First Peninsular War

The **First Peninsular War** or simply **Peninsular War** was a series of two major conflicts on the Southwestern Peninsula in the year 4. It involved the loosely allied Nations of Ràl Atsèl and Tapiria, the isolationist Rudsaȼen and the Arborya tribes. The war ended with the annexation of Rudsaȼen by the expanding Tapiria and the genocide of the Arboryan tribes by the absolutist Kingdom of Àbn Ràl Atsèl as part of the **War of Arboryan Subjugation**.

## Before the start of war

Within the years before the war, the Nations of the Southwestern Peninsula had set up a thriving trade network spanning from Ràl Atsèl and Plo Tbrov all the way to Nacafi. The trade route had major hubs in Tapiria and Rudsaȼen. In the early year 3, a civil war in Rudsaȼen made the Saxenian part of the trade route increasingly dangerous and threatened free trade especially with Nacafi, which only connected to the peninsular nations via Rudsaȼen. Nacafi had to expand northeastward to satisfy its growing population's demand for food.

At the same time, the Ràl kingdom had expanded up to the borders of the Arborya and Raka Laña tribes and openly expressed its claim of the whole western half of the Peninsula. At this point Ràl Atsèl had, according to it's government, made several fruitless attempts to peacefully annex the Arborya tribes.

## Course of war

When rumors arose that Plo Tbrov intended to expand southward to attack the crumbling Rudsaȼen and migrate as far east as Nacafi's Easterly Rud region, Tapiria quickly took action and invaded the nation at the Mouth of Rud first. The *de facto* leaderless Rudsaȼen fell within few days. Tapiria formed a new border with Nacafi, which had at the same time closed up to Saxenian territory by expanding into the unoccupied Easterly Rud region.

Shortly after the Tapirian invasion of Rudsaȼen, Ràl Atsèl attacked Arborya at night. Ràlian historians described the course of war as "a one-sided massacre, for the Thahutshs attacked at night while they were sleeping, tribe by tribe, village by village, their chieftains' heads were taken and offered to the gods as sacrifice, from then on this event would be known as the Headless Nights and would be where the Thahutshs gained his nickname "The Sly"." After a very bloody war, Arborya surrendered and was incorporated into Àbn Ràl Atsèl.

## Reactions

### Nacafi

Both acts of war were received positively by the government of the Kingdom of Nacafi. Nacafi's King Tashmang I. congratulated the "victorious rulers" and wrote that "the liberation of the Rudsaxenian tribes was a necessary effort to restore stability in the region and ensure free trade between the Nations. Nacafi's allies have proven military strength, which shall remind all surrounding tribes and countries to seek diplomatic communication before toying with the idea of war against us." The statement can also be understood as a slight warning towards Plo Tbrov which had, according to rumors, intended to migrate into Nacafi's southernmost region.

The further expansion of Tapiria to the east was, however, watched with concern. Especially Nacafi's centaur population was worried about the situation for their herds outside of the nation. While centaurs are protected by law in Nacafi, Tapiria has expressed racism against non-humans in the past.