The Cyclopean Revolution

"In the Land of Fire and Stone, From the great Caves arose An Army of Nine Thousand Eyes The Cyclopes marched till dawn Their Freedom prize to be won From the Land of Fire and Stone Marched they did on the Crimson Throne The Army of Nine Thousand Eyes"
-excerpt from the Cyclops artisan Hesiod's "Epic of Polyphemus", describing the titular Polyphemus' revolution against Pyros ("Land of Fire and Stone")

The Conflict

Prelude

Many peoples of Pyros were discontented with Xolotl's rule of Pyros, but few dared stand up to the one who managed to kill the Queen of Chaos herself, Pele. Those who did-- Auahi, the chief last remaining Ahi tribe, Tulerpeton, a Devon, and several others-- were quickly killed, and, in the case of the Ahi, driven to extinction. The Cyclopes had historically been treated as lowest-caste citizens by Xolotl's regime, their skills in artisanship and blacksmithing being exploited to make them the major workforce. Their relatively low intelligence and immense strength made them the perfect slaves. However, their empathy and sense of family (Cyclopes were known to take in marooned sailors and treat the much smaller people as their own brothers and sisters) proved to be equally as powerful. Their legendary wrath also proved to be an immense problem, and served to ignite widespread mentalities of discontent amongst the already unhappy Cyclopes.

Battlefield

The Cyclopean Revolution was totally contained within the borders of Pyros, and took place mainly within the slave tunnels that run through the volcanic kingdom. There were few major conflicts outside of the caves, with the only notable occurance being the final push against Pyros forces at the northern border of what is now Opticlian, the Cyclops kingdom.

Conditions

Pyros' most famous feature is its massive amount of volcanic activity. The land has the highest average temperature on Allergreen, which only gets hotter the deeper into the municipal, service, and slave tunnels you go. In the slave tunnels, the deepest, hottest part of Pyros save for Xolotl's stronghold, formerly Pele's palace, the temperatures can reach up to nearly the boiling point of water. The tunnels average 200-300 feet wide, but can be anywhere from 25 feet to three miles in some places, making them the second largest tunnels of Pyros (the municipal tunnels are the largest, with monster caverns rivalling Underworld in size, while the service tunnels average only about ten feet wide). It was here that Xolotl's loyal followers, mostly made up of Hellions and Pyros Umbers, met the Cyclopes in battle. It was found early on that Umbers, even ones adapted to Pyros' weird climate, did not take well to the conditions in the slave tunnels, leading to an almost exclusively Cyclopes-Hellion war.

The Engagement

The war was not much like conventional war, in which two armies attempt to take territory from the other. Instead, it was more akin to a very long, violent escape. As the war dragged on, the battles occured further and further north and away from the capital of Pyros as the Cyclopes pushed towards freedom.
The engagements themselves were pretty evenly split between the Cyclopes running into Pyros fortifications and garrisons and the Pyros armies actively hunting out the numerous parties travelling northward. Most of said parties only numbered 300-1,000 individuals, and most-- ironically, usually the larger ones-- did not make it north and were killed or captured. However, the most famous band, the Army of Nine Thousand Eyes, an army of nearly 10,000 Cyclopes led by Polyphemus, was, comparatively, very successful. News of the Army of Nine Thousand Eyes spread all over Pyros, becoming a source of anxiety for the citizens of Pyros (the bands were seen as dangerous, and indeed many were. Some bands were composed of ruthless marauders that saw the war as a means of carrying out their murderous tendencies, while some towns just happened to be caught in the crossfire), the highest-priority target for Pyros, and the shining beacon of hopes for many other Cyclopes bands.
The Army of Nine Thousand Eyes, however, only made it to the land that would become Opticlean with about a third of its original members and one less Polyphemus, who was since immortalized, with each chief of Opticlean being subsequently named for him (the current chief of Opticlean is Polyphemus X).

Outcome

For a brief period of time, Pyros was devastated. While they still had a large slave population-- the Lignites, among others, chose not to join the Revolution-- the Cyclopes represented a large bulk of it, and with virtually all of them being either gone in Opticlean or in the dungeons, the great forges of Vulcan, the main concentration of Cyclopes labor, were virtually shut down. Pyros fell into a depression from which it never fully recovered. Crime rates spiked and border attacks were constant (that is, until everyone realized Pyros was effectively Hell and not worth their time).

Aftermath

Anti-Cyclopean sentiment is now very common in Pyros, which is less a unified kingdom and more numerous relatively independent towns overseen by Xolotl and his army of Hellions and Umbers. Technology also fell very behind as a result of the Cyclopes abandoning their forges, leading to geomancy and pyromancy becoming the primary means of carrying out tasks.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The Revolution left a major distaste for Cyclopes and giants of any kind in Pyros, particularly among the races that lived in the deeper municipal tunnels, which were hit hardest by the more aggressive bands who adopted the strategy of total war against Pyros.

In Literature

The most famous piece of literature to emerge from the Cyclopean Revolution was Hesiod's "Epic of Polyphemus", written in the Cyclopean tongue and widely reproduced throughout Opticlian, becoming a staple in every home. It spread elsewhere, but seeing as the Revolution mainly affected Pyros, did not bear as much weight as it did for the Cyclopes.

Technological Advancement

As stated, the complex technologies developed by the Cyclopes gradually died out after the Revolution to be replaced by Pyromancy and Geomancy. This spread virtually everywhere, and became the basis for construction of hydroships, weaponry, and day-to-day items.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Conflict Result

The founding of the kingdom of Opticlean