The invasion was supposed to be a lightning strike to seize the heart of the worldβs food supply. Instead, it was a disaster. Because the Midgians are masters of the sky but weak on land, they couldn't hold the territory.
Midgia believed that their Gryphon Legions would be enough to cow the Seeds of the Central Isle into submission. They thought that once they landed in the orchards and grain fields, the other states would be too afraid of losing their food to fight back.
The Land Deficit: As soon as the Gryphon riders landed, they were outmatched. The Central Isleβs terrain is soft and agricultural, but the other states (Bibar, Nuled, Aberia) sent their navies and heavy infantry.
The Eviction: Midgia has the sky, but they couldn't hold the soil. The other states' superior land-power pushed the Midgians back to their borders within two weeks.
The Consequences of the Attempt: Even though Midgia no longer holds the Isle, the Freeze-Out remains. The other states haven't forgotten the attempt. They are punishing Midgia for the intent as much as the action.
The situation is now even worse for Midgia than if they had actually won. They are being punished for a crime they didn't even get to benefit from.
Midgia is still "exporting to no one." The other states have decided that a world with crude, breaking tools is better than a world where Midgia is allowed to be powerful.
Midgia: Their warehouses are full of the high-end machinery and textiles they meant to trade for the Isle's food. Now, no one will buy them.
The Rest: They are building their own "Emergency Forges" in their Coastal Cities. The tools are heavy, ugly, and brittle, but they are theirs.
Since Midgia lost the Isle, they don't even have the grain they invaded for.
The Starvation: They are back in their inland Capital, cut off from Bibar Salt and Nuled Oil.
The Irony: They are "Masters of the Sky" who are too hungry to fly. Every patrol of the Great Road costs calories they don't have.
The other states have proven they don't need Midgia's "permission" to exist.
Because the other states are better on the sea, they have established direct trade routes between the Isle and their own Coastal Cities.
Midgia watches from the inland cliffs as the wealth of the world sails past. They can't stop it on the water, and they no longer have a foothold on the Isle to intercept it at the source.
The standoff is "awful" because the Ring is no longer an elegant machine. Itβs a series of crude, manual workarounds. The world is full of rust, heavy iron, and manual labor, all because Midgia tried to take the Isle and failed.
Midgia is sitting in their cold, inland Capital, watching their master smiths die of hunger while the rest of the world learns to live without them.