User blog comment:CNBA3/New Arc Idea! Civil War Arc!!!/@comment-7418318-20150116191814

The discussion with B214 and CNBA3 below got me to thinking up this scenario here:

A new council is chosen. I don't know how the old ones were chosen, but if it was by a different method than a vote, the crown has decided that the past councils failures merit a change in the system and the new council members are elects in some way or the other. At first everything seems fine, but then a group of the councillors (hereafter referred to as faction A) accuses their counterparts (faction B) of only having come into office due to manipulating the votes. They back this accusation up with proof that isn't fully conclusive. Some legal guilds believe this inconclusive proof calling for the B councillers to be kicked off the council, while other guilds think that A fabricated this proof as part of a ploy to make a power-grab and thus want the A councillors kicked off.

Arguments fly back and forth, becoming more forcful until they turn into skirmishes and brawls. During one such skirmish a few mages from one faction are seriously hurt or maybe someone even dies, which sparks off the actual civil war.

The important point is that both factions truly believe that their side is in the right and fighting for a just cause.

What neither faction (except the councillors of B obviously) know yet is that the votes really were manipulated, but not by the B councillors but by a Wizard Saint who intended to make all councillors into his puppet. This could be done either for malevolent (I want to rule over everything, though rather in secret.) or benevolent (Without my guidance those young fools will cause only calamity, but they wouldn't listen if I just offered advice. I have to force them for their own and the greater good.) reasons.

The advantage of this way of war is that you can have legal guilds fight each other. You want Blue Pegasus vs. Lamia Scale? No problem. Just say that Blue Pegasus is more trusting so they'll believe the proof that B are the evil ones, while Lamia Scale is more suspicious by nature and thus thinks A is making a powerplay and faked the proof to give an example of how you could turn former friends and allies against each other without seeming too out of place. Of course they'd try to convince each other of the wrongness of the other ones conclusions, but ultimately they'd be left only with "defeatin them for their own good".

In addition to that it's also a nice change of pace away from the usual "clear good vs. evil" into a more ambiguous terretory. Maybe the author could even leave the readers in the dark about the true culprint and keep us guessing which faction really is right. Maybe even make it look at first as if A are the bad ones.

Either way, as the war rages on, the Wizard Saint secrety tries to manipulate the conflict in his favour, but since wars tend to gain a live of their own and overthrow plans in general, he grows increasingly desperate causing him to go to ever more extreme measures culminating in him starting to recuit Mages to build an army of his own in secret. He manages to sway a few undecided free Mages and the odd Guild Mage who chose to remain neutral to his side by arguments and manipulations. Some more mercenary-like Mages who stayed out of the conflict due to only caring for themselves he could get on his side by paying them (or promising them a share in the loot perhaps?), but even so he has too few forces, so he turns to the only sizable force of Mages not yet engaged in the conflict: Dark Mages.

Through a combination of threats ("join me or suffer") and promises (riches, power, fame, pardon for their crimes, ect.) he gathers a sizable force of Dark Mages. Up to now the conflict was solely Legal Guild vs. Legal Guild with the other stuff going on behind the scenes, unbeknownst to the protagonists.

Either once the antagonist Saint feels he's strong enough to win or once his hand is forced by irrefutable proof of his manipulation, he'll attack in force and the entire conflict turns from A vs. B to A and B vs the true antagonist. With A and B just having fought a bitter war against each other, there's plenty of opportunity for side-stories of mistrust, betrayal, vengeance, reuniting, forgiving or whatever else you could wish for.

In extreme cases the author could even turn it into a three-way fight with A and B still being hostile to each other while at the same time fighting against the true antagonist.