Second Great Dwarf War 3931-3941
The Second Great Dwarf War began in 3931, only thirteen years after the end of the First Great Dwarf War. The Richu Empire allied themselves with Labana and Jabalina in the First Great Dwarf War and took major post in the Dwarven League- the collective nations victorious in the war. The island elves were responsible for overseeing the transition of Mujikan power in the Ocean of Peace into the hands of new colonial powers. But the Richu Elves became corrupted by the power and assumed control of the colonies themselves. In 3931, the Richu Empire landed forces on the mainland of Si- the continent of the elves- and launched an invasion of the Northeast Plains- a frontier territory of Shi, the largest Hill Elf nation weaken greatly after centuries of internal strife and foreign trade.
In Zezen- the continent of the dwarves- the Txahal Great Dwarf War veteran General Kotoia received a gift from a stranger. The gift was the Ancient Blade- the vessel which contained the imprisoned Hunger Demon. The sword possessed Kotoia and empowered him to take control of the Txahal nation in Southern Zezen. Kotoia was convinced he could rebuild the once powerful Otsoan Empire of millenia past- an empire which stood as Txahal's golden age two thousands years before. General Kotoia assembled the legions of Txahal's armies and launched an invasion of the Black Highlands of Aliaanza'nchi- the continent of the humans, and a region which had gained independence from Txahal a century before.
Meanwhile, dwarves of the newly formed Otvud Union- a massive collective on gnomes who overthrew the imperial family of the Otvud Empire to instate a government run by peasants- began spreading their ideas of anti-imperialism across the globe to the anger of the Richu Elves and the Mujikan Dwarves. The two nations agreed to an alliance that would lead to a plan of spreading their growing empires across the realm. The Richu Empire invaded the Shi nation the following summer in 3937 beginning what would become the Second Great Dwarf War in the Ocean of Peace.
Meanwhile in Mujika, the defeated Mujikans dwarves fell into an age of despair in the wake of their defeat in the Great Dwarf War. The Labana and Jabalina nations imposed deep sanctions on the dwarves in punishment for their actions during the war. The depression ended when a Great Dwarf War veteran- who had been sired into a vampire during the war- began recruiting followers and formed a cult to overthrow the Mujikan government. After taking control, the vampire Zaindu began mobilizing armies in secret including an underground network of vampire soldiers. The only beings in Mujika with knowledge of the rising evil were the Coastal Half-Elves who lived there, and to eliminate this threat to his power; Zaindu began interring half-elves and forcing them into prison camps. In the spring of 3938, Zindu's armies marched into Ekia- their ally during the First Great Dwarf War and declared the nation annexed into the new Mujikan Empire.
The Dwarven League was rapidly decaying and could do nothing to prevent the disastrous invasions of Shi and the Black Highlands. When the Mujikan Empire moved east from Ekia toward the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the Dwarven League capitulated and ceded the region to Zaindu. By spring of 3939, the Mujikan Empire had nearly doubled in size and their armies grew three-fold. The Forest Gnomes of Eastern Zezen scrambled to assemble armies to defend their lands from the encroachment of Mujikans to the west and Otvuds to the east. Jabalina and Labana made pacts with the largest Forest Gnome nation- Dolina- to defend their borders in case of invasion. The Mujikans continued their expansion south from the Rocky Mountains into the East Obsidian Peninsula and in the summer of 3939 negotiated a non-aggression pact with the Otvud Union.
On the eve of autumn, the Mujikan Empire invaded Dolina with the full might of their massive armies. From the sky, Mujikan wyvern riders pounded gnome villages. Mujikan war elephants trampled through Dolina infantry which dared to meet the Mujikans in the field. Mujikan Jumpers- infantry dropped from dragons behind enemy lines- captured Dolina fortresses by surprise. The Dolina Gnomes held out through sheer force of will until the Otvud Union invaded from the east and destroyed any chance of Dolina's survival. The invasion took only a month to complete; so fast that Labana and Jabalina could not assemble their armies in time to help their gnome allies.
The Otvud Union launched another westward invasion further north against the Forest Gnomes of Northern Zezen sparking the Winter War. In the spring of 3940, the Mujikans launched their invasion of Northern Zezen through the same efficiency of force as their invasion of Dolina- rapidly capturing the nations there before turning their attention west on Jabalina- the Gold Dwarf nation. In less than a month the continental Orange Dwarf nations and Jabalina fell to the power of the Mujikan Empire. Txahal's General Kotoia signed an alliance with Mujika's Zaindu and declared war on Labana. The only Dwarven League nation still resistant to the growing power of evil in Zezen was Labana- the waning empire of the Spessartites who now assumed the burden of being the last free dwarves in the continent.
In the summer of 3940, Mujikan wyverns cross the Spessartite Channel ahead of the planned invasion of the Spessarite Isles. Labana responded by fielding a massive hoste of pegasus-mounted warriors and faced off against the might of the Mujikan army in the skies above the Labana capital Ludlaw. The battle raged for three months. Tired, exhausted, battered to near annihilation, and against all odds; the Labana pegasus riders defeated the Mujikan wyverns and thrust back the invasion. In response, the Larrunanans- watching from afar in Ulinawi- bowed their heads in respect. The Larrunana Steward set to work assembling an army in secret in preparation for war against the Mujikans.
On autumn's eve in 3940, the Txahal dwarves launched their invasion of Labana's colony in Miseer and signed an alliance with the Richu Empire. The war in Miseer pulled the ancient paladin order The Hubbad- developed four thousand years before to protect humans in Miseer from invasive tyrants- into the war and one among them became the new half-demon. At the same time, Txahal launched a partner invasion of the East Obsidian Empire beside their Mujikan allies. In response, the Mujikans sent their armies into Aliaanza'nchi to assist the Txahal armies attempting to capture Miseer. By the summer of 3941, the East Obsidian Empire fell firmly under the control of the Mujikan and Txahal Imperial Armies.
That summer, the Mujikans launched a surprise invasion of their Otvud allies. The Mujikan armies pounded their way across the Eastern Plains and laid siege to the Otvud capital and the former royal city of the overthrown Otvud imperial family. The campaign became brutal in late autumn when winter weather settled in. The brutal weather weakened the Mujikan invasion greatly; even the secret vampire armies were no match to the brutal cold.
n late autumn, the Richu Empire launched a surprise raid against the Larrunana territorial Fire Islands in the Northeastern Ocean of Peace. Richu wyverns laid waste to Larrunanan warships there and crippled the barns that housed the Larrunanan pegasi. The attack angered the dwarves of Larrunana so greatly that their assembly voted unanimously to declare war against the Richu Empire. The Richu Empire settled for raid in the east while they invaded the Larrunanan territorial Northern Fairy Islands closer to home. By the even of winter, the Mujikan and Txahal Empires declared war on Larrunana and the Second Great Dwarf War had expanded to include combatants on five seperate continents.