End of Empires - Update Twenty-six
The Smoldering Gyre
10 Years
611 - 621 SR by the Seshweay Calendar
500 - 510 RM by the Satar Calendar
326 - 336 IL by the Leunan Calendar
1435 - 1445 AR by the Amure Reckoning
A warrior must craft objects. ~ Jitanu
I am Elikas-ta-Tisatar, the last ghost of Armageddon come to haunt you at last. ~ Elikas-ta-Tisatar
* * * * * * * * *
A beautiful girl walked down the dew-marked path, the orange trees blossoming in echelon around her. The mist clung to the ground in the morning, visible as wisps around her ankle and waist, but she could already see it clearing around her, and a look at the far horizons told her that it would be a bluebird day. Creatures stirred fitfully about her, hoping to drink the water before it evaporated, but also wary of the predators that haunted the orchard.
None of that concerned her, though. It had been seven years since she had moved to this estate though they had fled a few times, as armies menaced the southern flank of the Empire. Her aunt had a home in the city as well, but she preferred the country estate. They both did.
Talessa! the voice came from the mist, behind her, toward the gate. She recognized her aunt's favorite servant, Sivura.
Returned so soon? she asked, a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth, but then she saw the look on his face. What is it?
Talessa... he repeated, and came up short, holding his sides. She went to him, and supported his weight; he was old, and not particularly heavy, but it was clear he had ridden all the way from Yashidim. We should not talk here. Inside, if you will.
She could feel her face growing colder. What is it? she asked again, not moving.
Inside, he repeated, more forcefully.
She shook her head. Is it father? What news from the north?
The look in his face told her all she needed to know. Wordlessly, she left him there, and vanished into the mist of the orange grove.
* * * * * * * * *
And so the day fell that saw Talephas, Redeemer of Man and the victor at Vesadevas, become the first of his title to return to Magha since Jahan had abandoned it for the north. A hundred thousand marched in tow, to protect the Redeemer, perhaps, but more surely to overawe the people who might see them. Accan pikes, Xieni nomads, and of course the cataphracts at whose head rode Talephas himself few of them, if any, had ever seen the south that had once been the Exatai's home.
They marched beyond the Rahevat, reclaiming Siaxis on the way, and into the barren wastes of the Kotir, its sands scouring their exposed flesh. They marched through the Rath Tephas, with the wealth of kingdoms forgotten rising on the roadside, once-hallowed halls which held no princes. The men marveled at these sights, and at the scrub that clumped like fortresses of yellowed grass against the surrounding sand, and at the strange animals that lingered at the edge of vision.
And as they crossed the Sesh, they descended on the city itself, the red cliffs beginning to yawn open on their left, the canyons swallowing the River into its depths. Here stood Magha, once the jewel of the Sesh.
Here stood Magha, for which this peace would be named.
Great crowds lined the avenue down the heart of the city, from gate to promontory. They cheered at the passage of the masked men, who tossed golden coins into the crowds, and raised their eyes at the tremulous horns, calling high over the dry city. And Talephas, knowing acutely that this was the place he had given up with his early peace, and being all the more determined to survey it as a result, watched the haunting stones with interest, the shops and homes that had survived a century or more.
Here and there lay little reminders of what the city had once been. The golden dome of the now-confusingly named Pauper's Temple to the south. The graffitied foundations of a newer merchant's home, built on the stones of an old bathhouse. And as they approached its end, the hollow majesty of the Matraxas it had never been further demolished with only its seven walls remaining intact, the blue dome remaining only in legend; the Den of Wolves, its entries carved with a thousand animals and myths; the Ark, standing still at the point of the city, and still its key.
And it was here, in the buildings of old Exatai, that Talephas and the new Ayasi, Sixth-Gaci, finally met. Though they would walk a while about the fortress, and discuss things at length, it was entirely for show. The Peace of Magha had already been negotiated; otherwise neither of them would have been here.
The world as it was would be divided into two halves: northern, and southern. Though the boundary between would remain somewhat nebulous, the Redeemer would have overarching dominion over the North, and the same legal powers as the Ayasi had in the South the states on either side would accept their judgments; they had the power to end wars or begin them, to punish wayward states; and the domain of each would be inviolate from the other.
For the Karapeshai, it was a long-overdue recognition of the way the world had been since the War of the Three Gods ended.
For the Moti, it was a devastating forced perspective shift that threatened to unravel all that had transpired since the reign of First-Gaci.
* * * * * * * * *
The Exatai had never been what one would call self-conscious, but the Treaty of Magha certainly gave it renewed confidence nonetheless. On the one hand, Talephas declined to continue to wage war with any of his neighbors, allowing the Gallatenes to handle their situation across the sea, and watching the situation in the Sharhi kingdom with mild interest. But on the other hand, he and his princes found themselves able to spend fistfuls of gold for the first time in a generation, and soon began an age of the most impressive domestic improvements in the land since at least Avetas, if not the Silver Prince Atraxes himself.
In the capital of Atracta was raised the first of these projects. The learned halls of the Sephashim had been the jewel of that city, even by the standards of its great palaces and halls, but Talephas began construction on a new structure to dwarf all of these at once an enormous domed building, easily the largest the world had seen to this point. With five smaller halls radiating out (one for each of the traditional areas of study for the Sephashim: the Heavens, the Living, the Dead, the Elements, and War) in all directions, a visitor would already be awestruck before entering the central domed chamber, soaring above the men below to impossible heights.
It was the first of its kind to use pendentives, and its concrete forms were covered with millions of colored tiles. Even in its still-incomplete form, it impressed.
Never one to be single-minded, Talephas also sponsored the construction of a great new Ardavani temple in Allusille, centered around a vast pillared hall and a ceiling mosaic depicting scenes from the Kaphaiavai in a dozen different forms. Dozens of adjacent buildings made it a center of not only prayer, but of missionary training and theological study as well the greatest temple in the north since the days of the Evyni Empire.
Even without fighting a war, and with the large buildings projects at home, the Karapeshai continued to display their might abroad. The Wind Prince Sianai led a great northern conquest, subduing the woodlands of the Setton, pulling them into civilization for the first time in a hundred years, and founding a northern city in the heretofore uncharted wastes there.
Not to be outdone, his counterpart, Prince Arteras, led a series of naval expeditions to find new lands and to bring them into the Satar sphere of influence. The ocean north of the Yadyevu had long been notoriously dangerous for sailors, and Arteras did not find it easy going even with years of preparation. Nevertheless, his ships passed the Chapru and the nascent kingdom of Oltheng, winning the homage of both, and continued north for months, battling the currents and being determined to get as far as possible before the return of winter. Ultimately, they would find no peoples of note, passing so far north that they left behind the endless forested shores and reached a land of barren fields and frozen turf before turning back.
Sailing east now, the Satar crossed the northern ocean, incidentally discovering a few isolated, rocky archipelagos, and going beyond the lands of Brunn and even those of the Ethir. Charting the coasts with some haste, Arteras would reach the kingdom of Parthe, which seemed to be embroiled in a war of its own but its king, Wertus, still gave homage to this far off lord, even if it seemed to be a token gesture at the time. Arteras was most curious about this foreign people, and stuffed one of his ships with a load of indigo dye, capping off the expedition with a visit to the trading city of Tarwa and the Archives at Parta, which he proclaimed much inferior to the Sephashim (though he still quietly payed a handsome sum to copy the charts of the northern seas there).
By the time they returned, the Exatai had suitably impressed almost all the other northern powers. Even better, what was perhaps the one remaining hostile party, the Sharhi, had reportedly entered a civil war. All that was available to the Exatai were rumors and sketchy explanations, but as best they could tell, the northern kingdom had been preparing for yet another expedition to find the mysterious land of Tin Tan Tar when the assembled armies of the River Tacha acclaimed a new king, and rose in open rebellion. The resulting civil war had raged for several years now, with neither side giving much ground.
To the far west, the Telha had made good use of the spoils of war, using it to fund a new expedition against the Nevathi a war that would be watched with great interest by the broadening gaze of the Exatai.
Meanwhile, a quiet exodus marked the end of the era of Aitahist persecutions in the Exatai at least, for the most part as what seemed to be the entirety of the Oscadian population emigrated at the closing of the war, settling in the regions of Mahid, Cyre, and Caroha.
* * * * * * * * *
With First-Lerai dead, everything in the cradle seemed to change. Though his immediate successor, Sixth-Gaci, would make a hasty peace with the Satar, and even though that peace involved scarcely any real concessions, the shock was profound. The Moti hadn't lost a war not truly in over a century. It had never been decisively defeated, perhaps, in its entire history. The aura of invincibility that had cropped up around its armies vanished almost overnight.
And that was only the beginning of its troubles.
Sixth-Gaci had been crowned hurriedly by the Councilor Furono and Birun, but the rapidity of his ascent meant that certain steps had been skipped entirely. Certainly, the Godlikes did not altogether approve of his accession, as he was seen (completely accurately) as a toady of the two power brokers, and a poor compromise candidate at best. Half the Emprie desired to continue the war, and so held him responsible for its end. The split divided the Empire right down the middle, and as a consequence, the Council of Chiefs, an ancient institution which by now had essentially become a rubber-stamp for the Ayasis, withheld their approval, refusing to name him Chief-of-Chiefs.
In truth, it would have been a fairly meaningless distinction legally, but the symbolism of the move was not lost on anyone, and the Great Families began to marshal their forces to make war on the Imperial power base. Birun and Furono worked rapidly to solidify their hold on their own side, but the situation changed more quickly than anyone would have believed and suddenly the southern half of the Empire fell into open rebellion.
It was the most disastrous event in the Empire's ancient history already, but it continued to get worse as the Godlikes were joined by significant groups of merchants, and gained the official backing of a number of bankers as the Empire borrowed still more heavily and refused to pay back its mounting debts. Indeed, the debt of the Empire grew almost unmanageable over the course of only a couple of years, and soon the Ayasi found it nearly impossible to borrow any more money a dire situation indeed, as even the significantly reduced military was costing the Empire thousands more than it had to spend.
And still worse Birun had forced the retirement of a significant part of the army (those least loyal to the crown), which had simply left camp as coherent units and joined the Godlikes. The rebellion already had a trained cadre at the core of its army, and said army gathered near the burnt city of Moti itself, preparing to march on the capital for a climactic showdown with the Ayasi's forces. At the same time, though Birun had largely kept everyone in line, the cities of the Sesh seemed suspiciously unresponsive to requests for supplies and especially soldiers they tacitly acknowledged the Ayasi, but in truth seemed willing to sit back and wait to throw their weight behind the winning side.
Confused as it was, the civil war proved to be only part of the picture.
Incensed that he had been left out of the peace negotiations if not the treaty itself the Vithanama Redeemer Xocares believed that he had been relegated to the status of a mere hanger-on to the formidable Karapeshai Exatai. Though his son Satores initially withdrew from the Moti, barely a moment had passed before Prince and Redeemer alike were regrouping their forces, gathering them for a new war. The death of the Ayasi and the ongoing power struggle was the perfect opening.
Climbing down from the mountains, the Vithanama host emerged from the forests at the edge of the Laitra heartlands unscathed, and marched straight to the capital before the stunned enemy's army could assemble itself. The pitched battle was barely a contest the Vithanama outnumbered the Laitra three to one, and were better led and motivated anyway. The high stone walls of Ghaon served no purpose without men to guard them, and it was anyway rendered moot when a traitor opened the gates and allowed Xocares to enter in grand fashion.
Conquest did not imply control, though, and Laitra partisans melted into the jungles, harrying the flanks of the Vithanama armies, and later, raiding the garrison towns.
It was of no consequence. The Vithanama did not linger.
With Satores pushing forward at the head of the column, the Vithana descended on the city of Tarr, where they caught a large Moti army sent to patrol the new western border. Even as the westerners advanced on them, the Moti had been debating returning to the east, wanting to take a hand in the power struggle themselves; when the Vithana appeared on the horizon, they were caught almost totally unawares.
With the Moti still in their camp, the Vithanama simply slaughtered their opponents, the surviving Uggor scattering north to join the Godlikes' forces. It was the last organized resistance the Vithanama would meet until they reached Cartugog, hundreds of miles away. Here, a Godlike force met them on the field of battle, but this one was fairly small, and Satores routed it before his father could even arrive on the scene. Racing ahead of the main army, Satores' advance was checked by a levy army just north of Krato, but he gave them the slip in the dark of the night, and crossed the city on commandeered vessels. The Empire's fleet was nowhere to be found almost all of them had been participating in the northern war and by the time his father's other generals had caught up, the ancient capital had fallen to the Vithanama prince.
The campaign was already an absolutely brutal blindside for the struggling Empire. The Godlikes had a new foe on their southern flank, and the Vithanama had conquered many potential allies even if they were fairly questionable ones (mostly the merchants of Krato, and a few Chiefs of the far south). The attack had also dissuaded the municipality of Asandar from joining the rebellion the news almost literally interrupting their deliberations on that very subject. But the rebels, far more nervous and far more pliable, seemed more willing to negotiate with the Vithanama, hoping perhaps to gain an alliance, or at least a truce.
* * * * * * * * *
Of the major players in international politics, surely the most annoyed with the Peace of Magha would be the Farubaida o Caroha. Their soldiers had not borne the brunt of the fighting, but on the other hand they had only suffered indecisive defeats, or scored victories the battles at the mouth of the Markha surely would have turned in their favor given sufficient time, and though they did not stand to fight Talephas after the Vesadevas, they hadn't been been broken by him either. In return for a large investment in the war effort, and a rather good showing, the Farubaida had been more or less left out of the peace treaty and forced to recognize the Dahaiaou as the masters of the north.
But they hadn't lost anything in the treaty, either not really, anyway. True, the war marked a sharp decline in Aitahist trading in the Kern Sea and beyond, as the Gallatenes and Accans had barred them from their ports, and this seemed to be a more-or-less permanent arrangement as those two peoples took over the northern shipping lanes. And true, the Farubaida had fallen behind the Kothari, of all people, who had sent great exploratory voyages to the distant south.
Then again, their army was intact, as was their fleet and, most importantly, so was their country. This defeat had not precipitated another Treda.
With the sudden onset of peace, the Farubaida's foreign commitments were limited to one the soldiers garrisoned in the valley of the River Peko. Though this would actually bring them into battle once more before the decade was out, it was a significantly limited action compared to that which had embroiled them for the last few years. On the other hand, with the latest news from the east, some whispered that perhaps it would be better to assume direct control...
Otherwise, the money that had gone to the northern war was suddenly freed up. Religious buildings and scientific explorations continued apace, and the sacred pursuit of knowledge and beauty still gave the Carohans the cultural verve that they had somehow maintained through the war. Certainly, defeat had caused theater and even philosophy to be a little more introspective, but that was but one part of the equation.
The ongoing Helsian schism received comparatively little attention now. The churches had hardly reconciled themselves to one another Aisen had reached out with an olive branch, welcoming the prodigal clerics if they would simply accept his authority once more, but they had refused on the ground that he had clearly demonstrated his falliability. Of course, some clerics defected back to the orthodox side, whereas other districts had gone rogue, and it was hard to treat the two groups as immutable blocs.
But still, the most inspired of the Carohan efforts were a series of exploratory voyages, probably spurred by word of similar expeditions by the Exatais that bracketed the Farubaida, but still impressive in their own right.
The first of these expeditions range to the far east, rounding Spitos and arriving in Naelsia, where they found the Fareans busily preparing for the war against Leun. After exchanging ambassadors, trade goods, and pleasantries, the Carohans continued on, navigating carefully to avoid the war zone, and eventually arriving in Parthe. Unfortunately for a generation of humorists, they missed the Karapeshai expedition by a few years, but signed a treaty that secured their position in Parthe and set the stage for Carohan merchants to turn significant profits in the area which they soon did, as the traders of the local powers found these waters more and more unsafe with the ongoing war.
But the Farubaida already knew these waters; this was just the start. Another expedition went to the isles of the Baribai and the Ilfolk, While the Carohans could reach these emerald islands easily enough, they found rather little of value to trade here obsidian, a few exotic woods, and the idols of the Ilfolk, but otherwise... Dissatisfied with these results, the Farubaida pushed further, searching for new islands, or perhaps another continent but found precisely nothing. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as though nothing was here.
Thus, by far, the most important of the three voyages was that to the far south. The Kothari had come here repeatedly in the past few years, reaching Tsutongmerang, and setting the stage for a larger expedition that happened almost concurrently with the Farubaida's arrival.
And so it was that the Carohans arrived on the scene in Parna to resupply when they realized the Kothari fleet was here, too the Farubaidans were much more numerous, but that didn't seem to matter. The two eyed each other tensely while the Parna looked on, bemused, but there were no incidents of note. The Carohans soon learned that the Kothari were here to intervene in a local civil war, offering their support to the Parna king against a rebellion in the nearby city of Irnat. They stayed long enough to see the small Kothari force return triumphant from a nearby battle, though it ended up being ambiguous to everyone involved how big the victory really was.
The Carohans continued onward, speaking to the king of Atsan, and offering him gifts from the north. In return, the Atsan monarch gave them an enormous sapphire that had apparently come from the mines of the western mountains. The Atsana apparently planned an expedition north into the jungles between them and Parna, one that would end with mild success, though the city-states between the two would assert their independence at the same time and avoid conquest by either side.
Finally, the Farubaida ships reached Tsutongmerang, and offloaded a huge load of spices and gold, taking on an equal amount of tea and sandalwood. A trading link established, the Carohans proceeded to send out several smaller expeditions from Tsutongmerang, venturing still further than even the natives here had discovering yet more islands beyond that of the Stato'i, but they found no new kingdoms, or even rumors of them.
Meanwhile, the Kothari, having essentially stopped the fall of the Parna monarchy, established themselves still more firmly in the south by founding a trading post in the capital of Tsutongmerang itself.
Back home, things changed only gradually, and only as they had before. The development of Hanakar as a trading hub continued rapidly, with the port of Hanakahi leading the way, all the riches of the western trade route open to them. The incursion of Farubaidan traders meant it wouldn't be a monopoly, but truthfully, that had never really been in the cards.
The chaos in the Holy Moti Empire not only raised some eyebrows among the political elite, it also spurred the flight of a surprisingly large segment of their population to the Farubaida and the Kothari artists, merchants, and artisans, settling primarily in Hiut or the Sesh, or Caroha itself. Combined with the large sums both countries devoted to patronage of the arts, it might already be the spark of a new golden age.
* * * * * * * * *
While ruling half the world as is our right, of course.
