End of Empires - N3S III

I look forward to whenever :D
 
OOC: I do not intend to write most of my stories in this style (with an exception made for a certain related idea of mine that might or might not come into fruition, though it is quite different in many regards); this is merely supposed to serve as an explanation of my vision for Moti culture at this point of time. I hope that there is no problem with me using a Kratoan for this; if there any suggestions on how to make this letter sound more like what a reasonably well-travelled and educated Kratoan of that time would write, then they will be welcome, though if possible I would ofcourse preffer not to rewrite this to any significant extent. Also, I have made the Moti seemingly quite different from the Kratoan (though with hopefully recognisable common Uggorian roots); but I think that they have diverged from one another a reasonable amount of time ago, and have evolved in fairly different environments, so that should largely account for it. Feel free to ask for specific explanations on just about anything, though. I assure you that several apparent mistakes or misconceptions here are actually intentional and are, in fact, traps. ;) Therefore I would appreciate it if you were to try and find them.

Also, sorry for the often confusing text. The family system really is as byzantine if you try and make sense of it; then again, it is not quite as reglamented as might seem. And naturally, many things seen here are relatively recent developments.

I have used English translations for names and terms, sort of as is done with North American native names. Uggor translations of the underlined words would be very much appreciated for future uses, though I might decide to use this style for the stories in any case, since it would make it easier to keep track of certain important things, as well as cultural symbolism and so on and so forth.

North King, am I allowed/expected to send orders for this turn?

IC:

Excerpts from "Artan's Correspondence", the third letter*:

"Artan of Krtu-family to his brother Trotan writes!

Blessed be your house, your weapons and your lifestock! May your and mine family prosper, in the Ancestor's name!

[...]

Brother, you have also asked me to write more of what I have learned of the Moti when I was in their land. I shall comply.

[...] Such is the land of the Moti.

As for the Moti themselves, as I have already written, and as is well known to all, the Moti are indeed of Uggor stock, closer to us than any other peoples. They are not even entirely barbarians, for while their language can sometimes be strange to the ears it is not at all difficult for us to understand. During the time of the Great Family, the ancestors of the Krato families and the ancestors of the Moti families have surely sat close together during the Good Council. Indeed, unlike most barbarians, the Moti too believe in the Great Family and call it the same as we do, although they tell the story of the End in a different way, and indeed their worship is quite unlike ours in many ways. Indeed, every family honours its ancestor first and foremost, as is only proper. But in addition to this the Moti worship the ancestors of the animal families, calling them gods in the manner of the barbarians, and hold that the world sprung forth from the trunk of the Crimson Elephant, who is said to be the father of all gods and ancestors and the original Chief-of-Chiefs of the Great Family, which, say the Moti, consisted of several smaller families each with its own chief, and which were indeed quite similar to the Moti families today, and less similar to our own. When the Evil family took power and began to enslave kin for their debts (a heinious and impious action due to which the name of that family has come to attain its current meaning), the Good Council sent messengers to inform the Chief-of-Chiefs of this, and the Chief-of-Chiefs called the leaders of the Evil family and its smaller families before him, and demanded that they repent; they repented, but on the Feast of Reconciliation that had folloed they have poisoned the Chief-of-Chiefs, and so have also wounded the world itself, making it evil and treacherous; afterwards they tried to take over, but the families at the Good Council rebelled and fought the Battle-After-the-End, after which the world took its current shape and the remains of the Evil family were forced out of settlements and had to hide in the shadows from which they occasionally sortied still in the form of wolves, traitors and bandits. Furthermore, the Moti hold that the animal ancestors are not just the ancestors of the animal families, but also of the family of the Chief-of-Chiefs and of the other noble[1] families of the Moti, because those families are called the same as the animal families: therefore the family of the Chief-of-Chiefs is called the Elephant family, and the family of the War-Chief is called the Cow family, and the family of the Worship-Chief is called the Sheep family, and the family of the City-of-Moti-Chief is called the Goat family and so on.

On the account of this apparent kinship, the members of the noble families call themselves divine, and claim the blood-price for all the butchering of their brother-animals that occurs without their direct permission even during the New Year sacrifices. Were this to happen in our land, surely many would have disputed it! But none do here, for stranger still are the ways of the Moti: all the other families are considered to be smaller, though distinct families within one noble family or another, and their ancestors are considered the descendants of the ancestors of the noble families: and it is for that reason that they are also honoured and indeed worshipped as gods, whereas the noble chiefs are called fathers by human chiefs (for the members of those smaller families are called humans inasmuch as they are not animals), for they guide them and protect them, and in exchange receive gifts, fealty and filial piety. Likewise, the Crimson Elephant is worshipped by all as the ancestor of all ancestors, and the noble chiefs all call the Chief-of-Chiefs their father; as for the Chief-of-Chiefs, he styles himself "Father of All the Elephants", "Big Brother of All the Great Family", "Little Brother of the World", "Father of the Nobles", "Grandfather of the Humans" and "Great Grandfather of the Slaves".

Indeed, such is the Moti family, which the Chief-of-Chiefs claims to be both one and many much like the Great Family before it. Above all is the family of the Chief-of-Chiefs, with its priveleges; it receives gifts, which often might be more accurately called tributes, from all the other families, and commands them in such matters as warfare, negotiations with foreigners and partitions of conquered lands, of which one-half customarily goes to the Elephant family and the rest is divided amongst the noble families. The noble families, in addition to this place in the repartition of lands, advise the Chief-of-Chiefs, who, as complain many human chiefs, listens mainly to the Divine Council and rarely to the Human Council on various family matters; their chiefs also all have customary privileges and powers - the War-Chief commands the first rank during the campaign, the Worship-Chief conducts the rites and sacrifices in the city of Moti (where, as the inhabitants say, "all families meet but none live", for all the families live in the countryside, although members of all or most noble and humans families could be found living in the city), the City-of-Moti-Chief collects taxes and decides what to send to the Chief-of-Chiefs and what to keep for himself and his family, and so on. The human families are not all slaves as is sometimes thought, and indeed they still have many freedoms, but as already said they have to give gifts, respect and obedience to the noble families of which they are considered part; and since some of those human families are poor, many of them have to express their filial piety by ceding slaves and animals, or hiring out their family members to work the fields of the rich families, most often those of their respective fathers. As for the slaves, those are the conquered peoples, mostly the Sand Folk [2], who are the illegitimate children of the Earth and the Sky (or so say the Moti). They had tried to fight the Moti families in the past, but were defeated, and their families were since then attached to different human and noble families; the Chief-of-Chiefs styles himself the Great Grandfather of the Slaves, but that is not true because they are not wholly a part of the Moti great family, and indeed are treated differently from relatives, having neither freedom nor chiefs of their own and being commanded by the chief of the family they are attached to or by individual members if assigned to them by the chief.

[...]

I fear for the future of the Moti (who, after all, are our relatives), for although there is much that is wonderful in their lands it is clear that Evil has taken its place in the blood of the noble family, as say humans and Elephants alike. The nobles act arrogantly and disrespectfully, and if the Moti are the Great Family as they sometimes claim then the nobles are surely the Evil Family within it, for they are already trying to take away powers from the Chief-of-Chiefs and freedom from the humans, and they have little respect for us as well. They demand great gifts from the humans, and ask for rewards from the Chief-of-Chief without any good reason; and furthermore they raise immense tolls on all rivers and trade paths; and in the city of Moti itself, where most buildings are owned by the Sheep and the Goats and the human families within their families, they exact heavy prices for lodgings. At their behest many human families are forced to exile their children for minor or nonexistant offenses, and having become outcasts most of them are forced to become slaves of the noble families, as though the Evil family has never been defeated; and those who try to carve out their fates for themselves take up banditry, and it is for that reason, as I have already written to you, that the roads today are not safe unless you hire mercenaries from the noble families, whose warriors are the best-armed and best-armoured. Many humans and Elephants say that one day the Great Family will be truly restored and the nobles put in their place, but I doubt that this would come soon...

[...]

Believe me, brother! I assure you that all that I have written here is true. Ask anyone else who has travelled into this land and he would confirm it, or come here by yourself and see and hear it."


*As per High Historian Va'den's commonly accepted analysis.

[1] Literally translated as "godlikes".

[2] The Moti word for slaves is the same as their word for "Sand Folk".
 
How's that? I'll try to make them less rambling and more specific on military matters in the future, but the latter seemed mostly unwarranted at this juncture.

Also, what's that cyan nation to the northeast of Krato?
 
How's that? I'll try to make them less rambling and more specific on military matters in the future, but the latter seemed mostly unwarranted at this juncture.

Also, what's that cyan nation to the northeast of Krato?

Triad. I wouldn't worry about them.
 
Also, what's that cyan nation to the northeast of Krato?

It's called Triad. It's just a tiny little city-state that broke off of Thearak when Thearak started losing the war or something. I think that's correct because their city is Thad, a former Thearaki city if I remember correctly.

Also, I think the correct word is Kratoan, not Kratonian.

Edit: Beaten.
Edit 2: And wrong. the city's name is actualy Triad. The "r" and the "i" look like an "h" to me. Still, It think it was part of Thearak.
 
I am glad this seems to be gaining momentum again :D
 
in the Ancestor's name!

Das, your tempting fate by using that word... ;)
 
"As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies."

-The Iliad

---

It was in the second year of the reign of Ephkar that the names were named, and an accounting of the peoples was made.

In this year the clouds were seen to gather in the East, and a great rain swept down from the mountains of Askhet. Through the foothills of these mountains had the ancient people of legend, the Satar-Ai of the spoken scrolls, passed with their flocks and their herds, their wheeled wagons and their spears of bronze.

The rain that swept the dry plains had not been seen for years, and it was seen as a sign from Taleldil, High King of the heavens, that the wall of mountains was to be broken by men as the clouds had broken through.

It was a good sign, for the horses and tribes of the Satar were well fed with green grasses, when came the great gathering by Phaxes the still watered.

This was decreed by High Prince Ephkar, man of the Scroll. By his hand were the red peoples of the northern countries slain, and by blood the peoples had acknowledged his dominion. The Rath Satar was swept like the ground is swept of dust before a birthing tent, and all the Satar came at the messengers of the High Prince.

In that year, the able-bodied men of the tribes were tallied.

Of the men of the Scroll, there were eleven thousands.

Of the men of the Sword, there were twelve thousands.

Of the men of the Shield, there were eight thousands.

Of the men of the Spear, there were nine thousands.

Of the men of the Wheel, there were four thousands.

Of the men of the Star, there were five thousands.

Of the men of the Arrow, there were three thousands.

So it came to be that the able bodied men of the Satar were measured to be fifty two thousands. It was measured that the horses of the Satar numbered ninety thousands. And this was good.

When this gathering was complete, Ephkar spoke to his people. And his words were written in the ancient tradition, as so:

I speak in plain words, as a man of the saddle. Each man among us was born upon these dry fields, the Rath Satar. So we are named.

Within the ancient legends, it is spoken that the Satar-Ai of the past times once ruled a land of wealth and power. It was made so by Taleldil King. But the Satar-Ai grew weak, and were driven from their homes to dwell in the endless beyond. Their princes swore in defeat that this would be a time of trial, to harden their people for the great reckoning.

Taleldil has shown me through many signs that this time has come. We have conquered the empty lands and once again become men of blood and earth. Our time has come to reforge what High King Taleldil once took for his people before rising to the heavens. As a man of the Scroll, Te'esh, once betrayed the Satar-Ai for the wicked peoples of the ocean, I shall undo his injustice with the blood of mine and of my sons.

And the people were glad that this was to be done, that the Satar might avenge the ills done upon their ancestors. And the sounds of the hooves of the Men of the Rath were as thunder upon a forest. They let out a great cry, and the cry was heard in places of the world where the freshness of the sky was lost, and the smoke of the campfire absent.

And the cry struck fear into the hearts of idle men.

Ephkar, the Warrior who was First Prince, laid eyes upon the golden fields of Rath Tephas, homeland of the Satar from lost legend. He placed his youngest infant son upon the grass, and gave an offering of his own blood, vowing that this sacred land would never be forsaken again. And Taleldil High King struck a lone tree with lightening from above, a mighty sign that the warriors of the heavens were pleased with his valor.
 
OOC: What does the word "Uggor" translate as, anyway? "The People"?

Das, your tempting fate by using that word... ;)

Should've used the more specific "the-Most-Hallowed-Ancestor-of-Our-Family" form. :p

In any case, we need more cultural similarities on this here planet, so that future historians could come up with far-fetched ideas about the close kinship of the Uggor and the Sesh, despite the two forms of ancestor worship being pretty different, especially by this point in time.
 
I was about to write a history from a slightly unreliable narrator on the origins of writing in the South, it is the belief of this personage that it was adopted from the north and over time perverted by the South, this is in addition to your horrible habit of high jacking my Ancestors!

And the proper use of the word Ancestors is Our Most Venerable and Benevolent Aya'se, beloved of the Ancestors, and of the Ancestors, and of all the Ancestors of the Seshweay.

Oh, hell the Satarai are back… the southern part of the Sesh isn’t claimed :mischief:
 
Speaking of words, I still want Ninja Dude to come up with some Uggorian words for the underlined terms.

Anyway, as said, we must have some cultural similarities, it would be way too culturally disjointed a continent otherwise.
 
Uggor Words

Uggor- Family
Igog- A company of men. Usuallly refering to groups of warriors.
Srupto- The World
Yensai- Mighty or powerful. Also the name of a river.
Coshunda- A large body of water. The Galas Sea is considered a Coshunda.
Gropohuna- Mountain. The Kotthorns are considered Gropohunas.
Jiti- Meal.
Brosli- Tree.
Brosligo- Treeless. Sometimes used to refer to the more flat areas of Krato, or possibly higher parts of the Kotthorns.
Fre- Life.
Frego- Lifeless or dead.
Gog-Man
Grig- Woman
Gor- People
Kotuu- Name for elephant.
Eso- Red/ Crimson
Gogi- Human
Sontog- Animal
Uyom- Evil
Cotun- Sheep
Yenrus Uggor- Great Family
Eso Kotuu- Crimson Elephant
Hno Un Hnos- Chief of Chiefs
Sogo- Goat
Afono- Cow

Any other specific words you want to know Das?

Also, should we kind of hold back on the posting here? We're going make this go to the next page, making North King's reservation at the top of the page useless.
 
Thanks - I would very much like to see the Uggor translations of the underlined words in my story, as I have already pointed out. ;)
 
OOC: North King would I be able to send Ferman's orders for this turn within the next 24 hours or is it to late to rejoin this turn?
 
Yeah, go ahead and send them. I had hoped that I would update today, but given some obnoxious paper due dates, I can't.

Everyone, please refrain from posting until I post the update so I get the top of the page. PM me with any concerns.
 
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