Great Fragmentation

The Great Fragmentation (Phoenician: 大分裂, : Dà Fēnliè) was an era in Phoenician history lasting from 1303 to 1810 (503 years), characterized by endemic and massive societal upheaval, as well as bureaucratic, religious, and political reform and consolidation.

While there is no exact date for the start of the Great Fragmentation, it is commonly accepted that the era was initiated by the outbreak of the Bloody Turban Rebellion in January 1303 after failed harvests resulting from the eruption of Mount Remu in 1302 sparked major unrest across Phoenicia, collapsing centralized rule in the Empire of Phoenicia. Following this, various clans - many of which were vassalized under the ruling Yi regential dynasty (禕) - declared themselves independent from the overlordship of the Yi, then announcing their allegiance to the Phoenician imperial dynasty alone. Throughout the 503-yearlong span of the conflict, there would additionally be numerous rebellions and uprisings against the various polities vying for dominance during the era. This would notably include multiple repeated Bloody Turban uprisings across Phoenicia, as well as religious uprisings against the perceived secular and heretical polities of the time - the largest of which was the Bautan rebellion.

At the onset of the conflict, the Peninsular Commonwealth of the Serican Peninsula was the dominant power, possessing proto-industrial technology and a vastly superior economy when compared to the various emerging independent clans on the Phoenician mainland. The Commonwealth would advance as far as the imperial capital of Yidu and conquer nearly a third of Phoenicia at its zenith, though infighting between the Commonwealth's constituent clans would see it pushed back into the Peninsula and decisively defeated at the Battles of Fengzhuamen, eventually leading to its disintegration in 1417. Throughout the next centuries, the warring clans in Phoenicia would gradually consolidate into alliances and regional cliques, forming through diplomacy and war into what is now recognized as the Five Great Houses - the Kai Regency in 13XX, the Generalship of Zhengdong in 14XX, the Tsykha Accord in 14XX, the Daichu Commonwealth in 14XX, and lastly the Viceroyalty of Phwa-Kwok-Tsau in 15XX. Each Great House mostly wielded majority control over the five regions of Phoenicia (Central, East, North, South, and East respectively), forming impermanent alliances and contesting one another over their mutual frontiers. Regional consolidation by the Great Houses is generally viewed to have been largely concluded by 1600, the following two centuries seeing massive escalation in conflict and bloodshed as technological and industrial development was propelled by the necessity of war. In order to bolster their war potential, many Great Houses would pursue even beyond Phoenician borders, culminating in an era of Phoenician colonialism throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Great Fragmentation would gradually de-escalate in the late 1700s, as the apparent impossibility of total Phoenician reunification under any one power fed into growing disinterest in prolonging the multigenerational conflict, especially as the conflict began to impede on the political and economic development of the Great Houses (especially colonial) and the perceived threat of "barbarian" foreign powers outside Phoenicia grew with time. All Five Great Houses would congregate in the imperial capital of Fengtianmen on 11 January 1810 to discuss peace terms. As agreed, peace would be restored, and Phoenicia would be reunified with the Phoenician Scion as its nominal and the Infernal Cult as national religion, through which Phoenician cultural unity would be maintained as a bulwark against perceived foreign intrusion. De facto, the Five Great Houses would retain their, relying upon consensus for decisions which involve Phoenicia as a nation entire.