Gwonsaum:
Detailed History:
Megshekemate of Tusendakru:
The great city of Tusendakru is led by Megshekem Illyro, a man remembered as one who would change the dynamics of power within the Gwonsaum, and even outside it. It was said that Illyro wore a bronze crown given to him by Migwon himself, a crown forged in the cold fires of the Mawr Ansa itself, which let him call upon a seven thousand minor Ensha. It was known that Illyro was visited regularly by the Ensha Jen, and that his pet, the Pirgwon Herm, was a direct descendant of Migwon. It was even whispered that Uraga, angered by the boasting of Migwon in Illyro, came to visit on the backs of a storm, and left cowed and fearful. At any rate, Illyro, in his time, was one of the more influential figures in Gwonsaum Society, if not the fertile crescent, and he did much to prevent the fall of the Gwonsaum City-states to their more aggressive neighbors, even giving his name to the few centuries of Gwonsaum ascendance.
One of the key parts of his plan was an effort to placate the Kakshi of the north. Sending the most beautiful of his many daughters to the younger prince Argdis, Illyro sought to create from the otherwise hostile north a friendly neighbor. As such, with his daughter, he sent a retinue bearing many gifts, not least being a breeding population of Pirgwon (The first established outside of a Gwonsaum city, so that his daughter may feel more at home. In addition, he pledged the support of the military of Tusendakru to the beleaguered prince. When the prince called upon this pledge, Illyro sent 24 thousand men to fight for the prince.
Not waiting for confirmation that his overtures of friendship had been accepted, he sent letters to the other city-states, calling them to action. For too long, he argued, the foul Ensha Hegel she who appears beautiful but is infact rotting, her children Trolk of the bloody member and Reean the thrice-drowned, and their foul retinue had fed on the good people of the Tshufrel, and now it is time to free them. He even sent a letter to Shuhai, knowing of the enmity between that city and the Tshufrel, though it is unknown if they sent troops.
Those armies that he assembled met at the city of Jen before marching on the disunited Morai. The Renah of the conquered Tshufrel were allowed to renounce their foul masters, those who refused were put to the sword, while those that did remained as rulers of their Morah, and were rewarded with the morah of princes who refused. Sparse records seem to indicate a system of Gifts to the city of Tusendakru by all conquered Morai. Additionally, it seems that Illyro assigned trusted Shekem to many of the Morai conquered, either as direct administrators or advisors to Renah, who immediately began raising up and training Tshufrel shekem, making the Tshufrel more and more like the Gwonsaum, all the while giving Tusendakru access to the sea and the trade that that provides. Supposedly, Illyro had the city of Thabor razed to the ground, declaring it the nesting ground of those who would enslave humanity to their sickening ways. While the other city-states of The Gwonsaum remained independant, most sought to align themselves with the clearly Ensha-blessed Illyro.
Throughout his life, Illyro continued to send regular gifts and letters to the Krek of the Kaksi. Some believe that Illyros expansionist attitude was in part to feed the tribute that would keep the Kaksi from invading the Gwonsaum.
Illyros last act before his death was to order the founding of the city of Purtmawr, on the coast of the Megmawr, giving Tusendakru certain access to the sea (Some sources places this city directly on the ruins of Thabor.)
While all of Illyros plans could have collapsed upon his death, and his shekemate consigned to oblivion and the predation of rivals, he was succeeded by his daughter Resheca, who herself was a renowned shekem, known to have singlehandedly placated Plu, an Ensha of the rains, and ended the drought he had spread over the land. While not so expansionist as her father, Resheca, sought to bring wealth and glory to the domain ruled from Tusendakru. While it can be argued that Illyro was one of the first to wield the power of the Megkrekshekem, Resheca is the one who was given the title by the Shekems of Tusendakru on her thirty-fifth birthday. Though she continued her fathers policy of sending gifts to the Kaksi, she ordered the construction of many roads, patronized many merchants and traders, pushed for the construction of colonies on the various islands in the Megmawr, and worked to create a truly monolithic Enshasal. Most significantly, however, she sought to make the already close ties between Tsudenakru and Shuhai even closer, going so far as to seek permission to build Enshasal and to send Shekems to live among the people of Shuhai. There are even trace records that she may have offered the leaders of the Shuhai to join the Megshekemate of Tusendakru.
By the time she died, The Megshekemate of Tusendakru was a significant force in the area. Until Shris, not many of the megshekems who followed her truly shone, as the light of Illyro and his daughter was too bright too allow others. Generally speaking, though, It became tradition for the various Megshekems to patronize the creation of numerous Gwonsaum colonies throughout the near Megmawr. The colonial cities and regions were often named after their patron or a resident Ensha, and formed the basis for an extensive trade empire. These Colonies Include the Islands of Johtan (for agriculture and luxury goods in the form of bits of the petrified forest, identified by the Gwonsaum as an artifact of Ensha presence on earth), Resheca and Illyro ( for the fertile agricultural lands), and Phyrwent ( for obsidian, sulfur, and oranges) as well as the settlements of Snetsal, Perletkba, and Astresal.
The Megshekem Shris (c.1384) rose to power in a city that ruled an unprecedented amount of land, and sought to increase this power, launching campaigns of expansion against the disunited Kaksi, seeking to subdue and incorporate the southern tribes.
Krekdom of Penkdem:
The Krekdom of Penkdem did very little but exist in the early parts of the Illyran age. Records indicate that they did send troops to assist Tusendakru in freeing the Tshufrel, they remained passively insular.
Some scarce records indicate that the Krek of the time hired a number of assassins to murder the various authority figures of the kaksi, hoping to break Kaksi into a number of feuding tribes, convinced that others were responsible for the deaths. This policy of assassination to divide the Kaksi was one that various Gwonsaum citystates used over the next few centuries to keep the Kaksi divided, bickering, and no threat.
It was only under the reign of Krek Tobosco (c. 1386) that Penkdem broke from its relatively insular habits, sending an expedition north along the river to find its source, reasoning that the home of the River Ensha would be there. He pushed for the creation of a trade colony at the source of the river, and there built a city he called Estra.
Tobosco also realized the benefits of submitting to the vastly richer Tusendakru, willingly creating a compromise with that empire which left Penkdem with a degree of self governance, while still being part of the empire.
Shekemate of Ther:
The Ancient city of Ther has stood on the banks of the Theran river for almost as long as the Gwonsaum have lived in the material world. In that time, its power has waxed and waned, but it always remained what it was: The center of the spiritual light of the Gwonsaum.
While Ther sent many troops to assist Illyro, understanding the good spiritual work being done there, Johnat, Megshekem of Ther was reported to resent the great power and influence of the rival Megshekemate. Realizing the foolishness of moving directly against Tusendakru, as weakness and dissent amongst the Gwonsaum would have immediately been pounced on by ambitious neighbors, Johnat sought instead to remind the Gwonsaum of what they owed to the great city of Ther.
Understandably distraught by the actions of the Mergis and its krek, who seemed more interested in placating the Shanalash than the spirits. As, historically, Mergis was a city known for standing against Shanalashi predation, this could not be allowed to stand. Johnat made it his lifes work to bring the city back into the light. His first action in attempting to achieve his goal was to denounce the Krek of Mergis, a woman named Sheyna, and calling for the Shekems of that city to rise up and take power.
Additionally, he had carved, to the exact measurements of the gates of Mergis, new doors, in the shape of a snarling dogs head. He gave this to Mergis, so long as they were installed in the southern gates of the city, in the direction of the Shanalash.
When the Shekems of Mergis eventually rose, Johnat made sure to assist them, sending some troops, an action which meant that Mergis ceased to exist as an independent entity, the shekems in that city subservient to the Megshekem Johnat.
Johnats successors turned his attention much less successfully to their northern neighbor, Penkdem. Though the kreks of Penkdem had a reputation of being easily bullied, the refused to give up their independence, and the shekems in that city were content serving the Krek.
The later Megshekems of Ther did attempt to export Gwonsaum culture southwards, into the cities of the Shanalash, sending shekems and merchants who spoke highly of the faith the Ensha have in the Gwonsaum.
Krekdom of Mergis:
The history of the Krekdom of Mergis in this time period is an abortive one, ending with the loss of power of the Krek Sheyna and the subservience of its shekems to the city of Ther. They did send soldiers to assist in the freeing of the Tusendakru, and were very proud of the Migwon gates given to them by the people of Ther, but not much else exists in the historical record for the city of Mergis.
Cultural Changes:
If there is one way to describe the Illyran age of Gwonsaum history, it is with the word Centralization, though it is tempered by a healthy appetite for expansion. Perhaps in simple reaction to the outside pressures, the Gwonsaum actively worked to make their culture a strong and vibrant one. This was reflected in a more militaristic bent, as the Gwonsaum cities, in seeking to carve out a defensive and protected niche, in turn became expansionist and domineering powers.
Societally, the position of the Shekems in relation to that of the Krek become even more secure, as time after time, Shekems proved themselves able to call upon the blessings of Ensha to secure the position of the Gwonsaum in the world, and called upon this power to build great public works projects, such as roads and canals, allowing or greater unity between the various cities. This, and the greater exposure to other peoples, introduced a whole slew of new ensha to the Gwonsaum, some of whom became fixtures in Gwonsaum cosmology (Including Stemp the wild, and his retinue, the Ensha responsible for the ocean storms that plague trade ships, as well as the one responsible for good winds to speed them to their destination.)
Meanwhile, the colonial efforts of the Gwonsaum introduced the Gwonsaum elite to new forms of high culture, art, and peoples, some of which diffused into mainstream Gwonsaum culture. More interesting, though, is the culture of the colonies, which, while imposing the mainstays of Gwonsaum culture on the tribals, also incorporated much of the local folklore and cultural practices, shaping them to fit gwonsaum cosmology. In this way, the Gwonsaum as whole grew to be more tolerant and culturally flexible when encountering societies much more alien to them than the Shanalash and the Kaksi.
Military Efforts:
The Gwonsaum undertook, under the leadership of the Megshekemate of Tusendakru, two major offensives in the Ilyran period. The first was against the Tshufrel, seeking to free them from slavery to Evil Ensha who demand actual worship. As such, the city of Tusendakru called upon the other Gwonsaum cities, and even some of the shanalashi cities, for support. Those armies that he assembled met at the city of Jen before marching on the disunited Morai. The Renah of the conquered Tshufrel were allowed to renounce their foul masters, those who refused were put to the sword, while those that did remained as rulers of their Morah, and were rewarded with the morah of princes who refused. Sparse records seem to indicate a system of Gifts to the city of Tusendakru by all conquered Morai. Additionally, it seems that Illyro assigned trusted Shekem to many of the Morai conquered, either as direct administrators or advisors to Renah, many of who immediately began raising up and training Tshufrel shekem, culturally subverting the Tshufrel more and more like the Gwonsaum.
The second offensive action, hundreds of years later, was taken against the now disunited kaksi Tribes, seeking to bring their southern tribes into the fold of the Tusendakru Megshekemate.
Gwonsaum armies of the Illyran Period were characterized by strict divisions between proffesional Heras. Nobles were required to have at all times a trained and equipped a 49 person Hera, which would be organized with 49 other Hera into a Meghera, commanded by a Sekrek, who, along with all other Sekreks, are under the command of the Krek. Each Hera has a patron Ensha, they symbol of which are tattoed onto the arms of the members of the Hera, while the symbol for the Ensha Patron of the Meghera is tattooed to the chest. The rest of the army were poorly trained levies, raised in the same size divisions as the professional armies, but only during times of need, from amongst the population of commoners.
Geographic Errata:
Colonies:
Johtan - Lesbos
Resheca - Andros
Illyro - Naxos
Phyrwent - Milos
Snetsal - Western Greece
Perletkba - Eastern Sicily, near Mt. Etna
Astresal - Southern Italy
Shiris - Carthage
New Cities:
Estra
Purtmawr