The very existence of Unconquered Orin just a week's march northward of Mal was an affront to many in the Uzdamalian empire. Some believed the empire had a duty to conquer the entire continent if not the world. Others were offended by their practices of worshiping the dead and sexless sun, moon, and stars. Still others could not bear the knowledge that Unconquered Orin's founding was so far back in antiquity to make Uzda seem a mere child of a city by comparison, and finally others were simply wishing to eliminate a rival for trade and resources. At any rate, much effort was expended during the High Imperial period devising ways of defeating Unconquered Orin's massive fortifications and deadly defenses.

The fruit of these efforts was the Colossi: tremendous automata, up to fifty feet tall ,in the form of men or women and bristling with weapons, designed to shrug off counterattacks, destroy any defenders, and physically tear down the mightiest walls. The Colossi took years to complete, and during that time Unconquered Orin developed Colossi of their own to counter the threat. Thus, both sets of titanic automata stood idle, sitting or standing outside the walls of cities and looking so mournfully lonely that architects felt the need to construct similarly-scaled sheds, or dogs, or, in one of the Artificer of Graves' most haunting works, a fishing rod with, at it's end, a tremendous clockwork fish.

Of course, the existence of such weapons is an invitation to their use. When Inighar IV took ill and died while campaigning against a would-be rebellion in the east in 359, and his son, Inighar V was delivered clear evidence of Unconquered Orin's involvement in funding the rebels, the Colossus War began.

The battles between Colossi, while clearly dramatic and literally earth-shaking, were actually the least consequential engagements of the war. The decisive battles were rather on the peripheries, as the admirals of the air and sea navies of the Uzdamalian Empire failed to enforce a blockade against Unconquered Orin. Inighar's bold attempt to outflank the Orinite armies and Colossi by fording Palentar Creek might still have proven decisive, had the young emperor not chosen to personally pilot the Colossus Pride of Kreyinte. The army crossed the river and could have crushed the enemy's remaining forces, but when the victors counted their dead and found the broken Colossus with the Emperor's crushed body within, their will to fight was lost.

Ending the Colossus War was not easy to do, not because of any unwillingness to make peace on the account of the Senate of Unconquered Orin but rather a lack of anyone on the Imperial side to make a peace with. After a several frustrating attempts, General Balmer consulted his staff Borrit, who came up with the suggestion of producing one of the borrit camp-followers who had become pregnant, claiming that she carried an Imperial bastard in her womb, and signing the peace as that child's regent. While this fiction served well to end the war, it forced General Balmer, against his will, to the forefront of the succession crisis that followed the war, ultimately leading to the death of himself and his family.

See Also:

Artificer of Graves

Kreyinte

Unconquered Orin