The Great War of Faith

General

The Great War of Faith was a religious war in Kehda between 5580 A.I.D. and 5607 A.I.D.. The war resulted from major conflicts between two religious currents among the Kehdei: The followers of the faith in Shesha - the majority of the Kehdei - and the Akrádai - a Kehdei sect - believing in Ananta-Shesha.

History

From 5520 B.I.D. on, the Akrádai sect began to separate itself more from other Kehdei and increasingly tried to proselytize. This led to the reigning Ephor in Erachtapesh to have the Akrádai hunted down by inquisitors, as he deemed them a threat to his beliefs. However, the Akrádai accumulated some followers over time. They now rushed to Dóresch - a hub of Akrádai activities - to form up. There, the Akrádai then declared their independence from Erachtapesh in 5552 B.I.D..

Advisors had urged the Ephor to stop persecuting the Akrádai, but the Ephor would not ignore the new political dimension of the conflict. He had Dóresh conquered and the Akrádai drove out.

The Akrádai then began a guerrilla war against Erachtapesh's forces, with some success. However, the Akrádai also carried out assassinations elsewhere, both in Erachtapesh and in Ráchtápaesh, as well as in Rákesh and in the Blue Lagoon. Thus they stirred up religious Kehdei against themselves.

When an Akrádai succeeded in assassinating the Ephor in Erachtapesh in 5579 A.I.D., this assassination triggered a religious war throughout Kehda, from which only a few places - like the Blue Lagoon - were spared. The local flashpoint of Dóresh thus became the scene of violent clashes.

The chaos that unfolded initially favored the Akrádai, for it was difficult for the new Ephor in Erachtapesh to get the peninsula under control. However, the tide increasingly turned in favor of Erachtapesh from 5592 A.I.D. onward. More and more Akrádai left the peninsula of Kehda around 5603 A.I.D. and migrated to the Imperii Draconi, to Bantubwe, the Emirates or Thôsco.

Consequences

The Akrádai were allowed to move through Aerznia. Under the experience of flight and exclusion, it became fashionable among the Akrádai henceforth to call themselves Akrehdei [akʁe:daɪ̯], 'non-Kehdei'.

The exodus of almost all Akrehdei led to the end of the religious war in Kehda around 5607 A.I.D. The scattered Akrehdei were then strongly influenced by the Aerznian culture, who later left the region southward, going into exile.

On their journey the Akrehdei would then strike a deal with an Old One, becoming cold-resistant.

It was this war that would strongly shape the future Akrehde civilization, leading to the formation of the Monopolar in the Deep South and to a deeply rooted hatred against the Kehdei, thus making the course of the Iron Gate Saga possible in the first place.