Even-Tongued Conquest

The Even-Tongued Conquest (4081–4091 AR), also known (especially in Taldor) as the Even-Tongued Rebellion, began with the declaration of Chelaxian independence from Taldor. Two years earlier, a major Qadiran invasion of southern Taldor had begun, tying up the Taldan armies for the foreseeable future. Seeing this, Aspex the Even-Tongued, a Taldan governor, consolidated the armies under his command, and declared all territory west of the Sellen River to belong to the new nation of Cheliax. As the Taldor–Qadira conflict (later to be known as the Grand Campaign) continued, King Aspex annexed the Taldan provinces of Galt and Isger by threat of force, and convinced Andoran and the strix of Devil's Perch to join his new nation. A decade after Aspex declared independence, Taldor had lost nearly half its land area without a battle fought. This was commemorated across Cheliax as an annual celebration, Even-Tongued Day, until the Age of Lost Omens. It remains a holiday in modern Cheliax and its former territories, but is now primarily a day of mourning, as the events of the Chelaxian Civil War make both Infernal Cheliax and its independent territories consider its size at founding cause for regret, for different reasons.

The nation of Lastwall, previously a Taldan protectorate, declared its neutrality during this conflict. This was effectively also an independence movement, in that it was no longer principally protected or funded by any one nation.