Well, from the Abysian perspective early war with Arcoscephale would have been a disaster. He had a province - very well defended - opening right onto a province next to our capital. Probably my mistake for not heading that way sooner (I took the two mountain provinces to my south first, due to their resource production), but Abysia's strength is certainly not the early rush either way.
Of course, war with Marverni has proven a disaster, as well, but what we really needed was to sweep through the West and establish a strong base to operate from by holding the whole peninsula. Had we been able to defeat Marverni - or had Marverni not been so close - we might have established enough of a base from which we certainly would have been able to strike Arcos.
All in all, it grieves the fire-loving (and sometimes aflame) people of Abysia that soft, fleshy men will rule the world. But we can at least take out as many as possible before the end. Our dominion is still strong, our core provinces still well fortified, our Pretender formidable, and our mages increasingly powerful in the arts of evocation. Conquering Abysia - whether by Marverni or by Arcoscephale - will prove expensive, indeed.
