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The Run to the West is a period of Makrian history in which both the Latin Empire and the Mutul sent expeditions to Ochran from their most westward point, it being Belfras in the case of the Latin Empire. It marks the beginning of an intense economic competition between the two entities thourough the Makrian Islands and Ochran for the control of good such as spices, pearls, nacre, and copra from the Makrian proper, but also of jade, silk, porcelain, lacqueware, and more spices, from Ochran and the Vespanian Ocean. What could be considered the Run's end is divisive, some historian considering it to be the first successful circumnavigation of Malaio by Latin explorers in the second half of the 16th century, other placing it at theKirishtan War of 1600 or the War for Kahei in the 1610s, which saw the abandon by the Latins of the Western Road and the hegemony of the Mutuleses over the Vespanian and Makrian Oceans for the following two hundred years.
Background
The Tsurushimese Network
It was well known in Tsurushima that the Westerlies sent fishing vessels lost at sea during storms or other events eastward. However, their actual knowledge of the phenomenon was limited, and no survivor ever came back to confirm or infirm any supposition made around these winds. That is until the 11th century, when a lone crew survived the travel by luck, having not lost too many provisions during the storm, and spent the next decade forraging and surviving in Norumbia before discovering a way back home. Their return gave Tsurushimeses scholars a greater understanding of the Northern Makrian Vortex and using this knowledge, convinced the government to send expeditions eastward, to these new lands recently discovered. In 1271, they established Fujikawa and Soubiro, two trading outposts and seed of what will become Enyama. The successive governments of Tsurushima followed a policy of colonialism, cultivating cash crops and exploiting natural ressources in Norumbia to gain significant reserves of cereals, oils, textiles, and other products that could be grown in the vast plantations of the colonies.
Because they had to go southward to catch winds powerful enough to bring them back to Tsurushima, sights of their vessels became more and more frequent with time, ultimately leading to crude trading between the Tsurushimeses crews and the native kingdoms. The first contacts between Tsurushimeses and Latins took place after the explorers from the latter reached the Western Coast of Norumbia.
Rise of the Latium
Between the 11th and 15th centuries, the Latium was divided between two competing crowns, one in Adrianople and the other in Ascanium. However, by the 12th century, Ascanium had become the dominant power between the two. Their slow reconquest of the Latium, the consolidation of their markets into more attractive hubs than those of their rivals, and the reinforcement of their fleet, allowed the Caesars of Ascanium to start enterprises always more dangerous, expensive and lucrative. These were the wars against the Holy Audonian Empire, or their patronage of the mercantile expeditions crossing the Thalassian Ocean to trade with the remnants states of the Kayamuca Empire in Norumbia. But under the rule of Latin Empress Theodora I, the Ascani took it a step further and managed to establish colonies and vassals in Norumbia in the aftermath of the Belfrasian Crusade. This victory boosted their prestige and, after a period of difficulty due to the expenses of the Crusade, allowed the Latins the control over most of the goods transiting in the Northern Thalassian Ocean, adding massively to their wealth.
After the Thalassian, the Ascani Emperors rekindled their old dream of re-creating a Latin Hegemony over the Periclean Ocean and to profit from the lucrative trade with Ochran. However, their trade system that used military might and intimidation to divert trade through ports they controlled so it could be taxed, was only a partial success, and the Hellenic Empire's control over the Strait of Parma was too tight to allow Latin trade expeditions to go beyond that point and remain profitable.
An attempt was made to bypass Tarsas by circumnavigating Scipia. But heavy Rezese presence in the Southern Thalassian Ocean made the task difficult. Meanwhile, the Norumbians colonies of the Empire had grown, and some explorers even reached the Makrian Coast, establishing ports there. With the help of native kingdom allied to the Latins, they created ports in strategic locations of the newly discovered coast, and established long trade roads between the two oceans. Reports of Tsurushimeses colonies to the north also gave the conviction to some Latins explorers that a Makrian Road existed to Ochran. After many debates, discussions, and defenses of the hypothesis, the Latin Emperor allowed funds for an expedition through the Makrian, in the hope to reach Tsurushima and the Vespanian Ocean.
The Ilok'tab Golden Age
After the Belfrasian Crusade and the final destruction of the Kayamuca Empire, the Mutul led by the Ilok'tab Dynasty became an important player in the Kayamuca Sea, in a constant rivalry with the Latin Empire. They themselves attempted to go westward, to gain a share of the profitable trans-thalassian trades, but they were ultimately pushed back by the heavy presence of the Latins and Rezeses in North and South Thalassia respectively. Attempts to circumnavigate Oxidentale proved fruitless. Thus, at around the same time as the Latins were preparing to set sail further westward, the Divine Throne started to think about the Makrian Ocean as a potential source of profits untaped by other competitors.