War is like fire, the poets say. If it is not extinguished carefully, it continues to brood under the ashes, and the embers can be easily used to start a new fire.
This metaphor fits well with the early years of the reign of Ezran: the kingdom of Neolandia soon proved to be a tremendously efficient fuel.
Yet Neolandia, unlike Evemere or Del Bar, was a prosperous and rich kingdom thanks to the trade routes of the Nothern desert. The brilliant policies of the peaceful King Ahling had filled the royal coffers, and his generous social policies guaranteed him the support of the people. When King Ahling was killed, a wave of patriotism inflamed the country, and many enlisted to follow King Kasef and take revenge on the Elves.
Probably, if they knew that behind the King's murder was Viren of Katolis, things would have turned out differently. A peace agreement could probably have been reached easily.
Unfortunately, even King Kasef fell to the Storm Spire... and then the hatred that the people had hatched against the Elves found a new target in King Ezran of Katolis and, above all, Queen Aanya of Ahling died shortly after: the news of his son's death was for the king, who was already badly wounded, a blow from which he did not recover.
In the absence of other sons (Princess Shirin was too young to take the throne), power fell into the hands of Lord Ilehas, the previous Prime Minister.
Much of what we know about Neolandian politics comes from the well-known Chronicle of Taleq. The Durenian dark magician in fact was forced into exile by the Bill of Queen Aanya, finding asilio in Neolandia, and indeed becoming an important minister of the same Ilehas. It is he who describes the Prime Minister to us: a middle-aged man, cheerful, honest and honorable, loyal to the royal house, and brilliant leader, would surely have been a great ally of King Ezran in times of peace, perhaps even a friend. Instead, he became Katolis' fiercest and most irreducible enemy. But let's go in order.
In the aftermath of the defeat of the Storm Spire, Lord Ilehas wasted no time, and summoned an extraordinary lever. The costs were high, but the coffers were full, as we said, and soon the army of Neolandia returned to ordinary levels. Then, predicting that persecutions against dark magicians would soon begin, he enacted a series of special laws inviting any practitioner of Dark Magic to move to Neoland, guaranteeing them a well-paid place in the service of the State and forgiveness from any crime they committed in their countries of origin.
These expensive policies found incredibly little opposition, for two reasons.
The first was that Ilehas was able to ride the wave of Neolandian patriotism, standing as protector of the royal house. For example, he avoided high-sounding titles, limiting himself to ruling as Regent for the young princess.
Secondly, Ilehas was not young. Unlike most of the protagonists of our history, he already had years of government in which he had stabilized his position.
Obviously, all these reforms, although instituted with remarkable rapidity, took time to be put into practice. For this reason, Ilehas at first supported the Katolean policy, also sending delegates to discuss the signing of the peace treaty with the Elves of Xadia.
Some historians have accused King Ezran of being naive, arguing that a strong and immediate action would have avoided the war that occurred afterwards. It is true that King Ezran sometimes sinned in naivety, but supporting this thesis would mean ignoring the presence of his advisors. Callum's diaries clearly show that the Neolandese issue was well known at the court of Ezran: simply the kingdom had other more urgent problems, such as the Codex Ezranicus, and could not afford a new war.
The play went on for almost two years, until 1239. By then, Neolandia had recovered completely from the losses suffered in the war. Ilehas tested his troops by invading the Northern Del Bar, which was defenseless due to the Civil War. At that point, his ambassadors in Katolis made it known to King Ezran that Neolandia was willing to make peace with Katolis, but not with Xadia, and that they would make peace with Duren only on condition of obtaining an annual tribute of ten thousand ounces of gold. Queen Aanya was also expected to abdicate her position as the assassin of a Pentarchy King.
Obviously absurd conditions, which could in no way be accepted. To tell the truth, King Ezran tried to mediate in a desperate attempt to avoid catastrophe-but, as can be expected, he was unsuccessful.
It was the sixteenth day of April, 1240. The Great Western War had begun.
