Orixtal Crusade

The Orixtal Crusade (1650–1656), sometimes referred to as the Six Years War, was a major conflict which occurred in South and Central Crona. The war involved numerous Occidental powers, including the Qabóri Woqalate, supported by their satellite woqalate of Soqweux, the Midlands Company colonies of West Crona, and the Kingdom of Alstin with significant naval support from Kiravia, and the Maritime Duchy of Martilles, fighting against Varshan. The war lasted for six years, and was a decisive victory for the South Cronan Coalition, fighting off hostile Varshani invaders. The war was believed to have begun with the attempted expansion of the Worshipful Realm into south and central Crona, in a yearly tradition known as the Hunt, which were usually small invasions of the neighboring states of Varshan. However, when the hunt season for the year 1650 arrived, Žurg Zali-Kili VIII sought a much broader goal, which was the end of increasing Qabóri and Occidental influence in South Crona.

Orixtal Crusade
Second Battle of Winnecomac, 1653
Date March 1650 – September 1656 Location South Crona Result Treaty of Naqili, Coalition victory, end of Varshani naval dominance and influence in Central Crona.
Belligerents
Qabóri Woqalate Alstin Midlands Company Kiravia Duchy of Martilles Soqweux Woqalate	Varshan
Commanders and leaders
Sokhar IV Sokhar V Julius I Demarcus of Śerrsea Admiral-Sergeant Eimile-Gascoun Henri l'Aixville Duskana II	Zali-Kili VIII Ilia-Kemminna III
Strength
Peak strength: (combat troops) a lot	Peak strength: (combat troops) a lot
Casualties and losses
none	everyone

After the 1650 hunts were canceled, Varshani warriors were sent into modern Kelekona and Telokona, taking them almost instantaneously. Varshan then pushed an army of about 150,000 soldiers south to the northwestern portion of the Tchanteqanee Woqalate (present-day Ormatia). Tchanteqanee was able to react quickly, though was not able to contain the thousands of Varshani soldiers pouring into their borders at rapid speed. Six months later, Varshan had taken a decent chunk of Ormatia, Veraise, and Porlos. By 1651, Varshan was right on the doorstep of modern-day Tierrador proper, taking important Qabóri trade hubs such as Winnecomac, Prisamarina, and Tasowa. They were unable to completely stop the Qabóri Army, however, and it would result in the Qabóri Army regrouping and pushing them back even harder, forcing them to take a grueling march back to Tchanteqanee and Porlos.

After nearly losing its entire Navy in a failed invasion of Alstin, Varshan had attempted another raid of Qabóri territory, this time entering through the Midlands Colonies, which had already been destroyed by Varshan's previous attack, into western Qabór. By 1654, Varshan had attempted a third raid on Qabóri territory, which was arguably the most successful for them. They had pushed the Qabóri Army very far east by 1655, all the way to modern-day Ceylonia, but were quickly slowed down by a wave of tropical diseases during the winter. This allowed for Qabór to regroup and jumped at every advantage they could find to push back Varshan. In just under 4 months, the coalition had reclaimed all of Qabór's lost territory. Fearing a counter-invasion of Varshan especially after the casualties they had just endured, Zurg Zali-Kili had elected to surrender to the Coalition forces. As a result, the Treaty of Naqili was signed in 1656, which forced Varshan to reduce its army, surrender the territory it gained, and pay tributes to the coalition forces.

Background

Aster's expedition in the 1380s inaugurated Occidental-Cronan interaction which had previously been impossible. The exposure of Varshan to the Occident precipitated a very large number of social, political, and religious changes known as the Žuqulid Revolution. During and after the Žuqulid Revolution, Occidentoskepticism and paranoia regarding the Occident became a central feature of Varshani life. This paranoia and hostility grew significantly with the beginning of Occidental colonization of southern Crona and the establishment of Alstin, modern Asteria, the Veraise colony, and various Kiravian colonies, as well as the gradual Occidentalization of the Qabóri Woqalate, whom they spread across their vassals in Crona. As Varshani influence and power in central Crona grew to conflict that of the Qabóri influence (partially as a result of the Hunts), Varshan became more confident in their ability to end the Qabóri and foreign influence completely, pushing the colonists into the sea in addition to subduing the Qabóri Woqalate.

Qabór had lost major pressure points against Varshan, including the Veraise Colony, which was conquered by Burgundie in the Veraise War of 1598, along with Kelekona falling out of the Qabóri sphere in the early 1600s due to the Hunts. Despite this, Qabór was still able to keep Varshan at bay through Ormatia and Telokona, and eventually with the help of Burgundie through Veraise and the Kingdom of Alstin. Regardless, as the Hunts became more prominent in Central Crona, Telokona would eventually fall out of the Qabóri sphere. Prior to the initial Varshani mobilizations in 1650, Qabór had already lost a decent chunk of resources during its involvement in the Second Hemp War. Varshan had noted this as an advantage for a short-time, and began expanding the Hunts to Tchanteqanee, Soqweux, and Veraise. Qabór would respond by sending merchants affiliated with the Qabóri Trading Company to coastal Varshani cities for the purpose of stealing valuable Varshani relics. This lasted for most of the 1640s and resulted in even higher tensions between the two peer states.

Varshani culture was seen as "barbaric" in the eyes of Qabór. So much so that the Qabóri translation for "Varshan" was Nóót Qoru'ulat, or "fake Cronans." Varshan had a similar view to the early-modern Abioic cultures, and had viewed Qabór as an Occidental puppet state, rather than it being an important peer state in Crona. Central Crona was an important area for both states, as it sat mostly on the western Innis River Basin, which was very important for agricultural dominance over Crona. Qabór had been an undisputed hegemon of the basin through its influence in Kelekona until the 17th century, once Varshan began to spread its influence as well.

Conflict

1650–1652: Initial mobilizations

By the end of 1649, a large number of Central Cronans were abducted by Varshani raiders in that year's Hunts, which had taken a massive toll on the populations of Tchanteqanee, Telokona, and Kelekona. By that time, Qabór's unwillingness to assist its Central Cronan vassals against the Hunts had essentially reduced their amount of influence within the region by a large amount. In January 1650, Zurg Zali-Kili publicly announced that the Hunts, which were believed to have been scheduled for March, would be canceled for that year. At first, officials in Telokona, Kelekona, and Tchanteqanee saw this as Varshan showing mercy to them, and were relieved to hear that their main issue had been called off for at least a year, however, once the Qabóri central administration caught wind of the Hunts' cancelation, they immediately and correctly jumped to the conclusion that Varshan was planning something much bigger and much more destructive. Sokhar IV, the Woqali at that time, was able to convince the Tchanteqanee central administration to revamp its defenses along the border with both Telokona and Kelekona, though with emphasis on Telokona as Sokhar believed it would be Varshan's first target for mobilizations.

In March 1650, Zali-Kili mobilized a massive army of about 150,000 warriors into Telokona, taking it in just under a month. Qabór responded by sending 70,000 soldiers and 1,500 aišo warriors to Tchanteqanee, whom had already mobilized 52,000 troops of their own. This made the eventual Varshani push into Tchanteqanee in April evenly-matched, with the Tchanteqanee-Qabóri coalition holding their own very well. Despite this, Varshan was still able to make steady process into Tchanteqanee, as many key isolated cities and fortresses surrendered quickly. By October 1650, Varshan had taken 1/3 of Tchanteqanee's territory, and had split off parts of its ground forces to begin pushing west into Soqweux, with the Varshani Navy pushing from the east. The naval push would be more successful, as Varshan was able to quickly subdue key ports in the Veraise colony and in Soqweux. The capture of Côte Verte by the Varshani Navy would backfire on them, however, as it would drag the Duchy of Martilles, a much stronger naval power, into the war. With naval support from Qabór and later Alstin, the Duchy would defeat the naval squadron in the Battle of Finistère in December, and eventually rushed to take back Côte Verte.

This momentum shift for the Coalition allowed for Qabór and Tchanteqanee to regroup their armies and push back against Varshan. The Woqali's forces had also taken advantage of the Varshani forces wintering from December to February, though besides a few sacked cities, they did not get very far. By the one-year mark of the war, Varshan had set out with fresh raiders and pushed even further and harder into Tchanteqanee, and by June 1651, all of Tchanteqanee had been conquered by Varshan. Varshan spent the remainder of 1651 attempting to suppress smaller tribes who refused to conform to Varshani rule, which made Tchanteqanee a heavily contested zone throughout the war. Varshani merchants had attempted to conduct their business in the country, which resulted in the Qabóri Trading Company, which was one of the largest merchant groups in Crona, joining the fight against Varshan. The newly-founded Orixtal Tropical Merchants had also joined the war, though playing a much smaller role.

Towards the beginning of 1652, the Zurg ordered his army to push into the Fanerian Milsboro Colony, which was spread mostly throughout present-day Asteria and Betlands. Varshani troops quickly captured Fort Armstrong, an important military post alongside the border of Milsboro and Tchanteqanee. Rethys II, who was King of the Fhainn at the time, had already led his army through the Hemp Wars, a grueling series of 2 wars between Faneria, Qabór, and Soqweux, so he was not pleased to hear of the attacks on their Cronan colony. Two days after the initial attack on Fort Armstrong, Rethys II deployed the Fhainn Royal Army, officially joining the Orixtal Crusade on the side of Qabór. Because the northern areas of the Milsboro Colony were very sparsely-populated, Varshani generals believed they could take most of the colony fairly quickly, the actual campaign was quite the opposite, as the colony had leftover defenses from the Hemp Wars which were still in decent conditions. While a quarter of the Zurg's Army was lost in the Milsboro Campaign of 1652, Varshani forces would make considerable progress in their push towards Qabór proper.

Varshani forces arrive in winnecomac, but are held up outside of Fort roseney by qabóri/fanerian troops

Three Battles of Winnecomac

first battle: november-december 1652, varshani victory, fort roseney captured, pushed to winnecomac second battle: december 1652-february 1653, coalition victory, varshani forces kept out of winnecomac third battle: february-march 1653, coalition victory, remaining varshani forces pushed back significantly

goes horribly wrong for varshan, qabór decimates invading forces with occidental mercenaries

First Pushback

coalition chases varshan back to tchanteqanee main city (march-july 1653)

mercenaries revolt but are eventually subdued (july-september 1653)

varshani coastal raids from september 1653-january 1654

1654: Invasion of Alstin

varshan attempts surprise naval invasion of alstin (march-august 1654)

fails (obviously)

qabór/faneria use this as leverage for a larger pushback into tchanteqanee (june-september 1654)

1654–1655: Deep push into Qabór

qabóri army winters halfway into tchanteqanee (october 1654)

varshan doesnt winter, deploys 200,000 troops into qabór proper (october 1654-december 1655)

battle of naihungo ("nai hungo" being qabóri for no entry, march-may 1655)

varshan pushes along the southern orixtal coast and burns down key cities such as ambaqwe, ominasky, porvaos, miccubo and topaqoí (may-august 1655)

taisgol and qabór surrounded on all sides by september

1655–1566: Qabór regroups

varshanis refuse to winter, lose 20% of its army to tropical diseases in lowland ceylonia/aracadó (november-december 1655)

coalition regroups and builds up army of about 250k (december 1655-january 1656)

coalition army pushes back varshani forces in massive turning point in the war (january-august 1656)

varshan loses 3/4 of its total army in the pushback

Late 1656: Treaty of Naqili

battle of anteerii serves as varshani final stand (30k vs 105k coalition)

they fucking lose (obviously)

zurg basically said fuck this bs im out

Aftermath

After Zali-Kili had announced his intent to surrender to the Coalition forces in July 1656, he was immediately ordered to meet with the coalition leaders in Naqili, the capital of the Woqalate of Soqweux in September of that year. When he arrived, he was briefed on the conditions of his surrender, which were as followed:

• The complete withdrawal of all Varshani forces from the conquered territory of the Woqalate of Tchanteqanee, the Woqalate of Soqweux, the Midlands Colonies, and the Veraise Colony.
• The reduction of the Varshani Army from (low number) to (much much lower number).
• The payment of tributes from the Varshani government to the Kingdom of Alstin, Qabóri Woqalate, the Duchy of Martilles, and the Midlands Company.

The victory of the Christian allies spelled the end of Varshani naval dominance in Crona that had been the case for roughly two centuries.