Analytic War
In 174 CY, the first analytical engine was built by enterprising gnomes in their flying city of Urilaulri. In short order, this wondrous new device was put to a multitude of uses - mathematics was chief among them. In order to make use of this machine, however, one had to learn Assembly, due to technological barriers.
Analytical engines spread, and became used extensively in the northern half of Chaliraz. In 190 CY, the analytical network was realized - a vast network of wires and pistons, powered by electricity, that allowed users of analytical engines to communicate over vast distances. The wires required for the usage of this system spread throughout the region, and land was cleared to make way for them to allow even the most distant cities have access to the shared knowledge of the network.
However, the fey and other races of the southern half remembered legends of the Ronkan Empire and what their sudden advances in technology had done to their people. In 238 CY, wielding the powers of nature, the fey swarmed over the Dividing Range and attacked the people of the Hofstadt Confederacy, without any warning whatsoever. Though the Confederacy called for a diplomatic solution, the fey ignored them - their people yet suffered scars from technology of ages past, and would tolerate such technology no longer. With no other options left to them, the Confederates prepared themselves for war.
The citizens of Hofstadt - who came to be known as the Analytics - fought back, and called out for help. Few answered their cry - specifically, the dwarves of Molandum sent troops and land vehicles to support the overwhelmed Analytics. They were also assisted by a great number of mercenaries, the famous duo Thranos and Grakyl among them. The Naturalists - as the fey and their allies came to be called - were assisted by a great number of elves from the Empire of Ashk, who had long felt that the analytical network was a great danger to the force of Magic.
The war lasted until 340 CY, and much of the infrastructure of the Hofstadt Confederacy was destroyed. In the end, the Naturalists were beaten back, and the Confederacy began rebuilding. The analytical network, too, was repaired, and became stronger than before. However, many technologists throughout the world had lost all respect for the fey and the ways of nature; no more were their opinions towards technology regarded with any seriousness. Many who practiced technology in the Empire of Ashk fled, feeling that the Empire's attitude towards technology in the War would cause them to hunt down technologists in the Empire. As it turned out, they were correct - in 341 CY, the Empire of Ashk purged itself of technology, either deporting or killing those within their borders who studied the ways of technology.
