ɴ:2453 Qplma River Flood

Template:Campaignbox Great Northern War The 2453 Qplma River Flood was a man-made flood during October, 2453, created by the intentional destruction of Fqra and the subsequent busting of Fqra Gorges Dam by residents of Uuepi on the Qplma River. The disaster is viewed as the most egregious case of abuse of the Cralasian Order's municipal system.

Historically the towns had been rivalled for several hundred years over a plethora of reasons: from cattle disputes and denominational differences to personal feuds. The activities of houses Thlipara and Yetma served as the primary instigators of conflict, which throughout the 2200s to 2400s resulted in multiple periods of open warfare between the towns. The re-establishment of Cralas in 2431 saw a temporary nulling of the rivalry, as Ismem-ma's reincarnation led a Hong-wide religious reawakening, which in Wardeschan areas unified many of the denominations.

The implementation of the Matqhiqep saw townships having to go through national government for almost all changes. Several years following its adoption, people from both towns had began to abuse the overwhelmed bureaucracy with little oversight. In April 2447 a new dispute arose over the same land being granted to both towns, which was realised after people had marched their cattle into the same grazing land. In an attempt to impose their ownership, members of Thlipara stole hundreds of cattle overnight under the guise of requisitioning stolen goods. Yetmans responded by culling over a hundred cattle owned by Uuepi and reacquired their own cattle the following day. A skirmish occurred on the outskirts of Uuepi, killing over 28. Trlera Cratoq, the Wardsgatra of Qplma, ordered an end to hostilities and elected to split the territory, two thirds going to Fqra as Uuepi townsfolk had supposedly started the engagements.

For the next six years, the residents of Fqra, Uuepi and the two families would continue to antagonise one another. Trlera successfully prevented the two towns from being able to abuse the ineffective bureaucracy but would be replaced by another wardsgatra in early 2453. Unaware of the underlying problems in the administration of Cralas, the towns reverted back to abusing the system. The killing of Thlipara Qanqa, the heir to his house, during a bar brawl on the 24th of September, led to hostilities beginning between the two families rekindling. The Thliparans responded by setting a Yetman skyshard manufactory on fire, who reciprocated starting a fire in the outskirts of Uuepi at nigh. This resulted in several dozen dying and many houses being burnt down. After the 30th, people from both towns became involved in the fighting, and several violent confrontations occurred with roughly two hundred dead after a week of fighting.

On the 2nd of October, Thlipara Elim requested fifty-six tonnes of explosives "for the purpose of expanding Uuepi's mining enterprises to support Cralas' war effort". The likelihood of a bureaucrat to automatically accept a request from the Qlara caste was extremely high following the outbreak of the Great Northern War, and so Thlipara's request was fulfilled. Over a hundred people from Uuepi were recruited to transport the several dozen tonnes and over the next week during night-time they rigged the side of a mountain to explode in Fqra Mine, which was intended to destroy a segment of the town. Before all the explosives were rigged, a Yetman drug running on the 9th discovered the Uuepi operation and called for backup, starting the Battle of Fqra. For several hours the militias of Fqra and Uuepi fought until the latter successfully detonated the explosives at 7:34am on the 10th, about ten minutes before a Cralasian battalion arrived to intervene.

The explosion resulted in the entire mountain side collapsing on itself and destroying almost the entire town of Fqra, which hugged the mountain alongside a lake formed by the Fqra Gorges Dam. The force of the avalanche also damaged the dam severely, and after several hours at 12:30am, it collapsed. The dam's volume began to rapidly decrease and within twenty minutes completely annihilated the town of Uuepi which hugged the Qplma river. Further down stream, the valley became completely inundated, destroying every settlement along the Qplma. Some 150 kilometres to the south, the XI Army Corps of Cralas whilst engaging with the Solanese 5th and 6th Corps evaporated after a majority of the corps were killed in the Hqez Valley. This collapse along the Solanese front enabled for a massive Solanese salient towards the city of Israla to form and led to the Battle of the Bridges. Overall some 28,500 soldiers and 202,000 civilians died as a consequence of the flood.

Disaster

Battle of Fqra

Main: Battle of Fqra