The Spice Wars

The Spice Wars were a series of conflicts between the nations of Hirokir and the Erdannian Empire, for control of the region of Hirokir known as the Spice Coast, and more importantly, for access to exclusive Hirokiri spices.
The First Spice War was a short conflict, fought between the Free Company mercenaries of the Spice Coast Company of Erdannia, and the militia forces of Zul'Garab and Tenzl-Akoko. It was over quickly, resulting in a Erdannian defeat.
Erdannia fared much better in the Second Spice War, mostly due to Prince Sullivan's idea to use Clockwork Soldiers. He initially bought these for the Spice Coast Company, and commanded their forces, before dissolving the company and turning his forces into a branch of the Imperial Navy.
The Spice Wars ended in a stalemate, but the resulting peace deal gave Erdannia territory on the Spice Coast, and allowed them to keep the colony of Prince's Port.
== First Spice War ==
In 20.73, Lord Tarrin Vant of the Spice Coast Company established an outpost on the Hirokiri coast, and named it "Vant's Port". For some time, the company used this port to trade with the locals for spices that were so valuable back in Erradan. This was soon stopped by the government of Zul'Garab, who had sovereignty over the area, and who had a trade exclusivity agreement with the Calamaran Empire, preventing them from selling spices to any other country.
Lord Vant therefore resorted to more extreme methods of acquiring the valuable spices; he hired an armed force of Free Company mercenaries and levied a "spice tax" on the locals of the area, enforced at gunpoint. This was effective for a time, and was profitable enough to gain the attention of the Erdannian Ministry, who granted the Spice Coast Company a flotilla of Erdannian naval vessels. The Company quickly put these vessels to work raiding up and down the coast, and claiming large areas of land as territory.
However, it also drew the attention of the nearby Hirokiri cities, Zul'Garab and Tenzl-Akoko, who considered this an act of war, and soon responded with a relatively small, yet elite, elite militia force. Despite being outgunned technologically, they were far more suited for fighting in the jungles. In fact, by the time the Hirokiri forces reached Vant's Port, many of the local garrison had died from tropical diseases, or been mauled to death by the ferocious wildlife of Hirokir. The Hirokiri militia easily beat the defenders at Vant's Port, and destroyed the outpost, forcing the Erdannian forces to retreat from the region.
Rushing to avoid opening up another conflict, the Erdannian Ministry hastily arranged a peace deal with the Hirokiri nations, alleging that Lord Vant was a "rogue businessman", acting without supervision from the government. The terms of the peace deal restricted any Erdannian citizen from stepping foot on the area known as the Spice Coast.
== Second Spice War ==
Ever since the end of the First Spice War, Erdannia had been desperate to give Hirokiri Colonization a second attempt. They needed spices to keep their population happy, but the only way they were able to acquire these was through expensive middlemen and international trade. However, they did not have the means to beat the Hirokiri on their own turf.
Despite this, Prince Sullivan Dragoncrest, only 23 at the time, had a special interest in this particular mission. Allegedly, this is due to his interest in the unique magic used by Hirokiri shamans. Nevertheless, he had noticed the recent invention of the Clockwork Golem, and considered this to be the solution to invade Hirokir. Metal soldiers would be immune to the tropical diseases of the jungle, and would also not be affected by the poisons commonly used by Hirokiri fighters.
Using his royal influence, Sullivan removed Lord Vant from the directorship of the Spice Coast Company, and placed himself in charge. He then used royal money to buy the company an army of Clockwork Soldiers. Clockworks specifically built for fighting had been in production in Varawyn for a while, but the Empire's military refused to use them in official conflicts.
With this new Clockwork Army, Sullivan and the Spice Coast Company launched an invasion of the Spice Coast. As expected, the Hirokiri nations responded with their own militia, but this time the Erdannian Forces fared much better. Sullivan was able to retake Vant's Port, and renamed it to "Prince's Port". From this staging point, he waged war against the Zulaca Cities for two years, building the small port into a thriving trade town and military fortress.
Realising they needed more power to fend off the Erdannian clockwork army, the Zulaca Cities recruited large hunting parties and powerful shamans from the nearby Latikanns of the Forbidden Valley, and utilised several Latikann villages as fortified garrisons for their military, due to the proximity to the conflict.
Sullivan needed to respond to this escalation or risk defeat. He wanted more troops and some Erdannian War Machines, but he knew these would not be granted to an independent company. However, he had gained a lot of money and influence from the spice trade, so he used that as leverage to turn the war into an official, national matter, dissolving the Spice Coast Company and turning his forces into a branch of the Imperial Navy.
Eventually, the war ended in a stalemate, with neither side able to make significant advances. In 20.82, A peace deal was arranged, and as part of this deal Erdannia was given some land on the Spice Coast, and allowed to keep the settlement of Prince's Port. In recognition of his service, Prince Sullivan was elevated to the position of Admiral in the Imperial Navy.