[IC] States of Evolution

[neogreggory]

The Scalethein Empire

201-300 A.E.

As found written upon the walls of the old Promethean Palace

(A Note. I have, as you may see, placed the post in several hiders, in order to save space and divide sections. I think it may be a god idea, but then again maybe I'm wrong. Either way, enjoy one hundred years of progress.)
Queen Hellia was met with thunderous applause when she returned to Scale Home. For three months the streets were filled with nonstop song and dance, and liquor, something introduced to the Kobolds by their new dwarven friends, was drank in great quantity. However, the celebration could not last forever. While the old masters were dealt a serious blow they were still existent, and the last words of Gritig's last words before he fled had troubled Hellia. As it is recorded, "We(the old masters) will not fall, not to you, or anybody! Prepare yourselves slaves, because I am returning!"
However before anything could be done regarding the Prometheans something more urgent had to be dealt with. The Scalethein empire was of no small size, and managing it would have been a monstrous task if not for the Prime Minister Rokdar's skill in such matters. The Senate was formed, and soon Kobold and Dwarf citizens both were arguing upon issues far to minor for the two rulers to bother with. Afterwards a set of laws to both bind and protect the common people, and now Queen Hellia could direct her efforts solely towards building military might.

Pre War Prep

With the aid of dwarf and kobold veterans of the Battle for Uthein Hellia went about the structuring of the new military. First was the official position of soldier, men and women of the empire would be trained solely for the act of battle and war, to kill those who were deemed foes of the Empire, and protect the citizens when needed.
One thousand soldiers would be a regiment, four regiments would make a legion which would also contain units of soldiers trained to throw lighter spears and fire bows, along with siege equipment such as the new Pult. Two legions would make an army and two armies would comprise an army group. Two or more army groups would make a front, the largest body of troops within the Scalethein Empire.
It was also decided during this time that the soldiers would fight on the battlefield as legions, four thousand warriors fighting in three lines. In the front would be the freshest soldiers, the ones most eager to meet the enemy and die for Scalethein. Next would be survivors of past battles, veterans who knew better the art of battle, who would come in after the first line to enemies tired from fighting the first line and unready to combat them. At the end would be the most elite warriors, if the fight came to them they it rested completely on their great skill. Along the sides of the legions would fight mounted warriors.
During this time much effort was put into weapons and tactics. In Uthein they produced weapons and armor in great number, however in Scale Home they developed instead new ways to kill. The Pult was indeed a dangerous weapon, however several Kobolds thought it could be improved. The most obvious way to improve it's effectiveness was to increase it's size, however it wouldn't be practical to use such massive war engines, so instead the Kobold thinkers devoted their time to finding interesting and dangerous forms of ammunition. Rather than a single large boulder, several smaller stones wrapped in a net that would fall apart midair to scatter to the ground below, while not the most effective against structures would be far more lethal against organic targets. Experiments with oils and toxins was also pursued, though not much progress was made.
However, war was not the only thing upon the minds of the Kobolds and Dwarves of Scale Home. The city, which was mostly built within the mountain itself, was slowly becoming crowded. Structures were built outside the city proper, towers began to grow out of the mountain itself, and new tunnels were dug, but still the rate at which Kobold were hatched and Dwarves born was to much for the City to bear. It was then, in her wisdom, that the Queen Hellia stated in 213 A.E that wood would be needed to fund the war effort. An expedition would be sent out westward into the jungles in order to obtain wood and lessen the burdens upon Scale Home. It was then that thirty thousand Kobolds, an army of which were soldiers, would march to the west, away from the mountains and hills and into the jungles below.
Several small wood cutting villages would be founded, chief among them being Far Home, which was the most centrally placed village. However there would be trouble. The kobolds were unused to the jungle, and it's many dangerous. Every day Kobolds would die, either from eating something they shouldn't have, or from a large predator. It would be many years until Far Home and its fellow villages would begin to adapt to their terrain, but at the very least they managed to ship enough wood to Scale Home to progress the war effort. Worth noting, a few of the Kobold villages were close enough to the water for fishing to begin, Kobolds standing at the edge of the water with spears would be a common sight.

Faith, and a Human

Meanwhile, in Scale Home a curious creature found its way to the market. It had hair, like dwarves and Prometheans, but it was lean, and stood somewhere between the two in terms of height. It would call itself a human, of a place called Qa-Avnel. The human stood in the center of the market, and spoke of a being known as God, about the moons and something called ayel. Many Kobolds listened, until one, known now as Rei the First Priestess, asked "Why?"
The debate with the Qa-Avnel priest lasted for days. It is said that each morning the two, the human and Rei, would meet in the center of the market. He would try to convince the kobolds who gathered of the truth in his words, and Rei would ask him questions, force him to explain everything. After a week the human left, and didn't come back. Rei had won, but she was touched by the human. From that day on she would look up at the sky and ask it why. The Dwarves had a mountain father, the humans had a almighty god and their ayel masters, why did the Kobolds not have one?
It would be that starting in the year 231 A.E that Rei would become the first Kobold priest. She would stand in the market, as the human did, and speak to her fellow kobolds and dwarves about the moons. The human said that when people died they went to the moon, but of course that was impossible Rei said. Dead people couldn't go anywhere, they were of course dead. The dwarves had a god in the ground, so of course it would be suiting that the Kobolds had a god in the sky she said, and with each day more kobolds would come to the market, to ask her questions. However unlike the human who got frustrated when asked, Rei tried to come up with answers, and where she couldn't she instead asked the one who questioned her what they thought. In time, the faith twin goddesses of the moon were born. Rei figured, that since there was clearly many different kinds of people, and the gods apparently made the world, that the gods couldn't look like the people on the world. None of the kobolds could agree on what the twin goddess looked like, so they instead settled on worshiping at images of the moons themselves, wearing images of moons upon their jewelry, praying at carvings of the moons. The kobolds and dwarves had decided that the Mountain Father still existed, he was a earth god, the twin goddesses were sky gods. That way, Kobolds who wanted to could still pray to the mountain, and dwarves who felt the need could pray to the moons. All assembled in the market decided that the moon goddesses had names, but nobody knew what they were. This marked the beginning of the first holy walk, where Rei would leave Scale Home, stating that she would not return until she knew the goddesses names.
In Scale Home the new faith, much like music before it, was spreading like wildfire. Nearly every family home held at least a small shrine to the moons, and within the throne room of the Queen's Palace a great work of art was commissioned by Hellia, who had taken up the faith herself. A pair of dwarves living in Scale Home, by name of Ralph and Leon, were making their living at the market, selling lovely stones they found when they realized they could use these stones to make works of art. Over time, they were using flat colorful stones to make images in walls and floors for a high price, and it was these brothers she hired to create what would become their magnum opus. The entire domed ceiling of the throne room, a massive twenty feet in the air, would be made to look like the night sky, with both moons gleaming down on the throne. It would take the brothers sixty years to complete the project, finishing it in 298 A.E.

War with Promethea

Queen Hellia however had a war to fight. She, along with eight legions, marched south. The march to the border was fair enough, it was the of spring the year 234 and the roads between Scale Home and Uthein by that point were well maintained. The army marched past Uthein, resting for but only a short time as the three legions worth of dwarves said goodbye to loved ones and what not. It would be then that Hellia, with her eight legions, would begin their march in earnest. Marching southward first into foothills and then into jungles the army first proved itself against the city of Galgot. The city had wooden walls and mustered three thousand warriors to its defense. Queen Hellia however was curious to test the new weapons of war, and brought out the Pults, loaded both with single and multi shot. Within a week the walls of Galgot were nearly non existent, many of the buildings within were toppled, and the Scalethein army had minimal losses, only losing six hundred soldiers, most of which were from the second legion, which were the first into the fray.
The army would continue its march. The jungles were hot, but unlike the jungles to the east there were few hostile beasts, as the old masters had hunted or scared away most of the dangerous creatures many years ago. The Scalethein forces uprooted many smaller villages and homesteads, however many more settlements were empty, or found with the inhabitants already fleeing before the kobolds and dwarves arrived. Hellia grew concerned of what this could mean, but dismissed these fears and marched on to the city of Berngot. The walls of berngot were in far worse state then those of Galgot, and the forces within numbered then than two hundred. Using logs hefted up by sturdy soldiers and brought against the gates Hellia swept her armies through Berngot like a wave, the meager defenders cut down while the Scalethein's lost only a few dozen from various legions. Once the battle was over Hellia looked over the city, it was relatively large, larger then the defenders made it seem. Perhaps the illness that seemed to belong to the old masters had just struck this place harder than others the Queen is reported to have mused to her commanders. Regardless of the situation, there was still one last city to deal with. The Front moved south, and at the end of the year 234 A.E the soldiers of Scalethein stood at the walls of Promethea. It was then that Queen Hellia realized why there were so few at Berngot, why they had found so many settlements devoid of life. Upon the stone walls of the city stood nearly twelve thousand Promethean. So it would be that the Siege of Promethea would begin. Every day the two armies would pester the other with arrows and spears. The Scalethein forces camped a short distance away, just far enough to avoid the range of the enemy arrows and spears, while Hellia thought on what they could do to breach the great stone walls. The walls stood thirty feet in height, lined with towers where Prometheans could fire from safety. Dwarven workmanship, walls that have stood the test of time. The Pults fired upon the wall, but they seemed to do little against the walls.
Queen Hellia however, at the age of forty-seven, had not one, but two ideas. Trees would be felled by the hundreds in order to build a tower, one that could be rolled up to the walls and allow the Kobolds and Dwarves entry to the city. While this was being done however, Scalethein soldiers not actively exchanging fire with the defenders or working upon the tower would be made to dig. Already there were trenches dotting the landscape where the soldiers of Scalethein would be able to loose their arrows and then hide again before being fired upon themselves, but Hellia had more dug, tunnels. Tunnels that would go beneath the walls, weaken the walls. While the Queen could simply have her forces come out on the other side of the wall she would rather see the walls themselves fall, the Prometheans last barrier crumble. In the year 236 A.E the great tower, named Moons Blessing by the men and women of the army would be nearing completion. It was then that the constant fighting between the defenders on the wall and the attackers in their trenches stopped, for a single day. A messenger of the Prometheans came out of the gate, to deliver a message. A meeting, the Great Ape Horok would speak with the leader of the attackers. Queen Hellia agreed, and the two, along with their respective bodyguards, met within Hellia's tent.
The two would speak for several hours, but it was for naught. Horok wanted lands in the mountains that Hellia deemed too important to Scalethein, and she wanted farmland Horok was unwilling to give up. The thought of simply trading came up, but neither party could decide upon what was fair. In time, the two began to grow aggravated by the other, however before bloodshed could occur the Great Ape parted quietly, stating that the walls would not fall, had never fallen.
It would be with great glee then for Queen Hellia in the autumn of 236 A.E that the final attack began. In that time she was down a legion, the seventh legion had suffered many casualties in the daily crossfires and was dismantled with its remaining members used to refill losses in the other legions. The Moons Blessing slowly moved across the landscape, several trenches in the way refilled so that the great wooden tower would be able to reach the wall. Within the tower were the second legion, with the fifth and eighth behind and ready to ascend the tower as well. Meanwhile, at another stretch of wall the third legion was tasked with removing the supports in the tunnels under the wall, ensuring the collapse of the wall in that spot. Just as the Moon's Blessing was reaching the wall, the supports were removed, the third legion barely escaping the tunnels as earth and stone fell behind them. That legion lost thirty nine soldiers, however the stone walls of Promethea indeed began to fall and crumble, and as old masters attention turned to the falling section of wall the gate to Moon's Blessing fell and the Second Legion leapt down onto the wall.
It was a bloody battle on the wall as the Second, Fifth and Eighth legions fought the Promethean warriors. Meanwhile on the ground the Third and Fourth legions swarmed into the gap in the wall, climbing over rubble and corpses to get into the city itself. While the fight on the wall may have been bloody, the fight on the ground was a massacre, but not in the old master's favor. The Kobolds and Dwarves of the Third and Fourth met little resistance, most of the defenders were stationed on the wall itself and the only ones the soldiers met were citizens of Prometea, which were murdered without thought or restraint. The two legions charged through the city like a wave, making their way to the Palace itself.
Meanwhile upon the wall both sides were suffering heavy losses. The battle could have gone either way, had it not been for the heroic captain of the Second Legion, a kobold by the name of Skirk. He saw how the battle went, the blood soaked stone, the corpses piling high enough to form walls, the soldiers and warriors being tossed from the wall itself to meet a grisly fate below. He howled out, and tossed his spear into the mass of enemies, and by some chance the spear punch into the head of a massive old master, one who was thought by both sides at that point unbeatable. The Promethean didn't even register the spear at first, still holding a kobold with a broken neck in one hand and his block soaked club in his other. Slowly however, he stepped back, two steps, and then he began to fall off the walls. The fight nearly stopped completely, before the Dwarves and Kobolds let out a great scream and charged into the Prometheans, driving them from the walls.
With the walls secured Queen Hellia marched into the city, the First and Sixth legions with her. Marching through the corpse strewn streets the First and Sixth made their way to the palace, but did not catch sight of the Third or Fourth legions. Stepping into the Palace itself, the missing legions were indeed found. Hellia, and the soldier who had marched in with her, wept there, as they looked upon the bodies of the fallen. Nearly eight thousand kobolds, dead in but one great room. Blood soaked the floors, caked the walls, and dripped from the ceiling. At the far end of the hall was Horok and his guard, three hundred in number.
The conversation that took place afterwards is lost to us, but it is said that with the fury of mountain and moons Hellia charged, and the First legion followed. The Sixth legion, cowards, fled. The battle was fierce, but in the end it was for Scalethein. The first legion was reduced to a mere dozen, and Queen Hellia herself was wounded heavily, though at no point did she retreat. Horok had fought well, it is said that he slew at least two hundred of the first legion himself before falling to wounds received from sixteen spears.
The remnants of the First legion departed the palace, Hellia carried by the Dwarf Brone. However, the Sixth legion had managed to reach the siege camp before the battle was over, and had declared the battle lost, spreading word that the Queen was dead with the First legion.
Once the First legion made it to the camp however the Sixth panicked, and attacked the survivors without thinking. The Second Legion pounced upon the traitors, and even though the Second was much lesser in number the traitors lay dead. From taht day on the number six would be considered bad luck, and the Sixth legion would never be reformed.
Though they lost four legions, and the surviving five were crippled, the Scalethein empire had won. Every Promethean in Promethea was slain, and a great pyre of corpses lit the night sky as the survivors looted, danced, and praised the twin moons above. The next day everything that could be carried, in particular vast quantities of scrolls and engravings, were taken north. It would not be until the spring of 237 A.E that the forces of Queen Hellia would return to Scalethein lands. They were met with thunderous applause, and in Scale Home a great feast was held in honor of the Siege of Promethea.
Queen Hellia however, was tired. She had finally finished her mother's dream, and upon her bed she, like the Queens before her, would call for her daughters to assemble. Hellia however had few children, for she had spent little time on such matters with the war on her mind. She had to choose between but four. On that day, Queen Lilith was crowned, as Queen Hellia the Victor's body was cremated.

Peace Times

Queen Lilith's reign would be a uneventful one. Only two events of any historical note would take place during her time as Queen. The first is the meeting of yet another new people, from the water no less. Fishers of Far Home and the other western jungle villages would one day see something upon the water, some large and wooden. It drew near, and their curiosity drew them closer. It was then that a terrible blight would show upon the jungle dwelling Kobolds and Dwarves, as large female reptiles would storm the villages, taking anything of value before leaving. After hearing word of this Queen Lilith sent out the reformed Third legion to protect the settlements, though the soldiers were incapable of telling where the raiders would strike next, and rarely managed to arrive in time to save anyone.
The other, and far more important event that happened in Queen Lilith's reign was the return of Rei in the year 240 A.E. After many years Rei returned to Scale Home. At the news of her coming so many people came to the market that it could not hold them all. Kobolds and Dwarves watched from the windows, children were seated upon shoulders, carts and stalls were climbed on to get a better view at the women.
Rei had grown, when she had left she was eleven, young but bright and curious. Now she returned nineteen. Still young, but now solemn, quiet. Draped in heavy robes Rei made her way to the center of the market, stood upon a large crate moved there for her, and began to speak. She told the tale of how she climbed the mountains. She spoke with the humans, even found the human who came to them before. None of them had an answer for her, and so she kept walking. She met great stone people, They called themselves the Dyarvik, and although they were wise and long lived, none of them had the answer Rei searched for. It would only be when she reached the highest point on the mountains, when she called out begging for guidance, that she would find her answer. Rei told how the twin goddesses looked down on her, and in their pity they told her their names.
Arill, and Zee. One fair, and one harsh. This information quickly swept through Scale Home, and then all of Scalethein. The twin goddesses of the moon had names, and Rei was the one who they told.

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Major Events of Scale Home: Third Century

Cultural
The faith of the Twin Moon Goddesses is formed, and small shrines are kept in nearly every household. In the throne room of Scale Home, the entire ceiling has a mosaic of the night sky done across it in honor of the moon goddesses, which are named Arill and Zee. The number six is considered bad luck.

Technological
The Pult is improved upon slightly, with grapeshot being the main development, though chemical ammunition is theorized. Many scrolls are taken from Promethea, which contain knowledge mostly pertaining to architecture, law, and religion.

Military
The Imperial Army is formed, with career soldiers trained. The 'Pult' is invented. A three year war is held with Promethea, which ends in Scalethein victory, though not without heavy losses. The Third Legion is sent out to deal with Zaqir raiders, but fail to stop any raids, instead forced to just build a barracks in Far Home and help repair damaged from the seasonal raids.

Governmental
Queen Hellia the Victor dies a hero in 237 A.E, and be succeeded by her daughter Queen Lilith

Territorial
(Ack I think I hate MSpaint! I'm sorry but I don't have an actual map, perhaps if Frengo or somebody else would be so kind as to make one up? Far Home is about in the middle top of the Jungle to the West of Scale Home, not far from that that bit of water that juts inland. The once Promethean lands are now empty save for ruins, unless the dwarves of Uthein consider that too wasteful and want to settle some of those cities.)

[ZB1996]

Ashkar Kingdom: Century of War

285 – 384 E.C. (201 – 300 A.E.)
Ashkar Hymn to Eliyahu

How full of folly it would be to think to invade Zaqir! With certainty I say it would end in disaster and embarrassment.

Illedrazki II

King Iyannaabu prepared for five years, gathering his naval forces and training his army to be seaworthy. His goal was to end the Zaqir civilization by destroying their cities and exterminating their entire population. In the year 289 E.C. (205 A.E. ) King Iyannaabu sailed to Zaqir and besieged the city, the King himself leading the siege. Using ladders, they climbed Zaqir’s walls. Fighting both an uphill battle to climb the walls and suffering from the city’s ballistas, they received high casualties in the initial assault, but continued onward. The Ashkarians set to the torches everything to which they came into contact with. However, the Zaqiri army, backed by a sizable militia, achieved a decisive victory and routed the Ashkarian army after King Iyanaabu, who retreated back to their ships.

Illedrazki II, Iyannaabu’s son, came to the throne. During his reign he tried to protect the villagers of the coast from Zaqiri raids and the army rejuvenated after the loss in the First Siege of Zakir. Regarding intellectual culture, especially philosophy, as the defining trait of Ashkarian high culture, and promoted it so that it would not be disrupted or edge into decline. He is noted also for his building of many great ziggurats, for beginning the building of walls in the cities, the grandest and most impressive in the capital. He supported colonists, mostly villagers on and near the coasts who feared Saurian raids, and greatly increased the territory of the civilization. He did not go to war with the Saurian raiders, and thought another expedition to Zaqir would end disastrously.

In 315 E.C. (234 A.E.), Illedrazki II died and was replaced by his son Sumarael III. Unlike his father, Sumarael III was determined to create an absolute peace by destroying Saurian civilization. He had a hatred of all things Saurian, even rejecting the spherical shape of the earth, as knowledge of it came from Zaqir. In 318 E.C. (234 A.E.), after several years of preparation, Sumarael III led another invasion force by sea to attack Zaqir. Unlike the previous attempt, the Second Siege of Zaqir ended disastrously, with the Zaqiri taking few losses and the invading Ashkarians being decimated.

King Sumarael III was killed in battle, and the remainder of the Ashkarian invaders surrendered and were promptly sold into slavery. After working off their years as slaves, they organized, migrated to the northern Zaqiri territories, where the subjugated humans lived, and married human women, forming a small but distinct. They would become known as the Asqari, and adopted Zaqiri language and culture while keeping noticeable Edimmu traditions, and worshipped the Divine.

The remants of the fleet drifted east and ended up in an archipelago of islands inhabited by dark-skinned humans. This remnant would conquer this area by subjugating the natives, which occurred from 319 to 338 E.C. Trade ships, which would pass by the archipelago, soon realized what had happened and reported it back to Ashkar, and official Ashkarian control of the islands, and some territory on the mainland they eventually seized, was taken.

The dark-skinned natives, called the Or’Rouzi, were treated as inferior to the Edimmu. The Or’Rouzi that remained subjugated were at least free from slavery, but those outside of the Ashkarian colonies were not so lucky, and were routinely captured and sold into slavery. Unlike Saurian slavery, Edimmu slavery extends until death and continues through the slaves children.

The ruling class in these colonies were the Rosians (a Edimmu bastardization of Or’Rouzi), who were the descendants of the expeditionary remnant that conquered the islands and took Or’Rouzi wives. They were fully Edimmu in culture and religion, but not in appearance.

Sumarael III’s son was Akaku, who became king. Unlike his father, he did not have a hatred of Zaqir. In fact, it could be said that he had Zaqirophilia, or love of Zaqiri culture. His role model being Marduk, the great hero of the Epic of Marduk, he praised highly the culture of war Zaqir embraced, and was the first to express a desire for an Ashkarian Ring of Valor. Despite his relative youth and eccentric, according to his people, personal beliefs, he proved to be a highly effective ruler.

In 334 E.C. (250 A.E.) war came once again with Zaqir. Zaqir was on the edge of annexing Illitscium, home of the Reguli, into their dominion, of which Ashkar objected to. Akaku looked forward to the coming war, and gathered his army. In 335 E.C (251 A.E.) the two engaged in a naval battle, during which they were routed, but were able to proceed to Illitscium. A fierce campaign ensued, but it would end indecisively. The city of Illitscium was effectively destroyed, and the Reguli were sent adrift.

The campaign had also claimed the life of Akaku, and his son Samu-Sumu II ascended to the throne at a relatively young age in 334 E.C. (250 A.E.). Although he was not Zaqirophillic, he did have an appreciation for Saurian culture and technology. His main focus was on trying to keep stability and prosperity, the recovery of the military, and the expansion of the southern frontier.

Samu-Sumu II’s earliest challenge was dealing with an influx of Reguli refuges who arrived. Many of them were destitute, and those who did not stay in the cities lived nomadic lives. Edimmu villagers had little sympathy for them, regarding them as no more than thieves and criminals, although they did enjoy their trinkets, as well as other things. In the cities they fared better.

In Ashkar, the capital, Samu-Sumu II approved of a plan to make aside a home for the Reguli. The native Edimmu, seeing this influx of foreigners, were uncaring and hostile towards them. Their homes soon declined into poverty-infested slums. The Reguli asked the priestess Inakkya how they could get the Edimmu to be friendlier. Inakkya recommended that sex would work very well, and the Reguli were pleased to know that their most masterful art here would be useful. Through craftiness and intelligence, the Reguli would overcome.

The fared better in Irgilu. The poverty-striken Reguli, finding themselves in Irgilu. The journey would be slow and hard, but they carve out a living working as artists and merchants.

The Reguli did not assimilate, and kept their culture and religion. Hostility against them by the Edimmu was common, and in the city of Ashkar two riots during this century, one in 358 E.C. (274 A.E.) and one in 375 E.C. (291 A.E.), but were both violently suppressed by the army. King Samu-Samu II would not have his new denizens’ homes destroyed.

In 354 E.C. (270 A.E.), a Zaqiri ship appeared at Ashkar in winter, and invited them to the Games of Valor. Samu-Sumu II accepted. The nobility protested, but it didn’t matter, as power resided in the King. The warrior class, long declining into irrelevance as warrior-acolytes of the temples of Eliyahu, received a revival in relevance. They were sent to Games of Valor to fight on behalf of Ashkar, but did poorly, all the Ashkarian contestants losing early on, which sent shame from the highest of the nobles to the lowest of peasants.

All those who hailed from Ashkar have felt a great pain today. It felt as if every hit laid upon our warriors, every blow and strike, was laid upon our soul. How are the Zakiri to take us seriously now, seeing such a shameful display?

Inakkya, Priestess and Theologian

The most important Ashkarian philosopher of this century was Apiashal (300 – 388 E.C., 216 - 304, who defined the century’s philosophy. However, he began to dabble in political philosophy, and, superficially influenced by Zaqir’s government, attacked the state by saying Zaqir was better governed. He was accused of treason and forced to retreat into exile in Zaqir in 365 E.C. (281 A.E). He wrote a book in the Saurian language called Encylopedia of Edimmu Science and Philosophy, which effectively catalogued the whole of Ashkarian knowledge into an organized format and gave it to Zaqir.

List of Kings during this era
Iyannaabu 223 – 289 E.C. (139 – 205 A.E.) 283 – 289 E.C. (199 – 205 A.E.)
Illedrazki II 247 – 315 E.C. (163 – 231 A.E.) 289 – 315 E.C. (205 – 231 A.E.)
Sumarael III 267 – 318 E.C. (183 – 234 A.E.) 315 – 318 E.C. (231 – 234 A.E.)
Akaku 288 – 335 E.C. (204 – 251 A.E.) 318 – 334 E.C. (234 – 251 A.E.)
Samu-Sumu II 311 – 407 E.C. (227 – 325 A.E.) 334 – 407 E.C. (250 – 325 A.E.)

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Culture

Popular Society
It was known as the century of war, and for good reason. In the first half of the century there was a number of invasions against Zaqir, and major attacks on their own territory alongside the raids. On another note, the people were interested in the matters of religion, and there was much religious debate. They were to choose whether or not to continue the traditional religion or adopt a transcendent view of god, and chose the former.

Or’Rouzi Culture
Contrary to what the Edimmu thought, the Or’Rouzi were not savages. They mastered ironworking (the pre-iron age type), and built their weapons and totems out of it, and had developed a system of writing that was written on parchment. The most successful villages were growing large enough that they were morphing intro metropolises, although the Zaqiri raids and the Ashkarian conquests significantly hampered their efforts. The Or’Rouzi are humans of, a race the lives roughly twenty-years less than Edimmu, and can produce offspring with them, and their skin and hair is dark. Each village is individually lead by a chief, and there is no political unity between villages, just a strong cultural link. Although long grown out of the hunter-gather life, tribal clothing and tradition have persisted.

As mentioned before, the Edimmu believed the Or’Rouzi to be natural inferior. This had less to do with the actual Or’Rouzi and more to do with the Edimmu concept of natural slavery, the view that some people were naturally designed to be slaves, an idea that developed after the shock and xenophobia, which both eventually went away, that the First Zaqiri War cause. The Or’Rouzi are often sold in slavery and used for both house slaves and concubines.

Religion

During this century, the worship of Iyanna gradually increased, although Eliyahu maintained his place as the deity of chief of the pantheon. During this period, the Ziggurats grew into grand structures.

Near the beginning of the century the theologian Yahubahu (240 – 345 E.C.), also known for his positive portrayals of Zaqir, countered Azupirano’s criticism of supposed anthropomorphisms, and his rebuttal was effective among the priests and populace.

The controversy on the philosophers heightened when philosopher Apiashal included in his writings agnosticism. The priests saw a serious affront to public morality and religion, and wished to have him executed. However, the King was ambivalent at worst about him, and it did not occur. The Priests favored his academy, however, which weakened the teachers and put the priests in a favorable position.

The discovery that the earth was round, after an initial controversy, was accepted even by the priesthood, the mythic portrayals of a flat disk floating in an ocean were done away with.

Or’Rouzi religion

The Or’Rouzi have practiced their form of religion for as long as it is known, and it likely slowly developed out of the religious practices of the late Stone Age. It is animist, proclaiming that all things, whether they be men, animals, trees, or rocks, have a soul. The divine are the spirits of the ancestors who have gained power through time. That being so, ancestor worship takes a key role in the religion. A spirit will become vengeful and cause destruction, and will only be placated by proper reverence.

The ancestral spirits are worshipped through the idols and totems. Belief in magic is widespread, and diviners and magicians are said to be able to use it. Shamans also are supposed to know magic, but they are distinct from diviners and magicians in that they lead religious worship. There are a number of religious ceremonies, which take place outdoors, unlike the Edimmu, who worship in temples.

Poetry

Ibrimmu (281 – 378) was a writer of elegant poetry in the tradition of poetry. He wrote on most the same subject matters except for erotic love, and was known for his elegance and highly symbolic poems of nature which had universal application to things.

Yasthiru (275 – 317) was short-lived but had a large impact. An adorer of Akhu, he adopted his noticeably simpler style, at least in comparison to Zabaia. He began the “Eastern Tradition” of Edimmu poetry, based in Argilu. He eschewed nature as a subject, preferring the human affairs of life and love, and his poems were meant to communicated and understandable to the general populace. Unlike the lyric poets of the capital, Yasthiru poems were spoken not sung.

Following in his footsteps was Ub (300 – 330), a warrior-poet and folk hero, his life is more legend than fact. Said to have died in 330 in a failed invasion of Zaqir, a year when there was no such invasion. His death date is accurate, but not the cause. Although Akhu wrote polemics against the Saurians, Ub was the first to really write about war, and depicted it harshly, although the majority of his poems are on the themes of love, emotion, and the natural world.

Philosophy

Apiashal

Apiashal (300 – 388) is the second of the Three Great Sages, three men considered the best ancient Ashkarian philosophers. He invented the term “philosophy.” His commentary on The Dialogue of Pessimism circulated in 350, caused the greatest controversy of ancient Ashkarian philosophy. Irreverent to previous thinkers, he claims influence from Tudiya and Ira-galamil.

Verification of things, he says, is impossible, and there is no absolute truth. Agnostic, he said we can’t know if even the gods are real. Uiraka the Amaratist (312 – 394 E.C.) critiqued him as self-refuting, as saying there is no absolute truth would still be an absolute truth. Apiasha replied there’s a double truth, ultimate reality, which doesn’t exist, and the nature of the cosmos, which does exist.

He mocked traditional religion, especially the priests of Iyanna, who practiced sacred prostitution. Inakkya (328 – 376 E.C.), priestess of Iyanna, wrote a reply. Uncaring of his reasoning, she said his skepticism was mere frivolity, that he’s not only impious but nihilistic, and defended the sexual practices of not only the temple, but also the common extra-marital homosexual relations and sex for pleasure’s sake.

In the midst of the controversy, Apiashal founded The Academy, an elite institution that would create a new kind of intellectuals. It worked, as hoped, to weaken the teachers.

Apiashal’s visited Zaqir, admired both their society and government, and thought that a government where leadership was based on merit and not divine blood was superb, and made the blunder of expressing this in writing. This was the last straw, and Apiashal was in 367 E.C. (283 A.E.) accused of treason and fled to Zaqir, where he died, but not before passing considerable knowledge to Zaqir. The Academy would continue to thrive without Apiashal even amidst controversy.

Tudiyanism
Tudiyanism was hit hard by Apiashal’s writings. They professed the traditional religion and did not deny that truths existed. They tried to criticize Apiashal’s writing, stating like Uiraka the Amartist that his writing was self-refuting. Nonetheless, Tudiyanism took a major blow. A similar school of thought to Apiashal’s, it could only defend itself by commentating on subtleties and intricacies, which did not impress.

Cosmologists

Udagam (311 – 388 E.C., 227 – 304) was the last of the cosmologist. His arche isn’t a physical substance. Rather’s it above them, and it’s called the apeiron. To review, the arche is the first principle that other elements spring from. He says it’s an eternal substance thing which is eternal and spreads infinitely through space. It had an indefinite nature, and things with definite natures came into being from their separation from the apeiron. Also, the cosmos’ changes towards what is good or just.

Amartism
Amaratu’s austere teachings were revived by Iddu the Stone (230 – 329 E.C., 146 – 245 A.E.), that all things are transient except for the self, the only thing that can’t be taken away, and the only things which intrinsic value are virtue and knowledge. However, he put a large emphasis on logic, specifically dialectical reasoning, making seminal developments. Amartism would gain traction but would decline with the advent of Apiashal. Uiraka the Amartist, who developed logic beyond mere dialectical reasoning, was the last great Amartist.

Technology

Scientific Discoveries

Knowledge from Zaqir was imported, and it was discovered that the world was not actually flat, but spherical. Qabaru (241 – 327 E.C., 157 - 243 A.E.), a teacher who had travelled to Zaqir, was initially interested in engineering, but became aware of other knowledge. His writing On the Earth, distributed 299 E.C. (215 A.E.), revealed this magnificent discovery, and after a short controversy it was accept as fact.

Astrology was seen as science, and the greatest of the ancient Ashkarian astrologers was Li-Bappir (284 – 384 E.C., 200 – 300 A.E.). Greatly talented as far as that is possible is these things, he developed a system where the movements of the heavenly bodies showed the blessings and curses of the gods. The movements of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies would have an effect on the world, he thought.

Li-Bappir taught Edony (314 – 409 E.C, 230 – 325 A.E.), influenced equally by his master’s study of cause and effect and heavenly bodies and the knowledge of a spherical world, he made strides in astronomy based purely on empirical and arithmetical methods. By 355 E.C. (271 A.E.) he catalogued the stars and constellations and the cycles of the heavenly bodies, then continued by creating a more accurate calendar through knowledge of solar and lunar cycles, and thought that not only did the earth and heavenly bodies rotate, but the cosmos as well. Realizing irregularities in the sun’s cyclic rotations, he assumed its movement was arbitrary because it was a god. The irregularities were in fact due to the earth’s rotation around the sun.

The mathematician Baraqu (306 – 377 E.C., 222 – 293 A.E.) used advances in mathematical geometry, as well as his own innovations, to invent Baraqu’s screw, a machine that transfer water by pumping a screw-shaped surface inside a pipe.

Yaamu (384 - 464 E.C., 300 - 380 A.E.) an accomplished traveler and sea captain, created the first Ashkarian map of the world. However, it was quite rough, with continents which seem to go on for far too long and a number of errors involving scale. He knew of the Prometheans and had a relatively accurate idea of their holdings, but had very little information on the dwarves, and assumed they had the whole of the continent from the edges of Promethea to the land of the Reguli.

Military

No notable changes.

Territorial Expansion

[Sigma]

201- 300 A.E
The Century of Banditry

Upon the Third Century, the ravenous Grogar warbands soon turned their savage eyes to the east for new riches and plunder. The period between 202 and 222 was later known as the First Grogar War, although called a "war", it was not typically as such on a grand scale. The First War was more of a series of skirmishes and persistent small scale raids. The Primary participants of the conflict were the Empires of Bet Aybar and Scalethein. Although caught off-guard with the arrival of the brutish raiders, their aimless disorganization proved to be a great boon for the two nations, and had contained the threat of the grogar, for now that is. By the end of the war, the grogar raids grew less intense, however they were here to stay, and many warbands now took residence within or near the borders of the defenders. Their continued presence was an annoyance, but a manageable one.

The arrival of the Grogar to the eastern lands gave rise to the period known as the Bandit Century, no longer were the roads safe so as long the Grogar Warbands roamed about.

Major Events of Gurak- 3rd Century

Cultural: None were made at this time.

Technological: Grogar forgers begin crafting full-plated armor and better-crafted blades.

Military: None were made at this time.

Government Changes: None were made at this Time.

Territorial Expansion: A number of Grogar Warabands begin migrating east and set up small war camps within several nations.

[epicberet]

200-300 A.E. (Reckoned from Thunderspeaker's Slumber and the Sack of Get)

Warmth returned slowly to the earth in the spring of 210 A.E. through the Valleys of Five Stones. High in their mountain caves and homes, Dyarvik awoke to the singing, swelling brooks of the springtime melt. On the borders, lanky trollspawn guards with longspears rode great sure-footed dyar-goats, gestated in the hibernation wombs of ancient sleeping Dyarvik. Shrugging their great hairy cow-skin cloaks they looked up from their campfires as the spring bellows of waking Dyarvik filled the valleys. Their numbers were much diminished in the last century; despite their mutual reliance of the barumbesukeh trolls of the Five Stones, only a couple thousand trollspawn remained to guard the borders and the meagre herds of cattle that the trolls allowed then to keep. Thunderspeaker and the barumbesukeh banned trolls from birthing new trollspawn. Trollspawn would only breed true to their “ancestral” race – even trollspawn whose great grandparents were humans would still give birth to weakened, frail human children. Without a troll willing to accept and foster the child until it had strengthened into trollspawn, they had a horrific infant mortality rate.
One of the trollspawn chieftains, Alfrid the Long, sat listening carefully that morning to the bellows in the valleys. Over his sixty years, he had come to easily recognize the distinctive calls of the greatest stonetrolls. While the trollspawn clans owed Thunderspeaker loyalty, they bore him little love, and would often turn to the few remaining suga in the valley, who were willing to bear their children. The Five Stones leaders had overlooked this pragmatic compromise for nearly fifty years, but in recent years Thunderspeaker had grown harsher, wilder, and less predictable. He was nearing his 196th year of life, and while most trolls would slip into a longer “sleep” around the age of 150 [awaking every second year at first, and then at longer and longer intervals, until a permanent slumber united them with the bones of the Five Ancients], Thunderspeaker still woke every spring with an earth-shattering bellow as he roused his massive 40-foot-tall bulk.
But this spring, the call did not come. As the night fell on the valley two weeks later, and the last calls of wakening trolls died away, Alfrid turned to his second-man, leader of his personal bodyguard, and handed him a small piece of birchbark with a few small runes. It was a message for the suga in the north: after all these long years, the time had come. It had finally happened. Thunderspeaker had not awoken.
It was a chance of history that Alfrid's message would arrive just as Winterpine himself had awoken from a decades-long slumber. The suga tribes had not forgotten their exile eighty years earlier. The dyarvikim of the north had prospered the last few decades in the hills and mountains of the north, building larger and stronger fortresses and baileys, trading extensively with the people of Yossod and Qa-Avnel, and forcing the Feinar farther and farther east. While the suga shared in this prosperity, they remembered their homeland around the Five Stones vividly, especially the Stargazer clan, which revered the sleeping bulk of Winterpine, and rejoiced at his awakening.
Winterpine had fought a thirst for vengeance for decades that overpowered his natural desire for peace. He knew his death was nearing, and he longed to rest forever in the sacred valleys, beside his fathers and great-uncle Stargazer. With Thunderspeaker asleep, this might be their only chance to seize back control of the valleys. Yet even if every suga, alongside thousands of troll-spawn warriors, were to march on the valleys, it would not be enough to prevail over the barumbesukeh clans, let alone Stoneguard. Furthermore, it was the summer of the Great Festival. For the suga it was a grim commemoration, and few trolls outside of Five Stones dared return and challenge Thunderspeaker's authority – even in his absence.
So Winterpine went back, only accompanied by ten of the most ancient suga, telling his people to never give up the hope of one day returning and ruling in their true home in Five Stones, and to travel the world freely, seeking knowledge that might one day best the barumbesukeh. The trolls of Five Stones were so shocked to see Winterpine arrive at the Festival, they made way for him to speak, whereupon he gave a famous, much-repeated oration, alone, denouncing Thunderspeaker for his crimes, decrying the mistreatment of trollspawn, and arguing that luddism and insularity would make Five Stones vulnerable. Upon finishing, he gave a tremendous bellow, and repeated his message as a final death-recitation. Despite its impact on the audience, this message fell on deaf ears among the Chieftains, but many younger trolls remembered his words carefully – they had seen the strange dwarves and kobolds on their borders, watched their columns of strange war-machines march by. Winterpine had planted the seeds of doubt and progress in their minds.
As news of the fall of Promethea arrived, this progress became more urgent. Thunderspeaker was eventually replaced by younger trolls in practice, headed by a genial, ambitious Most High Chieftain named Undermountain. Well aware of the natural wealth of their land, Undermountain began a massive project of construction. Over eighty years, the labour of the stone-trolls had transformed many parts of the valleys with beacons, hidden tunnels and fortresses, new roads and walls to protect passes, and new fields cleared for agriculture. While many orthodox barumbesukeh refused to build walls or live in castles, and protested these new measures, they were eventually relegated to the side, and change continued.
In the north, the Dyarvikim roamed farther and farther. It became not uncommon for great stone-trolls to offer their services in the cities and countryside of Scalethein and Qa-Avnel during the summer, and then disappear to the mountains for the winter, returning again with several young trollspawn or trollbeasts in tow. Their hatred of slavery and mistrust of any sort of bonded or salaried labour was a constant source of tension though, and many trolls crushed and killed errant slavers, tax collectors, and nobles seen abusing their children or servants. With few qualms about personal property, they also often helped themselves to the herds or food-stocks of their hosts, seeing it as the natural repayment for their services. This gave stone-trolls an entirely inaccurate reputation as bandits and thieves – it was only with difficulty at the end of the century that dyarvikim traders became accustomed to the idea of currency. It became common for trollspawn to act as money-handlers and “talkers” in many negotiations.
In the south, the glorious empire of Bet Aybar only expanded. Under the rule of Emperor Ahmet Panjul Djit III and with the enthusiastic aid of getterim stone-trolls builders, the city of Bet Aybar became one of the most impressive metropolises on the continent, with a population nearing 300,000. Trade flourished along the coast, and humans raised circular stonehenge-temples to the Five Ancients in the ruins of old Promethean cities. The getterim also became increasingly expert farmers, and Aybari agriculture advanced in leaps and bounds, as irrigation canals opened up new fields and new crops. Early iron smelting and iron tools began to appear from mid-century on, as rich merchants, alchemists and artisans learned from the traveling “schools” of Dyarvik schools.
In other circumstances the Aybari army, unmatched by any nearby rivals, might have degenerated or become merely the tool of squabbling nobles, but the getterim were nothing if not dedicated to their alliance, and the trollspawn clans who made up much of the army were fiercely loyal to the Emperor and the Emperor alone. Still, by 234, the brash young Emperor Ahmet Panjul IX was determined to live up the glorious history of the Empire, and when word came that kobolds and dwarves were marching south towards Promethea, he sent out a call to arms. While the jungles of the south had been depopulated during the plague several centuries earlier, there were many small states that had arisen in the foothills of the mountains. For years, they had owed their allegiance to Bet Aybar, but Panjul IX feared they might be lured by a resurgent Promethea. Aybari spies reported that the Grand Despot of Get had received emissaries from Promethea. Panjul IX and the troll chieftains were troubled. If Getish forces marched to Promethea's aid, they could cut off Scalethien supply lines altogether.
So, even as the kobolds sacked Galgot, the legions of Aybar, 10,000 strong, including with 1,500 armoured trolls, also marched against Promethea. Scattering Promethean scouts and encampments before them, they arrived at the gates of Get. The Despot himself rode out to surrender; half his motley army had already scattered at the sight of the massive trolls. While Panjul IX was disappointed at victory without even a battle, he accepted, only to hear a trumpet of rage from a troll chieftain. The Despot's remaining forces were largely slaves who had been forced into service; this was an unacceptable insult to the trolls. The Despot barely had time to scream before he was crushed by a troll fist. The liberation of Get had begun. Aybari armies surged forth, and the city was sacked; in the rage of the trolls, it is possible that more slaves perished in the destruction than were ultimately liberated. Horrified by the destruction, Panjul IX for the first time in Imperial history rode home without a troll escort, leaving the trolls and trollspawn legionnaires to the conquest of Get.
Word of the destruction spread quickly. When Promethea summoned the slaver cities of the south, only a couple answered, the rest, terrified, looking over their walls for the distant shapes of marching trolls. Some Prometheans would escape to these cities, building small, half-breed kingdoms that were born and died in the space of a year. Get, rebuilt, was absorbed into the Aybari domain. And in the Imperial palace, the Emperor looked with new wariness of the rage of his guards – and also a lust for the power they could give him. Slowly, slowly, his attention turned to the only power that he felt could rival Bet Aybar...
The Scalethein Empire.

Major Changes:

As above, with the largest changes seen in technology:
Increased agricultural technology, construction of stone fortresses, mining, smelting, and production of iron in Bet Aybar. Extensive trade across the continent by stone-troll merchants. Troll astronomers and sages gravitate to Bet Aybar, and their travelling schools attract numerous human adherents.

[TheSovereignGrave]

Faith Ascendant

230.2-389.2
(201AE-300AE)

The third century was, for Yossod, mostly an era of peace and prosperity. Yossod had no major threats to them, only simple raiders from the border regions, and trade would continue to develop and Yossodites would travel even farther from their homes. And with them they brought the word of their God. At first it was not official attempts at proselytizing, but rather individual preachers going out on their own. But as word of these preachers' efforts to the Ayelic Council their minds began to change, as time went on more and more began to favour peaceful expansion over isolationism. And so they started officially sanctioned missions to spread preachers outside of Yossod and into the lands of their neighbours.

The first successful target for these were the tribes of Ashat in the hills to the North. Relations between the Yossodites and Ashatites had been ambivalent for most of their history; there were both instances of peaceful trade and contact as well as vicious raiding. And in 140.2 (307AE) the first Ashatite chieftain converted to the God of Yossod. And as a result of this development the Prophet, with the sanction of the Ayelic Council, passed a series of laws that gave precedence to those of the same religion when it came to trade. And over time Yossod's influence began to grow over Ashat; within a decade all of the Ashatite chieftains had converted though the common Ashatites would take many more decades to convert. And the Ashat tribes themselves came under the indirect influence of Yossod through their new faith. After all, their new faith stated that the ayel's were the Chosen of God in addition to the Brotherhood of the Covenant expanding into Ashat's settlements, and the Brotherhood was loyal to the Ayelic Council.

And after the expansion into Ashat, the ayels looked even farther to the north to the rich Empire of Idum. Idum itself was situated among the plains north of Yossod along a great river. The Empire was a very decentralized entity, with a series of Kings owing nominal allegiance to their Emperor. Idum was also a great slaver state, with slavery being a common institution among any Idumian who wasn't a simple peasant. And it was this slavery that helped their incorporation into Yossod's religious hegemony, as well as directly lead to Yossod's only war within this period of time.

Yossod began it's same preferential treatment of foreign co-religionists, and it was only a short time before the closest Idumian King, the King of Sumuga, chose to convert. And this was where the troubles began. Because of laws whose origins began with the attempts to exterminate the old faith of Yossod, followers of the Ayelic God were only allowed to enslave heathens. And as a result, many of the slaves in Sumuga desired to convert. However, the King couldn't allow such a thing to pass and passed an edict that prohibited slaves from converting to their faith. Naturally this angered many of the more pious Yossodites, and the Ayelic Council was especially displeased with this fact for even the less pious of them were displeased by the ruler's attempt to control what they viewed as their domain. And as such they made an edict banning any ruler from interfering with the conversion of heathens. This angered the King who promptly converted away, but the damage was done. As word spread throughout Idum, discontent within the Idumian slaves began to rise and it was in 172.2 (336AE) that the first slave rebellion began in Sumuga. Though it was brutally put down, Yossod itself made its move. Armies of the Brotherhood of the Covenant alongside Ashatite tribesmen advanced towards Sumuga. And when the armies of Sumuga went out to meet them, there was another wave of rebellion among the slaves. And this time, with the armies elsewhere they succeeded in storming the palace and the armies of Yossod were met with open arms by the former slaves of Sumuga who had converted and risen up against their master.

And so began to short War of Idum. The armies of Idum were divided and the Kings refused to allow any single one of them to assume control over their armies, and as a result though Idum scored several impressive victories over Yossod every one of their defeats they inflicted back on the Idumians several times over. Eventually the Kings agreed to cede control of the armies temporarily to the Emperor, but it was too late and the first battle afterwards ended with a resounding victory for Yossod. And facing the very real threat of defeat as well as slave revolts back home the Kings agreed to surrender to Yossod and hope for leniency, throwing the Emperor out of the window of his palace when he refused to agree. The Prophet was more than happy to accept their surrender under a number of conditions. They were allowed to stay nominally independent but they were required to convert, allow the Brotherhood of the Covenant to hold garrisons in their territory, and most importantly to free any slaves who agreed to convert as well. Beaten and broken the Kings accepted, and also agreed to dissolve the Empire with each Kingdom owing allegiance to none but the Ayelic Council.

And over time Yossod would sit at the top of their local area, spreading their influences further to the east and west until all of the land between the great jungles belonged to Yossod. It was, however, not a highly centralized nation but rather a hegemonic state bound by a shared religion that saw the Ayelic Council as the voice of God's will. And while it was for the most part peaceful, the borders were once again beset by raiders. In the west the Feinar were growing ever desperate as the stone trolls drove them from their homes and closer to the borders of Yossod's hegemony. But it was a single raid from the north that would have a far greater impact.

In 214.2 (365AE) a small fishing village along the northern coast was raided, with most of the people killed or carried off by raiders. But tales from the few survivors told a strange story; word spread like wildfire of monstrous lizard men arriving by sea to butcher innocents. And when a group of lizard men arrived at the port city of Mashka looking to trade they were quickly captured and their ships ransacked. It was quite obvious from the loot found that they were indeed the ones who had dared to attack Yossod's shores. Though some of them managed to escape and flee the city, the rest were impaled alive and set upon the coastline as a warning to any of their kin who may come again.

But they never did come again. At least, not for several long years. But in Spring, five years later, they arrived once more. Though this time they came not as raiders, and there were no reports of ransacked villages or towns, but to deliver a message. The message was an invitation to a great contest of arms in their home city, after the Yossodites had shown themselves willing to not simply roll over for those who would assault them. Word of the invitation was carried to Qa-Avnel itself and word spread across Yossod like a wildfire. Some desired no contact with these barbarous heathens, while other desired to attend to show them the strength and power of Yossod and her warriors. The ayels were divided as well, but in the end they agreed to send a small group of warriors to these Games of Valour. But one of the ayels, a young warrior who rued the fact that she had been born in a time where the ayels themselves rarely left Qa-Avnel offered to travel alongside the warriors. There was a great debate over whether to allow her to go, but in the end she was allowed. After all, she was very vocal of the fact that she would go one way or the other and she had already given birth to a single son, so the others decided it would be easier to simply allow her to go.

At here, at the first Games of Valour, the Yossodites would do rather well. Though physically outclassed the sheer fanaticism and determination of the human Brothers of the Covenant were impressive, while those scant few hulking Promethean brothers combined the force of will with their prodigious strength. And in the final round combat the ayel warrior herself strode out into the Ring of Valour, facing down against Zaqir's saurian champion. The battle between the two was an impressive one, with neither of the two titans giving an inch to the other as they fought on. The battle did eventually end, but it was in a tie for they both landed killing blows on once another. Though the Saurians enjoyed themselves immensely and loved such a poetic end to combat between two colossuses the Yossodites were less than thrilled. Though they refrained from violence, it was obvious to all present that they were not happy by the result in the slightest. And when they returned to Yossod, there was a great uproar within Yossod.

There were many who wished for retribution against Zaqir and its monstrous lizard men, either through violence or more peaceful means, while other simply desired to cut all contact with the brutal and barbaric people. In addition the death of an ayel so publicly caused the rise of the Millenarian Third Age Sects; small religious groups that cropped up an saw a massive change in Yossodite society akin to the arrival of ayels, they shared no unified belief system and were brutally stamped out by the authorities. And the Ayelic Council for the most part viewed the death of the ayel as a result of her foolhardy actions. And the priests who had traveled to Zaqir had come to an interesting dioscovery: the people there were not pagans, but they only worshiped a single God in many forms. So the ayels announced that Zaqir was not to be shunned or hated, but said that the saurians worshiped the same deity as Yossod but over time their view of him had become twisted and corrupt through isolation from God's true word. And so when Zaqir held more Games of Valour regularly, it became common for Brothers of the Covenant who desired to test their strength to take part. And taking part in such things exposed the people of Yossod to the numerous cultures and peoples of the East; priests and traders from Yossod met with their counterparts from the East and a great number of ideas arrived in Yossod. Combined with the trade routes to the West, this resulted in a numerous advancements occurring within Yossod over the next several decades. Ironworking, advanced irrigation, philosophy, mathematics; all of these things and more arrived in Yossod as the years of peace continued on. And a number of new Schools would be founded to teach more priests in some of the more recently acquired cities of Yossod to teach a new generation of priests. However this would cause some conflict between those who viewed the new philosophies as heretical as well as between those who followed different schools of thought. After all, there were many things that the Edicts of the Ayelic Council did not answer and the ayels themselves didn't agree on all matters of thought and philosophy.

------

Major Events of Yossod: Third Century

Cultural: More advanced forms of philosophy are imported from the East, resulting in many schools of thought emerging among the thinkers of Yossod. More schools are founded in more recently acquired areas, and religious instruction has become less and less the focus of the instruction. Millenarian Third Age Sects arise in the more isolated regions of Yossod, though are viewed as heretical and stamped out as soon as they are found.

Technological: Ideas such a mathematics are brought in from the East, and technologies such as ironworking and advanced irrigation are developed thanks to trade routes to other civilizations.

Military: The short Idumian War in 172.2 (336AE) sees the dissolving of the Idum Empire into separate Kingdoms within the Yossodite hegemony.

Diplomacy: Trade routes to the East and West expand, and with them numerous ideas are brought in Yossod. Yossodite warriors take part in Zaqir's Games of Valour when they occur, and so relations are fostered between Yossod and the religiously misguided Zaqir though many of the human rulers in Yossod proper despise Zaqir and the saurians as worthless barbarians. The tribes of Ahat and the Empire of Idum are brought into the fold through peaceful and violent means, as well as numerous other, smaller polities around Yossod.

Government: In the more recently conquered areas the theocracy of Yossod is not established. Rather, they are allowed to keep their own power structure presuming they converted to Yossod's faith and thus remained under the nominal thumb of the Ayelic Council. The Ashatite tribes have a form of simple, tribal democracy and the Idumian Kingdoms are ruled over by a rich aristocracy.

Territorial Expansion:

[Shorticus]

200 - 300 A.E, the Age of Glory

The third century after the Empire's fall was seen as an age of glory by the Zaqiri of the time. A great many battles were fought with Ashkar in this century, but in this era the Scalethein and soun'yei were also discovered and raided, and the Games of Valor began.

The century began with war, this time initiated by Ashkar. An Ashkarian fleet set sail for Zaqir in the spring of 205 A.E., and it was only thanks to the outgoing raiding fleets that word of this invasion force reached Zaqir. Izani the Brave, then Potentate of the Zaqiri Dominion, recalled as many ships as she could to bolster the defense of the city. While some did return and there were warriors still around, those warriors were outnumbered by the Ashkari. Militia had to be drummed up, their ranks formed from both male and female citizens largely equipped with slings and spears.

The First Siege of Zaqir was a fierce one. Many warriors on both sides fell, though Ashkar's soldiers took the greater loss. Ashkarian vessels were sunk with bolts from Zaqir's ballistae, and the city's walls past the port proved a tough barrier to penetrate. The Ashkari fought bravely, but in the end were beaten back out of the city. They fled to their ships.

But Zaqir suffered in that war as well. Izani died defending the city from the King of Ashkar, Iyannaabu, and the city itself was damaged from the attack. The ports fared the worst, and part of the Zaqiri fleet was lost. The market district saw some fighting, too, but the temple district and the main housing districts suffered much more than the market did. Saurians and humans alike were cut down rather than taken captive, no regard given to whether the Zaqiri citizen was a woman or a man. Still, most of Zaqir was untouched.

As most of the great raiders were already out of the city, a new Potentate, Benna the Bonesnapper, was able to rise to power. She and many of the other Zaqiri warriors were very impressed with the bravery of the Ashkari army. When spring arrived, she was quick to send a ship to Ashkar carrying a messenger and several chests of rings, jewels, swords, daggers, and helmets. When asked for an explanation, the messenger answered thusly:

Bravery and ferocity are the loftiest of virtues. Your people showed both, and so they deserve praise. Take this treasure, and may we fight a hundred battles more and paint the seas red. Such carnage makes us strong.

Umari the Messenger

Benna would not reign long in Zaqir. She was killed in single combat by one of Buzi's daughters, Kana, in 212 A.E. Before Kana could earn her own epithet, she too was killed, and in 214 A.E. an old but cunning saurian raider named Tatika took the throne. Tatika never claimed an epithet for herself in life, believing she did not need one, but historians call her "Tatika the Undying" both because of her ability to survive terrible wounds and because of how old she lived to be: 143 years old at the time of her death in 265 A.E.

Tatika's first great victory came in 234 A.E. during the Second Siege of Zaqir. Ashkar once again tried to invade, but this time suffered a truly crippling defeat. Zaqir's fleets led by Tatika proved far too much for Ashkar to handle, and those Ashkari who survived the slaughter were enslaved. No chests of swords or silver were sent to Ashkar this time. The battle was unsatisfactory.

In an interesting turn of events, enough edimmu were enslaved that a whole community sprung up when they were freed from bondage. These edimmu moved into the northern portion of Zaqiri territory and married human women. The race born of this, the Asqari, stayed as a part of Zaqir, and though their edimmu blood was certainly diluted by that of human blood, they proved distinct from others both culturally and physically. They lived mostly in villages in the third century, though some did move back to the city of Zaqir generations later.

This glorious victory gave the people great confidence in Tatika's rule, and the Potentate channeled that enthusiasm into rebuilding the fleet and also into working on the massive canal jutting out toward the Pearly Sea. The city itself saw a great deal of beautification efforts and its walls were strengthened once again.

Yet another war with Ashkar broke out in 250 A.E. when concerned Ilitsciumi nobles appealed to Zaqir for help. They believed that nations around them were expanding at a frightening pace, and they hoped to receive some sort of protection from Zaqir against these outside threats. Tatika, being the sly woman she was, discussed the matter at length with Ilitscium's diplomats and convinced them to consider joining the Zaqiri Dominion. Word of this reached Ashkar, and King Akaku of Ashkar decided to put an end to Zaqir's bid to control Ilitscium.

The resulting war was a long and bloody one. The two nations' fleets clashed, and it seemed Zaqir had the advantage, but once the battle went to land the war became stagnant. Ilitscium stayed neutral in all the fighting, its leaders having decided to side with whoever looked likely to be the victor. Then, in the year of 251 A.E., Ashkar and Zaqir started a battle outside Ilitscium, but it quickly spilled into the city, and countless regulii died in the ensuing bloodbath. Ashkar gained the upper hand and arguably won the battle, but all those involved in the conflict suffered terrible losses. It is said that Tatika was struck with a dozen arrows in the battle and even was impaled through the chest by a long spear, but somehow she survived.

While some regulii tried to eke out a living near their city after this, many decided to ply their ancient trades abroad. Regulii caravans were initially welcomed in Zaqir at first, but enough incidents happened between them and the populace that the love between saurians and regulii suffered. The regulii still blamed the saurians for the destruction of Ilitscium, too, and our ancestors blamed the regulii for not siding with them in the conflict.

A coup was attempted against Tatika in 253 A.E. It ultimately failed, and a thousand saurians died in the brief civil war, but Tatika held no grudge against her dissenters. Instead, she invited them to feast with her in honor of their courage. Good relations were had between the Potentate and the Circle for the rest of her rule.

255 A.E. saw a marvelous discovery: the murderous bonegnaw beasts, the strange creatures of myth who came from the sea to devour weak little saurians, were discovered to be the very same meek fish folk whom explorers of the past had enslaved. When a small raiding fleet decided to go much farther than usual in hunt of extra treasure, they found a great many soun'yei. Deciding that fish-people could be caught the same was as ordinary fish, the adventurers attacked, using large, barbed nets to kidnap hundreds of soun'yei.

The soun'yei proved to be useful to our people. They were able to go diving for pearls, crabs, and clams, which was a good thing, though they could not stay on land. But they also were surprisingly able to have children with saurians, legless though they were, and from the union of soun'yei and saurian were born a strange lot of half-breeds that were part fish and part saurian. These we call the saupesci, a combination of the word "saurian" and our ancient word for "fish." Some soun'yei and saupesci left when released from their bonds, but others decided to stay in or near Zaqir.

More explorers went out north in 265 A.E, but their tale was marked with less success. They had discovered a civilization of humans and had decided to raid their villages, the result being very profitable. When they tried docking with a port city for trade and resupply, however, the Zaqiri vessels were attacked, most of them sunk and their warriors captured. Zaqir never learned the fate of those warriors, but the sole surviving vessel returned to Zaqir with this news, and jubilation was had. A potential great enemy had been discovered.

Tatika the Undying finally succumbed to old age at 265 A.E, just before she could decide how to deal with the foreigners in the north, but she was quickly replaced by the saurian named Mazi the Wise. Mazi was not a great warrior, nor was she particularly war-mongering, but she could claim to be a descendant of Buzi the Butcher (one of Zaqir's favorite Potentates) and was incredibly intelligent. Later in life, when Apiashal had the opportunity to speak with her in person, Mazi explained how it was she was able to maintain control over Zaqir:

It is strength which wins the respect of Zaqiri, and strength I have in droves: not that of body, but that of will and the mind. So long as we prosper, I will remain Potentate, and we will prosper so long as I remain Potentate. If someone challenges me, I choose to fight them with my retinue, and I take great care to make myself loved.

Mazi the Wise

And she knew very well how to make herself loved. Mazi set into motion plans to win over the people of Zaqir before they could turn against her, and just before the year of 270 A.E. she sent two ships back to the humans in the north to negotiate with them. Her diplomats brought with them several chests of customary gifts: silver, swords, daggers, rings, and helmets. Then they invited the foreigners to send warriors with them to participate in a contest of martial combat that would take place in the Ring of Valor. Surprisingly, these foreigners accepted, and so it was that the First Zaqiri Games of Valor, also called the Almurzani¹ were set into motion.

All raiding was ceased in the year 270. Warriors from Ashkar, Yossod, Zaqir, Sasham, and even some regulii wanderers and humans from distant villages participated in these games. The stakes were high, but so were the risks: great wealth and prestige could be won for one's self and one's nation, but so could the contestants lose their lives in the Almurzani. The contest was not a fight to the death - one needed only for one's opponent to surrender - but the wounds suffered were grievous, and many of the participants chose to keep fighting until they died.

The contest took place over 28 days in the summer of 270 A.E. Warriors, traders and sightseers from all over the known world came to Zaqir to witness the bloody experience. Mazi had arranged it so and spread word of the event so that it would draw foreigners from all over to come to Zaqir, and she'd prepared the market for such an event. Profits were made, though certainly some of the foreign merchants made good trade as well. But the greatest thing was the contest itself, and in the end only two contestants remained: an Ayel from Yossod and a middle-aged saurian champion named Ikara.

The duel between the Ayel and Ikara has been the subject of many songs, poems, and paintings. To choose one of these would undermine the historical and cultural value of this moment. It was a long fight, seeming to be in the favor of both parties at different times in the battle. When the Ayel removed one of Ikara's arms with a sweep of her sword, the battle was thought to be over, but Ikara kept fighting, and the two dealt killing blows to each other at the same time: the Ayel's head was sliced from her body, and Ikara's heart was impaled with his sword.

The Games were a complete success. Roaring approval of the final conflict was felt throughout Zaqiri society; foreigners and citizens alike were enthralled by the spectacle of blood; and the Yossodites, the great warriors from the north, were proven to be equals of Zaqir in battle. So great was the success that Mazi declared the games would be held every ten years, and that the city would ever be open to traveling warriors wishing to prove their worth in the Ring of Valor. Mazi cleverly devised for more contests of different sorts to be held alongside the main event of the Almurzani as well: group combat, combat in pairs, wrestling, and archery all eventually became additional sports practiced in the Almurzani, allowing different sorts of warriors to compete and more nations to have a chance of earning prestige and a prize. This, she thought, would please foreign nations.

Zaqiri raiders discovered a new civilization along the western half of the Red Shores in 275 A.E. There were little reptiles working alongside small, stocky humans. The former were called "kobolds" and the latter "dwarves," this discovered when the raiders captured dozens of these villagers along with as much plunder as could be had. They were brought back to Zaqir and enslaved. This was how Zaqir finally met the Scalethein Empire, and at the time, the Zaqiri raiders were not impressed.

Mazi's reign saw a great deal of change brought about in other ways. While trade was prospering and foreigners were coming more frequently to Zaqir, the industries of agriculture, fishing, woodcutting, and quarrying were all stagnating. Mazi sought to change that. They simply were not producing enough, and Mazi had solutions for each. Plantations were created, huge fields in which only a single crop was grown each year, their owners rewarded with chests of wealth. More vessels were fashioned specifically with the purpose of catching fish and diving for pearls, their owners still expected to train their sailors in the ways of war. Forests were replanted, that each might be cut again in the future. Finally, the quarries were outfitted with equipment similar to that which was used in the construction of the great canal: pulleys and levers, more carts, and wooden cranes for lifting heavy loads.

More change came about when the Ashkari philosopher, Apiashal, was exiled to Zaqir in 283 A.E, bringing with him a treasure trove of knowledge. Along with that knowledge he brought the traditions of philosophy, and this proved to be the most influential of the things he brought. Zaqiri warriors established their own schools of philosophy, their own "academies." However, these were academies of martial combat and martial philosophy, not science. The first great schools of martial thought were Samaksism and Mazarism, both of which promoted very different approaches to combat.

Samaksism, the school of martial excellence, was started by a traditionalist saurian named Kairen. She preached that simply being better than your opponent at fighting was the key to victory. According to Samaksism, perfection of one's body can be achieved, as can the honing of one's martial prowess, and achieving such perfection could unite a warrior with the Divine. To the Samaki, combat was an expression of one's very self, an art as much as a profession, and the chaos of war exemplified the wild nature of the universe. Only through perfection and the self and devotion to the Divine could order be made from the chaos.

In contrast, Mazarism was a rather practical school established by one of Mazi's proteges. This protege, a human woman named Caeris, believed that finesse and strength required knowledge to apply properly. Indeed, the manipulation of knowledge was a key component of combat, whether it be personal combat or battle on a grand scale, she said. Her belief is summarized in one of her speeches to her pupils:

All great victories are founded on one side knowing everything and the other knowing nothing. When facing a foe, one must ever be perceptive of their strengths and weaknesses and how to exploit them. One must also know the terrain, and further still must know one's self. Then one must disguise their weaknesses and make a display of being invincibile, of leaving the enemy only guessing how it is they can be beaten. One must deny the enemy any chance of knowing they are under attack until it is too late. It is in this way that the meek can defeat the strong, and the strong can conquer the world.

Caeris, Founder of the Mazari

Thus, Mazari martial philosophy taught its adherents how to gather information on their opponents, how to trick one's enemies, and how to use tactics and the terrain to their advantage. It was quickly discovered that while Samaksi were often better duelists, students of Mazarism were better in raids, battles, and as leaders in times of war. Still, most people favored Samaksism over Mazarism because Samaksism was much more traditional.

One Mazari saurian distinguished herself in several raids and so was made Mazi's right-hand woman in 287 A.E. She wasted no time in proving herself worthy of that position, and quickly established the Signal Corps. The Signal Corps was a specially-trained warrior sect whose purpose was to make the passage of information within an army or fleet much easier. Using fire, warhorns, drums, and specific shield-banging patterns, the Signal Corps could pass information from ship to ship or from unit to unit with relative ease. Thus, while the saurian army still fought as warriors rather than soldiers on land, the Signal Corps allowed that army to function as a coordinated whole rather than as several disjointed bodies of warriors.

Mazi did something almost unheard of among Potentates: when she grew older and felt that the Council was beginning to turn on her, she actually stepped down from her position. While the Council fought another bloody civil war to determine who would be the next Potentate, Mazi retired in 293 A.E. to a small estate outside of Zaqir. It's said that she was friends with the Ashkari philosopher Apiashal, though there are no documents to back up this claim save a sparse couple of letters on politics.

Normalcy was achieved in Zaqir once more in 295 A.E. After several Potentates had been deposed, one solidified her position by taking several of the Council's families captive. Her name was Srathi.

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1. Almurzani is derived from the words "Glory" and "Death" and was coined by Potentate Mazi. Its connotation implies that such a death is a good death.

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Major Events of Zaqir - 3rd Century

Cultural:

The Almurzani, otherwise known as the Games of Valor, begin in the year 270 A.E. They are decennial events taking place every ten years, attracting visitors from all over the world to compete in the events, to hawk wares in the market, and to watch the games at hand. These games and the saurians' performance in them become a symbol of cultural pride for Zaqir.

Knowledge from Ashkar spreads throughout Zaqir, and knowledge from Zaqir spreads throughout Ashkar. Technological and cultural exchange is had.

The first two martial philosophies and their academies are created: Samaksism, the school of martial excellence, and Mazarism, the school of tactics and deception. Samaksism is the more prominent of the two schools, but Mazarism proves to be the more influential on the military.

The city of Zaqir was greatly advanced in this century, the damage from the First Siege of Zaqir necessitating a rebuilding effort in the docks district. Zaqir grew to be a more beautiful and prestigious city, as well as a more populous one as well.

Technological:

In general, Zaqiri society is becoming more and more like that of an iron-based society rather than bronze-based. Experiments with what iron can do and be have been conducted, but it is mostly the abundance of iron and how much easier it is to find one ore than two which has made it so popular.

Wooden cranes are used more commonly in the building of new structures, especially those which are grand works (walls, the great canal, temples). Plantations have been established, crops are being rotated, and forests are being replanted, all for the sake of industry and commerce.

Knowledge from Ashkar spreads throughout Zaqir, and knowledge from Zaqir spreads throughout Ashkar. Technological and cultural exchange is had.

Military:

Raids continued throughout the third century in their usual fashion. However, there was a break in the raids in the year of 270 and every ten years thereafter due to the Almurzani.

Ashkar attempted to invade the city of Zaqir in both 205 and 234 A.E. Both times the Ashkari invaders were repelled. Another war with Ashkar took place in 250 A.E. when Zaqir attempted to diplomatically annex Ilitscium. It was a stalemate overall, but Zaqir suffered worse casualties and the city of Ilitscium was destroyed.

The soun'yei were attacked by saurian raiders in 255 A.E. More Zaqiri vessels went north in 265 A.E. and raided the Yossodite people. They were forced to flee the north after a defeat at the hands of the Yossodites.

The Scalethein Empire is discovered to have reached the shoreline in 275 A.E. They are raided.

The Signal Corps is established near the end of the century, changing how warfare is conducted by Zaqir forever. The rise of the martial philosophies and the general spirit of competition born from the Games of Valor begins to improve the fighting ability of saurians as a whole. The veterans of the wars with Ashkar begin teaching younger saurians valuable lessons of warfare.

Government Changes:

The position of Potentate persisted. Izani the Brave died in the First Siege of Zaqir in 205 A.E. and was replaced by Benna the Bonesnapper. Benna was killed by Kena, one of Buzi's daughters, and Kena in turn was killed in 214 A.E. and replaced by Tatika the Undying. Tatika reigned until 265 A.E. and was replaced by Mazi the Wise. Mazi became the first Potentate in over three centuries to willingly abdicate the position of Potentate. A period of strife followed, but Srathi became Potentate in 295 A.E.

Territorial Expansion:

Zaqir's state of constant raiding and warfare actually kept it from expanding its borders too much. No significant gains were made.

[neogreggory]

Scale Home: 300-400 A.E, the Great Journey

Queen Lilith's reign continued into the fourth century of Scale Home. While she lived Kobold thinkers, devising new ways to use the already lethal Pult, discover how to produce a substance, that when it meets air, explodes outwardly in flames. This liquid chemical, dubbed 'Moons Flame' is a thick and sticky substance that when exposed to air becomes alight with blue fire, the substance easily sticking to flesh and otherwise. Not long after iron would begin to flow from Uthein, and before long in Scale Home bronze was used for little more than jewelry, torcs and pendants set with precious stones. In the year 329 however, Lilith was becoming old, and frail. At the age of ninety two she looked back on all she had done, and in her wisdom made one final edict. The walls of Scale Home, of Far Home, of High Hill, the walls of every mining town and logging village, were covered in the history of the Kobold race. For one single kobold to learn everything they would have to devote a great deal of their life to reading it all, and so the Queen dictated that there should be one single place where any Kobold, Dwarf, human or otherwise could go to learn of the Kobold people. The great record hall of Scale Home began construction, and would be finished in 333 A.E. The record hall contained the whole of Kobold knowledge, held within scrolls and written upon the walls. There any citizen of the Scalethein empire could go to learn of the past. Sadly the Queen would not live to see the completion of her Hall of Records. Queen Lilith reigned until 330 A.E, where she died at the old age of ninety three. Succeeding her would be her daughter Lith.

Queen Lith's early reign was for the most part peaceful and of little note, save for one instance. It would be in 335, the Queen the young age of fourteen, when a large number of Stone Trolls from the west would come. Roughly two thousand trolls, with eight thousand of their spawn, and even more numerous beasts would arrive in Northern Scalethein lands. The Queen, along with the Second legion, begin to mobilize in order to learn the purpose of the Trolls. The kobolds are humbled at the sight of the lead troll, a twenty foot being called High Chieftain Dawnwatcher. The young Queen speaks with the troll leader, and after much debate they come to a decision. The trolls were fleeing their homeland, having launched a failed attempt at revolt. In exchange for protection, the trolls offer their strength, their cattle, and the knowledge and training required to ride upon the mountain goats that the troll spawn travel on.

Nothing of major importance would occur until 347 A.E, during that time Queen Lith grew bored, wishing to be more than her mother, more than a peacetime ruler who simply watched over her subjects. She decided the best way to rid herself of her boredom and be remembered in history would be to undertake a great journey, much like the First Priest's. It took three years of planning, for of course the Queen could not simply leave without warning. She ensured that Scale Home would remain safe during her time gone, deciding to not take an entire legion away from Scale Home despite the begging of her military commanders. Lith would take a measly two hundred soldiers, not even a full regiment. Food would be needed as well, and a degree of planning in order to ensure safe return.

So it would be that the Queen Lith, at the age of twenty nine, would set out north into the mountains. With her came two hundred soldiers, chief among them her preferred lover Ylik, besides from the soldiers many ambitious traders seeking wealth, and many priests seeking to teach and learn of faith would come. On that day in early spring of 350 A.E our Queen, with five hundred adventurous kobolds and dwarves, set off for the lands known as Yossod, the first stop on the great Journey.

In autumn of 350, after few hardships and a single stop for the Queen to stand at the highest point of the mountains to pay tribute to Arill and Zee, would arrive in the lands of Yossod.
The time spent in Yossod was spent under watch. While the kobold visitors were made welcome, there was always Brothers of the Covenant watching. The Queen herself was given a great deal of respect, being granted a meeting with the Prophet himself, though none among the Kobolds got the chance to see a single Ayel. The meeting between the Queen and the Prophet started roughly, the Queen reportedly mistook the prophet for an enemy and attacked the man with a fork in confusion. After the incident however and when the two had a chance to talk they became fast friends, the two speaking at length over many topics, the two nations, the nature of faith, the fate of the Prometheans was even spoken of.
After nearly four years in the lands of Yossod though the Queen wished to see more. Her followers had established trade routes, and learned much from the Yossod. It is said that each day during those four years the kobolds of the journey would ask at least twenty questions each, some kobolds asked the priests of Yossod about their faith, why they worshiped. Kobolds asked the merchants of Yossod why they sold what they sold, why they charged their particular prices. The Kobolds asked the farmers of Yossod why they planted what they grew, why they plowed their fields how they did. The kobolds learned much, but the Queen was not sated.

The great journey marched west, and south. They passed through the land of more humans, before finding themselves in the lands of the Suga trolls in 356. The kobolds stared up at the great stone forts of the northern trolls, and looked up at the trolls themselves. The Queen would be welcomed warmly, the news of the safety she gives Dawnwatcher a great relief to the Suga. Trade routes are established with the trolls, and several meetings are held. Lith and the trolls came to an agreement after much talk. The trolls who held Five Stones, led by Undermountain, would be better off replaced by the Suga and Dawnwatcher. The kobolds taught the trolls what they knew of weapon and armor crafting, and the Queen would discretely promise the Suga her aid when the day came to liberate Five Stones. It would be during this time that one of the daughters of Lith and her lover Ylik would go missing. It was winter of 357, and it was that year that many blizzards came down upon the mountains. The child, named Liika, was out exploring alone when such a storm came. The young princess, only seven, would walk blindly in the snow for several hours until finding herself face to face with a troll. The troll was of a clan called the Snow-sleepers, and upon seeing the poor kobold child offered the princess aid. Liika was kept in the Troll's hibernation womb, and when she emerged a few months later she was changed. She was larger, sturdier, and healthier. While not a true troll-spawn the child clearly showed signs of relation to the beings. Upon returning to the rest of the kobolds Lith was overjoyed to have her daughter returned to her. However the journey would not wait. The kobolds would see Five Stones, or at least, the lands surrounding it.
Queen Lith met with the High Chieftain Undermountain, and the two spoke. During the conversation the trolls led by Dawnwatcher, the trolls living in Scalethein lands, were brought up but the Queen deftly replied that those trolls were residents of Scalethein, and that the Scalethein empire wished nothing but peace with the Trolls of Five Stone. After easing the High Chieftain of his doubt the Queen was presented the chance to speak with many truly ancient stone-trolls, three hundred and older. The Queen learned of times long since passed, and of matters that were long forgotten by any save the trolls. The Queen would have these words written down by the priests among her, the scrolls now gracing the Hall of Records to this day.

The great Journey continued south, into lands that were controlled by humans, and ran rampant with beings known as Grogar. On the road to the Human empire of Bet Aybar more than one band of Grogar attackers were fended off, though not without losses. At one point a female Grogar was captured, however unlike the other brutes she was shorter, sleeker, and clearly more intelligent. The Queen would have her fed, and several times attempted to speak with the grogar woman. When the grogar was finally willing to believe that she would not be killed she spoke to the Queen, and the two learned of each other. The bloody city of the Grogar was placed upon the maps being drawn, the knowledge that the Grogar too had wooden sailing ships, and even some information regarding how to build such a ship. The traits of the Grogar, their strength and power. In return for this knowledge the Queen gave the highborn knowledge of smithing, of agriculture, of writing and reading, of how to organize soldiers and fight effectively as groups, and the faith of the Goddesses of the Twin Moons. It would be then that the highborn was released, allowed to return to her life.

The kobolds and their Queen would arrive at Bet Aybar in 363 A.E to the sight of great splendor. With the arrival of the Lith and her kobolds a great festival was had, every street was lined with dancing and food, and the palace of Bet Aybar, where the Queen herself met the Emperor, was guarded by a legion's worth or more soldiers armed in full metal gear. The festivities lasted for a month until they winded down, and at this time the Queen would get the chance to have her first real conversation with the Emperor. The two spoke, however Lith saw the celebration and armed guards for what they were, an attempt to both wow and humble the visiting kobolds. After much debate Lith left the table, no longer seeking to even speak of the emperor. She would instead speak through one of the priests, a male kobold named Rall. Rall would become the first Kobold ambassador to Bet Aybar, and he would remain in that city the rest of his life. However the Queen would not. A few trade routes are created with the humans, but only after three years in Bet Aybar the host of Kobolds would leave, save for Rall.

The Kobolds journeyed east, into lands that were once Promethea. Arriving at the ruins of the city itself in 368 the Kobolds settled down for a short time in order to rest and scavenge anything of use from the once great city. The kobolds went wild in the ancient city, relics would be gathered yes, but graffiti would find it's way to many walls, the symbols of the twin moons defacing many once temples to the old master's great ape. Then, the Queen and her party would find a statue still standing from the battle. Standing at twenty feet tall, an onyx statue of a tall ape long since dead. This statue would be toppled to the sounds of cheering, and much food gathered from the nearby jungles and the last of the kobold's alcohol would be consumed.
After the rowdy affair the party would march north, not for home, but for other lands. Indeed while several Kobolds did indeed return to Scale Home with the knowledge, the maps and the relics claimed during the journey most of the Great Journey, including Queen Lith herself, would instead head towards Far Home. It would be there that the Queen would learn of the troubles the pirates presented first hand.

The Queen, with her remaining party of roughly one hundred, were fishing upon the shore. It would be then by chance that two ships would appear, and from them the Saurian would pour forth. While the Queen's party tried to defend themselves, most were not soldiers and they were either killed or captured. The Queen herself would have taken a fatal blow had her lover Ylik not thrown himself in front of the blade meant for her. The Queen, along with roughly fifty other kobolds and dwarves, was taken to Zaqir to work as slaves.
The Zaqir did not know that one of their newest slaves was a Queen, and Lith did not inform them. So instead of being held prisoner or some other fouler fate she was made to work, digging the great canal of Zaqir. It would be during this time that the Queen would learn personally how to build, becoming somewhat skilled in the art of architecture. However before she could serve any longer as a builder a raider of some fame set her eyes on the kobold. The once queen was made the personal assistant of the raider leader, and during this time she learned a great deal concerning war. Mazarism, a school of combat philosophy was in particular something Lith learned of. During her time with the raiders the kobold took another lover, a saurian male. Their children were a mixture of the two races, larger than kobolds but not as large as the saurian, with the children of the union having bouts of colorful scales on their body, standing around four to five feet in height, and thin but short snouts.

Lith would however seek freedom to return to her home, even if she had learned so much from the Zaqir. Indeed it was in her blood, only one descended from the first Queen would rule Scale Home. So began a year of intense training, preparing Lith for the Ring of Valor, where she would fight for her freedom. In 385 A.E Lith would enter the arena, and with a dagger in each hand fought the hordes of warriors, beasts and monsters. The Queen grew to love the Ring of Valor, the roar of the crowd, the blood of the enemies pooling at her bare feet. She would earn her freedom, and with it a chest of silver, gems, weapons and helms. And also a ship to call her own. Lith took this ship, packed it with every free kobold of Zaqir, with her new lover, and with her half-breed children, and sailed homeward.

And so it would be, in the year of 387 A.E, at the age of sixty six, would return in Scale Home. Much like Rei before her, the Queen was now humbler, wiser, and greater for her journey. Within the first month since her return she would right away commission the building of an arena, much like Zaqir's Ring of Valor. The battlefield would be called the Arena of Scales, and it would be one of the greatest architectural wonders of Scalethein, equaled only by the great mining achievements of Uthein. The Arena held at capacity forty thousand attendees, with a box where the Queen could personally watch the matches alongside her favored. The battlefield itself was a pit filled with sand, however it was not flat. The arena was filled with small rises and falls in the terrain, forcing one to think of the ground they walked on as well as their foe. The construction of the arena took many years, ending in 398 A.E

By that time a Almurzani would come, and the Queen along with many brave kobolds and dwarves would attend. It would only be then that the saurian learnt of her identity as queen, and Lith, remembering the arena quite fondly, even partook in a few bouts herself. The kobold and dwarve soldiers preformed best in the group engagements, putting up a lackluster performance in the single combat save for Lith's battles.

When the Almurzani was over, and when the Arena of Scales was completed Lith was nearing the end of her life. It would be then, on the first day of 400 A.E that the Queen would declare who would succeed her. The Arena of Scales very first games would be held that day, and the final battles would decide who was fit to rule Scale Home. Among Lith's many daughters the one who was victor would be crowned. And so the games would begin. By the end of it, only two warriors remained. Liika the Stone blooded, equipped with heavy iron armor and a massive shield, wielding a blunt metal mace, a newer weapon design created by Kobold weapon smiths not long before the games, and Maza the Rainbow, a crossbreed of the Queen and her saurian lover, Maza wearing next to nothing and wielding a savage ax. It was a long, and beautiful battle, song of by the bards even today. In the beginning Maza threw herself at Liika, hacking and cleaving. If not for the heavy armor of the Stone blooded she may have fallen there, but over time Maza's strikes became slower, held less impact. After ten minutes of intense fighting Liika would smack Maza across the face with her shield, and the half blood fell, defeated, though not dead. It would be discovered the Queen Lith had died watching that battle, quietly and peacefully, knowing that Scalethein was in good hands. It was that day that Queen Liika was crowned, and the tale of Queen Lith, friend of prophets, ally of the Suga, mother of half-breeds, recorder of knowledge, and champion of the arena was burnt upon a massive pyre in the center of the Arena of Scales. Her ashes scattered across the Arena, so that all that fight there would fight with her blessing.

---

Major Events of Scale Home, Fourth Century

Cultural: Faith, in general, is explored. The priests of the Twin Goddesses of the Moon, equipped with knowledge of religions from across the entire continent, go about figuring out how it all fits together. They finally decide upon the this.. There are six Earth gods, the mountain father and the five ancients. The sky has two goddesses, in the form of Arill and Zee, and there are also many lesser gods who rule over minor things. There are also somewhere between one and three gods that are of nothing but apparently everything, these being the Divine, the Yossod god, and the Tall ape. Further information on the three nothing gods is sparse.

Militarist: After the return of Queen Lith a force is assembled in Far Home to properly combat the saurian raiders, or failing that give them a worthy fight. The legion that had been posted there was more or less torn apart and posted across the entire area, 'squads' comprising of eight to sixteen kobolds and dwarves living in small bunkers dotting across the jungle and shoreline. These men were dubbed the 'Lighting Legion' and could be made to mobilize extremely quickly. While they couldn't repel the larger raider fleets the small fast moving kobold units could easily deal with the smaller bands of raiders that attacked.

Technological: Early in the century the invention of 'Moon's Flame' makes the already dangerous Pults far more deadly to large groups of infantry or wooden structures.
The creation of the Hall of Records would mean the advancement of Kobold knowledge, in the form of a single place where all knowledge could be contained.
The Great Journey meanwhile caused an explosion of knowledge in Scalethein. The pestering nature of the kobolds resulted in a great deal of information being gleamed from everywhere the kobolds went. Mathematics, philosophy, riding, animal husbandry, all this and more became known to the people of Scale Home.

Governmental: Queen Lilith dies, replaced by her daughter Lith. Queen Lith, after many adventures and advances, died peacefully in the Arena of Scales, replaced by her daughter Liika the Stone Blooded, who was previously nurtured in a Stone Troll's hibernation womb.

Territorial: There are no new territorial advances, however maps of most of the continent are created.

[Frengo]

The Scalethein Empire

Domestic Affairs

300 - 340 A.E

With the Promethean Empire in ruins, the Scalethein Empire stood victorious and stronger than ever. Denied a mutually competitive neighbour, the stage was set for a surge in social, technological and territorial expansion.

Uthein had benefited from the war, her cavernous bosom blazed with the fires of a thousand forges; Smith Guilds formed to maximise Dwarven superiority over the metal market, and the industrial infrastructure of the city saw heavy investment and speedy progression. The city was the heart of Scalethein's commercial might, and the seat of its bronze production; tonnes of goods left her walls every month, and coin flowed inward.

By 310, Uthein had a fully fledged elite - most mine and Smith Guild owners were themselves senators - and their power was blossoming on the wave of their rising wealth. Naturally, the common man - Dwarf and Kobold alike - suffered from this crude industrial explosion. Poverty and squalor was widespread, even as wealthy employers dined in immaculate subterranean gardens and held extravagant social functions to celebrate their success.

With wealth and market dominance, came competition from within. Iron ore had forever been an expensive adventure; difficult to extract from the ground, and costly to shape into items of purpose. It had been used sporadically in Uthein since the first century, but now, with such investment in the city's infrastructure, there was now the means to harness this power. Smith Guilds invested vast fortunes in assembling expeditions, that pushed the Empire's borders into the dense mountains, and located vast ore stock piles. Mines were erected, caravans were established and for the first time iron ore flowed in abundance.

In a few short years, Uthein's booming bronze market crashed as iron came to the fore, and much suffering was inflicted upon the common man as bronze smiths closed their doors. The unemployed roamed the streets, angry, drunk and seeking vengence... all the while, their employers continued to reach new heights of wealth and power.

By 320 Uthein was in the full swing of an Iron Age, and her wares were spreading to all corners of the Empire. Further expeditions had established iron mines near the Kobold heartlands, and smithing ventures were popping up across the northern reaches. Every tool and weapon that had been formerly bronze, was fast becoming iron. The Smith Guilds in this time, had become political titans, and their wealth twisted the ears of both the Senate and the First Ministers.

However, by 330, the common folk could sustain their treatment no longer. A people's revolt broke out in Uthein, and for three days and three nights, the city burned as mobs of disgruntled miners and smiths put the torch to the homes and premises of their employers. The First Minister deployed the Imperial Army, and the revolt was violently suppressed. Thousands were killed in the fighting, and as the smoke cleared, Uthein was yet again a ruined hulk of stone and scorched wood.

A second revolt occured in 331, and a third in 332. Each year brought more death, and more disruption to Uthein - Scale Home tempoarily became the Empire's iron shipping capital as a result of the destruction. The First Minister, a one Godon Felmane, was himself a former Smith Guild Chairman, and a friend of the Elite. However, the Senate had recently seen its ranks infilitrated by groups of educated Dwarves and Kobolds from less illustrous backgrounds, and they clamoured for reform.

The Senate tabled a motion for the introduction of a "Minimal Wage", and the First Minister vetoed it on the spot. However, the People's Revolt of '34 caused him to reconsider his decision. In a bid to end the constant upheaval, he signed off on the law, and the "Minimal Wage" came in force across the Empire.

This sparked discontent amongst the elite, who in response to the law, withheld taxes. The First Minister resigned, and his successor, Kark Marlax, assumed the ministerial throne. Marlax was a young Dwarf and a talented political navigator; he responded to the elites' rebellion by slashing taxes on their businesses. This cut the Empire's income from tax revenue by 25%, but appeased the Smith Guilds and the Mine Owners Union, thus ending the civil turmoil that had strangled Uthein for years.

335 onwards saw Uthein go into industrial overdrive, where money was in abundance, and opportunity was available to all those who would seize it. Iron once again flourished into the Empire, and for a time, Scalethein could count on its Dwarven industrial heartland to provide the means to power its war machine in future conflicts.

The next twenty five years were those of prosperity and consistent advancement; Uthein underwent a population boom, and the Empire's borders expanded further into the mountains. By now, two dozen sizeable mining towns were on the map, and they were connected by a complex web of snaking roads.

In 350, the Imperial Queen departed on her spiritual voyage, leaving the First Minister and the Senate to tend to the Empire's affairs. Little innovation took place, and little change, for Marlax was a conservative Dwarf who believed in isolationism - and he made no effort to reach further into the world.

368 brought troubling news; the Queen had vanished after being ambushed by foriengers - the Zaqir. First Minister Marlax, now an old Dwarf, resigned his position and the Senate elected Jokrun Keldar as his successor.

Jokrun was a former general, and this showed in his style of leadership. His first intentions were to launch a large scale military assault against the Zaqiri in retaliation, but he quickly came to the conclusion that Scalethein's legions were in no position for a protracted conflict with foreigners that they knew little about.

Instead, he unleashed a wide array of military reforms that saw the state paying for the army's weapons and armour, and soon every soldier's equipment became standardised. This gave Scalethein's army a more coherent and reliable structure, but it did little to really innovate the way in which a war may be conducted. In any case, a booming industry soon established itself around the logistics of supplying the vast masses of Scalethein's legions.

387 A.E saw the Queen's miraculous return which rescued the Empire from an impending government crisis. First Minister Keldar resigned due to health reasons, and Rokdar Greymane (great grandson of the original Rokdar) took the position in a white-wash vote.

Whilst the Queen lavished the north with her Arena, Rokdar sought to compete against her cultural influence, and ordered the construction of the Uthein Academy of Warfare - the first state funded institution designed to train officers in theoretical and advanced unit tactics. The Academy took on the form of a large fortress on the mountain's surface, with towering walls and impressive turrets, though it would not see completion until 406 A.E.

The century ended with Uthein remaining the nation's - perhaps the world's - greatest industrial centre.

Points of Note

Technology: Iron enters widespread use in Uthein.

Political: A primitive "industrial revolution" took place, leading to a popular revolt and the introduction of a "minimal wage". Taxes were slashed on smith and mine related businesses, cutting away 25% of the Empire's income via tax revenue.

Military: The Keldar Reforms led to the Empire paying for its soldiers own equipment, so that their weapons and armour could be standardised across the legions.

Territorial Summary:

[Shorticus]

300 - 400 A.E, the Times of Change

Srathi was not the first saurian to desire to expand Zaqir, but she was the first to push so strongly for colonization. Indeed, one of her first speeches took place in 302 A.E., and she said concerning expansionism:

Once it was that saurians ruled all the Red Shores. Once it was that we were the strongest. But Promethea surprised us with its trickery, its deceitful ways of war, and with its sheer numbers. Promethea is gone now, and our time is now. We are the strongest. We are the most fit to rule. We have proven this many times before, and with the blood of our enemies on our hands we will plant our banner on every last isle and every last shore!

Srathi the Firehearted

This was the powerful, furious rhetoric which spurred the last resurgence of the raiding culture. In the next ten years, raids became more frequent, more bloody, and unfettered by the old laws. The results were of immediate gain: wealth once again flooded into Zaqir, certainly. But there were many saurian and human warriors who died on these raids. All around Zaqir, the nations of the world were growing, expanding, and developing new means of fighting raiders. Few realized it at the time, but this was the beginning of the end for the raiding life.

Technological developments were made to make the Zaqiri army stronger. "Shrieking missiles" were developed, arrows and javelins with holes in their heads that whistled as they soared. In volleys, these missiles produced a deafening wail, the sort which terrified enemy and animal alike. Elite Zaqiri warriors also began fashioning metal discs to wear over their mail armor, often very ornamental yet also very sturdy. These discs provided extra protection, yet they did not overburden warriors who fought in the sweltering jungles of home or aboard the ships at sea.

In the rise of such developments and with the fury and passion with which Srathi spoke, many women were blind to the rapid change spreading across the world. They did not see their dominance fading, but rather saw it growing. They did not see the looming end. They saw a grand beginning.

One woman, however, was wise enough to see the end of a way of life. She was Asqari, and she had been a raider all her life. But while others around her reveled in the plunder, she saw a Dominion clinging to its old ways. She saw weakness.

This woman, Kayris, would not stand to watch her fellow warriors throw themselves against enemies who were increasingly able to beat them back. She decided it was time for change. Kayris challenged Srathi to a duel of the traditional sort. It was unheard of: an Asqari raid leader, a soft-skinned half-breed woman was challenging one of the great battle matriarchs of Zaqir for her place as Potentate! Srathi thought she could not lose to her, and so they fought. Kayris won, and she held aloft the head of her slain opponent and declared herself Potentate in 312 A.E.

A period of great discontent followed. Like all the strong women who preceded her, Kayris fought off assassins and put down uprisings against her rule. Dozens of would-be rulers clamored to dethrone the Potentate, but in the end she killed them all, taking each and every one of their heads as a prize. For this she became known as Kayris the Decapitator.

Yet Srathi's powerful speeches had filled the people of Zaqir with a lust for real conflict. They would not be sated by simple raiding, nor would they accept peace with a ruler who would not give them the glory the previous Potentate had promised. So, after much deliberation, Kayris took the steps that pushed Zaqir toward war.

The Or'Rouzi Isles to the south had long possessed resources Zaqir wanted. There was good wood to be had, and there were good fish to be caught, too. There was also an unspoken sort of competitive drive Zaqiri people had with Ashkar: the two nations had long opposed each other, and so what belonged to Ashkar certainly ought to belong to Zaqir. The isles also served as the perfect staging point for future raids and wars against other nations. Finally, there was a slowly growing population of humans, and humans had long been seen by Zaqir as equals, a people who made good warriors. Such humans and their Ashkari masters would present a tough fight, too. And should they be conquered, their people and their history of conflict could be counted among the warriors that fought for Zaqir.

Kayris sent a delegate to Ashkar before the war, as ever. The demands Zaqir made were seen as unjust by their neighbor: Zaqir demanded that Ashkar relinquish the Or'Rouzi isles to Zaqir or else a war would be fought over their ownership. Upon being denied, the Zaqiri delegate applauded the bravery and eagerness to fight possessed by the Ashkari, then returned home to deliver the news. Suddenly, the revolts stopped. The assassins no longer plied their trade. Zaqir was poised for war.

The Zaqiri Conquest of Or'Rouzi began in the spring of 315 A.E. Countless raiding vessels, warships, and even merchant vessels piloted by traders aspiring to become warriors sailed for the Or'Rouzi Isles. Ashkar's fleet met them head-on. But the Ashkari were outmatched at sea, even with their dozens of vessels designed for the sole purpose of sinking Zaqiri ships. They were outnumbered, and saurians climbed up from the water onto the decks of Ashkari vessels. The fighting was fierce, but Ashkar's fleet suffered the greater loss. Some vessels unloaded what troops they could to aid in the defense of Or'Rouzi. Others fled the battle.

Having seized control of the sea around Or'Rouzi, Zaqir began its first major assault on the largest isle. But the Ashkari defense was staunch: the attackers weathered hails of arrows trying to sally the walls of the town, and scaled bodies floated in the water at the end of the day. Kayris took her lieutenants aside and planned a second attack, this time in the cover of night. That proved to be the decisive decision: with surprise on her side, Kayris' forces overcame the defenders, killing or shackling edimmu and Or'Rouzi alike.

Kayris secured the rest of the islands with relative ease, but there was barely any time to muster a defense. The Ashkari fleet returned, this time with reinforcements, and they came with a vengeance. The weakened Zaqiri fleet was battered in the ensuing battle, and this time it was Zaqir whose losses were greater. Saurians leapt into the sea and swam for land, but not all of them reached the shore. Many vessels were forced to retreat.

Ashkar's first move was to retake the town Zaqir had fought so hard to conquer, and their fresh troops were successful in doing so. Zaqir's warriors fled into the woods, however, escaped into a terrain which Ashkar was not comfortable fighting in. When the victorious Ashkari soldiers pursued them, Kayris applied Mazari tactics. She carefully positioned her troops, and she managed to disguise the movements of some of her units so they could gain a superior position. Using shrieking missiles, the Signal Corps, the terrain and her people's love of the charge to their fullest, she turned what would have been a decisive loss into a solid victory. Ashkar was forced to retreat back to their ships and abandon the Isles.

A month of raiding passed. Or'Rouzi rebels had to be put down by the occupying Zaqiri force. Both Ashkar and Zaqir were licking their wounds, but Zaqir was solidly entrenched in the isles, and they still had striking ability. Kayris decided it was time to open negotiations with Ashkar.

Kayris herself met with representatives of Ashkar and spoke with them at length about the matter of land. The Ashkari were surprised to learn that an Asqari woman was the Potentate who had led the fight against them - a woman whose blood was descended from Ashkar - and some speculate that swayed the negotiations in her favor, as did her willingness to make concessions. Indeed, it is in those talks that she made one of the decisions that would forever change Zaqir's future: Kayris agreed to end the raids on Ashkar.

This moment is one of great contention among our scholars. Some claim it is a testament to her wisdom that Kayris made this decision. Others claim the decision was made too soon and without the input of the Zaqiri people. Regardless, centuries of constant back-and-forth bloodshed were brought to a close. Though surely Ashkari people felt animosity toward Zaqir still, the raids would come to an end.

Both nations benefited greatly from the Or'Rouzi Treaty. For one, Zaqir and Ashkar were the chief raiding nations of the era (with Ashkar's raiders focused on punishing Zaqir). Their agreement not to raid each other meant each nation's shoreline provinces would no longer be threatened by foreigners. The treaty also divided the Red Shores and the Pearly Sea in two: a horizontal line was drawn across the map of the known world, with Zaqiri being granted free reign to colonize the north and Ashkar free reign to colonize the south. They would not interfere with each other's efforts to expand so long as their colonies did not extend past those lines. The Or'Rouzi Isles were an exception to this rule. Kayris made it very clear that Zaqir was more than capable of conquering more land from Ashkar, and that the isles would be the price paid for a peace between the two nations. Begrudgingly, Ashkar's ruler accepted these terms.

There was uproar in the capital city of Zaqir. A great many warriors had died hoping to revel in an age of ceaseless raiding, and their right to raid Ashkar had been taken from them. The usual revolts took place; and as usual, they were put down. But Kayris was savvy to the wants of the people, and she'd already prepared several solutions.

The first was to train Zaqiri women to fight as mercenaries in foreign wars. Kayris knew that Zaqir's warriors were famous throughout most of the world, especially since the Almurzani had introduced foreigners of all shapes and colors to the wonders of Zaqiri battle prowess. Saurians frequently proved themselves in the Ring of Valor and in arenas in other cities, even foreign ones. And there were certainly wars in other parts of the world. Kayris believed it was only natural that Zaqir begin to sell the services of its army in return for fame and fortune. She had this to say when she created the first Zaqiri force dedicated to mercenary work, the Sword Sisters, in 321 A.E:

Why should we spend our resources on finding enemies when we can be paid to have them given to us? Why should the world hate us for slaying their neighbors when it can praise us for the same? We shall fight war for the other realms, and they will laud us as their champions.

Kayris the Decapitator

Kayris' argument convinced a great many women of war. But it was not her only alternative to raiding. Around the same time that the Sword Sisters were established, women were encouraged to begin exploring the lands around them in earnest. There were still parts of the jungle which were unknown to Zaqir, and there were islands which were within Zaqir's territory yet were not actually conquered or colonized. Kayris pushed for that to change. In her reign, several islands and much more of the jungle would fly the Zaqiri banner. Villages of humans and saurians who had never joined Zaqir would be subjugated and annexed. Zaqir expanded its borders quickly.

Finally, Kayris decided to introduce a new sort of bloodsport to the arena: that of beastslaying. She had saurians capture a great many beasts from the jungle. Boars, dire tigers, giant snakes, and the terrifying serpent flies¹ were captured and brought back to the capital. There, they were used in the Ring of Valor and the Almurzani as opponents for contestants. This new bloodsport was very well received.

Of course, some Zaqiri realized there was potential for these animals to be used as more than bloodsport. One saurian man, Jaqesh, believed the boars were a very flexible animal that could be used for many purposes. He learned how to tame the boars and use them to find tubers and other valuable foodstuffs. He even began domesticating some for slaughter, and others he used as draft animals on his wife's plantation. It was not long before others followed Jaqesh's example.

A saurian woman named Sanaka the Beastmaster realized the beasts could also be used for war. She began breeding some specifically for that purpose, and before long she'd developed a breed of boars who would fiercely charge enemies with a little encouragement. These she called battle boars. She also began the arduous process of training serpent flies, and she discovered they were actually very intelligent creatures, even if they were inherently unruly and violent. She trained them to serve as hunting companions, and then it was only natural for them to become beasts of war.

By 340 A.E, the Zaqiri people were proud of their Asqari Potentate. Kayris had demonstrated the superiority of Zaqir over Ashkar, secured lands for her people, found new ways to spill blood, and displayed great personal skill in battle. She started suffering from weak lungs and shortness of breath, and sensing her impending death she asked that aspiring warriors come forth and take the title of Potentate from her so she could die a worthy death. Her wish was granted: after besting several opponents in battle, she was slain by Istani the Builder with a spear to her heart, and Istani became Potentate in the winter of 340 A.E.

Historians now believe that Kayris chose Istani to be her successor and let herself be slain by her so as to give her legitimacy as a ruler. Istani shared many of Kayris' beliefs, and had expressed them very publicly in the past. It's noteworthy that Kayris was famous for her martial prowess, but Istani was known to prefer to have others fight for her as Potentate. Somehow, however, she slew Kayris in single combat. At the time, however, Zaqiri believed that the victory was genuine, and historians do agree that Istani must not have known she had been chosen by Kayris.

Istani's epithet came about early in her career. She had been an adventurer before becoming Potentate, and she had met many regulii in her travels. They divulged in her their longing for a new home, and Istani decided to give it to them. In 342 A.E. she began one of the greatest reconstruction efforts the world has ever known: she hired a great many laborers and builders to begin the process of remaking Ilitscium. Though it would take over thirty years, in 374 A.E. the city would be rebuilt. Some regulii chose to return to their ancestral home, but many hated the idea of living under Zaqir's rule, fearing they would lose their home once again should they choose to live in Zaqiri territory. Those regulii who did settle in New Ilitscium were joined by saurians, humans, Asqari, and even some soun'yei who still lived in Zaqir.

Istani also is responsible for completing the construction of the canal connecting the Red Shores and the Pearly Sea. She planned the final construction efforts herself, and apparently had an eye for such matters. Under her guidance, an effort which was previously believed to not be completed until well after 400 A.E. was finished by 360 A.E, and the cost of construction was cheaper than expected. The joining of the two seas strengthed Zaqir's control over its territory and made further colonial efforts possible. Istani named the canal the Conqueror's Canal, and she named the main segments after the four Potentates she considered the most influential: Buzi, Tatika, Mazi, and Kayris.

Asqar and Shaqir were also built during Istani's rule. Asqar was settled largely by Asqari people who saw an opportunity to make a city in which their own individual culture could thrive. They were still loyal to Zaqir - incredibly so, especially since Kayris had become Potentate - but wanted to appoint their own leaders who would in turn answer to the Potentate. So, they requested permission to colonize the far shore in 350 A.E, and Istani granted them their wish. A group of saurians and humans wished to start their own city shortly thereafter, and they too were granted permission, thus creating the city of Shaqir in 361 A.E.

Meanwhile, the Or'Rouzi in the south were chafing under the rule of the Rosians. The Rosians were physically human, like the Or'Rouzi, and had their dark skin. However, they were culturally Ashkari, and they had been allowed to rule in the Or'Rouzi Isles so long as they pledged allegiance to Zaqir. The Or'Rouzi eventually had enough, and they rebelled against their masters in 353 A.E. They succeeded, and they viciously slew their masters.

When news of this reached Zaqir, Istani sent an ambassador with congratulations to the Or'Rouzi. She informed them she was pleased to know the weak Rosians had been overthrown, and she would welcome the Or'Rouzi into the Zaqiri fold. Wanting to avoid a war with Zaqir and not wanting to rejoin Ashkar, the Or'Rouzi leaders accepted and remained relatively free to self-govern themselves.

Cultural shifts occured in Istani's reign as well. Since the Ashkari philosopher, Apiashal, had delivered great knowledge to Zaqir and spurred the creation of the warrior philosophies, the role of men in Zaqiri society was being debated. For a long time men had been seen as wholly subservient to women, good for work that did not involve warfare but ultimately meant to serve their wives. But were men, perhaps, capable of being something more? There was evidence to suggest this could be the case. Apiashal, the Ashkari soldiers, the Yossodite Brotherhood, and Jaqesh were all examples of men performing great deeds for their people. Both as thinkers and warriors, they seemed to be capable of doing something more. So, it was decided by the Circle in 365 A.E. that men could serve alongside women as raiders, and that men could own their own homes. This was a shocking change for our society, but concerned Zaqiri citizens were assured that no man would ever serve as Potentate. That was a job for a woman.

The martial philosophies grew in popularity, and more of them began to crop up. Still, Mazarism and Samaksism remained the most prominent of the philosophies. One, however, began to rise in this century: Ilism. Derived from the name of the Yossodite religion, Ila, Ilism was as much a religion as it was a philosophy, a merging of Zaqiri worship of the Divine, Yossodite worship of God, and the qualities that distinguished Zaqir's enemies from the saurian warriors. It preached the merits of soldierly discipline and of how fighting for the group rather than for the self would bring about victory. It also preached that the Divine - believed to also be God - wanted warriors to devote their lives to their craft. Most Zaqiri people did not take this new philosophy very seriously, but its following started growing slowly.

Perhaps the growth of Ilism is only sensible given the activity of Yossodite priests in Zaqir. They began converting the populace of the Dominion to their religion. There was no great enthusiasm for Ila yet, but each year saw an increased number of the faithful in Zaqir.

The last major cultural change to occur during Istani's rule was the birth of the Bargeplayers. The Bargeplayers were poets and musicians who purchased merchant vessels and began visiting the various cities of Zaqir and Ashkar to ply their trade for payment. They practically lived on their barges, forming a sense of community and a culture not unlike that of the wandering regulii. Indeed, some regulii could be counted among their number, as could Zaqiri-born saurians, humans, Asqari, soun'yei, and occasionally members of other races. They used a wide variety of instruments, especially percussion and wind instruments.

So it was that Istani died in 380 A.E, her reign relatively peaceful save for her violent death at the hands of the next Potentate. Another series of great struggles over who would be Potentate followed, the Circle becoming rather involved in the process. Eventually, the saurian woman Yaka was able to consolidate her control of the Potentate throne. She began her rule in 385 A.E.

Yaka's rule persisted through the end of the fourth century. She eagerly let Zaqiri warriors conquer the remaining parts of the jungle which were not yet part of Zaqir, and she pushed for raids to continue further northward along the Pearly Sea than had been possible before the construction of the Conqueror's Canal. Her mercenaries, too, found battles to fight abroad. By the time the fifth century rolled around, Yaka's armies were ready to take on a bigger challenge.

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1. The serpent fly is a curious creature that seems equal parts insect and serpent. It is capable of flight, has a deadly poisonous bite, and has impressive senses of hearing and smell. They are comparable to smart dogs in intelligence, but are also inherently violent creatures. Once secured as a friend, however, they are allies for life.

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Major Events of Zaqir - 4th Century

Cultural:

The vaunted raiding culture of Zaqir is finally starting to die off. While it has not disappeared, it has become impractical to seek out wealth chiefly through raiding. Raiding persists, but Ashkar is no longer a legal target of raids, and those who attempt to attack them are severely punished.

The Conqueror's Canal is finally completed. This gives the raiding culture a final boost of longevity, as now the raids can continue further northward than before and potentially further eastward. The four main segments of the Conqueror's Canal are named after Zaqir's four greatest Potentates: Buzi, Tatika, Mazi, and Kayris.

Alternatives to raiding have been sought out by Zaqir. Mercenary work and adventuring have become common practices (though said mercenaries are disallowed from fighting against Zaqir).

The warrior philosophies grow in popularity. Ilism, highly religious in nature and highly focused on discipline, has begun to gain a small following. It is not, however, accepted by the majority of saurians. The Yossodite religion, Ila, begins to spread in Zaqir.

Men have gained additional rights in Zaqiri society. They are no longer viewed as mere property of women, but they are far from being equal to women still. However, being allowed to earn prestige as raiders and warriors is a step forward, as is the ability to own their own property. Most saurian men choose to use bows and slings, preferring to leave close combat to the much larger, much more dangerous women.

Technological:

The shrieking missile has been invented. Arrows and javelins have holes in their heads which make them whistle when launched. When launched in volleys, this creates a deafening, morale-breaking wail.

Bronze and iron discs are now being worn over mail and cloth armor. While not as effective as breastplates or fuller armors, this simple, elegant design leaves the wearer with considerable mobility and does not hinder their ability to operate in extremely hot climates. It also deflects blows away from the chest and back.

Boars have been domesticated for a variety of purposes. They serve as draft animals, as tuber hunters, as livestock, and as beasts of war. Serpent flies have also been tamed and are used as pets, hunting animals, and are also used in warfare.

Military:

While the raiding culture has begun to fade, Zaqir's armies were highly successful in the Zaqiri Conquest of Or'Rouzi. That war lasted between 315-317 A.E.

Colonial efforts saw the conquest of the untamed portions of the Zaqiri jungle. Previously independent saurian and human villages have been annexed and are now part of Zaqir.

Government Changes:

Srathi died in battle against the new Potentate, Kayris, in 312 A.E. Kayris ruled until 340 A.E. until she was slain by the next Potenate, Istani, who may have been chosen by Kayris to succeed her. Istani had a fairly peaceful reign until she was slain in single combat by a would-be Potentate, and the fight for who would be Potentate lasted from 380-385 A.E. In the end, a saurian named Yaka was the last woman standing.

Territorial Expansion:

[ZB1996]

Ashkar Kingdom: Century of Prosperity

385 – 484 E.C. (301 – 400 A.E.)
Ashkar Hymn to Eliyahu

Akaku is surely rolling his eyes at us. Not only has peace come, but it has in the aftermath of defeat, and we are better for it.

Sumarael IV

In 399 E.C. (315 A.E.) the Zaqiri sent a delegate who demanded that the Or’Rouzi isles be given to Zaqir or it would be taken by force. Ashkar staunchly refused. Zaqiri subsequently launched an invasion of the Or’Rouzi isles. Aware of the coming attack, Ashkar reinforced the garrison, which was simply made up of a militia, with an army of professional soldiers and sent a naval guard as well. Zaqir’s forces won a clear naval victory and then launched an assault on the isles. The Ashkarians won the initial battle, but the Zaqiri returned and won a decisive battle, winning control of the isle.

King Samu-Sumu II reacted quickly, sending a second army and navy which he led personally in 400 E.C. (316 A.E.). Under his command the Ashkarians defeated the Zaqiri navy and won the first battle in their initial counter-invasion, but a second battle saw them decisively defeated. Samu-Sumu II managed to escape.

While a second counterattack was being planned in 401 E.C. (317 A.E.), Zaqir opened up negotiations. The current Zaqiri Potentate was an Asqari, who are descendants of Ashkarians and humans, and Samu-Sumu II was generally sympathetic and responsive. Ashkar and Zaqir both agreed on how they would divide their claims and territory, as detailed below. Both sides agreed to complete cessation of raids, and Ashkar would officially hand over the Or’Rouzi Islands to Zaqir, but would keep that which was on the continent.

The half-breed says she can take yet more land, yet not a soul in Ashkar believes that is so.

Buhur the Philosopher

Although Samu-Sumu II saw the negotiations as a success, they were extremely unpopular. Through Buhur the Philosopher, head of the Academy, who served as a diplomatic delegate to the negotiations, the proceedings became public knowledge. Whether they be nobility, teachers, or commoners, many people saw Samu-Sumu II as giving into defeatism, as Ashkar had never been conclusively bested before. The Ashkarians believed that through more fighting they could reverse their losses. Although no one dared to openly defy the King, it served to undermine the authority of the institution, its position as divine monarch already in question due to its inability to ever quell Zaqir.

However, prosperity soon came to Ashkar. It was not solely due to end of the raids, although it did help. The widespread use of improvements in animal husbandry, unregulated population growth, and the application of mathematics to practical things were more important. Whatever the case, it led to the beginning of great prosperity within the Kingdom. Great Ziggurats were built, including the Great Ziggurat of Ashkar, made entirely of bronze and gold.

In 407 E.C. (325 A.E.) Samu-Sumu II died. He was replaced by his son Sumarael IV. Sumarael IV himself was mostly unremarkable. The most important event was the strengthen of ties between the monarchy and religion, as he had himself made High Priest of Eliyahu and High Priest of Iyanna, effectively making him the head of the Ashkarian religion.

Sumarael IV died in 420 E.C. (336 A.E.), and he was succeeded by his son Yamu, whose reign saw continued prosperity. In 445 E.C. (361 A.E.), Yamu died, and his son Anvor II ascended as King. However, his reign was extraordinary brief. He was suffering from a serious disease upon entering Kingship and died a mere two months into his reign. He was succeed by his son Itu. Although he was personally frail, he had a strong mind and was hence a strong ruler.

Itu dealt with a great controversy near the end of the century. From 465 to 475 E.C. a great plague ravaged across Ashkar. Even many among the royal family there were heavy casualties. Itu lost his Queen Consort and his four eldest sons, making his heir apparent Abatu, the son of Itu’s favorite concubine and true love, Iamblichia, a Reguli. This lead to a large rebellion, known as the First Abatu Uprising, to remove the place of the “foreigner.” It began in 481 E.C (397 A.E.) and lasted until 485 E.C (400 A.E.) when it was decisively crushed. It was important because it was the first uprising against the King since the time of Gabala-du, and it brought destruction to many of the places in Ashkar, most of all the capital.

List of Kings during this Century

Samu-Sumu II 311 – 407 E.C. (227 – 325 A.E.) 334 – 407 E.C. (250 – 325 A.E.)
Sumarael IV 332 – 420 E.C. (248 – 336 A.E.) 407 – 420 E.C. (325 – 336 A.E.)
Yamu 350 – 445 E.C. (266 – 361 A.E.) 420 – 445 E.C. (336 – 361 A.E.)
Anvor II 374 – 445 E.C. (290 - 361 A.E.) 445 E.C. (361 A.E.)
Itu 401 – 489 E.C. (361 – 405 A.E.) 445 – 489 E.C. (361 – 405 A.E.)

---

Culture

Popular Society

The Academy begins to make a dent on the influence of the teachers. Although not yet definitive, the Academy’s position begins the decline of the teachers. Unlike the teacher, the academicians have no love or need for public education.

The end of the Zaqiri raids was contemporary and aided a burst in prosperity and expansion in Ashkarian society. Both villages and cities increased in size, with the splendor of the cities increasing significantly. The greatest of ziggurats were built during this era. The Great Ziggurat of Ashkar, made entirely of gold and bronze, was built during this century. Although the end of the raids did play a part in this, the results of long-term agricultural reforms and technological and intellectual progress played an even larger role.

The other great cultural achievement was the Ring of Valor of Ashkar. Built from 409 to 426 E.C. (325 to 342 A.E.). Men, called gladiators, consisting of slaves, desperate veterans, and chosen men from the warrior class fought in the arena. The warriors made up a class of elite gladiators, who were more skilled and better treated than others. Men would fight each other, following the Zaqiri model, although fair fights were less frequent, with well-trained warriors sometimes fighting hapless slaves. That is not to say, however, that fair fights did not occur. Also of note is the fact that not only were people slain, but animals as well.

Argilo, the second largest city, became the central hub of trading and mercantile.

Religion

Iyanna’s position among the pantheon increased even further, so that she was the most worshipped goddess by the people, although Eliyahu remained head of the pantheon.

The Great Ziggurat of Ashkar, finished 462 E.C. (378 A.E.), was a great monument to Ashkar’s traditional religion and gods. Its building was made in commemoration of the King being given the positions of High Priest of Eliyahu and Iyanna. It was commemorated to the whole pantheon and was forged entirely of gold and bronze.

Poetry

Ekur (354 – 431 E.C., 270 – 347 A.E.) wrote the Epic of Urshum. Unlike the older Epic, this one deals with the legendary War of the Crowns, when the three sons of the first King of Ashkar fought for control of the crown. Under the influence of Ashkarian philosophy, all three sides are humanized, human emotion is explored, and the damage of war is shown.

Perhaps the greatest poet of this century was Annaya (357 – 398 E.C, 273 – 314 A.E.). Originally a student of Ibrimmu, she soon struck out on her own. One striking theme is her focus on homosexual love, specifically in the lesbian love she commonly and seemingly exclusively engaged in. She wrote prominently but not only on that, and what gave her skill was above all her skill with poems made her equal or even surpass Zabaia. Her poetry is known for its sharp imagery and above all its lyricism.

Parody was brought into poetry by Vanarshabilit (378 – 434 E.C.. 294 – 350 A.E.). Although still a lyric poet who indulged in elegant rhymes, his poems didn’t possess the serious tone of many of his predecessors. He parodied the style of Zabaia and Annaya, wrote humorous poems, satirized society, especially the bellicose attitude of the time, and also wrote drinking songs.

Agrabu the Poet (422 – 513 E.C., 338 – 429 A.E.) was influenced by Vanarshabilit, although did not take up parody and satire. Instead, he merely had a humorous bent, writing drinking song and love songs, both bawdy and emotional ones.

Gabala (369 – 474 E.C., 285 – 390 A.E.) was an exemplar of eastern tradition, but nonetheless became popular in Ashkar, where lyric poetry was dominant, and is considered one of the eastern tradition’s finest. Following eastern tradition, his poetry is recited, not sung.

Philosophy

Apiashalism

The Academy flourished under the Academy, and their undercutting of popular education and the interests of the masses in favor of the powerful elite made them allies with the priesthood and nobility. Many nobles began to favor Apiashal in many ways, but the priesthood would never accept them, even if they allied with them. After Apiashal’s exile and desertion, Buhur the Philosopher (331 – 420 E.C., 247 – 336 A.E.) became head of the Academy and led it to prosperity, his main philosophical work being [i]Apology (403 E.C.), where he defends Apiashal’s views.

Tudiyanism
Tudiyanism failed to maintain the dominance that they had achieved in the last two centuries, both failing to make itself properly distinct and as appealing from the new Apiashalist philosophy, and with the creation of the Academy they were less organized.. However, the Sophists continued to thrive as teachers. Bararu the Rhetorician (352 – 485 E.C, 268 – 348 A.E.) made sophism’s focus not on philosophical claims but on rhetoric and oration and its skills of eloquence and persuasion, and taught history as moral lessons, sometimes sanitizing it and doing away with accuracy. He was followed by Taru the Sophist (419 – 523 A.E., 335 – 439 A.E.), who wrote the first scrolls on law and jurisprudence.

Logic
This was the most important century for Ashkarian logic for a very long time, the two most important ancient Ashkarian logicians emerging. Idu the Logician (350 – 436 E.C., 266 – 352 A.E.) created Term Logic and rejected dialectial reasoning, the prevailing logical thought. There are three basic parts of a statement in it, the term, the proposition, and the syllogism. The syllogism is used to create logical conclusion, the core example being A equals B, B equals C, therefore A equals C.

Gamru the Logician (384 – 520 E.C., 300 – 391 A.E.) rebuked Term Logic in favor of prepositional Logic. Unlike Term Logic, prepositional logic dealt with seeing if prepositions were true, something which Term Logic was lacking in. A equals B, Idu said. However, there must be a way to prove this. If all gold mountains are mountains, all mountains are real, so all gold mountains must be real, but this is false. Once accurate claims have been made, then assertions can begin.

Scientific Crossover

Adauya, perhaps more famous for his scientific works, gave a full view of time, requiring him to engage in philosophy. Times that have already happened are gone, and times that are in the future do not exist. Additionally, time is dependent on human perception and is eternal.

Technology

Practical Technology

Ironworking, although basic knowledge of it had already been known for centuries, became dominant. This was discovered when smiths discovered a way to improve iron by combing it into carbon. It was no longer brittle, and was in fact even stronger than bronze. As a result, bronze was no longer forged for military uses, and was mostly used ceremoniously and in architecture. Even then, gold was preferred over bronze.

Mathematics
Agrabu of Gabala-du (379 – 457 E.C., 295 – 373 A.E.), an arithmetic teacher, invented algebra as it is defined, and used it to solve equations and gained knowledge on quadratic and cubic equations and square roots. Dimtu the Jolly (398 – 494 E.C., 314 – 410 A.E.), an Apiashalist arithmetic teacher, expanded on Agrabu’s knowledge by creating a model for exponential growth.

Lamtaku of Argilu (420 – 516 E.C.) continued the work in geometry, leading to the increasing sophistication of that branch of mathematics. He for, instance, worked in equations and developed the Pythagorean theorem and a proof for it.

Adauya (400 – 500 E.C., 316 – 416 E.C.), as mentioned above, created a comprehensive view on time. Aside from making an accurate calendar, which replaced Apil-Seun’s older and less accurate model, he also characterized the lengths of years, months, weeks, days, minutes, and seconds.

Military

Iron replaces bronze, and from now on Ashkar’s military will use weapons and armor of iron rather than bronze.

Territorial Expansion

[TheSovereignGrave]

A Nation Asunder

390.2-517.2
(301AE-400AE)

The early years of the fourth century were a time of continuing peace and prosperity for Yossod. Things would continue on as usual until the year 449.2 (345AE) with the death of the current Prophet. As usual the Ayelic Council would meet and spend several long weeks debating on the many candidates for Prophet before deciding on a young but wise man by the name of Oram. Under most circumstances there would be little outcry on this choice, except for from those who preferred one of the other candidates. Oram was no normal Yossodite however, and he would go down in history as the first promethean Prophet in Yossod. The opinion of prometheans within Yossod and its tributaries varied; though they were equal to all others by law, there were a great many who still viewed them as only slightly better than beasts. The outcry, though small for there were many who did not wish to publicly vocalize outright disagreement with the Ayelic Council, it was a few years later that the murmurings became even louder when a promethean by the name of Acham was chosen by the Brotherhood of the Covenant to serve as its First Brother. There were those who viewed such important positions within the government and military as evidence of the promethean minority attempting to gain control of Yossod for themselves.

The dissent was somewhat lessened with the arrival of Queen Lith and her group of kobolds in 455.2 (350AE). Though the Brothers of the Covenant kept a constant vigil on the Queen and her party, not only to make sure they did nothing wrong but to make sure such a person of importance wasn't harmed in Yossod, the reception of the kobolds were positive. Their constant questions were met with irritation by a good number of the Yossodites, but the merchants were more than happy to deal with them because of the promise of more trade and many intellectuals enjoyed speaking of less tangible things with people from another land. Prophet Oram himself made time to personally meet with Queen Lith, and though she mistook him for an enemy at first the promethean was quite patient and took no offense once things were explained. They reportedly spoke for a great time on a great many topics such as governance, the divine, and even the fall of Promethea which the Prophet reputedly told the Queen he held no sorrow for the fall of that bestial empire. The kobolds spent 4 years in Yossod; Yossod had not only learned more of the land to the South but established trade routes as well. But eventually the kobolds had to leave, and Oram bid his friend farewell with a great feast.

But things would not continue on as peacefully as they had. A series of dry spells and harsh winters resulted in periodic food shortages, though not severe enough to warrant the name of "famine". But dissent would still continue to grow for decades, and in 474.2 (365AE) plague would ravage the northeastern regions of Yossod's hegemony. It was then that things would finally boil over into open rebellion as one of the Idumian Kings, King Nini, would declare that the food shortages and plagues were proof that Oram was not the rightful Prophet and that God was angry with Yossod for this. He received much support outside of Yossod proper, though there were still plenty of bastions of Yossodite authority and the Brotherhood of the Covenant had only a handful desert to the rebels. Acham himself personally lead his armies in many of Yossod's greatest victories in the north, but there were still a great number of defeats. Several months after the original rebellion and neither side had gained much ground. But it was then that disaster struck; with the army occupied with the rebels to the north, a charismatic and cruel Yossodite by the name of Shama managed to gain a following of angered peasants in southern Yossod. Shama was the leader of a Third Age sect who preached that the god of Yossod was an evil demiurge whose creation of the world bound the souls of mortals to it and forced them to lead a life of suffering and pain and that the ayels themselves were his demonic servants. He launched a massive peasant revolt in the south, overrunning many of the territories until Yossodite armies were able to cease their advance.

But unfortunately with Yossod's army split between the north and south, they began to lose ground on both sides. But the war dragged on for a year, with the war in the north going moderately well as First Brother Acham was able to lead his forces to victory time and time again. But in the south things were going poorly; Shama's cult had taken much territory from Yossod and was absolutely brutal to those he conquered, murdering and enslaving the "demon worshipers" of Yossod. And it was at this time that they were on the doorsteps of Qa-Avnel itself, and the Ayelic Council was desperate. The stone trolls living within Yossod's territory had been an incredible help in the war thanks to their absolute hatred of oppression and slavery, which Shama's rebellion practiced quite freely. But when things went south for Yossod, more stone trolls and their spawn from the trolls' northern kingdom would travel to Yossod to fight against Shama and his brutality. In addition to this, Oram would hire several groups of saurian mercenaries, especially those who followed the Ilism school of thought. And so it was that a great army would assemble beneath the walls of Qa-Avnel with the very fate of Yossod hanging in the balance. It was an army of humans and prometheans, stone trolls and trollspawn, and saurians. And then, much to the surprise of all present, a force of nearly a hundred ayel warriors would join them. In such desperate time all the ayels who had chosen to dedicate their minds and body to the art of war had chosen to fight for the survival of their very race.

And such it was that the Great Battle of Qa-Avnel played out; even with their foreign allies the forces of Yossod were outnumbered by Shama's armies but the warriors of Yossod were mostly trained warriors while Shama had peasants with more experience than training. In the end it was a decisive victory for Yossod, with the armies of Shama smashed and broken and Shama himself captured and executed for his crimes. And with his death his 'realm' fell into ruin and infighting as his followers clamoured for his position and his oppressed subjects rose up and revolted to be returned to the fold of Yossod. The stone trolls were an important part of bringing the rebel territories back into the fold as they smashed through the defenses of the rebels. But the trolls were not known for their finesse and left a great amount of destruction in their wake. Meanwhile in the north with reinforcements from the southern region alongside many of the saurian mercenaries the tide eventually began to turn. Eventually the leader of the rebellion was captured when his city fell to loyalist forces and the remaining rebels surrendered by the turn of the year.

The destruction caused by the rebellion necessitated an extensive period of rebuilding within Yossod, to repair the damage caused both by the rebels and Yossod's allies. Oram himself would not live to see the completion of the reconstruction effort, but his successor would continue the effort to repair the scarred land as quickly as possible. Ties with Zaqir were strengthened as well and many Yossodites, especially those in the Brotherhood, voiced their support of the Ilist school of thought and it was likely thanks to its existence that Yossod chose to continue the funding of priests in Zaqir to spread the word of their God, rather than spending that money on more reconstruction.

Though an even more important result of the war was the loss of a large chunk of territory in the West, as the Feinar tribes took the opportunity to invade and conquer while Yossod was fighting its war. And while Yossod eventually fought them to a standstill, a region in the west was lost to the barbaric tribes of the Feinar. And the Feinar themselves were not as welcoming to Yossodite preachers, and so the border between their newly conquered territory and Yossod itself was one of constant skirmishes and raids on both sides. But Yossod itself didn't have the resources to commit to another military campaign to take back their stolen territory.

But the war itself had also exposed some rather glaring weaknesses in the structure or Yossod's government. From that time forward all of the leaders of the various states under Yossod's hegemony needed to be approved by the Prophet or Ayelic Council. But there were also several leaders in Yossod proper who had rebelled, though they were quickly beaten down. And further inspection brought to light the simple fact that many of the ruling "priests" weren't particularly pious and only received the position because their father had been ruler before. And so the Ayelic Council released a series of edicts in 495.2 (381AE) declaring several changes to the faith. Most importantly it banned priests from taking wives or having children or allowing their children to follow them into positions of power should they already have children. While there was an outcry from many priests, the Brotherhood of the Covenant quickly put down any dissent. But other than that the religion of Yossod was finally given an official name. Though it had been given a series of names by the Yossodites, mostly being various forms of simply 'the faith' or 'the word'. But it was officially named the Temple of Ila, after the Yossodite word for 'god' though many shortened the faith to Ilaism.

------

Major Events of Yossod: Third Century

Cultural: Priesthood is forbidden from having children so that they will not focus only worldly matters, and the faith of Yossod is officially named as the Temple of Ila (shortened to Ilaism).

Technological: Very little technological advancement occurs.

Military: Massive civil war from 474.2 (365AE) to 477 (367AE) between the rebel King Nini in the north and the peasant cult leader Shama in the south. Eventually Yossod would emerge victorious, but much damage would be inflicted to Yossod's hegemony and the Feinar would swoop in and conquer a swathe of land in Yossod's western hegemony. Reconquest would be prevented by lack of resources due to reconstruction.

Diplomacy: Priests would continue to attempt to preach their faith within Zaqir, and the efforts of saurian mercenaries in the civil war would improve Yossodite opinion of Zaqir. Likewise some would look favourably on the stone trolls for their efforts, but others would not look favourably for the sheer destruction they caused in the south.

Government: The client states of Yossod now need approval of the Ayelic Council for any new rulers who take power, and priests are now forbidden from taking wives or having children resulting in the end of Yossod's priestly dynasties.

Territorial Expansion:

[epicberet]

300-400 A.E. (Reckoned from the Broken-stone War)

Undermountain II "the Great", and the Suga Rebellion

The spring of 300 A.E. was unnaturally cold in the high mountains; while the Aybari lowlands sweltered and were bathed in warm spring rains, the northern Dyarvikim tribes shook off their winter slumber to find their fortresses still blanketed in snow. Even in Four Stones, in the modest citadel of High Chieftain Silvereyes, a chill seemed to settle on everything. Two strange comets were seen lingering in the skies over Five Stones for many weeks. The sages of his Longstrider clan read the skies, and came back with grim predictions of strife and death. The High Council was much troubled; was there some threat, as-of-yet unforeseen, which could threaten the mighty stone-trolls? True, in the days of savagery, before the clans, before Promethea and enslavement, weak or aged trolls had often been long-hunted by packs of wolves and humans, or stalked by big cats. Yet even an adolescent troll was at least 12-14 feet high, and their hides only grew thicker and their size only greater with age. Some sleeping ancients were as large as 30-40 feet!

Silvereyes, a troll of 120 who had replaced Undermountain I only recently, was an orthodox baumbesukeh; doctrine dictated a troll should fear nothing, but unease settled deep in her soul. This was not helped by the sudden appearance of short, stolid human-like creatures in the mountains to the southwest. Soon after, in 310, small, scaly reptilians joined them. Together, they became a constant nuisance about the borders of Five Stones, dragging small trade caravans, making small settlements in the mountains, digging deep holes in the ground. These new peoples were termed beshtekar by the barumbesukeh, meaning “[gets] underfoot”. The first dwarf to peer over a ridge at the holy valleys was unceremoniously crushed by a passing Longstrider clansman. Soon, trollspawn riders were launching profitable raids each summer into Scalethein, once even within twenty leages of Uthien. They returned with new weapons, precious metals, fabrics and new animals for their herds. Appeals by Scalethein authorities went unanswered by the trolls – who did not feel they should dignify these with a response.

Small border skirmishes continued throughout the next decade, finally ending in 323 with the Battle of Bagrumrod. A dwarven force lured a much larger trollspawn force into a pitched battle, then surrounded them on all sides from hidden tunnels. Superior Dwarven armor and tactics carried the day; 300 trollspawn and 5 young trolls were brought down. While a few survivors were kept as prisoners for questioning, they revealed little of their homeland. Still, the defeat discouraged the raiders for the next few years, and eventually raiding was officially limited at the assembly in 326 A.E.. New reports of strange new weapons and large formations of thousands of beshtekar marching in the mountains worried the Assembly of Voices, who elected a young Undermountain II High Chieftain to replace Silvereyes. Undermountain and the High Council promised to close the borders to outsiders to protect against the dangers prophesied by Winterpine in 210 A.E..

Undermountain did one thing more; in 328 A.E. he began construction of a truly gargantuan fortress. This castle was designed not only to store immense amounts of soil, food, and water, and house thousands of trolls if needed, but by strong enough to defend against not only beshtekar and humans, but other trolls. This fortress covered the entire east and north face of Bluepeak, the tallest mountain in Five Valleys, had at its top a giant octagonal tower with a massive beacon visible from almost all directions. It would require a truly immense amount of labor, for which Undermountain drafted his subject suga trolls and trollspawn. Construction had barely begun when a rockslide crushed ten workers, and two Longstrider clansmen were killed by an angry band of workers. This insurrection spun into open rebellion, and all through the summer of 329 A.E. Stoneguard and rebels hunted each other in a guerilla war. Rebels took refuge in the surrounding wilderness, launching raids at food stores and patrols. Yet by winter, the rebellion had dwindled away; hungry and weakened, rebels either submitted to Undermountain's justice, or fled northward. Undermountain punished the remaining clans; prompting another failed rebellion, this time with help from the north, in 332.

However, the rebels were not subdued for long. At least a century had passed since the death of Winterpine, but the suga exiles still cherished his death-recitation. To them, it had become a prophecy: the barumbesukeh usurpers in Five Stones would fall due to their insularity, their use of foreign technology and powers. An influential and radical young member of the Stargazer clan named Seeks-the-dawn proclaimed to the suga assembly that the time for action was near: the construction of this massive fortress was pure hubris, and the suffering of the Five Stones suga was unacceptable. By 335 A.E. Seeks-the-dawn, not acclaimed as Chief Dawnseeker, had assembled a fanatical following of several thousand. When summer arrived, he marshaled his forces, and marched to Five Stones, certain of victory despite his weakness in numbers.

The campaign was an unmitigated disaster. The rebels had some early success, and their cavalry was effective in clearing away Five Stones troll-spawn skirmishers and scouts. But they were entirely outnumbered, and badly beaten twice before being crushed in the Valley of Five Stones. The suga retreated in disarray to the north, where they found little welcome: the northern chiefs were fine with the status quo, and worried the rebels were too volatile, and unpredictable. So, by winter, 2,300 trolls, 8,000 trollspawn, and 100,000 animals found themselves banished into unknown and unwelcome territory in the Scalethien Empire. Faced with several alarmed and heavily armed kobold legions, Dawnseeker saw no other choice. He swore allegiance to the Scalethein Empire, trading his pride for survival. While the locals mistrusted them, still remembering trollspawn raids of earlier decades, they eagerly accepted the troll's knowledge, labour and expertise in husbandry. Yet Dawnseeker's heart, and that of all other suga turned constantly back to Five Stones. They would have revenge.

Dawnwatcher's Great Blasphemy

Despite the strife, the next two and a half decades would prove to be some of the most prosperous in the long memory of the trolls. From Bet Aybar to the northern mountains, peace, trade and prosperity brought a massive baby boom, expansion of agriculture, and several new movements. The most important was a new monastic tradition; with the massive expansion of knowledge, it was decided some trolls should dedicate all their time to the business of science. The Circle-astronomers had already begun to travel less over the last century, inviting students to their great circles and new monasteries. Stone-troll architecture was remarkably practical, focused on durability, defense, and the storage of food and cattle. Ten of these new monasteries sprung up over a wide territory. The largest five were in Five Stones, and really comprised one monastery dedicated to the Five Ancients. These new centers of learning would slowly supersede the authority of the slumbering ancients of the Assembly of Reflection.

In 356, the trolls of the north were shocked to receive royal visitors from Scalethein. The greatest dyarvikim [northern] clans came together in a great Northern Assembly to hear her address and welcome this great beshtekar kobold queen. They were eager to learn from her, and more eager to trade their strength, herds, and plentiful precious stones in return for knowledge and weapons they could use to defend themselves against the Feinar barbarians. The remaining suga were relieved to hear of Dawnwatcher's survival and welcome, but most northern chieftains were much disturbed, fearing Dawnwatcher would stir up some new strife with these intelligent beshtekar.

The Queen moved onto Five Stones, where Undermountain, growing old and proud, welcomed her with caution. She was permitted to speak with a few of the ancient trolls, but the welcome grew cold quickly. She was permitted to remain, under guard, during the bitter winter of 357. When the princess Liika went missing, it was a suga troll named Remembers-the-stars who saved her daughter; not the disinterested barumbesukeh. These events pushed the Queen to favour suga rebels, and word came back to Dawnwatcher that the Empire backed his claim. Undermountain was suspicious, but was satisfied by Lith's promises of peace. The delegation moved on to Bet Aybar, and Undermountain returned his attention to his great fortress. He would perish of a rare disease only two years later.

Undermountain's death was followed by a power struggle, seeing the return of conservative clans to power. Once again foreigners were banned from Five Stones, raids against border towns resumed, and disloyal trollspawn and suga were officially pronounced to be corrupted versions of true trolls. Monasteries were purged of radical philosophers and dissenting theologians. Many in the valleys began to speak favorably of Dawnwatcher's rebellions; but few imagined the troll, who must surely be ancient by now, would ever return.

To the surprise of all, in the spring of 366, word came to the High Council at Bluepeak Citadel – Dawnwatcher himself had risen, like a revenant of revenge, and unified the clans of the suga behind him. He preached that Winterpine's prophecy actually foretold the suga would re-take Five Stones and banish their enemies with the help of the beshtekar foreigners. All the suga camps, fortresses, and homesteads were emptied and abandoned. Dawnwatcher marched at the head of an army of zealous armored trolls, four thousand strong, with nearly eighteen-thousand trollspawn skirmishers and cavalry. And with them came two full legions of kobold warriors, with two hundred “pults” carried upon the backs of ancient trolls, and hundreds of dwarven miners seeking revenge on the raiders of Five Stones. And another army of fifteen hundred suga trolls marched from the north. This unlikely alliance was disorganized and unwieldy, but it marched with a deadly determination and purpose.

The High Chieftains were horrified, and they were not alone. Both northern dyarvikim and southern getterim were outraged at the thought that beshtekar infidels – lead by trolls, no less! – might violate the holy valley of Five Stones. Clans which had not paid allegiance to Five Stones in three generations armed to fight this blasphemous rebellion: wild trolls from the northern woods, northern clansmen, and armored trolls and spawn legionnaires from Bet Aybar. However, Dawnwatcher had timed his rebellion carefully. The Northern dyarvikim were distracted by a blood-feud with a human tyrant in Yossod, and many clans would not march to Five Stones until he was dead and their Yossodite allies were free. In Bet Aybar, the Emperor Ulisse 'Ali I Panjul saw this war for what it was: a power-grab by the scheming kobold Queen Lith he had unwillingly hosted for the last three years. Scalethein sought to replace the neutral government in Five Stones with a friendly government that would guard the borders with Bet Aybar. In a rage for days, the Emperor had to be dissuaded from killing the queen himself and provoking outright war with Scalethein. Instead, it was made clear the kobold delegation should depart, and they were given a military escort to Promethea.

Despite the horror of the Aybari Imperial Church and of getterim clans, the Empire could offer little support to Five Stones. For the past three decades, it had suffered ever-greater raids from the Grogar barbarians that had ravaged the north and west of the Empire. Even the might of troll warriors could not intimidate a Grogar war-band, and two thirds of the Aybari legions were already committed to the borders. To make matters worse, trollspawn legionnaires and getterim trolls were abandoning their posts to fight the blasphemous suga rebels. It would be a full year before Aybari legions marched forth to aid the barumbesukeh High Council.

The Broken-stone War

Virtually all barumbesukeh clans, civilians and warriors, were levied to fight the blasphemers and rebels. The first major battle was fought in the summer of 366, at Ragoon Pass. A total of three thousand trolls and four thousand allied troll-spawn barred a wide mountain pass against the rebel vanguard. While the rebels took heavy losses, the kobold infantry miraculously held their ground against the trolls, and over five bloody hours, trollspawn outriders and dwarven mountaineers scaled the pass and forced the loyalists to retreat. It was the first battle of a bloody two month campaign which brought the rebels to the foot of Bluepeak and forced most of the loyalists to cede most of the valleys to the rebels. Yet the High Council still held a majority of the mountaintop fortresses, and passed endless messages to one another via smoke beacons. While the rebels used their pult with deadly success against the smaller keeps, Undermountain's building project had succeeded in creating fortresses that were virtually impenetrable for the smaller races. So as winter neared, the battles ended, and a series of long and exhausting sieges began.

While the rebel trolls hibernated in the valleys, kobold, dwarf and trollspawn veterans kept close watch on the fortresses of the trolls and raided freely in the valleys. Many ancient trolls that had slumbered for years in the open woods were found and murdered in their sleep as suspected loyalists. Still, the winter took a toll on the rebels as well, as they faced constant sorties from the highlands. The spring of 377 found them much weakened and fatigued by the long siege. Loyalist fortresses, running low on supplies, began to surrender within a few months, but Bluepeak citadel, the greatest of them all, remained well-supplied and defiant. Two assaults by troll sappers and kobold engineers failed miserably, and the rebel army grew frustrated and discontented.

In the summer of 377, the Aybari and dyarvikim reinforcements arrived, and Dawnwatcher found himself facing a war on two fronts. He abandoned several sieges, and leaving half his suga trolls and trollspawn to bottle up the barumbesukeh in Bluepeak, he sent his kobold and dwarf allies west with trollspawn cavalry to hold off the Aybari while he led the remaining trolls north to fight the dyarvikim. His gamble almost paid off; while he smashed the northern trolls mid-summer 377 at the Battle of Tediroom Monastery, the Aybari legions narrowly defeated the kobolds in late summer near the trollspawn city of Pradyarva. The Aybari would go on to retake half the land previously taken by the rebels, liberating besieged barumbesukeh as they went. The winter of 377-78 would be more bloody than the last, as armies fought and foraged in the deep snow, and exhausted trolls constantly interrupted their hibernation to defend against raids.

As 378 dawned, Dawnwatcher felt his age catch up with him; he knew that when he slept at the end of the year, he might not awake for decades. His army was in poor shape, though still outnumbered the enemy and held an advantage on the open ground. Their only chance lay in forcing and winning a pitched battle. Most of that spring and summer passed in a bloody stalemate, but finally, as fall first touched the leaves, Dawnwatcher saw his chance. Drawing back his forces from Bluepeak, he simultaneously launched a surprise all-out attack on the Aybari garrison at Pradyarva. At the same time, a small force of the most experienced trolls and Scalethein mountaineers seized the beacon between Bluepeak and Pradyarva, sending a false signal that the rebels had been crushed at Pradyarva. The High Council at Bluepeak took the bait, and marched forward in strength, thinking the rebels were retreating. Quickly, Dawnwatcher moved his forces south, and caught most of the Aybari and loyalist army at the great stone circle of Radyr.

The Battle of Radyr was the most bloody of the entire war. Dawnwatcher himself led the charge against the elite loyalist Stoneguard, and Aybari died by the hundreds under a relentless catapult barrage. Unnerved and unprepared, the Aybari commander ordered his troops to withdraw, enraging the getterim troll chief, who promptly killed him, sending the legions into disarray. Loyalist trollspawn clans retreated, leaving the bulk of the barumbesukeh trolls exposed. The suga and kobolds surged forward and surrounded the High Council itself, capturing or killing most of the chieftains. When the battle was over, the forces of Five Stones had, against the odds, been resoundingly defeated. By late fall, Dawnwatcher and his suga would march into Bluepeak citadel without a fight and accept the surrender of the barumbesukeh.

The Broken-stone War, as it came to be known, had devastated Five Stones, the border regions of Scalethien, and cost both sides dearly. At least 2,500 trolls and eight thousand troll-spawn had died in the course of the three-year war. Some clans had been all but wiped out. Losses had been worse for the Aybari army, which lost 300 trolls and three thousand legionnaires all together. In a cruelly symbolic move, Dawnwatcher banished all barumbesukeh who would not swear allegiance to a rightful suga High King, instead of a chieftain. They and their descendants were exiled from the new Kingdom of Five Stones, and forced into the wilds just as winter arrived. He appointed his child, Chief Morningstar of the Stargazer clan, as his heir apparent, and announced him as the rightful political and religious leader of all trolls. Satisfied in his revenge, and wearied of war, Dawnwatcher settled down to sleep. He would never awake again.

The Kingdom of Five Stones and the Elamian Pact; Bet Aybar Shaken

The war had earthshaking political and religious consequences. The Aybari losses in the war prompted insurrection in the north of the Empire, and heresies announcing their defeat as a sign of the impurity of the Empire or the coming end of the world. In the north, the dyarvikim clans disavowed the new Southern kingdom, and accepted the many barumbesukeh refugees, if coldly. The trolls were confused: how could the Five Ancients have let the rebels desecrate the holy land and kill so many trolls? Two competing theologies emerged over the next ten years: many dyarvikim and Aybari sages declared that the land of Five Stones must not, in fact, be the holy land that Stargazer prophesied. The wondrous land he commanded trolls to seek was in fact found only after death. However, the barumbesukeh believed that they had been punished for their impurity and adoption of foreign ways and customs. They became ever-more conservative and reclusive. Some retreated to the wilderness or small homesteads where they could live simply, but many were forced by poverty and hunger to live seek the cities of Bet Aybar, where they laboured in shame for food and protection. They would become the most nomadic of all stone-trolls, constantly moving, only having the strength of their backs to offer.

In 374 the northern troll and trollspawn clans met in a great Assembly at the fortress of Gar Elam. They invited human, kobold, and even Promethean representatives of those peoples living in their territory. Together, they pronounced their official refusal to submit to the new King Morningstar and his suga kingdom. They elected, for the first time, their own High Council, and created permanent Assemblies of Voices and Reflection. They declared that never again would troll fight troll in their kingdom, unless they be a suga blasphemer. Finally, they decided on new defensive and military measures to defend against Feinar and Grogar raiders. This new union was called the Elamian Pact.

In Five Stones, work on rebuilding began immediately. While most kobolds and dwarves returned home, Morningstar was obliged to offer many veterans lands within Five Stones. The rest of the suga and rebel trollspawn flocked to the new Kingdom of Five Stones. They began to mine and work iron as they had been taught by their Scalethein allies. With the gift of this technology, great forges were built in the mountains to armor the trolls. At the same time, new roads were blazed through the mountains towards Scalethein. Morningstar realized if the suga were to survive, they would have to secure trade with the small scaly beshtekar, but especially the small, squat, hairy beshtekar of Uthien. With constant aggression on all sides by Aybari and Elamian raiders, Morningstar worked to rebuild and reinforce the fortifications of the valley over the next thirty years. While the devastation wrought by the Broken-stone War would be a half-century in repairing, favourable harvests, ample herds, and prosperous trade aided the new king.

In 390, Morningstar passed into slumber, and a new High King, Cloudreacher, was elected by the suga chiefs. By this point, it was clear that a true Assembly of Voices would not be re-instated in Five Stones; instead, a royal bureaucracy modeled after that of Scalethein was instituted. While clan chiefs, now termed “Lords” in the fashion of the hairy beshtekar, still selected the High King, the Assembly was deemed a perversion of Stargazer's vision. Trolls should be led by an anointed priest-king who could guide them politically and religiously. The Five Ancients would make it apparent to the clans who the rightful King was. As the century came to a close, and an uneasy peace settled over the new stone-troll kingdoms, High King Cloudreacher officially re-opened the monasteries of Five Stones, welcoming troll sages and philosophers from across the world. Despite the legacy of the war, many knowledge-seeking trolls could not help but return to seek wisdom, and the prestige of the wisdom of Five Stones once again grew in the broader world.

Summary of Changes:

Cultural: Massive changes in the culture of the stone-trolls. Troll culture and religion becomes divided into three main groups:
1. The barumbesukeh: banished, nomadic exiles from Five Stones. Conservative, xenophobic, and proud. Dislike trollspawn. Suspicious of technology, especially the written word, and believe in a simple life, either in nature or earned by the strength of their back. Believe that their Most High Chieftain is rightful speaker of the Troll Assemblies, and that no other trolls will be welcomed by the Five Ancients in the stars.
2. The Dyarvikim: the Northern trolls (or Mountain-trolls) of Five Stones and the Elamian Pact. These trolls are eager to trade with beshtekar (smaller races), and welcome them eagerly as sworn subjects to their rule, though they do not accept challenges to their authority. Trollspawn, however, have a large say affairs of state. While politically divided, they both have tremendous architectural and agricultural skill and are renowned herbalists and lore-masters. They build mountaintop citadels and dig hidden caverns for protection. They are also known for their elaborate ritual stone circles. Generally, they are disinterested in precious stone, seeing animals and land as wealth enough. They tend to graze hardy animals like goats and sheep in their hills, and have a deep respect and affection for the trollspawn clans with which they have a symbiotic relationship.
3. The Getterim: the Southern trolls (or City-trolls) of the Empire of Bet Aybar. They participate in the Imperial Cult of the Five Ancients and while they still practice many troll traditions, their culture heavily reflects their Imperial Loyalties. Trolls are given half of all Imperial territory for their herds and hunting, for which they serve in the Empire's army and engineering corps. They adorn themselves with jewels and precious metals, and take pride in their armour and clothes. Getterim trollspawn ride horses, ponies and unicorns, unlike the Mountain-trolls, and increasingly prefer the city to the wilderness. Their culture has become increasingly martial, sedentary, and agrarian; while they still consider knowledge, wisdom, and freedom as ends in themselves, they take pleasure in contests of strength and martial skill. Many do not migrate and live in special woods outside major cities. Others focus on agriculture in the Get valley or devote their lives to managing huge herds on the lowlands.

A monastic tradition has also emerged in Five Stones and Elamia, and several important schools and monasteries have been established, welcoming trolls and trollspawn of all clans, groups, and even other races.

Technological: The trolls have begun to work closely with dogs, often massive beasts spawned alongside them in the womb of a troll for a life-long bond, to help herd their animals. The trolls are increasingly sedentary and agrarian, as opposed to exclusively breeding and raising large herds of animals. Major advances have been made in architecture and engineering, especially in fortifications and roads. Irrigation, terraced fields on the sides of mountains, and new agricultural technology is developed.

Military: The Stoneguard is abolished, but is the model for all other semi-standing troll armies in the North. Trollspawn fight with spears, slings, and increasingly arrows. Trolls fight with maces, now increasingly clad with long metal spikes. Many new technologies have been borrowed from the kobolds, including the pult and a ballistae – of great interest to the trolls, who can load and hold a modified ballistae in their hands easily. Aiming and firing these massive weapons can sometimes kill a charging troll at a distance, and they have become weapons of choice for many trolls who are not trained warriors. Troll warriors prefer armour made of bronze plates and hardened leather.

Government: Trolls are now divided politically into three kingdoms: Bet Aybar, Five Stones, and Elamia. While the Getterim trolls are sworn to Bet Aybar, they organize their clans similarly to the trolls of Elamia. The major political distinction is between “clansmen” and “suga”:
1. The suga: new rulers of Five Stones, minority elsewhere. Monarchists, ironically akin to their sworn enemies, the barumbesukeh. Descendants of former Promethean slaves, in particular of the Prophet Stargazer. They believe that Stargazer's direct descendant should rule as High King and that the Assembly leads trolls astray if unguided. The Assembly is a largely ritual body, and the real power is in the High King and his troll and trollspawn Lords/Chieftains and their bureaucracy.
2. The clansmen: the trolls of Elamia and Bet Aybar. Support a tribal confederation held together by strong Assemblies of Voices and Reflection, which speak on political and religious matters, respectively. In Elamia this Assembly is semi-permanent. While there is a High Council, any major decisions must be approved by a majority of the five High Chieftains. The minority Chieftains and their clans are not obligated to participate in the decision they voted against; but all clans must abide by their decision once they have chosen. The very loose federation allows internal conflict only under strict conditions; broader conflict must be resolved by the Assembly.

Territory Changes:

The Feinar continue to expand their territory in the North, Elamia extend almost to the borders of Yossod, and Five Stones now borders Scalethein on two sides. Bet Aybar is pressed by Grogar hordes to the West and North.

[ZB1996]

Ashkar Kingdom: The Century of Expansion

485 – 584 E.C (400 – 500 A.E.)

Hymn to Iyanna

Arise, my brethren, and see the rebirth of a land touched by the gods!

Tayartu

There goes good King Girbranu/endeared to us all/slipping over a table again

Buru the Poet

As the century began, Ashkar was beginning the recovery of the First Abatu Uprising. Abatu, the half-Reguli prince, remained the heir-apparent under his elderly father, King Itu. In 489 E.C. (405 A.E.), King Itu died and his son Abatu succeeded him. Conspiracies began immediately. Sections of the nobility, eager to both overthrow the new King with “tainted blood” and restore their long diminished power, began planning on organizing a rebellion.

However, they knew that they would need a leader and organization if they did not want the rebellion to fail as the previous one had. Soon, however, one such man appeared, the great-grandson of King Yamu, Tayartu (455 – 501 E.C., 371 – 417 A.E.), and he would become known as Tayartu the Black, both for the color of his armor and for his cruelty.

The Second Abatu Uprising began in earnest in 492 E.C. (408 A.E.), with Tayartu the Black leading in earnest as the head of the rebels, Tayartu leading the rebels as both the political leader and head of the core of their armies. The rebels, unlike those in the first uprising, were organized and had the loyalty of many of among the nobles. The rebellion took its strength in the east and the northern peninsula, and made its capital Gabala-du, never the most loyal of cities.

Tayartu began to march west, through loyalist territory and towards the capital. Tayartu fought like a warlord, his army engaging in rape and pillage in an egregious amount. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the loyalists had serious doubts of the rebel’s effectiveness. They sent an army towards the rebel territory to crush the revolters, and it was crushed decisively by Tayartu’s army.

The seriousness of the problem was now realized, but it seemed futile. Under the command of general Shedu of Northern Isles (446 – 539 E.C, 362 – 455 A.E.) the loyalists fell flat against Tayartu’s fearsome army. In 496 E.C (412 A.E.), Tayartu besieged the capital, Ashkar. Abatu then challenged Tayartu to a duel to the death. This was a mistake, as Abatu, who had spent his whole life as a pampered prince, stood no chance and was humiliatingly slain. The city of Ashkar fell. In the following year, Aba-ada fell and Iliung and Argilu were now being approached. However, the war was far from over.

The loyalist cause was reorganized by a charismatic and aged general, Arazu (429 – 544 E.C., 345 – 460 A.E.) who also made sure Abatu’s son Akhar succeeded his father. As Tayartu was crowning himself in Ashkar, Akhar was crowned as Akhar II in Iliung. Elsewhere, the struggle continued. Qamala’s Legion, led by Maiden Qamala, a woman, disrupted rebel supply lines deep inside their territory, and they were impossible to catch. Argilu stood alone in the east as the bastion of loyalist sentiment.

Nonetheless, Tayartu’s victory seemed all but assured. However, he made one fatal mistake. A rebellion against Ashkarian rule in Or’Rouzi lands occurred, and would be known as the First Great Or’Rouzi Rebellion. The rebellion was brief, as Tayartu went to crush it. However, the Or’Rouzi were numerous, fearsome, and efficient. Tayartu’s army took heavy casualties crushing the rebellion.

In 497 E.C. (413 A.E.) the rebel forces approached Argilu. Under the command of Brahazu, the Duke of Argilu, (455 – 543 E.C., 371 – 459 A.E.) the rebels had their first major defeat. As they besieged the walls of Argilu, Argilu’s catapults decimated the rebels, and then Brahazu led his army out of the walls and utterly destroyed the rebels. Meanwhile, in Iliung, Arazu was able to keep Tayartu, who had returned from the north, from overtaking the walls, and shipped-in supplies kept moral high.

Brahazu’s army was marching westward. Tayartu, seeing little hope for Iliung, retreated and marched eastward. On his long march east, Qamala’s Legion harassed his army constantly. In 500 E.C. (416 A.E.) Tayartu’s and Brahazu’s army engaged in combat, and by then Tayartu’s army was hungry and tired. It was a bad defeat for Tayartu’s army, and he retreated to Ashkar. In 501 E.C. Brahazu and Arazu’s army met up near Ashkar, and Akhar II was made the supreme general. Unlike his father, Akhar II was a natural commander.

In 501 E.C., Ashkar was besieged by the loyalists. The walls having not been rebuilt, the loyalists simply marched into the city before they encounter resistance. It was a fierce fight, and was very much unlike traditional combat. Both sides received very high casualties, but it would be the rebels who were defeated. Tayartu was killed in combat, and not soon afterwards his army surrendered.

The rebels were scrambled, their charismatic and seemingly invincible leader vanquished. However, the rebels soon crowned a successor to Tayartu, Esru the Flamboyant (460 – 502 E.C., 376 – 418 A.E.). In 502 E.C., Gabala-du was besieged. The majority of rebel forces consisted of Zaqiri mercenaries. Outnumbered 2 to 1, the rebels were decisively defeated, any chance of victory now snuffed away, and Esru the Flamboyant was summarily executed.

The war, however, continued in the southern countryside. The rebels had no hope of winning. Rather, the nobles had a fear of death and knew that were they to surrender they would all be executed. After only several years, however, the whole the countryside was retaken and nearly all of the rebel nobles were executed.

Now there came the gargantuan task of recovery. Never in its history had such a societal disaster occurred. The uprising, which was really a civil war, had been the most destructive war ever, and had a greater death toll than all of the Ashkar-Zaqir wars combined, and caused great destruction to the cities and their infrastructure. Countless villages were burnt down as well. People now reminisced about the days when it was merely Zaqiri raids.

Akhar II, however, proved to be more than merely a great commander. Although recovery would take a long time, Akhar proved a great administrator and recovery went quicker than expected. Through state funding, the arts and sciences did not go into a deep decline. In the coming decades, all the walls, houses, temples, and palaces destroyed were rebuilt. A new royal estate, known as the Cederian Palace. In 530 E.C. (446 A.E.), he made a new code of laws, the Akharian Code, replacing the Code of Sumarael the Great.

The aftermath of the war proved chaotic, but Akhar’s government proved to be able to manage it. Akhar, wanting to make sure that nothing like this would ever happen again, organized his wedding. He forced every notable noble in the Kingdom to attend. He married to four Reguli women, and pronounced he would be taking one-hundred Reguli concubines. He also symbolically “married” a Zaqiri warrior, who was simply a mercenary who agreed for a large sum of money to participate in the spectacle, and departed after the ceremony. Royal authority had been severely undercut, so Akhar had to do everything he could in order to show the power of the King and weed out traitors.

Arazu was rightly seen as the man who saved the loyalist cause. Nonetheless, he was old and unambitious, and accepted all honors given to him but would never accept a political position. He served his position as a general until 524 E.C. (440 A.E.). Brahazu returned to rule as Duke of Argilu, and would end up becoming obscenely rich. Maiden Qamala disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared, and no one would ever know anything concrete on her. Akhar II died in 555 E.C. (471 A.E.), and history would know him as Akhar the Great, and many said that he was the greatest King his dynasty ever had.

Akhar the Great’s eldest son was Ezpiru, who succeeded him in 555 E.C. (471 A.E.), who, being 2/3rd Reguli, looked more Reguli than Edimmu. He was unlike his father in many ways. Although as a youth he showed much skill and potential in his study, even then he was extraordinary lazy. When he was made King, he became incredibly decadent, and he brought his entire court down with him. Although debauchery could be excused to some extent, Ezpiru brought it to a new level. He slowly withered away and then died in 564 E.C. (480 A.E.), and all signs point it to being of cancer. His death and his decadence were unconnected. His death is famous due to the memorable moment of his wife and true love, who had spurned him due to his excessive promiscuity, visiting him in his final hour.

Ezpiru was replaced by his son Anvor, who ruled as Anvor III. He was more Edimmu than Reguli, his father being 2/3rd Reguli and 1/3rd Edimmu and his mother being fully Edimmu. He was known for his brash personality and his obsession with physique. Although his father had been unpopular, Anvor III was despised. He had an obsession with the Ring of Valor, although mostly just watched. Anvor III’s early reign was marked by achievement, restoring royal authority that his father had allowed to slip. However, he soon showcased his massive ego and his dangerous personality. He executed many people on the smallest of pretexts, such as angering him or possibly becoming a threat in the future. He also attempted to rename the capital, Argilu, and several other places after himself. Although trivial, he also said he was as great as the mythic hero Marduk and had the strength of ten-thousand men. He was killed in 571 E.C. when a gladiator, sick of his abuses of power, mocked him enough to get him to engage in gladiatorial combat and Anvor III was killed in combat.

It was too honorable a death for him, but at least he is finally gone.

Esagilo, philosopher, speaking of Anvor III’s death

He was succeeded by his son Girbranu. Girbranu was unlike his father and grandfather. He was an incredibly temperate and humble man, and tried his best to be well-mannered. He was noted for an extreme mediocrity in all things, which was often painful to observe, and was notoriously clumsy. However, he was extremely popular with the people precisely due to this, who claim he is “endearing.” Although took a wife, he took no concubine, and his true love was his male aide Hugu.

From 569 to 578 E.C. (485 – 494 A.E.) a terrible plague struck through the Kingdom. Girbranu did his best, and he had more competent men try to deal with the plague. The plague caused much destruction, but eventually came to an end.

List of Kings during this Century
Itu 401 – 489 E.C. (317 – 405 A.E.) 445 – 489 E.C. (361 – 405 A.E.)
Abatu 452 – 500 E.C. (368 – 416 A.E.) 489 – 496 E.C. (405 – 412 A.E.)
Akhar II 473 – 555 E.C. (389 – 471 A.E.) 496 – 555 E.C. (412 – 471 A.E.)
Ezpiru 508 – 564 E.C. (424 – 480 A.E.) 555 – 564 E.C. (571 – 480 A.E.)
Anvor III 532 – 571 E.C. (448 – 487 A.E.) 564 – 571 E.C. (480 – 487 A.E.)
Girbranu 554 – 644 E.C. (487 – 560 A.E.) 571 – 644 E.C. (487 – 560 A.E.)

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Culture

Society

During the early part of the century, society in general was thrown into chaos by the war. Destruction was widespread, with the besieging of cities and numerous villages being burnt down. In general, chaos ensued. After the war, a recovery began. The East, much of which rebelled, would have scars that ran deeper than merely burnt buildings and villages, and resentment would remain for a long time.

In many aspects, the Kingdom restarted. The balance of power within the nobility itself was broken. Many prominent noble families were ruined, and many others were executed, for having participated or having family members who did participate in the rebellion. Other families moved to fill the power vacuum. Although Akhar the Great was able to suppress any moves by the nobility, the first cracks were shown. The priesthood, which on a whole was loyalist, gained power and especially wealth.

The twice successfully besieged Ashkar no longer was the most populated city in the Kingdom. That went to Argilo, already the financial capital of the Kingdom.

Many people, not wanting to rebuild in a harsh environment, opted instead to migrate to the frontiers and beyond of the Kingdom. The largest colonial exodus for centuries occurred.

Religion

The ascendency of Iyanna as the most popular deity was finally completed, with the official head of the pantheon, Eliyahu, being demoted to second place. The priesthood during this century began to accumulate considerable riches. Despite this advantage and their conservativism, they were slow to make any moves against their enemies.

Under the move of theologian Birku (512 – 586 E.C.), a movement in theology began. Previously, theologians had only criticized on the basis of protecting tradition, but Birku wished to make a contribution to traditional thought. He began the push against the Apiashalists and the Academy and their skepticism, but was controversial among his contemporaries for beginning a movement which thought of the gods and the paradisial gardens not as physical places, but as transcendent, and so the debates were rather on that.

Philosophy

Esagilo (519 – 584 E.C., 435 – 500 A.E.) is the last of the Three Great Sages. His writings are all-encompassing, but he had a special interest in philosophy. Beginning when Akhatu the Riddler “woke him from unenlightened slumber,” he read the works of the scientists and philosophers. He claimed that the greatest influence on him was Apiashal, yet he did more moderate his influence than any others.

The first to catalogue the history of history, his knowledge shows that he read all major Ashkarian works of philosophy and science. He was the first to suggest the cosmologists as philosophers and claim Apiashal brought a revolution in philosophy. His outline of philosophy was definitive.

His writings have a distinct setup. First he writes a question, then quotes two famed authors, then answers in poetry, then in prose. He aims to reconcile the two quotes with each other and, if he cannot, throw the incorrect one away, unless he disagrees with both, in which he will disprove both.

His philosophy core is the question of what makes philosophical claims true or false, and says that most claims so far have been false. There is said to of course be a truth, contrary to what Apiashal says. The senses are reliable, but human reason tends to fail, and we must Coming under heavy fire are the Apiashalists, who deny the existence of truth. Their arguments for it are seen as elegant but fanciful, whose source is seen as the unreliable human intuition.

Regarding ethical questions, he advises avoiding any elaborate systemization. Instead, he must merely assume that most people are ethical, and what actually is ethical is what most people think is ethical, but he can never be certain and can never make any complicated claims about it. Overall, however, he finds it likely goodness is innate. He says for people to follow what is generally agreed to be good is the correct path, and is highly sympathetic to Amartu’s ethical theory.

He considered logic to be a science, which could verify certain statements but was rarely applicable to philosophical truths, but often worked to disprove things.

Poetry

Isu (523 – 597 E.C., 439 – 513 A.E.) collects his folktales, having traveled the Kingdom, hearing all that the teachers and sages had to say, or at least what he had time for. They concern magical stories of normal people getting caught up with spirits and demons, and give key insight into the life and minds of everyday men and women.

The century saw perhaps the greatest and certainly the last of the great lyric poets, Qannu (485 – 584 E.C., 400 – 500 A.E.). He was praised for his exuberant and grand style, which critics would hold as magnificent and inimitable. However, his poems at times seem bizarre and perplexing as well. With Qannu, classic lyric poetry entered its final period, but it would continue to be the dominant style of Ashkar and the north-west for about two-hundred more years.

In the East, the Eastern Tradition continued. In the city of Argilo, the Eastern poets, who recited rather than sang their poetry, continued to flourish. Under the lead of Buru the Poet (492 – 587 E.C., 408 – 503 A.E.), Eastern poetry survived the war.

Technology

Like philosophy, Esagilo made developments, albeit less revolutionary, in science. His greatest work was in biology, where he made the first real observations. For example, he said that since a body will suffer both when it is too hot or too cold, there is a specific temperature a body will ideally be at. However, he never gained any corpses with which he could dissect, and knew better than to think animals would have similar structures. His empiricism brought him to doubt the usefulness of bloodletting.

In geometry and algebra, Esagilo’s improvements came as a result of what he realized when he formalized them. He also created advanced arithmetic, leading to the invention of long division. Esagilo also began the first Ashkarian advances into trigonometry.

He developed the first system of mnemonics, a system which would make people able to retain memory. He wrote a foundational text on astronomy, and did away with the idea of heavenly bodies as deities, claiming the irregularities of the sun’s rotation around the earth was due to an unknown factor. He accepted Adauya’s measurements of time, but could not accept, although he found them agreeable, that his theories on time were scientific.

Military

Catapults were invented and saw their first use in Ashkar. Unicorns, long used for travelling and pulling carts, chariots, wagons, and chariots, saw their first use in combat. Previously, Ashkar had never thought of a need for cavalary, but that had changed. After they were used to great effectiveness, they were made a permanent element of the Ashkarian army. The Fezagh had been used by Or’Rouzi traders since time immemorial as a type of living carvan, but they were turned by Ashkar into a type of heavy infantry. After the war, they remained in this use but they also adopted the Fezagh for trade, its use expanding from use simply by Or’Rouzi to Ashkarians and Reguli as well.


A Unicorn


A Fezagh

Territorial Expansion

[Shorticus]

400 - 500 A.E, the Age of Expansion

Yaka did not earn her epithet for some time into her rule. She was a very traditional Potentate in some ways. Her love for war and for glory certainly were saurian virtues. Indeed, these traditional values outshone her practice of Mazari martial philosophy. This became clear early on in her career, for the disruption of trade with Ashkar and stories from the isles to the south proved the Ashkari were swept up in some sort of great war.

There was some contention over what course of action to take concerning Ashkar's rebellion. The three great warrior philosophies were used as arguments for three different options. The first appealed to Mazarism and stated that weakness should be exploited and that Ashkar should be attacked, forcing it to either adapt or capitulate to the superior skill of Zaqiri warriors. The Ilist minority believed that Zaqir should intervene on behalf of one side or the other and use the opportunity to help the Ashkari see the one true faith. But the course of action Yaka chose was that suggested by the Samaksists: she had Zaqir do nothing. After all, whichever side that won the war would prove to be the superior culture, so it was war with that victorious culture which was desirable. Yaka believed that war would come soon.

But the opportunity to wage that war never did come. Yaka's agents informed her that Ashkar was far too weak after the end of the war finally came. There would be no glory in waging war against Ashkar. The Zaqiri people began referring to the once mighty realm as the Shattered Kingdom, and they wistfully remembered the days when Zaqir and Ashkar would raid and war with one another.

So it was that Yaka would not invade Ashkar. She busied herself preparing to wage a rather different war, setting her eyes on the empire to the west: Scalethein. She doubted the fight would be difficult - after all, what threat could dwarves and kobolds pose? - but nevertheless knew the Zaqiri people were desperate for a good fight. Still, Mazari philosophy demanded that the threat be proper gauged and that Zaqir prepare to face the unknown in battle. Preparations to fight Scalethein began in 430 A.E.

Zaqir's borders expanded in the meantime. Asqari began settling more villages and towns to the east of their city of Asqar. Saurian and human settlers began pushing northward, too, especially around the lakes north of Ilitscium and along the coastline of the Pearly Sea. Caraq was established in 425 A.E, though it would not grow into a city until 471 A.E.

New vessels were prepared for the coming war as well. Though not as large as Ashkar's warships, these vessels were designed to be able to carry ballistae as well as raiders. Those ballistae would be used to bombard fortifications. While they could sink vessels, it was well known by Zaqir that Scalethein had no real fleet.

When it finally came time to declare war, the practical Mazari faction pushed for Yaka to launch the attack as a surprise. However, while Yaka practiced Mazari principles on the battlefield, she was otherwise a traditionalist and believed that enemies should be given an opportunity to present a worthy defense. So, as befit tradition, Yaka sent a delegation in 438 A.E. to the Scalethein Empire, informing them that Zaqir would attack in two years time unless Scalethein proclaimed its allegiance to Zaqir. As usual, Zaqir's demands were denied, giving the Dominion cause to carry out the war.

True to her word, Yaka waited two years to let her enemies prepare. But she had to deal with the Mazari faction who she knew would be important in the war. To satiate them, Yaka relinquished command of the war effort to the Mazari leader in the Circle, a woman named Warleader Kairena. Also known as "The Ravenous" (for her penchant of finishing her opponents off with a throat-ripping bite), Kairena was eager to demonstrate the superiority of Mazarism over both Samaksism and Ilism. She drafted a two-pronged plan of attack: Zaqir's main forces would take and hold the territory the kobolds called Far Home while a second, smaller force moved in from the south and wrought havoc upon the enemy's lands. This, she surmised, would force the Scalethein Empire to split its attention, and then Zaqir could either smash through the weaker side to reinforce the stronger or use its fast-moving fleet to merge the two armies while the Scalethein Legions scrambled to keep up.

With the plan of attack decided upon, Zaqir launched the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein in 440 A.E. The war lasted until the middle of 441 A.E. and would prove to be one of the bloodiest conflicts Zaqir had ever participated in. Zaqir sent 30,000 warriors into the fray, and over the course of the war the Scalethein Empire would pit 70,000 of their own forces against the invaders. Without delving into the particulars of the war, it is best summarized as the happiest defeat Zaqir ever suffered. Both sides took magnificent losses, and Zaqiri warriors ran rampant through the southern portion of the Empire before both armies were finally forced to retreat to their ships. Both Potenate Yaka and Warleader Kairena died in battle, leaving a power vacuum that required a brief series of skirmishes in the capital to determine who the next Potentate would be. Young Flara Twinspears became Potentate.

Two delegations were sent to Scalethein in 442 A.E: one to Scale Home and one to Uthein, each bringing with them over a dozen chests of treasure in honor of the efforts of each nation. The Uthein delegation returned with a force of a hundred-and-one dwarves, their leader destined to become the famous Bloodaxe the Wall Breaker¹.

The Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein saw the death of a majority of Zaqir's armed forces, including some of its leaders and most elite warriors. However, its end saw a wave of new military ideas flooding into the warrior nation as the survivors recognized some of the techniques used by the Scalethein Legions as valid means of waging war. It also created much conversation between Zaqir's warrior philosophies, and the Mazarists fine-tuned their strategies.

There were also many Mazari critics of Yaka's choices before the war's start. Never again, they argued, should the element of surprise be surrendered for the sake of tradition. After all, other nations would not conduct themselves the same way; why should the greatest warriors of the world be bound by tradition? But Samaksists argued back, claiming that it was exactly because saurians made the perfect warriors that such honesty of intent was necessary. If they did not give their enemies a chance to prepare, what nation in the world could present any real challenge to the full might of Zaqir's armies? Was not the hunt for challenging opponents the purpose of war, that Zaqiri warriors might perfect their style by fighting those challenges? Mazarists argued that it was imperfect to pursue war as Yaka did, and Ilists made it clear that the true purpose of war was to prove one's worthiness before God / the Divine.

The saurian fleet was relatively untouched by the war, but it became clear that the other nations and empires of the world were becoming increasingly capable of fending off raiders and even destroying ships. So, plans were drafted to create ships whose role in war was solely to bombard the shore. The ballista, long vaunted weapon of Zaqir, now worked alongside catapults designed to hurl not a single large boulder but several smaller stones that could be covered in tar and pitch. Moreover, sailors were drilled in better techniques for putting out fires.

Potentate Flara was not a long-lived ruler, though these advancements all began during her reign. She began drafting plans for a second Zaqiri attack on Scalethein, but she never did get to see those plans see fruition. She was assassinated in 455 A.E, and the civil wars that resulted from this lasted until 456 A.E. Eventually, a human woman named Akari the Thunderer became Potentate.

Akari was a traditionalist through and through, her family having a proud history of fighting for Zaqir dating back to before the first century. She was eager to expand Zaqir's borders, but she believed that Ashkar was not yet ready to fight. A veteran of the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein, she also viewed the Scalethein Empire as an unworthy opponent despite Zaqir's loss. Her reasoning was thus:

Who can claim that a people whose armies only win by sheer numbers can be worthy foes? Pit one Zaqiri warrior of average fare against five dwarves and kobolds, and you will find invariably that it is the Zaqiri warrior who wins. They are little people with little stomach for war.

Akari the Thunderer

While her perception of the kobolds would never change, Akari would later become impressed by the heroic feats of the dwarven warrior, Bloodaxe. In fact, she became so impressed by him that when she finally found a battle worth fighting in 463 A.E, she personally invited the warrior to lead his own fleet of ships in the coming war with the people of Jandoo.

Formerly called the Burning Isles² after the infamously active volcano on the main isle, the Jandoo Isles were known to have valuable deposits of iron, silver, and gold. They were also covered with hot jungles, much like the peninsula Zaqir called home, making the climate perfect for saurian colonial efforts.

However, colonists discovered in early 462 A.E. that there were, in fact, other saurians living on the Burning Isles already. These people called themselves the Jandoo, and they were feral in comparison to the saurians of Zaqir. They were smaller, their women standing at roughly the height of a human male, and universally had chameleon-like skin. They were slighter of build, too, so the first colonists thought they would be weak opponents. They were not. Employing snares, traps, and ambush tactics, these smaller saurians lured their more physically daunting cousins to their demise. They even possessed the ability to spit their bodily acids into a ball, harden it, and throw the projectiles with staff-slings to burst on enemies and burn through flesh and armor. It was not long before a call for reinforcements was sent home to Zaqir.

The war with the Jandoo lasted from the beginning of 463 A.E. to 467 A.E. In the end, the superior training and numbers of Zaqiri overcame the guerilla tactics used by the Jandoo. They were subjugated and forced to submit to Zaqiri rule, but not before they slew Potentate Akari in 466 A.E. Akari was quickly replaced by Potentate Vana the Inferno, a saurian known for setting her weapons on fire during the Jandoo War.

Meanwhile, the Ilists became more powerful, especially in the wake of the power vacuum left by the death of many leaders in the wars with both Scalethein and Jandoo. They grew from an easily ignored minority to a force with adherents equal in number to the Mazarists and Samaksists. This was partly because some believed Zaqir was losing favor with the Divine, evidenced in its defeat at the hands of Scalethein and its difficulty in subjugating the Jandoo. This perspective was not discouraged by Yossodite preachers.

Vana proved to be a highly efficient (if somewhat mad) ruler and pursued advances that to give Zaqir an edge in war. Most important of these advances was the production of steel. Experiments with iron finally paid off as the process to remove the impurities of iron and make it stronger resulted in the production of steel beginning in 473 A.E. Though saurians discovered this process independently, it was discovered first by Uthein in 465 A.E. It would not be until 495 A.E. that steel would receive the enthusiasm it deserved and be mass produced in Zaqir.

Potentate Vana herself died in the Almurzani in 480 A.E, accidentally setting herself ablaze and killing her opponent at the same time. Her death was followed by an unprecedentedly long series of battles to claim the throne of Zaqir, longer than previous moments in history, with proponents of the three warrior philosophies each fiercely fighting each other in several Zaqiri cities. Indeed, Caraq and Sasham made bids for independence and had to be quickly brought back under control in this interim period.

Tereza the Stonecleaver finally managed to take control of the throne of Potentate in 489 A.E. She is famous for having split an assassin and the marble statue she was backed up against in twain with a single stroke of her blade. She fought over numerous more assassins and would-be Potentates and had half the Circle executed for being traitorous or ineffectual.

Tereza still rules Zaqir to this day. Her rule has thus far been fair and has seen the expansion of Zaqir's military. But her rule has also borne witness to several smaller insurrections in the more rural regions of Zaqiri territory, and while the army is at full strength, she has been unable to set into motion any sort of invasion or war. There has been peace in our nation for the last three years, however. It seems the rebellions may finally be at an end.

Such is a thorough history of the saurian people of Zaqir. Having reflected on the deeds of our ancestors, we may now look to the future, toward the conquests and bloodbaths to come. As our ancestors before us, we now must look to foreign shores and raise the sail and the banner of the bloody sword tearing through the field of green. Just as the Conqueror's Canal cuts through the land, so too must we cut through the empires of the world and bend them to our will, making their people all the stronger and better for it.

Glorious is our Dominion. Glorious is Zaqir.

---

1. Formerly known as Senator Arnak Florin, Bloodaxe earned the respect of Zaqir for fighting valiantly in the face of certain death. He not only held his own but slew Potenate Yaka and Warleader Kairena, striking down the former with his gauntlets and the latter with an axe. When the saurian delegation arrived in Uthein, the ambassador had this to say of his prowess:

It is well to show valor in victory, but it is better still to show valor in defeat. To fight on despite certainty of death is the mark of a true warrior. It would have been a disgrace to slay an artist as yourself, Senator, after such a bold display.

Ambassador Safina

2. The Burning Isles are still sometimes referred to by this name. The volcano in the eastern isle has small eruptions several times each hour, causing a steady stream of lava to flow in rivers around the isle. This island is particularly rich in valuable metals.

---

Major Events of Zaqir - 5th Century

Cultural:

The wars with Scalethein and Jandoo have brought a number of changes to Zaqir, intrinsically changing the dialogue on how war ought to be pursued. Traditionalist Samaksists butt heads with both Mazarists and Ilists, the three philosophies having almost equal representation in Zaqiri society and politics. An air of tension and discontent grows thicker in Zaqir by the year.

Technological:

The Zaqiri military has begun to adapt some tactics and methods of Scalethein's Legions, though these are relatively conservative advances. Zaqir's navy has also begun to construct vessels designed solely for the purpose of bombarding shores and coastal cities, the better to prepare for an invasion of a foreign nation. Steelmaking also has begun to be used to produce higher quality weapons and armor. However, Zaqir's army still favors an individualistic fighting style; the shield wall and the massed charge are still mainstays of Zaqiri warfare, and there are still many warriors who discard the shield in favor of two-handed weapons.

Military:

Two major wars were fought this century. The first is known as the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein and took place between 440-441 A.E, resulting in a Zaqiri defeat but with massive losses on both sides of the conflict. The second war was the Jandoo War which lasted from 463-467 A.E.

Government Changes:

Potentate Yaka died in 441 A.E. during the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein. She was replaced by Potentate Flara Twinspears, who in turn was assassinated in 455 A.E. Potentate Akari the Thunderer then died in 466 A.E. during the Jandoo War. She was quickly replaced by Vana the Inferno who then died in 480 by self-immolation while competing in the Almurzani. The series of civil wars that followed were a difficult time for Zaqir and lasted until 489 A.E. when Tereza the Stonecleaver became Potentate and executed half the Circle. She remains Potentate to this day.

Territorial Expansion:

[Frengo]

The Scalethein Empire

441 - 500 A.E, Rise of the Stone Guards

The Zaqiri Invasion of the summer of 440 A.E had left the Empire in a constitutional and governmental crisis. The untimely death of First Minister Ironstone, and the total destruction of the Reserve Army, had paralysed the entire southern quadrant of the Empire. The Senate lacked the authority to issue decrees without the Queen - who was busy leading the war - or the First Minister, who had been killed. Furthermore, they lacked the authority to elect a new First Minister, who had traditionally always received the Kobold Queen's blessing.

As a result, Uthein was powerless to make any further attempts to commit to the war. Her forges fell silent, her peoples grew fearful, and a brief period of panic-induced anarchy broke across the city. In one fell swoop, the Zaqiri had inadvertently destroyed the Empire's industrial infrastructure, and rendered it ripe for the taking.

Senator Florin, who was recovering from near-fatal wounds, took it upon himself to march from his bed - much to the dismay of his attending physicians - and stormed into the Uthein Senate House with his household guard. At spear point, he forced the Senators to elect him First Minister under pain of death.

Upon election, his first decree was to disband the position of First Minister, and in turn granted the position's regal powers to the Senate. These reforms happened under the nose of the Kobold Queen, who was far too busy contending with the invaders to simply turn back and silence Florin's shenanigans.

Senator Florin resumed his post as a "humble servent of the Empire", but by now his position as the Alpha Male was established. He bossed and bullied the Senate into introducing sweeping reforms. His experiences at the hands of the Zaqiri had disillusioned him with regards to the Empire's potential and Kobold-led direction, and now he had become a nationalist.

In a single session, he introduced the mandatory inclusion of Dwarven women into the army, abolished the legionary system in the south, and ordered a total rethink of a Dwarf's use of weapons. Kobolds were excluded from much of his political manoeuvring - which speaks volumes of his nationalist intents - though they tried to bar his motions when they could. However, Florin was not above having his political opponents imprisoned on bogus charges, and used the Queen's absence to make his words law.

By the War's end, Uthein had already started to assemble a new Dwarf-bred army. It had done away with shield walls and pikes, and now took on the ideals of the Zaqiri - their emphasis on furious charges and single combat. The problem was, there were no Dwarves to train this new army, and most of the early doctrines were purely theoretical.

And so when the Zaqiri delegation arrived to offer Uthein gold for their part in the "Glorious War", Senator Florin silenced any calls for their immediate execution, and entered speedy negotiations.

"A hundred of me kin, taken to yer land to lern tha' way 'o tha' warrior. Keep yer gold, consider it me payment fur yer services!" - Senator Florin, to the Zaqiri delegation.

Senator Florin thus departed the Empire with the delegation, at the head of a hundred of the biggest and bravest Dwarf-folk he could find. By the time the Kobold Queen's issue for his arrest for treason had arrived in Uthein, he was long gone.

From 441 A.E until 470 A.E, the Senate bowed to the Queen's authority and kept its use of powers to a minimum. For this period, the Kobold Queen assumed the Empire's sole head of state, and her word became law. Business ran as usual during this time, and Uthein was left to its own devices. Many of Florin's reforms were repealed, and the city entered its pre-war state.

A key technological achievement during this time, worthy of note, was the discovery of steel making in 465 A.E by the Uthein Smith Consortium. Steel proved hardier than iron, though it was more complicated to make. It would not see mass production until 480 A.E, but already it was laying the framework for the Empire's continued military dominance.

In 470 A.E, Senator Florin returned from Zaqir... though he was no longer a Senator. He was Warmaster Bloodaxe, otherwise called Bloodaxe the Wall Breaker. His beard was long, his muscles bulged, his armour was strong and ornate - and a giant two headed axe established his appearance as some exotic warrior.

A half hearted attempt was made to arrest him, but Bloodaxe demanded a "Test of Blood" to determine his innocence. Therefore, he was quickly shipped under guard to Scale Home, where he would face impossible odds on the bloodied sands of the city's arena. The Queen and some members of the Senate no doubt sought to see him killed, and his memory cast into the void.

The Test of Blood

Bloodaxe was a one eyed giant of a Dwarf. His armour was of rare Zaqiri steel, as was his giant battleaxe. He moved quicker than any one his size had the right to, and his vitality seemed to draw itself from a bottomless well of feral rage.

The Queen watched in silence from the Royal Balcony, as Bloodaxe confronted ten of his kinsmen - condemned Dwarfs, equipped with iron armour and swords - and slew them all in under a minute. His skill at arms was like nothing the arena had seen, but many of the spectators howled in outrage and disgust. They saw him as a lucky chancer, a thug that had rolled two sixes in a game of dice. This Dwarf was a traitor, and the crowd's call for his swift death echoed across Scale Home.

With a nod of her head, the Queen obliged them; Azak and Frenki, Cobold battle masters, entered the arena to a thunderous applause. Azak was small but agile, his fame lay in the use of daggers - and Bloodaxe was eerily familiar with such an art, from his time in Zaqir. Frenki was taller, broader, and carried a large hammer. Bloodaxe regarded Azak with barred teeth, but Frenki with a challenging nod.

Azak struck first, his daggers moving almost faster than the eye's ability to track them. Bloodaxe allowed them to fall harmlessly on his armour, or took glancing blows to his flesh when he could afford to, and launched a series of axe swings that missed their mark by several inches - as intended - until Azak sought to slip past the Dwarf's apparent clumsiness. However, in adherence to his own martial style, Bloodaxe's vulnerability suddenly evaporated in a single instant, and Azak fell backwards with a grievous gash across his chest.

Frenki approached, hammer high, and the Cobold and Dwarf fought in a test of raw physical strength. At one point, it seemed as though Bloodaxe was done for, as Frenki's hammer planted itself into his chest. A couple of broken ribs now hindered Bloodaxe's movements, and he fell to his knees and faked a drama. As Frenki moved forwards to hear the Dwarf's yield, Bloodaxe gripped him by the face and in one sudden movement, broke the Cobold's neck.

The crowd roared with displeasure, and thousands of voices called for the Queen to kill the Dwarf - to issue his death warrant, Test of Blood be damned - for his heinous display. Bloodaxe got to his feet, held his arms abreast, and roared at them in response. His free hand beat his chest, and he hurled insults at the crowd.

"BRING ME SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO FRIGGIN' FIGHT!" He bellowed, unashamed.

The Queen inclined her head, and now a gate at the far side of the arena rattled open. Bloodaxe turned to face the threat, and found himself face to face with a giant monstrosity. It seemed to be a simple forest bear, but it was easily the size of a small house, and it towered above Bloodaxe as a mountain of fur and muscle. A Kobold madwoman danced and cackled on the beast's neck; apparently the bear was her pet. Her crazed eyes settled on her opponent, and for a moment she sobered from her eternal delirium.

"What is this?" She asked, curiously. "An impotent Dwarf that shall stoop in the muck, if it means victory?"

"And what be this?" Bloodaxe retorted. "A Kobold bitch that lays with bears?"

And thus, battle was joined.

It took nearly a thousand Kobold soldiers to escort Bloodaxe safely from the grounds. The bear's death had not been pleasant, indeed, it had been perverse. Some say he had laughed as he tore the beast's eyes from their sockets, that he had become aroused as he hacked away at its bulk like a mad butcher. The Kobold madwoman's fate was such, that the record was simply struck from the histories - though to this day, it is said her tortured screams haunt the grounds.

What we do know is that, were it not for a loophole in the laws regarding a Test of Blood (specifying a respect for "foreign conduct" in battle), Bloodaxe would not have left that arena alive. Indeed, such a despicable and monstrous display contravened all forms of known "martial honour". The Queen released him, with great reluctance and regret - but the Divine had obviously decided his innocence, for he would not have survived if they had not.

Bloodaxe returned to Uthein, as somewhat a hero and a legend, and was granted a seat on the Senate. Having picked up a boat-load of riches from his time in Zaqir, Bloodaxe used his wealth to influence certain motions, and the Military Academy of Uthein was abolished on his word. In its place, the War Summit of the Stone Guard was erected - though the structure was itself unmolested.

With the rest of his riches, Bloodaxe raised his own personal army - with reluctant Senate approval - and ten War Bands (a thousand Dwarves each) were consolidated into the Imperial Stone Guard. The Stone Guard were a paramilitary force dedicated to the warrior's code, and in theory answered to the Queen and the Senate, but who in practice answered to one man: Bloodaxe the Wall Breaker.

The Stone Guard became a symbol of Dwarf nationalism, and through them, the Mountain God - who had remained fairly quiet for over a century - started to find his way back into mainstream religious beliefs. Bloodaxe erected mighty monuments of He Who Made the Mountains all around the capital, in a bid to please his forgotten God.

In 480 A.E, Bloodaxe oversaw the construction of the Arena of Heroes - a massive marble and stone construction in the centre of Uthein, which could house over 50,000 spectators. Here he would continue to hone the skills of his Stone Guard, and here he would gain the means to keep his warriors funded outside of Federal reliance.

A Stone Guard Warrior of the Late Ancient Era

---

Political Summary: The position of First Minister was abolished in the aftermath of the Scalethein-Zaqiri War, although the Senate took on more formal powers of state as a result. The Kobold Queen is now the sole head-of-state.

Military Summary: Steel is now in common military use, and a Dwarven paramilitary force known as the 'Stone Guards' has risen to prominence. The Stone Guards are based on the Zaqiri warriors, and have become a symbol of Dwarven nationalism and strength.

Cultural: The Mountain God has made a return after centuries of obscurity, and monuments of him have been erected across Uthein by the Stone Guard.

Territorial: Awaiting Neo's post.

[neogreggory]

The Scalethein Empire

401-500 A.E, War and Reformation

(As found written upon a open tome found sitting on a table in the Hall of Records)

It was five hundred A.E, Queen Liika the Stone Blooded, despite being fifty years of age, was still fit, perhaps even still in her prime. Many claim it was due to her troll blood, others say it was a blessing of Arill, and others still acclaim it to her diet. No matter the case the new Queen was quick to approve construction of a new kind of building. During the great journey undertaken by Liika's famous mother many faiths were encountered, many thoughts regarding the gods gathered. Temples and holy places, things that Kobolds had never thought of before, were encountered. And so Queen Liika would have the first true temple of Scale Home built.
It would not however merely be a temple to the twin moons. The kobolds of Scale Home, and of the empire in whole, had decided that no god or goddess would be forgotten, no faith ignored. The temple would be devoted to every single divine being that the Kobolds knew of, and so the structure would have to be massive. Rather than building the temple within the city itself it was decided that the structure would be built a distance away from the city, higher in the mountains. Only one place was suitable for such a temple the Kobolds decided. At the base of the path leading up to the highest point in the mountains, at the base of the holiest site of the Twin Goddesses, the first stones were lain. The Great Temple would take many years to build. When the temple was at last completed in 453 A.E it was the largest thing the Kobolds had built up to that point, excluding the entirety of Scale Home. The temple, nearly a city in it's own right, had shrines to every known deity. In the gardens there were several stone circles of varying size devoted to the five ancients, halls and chambers for the various gods of Zaqir, underground chambers from which to worship the mountain father, a small shrine for the Great Ape, and a great hallowed hall with tinted glass for the Divine of Yossod, even with an expansive number of rooms hidden away near the Divine's hall where if the mysterious Ayel ever wished to visit they could stay hidden away. Of course, the Kobolds knew nothing of the Ayel besides their existence and a few effigies collected from Yossod and because of that many of the rooms belonging to the Ayel are in fact too small, the ceilings being to close to the ground.
Within the Great Temple there was of course also two great chambers built for Arill and Zee, the domed ceilings being made from a clear glass so that the night time prayers could be had under the moon's light without risk of getting cold outside. At the very top of the mountain that the Great Temple sat upon, the highest point in the entire mountain range, a single small structure was built. A marble basin, which would be filled each night with fresh water. Surrounding this watery mirror was an abundance of wild flowers.
Many priests, Kobold and otherwise, would make a home at this Great Temple, three hundred or so Kobolds living at the temple by the end of the fifth century.

Aside from the Great Temple Liika also had built two temples in Scale Home itself, one devoted to the Twin Moons, and one stone circle devoted to the five ancients.
Queen Liika, now Queen Liika the Faithful, would however be interrupted from her construction by the coming of a saurian party to Scale Home in 438 A.E. The Queen, along with many other Kobolds, would gather in the market to hear what the Zaqiri had to say. It is reported that when the lead saurian declared the Zaqiri intent for war so happily that many of the kobolds present thought it a joke. However after the saurians were gone the Queen had doubts. Queen Liika would speak with her sister Maza. The half saurian half kobolds, dubbed Cobolds, had grown in number, equaling roughly four percent of the population of Scale Home. Maza held no ill feelings towards her older sister, as the battle was fair, and the two talked. The Cobold assured the Queen that the saurians were not joking, that in two years time a war would begin.

Queen Liika would right away begin to make preparations. She spoke with the senate and the Prime Minister Ironstone, but both were certain that the Zaqir were not a threat, and would not take the word of the Queen's half blood sister as adequate proof. While Queen Liika could easily have forced the senate to do as she wished, Ironstone she could not. So instead the Queen did the only thing she could think of. She made a call for aid to the ones that saved her so many years ago, the Kingdom of Five Stones and the Stone Trolls. During this time Liika also made efforts to improve the military. She had many mountain goats bred for size and endurance, and then had soldiers trained to fight upon the beasts. She had created her own unit of bodyguards beyond the first legion, these 'Queen's Guard' trained by Liika herself, the soldiers dressed in the heaviest armor available and given large round shields and hand weapons, heavy maces and swords.

When the year 430 A.E struck Queen Liika was ready, if not the empire as a whole. The war was only a year long, due in part to the aid of the Trolls. When the Queen returned home she was however met with infuriating news. Not only had the Prime Minister died, but a dwarf senator had taken his place, removing the legion system from the south but not only that, had had kobold senators quieted, had any member of the senate who spoke against him imprisoned for crimes that would later be proven false. When the Queen had the fourth Legion sent to Uthein to both imprison Florin and ensure order was still maintained it would be discovered that the senator had taken many of his countrymen and ran off towards Zaqir. Stressed beyond belief and weary from the war the Queen decided to let the dwarf go, and instead welcomed the role of sole leader of Scalethein.

The Zaqiri representative that arrived with chests of gold and other fine things came and went, the treasure spent on more funding towards the Great Temple.
It would be in 478 A.E, at the great age of one hundred and twenty eight, and age not before thought capable for a Kobold, was dying. During her entire life she was more fit than most kobolds half her age, however in the winter of 476 her body began to fail her, as did her mind. When the Queen was on her dying bed she looked over her daughters, roughly eighty of them. Queen Liika's final words however, be they from exhaustion or maddness, were to cause a great deal of confusion. As it is recorded, the final words of Queen Liika the Faithful, "I don't care, figure it out yourselves."

It would then be for two years that Scale Home went without a Queen, that Scalethein went without a formal ruler. The senate maintained order in the Empire at large, whenever the governing body asked what the situation regarding the queen was one of the eighty daughters of Liika confirming that somebody would be queen eventually. It was at last, in 478 A.E, that the youngest of the daughters became Queen. The exact details of Queen Lia's ascension are unknown, as the eighty daughters had remained in the palace itself for most of the two years and few others were allowed in during those years. Regardless of the details, Queen Lia, at the tender age of four, became Queen of Scalethein in 478 A.E. Despite her age she acted with a mind more suited to someone far older then her. She had built in 479 a formal temple to the Mountain Father in Scale Home, and has since maintained a peace across the Empire.
As it was written by our ancestors upon the first walls of Scale Home, the walls that every visitor of our great city see first upon entering our city, as it will be written here. Long live the Queen!

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Major Developments of Scale Home, Fifth Century

Cultural: The Great Temple is built at the base of the path leading up to the highest point in the mountains, along with three more reasonably sized temples built in Scale Home itself.

Militarist: Goats are bred to be mounts in battle, creating a breed of larger, stronger, and braver goats. The Queens Guard is established, who act as body guards to the Queen during all times, and fight in heavy metal armor. A war with Zaqir is had, which will be elaborated on in another post *coming soon*

Scientific: Few advances are made in regards to science.

Political: Queen Liika is succeed by her youngest daughter Lia, who is ruling to this day, currently at the age of twenty six.

Expansion: I realize that I have no idea where the highest point in the mountains is, but the Kobolds build a temple large enough to be considered a town there. The Great Temple deserves a little black dot somewhere near the center of the mountains, so whoever makes a map of the area next it would be quite kind of you to put that dot there.

[TheSovereignGrave]

Retribution and Peace

518.2-646.2
(401AE-500AE)

For decades there had been a source of great shame within Yossod, a thing that beget nothing but righteous fury among Yossod loyal and faithful. It was the Feinar, and the kingdom they carved out of Yossod lands whilst Yossod tore itself apart in civil war. And Yossod could do nothing but halt the barbarians in their tracks and raid the heathens, for most of Yossod's resources were tied up in the reconstruction of the places decimated by the civil war. But within the second decade of the century, the reconstruction was complete and Yossod prepared for war. But the Prophet and Ayelic Council both desired something more than a simple reconquest; they desired an end to the Feinar threat for good. But the Feinar had the cunning of beasts, and fighting them within their own homes was a dangerous proposition. Yossod could not do it alone, and so required help. And so Yossod turned to the nearby stone trolls of Elamia, who shared the mutual enemy, and plans were made.

Great military expeditions were sent westwards in 536.2 (414AE) and 539.2 (416AE), which ended in rousing successes for all involved. The Ilaist subjects ruled over by the Feinar rose up against their heathen conquerors, speeding things up considerably, and by the end of the second expedition Yossod had begun to rule the territory of the Feinar themselves. And, interestingly for the Ayelic Council back in Qa-Avnel a number of the feinar had expressed a desire to convert and formally join the Temple of Ila. They had been impressed by the martial might of Yossod and it's Brotherhood of the Covenant as well as by several trolls who had converted to Ilaism during their wanderings. The conversion was only sped up by the laws favouring members of the Temple as well as the benefits brought by inclusion in Yossod's sphere of influence. The feinar had already begun to settle down in their lands, but they had still been a warlike people with only the most basic grasp of agriculture and trade. Peaceful contact and trade with Yossod's lands to the east brought new ideas and technologies to the feinar, and the tribes under Yossod began to flourish from this.

But all was not peaceful; there were still a great many feinar in the conquered lands who saw those who converted as weak and abandoning the traditions of their people and resented the rule of Yossod. And it was in 545.2 (421AE) that the Feinar Uprising occurred, which sought to break free from Yossod's yoke. While at the start of the Uprising the feinar made great strides, but fortunately for Yossod a great push against the feinar by Brothers of the Covenant and some of the loyal feinar were able to crush the rebellion and many of the rebels were executed as punishment. And expansion westward into feinar land would continue, though not through any major military campaigns. Instead priests were sent to proselytize and had more success thanks to Yossod's show of strength, as well as smaller military actions against those feinar who attempted to fight against Yossod or their priests.

And thanks to their mutual enemy of the Feinar tribes, Yossod and Elamia began to align with one another as allies. And mutual trad between the two states would only come to strengthen their ties. And to cement the friendship and alliance between them it was in 554.2 (428AE) that Yossod's Prophet would make a grand visit to speak at Elamia's Great Council to the assembled Chieftains, Ancients, and the High Council. And it was in the next year that the stone troll's Council would make a visit to Qa-Avnel as well, which would fully cement the friendship between the two nations.

And with the most pressing problem dealt with, Yossod entered another period of peace and prosperity. Following news of the impending completion of the kobold's Great Temple, the Prophet ordered the construction of a massive temple dedicated solely to Ila within Qa-Avnel. The temple would be the largest within Yossod and would be a marvel of engineering and architecture thanks to it being constructed by the most talented architects Yossod could hire. It would not, however, exceed the kobold's Great Temple in size. And with closer ties to the stone trolls, some of the priests saw the monks and their monastery and began to sdopt a similar practice in Yossod. However, unlike the trolls whose monasteries were primarily for learning the Yossodite monks would be priests who would dedicate their lives to God to an even greater extent than most others. Over time many monasteries would crop up over Yossod's hegemon as places where those who so choose could live a simple life of worship and contemplation of God. Later in the century, steel would be imported into Yossod from the south and east. Though it would take many years for it to be adopted into common usage the Brotherhood of the Covenant would quickly see the advantages of the metal and over time the Brotherhood would adopt steel weapons and arms as their standard and it was through the Brotherhood that Yossod's blacksmiths would receive their earliest patronage.

And now Yossod sits in a period of peace, stability, and prosperity, but one wonders how long that can last. In Zaqir the Ilists gained much strength and while Yossod itself does not officially support them it's no secret that the Yossodites are on their sides, and saurian politics are renowned for their volatility and brutality. Yossod itself has also supported the stone trolls of Elamia, who are at odds with Five Stones who are aligned with the Scalethein Empire. And while Yossod and Scalethein have no animosity towards one another, some worry that conflict between the stone trolls could drag their allies into the war as well. And the current Prophet is an elderly monk by the name of Azuumad; Azuumad is a competent ruler and administrator and loved by many for his kindness and generosity, and while he is a good ruler for these times of peace many worry if he will prove and adequate ruler in the event of war. And he is at odds with First Brother Jinoa of the Brotherhood of the Covenant; a man well-loved by those in the Brotherhood and loyal to a fault, but a man harsh to his enemies and unafraid to make war or sacrifices for the greater good. And in the midst of it all the Ayelic Council sits in their walled-off district of Qa-Avnel, unseen by all but the Prophet and their servants and only knowing of the outside world from word of mouth and reports.

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Major Events of Yossod: Fifth

Cultural: A great Temple is constructed in Yossod, and though it is not as impressive as the kobold's Great Temple it is the largest place of worship within the Yossod hegemon. Many feinar are converted to Ilaism.

Technological: Steel is adopted into usage in Yossod after being imported from the south and east. It is at first utilized predominantly for military purposes, but iron and steel eventually replaces bronze as the metal of choice for tools within Yossod.

Military: Military campaigns westward in 536.2 (414AE) and 539.2 (416AE) reconquer territory lost to the Feinar decades prior, and eventually conquer into Feinar land. The Feinar Uprising in 545.2 (421AE) occurs and despite initial success is driven back and Yossodite control restored. Smaller actions over the course of the century slowly expand Yossodite influence eastwards. Steel is adopted by Yossodite warriors; first by the Brotherhood of the Covenant and iron and steel eventually come to be adopted by non-professional warriors of Yossod's hegemon.

Diplomacy: Yossod and Elamia are brought together because of their mutual enemy, the Feinar, which eventually evolves into friendship and alliance between the two civilizations.

Government: The Feinar tribes that convert are integrated into the Yossod hegemony as semi-independent states in the vein of the Ashatite Tribes and Idumian Kingdoms.

Territorial Expansion:

[Shorticus]

The Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein

The Standstill

Potentate Yaka was under considerable pressure to satiate the Zaqiri people's love for war. Some wanted her to invade Ashkar, but the Ashkari proved themselves too weak. Others advised an invasion of Yossod, but the Ilist opposition was strong enough that such a war was never waged. Of the remaining factions in the world, only one was both within striking distance and known to Zaqir: the Scalethein Empire.

There was a great lot of doubt that the Scalethein Empire could present any real challenge to Zaqir's forces. Kobolds were known to be small and weak, even if there were a few famous warriors among them. The dwarves were not seen as much better. However, it was also known that the Scalethein Empire possessed huge tracts of land and a massive population. These factors would make invasion and occupation of Scalethein more difficult. Potentate Yaka came to her decision, and in 430 A.E. preparations for the invasion began.

The Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein began in 438 A.E. with the arrival of a saurian delegation in Scale Home. They were initially greeted coldly, being that saurian raiders had long caused problems for the colonists around Far Home. The saurians presented gifts, however, and they brought with them some exotic fruits and turned out to be model guests. However, after a week of making merry with the kobold leaders, the saurian ambassador then revealed their true purpose to the Queen:

In two years time, your armies will have the honor of meeting ours in battle. My Potentate shall come to your shores with our great fleets and we will throw ourselves upon your walls of flesh, together forging such a tale of blood and glory that the world will quiver with delight! So drink heartily and eat well, for we shall make legends of each other!

Ambassador Safina

As enthusiastic as Safina was, her words did not bring cheer to the people of Scalethein. She departed the Empire that same day, leaving her hosts worried and mystified.

True to her word, Yaka waited two more years before launching the invasion. Zaqir's leaders prepared themselves according to Mazari doctrine, plotting out the best possible routes to take in the invasion of Scalethein. Their plan was simple: have the main force distract the enemy in the north while a second, smaller force pillaged the south. Yaka and the Circle agreed on this course of action, and in 340 A.E. the invasion began.

The main force was split in two halves, one half arriving by sea and the other marching from New Ilitscium and along the coast. The Scalethein defense forces were initially taken off-guard by the sheer size of the army: twenty thousand Zaqiri warriors swarming onto Scalethein land. They occupied the coast and besieged Far Home, but did not advance past it. Instead, Zaqir's army set up defensive fortifications at advantageous positions along the coast, clearing away swathes of trees to build their palisades and fashion together new ballistae.

Twelve Legions of Scalethein soldiers arrived to meet them, but very little real fighting happened at first. The Dominion's forces banged their shields and threatened their opponents from behind their palisades, and the Empire's armies jeered on back. Both sides maneuvered and postured quite a lot, trying to move into superior positions, but neither army could quite find that perfect position from which to attack. The Lightning Legion harassed the Zaqiri warriors, but Zaqir unleashed its serpent flies on the unwitting jungle fighters.

There were some skirmishes to be sure. Scalethein troops made every attempt to burn the ships they could with their blue fire, but they were hard pressed to do so; saurians patrolled every bit of the coast, and most of the ships were anchored some distance from the shore. Bands of Zaqiri fighters tried to force smaller engagements out of Scalethein to varying degrees of success, sometimes finding themselves overwhelmed and sometimes managing to kill a dozen or so kobolds and dwarves before retreating to safety.

Overall, neither side made enough headway to truly shift the battle lines. Smaller scale battles took place, but the brunt of the two forces did not clash as both sides believed it would be too risky to engage the other head-on. This would continue until news of Zaqir's invasion in the south reached the northern forces.

Lizards in the Hills

When the Zaqiri host showed themselves off the coasts of Scalethein's easterly holdings, there was somewhat of a panic. The Empire had been informed of the impending invasion two years prior, and though preparations were made, there was an epidemic of widespread disbelief amongst the Senate and other administrative wings that a nation would truly announce their intentions to an enemy before embarking upon such a cataclysmic campaign.

Indeed, when a Kobold fishing vessel pulled up to the coast, its sails tattered and its crew battered, the Far Home Garrison did not immediately react. The incident was put down to pirates, even as the vessel's captain frantically proclaimed the arrival of a vast armada. Later that same night however, fires appeared on the horizon, and the garrison commander finally conceded that indeed Zaqir had come - true to its word - to wage war on the Empire.

The next week was one of chaos, as the titanic might of the Empire's war machine ground to life. Thousands of soldiers marched to muster, the Kobold Queen at their head; Twelve legions and two regiments forming the entirety of the world's largest professional army. Organising the logistics for such an army required super-human efforts on behalf of the army's leading officers, and every resource was briefly nationalised to achieve this.

The First Minister, Jorkik Ironstone, meanwhile remained in Uthein, and took on the colossal task of managing the city's war-time production efforts. Forges flared, markets emptied, and an ocean of wagons were loaded with weapons and armour to be shipped to the front. The population was mobilised, and the southern industrial heartland of the Empire plodded towards a state of total war. Working hours were increased to 16 hour mandatory days, forges were forbade from closing their doors indefinitely, and federal funds flowed into those establishments that were close to bankruptcy. The First Minister promised to have every smith in the city working towards victory, and by his heavy handed approach, he achieved this.

In a single week, Uthein was able to churn out 20,000 spears and 10,000 sets of armour - testament to the city's true potential.

However, not long after the Zaqiri made landfall, word reached Uthein from the mining town of Roktor, that an unknown host was surging across the southern plains, towards the Empire's mountainous borders. The First Minister instantly deduced that the Empire was being out flanked - caught off guard by an ambitious enemy that sought to exploit their narrow-focused preparations for the impending battle in the north.

Not wanting to take away resources from the Queen's army, and concerned that to do so would take too long, the First Minister issued Ministerial Decree #94 to the Senate immediately. Decree #94 called for the immediate consolidation of all fresh army recruits into a reserve force, and also called for retired veterans to face compulsory return to service, to act as officers. Additionally, volunteers from the citizenry were called up to bolster Ironstone's army.

Within a few short days, the First Minister commanded 20,000 spearmen. They lacked missile troops, and they lacked experience; however, the First Minister was counting on his numbers, and his knowledge of the land, to drive away the enemy. After dispatching word to the Queen of the events of the South, Ironstone set forth at the head of his force.

It took a week to travel the twisting roads of south-east Uthein, and though the weather was calm, Ironstone faced some frustrations and losses due to the perilous nature of marching a force through such terrain. Eventually however, his army, titled the Imperial Reserve, arrived at Roktor. Ironstone was dismayed to see that the town burned; its palisades had been torn down, and its structures with it. Columns of refugees - mostly Dwarves, but some Kobolds - fled towards the Reserve Army, and proclaimed tales of a terrifying reptilian army that had laid waste to the surrounds.

Deducing that he was indeed facing the Zaqiri, the First Minister was surprised to see that so many of Roktor's inhabitants had survived. True, their homes had been set to the torch, and their earthly possessions taken, but by and large, they had been left unharmed. However, when a refugee gave detailed intelligence with regards to the Zaqiri host's direction, Ironstone realised they were heading for Thoktor - an iron mining town due south - and did away with his observations in favour of primal fury. "How dare these Lizards feast on the helpless!" He proclaimed.

Hoping to catch the Zaqiri in the midst of an orgy of wanton destruction, Ironstone force marched his army after them. However, in his bloodlust, he failed to follow Imperial Doctrine, and no scouts were sent ahead of his advance.

As the Reserve Army marched through a narrow mountain valley, half way between Roktor and Thoktor, the Zaqiri host struck hard and fast. Human warriors hopped and sprinted down the sides of the valley, causing Ironstone's men to break apart to face this two ponged assault. And then swarms of Lizard-women, their gnashing fangs baying for blood, their hisses decrying damnation, struck the column from the front and from the rear.

Ironstone was no commander, and lacked the skill to properly manoeuvre his men in time to form a defensive square. When all four sides of the Zaqiri assault struck, the Reserve Army was in total disarray. A bloody melee broke out - it was every man for himself - which was the type of fighting the Zaqiri excelled at. The Kobolds and Dwarves put up a fierce resistance, but they lacked the skill or the experience to turn their numbers into an advantage, and soon they were simply lambs walled in by four fronts of butchers.

The First Minister was slain as he attempted to break out of the encirclement with his bodyguard, and hundreds perished in like-minded persuits. The Zaqiri were just too strong, and too ferocious, to allow their prey to escape.

And then Senator Arnak Florin, a 33 year old Dwarf and youngest member of the Senate - a son of a banker, no less - took command of whatever survivors would heed his hoarse screams for coherence. A core of perhaps twenty Dwarves and Kobolds heeded his words, even as thousands of their kin scurried back and forth in a frenzied panic.

Florin led his footnote of a force against the Zaqiri rear-assault, deeming it to be most plausible way of retreat, and broke their stranglehold with one chaotic charge of determined bodies. His men fell as they fought, trying as they did to open a way out for the survivors of the Reserve Army. Eventually however, Florin found himself cut off and surrounded by an enemy that mocked his every breath.

They came at him, and he at they; his short spear found the padded chest of a Lizard warrior, and be brought the butt up to catch another in the face with such a force that he broke its neck. A third opponent raked his face with its claws, and punctured his stomach with a jab - Florin was said to have dropped his spear, and leapt at his foe. Heavy punches from a pair of iron gauntlets reduced the Lizard's skull to a pulp.

By now, the Lizard folk had backed off - intrigued, it seemed. Three more of their warriors approached Florin, one by one, as if allowing him slightly fairer odds. The Dwarf picked up a crude axe, and continued to fell each opponent that faced him. However, his wounds got the better of him in the end, and after felling his final oponent, he collapsed to his knees and awaited death.

The Zaqiri did not press the attack however, and instead, broke off into what appeared to be a hasty retreat. The battle ended as suddenly as it had begun, leaving a valley full of dead Dwarves and Kobolds - and a very confused Senator.

The remains of the Reserve Army, a mere 2,000 Dwarves and Kobolds, limped back to Uthein in horrified silence. To many of the survivors, it seemed that the Empire's end was at hand.

The Battle for Far Home

When the Queen Liika received word of what happened in the south she knew she hadn't much time. The Zaqir to the south would push north without anything in their way, and the Kobold queen would have to fight two different armies. So instead she ordered for her armor, she would lead the charge, ten legions would charge into the enemy, while the remaining two would be made to march southward in an attempt to stall the enemy. The two legions that would go would be the Second and twelve legions. Queen Liika was adorned in her iron armor, through she lacked her mace. Instead she held a long spear, and rode upon a mountain goat bred for war.

The ten legions would march eastward to the shore, the entire time soldiers playing flutes and drums, any kobold without skill with such instruments shouting and singing, the songs mocking the large (fat) lizards, their cowardice at not engaging in open battle. Queen Liika, at the front of the army, sang the loudest, not because she believed the massive lizards cowards, but because she knew they couldn't help but respond to the claims. And so they did.

On the shoreline itself was a battle of grand proportions. Twenty thousand Zaqiri, a combination of saurian, human, and even the rare Colbold or regulii. On the other side stood forty thousand kobold and dwarf legions. Both sides stood their ground, staring out across each other, forty yards between the two armies. The two opposed armies did nothing, not a word was said. And then, a single male saurian let loose an arrow that screamed through the air, and from that moment on it was blood and death and nothing else. The queen, with her armored bodyguard and her first legion around her stood her ground while the Zaqiri let loose savage boars, however the forces behind the first were not so stalwart. The front line of the Scalethein was in shambles, and when the forces of Zaqir swarmed in Liika and her fellows fond themselves an island, surrounded on all sides by Zaqir.

The lizard women were slaughtering the legions, however Liika ordered her first legion onward, ignoring the saurian swarming past and around them. Meanwhile in the rest of the Scalethein line boars and serpent flies went wild, killing without thought while their masters did the same. However one keen eyed kobold saw the first legion, despite being without aid and surrounded, pushing on and so the Kobold, a front line warrior by name of Klin, shouted out to his fellow soldiers what he saw, and the forces, inspired by the first legions bravery, quickly reformed themselves and began to fight back in earnest. It was here that the battle began to sway in Scalethein's favor.

Liika and her bodyguard and pushed their way all the way to the water, carving a path through the Zaqiri against them, even while the warriors behind and to the side killed them. By the time Liika had reached water over half her legion was gone, but the losses would soon be replaced, as the other surviving legion pushed through. The Pults, which had up to this point held their fire in fear of hitting allies, were given the order to fire. Moon's Flame was launched at the slowly retreating Zaqir and their ships. Though however most of the Zaqir ships were to far away from shore to be struck, the Zaqir warriors simply swimming away when they were pushed to the water. A few ships however, ships that had been brought up close to load up slaves and unload beasts were soon draped in blue fire, and the oil based fire was floating upon the water itself in wild patches. Night was falling now, the landscape lit by blue flame. The kobold forces watched as the last of the Zaqir ships sailed away.

Queen Liika watched from the height afforded her by her mount, staring out at the rising moons. It had been a long day, but it would be longer still, for the army, now reduced to four legions, would march southward to meet the second Zaqiri force.

The Trolls March

Meanwhile, the mighty stone-trolls marched south to meet the second Zaqiri force. Nearly eighty five thousand troll spawn, led by five hundred trolls adorned in armor and wielding great maces. Roughly twenty of the troll army were older trolls, standing twenty five to thirty feet in height, and they too carried maces sized for their impressive frames. Marching into the lands being blighted by the saurians, the trolls soon found themselves overlooking a small dwarf village being raided by saurians, dwarven and kobold prisoners being tied down in rope or chains. Put into a rage by what they saw the trolls ran down in the valley that held the village.

It is reported that at first the saurian warriors, having never seen stone trolls before, thought that an earthquake was coming down upon them before they regained their senses. The first of the troll forces to actually collide with the Zaqir warriors would be troll spawn warriors mounted on goats and armed with spears and slings. The Zaqiri warriors quickly mustered however, forming a wall of shields that broke the cavalries charge, the troll spawn being quickly torn apart once their charge was halted. However, the warriors of Zaqir had little answer for the trolls that descended on them next. While the saurians had numbers, the sheer bulk of their enemy was enough to even make some saurian women falter.

The battle was bloody, but not long. Once the initial shock had passed the saurian warriors began to throw themselves into the enemy, each of them wanting to be one of the ones to take down one of the thirty foot behemoths that marched across the battlefield. After seven of the ancient stone trolls fell the others realized that the battle was no longer in their favor. While the Zaqiri were certainly taking losses the survivors were making sport of killing. After four more of the elder trolls died the remaining came to the conclusion that they had to flee, that the Stone Trolls had inflicted all the pain to the Zaqiri that they would. And so one of the ancient trolls stayed behind to ward off the enemy while the remaining eight fled with the remaining troll spawn. The army of Zaqir, while battered, had survived.

The Crimson Fields

Queen Liika's forces had little time to celebrate after their victory in the north. News arrived from the south that not one but two armies had been trampled by the second saurian invasion force. Worse still, there was a political collapse inside Uthein, and neither they nor the trolls would be able to lend further support to the Queen's war with Zaqir.

Morale was high as Queen Liika began her march on south, but it quickly fell as the devastation became evident. Villages were abandoned, Rocktor and Thoktor were both destroyed, and the refugees had long since fled the region. The war had not treated the southern territories half as well as the northern ones. Scalethein's dead and their fallen troll allies littered the battlefields. Zaqir's dead were nowhere to be seen, and while in reality they had been taken to their ships to be given their death rites, rumors spread that the saurian women did not stay dead.

Liika knew better than to believe such rumors, but she nevertheless understood the Zaqiri army nevertheless posed a significant threat. The next battle would be a decisive one, and it would either spell victory or utter defeat for the Empire. Knowing what she did of the victories and defeats against Zaqir, Liika began fashioning together a plan. She knew she had to fight Zaqir in the open. If she fought them in the field, she could put her superior numbers to good use. If she fought them on their own terms, they would make short work of her army.

So when Liika received word from her scouts about the approach of Zaqir's army, she did not dedicate to an attack but rather to a retreat. She prepared her forces accordingly and re-positioned her army onto safer, open ground. Zaqir pursued her forces relentlessly, but stopped short of walking into their trap.

The Queen then marched out with the First Legion and began banging her mace against her shield, shouting a challenge out to the Zaqiri much as the saurians loved to do. Others followed suit, and the Zaqiri force was finally pushed into charging against the front lines of Scalethein's army.

The battle was a fierce one. Shrieking javelins and arrows produced a terrible wail as they soared overhead. Bestial roars and laughter shook the courage of those less experienced fighters in Scalethein's ranks. The enemy's force made itself seem larger than it actually was. But the battle was fought in the open, and as Liika expected, the sheer vastness of Scalethein's army proved to be the deciding factor in the battle. For every Zaqiri sword there were two or three Scalethein spears to face it. It became clear as the fight went on that the Zaqiri army was without a head, acting without true leadership; its various parts were working as individual bands of warriors rather than as a unified front, which was very unlike the Zaqiri army.

In the end, superior organization and greater numbers drove Zaqir off the field, and they fled for their ships. Despite their individual ferocity and prodigious size, the saurians were defeated.

It was not until after the battle that Queen Liika would learn that the Zaqiri force had, in fact, been leaderless. Both the Potentate and the Warleader had been slain in battle with the reserves. Perhaps this secured victory for Scalethein. Perhaps it did not matter.

Whatever the case, the war's end saw more than half of the Legion's numbers depleted, and the same was true for the Zaqiri warbands. The southern territories had been scorched by the Zaqiri horde. But Scalethein remained intact, the invaders were driven from her shores, and Queen Liika would forever be known as a hero of her people.

[epicberet]

400-500 A.E. The 100-Year Summer

Aybari Imperial Flag

Elamian Union Flag

Walks-like-pebbles, Memory-keeper of the Trollkeep of Gar Elam, remembers it thus:

The new century began unusually. Trolls never pay much heed to the years as reckoned by the besktekar, counting in sleeps and reckoning from great events. Yet many of the beshtekar scribes at the Monastery of High Redback, where I was educated, celebrated a new “century”, the year 400 A.E. with great enthusiasm. This was because, they said, the Five Ancients had given us five centuries after the fall of the Prometheans – who had the hubris to challenge the ancients of heaven and the very earth! – and we were now entering the fifth and final, in which events would prepare the re-awakening of the Five Ancients one hundred years hence. This typical beshtekar reasoning seemed like fresh inventions from the Priests of Bet Aybar, who pretended to guide all of us. Still, I confess I was heartened at the thought the suga usurpers, the Feinar barbarians, and the Grogar murderers might all be resolved in one hundred years. Indeed, even the venerable Memory-abbot Pinebrusher seemed cheered by the good spirits all around us.

The Elamian Union was in its twenty-sixth year. This new name had been embraced by all of us; and not least by the Beshtekar, who now called the whole northern range and its sheltered valleys “Elamia”. The Guprakim Valley, which contained Gar Elam, already bloomed with crops, and the high pastures were sprinkled with sheep and troll-goats like little puffs of white cloud. Wise Memory-brothers and Astronomers advised troll clansmen and our subjects in the construction of great terraces to place every inch under cultivation. Soon Guprakim was swelling with people and food. More trolls and trollspawn were being born than ever before, and the more martial of the clans were talking about taking back the foothills from the Feinar menace, who still yearly raided our villages and winter holds.

For the first time in living memory, the clans were at peace, and the strong leadership of High Councilors Tallstanding and Earthchewer held the overeager and restless youth in check with endless construction work. What's more, beshtekar were pouring into the kingdom; humans from the Northlands and the West Ranges, driven by Grogar and Feinar, kobolds from Scalethein, and huge numbers of Prometheans from Yossod, swearing allegiance to the troll Chieftains for protection. Many days at the Monastery, we had more foreign sages visiting than Brothers and Sisters! Other days, we barely reflected or repeated our memories at all, we were so busy working in the fields and towns to prepare land for new arrivals. While these new arrivals were allowed to elect their own reeves and leaders, trollspawn wardens and marshals were appointed to organize the clan levies in case of war or emergency. For a long time, ten years at least, there was peace like none of us could remember.

That changed in 412 A.E.. With fall came huge Feinar raids driven by a new warlord, a Heggrim the Red, that crushed levies and sacked villages all the length of the Guprakim Valley. Forty trolls were among the dead. An Assembly for War was called in the spring of 413 A.E., and this time, the young Chiefs could not be withheld. Three massive war-bands marched north to the foothills, burning Feinar hillforts and villages as they went. Yet on low ground, and in unfamiliar country, Elamian forces were surrounded and badly bloodied. The deadly Feinar raids returned unabated that fall. Finally, in the spring of 414 A.E., an emissary came from the Prophet in Qa-Avnel. The Yossodites were prepared for war with the Feinar – would the Elamians march with them? Ten thousands warriors set forth in a campaign that would set the North ablaze. While the foothills were easily claimed, and the Feinar warriors beaten in pitched battle, the numbers and mobility of the enemy stymied the campaign. Once more in 416 A.E., the Elamians set forth to subdue the Feinar; and while Yossodite infantry and troll ballistae archers reclaimed huge tracts of land, victory was far from near. Many feared the Feinar would slip right past any defenses and continue to raid Elamia's heartland.

So, the High Council declared that any young trolls seeking clans, forts and lands of their own, as well as a seat in the Assembly, would be granted the title of “March Lord”, tremendous autonomy, and supplied with arms and warriors to defend themselves, and the northern border. Between 418 and 436, twelve clans re-settled in the north, building new forts, villages and roads in the foothills of Elamia. The three greatest, from east to west, were the Stonebreakers, Riverdrinkers, and Tallbacks. The Grandfather Tallback, notably, single-handedly crushed two Feinar warbands when aiding the Yossodites against the rebellions of 421. The Marches, while insecure and often violent, provided an effective defense, much-needed agricultural land, and a site for cultural exchange. Later in the century, it was not surprising to see trollspawn originally of Feinar parents guarding March lords. The Lords themselves became very powerful on the High Council of Elamia.

Throughout all this, the ties between Yossod and Elamia grew increasingly close. Yossodites were welcome guests in Elamian keeps, and troll traders and workers became a common site in Yossod. From 428-36, the two nations together built the Great Elam-Avnel Road, a marvel of engineering that included chasm-spanning bridges, aqueducts, road-houses, and long, curving switchbacks up mountainsides. From then on, the road was never empty of travelers, be they traders, the odd tourist, or endlessly hopeful Yossodite missionaries, whom the trolls welcomed curiously – though stone-trolls were less than ideal students in the mysteries of Ila! Alongside these, mountain-climbing trolls created a series of fifteen beacons, manned constantly throughout the year, by which calls for aid could be sent in times of need.

As a further sign of the esteem in which the trolls of Elamia held the Yossodites, their Prophet was invited to address a full Assembly of Voices and Reflection in 428, on both political, religious, and philosophical matters. I was fortunate enough to be invited to record this meeting: a blessing for which I thank the Five Ancients! The Yossodite Prophet appealed, despite our differences, to our shared dedication and faith in the value of all life and the importance of wisdom. Many trolls, expecting little of a beshtekar, were stunned to hear such eloquence and profundity of thought and speech from the Prophet. From that day until their deaths, many trolls would claim that upon that day the Prophet was not a mere beshtekar, but a troll in mind, spirit, and blood – the Five Ancients, they said, had clearly blessed this man and his message. Many, therefore, also listened attentively to the Priests of Ila. The following year, the trolls sent a grand delegation of one hundred troll Chieftains, a thousand trollspawn warriors, and a gift of five chests of precious blue lapis lazuli (used for dyes), amethysts, and gold and silver bars. The Elamians had no skill in working precious metals, but knowing the Yossodite fondness for them, eagerly wrought them from the land in return for salt, hardwoods, iron tools, and marvelous siege weapons and construction machines. For many troll warriors, a Yossodite ballistae, made to be held comfortably in their hands, became their weapon of choice. The grim march-lords were never seen without this “troll-bow” and their iron mace.

The next two decades saw continued struggles with the Feinar, deepening ties with Yossod, and ever-increasing immigration. Increasing trade and remarkable harvests brought huge surpluses of food, and an explosion of births. In the collective memory of the Dyarvik, there had never been so many children and troll-spawn born in such a short time. I myself bore four-five young spawn each winter; one ancient goat-herd added fifty young troll-kids to his herds in 438. This tremendous fortune was only dampened by the news that the suga of Five Stones enjoyed an even greater bounty from the Ancients. Surely, this is a reminder that the Powers of this world, by means and reasons known only to them, will first raise the blasphemer and the oath-breaker up, before humbling them in their punishment.

Such a punishment came for the proud suga trolls. I had been sent in 440 as an emissary to Bluepeak citadel (in all its false majesty) to advocate for northern trolls to be allowed to visit the sacred lands. Five Stones had prospered under so-called King Cloudreacher and his successor Winterpine II, called “the Wise.” They showed grace and kindness, but also pride and hubris. It was clear the court was more influenced by their small beshtekar advisers than the wondrous monasteries in their own lands. When the beshtekar Empire appealed for aid, Winterpine and his lords eagerly assembled an army to march forth. They even disturbed twenty light-sleeping ancient trolls from their well-earned sleep to fight with them. Thousands upon thousands of trollspawn from Five Stones and Scalethein lands assembled, and thousands more allied beshtekar. After wintering in Uthein, they marched out to meet the saurian enemy. Their ignoble, if hard-fought, defeat, recounted in detail elsewhere, was the just reward for their pride, violence, and the crimes of their ancestors.

It became clear after the Battle of Thoktor that major miltary reforms were needed if stone-trolls were to truly match the saurians, Feinar, Grogar, or even the beshtekar of Scalethein in battle. Yes, it was Five Stones that had lost the battle: but for stonetrolls – any troll, not just the suga – to lose a battle with beshtekar warriors, was unthinkable. For too long, trolls – – had relied too much on their size and might, and not their tremendous minds. Their individualistic, proud, and peaceable nature had rendered them vulnerable. Indeed, there was only one of the four nations of trolls that had truly mastered the art of war, and they had spent three centuries in the service of humans: the Getterim of Bet Aybar.

So in 450 A.E., the High Council in Gar Elam and the High King at Bluepeak Citadel sent me, now Prior of High Redback, and twenty other troll lords and abbots to Bet Aybar to seek wisdom and training in these arts or war. The Aybari Empire was in a period of long decline; while the beshtekar of Scalethein had risen, been shaken by the Saurian menace, and now rose again, Bet Aybar had enjoyed no such renaissance. Since the start of the beshtekar century, they had faced unending raids from the wild, uncharted westlands ruled by the Grogar clans of distant Gurak. These raids had grown in size and frequency from year to year, and would continue even in the rainy seasons of winter, when trolls slept, and trollspawn returned to their herds. Grogar ships dodged Imperial triremes and raided the coast as far north as Feinar and barumbesukeh lands. To make matters worse, the Grogar appeared to have ended their internecine strife, and pushed east with renewed strength.

The emperor at the time of our arrival was his Imperial Majesty, 'Ali Panjul IX ibn 'Ali, known as Stonebreaker. He had troll blood from his mother, a trollspawn princess his father had married to secure troll support in a succession crisis. Panjul IX had twice the cunning his father had, and none of the charm. He was roundly disliked, even by the priests of the Imperial cult. Half the Aybari human legions were on the point of marching to the capital and overthrowing the young man. Using troll troops to keep order had worked when they were outside nomads and hulking strangers; but now trolls and trollspawn were fully integrated into Imperial society. While many remained nomadic, troll chieftains were all wealthy urbanites, with lands, titles, and interests of their own. They had been sucked into the great corrupting game of politics.

Stonebreaker introduced himself by his troll name, and welcomed us warmly. Over a series of meetings, he made his position clear. His armies and administration were stretched and weakened to the point of collapse. Though he ruled an Empire of millions, his twenty-five thousand trolls the lifeblood of the Imperial economy. They had administrative, mercantile, industrial and agricultural duties. Already Bet Aybar's magnificent and monumental architecture was in poor repair with so many young trolls and able-bodied citizens under arms.

The Aybari army was among the best-trained and most experienced in the world, but even if its numbers were doubled, it could not entirely stem the Grogar tide. He humbly and piously requested the full aid of Five Stones and Elamia, a Foreign Legion of troll warriors, to fight for Bet Aybar. In return, all Aybari military advances would be shared in full, and he would grant veterans large portions of land to the north. What's more, if Elamia and Five Stones sent Aybar a tribute of iron and precious gems and metals, they would share with them the secret of Aybari steel. We readily agreed, and new roads were tracked through the mountains for a steady flow of supplies.

The Aybari Foreign Legion was officially established in 452 A.E. with 200 mountain troll legionnaires. By 462 A.E. it had swollen to over 3,000 trolls and 10,000 trollspawn and beshtekar. It was constantly on the move, joining the heaviest fighting of the border fighting with the Grogar, suppressing rebellious legions or lords, and building massive defensive dikes to slow the raiders. There mere sight of the Legion's blood-red banners would often suppress rebels, though the Grogar seemed if anything more bloodthirsty upon learning the reputation of their opponents. Still, to outside observers like myself, the foreign legion was like a breath of fresh air into a stale room. And it reminded the city trolls what they were; a new flow of pilgrims began from Bet Aybar to holy sites in Five Stones and Elamia.

Under Panjul IX's shrewd and bold leadership, the Empire grew to the greatest size and might it had ever seen. As official ambassador of Elamia, I often spoke with the Emperor, and understood his mind. If Bet Aybar was to be saved, it had to be jolted out of its decadence and stagnation. A massive restructuring of the army prompted insurrections between 463-6 A.E., but Stonebreaker ruthlessly executed rebellious lords, often replacing them with loyal young northern trolls (who were less susceptible to being poisoned or stabbed in the back). The army swelled to 150,000 humans, including thirty thousand trollspawn cavalry regiments. Smoke filled the summer skies as legions drove deep south and west into Grogar territory, and entire forests were felled to build a new navy of one hundred ships to patrol the coast. Even the thick jungle of Promethea did not stop the Emperor's vision; he led his men personally as troll engineers cleared the way. In 475 A.E. Stonebreaker, now admired and feared by his legions, finally looked upon the ruins of Promethea.

Victory would not last. Wanting to bathe himself on his return to Bet Aybar, the aging Emperor waded into the river Umlat, and collapsed in the current, drowning before his aides could reach him. His death sent the Empire into chaos. His successor, Mahmoud Panjul X ibn 'Ali ibn 'Ali was only a child, and even stone-trolls were divided over the proper regent. In 478 the troll-dominated Imperial Guard staged a coup to claim leadership, prompting scores of revolts across the Empire by dissident lords. The civil war would last four years, and would be followed by twenty years of ignoble retreat, as incompetent rulers squandered Stonebreaker's vision on petty feuds. Only the Foreign Legion remained above the violence, and many of its members returned home, bringing the martial wisdom and skill they had learned. I went with them.

I was invited in 480 to leave Bet Aybar and join the High Council in Gar Elam as the High Memory-Keeper for all Elamia, a position I am humbled to serve in today, and given the name Pebblewalker. It is my duty to reflect upon the memories of my life, and all the accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and memories of the Dyarvik people, and advise the Council. I have been fortunate to live in a century the like of which trolls have never known; despite strife, it has truly been a hundred-year summer of prosperity, growth and joy. Yet as the end of the century approaches, and I my one hundredth and fortieth year, I remember the jubilation and trepidation I felt one hundred years ago at the predictions of my kobold brothers. It must be said, none of the great events I anticipated came to pass; or quite as I anticipated. Many brothers still predict the end of the world as the year 500 A.E. approaches, but I am not so sure. It seems to me that the Ancients have set for us a task on this Earth, and they will not receive us until that task is complete.

Rumours have come from the East. They say that the Saurians grow strong again, and many look to Scalethein to sate their thirst for war. Others whisper that the beshtekar feud among themselves, and that Uthien grows bold and tests the bonds of Empire. Yossod, too, struggles to contain the hungry beast that grows within its breast. Should it turn to war, what then of Elamia? What then of our oaths? And rumours come too from the West. They say a Grogar warlord has raised a horde, the like of which has never been seen or heard before. Rahim ibn 'Ali Panjul XV, the young Emperor in Bet Aybar, shows much promise to reverse the damage of the last three decades, but should such a wave come crashing upon him, I fear for Bet Aybar. If Emperor, Prophet and Queen should fail, then what becomes of we trolls, in our mountain holds, in our halls of stone? I fear for us all. I fear, and I am tired. So tired. All I wish to do now is sleep, embrace the earth... and sleep...

Summary of Major Changes:

Territory:
Off-colour shades represent territorial gains. Note that the expansion of Bet Aybar's territory noted here represents the "official" delcaration of the Empire's territory by Imperial authorities, not the actual borders of control.

[Frengo]

A Dwarf Plots; A Promethean Commands

A Scalethein Empire Post - Spring, 500 A.E

---

Character: Warmaster Bloodaxe

Location: War Summit of the Stone Guard, Uthein

The crisp cold of Spring did little to deter the steel-clad sentry that stood stiffly upon the ramparts of the War Summit, overlooking the endless mountain ranges of the World's Centre. A few scattered showers of weak snow pressed past the Dwarf, swirling around him as if realising going through was never an option with this particular being.

"And 'ere I am, master of all I see," Bloodaxe mumbled to himself, his horned full helm lifting slightly with each word.

Heavy plated footfalls disturbed Bloodaxe from his reverie, and he looked down the rampart towards an approaching group of his men; Stone Guards, in full battle dress and carrying arms. He offered a hidden smile at the sight of them, as he allowed his mind to wonder the future's potentials.

"Warmaster," the lead soldier called out, beating his chest with a mailed hand. "We bring tidin's from Uthein."

Bloodaxe raised an eyebrow beneath his helm, "Aye, be that so?"

The soldier nodded. "The Senate be annoucin' the Stone Guard Review; it seems our friends in the Senate were unable to block the motion."

Bloodaxe did not reply immediately, but instead returned to his silent vigil over the mountains. Senate, his mind cringed at the mere mention of the word. When had his people become so weak? Pandering to the wishes and wants of a few fat, wealthy old men who knew nothing of war, of honour.

"Let 'em have their bloody review," he said at last. "They be fools to opposin' me. Even that Kobold bitch be frightened of what I can do, so I be doubtin' a chamber of impotent old whores will conjure much."

"Senator Stonebrim is leading the review," the soldier blurted out quickly. "It seems yer offers of endorsement did not deter him from championing the motion."

Bloodaxe sighed, "T'is a pity that. He's a good man, the least rotten in a basket of rotten apples."

"Your orders, Warmaster?" the soldier asked; the others looked at their liege for the willingness of excited children.

"Sound a muster. I want all of our boys gathered here at the Summit, in their full entirety. Let us give the Senate some perspective, aye? Stonebrim will soon understand that to threaten me will mean civil war, and I imagine he'll back off from that point onwards - until the time be right for us to strike, in any case," Bloodaxe replied quickly, his words full of energy.

The soldier nodded, beat his chest once more, and quickly departed the Warmaster with the rest of his companions.

"And 'ere I am, master of all I see," Bloodaxe said with more clarity than before, as he looked back out across the endless mountains.

---

Character: Tall Ape Galarg

Location: Ruins of Promethea

Galarg rolled from his mate, breathing heavily with exertion; today's session had been a lengthy one, and his "sparring" partner was more than up to his various "challenges".

"Giving up so soon?" purred Trilne, as she sat up and started to stroke his muscular chest with her knotted fingers. "I expected more from our 'glorious leader'; a youngling could have ridden me with more ferocity."

Without hesitation or a word, Galarg shot up and caught Trilne across the face with a strong right hook, knocking her from the grassy mattress. She rolled to a standstill, spat blood and teeth, and then hopped to her feet with a snarl. Her pale eyes showed aggression, and her twisted features hatred, but Galarg wasn't concerned.

"Had someone heard that," Galarg retorted. "I'd be wearing your face and feeding your tits to those younglings you seem so fond of."

Trilne clenched her fists and moved closer, "You would die trying."

Now it was Galarg's time to snarl, and he jumped up from the mattress and landed in a classic Promethean fighting stance. "Bring it, bitch dog!"

Trilne accommodated his request, and lunged forwards with two lightning-quick jabs. Galarg dodged the first easily, but the second caught him on the chin; he stumbled back, knocking over a nearby uprooted tree stump he had used as a table. Trilne moved in, following her attacks up with a full-bodied kick to his torso.

Galarg grabbed her leg with his left hand, and pulled it forwards. Trilne fell on her arse, and before she could move, Galarg's heavy foot was imprinting itself in her neck. She struggled like an enraged bear to free herself, scratching at his calf, but nothing could budge her king's weight.

"You are still too clumsy, Trilne," Galarg uttered. "Even a youngling would have seen that kick coming. You lack the imagination of your father; he was a great warrior, who'd never perform such foolery."

Galarg removed his foot, leaving Trilne to gasp fresh air into her starved lunges, and muttered croaky curses through her bruised throat.

"Now leave me, woman, and fetch me some bre-" He started to say.

"My Tall Ape, my Tall Ape!" a frantic, hoarse male voice roared from outside of Galarg's tent. "We're under attack!"

Galarg burst from his tent, still naked, fists clenched and snarling. Ooritz greeted him, the old ape cut and bloodied, and panting heavily. "Who and where?"

"The Little Folk from the North; they are scouring the ruins," Ooritz panted, bending over with exertion. "My sons hold them at bay, but they will not last long."

Galarg nodded to himself. Today was a good day to die. "Woman," he shouted with a slight turn of his head, "fetch my spear." Seconds later, the tent flaps burst open, as a wooden spear flew through it - Galarg caught the weapon without looking. He ran to a nearby rock, that elevated him a good five feet above the collected hovels of his village. He beat his chest rhythmically with a powerful fist, snarling in blood lust.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" he roared, and his people burst from the hovels, carrying clubs and axes. At first there was dozens, and then there were scores, and after a minute of continuous shouts of alarm, there were hundreds.