The Twelfth Sannian War

Table of Contents

Sanne has always been the big enemy of Arboise from the time Arboise was a tiny city-state to now that it has become a mighty empire spanning 3/4 of the globe. It has never directly gone to war against Arboise but it has made its business to get indirectly involved in 11 conflicts against it more or less successfully. Arboise has been counting these carefully and has been slowly planning its revenge...

Belligerents:

Arboise: the ancient city-state, now capital of the most powerful empire to ever rule on earth.

Sanne: the enemy.

Sannian allies: Sanne's Eastern neighbours, minor countries who answer Sanne's beck and call in the hope that the more powerful country will protect them against their inevitable conquest by Arboise.

Background

Historical enmity: Sanne has been "indirectly" responsible for the almost complete destruction of the city of Arboise during the fall of the previous Arboisian Empire. They funded rebels from provinces conquered by Arboise to fight against its rule as well as foreign rulers to form a coalition against Arboise. Arboise has since risen up and built an even mightier empire, and despite the centuries that have gone by all of its citizens have been calling for Sannian blood...
Sannian ambition: Sanne has always presented itself as the only real country able to stand against Arboise. To continue to enjoy any political influence, they regularly need to act up against the empire. Many of its citizens also dream of destroying Arboise for good and of becoming the new mightiest empire. When a new untried emperor was selected to lead Arboise, Sanne saw its chance to act.
The excuse: Sanne made the countries allied with it steal from Arboise. They took cuttings from plants bioengineered to be used in the latest organic magitech, as Arboise was only accepting to sell abroad plants decades-old so as to keep its technological advance. In reaction, Arboise demanded to be handed the plants, the thieves, and a hefty compensation. This was refused so Arboise declared war.

Conflict

Sannian scheme: All the countries allied against Arboise had gathered their entire army at the border. They had set up elaborate wards and put in place vicious traps using the latest magitechs they had available. Despite knowing Arboise's military superiority, they had hoped that their preparation would allow them to surprise them and to hit them hard enough to force them to negotiate concessions.
Arboisian tactic: Arboise was well aware of this preparation and simply entirely ignored this. Never Sanne nor its allies were aware of the latest magitech currently being researched by Arboise: flying vehicles. These vehicles got their first real trials during the conflict, serving to transport an elite unite over the border and in each enemy capital for lightning attacks to capture their unprepared leaders.
Resolution: With their entire governments and royal families captured, all enemy armies had no choice but to surrender. In a few hours and with minimal losses, Arboise added new swathes of territories to its mighty empire, and its new emperor had his reign secured and put a rightful terror in all of its enemies' heart.

Aftermath

Immediate aftermath: The borders of the empire were redrawn to incorporate the newly conquered regions. For the first time ever, Arboise and Sanne now share a border. Given the past, this situation is of course unbearable. Everyone understands that the new peace is only temporary and that, despite all the nice words being pronounced, war will resume soon.
In the interim—flying vehicles: During the war, Sanne got hold of the stolen cuttings of the bioengineered plants. In the decade since, they have been able to use them to develop their own flying vehicles and to incorporate them into their army.
In the interim—other magitechs: While Arboise might have lost its major technological advantage, it is still the one with the best bioengineered plants and fungi and so the most efficient magitech. The current imperial drive to convert artefact handcrafting into mass production is also allowing the empire to put higher quality artefacts into the hands of rank and file soldiers. This is why all Arboisiens were convinced that the next war would finally let them crush the Sanniens.
Latest development: The Sanniens have just kidnapped the Arboisian emperor from beyond the wards of his own imperial palace through means unknown. This is creating political turmoil inside the empire, with the government and the emperor's soulmates fighting over whether to sacrifice the emperor and select a new one or to save him at a high political cost. Everyone is also worried over the secret new technology the Sanniens have used to get through the wards of the palace and the advantage this will give them in the upcoming conflict. For the first time, the Arboisiens fear being defeated...

Hélène did not have anything personal against the Sanniens, and she even vaguely pitied them from being locked in a struggle with an enemy that had become so much more superior to them. However, their kidnapping of the emperor was mighty inconvenient...
If she did nothing, the likelihood was that the emperor would be murdered and Arboise would go to war against Sanne and Hélène would be conscripted. Not what she had planned for her future.
Of course, one of the emperor's soulmates would not be sent to the front, but then she should have claimed that title before the emperor had gotten himself captured and made it useless! The only other solution would be to go back to her family and regain the protection of their name, but there was a reason she had left in the first place.
Well. She might as well get on with her stupid plan to free the emperor all by herself and use his gratefulness to blackmail him into lifting his curse from Julie...
Damn Sanniens who never knew when to left things rest. Why suddenly act openly against Arboise when they had spent centuries doing so from the shadows and claiming plausible deniability?

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Related articles

The Empire of Arboise

Politics Politicians (The Emperor and his soulmates, The imperial guards) · Events (The Empire Renewal, The Twelfth Sannian War, The Sannian kidnapping announcement) · Institutions (The empire and its political system, The selection and coronation of a new emperor, Curses and the legal system, The imperial curse—the ultimate judgment on traitors) Culture Imperial citizens · Overview of the professions in the Empire · Soulmates · Courtship rituals · Languages of the empire and translation magic · Winners of the neighbourhood wall painting competition Locations Geography of the Empire of Arboise · Ilara—Hélène's home region · Quanahr—Hélène's town · Arboise—Capital of the Empire · The imperial palace · Regions outside of the empire