The Jasani Conflicts

"Regrettably, the alliance has had its attention… diverted by other matters. Ever since your government came into power, they’ve focused on you as their most serious threat."
"We have only defended ourselves! It's your father and the other kingdoms that couldn't accept our sovereignty after we refused to sign your treaty and-"
"And I agree with you on that. My father, and his mother before that made some serious mistakes, and those mistakes needlessly cost many lives. But I am not my father, and I am telling you that because of his mistakes the Second Republic has been given nearly four decades of unchecked freedom with minimal oversight. And that, my friends, is a threat to all of us."

— A Conversation between Tanner Pashad and Prince Lotavi

Through the fires of revolution, a new nation emerged on the world stage: Jasani, a military-republican hybrid. One of its first act as a nation was to reject the Treaty of Passaran, the alliance that binds the rest of the region together. In response, the alliance marched to war.

The Conflict

Prelude

The Jasani Revolution (397-407)

After decades of ethnic tension, the Kingdom of Constol had significantly weakened in its ability to govern its people. Portions of the country were under permanent martial law, the economy was lagging decades behind other nations, popular support for the aristocracy was tanking, and the bureaucracy had become extremely slow and corrupt. When a new Queen, now called Latia the Terrible, was crowned in 397 and her policies inflamed tensions things only got more unstable.
These circumstances escalated into full-blown revolution after a protest, angered by the forced closure of a popular dissent-spreading newspaper, was attacked by heavy-handed government forces. Massive portions of the country rose up against the Queen and her loyalists in an attempt to drive her out. Though the Kingdom had seen such conflict before, most of the time these insurrections had been quickly stamped out by Alliance forces sent to restore order. This time, the Alliance refused.
With the Kingdom having lost a crucial advantage, government forces quickly lost ground as the rest of the country descended into nearly 7 years of factional violence. Dozens of armies emerged, from small raiding parties to well-funded militias, all attempting to seize control and unify the nation. Over time the original insurrection (Called the Jasa'vi Revolutionary Party) eliminated or absorbed most of the other factions. With this consolidated power, they renewed their march on the weakening kingdom's forces. They probably would've won on their own, though a few months behind schedule. However, shortly before their final siege of Constolba military leaders turned on their Queen and took control.
After this military coup the new commanders negotiated with the JRP on how power would be distributed in the new government, leading to a hybrid military government/constitutional republic. This new government had a very sour perception of the Treaty of Passaran and the Alliance, so it was quick to reject most of its terms and start anew with its military, economy, government structure, and philosophy.

The First Jasani War (407-414)

The First Jasani War officially began almost immediately after the revolution, virtually as soon as news of the coup started to reach the rest of the world. A makeshift alliance quickly formed to try and reestablish the Kingdom of Constol, or at least force Jasani to sign the treaty. At first it was only two countries; Hindaros and Arkos.
The fighting, in fact, began before most of the world even received news of the revolution; a single Hindaros army, operating before even recieving orders from their government, attempted to rush Constolba and quickly stamp out the JRI before it could establish itself as a real nation. However, key leaders escaped before the siege and fled south, while the city itself was retaken in days because the invaders ran out of supplies.
From the beginning the JRI was at a significant material disadvantage. The previous revolution had drained much of the country's resources and they never had the chance to consolidate power. Meanwhile, virtually the entire rest of the known world was marching against them. However, the JRI also had seven years of experience fighting a guerilla war and the standard advantages of a defensive war, such as better knowledge of the terrain, shorter supply lines, and civilian support. When Alliance forces captured a city (as they often did), rebels could mout surprise attacks, doing significant damage, and retreating into the civilian crowds as soon as things turned against them.
As the war reached its later years, the Jasani also had another advantage; new military devices they called Firebolts (which are essentially primitive muskets). These extremely intimidating weapons, producing significant amounts of smoke and sound, are unlike anything used in warfare before. When they were first used, at the Battle of Camber Hill in 413, the enemy army was taken by such surprise they immediately routed and fled. In spite of their horrendous accuracy and low range, they are very effective at disrupting formations and sewing chaos.
Firebolts were still fielded in such few numbers that at this point they had no major impact on the war. However, they may have exacerbated existing problems the Alliance had with maintaining troop morale. Outside of the political elites and military commanders, most of the Alliance's population saw the war as a frivolous pursuit. Most of them had never heard of Constol anyway, and to them it didn't matter that some backwater minor nation didn't want to sign the treaty. Worse, many of these countries had jumped into the war unprepared for the logistics it would require to sustain an advance.
By 414, as the war dragged on and it became clear that it would be a very pyrrhic victory at best, fatigue eventually caught up to the Alliance. Most of the nations involved withdrew from the fighting and retreated back to their homelands. However, only a few signed treaties of peace and agreed to recognize the new government (these were Hindaros, Cleopati, and Oum Anima; Altowood, who never joined the war, also normalized relations). Most countries didn't; to them, an official peace agreement would only legitimize the new nation. These unresolved tensions would shortly lead to the second war.

Interlude Period(414-430)

Having survived the first war, the JRI quickly consolidated the country into the Jasani nation that the world is familiar with today. The new government set to work fulfilling promises to its citizens and securing its legitimacy. Among these were to issue a new currency, the Jak, and establish the Senate body, among the first legislative branches ever created to give civilians voice in government (the honor of 'first' of course goes to the Cyanni ). Through this work it managed to rebuild its economy and start establishing important government agencies for administering laws.
However, in this time the Jasani never lost sight of one important fact; that though the fighting had effectively stopped, the war hadn't officially ended and their enemies were preparing for a chance to reignite hostilities. With this in mind they focused much of their attention on building their military might. The government issued a series of bonds to finance government contracts with private entities in key cities like Ittalias or Lachtali, which supply key military resources for the military industrial complex. Meanwhile, significant time and effort was spent turning Constolba into a massive manufacturing center for weapons and hardware, while its ports were nationalized into military shipyards to replace the ramshackle, privateer navy they had relied on previously. Much of the government's tax revenue was invested into training and salaries for its soldiers, managing to attract an influx of applicants.
The rest of the world was not at rest either. Having learned many lessons from their failures in the First War, the Alliance's Coalition was organizing its forces for another expected conflict. Many of these nations focused on modernizing their military, phasing out old equipment that had proven less effective (such as the Pike or infantry-grade Bowtractors ) in favor of newer technology like the crossbow and halberd. They also adapted their tactics to better suit modern combat and took steps to prepare their populations for another war.
Propaganda played a key role in this regard. In the First War, one of the primary reasons for their flagging morale was the public's perception of the conflict. Most of civilian world didn't understand the significance of the Jasani Revolution and weren't impacted much by the Jasani's actions. With public officials putting in more of an effort to convince the public about how important the situation was, collective resolve to resist the Jasani was strengthened.

The Second Jasani War (430-443)

The Long-anticipated conflict was finally ignited in late 430 after four Carvelan military vessels attempted to sail through the Strait of Dormuz. The Strait had been a hot-button issue between the countries for a long time. As the only seagoing path between the east and west of Alvana, all trade lines and naval movements had to pass through the Jasani-controlled territory. Merchant ships were forced to pay tariffs to the Jasani (though this rule wasn't strictly enforced) and military movements were prohibited. The only exceptions were to countries that had recognized Jasani sovereignty and normalized relations.
While a couple of countries (notably Persani and Cyanni ) had caved to the economic pressure by 430, most nations refused to break ranks with the Alliance. To do so risked retaliation in the form of losing foreign aid or lucrative treaties. So, many countries searched for ways to dodge Jasani patrols and slip through the strait undetected. Angered by the illicit activities, Jasani tightened control of the waters in hopes of catching one of these blockade runners. When these factions finally collided, on the 19th of the 11th Lunas, it led to a fight between the Jasani Patrol and the hostile intruders. The Jasani force, consisting of three Jasani Sakurti Divers, won the encounter with minimal casualties and two of the four ships captured.
Outraged by the actions, Carvela demanded the return of the captured sailors and vehicles, as well as the immediate cessation of patrols in the region. They argued that the Jasani had no legal right to enforce its trade laws in the strait. Jasani refused. This led to Carvela deploying its fleet and mounting raids on outlying Jasani settlements. In response, Jasani ships engaged these raiders with lethal force. Caught off guard by the show of force (mostly due to outdated information about their navy) the Carvelan raiders were soundly defeated by their foes in nearly every encounter.
With these losses the nation requested help from the Alliance. The resolution to provide military aid quickly passed, as for many countries it was simply an excuse they had been waiting for, but not without resistance. A number of nations refused to join the Coalition. Among the most notable were Hindaros, an ally of strategic importance because of proximity to the Jasani, and Altowood, whose declaration of neutrality prompted others to follow suit.
In spite of their weakened position the Coalition moved forward with plans to invade Jasani, topple the government to reinstate control, and punish them for their defiance. However, Jasani was not the same fragile nation that they had been a decade ago. Taking the initiative, they quickly mobilized their army and marched on their hostile neighbor, the Persani, to seize coastal ports and prevent Alliance forces from landing in Kinavi. The Jasani rolled over the country in a matter of weeks and forced a complete surrender. Just over a month after Persani had entered the war it was over for them.
Without land access to the region or friendly ports to field troops at, the Coalition forces had no choice but to plan for an amphibious assault on the Jasani. To do that they needed naval dominance. Towards this end Carvela and Costavi ships sailed for the Strait of Dormuz to capture a beachhead near the city Ittalias. However, they were headed off before they even reached the region by a Jasani Fleet. The Coalition fleet was crushed in the engagement and forced to retreat.
For the first two years of the war there were few land engagements, mostly just naval skirmishes and a few large battles. The Jasani, still unsure about the extent of their military power compared to the coalition, was cautious not to send its soldiers overseas where they could be lost in land battles. Meanwhile, the Coalition lacked the naval power to secure a corridor for landing troops. Without a decisive winner at sea there wasn't space for either side to comfortably attack the other.
This naval stalemate changed in 432, when Kishani entered the war. Prior to this the kingdom embroiled in conflict with an unknown enemy to their west (which is still undiscovered so far), so they had refrained from joining the conflict early on. In 432 this fight came to an end with the Kishani victorious so, eager to test their mettle against another foe, they jumped into the war and marched their royal army against the Jasani's borders.
Having neglected their intelligence ties with the rest of the world, the Kishani invaded on the outdated assumption that they would be fighting a rag-tag bunch of insurgents using hit-and-run tactics. Instead, they marched straight into the Jasani's Second Home Guard, among the country's most elite divisions. The Kishani army faced the Second Guard at the Battle of Solomon's Ridge and suffered immense casualties. Still, they pressed onwards to the Jasani capital and faced ruin in an ill-advised siege.
Though the Kishani advance was effectively routed by 8th Lunas, 432, it did one crucial thing for the coalition; create a diversion. The Arkosi and Olaran were quick to take advantage when the Jasani rerouted troops and landed Coalition forces on the northern side of the Strait of Dormuz. Though taking casualties in the assault, they managed to secure a beachhead and thereby contest Jasani's control of the waters.
At first the Jasani were at a significant advantage in these first few land engagements, with the advantage of extensive fortifications, short supply lines, and surprisingly veteran soldiers that caught the Coalition forces off guard. However, the Alliance gradually gained ground and secured a naval footing in the region. As the year came to an end it became clear the entrenched Coalition soldiers were there to stay.
Throughout 433 and 434, the Jasani slowly lost ground in the north as the Coalition's foothold expanded. In an effort to divert forces from the strait, Jasani deployed much of its fleet in the East Lota Sea to cut off all Coalition support in the East. Though they did see some success in cutting supplies, poor coordination meant that the Army did not take advantage of the Alliance's logistical shortfalls. If they had the Jasani could've probably completely retaken the strait that year.
They had much greater success in the south, however. The Kishani army virtually fled in front of the advancing Jasani forces, allowing them to enter enemy territory virtually unopposed and march into a few major settlements. As they retreated, the Kishani used a scorched-earth policy with their own lands. They evacuated the civilians they could, mostly the landed elite and wealthy nobility, and left the rest in the burned villages and barren farmland the army left behind. The humanitarian crisis that followed forced the Jasani invaders to slow their progress, stopping to rebuild what was left and keep civilian birdfolk from starving in a famine.
By 435 the situation around the northern Strait of Dormuz was becoming desperate for the Jasani. Their weary armies had received virtually no reinforcements for nearly two years, while the Coalition had naval control of the coasts and significantly more soldiers on the ground. It became clear that a breakthrough was necessary for any hope of turning the tide.
In a daring attempt to turn things around, the Jasani Senate enacted the creation of a new armed forces group within the Navy, their first Marine Corps. These newly-minted marines, taken from the army, were hastily trained and sent on a desperate mission straight to Olaran shores. A massive amphibious assault supported by naval fire landed in Alvana and stormed their city, Capila. From there they marched to the Olari capital and laid siege to it.
Though this siege eventually failed, this bold attack forced the Coalition to assist. That meant pulling troops away from the front and finding a way through the contested Strait (where they lost a significant amount of ships). Meanwhile, fresh Jasani draftees and veterans from the Kishani invasion crossed the sea by flight, joining the soldiers already there. With the reinforcements the Jasani forces began to retake lost ground and push the Alliance back to their beachheads. The last alliance forces retreated from their shores in early 436, before the regiments sent to support the Olaran could return to assist.
With this essential victory under their belt, as well as having successfully attacked the heart of their enemies multiple times and succeeded, the Jasani decided to press their advantage. Naval forces freed up from the East (where the Alliance was all but defeated) moved westward to advance on their two principle enemies: Carvela and Arkos. These fleets were reorganized into a new unit, the 3rd Offensive Fleet, and paired with the 1st Offensive Fleet to spearhead the assault.
Over the course of the next few years hostilities mostly came to an end, though the naval conflict continued well into the next decade. Things only officially came to an end after the final two combatants, Carvela and Olari, finally signed peace agreements with the Jasani. The Olaran signed last, shortly after their king died and a temporary regent, appointed due to the successor's young age, came into power.

Aftermath

In the wake of this conflict, the world of Avanima was a very different place. The Jasani, once a backwater kingdom that few could point to on a map, became a preeminent world power that the entire Alliance working together couldn't defeat. As industries that had once been all but nationalized turned to domestic production, it became one of the strongest economic powers as well. Their control of the seas was unchallenged, and their right to regulate trade through the Strait of Dormuz was never questioned again.
From their victories the Jasani also gained one thing more significant than any military prowess or economic influence: legitimacy. No nation could ever question their sovereignty again.
Though they lost, these two wars also had some positive effects for the Treaty of Passaran as well. It snapped many of these nations out of complacency in their administrations and their militaries. If a revolution could be successful in one country, it could be in another if the population wasn't sufficiently satisfied. The conflicts also forced many of these same countries to learn some hard lessons about how much war had changed in the centuries since the Cyanni War. It showed which weapons that had become outdated, which weapons were still vital, and what new technology could be incorporated into warfare. Though some didn't apply to non-Avani combatants, much of it was useful against threats like the Apogees or other monsters.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

8th Lunas, 407 (Start of the First Conflict)

Ending Date

10th lunas, 443 (End of the Second Conflict)

Conflict Result

First Jasani War: Unresolved; Second Jasani War: Decisive Jasani Victory