Fire Crusade

The fire crusade was a large war that took place between the years 459 and 487. The conflict was the culmination of decades of small-scale skirmishes between tribes. The primary aggressors were the Khans (who later established the Khan Dynasty and founded the Beladathi Empire) and the Lee Dynasty, although several smaller kingdoms were also involved in the conflict, often changing sides. By 479, all these smaller empires had been permanently absorbed by the Khans and the Lees. Eventually the Khans were able to route out the last of the Lee's forces and take control of their territories, unifying them to form what is now known as the Beladathi Empire.

The Battle of Monk
The war was called the Fire Crusade, mainly due to the religious zealotry of the Lees, who sought to purify all lands they occupied, burning alive all those who would not convert to the now nearly extinct Zhang-Tow philosophy. In 487, when the Battle of Monk came to an end and the city's defenses had been broken, Mentis Khan, then the eldest (and therefore leader) of the Khannate, ordered the Lee capitol city of Monk sealed shut from the outside and ordered the city be burned to the ground with alchemist's fire lobbed inside using catapults as a warning to all those who would support religious fanaticism. The city burned for 8 days, terrible black smoke rising miles into the sky, visible from hundreds of miles away. When the fires had died out there was nothing but the charred skeleton of a city remaining. The Beladathi Empire then spent the next two centuries slowly rebuilding the city, establishing it as a major centre of commerce and Beladathi culture.