Dailing Dynasty

Map of Kojima after the Great Kojiman War.

The Dailing Dynasty was a civilization located on the continent of Kojima in Dimension T-2022. Little is known about the Dynasty from before their colonization of Orwald, but their involvement in the Scramble for Orwald and the Great Kojiman War is relatively well documented.

## History

### Scramble for Orwald

Located on mainland Kojima, the Dailing Dynasty was an ancient dynasty of magic wielders who sought to accumulate knowledge about the ancient past. In their quest for knowledge, they traveled to the four corners of the world, hoping to find mystical portals to other dimensions. The Dailing Dynasty eventually hoped to harvest power from these dimensions to achieve eternal life. Their quest for the eternal life eventually brought the Dailing to the continent of Orwald in the 15th century. Using their magic, the Dailing Dynasty tamed the unhospitable lands of the Crimson Mesa, allowing them to colonize the region which was void of native inhabitants. As a result, the Dailings didn't affect the natives with disease as much as the other nations, resulting in relatively positive relations. In the 16th century, the colonies in the Crimson Mesa had grown considerably. As a result, the Dailing Dynasty decided to reorganize the colonies into a Viceroyalty ruled by an offshoot of the main ruling dynasty. Quickly, this offshoot began to call itself and the land it ruled 'the Crimson Dynasty', after the most prominent features of the land.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Crimson Dynasty continued to flourish as a result of its relation with both the natives and the Dailing Dynasty. The Crimsons were able to continue their research into eternal life and discovered a local myth about a mysterious golden tome that would elongate their lifespan evermore. The search for this mysterious tome eventually grew into an established religion known as the 'Cult of the Sacred Flame', based on the flame magic commonly found within the mesa plateau.

### The Great Kojiman War

Before the outbreak of the Great Kojiman War, the Empire of the Setting Moon and the Dailing Dynasty had been direct competitors economically and militarily. Both nations had colonies on the continent of Orwald. The Dailing Dynasty controlled the territories in the Crimson Mesa, now part of the Crimson Dynasty, while the Empire of the Setting Moon had control over the Campian Basin, Inner Peria and the Noctian Lowlands. In the 1820s, economic malaise struck both nations, increasing tensions in both Kojima and Orwald.

The war itself began after a border incident between soldiers from the Empire of the Setting Moon and the Dailing Dynasty. Pretty early on in the conflict, it became clear that the war was devolving into a stalemate. The industrial capacity of both nations allowed them to sustain a prolonged conflict and war enthousiasm led to an increase in military volunteers to send to the front. In addition, every 8 years, the war would essentially be put on hold during the 2 year period of Winter. This further allowed both nations to recover while the front was literally frozen. However, the loss of the Orwald colonies and eventual war exhaustion in both nations led to several breakthroughs in the 1840s. Most of these breakthroughs benefitted the Empire of the Setting Moon and by 1850, they had advanced as far as the capital of the Dailing Dynasty. As the Dailing capital was besieged by the Imperial General Tamoto and his forces, the Dailing royal family refused to surrender as important buildings such as the library containing thousands of sacred texts went up in flames. Eventually, the monarch decided to give up the capital and use the remaining Dailing forces to evacuate the city's elite. Using a ship containing an experimental steam engine, the royal family managed to escape. However, a storm threw them off course and an outbreak of the zombification virus killed everyone on board. The fall of the Dailing Dynasty ended the war in favor of the Empire of the Setting Moon.

### Aftermath of the war

In the aftermath of the Great Kojiman War, the Dailing Dynasty was replaced by a puppet regime of the Empire of the Setting Moon, known as the Dailing Autonomous Government. This government quickly drew out resistance, partly funded by the Crimson Dynasty. Large shipments of crossbows and gunpowder were soon smuggled across the border. However, with each shipment, the chances of getting caught increased, so the resistance decided to smuggle the weapons through a treacherous mountain pass in the north. Meanwhile, two different factions were emerging in the resistance movement, each proposing a different tactic of fighting the government. The first faction, the Dailing Revolutionary Guard, a left wing movement, wanted to mainly focus on propaganda to win the people over to their side. The second faction, the Sons of Dailing, a right wing movement, didn’t want to waste time and were planning several sabotage actions. King Caratas of the Crimson Dynasty, as the main funder of the resistance, opted to suppport the latter. The Resistance soon moved on to violent action against the Imperial occupier.

Strategical bombings, sabotage actions and raids became increasingly common as the Sons of Dailing received support from the Crimson Dynasty. The DAG government had become aware of the growing resistance movement and was taking countermeasures to prevent a revolution. However, the Crimson Dynasty simply responded by giving more resources to the growing rebellion. Soon, the Sons of Dailing begun spreading their demands more openly; a departure of foreign troops from all DAG territories and a restoration of the Dailing Dynasty. The government responded by enforcing a curfew and by putting more soldiers in the streets. The resistance smelled an opportunity. Many within the DAG army were unhappy with the current political situation and some high-ranking officers might be open to the idea of supporting a revolution. Some voices supported approaching the army to win them over to the Resistance's side. However, the resistance didn’t want to risk getting discovered, so they didn’t contact the military. Instead, they went ahead with the final steps towards a coup. More equipment was secretly smuggled from across the border. Key government officials were shadowed to document their daily routine. A detailed location of every Imperial army base on DAG soil was recorded. For the final execution of the plan, there still were some disagreements however. Everyone agreed that the government should be ousted, however the manner in which that should happen was unclear. The more radical members of the resistance wanted to start an all out revolt across the entire DAG, mostly focussing on quickly taking out the DAG army and hoping that the Empire would have no time to respond. The more moderate members of the resistance instead wanted to stage a massive protest in the capital, followed by a storming of the governmental buildings by the masses and the declaration of a new revolutionary government. The moderate wing hopes that by avoiding a direct confrontation with the Empire, there would still be room for a renegotiation of the peace treaty that established the DAG. The radical members eventually won the support of King Caratas and the plans to stage a revolt went ahead.

On the faithful day, all pieces were set in motion. Across Dailing, rebels were armed, military convoys were raided and barricades were set up in the major cities. At the sounding of the noon bells, the order was given to start the revolt. In the capital, barricades were set up in strategic locations and rebels made their way to the capitol building, where a majority of the highest ranking government officials were currently holding a meeting. Across the country, DAG military outposts were attacked by rebels. However, the revolutionaries heavily underestimated the army’s willingness to prevent a revolution from succeeding. While trying to storm important government buildings in the capital, the outnumbered revolutionary forces were quickly taken out by the DAG army. The army, strengthened by the curfew and the state of emergency, took advantage of the situation. Over the coming days, General Pyuying, veteran of the Great Kojiman War and Minister of Defense in the DAG government, usurped more and more power within the government until the point where a military coup was inevitable. Weeks into the civil war, Pyuying arrested other members of the government and proclaimed himself as the new leader of the DAG. In the following days, the Sons of Dailing surrendered and the civil war ended. Using his new position, Pyuying renegotiated the peace treaty with the Empire. In return for giving up the border province of Taimin, the Empire would recognize the new government and would retreat its troops from Dailing. The DAG was essentially disbanded and transformed into the Dailing Junta. Despite all its efforts, the Crimson Dynasty was unable to enforce its claims upon the Dailing throne.