Who won this conflict?

[Championfighter25]

I wish I could have made this thread a lot later, but considering that the Arkain universe is in a state of Limbo and more stories will not come out in the foreseeable future, I think now's gonna be the best time.
But anyway to the topic at hand. Who won this conflict, judging from the endings of the 2nd Human Book. Some people may deem this as unfair considering we only got 1 viewpoint to judge from, but I think a point can be made for every race. So how are we making the criteria? Well, we will see each race, what they and their characters wanted to accomplish and how it turned out for them in the end.
Of course, you don't have to agree with me. You can debate and make your viewpoints as well and decide who was the winner in your eyes.

Let's begin!

1. The Humans:
The humans, those living on Arkain at least wanted the demons completely out of their kingdoms and to remove their threat for good.
Gardon wanted their kind forever destroyed, together with reforming the Zyainor empire.
Van Durce wanted to defeat their invading force and after that leave to overthrow the emperor who was ruining the human empire.
So how did it turn out?
In the Gardon ending the demons did get completely thrown back from the kingdoms. Gardon didn't, however, destroy their kind as he wanted to. He did reform the Zyainor empire though.
Van Durce is dead in this scenario so it's now completely up to Aedale to end the emperor's games alone (if you didn't corrupt her of course) Will she succeed? While it's left ambiguous, I actually think she can.
In the Van Durce ending roughly 2 and a half human kingdoms are left under demonic occupation, so the humans of Arkain didn't at all accomplish what they wanted to. Gardon is dead so destroying the demons for good, ending their threat or reforming the Zyainor empire is out of the question.
At least the humans on the continent of the human empire will be possibly saved ( unless you also didn't corrupt Aedale since then that will make it impossible)

2. The Orcs:
Oh, oh, oh, the laughing stock of the series if I can call them that. There have been possibly 50 - 100 times more anti-orc comments than Anti-demons or Anti-any other enemy comments.
What were they trying to accomplish?
Well, the orcs wanted to increase their numbers by allying with other races or other clans.
They wanted to prevent their kind from going extinct.
Rangul wanted to create a realm for the Orcs, where they could launch invasions and be known for more than being simple brutes that were marauders and pillagers.
So how did they fare?
The 1st one is a no-brainer, of course, they succeeded.
The 2nd they also managed to prevent, even though in the end they owe it more to the undead than themselves.
The 3rd one will both remain ambiguous, but also answerable. Rangul, the Orcs and the rest of their allies did make a realm for themselves, in the kingdom of Salria and will possibly use it for future invasions. The Orcs may also finally learn to live a more civilized lifestyle, surrounded by the other races.

3. The Undead:
What were they trying to accomplish?
Aridon wanted to keep the balance of the world and make the other races fear the undead.
They wanted to defeat the demons.
Manipulate the other races into doing their will.
So how did they fare?
Aridon accomplished the 1st one flawlessly since the undead did what was needed and is a terrifying foe to face in the eyes of every mortal.
The 2nd one doesn't even need answering, they did it, not alone though and they still needed the humans, but still accomplished it.
Probably mostly succeeded. I'm saying this because Aridon still probably tries to manipulate the orcs, without realizing it doesn't work.

4. The Demons:
What were they trying to accomplish?
Fully invade Arkain.
Above everything else, try and save their kind from extinction.
So how did they fare?
In the Gardon ending they failed miserably, way too much and it's only because of the undead that they didn't lose more land.
The saving their kind thing got fulfilled though, even if you declined or accepted the pact, again mostly because of the undead.
In the van Durce ending, they fared a lot better. Almost 2 and a half human kingdoms belong to them and won't be liberated for a long, long time. Of course, they won't be able to push further, but they should be sufficed for the time being.
The saving their kind thing doesn't apply here.

So who won this conflict in my eyes? Well, the answer may surprise you, but I think every race got their share and nobody, in my opinion, won outright.
If you really want to make me chose however then it would be a tie between the Humans and Undead. Both of them accomplished nearly everything they wanted to and even though the undead currently manipulates the former, that may change, once Aridon makes the mistake of trying to kill Gardon.

 

[LISBOAH]

1. The Humans:
The humans, those living on Arkain at least wanted the demons completely out of their kingdoms and to remove their threat for good.
Gardon wanted their kind forever destroyed, together with reforming the Zyainor empire.
Van Durce wanted to defeat their invading force and after that leave to overthrow the emperor who was ruining the human empire.
So how did it turn out?
In the Gardon ending the demons did get completely thrown back from the kingdoms. Gardon didn't, however, destroy their kind as he wanted to. He did reform the Zyainor empire though.
Van Durce is dead in this scenario so it's now completely up to Aedale to end the emperor's games alone (if you didn't corrupt her of course) Will she succeed? While it's left ambiguous, I actually think she can.
In the Van Durce ending roughly 2 and a half human kingdoms are left under demonic occupation, so the humans of Arkain didn't at all accomplish what they wanted to. Gardon is dead so destroying the demons for good, ending their threat or reforming the Zyainor empire is out of the question.
At least the humans on the continent of the human empire will be possibly saved ( unless you also didn't corrupt Aedale since then that will make it impossible)

In the Gardon storyline, humanity reached 75% of victory. They managed to free the occupied kingdoms, push the demons to the Void and recreate Zyainor. But they failed to defeat the demons for good.

In the van Durce's storyline, humanity is on a stalemate. They can't reconquer the previous kingdoms, but have the cannon that will allow them to hold the demons. That is until the demons learn how to counter it and then the kingdoms are screwed.

The Empire might be safe, for now. If the Kingdoms fall, then the Demons will have a full continent to launch attacks from.

I
2. The Orcs:
Oh, oh, oh, the laughing stock of the series if I can call them that. There have been possibly 50 - 100 times more anti-orc comments than Anti-demons or Anti-any other enemy comments.
What were they trying to accomplish?
Well, the orcs wanted to increase their numbers by allying with other races or other clans.
They wanted to prevent their kind from going extinct.
Rangul wanted to create a realm for the Orcs, where they could launch invasions and be known for more than being simple brutes that were marauders and pillagers.
So how did they fare?
The 1st one is a no-brainer, of course, they succeeded.
The 2nd they also managed to prevent, even though in the end they owe it more to the undead than themselves.
The 3rd one will both remain ambiguous, but also answerable. Rangul, the Orcs and the rest of their allies did make a realm for themselves, in the kingdom of Salria and will possibly use it for future invasions. The Orcs may also finally learn to live a more civilized lifestyle, surrounded by the other races.

Maybe they will create a more civilized lifestyle, but then again they had plenty of time to do that, but they didn't.

3. The Undead:
What were they trying to accomplish?
Aridon wanted to keep the balance of the world and make the other races fear the undead.
They wanted to defeat the demons.
Manipulate the other races into doing their will.
So how did they fare?
Aridon accomplished the 1st one flawlessly since the undead did what was needed and is a terrifying foe to face in the eyes of every mortal.
The 2nd one doesn't even need answering, they did it, not alone though and they still needed the humans, but still accomplished it.
Probably mostly succeeded. I'm saying this because Aridon still probably tries to manipulate the orcs, without realizing it doesn't work.

The Undead are the ultimate victors, in my opinion. Everything went exactly as they planned.

The Demon Threat is gone for a while, Gardon might have his own kingdom but it will start to fall apart eventually and while orcs are beyond manipulation, the other races aren't.

 

[Championfighter25]

In the Gardon storyline, humanity reached 75% of victory. They managed to free the occupied kingdoms, push the demons to the Void and recreate Zyainor. But they failed to defeat the demons for good.

The humans living on the continent of Arkain that is.
The humans on the continent of the human empire *may* be screwed.

In the van Durce's storyline, humanity is on a stalemate. They can't reconquer the previous kingdoms, but have the cannon that will allow them to hold the demons. That is until the demons learn how to counter it and then the kingdoms are screwed.

Again only the humans on Arkain. And I'm sure that the undead may prevent the demons from countering it because they need someone to defend them once again for a while.

The Empire might be safe, for now. If the Kingdoms fall, then the Demons will have a full continent to launch attacks from.

I feel like the empire will be able to defend itself a lot better than the human kingdoms. Remember what happened during their first attempt?

Maybe they will create a more civilized lifestyle, but then again they had plenty of time to do that, but they didn't.

Well, they had a lot more things to concentrate on. Allying with the ogres by first helping them get rid of their moghtar problem, helping the centaurs survive extinction, invading Salria to transform it into a realm for them and their allies in the future, accepting the Cliffhunter clan and finding a way to ally with the goblins, ally with the gnolls, ally with golems, finding a way to ally with the red dragons and let's not forget they didn't officially form the Tribal Dominion until chapter 12. There were just a lot of other priorities they had to concentrate on.

The Undead are the ultimate victors, in my opinion. Everything went exactly as they planned.

Yes and I can see why. Still, though I made it a tie between both them and the humans since who said the humans won't get their payback at some point.

The Demon Threat is gone for a while, Gardon might have his own kingdom but it will start to fall apart eventually

Maybe it will collapse after his death, but before that, I hardly doubt it.

while orcs are beyond manipulation, the other races aren't.

The answer to that statement will probably remain unanswered sadly. When I asked Shar a while back in the official thread if the other races of the Dominion can be manipulated, he simply replied with ''secrets, secrets'' and I really doubt he would want to spoil it.

 

[Hinata28]

As the Arkain Fandom says, almost all races claimed victory, except for the Demons.

Following Gardon's path, the Demons were pushed out to the Gate of Hell, but that was put into a status quo by the Undead betrayal. But nevertheless, Zyainor became reborn with 4 Kingdoms of Toran, Pyrru, Lor and Isalmur on his hands. Gardon then rebuilt the Zyaise nation, with additional forces from their allies and defectors.

The Kingdoms of both Kerrel and Rengar defied Zyainor, and a Cold War was happening on them. Rengar had been affected by a mysterious plague, which affected half of the Kingdom, the capital under lockdown too. Only Kerrel had the balls to defy Zyainor in full strength. With King Dorten and Princess Felicia holding on to their power, any dissent was silenced forcefully.

Following Van Durce's path, he put his final Crusade against the Emperor himself. If Aedale not corrupted, he will push on. If Aedale was now under Lisara, his Crusade ended before it began. The Kingdoms after that had to contend with Demons still having the ruined Kingdoms of Lor and Isalmur, and both Toran and Pyrru under their knees.

The Empire of Rodan still stands tall, with the Emperor Theodore in the throne. If choosing the Zyaise path, they will send another wave of intervention force, to fight the cause of the failure of the intervention in the first place. Golden Guard path followed, they had a hard time dealing with Renald's Crusade. The Imperials will be divided, the opposition inside Rodan will ally with Renald, but still Theodore had his loyalists in the ranks.

The followers of Lisara still lingers on, with Moghtar still following what she says, if the Best Daddy did not kill Aedale.

The Orcs initially tasted victory, but the Demonic attack set them back to square one, coupled with the Best Daddy and his merry band of soldiers killing almost all Orcs on the Orc Islands (now Burned Islands) . Only for the Exile Amari allying with other races like Gnolls, Centaurs, Dark Trolls, Goblins and Grofzag allying with the Bearmen and Rangul with the Ogres and Dragons regain their momentum, only Sasrogarn's death finished the last obstacle in their glorious comeback. They invaded Salria, who were prideful enough to accept the Best Daddy's Army and their Imperial and Merc allies, taking the land, killing both the Best Daddy and Daric the faithful lapdog of Lerrig.

The Dwarves were prideful. They cut off their deals with Humans, content with fighting the Vermin, Dragons, and occasional Zyaise and Tribal Dominion attackers and raiders.

The Undead fulfilled their mission, but it was too short. The Undead gathered too much corpses for their armies, called the inactive Dark Elves to service, reanimated long dead heroes, retrieved many artifacts, and gathered intel and other stats. All despite betrayal by the Dark One.

The Demons were still fragmented. After the loss of the whole Blooddrinker Legion and knocking out the Souleater Legion, Darkblade Legion still in civil war, the other Demon Legions were still in blaming mode. Unless united under one banner, this rabble cannot or will not rebuild their glory. And their Demon Slaves declining in numbers is a problem in itself. Without any mortal fools allying with them and the death of almost all the officers, Lord Genethas one of them, the Slaves lost their heads.