Three-Year War

the Three-Year War
Basic Information
Type	Civil War / International Conflict
Date	AY 182 (March 14) – AY 185 (May 1)
Location	Wendigo Continent
Parties
Outcome
Casualties	Unrecorded

Overview

The Three-Year War was a succession conflict that erupted in the kingdom of Levantia on the Wendigo Continent and, over the course of three years, drew in foreign expeditionary forces and mercenary companies from across the known world. The war ended without a clear victor, reaching an armistice on May 1, AY 185 that left Levantia permanently divided into what are known today as North Levantia and South Levantia.

Background

Levantia had long been shaped by an uneasy balance between the ruling House Chandler and the industrial House Sterling, publicly known abroad as the Zirconia Foundation. This tension found new expression in the rivalry between King Ferrick's two children: Prince Frederic, born of a queen from House Sterling, and Princess Isolde, born of a concubine from a declining noble house. The extravagance of the aristocracy centred on the floating city of Opulesse, set against deepening social inequality despite the kingdom's industrial growth, had quietly strained the kingdom's internal cohesion well before war broke out.

Outbreak

On March 14, AY 182, Princess Isolde seized the royal court in the absence of Prince Frederic, igniting a succession crisis that would soon escalate into full-scale war.

On January 19, AY 183, King Ferrick, who had long suffered from illness, died. Amid the ensuing political turmoil, Prince Frederic was unable to attend his father's funeral on January 23, a personal blow said to have hardened his resolve for open war.

On April 3, Opulesse — the floating city that stood as a symbol of aristocratic luxury — was brought down over the Ranmimar Plain in an act of terrorism by an unidentified party. The catastrophic loss of life, together with the destruction of the Zirconia Foundation's enormous investment in the city, hardened both sides' hostility beyond any hope of reconciliation.

On April 17, the first major clash of the war was fought at Ranmimar Plain, near the wreckage of Opulesse, marking the war's entry into open conflict.

Course of the War

The war settled into a prolonged war of attrition centred on the Ranmimar Plain and the ruins of Opulesse, without any decisive shift in the front line. Foreign expeditionary forces arrived from across the world, but for the most part these regular troops did not fight directly; instead, they oversaw and directed the mercenary companies who bore the brunt of the actual fighting. In the war's early phase, engagements between these mercenaries were frequently little more than shows of force.

Throughout the war, a peasant uprising centred on a woodworker named Goeyu established a mountain stronghold guarded by dragons, operating independently of both the prince's and princess's factions and repeatedly targeting government installations. Regular forces failed for years to suppress this movement; it was only in the war's final phase, under the pretext of managing the risks posed by the glut of mercenaries flooding the homeland, that a large-scale campaign was launched that brought the Goeyu uprising to an effective end.

In the same period, on the Wendigo Continent, Operation Black Mamba — carried out by Kosmi forces of Krossen — unfolded as a separate development, representing another turning point in the relationship between humanity and the Old Ones. This event, however, is treated as an independent incident with its own causes and objectives, unconnected to the Three-Year War.

Economic Turmoil

Levantian currency had long been one of the strongest in the world, and a favoured refuge for capital in times of economic uncertainty, underpinned by the kingdom's position as the world's foremost producer and refiner of mana stones.

Even after the outbreak of war, the currency's value declined only gradually, sustained by market expectations that reunification would eventually come. Both factions continued for a time to accept the old currency for tax payments, preserving its standing, though this practice was gradually curtailed following the introduction of independent currencies. With the issuance of rival currencies — by Prince Frederic's faction on September 8, AY 183, and by Princess Isolde's faction on September 17 — confidence in eventual reunification collapsed, sending the value of the old currency into rapid decline.

Armistice and Partition

After years of grinding attrition, an armistice was reached abruptly on May 1, AY 185, with no clear turning point marking its arrival. The stated justification was a shared sacrifice made "for the sake of the world's economy." Rumours have long persisted of an undisclosed financial settlement clause attached to the armistice.

The terms of the armistice favoured Princess Isolde's faction — the Ranmimar Plain and the mountain stronghold formerly held by the Goeyu uprising were ceded to North Levantia, while the port city of Lucerre was ceded to South Levantia, under the Zirconia Foundation.

Following the armistice, the former Central Bank of Levantia was reorganised into a liquidation commission, whose final act was to administer a time-limited exchange programme for the old Levantian currency. Announced as a measure "to honour the property rights of those still holding the old currency," the programme allowed conversion into each nation's new currency over a period of six months, after which the old currency was permanently withdrawn from circulation. The commission's final act was, in effect, the formal declaration of the old currency's demise.

Aftermath

Levantia remains divided to this day between North and South Levantia, each continuing to claim the name "Levantia" as its own. The string of unexplained deaths among Lucerre's neutralist leadership in the immediate aftermath of the armistice, and the mysterious fire that wiped out the remnants of the Goeyu uprising after it had lost its leadership, remain subjects of speculation among both historians and the public.

Historiographical Dispute

Some economic historians have long questioned the fairness of the currency exchange programme, arguing that its terms appear to have favoured a disproportionately narrow group of beneficiaries. No official investigation has ever substantiated these concerns, and the programme remains part of the official historical record.