In the southwest of Tozàn, four cities had openly seceded from the Alááshu. These cities, Akà, Takòàne, Tawònì and Onkùyò, had formed a league together to protect themselves from northern warlords. They had seceded because they thought the Alááshu was doomed and they feared the new hierarchical system led by the military nobility that would cost the cities' ruling classes their influence. Takòàne had even developed a republican-style government, an incredibly rare sight among the Obibo, who generally respected authority. What they had not expected, however, was the rise of powerful leaders in Tozàn, and their decision to choose a Gànà, leader, to reunify the Alááshu. Gànà Obipàlù was the second gànà, but her predecessor had already begun the war against the League of Onkùyò.

Gànà Dochàso, the first gànà, knew the League relied on trade. Trade with the Tozàn interior and midlands, trade with the Gbéné and with the other Sonki, the westerners. If the north was disunited, as the League had anticipated, their alliance would've dominated the trade in Tozàn, but if it was not (and it was not), the League was vulnerable. Dochàso embargoed the four cities and she blockaded the land borders. After that, they had to rely on trade with the west only, and although Akà boasted enough valuable gold and silk to maintain a profit, the embargo had a profound effect on Tawònì and Onkùyò, the two easternmost cities. To survive, they required aid from Akà, making them subservient to the westernmost city in the process.

Tawònì was the farthest to the east, only a few days away from Olòyà, Tozàn's most important harbour. While they had sought independence from rulers, they were made into the vassals of Akà, relying on that city to fund Tawònì's soldiers and ships. It was also the first city in the line of fire between the League and the Alááshu, and tensions were high, as was obvious with the embargo. As a result, Tawònì seemed fated to bear the brunt of a war in which it itself had no say whatsoever. The ruling council was not looking forward to that inevitability and sought to avoid it. They sent a messenger to Olòyà, where Gànà Obipàlù reigned, with an offer: Tawònì would turn, becoming a part of the Alááshu without bloodshed. Gànà Obipàlù would receive the more than insignificant navy of Tawònì, but in exchange she had to protect Tawònì and wage war against the League without any manpower or financial support from the city itself, while making sure no fighting took place near the city.

Obipàlù accepted, but the deal was kept secret for a month as Obipàlù raised the levies of Tozàn, including the northern Nijaay, who rode not on their usual tall horses but on the small ponies that could resist the sleeping sickness which killed regular horses this far south. Thousands of longbowmen and spearmen gathered at the borders of the League at three different camps, where Obipàlù had appointed the Ofòkù of Soyofàn, Nijaay and Ewo-Ife to lead an army each. The goal was to lay siege to Akà, Takòàne and Onkùyò simultaneously, so they could not gather an army large enough to challenge the Alááshu in battle. Obipàlù hoped to pin down Akà while taking down Takòàne and Onkùyò individually, supported by the Tágwá Bòráó, the Hellenic army of Uwára. Stronger Akà would not be able to support its allies and then stand alone.

The leaders of Akà were not foolish, though, and they saw the gathering of armies outside their borders. Anticipating Obipàlù flawlessly - with the tiny little exception of Tawònì's betrayal - they called on Takòàne, Onkùyò and Tawònì to send troops to Akà before it was too late. Onkùyò, in the same boat as Tawònì and financially reliant on Akà, had to accept and left their city devoid of much of its protection. Tawònì just stalled and stalled, given their imminent betrayal, but in Takòàne a public vote was held and those in favour of defending Takòàne over Akà prevailed.

The League's own manpower was limited, but they had originally enforced their independence and secession through Gbéné mercenaries. Their own kingdoms in disarray, Gbéné veterans had been eager to fight the wars of those with money, but it had already been said that Akà and the rest of the League had a lot less gold to spend after the embargo. More importantly, the Gbéné had their own wars to fight again. Many of the mercenaries chose their home over Akà, especially if the pay was not that much better anyway. And if all else failed, they could always desert to the side of Ataràmè, since word had it that they were rich now.

The Gànà's army would be tested under favourable conditions. The Ofòkù of Ewo-Ife was the first to move in, laying siege to Onkùyò from the north. The city had a small garrison: their leaders and soldiers were almost all in Akà, which was hopelessly trying to gather an army large enough to do something about it. The Ofòkù of Nijaay was second, surrounding Takòàne on all sides facing land. From there, Akà was close, but they could not help Takòàne, where a large majority voted to fight till the death. Akà had a more pressing problem: the Ofòkù of Soyofàn moved down from the north with the intent of besieging the city. In her eyes, Akà was nothing more than a rebellious subject, an integral part of Soyofàn. The League's army went north to face her.

The Ofòkù of Soyofàn placed her longbowmen in the centre of the army, infantry behind them. On her right flank, she had four elephants supported by a token amount of spearmen and on her left flank, cavalry. The League had no cavalry, but strong swordsmen from the west, supported by Obibo longbowmen and two elephants of their own. The effects of Gànà Dochàso's army reforms showed in the first moments of battle, when the Ofòkù had many more longbowmen than the League could field. Training peasants and commoners, it turned out, was a marvelous idea. The noble archers of Akà were demolished from a distance and now the League's swordsmen attacked. The Ofòkù sent her infantry to face them, and the cavalry, whom she had ordered to "do what they deemed helpful", having no experience with the sort, looped around the League's army. In the deep south of Tozàn, horses were so unusual that they did not expect such speed and the cavalry could execute a succesful hammer-and-anvil strike against the League's swordsmen. While elephants on both side joined the battle, it was that cavalry strike that decided the battle. The League was routed and they retreated to the safety of Akà. The Ofòkù of Soyofàn besieged Akà soon after.

In the meanwhile, Obipàlù went west from Olòyà with the Tágwá Bòráó, joining up with the Ofòkù of Ewo-Ife, who was besieging Onkùyò. It was at this moment that the betrayal of Tawònì became apparent, because Obipàlù had to move through their land and she did so uncontested. Onkùyò was assaulted due to its weak garrison. Its walls were not notable, nor was the battle after elephants battered the gates down and an afternoon of fighting in the streets brought the city back into the fold of Tozàn. However, while the city fought, its navy fled to Akà. The Tozàn navy was coming, with the support of Tawònì, but it was ways away. It would have to fight at Akà.

From Onkùyò, Obipàlù took charge over the Ofòkù of Ewo-Ife's army and joined the Ofòkù of Nijaay at the gates of Takòàne. While the city had voted to fight till the death, demagoguery had left them ill-prepared for a siege and after the Tozàn navy fought a costly battle over the harbour of Takòàne, they began to starve till the death instead of going out fighting. It was quite a large city with quite a lot of people. Lacking hard leaders with resolve, willing to (let the poor commoners) endure starvation, Takòàne voted instead to negotiate with Obipàlù. She simply gave them an ultimatum, told them to surrender to starve. As it was quite a large city with quite a lot of people, assaulting it would be a costly ordeal. Better to raid the countryside and let them starve. However, in their infinite wisdom, the public assembly of Takòàne voted to surrender. The democratic institutions were dissolved, hardliners appointed and all of the leading republicans were mauled to death by hyenas as their silly government was seen as high treason and the punishment for that was the hyenas.

This left Akà. As Obipàlù combined the three armies into one to keep up the siege against Akà, its leaders really began to sweat, and even moreso when the navy of Tozàn came to face off against the League's near Akà. The councilmen and leaders of Akà and Onkùyò, both holed up in the city, knew that their navy would have a good chance. However, faced with the news of the punishments in Takòàne, some of the wealthier leaders of the League abandoned the city and fled. They took their ships with them and went west to Moroabi, where many of their mercenaries also came from. In charge of that city was a Gbéné prince who had never truly managed to subjugate the local Kwaman people, but he was welcoming enough to the wealthiest of Akà, which he would later come to regret.

The flight of some of the leaders not only weakened the League's navy by taking away ships, but also the morale of the defenders: apparently, their leaders had no faith in them, and if they did not, why should the defenders? The weakened League finally crumbled in the naval battle outside Akà. The more numerous Tozàn vessels were crewed by eager soldiers, facing marines who surrendered at the first boarding action, anchoring their ship and leaving the combat. Some League ships even fled west during the battle itself. Facing an endless siege with even their port blockaded from the outside world, the people of Akà surrendered.

The city was ransacked and the wealth filled the coffers of the Alááshu. However, it was clear much of the treasury had been taken to Moroabi with the fleeing leaders. Unacceptable, according to Obipàlù. She had her army anyway, so she marched west, crossed the Gamo River and told the Gbéné prince to hand over the city, the merchants inside and the gold. As the Gbéné were faced with an invasion of their homeland, Moroabi and its unruly Kwaman really were not worth the fight. The Prince accepted Obipàlù's demands and all who had fled would still face Tozàn justice.

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