Thornian Wars

The **Thornian Wars** were a series of related, nearly-continuous conflicts that led to the establishment of the Thornian nation and its subsequent attempts to hold or expand its imperial reach. Almost every conflict had contributed to the cause for the following conflict. Scholars had debated throughout the span of the conflict on how best to resolve the conflict with a wholistic solution.

The wars are considered to have begun in December 2019 with the start of the Xandu Crisis, and ended on 2 May 2023 with the end of the Chen-Thornia War. Ironically, the Chen-Thornia War is what finally brought both the Chen dynasty and the Thornian Empire to the negotiating table over the fate of Xandu. As of 7 May 2023, Xandu has remained mostly under Thornian occupation.

Throughout the span of the war, Thornia switched between numerous systems of government and even fractured into numerous self-proclaimed successor states. Despite these supposed setbacks, these internal conflicts led to the battle-hardening of the Thornian military and the gradual destruction of the legacy of the federalised structure of the Holy States, the forerunner of the imperial Thornian state.

The chaos of the wars had allowed the spread of the Great Plague, the gradual reversal of the results of the Industrial Revolution of 2016-2018, the collapse of democratic governments, and the revival of feudalism. The high economic and human cost of the wars, and the danger of international travel, had effectively ended the nascent globalised economy and established the three economic spheres of the Tyavylian world, the Thornian world, and the Greater Xandunese world (encompassing both the Dark Realm of Han and Xandu).

## Background

The Xandu Crisis was sparked by the Dark Realm of Han's unclear policies for Xandu and the unclear status of who was really in control of the country after the dissolution of the Huang dynasty. Ume had, up to this point, largely dictated the Holy States' policies in Xandu but its refusal to engage in discussions about expanding the union led to the increasingly militaristic Umic colony of Thornia to expand its military reach into Xandu.

Thornia's realisation of its ability to act independently of Ume with little to no repurcussions encouraged its citizens to colonise and subjugate neighbouring regions, such as northern Goruid and the Aphthonic Tsapansal. The expansion of the nascent Thornian state into previously unknown territories also brought it face to face with the threat of the various pillager militias spread out throughout Goruid and Aphthonis. The increasingly larger and larger raids into Thornian settlements sparked the First Pillager War. The inability of the Thornian Army to successfully eliminate the pillagers has led to numerous attempted campaigns throughout the years.

The increasingly large armies of Thornia and their need to establish military camps, make-shift fortifications, and garrisons in existing settlements also brought Umic Thornians into contact with the dozens of indigineous groups of the wider empire. While this has allowed for the diversification of Thornian culture away from its Umic roots, there has been numerous attempts at armed resistance to Umic cultural whitewashing in their respective regions. This led to the Thornian Civil War, the War of the Three Regions, and the Chen-Thornia War.

## Conflicts

* Xandu Crisis (December 2019 - April 2022)
* Pillager Wars (8 December 2019 - Present)
* Thornian Civil War (August 2021 - December 2021)
* The Rebellions (May 2022 - December 2022)
* War of the Three Regions (December 2022 - 12 March 2023)
* Chen-Thornia War (26 March 2023 - 2 May 2023)