Otherwise known as: The War of Shifting Sands & Hidden Springs

The long-simmering tensions of the Oasis Conflict finally erupted into open war. By this time, the followers of Juy-Ard had begun ambitious experiments to create new oases in the Sunfire Expanse' borderlands, building canals, terraces, and reservoirs to reclaim desert land. The followers of Grit-Mira saw these projects as provocation.

They were determined to become like the desert, and struck back with raids and destruction of northern works. Both sides blamed the other for starting the conflict, and the struggle quickly escalated into a decade of war. This part of the desert dwarven history was known as The Oasis War, or among chroniclers, The War of Shifting Sands & Hidden Springs.

The fighting extended beyond battles. Both sides actively campaigned and indoctrinated dwarves, sending messengers, spreading philosophies, and promising survival, honor, and prestige to those who would join their cause.

Skirmishes erupted surrounding Khaz’Darad — terraces, canals, and irrigation works became battlegrounds, while mesas and desert passes were sites of ambushes and pitched battles. Followers of Juy-Ard fortified valleys, launched strikes against desert raiders, and defended every waterway. Followers of Grit-Mira moved swiftly through dunes and passes, using fire, sandstorms, and sudden attacks to destroy northern works and challenge northern forces.

The war left Khaz’Darad fractured and scarred. Bridges collapsed, tunnels were destroyed, terraces abandoned, and the nation became a patchwork of contested zones.

Aftermath

When the Therianthropic Convergence reshaped the land, the dwarves were forced to take what they could and make new homes. Khaz’Darad itself was left a hollow ruin, a reminder of blood spilled, ideals twisted, and the enduring weight of the saying “breaking the Neck”, whispered wherever dwarves walked the fractured mountains.

The followers of Juy-Ard clung to the northern valleys, battered but resolute, carving terraces and channels from the ruined land to form Sâdbarad, Heart of Springs, where water itself became their shield and weapon.

The followers of Grit-Mira retreated into the southern mesas and dunes, hardened by fire and sand, establishing Âtashbarad, Sunforged Hold, where every stone and grain of sand was a test of endurance.

Desert dwarves who could not pledge to either path lingered in the shattered mountains of the Neck, this fractured heart of Khaz’Darad would later grow into Kohbarad, the city of bridges and balance, a place that remembered both the war and the cost of division.

And eventually, would be the place where the dwarves would re-unite under one banner as "The Suspended Pact"