair treatment, the war began when Arkthenian soldiers began marching across (or rather, under) Molkarta and attacking Draconian settlements.
For almost four years the war raged across Molkarta, with the Arkthenians pushing against the Draconians but never able to force an absolute victory. The Council of Heartport, a mostly neutral party during the war that had yet seen its share of bloodshed, called for a peace summit to force both parties to bring an end to the conflict. It was during this summit that the Empress gave her decree and refused to submit, and called for a continuation of the conflicts until their bitter end. The resulting attack coincided with a surge of Draconian soldiers swelling out of their homelands, held in reserve until this moment and catching the Arkthenians by surprise.
History
During the event that would come to be known as the Great Draconian War (and eventually, the First Draconian War), a peace summit was called by the Council of Heartport, and the two opposing faction leaders agreed to meet in Heartport and settle their dispute. Rather than agree to the peace treaty, Empress Tiareliana Matenei gave a passionate speech declaring her intent to dismiss the offer of peace. As her speech reached its climax, many in attendance began to protest, and King Arkthen called to his bodyguards, but opposition was met with draconian blades, smuggled into the summit and giving the Empress' soldiers the upper hand as they captured the king and fought off those that tried to stop them. All the while, the Empress continued her declaration and with its final words, turned and unleashed a gout of prismatic flames upon King Arkthen, murdering the royal official before casting an arcane spell and transporting herself and her soldiers away from the city in an instant.
Public Reaction
Due to the Arkthenian's beginning the assault, the general public opinion of the war was that the Draconians were indeed wronged, and were celebrated when defending their home against the dwarves. Yet the Empress' actions, and the subsequent overwhelming effort in using the Defiance as propaganda, quickly villainized the draconians and led to both harsher treatments when peace finally was decided upon, and to lingering tensions with Draconia in the wake of the war.
Legacy
Following her dramatic display, records of the summit and her speech began appearing among the cities and towns of Molkarta, spreading the Empress' intent far and wide. True to her word, the Draconian Army emerged with a fresh installment of equipment and reinforcements, surging across the plains and claiming a vast swath of territory as they pushed into Arkthenian lands. While the war would continue for years more, the official spark has been one of the most studied documents of the Library of Heartport, as people and philosophers continue to study the declaration as a significant moment of history.
Comments