Kindred Wars

Kindred Wars
Pelaxian galleon fighting Kiravian and Caphirian warships
Date 1702–1783 Location Kindred Sea, Taínean Sea, Natiserve Bay Result Stalemate, Treaty of Albalitor Pelaxian Civil War Modernization of the Royal Hosts into the Commonwealth's Imperial Martial Service, including the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy Cession of the Krasoa Islands from Kiravia to the Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth Cession of the Islands of (TBD Caphiria Islands) Destruction of the Vallos Piratocracy Securing the Daxia-Vallos-Sarpedón slave trade route
Belligerents
Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth	Caphiria	Kiravia Bay Trade Co. KMT Company
Commanders and leaders
Pedro de Silva António Teles Nino Botello Matias de Albuquerque Martin de Castro Pedro De La Cosa David Abrao	TBD	Hesperius Leonoix Kamar Aiken

The Kindred Wars were a series of armed conflict involving Kiravian forces, in the form of the Bay Trading Company and Kerēgulan Merchants of the Tropics joint-stock companies, and Caphiria, against the Pelaxian Empire. Beginning in 1702, the conflict primarily involved the Kiravian companies invading Pelaxian colonies in the Kindred Islands known as “Las Jusonias”, Loa Republic, and the Pelaxian mainland. The war can be thought of as an extension of the Pelaxian expansion over the Loa archipelago at the time. However, the conflict had little to do with the war in Loa and served mainly as a way for Kiravia to gain an overseas empire and control trade at the cost of the Pelaxians. Caphirian forces also assisted the Kiravian at certain points in the war (though in later decades, Kiravian and Caphirian would become fierce rivals). Because of the commodity at the center of the conflict, this war would be nicknamed the Spice War.

The outcome was that Pelaxia successfully repelled Kiravian attempts to secure the small Pelaxian Jusonias while the Kiravians were the victors in the Krasoa Islands. Caphirian ambitions also greatly benefited from the long-standing war between their two main rivals in West Sarpedon.

Pelaxian resentment at Caphiria, which was perceived as having prioritized its own colonies and neglected to form a Pan-Sarpedonian alliance against Kiravian assertion, was a major contributing factor to the Pelaxian civil war and the future of Pelaxian foreign policy.

Introduction

Between the 13th and 16th centuries, naval traffic between the Tainean and Kindred seas greatly increased. Technological advances in energy generation, transportation, communication, and navigation enabled new maritime routes, allowing sailors to more effectively navigate trade winds and tropical storms around the equator. This facilitated longer times at sea, coupled with new geolocation techniques for open ocean navigation.

The unification of strong central feudal governments in the valleys of Pelaxia and Cartadania — under vassalage to Caphiria — enabled local kingdoms and duchies to accumulate large treasuries, which they used to sponsor and fund fledgling commercial fleets around the Catenias, even leading to the exploration of a direct trade route to Audonia, specifically to Daxia.

From Levantia, Burgundian expeditions increased the exploration of islands around the Tainean Sea, creating vast enclaves, often close to access points to the Kindred Sea. The most daring of these explorations outside of Sarpedon were those by Coscivian explorers, who reached the Krasoa Islands in the 14th century.

Sarpedon and Levantia soon found themselves in a period of economic transition, where large feudal sectors saw overseas trade as a new means of economic accumulation. This gave rise to an emerging mercantilism within governmental hierarchies and sparked open competition for securing strategic enclaves along the main trade routes to ensure the continuous flow of goods: fruits, spices, tea, copium, and even people. In other words, by the 16th century, the Kindred Sea was becoming the battleground for the emerging overseas commercial powers.

Background

Black tea, Copium

Third Phase

See: Palimede incident The slave trade along the southern route was still incredibly lucrative going into the 18th century, both the Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth and the Imperium were reliable buyers. Independent Daxian slaving cartels owned by noble houses dominated most of the route east of Truk and into the Kindreds; the most prominent of these houses were House Lian and House Kou. The continued prosperity and profits of these slaving actors would eventually be threatened by political currents from within the Commonwealth itself as several political groupings in Parliament backed by the local Catholic curia put forth proposals that if implemented would end the practice of slavery in the Commonwealth. The Qian ambassador to Carto-Pelaxia, an habitual ally of slaver interests, quickly relayed the new developments to his masters across the Cathay. The reaction of the Qian court was mixed, Emperor Chanzui and many of his ministers were of a mind that the issue could be addressed politically and in any case more than slaves were traded with the Commonwealth. The noble houses of Kou and Lian on the other hand were outraged at the prospect of lost revenues but their entreaties for the sending of a Qian fleet to intimidate the Carto-Pelaxian parliament were rejected out of hand. Undeterred, Prince Kou and Prince Lian put forth a secret plan in motion to put a stop to anti-slavery legislation on their own. Under the pretext of fighting off the incursions of Loa pirates, they assembled a fleet of thirty ships in Peratra and raised a small army of 7,000 mercenaries which would later be augmented by some 3,000 pirates. This force would sail to the Kindreds Sea and under threat of bombarding the Commonwealth capital of Albalitor would secure the withdrawal of any anti-slavery legislation from being considered by parliament in addition to financial compensation to the sum of two million pesetas; if its demands were met the fleet would withdraw peacefully.

By the late 1780's the volume of slaves acquired by the Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth began to decline steeply due to labor reforms favoring the use of indentured workers and serfs from Vallos which represented a readily available pool of workers at cheaper rates. Certain powerful slaving interests at the Qian court at this point advocated a policy of armed coercion against the weakening Commonwealth. Without waiting for imperial assent, the noble houses of Kou and Lian which relied on the slave trade around Vallos assembled a fleet of their own and augmented it with Loa and Muslim privateers. Their plan was to occupy some or all of the Jusonia Islands and threaten the Carto-Pelaxian capital of Albalitor unless the new labor reforms were withdrawn by the Commonwealth's government and an indemnity was paid. After some initial success, this slaver coalition was ultimately repulsed in both land and sea battles by the Carto-Pelaxians, one of the last notable military victories of the crumbling Commonwealth. Albeit unsanctioned by Qian imperial authorities, the incident soured relations between Daxia and one of its most important trade partners; the sale of slaves to the Commonwealth all but dwindled into nothingness as that government put new legal roadblocks on the flesh trade and the Qian court destroyed the participating noble houses in retaliation for their insubordination.

The Commonwealth's Kindreds fleet during the 17th century was a much diminished force, it had a dedicated force of forty ships of which at least twelve were well armed ships of the line, fifteen frigates and an assortment of galleys, sloops, cutters and corvettes. While both opposing fleets had an almost near parity of ships of the line, the Carto-Pelaxians had the advantage in training and discipline; Smaragdus's fleet was crewed exclusively by corsairs who were not known for discipline under fire. One decisive factor in the battle was the use by the Carto-Pelaxians of fire ships, a practice relied on by the Commonwealth to deter larger navies but which the slaver coalition was not familiar with. The Commonwealth was able to draw troops from the Albalitor military zones and neighboring regions and assemble a sizable relief force for the garrison of Aguaverde; like the fleet the discipline of these troops would prove critical in the land battles.