ZB1996

States of Evolution

I look at the map and shudder at the sight of my tiny kingdom.

States of Evolution

So what ever happened to the Grogar? Are they just there and too far east to be important in current events?

The Absent King

So Juna stood up above on that giant and beastly insectoid as it ravaged around wildly. Juna held her sword tightly in her hands and plunged its sharp steel blade deep into the shell of the arachnid, or at least as deep as Juna could dare to thrust it in. The gigantic spider, whatever it was, was irked by this, and when the nerves of the creature were felt by its mind and pain of the wound was felt, it began to shake and flail uncontrollably.

Juna could not hold on to the spider for very long when that was how he was acting. As it went to and fro, shaking and twirling, going one way one second and another way another second, moving and shaking wildly. Even Juna would not be able to keep her grip on the beast, and soon she would be flung from the thing. However, Juna was not fool, and instead knew quite well that, just as one cannot stay on a wild horse, one can neither long stay mounted on a giant spider, apparently.

Juna was thrown off, yet she was expecting it. She gripped her sword, and it remained in her hand as she went off the spider’s back. She once again swung through the air, and she was in complete control. Juna was no amateur in a fight, no matter how strange or unorthodox it may have been. She landed, her two feet grounded and her two weapons firmly gripped into her hands.

The giant spider went down towards Juna, surely filled with anger and spite for the wound that Juna had given to it. Juna shifted her feet, dashing to the left and avoiding it. Then with a slash of her sword she cut through one of the spider’s leg, and it was once again recoiling in pain. Juna came up again, jumping up towards the spider’s mouth and striking it. The spider recoiled back in pain. Juna looked down at her sword that was covered in yellow saliva. As it began to disintegrate, Juna dropped it. She still had her long knife, and it would do. The gigantic spider had retreated from her, so Juna would see it as a victory.

After having finished the battle, Juna looked around herself at felt a fool. There was something else she should have been doing instead of engaging in battle, no matter how exciting it was. Where was Annara and Alonso? She didn’t know, although she aimed to find out. She headed back towards the others, or at least what remained of them.

Juna ran back towards Lothren. Juna had pledged everything to the man, even her very life. She wasn’t just about to abandon them. She hadn’t seen Annara or Alonso. It’s likely Alonso wasn’t there at all, and he hoped that Annara had gotten out. For now, she would focus on Lothren.

“Hey there,” Juna said, kneeling down to him. “You better not be dead. There seems to be something wrong with the ground, so you better hurry up.”

The Absent King

@Life in Stasis

So...do I get to kill this thing that Juna landed on?

The Absent King

@Life in Stasis

I hope I didn't imply I had a multi-shot pistol, since that wasn't my intention. I didn't expect to mortally wound Gawain. Maybe scare him.

The Absent King

As Juna’s head had turned towards her companion Aust, she saw when it had begun. The intense rumblings from the sands of the earth had intensified its mighty vibrations, and Juna turned her head towards her front. She saw the ground break, the sand’s configuration shattering into a dozen pieces. Juna saw something break from the ground.

It resembled nothing other than a giant spider. Clawing its way up from the sand, it was ten feet tall and armed with legs that were scythe-like in its appearance. Their ends seemed as if they were blades themselves. From its mouth drip some type of yellow saliva, and Juna thought it likely that it would dissolve your skin at the very touch.

“Wow, would look at that!” Juna said, putting her hand above her eyes to block the sun from her vision and get a better look at it. “Can you imagine what it’d be like to ride one of those?”

Imagine the surprise, Juna thought, of those among the caravans. Perhaps they would not, as it seemed the caravans and those around them were the first to bit the dust. Some fought back before their inevitable demise to these very strange creatures came, but overall it was disastrous mess. For the most part, people ran when they could, taking to their horses and with rushing to escape. They may have been afraid, but Juna was not.

Juna had seen many things before. While it was true that she had never seen anything like this, could it have been said that they were any more fearsome than all else that she had faced? Certainly not, Juna thought. Yet while this would not have been sufficient reason for most people, Juna’s very experiences had forced her in the past to confront this. Countless times the unknown had appeared before her eyes, and she had but a moment to react. Well, she did react, and now she’d react yet again.

One of these terrible beasts had approached her. It seemed intent on making her its next prey. Juna found it all terribly funny. She had no fear of this thing, and was certain of her own victory. She looked towards her left, where Lothren laid down bloodied and thrown from his horse. There stood the prisoner, his hands free and apparently conspiring with a mage. He certainly looked like a mage She could tell what happened, but unfortunately for Lothren, she didn’t have much time to deal with that. She had a new friend that she needed to attend to, and he likely wouldn’t leave her alone any time soon without a good deal of convincing.

“Take this, you spiteful ignoramus!” Juna said.

Juna pulled her pistol from her jacket, and quickly aimed it at Gawain. She fired the trigger, and then quickly put it back where she had drew it from. Her horse was too excited and too afraid, and he ran off. Juna, however, wasn’t going to be running any time soon. She leapt off of her horse gracefully. She was in the air when she pulled forth her two weapons, her sword in her right hand a long knife in her left. She had no illusions that would this would be an easy fight, but she was the best the Ytharien had to offer. This monster would see, if it could even think, that they were not merely the prey. The hunted would become the hunter, and the hunter would become the hunted.

Juna was like an arrow as from the air she launched towards this vaguely demonic giant spider. Her body was lithe, her control of herself was firm, and her hands were ready. She held her blades in front of her, ready for whatever this monster thought it could do. She smiled.

The Absent King

@Life in Stasis

I'll have a post up by tomorrow.

[MEDIEVAL, REALISM] Marches of Man: The Black Shields!

Genseric awoke. He took a look around him, and it all seemed very familiar. Genseric had opened his eyes, and he saw that he was once again back in his tent. There was the tannish brown color that Genseric had thought was both alarming and unappetizing of which he could have done without, the marks of sewn leather evident to the naked eye. He saw next to him the small table next to him that held that book he had been reading, and even the candle was lit. On his other side was his shelf that held the rest of his belongings. It was clearly his wooden bed, its vaguely white sheet and tendency to creak, that he was laying on.

The last he remembered, he was dead. At least, Genseric thought that he had been dead. He remembered the lance plunging through his chest. He remembered what he felt during that moment. Not the pain, of there truly had been no equal in the entirety of his life. Rather, he meant how when he saw that the lance was coming for him, and there was no way out, no possibility that he could move out of the way in time, he had such an intense feeling of dread. Was it, unlike what he had thought before, that he had a fear of death? It never occurred to him that that was a possibility. After all, what did he have to live for anyway?

Genseric now had had time to clear his head. He supposed someone must have been heard, else who could have lit the candle? Genseric began to get up, and he soon realized that it was a struggle. He tried to lift himself up, and felt an intense pain. He looked down, and saw that his chest was wrapped in bandages.

“Best not to get up, master,” a familiar voice said.

He knew that voice. That was the voice of Asger, the man who had long attended to him as his servant. He looked up and saw the old man there, his tanned bald head and his grey beard there just as he remembered. He seemed to have traded his slightly regal clothes, as he had garnered a high rank among the servants, for a brown robe.

“Asger?” Genseric said.

“Yes indeed, master,” Asger said.

“What are you doing here?” Genseric said.

“I thought that you might need a bit of help,” Asger said. “I was deeply surprised to arrive and see you were without an aid.”

“I’ve done fine without it,” Genseric said.

“I think not, master,” Asger said. “Since you’ve been a babe, you’ve been raised in the life of regality. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, master, but it is so. I would safely say that were I not here, you would not long function.”

“If you insist,” Genseric said. “But Asger, you must that this is a camp of fire.”

“Well worry not, master,” Asger said. “Recall that your father was not alone when he fought his many battles.”

“I see,” Genseric said.

“As short with your words as ever, master,” Asger said. “I will let you be for now. But if you need anything, I shall always be at hand.”

Genseric waited for Asger to leave. He felt sleep once again coming on to him. He closed his eyes, and soon returned to the darkness.

States of Evolution

DEATHMURDERPLAGUE

@Shorticus

It's no fun without it.

States of Evolution

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