Great War of Erdos

Human conceptions of the Great War are largely colored by their own nascent fears of nuclear annihilation in a general exchange of mutually assured destruction, making it difficult to comprehend the Great War of Erd’os. Lasting two hundred and sixty-three years, two hundred and twenty-eight of those years involved the use of nuclear weapons in some capacity, often with no concern for the long term implications of their flagrant use. Virtually every city would be destroyed and rebuilt, often multiple times, while others were simply erased entirely. One city would be devastated so many times they would abandon their city and opt for a nomadic life, while another would migrate to nuclear submarines and underwater bases. Even almost a millennia later, the world of Erd’os, now known as Mykentia, still bears clear scars of this conflict.      

Background

     

Assassination (67 HE)

The Great War would begin with the assassination of the Hudrajel Emperor Aratoxes in a bloody road bombing. The assassin, dressed in the garb of a Knetreka monk, would throw himself into the emperor’s open top car and detonate a suicide vest. The resulting explosion would kill the techpriest Ixdas instantly, with Aratoxes being blown from the car and dying from his injuries moments later.      

Chaos and Collapse

It would take a moment for the stunned silence filling the street to give way to anger and rage, a sentiment which spread quickly through the city. Tavenso followers would immediately begin attacking Knetreka, blaming them for the assassination of both Aratoxes and Ixdas. The Knetreka quickly latched onto the idea that the assassin had been a Tavenso agent dressed as a monk, because such an act of violence was not in the Knetreka teachings. Caught in between were the Utrajalek, trying to separate the two and prevent what was to come.   Word of the assassination was impossible to contain, and the news triggered similar events across the empire. The tinderbox had been ignited, and nothing the Utrajalek did could slow it down. Rioting and destruction spread throughout the empire, and with the army and police forces disintegrating there was nobody to attempt to maintain order other than the Utrajalek. In most cases, the Utrajalek priests were killed in their attempts to defuse the situation, but they were able to gain control of several cities where they were dominant.   Yerlaja itself would be completely destroyed in the rioting, with only the Temple of Belura surviving relatively intact as it was the primary hospital. The imperial palace itself would be consumed by fire when the palace guard, which had remained loyal to the empress finally broke as news of the general collapse of the empire reached them.      

Consolidation

Over the following year the rioting would die down as one side or the other gained clear control of the cities. In most cases the losing side would be exiled, though there were many cases of mass executions of the defeated. As cities began to stabilize, they would look to their neighbors and send support. This would lead to the development of small city states, each devoted to one of the three factions and openly hostile to each other.      

Burning Phase

Tavenso scientists working at Taven’kri would develop the first nuclear weapon in 73 HE, but would choose not to use it. They intended to test and refine the weapon before deploying it to use in a single, utterly devastating strike against all Knetreka cities simultaneously. Constantly distracted by other needs, the researchers were often diverted to other projects, slowing development. The Tavenso remained confident that the Knetreka did not possess nuclear weapons, as mass destruction was not consistent with their beliefs, and there was no evidence of any testing. Unknown to the Tavenso, a number of Knetreka cities were developing nuclear weapons, but lacking the wide expanse of the polar regions to conduct their testing, they would choose to test theirs underground. Understanding the need for secrecy, these weapons tests were held in tectonically active areas near Tavenso dominated areas, where it was hoped that the tests would be misinterpreted as earthquakes.    

Destruction of Alonis (98 HE)

Jelakos would become High Seeker of Kret in 95 HE, and immediately begin mass production of his nuclear stockpile. The nearby island of Alonis had fallen to the Tavenso, and as it was the home of the Great Oracle, it could not be allowed to remain in their hands. Jelakos feared that the next Great Oracle may appear at any time, and if they fell into Tavenso hands they would be able to predict every movement of the Knetreka in advance. As he felt the existence of Alonis was required for the Great Oracle to appear, he decided to destroy it rather than undertake another costly invasion that he would likely lose. This decision was made without consulting the College of Seekers in Knetra’kri, which had proven to be hesitant to use nuclear weapons against any populated target.   In the Hudrajel year 98, Jelakos would launch his attack on Alonis, a wave of bombers flying over the island and dropping twenty kiloton nuclear bombs every five kilometers. The destruction of Alonis would take the full day as the bombers returned and rearmed to maintain an around the clock bombardment of the entire land area of the island. By the time the bombardment ended, the island of Alonis had been carpet bombed with nuclear weapons and was effectively destroyed.    

Destruction of Knetra’kri (99 HE)

The College of Seekers would react with horror to the destruction of Alonis, immediately casting Jelakos and all of Kret out from the Knetreka. They would announce their rejection of such tactics and the use of these weapons, but the die had already been cast. Unable to believe that a city would take such action without the approval of the College of Seekers, the Tavenso would immediately retaliate against Knetra’kri itself. A wave of bombers from different cities would converge on Knetra’kri, dropping three far more advanced thermonuclear cobalt bombs on the city in quick succession.   As Knetra’kri was predominantly built of wood and was located in an isolated valley, even one of these bombs would have been sufficient. The entire valley would be burned out and there would be only a handful of survivors. But the Tavenso were not done with Knetra’kri.   The next wave of bombers carried cluster bombs, filled with spent fuel pellets from the reactor of Taven’kri and other sites. Upon detonation, the bombs would scatter the fuel over the landscape, turning the entire valley into an uninhabitable, radioactive wasteland and killing the few survivors of the bombing. The entire leadership of the Knetreka was wiped out.    

Destruction of Taven’kri (99 HE)

Jelakos would launch his next attack against Taven’kri, openly retaliating for the destruction of Knetra’kri. While he possessed only low yield fission bombs, the modern glass and concrete structure of Taven’kri was not designed to withstand such an attack. Unable to hit the complex directly due to heavy anti-aircraft fire and air defense, Kret would send in bombers at extremely low altitude to detonate their bombs in their aircraft near the city.   The nearby detonations severely damaged the city, rendering it largely unusable. Far more concerning to the Tavenso was that the shock waves of the detonations had jammed the delicate control rods of the Taven’kri nuclear reactor. Of a very primitive design and intended to use low enriched fuels, the reactor would begin to melt down. To prevent this, the reactor would be flooded with seawater, but with most of the control rods jammed in the maximum output configuration, this would ultimately prove futile.   Technicians would continue fighting the reactor for four years until the city was ultimately abandoned. A two hundred and fifty megaton warhead would be shipped to the complex and be detonated at ground level, vaporizing the entire city. While it was hoped that this would also destroy the reactor, the detonation collapsed the containment cavern and allowed the nuclear fuel to react in an uncontrolled meltdown.    

Demon of Kret (100-104 HE)

While Taven’kri was slowly melting down, the Tavenso would launch a massive, coordinated assault against Kret. All Tavenso cities were required to participate, and several Utrajalek and Knetreka cities joined in many of these attacks. Reluctant to use nuclear weapons against Kret, as they feared retaliation against the neighboring Tavenso city of Man’so, it was decided to launch a conventional attack. Following a concerted six month air campaign which destroyed Kret’s offensive bomber wing and fighter defenses, the armies of Mon’so would cross over to the island, targeting Kret’s uranium mines.    

General Exchange (115 HE)

The generalized use of nuclear weapons would begin with an attack by Mon’so on the Knetreka city of Julara. In retaliation, Saros would bomb Mon’so, only to be attacked by Karos in return. The bombing of Saros would severely damage the Utrajalek city of Arvos on the other side of the Saros Straights, giving them cause to retaliate against the Tavenso city of Treska. This would trigger a chain reaction of attacks between all three powers.   During this period, nuclear weapons were seen as simply another weapon in the arsenal, used at will against cities, armies, and terrain. Yields would range from five ton anti-tank munitions to three hundred megaton city killers, all of which were used without concern for the implications. In fact, weapons used against cities were designed to be as dirty as possible, so the resulting fallout would make it impossible to rebuild the city. Many cities would be rebuilt in the midst of barren radioactive wastelands.    

Burning of Ocea (242 HE)

     

Burnout Phase

The burning of Ocea would consume the stockpiles of most powers, and require a reevaluation of tactics. While all would continue to stockpile weapons, more emphasis was placed on conventional tactics. Many cities, such as Lek would place a heavy emphasis on defensive tactics and the development of thermobaric weapons. Gal and Cen both developed ballistic missile defenses rendering them immune to attacks from missiles available to most powers.   The period would also be noted for a growing awareness of the destruction inflicted, with many questioning if the war could be won at all. Tavenso cities in particular with their extensive data and detailed analysis would note the declining population and food scarcity. The Tavenso city of Cen would draw a direct correlation between the use of strategic nuclear weapons and the declining temperatures and urge other Tavenso cities to reduce their usage.   Most Knetreka cities would reach similar conclusions and adopt defensive postures, hoping to grow their populations to allow for future offensives in what they now saw as a generational, eternal struggle. The Knetreka would also begin a period of consolidation, with the city of Ver gaining prominence among them and beginning to take on the mantle of leadership once held by Knetra’kri. Gruxa of Ver would be sent to restructure the government of Fen, and later following a successful coup would oversee the reconstruction of Arvos. Had the war continued, Ver intended to consolidate Fen, Ari, Arvos, and potentially Saros into the first power on a scale with the pre-Hudrajel national states.   The Tavenso city of Mon’so would reach similar conclusions, noting that it was the lack of unity among Tavenso cities that was preventing them from finishing off the Knetreka. Concluding that unity was the only path to victory, they declared that any that would not cooperate by choice should be forced to. They would avoid attacking their Knetreka neighbors of Saros and Trothos, and instead turn their attentions on their fellow Tavenso cities of Karos and Man’so.   This move by Mon’so would trigger other Tavenso cities to enter stronger alliances, with Eryth forming the Southern Alliance with Karano, Alos, and Kothos, while Otos and Treska expanded their alliance to include Cen as the Central Alliance. Attempts by Mon’so to organize a Northern Alliance would fail, largely because Tren proved intractable and refused to divert forces from their long war with Lek for a joint attack on Trothos.      

First Light

     

Aftermath