Great Sundering

Belligerents|  Despotate of Ionia loyal to the Chrysoskiros* Duchy of Iordanou (Chrysoskiros dynasty)
* Great Lakonia
* Duchy of Nyreumia
* Duchy of Licea
* Duchy of Eleos
* Duchy of Cremdelos
* Duchy of Retgard
* Other Ionian, Kokinan, and Iono-Adelan nobility
* Mercenary forces

 Holy Monarchy of the First SonKingdom of the VarrenesKatavian Kingdoms

 Principality of Polgan

 Sultanate of Kherfiyyah

Lordship of OnnfreyLordship of Oerth |  Despotate of Ionia loyal to the Onatis* Duchy of Myrgapa (Onatis dynasty)
* Duchy of Schweinshart
* Duchy of Weltzbäden
* Duchy of Helensfeldt
* Duchy of Amaldorf
* Duchy of Valeris
* Principality of Vennau
* Duchy of Cislaronia
* Other Ionian and Kanorian nobility

 Lemetiate of Airolia Kingdom of Lensalia Oberjarldom of Dhern Kaldür

 Kingdom of Astavara Principality of Haaken-Haar Adelsrodan League

 Gresian ConfederationGreat Northern Horde remnants

Leaders|  Ioannis Chrysoskiros Cocus IVaggelis Zanakis of LakoniaLykourgos Fotallis † Michael Calano of PolganAelera Reyquinal of the Varrenes Al-Mansour Kahran VI |  Daniil Onatis † Gotthard of Weltzbäden August Archos of Amaldorf Ludger Rēdawulf I Kaspar Navruk V

### Battles

Kamst, Haarmarket, Haaken-Haar (siege), Haaken-Haar (battle), Knoxos, Cytros, Gorgossia, Gorgossian Road, Schweinshart, Gordac, Michael Calano's crossing of the Laron, Helensfeldt, Fenbach

> "Daniil Onatis is not a "false" Despot unless the will of the people is equally false."
> "The will of the governed seldom plays a role in government, my friend. That is the reality."
> "It is our duty to change that reality. That is why we are fighting - and why we have so many friends."
> —Duke Gotthard of Weltzbäden and Duke August Archos of Amaldorf, leaders of the rebel Kanorian faction supporting the "False Despot" Daniil Onatis
>
>

The **Great Sundering** was the largest of the Ionian civil wars known as the Sunderings. It was triggered by the sudden death of Despot Alexios VI Megas – the last male member of the ruling Megas dynasty – in 1336, while he was campaigning against Kherfiyyah. It was the first of two Sunderings to be caused by a succession crisis and despotic interregnum. There was extensive foreign involvement in this civil war; it has been characterized as the first continental Helinskan war. Related conflicts include the Frontier Crusades of the HMOFS and the War of the Jabeyracki Coalition.

Easily the bloodiest of the civil wars, it ended in a military stalemate.

The war brought an end to the absolute authority wielded by Ionian Despots. In the 1800s, the despotic government would attempt to centralize the realm in the style of the Megas dynasty, which triggered the Ionian Revolution.

It was chronologically the **Fifth Sundering**.

## Timeline

### The Astavaran Rejection

After the death of Alexios VI Megas, the Ionian nobility scrambled to hold the realm together. The Megas dynasty had ruled with an iron fist for centuries, preventing the collapse of the despotate even amidst previous civil wars. A powerful replacement needed to be found in short order. The most viable candidate appeared to be Ioannis Chrysoskiros, the wealthy Ionian Duke of Iordanou. He was a veteran military commander who had accompanied Alexios on his fateful last campaign against Kherfiyyah. He was crowned in Viltauri in late 1336; among his first acts was to arrange a hasty peace with the Kherfiyyan Sultan.

The Adelsrodan League, a neighboring confederation of Adelan cities, had allowed Despot Alexios to march his armies through their territory to reach Kherfiyyah. They had supported Ionian wars in the region for generations; it was in their best interest for the Ionians to keep the Kherfiyyan Sultan occupied, or he might target the League next. Consequently, the Adelsrodan League was extremely worried at the change in policy associated with Ioannis's accession. They feared that if peace was reached between Ionia and Kherfiyyah, the League would eventually fall. Shrewdly realizing that Ioannis's position was not yet secure, they sought to undermine the new Despot. To this end, the Adelsrodans convinced Jan-Pieter I, King of Astavara to correspond with his kinsman in Ionia - Albrecht von Este, Prince of Haaken and Haar, about rebelling against this fresh-faced Despot. Matters quickly spiraled out of their control, however, when the Astavaran lords began discussing a clean break from Ionia rather than a war to install a new Despot.

Albrecht managed to acquire the support of Jan-Pieter in this endeavor, but the Adelsrodans convinced the two men to first issue an ultimatum to the Despot. If Ioannis would step down, Albrecht would remain loyal. Fearing that this would degrade the authority of the Despot and make him a subject of his own vassals, Despot Ioannis refused the ultimatum. To set an example for any other would-be traitors, he pulled together an army, mostly drawn from Ionian and Kokinan levies, and invaded Albrecht's lands. This prompted a war declaration against Ionia from the Kingdom of Astavara and Adelsrodan League, who began mobilizing their own forces. They were not swift enough to prevent a major battle at Kamst, however, where the Despot's army struck a crushing blow against a hastily-assembled rebel army. This cleared the road to Haaken-Haar.

### The False Despot

Meanwhile, Kanorian nobility in the north were stirring. Despot Ioannis's track record of stamping out the expansion of Liamism in his lands left a bad taste in the mouth of some recent converts, particularly the Duke of Weltzbäden, who styled himself the "Lemet in Kanoria". He gathered his supporters, including the lords of Schweinshart, Helensfeld, and the border city of Amaldorf, to declare Daniil Onatis the rightful Despot. Onatis was the Duke of Myrgapa, an influential, tolerant and pragmatic man whose family had distinguished itself negotiating peace at the end of the Fourth Sundering. He was one of the few Ionian lords considered universally liked among the Kanorian nobility, who promptly organized themselves in support of his claim. Liamists everywhere sympathized with the Kanorian cause, to such an extent that even the typically opposed Kingdom of Ilher and its breakaway Lemetiate of Valcola, nestled in the Kanorian-adjacent Sorons Mountains, declared their support for the false Despot Daniil at the start of 1137. There was much apprehension about the possible entry of the the Grand Lemetiate of Airolia into the conflict, since most of the despotic army was far away from the eastern border, fighting Prince Albrecht.

### Foreign intervention and consequences

#### The Caesaropapists and the Astavarans

Though the centuries-old "Unholy Alliance" between the Ionian monarchy and its Kokinan subjects had secured him the support of the south, Despot Ioannis was in a grave position. The entire north had united against him, his Astavaran subjects were fighting for independence, and foreign powers were getting involved. He felt no choice but to appeal to the vast Holy Monarchy of the First Son, a Caesaropapist theocracy that had long terrorized his Liamist Kanorian vassals in the north. He promised them extensive compensation along with critical border fortresses in the north if they would intervene on his behalf. Warriorpope Cocus I accepted this invitation, but had no intention of settling for border fortresses; instead seeing the opportunity to permanently lodge himself in the Kanorian lands. The Army of the Holy Monarchy began mustering, and Despot Ioannis made preparations to attack Haaken-Haar before conducting a forced march to link up with the Caesaropapists at the border.

#### Airolian holy war

However, the Grand Lemetiate of Airolia had other plans. In a surprise move, the Liamist state surged an army across Ionia's eastern border, capturing dozens of Ionian and Kokinan towns with only light resistance. It turned out that the reason they did not immediately intervene when the Liamist Kanorians declared a state of rebellion was because they needed time to communicate with the Holy Council in Idigon and receive permission from the Grand Lemet to declare a holy war. Their intention was to split Despot Ioannis's army so it could not fully link up with the HMOFS. In this, they were successful. The Despot's army divided into two, with one detachment remaining to attack Haaken-Haar and the other, under his royal command, swinging around to combat the Airolian incursion. When the initial assault on Haaken-Haar proved unsuccessful, despotic troops settled in for a long siege, hoping to capture Prince Albrecht's capital before enemy reinforcements from Astavara and Adela could arrive.

However, it was not an Ionian force that first met the Airolians in true battle, but in fact a Varrenescene one that had crossed into Ionia to confront their longtime enemy. The Airolians won a victory at Knoxos, but it was not decisive and many on the opposing side managed to flee. The Varrenes scattered across the Ionian countryside, looting and pillaging in an attempt to resupply and reconstitute their army. Despot Ioannis, on forced march to Knoxos, sent complaints to the Reyquinal court in Kerythàle, stating that "...though I understand your hatred of the devilish blasphemers, my people do not. Return your men to their kingdom and send them back to war when they are ready. This wanton destruction cannot stand." Offended by this, considering they had just taken thousands of casualties, the Varrenes refused Despot Ioannis's orders. Varrenescene pillagers approached the borders of the Kingdom of Lensalia in early 1337, prompting that realm's immediate entry into the conflict on the Airolian side. The King there had already been considering intervention in the war after Airolia mustered its troops. Lensalian and Airolian troops besieged Cytros, where they were assisted by Dhernish Patuljac.

Airolia's entry into the war prompted probing raids by the Litugian Lordships of Onnfrey and Oerth, two islander brigand nations whose fierce Graolist faith had long compelled them to brutalize the continental Liamist realms whenever possible. When it became apparent that most of Airolia's military strength was invested in the Ionian war, the brigand nations relentlessly pillaged Airolian Ospalar.

#### The Battle of Haaken-Haar; Astavara at its peak

Meanwhile at Haaken-Haar, despotic troops continually proved unable to pierce the defenses of the troublesome Prince Albrecht. Ancient flags of Astavara were flown from the rampart as well as profaned Ionian imagery. Besieging Kokinan troops were harrassed by guards on the towers, who called them "traitorous dogs" and far worse. The situation became untenable when rumors began spreading that a large Astavaran army led by King Jan-Pieter of Astavara was marching for Haaken-Haar to relieve his kinsman.

The commander of the siege, Lykourgos Fotallis, received word in April 1337 that Caesaropapist forces had finally crossed the border and were cutting their way through the rebellious Kanorians. Liamists were crucified *en masse* and whole cities were put to the torch. It was even reported that the False Despot Daniil had been put to flight near Gordac. With the Kanorians temporarily subdued, the HMOFS was now marching to support the siege of Haaken-Haar. This news worked wonders on the ailing morale of the besieging force, who had long been screamed at by the defenders and picked off by concentrated arrow fire and sallies. However, news had also been coming in about the Astavaran army's approach, which seemed much more real now. Sergeant Fotallis decided to hold out long enough for the HMOFS to arrive and then catch the Astavarans in a pitched battle.

However, it would be the Astavarans who arrived first. Jan-Pieter's army slammed into the besieging camp, routing the despotic army and putting it to flight. The feared *Doodswacht*, or "Death Guard", of Astavara joined the fray late in the battle, cutting down dozens of hapless Ionian infantrymen, many of whom were poorly trained peasants. Psychological terror set in and the army fled north. Lykourgos Fotallis was slain in the retreat and his kneecaps were cut out, worn as trophies by Jan-Pieter. "I will never kneel!" he crowed. The Astavaran flag was raised over the central squares of Haaken and Haar, *de facto* unifying the realm of Prince Albrecht with that of King Jan-Pieter – a Greater Astavara to make the world tremble.

#### The war in the south

Receiving news of this disaster, Despot Ioannis ordered the remnants of his western army to link up with the HMOFS by any means necessary. At the same time he endeavored to turn the war around by scoring a crippling victory against Airolia. If he did this, he could turn his full attention to the west. This was important because if the HMOFS was allowed to dominate the frontlines against the Astavarans and Kanorians, they might never return the lands they took. In a bid to establish anti-Liamist unity, Despot Ioannis attempted to communicate with the brigand nations in the Sea of Rygard, and while Clan Frederiksen of Onnfrey did briefly consider an anti-Airolian alliance, they ultimately elected to continue their campaign of senseless violence and pillaging without committing to a serious political camp.

Ioannis's army had swelled rather than shrunk over the months. He had gradually escalated conscription efforts among his loyal territories, calling up able-bodied Ionians and Kokinans from all over. In his birthplace, the Duchy of Iordanou, three in four men, regardless of age or ability, had been pressed into service. He did employ some professional soldiers, however. In particular, the troops from Great Lakonia, who Ioannis referred to on multiple occasions as his "meanest men," were known to be well-trained and brutal. They were also proud and self-serving, and even Ioannis stepped lightly around their commander Vaggelis Zanakis.

At the same time, the Airolian/Lensalian army occupying eastern Ionia was large, well-trained and heavily armed. They enjoyed a high morale thanks to their string of victories. Dozens of Airolian aristocrats, including the Lord-Protectors (*Leyerr-Beschützer*) of the von Verzögen and von Lyrinae families, also traveled with the army, viewing it as a noble "holy war" in defense of Liamism in Helinska. The army achieved a breakthrough at the siege of Cytos in May 1337, sacking the city, though its citadel still held out. They called upon the services of Patuljac engineers sent by the Oberjarl of Dhern Kaldür to mine the citadel, causing its collapse and the death of everyone inside. They quickly conquered Tasossos and Nekus before besieging the great river city of Gorgossia on the edge of Great Lakonia.

Receiving word that Despot Ioannis's army was approaching, the Airolians dug in around Gorgossia and prepared for a major battle. Ioannis attacked in June 1337, and the two armies clashed in several bloody, but strategically worthless encounters. On the advice of his closest supporters, the Dukes of Lakonia and Nyreumia, Despot Ioannis withdrew from the Gorgossia area to a more defensible location – specifically the town of Sparna, further down the Ionos River (later called the *Ananas River*). While camped here, there were numerous instances of Ionian and Kokinan bodies being floated down the river from Gorgossia by Airolian soldiers. They washed up on the rocky shores of the Ionos River outside Sparna, bloated and deformed. This method of psychological warfare grated on the morale of even the most loyal despotic troops. Meanwhile, a Katavian uprising in Kataf brought the city into Airolian hands. With the Grand Lemet's army fully lodged in western Ionia, Despot Ioannis appealed to the HMOFS for help, but they were far away, pursuing their own agenda.

#### The Warriorpope

Warriorpope Cocus I had rallied the Caesaropapist forces for war by March 1337, crossed the border and brutalized the northwestern duchies of Ionia, most of which were in the hands of rebellious Kanorian or Kanorian-Ionian lords. His holy war burned through the Duchy of Schweinshart, snuffing out its lord (who was also a childhood friend of the Lemet of the North). Atrocities were committed against the civilian population, and anyone found possessing Liamist artifacts was crucified or tortured. Despot Daniil Onatis, the candidate supported by the Kanorian rebels, mustered an army and attempted to meet Cocus on the field of battle at Gordac, but he was beaten decisively and his armies were scattered into the Kanorian Mountains. His defeat was partially attributed to his inexperience in fighting in the Kanorian terrain, and his "well-meaning incompetence" in working with ethnic Kanorian tactics.

Despite their brutal defeat at Gordac, the Kanorian rebels did not yield - as a proclamation (the Helenspheldt Charter) signed by dozens of Kanorian lords in May 1337 vowed to resist the Caesaropapist invaders "until there is no breath left in Kanoria." The HMOFS began a terror campaign in Kanoria, razing villages, taking thousands of captives and forcing residents into indentured servitude or forced conscription. After the battle of Haaken-Haar in April 1337, the shattered western army of Despot Ioannis linked up with Caesaropapist forces. They were heavily outnumbered and not respected by Warriorpope Cocus, who callously ignored their calls to march south against the Astavarans. He instead focused on pillaging the north as much as possible. This strategic blunder allowed the Astavaran King Jan-Pieter to move more troops (funded by the Adelsrodan League) into Haaken-Haar, consolidating his foothold in Ionia. Cocus's unwavering brutality against the Kanorian populace also united the citizens there against him and against his ally, Despot Ioannis.

    By now, Cocus was operating as a largely independent warlord in northern Kanoria. He realized that if he swung his army west past Dullsberg and occupied the Duchy of Cislaronia, he would have an river border with the Principality of Polgan along the Laron. This would allow him to bypass the marshy borderlands that had previously hindered him from crusading against Polgan.

In June 1337, ignoring the pleas of his Ionian subordinates, Cocus swung his army east toward Cislaronia. This greatly disturbed Prince Michael Calano of Polgan, who hurriedly gathered his army and crossed the Laron, an event commemorated much later by the LIRF and the Republic of Laronia as the first step in the long path toward freedom for their people. The Polganian forces captured most of the Duchy of Cislaronia from its Kanorian lord, ostensibly on behalf of Despot Ioannis. This prevented the HMOFS from occupying the area for themselves. Enraged, Warriorpope Cocus almost attacked the Polganian army, but thought better of it.

Prince Michael remained in Ionia for the duration of the war but had no intention of involving himself further in the conflict, despite publicly declaring his support for the "rightful" Despot Ioannis. With Polgan now controlling both sides of the Laron River in some places, the Northern Union's commercial interests were fundamentally threatened, which kicked off a related conflict called the War of the Jabeyracki Coalition.

#### Shifting alliances

Meanwhile, the Sultanate of Kherfiyyah began its long-anticipated assault on the Adelsrodan League, rolling through the countryside until being stopped at the Neck, where they besieged the town of Halstuck. This marked the start of the Adelan–Kherfiyyan War of 1337, and forced the League to relocate its troops and funds away from the Astavaran front and toward the south of its own territory. Without the direct backing of the League, Prince Albrecht realized the vulnerability of the Astavaran rebels. He contacted False Despot Daniil about an alliance. Under the terms of the alliance, the Astavarans would help in the fight against the HMOFS and the Kanorians would help secure Astavaran independence from Despot Ioannis. It was an unsatisfactory agreement for both parties, as False Despot Daniil continued to assert his sovereignty over Prince Albrecht's recently independent Astavaran lands, and King Jan-Pieter was enraged that Albrecht had conducted negotiations without him.

False Despot Daniil, now based in the central Ionian city of Fenbach, called his forces together and divided his army in two; one detachment would link up with the Astavarans in Haaken-Haar before marching north to confront the monstrous pigs of the Holy Monarchy. The other division would march south to assist the Airolians in finishing off Despot Ioannis. The march began.

Indeed, Despot Ioannis was continuing to lose ground against Airolia in the south. The Liamists occupied all of Upper Lakonia in August 1337 and were marching unmolested through the lands of his rival, False Despot Daniil, to flank him. The only solace came in the news that the Katavian Kingdoms and some Patuljac realms who opposed Airolia's Dhernish allies were getting involved. There were reports of surprise ambushes against Airolian columns and even a few true battles. However, this fighting was happening away from the front line where it would not make much of a difference to his ultimate fate. His goal was to delay the Airolians as much as possible while awaiting news of the Kanorian front - if the HMOFS could score a victory against False Despot Daniil and his temporary Astavaran allies, Ioannis still had a very good chance of turning the war around in his favor.

#### The Battle of Helensfeldt

The joint Kanorian-Astavaran army met Warriorpope Cocus near the city of Helensfeldt, where the earlier charter of resistance against the Holy Monarchy had been drafted. Under False Despot Daniil's command, and with the support of five Astavaran columns led by Albrecht von Este, the rebel army surged forward and crushed the Caesaropapists' left flank. Seeking to capitalize on this maneuver, Albrecht called forth his elite *Doodswacht* cavalry, but they were hardly effective on the rocky terrain of the Kanorian Mountains. Black-clad Death Guards were thrown from their horses and overwhelmed by a sea of white as the HMOFS counterattacked with heavy infantry. Holy Monarchy troops stormed into Helensfeldt and utterly destroyed it. Even the hallowed hall where the Charter of Resistance against Caesaropapism had been signed was burned with extreme prejudice. The city would not be rebuilt for years. It became apparent that the Caesaropapists had won the day, and now the rebel forces endeavored to mitigate their losses. They divided up into two groups, retreating down the banks of the Kanorian Mountains toward Haaken-Haar and Fenbach respectively. Both armies were hotly pursued by the Holy Monarchy, with Cocus pursuing False Despot Daniil toward Fenbach. During this time, Cocus reportedly proposed taking the title of Despot of Ionia for himself.

Encouraged by the news of victory at Helensfeldt, Ioannis gave more ground to the Airolians, seeking to avoid a confrontation. This kept morale high in the Airolian camp, as new villages fell to their army on a daily basis, but their commanders privately worried about a confrontation with the HMOFS.

##### The Gresian migration complicates things

Meanwhile, the massive mobilization conducted by the Caesaropapist forces to support their intervention in Ionia had depleted their frontier garrisons. This left their borders vulnerable and empowered the Gresians and Reach Clans to probe deeper and deeper into the HMOFS, wreaking havoc and sacking towns. In the case of the Gresians, they became so enamored with their campaign that they launched a full-scale migration into the southern lands of the HMOFS, driving out local settlers and burning Caesaropapist churches. Hundreds of thousands of Gresians surged across the Holy Monarchy's borders.

News of this assault reached Warriorpope Cocus in September 1337 as he pursued False Despot Daniil toward Fenbach. From his camp in Ionia, he declared a "Frontier Crusades" against the Gresians (later expanding the war to include the Reach Clans). He ordered his Lord-Priors to stop sending reinforcements to Ionia and instead form new armies in order to drive the Gresians out of his land.

#### The Battle of Fenbach

False Despot Daniil reached his stronghold of Fenbach in October 1337 with an army of mostly Kanorian troops. Half the Airolian army immediately swung north to reinforce him in anticipation of a pitched battle against the Caesaropapists. That battle ultimately fell on the first day of November 1337. The battle of Fenbach was fanatically fought, involving troops from various ethnicities and cultures. Cavalry and infantry fell on each other in droves under the cold sun of Ionia. The gods of Liamism and of Caesaropapism were invoked by thousands. In the end, False Despot Daniil finally won a battle, but at the cost of his own life. He had been impaled by a Caesaropapist captain during the battle. Daniil's Kanorian supporters wept when he eventually expired, believing that with him died their last chance for victory, and for peace.

With Daniil's death, Duke Gotthard of Weltzbäden, also called the "Lemet in Kanoria" or "Lemet of the North," was considered the obvious choice for Despot of Ionia by what remained of the Kanorian rebel alliance. However, he refused the title, saying a Kanorian would never be accepted as lord of Ionia, and instead conferred the title on Daniil's son, Andronikos Onatis, who became *False Despot Andronikos*. This decision caused the Duke of Amaldorf to switch sides and support Ioannis.

The war evolved even more obviously into a Helinskan struggle for dominance. Airolia's marginal victory over the Holy Monarchy could not be left unpressed, and a grueling pursuit of the HMOFS army began. Airolia liberated Kanorian villages one by one over the course of the year 1338, strengthening relations between the Airolian and Kanorian people, and revitalizing Liamism in the north.

#### Final negotiations

At the same time, Despot Ioannis had just concluded negotiations with Prince Albrecht von Este, who agreed to be reintegrated into the Despotate of Ionia, except under the stewardship of the Duke of Amaldorf, in his recently-assigned capacity as *Governor of the Kanorian Lands*, rather than under the direct authority of the Despot. This was the start of the belief that Astavara was culturally Kanorian. Albrecht proposed reintegration because he did not want his current liege, Jan-Pieter of Astavara, to draw him into the ongoing Adelan-Kherfiyyan war. He talked to Ioannis because the new "False Despot Andronikos" was a mere child and not taken seriously by the Astavarans.

The news of Albrecht's betrayal outraged Jan-Pieter, who was fighting Kherfiyyah in the Neck. Jan-Pieter pledged to invade Ionia and seize Prince Albrecht's lands after the Kherfiyyans had been defeated. However, his chief ally, the Adelsrodan League, showed little interest in financing such a war.

Regardless, the reintegration of Prince Albrecht's ethnically Astavaran lands was a major boost to Despot Ioannis's credibility and he took it as a sign to open negotiations with the Airolians. Airolia had much less interest in pressing False Despot Andronikos's claim to the Ionian throne, believing him to be an easily impressionable and incapable leader. In a secret treaty, Despot Ioannis agreed to renounce his alliance with the Holy Monarchy of the First Son, to repeal most of the Megasian laws (which, among other things, restricted the rights of Kanorian Liamists in Ionia), to grant the Duchy of Weltzbäden spiritual authority over Kanorian Liamists along with other provisions, and to cede Cislaronia to Polgan. Ioannis acquired the support of the Duke of Weltzbäden, who agreed on the condition that neither False Despot Andronikos, nor any other rebel lord, would be punished after the war. When Ioannis acquiesced to this demand, Weltzbäden convinced Andronikos to renounce his title and consent to a ceremonial imprisonment at the hands of Despot Ioannis. This imprisonment began in Viltauri and lasted five days.

The Airolian army in the south, along with the despotic forces under Ioannis's command, marched north to support the liberation of the Kanorian territories. After two months, all Caesaropapist forces had been dislodged. A peace treaty promising no further intervention in Ionia was signed by Warriorpope Cocus *in absentia*, who had left Ionia months earlier to fight the Gresian migration.

It was only now that the Airolians handed over control of the towns they had taken and started to march back home.

## Aftermath

Jan-Pieter I and False Despot Daniil were blamed for the war; both of whom were conveniently unable to defend themselves.

The war has been depicted as the first "Helinskan war" involving multiple large kingdoms. Airolia's performance in the war has been portrayed as the first great victory in its colonial enterprise on Helinska, followed by the 13th Lysellic-Varrenescene War. The end of the war coincided with a particularly grand Festival of the Fronds.

It completely broke the central authority of the Despot of Ionia; by repealing the Megasian laws, Despot Ioannis ended the despotic autocracy, turning Ionia into a much looser constitutional monarchy for over five hundred years, until the botched centralization and revolution.

When Despot Ioannis granted greater autonomy to Prince Albrecht von Este, he paved the way for the unification of his lands, including the amalgamation of Haaken and Haar into the single city of Haakenhaar.

When Despot Ioannis agreed to empower the Duke of Weltzbäden, he inadvertently caused the latter to secede a decade later, establishing a Lemetiate. Weltzbäden began carving out a Liamist sphere of influence for himself, establishing suzerainty over territories within Ionia and outside it.

The repeal of the Megasian laws also allowed the free practice of Liamism anywhere in Ionia, though it remained concentrated primarily in the northern Kanorian regions.

Ethnic tensions continued to run high for generations after the war and, in truth, were never completely resolved, as the Sixth Sundering eventually broke out.

## See also

* Despotate of Ionia
* Sunderings

## References

1. ↑ (against Adelsrodan League)
2. ↑ (against Airolia)
3. ↑ (against Airolia)
4. ↑ (against HMOFS)
5. ↑ (against HMOFS)
6. ↑ (against Polgan)