Pretty much, Anaris, yeah. The throne of skulls was Jenred's, not Velax's. The Order of Elders is acting far more bloodthirsty lately than the Sartanians. The only treaty broken between Arcaea and Arcachon was the one Arcachon broke when it sent an assassin after Arcaean nobles during peacetime and started the war that got them destroyed. And this war started when Kindara broke their federation with Zonasa. Sounds like people should join the valiant, honourable Empire against the evil "Free Realms". 
I seem to remember it being more along the lines of Arcaea deciding that, because Jenred signed the "peace treaty" without the consent of the nobles, it was void. And then telling Arcachon so. When Arcachon decided to get, well, let's say a head start on things, Arcaea used *that* as their new reason for war. But at this stage what actually happened
probably doesn't matter :p
As to the Free Realms, that's pretty much true though of course the bit with Zonasa was Justified™. I think it would be fair to say that there are no good guys on the Far East, just two sides powerful enough to make a go at backing up their version of history. It's delightful. You'd have fun no matter who you join.
But pick the Free Realms.
