The Great War (795–800 ACC), also called the Golden War, was a civil war fought between the North and South of the Goldhelm Kingdom. The southern territories revolted, demanding political autonomy from the northern crown.
Alliances
The Northern faction was backed by the Republic of Frada. The Southern faction was backed by the Republic of Shimaguni (the nation now known as the State of Akison).
The Three Masters
All three Masters were drawn into the conflict, each for different reasons:
- Veles sided with the South. He genuinely believed in the freedom cause — that the southern territories’ fight for independence was just and noble.
- Selvarin joined the North. His reason was not political conviction: the Goldhelm Kingdom had been helping him forge a sword, and he honored that working relationship by backing them.
- Sunlee took no side. He attempted to stop the conflict entirely, traveling between factions to broker peace. When negotiation failed, he fought both sides simultaneously in an effort to end the war by force.
The Equinox of Power
The war’s climax was a three-way battle between all three Masters known as the Equinox of Power. The battle ended in a complete stalemate. Upon witnessing the destruction around them, all three chose peace over continuation.
The conflict later became known colloquially as the Golden War — a name derived from the Goldhelm Kingdom at its centre.
Approximately 500,000 soldiers were killed across the war. The final battle left an enormous crater in the Ibeson region — the Goldhelm government later built Ibeson’s underground laboratories in the caverns beneath it.
Aftermath
The war reshaped three kingdoms:
- Sunlee was elected head of the defeated Republic of Shimaguni. He renamed the nation the State of Akison and established the Iron Path doctrine.
- Selvarin founded the Republic of Oredsy by uniting the collection of small independent territories that had existed in that region before the war.
- Veles was voted to the throne of the Kingdom of Iyhago by its people, recognizing his role in the conflict. He expanded the kingdom’s territory to its current borders over the following decades.