Elven Civil War

"The Monarchs of Koldia sought to purge the world of vice and sin... and they saw corruption everywhere—except the source within." ~Nevada Esmeralda Valencia ~

The Elven Civil War was a large-scale battle that took place between the Letozé Rebellion and the Imperial Koldizé Army. It is the primary event of The Crown of Zivia, and as indicated by its name, primarily involved the elves of Koldia. It later became famous for a myriad of reasons, but is considered to be the primary factor in what helped reform the most powerful empire in the world and purge it of unethical and race-fuelled corruption.

Origins
The war got its roots from princess Leto Camilla Irizari, whose ambiguous history with the rest of her family had her become much more inquisitive about the dealings of her country than her parents suspected. After learning the atrocities that her family was committing under the powerful hand of the Archon, she got up and took action, which eventually led to a large-scale civil war that involved Madizi and Kumenza alongside rebellious Zukuren. These groups fought against Arakos, loyal Zukuren, and even a few Kagero-Kiza agents.

Inspiration
Originally upon learning the story of her past, Leto despaired and felt that she did not belong with the rest of her family, whim she felt alienated. It was only after reassurance from her friends Zak and Zivia that she relented, and knew that she had to find out more about other secrets her family might have been keeping from her. The things she discovered turned out to include crimes against law-abiding citizens of the empire, as well as what could very well be considered a racial purge of Kumenza from the country. Initially, she was in denial about this notion, but her fears were verified by Cadence, one of Iona's retainers, who grimly told her the truth.

Horrified by this revelation, Leto turned to her more experienced comrades for advice. Zak simply told her to follow her heart, which in turn led her to taking Zivia's advice, which was to start a rebellion. Zivia further emphasized her point by reminding them that she had a considerably vast history with warfare, what with her own experiences that included the infamous Great Jalenga War that she waged before her people disappeared. Leto conceded to these terms, and thus began to build an army.

The Interlopers
After the Letozé Rebellion began gaining momentum, the neighboring Madizi began to take interest. Due primarily to connections in the port town of Niamei, word got around that there was a war brewing to the east. To the capitalistic Madizi, war meant business, and so naturally, it was only a matter of time before this caught the eye of the particularly ambitious entrepreneur and inventor, Zulera Tallarico. While many of the sirens were just in it for the money, some of the more politically-savvy individuals also realized that putting the empire into the hands of proper leadership would also increase trade opportunities among other things, and thus the Madizi had developed a stake in the war as well.

While the Madizi were the interlopers on the rebellion side, the Shinzoka also had a stake in this delicate situation, with their Kagero-Kiza agents being the imperial counterpart to the rebellion's Madizi. While they were much less numerous and much less formally allied with the monarchy than the Madizi were with Leto, they performed well as talented spies and dangerous warriors on the battlefield. Even after the war had ended, it was unclear what their motivations were, or what they gained (or lost) from this war. The only part that was clear was that they fought under the watchful eye of Emperor Mieszko, Empress Venera, and the Archon.

Princess Iona
Historians almost universally agree that the most conflicted individual in this war was Princess Iona. A longtime supporter of the Kumenza and their rights and social treatment, she found herself troubled upon learning that they had gone and joined the rebellion that was set on bringing her and her family down. On the other hand, she also remained strongly loyal to her country, and thus was deeply loved by many citizens and soldiers of her home. Furthermore, while Leto lacked the formal attachment to her family, Iona was very much a proud and loving member of the Irizari Royal Family, and as such, refused to betray her birthright and bloodline.

When Leto formally declared war on the empire, it was Iona that tried to talk her out of it, and furthermore, when her army showed up on Kerala's doorstep, it was Iona that led the first line of defense. Both Iona and Leto knew that were Iona to be defeated and her army thinned, there would be nothing to stop the Letozé Rebellion from marching on the gates of Kerala itself.

Belligerents
The belligerents of the war included the Letozé Rebellion, which consisted of reformer elves, capitalistic sirens, and jaded dark elves who were not pleased with the treatment the empire had given them in recent years. Their primary opposition were the Imperial Koldizé Army, which consisted of Arakos, elves loyal to the monarchy and thus to the Archon, as well as a few interloping Kagero-Kiza agents. Each of these groups contributed significantly to the cause of the war apart from the Kagero-Kiza, who mostly served as minor spies, and seemed to have an agenda of their own.

Letozé Rebellion
The Letozé Rebellion takes its name from princess Leto, the Zukuren princess who started the battle against her family. She was accompanied by the Serenghe mercenary Zak, the Serenghe assassin Zelgiaz, and the Jalenga warrior Zivia. They were joined at various times by interlopers from the Takamatzu Dynasty, including repeated business with Zulera Tallarico, as well as her mother, Zurok.

It was through the actions of Zulera that Leto was able to recruit a great deal of Madizi to join her cause. As mercenaries with little interest in the politics of the situation but very interested in the money, many of them were willing to donate time, energy, and resources to helping Leto fight her war, and were sponsored in part by Zulera, and also in part by the Koldizé treasury. They brought with them a great deal of automatons, mechanists, siege weapons, and "mechas", to help turn the tide of the war.

An even more potent force than the capitalistic sirens, however, was the legions of jaded Kumenza who felt that they had been wronged by being extracted from Koldia either by laws set forth by the corrupt regime, or secretly extracted from the country by the Arakos and shipped down to Kroggné where they were used as slaves, test subjects, gladiators, and other unpleasant occupations that left them with little choice in how to run their own lives.

A great deal of actual Zukuren were displeased by the direction that the Archon and the monarchy were taking the country, and so they rose up in rebellion by joining Leto's resistance force. While it is unclear how many elves joined this group, a rather sizable percentage, particularly from the outer towns and villages where Arakos could much less conspicuously kidnap Kumenza, wound up joining Leto.

Imperial Koldizé Army
While the Imperial Koldizé Army is the official name of the military divisions that serve the monarchs of the Zukuren Empire, it was used in the Elven Civil War as a term to describe the collective forces of said army, as well as the Arakos and the small handful of Kagero-Kiza interlopers that were involved. The primary fighters in this defense force were Emperor Mieszko, Empress Venéra, the Archon, Prince Drazen, Princess Iona, and Prince Milan.

Despite the questionable objective, the Imperial Koldizé Army retained absolute loyalty to their country and their monarchs, and as such remained a united and formidable force against the Letozé Rebellion. The most publicized Kumenza removals in Capitol Kerala were criminals and other miscreants, and in many cases, this wound up having more positive effects. As such, the Imperial Army did not necessarily have clouded judgment or delusions about morality, which instead remained subjective.

The Arakos were the ones primarily pulling the strings in this situation, having swayed Emperor Mieszko, Empress Venéra, and Prince Drazen to their cause without them realizing it. Their ruthless, authoritarian actions did bring positive results, and they were viewed (and perhaps skewed) in such a way as to make them overshadow the negative effects, which was part of why the Irizari family was able to overlook some of these crimes.

It was never fully clear what the motives of the Kagero-Kiza were in this war, but with Leto and her rebellion smashing their way through the country as an unstoppable juggernaut, even the Archon was willing to accept any help they got. After the war, the agents that participated went their own separate ways, disappearing back into the crowds of other Kagero-Kiza agents scattered across the globe.

Outcome
The Elven Civil War changed a great deal of how life in Koldia functioned, and also had a phenomenal impact on the royal family. The Archon was executed, but since Emperor Mieszko and Empress Venéra had also been slain in the final battle that had earned victory for the Letozé Rebellion, choosing a successor to lead the country became necessary immediately, and unlike the Shioru Succession Crisis, there was not a powerful individual on either side that was worthy of (or that desired) becoming regent, temporary or otherwise.

Irizari Royal Family
Tension formed between Leto and her surviving siblings after this event, particularly because Zora, Maius, and Enerus were too young to be formally involved in the battle and thus had a limited understanding of what all had happened. What was clear to them as well as their older brother Milan, was that Leto had been instrumental in the death of her parents, as well as their eldest brother Drazen and supposedly Iona as well.

Under normal circumstances, the eldest child would ascend to the throne in the event that the current monarchs were disposed of, but since Drazen had also been slain in his duel against Leto, that left Iona as the next one in line. Due to her absence, however, she was able to assume the throne either, passing it onto Milan. Milan only assumed the throne hesitantly at first, but knew that Zora, Maius, and Enerus were too young and inexperienced to delve into the empire's politics, and knew that Leto would not take the throne under any circumstances regardless of her relationship with them, and so he took up the mantle and was crowned emperor of Koldia.

Iona Irizari
Iona's fate in the war was much more complicated. She was defeated at the Battle of Arviat Plains, and commonly believed to have been killed when Leto kicked her off the edge of the cliff into the canyon below. Unbeknownst to any of them at the time, Zurok and Zulera tag-teamed her rescue, but due to a myriad of circumstances as well as Iona's inability to get through Zulera's Labyrith, she was unable to return to Mencu proper until later after the war.

After she was able to return to Capitol Kerala, Milan immediately offered the Koldizé throne to her, leading to a decision that was backed by a great many people, including her loyal retainers Cadence and Lux. However, Iona rejected these offers, feeling instead that due to her loss at Arviat, that she was no longer worthy to live among her people. As such, she went into a self-imposed exile, disappearing southward into Shahar-Eka, where she helped foster stronger relationships with the Kumenza, and later with Koldia as well. Milan left the offer of empressship up for her at any time, and she eventually returned from her exile to take up the throne and help rule her people with the same love and compassion that she had shown her soldiers and underlings in battle.

The Arakos
Similar to how Isikiro had driven the Arakos out of Shioru by force, Milan helped lead a similar purging of Arakos from his country. Weakened from the war and leaderless without their Archon to guide them, the Arakos fled southward back into their own lands, although it is believed that some disappeared under the mountains to interact with the Dorenzu of Korziña. How these "interactions" went remains unclear, but it is unlikely that they were successful, considering the reputation the Arakos have among the hardy dwarves.

The Letozé Rebellion
The amiable relationships that formed between the sirens, elves, and dark elves under Leto's banner did not dissipate after the war. Instead, the three races kept close contact, and Leto earned a rather remarkable reputation despite the damage she did to the royal family.

The Kumenza
The Kumenza gradually migrated back into Koldizé lands after they realized that their fear of oppression or mistreatment was over, and many of them managed to resume their daily lives again. Lux and Cadence remained at the castle until Iona's return, where the rejoined her as her loyal retainers. After she exiled herself to Shahar-Eka, they followed her there, but also made repeated trips to Koldia as something of ambassadors, and to give Milan and his siblings an update on how the exiled princess was doing.

The Madizi
With their work done and their payments received, the Madizi went their own separate ways after the war, although some of them stuck around and opened businesses in several of the empire's larger and/or coastal cities. They also opened many new trade opportunities up between their tribes and the empire, which served as a boon to both Milan and the war-torn capitol city.

Others
The "rebellious" Zukuren reintegrated back into their cities and homes with minimal conflict after the Archon was slain, and elves on both sides were more relieved than anything once the war was over. Leto and her friends shed their leadership roles and resumed wandering the world as travelling mercenaries, where they made rather stellar livings due to their newly established reputations as heroes of Mencu.