Immortal War

The Immortal War was a global conflict that lasted from 2896 AT to 2905 AT. It was the culmination of Zetopa's plan to ally himself with the other Immortal Rulers of the world and take over the planet.

The first truly global conflict since the Global War nearly two millennia prior, the Immortal War claimed many lives. It ended when Tulkon Von Hamobora killed Emperor Zetopa, causing his Immortal Empire to crumble and bringing peace to the planet.

Prelude
Zetopa succeeded Tulkon Zoruha as the Ruler of Orcanth after her death in 2093. Several yeaers prior to his ascension to the throne, Zetopa was struck by lightning and became immortal, allowing him to rule the country benevolently for centuries. During his reign, he put together a plan to take over the world, but saw no reason to carry it out. In 2702 AT, the volcano Volcan erupted, killing thousands of people in Orcanth, including Zetopa's own family. Zetopa himself was rescued by Tulkon E'Acoradi, but Zetopa held a grudge against him for not being able to save everyone. It was then that Zetopa decided to begin carrying out his plan.

The first steps would be to change things on the home front. After Orcanth's recovery from the eruption of Volcan, Zetopa's policies quickly changed and became imperialistic and dogmatic. He began promoting a new form of Savatism that became the state religion. A culture of blind loyalty and devotion to the Orcanth Throne was also spread, and dissent was highly frowned upon. Zetopa also simultaneously sought alliances with other immortals, including Ino and Etesh of the RIHS, Eberil of Nodal, Keaghuz of Nen Ren, and Topo of Gogeget, each of whom had a shared hatred of the Tulkon and a desire for power. In 2876 AT, E'Acoradi became suspicious of Zetopa, and after a brief confrontation, was killed by the King of Orcanth. Zetopa claimed that he foiled an assassination attempt by E'Acoradi, and claimed that E'Acoradi's death ended the Tulkon cycle. The Orcanth Government subsequently spread anti-Tulkon propaganda, and mounting public pressure caused the Tulkonist Council to dissolve. Numerous Tulkonists in the RIHS and beyond abandoned their faith in the aftermath of E'Acoradi's death.

In 2880 AT, Zetopa proclaimed the formation of the Empire of Orcanth, a union of states composed of the other immortal-ruled countries, with Zetopa as its Emperor. The RIHS joined the Empire, but the Ilois IHS broke off in protest. This triggered the brief Zatem Crisis, when Ilois IHS troops and Empire military stood at the ready, preparing for conflict. Zetopa allowed Ilois to keep its independence for two reasons: he did not want to prematurely start the coming war, and he needed blind loyalty from all states in the Empire.

Events
In 2896 AT, Zetopa declared the reformation of the Empire of Orcanth into the Immortal Empire, while simultaneously declaring war on all non-member states. The non-imperial states, including Norte-Muldox, Ilois, A'Roastad, Keghotogh, Kepet, and Ynofora, formed the Free Alliance to fight against the Empire, while Zetopa and his allies secretly went to Nen Ren to remotely command their armies.

The RIHS, now known as the Human Protectorates, fell in a brief Free Alliance campaign led by Norte-Muldox and the Ilois IHS in the early stages of the war. However, the nation of Ynofora was essentially destroyed by the Empire while the Republics of the Frozen Continent were taken over. Most of the war was one of attrition. Many battles took place on the coasts of Nodal and Orcanth, as well as A'Roastad and the Acadon Islands. Beginning in 2900 AT, Gogeget began a brief campaign of genocide against the captured Ynoforan lands, killing around 40% of their population.

In 2904 AT, the Empire declared a ceasefire, and several armies went home to be on the defense. During this time, Von Hamobora, unknowingly the reincarnation of E'Acoradi, had a vision of her former self telling her to track down and fight Zetopa. Several weeks into the ceasefire, Zetopa bombed the nations of the Free Alliance, crippling their armies, killing thousands of civilians, and destroying any hope of resistance. The Free Alliance surrendered, and its members became part of the Empire, sealing an Imperial victory.

Von Hamobora, intent on following E'Acoradi's instructions, escaped Imperial Norte-Muldox and left to track down Zetopa. Zetopa, sensing her on his trail, sent Eberil to kill her, but he failed, and Vonha continued her quest. She discovered Zetopa's whereabouts by mid-2905 AT, and killed him and the remaining immortals. Prior to his death, Zetopa confirmed to Vonha that she was indeed the Tulkon.

Aftermath
After Zetopa's death, the Empire crumbled. It was left without its leaders and without morale, so they pulled out of their conquered territories. Vonha began reforming the world, and ensuring that no power like the Immortal Empire would be able to rise again.

Vonha first used Yaaamemon’s Rock to spread healing energy through the world. She disbanded the RIHS; from now on, the Human Protectorates would exist as fully independent republics. The republics of the Frozen continent were the most directly affected by the war and received massive amounts of aid, paid primarily by Orcanth. All statespeople who supported or sympathized with the immortal kings were ousted. The nations that had sided with the kings, with the exceptions of Usybork and Nokina and Honsin (which had fallen under Iloisa rule years before the war’s end) would have harsh economic sanctions for the next 20 years. As punishment for the genocide of the Ynoforans, Gogeget was split into two separate nations (a move inspired by the breakup of the Iloisa Empire in the aftermath of the Dwarven Genocide and the Iloisa COnquest) and later reunited in 2950. Nodal was reorganized into a republic. A’Roastad took back the former Ynoforan lands and allowed survivors to settle there. Vonha also pushed for demilitarization, and reformed the Tulkonist Council. Economic growth pushed the world into an industrial revolution which began in the 2930’s. While the reforms were tough, they were effective at promoting peace. Vonha was later elected queen of Norte-Muldox. Her first act as queen was to create the multinational Onor-Ynoforan Codes, which defined and listed war crimes, such as the bombing of civilian populations and genocide. All of the world’s nations ratified the document.

Zetopan Savatists, those who practiced Zetopa's form off Savatism and still swore loyalty to his empire, occasionally opposed the efforts of Vonha and her Human successor Ico, but were not able to do anything on a large scale. Ico helped promote a law that prevented immortals from ruling a country for longer than a century.

Vonha's reformation of the Tulkonist Council had some unintended side effects. The Council was given greater power and autonomy, which it used to create the Tulkonist Army. Nearly 200 years after the end of the Immortal War, the Tulkonist Army would become the dominant military power on the planet.