The Mercury Road War [Baltia Wiki]

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====== The Mercury Road War ======
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**The Mercury Road**

The Mercury Road is a series of innumerable underground tunnels that snake and crisscross underground, within which the substance known as Potensium gradually accumulates over time. These tunnels, if followed sufficiently, connect all nations, though entrances to it are a closely guarded secret.
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As the importance of Potensium in the world became greater and greater, conflict over the resource would inevitably break out. This proved to be true in the most explosive of ways, and the value this resource provided would eventually spark a war that would involve nearly every nation in the world. This would result in the Mercury Road War, also sometimes known as merely the Mercury War.

===== Prelude to War =====
The initial skirmishes of the war fell squarely upon the Aconian Free State. With its industry developing faster than that of any other nation on the continent, it found itself unable to keep up with the demand of Potensium its new industry increasingly required. While surveyors continued to find new deposits, and existing ones were more efficiently allocated, the AFS looked to other sources of growth.

==== Skirmishes with the Belt ====
The Aconians found the best solution at the time to be aggression. In the early days of Potensium's discovery, the value of the resource was not quite so well known, and so the knowledge of where reserves were was not necessarily a secret. Additionally, spies within governments were able to secure information on those found since.

While Potentsium mining had typically been granted to those who first found a deposit, the Aconian Free State found this insufficient. They began sending raiding forces through the tunnels of the Mercury Road into the area of deposits controlled by other nations, with the intention of seizing any Potensium they had on hand. They targeted the smaller nations of the belt, which they felt more able to dominate politically and militarily.

==== Protests and Escalation ====
The larger nations of the belt, such as Entrine and Metropolis, issued formal condemnations and cut diplomatic ties with the AFS. However, they took no military action, and this emboldened the Aconians into believing they could take more aggressive actions. After nearly two years of their raiding being functionally unopposed, the Aconian Free State formally seized a deposit held by Ladrestir.

They quickly learned they had become cocky, and their actions would no longer be tolerated. Their previous raiding strategy had ensured they focused on no single nation, with the intention of avoiding any single faction of the belt feeling uniquely threatened. However, by now seizing a source resources belong to one such faction directly, each other of the Belt realized they were at similar risk.

===== The War Begins =====
The nation of Entrine formally declared war upon the Aconian Free State in defense of Ladrestir, with Lyzum and Inden also joining the conflict. While this was not unexpected, the Aconian Free State was not prepared for both Metropolis and Thraven to join the war against them as well. With this, all nations of the Belt with the exception of Church, Nith, and Ithlond (now Maelstrom) would be arrayed against the Umbrian aggressor.

==== The Umbrian Axis ====
Recognizing the threat the forces of the Belt posed, the Aconian Free State then reached out to its own rivals: Mourne and Gebalam. The Aconians argued to the greed of its neighbors, advocating that a joint Umbrian Axis could establish dominance over the Mercury Road handily. In doing so, the Potensium available to the continent would more than triple, while also depriving the continent of its most immediate threat.

They were successful in their argument, and both Gebalam and Mourne joined the AFS on the side of the War. The winding tunnels of the Mercury Road soon filled with additional soldiers, and the conflict began in earnest.

==== The Great Game ====
Almost all of the conflict of the Mercury Road war took place underground, in the Mercury Road itself, for several reasons. The first was an unspoken agreement by all parties that a war contained to the subterranean battlefield would be ideal. Within the tunnel, civilian targets for military action were confined only to miners. Furthermore, instability caused by the war would be minimized if it was so out of sight.

But furthermore, many tacticians on all sides viewed the battlefield they now saw as the perfect one. It was a conflict in which concern for civilians was nonexistent, and where one could only defeat their entrenched opponents through tactical superiority. To these leaders, it was little more than a game to prove which nation had the greatest commanders. They would quickly realize this was not the case.

==== The Great Meat-Grinder ====
Both sides of the conflict had military doctrine that had not quite evolved with the weapons available, and once both sides began to settle into their tunnels, the losses skyrocketed. With the number of soldiers available to each side, it became nearly impossible for one side to find a hole in the defenses of the other, and so every intersection was paid for in gallons of blood.

Each side unleashed the specialized weapons they had available. There are reports of hordes of thousands of undead from Entrine swarming positions held by unyielding Euriesian Knights, as well as Demons thrashing at all around them as legions of constructs fired upon them from all sides.

==== Umbrian Advantage ====
It quickly became a battle of attrition in most areas of the front, though it was one the Umbrians appeared poised to win. This was the first large-scale conflict in which firearms played a role, and they proved to be both quick to train soldiers in as well as exceedingly lethal. Additionally, the lack of light in the Umbrian continent meant many of its soldiers benefited from darkvision, which proved invaluable in the pitch-black tunnels. While the Coalition of the Belt did not lack this entirely, it had far fewer soldiers with this ability.

As a result, the nations of the belt found themselves on their back foot. While they were able to inflict significant damage to their opponents, their own losses were far higher, and they found themselves unable to hold their starting positions. Progress was slow, but the Umbrian tide could not be held back. As this advantage became clear, the Umbrians made a critical mistake that would spell their defeat.

===== The War Turns =====
In recorded discussions regarding their expectations for after the war, representatives of the Umbrian Axis indicated their dominance of the Mercury Road was an inevitability, without caring to distinguish the areas held by the Belt differently than those held by the Holy Empire of Solaria. This was taken by many in Solaria as a direct challenge to the empire, and many called upon the Emperor to take action.

==== Solaria Enters the War ====
The Holy Empire of Solaria had watched the conflict cautiously. It was concerned about the advantage that would be granted to the Umbrian nations should they be victorious in the war, but its government did not feel sufficiently threatened to act. However, once the Umbrian Axis made this diplomatic blunder, the Empire felt it was time to act.

Solaria formally joined the war against the Umbrian Axis, and its unrivaled war machine slowly warmed. It proved to be the missing piece of a victorious war effort, as its abundance of natural resources could be used by the more industrial nation of the belt to better arm its army of millions of peasant conscripts.

==== Umbrians Repelled ====
With this huge influx of men and material into the conflict, the Umbrian forces now found themselves the ones overwhelmed. In addition to the raw mass of soldiers that had joined their opponents, many Solarian Knighthood orders joined the conflict and rounded out the capabilities of the Solarian forces.

Though the losses remained staggering, the Coalition of the Belt was able to gradually push back the increasingly exhausted Umbrians until, for the first time, the Umbrians found themselves pushed back from their own original positions, and the exhausted Axis now sought a way to exit the way war maintaining at least some of their gains.

===== Pyrrhic Victory =====
The Coalition of the Belt had no intention of ending the war in a way that left any opportunity to repeat the conflict later. They sought a way to defeat the Umbrians utterly, and Solaria would devise a plan to utterly crush the last remaining hopes of the Umbrian powers.

==== The Bombing of Firstport ====
In a surprise attack led by Reunir ver Hermes, a fleet of Solarian airships departed the Belt toward Firstport, the capital of Gebalam at that time. Quickly overwhelming the city's anti-air defenses, the fleet initiated a firebombing campaign that saw the city burned to ashes, with a loss of civilian life unheard of up to this point in the war.

However, after Reunir and his entourage landed to begin occupying the remains of the city, he suddenly vanished. We would later learn that he was forced into hiding following an attempted assassination by the ver Paust family, who attempted to remove the heir apparent from the line of succession at his most vulnerable moment.

In sudden chaos at the disappearance of the heir, the Solarian forces lost much of their cohesion, and retaliation by Gebalam forces would push them into a full retreat. With Firstport held, the Umbrian Axis rallied around the event, and their propaganda campaign used it as proof that the survival of their nations now hinged on victory.

==== Umbrian Raids ====
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**The Nation of Arkaydia**

On the Umbrian continent is the Nation of Arkaydia, which remains a colony of Solaria to this day. It entered the war at the same time as its master nation, and it found itself in a precarious position. Initially, it merely defended its positions, quite aware that it would suffer greatly if its defenses lowered.

However, once civilians became valid targets, the nation entered what is rightfully called the darkest part of its history. With increased blockades, the population began to starve, with food riots and cannibalism running rampant by the end of the war. Psionic attacks by the Mari also drove the people mad, with the citizens of the nation dominated into acts of depravity I dare not repeat. The scars of this time have never healed.
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With the unspoken rule to avoid civilian settlements now broken, the Umbrian nations devised a devious raiding campaign. Sneaking past enemy lines in any form they could, be it by airship or secret teleportation circles, squads of commandos would attack civilian resources in their enemy nations. They would sabotage vital infrastructure, as well as kidnap civilians to be used as slaves.

This tactic proved very demoralizing, especially as some of the more ambitious raids targeted as far as Solaria itself. Fear of Umbrians coming in the night to steal children terrified civilians in every nation, especially with their respective governments unable to defend each and every settlement sufficiently to prevent the raids. 

===== Peace and Ramifications =====
After years of conflict, the Umbrian nations finally surrendered. The number of casualties simply became too great, and with their initial gains having been utterly reversed, both their people and governments realized that victory was no longer possible. A truce was called, with talks called between all the participating powers, with the representatives gathering in Königspfalz.

==== Terms of Peace ====
The nations of Umbria did not surrender unconditionally. While they realized their capacity for war was rapidly diminishing, they were still able to drag out the conflict further months if the terms of peace demanded were too severe. As such, the victorious nations could not cripple the defeated Umbrians, lest their people revolt at a greater cost to humanoid life from a pointless continuation to the war.

==== Mining Rights ====
The rights to mine Potensium, the issue which initially started the conflict, were formally determined as part of the peace. According to this peace, any naturally-occuring source of Potensium was the exclusive right of the nation with the closest above-ground borders, with standardized divination magic to be developed to properly determine such.

This was a severe blow specifically to the Aconian Free State, who had held a number of mines before the conflict began that were now formally outside their authority. They were ordered to abandon the outposts, unless a fee was agreed upon with their proper owners and paid accordingly. The AFS opted for the latter, lest their economy suffer further.

==== The End of Slavery ====
Additionally, the Umbrian nations still practiced Slavery to various capacities, and all nations were ordered to end the practice. This portion of the treaty was hotly contested by Mourne, who required slaves in order to maintain their population, but with the other powers offering no opposition they found themselves quickly overruled.

This was claimed to be a moral need, as both the Belt and Solaria had abolished the institution long ago. However, many agree that this was specifically added with the hope of severely weakening Mourne, if not destroying it outright. The atrocities suffered by the Arkaydians of Umbria at Mourne's hand is often attributed as a major motivator of this.

===== After the War =====
With the war ended in reasonable terms, the nations of the world began to attempt a return to normalcy. However, with the conflict as far-reaching as it had been, this was easier said than done for many.

==== Foundation of Noxas ====
The firebombing of Firstport had briefly crippled the government of Gebalam, and as a result, the nation felt the need to build a new capital in a safer location. It decided to found the city of Noxas deep within the Black Mountains, where difficult terrain and regularly poor weather would make an attack difficult. The construction was brutal, even with the heavy use of magic. However, it is likely one of the most difficult cities in the world to attack from the outside.

==== Biomancy and Modern Markunians ====
With slavery abolished in Mourne, the Mari desperately sought a way to replace their population. After significant effort, they would eventually develop the school of Biomancy in their pursuit to create new hosts. With their futures secured, they would develop their magic further, and would create the New Markunians as a result.

Manipulating unborn livestock and service animals, they would gradually create humanoid-like animals. With the intent first to inhabit them, but later to act as servants just shy of slaves with what could only be called programmed loyalty. After their first creation, the population of New Markunians exploded, especially thanks to the escape of those with "defects" that gave them sufficient free will.

==== The Cashmere Revolution ====
When the Mercury Road War began, one of the most militarily capable nations of the Belt was Lyzum. Composed of the militaristic Orcs and Goblinoids, it was expected that it would be a significant force on the battlefield. However, its armies did not rise as expected, with the Orcs of the nation against the joining of a war they did not see as their concern.

As a result, the Goblinoids of Lyzum took the brunt of the casualties of their nation during the war, and they felt betrayed by their Orcish neighbors. As a result, they broke off from the nation of Lyzum in a thankfully bloodless affair, and formed the nation of Kalon. After years of successful cooperation and cohabitation, leading to militaristic and spiritual breakthroughs, the Orcs and the Goblinoids of Lyzum had reached an impasse.