War of Two Suns

Combatants| * The Golden Sun
	+ Guidaozhen
	+ Fourth Evin Empire
	+ Laidaozhen
	+ Third Evin Empire
	+ Sixth Evin Empire

Commanders| * Piqumi
* Skylord Iatoh †
* Lord Nungong
* Lady Fi †
* Skylord Zesoq †
* Skylord Onawak
* Skylady Sckeelli †

The **War of Two Suns** was a series of conflicts between the Goddesses Adyana and Piqumi, over control of the Gemstone Islands. Besides its Divine purpose, it also served as an outlet for revenge against the cruel Third Evin Empire which was widely despised by the Human and Harpy population of the islands.

The War of Two Suns was largely inconclusive. While some argue Adyana won it as Piqumi abandoned her claim to the islands, this was more out of disinterest than a lack of ability to keep fighting. More consequentially, the War of Two Suns laid the foundations for the eventual collapse of the Evin Empires which had historically dominated the Gemstone Islands to this point. It allowed for Human towns and cities on the ground to become the dominant economic and military force, laying the foundation for the eventual Human dynasties on the islands.

## Prelude

Most of the Gods are ancient beings who have existed since the Age of Creation or the Age of Freeholds at the latest. Most of the Gods cooperated to create what is now Enselonde from the nothingness that surrounds it. Most of the Gods had established worshippers, religions, and practices. Piqumi is not like most Gods.

The youngest of the Gods, Piqumi appeared as late as the year 997 BW, violently crashing into the Gemstone Islands. The Gemstone Islands were, at the time, a melting pot of avians and landwalkers underneath the Evin Empires. The Goddess of Air, Adyana, had meticulously crafted and steered the civilization on the Gemstone Islands towards her ideal vision. Piqumi's crash ruined the status quo.

It wouldn't take long for the Goddess of Luck to perform miracles, alter fates, and change the course of destiny. A wide array of followers called the Guidaozhen flocked to serve her, angering Adyana. The reactionary Laidaozhen were formed by the Evin worshippers of Adyana, launching attacks on both Piqumi and her followers. This forced them into hiding, yet Adyana had only kicked the hornet's nest. Instead of ridding herself of the new movement, Piqumi's Guidaozhen only became more militant. By the year 970 BW, they came out of hiding to launch a series of attacks, marking the beginning of the War of Two Suns.

## Course of the War

The War of Two Suns began fast yet lost tempo as it dragged on, with both sides becoming increasingly exhausted. Generations fought and died in it, yet with resources becoming increasingly scarce as the conflict continued, the amount battles decreased as well. The initial push of the Guidaozhen was awe-inspiring. The Third Evin Empire, at the time led by its final Skylord, Zesoq, had already been in a state of decline. Its cruelty had made it vastly unpopular, even amongst other Evin, and especially amongst the Harpies and Humans living on the Gemstone Islands. It was a small splinter group of Evin led by a certain General Iatoh who met a larger imperial army at Mount Peng. Despite being outnumbered, Iatoh's force was more ferocious and when Zesoq was struck down in the fighting, his forces scattered.

Without their Skylord to keep them in line, many of the Third Empire's forces began defecting. While still in charge of an Evin minority, Iatoh brazenly named himself Skylord of the Fourth Evin Empire. The wisdom of this decision is debatable, as it led to a wider pushback against Iatoh's ambitions. When Iatoh died in 941 BW, only a few years after declaring himself Skylord, his Empire began to collapse. His two sons bickered over succession and gathered their own followings in the capital city of Bai Tou. With time, the two princes came to blows, leading to a devastating battle that would mark the destruction of the Fourth Empire. While some remnants clung on in the coming years, a central authority over the Gemstone Islands was no longer present. The Gemstone Islands and the Evin Empires entered a period of history known as the Two Hundred Years of Chaos, without anyone able to truly control the Islands.

During the Two Hundred Years of Chaos, the nature of the Guidaozhen and Laidaozhen became more decentralised, as large battles became increasingly replaced by small and local skirmishes. The nature of the War of Two Suns shifted from a traditional conflict to something more akin to a two-sided guerrilla war. The Two Hundred Years of Chaos ended with something of a shock in the year 737 BW when a new Fifth Evin Empire arose. However, this particular empire was born from a secularist movement that sought a compromise between the Guidaozhen and Laidaozhen. Obviously, neither Goddess was thrilled about this development and, in a rare moment of unity, a ceasefire broke out as both sides set out to topple the Fifth Empire. Despite a rather mixed reaction, the Fifth Empire under Skylords Atah and later Rinkoth held out for a surprisingly long time thanks to the military prowess of their leaders. Still, the pressure proved too much with time, leading to the Fifth Empire's collapse in 708 BW.

Both sides moved to claim as much as they could of the Fifth Empire's territory. Despite their mutual enemy being defeated, the ceasefire between the two sides remained in place. The immediate aftermath of the Fifth Empire's fall was very nearly the end of the War of Two Suns as both sides began compromising and negotiating. It looked like, perhaps, the Islands would be split between the followers of the Goddesses or that both could live in harmony. Perhaps such a future would have come to pass were it not for the actions of one Human: the ruthless Lady Fi.

Lady Fi had been born in the thick of the War of Two Suns and had been moulded by her tutors into a weapon of war. An extremist even by the standards of the Guidaozhen, Lady Fi gathered a cult following inside the organisation before she was eventually expelled. Instead of weakening her, it freed her of the ceasefire between the two groups. Lady Fi launched an attack into Laidaozhen land in 702 BW, attacking settlements indiscriminately and taking no prisoners. Even Harpies and Humans were not spared from her wrath. The Laidaozhen demanded that the Guidaozhen intervene, yet the latter let the situation play out. Instead of letting more civilians die at Fi's hand, a Laidaozhen warlord by the name of Onawak met her at the Battle of An'kai, crushing her force and having the lady in question tortured to death. Taking Fi's attack as a declaration of war, the Laidaozhen broke the truce and continued their attacks, paving the way for the final stage of the War of Two Suns.

Onawak would continue a string of victories against the Guidaozhen before being crowned Skylord of the Sixth Empire by Adyana herself. Onawak and his successors would continue the conflict against Piqumi's followers and, over time, became the dominant force. After centuries of fighting, the Guidaozhen had run out of steam, and Piqumi was ready to give up her claim to the Gemstone Islands. Even though the Guidaozhen could still resist, as proven by the final major battle of the war at Bai Tang which led to the death of the ruling Skylady Sckeelli, Piqumi officially abandoned the islands in 614 BW. This year marks the end of the War of Two Suns.

## Aftermath

After 614 BW, most of the Guidaozhen laid down their weapons. While many of the Laidaozhen called for revenge, their exhaustion was great, too. In the end, the War of Two Suns more or less faded out as both sides began tending to their wounded. While Adyana technically won the war, it wasn't a lasting victory. The losses of the war had devastated the Evin populace, who were now a small minority compared to the much more prominent Human population of the islands. In the early 6th century BW, the Sixth Empire collapsed naturally, ending the rule of the Evin Empires.

A period of reconciliation followed. While the two Goddesses weren't on speaking terms, at the very least their followers weren't trying to kill each other anymore. Adyana worship remained more dominant across the Gemstone Islands into the modern day, though the Guidaozhen have retained a presence on Karashan Island.

In short, while the War of Two Suns didn't change much religiously, it was the primary cause of the end of the Evin Empires and allowed for the rise of Human cities and towns as the dominant economic and political force. While inconclusive, without the conflict, the rise of Human dynasties starting with the Qiu would have been impossible.