End of Empires - N3S III

To: the Vellari Exatai, Erephas-ta-Alusille, Prince of the Shield and Redeemer of all the Satar
From: Pharaxes-ta-Marevi, High Prince of the Tephran Exatai


Your claims that the greatest threat lies accross the Kern is a falsehood perpetuated by your greed and decadence. We have been fighting the War in Heaven on Earth for years now, against the Traitor God Zalkephis and his earthly legions who turn Satar away from the love of Taleldil.

You false Satarai, you Accan moneygrubbers dragged yourselves into a war accross the Kern against the Halyrate while voiding the war of your Spirits, the Fourth War of Prophecy! Join the Tephran Exatai in their great war for the Glory of Taleldil! We have won great victories - Sartashion burns under our aegis! Abandon your meaningless war accross the Kern and turn your arms against the False God Zalkephis!
 
From: Zakraphetas, High Prince of the Vellari Exatai
To: Pharaxes-ta-Marevi, High Prince of the Tephran Exatai


Tephrans, always obsessed with the purity of their line and insulting the Accani, as if your line was not filled with Xieni at every turn. I recognize the threat Zalkephis poses. It was Accan soldiers which guarded Alusille through the worst days of the Zalkephic raids.

Now, I will gladly apply pressure against the False Oracle if you will send your vaunted cavalry to help us oppose the false god WE are fighting. Is that not a fair compromise? If the Satar are not united, the Aitahists and the Godless they have duped into serving them shall soon be on our shores, and your borders. And they are more threatening than some Zalkephai rabble.

Do not think yourself safe.
 
Spoiler at that diplomacy :


EDIT:

TO: Inan Ea Daharai
FROM: The Halyrate


In respect for peace, the Halyrate and Inan Ea Daharai sign the following treaty to bring an end to the current war between them.

1. Inan Ea Daharai will withdraw from all lands currently occupied, placing no harm on the people, land, or other properties or resources nor provide funding or arms to groups of their association in any region they must travel from or through to successfully leave Halyral territory.

2. Inan Ea Daharai will provide 10,000 gold for the restoration of the city of Kest and others damaged in their campaign, to be paid before 940 SR in entirety.

3. Trade relations between both parties shall return to their former status, as had existed for decades, and shall not be altered now based on the circumstances of the war or this peace, but be allowed to return their natural state.
 
The Redeemer and Ayasi applauds the Red Chamber's action, and is glad to see that despite their bluster they have followed the sensible policy that we advocated.
 
The Red Chamber hereby notifies the Emperor of the Kothari Satar of the expulsion of his embassy from Epichirisi, and of the immediate recall of its own ambassadors from the Court of the Star.

Though this state of affairs is regretful, his bellicose rhetoric has exhausted any goodwill that was borne towards his countries by our great Compact.
 
I, the Redeemer and Ayasi, and the Halyrate have determined that the Daharai have, in years past and in times more recent, demonstrated an untoward and aggressive attitude towards their neighbours, opportunistically attacking them though none have ever, or do to this day, wish evil to the Republic of the Daharai. For in the past the Daharai have fought on Ephis against the interests of the Redeemer, though the Redeemer threatened the Republic none; and though the Red Chamber promised the Halyrate peace, they broke it, and invaded lands on which they have no claim, throwing doubt on their fidelity, honesty and peaceable inclinations in the eyes of all observers. Accordingly, it has been agreed and sworn that the Redeemer, and all his successors, and the Halyrate and all its successors whatsoever, will both ensure, by the employment of armies; and where armies will not avail, ships; and where ships will not avail, funds; that the other has nothing to fear for the future from the military activities of the Daharai, whatsoever the reason or pretext according to which the Daharai carry out their attacks on the land, cities, ships or armies of either the Redeemer or the Halyrate.

This compact shall come into force on the last day of 934 SR, and shall result in action on my part according to its terms; and I, the Redeemer, holding no ill-will towards the Daharai and desiring that the issue be brought to an end by the Republic's adoption of a righteous policy and not by any compulsion, heartily and earnestly entreat the Red Chamber, and all who hold power in the Republic of the Daharai, to cease their unjustified actions against the Halyrate, and to agree to such reasonable terms as the government of the Halyrate deems right.

Signed by the Redeemer and Ayasi

OOC: By the way, on Sunday 24th I'm off on holiday until September 15th or so. Please direct any business to me soon! :)

Confirming that this mutual defense pact stands.

OOC: Sorry, forgot to reply.
 
Lake Kardasht at Midnight

It was midnight down by the lakeside at Ioppson. In front of them stretched rows of boats, smaller and larger, tied up to the jetties; fish and fishermen were alike, they supposed, asleep. These two noblemen rode on at a steady trot, paying little attention to the bird of the night, faintly chucking in the trees, or the insects scrabbling here and there - or even the retainer beside and just ahead of them. He carried a bright torch, since it was a cloudy night, and though the moon bathed the jetties in a silvery glow, now again the moonlight grew dim. Above them to the left there was a raised path, and trees grew along the near side of it; in a wetter year the water would wash up to the little embankment that they stood on. Now they came across a gap in the row of aged trees, where one had fallen, perhaps, or been washed away - though such a wet year as that would be surprising. To their left was this path, and they rode on the sandy earth, the lake in front of them and to the right; behind them to the right the lake curled away. Now, though, the air was humid. It had rained hard earlier, and soon it might rain again. A little water slid from a tree’s branch and spattered into the torch, which spluttered and flared up again with renewed orange glow. To all this, though, they paid little attention, nor even to their mounts beneath them, which rose and fell with the quiet beauty (also unnoticed) of the true ancient breeds.

They had nearly reached the jetties; the talk had all so far been of the fine quality of the dinner at Vetenexeres’s house, which had started late and run on to the burning of oil-lamps. They had eaten the finest and freshest eels from the lake; venison hunted by the party the day before; and a choice of the finest and most exotic confectionary imported from Spitos and the more ordinary honey-covered sparrows. They had drunk wine that was fine in quality, but the wrong sort for the meal, and a bit lacking in quantity. The one peculiarity of Vetenexeres as a host was his complete inability to distinguish wines, or to find a servant who did; in fact, our noblemen reassured each other, they had the only really good wine stewards in the Stone Princedom.

They spoke in that odd register of the Kothari Satar language which simultaneously avoids most of the more useful features of everyday speech, while embracing the most ancient of Old High Satar verbosity and yet adding in a ragtag selection of colloquialisms incomprehensible to anyone not bred into this sort of high society. They were staunch in not bending from it in any obvious way - indeed, any of the other men they were to mention in their discussion might have rightly called them thoroughly affected by the normal standards of the Kothari aristocracy.

“The one substitute, my friend Petrephas, for good wine, is a good ride. I’m too old, you know, for riding into battle with the cavalry, if we march to war again; I often wish, often, you know, that we had long ago marched into Helsia. But alas! It has been long since then. While our Redeemer has reigned, paving stones may have marched to Karildil from the Had; but if only our armies had taken such a straight line for Subal and Sakhelaia!”

“My lord Caledrephaion,” replied the young man Petrephas, “You speak so nobly! Perhaps one day I shall march out to fight. I have lived but a short time, but I know a lot of the past; I have been taught history quite exhaustively; I could name you the Redeemers from Arastephas down in no time. I know well what our former Redeemer Zaredoras spent his time on, and now, alas! his son, our Redeemer, has driven us further yet along the same course. I dare say Helsia must be overcome one day, now that you have crossed the threshold of late middle age and can, alas! no longer show us your nobility with sword and lance - but I worry more and more not about this, not about the roads, but about the favour which father and son have each transferred to the Orthodox, to the pernicious Grandpatriarch! For my respected father has said to me of late, ‘O my son, remember you are of the freest men in the world, beholden to none but your father, your Prince the aged Ephrion, and the great Redeemer; therefore listen not to the false authority of the Patriarchs, who hinder learning and truth, and who listen only to doctrines and catechisms, but follow the aileras and the truth! and you will learn your history and science from the light of Opporia, and the hold of Opios will be light upon you.’”

Affected and impressionable youth, though, has often been overcome by affected and impressionable age, and Calephredaion replied to the youth,

“Alas indeed! For well may we agree that we are the freest men on the earth, and the noblest, and long live the splendid Ephrion and our great Redeemer! For but last month did the prince Ephrion say to all of us his counsellors who were sitting around him, ‘Noble counsellors, you are good men indeed and trusty, and I have often commended to you my son Phaixas, that you may counsel him well when I am received in the light of Opporia, which perhaps will be soon, and it falls on him to rule. Long have you known of the Redeemer’s will that the lords and counsellors of the princedoms should be reconciled to the light and congenial influence of the Church, which of late has been utterly reconciled to the interests material and spiritual of him and of all the Star, the Stone and the other princedoms. May you no longer hesitate to acknowledge the Grandpatriarch; in so far as he may be oppressive, he has willingly circumscribed his power by common agreement, and never again may he impede the rule of our lord and Redeemer or his successors, or of myself and of my successors, or yet of you and your successors in your houses. And it is allowed that you may study the aileras without impediment, and encourage those institutions within the true and ancient Church which you have liked to patronise hitherto.’

“So, my young Petrephas, were they all saying at the house of Vetenexeres: it was said by Coloderxes himself, the noblest patron of learning in all the Stone, that he had joined with the general reconciliation with the Church and was filled with joy that the true path of learning is to be found without disobedience to the agents of Opporia who sit in Opios; and his small rexarion in Ioppson has flourished more than ever in the months since it was allowed for the Orthodox priests to enter into it. He said that a man of great learning had travelled from as far afield as Asandar, and had brought him books of ancient knowledge from the time of the Moti Empire, which he copied, and these texts have never, he believes, been seen before in the Stone, or perhaps in all the princedoms. And all the men at the table agreed with him, and said - mark this - they said that whoso be a true Satar and reconciles himself not to the Church is a churlish man, and wants in proper feeling and dignity. Did you hear them say these things? Perhaps not; but were I a man of youth and prospects, and such a true Satar never was seen as you, my young friend, then I should be much impressed upon by such words. Much impressed upon.”

These words expected no response; one impressionable man had no doubt made his mark on another, but regardless it was not the way with this form of conversation to speak much without the intermission of long silences, and not the way to resume speech until the horses had trotted, perhaps, forty paces or more. Oblivious to the splashing of the ripples against the shore - now on their left - and still unconscious of the slow rise and fall of the saddle, they rode back circuitously by the water’s edge, the house of Vetenexeres yet a little distant on the right.

"Aileras" is the Kothari expression commonly used for the Doru o Ierai. A "rexarion" is an observatory (literally "sky-fortress") and is used by extension for a wide variety of establishments devoted to learning.
 
Dawn beneath the Kothai

The morning sun rose over the site laid out for the theatre at the new Rexarion in Zeray. Huge blocks of stone had been piled in the days before in stacks on the east side of a grassy quadrangle, in the shade of which the foreman would shortly sit while his men toiled to bring them into position as seating on the north side. A pit stood in the centre that had been the foundations of an ornamental fountain until four months before, and in it, early though it was, played two small homeless children; if they had any father and mother, they had left them, perhaps, while the night was still dark, to scrape some income running errands or piling bricks like those just out of sight over the top of the pit. One of them had run, or scurried, up to the rim, and played for a while with the little flowers there. He chewed the stem of a piece of long grass, looking thoughtfully.

“That’s poisonous; I wouldn’t eat it if I were you.”

The other sat still a moment, and replied, “I dare you to eat it. Bet it’s not poisonous. Tell you what is poisonous, that yellow one over there. You don’t know no poisonous flowers from no other.” He relapsed into a thoughtful reverie, but put down the stem and picked up another sort.

“I know that that one you were chewing was poisonous, it was. I know ‘cos...” The first seemed to lose the thread of the narrative, and sat down in the dust at the bottom of the hole. The one sitting on the edge reopened the conversation,

“It’s bloody hot today,” and after a pause, “the grass is going brown and all yellow.”

“Someone must have kept it nice, whoever it was kept the fountain nice... Now they’ve gone, maybe, and the fountain’s decayed into nothing, I think, and the grass is going with it. Soon the whole ground will be a dusty pit, like this pit.”

“Stupid. Fountain’s don’t decay, someone’s been here and dug it up.”

“You’re stupid. You were the one chewing that poisoned grass.”

“It’s not poison. There’s men coming this way.”

“Defend the hole, Sergeant!”

“Sergeant yourself! You get down, I’ll keep the lookout.” The boy on the rim lay down on the slope of the pit, his eyes just poking up above. No report came yet, so the boy in the pit pointedly strutted around. He clapped his hands over his bare face in imitation of a full mask, and waited for his companion to look at him. There was no reaction, so he put down his hands and sat down on the other slope.

“Oh, the men just went away a little bit, but they’ve come in through this side of the grass - yes, they’re coming out beside the piles of stone - you know, the ones that have been here all week since we came - oh yes, all wearing normal veils. The man who looks in charge - he’s wearing a hat of some sort.

“Oh, I’ll tell you what he is. He’s an outsider, a northener or something. That’s a wooden mask, on his head, so he can do carving or something and see what he’s doing, you see? and he’s wearing a veil that isn’t the sort worn by most people round here - it’s white cloth not brown or black. And his skin’s a bit lighter than normal skin. They look like they’re builders - you here the man with the hat telling the others to move the stones. Funny that they’re all wearing masks, builders don’t usually seem to bother.” The two boys were now both sitting with their heads fully out of the hole, and they had forgotten the soldiering pretence. They stared as the men, with their Zyesh half-masks, that is to say veils made of dirty brown cloth, piled up the bricks on the left, while the foreman barked at them in a thick Hiut accent. The boys watched them for a while, and after a while lost interest.

“So how’d you know - or why d’you think - this grass here was poisonous? I’ve told you it’s not.”

“Well...” said the one who had shortly before been an officer, “Well, I was friends with this boy back when we were in the south. Do you remember him? Sfefrex was his name. I saw him eating that same sort of grass - show me - yes, it was that sort - and then the next day he was gone; I never saw him again.”

“Sfefrex? Oh yes, him. But I know where he went; I saw him talking to that old man that came past - you remember? - I think they took him away.”

“Oh, what’s it that he did, that old man? Someone told me once. A pick-something. A picket? They were always talking about them.”

“Sfefrex became a pickpocket? You know what they do, they steal rich people’s silver out from under their robes. Very clever too... Haven’t you ever heard of pickpockets?”

“Course I heard of pickpockets.” The conversation lapsed again. Boredom had set in. “Well, let’s go into the city. Uncle said we was to sit down in the street and people might give us money, you heard him last night. Let’s go.”

The two children set off from the lovely green - soon to become a brown and dusty place all over, but still a scene for artificial, if not natural, beauty - and disappeared into the black and dingy streets.
 
On Tiaghama Philosophical and Cultural Developments in the 19th Century AR.

---​

Each man and woman is a star.
The stars are the children of God alone in the night;
The stars are the white flames burning upon the face of darkness;
The stars are the fires that the lord lights inside of man;
The stars are the souls of the ancients who have lived and died.
Who can hold back the light of the stars,
Gazing at the bright night sky?
For when you look into the eye of Ophoros1
It goes on and on forever.


-

~ From the Canticle of the Stars, a Fuihirang devotional song

-

Historians Note: The mystic Fuihirang, an order of warrior-saints devoted to the martial and charitable service of manking emerged from the chaos of the tumult that for centuries followed the fall of the Vithanama Empire. The message of Ruadhran, the originator of their philosophy spoke to the feeling of despair and incapability that came with conflict in the old dulama lands which seemed eternal with little change to the status quo of competing kingdoms. In response to this chaos he pointed to a spiritual origin for the conflict, Istria, and in turn his disciples named themselves the vanguard of righteousness in spiritual (and at times actual) war against that spiritual origin of human and social evils, spreading abroad with their unique way of life in a bid to combat this great foe.

To this end, the Fuihirang structurally broke the mold of previous monastic orders of the kind that had existed in the Church of Iralliam since at least the time of the Moti Empire, their nature being best summed up as a warrior caste rather than an order. For where the orders ran monasteries and had defined hierarchies, the Fuihirang had no such organisation and no leader, and consisted of disparate and for the most part transient bands of disciples under the spiritual guidance of initiated spiritual masters all devoted to Ruadhric teachings, the first of these being the disciples of Ruadhran himself. This aided in their spread, and reflects the historical western pattern of guruship that is evident particularly in the machaianist tradition.

-

“As there is no matter without form, nor no form that is independent of matter so too is no single thing separate from the vastness of existence or independent from all that is. For everything is in everything, all things are connected and creation itself proceeds from that first thing in the high heaven of eternity from which all things proceed. Thus it is that despite our ignorance and in the face of the great complexity of the divine work which appears to as near unto chaos, we intuit in our souls a sublime harmony beyond the comprehension of our feeble intellects. It is our great work then to where before we listened to but one part of the whole, to step back and listen in humility the music of the spheres, that we may at last come to begin to comprehend it where before we laboured in ignorance contemplating but single themes of heavens work”

~ Culduin the Philosopher, speaking to the first masters of the Esoteric Order of the Seekers of Truth.

-

Historians Note: The Order of Holists as they are commonly referred too, emerged as a coming together of the majority of scholarly establishments present in Tiagho that remained as a legacy of the Vithanama era under a single organised (if loosely so) collective. Their philosophy of Ta Sheabhat, all in everything, essentially constituted a harmonisation of the machaianist doctrine of the interconnectedness of all things to Iralliamite theology under the heavy influence of Doru o Ierai’s principle of the pursuit of knowledge brought to the west in the aftermath of the Council of Bysria. The Orders states purpose in bringing together the numerous disparate disciplines in the Tiaghama academic sphere was to “begin to understand” creation through holistic collaboration.

Much as how the Fuihirang emerged as a response to tumult and spiritual despair, so too did the Order of Holists have its foundation in the sense of smallness and incomprehension in the face of the apparent chaos and upheaval of the world that permeated the period in the cultural and social life of the Kingdom of Tiagho since long before the War of the Taidhe. However where the Fuihirang sought resolution in service and ascetic denial (an expression of military noble, and lower class mentalities that formed its key source of early adepts) the scholarly Esoteric Order of Seekers of the Truth represented in some ways the response of the scholarly and middle classes to the zeitgeist of the times, as well as being a continuation of the long dulama philosophical tradition that had been inherited from the previous great empires of the region.

-

"The tea brews in copper pots
The men chew the golden leaf
By the canals burnished locks
they smile and cast away their grief"


From a poem by Shazuinti the courtesan.

Historians note: With the conquest of Nedama the Tiaghama discovered the local custom of chewing the leaf of the Chaxtil plant, a shrub that grew in the foothills of the nearby mountains by lake Ndeos. A mild stimulant, it grew quite popular amongst the military classes of the period during the war of the Taidhe beginning a cultural pastime that would become emblematic of the area.

-

Spoiler :
1: Ophoros, a derivation of the name Opporia utilised by some amongst the lower and middle classes as well as the nearby Hai Vischa and Hai Vithana tribes. Local titles of the god, such as God of Life, The Vanquisher of Death and Father of Light are however more common.

2: I've written detail on the Order of Holists and the Fuihirang on the End of Empires wiki, both to avoid writing all the detail in my orders this turn and for reference purposes in the future. The former phenomena I hope to actively develop further as the turns go by, the latter will be largely hands off and we'll see where it goes organically by itself. The point of both developments is to elaborate upon the intellectual/spiritual scene of the area Tiagho is in, and to further develop the cultural side of things lest my management become all about dealing with the ongoing war.

3: All three developments reflect the cultural zeitgeist of the period as I see it, that being a sense of insecurity within the world as a consequence of constant wars, and a renewed spiritual mysticism as a kind of intellectual escape from the circumstances of the time. The Order of Holists likewise contains something of an eastern scholarly influence, spreading as a response to recent Ecclesiastical developments despite Ta Shabheat being in many respects quite different from Doru o Ierai.
 

Bâzerga Flag, with the Four Tree of Light and Earth-Sky

Bâzergâ, Most Serene Republic of
Leader: Aâsizergi Azâdda the Strong of Âergon Faction (Age: 43)
Government: Anocracy
Political Factions:
-Âergon (Black Faction): Favors military. (Leader: Azâdda (Age: 43))
-Mâmmukun (Yellow Faction): Favors commerce. (Leader: Himrât (Age: 48))
-Râhakun (Purple Faction): Favors culture. (Leader: Tsâkhir (Age: 51))
-Vjâun (White Faction): Favors production. (Leader: Kâmir (Age: 44))
Culture Description: Primary state of Bâzergi culture, an exiled people from somewhere. Strong State and Law traditions. Communal lives in villages, private property in larger cities. Many cults of Azâdi Mystries, decentralized. Culturally and religiously tolerant. Governing Faction is in charge for 10 years after chosen.
State Religion: Azâdi Mysteries.

These people were around here for a long time -- they just didn’t have centralized government. The story of Bâzergâ starts with this centralization. Azâdda was born in City-State of Aâsir as a slave. When he became a Master of Cult of Aidos, he was only 24 and when he gathered his army, he was 32. With black banners, he crushed those who doesn’t obey and accepted those who wanted to join him.

But he wasn’t just a warlord, he was more of a leader. So he created this anocratic system which certain factions would get elected. When he assumed the title of “Aâsizergi” or “Chosen of People”, he was 42.

While war still continued at outskirts, the citizens of Bâzergâ Republic were adopting these changes. Azâdda made laws so that the Eldermen chose a Guiding Faction. The Guiding Faction controls all of the government but still has to pass laws from the Great Council where all Partisans and village Eldermen can vote (they don’t have to vote). The Faction Member or Partisan is chosen by Faction Leaders, from honorable and accomplished persons among Bâzergi people. Faction Leaders are chosen by Faction Members. The Guiding Faction’s leader is crowned as “Chosen of People” or in Nâbadi language “Aâsizergi”.

Bâzergi people doesn’t have the concept of “nobleman” or “royal blood”. They think that any official they vote for is like a second father for them. And also, this also makes it so that any normal person can become a Statesman. Even slaves can be selected on paper. But most of the time, more honorable job you have, more people will trust and vote for you.

Also, on village level, people mostly just choose their Elderman and will sit back. The big picture and big city politics aren’t for them. But in big cities, people are more inclined to have a political stance. Even these political stance is limited as the uninformed majority of people will favor a Faction just based on what symbol that Faction uses. When people want war, they will want Âergon party. But more informed people will know that bribes, pressure from people and Elderman’s needs are equally affects the results.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bâzergi Culture
Spoiler :
Starting Location:

Red - Where Bâzergâ Republic is.
Yellow - Where Bâzergi most likely settled on.

Society
There are three big strata to Bâzergi society. Statesmen. Whoever works for state or is state has the highest power. They cannot do whatever they want just because of it, but they are also seen as leaders. Common people won’t think that a Statesman is evil until there is evidence. But if a Statesman is proved to be corrupted, he better get a high number of bodyguards or he will be shredded to the pieces by angry mob.

Villagers choose Eldermen to attend Elder Council of the village. These men should be at least 40 years old and lived in this village since he was 10 years old. No women can be Eldermen. Eldermen also control their Village Bank and can request to get City status if the Village is large enough.

Cultist. Whoever learned and practiced the Higher Mysteries. There are three levels for Cultists. When someone wants to join a cult, they go to the Cult’s temple and if masters want them, they get initiated and become Apprentices. When initiation is complete, Apprentices learn Hôr-Aghâr-Zur, Whole Truth, and become Priests. When a temple Master dies, another is selected from the Priests and he becomes Master. Any person can get initiated and reach Master level, including Statesman and Slaves. Statesman doesn’t lose their rank but commoners generally stop working or gain freeman status.

Even if someone leaves a Cult, they still revered as Cultists. These people gain their power from the people that give them offerings and donations... but Cultist never seek donations actively as it is dishonorable in the eyes of people. This can also cause any cult to fall from most powerful to most powerless cult sometimes in as little as a week. There are a few cults that been around since ancient days but even those have had really bad years.

Commoners. All other people are equal in the eyes of Father Government… Except Slaves. And Soldiers. And Fishermen… In law, there isn’t any difference between any common person but in practice Fishermen are honored because stories tell of the times that people only could find fish to eat. Being soldier is seen as honorable as a commoner can get because they removed Snake-Headed-People from forests… These exceptions are not that rare but basic laws doesn’t discriminate even foreign people.

Values
The values of Bâzergi people are mostly about "father government". They see governing bodies and people as close as their parents and are almost holy. People also value Meritocracy which sounds nice but it clashes with what governing bodies want mostly. They also revere “Llâhrân”, the volcanic island that they first settled.

Religion
Azâdi Mysteries (Major Cults are Cult of Aidos, Cult of Jâ-hagi, Cult of Oidios, Cult of Sgrâi) are practiced among People. These Lower Mystery (religious stuff that common people practice) cults generally does not interfere with daily life and can give offerings of any cults they want. Cultists will learn Higher Mysteries and will try to perceive what their Deity tells. Then Cultists will tell these divinations to people. The more right a Cult’s Divination is, people will be more likely to follow that cult for the time being. Because Mysteries tell that every Deity has its time to gain power as they are always in a battle with each other. Cultists can leave the cults and become commoners but they have to keep secrets to themselves.

Language
Bâzergi use the Nâbadi language with many dialects. Even if it has changed a lot in last century with growing and changing culture, Bâzergi still can understand older dialects to an extent. When talking, it sounds really relaxed. It is an agglutinative language but it uses really small prefixes and suffixes that don’t make words too long.

How words added together changes on dialect. Generally whatever is emphasized goes first and other stuff added later. Verbs aren’t used in their basic form, tense suffixes should be added. Suffix always added last. If word ends with “a” and another suffix starting with “a” added, it turns into “â” and the suffix a is dropped. There is many rules on letter “â” but most of them changes depending on dialect.

Aidoskan nammemir Azâddâ git tâsa.
Translation: Great Aidos shines on Azâdda and on you
Literal Translation: Aidos-Great gives light on Azâdda and on you

Kushirikan tâsa.
Translation: Gods be with you.
Literal Translation: Great Gods on you.

A: On, Onto
Âerg: Black
Aâs: to Chose
Aâsizergi: Chosen of People (Literal Translation: Chosen of Group of Human)
Aza: to Liberate
Azâdda: Liberator (Literal Translation: Man who Liberated)
Ba: Old, Ancient
Baha: Oldest, Sea
Bâha: Blue
Bâzergi: Old People (Literal Translation: Old Group of Human)
Bâzergâ: Old Country (Literal Translation: Old Group of City)
-d: Past tense suffix.
Da: Men
Gi: Human
Git: And
Ga: City
Ha: Most
-i: Past Principle suffix.
Ir: -s, plurality suffix.
Kan: Great
Kush: God
Mam: Yellow
Memi: Light
Mi: Women
Nam: to Give
On (sometimes Un): Faction, Political Party, a group of people with political agenda.
-r: Present tense suffix.
Rahk: Purple
Tas: You, Your, Us, Our
Tâsah: Our Hope, The Island that Bâzergi people settled, Mashineshtotang
Vja: Blue

OOC: This language’s letters is really close to Aramaic.

Mythos
Bâzergi people said that they weren’t of this place; they came with dragon-headed ships from where sun rises (or dies, depending on how you translate ancient writings). Tales say that when Bâzergi people first came here, there were Snake-People in these islands that they hid from. Truth to be told they don’t really care what they were. The old stories are full of torture, death and exiles. So these lands were a new start for them, and they continue to feel this way after hundreds of years.

Economic Base
Bâzergi people have a system mixed commune system with coin based system. On small villages, they generally use exchange of goods and services. Their disputes are generally solved by village’s Elder Council. But each village has a local “bank” (which is actually heavily guarded depots for coins) that spends collective money of village when goods are bought from traders or something needs to be done in village. These banks are considered Government’s property if there is a bigger governing body. Otherwise they are shared property of selected Elderman of village. This helps to both village’s growth and keeps common people out of economics.

The flip side is there are generally disputes if the Elderman spends money right. The biggest problem is the “Equalists” who thinks that when villages sell their spare stuff outside, Banks shouldn’t get all the money. Also in times of war or distress, the Government generally uses these banks to feed the army or solve the problem. Also this helps that even if Capital is captured with all its banks, Government still has money everywhere. But this also causes unhappiness because even though common people doesn’t really use these coins, they still feel like its theirs generally. If there wasn’t a “Father Government” idea inside their heads, they’d have created their own army and demanded independence a long time ago.

Bâzergi people also like to carve monuments and buildings out of basalt, obsidian and newly found Aidon Marble (RL: Etowah Marble). So mining grew big amongst Bâzergi people. They also building ships and fishing, and there is increasing number of agriculture.

Country Names: Syrecaga, Iâugha, Ban-elm, Usk-Iâris
Person Names: Men: Akjâra, Uâira, Emdaira, Bâzi, Ufhak, Pôika, Jakki, Tashai, Kabua, Uidâ. Women: Rayissi, Mâri, Oidisi, Oukâl, Yârneim, Sakil, Torai, Mroi, Zaen
Place Names: Gâp, Ântd, Âth, Âldb, Yardu, Eagei, Eome, Verg, Bâel

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excerpts from Book of Lower Mysteries
Spoiler :
The Book of Lower Mysteries is five scrolls that were written prior to exile of Bâzergi, and it is the sayings of Kâshan the Holy which Aâsar the Scribe wrote down. The scrolls were brought just after they are done, to the new lands which we call Tâsah, which is also known (by the rest of the world) as Mashineshtotang. They are in public use as they are accepted as a Lower Mystery, but higher ranked Cultists extensively study it too.


First Scroll, 12-32 of 66
...
and Kâshan said,​
“For there are five trees for you in Paradise
which remain undisturbed summer and winter
and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever
becomes acquainted with them will not
experience death.”

so we asked,​
“Are any of trees are left in earth, Kâshan?”

and he answered,​
“The Four left the earth because of the fifth one’s
treachery. We are from the Fifth and the Fifth tree flows
through us. Thus we are cursed forever, as the Fifth
was of Filth, the other Four were from Light.”

then he cried five tears,
and as we cried with him four of them,
he told us,​
“Do not cry more for The Four than the Fifth. As
the sorrow of the Fifth is on us until the The Four
comes for revenge with horses.”
…


First Scroll, 60-66 of 66
...
so he told,​
“Do not tell me of gods, You don’t know those.
Don’t forget Aidos was a Commander and Sgrâi
was a farmer. Do not worship but revere, as they
are more closer to The Four than any of you. And
blood won’t carry the Light, only Filth.”


Second Scroll, 21-32 of 66
...
And he came down from a mountain and
saw people looking up to him as a god,
so he returned where he came for a
hundred days. When people saw him not
returning, most of them left.

So when he came back, there were only
forty men and thirty three women waiting
for him. So he said:​

“When ones that take me as a God they will leave me
when they understand I am not. Those who know
me as a Human will wait for a hundred days to
hear the truth. Truth which whoever becomes
acquainted with it, will not experience death.”
...


Fifth Scroll, 1-38 of 38

He looked upon all who listen and
talked about promises to their ears:​
“Sail away with nothing except food, but do not
carry my body as it should die here, in the
hands of these people we live between to eternally
curse them.”

When people asked him:​
“O Kâshan, when can we expect salvation?”

He answered:​
“When crops die and the Horsemen of the First Tree
are here, when water is blood and the Horsemen
of the Second Tree are here, when birds fall dead
and the Horsemen of the Third Tree are here, when
the sun is cold as water and the Horsemen of the Fourth
Tree are here, expect salvation or death.”

In fear they started crying, so He continued:​
“When the Horsemen of the First Tree come and crops die,
ones that are from earth will continue living and they
will not taste death.

When the Horseman of the the Second Tree come and water
is blood, ones that are living as serene as seas will
continue living and they will not taste death.

When the Horseman of the Third Tree come and birds
fall dead, the ones that didn’t hold others’ lives and
freedom in their hands will continue living and
they will not taste death.

When the Horseman of the Fourth Tree come and the sun
is as cold as water, ones with warm heart and
hospitality will continue living and they will not
taste death.

So will end the world as we know it, only the
ones without Filth in their blood will survive.
The Four will return with the Crowns of Gods, and
rule a just kingdom as they should have a long
time ago.

I am Kâshan, Voice of The Four, Human. Thus
Aâsar recorded my words before leaving this
lands. Bless your ships on your journey.”


Bâzergi Demon Trap
 
As a forewarning, this NES may be undergoing a transitional period in the very near future. The NES is not ending (it is NEVERENDING, naturally), but I will PM everyone listed as a player about what is happening. If you are not a player and want to keep up to date, PM me instead.

Thank you.
 
My Friends,

I am writing this post to inform you that as of today, September 10th, 2014, the collaborative world-building effort of End of Empires will no longer be hosted on Civfanatics. This decision was not arrived at lightly; I have been an active member in these forums for well over a decade, and my thread has been hosted here for more than six years. In that time, it has accumulated over 5,000 posts, and been by word count and view count the most successful NES of all time. I have actively contributed on non-NES forums on CFC through that entire time, and through several thousand posts on Off-Topic, the Sports, Arts & Entertainment, World History, Civilization 2, 3, 4 Ideas and Suggestions, Scenario Development (with multiple Civilization 3 scenario credits to my name), Stories & Tales, Forum Games, and All Other Games, I have formed many deep and lasting friendships with some individuals who I would call my best friends.

The reasons for this are myriad, and I cannot and will not discuss them in a public post. Suffice it to say that I now find the community of Civfanatics to be unwelcoming in a fashion I have never seen before.

End of Empires is a very large and unwieldy enterprise, and I will be extracting the pertinent information from this thread over the course of the next few days (don't worry – I have the thread archived on my computer thanks to ChiefDesigner). The updates, maps, and stats will be trivial to move elsewhere, and obviously the wiki is already hosted off-site; I will take the most interesting stories and diplomacy and put them into .pdf form as well. In the end, I hope to host everything on services that will allow me to easily repost the NES on any website and preserve its rich history regardless of a move.

For the moment, we will be located on the forum known as the Frontier; I'm not sure whether this will be temporary or permanent. All players in this NES (and any new ones who wish to join) are encouraged to sign up there (make sure you get approval for posting; it's an unwieldy system but we'll make it work for the moment.

If you have any concerns about the move, feel free to contact me in any way possible. I am a permanent fixture in #nes, and for the moment I will be checking my private messages on this site as well.

All the best,
North King
 
:( :(
 
Have you ever broken a bird in your hands?

It is the most difficult thing you will have ever done. But it must be done. A knife is a remove. A snare is a remove. A bow, further still. And what lies at the end? A man sits in a high room, at a high table, and people he does not call slaves bring him a bird he tells himself he did not kill. In a robe as soft and blue as the sea, he calls himself kind.

It was his hunger that killed the bird. But he lacked exatas to take responsibility for death.

You must feel the delicate softness of its feathers. You must hold its wings firmly through the sudden twisting. You must press upon its small and narrow chest, and marvel at how light the living being held in your hands is. And you must press harder upon that small chest with your thumbs until you feel it crack. And in this, the sound and movement of the bird falls still, and what was before a living being of infinite direction is now a still object of one single direction.

Then you may grieve, but in grieving you may come to understand. This is what you have done thousands of times. This is what you have done by being. It was not your father. It was not your hunter. It was not your slave. It was you.

It was written that every man is a god in potentiality. But what was not written is that every man is a thousand worms in reality. The thousand worms, a hundred birds. The hundred birds, a man.

So when you kill a false god, child, grieve for its beauty. But do not turn your face away. Death IS life, child. Become this truth, and you are death, and life, and the cycle, as free and pure as the snow.
 
Have you ever broken a bird in your hands?

It is the most difficult thing you will have ever done. But it must be done. A knife is a remove. A snare is a remove. A bow, further still. And what lies at the end? A man sits in a high room, at a high table, and people he does not call slaves bring him a bird he tells himself he did not kill. In a robe as soft and blue as the sea, he calls himself kind.

It was his hunger that killed the bird. But he lacked exatas to take responsibility for death.

You must feel the delicate softness of its feathers. You must hold its wings firmly through the sudden twisting. You must press upon its small and narrow chest, and marvel at how light the living being held in your hands is. And you must press harder upon that small chest with your thumbs until you feel it crack. And in this, the sound and movement of the bird falls still, and what was before a living being of infinite direction is now a still object of one single direction.

Then you may grieve, but in grieving you may come to understand. This is what you have done thousands of times. This is what you have done by being. It was not your father. It was not your hunter. It was not your slave. It was you.

It was written that every man is a god in potentiality. But what was not written is that every man is a thousand worms in reality. The thousand worms, a hundred birds. The hundred birds, a man.

So when you kill a false god, child, grieve for its beauty. But do not turn your face away. Death IS life, child. Become this truth, and you are death, and life, and the cycle, as free and pure as the snow.

This aint TNES D: .

(By which I mean, this reads as a TNES post)
 
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