Kiri-Kawa-Oda War
A brief military conflict in the Northern Territories that would have ramifications for decades following the war. For the first time in the region's history, human kingdoms under the banner of Kawa and Oda Clan defeated the elven Kiri Clan and overturned centuries of elven hegemony in the Northern Territories. Humans would play a much larger role in the region, and Oda Clan transformed from a minor power into an imposing military force after annexing several key Kiri Clan territories.
The Conflict
Prelude
Years of fighting between the Kawa and Kiri Clans appeared to be coming to an end with a royal marriage in Sanjuro City. Taka Kawa and Mitsune Kiri's marriage was supposed to put an end to decades of fighting in the region, but their union lasted only a couple of hours before they were assassinated by an agent of the mysterious criminal organization known as the Paper Dragons. Intelligence obtained later in the war revealed that Empress Chomei, leader of the Kiri Clan, felt that the marriage would only weaken Kiri Clan's standing in the Northern Territories while giving the Kawas an opportunity to expand their sphere of influence. The marriage couldn't go forward if Kiri Clan was to survive, so she allied herself with the Paper Dragons to have the couple assassinated on their wedding night. And so the Northern Territories were plunged into violent warfare once again.
Deployment
The vast expanse of the Northern Territories made it difficult to mobilize troops on such short notice, both Clans relying on mercenary forces and smaller armies to gain the upper hand. Most of the fighting would occur in the stretch of land east of the Ionian Mtns and west of the Sakana Lakes, but in the later months of the war the theater would shift south into Kiri Clan territory.
The Engagement
- Dolian Allies with Kiri Clan (Summer 875): Dolian, a vital mining town with some of the region's best armorers and blacksmiths, decided to side with Kiri Clan in the weeks following the wedding assassination. Kawa Clan was left to fight Kiri Clan on its own.
- Oda Clan Joins the War (Fall 875): The human nation of Oda Clan, a small kingdom often overlooked in the Kiri-Kawa Wars, decided to throw its full military power behind the Kawa Clan to defeat the Kiri armies once and for all. Kawa, weakened by several humiliating defeats at the hands of Kiri forces, immediately agreed to the alliance and started coordinating armies to push Kiri forces out of Kawa territory.
- Siege of Dolian (Spring 876): Skirmishes in the fall and winter of 875 culminated in the defeat of Dolian in 876, the dwarven leadership allowed to stay in power in return for neutrality in the war and discounted access to the city's armory.
- The Battle of Younash Plains (Summer 876): A united Kawa and Oda Clan army faced thousands of Kiri Clan forces in the plains in west of the elven capital city of Younashi. The battle's outcome waved back and forth for several hours, but reinforcements from Bucephalus the Rambunctious' mercenary army routed the Kiri Clan and provided the human armies with a clear path towards Younashi. Kiri Clan would surrender a couple weeks later, Chomei executed for organizing the assassination of the married couple more than a year prior.
Outcome
The Kiri Clan was left disorganized and weakened following the Battle of Younash Plains, forced to cede large swaths of territory to the ascendant Oda Clan. The rich farmlands of the Younash Plains and the lakeside town of Eld came under the possession of Oda Clan. Suika, for years an independent city-state on the coast of the Arrayas Ocean, agreed to be annexed by Oda Clan to obtain access to the kingdom's lucrative trade routes.
Aftermath
In the decades following the Kiri-Kawa-Oda War, Oda Clan became the center of international commerce in the Northern Territories. With a reliable supply chain stretching halfway across the continent, Oda's leaders became incredibly wealthy and invested heavily into turning their capital of Olenjii into an industrialized metropolis. By the end of the 4th Cycle's ninth century Olenjii had more than quintupled in size, new buildings and factories rising up with every passing week.
Historical Significance
Legacy
Scholars would identify the Kiri-Kawa-Oda War as one of the first signs of an end to the Age of Elves. For thousands of years elven kingdoms like the Kiri Clan had dominated political life in Pescaliat, but the KKO War had proven that human kingdoms were strong enough to challenge elven hegemony and create a new world order with humans at its center. The collapse of the Elflands Empire twenty years later further cemented this theory of elven decline among academic circles.
In Literature
- Notes from a Wandering Soldier by Makoto Ryu (881, 4th Cycle)
Conflict Type
War
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
Month 7 (Midtember), Year 875, 4th Cycle
Ending Date
Month 6 (Estival), Year 876, 4th Cycle
Conflict Result
Oda Coalition victory
Location
Belligerents
Strength
Casualties
Objectives
To expand the Kiri Clan's sphere of influence in the Northern Territories
To defeat Kiri Clan and reshape the balance of power in the Northern Territories in favor of its human nations.
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