Not the war, but the alliance. I was planning to play things a bit lose and see what happened initially but Oshiro curtailed my expansion and when you and Aka Ka allied I figured I couldn't fight them or we'd both go down to Aka Ka easier. The narrative was going to be about morality versus doing what it takes to win, legacy, stuff like that.<br/><br/>Besides, what was I going to do, say "Hey Aka Ka I know you allied with Gunba to divide the continent between yourselves but I think you shouldn't do that because....I exist." Nobody needed an intermediary since the one real war going on seemed like a fight to the death, and the only cards I had were my existence (best to hurt or help Oshiro and I already said I figured doing the former would just get me conquered quicker), the rituals which I used even if I don't know if they did anything at all, and acting against the Krai like I did. And as you may have noticed they chose to go join you rather than making a single attempt to negotiate with me, leaving me as thinking I'm just the country in the corner. At some point it doesn't seem worth the effort when your existence is dependent on the Goodwill of others and you've got nothing to bring to the table that other people can't do as well, if not better.<br/><br/>The narrative kinda got lost in that