623, blasphemer

The Four Great Empires had been at war for years. Fars and Byron, the two nations most fiercely engaged in battle, were the first to falter. Inglima, having opened up the battleground of Ojibwa Island, suffered an immense drain on its national strength, with an economy even worse off than Byron's. At least Byron had plundered the Black Phoenix and secured the allegiance of Duchess Meisu and Count Constantine.

The Lionheart Dynasty was in a slightly better situation, but struggling to support itself alone. Moreover, since the battlefield was in Byron, voices within the Lionheart Dynasty had always insisted there was no need to fight for the People of Byron. After all, the Governors of Byron were from the Blood Clan, who were fundamentally not aligned with the Human Race. Baldwin Asa, as the Emperor, could not go against the majority opinion of the nobility.

All Four Great Empires had grown weary of the war, and many were secretly contacting Zimmerman, proposing a ceasefire.