pre-NES Instalment 1: The History of Avacria and the Free Cities and Republics of the Isita Coast
The continent on which Avacria and its fellow city-states are based has no name, an oddity in a region where almost everything possesses one. Even small clumps of trees in shadowy valleys have names, and mountains that mankind has only seen from a distance.
It has no name, because to each and every inhabitant throughout its history it has meant something different. To the founder of the first village on the long south-western coasts, which later grew into the city of Sira, Avacria's erstwhile ally and trading partner to it east, it was a refuge.
Legend tells of the fierce Rasnik tribes of the cold south, who sit astride great birds of black and white, crafty with their hands and fierce-eyed. Near to hibernation in winter, awaiting the raiding season in summer, the Rasnik are long lost to history, though relics of their mysterious past remain, buried under the snow - a few recovered by the scions of wealthy houses. Nonetheless, it is from the same region that the once fair-skinned people of the Coast originate, and from the same people that all of the city-states would one day spring forth. The stories say that the South Men were the target of one such Rasnik raid, their soldiers slain by riders of the beasts they call panquin* and the women taken as slaves. Only a few men remained, and so it was a woman who would lead the South Men to freedom. Her name was Elisia, and she had been poor even before the raid - her situation had deteriorated since then, and she and her family, though all had been spared, were suffering from starvation and mistreatment. We know, however, that she was cunning and devious, and it was these qualities which would stand her in good stead. Elisia was ambitious, and as a slave, she knew she would never be able to lead. So began the seeds of rebellion in the South Men slaves.
Elisia gathered a fair number of slaves in a couple of weeks. Most of these were from her own small tribe, the Kaisi, people she knew and whose abilities she had confidence in. A year, or near to that, after the raid which had taken the South Men captive, summer came around, and the raiding season began - the opportunity the South Men had been waiting for. The Rasnik had slain most of the Southern men for good reason, fearing a rebellion, but they had not taken the same precaution with the women. Elisia, most of the South Women and nearly every remaining South Man rose up, killing every man in the Rasnik skeleton guard left in their town. They then fled, having stolen much of the treasure of the Rasnik, including what had been taken from their own stores and a large amount of food and water. A ten-month journey, on horseback, led them to much warmer regions, and a land where the sun blazed down on them. The Rasnik, having returned from their raids, pursued the former slaves. However, they hadn't counted on the terrain of the Coast: Elisia and her people found in its numerous cliffs and forests a plethora of easily defensible positions. Furthermore, without their avian mounts - better suited for a colder climate - the Rasnik had little advantage to rely on.
The Rasnik left, but continued to keep a guard on the isthmus linking the untitled continent and the south lands. Fearing futher raids, it was on the Coast that Elisia's people made their new home. Between the cliffs lay multiple sheltered bays and coves, uninhabited and ideal for settlement. It wasn't long before the tribes fractured in dispute, however, and Elisia herself led a number of her people to settle further up the coast from the young settlement of Sira. The new settlement was called Avacria. Further fractures in both camps would eventually lead to the founding of seventeen more cities at various parts of the Isita Coast.
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*Penguins. The Rasnik developed a complex system which allowed one warrior to sit on a saddle mounted on the bird's back, their weight balanced by bags filled with packed-down snow on the animal's front. They treated their panquin well, however, and most lived full and long lives in captivity.
{Owner at Silverhands} 
