A General History of the Greater Ciprosian

A General History of the Greater Ciprosian in the Postwar Period, 822-852, by Nerdrem Avitus.
The Third Ciprosian War of 821 saw the downfall of two of the foremost powers in the Greater Ciprosian and would have far-reaching consequences throughout the entire continent. With the League of Akrai dissolved and the Colossean Imperium occupied by coalition forces, Hagios and Agrinon swiftly filled the power vacuums left in the eastern Ciprosian and western Ciprosian respectively.
With Nicilia weakened from the wars of 820 and 821, it is likely that Agrinon and Hagios would have come into conflict with one another over the future of the Ciprosian, abandoning their decades-old alliance from the First Ciprosian War and turning against one another. Indeed, the years immediately following the war saw hints of this. The merchant-nobility of Hagios felt threatened by Agrinon's growing naval dominance and control of the Straits of Colosse, and pushed for Hagios to align itself with its former enemy of Nicilia, whom it formed a brief defensive alliance with between 827 and 834. Despite these growing tensions, members of the Hagiosian priesthood began calling for union between the two states, and the formation of a successor to the Colossean Imperium that once united all the faithful of the Colossean Pantheon. While some of the nobility opposed this, others saw it as an opportunity for increased trade, and so began to publicly support the concept of a united Ciprosian State.
In 836, the last key supporter of Hagiosian independence, High Despot Nilir Crowalker himself, died under mysterious circumstances. Following his death, the nobles and priests of Hagios elected Rex Norbanus IV of Agrinon as the new High Despot, uniting the two states under a single monarch (while, strictly speaking, he became the diarch of Hagios alongside the Exarch, in truth the High Despots had wielded most of the political power for decades). The following year, in 837, laws were passed in both Agrinon and Hagios, uniting the two into a single state: The Ciprosian Regnum. Almost immediately, a revolt broke out within Hagios, as private forces of several Hagiosian noble families attempted to storm the city's palace and restore it to independence. The revolt was swiftly crushed by loyalist forces, however, lasting less than two days all told.
The Ciprosian Regnum faced external enemies as well, however. While the regional powers of Lotium, Mekon, and Sudogrod quickly recognised the legality of the union, Nicilia and Oshagm sought to undo this shift in the balance of power. Oshagm made diplomatic overtures toward the states surrounding the Ciprosian, convincing Sudogrod and Mekon to join their newly formed "Colossian Union", an economic and military union that guaranteed the free flow of trade and mutual defence between its members. Meanwhile, several Nicilian clans began informal raids against numerous independent settlements between the Nicilian Savannah and the Ciprosian, with some raiding the Regnum itself at the height of the tensions.
War nearly broke out in mid-839, when the newly-elected Imperator of Colosse suddenly died without an heir, leaving the fate of the throne up to the Imperium's senate. With fears that they would elect Rex Norbanus the same way Hagios had, and that the Ciprosian Sea would fall entirely under the control of the Regnum, Nicilia and Oshagm began preparing for war to prevent such a union. However, a conference brokered by Hierarch Fulsweith, an influential cleric in Hagios and a friend of King Jaq of Oshagm, was able to settle the issue and avert war. The Ciprosian Regnum would be formally granted many of the territories of the Colossean Imperium in the western Ciprosian that it had occupied since the war, but Colosse would not elect a new Imperator for a period of at least five years, and the Colicca Peninsula (the heartland of the Colossean Imperium) would remain independent, under a neutral state whose independence would be guaranteed by both Nicilia and the Ciprosian Regnum. Additionally, the Ciprosian Regnum, Nicilia, and Lotium joined the Colossian Union as equal members, legally binding all of the powers of the Colossian Continent to allow the free passage of trade and to restrain from engaging in acts of war against one another. The status quo on the Continent has largely remained the same since then, with the Ciprosian Regnum becoming undisputedly the greatest power in the region, but with a precarious peace maintained both by treaty and by a semblance of a balance of power remaining.
The greatest changes in Colossia in recent decades, however, have not been in the redrawing of broders, but in the shift in economics. The opening up of the New World (commonly called Edrothia, after Edroth Burningswift, its discoverer) to commerce and colonisation has dramatically reshaped the fiscal landscape of Colossia. New goods and new markets have become available, particularly since Ciprosian adventurers subjugated the island of Drommundia in the name of the Regnum. The islands of Fenulei and Teoktia also lie in Ciprosian hands, while Oshagm has claimed Ettuania, and Lotium and Nicilia have access to the New World through the independent states of New Yotium and Bierg-Unil, respectively. This "Race for Edrothia" has shifted the focus of competition from Colossia to the New World, simultaneously enriching the Middle Continent, and effectively shipping conflict offshore, contributing to the ongoing peace on the Continent.
However, the large demographic changes in Colossia cannot be ignored. Following the wars of '20 and '21, many refugees fled to the Kingdom of Oshagm, which had its climate mysteriously restored following the destruction of the Aboleths there. Additionally, many migrants have also journeyed to the colonies of the New World, displacing many of its goblinoid inhabitants (with some goblinoids making their way as far as Dukhala in response). The greatest demographic shift, however, has been in the realm of religious adherence. With the formal declaration of Exarch Fulsweith that the Five were not always gods, but instead achieved apotheoisis some 800 years ago (or, according to some, that they are not in fact gods at all, but merely powerful Shrouded Ones), following years of rumours that this was the case, a religious crisis has erupted throughout the Greater Ciprosian. Many have abandoned faith in the Five, with many turning to Teghneism, particularly in areas of strong Nicilian or Dwarven influence. Others, however, have begun to place their trust in Shrouded Ones, or in mystery cults, such as the Aspirants of the New Gods, who claim secret knowledge of New Gods promising to bring freedom and change to the world.
It remains to be seen whether the status quo in the Middle Continent can be maintained in the long-term, what its religious makeup will look like in the years to come, or what effects the conquest of the New World will have on it. What can be asserted safely, however, is that the postwar period has been equally as pivotal, if not more so, than the Ciprosian Wars themselves.