The Great Drought War
Aka the Great Water War, the First Drought War
The Great Drought War was a brutal and largely futile conflict fought from 1881 to 1883 on the arid continent of Tandara. It arose during a catastrophic drought that devastated the region, leaving nations scrambling for control over dwindling freshwater resources. The war primarily involved two major powers, Stanna, a devoutly religious kingdom, and Nydonia, a materialistic and industrialized republic. However, smaller nations such as Mahadrin, Dorbin, and Lothomoté were drawn into the conflict to varying extents, whether by necessity or coercion.
The Republic of Nydonia: A republic led by an elected council, with a booming industrial economy. They possessed superior technology, including locomotives and mechanized equipment, which played a key role in transporting water.
Mahadrin: A nomadic confederation of tribes skilled in surviving the desert. Initially neutral, they were pulled into the war by skirmishes over critical wells on their territory.
The Dorbin Empire: A coastal nation with a precarious position, relying on imported water shipments from across the sea. Dorbin played a diplomatic role, attempting to mediate but eventually being dragged into naval conflicts.
Lothomoté: A landlocked nation to the north, with limited involvement due to its distance from the critical watering holes. However, it served as a supplier of mercenaries and provisions.
Locomotive Battles: Railway lines became critical arteries of survival. Trains hauling water tanks were heavily armored and constantly targeted by sabotage, ambushes, and outright battles. Control of rail junctions became as important as the watering holes themselves.
Watering Hole Sieges: Armed forces built makeshift fortifications around wells and oases, leading to prolonged and often inconclusive sieges.
Naval Engagements: On the coasts, naval skirmishes erupted over shipments of water from across the ocean. Merchant fleets became militarized, and ports were blockaded or raided.
Desert Warfare: Battles in the deserts and rocky plains were marked by brutal conditions, with soldiers as likely to die from thirst and exposure as from enemy fire.
2. The Mahadrin Uprising (1882): Frustrated by incursions from both Stanna and Nydonia, the Mahadrin tribes united temporarily to defend their lands, launching guerrilla raids that disrupted supply lines.
3. The Battle of the Sands (1883): An iconic locomotive battle in the central desert, where Nydonia’s armored trains faced off against Stanni cavalry. Though Nydonia’s technology won the day, the victory was strategically meaningless.
Causes of the War
The drought that struck Tandara was unprecedented in its severity, drying up rivers, rendering wells useless, and making survival an existential challenge. In a region already characterized by deserts, savannas, and rocky plains, this environmental catastrophe turned essential resources like water into commodities of war. The Holy Kingdom of Stanna saw the drought as a divine test, believing it their holy duty to secure the watering holes for their people and as a “gift from the heavens.” Their fervent rhetoric painted the war as a crusade. The Republic of Nydonia, driven by its industrial economy and reliance on precise resource allocation, viewed the watering holes as logistical necessities rather than moral imperatives. They framed their campaigns as a defense of progress and rational order. The flashpoint of the war occurred in a cluster of watering holes situated between Stanna and Nydonia’s borders, a region with the highest concentration of freshwater on the continent known as The Reservoir Plains.The Major Players
The Holy Kingdom of Stanna: A theocratic kingdom ruled by a monarch, advised by a powerful clergy. Their armies were motivated by religious zeal but lacked modern industrial tools. Stanna’s strategies relied heavily on sheer manpower and devotion.The Republic of Nydonia: A republic led by an elected council, with a booming industrial economy. They possessed superior technology, including locomotives and mechanized equipment, which played a key role in transporting water.
Mahadrin: A nomadic confederation of tribes skilled in surviving the desert. Initially neutral, they were pulled into the war by skirmishes over critical wells on their territory.
The Dorbin Empire: A coastal nation with a precarious position, relying on imported water shipments from across the sea. Dorbin played a diplomatic role, attempting to mediate but eventually being dragged into naval conflicts.
Lothomoté: A landlocked nation to the north, with limited involvement due to its distance from the critical watering holes. However, it served as a supplier of mercenaries and provisions.
Nature of the War
The war’s theaters were as varied as Tandara’s harsh landscape:Locomotive Battles: Railway lines became critical arteries of survival. Trains hauling water tanks were heavily armored and constantly targeted by sabotage, ambushes, and outright battles. Control of rail junctions became as important as the watering holes themselves.
Watering Hole Sieges: Armed forces built makeshift fortifications around wells and oases, leading to prolonged and often inconclusive sieges.
Naval Engagements: On the coasts, naval skirmishes erupted over shipments of water from across the ocean. Merchant fleets became militarized, and ports were blockaded or raided.
Desert Warfare: Battles in the deserts and rocky plains were marked by brutal conditions, with soldiers as likely to die from thirst and exposure as from enemy fire.
Key Events
1. The Siege of Aurrin Wells (1881–1882): A pivotal and grueling battle over a cluster of watering holes near the border. Both sides suffered staggering losses, with neither gaining a decisive victory.2. The Mahadrin Uprising (1882): Frustrated by incursions from both Stanna and Nydonia, the Mahadrin tribes united temporarily to defend their lands, launching guerrilla raids that disrupted supply lines.
3. The Battle of the Sands (1883): An iconic locomotive battle in the central desert, where Nydonia’s armored trains faced off against Stanni cavalry. Though Nydonia’s technology won the day, the victory was strategically meaningless.
Aftermath
By 1883, both Stanna and Nydonia were exhausted. The war drained their economies, decimated their populations, and failed to produce a clear victor. The borders shifted slightly in favor of Nydonia, which secured control over a few additional watering holes. However, the gains were negligible compared to the cost. The smaller nations fared no better. Mahadrin emerged severely weakened, its tribes fractured. Lothomoté, though minimally involved, bore the scars of mercenary losses and disrupted trade. Dorbin, dependent on water imports, suffered from blockades and raids that crippled its economy. Many historians posit that Dorbin’s weakened state at this time contributed directly to the ease with which Stanna was able to culturally infiltrate the country and eventually cause a 1913 civil war that saw southern Dorbin breaking off to form the Stanni puppet state of Zeelubin. The war left Tandara scarred both physically and politically. Freshwater remained a contentious issue, and the drought persisted for years after, exacerbating the suffering. The Great Drought War became a cautionary tale of how resource scarcity could lead to catastrophic conflict, but it did little to prevent future disputes.Legacy
The Great Drought War is remembered as a war of desperation rather than ambition. It epitomized the fragility of civilization in Tandara’s arid climate and underscored the devastating consequences of environmental catastrophe paired with human hubris. The war’s locomotives, watering holes, and desert skirmishes remain enduring symbols of resilience and futility in Tandaran folklore and history.
Conflict Type
War
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
5/2/1881
Ending Date
12/1/1883
Location
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