Update 13/33: Tellusian Section
It has been a long and arduous war. The Coming of the Second Citadel was a complex affair. It is now understood that they were a rogue group who broke away from the Citadel of Knowledge nearly two centuries before their appearance.
Contrary to popular belief, the Citadel of Knowledge was not some all-powerful organization hiding unspeakably powerful technologies. Yes, they did possess well-developed metallurgical skills, which they put into developing ostentatious displays of technology, but it seems unlikely that many of their seafaring steam-owered contraptions were actually significantly better than, say, a good old fashioned Caravel.
At any rate, the split took place as a result of a fundamental dispute between two camps of the Citadel- one that held on to idealism, believing that through gentle nudging of world events, they could help the world develop into a more peaceful place, where humanity could follow higher pursuits than mundane war and sustenance. The other, that which came to be known as the Second Citadel, once held to these ideals as well. However, century upon century of unending war, destruction, murder and suffering slowly grated away at their souls. How could they, with all of their gifts and prowess, allow the world to fall apart this way? They would not. The convened Librarians of the Citadel debated for years on the matter, until no reconciliation could be made. A grand portion of their finest minds defected, fleeing into the east, and vowing to bring about a true peace, even if it had to be done by force.
When it struck, the Second Citadel was ferocious. Commanding a vast army of Ida'an'i'i, they swept like a tidal wave across Azulia, overhwelming the weakened nations one by one. The nations of Terrania were by and large preoccupied with their own feuds, and only a few actually sent forces to try and cut off the Second Citadel in the bud. It would take their inexplicable arrival in Croyodon to stir most into action, and by then it was too late to stop the might war-machine which now controlled all of southern Azulia, and had established a beachhead in the Old World.
Croyodon, struggling to maintain widespread Gorinese unrest, sought allegiance with these new arrivals, aiding them in campaigns against the far north and the continental interior. It seemed that no one could stop this force, until the Valins, caught up in suppressing a widespread Khemrian perversion of Oneism, finally decided to align their forces against the Second Citadel. Establishing Autoregium, the disunited republics of Veritas denied a command to surrender, and launched grand armies into Gorin to confront Croyodon and its allies.
Widespread and bloody warfare followed, and it seemed that the resolve of the Second Citadel was beginning to shake. However, these hopes were dashed when a huge new wave struck all over Terrania.
Guangfei, the strongest supporter of the Citadel, and perhaps the only reason that all of Azulia had not fallen to the Eastern threat, found itself under direct attack. With many forces away from home, the Second Citadel was able to race upstream and seize the Imperial Capital, decapitating the state in a stroke. While the Emperor escaped, the wily Second Citadel wasted no time in installing a new government atop of the civil service of the old, establishing a 'Bureaucratic Republic of Guangfei'. Pursuing the fleeing Emperor northwards, the new Republic smashed through Aryie, before being confronted by the Valins.
Neaveritas' relation with Guangfei had been often strained, but its allegiance with the conquering powers necessitated, in the Autoregium's mind, the necessity for a renewed war. Valins fought and died in vast numbers, but ultimately a new frontier was secured at the White Mountains.
Throughout the world, vast forces moved hither and thither, crushing many smaller states beneath them. The Second Citadel seized much of the peripheries of the world, while the First Citadel resisted them at every point. However, always were the forces of the Second seeking to disrupt their enemies. Valin mistrust of the Citadel erupted into war multiple times, causing the fourth and fifth Autoregia, and allowing the flagging Second Citadel to once again regain lost ground.
It is in this environment that, desperate to prevent the domination of the Second Citadel, messengers of the first struck out into the East, bringing word of their plight to a newer world.
Times are difficult. Guangfei has managed to overthrow the shackles of their erstwhile Second Citadel overlords, but the Emperor Remains lost and hostilities remain with the Valins, who are only barely co-belligerents. The Bladeists are reduced to the heart of the Cultesian Rainforests, but they fight mightily against all who attempt to break into their last redoubt. The world stands on a dime.