Chronicle of Gaia
Chapter I. Cause of the War of Recovery[]
200 years before Genesis. It was a barbarous age in remote antiquity when no formal written language existed. The forefathers of ancient orcs were the rulers of the land at that time. Their tribes were scattered all over the land.
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137 years before Genesis. A hero named , who claimed to be the “Envoy of Ancestors” created , a kingdom of wizards— established a cooperative relation with them and gave them advanced technologies in exchange for abundant resources. From then on, the civilisation of Entagarich enjoyed rapid development. , head of at that time, was a wise leader.
112 years before Genesis. Due to the disappearance of and the death of , the relation between these two countries started to deteriorate.
21 years before Genesis. unleashed a war which lasted for 21 years and almost occupied the whole land after it. The country of the Orcs declined inevitably and became a colony of .
The reign of lasted for nearly one thousand years which witnessed great development of the Land of in terms of productivity as well as culture. During this period, various races immigrated here from other lands, settled down and started their happy life.
Does the above mentioned, you may wonder, have anything to do with the War of Recovery? During the reign of , the combination and conflict among all races reached a critical point. As is known to all, the Tannon(an orcish leader) uprising led to the collapse of the Kingdom of . If we look at this issue from a political point of view, the uprising of Tanon is an unavoidable outcome of conflict among races. Let me use the pattern of an old saying--the appearance of Tannon is accidental and the collapse of the kingdom is inevitable.
Although Tannon overturned the reign of , the conflict hadn’t been eased, which was proved by the appearance of the Kingdom of . , the first king of , was born in an aristocratic family in . Different races established their own countries which helped improve their relation but the cause of the conflict still remained. As the strongest country on the land, occupied a huge amount of resources, oppressing and exploiting other races.
When the conflict reached the second critical point, the War of Recovery, brutal and fierce than the Tannon uprising, broke out.
Chapter II. War of Recovery[]
Most historians believe that the cause of the War of Recovery is an appalling plot—In the spring of the 256th year of the Kingdom calendar, Cresphy passed away all of a sudden and Rualifa, the Marshal General, disappeared mysteriously. All these were plotted by Maussans, adviser of the Undead-- Rualifa poisoned Grivonhart. The plot was not confirmed until the latter period of the War of Recovery.
Dropes, Kingdom of Demons, invaded Savily three days after the death of Cresphy and at the same time, Judica, Kingdom of the Underneath, started to invade Bolateni from the east.
As for Bolateni, the parliament elected Marshal Phynics as the acting king and they also contacted Queen Maria who was abroad at the time and asked her to come back as early as possible to control the whole situation.
March, 256. Minos and his guerilla started to give support to Savily.
July, 256. under the leadership of Minos, a victory was obtained in Atanes and therefore Savily regained the initiative and was no longer in a passive position.
October, 256. Troops from Judica suddenly appeared in the centre of Bolateni by using tunnels, and launched a sneak attack on Geslent, capital of Bolateni. This was the first time the human capital was seized by enemy.
November, 256. Maria, Queen of Bolateni, landed on the southern coast of the country and returned her motherland. After meeting with Marshal Phynics, the queen gave four orders:
Phynics would not be held responsible for the loss of the capital at the time and was appointed Marshal General of the country and asked to hold on in the southern area.
Tiben was ordered to give up the northern area of Bolateni and lead Kenda’s legion to the south to gather forces.
Nonen’s western legion was told not to come back and to attack Dropes, using the “scorched earth policy”.
Unkown Caminent was appointed head of the Royal Legion and ordered to lead his force to the north to meet with Phynics’s legion.
It is proved by history that these four orders are both timely and correct which fully embodies military talent of Queen Maria.
December, 256, Farseer(Orcish Kingdom) declared its independence and would no longer recognise suzerainty to Bolateni and also sent forces to seize the western part of Bolateni.
Also in December, Phynics’s legion gave up the northern defence line and met with the queen in the south.
January, 257. Macalin also declared independence and started to competed with Farseer for the western part of Bolateni.
Also in January, Undead troops from Mithlyn started to go south to invade Bolateni.
Nonen’s legion and the Phynics’s legion both gave up their land. This reduced the possibility that they would be defeated one by one. But the area that was occupied by enemy forces enlarged by several times during only two months.
Some historians point out that the Maria’s military layout is not very reliable. The situation would have deteriorated if undead troops had attacked Savily rather than the northern part of Bolateni.
It is very likely that one or two decisions can determine the progress of history. The unrepeatable nature of history provides historians with good environment for argument.
March of the same year. Nonen’s legion of Bolateni succeeded in going out of surrounding Judica forces and started to go to the land of Dropes. At that time, Judica also faced two alternatives like Mithlyn.
The main forces continue to chase Nonen’s legion but have to abandon the capital of Bolateni and a vast expanse of occupied areas. (The second legion of Judica that launched a surprise attack on Geslent was isolated and lacked supply and support).
Give up the plan for chasing Nonen’s legion and give support to the second legion and establish a supply line. But this may lead to the fact Yoave has to face huge military pressure.
Maybe Judica overestimated the resistance of Yoave and maybe it was the abundant resources of the Humans which tempted them. In a word, Judica gave up the plan for chasing Nonen’s legion.
June, 257. Nicon started to launch a general attack on the western part of Bolateni. Under the command of Phynics, the human forces tried their best fight against their enemy. Many ordinary people also picked up weapons to protect their own country. Therefore, Nicon didn’t get satisfactory outcome from their attack. As for the Humans, their cost were huge—Thousands of citizens died in the war and dozens of towns were ruined.
July, 257. Nonen, on behalf of Queen Maria, met with the king of Cleagan to negotiate a truce. Yoave declared that they would quit the alliance with Judica and Mithlyn and resume peace with the Holy Alliance.
The victory of the Savily Battle paved the way for the final victory of Bolateni.
Minos became the youngest general-level officer in Bolateni’s history. At that time, the country was in urgent need of Minos like heroism to raise the moral of its troops.
August, 257. Savily sent troops to intercept Mithlyn forces together with Nonen’s legion. Because of this, Mithlyn had to slow down their invasion. Meanwhile, Minos and his guerilla went all the way to the back of Judica to do destruction and harassment.
Also in August. Phynics’s legion successfully returned Tinaphy, a city in the south. At the time, Nicon’s plan for completing the war in a short period of time became impossible. Mithlyn and Nicon attempted to surround Phynics’s legion for many times but all failed. The carefulness of the acting head of the legion saved this troop.
The war entered a balanced phase.
October, 257. Gagura, king of Blakada,(He came back to Blakada after the Tannon uprising.) agreed Maria’s request and provided goods for Bolateni.
November, 257. The elite troops of Mithlyn—The legion of ghost knights arrived Geslent.
December, 257. Caminent ordered to turn heavy cavalry into light cavalry.
Also in December. Caminent used tricks to annihilate all ghost knights near the Moon Lake.(See more details in Caminent.)
This battle shocked Mithlyn and Nicon hold an emergent meeting to adjust its plan which had been already made. Afterwards, both of the two sides didn’t take any large scale military action in that chilly winter. Both were waiting, waiting for the spring.
February, an undead wizard of Mithlyn “revived” Cresphy, former king of Bolateni and wanted to use him to lower the morale of human forces.
March, 258. kevlin, leader of Mithlyn was killed by Cresphy “revived” by himself. The latter rapidly took control of the army through great power and strong strategy and started his cruel reign.
Many historians sneer at what kevlin did and think he is nobody. In fact, kevlin was very familiar with what people think as well as political tricks. At last, he died of his own plot.—This is really an ironic outcome.
March, 258. During only one month, a few undead overlords and senior officers, including renowned Pile, head of the death knight legion, were sentenced to death. This split Mithlyn into two parties—One party lead by Vicaverion which supported Cresphy and one party lead by Shirufuido which was against him.
April, 258. Regardless of the objection of Judica, Cresphy called back all troops locked in a face-off with Bolateni. He created a huge amount of undead troops in the northern part of Bolateni and concentrated on the attack on the troops from Savily
Also in April, the envoy sent by Shirufuido met with Queen Maria secretly. Knowing that her father’s mind was full of the desire for destruction and slaying, the queen decided to cooperate with Shirufuido to stop her father’s insane action.
May, 258. Under the leadership of Caminent, the human forces defeated the first and second legions of Judica. The latter retreated to hold in Geslent.
Also in May, Farseer defeated Macalin, taking control of the western area of Bolateni. This was chance for the Orcs to regain their power.
June, 258. The troops from Savily and Nonen’s legion was defeated by the Undead in only two months’ time. There was no life evidence in the northern part of Bolateni and hundreds of thousands of undead troops were created by Cresphy.
Also in June, Nicon forces were attacked by the Undead and had a huge loss and therefore had to retreat from Davic. At that time, Mithlyn completely became a slaying machine which would attack any race in the same way.
July, 258. Maria was told by Maussans, advisor of Mithlyn a way of saving her father—Let him kill the assassin who killed him.
Also in July, Gagura, king of Blakada, sent troops to Bolateni as reinforcement to fight against the insane undead troops.
September, 258. In face of the strong defence organised by Bolateni and Blakada, numerous skeleton warriors turned into piles of useless remains. And at last Cresphy appeared in battle. A nightmare which had lasted for seven months came to an end at that time.
October, 258. Hoderin, located in the northeastern part of Bolateni, declared independence, becoming the first elven kingdoms in the Land of gaia. And then elves in Savily moved to Hoderin gradually.
Also in October, Bolateni and Mithlyn agreed a ceasefire. All the undead forces retreated from Bolateni.
November, 258. Bolateni and Judica agreed a ceasefire.
Until then, the War of Recovery which lasted for three years came to an end. Previously strong countries, especially Bolateni were more or less undermined. Only one-third of the land where people can live in Bolateni remained after the War and its population decreased to one-sixth of the previous number. The power of Bolateni also came to an end together with the War.
Prosperity comes after chaos. The word “recovery” not only refers to Bolateni, but to the whole Land of gaia as well.
A new era has come.
Chapter III. Future[]
It has been thirty years since the War of Recovery ended when I write this essay. As a witness to the War, I often think about such questions—What did the war bring us? Is it good or bad? Hope or nightmare?
I once asked my instructor about these questions. His answer is—Cruel but inevitable, the war helps combine different races, reallocate interests of the world and at last bring about peace.
My respectful instructor, I never forget what you said. However, our parents had died in the war which only brings me infinite pain. Likewise, the Land of didn’t get benefit from the war, either—Hatred among races still remains strong.
People often say that power is justice. This is true if we look at many events in history. is now rejuvenating and many young people are talking about the previously powerful . Call for revenge is becoming louder day in and day out. We are never short of selfishness and prejudice but always lack the courage to evaluate ourselves. Where did the powerful come from? When the enslaved people of cry, who listened to their voices? Why did become the target of so many countries? Is that a just ? Nowadays, too few people is thinking about these questions.
Later on, I was appointed foreign minister and has stayed in the position for thirty years. Queen once told me, “Please don’t be angry about that War because that is a debt we need to pay off. If wants to exist in the world, our people must learn to get along with other races. The way of being an individual is also the way of managing a country. You should also try your best for the sake of this.”
Currently, the situation on the Land of is not stable enough. in the west is becoming stronger and stronger and , its new king is very aggressive. So is Nicon in the east—, the new king of Nicon keeps a high profile. As for , call for a new war is also echoing at the moment. Sometimes I don’t know how to do. But anyway, the paradise-like the queen described is also the future I wish for.
Though weak and humble, I am willing to bet my life and dignity on this future.
This essay is dedicated to the people who passed away in the War of Recovery and Her Majesty the Queen!