One Week War

### Result

Stalemate, Creation of Stone's Cradle, Establishment of the Ars Tellum Initiative, Exodus from Notus, Establishment of the new Windrosi calendar

### Participants

Windrose, Lancea, Falcata

The **One Week War** was a war in the Windrose world between the nations of Windrose, Lancea, and Falcata that lasted from ?? T to 1 AT. As implied by its name, the war lasted only a single week. Despite its short length, the ramifications of the war were severe, and had long-lasting effects on all of its participant nations.

#### Background

Nothing is known about what incited the One Week War.

#### Course of the War

After the war began, intense fighting broke out almost immediately. There were three major fronts during the course of the war. The westernmost front was on the border between northern Lancea and the Windrosi province of Notus. Lancea engaged in a heavy bombing campaign using mercury-based artillery. Many of the fighters on both the Windrosi and Lancean side suffered mercury poisoning after the war as a result. The central front involved fighting on all three sides, centered around the three-way border where Windrose, Lancea, and Falcata meet. This front saw the most intense fighting of the war, as all three nations fought each other at once. The easternmost front was on the border between northern Falcata and the Windrosi province of Eurus. Much of the fighting on this front was magical in nature, but the specific spells and techniques used are unknown.

Various factions and famous figured participated in the war. On the Windrosi side, the CEO of Finance of Aranea, Gwyn, created an organization known as the Red Towers, a legion of highly trained child soldiers famous for their brutality on the battlefield. Members of the Red Towers included one Martha Teach. The Lancean war hero Barachiel Gannon also participated in the war on the side of Lancea.

The fighting over the course of the One Week War became increasingly brutal. Even outside of the Red Towers, child soldiers were conscripted in notable amounts. Ground battles and Lancean bombing raids devastated small towns and farming villages along the borders of all participant countries. Despite this, the war seemed to be heading towards a stalemate. While Lancea boasted overwhelming military technology, the Windrosi had the advantage of powerful magic, whereas the Falcatans' high population numbers afforded them a veritable tide of soldiers to push through the Lancean war machines.

The war suddenly came to an end after a week of fighting when an unknown faction deployed an unknown weapon in the heart of the central front. The resulting devastation was so vast that it left a massive crater that spanned the borders of all three countries and was larger than most cities. Fearing future usage of the weapon, all three nations pulled out of the war, ending it in a stalemate. The resultant crater was named Stone's Cradle following the war.

#### Impacts

The One Week War had a heavy impact on Windrosi politics and culture. Fear over future conflicts led to a large amount of political changes immediately following the war. Magic Items were banned under nearly all circumstances, and the major city-states of Windrose banded together to form the Ars Tellum Initiative, an organization with the goal of seeking out and disposing of magic items. The concept of distinct races was also eliminated from government policy and education in its entirety, redirected towards a focus of seeing all bloodlines as simply "human". Additionally, the Windrosi government declared an end to the previous Era of Thought, proclaiming the arrival of the Era of Afterthought, and with it a new calendar. This name is where the "AT" acronym in the modern Windrosi calendar originates.

The intense fighting on the Lancean fronts led to a devastating scouring of southern Notus. Many Notan citizens fled their homes, heading north through Parade Passage towards Bluebell. This massive influx of possible labor allowed the company known as Aranea to expand to unprecedented sizes following the war, leading to its transformation into its modern incarnation.

The specific influences of the war on Lancea and Falcata are yet unconfirmed.