The Second Word War
The Second Word War was the second global conflict of the Word Wars or the Tome Wars. While this war also took the Literomancers, and everyone else, by surprise, it did not have the same devastating consequences of The First Word War. The world had learned much since then, was far more familiar with the existence and use of magic, and were in a much better position to meet the scale of the threat.
The Conflict
Prelude
See: The First Word War The Second Word War began in late October of 2021, when, unbeknownst to House Mollusca, The Iron Tome was taken from their undersea vault. Soon after, Zombie Summoning Totems began to appear near the seats of power of the Major Houses, each implicating another Major House. Hostilities erupted when Sable Aradia, The Chief Rabbit of House Lapin and queen of the newly-minted Lapin Protectorate, found the first such totem, which was in the form of a stuffed bat plushie, and declared war on House Chiroptera. Tensions mounted between other Great Houses as well, as more plushie Totems were discovered. Over the next several days, several Houses threatened or declared war on other Houses in an atmosphere of tense suspicion, exactly as the Night Monarch had intended. The new Nite Monarq and The Nite Qing, who made a return when November rolled around again, created the Zombie Summoning Totems with the intent to pit the Houses against each other, keeping them distracted until they could convert enough literomancers to Tome Zombies to cede a new Undead Horde. The distraction worked, and the first House to fall was taken completely by surprise. House Meles made a demand for information regarding the dragon-shaped totem found in Windy Willows "The Den" and threatened hostility towards House Sauropoda if they did not comply. The Tyrannasaurus Rex RPGDinosaurBob, Sauropodan leader, subsequently made an alliance with House Tiki, who was eyeing House Mollusca suspiciously. All The Great Houses began to form plans and alliances against one another, which was when the Nite Monarq struck.
Deployment
House Chiroptera managed to secure the support of House Tiki and The Missing House against House Lapin. Since █████ was a traditional ally of Lapin's, and had been ceded territory by them, Lapin initially viewed this as a betrayal. Fighting broke out on Lapin's northern and southern borders.
While the Meles Protectorate began to amass troops against the Sauropoda Protectorate and House Tiki's Protectorate at their southern borders (Florida and California/Arizona, respectively), they never saw action against one another, since House Sauropoda was the first House to fall. Neither did the troops that House Mollusca was amassing against House Sauropoda, although intelligence records indicate that a naval force was beginning to move on Florida beneath the waves.
Battlefield
The opening salvos of the war took place in what was once the Canadian Province of British Columbia. Both Protectorates launched incursions into each other's territory, and skirmished at Lapin's northern and southern borders.
As in the previous Word War, the conflict after that quickly erupted into a global confrontation.
Conditions
Initially, the Great Houses were so suspicious of each other that it hampered their ability to fight against The Undead Horde, or even to recognize it was a threat. When the first House fell, the atmosphere had become so tense that banding together to confront the common threat was extremely difficult. Even once the arrival of a new Undead Horde had been confirmed, there was speculation and doubt about their formation and leadership, and it wasn't until well into the war that the identity of the new Night Monarch, AuthorGoddess, a mercenary literomancer and popular talk-show host, was discovered.
As always, casualties for the living meant reinforcements for the undead.
The Engagement
October 20th to November 1st, 2021:
November 1st to November 5th, 2021:
November 6th to November 10th, 2021:
November 11th to November 15th, 2021:
November 16th to November 20th, 2021
November 21st to November 25th, 2021:
Outcome
November 25th to December 2nd, 2021
Aftermath
Unlike in the First Word War, Sable Aradia's "editing" in the Iron Tome seemed to have no visible immediate consequences.
While the subject remains a matter of debate to this day, it is a prevalent theory among scholars of the Iron Tome that Queen Sable's edit may have created the alternate plane known as The Void. Since the Iron Tome can literally rewrite reality, this is effect is thought to be able to transcend time and space, and therefore the fact that the Void demonstrably existed prior to the Tome Wars is immaterial.
Another theory, although it has less public support, is that the Mother of Bunnies' edit may have brought Dinotech into the modern world, either by shifting the landscape in such a way that ancient caves of the Dino Civilization that were inaccessible were able to be found; or by allowing Dinotech which had previously been destroyed by the wearing of time to survive into the modern era.
Though few scholars have investigated the theory, it is Queen Sable's belief that her edit may have created the conditions that led to the disappearance of The Missing House. There would be no way to prove this, however, since everything connected with the Missing House, from all existing records to the physical evidence, has vanished. Its existence can only be proven by the gaps left behind, such as missing words in official records, blurred video footage, and The Great Crater in what was once Oregon State, part of the Ailurus Protectorate.
WIP
Streamer
Missing
Status: Location Unknown
Deceased
Status: Deceased Character
Retired
Status: Retired Character or Article
Included Conflicts
Conflict Type
War
Start Date
October 15(?), 2021
Ending Date
December 2, 2021
Conflict Result
Victory for the living. House Lapin claimed the Iron Tome.
Belligerents
The Grand Alliance
Led by
The Undead Horde
Led by
Strength
Casualties
Global casualties estimated at 1 million by the end of the war
All undead forces were resurrected or permanently killed at the end of the war. Presumably, all summoned creatures were returned to their planes of existence as well, although that cannot be confirmed
Objectives
To defend themselves, the living world, destroy the Undead Horde, and claim the Iron Tome.
To slay the living Tome Knights, feed on their words, and take the Iron Tome, thus dominating the world.
Amazing conflict breakdown. This is how you do a proper article about armed conflict. Impressive!