The Aztlani War: The Kingdom’s First Defeat

The Aztlani War began in the late seventeen hundreds, and was the first major defeat of the Kingdom, and some of the first of its major military lessons were learned during this war. For hundreds of years the Kingdom of Komnen had prospered and grew, expanding its power throughout the mainland of Atarica, and even beyond the Juring Sea to the south. To the north Komnen founded new settlements which eventually branched into different territories, Pagaly and Seljuk respectively. To the east across the Aztlani Desert, The Komnen founded several forestry and farming settlements near to the country of Matsovinya, who remained a separate entity from the Kingdom. Over time the regions that these settlements occupied became known as Aztlan, and as the populations grew and the settlements grew stronger, the people began referring to themselves as Aztlani people.

Though all of these new territories were separate from Komnen, they were part of the Kingdom and were subject to Komnen law. The General's Army ruled the hills and forests of Pagaly and Seljuk, and patrolled the disgruntled settlements of Aztlan with pride and vigor, knowing that they were in land belonging to the Kingdom. Goods and luxuries were brought from afar, back to Komnen and as a result, the country became very wealthy and powerful. Fish from Pagaly, precious jewels from Seljuk, lumber and grain from Aztlan, and tropical fruits from the Komnen Isles all flowed into Komnen, creating a veritable golden age for the once war-torn kingdom. The appetite of the Nobelry houses became insatiable as all the great luxuries of the eastern world were brought to Komnen for sampling.

It was in the late 16^th century that the Aztlani first became rebellious to the will of Komnen, and began searching for ways to break away from the Kingdom. In 1689 a new King came into power who would later be known as Albadad the Ruthless. Albadad was of old Nobelry decent, and inherited the throne legally after the previous King had died without heirs. He considered it his divine destiny to rule the Kingdom with an iron fist, and asserted his control over it without mercy. He increased taxation in Aztlan, he demanded more quotas from Seljuk and Pagaly, and in a surprise move he conquered the OstraGothan peninsula, a country of farmers across the Juring Sea.

Albadad extended Komnen political control over the Aztlani peoples with actions including the taxation of many Aztlani industries, and the limiting of their security forces. On top of the oppressive social system that required nobles' serfs to spend almost all of their time laboring on the lands, he provoked a major serf uprising in 1693, after legalizing the selling of serfs separate from land. The Prime General used Albadad’s gracious military budget to easily crush the uprising.

Aztlani officials began voicing their concerns for the Aztlan industrial integrity due to the heavy taxation, and Aztlani citizens began growing resentful towards the fatherlands brutal imperialistic policies. Albadad would have none of this though, and increased the military presence in Aztlan, preventing any further thoughts about resent towards Komnen, and silencing the Aztlani officials.

It was only after years and years of this brutal oppression by Albadad, that the Aztlani people began to crave freedom from the Kingdom. In secret, many Aztlani youths began recruiting and training private security forces, in attempts to prepare for a rebellion against the stationed Komnen soldiers. During the 1750’s and 60’s, a new underground society was formed known as the Free Aztlani. Its core was made of up disenfranchised farmers and soldiers, who were supported in secret by the Aztlani government, and given weapons and even trained instructors to teach them the ways of war. By the year 1770, Aztlan’s Free Aztlani Army was ready and prepared to fight the brutal Komnen oppressors.

In the year 1773, the Komnen passed a fateful amendment to the Aztlani charter, which allowed them the right to gather in social groups.  Albadad had since died and the new Komnen King had considered it briefly, and decided that the Aztlan deserved this small right after the oppression they underwent. This proved to be a fateful decision, and gave the Free Aztlani the perfect time to strike.

One night, on the streets of the Aztlani capital of Chocmozotoc and a dozen other major cities, the Free Aztlani assembled their forces. They had strength of nearly 50,000 soldiers across the country, who were well trained, equipped with more modern weapons and extremely determined to force the Komnen out of their country. That night the Free Aztlani launched a massive attack against the Komnen Military bases, along with other forces across the country. The surprised and overwhelmed Komnen troops either died fighting the bloodthirsty rebels, or fled in large numbers across the border to the Aztlan Desert. With the Komnen soldiers kicked out of Aztlan, the Free Aztlani troops elected the Aztlan lord at the time the new King of Aztlan, and officially formed their own country.

The Kingdom of Komnen did not take lightly to this act, and the General's Council ordered an immediate retaliatory strike with its large and experienced army. The Komnen soldiers were forced to fight in the Aztlan desert, along Komnens eastern borders, against hundreds of determined Aztlani freedom fighters. The Aztlani soldiers forced the Komnen troops into a war of attrition, with guerrilla fighting tactics, and knowledge of the intricacies of the desert. But the strong and overwhelming Komnen armies eventually forced the Aztlan troops out of the desert and into the center of Aztlan where major city fighting took place.

During the heavy fighting in Aztlan, the new Aztlani government pleaded with its southern neighbor of Matsovinya, to bring aid to their beleaguered forces. The Matsas Government had for most of the war remained neutral, convinced that aiding the Aztlan would only bring the fury of the Kingdom down on their poorly defended country. But the heroic display of defiance by the Aztlani peoples proved the deciding factor in the Matsas decision, and the Matsas government sent an army of experienced reinforcements to aid the Aztlani.

They succeeded together in holding the Komnen armies at bay, along a massive line that stretched almost the entire north to south length of the continent. Eventually peace envoys from Aztlan managed to negotiate a settlement with Komnen, and forced the battered and broken Komnen armies back to their home. The nation of Aztlan had survived its trial by fire, and Komnen had suffered its first major defeat in centuries.  The Kingdom learned many lessons of warfare, the least of which is that a determined enemy is a dangerous enemy. The Aztlani war was to forever fracture the continent of Atarica, and break the Kingdom’s hold over the entire region.