Holy Qhaganate of Zalja
Originally founded as an empire, the Holy Qhaganate of Zalja is largely agreed to be the most powerful nation in the modern world. It is considered the greatest and most defining of the Four Great Satari Kingdoms (none of which is actually a kingdom anymore), and elements of its culture can be found from the Vallian Coasts of Vaina all the way to the outposts west of the Yash Bayakar Mountains in Olveiria.
Zalja controls the greatest and richest mines of Visrite in the Orvyx and Shadowgate Mountains, and has even founded mining colonies in the Batsalian Union. Their wizards, called vissiers, claim to have plumbed the depths of Visrite's mysteries far deeper than anyone else, and there is no question that the Qhaganate is far more advanced than any other civilization in the world, perhaps surpassing even the magical marvels of the legendary Old Orckid Empire.
The Holy Qhaganate of Zalja is divided into eight different provinces: Al Murasa Territory, Ikhan (the Capital), Al Skati Prefecture, Qabarjat Shire, Dejitsa Prefecture, Ogoonduul Shire, Heqatia Prefecture, Batsayanjar Prefecture, and Qhair Prefecture.
History
The people of Zalja originated with the Yenai and their Migration south out of the Cradle of Yaalk. Legends say Satar the All-Mother struck the ground with holy fire, drawing waters out of the Undersea to sustain her children as they traveled. The site of this supposed thunder-strike is where the Mystic City of Bariat Uur now stands, but in ancient times it was where the Ikha tribe split from the other Yenai tribes and made the first settlement. Centuries would pass, and eventually they would be forced east and south by the Uurs, a split of the Yaalkai who traveled back north to resettle the Cradle of Yaalk.
During these times, the entirety of the South was said to be united as the First Kingdom, called Yena. It is true that all folk called themselves Yenai (which meant simply "the people" in their ancient tongue), but it would be gravely inaccurate to say they were all one folk. As the mythical kings were supposedly ruling the land, the Uurs and the Ikha were waging constant warfare. The Ikha won many victories, and when they found the River Questing, managed to secure themselves and start pushing back against the Uurs. It was then, however, that a tribe of olive-skinned folk came out of the northeast. Called simply the Riders, these strange people brought horses to the South, and did so via raiding and mass destruction. Their ferocity cost the Ikha any chance they might have had of pushing the Uurs into Yaalk, or wiping them out entirely. Yet for all their ferocity, the Riders wanted little more than to settle in a stretch of fields and live under their own laws. Who they were and where they came from was a mystery, but once they had their fields they were content to leave the Ikha alone (the Ikha then concentrated their strength between the Questing and the Great Bariad). They would eventually be convinced to barter with the Ikhas, granting the latter access to horses and therefore mounted warriors. This tribe, the Riders, would eventually become the modern-day Euskati, and even now they ask no more than to ride about their fields in peace.
Horses granted the Ikhas an unparalleled advantage, yet the destruction of the Uurs evaded them. Time and again they would drive the Uurs back into the Cradle, where they would scatter. Yet the Ikhas were unable to hunt them down, for the Cradle was too hot. Their foot soldiers and even their warlords would swelter and die, and myths speak of strange illnesses as demons come down from the mountains. The horses would collapse, and butchering the beasts would draw the attention of fearsome manticores and tigers. So time and again the Ikhas were forced to return south, and time and again the Uurs would regain their strength and march against them. So it was for the thousands of years that the "First Kingdom" supposedly reigned united in the realm.
Eventually, the Ikhas would expand south past the Southern Hills, where they met another perennial foe: the Ironhides. Though long dead today, in ancient times the Ironhides were a doughty and nearly insurmountable folk. Myths say they had the hides of Orrish unicorns, that clubs and even axes could not fell them, that they would shrug off arrows and even most spears. The Ironhides were unmounted, and they never looked to expand north, but in the chilly reaches of what is now Khabar, they were unbeatable. They drank the blood and ate the flesh of their foes, and used the bones of their enemies to forge their weapons. When such weapons failed, they ripped the Ikhas apart with their nails and teeth. The Ikhas were trapped between the Uurs to the north, the Riders to the east, and the Ironhides to the south (and, most assume, the "Magical Kings of Yena" to the west).
This all changed when the Ikhas discovered visrite.
The Rise of Magic
It is unclear how they accessed what we now call Southern Magic (or Satari Magic). The mines from which we now draw visrite would have been blocked in the northwest by the Uurs and in the northeast by the Riders. Moreover, in the west, our myths of magical kings surely suggested that those west of the Great Bariad had already discovered and made use of the magic stone. Most therefore assume the Ikhas used their treaties with the Riders to move around them to the Shadowgate Mountains, where visrite would have been plentiful. Whatever the truth is, the legends begin to speak of enchanted spears that could pierce the Ironhides, and axes so sharp "as to cleave a southern breast, his soul smoking out as his sharp teeth gnashed." In this manner the Ironhides were pushed south onto the Cickatrice Tail, where they would languish for centuries until the First Khabarese Crusade removed them from the earth. Even with their magical weapons, the Ikhas were unable to destroy the Uurs, and eventually an uneasy peace settled between them. The Uurs ruled along the northern Bariad, the Riders roamed the east, the Ironhides had their frozen wastes to the far south, and they that history calls the Kings of Yena waged their wars in the west. The Ikhas had their homeland now, and were content to remain there. The Kings in the West, however, were not content. No sooner had peace finally settled in the land, than the so-called magical kings of the west crossed the Great Bariad and began to make war. The Ikhas had horses and magic, yet proved to be outmatched. Zaljan historians are not given to superstition, and so take it with grace when they read of Yenese warlords summoning lightning or breaking open the earth to swallow Ikhan horses. Most likely, the western Yenese simply outnumbered their foes. However it was done, the Ikhas were eventually conquered and placed under Yenese rule. The Uurs soon followed. They had become too settled and civilized, unable to simply pack themselves up and fly north as they had in times past. Even if they had, the Uurs would have met a far more established Yaalk, less willing to take in refugees. So too the Uurs fell. It is unclear if the Riders fell under Yenese control as well, as they do not appear in any records, though their homeland's positioning makes it seem probable. The Ironhides were likely too far south for the magical kings to even notice. So all the South was conquered under the Ancient Crown. History would continue in this dark vein for many centuries, until the coming of King Adamai.The Birth of Zalja
Though some legends say Emperor Adamai was born "Half Yennish and Half Zaljan," such distinctions would have been unclear in those times. The Yenese who ruled west of the Great Bariad were certainly distinct from eastern tribes, but in the eyes of Yena they were all one people. Likewise, the term "Zaljan" would not appear until two or three generations later. Far likelier, and far more significant, is to say Adamai Yrsif was born half Ikha and half Uurish. Though they remained largely in their own regions, the two tribes had begun to mingle more under Yenese rule, and it has been suggested that many Uurs moved south to integrate into the more civilized Ikha settlements. It is equally true, though, that the tribes still squabbled, and it is therefore also likely that one of Adamai's parents was a spoil of war, brought home and made to produce the man who would change the world. It was this dual heritage that allowed Adamai to unite the several peoples of what is now Zalja against their oppressor king. Known only as the God of Rains, the Yenese king was said to be the son of a witch and a demon out of Yaalk, that he flooded the rivers as he pleased and withheld the rains when his peasants disobeyed him. More likely he simply took advantage of ancient ignorance, but there is little question that this God of Rains ruled with an iron fist. Adamai Yrsif united the tribes and families and pushed the God of Rains and his forces back west, across the Great Bariad. The Yenese sued for peace, but Adamai had learned from his ancestors' warring: leaving an enemy alive was to invite betrayal. Moreover, several (though not all) chronicles speak of one or even two earlier truces, both betrayed by this God of Rains, a proven tyrant. Adamai's forces continued, destroying the Yenese armies. Most chronicles say he slew the God of Rains in single combat, and that the skies wept in joy for forty days after. A bare few histories suggest the evil king fled northwest into the Mhyrychas Desert, though if he did he never returned. At last, the South was united in peace rather than oppression. There are so many chronicles written of Emperor Adamai and his quests, to varying degrees of believability, that it is virtually impossible to separate the true and false. Suffice it, he ruled for at least fifty years of peace and plenty, much was learned of the secrets of visrite, and the various tribes came to be united in a single culture. Adamai's sons, whom legend records as Arjul and Ilyan, both preceded their father in death. Adamai would pass the Crystal Crown onto his first grandchild, Empress Zalja I, from whom our nation takes its name. Though briefly ruling from Bariat to the southeast (what is now oft called Old Bariat), the Emperor's seat had been moved to Batsayanjar by the time Zalja took the throne, where it would remain until Ranel II's famous vision three centuries later. Resting between the Great Bariad and the Questing, Batsayanjar stood as a bulwark against Yena's magics, and those future kings that might seek to abuse it. It is said that Empress Zalja spent her life in her saddle, her son Zaljai spent his life at his desk, and her granddaughter Zaljana spent her life underground. Much of Empress Zalja's reign was spent putting down rebellions, especially in the west. Her son Zaljai had a theoretical fascination for Southern Magic: he wrote his own theories on its uses (long lost, tragically) and formalized the education and use of vissiers. Zaljai's niece and heir, Empress Zaljana, loved magic so much as to delve into the mines herself, risking collapse, to learn more of their secrets. It is for this that she is called Zaljana Stone. The dangers of visrite were not fully known in those days, and the Empress handled it as freely as any of her vissiers. When her hands and arms turned purple, pink, and blue, growing stiff as stone, it is said she smiled and shrugged, only growing more motivated in her studies. Perhaps she thought this ailment could be cured by the very elements that birthed it. Soon her face and neck (and, one presumes, the rest of her) grew discolored and stiff as well. Legends say she was eventually petrified, yet modern vissiers are far likelier to die of their ailments long before their entire bodies could be so afflicted. Whatever her end, Empress Zaljana died in the depths of the Shadowgate mines. The exact state of the Imperial family at the time is unknown. We know only that the Crystal Crown passed to the second son of Zaljana's youngest brother. This son was Ronud, who would become the first of what is called the Ran Dynasty.Satar Makes Herself Known
The Khabarese enjoy boasting that the love of Satar originated with them. In truth, the Satari Faith began in Zalja, as Khabar did not yet exist. Early in the Ran Dynasty, under an unknown emperor, Satar descended to the earth in mortal form. The All-Mother traveled the entirety of the South (and according to some texts, the rest of the world as well), sharing her wisdom and plenty. She gathered several acolytes to her, sometimes called the Mothers: it was from these disciples that the Yenese to the west would create their pantheon of the various Mothers, with Satar at their head. While most loved Satar, the Ironhides of the Cickatrice Tail rejected her teachings, driving her and her people away with clubs and spears. Many texts have been written on why this should be: Satar brought Spring and sunlight and foisons everywhere she went, something the snowbound Ironhides would have desperately needed. It has been suggested that, perhaps, Satar's presence caused their frozen forests to melt suddenly, leading that superstitious people to fear the end of days. Regardless, the Ironhides formed war bands to invade Zalja, seeking out this strange goddess in the hopes of ending her magics. This was a peaceful time in the Empire. The military was weak and ill-formed. Nor would it have been fitting for the emperor, whoever he was, to place his armies under Satar's might. There are some legends, though, insisting the Zaljan Emperor did offer his forces to the All-Mother, who rejected them out of her love of peace, saying "My Armies ride in the Heavens. Now is not their time." In time, Satar was betrayed over to the Ironhides, who took her back into the Cikatrice Tail and sacrificed her to their dark gods. The following Winter was said to be a particularly bitter one. Satar's grace is not easily laid aside, of course, and sects of fervent worshipers would begin to rise up as the years went on. Many such became so zealous as to interrupt commerce, taking over temples and markets and even local palaces, demanding vengeance against the Ironhides. Emperor Alwed refused to place his armies into the hands of zealots, nor would he march his soldiers into the Tail. Some have written that Alwed doubted that Satar had ever tread the earth in mortal form, and many must have agreed with him. Elsewise, surely all the world would have marched south. Though Alwed had closed his eyes to the light, his sister Irsad had not. Legends say she was won over to the new Satari Faith whilst traveling the streets of Batsayanjar and hearing a preacher called the Seer. Princess Irsad would soon join her voice to the faithful, granting other nobles the courage they needed to at last confess their own faith. It was not long before Irsad herself was demanding the Imperial armies march south, and while some chronicles say she threatened the weak-willed emperor, many more say Alwed was at last moved to bless his sister in her enterprise, allowing all those who so desired it to join Irsad. The Irsad Crusade (sometimes called the First Khabarese Crusade) lasted over a century, wiping the Ironhides from the earth. During that time, the zealots settled and spread throughout the south, and in time the Diocese of Irsad was formed. Emperor Alwed (or likely one of his successors) granted this land to the Irsadi in dedication of their zeal. Zalja itself was still centuries away from embracing Satariai, but its beginnings could be found here.Holy Cities
Having spent so much of its time looking westward to the ancient Yenese Kingdoms, the Zaljan Empire would prove unprepared for conflicts to the north and south. Though somewhat divided in their faiths, the Empire and its "ennobled child," the Diocese of Irsad, would coexist peacefully for several generations. This would all change when the sacred city of Bariat (now called Old Bariat) was first seized by the Irsadi people in the mid-late Imperial Age. Though named for the Great Bariad River, the city's significance was chiefly historical, being the original seat of the empire under Adamai Yrsif, which would have been unimportant to the young Irsadi nation. In a fitting twist of fate, however, Bariat would become the birthplace of Abhin Candour the Exhuberant, the first Earthly Abhin. Abhin Candour was Seyyadese, but would prove a robust advocate of what would become the Abhinate of Khabar (believed to be named after the ancient Seyyadese term for "greatness") and the Irsadins people. Candour the Exhuberant is credited by most with the codification of what would become the modern Satari faith, as well as the firm establishment of Khabarese borders (with the obvious exceptions of Hayafum Way and the Holy Coast, homes to Bariat and the Holy Solulan respectively, both of which would be greatly contested over the following centuries). This seizure of Bariat by the Irsadins, now the Khabarese, would signal the start of a centuries-long border-conflict between the two great nations. The Nashimash Hills and the River Questing would become reliable natural barriers for the most part, but Bariat's exposed location would leave it changing hands multiple times in Zalja's Pre-Abhinic, Post-Satari period. The Questing's waters would run red after Candour's forces established a stronghold on the northeastern side, the Zaljan side. Abhin Candour would eventually be slain by Imperial forces at this very stronghold, but such would only enflame Khabarese desires to retain it. Generations later, the Khabarese were allowed to keep the stronghold, which had grown into a mighty fortress city, and the land around it, in exchange for a similarly provisioned port city on the Khabarese side of the River. This Zaljan holding, Qhair, remains a major trade port and is often seen as a connection to Olveiria, the Bitter Sea, and the Triangle Sea trade route to the east. The Khabarese fortress, meanwhile, would become the Holy Solulan. Despite this mutually beneficial (though admittedly temporary) truce, this trade is still remembered as "the Fools' Bargain." This peace in the west did nothing for the east, of course. Bariat traded hands more times than remembered or recorded. It was one such conflict that drew Empress Ranel II eastward from Batsayanjar. In perhaps the most famous equestrian error of all time, she would fall from her horse while crossing the River Questing, and in the seconds between falling, drowning, and being pulled from the waters by her retainers, Ranel experienced a divine vision. By the time she was revived on the eastern banks, she had converted to the Satari faith. The army turned north and followed the Questing for many leagues before finally stopping. There, she ordered a city to be built. That city would be Tsen Ikha, the Crystal Capital, and it would one day be the greatest and most powerful settlement in the known world. Sadly, Old Bariat would not thrive as Tsen Ikha and the Solulan did. Generations of warfare had reduced it nearly to rubble. It would change hands one last time, being granted to Zalja as part of a marriage alliance between two nobles, there to slowly degrade into the inconsequential town it is today.
Founding Date
4402
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Alternative Names
Zalja, the Qhaganate, the Empire
Demonym
Zaljans
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Economic System
Market economy
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Related Ranks & Titles
Related Professions
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities