End of Empires - N3S III

Magnificent. That word, more than any other, describes the city of Seis. The sprawling avenues invite gawking even as they discourage mingling; the soaring, columned temples are built to impress rather than to function. Even the houses have more an air of posturing than they do of actually being lived in, as though each man is trying to outdo his neighbors. Still, the city is the spiritual heart of the Seshweay and all the lands that worship Unity and Aya’se, a sacred place of pilgrimage for a quarter of the known world.

It is also a place of philosophers, writers, and above all, artists, surpassing even the famed schools of Paasa in the north, and rivaling faraway Farou. Mosaics have become the preferred medium above all, with hundreds of commissions for various churches or official government buildings, along with numerous private families eager to show their culture by tiling their floor. By now, the art has been raised to a level unseen anywhere else in the world.

Also impressive is the rise of sculpture, especially of both marble (imported from the east) and small gold statuettes. These have begun to adorn every temple in the city, as well as being exported to the various Ancestor Worshiping cities abroad; this art in particular has taken on a very religious focus. One can see a gradual hardening of fundamentalist factions in Seshweay as a whole, especially in the city itself.

But for all its grandeur, Seis has been falling by the economic wayside. The young men who can escape their family farms in the River Valley increasingly seek their fortunes abroad, moving to the colonies, acting as missionaries, merchants, sailors, roving the Kern Sea, or possibly settling in the shipbuilding city of Mahid. Or perhaps they go to Haies and Onesh, which now rival Seis in finance, being better located in the trade empire. Still, the older city holds primacy, with the recent construction of the massive Central Exchange and Trade Building, and the massive influx of gold from Nerussian mines.

Neruss, for its part, continued in its role of key ally to the Seshweay, and formed the central link in the Gold Road. This was a thoroughfare that joined Seis to Farou, a monumental achievement in modern engineering that wound through the hills Helsia, the Senet Desert, and over the Parda hills into the Sesh valley. Incidentally, close cooperation allowed the foundation of a Neruss colony to the northwest of the Seshweay, though this small enclave faced raids from the Agi tribe, a people who seem hell-bent on the destruction of their neighbors. Indeed, the ferocity of these attacks is unprecedented, even in the long memories of the Seshweay themselves (Neruss: -50 professionals, -500 militia).

Neruss also saw the rise of the youthful and radical politician Joakim Netfa, who managed to eradicate much of the corruption that had earlier plagued Neruss’ government. His support could be partially explained by the rise of a middle class in the nation. Spurred on by the growth in trade, a small but increasingly rich group of investors managed to create a position for themselves between the nobles and the commoners, something quite unseen anywhere besides the Seshweay and possibly the Farou. It remains to be seen what might eventually follow from these events.

Incidentally, the strength of financial institutions in Seshweay allowed them to maintain a much higher debt that most comparable nations, though the interest on it has begun to become a fairly significant amount of money.

The most adventurous of men, however, have been actively involved in the colonization and integration efforts in the Kern Sea area. After a set of alliances were concluded with the nations of Styr, Murk, and Kardil, the Seshweay began to expand near all of them. Efforts were fastest near Styr, where the rulers were friendlier and the communications easier. Indeed, in the year 113 SR, the Senate of Styr petitioned the Union of Aya’se, as Seshweay had renamed itself, to admit them as a full member city. The Union thus gladly accepted their first truly foreign citizens.

This would have required a radical rethinking of thought if the Seshweay had remained set in their old ways, where they were inherently superior to the rest of the world. But over the course of the past few centuries, this line of thinking was discarded by most as entirely outmoded; all men were now seen as “citizens of the world”: it was the Union’s job to bring them under a single government.

To that end, strains of Unity surged, and religious fanaticism saw a marked increase over the course of the period, and with it, the missionary and economic activity in Kardil and Murk took an even greater precedence in the minds of the Senators.

Unfortunately, the Seshweay strategy was fairly inflexible, at least initially. Their tactics had worked so well in Styr that it was assumed Murk would happen the exact same way. However, these men (called “upstream” in old Styrian jargon) traditionally had little contact with the foreign merchants, acting more as middlemen between the miners and the ports. These peoples naturally were much more suspicious of merchants and missionaries claiming to bring the newfangled notion of liberty, and were much slower to convert or overthrow their monarchy. More conservative still was the Kingdom of Oscadia upstream, which was the most ardent bastion of nativism yet.

But it was in Kardil where the Seshweay met their most unwelcome response yet. A popular revolution had overthrown the king in the year 114 SR, installing a senate along Seshweay lines; this body was a great patron of Ancestor Worship. Over the years last two decades of Kardili history, however, the religion of Maninism had taken a considerable hold on people’s hearts. There was therefore something of a backlash, leading to violence in the streets and very nearly plunging the nation into a civil war. Order was only restored when the former king retook his throne in 120 SR, sharing power with the Senate. He was more moderate than the southerners could have dared to hope, but his influence prevented the further spread of Ancestor Worship and a considerable boost to the Maninist faction.

This was heartening news to the Gallatene monks who had been praying for the conversion of the small state for many years now. Maninism had been growing in recent years, spread by Gallat to all corners of their region. Constructing temples in Kardil, Ferman, and even parts of Ritti, the faith was growing rapidly. Kings like Mitallian and Alrad the Pure were eager to patronize the faith, and rejoiced even as the people began to place their God over their monarch.

Otherwise, Gallat saw a period of unprecedented prosperity. The construction of the port of Aldina was a thorough victory over the attempted Seshweay expansion into the area, for while the southerner’s colony remained, it was outflanked, and its usefulness as trading stop had greatly diminished. Indeed, the new island city also drew away considerable trade from Kardil as well, and the small nation began to seriously decline in importance over this period (contributing to the general instability).

Military adventures were also a success, with King Almath X leading an easily successful expansion to the northeast that hardly incurred any casualties at all, adding a massive new section onto the Kingdom. He also founded the city of Halandata on the frontier, creating a military outpost against the barbarians.

He was completely outdone, though, but a few warriors who, having served their time in the Gallatene army, decided to strike out with a band of settlers and created the Tarasatan Kingdom centered around Pamala. This highly militarized state was a follower of Maninism and otherwise a sister state to Gallat, far from the supply lines of the larger nation, so the Kings were quite content to let it be.

Directly to their south, the developments in Gallat and the Union of Aya’se were having a profound effect on the Nahsjad tribes. Always an isolationist group, the desert dwellers had mostly been content to live in their magnificent brick and stone buildings. It was no strange thing to them that they maintained this relative seclusion and yet were a crucial link in the trade network of the known world. It was simply the way things were.

Yet the way things were was rapidly changing. The foundation of Aldina had been accomplished by paying the Nahsjad on the island to move to the mainland, and not just in gold. The newly armed Nahsjad tribe were able to defeat their enemies with excellent swords and armor of Gallatene manufacture. Converting to Maninism, they created a small foothold on the mainland.

The new port also changed the locale where most trade was conducted. Now the famous Ushka road changed its course for the first time in millennia, and the well-established balance of power among tribes was shifting. The biggest winners were the Tehabi chiefs of the north, who were able to decisively defeat all their traditional rivals and more than double the size of their territory by the end of the period. Now controlling much of the trade across the desert, they are starting to feel Gallatene influences as well, though they are of course still godless heathens in the priests’ view.

In Ferman, meanwhile, rulers had once again taken charge of their destiny, and the nation shook itself from a period of lethargy. The new city of Edrim was founded in the center of the nation, while a homegrown religion, Alta, was founded by the shepherds of the east, partly as a reaction against the growing influences of both Seshweay Ancestor Worship and Maninism. Ferman also saw a slight economic decline, mostly due to the shunting of trade from their own ports to those of Gallat; growth in the agricultural economy was not enough to make up for this.

A slightly different drama unfolded in the nation of Acca, where Seshweay missionaries were able to operate despite the lack of sanction by the tyrannical government, slipping in through trading missions, or even through the border that they now shared with the latest expansion of Acca and the annexation of Styr by the Sesh. Their calls to liberty had a considerable appeal to the numerous slaves on the plantations in southern Acca, where worship services were held in secret. Naturally, when Acca found out about this, they were furious, and began an active persecution of the new religion.

It was threats like these, perhaps, that prompted an increasing militarization of Accan society. The Paramoratta barrier in the north, built to connect the line of forts that had long separated them from the north, was a clear signal against unwanted visitors, though it paradoxically reassured Rutto and Prokym that they had no designs on the north. Simultaneously, the military was continuously expanded through the entire era.

Fearful of slave rebellion, the Accans were also responsible for widespread population movements, shuttling around their people to work on various projects. This served to completely homogenize and disorient the population, stymieing any calls for rebellion, but it also introduced considerable resentment that had to be harshly suppressed.

The far northern countries watched these events with some bemusement. As Ritti entered an era which some were calling a “long sleep”, and as the Prokym and Rutto made their peace, fairly little troubled this supposedly wild landscape. To be fair, several nations were somewhat active in this time.

Kedoy, for example, went through a burst of sustained expansion this turn, and increasing trade with Gallat fueled minor economic growth. The Taudo people, fairly quiet though they remained, saw some expansion in this period as well. Most interesting, of course, were the Lor.

The Lor had settled on the northern coast of the mainland, emigrants, possibly from the eastern coast of the Yadyevu Sea, or from the lands of the Ederru themselves (they themselves call their homeland the Isle of Falor). Politically, there are three powers to contend with, the Talorius (an intellectual leader), the Falorius (a military leader), and the Valras, or an assembly of clan leaders; all three rule from the capital of Taloré. It is a somewhat democratic experiment, which makes it quite a favored stopover for adventurous Seshweay traders. It might also be noted that their mythology is quite unusual (as the gods created this world as a competition amongst themselves to see whose creation would be most magnificent).

Further east, meanwhile, other peoples were also being drawn into the network of the known world. The Avaimi centralized under the rule of the Thorsrdyn, Roech, who founded a new, eastern capital at Asyvedr. He linked this city with the older one at Arrile with a newly constructed road. Moreover, this new, eastern focus of the country brought them into contact with peoples further down the river.

Chief among these were the Liang, a collection of states (only one of them actually having that exact name) descended from the Empire of the God-King Ming, or so they themselves claim. These people believe that holiness is not inherent in any one thing, but rather open to anyone who would strive for it and live a loyal life. Some trade has sprung up, though relations are not free of friction between the two nations. Also notable to the Avaimi, at least, is the rise of a sister state in Cotisi to their southwest.

Other than rumors of unsettled populations throughout the north, little else has happened of note. Far more tumultuous are the happenings in the distant south.

Over the Kern Sea, over the Allato Hills, crossing the nearly interminable desert, we come to the land of the Nahari. Once only a tiny city-state on the edge of the desert, it grew considerably through the conquests of Ruman: first Zirais, then Bahar fell in turn. In fact, it had become the most dominant of the Arta Xorti states by the time of their great conqueror’s death, a position which they look likely to keep.

Their main rival in the region is, of course, the Opulensi. Formerly broken up into numerous city-states, they finally consolidated under the rule of one King Charitas.

A military reformer, he established a system of uniform military service, and made it not only a respectable way of life, but also a highly potent force. Notably, the Opulensi militia were able to fight at a much better level than militia anywhere in the world with the possible exception of the Seshweay. Thus, King Charitas had an excellent vehicle for the expansion of the Epichirisi state.

His first major move, however, was surprisingly a diplomatic one. Instead of conquering his rivals, he arranged a royal marriage that brought the state of Ormiskos under his wing, and indeed upon their king’s death, he became the de facto regent until Charitas’ son would become the king of both realms under a united Opulensi crown.

In the mean time, he launched campaigns against Kalos and Leheb. That against Kalos went fairly simply, as the state was overwhelmed by sheer force of arms, surrounded by the larger state. Leheb proved a more recalcitrant state, and was able to resist simply due to the more open nature of the coastline; eventually Charitas called off the campaign.

His attacks, however, had driven away many from their traditional homelands, including the men of Kalos, who by and large fled to a refounded city far from the reach of their enemies. Indeed, the Opulensi people as a whole saw considerable expansion eastwards during the period, some outside of the known world, into the dark shroud.

The foundations of a merchant guild netted the crown a considerable source of new income, however, this also raised some friction with Trilui and Trehan merchants; some sort of confrontation between the three looked inevitable in the long run, though for the moment all seemed well.

In other sectors, however, the Opulensi plans didn’t go nearly as well. The attempt by the government to mold the religion of the Opulensi into something different (and, not surprisingly, very beneficial to the state) was so blatant that it caused many of the priests and commoners alike to react rather badly towards the regency. In particular, the attempt to declare the king to be divine had no precedent in their religious life. Riots broke out throughout the cities, especially in the conservative Ormiskos.

After a while, the riots died down, but rather than accept the government’s attempt to claim the religious mantle for itself, the Opulensi religion had lost most of whatever credence it still had. Indeed, the vast majority of practitioners abandoned the polytheism, and most priests fell from favor or went into exile. The religion of Indagahor was rising faster than ever, and by the end of the period had installed itself as the primary religion throughout the united state. In the end, King Charitas reluctantly converted, and declared the state and only religion to be that of the islanders.

To declare Charitas’ reign a failure, however, would be to miss the crucial developments that occurred in the period. While his religious agenda was a fiasco, his other domestic accomplishments, and especially the overhaul of the military, ensured that the Opulensi would remain one of the strongest powers of the region. From a slowly withering husk of a state, the state and culture was revitalized.

(Opulensi: -500 militia, -30 ships)

Their neighbors in Treha saw a quiet period. The total elimination of piracy enabled a large increase in trade, while the completion of a harbor in Treha proper made the city into one of the great hubs of the known world. Indeed, the city has become known as the safest haven in the world for any ship, regardless of nationality, or perhaps even legality.

To the north, Stad Men also observed little change. A road to the north enabled a considerable growth in population there, to be sure, but they were largely passive even as the Nahari Empire bloomed into life to their north.

The Farou saw a period of unprecedented prosperity give way to a period of unprecedented high culture. The influx of Hamakuan artists was joined by a strong community of refugees from the violence in Neruss (see below), and the meeting of cultures prompted great experimentation in style. In particular, the bards of the former people had stimulated the first written poetry as literature in the known world, far surpassing any other peoples in this field.

So, too, was their theater unequaled. Salai of Therefau was the greatest playwright the world had yet seen, a master of wordplay and language whose works survive until the end of days. In particular, his magnum opus, a trilogy whose title can be loosely translated as Slave, was viewed as a key catalyst in several major slave rebellions in the Hu’ut Empire. Salai was, of course, not alone, and several contemporaries achieved fame as well; Farou drama was performed as far afield as Krato and the Seshweay.

Overlooked beside all these developments, perhaps, was the field of architecture, but easily the greatest theater the world had ever seen was built in the city of Farou. Sometimes called the People’s Stage, it provided a venue for Salai, even some of his more controversial works, including one which would eventually lead to his death from a mob of angry citizens.

Supposedly less cultured than the Farou, the Trilui’s advances are often ignored. However, they imported the Farou style of theater, and while the imitation might seem shallow to some, it did not prevent them from producing great works of their own. A notable native event was the “great leap forward” that occurred in sculpture during the period, which adorned many new buildings in the city as part of a glorification program by the Emperor. New buildings, particularly those along the Sailor’s Avenue that linked Hulos’ temple with the port, and the tomb of the great admiral Vadeni, are testament to the Trilui eye for beauty.

Domestically, a slight fall in trading revenues was seen by the Empire as minor financial crises in the northwest (see below) drove up prices, but for the greater part of the population, little changed. Piracy was largely eradicated from the Lovi Sea, though there are still reports of enclaves in the Astrii territory, which still hamper shipping to this day. The province on the Peko River saw considerable development as the breadbasket of the empire, and indeed grain from that land fueled the growth of Trovin to an unprecedented size.

Further afield, Trilui explorers ventured both eastwards and south. In the east, they largely were unable to penetrate much further than the Kbrilma Sea, mostly due to the uncertainty of supplies, but to the south, they were able to confirm the presence of – mostly nothing. Past Cape Manakea, it seems, the Nakalani continues for quite some distance.

Military expeditions to the southwest were far more successful, finally eradicating the pirate enclaves there (with the help of Jipha and Krato, of course), and aiding the Hanakahi in finally suppressing the last of the Hamakuan rebels. The latter operation in particular cost many lives, however.

(Trilui: -50 ships, -1,000 militia, -250 professionals)

The people of Palmyra also saw a busy period, with considerable investment going into a set of new dockyards at the capital, as well as the gradual development of new ships (known as “crocodiles” to the animal-fond Palmyrians). There was also the codification of a new common law, as well as the founding of a new naval academy that put their admirals on a par with even the great Trilui.

To their southwest, the Zyeshu consolidated further under a single central authority, as the king, through both bribery and skillful diplomatic maneuvering wrested power away from the jealous nobility. He also established increasingly sophisticated coastal fortifications that were able to deflect nearly the entirety of pirate raids during the period, while Zyeshu sojourns became more common to the former lands of the Hamakua as well as the exotic west, though the north was mostly avoided due to the turmoil there.

The Empire of Krato, now without any real enemies, seemed to conduct itself with a certain hesitancy. True, they were able to crush the minor independent city of Triad, but this was scarcely an achievement to boast about; they had vastly outnumbered the smaller state’s forces. Besides this, the nation contented itself with a few housekeeping operations, destroying the pirate enclaves to their east in conjunction with the Trilui and Jipha.

(Krato: -500 militia, -400 professionals, -20 elephants)

The Uggor also learned of a secret society, the Order of the One, who apparently had existed for quite some time, unbeknownst to their sovereign. The Order, attempting to take a more proactive stance in the world, especially against the rise of Iralliam, repaired the great fort in the Hala Valley that had once been the refuge of the Duroc people in times of crisis.

Two island cities were founded to take better advantage of the trade that now came across the seas: Sizo, on an island so tiny that the city was more of a fort than anything else, and Rangi, which provided a useful base for colonial expeditions to the south.

It was one such colonial operation that caught the attention of the Emperor. Led by a General Covo, a highly ambitious and cruel man, its depredations led to much resentment on the part of the colony where they served, and it was met with more than a little relief when they embarked on an expedition against the natives.

Covo had been ordered not to engage these peoples unless absolutely necessary, but it was hard to see how his orders could have led to anything besides bloodshed, especially given his explosive personality. Needless to say, his policies of general wanton behavior were quite unpopular with the natives, and were met with hostility in every direction. Except, that is, for one tribe, quite unlike any other the Uggor had met.

The Gu Ya Rot were minor even by the standards of the jungle tribes, but they were remarkable in that they alone did not attack the Uggor. This was not due to any sort of special predisposition to the Uggor: instead they simply had a fairly peaceable nature, preferring to live among the forest and only harm those that would seek to harm their home. As such, they benefitted greatly from trade with the northerner’s expedition, and were able to make considerable advances past their neighbors.

Thus we come to Moti, that unusual cousin of Krato. This period saw fairly little trouble from the state, which preferred to watch its neighbors quarrel, but this was less due to any inherent peacefulness than to the generally disunity of the nation. The great families who in Krato were more economic units than anything else had become discrete political pieces of the puzzle, some of them directly hostile to the governing Elephant Clan.

However, skillful leadership from the Chief of Chiefs Gaci saw a meteoric rise in centralization, as the Elephant family took control of many new lands, and perhaps more importantly gained land in the city of Moti proper to establish a temple there. The increased income from these two sources enabled an increase in their family’s military, with which they were able to fight against outsiders who were forced to the fringe of Moti society.

Some troubles with bandits were reported to the north, especially with an earthquake late in the period, and perhaps even more importantly, the war.

With the deaths of Emperor Ruman of the Nahari and Admiral Vadeni of the Trilui, there were no more great captains, no brilliant leaders who any army would fear to face. But this lack of generalship would not stop men from going to war...

The troops assembled under the noonday sun, their speartips glinting with that far-off glow. A man wiped his brow, the sweat running repeatedly into his eyes. With a grunt, he had his driver move the monstrous chariot a little bit forward, so that he could properly review the lines from his perch.

This man was Gepo, and he was emperor of Hu’ut, the oldest and greatest empire that had ever lived. He was a lion among men, vain and sure of his divine right to an even greater realm than his birth had granted him. It was only two months ago that he had been in the great city which men now called Hiuttu (though he would never use such a barbarous shortened name), expanding the temples, parks, and palaces – above all, placing his statue in positions of great honor among his subjects. He would write his name as Gepo the Great, if he could but pick up the pen of history...

And thus it was that he found himself on the plains of the Senet Desert, before the walls of the city of Gyza. The enemy had drawn up some sort of pathetic militia to try and arrest his advance before it careened haphazardly northward, but they were impotent. He was a lion among sheep, and he would have his fill.

There stood a man between him an Gyza, the venerable Maluss, a senator of great standing in Neruss itself. He was no veteran, but he had a brave soul, and he called upon his men to stand fast against the horde.

It was to no avail. The Hu’ut barely even needed to thrust a single spear; the enemy fled before them like sand tossed beneath a wave. The city of Gyza could not even close its gates. In any case it was none too loyal to Neruss itself, and not at all eager to see itself burnt to the ground. The Hu’ut had captured a critical supply line, and were able to continue their march.

The situation was worse than anything the Neruss could ever have imagined. Joakim Nefta, Whip of the Neruss, desperately assembled a two thousand man militia to defend the capital, but the emperor of Hu’ut had at least twenty thousand men under his banners even after a grueling march through the Senet. The situation was utterly hopeless; he put a token garrison in the northern city of Banh and called for his professionals to return home from their mission in the far northwest.

But any reinforcements or Seshweay troops would arrive too late for Banh; the city had to hold out against the immeasurably larger enemy forces on its own. Nor was the city built for the task: the three great bastions that had been built, rebuilt, and constantly renovated by the Akalm, Arkage and Neruss in turn all faced the northwest. No one suspected an attack from the southeast, and a wall that was more of a rampart than anything else was all that stood between the city and destruction.

Gepo sent a small but elite force to block the road between the city and Neruss itself to prevent any kind of attack from the rear, and prepared to attack the walls. The Parda Hills had scarcely a tree among them, so traditional siege techniques would have to be abandoned in favor of cruder efforts. His troops surged forward and piled an earthen ramp against the weak wall, fending off the numerous arrows.

His army crashed over the wall with the professionals at the forefront, slaughtering any soldiers that dared to stand in their way, and generally setting the city alight. Banh had fallen at a stroke, and with it, the gold mines of the Pardas were in Hu’ut hands.

The burgeoning growth of the Seshweay financial system depended on exactly those mines, and now found itself in an acute gold shortage. A major crisis in Seis itself surfaced.

The Seshweay were thus only too willing to support their allies in a war against even the mighty Hu’ut. The Seshweay military, though, was far too small to suffice for the task at hand, even with large deficit spending on the part of the Senators. Only some 1,500 professionals could be drawn up for the attack, and even this was a risky proposition; in the end, the combined allied force only had some two thousand men to face a force that was still nearly ten times their size.

Their armies made good time down the newly completed road, reaching the Parda Hills in only a few days, meeting no Hu’ut in the Seshweay territory itself. But the city of Banh was designed to meet an attack from this direction, and so the armies stalled for a moment as they contemplated how best to launch their assault.

Gepo, for his part, was quite anxious to avoid battle in the narrow mountain passes where his larger army would be of no use, and so simply stationed a massive garrison – nearly ten thousand men, in all – in Banh, relying on its massive fortifications to defeat the enemy. He would then take the smaller half of his army to conquer the city of Neruss itself.

The Neruss fought fiercely for their homeland, ambushing Hu’ut bands on the mountain road repeatedly, but were unable to put up sufficient resistance against the invaders. All fell before them, and the city of Neruss itself was soon seen by Gepo, guarded only by the ancient walls rising above the salt flats and a few brave militia who remained. The situation was hopeless, but Joakim Netfa was able to keep the people in line, and even in their panicked state, they refused to entertain the idea of surrender.

Thus it was the last day for Neruss. Dawn rose pale and clear, the sun playing over the grey horizon barely hinting at the blood that was going to come. Ten thousand men steeled themselves for battle, gazing over the salt plains at each other, contemplating the ever so sharp spears arrayed like a hedgehog of the besiegers, or the ever more imposing ramparts, silent in their vigil.

But Gepo would have none of it. The contemplation, the waiting, this was not what he had set out to do. He ordered the attack to commence.

Forwards the Hu’ut army surged, axes and spears upraised, rushing for the gates. The first line was scythed down by a slew of arrows, piercing bodies, with young men from a faraway river valley spilling their blood onto the crackling earth. They tore at the gates in their haste to avoid the darts, hacking at the wood. In a moment, they would be through –

The war drums beat like the call of a forgotten mythic beast, urging on soldiers who rose to fight their greatest foe. They were standard bearers of liberty, of freedom; literate men who pitied the slaves they were fighting, but did not hesitate to cut them down. For these were the men of Farou, and they pushed through the line of spears as does a ship through the current.

An ancient quarrel was fought far from the land where it had started, the duel of tyranny and liberty. The resulting battle would be immortalized in a play by Salai, and sung by the bards of the Farou court through the ages; the Hu’ut battle lines finally broke, and Gepo ordered his troops to withdraw, pursued along the Gold Road by angry Neruss and Farouese alike.

In the end, Gepo found the city of Akalm to be untenable in the face of a two-sided assault, and retreated to Gyza. By this time, the length of the Hu’ut supply lines was beginning to tell, and the allied forces, fueled by the seemingly inexhaustible credit of the Seshweay managed to check any further advances.

The entry of Farou into the war, moreover, had deeper consequences, as they struck south from Subal, taking Hu’uti territory up until the Had River itself. Grain could not be safely shipped upriver to be transported to their armies anymore, and many speculated that the Emperor Gepo would have to negotiate a settlement of some kind before his gains were entirely erased.

It is possible, however, that not only the Hu’ut, but also the entirety of the known world will find much more dramatic events to concern themselves with soon...

(Hu’ut: -6,000 militia, -500 professionals; Farou: -3,000 militia, -200 professionals; Neruss: -2,000 militia, -100 professionals; Union of Aya’se: -500 professionals)

Firstly, the Katdhi tribe, long only one of many competing in their great plain, have finally gained supremacy over the entire land. The steppe tribe now looks poised to spill out eastwards over the entirety of the cradle, though in truth they have been somewhat dwarfed by another peoples far to the north...

The rapturous song of a nightingale is eclipsed by any battle.

The soft grasses of the steppe stretch infinitely on, disappearing over sunset’s curve even when seen from the highest mountain. Dark clouds gather over the land, and the first hints of rain begin to fall. The storm is long in coming, and all the more furious for the delay.

Long ago, the Satarai were the terror of every people. But they were extinguished by Te’esh, the greatest warrior in myth; their flame was purged from the earth. Terror itself had vanished, and the cradle was free to dwell on its own bloody conflicts.

But they were not extinguished. The currents drifted, and the clouds lengthened, rippling over the landscape more broad than the seas themselves. The tribes were scattered, broken, and they even lost count of the years, wandering for hundreds in this endless plain.

Then there was the man. Ephkar on the tongues of Gods, but to mere men he was Arastephas, the Redeemer, who found the golden mask of the Satarai lords of old. He was to fulfill his own prophecies, defeating the chief of the Star in battle, of the Arrow by bribery, of the Spear by oratory, of the Sword and Wheel by acclamation. He was declared Lord of lords, High Prince, the ruler of all lands, whether they now acknowledged him or had to be subdued later.

It was he, then, that reforged the Satar peoples into a single blade, he who set them to reclaim their distant homeland.

It was he who was responsible for the return of the great bane of humanity.

The drums are sounding once again.


The world wheels about in the heavens, wandering from season to season. The sun rises and sets, marking the passage of days. But once in a man’s life, the sun stands still.

So it was today that the ever-changeable moon rolled over the sun, cutting across the daytime with a swathe of early night hundreds of miles wide. So it was today that men trembled at the will of the gods, for what could be a more eerie portent than this?


Neruss (2): Not utterly destroyed by Hu’ut, war debts forgiven
Liang (1): A surprisingly strong position on the periphery of the world.
Avaimi (1): +500 income, +culture
Palmyra (1): +500 income, +5,000 manpower
Trilui (1): +500 income, +culture
Stad Men (1): +500 income
Iralliam (3): Increasingly fervent support in both the Liealb homelands and in the Yensai valley.
Gallat (2): Great successes in colonization, +500 income
Seshweay (3): Seamless integration of Styr, +1,000 income
Satar (1): Look at their stats and tell me they did not get a bonus.
Treha (1): +500 income
Moti (1): +500 income, success of the Elephant Clan for this turn


A warm welcome to Zaerun. Hopefully this first update isn’t too scary and you’ll stick around. I'll put up your stats later, along with some missing NPCs at the moment.

Note how we could really use some names for the City and Physical maps. Name things, people!

Sorry for the looooooooooong delay in getting this done. College workload sucks. The quality is low for the same reason: this was mostly finished in the odd hours I could get in between concerts, papers, and busywork.

Next update should be during Thanksgiving break, so you have about two weeks to write and send orders.

Hope you guys are still around and interested!

Lucky Nerussian bastards. Damn you Farou!

Poop. I was afraid that this would happen: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=7114567&postcount=889 , now it will be much harder to conquer the world.

Great update, I really felt the surge of the awesomement.

Great Update NK, i'll get started on a few stories this turn.

Sheer awesomeness.

O sweet, haven't read it yet, but it looks good.

From: Union of Aya'se, Republic of Seshweay, Republic of Styr, and All Faithful of the Ancestors
To: Farou, Neruss, all the faithful

Let us liberate the slaves of the tyrant, forwards for the light of liberty, lead them to the fire of justice, teach them of the virtue of freedom, and show them the goodness and strength of freeman.

The Union of Aya'se calls on all the faithful to take up arms against the perfidious Hu'ut, let not the tyrant breathe, suffer not the cruel yoke of slavery, abhor the invaders of Aya'se's people, seek vengeance for ill inflicted. Remember Bahn!

Fatherland, Faith, Unity and Union!

OOC: You've just kicked the religious hornets nest.. you better leave LJ, or face some really pissed of Democrats

The Suffering

The Nerussians had taken a heavy hit indeed… Never before had the Nerussian people seen destruction on such an unprecedented scale like this.

Who was to blame…?

The treacherous Hu’ut had stabbed the Nerussians in the back, and the hatred ran deep through the veins of the people. Words could not describe the National feeling towards the Hu’ut. Through out the regained lands of the Neruss began a dark chapter in the history of the world. Every Hu’ut descendant in the lands was rounded up in every town square and in every plaza in the cities through out the lands. All who sympathised or was distantly related to the Hu’ut and their inbred kind were brutally massacred, but not just killed… their bodies impaled on stakes it would take days for the impure Hu’ut for their souls to leave their damned bodies. The cities and towns of Neruss ran red with rivers of blood and stained the ground red for years to come. The bodies of the lifeless Hu’ut were to be displayed as a reminder what happened this day. And never would the Neruss forget this day as it would be remembered as “Doedens Dag af Hu’uterne” this Nerussian dialect directly translates to the days of death of the Hu’ut. This day unified the people under a united front all longing for the destruction of the Hu’ut. This Bitter hatred would prove to have a huge impact on the years to come as the all too clear images of Burning Nerussian cities was searing clear in the minds of the Nerussians.

Unknown Historian/Philosopher’s account at the time:

“As have the blood of Nerussians been spilled… so shall the blood of the godless Hu’ut flow through the Cities of Bahn and Neruss. This is a day of war and a day of unity amongst our People! This is the day of the cleansing, and may the face of Hu’ut dissipate from the world in all eternity.”

These words will remain in history as a reminder of the wrath that the Hu’ut was to face over the next centaury.

Edit:

This is the end of the Hu'ut and the fall of tyrants through out the wolrd

OOC: @NK: On all the maps but the political and economic maps there is an island south of former Annua, what happened to it?



Can I blame the aliens? Or it just was never there

to: Astrii
From: Empire of the Trilui
Contain those pirates, or we will do it ourselves.

Nice to see the map expanding like this. The Satarai are just crying for some bigger and meaner people to come out of the steppe and destroy them if Earth history is any indication.

Also, it still is called the Elephant Family for the sake of continuity (the same word is used for the relatively smaller traditional Uggor extended families and the huge noble familial conglomerations).

Further east, meanwhile, other peoples were also being drawn into the network of the known world. The Avaimi centralized under the rule of the Thorsrdyn, Roech, who founded a new, eastern capital at Asyvedr. He linked this city with the older one at Arrile with a newly constructed road. Moreover, this new, eastern focus of the country brought them into contact with peoples further down the river.

Click to expand...

I think you mean west and western.

EDIT: Kal'thzar, can you please explain just what does Irallliam amount to in everyday term aside from the stories about the prophet, presumably the veneration of certain holy sites associated with said prophet and the belief in an afterlife? Is there any kind of actual religious organisation, and how does it look like?

North King, what is up with this Order of One thing, anyway?

It was one such colonial operation that caught the attention of the Emperor. Led by a General Covo, a highly ambitious and cruel man, its depredations led to much resentment on the part of the colony where they served, and it was met with more than a little relief when they embarked on an expedition against the natives.

Click to expand...

Ummm... What the heck is going on? Krato isn't ruled by an Emperor, it's still ruled by the Council of chiefs. Sure, that council is getting smaller, but there still isn't one man with all of the power yet. Also, a lack of an emperor would make Krato not an empire, right?

OOC:An Aweinspiring Update as always. Infact, this will preclude the rise of the Trehan ....

I am getting ahead of myself... *Evil Laugh*
IC:
To the Empire of the Trilui
From Treha

We propose an Alliance in these years. I also have a plan for the defeat of the pirates in your area. Will be PMed.

I see a great mass of writing and large bold letters. I am overcome with glee

Edit: Wow NK, you carried out my orders EXACTLY right! I am pretty ambiguous in my orders too, so that's quite a feat. I am definitely still in this.

Time for some good ol' diplomacy.

To: The Union of Aya'se and Farou
From: Krato

Krato would like to tell you two that we are willing to join the war against the Hu'ut Empire if you allow us to hold on to some of their territory once they are defeated. Thier power is great, and without Krato your victories will be extremely costly. So please, allow us to have some of Hu'ut's territory and we will contribute greatly to your cause.

To: Gu Ya Rot
From: Krato
We are willing to protect you from the outside world and the other hostile tribes that are bound to take you over. That is, if you promise to be our guides and help us explore this strange new land. And tell us of the plants and animals that could be of some use, for we wish to bring them back to our homeland.

To: Piatrata, Jiphia, Isara, and Moti
From: Krato
For the safety of of our region and for the sake of stability and peace, Krato would like to extend a hand of friendship and alliance to each of your countries. We propose a defensive alliance, one that will ensure that the countries of the south never fall to foriegn invasion. As the north becomes increasingly unstable we must band together to prevent such an event to happen to us.

@Treha, check your PM

to: Union of Aya'se
from: Empire of the Trilui
Your men are allowed passage through our land to combat the Hu'ut

to: Krato
from: Empire of the Trilui
Greetings, we come with spices and incense and exotic ivory from the far north. We wish to trade with you and hope you return the favor.

@NK, what program you used to draw a map? How do you get 'eroded' edges of a map?

@Azale - Can I get your avatar pic in higher resolution?

Glory to The Trehan Stalkers! Glory to their Legacy!

After a century and a half of small scale war. The Trehan Sea Stalkers irradicated the Pirate Lords and Enclaves around the Kingdom of Treha. Their ships dashing, they invented a new ship type. The Stalker, which is a Wide galley with a half row of Oarsmen and an Extra Mast. With the extra ship the Stalker became the perfered ship of the Stalkers in the wars, bringing extra marines to combat the pirates.

In peace they became great trade boats of the sea, their wide spaces now favoring bolted goods, they stalk the sea in search of trade deals instead of Pirates. They carry loads of Wealth instead of Pirate Bane.

The Last of the Sea Stalkers became the first Admirals of the Northern Fleet, which is a series of new boats made to expand trade into the seas of the East. Their experiance is great as their legacy. Pouncing from ship to ship they explored the vast openness of the sea and establish small posts of trade in small, obscure islands briming with forests and fruits.

In Treha, the Great Harbor attracted Hundreds, if not Thousands into the Capital. Storage is almost always full and yet more and more are comming. As the land booms some seek a simpler life, traveling south to Hulos (my Colony south of Treha) or even more Southward to a even smaller outpost. Others joined the fishing fleet instead and still others rushed to colonize the northern border or even a land far far away.

Some joined the Ranks of the Trehan Marines or the Elite Trehan Sea Stalkers. As the land of Treha booms this small island nation is running into a vast future... A future of choices, a future of victorys, defeats and allies. They will enter a Golden Age...

OOC: @ North King, can you make Elite Forces in the Unit Table? Only a maximum of 10% of Professionals can see enough combat to become the Elite fighters of a Kingdom.. and where ever they show up their skill is legendary. (a whole lot of money to upgrade) (or maybe make them free after a battle? They last 50 year updates by tradition)

From: Chief-of-Chiefs Gaci of the Moti Great Family
To: the Council of Chiefs of Krato

In the ancient days, our ancestors made a pact at the Good Council to together defend against the treasonous Evil Family and ultimately destroy it. The ancient days have been shattered, but the wise can still see their reflections in the events of our times: we and you are the reflections of our respective ancestors, and whoever dares attack us is the reflection of the Evil Family, and therefore shall be defended against and ultimately destroyed.

I and my children and my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren accept your proposal; and as a token of personal support I send each of you* two crimson elephants from my herds, so that they may bring you fortune, alongside with many other gifts from myself and my children and my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren.

*That is, each chief on the council of chiefs.

Aggression unchallenged is aggression unleashed.”

-Phaedrus

---

Atraxes stared into the east. He spurred his horse down the hill, where two men were waiting. They saluted, crossing their fists over their chests.

“A great wind is rising. It smells of heat.”

Atraxes stared beyond the men, taking in the sloping land of trickling headwaters that lay before him. He too smelled the air. “I have dreamed of this day. Tell me of the land.”

The foremost man, a tall watcher with braided black hair, spat on the earth in approval. “Prince’s son, we found the land is as the legends say. The dry grasses of our home change to brush and small trees, until sand proliferates to the south and west. There are tribes small and great, but none have strength of warriors beyond several hundred.”

“And the Sesh?”

“We have heard tales. The Empire that we once knew has fallen, destroyed by men from across the world sea.”

“Who rules in place?”

“The Seshweay have spread across the lands of the salt air, all along the waters of the world sea. They too have crossed these waters.”

The second man dismounted, and pulling a gnarled apple from his bag, fed it to his horse. “Prince’s son, the Bahran desert-kings of legend have grown in strength. They rule much of the valley from their squat castles by the white-mountain Sesh.”

Atraxes considered this. “Your words have the feel of truth. I will tell all of this to my father. There is but one more thought in my heart. Is this land to our south…?”

The two men shared a brief glance. “It is that sacred place, the Rath Tephas.”

Atraxes smiled.

The rhythms of heaven passed from high day to dusk, and Atraxes met his father at the foot of the great mountain Nasikar. As was his custom, the Seven Masks were arranged around him. Strangely, this day, Ephkar wore no mask.

Atraxes was horrified to see that his father had abandoned the sigils of authority, the mask and rod that the other Princes still held. Among the laws of the Satar, any man could strike him down and face no punishment. Atraxes bemoaned the carelessness of his father, but knew that few of his decisions were made without cause.

After giving the traditional greeting to the Seven, he addressed his father directly.

“Paternal ancestor, now you rule by force instead of by right?”

Ephkar smiled at the formal address. “Descendant,” he replied mockingly, “force and right are forever mingled. ‘Law’ and ‘right’ are terms that men use to justify their force. And I justify it by the blood I have spilled.”

“The strongest man cannot rule without acceptance of his authority, paternal ancestor. How will the people accept your authority if you have no symbol?”

The creases in the face of the ancient warrior resolved themselves from a smile into a frown.

“Authority. That is a Sesh word. The word of the plains is exatas. Right of the conqueror.”

Pulling a knife from the sheath strapped to his arm, he slashed it across his left arm, drawing a deep gash. Ephkar brandished the bloody arm before the silent princes and his horrified son.

“This is why these warriors have accepted my authority. THIS is why Taleldil has accepted my authority! The kings and senators of the weak lands believe that when a man’s blood spills the earth, he will stop fighting. When the blood of the Satar blesses the earth, we laugh with joy at the glory of the challenge!”

He turned, laughing uncontrollably as the blood from his arm dripped earthward.

“BRING IT.”

Three oracles stepped forward, obsidian masks veiling their faces. Between them they carried a box covered in cloth. Atraxes could only stare, mesmerized by the intensity of the expression in his father’s eyes.

“Earthly authority is abandoned when heavenly authority is conferred. The Satarai lost it, when last of the satraps threw his golden mask into the dust, fleeing with his people across the great gap where we now stand. “

The oracles abruptly spoke, chanting what sounded like a litany. “It lay upon this great point of passage, entombed in a cavern of stone, until a simple herdsman discovered it. This man was blessed by Taleldil to rule the world. We acclaim him Ephkar, High Prince of the Satar.”

Ephkar faced the Seven Princes. In turn, each one of them slashed their hands with a blade of cold iron.

“My son, you witness a birthright restored.”

“W…what birthright, father?”

As if waiting for a signal, the Seven roared out, “EXATAS!”

The gleaming golden mask was placed upon the earth by the oracles. As one, the Seven placed their fists upon the metal, the blood of each mingling and running in rivulets across the gold to stain the ground. Each one removed the silver mask from their faces, and placed it upon the ground. They knelt in a circle.

Ephkar placed his blood-stained arm upon the mask last, completing the ritual. Then he lifted it to his face.

“I am Ephkar no longer. Hail me Arastephas, Redeemer in the ancient language.”

So it came to pass that Arastephas the Redeemer who was Ephkar passed into the east. And the world shook with the growing sound of hooves.

Heh, nice that you asked that das, my stories this turn will actually be the end of the beginning of the stories of the prophet (which will get less and less frequent), and the current meaning of the religion (i.e. the 'moden' interpetation) will come to light, but basically I took the beleifs of all the people in the south and shaped a religion over it.

But I'll get back to you.