First Amarillian Civil War

The Amarillian Civil War was a conflict occurring in Eldham, within the Republic of Amarillo. It was started on the 10th of April 2022, when President Kawaii Poliorcetes-Kyani who was given emergency powers tore apart the constitution, dissolved the Republic and established a Military Dictatorship in Amarillo, and Soronaca called to the Amarillian people in resistance. In this war two sides fought one another, the Military Junta, led by Kawaii Poliorcetes-Kyani, and the Imperilanos, led by Soronaca Aulian. There was also a third faction, the Republicans, who wished to restore the state of Amarillo in it's previous form, but they were quickly absorbed by the Imperilanos.

Context and Beginning of the Civil War
"Amarillo lies in a state of political limbo. There is no one whom the people can look for reassurance in, no figure who can be seen as a saviour. Such conditions are the beginning of the end of a nation."

- Lhytt Poliorcetes, to one of his advisors

After a long period of instability following Lhytt Poliorcetes' exit from Presidency, Amarillo looked more divided than ever. The Impeachment of Salazar Van Den Green, Amarillo's first Chancellor was the first step towards instability, followed by the sudden death of President Urubis, leaving the Presidency vacant, which led to a lengthy period of political limbo, until the pre-term elections, when controversial politician McBabwe was elected. He did not last long in the Presidency, however, as he was impeached just 10 days into his term due to a public scandal. This brought Amarillo right where it started before the election. However, due to a new piece of legislation, The Vice President would inherit office until a new round of elections. This happened to be Kawaii Poliorcetes-Kyani, the son of Juniper Kyani and Lhytt Poliorcetes. Kawaii quickly moved to restore order in what he and many others saw as a chaotic situation. Calling an emergency senate meeting, Kawaii declared (after a legal vote) an end to the Republic of Amarillo, and a temporary Military Junta was established. Those who opposed this Junta were rounded up and arrested, though many evaded the grasp of the Junta, including Soronaca Aulian and many of his allies from Porphyropolis. Both sides consolidated their forces and prepared for war, thus marking the beginning of the Amarillian Civil War.

Context
Soronaca Aulian had gathered his forces at Porphyropolis, with the immense majority of the Amarillian fleet. After a successful landing, met with no resistance at all, he took control of Verdesburg. As soon as they heard the news, the Juntistas forces gathered at Alefpamohadi attacked the town, having an enormous numerical advantage, since even though Soronaca himself was in Verdesburg, most of his troops weren't.

The battle
At the beginning of the afternoon, the Juntistas forces attacked Verdesburg from the East, and were met with strong republican resistance. Soronaca himself fought, along with his son Gaius and Logui Fielinya, who volunteered to defend his democratic ideals. The Juntistas forces consisted of Kawaii's Juntista army, and of some Arktanians, including Kawaii's mother, Juniper Kyani. The first wave of Juntistas soldiers was quickly repelled, as they retreated before suffering too much casualties.

The Republicans stayed on the lookout, as they knew a second wave would come sooner or later. The Juntistas, having lost the effect of surprise, but also the disadvantage of attacking without taking enough time to prepare, launched the second wave around the middle of the afternoon. Battle raged for way longer than for the first wave, and casualties were higher on both sides. Though it became quickly clear that no matter who was to win, the Republicans inflicted way more casualties than their opponents, despite their substancial numerical inferiority. The combats lasted until the evening. Juntistas casualties were impressively high considering the number of opponents they had to face, so they retreated. Republican losses were rather small. The soldiers present that day would remember the heroic attitude of Soronaca Aulian and Logui Fielinya, who distinguished themselves by their courage and strength on the battlefield.

Out of character, the first wave was quickly repelled by Soronaca and Yay, and the second took way longer, but was also repelled by Soronaca and Logui, outnumbered 2 to 5, Yay having been killed at the very beginning of the combat.

Aftermath
Not only did the soldiers see Soronaca's courage in battle, but also his qualities as a leader. He was proclaimed by his soldiers as Amarillian Imperilan. The Republicans from now on fought not for the Republic as an institution, but for its ideals of democracy, freedom, and tolerance.

Kawaii Poliorcetes-Kyani later on denounced Soro for in his views the hypocrisy in this proclamation.

"You proclaim yourself defenders of democracy and republican values, while clearly the biggest support is to be seen in the Royalist bloc. A leader that got proclaimed by his soldiers instead of the simple citizen, a President that got elected by a splinter of the population, and you call me Tyrant? Different to you, I actually proposed change and this change will take effect after you are crushed."

- Kawaii Poliorcetes-Kyani, in an open-letter addressing the Imperilanos and the Republicanos.

Reluctance
Some former Republicans, deceived by what they perceived as Soronaca taking power as a monarch, created the Republican party, aiming the restore the Amarillian state in its previous form and reform it, while Soronaca wanted to restart from scratches. Soronaca's camp was now more commonly known as the Imperilanos.

Meanwhile, Kawaii too tried to manipulate the masses into thinking Soronaca's title was about him taking monarchist powers, while it was, according to Soronaca and his troops, only a military title given to honour his victory at Verdesburg and confirm him in his role of leader and figurehead of the Republican (now Imperilano) camp.

What is sure is that, despite what the Juntistas and Republicans said, Soronaca didn't proclaim himself Imperilan, but was proclaimed by his troops.

Some times after the Republican camp was created, Kawaii transformed the Junta into a Kingdom, and, ironically seeing what he reproached the Imperilan for, proclaimed himself King. (This is the Imperilano view of this event)

According to the Royalist it was quite pathetic that the once "Republicans" that fought against the Junta based on restoring the republic now strive for the same goal as them, which is rewriting the nation. According to Kawaii himself the Junta always stayed true to their goals and won the popular masses by this, giving him enough legitimacy to proclaim himself as King over all Amarillians.

The Battle of Arak-Kapharat
Soronaca's forces planned to attack the town of Arak-Kapharat, South-East of their base in Verdesburg, in order to take full control of the desert of Ragdon. They were accompanied by a large host of foreign volunteers as well as Catanian forces, led by king Rodnim Reach himself. Juntistas forces prepared a strong force to counter the Imperilanos, composed of the majority of the Juntista army, volunteers and a non significant number of Arktanian soldiers. Even though according to Imperilan sources it would in the end be less important than the battle of Verdesburg, this battle involved more soldiers than the previous one.

According to royalist forces the victory in Arak-Kapharat was a crushing defeat for the Imperilanos, since they had to resort to covert operations after that.

The Imperilanos forces circumvented the city of Arak to attack unexpectedly from the North East, though, they were eventually spotted before the first clashes of the battle, nullifying the advantage of their effect of surprise. The defenders held their positions pretty well, inflicting significant losses to Soronaca and Rodnim's forces, which eventually retreated.

Unsigned truce
The following days were more calm. All three sides did some diplomacy, prepared for other fights, but no fighting actually happened in this period. The Republicans, probably fearing to have to fight on two sides, signed a truce with Soronaca, who accepted even though he despised them, because they were in his opinion not his enemies, but rather potential allies misguided by misconceptions about his new title. Soronaca even called for every Republican to join him in every public address he made, angering some Republican leaders.

"However, the leaders of these "Republican" Forces proposed to do a truce with me until Kawaii is defeated. I wish to underline their courage, coming almost alone in enemy territory, where they could have been killed at anytime. As I do not wish to harm those people, who fight for the same cause than me, but are just blinded by the way they see me, I accepted. I hope it will, eventually, lead them to rejoin my Army fully to fight for the only opposition leader who really stands a chance against the dictatorship."

- Soronaca Aulian, in a public letter addressed to his citizens and to the Republicans

The Republicans held elections, naming SSiTon president. Though considered illegitimate by both the Monarchists and the Imperilanos, he became the main figurehead of the Republicans, and their main spokesperson during the talks with Soronaca. Those talks, which continued after the truce, led the Republican and Imperilano camps to merge again, as the Imperilan wanted. The agreement was that while at war, Soronaca would be the sole leader of the Republican and Imperilanos forces, and when the war would be over, him and SSiTon would form a temporary government, with the goal of making a new Constitution for Amarillo. This event caused a lot of excitement among Imperilano-Republican Forces, and boosted their morale a lot.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Verdesburg had declared support to the Junta, mostly because of their Mohadi culture, and was placed under house arrest by the Imperilanos. This caused some Verdesburgis to go underground and make sabotage operations against the Republicans.

Battle preparations and forces involved
Now that their forces were united, the Republicans wanted to try to take the capital, Puerto Amarillo. They prepared for battle. The highest officers took several days to come up with a proper plan of operation, while the soldiers got prepared, training and receiving the adequate equipment. Imperilano scouts even built hidden tunnels to go in the city without being seen. The Imperilanos could rely on most of their army and their fleet, along with alot of international volunteers and part of the Catanian army.

The Juntista side, thanks to its spies and to the Verdesburgi resistants, quickly learnt about the incoming attack. Though, they never knew exactly when it was to be launched. They prepared, and mustered their troops, but not with the same effectiveness than their foes. No Arktanian soldiers was even present in the capital during the battle, and the royalist troops weren't ready yet.

The Battle of Puerto Amarillo
On the decisive day, the Imperilanos gathered mostly in Etruia. In the other towns were left only the strict minimum amount of soldiers necessary to impose order. Even troops stationed in places where they didn't have a safe terrestrial path managed to arrive to Etruia without trouble thanks to the Republicans' naval superiority, which allowed them to be transported by boat. Some boats though didn't stop or stay in Etruia, but brought soldiers to the Drakaen sea, to attack the port of Puerto Amarillo while the land troops were storming the walls.

When the Imperilanos arrived at Puerto Amarillo, they caught the Juntistas off-guard, as they didn't expect to be attacked that soon, nor from the North Eastern part of the city. Some Republican soldiers, led by Soronaca himself, entered the city through the tunnels dug during the preparations, that had miraculously not been discovered by the Monarchists, and opened the gates of Puerto Amarillo from the interior. At the same time, the fleet soldiers disembarked in the port, where they met no serious resistance.

The fact that the Juntistas couldn't rely on the external defenses of the city, combined with their surprise and disorganisation, led to a complete disaster for their forces. First, the port and the Pantera district fell into the hands of the Republicans. The entire eastern half of the city quickly followed, as royalist troops retreated into the western half, in an attempt to reorganise themselves quickly. Fights were more intense and lasted longer for the western half of the city, but the Royalists couldn't catch up and were eventually defeated, suffering enormous casualties, and inflicting very low casualties to the Imperilanos. Most of the Royalist leaders present at the battle fled or were captured, with the notable exception of Toast. The King was captured too, and instantly put in jail.

The remaining Royalists, led by Toast managed to retreat and went in the desert of Ragdon, to the mohadi cities which became their last holdout until the end of the conflict.

An uncertain situation
After the victory of Puerto Amarillo, one could believe it made no doubt to anyone that the Republicans would win the civil war. However, the situation was more uncertain than it could seem.

Kawaii Poliorcetes was imprisonned in Puerto Amarillo. He was treated well, though obviously didn't live comfortably. With the help of a guard, he managed to smuggle a letter out of his cell, telling his last supporters in the mohadi towns, led by Toast, to continue to fight."'The cause is not lost yet! The fight is not lost! Fight for the Mohadi! Fight for Solon! VIVA AMARILLO.'"-Letter of Kawaii Poliorcetes to his supporters.

Those supporters, despite not being numerous and organised enough to be able to take back the capital or any important city they didn't already controlled, were still a significant threat. They could launch a guerilla warfare that would take the lives of countless people and condemn the entire country to stay unstable. Despite not being able to win the war by themselves, they were enough of a threat to the integrity and stability of the nation that they had to be reckoned with.

Moreover, despite her not sending any troops to the battle of Puerto Amarillo, it wasn't completely clear if Kawaii's mother, Juniper Kyani, the empress of Arktania, completely withdrew from the war. If she decided to launch a full scale attack on Amarillo, she could potentially succeed, all the more so the war wasn't fully over and the last monarchists could potentially help her.

This is why Soronaca De Porphyropolis wanted to end the war as soon as possible. Though despite his repeated attempts to convince the Rey Sol, Kawaii always refused to surrender. If even a prisoner didn't, the monarchists in the desert sure wouldn't either... The Imperilan had the idea to try and send Kawaii's father, Lhytt Poliorcetes, to talk to him, to at least get him to accept to discuss with the walrus. It was while talking to Lhytt that Soronaca learnt that Juniper Kyani had been assassinated by her daughter Zhunis. Lhytt accepted to try and convince Kawaii while telling him about the news. Amarillo lost an important national figure, though, on the bright side, it seemed like the Arktanian menace was no more.

Peace negotiations
Kawaii, convinced by his father, accepted to discuss his surrender with Soronaca. As soon as Soronaca knew he had accepted, Kawaii was moved from his cell to an apartment. Even though he was still heavily guarded, he was housed far more comfortably.

The next day, Soronaca gathered Lhytt and Kawaii Poliorcetes in Green's manor, that had begun to be transformed into a museum, in the very room he, Green, and Delta signed the constitution of the League of Vircon, to symbolise a new beginning for Amarillo. Kawaii was surprised by Soronaca's proposals, but the Imperilan, aware that the majority of the Amarillians wanted a monarchy, didn't try to force Kawaii to accept the reestablishment of a Republic. Instead, he wanted to make sure the monarchy would be constitutional and, despite changing the type of government, would still fit the main republican values of independence, freedom, and democracy. Even more surprising for Kawaii was the fact that Soronaca would let him, if he accepted to surrender, be the king of this constitutional monarchy. Indeed, the walrus saw this as the best solution to be completely sure a civil war wouldn't break out again : the juntistas would have their leader, and the imperilanos would have a democratic form of government that, despite not being republican, shared the values of the republic. Despite him being able to become king again, this was without a doubt a defeat for Kawaii : he had to let go the title of "Rey Sol", and to publicly recognise his defeat. The Junta's actions were all considered null and void, and despite receiving amnesty, him and the monarchists who would surrender after him wouldn't be considered innocent of the potential crimes they committed in and before the war. While waiting for the new constitution to be written by a constituent council, the nation would be led by a temporary government composed of Soronaca, SSiTon, Kawaii, and Lhytt.

Soronaca gave a day to Kawaii to think about his proposal, but the King accepted before the Imperilan even left the room. The civil war was over.

Aftermath
As soon as Kawaii surrendered, the remaining juntistas followed his example and stopped resisting. As promised, they were all granted amnesty. A constituent council was established, composed of regular citizens and political leaders. As promised, as the war was over, Soronaca De Porphyropolis stopped ruling alone and established a temporary government while the constitution was being written, composed as promised of himself, Kawaii, SSiTon, and Lhytt. A new era of Amarillian history was starting.

As soon as the war was over, the Imperilan also created "El Orden de la Guerra Civil" (Order of the Civil War), a medal of merit given to those who played a significant role in the democrats' victory in the war. The medal was received by Soronaca himself, Manu, founder of Etruia and one of the main republican leaders, SSiTon, Rodnim Reach, King of Catania, and the heroes of the battle of Verdesburg Gaius Aulian and Logui Fielinya.