NEW VOSTOKA HISTORY -- Part III "The Pantheon Wars"

PREFACE: So HERE is the big ol' thing i've been working on, its not finished but ive decided to start posting it in chunks! A series of maps and lore regarding the 700+ history of my DnD setting, New Vostoka! So enjoy each part as I post them!

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     The following century of warfare, the fourth Interval, was called the Pantheon Wars [later the First Pantheon War]. Despite much of the age being dominated by one major conflict, The Schism of the Diarchs, it was not the only holy war, and certainly not the only point of tension throughout the Realm. It began with the secession of the Kolarch Republic in 303Æ from bordering regions between both the Reverent Dominion and the Tetryan Enclave - their mutually antagonistic response was fueled by two separate perspectives, both religious in nature; the majority of Khelod within the Reverent subscribed to the Vykarian sect of the Reverent Order, and condemned the Kolar-centric sect which declared itself the seat of the New Order within the new Republic. The Tetryan Monarchs of the Enclave on the other hand, were opposed unilaterally to the “heretical” notions of the Star Kings, and took the opportunity to purge them from their growing sphere of territory. This inevitably led to a three-way religious conflict, which was exacerbated by the eventual alliance between the Infernyn Emirate [which had a growing population of Kolarchs] and the Kolarch Republic, merging the nations into The Kolarch Alliance in 308Æ

     The lasting conflict saw dramatic shifts in the geopolitical stage, as the Enclave lost all ground within the Stalriek entirely - fleeing the Stoleward Isle in a mass emigration to the Osriek colonies known as the Pale Exodus - which had steadily evolved into its own isolated nation: Xiros. 

The once neutral City-State of Sorvigrad became one of the most contentious territories as its surrounding land became a holy battleground for decades, while the territory once making up the Republic of Kolarch slowly fell to the stronger military might of the Reverent - leaving the Ashen Peninsula as the bulk of Alliance territory. The Stoleward Isle would become another such contested territory, never falling wholly to either faction, as both erected proxy states [The Kolarch Republic of Stolgrad and The Kingdom of Northern Rourke] with puppet governments propped up in the vacancy of the Tetryan Enclave authority. 

     With long periods stretching between the slow moving campaigns, this conflict degenerated into a stalemate. The buildup of navies during this era had led to a great many battles across the coasts and channels of the Broken and Pale seas, none of which however proving to be decisive enough to push the war in any one direction. Growing fortifications became difficult to capture, with sieges lasting years in some cases. Open warfare became less common as each nation also focused on their own internal struggles - such as the first documented breakout of the Blight Plague [which later was theorized to have originated in Xiros, and delivered to the Stalrieks as a weaponized vengeance by the Tetrya - crippling much of the Kolarch Alliance], as well as the emergence of the Kathar race from the crystalline depths of the Stalwall and other mountain ranges, as mining became a dominant Guild craft throughout the Reverent, and the Stalriek at large.

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     Across the Stalriek, another religious civil war erupted in the Cyotek empire and throughout her colonies. Called “The Purge of the Matriarchs” [or merely The Purge], this event was sparked by growing socio-religious unrest in the Houses, which had collectively begun to lose faith in the Goddess Kun-Solis. Despite having erected a grand empire, the Cyotek were “rewarded” with several misfortunes throughout the closing years of the 3rd Interval, ranging from lost altercations with the Ro’Thkai clans AND The Reverent along the desert banks of modern-day Karrikos & Rubikor [resulting in enslavement or brutal conversion], to violent encounters with indiginous wildlife and hostile conditions of the Osriek [including ongoing guerilla conflicts with the Kathars and Dreg races]. On top of this, famine and disease had struck portions of the upper empire, which the Reverent took advantage of to annex imperial territory with little resistance. The Council of Noble Houses - a patriarchal Diet subservient to the House Matriarchs - began to blame the goddess, having “abandoned” their race, while the Pantheon of the west [namely the Star Kings] favored their faithful. Cyotek resigned their faith in droves, while a great many held fast in their belief in the Goddess’s “test” which they saw the heretical deserters failing.

     In 361Æ, The Matriarchs were betrayed and the sacred feminine aspect central to Cyotek culture was upheaved, with males gradually seizing power while subjugating those who resisted - Most Matriarchs were murdered, or fled north to the holy city of The Fell where they formally defined the boundary of the Holy Convent of Matriarchs, making up the northern half of the mainland empire. Civil war ensued up to the next century and the Convent shrunk, finally becoming contained in Queen’s Crest, the last bastion of their territory. The war never formally ended, with the Matriarchs in exile signing a nonaggression pact with the adjacent reorganized Reverent [now the Confederation of Guilds], while the Noble Houses of the Cyotek consolidated their new territory into the Feudal State of Kolov - named for the first Ruling House leader of the new rotating Council system. Its new established religion - Primarchy - lacked a major deity, and in fact was built entirely on the notion that the Goddess Kun-Solis was weakened [mortal], and could be hunted down and killed.

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      While much of the realm fell to religious war and division, the Ro’Thkai achieved the opposite of this - the once ceaselessly warring tribes and clans of the Domain discovered a newfound unity, under the banner of the Karrikan religion now reformed by the Prophet-Chieftess Kefredite, believed to be the reincarnated mother of Karrik: Kharne herself. The borders within the Ro’Thkai Domain [now called the Nations of Karrikos or Five Nations] were cemented among the 5 Greater Clans, most formed through the absorption and conquering of smaller clans throughout the latter years of the Expanse. Bound together, the Clans began to construct a civilization unmarred [for a time] by conquest, scavenging the valleys of refuse and constructing new cities - including that of the new capitol of Kaifek [modern-day Kai’Feng]. 

Undeterred by infighting, the Ro’Thkai were also able to expel the Cyotek, Khelod, and Tetryan colonists from their new nation and make use of their spoils. The continued domestic slavery of the Grae-kin, once living weapons of war during the Expanse, became a contestable practice; Chieftess Kefredite was expected to enstate their legal freedom, but a faction of conspirators - seeking to maintain the institution - clandestinely assassinated her and nearly plunged the Domain into civil war once again. A new Chieftess, Kefridite’s younger, resentful sister Kafrah, was planted on the throne by the conspiracy. She later had them executed and ascended beyond being their puppet - seeking to forge a greater era of glory than her sister, but once more through bloodshed and conquest. Her gaze turned to the newly founded State of Kolov and The Reverent Dominion, weakened from their religious civil wars.

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In the year 411Æ, the last of the First Pantheon Wars was thus fought between the three dominant powers of the united Nations of Karrikos, the Dominion of the Greater Reverent, and the Feudal State of Kolov in what would be known as the War of the Three Churches [referring to the Karrikan, Diarch, and Primarch faiths]. Rather than a trilateral conflict, it was mainly a war of aggression conducted by the Nations of Karrikos, which was acting on the emergent sectarian belief that the goddess Karrik could be appeased with blood, conquest, and sacrifice, and that the geographical “Skull of Karrik” was to be completed to mark his return [requiring the annexation of most of mainland-Kolov and what was once the Nation of Kharne - now Reverent territory]. For two decades the combined Ro’Thkai armies [known as the Horde] relentlessly pushed in every direction - generating theaters of war across the Gravewater Strait, as far north as the River Grizwauld, across the Gulf of Karrikos in the “Horn” of Karrik, and the southern archipelago of Karrik’s chain. Though no formal treaty or alliance existed between them [made impossible by their refusal to aid in the Purge], the combined military might of the Reverent and Kolov was enough to repel Karrikos, with decisive battles fought at Obsidia, Cole Harbor, Saltzgard, Kaevaka,The Siege of Pale Fortress, and the Sack of Gunrot. 

     This war also provided another proxy conflict between the stagnated forces of the Reverent and the crumbling Kolarch Alliance, which was facing internal collapse from the Blight epidemic. The Kolarch Alliance extended a diplomatic treaty to Karrikos, and aided with what dwindling forces remained, while the Hanging Isles became a shared naval outpost. Chieftess Kafrah had every intention to absorb the Alliance under her purview with occupying armies, but their frontlines finally collapsed as the Reverent blockaded and stormed the Burning Gulf - an event made possible by the union and independence of the colonial nations of Rourke and Stolgrad into the United Kingdom of Dunstol, which occurred in 427Æ

     With the territories of the defeated Kolarch Alliance under the jurisdiction of the Reverent Order, a new front was opened into the western coasts of Karrikos - starting with the capture of the Hanging outpost and ending in the nation being cut in half - as Reverent armies landed on the western banks while Cyotek armies punctured in from the Crystal Coasts of the east. The infamous Desert Crusades followed, resulting in the utter surrounding of Karrikos’ shrinking sovereignty and Kafrah’s expulsion to the east, where she and her dwindling loyalist Horde were finally killed in the Battle of Bloodwrought Basin. In these last chaotic years, Karrikos nearly plunged once more into inter-clan warfare, but the 5 Greater Clans of Karrikos surrendered to preserve what remained of their nation, as much of its southern territories [modern day Rubikor] was divided between Kolov and Reverent, and became The Protectorates.

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In total summation, by 434Æ the Dominion of the Greater Reverent now dominated almost all of the northern Stalriek, the Kingdom of Dunstol emerged and began its prosperous relationship with the Dominion, Karrikos was once more contained as the two opposed sects of the Karrikan faith hung in delicate balance, the Feudal State of Kolov maintained control over its old imperial regions - save for the isolated free city of Queen’s Crest - and the Tetryan nation of Xiros managed to avoid this entire century of war, instead focusing on building their enigmatic and secluded civilization, undisturbed [for now].