Civil war

After the rebellion of Jai in the desert, many of the noble classes were quick to take a stance. Some chose to stand up to Jai, while others chose to support him.

Jai, a member of the royal family and stepbrother of King Ken, was the leader of Ghyaz, one branch of the King's men. Using his position as a commander in the King's army, he staged a coup, overthrowing the King and placing himself on the throne.

Wize has twelve provinces: Hadia, Amresh, Bintan, Dura, Sworis, Fadis, Heldil, Junia, Jubai, Casont, Lyokis, and the capital Pshen. Five provinces immediately swore allegiance to the new King: Dura, Heldil, Junia, Jubai, and Pshen. Each of them seems to have been in cohorts with Jai and were parts of his rebellion.

The province of Hadia led the rebellion against Jai, supported by Fadis, Casont, and Lyokis. 

Amresh, Bintan, and Sworis remained neutral.

When the Sulten of Hadia first heard of Jai's rebellion, he mobilized his entire army to defend his city. He immediately sent messages to the neighboring provinces, urging them to side with him and defeat Jai, or be seen as traitors and be invaded.

Eru had an alliance with King Ken, and his wife, Freya, belonged to one of the three major houses in Eru. So, when they heard that Jai had staged a rebellion and killed the ruling family, they decided to support Hadia and fight against King Jai. Seeing that Hadia had received the backing of Eru, King Jai moved quickly and signed an alliance with Omi, who were also having a small conflict with Eru.

Now that he had received help from a powerful country, King Jai began his campaign to absorb the remaining parts of his Kingdom, and so the war of the deserts began.

When the war began, the Sulten of Bintan moved to secure supply lines for his people and city. He spoke with various merchants in the underworld, both those who owed him favors and those who had connections. Since he had little to no intention of joining the war, he wanted to make sure his people would be well-fed and fine throughout its duration, which was going to be difficult.

He managed to secure three secret supply lines that would be used to deliver goods from the underworld's secret routes to his city. In turn, he would pay using the various precious crystals found in the rich mines of Bintan. He also gathered his army to make sure his city was safe.

The other two neutral cities tried to do the same. However, before the Sulten of Amresh could complete his plan, King Jai secretly made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

The Sulten of Amresh, a man named Mahmoud, grabbed at the opportunity and helped King Jai win over Sworis. So far, King Jai had avoided taking the neutral states by force. He didn't want to destroy the cities or waste time laying siege, which could take an unknown amount of time. So, he decided on a more indirect approach.

For the Sulten of Amresh, King Jai offered to make his daughter his first concubine. Although Jai was not yet married, the Sultan of Amresh agreed to this in the hopes that he could convince the King to make his daughter his wife instead. Even if Jai didn't, the post of the first concubine wasn't a small one; their children were considered for succession of the throne in case the Queen didn't produce an heir or for some other unforeseen reason.

Seeing the future possibilities and the power he could come to hold as an in-law to the king, the Sulten of Amresh decided to side with Jai and marry his daughter to him.

There was also one thing Mahmoud was counting on, but King Jai was aware of his daughter's divinity.

King Jai wanted to use the same approach for the Sulten of Sworis, but the old man didn't want to sell his daughter for power.

Unlike Amresh, which was more of a hub for trade, Sworis was a town known for its crafting of weapons from both different metals and crystals. Their ability when it came to crystosis was something King Jai wanted. More importantly, the city had a strategic importance. If Jai took the city, he would be able to prevent Hadia from moving their forces through its neutral soil. Therefore, he needed to take the city.

To make matters worse, the Sulten was about to join hands with Hadia, which would have made things worse for Jai. Seeing this, Jai decided to take action.

He sent the Sulten of Amresh and told him to pretend he wanted to marry his daughter to the Sulten of Sworis' son. At first, the Sulten was adamant about this proposal. But when his son heard, he lost his senses. Everyone had heard about Shaawa, the beautiful daughter of the Sulten of Amresh. If he can marry her, he would be on top of the world. Imagine the boasting right and what it means to have such beauty at his beck and call. He would become the most envied man in all the land. 

With all this in mind, the youth was finally to convince his father, who set a meeting between the two families. Mahmoud even suggested holding it at their family estate if the Sultan of Sworis was too afraid to hold it in Amresh. Feeling safe, the Sulten agreed and invited Mahmoud's family for the meeting.

When Mahmoud's family came to Sulten Yusef's home, Mahmoud arrived with just five guards and ten maids, bearing plenty of gifts. The celebrations for the engagement began, and the two Sultens discussed an alliance to join Hadia in the coming war and fight against King Jai. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and the Sultan of Sworis was very happy that Mahmoud's family was joining with his own. He even shared his fears when Mahmoud first proposed, thinking Mahmoud was trying to lure him to Amresh and kill him there. But when Mahmoud assured him he was only doing it for his daughter's happiness and nothing more, the Sulten was finally content.

When the celebrations finally ended, and Yusef's guard was completely down, King Jai made his move. He and Larry Dew, disguised as two of Mahmoud's guards, gained entry into the city of Sworis. Normally, he would have preferred to raze the whole city to the ground, but he needed Sworis and its artisans. So, he decided to take the city and teach them a lesson they wouldn't forget.

In the dark of night, Larry Dew unleashed terror, attacking the Sultan's home and killing everyone who stood in his way. Yusef and Mahmoud were both at the party, drinking and celebrating, when news of the attack arrived. Yusef, realizing he had been betrayed, tried to have Mahmoud captured immediately. Since Mahmoud had only brought five guards - and even then only two were allowed to stay with him at all times - Yusef thought he could easily capture Mahmoud.

That's when King Jai revealed himself, ditching his disguise, he killed all the guards in the room. He then captured Yusef and his family, while Larry Dew had the time of his life killing most of Yusef's men. By the end of the night, Sworis had fallen to just two men.

The next day, Mahmoud marches his men to Sworis to help King Jai. After taking the city, King Jai decided to make an example of Sworis and brutally killed all the members of the Sulten's family, including his two daughters, whom he fed to Larry. To further solidify his rule over Sworis, King Jai took 100 young girls hostage from their families. Bending the people of Sworis into submission.

It didn't take long for the news to spread around the entire continent. After four brutal months of war, King Jai had finally gained the upper hand. He now controlled seven provinces, Hadia had four, and only Bintan remained neutral. The future of Wize hung in the balance.