Great Cronan Game
| Duration | 1064-1656; 592 years |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Great Bout of Influence Between the Qabóri Woqalate and Varshani Worshipful Realm |
| Type | Series of armed conflicts and bouts of influence |
| Cause | Qabóri infringement on Varshani influence over Central Crona |
| Participants |  Qabór Varshan |
| Outcome | Reduced Varshani influence in Crona Qabóri Woqalate reaches territorial peak Cultural rivalry between Abioic and North Cronan civilizations |
The Great Cronan Game was a series of armed conflicts and diplomatic clashes of influence over Central Crona, primarily between the two main peer states of the continent; the Qabóri Woqalate and Zurgite Varshan. The North Songun civilization was also relatively involved in the Great Cronan Game, though the civilization would meet its fate halfway into the conflict, collapsing at the hands of the Great Matokté. The two empires mainly used military interventions to redefine territories in Central Crona, primarily in Porlos, Ormatia, Kelekona, and Telokona. Over the span of six centuries, the Great Cronan Game featured five armed conflicts between Qabór and Varshan, of which Qabór won most of the time, along with one diplomatic agreement, which was eventually broken just two weeks after being signed.
The Great Cronan Game is believed to have begun in the late 11th century, when Qabór conquered the southern half of Ormatia, directly impeding on the Varshani sphere of influence. Qabór had already established its dominance of South Crona after it invaded Istrenya and Atameraw. From 1064 to 1075, the Woqalate pushed heavily through the Ormato-Varshani defenses and was able to conquer the entire region, renaming it to Tchanteqanee and redefining its government structure to mirror Qabór's. The response from Varshan prompted the First War of the Great Cronan Game, and while the Zurg's army used rather violent military tactics meant to demoralize the Qabóri forces, the Woqalate still managed to hold its ground, winning the war decisively and establishing the line between Ormatia and Telokona.
Varshan feared the expansion of Qabór into Ormatia and later Soqweux would impede on its continental hegemony over Crona, which characterized its status as main global superpower of that time. The Zurg prioritized the defense of Varshan's holdings in Telokona, Kelekona, and Veraise, while Qabór continued its military campaigns out west to the coast of the Sea of St. John's. In the mid-13th century, Qabór enlisted North Songunite support to lead a campaign into both Kelekona and Telokona in the Second War, with the North Songunites succeeding and ripping control of the Innis River Basin out of the Zurg's hands. Qabór did not see the same result when they invaded Telokona, however, as the Zurg redirected military resources to Telokona after losing Kelekona and was able to push the Woqalate back to Tchanteqanee.
After the North Songun civilization collapsed in the 15th century, Varshan and Qabór came to the first diplomatic agreement between the two nations, known as the Tammat Agreement. Signed in the Tchanteqanee capital of Tammat, the agreement laid out the official border between both empires, which included the cession of Veraise from Varshan to Qabór. Fourteen days following this agreement, the Zurg ordered an invasion of Soqweux through the recently-ceded territories, beginning the Third War of the Great Cronan Game. Using the same violent and aggressive military tactics seen in the previous two wars, the Varshani invasion lasted for about five years before the Qabóri Army was able to regroup and push the invading forces back up north.
From 1452 to 1559, the Great Cronan Game entered a very long stalemate period, seeing as consistent direct conflict didn't result in much to gain for the Zurg, Varshan turned its eyes on the North Songunites. Varshan began a period of huntocracy against the North Songun civilization after the fall of the Great Matokté, which resulted in the second and much more violent collapse of the civilization. By the 17th century, Varshan attempted to extend the huntocracy to South Crona in the Final War, which resulted in total failure. The aftermath of the Great Cronan Game shifted the cultural relations between Abioic and North Cronan civilizations, creating an even further rift between the two empires and their respective cultures, which would never be repaired.
The Game begins
Qabór, having become a very rich society in a short period of time after acquiring extremely valuable agricultural land, had turned its overall strategy from maintaining its control and hegemony over both the Songun and Orixtal seas to focusing on the northwestern half of the South Songun Peninsula. In the 8th century, the Woqalate began this newfound strategy by conquering Istrenya, in a brutal, 40-year campaign which resulted in the establishment of Qabóri Sokalakee. Qabór's expansion occurred during one of the Varshani dark times, of which no history was recorded throughout the Worshipful Realm. Because of this, it is unknown what the Varshani opinion to rapid Qabóri expansion actually was, though around the turn of the 11th century, it was very apparent they had feared a Qabóri invasion into one of their vassal states after Woqali Qala'asi I ordered the conquest of Atameraw in 1049.
Qabóri conquest of Ormatia (1064–1075)
Qabór originally had no intention of infringing on Central Crona, as Varshan was a much greater power that operated with little to no acknowledgement of the South Cronan empire. While that was the case, Ormatia and Soqweux had leaned more towards Abioic civilization culturally and politically, giving Qala'asi incentive to focus more resources on increasing Qabóri influence in the region. Seeing that the border between Sokalakee and Ormatia was heavily lacking in Varshani defenses. The highland terrain of the borderlands had also given Qabór a steep advantage in the event of military intervention into Ormatia, and Qala'asi began building up the Qabóri Army along the border in Istrenya and the Ulunkher Lands. In 1064, Qabóri warriors began crossing into southern Ormatia, immediately capturing the Varshani strongholds in Tammat and Motiri. The Zurg responded rather late to the Qabóri interventions, resulting in the Woqalate capturing a large chunk of southeast Ormatia by 1065.
Qala'asi would eventually die in mid-1065, being succeeded by Aya IV. Aya IV further integrated both Sokalakee and Yapokee into the Woqalate proper for the purpose of conscripting Istrenyan and Ceylonian tribespeople to fight in the Ormatian conquest. While this made Aya IV extremely unpopular in those areas, it further increased the Woqalate's manpower and allowed for it to overpower Ormatian defenses further west. Varshan responded by mobilizing its own forces to assist Ormatia, which began a wave of violent psychological warfare from the Zurg's army, which included torturing Qabóri prisoners of war and massacring Ormatian Abioic villages that sympathized with the invading Qabóri forces. The Qangreč mostly ignored these attempts at demoralizing the Qabóri forces, and pushed even further to central Ormatia, taking the cities of Katelik and Isoko by the spring of 1066, with a garrison of about 6,000 warriors, sustaining only 120 casualties.
Over the course of the next two years, Qabór would hunker down in its already claimed territory, which encompassed the southern half of Ormatia. A temporary administrative center was established in Tammat, and the region was renamed to Tchanteqanee, after the majority tribe that resided on the lands. By the end of 1068, Qabór had built up a split zone of influence in the Tchanteqanee-Ormatia region. While these moves were at the detriment of Varshani control over Central Crona, the Zurg eventually determined this was a manageable loss, and did not respond further to Qabóri expansion. Aya IV, on the other hand, wanted control over the entire region, and in December 1068, acted accordingly by ordering borderland raids of Varshani-majority villages. The riverside fort of Ja!kupet was the main target of these raids as it was the de facto administrative center for Varshani Ormatia. Figures given by contemporary writers were highly exaggerated; it was believed that the Qabóri forces featured a total militia manpower count of 16,000 to 32,000 warriors, led by Woqali Itkoto of Tchanteqanee. It was estimated that the militia featured 3,500 cavalry and 7,000 archers, though these numbers may have been inflated as well.
On the morning of January 14, 1069, Itkoto led her militia towards the Ja!kupet fort, with the raid lasting four days and resulted in considerable damage done towards the Varshani defenses. Varshani forces responded much more quickly as they had anticipated a move by Qabór. The Qabóri forces’ specialty had been their well-trained archers, which gave the Woqalate an advantage in long-range combat, as opposed to Varshan’s sword-wielding foot soldiers, better fit for close range combat. The raids on Ja!kupet objectively leaned in favor of Qabór, and the capture of the fort greatly smashed Varshani military supply chains, further crushing their holdings in the Ormatia colony. After the battle had been won with a little over 1,000 casualties, Itkoto and Aya IV chose not to settle for Ja!kupet, and split up the main militia into four equally-sized armies, branching outwards while using the fort as a checkpoint. The next four years would result in Qabór taking over several Varshani strongholds at a steady pace, and by 1073, another quarter of Ormatia’s landmass had been assumed under Qabóri control.
After most of Ormatia had been lost, Varshan surrendering was not completely off the table. Despite this, the Zurg upped his Telokonese militias and sent them in as reinforcements. It was estimated that Varshan experienced an increase in manpower of about 7,000 soldiers, 1300 of which were cavalry. Varshan had also invested in archers of their own, seeking to even out the playing field in terms of long-range combat. This newfound strategy was initially successful, as in March 1074, Varshan had halted two Qabóri raids; in the cities of Palúúhit and K!tupis. It was evident that the tides would be turned in favor of Varshan especially with the increase in manpower as opposed to Qabór’s four invading armies, each with half the size of Varshan’s main militia. Itkoto suggested to Aya IV that the armies regroup and focus mainly on taking northwestern Ormatia, as that was more strategically viable for the invading forces. Initially hesitant, Aya IV reluctantly agreed and ordered the armies to retreat back to Ja!kupet. The Zurg assumed this was a victory for the Varshani forces, and called for celebration of the Qabóri retreat in Anzo.
By the spring of 1075, Qabóri forces had returned to the frontlines. The sudden death of Itkoto in November due to hypothermia dealt a massive blow to the conquering forces, as no other Tchanteqanee official possessed as much knowledge of the region as Itkoto did. Regardless, Aya IV implemented herself as the army’s commander, and had planned for continuous surprise raids on the cities of Palúúhit, K!tupis, Yakolo, and Tetaskala in the summer. Despite the confidence boost from fending off the Qabóri raids in 1074, Varshani morale had dwindled due to the spread of subtropical diseases throughout the four cities. This gave Aya IV’s army an advantage, and in July 1075, the raids began. Palúúhit was the first target, and with a raiding militia of 10,000 cavalry and 3,500 archers, Qabór faced fierce resistance, though the Ormatian garrisons stationed had little to no Varshani assistance, and the city fell in six days. The ensuing march to K!tupis was met with ambushes by Varshani and Ormatian forces halfway there. Though Qabór was greatly outnumbered, a further 14,000 warriors reinforced their defenses, allowing them to overpower the ambushing forces.
The resulting raids on K!tupis, Yakolo, and Tetaskala spanned throughout the remainder of July and August, and resulted in massive land gains for Qabór and Tchanteqanee. On September 2, 1075, Qabóri forces reached the border between Ormatia and Telokona. Because the recent campaigns in Ormatia resulted in thousands of casualties for Qabór, Aya IV elected not to push into Telokona, instead settling for the remainder of Ormatia. The conquest dealt a major blow to Varshan's sphere of influence, as Ormatia served as a crucial vassal state for the Zurg.
Conquest of Soqweux
Second War (1243–1256)
Qabór/North Songunites attempt to invade kelekona and telokona, Varshani victory
Collapse of the North Songun civilization
The diplomatic route
1447 agreement establishes Tammat line, broken 14 days later
Third War (1447–1452)
Varshan invades Soqweux and Ormatia, Qabóri victory
The Hunts (1452–1559)
Qabór weakens, varshan begins huntocracy effectively collapsing north songunites
Final War (1650–1656)
Varshan invades and pushes into Qabór proper, Qabóri victory
Aftermath
Deluge shit and whatever