The History of Etha
Table of Contents
- The Beginnings of Etha
- The New Kingdom
- Centralization and Expansion in the Kingdom
- Modernization
- The Contemporary Era
The Beginnings of Etha.
Beri aka Kayrion.
The roots of the modern state of The Jasonic Kingdom of Etha reach back to the Bronze age. In the modern capital of Tyro , an ancient civilization
bearing the same name sprung up on the large island. Called Tyro by the contemporary sources meaning "Trade City" it lived up to its namesake as a hub for trade between the different peoples of the continent. In Tyro some of the first metal coins were minted for currency. From its location it could trade with the surronding region under the mountains known as "Ethaine", to the Aroenka culture at the base of the Aroen which would ferry trade from the North in what would become
Furanke and Aroenda, to Pefaz in Mamul, to the many Teroshi cities in the east, all the way to the gates of the Ethanga sea to the far west. Tyro gold and silver coins swept far across Etha through their trade. Then, abruptly, Tyro was toppled. It is now thought that the briefly mentioned invading peoples of Ethaine were migrants from, or were refugees fleeing from, Ethernian tribes that had moved south from their homeland. In the wake of the sudden collapse of Tyro there were ripples felt throughout the continent. The Teroshi cities, seemingly coincidentally, were invaded by migrants, as well, whereas the Aroenka culture disappeared silently. Pefaz stood, though also threatened by unusually violent and frequent border incursions. The surviving Pefaz records claim that a noble lineage of Tyrins fled to Pefaz and settled there. Indeed, it is from these Tyrins that the first solidly recorded king of the new Tyro would proceed. Kyohz Jason would serve as a
vassal to the king of Pefaz as did his whole family. He was noted for his Charisma and skills as a leader by the Pefaz king and so he was given a special command over the kingdom's troops when there was a conflict with the Asomian empire in the south. Where the Pefaz leadership had avoided combat with the Asomians, Kyohz desired to find a decisive route to victory. Much of the army was focused on large chariots pulled by a smaller variant of the norther wild Hadrons. The Asomians, being from across the sea, had no Hadrons native to their land and had thus only newly acquired the use of these animals in such a fashion. Due to this, they had no class of warriors devoted to these mechanisms. Much of their chariot core was reliant on the levy of coerced peoples nearby. Seeing this, Kyohz managed to convince many of their allies to abandon the Asomians in battle and then confronted them. Without their allies with them, the Asomians were routed. Kyohz was granted a reward for his valiant defense of the kingdom. He desired men so that he may retake Tyro. Although hesitant, the king agreed- but only on the condition that most of the Jason family stay back in Pefaz until Tyro was taken, not wanting to risk losing all of the family on what he may have thought to be an obvious failure. So Kyohz would set out for Tyro.
He and his men traveled for what seemed like months, the old sea lanes all but forgotten. Eventually they made it to Tyro.
What they found was not like what his family had so often recorded it as. There were no great structures or fortifications.
Much of the landscape was barren. Kyohz, even with a rather paltry force, managed to impose himself on the island fairly
easily. He established his rule over the island and empowered several of his soldiers to governing districts. He sent back
word to Pefaz that he had succeeded. Hearing this, many of the Jason family left to join him. The Jasons' ruled in Tyro for
some years before a conflict within the family broke out. Kyohz seemed to win and had solidified his place as king. With
that, he expanded his kingdom to the region of Ethaine. Kyohz hadn't just brought with him his family and warriors, but his
gods, the gods of Pefaz, and his previous liege's language. Both of these remnants of Pefazi connection would blend with
the local culture. In particular, the names of many of the Pefazi gods would change. Upon Kyohz' passing, it was his only
child, Gotha, that succeeded him as monarch. It may be that much of the house was decimated in the familial feud that
occurred, or that Gotha being also the grand daughter of the king of Pefaz through his daughter Jezosel was the most fit of the Jasons to succeed Kyohz. Evidently, Gotha's husband was married to her on the grounds that their children would be Jasons, setting the precedent that the Jason family was supercedant in marriage. Gotha's reign was characterized by Jasonic exploration beyond Ethaine. Many small regions were incorporated under the governorship of Royal subjects. One of the most crucial bits of her reign was her army's narrow victory against the Eswass tribes who were trying to migrate into Ethaine. By her son's reign, the kingdom stretched west to the Aroen where they had a client state called Provune. Successive generations would succeed in pressing the kingdom further north beyond the mountains, although another civil war would leave the kingdom fractured and split between many local lords. The Jason kings still ruled in Tyro, and indeed over the entire kingdom, but only in name. Much of the kingdom was subject to invasion by migrating peoples from the north and the east, and many regions fell to these new peoples.
The New Kingdom.
Ad aka Kayrion.
The Reformation of the State.
It was at the start of the Ethain calendar when the kingdom would be reborn. An ambitious son of the Jason family managed to subdue Ethaine through either diplomacy or force of arms. Somewhere around this time the name Ethaine had shown its impact on the region. Meaning, originally, "Surrounding Lands", Ethaine came to signify a religious importance. The kingdom at around this time was starting to be referred to as the kingdom of Etha, whereas the continent was presumed to be Etha or Ethanga. This new king, Kilomunj, set his sights northward and again crossed the mountains as his fore-bearers had. The peoples now there were called the Silalok, meaning forest castles, as they had many forests with great castles inherited from the remnants of the conquered kingdom. Although Kilomunj would prove successful in subduing many of these people, his successors fared less well. The Silalok were not a united kingdom like the "Ethains" were, they had many small kingdoms, often centered around an old Ethain stronghold. The Silalok kingdoms were many and far-reaching, stretching from the Aroen in the west to the Ogliar mountains in the east. Very few Ethains expeditions or campaigns reached beyond their lands, and those that did claimed that there were more peoples to their north and then the land ended in the sea. They also learned that the Silalok and the other peoples to the north suffered from raiding by a far northern people across the sea. They made raids along the coast and occasionally down the Aroen, yet the Ethains had never seen them near Provune. The deadlock between the Jasons and the Silalok ended in 235 A.K. when the Ethain king Urobix defeated a large alliance army in battle. The shattered Silalok had been swept away by a river as they had retreated. With such a large portion of the Silalok warriors dead, Urobix had little difficulty in taking control of the region. He appointed Ethain governors to control the area, effectively entrenching hereditary nobles in central Etha. Beyond where the Silalok lay, on the Aroen, were found a people that the Ethains called "Aroenda", meaning "Over the Aroen." To their east lay the Egriunda. A people that dominated the plains beyond the forest. They were a people who had migrated from the east beyond the Ogliar mountains. They were a nomadic people who were unilaterally well-trained with riding the larger northern variant of the Hadron. There had been a small conflict between them and the Ethains when they were migrating from the great plains to the east. After the Ethains had stopped them they had turned north to seek other lands. They were not a very hostile people and did not present much of a threat to the kingdom. However, a generation after the subjugation of the Silalok, it was discovered why they had migrated westward, as another nomadic group came to them under the Ogliar mountains. These nomads were, indeed, hostile. They initially collided with an Ethain force in Ethaine, but failing to defeat them they marched north to Silalok and the plains. They found success in northern and eastern Silalok where the forest was sparser and the castles were fewer. Unable to dislodge the invaders from their kingdom, the Ethains were helpless as they occupied territory and raided settlements. The nomads already in the plains were overwhelmed and subsumed by this new force. This tribe, the Oohtal, were here to stay for the foreseeable future. During the three hundreds there were several large clashes within the Oohtal, allowing the Ethains to take back most of Silalok. Whereas the armies of the Ethains had mostly been conscripts for the past several hundred years, the kingdom had now established that all of the rulers within the kingdom of Etha must upkeep a force of several hundred soldiers, including fifty Hadron riders. When called to arms, these soldiers, especially the Hadron riders, proved a key force on the battlefield. Each of the retinued men were better armored and equipped than their potential enemies to the north. It was king Orgulik who delivered the decisive blow against the Ethain foes Oohtal. With many of the tribe's nobility culled in and after the battle of Tygri, the Ethain king set up governorships in the region and built many new castles there.
The remainder of the Oohtal left back for the vast plains beyond the Ogliar mountains. Seeking to prevent another such
invasion, Orgulik set up a great system of fortifications to the east of Ethaine and south of the Ogliar mountains, blockading the path from the east to the west. With the northern plains secured, the king founded an Ethain settlement to the far north, east of the Aroenda. Named Ottah, it was built as a trade settlement protected by a large fortification. From it brought word of the northern raiders from across the sea. More than word, they were attacked several times by the raiders, although the defenses of the fortification proved adequate in preventing complete destruction. These raiders were called "Ethernians" meaning "Of the Sky." More pressing than these raids, however, were the forays from northeast into the newly conquered territories. These people were called the "Otrakar" and they had seized the opportunity of the power vacuum to raid the region. Although many raids were repulsed, many settlements were raided and discouraged further Ethain settling of the region. Furthermore, any attempts at retaliation were unsuccessful. The raids were halted when the local governors agreed to paying large tributes to the Otrakar. As it was now, the south west and south east were protected from whatever lay beyond them by great fortifications and Provune, the north west was bordering on the Aroenda, a friendly people, the north east was bordered by the currently pacified Otrakar, and the east and west were protected by the Ogliar mountains and Aroen respectively. The north was bordered by more mountains, the Koulikan, which separated them from yet unmet tribes. The borders were secure. This period, starting in approximately 370 A.K. was to be known as the "Ethain Upou" or "Ethain Peace." This period saw the arts flourish and Ethain philosophy sprout. The religious pantheon of Etha, originally from Pefaz and then melded with the local population, again saw merging with the Silalok mysticism. The religion began to centralize, taking on several major cities as centers of administration- namely, Tyro, Ebonica, and Eswass, with many smaller centers around them. Many Ethains migrated into the Egriundan plains. With attention put south, it remained that Tyro still served as an important trade hub in Ethanga. Voyages were being sent out around the sea for the purpose of exploration. Among the notable contacts were the Teroshi, who were descendants, in name at least, of the bronze age inhabitants of the area. They were avid traders and had connections around the sea. Another important contact was Maluk, the successor state to their old home of Pefaz. The language was reminiscent of their own and the gods were somewhat recognizable, but the peoples had certainly grown distant. With the rich trade from the south and the new trade with the sea-goers to the north Tyro grew very rich. Somewhere along this peaceful reign, however, the kings grew weak. They found it difficult to govern what happened north of the mountains, much like they had some centuries prior. The ecstasy of cultural enlightenment and monetary wealth led to decentralization and conflict. The governors in the north no longer payed heed to the replacements sent for them by the king. Instead, they became in practice hereditary dukes. They were still loyal to the king, nominally, but they all now played for their own dynastic ambitions. In the Egriundan plains, rather than just pay a tribute to the Otrakar to keep them away, the new dukes now payed them to raid their rivals in the region. When exactly Etha changed from a great expanse of peace to a warring collection of duchies is disputed, but many place the date around 520 A.K. At around this time in Ethanga there were western states that were forming. One nearby one was Promthia which sat on a very large peninsula near Provune. Their north was flanked by mountains, protecting them from invasion by land. To their west lay another, even larger peninsula that was home to a number of small kingdoms. This area was collectively known as Catast.
Suddenly, in 727 A.K. the Otrakar were attacked by a huge Ethernian army. An Ethernian man named Iljima soon claimed to rule as king. This was of little concern to the Ethains, at first. They no longer had to pay tribute to the Otrakar. However, now they had waves of migrants pushing southwards, followed by raids from the Ethernians who were now settling en masse to this new kingdom. This was a problem evidently too big for the northern Dukes to deal with. At their request, and bolstered by the religious establishment, the king was urged to rally the entirety of the realm for the first time in centuries. Marching north and gathering forces as it went, the Kingdom's army prepared to destroy the Ethernian kingdom. There were several large Otrakar parties that were destroyed on the way. In 759 A.K. the Ethains met the Ethernians on the field of battle. The numbers of the sides vary wildly, with the Ethains claimed to have between twenty and sixty thousand men whereas the Ethernians are claimed to have fielded between fifteen to forty thousand men. What is clear is that the Ethains had a numerical superiority. It isn't clear about how the battle proceeded, but the result was a clear defeat for the Ethernians. King Iljima was slain and many of his host sailed back to Ethernia after the defeat. With most of the resistance gone, the Ethains had an easy time in securing the previously feral land. No sooner had the Ethains conquered Otrakar than they were introduced to the last people of northern Etha: The Filajidin. Almost mistaken for Ethernians based on purely their dress and language, they did vastly differ phenotypically. They were threatening neighbors, but they did not take any serious actions against the Ethains. Once new governors were set up in Otrakar the realm fell back into localized conflict. The kings seemed content to rest in Tyro with their riches from afar. The new governors in Otrakar, however, were anything but content. Unlike Silaloka and Egriunda, Otrakar was not as easily placated. The people there were sometimes fiercely resistant to the new rulers. To compound this, the tribes of the Filajidin were always eager to sow havoc in the lands of their new neighbors. This culminated in a large Otrakar revolt in 762 A.K. The revolt saw large success. So successful, it was, that the Filajidin felt compelled to join them. The Ethains were unceremoniously kicked out of the region, prompting the Holy cities to call on the kingdom to defend the faithful from the invaders, which the king did. Otrakar was subdued within five years, leading to the "Pacification" of the region. Many of the local populace died in the span of this time. The Filajidin, however, were not overcome so easily. The Ethains were beaten back at the battle of Lokali, leading to the king dropping the campaign. However hostilities between Etha and the Filajidin would not cease just like that. Over the next century the Filajidin would constantly raid the Ethains while lone Dukes would either try to make advances on their own or the religious establishment would call to arms a large quantity of men and Dukes to invade northwards. In 872 A.K. the wars finally ended with the subjugation of the region by the Ethains. The region was divided into several Duchies, with the rulers being planted there by either the local Dukes or the Clergy, with no heed given to the King's choice. Over time this region would pacify.
In 1000 A.K. the people of these new duchies would demand that the city of Holst be designated as a religious center. Like most of Etha, the people here had had their own gods before the Ethains came in. Unlike the other peoples, however, they had retained some of their religious tradition and it had even swept southwards. By this time, all of the religious centers had been designated as the seat of a particular Ethain god. Those in Holst wanted their city to represent their remaining goddess: Vivachash, the goddess of War. That the Ethains already had a god of war aside, the establishment seemed to concede to allowing Vivachash (Whom they would call Fifazhas) to have a city designated for her. Vivachash would even find a place in the mainstream religious canon. The Aroenda, around this time, had agreed to submitting to the Ethain king as a vassal if they were allowed to retain their autonomy and king.
Centralization and Expansion in the Kingdom.
The Ethernians.
The Northern Threat.
With the entirety of the north secured, the Ethains now only had to fear the Ethernian raiders that threatened their coasts and the Aroen. Recent years had also seen activity from another far-western group of raiders named the "Nivagrans." They had been of little threat to the Ethains themselves, but had long harassed the western kingdoms. Worryingly, there had been a large migration of these invaders into the west of the continent in a large war host, conquering much land. These new kingdoms had been toppled, mostly, less than a generation after they were established. In conjunction with these invasions, an Ethernian host had invaded and conquered Larunda, and island chain in the middle of the Ethanga sea. With Nivagran and Ethernian presence in the old trading lanes of the south the threat on merchants rose. Meanwhile, in 1069 A.K., the Duke of Denk, the most prominent duchy of the far north of Etha had invaded the Ethernian island of Nyf. Nyf and its sister-island Shae were prominent trade hubs in the north. There was a large merchant community of Ethernians and Ethains in the region and stretched from Denk to the islands to across the sea to southern Ethernia. There evidently had been a trade conflict between some of the merchant houses in Denk and those in Nyf. Although initially successful, the Duke's actions had caught the attention of an ambitious queen. The queen of Sedun, from where the populace of Nyf and Shae were from, was eager to intervene to raise her standing in the region. This queen, Isora Mezezi , was styled by many as the "Khatun of Ethernia." Eager to live up to this, she sought to dominate the region. Although her first attempt to defeat the Ethains failed quickly, her second attempt was successful in driving the Ethains away from Nyf. Following up on this, she brought a sizable force with her to Denk, the first Ethernian monarch in centuries to land in Etha, and pillaged the land in retribution. The queen was eventually forced to return to Ethernia by an Ethain army, though she would return.
There had been in the Ethain capital a bit of a conflict between the king and his council. The Ethain king, Glerigh, had desired to strengthen his hold over the entirety of Etha much like before the Ducal period had begun. The council was a group of ambassadors from the more powerful Duchies in the kingdom. They had express instructions to represent the ducal interests. Glerigh found himself in a touch spot in trying to strengthen the monarchy. His council tried to disrupt any progress that he made. One success that he had had was in gaining the trust and affection of the merchants. He had elevated a young Promthian to a grand Admiral. Their name was Xogeq and their home had been destroyed by Nivragrans in a particularly devastating raid. They had since then formed a fleet of their own in combating Pirates and Nivangran and Larundan raiders. Seeing their success, Glerigh offered them pay as an Ethain Admiral. He promised the chance to avenge their family's deaths at the hands of Nivagrans if they would serve him. After Xogeq agreed, Glerigh prompted them to take an oath to serve him and the Jason family and to further his goals. Xogeq did much to alleviate the Ethain merchants from harassment, and for this they showed their appreciation to Glerigh. However, Glerigh could not rely purely on happy merchants in order to strengthen his position as king.
In 1076 Isora returned to Etha. She had coerced many of the surrounding kingdoms to join her fight against the Ethain states. She had landed in Denk with a combined force of around sixteen thousand men. The Duke of Denk, surprised by the sudden invasion, raised what men he could and raced south. Meanwhile, the Aroen was beset by Ethernian raiders aligned with Isora, bringing word to the capital before the Duke did. Isora had free reign over Denk from spring until summer while Glerigh assembled the realm. With the Duke of Denk came another northern visitor. The young Sezzlic Denk , only 14 at the time, had journeyed south to the capital to offer his services to the king. The council did not take him as much of an asset at first. Though, after the decisive defeat to Isora at Szhazhen, the council took him up on his offer and sent him to bring their offer to Isora. In addition, Sezzlic Denk claimed that he would try to assassinate Isora. He brought to her the council's offer of paying her a tribute, if she would leave for Ethernia. When he received her response, one that threatened to put the capital up in flames and saw her claim herself as the Duchess of Denk, he tried to kill her with a hidden dagger. He failed, but managed to escape and brought the reply back to Tyro, where they fretted about Isora marching further south. As reparation for his failure, Sezzlic offered to lead an army straight to Ethernia. His offer was, of course, refused. But they instead sent him with Xogeq to clear the northern sea of the raiders and to hinder Isora's supply lines. He served with distinction and eventually the successes of the fleet in the north prompted the council to order an invasion of Ethernia. Xogeq, reluctantly, ferried a small army across to Ethernia, accidentally landing in Belkush instead of Sedun. The army was soon met with a small Belkush army led by the King of Belkush, Aybeedef, his heir, Iglius, and Isora's heir, Ethel Mezezi . The battle saw both sides take heavy casualties with Sezzlic valiantly holding off the remainder of the Ethernian army to a standstill. However, he found what seemed like a chance to complete his goal of assassinating Isora and thus never made it back to the ships. With the invasion a failure, Xogeq went back to patrolling the north. Isora was confident that if she proved successful enough, that she could coerce the northern portions of Etha to rebel against the kingdom, not realizing how assimilated they were. Her campaign over the next two years saw Isora occupy Denk and Battika (The lands of the Otrakar) as well as subdue much of Aroenda. She seemed unwilling, however, to push south into the plains
of Egriunda. Perhaps unknown to the Ethains, Isora feared the Hadron riders. Their success in Nyf is what led to her first failure and inflicted heavy casualties on her second force. Even though she had implemented ways to counter them, her allies had not done so as effectively and Szhazhen had been won because Isora had shielded her rear with forest and the Ethains had made grave mistakes elsewhere. She did eventually occupy the northern parts of the region, though her progress was slow and cautious.
Besides just the Ethernians in the north, the Ethains by this time were facing a threat from the east called the Hyun who were raiding the borderlands between Ethaine and the distant plains. Even then there were more threats. Larunda had been persuaded to raid the Ethains in full force, alongside a spike in Nivagrans that were heading ever further east. The
Larundan's in particular were destructive to the Ethains in the south. With Xogeq gone the Ethains were relying on less experienced vessels and commanders to defend Tyro, their island capital. The local defenses were proving less than adequate in combat, however, prompting Xogeq to be recalled from the north to the south. It was a long journey around the western side of Etha, but there were other reasons for Xogeq to be upset. They had spent years in the north trying to threaten Isora's reign over northern Etha. She was successful in disrupting Isora's supply, even to the point of prompting the queen to return to Ethernia to oversee the addition of many ships to her fleet so that she may finally wrest control of the sea from the young admiral. Thus, it was a bit of a relief for her when she heard that the Larundan and Nivagran threats had forced her main threat to return back south. With her supply lines clear, it looked as if Isora may again push south. There was another large army ready and willing to meet her in open battle but it wasn't to be. Isora sent message to the king of Etha requesting to negotiate a peace. Gladly taking it, Glerigh moved north to the requested location of meeting with his required guests in tow, after an extensive period of preambulatory negotiating with the queen via letter.
The meeting place was at Jahamen castle, the residence of the Denk's, who were also the other persons requested to be brought by Isora. Isora hosted a celebratory feast in the Denk's own home, showing off her success. After her gloating/formal introductions were finished, her and Glerigh's terms were reviewed: The first was that a frankly ludicrous amount of tribute be payed to Isora. The second condition was that Etha never again attack Shae, Nyf, or Larunda, and any subjects or vassals that do foresake the protection of the kingdom. Thirdly, she also claimed Ethernian ownership of all islands in-between the two landmasses. She was crowned as the Wyithet of Ethernia, recognized as equal in authority to the Ethain Wyithet (King) in her respective region. She was crowned by the high religious establishment of Etha and was granted for Ethernia a following of respected Ethain religious leaders to establish in Ethernia a similar religious establishment as in Etha. With those all agreed to, she had one last condition that she desired, requiring the Denk's to fulfill a personal request for her. It took quite some time to have the matter agreed to. With that resolved, Isora promised to withdraw from Etha. However, she had asked to stay until she could personally see the matter resolved. Being permitted that, she made to inform Glerigh of the weight that Sezzlic and Xogeq had had in harming her campaign. It is, by all likelihood, that she said this to Glerigh with the purpose of getting Sezzlic, her possible future son-in-law, a raised standing in the kingdom. Then, it might reason, she mentioned Xogeq as well to not let up her true intent. Regardless, Glerigh was pleased to have heard that his protegee was a menace to the enemy. With the war finally resolved, Glerigh could return to trying to consolidate his power. The various external threats to the kingdom had provided him with some leverage over his realm, allowing for him to make stricter codes to strengthen his kingdom. Now that the Ethernians were no longer a threat, he could turn his attention to the East at Hyun and the south at the Nivagrans. In order to do this he would need another protegee. One that he could rely on for military matters at home, not just abroad at sea. This Sezzlic had shown his loyalty well enough when he was younger, and to boot he had had a successful career as a marine leader under Xogeq. He made it known to the Denk's that he requested Sezzlic to come to Tyro when their business in the north was done. It would only be a month before he would see Sezzlic.
The king congratulated the young man and had him take an oath as he had Xogeq, swearing to support him and the Jasons to strengthen the kingdom. This young Sezzlic was set out to defeat the Hyun with an army provided by the king, returning with astonishing success, even going so far as to raze the Hyun capital. He was celebrated and granted the title "Vitez Etha" meaning "The Point of Etha", with reference to a sword. It wasn't long after he had celebrated Sezzlic's success that he was notified of a huge Nivagran host to the west by his protegee Xogeq. There was reportedly to be a repeat of what happened two centuries prior, except that this host would be much larger. Ships were reported to number in the hundreds, carrying thousands of marauders with them. Worried about such events, Glerigh prepared another force that might be necessary to confront the invaders. Xogeq, although sentimental of their homeland, resolved to forsake Promthia for Etha. Xogeq was not confident in their fleet's chances against such a massive host, even with larger vessels. Besides, the island capital of Tyro could be starved out with no Naval support. The following months saw the kingdoms of Catast and Promthia overrun by these ferocious migrants. Further pushes into Furanke were initially sucessful, however they were soon pushed out. Nivagran threats to the Aroen and northern Etha were beat back, in part by the assistance of Isora's fleet which helped Xogeq to combat the threat. The invasions in western Ethanga pushed the borders of Nivagran kingdoms to the great Somin river in the east, while the kingdom of Xuzqlym lay in the south, acting in tandem with Promthia and the other western kingdoms to close the Ethain inland sea off from the rest of the world. Soon, under the command of Sezzlic and some other young men, the southern kingdom of Xuzqlym would fall under Ethain control. Trade to the rest of the world via the channel was opened. The old kingdom of Xuzqlym was put under the authority of Sezzlic and his companions to be governed under the vassalage of Glerigh and the Kingdom of Etha. However, while Sezzlic was in Ethernia visiting his old friend and his companions were in "Kuzaklem" governing the region, Glerigh was detained by a coalition of dukes. Alerted to this by the Duke of Denk, Pult, Sezzlic moved south through Etha. He enlisted the aid of Pult, who would march south towards Tyro when Sezzlic returned with an army, and Xogeq, who was duty-bound not only to Glerigh, but also to Sezzlic for keeping her secret, to help. Sezzlic informed his comrades in Etha about the situation and had them set about regrouping the men that they had brought with them, as well as recruiting some of the local populace. With the assistance of Xogeq to escort his army, Sezzlic headed for the core of the kingdom. He landed in Provune with his forces, after having stopped in Promthia for a resupply, while Pult traveled south. Pult and Sezzlic, however, soon found themselves isolated from each other. Pult was hemmed in by some dukes in Egriunda and Battika who had had suspicions about his loyalties. Pult's lands had also been hit hard by Isora's campaign. As such, he could not pull together as strong of a force as could his enemies. Meanwhile, Sezzlic had received reports from Xogeq further towards the capital that there was a larger army heading his war. Given the choices, Sezzlic opted to face the enemy army as it was, rather than move north and be caught between two larger armies. The resulting battle, the battle of Eswass, saw the Sezzarian forces crush the ducal forces that had been arrayed against him. With the victory, the capital of Tyro lay ahead of him. Meanwhile, Pult in Denk played a key role in acting as a counter-weight of sorts. His existence in the northern part of the kingdom meant that if the dukes of Battika and Egriunda left to go south and confront Sezzlic then they'd risk their own territories being ravaged. Therefore Sezzlic was unchallenged as he approached the capital. With only around fifteen thousand men, Sezzlic crossed the small body of water that separated the capital from the rest of the kingdom. Xogeq's fleet assured that the crossing was safe, as no captains wished to confront the veteran admiral. With no army on the island, the capital was defended by a small garrison. After a short deliberation, the defenders and detainers of the king agreed to open up the gates. When in the castle, Sezzlic requested to see the king. He was granted his demand and found that he was still in good health. It had seemed that the King had been detained by his council on the orders of a coalition of dukes following the administration of new realm laws. Now that the king was free, however, he could react to this treachery. With Sezzlic at the head of an army, Glerigh seemed confident enough to make a bold demand: He would remind these dukes of the true nature of their titles by revoking them. It was soon apparent that, although they were at first submissive, the treacherous dukes would not cede their titles. Thus Sezzlic moved north with an army levied by the king in order to remove them from power manually. The two had, apparently underestimated the coalition's numbers, as all of Egriunda, as well as parts of Battika and Silalok, was arrayed against the kingdom. Denk, Ethaine, and Aroenda were in support of the king. Although initially a strong front, a few decisive defeats and set-backs led to many of the more minor dukes defecting in return for amnesty. Largely granted, more started to take this easy way out and gradually left the most powerful dukes to themselves. With one more battle on the Egriundan plains, the royal and Sezzarian forces triumphed and captured many of the treacherous dukes. Although the coup had been with the aim of reducing royal power, if anything it had raised it. Now Glerigh was free to pursue the centralization of his realm without much objection from his vassals. Sezzlic was free to return to Kuzaklem to dismiss his army and govern the land, as well as return to Ethernia, where his friend Ethel had just faced a large rebellion against her reign after ascending to the throne, which is why she had failed to send help to her friend. Unfortunately, Glerigh's reign would not last too much longer. With a few more years to push forwards his reforms, he fell ill in 1092. With his two protegees by his side, he granted them each a favor and then asked one of each of them in return. Xogeq was granted large lands and wealth for her retirement and so that she might raise a family. Sezzlic, on the other hand, asked that he may have his holdings in Denk to pass to his adopted daughter, Mexxerra. This he was granted. In exchange for these grants, Glerigh asked that Xogeq serve as regent while his daughter came of age, and he asked Sezzlic to take his daughter, Gotzela, to the new queen of Ethernia, Ethel Mezezi, to be educated in her court until she was of age, as well as continue to serve her as queen as he had served Glerigh as king. The two agreed. Content, the king passed away soon after.
The New Kings.
Sezzlic made good on his promise, bringing Gotzela to Ethel with the request that she educate her. In the meantime, Xogeq served as the absent princess' regent dutifully. It was 1096 when the Ethain heiress returned to her kingdom. Xogeq stepped down for her new queen and she ascended peacefully. The time in Ethernia had acquainted her with the heir of that kingdom- a kingdom that now dominated most of Ethernia itself. The friendship that they developed would mean a peaceful relation between the two realms. With the northern kingdom's (Ectique) control over the Vorgin, Etha faced almost no raiders on the northern coast. Likewise, Sezzlic's victory over the Hyun meant that eastern raiders were absent, as well. Lastly, Xogeq's imposement of Ethain domination of the sea, as well as the peace with Lorunda, meant that the south was free from threat. This was a time of great peace and prosperity, although Gotzela was determined to not let her father's work go to waste and let the kingdom relapse into how it was after the first great peace. Although the kingdom was free of invasions for the time being, they were soon to be faced by the opposition of other growing states within Ethanga. Already to the west lay Furanke, strengthened after its triumph over the Nivagrans and its hegemony over Catast and Promthia. Further east, word spread of a rising power known as the Toruck tribe- a previously nomadic horde that had recently settled down and formed an empire by conquering the neighboring peoples. Although this power would threaten Etha in the future, it was currently no worry. Gotzela would continue her father's work, centralizing the state with Sezzlic's forces as a deterrent to further revolt.
The long reign of Gotzela would be followed by the relatively short reign of her first son, Litexo, who reigned for a short five years. In his time, though, he sired the future king and queen of the kingdom- Zarix and Tyra. However, Litexo's brother, Ichexh, ascended to the throne following Litexo's death, promising it to Zarix upon his death. As time passed, both Zarix and Guyva, Ichexh's son, proved themselves to be capable princes. Tyra, after the death of her mother, father, and guardians, was set aside in a sort of exile from the rest of the royal family, as she was thought to be cursed and presented a danger to Zarix. However, the separation of the two siblings led to Zarix mostly forgetting about his sister. This was seized upon by some factions in Etha that were discontent with the difficulty of the princes when it came to marriage. Since the reign of Gotzela, the status of the duchies had deteriorated much. No longer were they the strong and autonomous regions that they had been for centuries. Now they were less important and more of their old power now rested with the royal family. As such, they could no longer rely on force of arms to expand their influences. Now the primary way of growing their power was through close ties with the Jasons. To this end, it was very common to see dukes trying to marry into the Jason family. However, Zarix and Guyva seemed to show little interest in such unions. Furthermore, there were members of the Jason family that were removed from the throne's presence, unlikely for their lines to inherit. These two groups colluded together to meet their desires. The disenfranchised Jasons wanted closer seats to the power of the throne and the ducal dynasties likewise wanted closer ties to the royal family. They dredged out the exiled Tyra and planned to use her to seduce Zarix and have him disinherited on the grounds of incest. Guyva, on the other hand, might be assassinated instead. Although the progress seemed slow and stymied by Guyva's suspicions, it seemed to be on course. However, with information from the king, Guyva discerned that the temptress arrayed against his cousin was Tyra. She spilled all of the plans to her brother and cousin as a show of good faith. With this knowledge, Ichexh acted upon the factions and swiftly dealt with the issues. Yet even without the faction's prodding, Tyra was now set on continuing her mission anyways. Tyra would eventually succeed in bedding Zarix, but Zarix had to relinquish his claim to the throne. Fortunately for the future of the kingdom, Zarix would still ascend to the throne. Guyva was fatall wounded by an arrow from a battle with a nomadic people past Hyun. His forces had still won, but it had cost him his life. Ichexh was forced to re-designate Zarix as the heir to the kingdom, even with his sister-wife. Zarix, as the crown prince, immediately sought out vengeance for Guyva's death. He raised a sizable army and marched east. He conquered the nomadic groups responsible and smashed a coalition of the neighboring tribes that had also come to face him. Although successful, his vitory on the plains would open the doorway to a much greater threat. Regardless, he returned with a reignited popularity that raised his standing in the kingdom. Upon the death of Ichexh, Zarix would ascend to the throne as its next king. The highlight of his reign was the conquest of the western portions of Etha. He began with Furanke. He had spent some time in Furanke before he married Tyra, as Ichexh had ordered him there to separate the two. He was able to discern much about the strength of the realm and determined that its nature could be monopolized on by those who knew how to do so. Much of Furanke's weakness lied in its regional decentralization. Many of the nobles of that realm had more power at that time than did the dukes of his kingdom in the past century. One of these dukes embarking on a campaign against a Jasonic-aligned country nearby was Zarix's justification. He covertly gained the loyalty of many of the Furanke dukes, promising them that they would keep their titles and gain privileges if they instead would support him as their king. After a short campaign towards the capital, Zarix had secured most of the kingdom east of the Somme river. The western portions of the kingdom were unpersuaded by Zarix's promises. Further campaigns over the next decade saw Zarix take over the rest of Furanke, replacing the unconvinced dukes with loyal governors. In addition to his conquest of Furanke, Zarix established a vassal relationship with Promthia and expanded his kingdom's hegemony to Catast. With this, Etha controlled the access to the outside world through the Ethanga sea's gates. It was Zarix and Tyra's son, Elion, who would first face the threat in the east.
With Elion's ascension in 1190, he was met with pleas for help from the Teroshi cities to the south east. Word had reached him that a great empire had been established by the Toruck tribe. Monopolizing on the defeat of the local tribes to the Ethains by Zarix some decades earlier, the Toruck tribe expanded north and now threatened the Teroshi cities with conquest. Many of the eastern cities had resolved to submit to the empire after the first cities to resist were destroyed brutally. The western cities, however, had decided to turn to Etha for aid. They likely knew that there would be some stipulations regarding demands for submission to Etha instead, but this they'd have preferred to subjugation by the Toruck, a notoriously brutal and barbarous people. Elion would advance with two armies. One army would be shipped to the coast to fortify the defenses of the Teroshi cities, while another, larger, army would travel to the occupied regions in the east to challenge the Toruck directly. The Ethains were welcomed in the west by those that they would defend. Meanwhile, the army in the east was met with an enemy army. The two forces spent almost a week facing each other off, unwilling to move forwards. Finally the peace was broken when the Toruck army charged the Ethain camp with some of their Hadron riders just after dawn. Neither side managed to pull off a decisive win, but it was clear to the Toruck that their reliance on Hadron riders was not enough to force a victory, as the Ethains had both adept riders and their infantry was able to effectively counter the Toruck charge.
The Toruck position in the Teroshi cities was deteriorating, as the Ethains were pushing them east. This combined with the failure of the northern army to repulse the Ethains there led the Torucks to command a general retreat. The Teroshi cities were saved, although, as had been expected, they soon found themselves under the thumbs of the Ethains. To assure that their new overlordship was acknowledged, Elion paraded his armies throughout the cities- hailing them as the saviors of the Teroshi. He made a proclamation that they would temporarily hold control over the region, ostensibly to repel further Toruck incursions. Elion stayed in Teroshi with his armies for two months awaiting any follow up from the Toruck. Failing their arrival and the end of the campaigning season approaching with winter, Elion and much of his forces withdrew back to Etha. Following his father's victory in the east, several of the peoples in the region had submitted to the Ethain crown, eventually creating a contiguous swath of Ethain-held territory that reached Teroshi, Etha's newest "Provinces." Thus, despite the Ethains claiming to desire temporary control in Teroshi, it was clear that they had intentions to remain in power in Teroshi for an indefinite timespan. With the silence of the Toruck and the subjugation of the other tribes east of the Ogliar mountains, Ethain attention could be put elsewhere. Furanke was suitably pacified, as were the somewhat autonomous states of Promthia and Catast. Nivagran presence in Etha was limited, no longer centered on raids, either. There were several large Nivagran minorities in the kingdom, largely in Furanke's west coast as trader communities, and there were no more Nivagran kingdoms on Ethanga. Kuzaklem still remained in Ethain hands and payed lip-service to the Ethain king. The duchies had largely been pacified, as well. There were progressively more limiting codes put in place regarding their power and rights, largely due to Ichexh and Zarix with little for Elion to revoke by his time as king. Relations with Ethernia had continued on a positive note. There had been a phenomena where, with the Ethains having been forced to acknowledge Ethernia as an equal, the monarchs of each kingdom referred to the other with a familial title, Mexxerra and Gotzela addressing each other as sister. Familial association aside, by this time the two monarchs were actually related by blood- the Gilrokta Ethern being Elion's second cousin. Cordial relations with other states was rare for the Ethains, and this is one of the exceptions. All of this left the Ethains with one field of focus, that being the sea. Since before the days of Xogeq Nape, Ethain merchants had been starting to dominate the Ethanga sea with regards to trade, and Tyro had long been the premier trading city in all of the super-region. That said, the Ethains wanted more. They had promised Isora a century ago to refrain from attacking the islands kingdom of Lorunda, and that they had kept. Yet there were still other regions to take, by force or otherwise. Elion was not the first Ethain monarch to push the state towards this goal, as Zarix had previously initiated the royal acquisition of several independent island states. Yet Elion would surpass his progress, organizing large takeovers of several large islands, along with many smaller ones, and initiated Ethain colonization of them with the intent to build them up as important trading hubs. Aside from sea matters, he authorized exploration ventures into the ocean. Throughout Ethain history the exploration and exploitation of the wild ocean was not a prime directive. Peoples such as the Ethernians and Nivagrans came to them, not vice versa. Most attempts to sail through the ocean from Denk, Aroenda, or Battika ended poorly, as Ethain ships were not built for such deep and open waters. Yet it is not that nothing was known of the outside world. They had heard of a large continent to the east where a great empire, the Dulkhi empire, lay on its west-most portions. They had also heard of another land to the far south, Gala, that Sezzlic Denk had tried to lead a voyage to. The states to their south certainly had sea-faring experience, so Etha had gradually learned what they knew of the outside world. Acting on this knowledge, the fleet sent by Elion went out through the western gates and traveled westwards.
The first landmass that they hit was a huge island, nearly the size of Furanke. The shock came in that it was swarming with Nivagrans. There appears to have been a small navy skirmish, leading the Ethains to continue on southwards. They came across many, much smaller islands. They all swore allegiance to the Asomian empire, a very old and large maritime empire that is directly descended from the Asomian empire that the Pefazi Jasons fought against before the founding of Etha. The fleet, after hearing of the Asomians, traveled eastwards to make proper diplomatic contact with it, as the captain of the fleet had been authorized for such actions. The voyage to the Asomian home islands, and then the voyage through the bureaucracy to see the emperor, took them over two months. Fortunately, the wealth of the Asomians made it easy to accommodate the fleet in its entirety. Upon meeting the emperor, in a grand palace of gold and jewels, the captain established a relationship with the man on his king's behalf. Playing up his king's power, he told how all of Ethanga was his rightful domain, to which the Asomians were skeptical. They had always had a stake in the souther parts of Ethanga, as the Ethain royal records would surely support. The Asomians also had contact with several states in the region, and they had made mention of a great northern state on several occasions, but they had not spoken of them in such contexts. Even still, the Asomians accepted the notion that this kingdom was strong and worth keeping relations with. Oddly enough, it was via Ethernian merchants that the Ethain captain was able to effectively communicate with the Asomian captain. Ethernia did not have formal relations with the Asomians just yet, but their merchants traveled quite far from home. The Ethain captain established in Asomia a diplomat to keep up relations with the emperor. The Asomians would, too, send an emissary, he being transported to Etha via an Ethernian trader's vessel. Following the diplomatic mission, the captain returned his gaze southwards. With assistance from the Asomians, the Ethains now had a good idea of the geography and knew where they wanted to head. Trailing from one Asomian island to the next, they eventually reached the waters of Gala. Gala, too, was an old and large empire. It was unknown to the Ethains just how old or even large this great southern empire was. There were no Ethernian traders in Gala that facilitated contact between the two parties. Here communication was difficult and stressful, leading to what may have been an ejection of the Ethain ships from Gala. With this, the ships made their way back north, taking a longer route by circling farther east than they had come on the way down. Not all was a failure. The fleet had managed to engage in some limited trade while in Gala, bringing back with them much jewelry of impressive quality. The Galanese, or Cazhur as they had called themselves, had much in the way of precious stones and showed a well-developed metallurgy industry. Furthermore, the way back north saw them engage in contact and trade with several coastal kingdoms in a region called "Shaluack." The people were the Shalk, and they were split between several kingdoms by the fracturing of their great kingdom some decades prior. They all were clamoring for some advantage over the others, be that it may come in the form of foreign allies they tried to impress the Ethains. Yet again, though, the difficulties of communications prevented fruitful diplomacy or trade. As they progressed further north they returned to the Asomian empire, being requested by the emperor to bring to their king a load of gifts in return from the ones that Elion had sent him. So long had the fleet been sailing that Elion not only received the Asomian emissary, but also sent gifts that had reached the emperor before the captain and his ships had managed to return. With these gifts in-tow, the fleet made through the last leg of their journey to return to Tyro. When they returned, however, the king was not there. The Toruck had moved again, drawing him southwards.
It was in the early parts of 1191 when Elion had withdrawn to Tyro following the Toruck retreat. It was shortly after that that he started his consolidation of the islands in the Ethanga sea and commissioned his exploratory fleet. His naval operations took several years to complete, but he was able to turn his attention elsewhere while this happened. In late 1191 he received the Asomian envoy. He was made to know how difficult and tedious it was for the Asomian to reach him. It was not so much the long sea trip, but moreso that reaching Tyro from the north where no one recognized his authority or credibility as an envoy of the Asomian emperor was time-consuming and frustrating. Indeed, he only managed to make it into the king's presence by Elion's whim to allow the strange guest to see him. His Ethernian guide, a trader whom the emperor had paid to guide him to the Ethain king, confirmed his story and credibility. The king apologized and offered him luxurious living quarters and servants to attend to him at the royal palace. The Asomian envoy's first impressions were mixed. He was amused by the man that he saw before him. Not only was this Etha that drastically different, in both climate and culture, but the Ethain king's dress was strikingly dissimilar from the Asomian emperor's. Whereas the Asomian emperor donned luxurious robes and silks of the finest quality, this Ethain king, although well-kept and handsome in both appearance and dress, looked like a warrior. His dress incorporated more metal than fine fabric and he kept at his sides a sword at all times. In his report to the emperor, the envoy had said that the "fair-skinned king, handsome in nature and in dress, looked like a great warrior- dressed in fine metals than fine cloth." He said that the king was just, noble and conveyed a sense a strength. Apart from this, the envoy noted that there were almost no other foreign diplomats to speak of, that the only non-Ethains to speak to the king were Ethernians, either as the only other envoy from another nation, or subject peoples like the Teroshi. He wrote that he at first thought this to be the mark of an uncivilized state, but later learned that among the nations in Ethanga and its vicinity, only Ethernia and Asomia could be seen as equals to Etha's grandeur. In addition to his reports, the Asomian envoy sent back many gifts from the king, among them some of the finest examples of poetry in Etha. Via Ethernian courtiers, which were a necessity for dealing with the Ethains, the Asomians were able to gleam Etha's culture through its literature. It seems that the royal court indeed recognized Etha as a worthy kingdom, as they soon sent their own gifts back, including Asomian poetry. This marked an opening of Etha to the outside world. They had made contact with an ancient and extant empire with a comparable quality of culture, if poetry is anything to go by. This period of foreign contact did not wholly focus on the Asomians, however, as Elion was again drawn south by another Toruck incursion in 1193. The Toruck attacked in three parts: One against Teroshi, one against the land path from Ethaine to Teroshi, and one in Hyun. As it was, the Ethains were blocked from sending troops to Teroshi overland by a Toruck army. The Ethain forces in Teroshi may be able to repel the Toruck, but the Ethain forces in Hyun were soon to be overwhelmed. Despite the urgency of the situation in Hyun, however, not dealing with the middle army would lead to Ethaine being directly threatened. A defeat there was not acceptable. So Elion, with his newly enlarged entourage, set out for the middle army. The Asomian envoy was eager to observe this kingdom's abilities in war. The Toruck, seemingly expecting the Ethain response as it was given, had made the middle army the largest. Elion and his army encountered the Toruck army and set up to fight. The Toruck, instead of charge, moved back. Elion advanced, scouting ahead of to gather intel on what the Toruck were doing. Urgently, his messengers came to him informing him that the army had increased in size by a huge margin. The Teroshi force had moved up to group up with the middle army without being pursued by the Ethain army in Teroshi. Elion, acting quickly before the armies could fully group together, ordered a full charge on the enemies. The Toruck were not exactly taken by surprise from the less-than-stealthy attack, but they still broke ranks and took heavy casualties before they managed to repulse the Ethain charge. Confident from the attack, and not having many options otherwise, Elion prepared to face the united Toruck army. The Ethains set up for battle against the numerically superior foe. In the previous conquests by the Toruck, and indeed many of the eastern plains people of Ethanga, their major strengths were the use of large Hadrons as shock units, charging their large masses into enemies to break their formations, and the use of younger, smaller Hadrons that were faster and more mobile as platforms for archers. They also made use of infantry, but to a lesser degree and effectiveness than the Ethains did. The Ethains, on the other hand, had for many centuries made use of a strong infantry core in their armies. Their repeated conflict with eastern nomads had taught them to use formations to counter mass charges. Thus, when the Toruck made their way into the Ethain lines their forces were cut down. The Toruck, decimated, made haste back south. Elion, wanting to pursue, split off a force to deal with the northern Toruck army and then pushed on south to follow his enemies. Believing that he had the Toruck a few steps away from distraction, he followed them far east, into the depths of their homelands. The final battle of the conflict was not an Ethain victory, however, nor was it one for the Toruck. At the homeland of the Toruck dwelt a massive creature, called the Inji-yah. It was the size of a castle, with a neck and tail as long as several Hadrons. Frightened by this monstrosity, many of the Ethain Hadrons and soldiers lost their nerve in combat. Its hide was so thick that arrows seemed to have no effect. This was the great beast that had rocketed the Toruck to empire in the first place. They had subdued other tribes either through force or persuasion with the beast. Now, facing the Ethains, the Toruck gained heart and counter-attacked. Even still, the Ethains didn't rout. The reversal of fortunes did, however, lead to Elion retreating back north. The northernmost Toruck army, unable to avoid the Ethains, was destroyed. Returning back to Etha, Elion was greeted by his exploratory fleet and learned of their experience.
For the rest of Elion's reign, until 1215, the Toruck stayed away from Etha and Teroshi. Before his passing, Elion had subjugated many of the islands within the Ethanga sea, as well as begun Ethain administration in Teroshi. Yet as he passed, this period of Ethain success would meet a hiccup in a large civil war that tore the country into several parts.
Civil War.
Following the reigns of Elion and his father Zarix the Ethain kingdom had expanded to be more than twice its previous size. Yet, due to the fast-paced subjugations and attempts at assimilation, there was tension in the kingdom. Then, when Elion died and his succession was questioned, it is not surprising that the kingdom showed signs of an impending fracture. Following Elion the king was to be his son Fexurok. Yet from somewhere rumors circulated that Fexurok was, like his father before, born of incest. It was said that Fexurok was born from Elion's sister, Alijah, with the palace somehow having been deceived by Elion's wife's child being switched soon after birth. This claimed "true son" arose in Furanke, where it was claimed that he was taken soon after Elion's wife's death. Seeing where sides were being drawn, Fexurok drew up his army and prepared for war. Yet it was not just this upstart royal claimant that he had to deal with. Aside from the entirety of the kingdom's western half splitting from the crown, many of the noble families in central and northern Etha, wielding the last vestiges of their power, rose up supporting a distant relative of Fexurok for the kingdom. "Royal Etha" had now shrunk substantially. His domain was limited to Ethaine and the eastern territories, though even Teroshi had rebelled and expelled the Ethain garrisons upon hearing news of the occurrences in the north. Although the situation did not look good, and Fexurok had shown a lack of heart following the developments, the king was spurred to action, largely by his sister's words. He quickly moved northwards to defeat the weaker nobles while they were still mustering together. He saw preliminary success in central Etha, taking several of the remaining castles there in rapid succession. The nobles and their candidate were forced farther and farther north, not being allotted any reprieve from the king. Shortly after his campaign started, the nobles capitulated, turning the claimant over to Fexurok to be executed. Fortunately, the threat in the west had been troubled by loyal garrisons which had prohibited his operations. He had yet to advance into Provune after nearly a year of hostilities. Less than fortunate for Fexurok, however, was the seeming refusal of Kuzaklem to follow royal orders. It had been over a century since it was conquered by the Ethains and it seemed now that the rulers were going native. The current governors claimed descent from Wellexrim, one of Sezzlic's companions, and it seemed more and more likely that they considered themselves kings rather than governors. Fexurok had desired them to attack his enemies in their south, but their failure to do so warned him that their loyalty, too, was low. Among the latest threat to appear was yet another Toruck incursion. They had, after the civil war had begun, started to prod up north to see the situation. Seeing that Teroshi was rebelling from the Ethains they once again set their sites upon it. With little time for rest, Fexurok set about moving west, leaving the rebellious Teroshi to their deserved fates. Months passed on the wide and open plains of Furanke without a conflict. Fexurok set about devastating the lands of any and all that had turned against him. Within a few months of this, the Furanke landholders seemed to have forced their candidate to protect their lands. Doing so, though, sealed his fate. Soon after the Ethain victory the king executed the pretender. He further executed any disloyal Furanke landholders that had joined the cause, establishing a system of appointed governorships. Turning his attention back east to finally reclaim Teroshi, he found that much of the region had resisted the Toruck invasion and had lost huge amounts of their population to either genocide or slavery. Arriving in Teroshi, the king once again saw off the Toruck and re-subjugated Teroshi. This time he ended any illusion of a temporary Ethain presence. The cities were organized into administrative sectors akin to Furanke. By 1220 the whole situation had ended with a royalist victory. Yet now the king had turned his sights back south, not towards the Toruck, but towards Kuzaklem. Upon demanding a reaffirmation of loyalty the king got a meager response of lip-service, which was fully disregarded when the governor, a few years later, declared himself king of Kuzaklem. This was not something that the king could let stand, and so he dispatched a force to capture the rebellious governor. The endeavor was, ultimately, a failure, as the invasion was repulsed and limped back to Etha. Forced to acknowledge this breach of loyalty and the independence of Kuzaklem, the king turned inwards. Many of the nobles who had joined the rebellion were executed and their houses stripped of their titles and lands. This left very few noble houses left in Etha, a notable survivor being the king of Aroenda who, as always, was loyal to the Ethain king. In fact, the Aroendese kingship enjoyed many privileges due to their loyalty and the nature of their kingdom being one that submitted to the Ethain king willingly. The bureaucracy in Etha was expanded greatly, now fully usurping the role of the nobility for raising soldiers and taxes.
Toruck Collapse and Final Unification.
Despite their defeat time and time again, it seemed that the Toruck remained eternally strong, always a threat to those that they neared. Towards the end of Fexurok's rule the state of Maluk, on the Ethanga coastline just south of Lorunda, asked for the Ethains to protect them and agreed to submit to their rule if they did. Jumping on this, the Ethains rushed to Maluk and saw off the Toruck after a particularly fierce and close engagement. Right away they then started to integrate Maluk into Etha. By 1230 the Toruck had, after suffering many defeats to the Ethains, atarted pressuring Asomian interests in the south. At first they had been interested in trade with the Asomian cities, as they provided a gateway to the outside world via the Medoaquan. As time went on, though, they showed a desire to take the wealth of the cities for their own. With this threat to their interests, the Asomians requested that their northern allies help them against the Toruck by attacking them in the north. Thus the Ethains did so, taking a large swath of territory as the Toruck were preoccupied in the south, them being unable to effectively fight both parties and thus failing in their goal. Yet, despite another big defeat, the Toruck managed to stay in power for another decade. When they did finally fall apart it was spectacular. With the death of the Inji-yah all of the subject peoples of the Toruck rebelled against them. It was this great beast that, taken as a divine mandate for the Toruck' dominance, had given the impetus for expansion. Thus the state fell apart. Both the Ethains and Asomians monopolized upon this, expanding their interests in the region. Though the collapse of the Toruck did not mean that there were no longer any powers of resistance to oppose them. While the Asomians managed to shore up their hold on territories in the south and secure new settlements, the Ethains moved southwards in a tedious and heavily resisted path. The many different tribes were either, depending on their resistance to Ethain authority, made into regional administrators or entirely usurped and replace by bureaucratic elements. Until 1290 this was the main focus of the Ethain kingdom, driving their way southwards. Around this time they convinced the king of Lorunda to swear loyalty to them as a vassal and in exchange he would receive the benefits of Ethain trade, as the sea was now nearly entirely dominated by the kingdom. At the dawn of the 14th century the breakaway kingdom of Kuzaklem was finally reintegrated into the kingdom, as was most of the rest of Ethanga. It took until 1306 to convince the Asomians to cede their holdings to Etha, in exchange for huge trade rights along the southern coast. The Asomians, although comforted by the trade concessions, may have felt pressured to do so by both the threat of an unaligned Etha, as well as the promise of an allied one. Asomia's entire existence as a naval power in the Medoaquan was marked by the constant threat of enemies on all sides. Their current enemies were mainly Rutheinians and Atinians. Though they also suffered from occasional incursions from Nivagrans, and disagreements in the past had provoked militant responses from the Cazians, and even further back tensions had often been inflamed with the Shalk states, which even now were still piecing themselves back into their former glory. Having the Ethains as enemies would only worsen their situation. Instead they opted to retain a similar position in southern Etha, albeit ceding actual control of the region. They then solidified relations with the Ethains, securing them as an active ally against the Nivagrans in the west by helping them to adopt deep-sea sailing. The cessation of the territories was cause of much celebration in Tyro. The king, Ajikal, could finally claim to rule all of Ethanga, as his ilk had claimed the right to for over a millennium.
Modernization.
Post Unification Era.
Internal Focus and Opening up to the Outside World.
Following the unification the Ethain kings focused much of their efforts on administering all of Ethanga, greatly enlarging the size and functions of the Ethain bureaucracy. With access to all of Ethanga's ports trade with the outside world also greatly increased. With this enhanced contact came knowledge of foreigners and foreign ideas. Just prior to Ethanga's unification the Rutheinians, a southwestern Kolaskyvan people often at odds with the Asomians, had established a colony in a far away continent. More Kolaskyvans, particularly the Atelians (the main Dulkhi kingdom), were seeming to have more and more interest overseas. This was worrying to the Ethains, as they feared that they might be seen as a territory to exploit by these foreigners. With Asomian assistance, particularly gunpowder introduced in 1267, the Ethains fully modernized and grew a large navy. It was in the early 1300's that the Asomians came into a military conflict with Ectique, Etha's only other cordial relation. The clash was quick and did not force the Jasons to pick a side. It was fortunately resolved with the Asomians admitting Ethernian ships to their ports and leasing them bases in exchange for assistance against the Rutheinians and Atinians. In fact, this agreement turned out so well that the Asomians and Ethernians toppled the Atinian state, dividing its territories among themselves. This became a sort of triple alliance between the three powers, acting in conjunction to limit Kolaskyvan influence westwards and securing the Medoaquan trade routes. Inwards-focused, the Ethain kingdom focused on assimilating the populace under a common Ethain identity by contrasting Ethanga with the east and spreading unitary messages through the newly established public education. Schools across the country were opened by the states and attendance was at first encouraged and then became mandatory as the years went on. Etha was certainly in another "Ethain Upou" or Ethain peace, but all was not as it seemed.
The Overthrow of the King and re-isolation.
Influenced in part by foreign ideas, there was a growing desire for democratic representation in Etha. Many regions, especially the more recently conquered ones, were declaring their desire to elect their own administrators rather than accept the bureaucrats picked by the central government. Such desires were disregarded by the king, as it would likely harm assimilation attempts. The tension came to a head when a popular uprising in southern Ethanga started to gain major traction in 1501, defeating local government forces and forming a strong army. Royal forces eventually overcame the rebels under the leadership of an Oviron Akrum, a charismatic official given command over the troops. Akrum's success won him much fame in the kingdom, even superseding the king, who had failed to stop the rebellion early and whose policies had prompted the rebellion. This itself ended with the royal coup of 1503 where the king was forced into exile after there was a failed attempt on his life. He took refuge in Ethernia where he was welcomed. Meanwhile in Etha the failed assassination attempt was considered unfortunate by the conspirators but they succeeded in taking power. It was Oviron Akrum that was put at the head of the country. He served as the governor of Etha and passed the title on to his son upon his death. The whole situation had put Etha at odds with Ectique. Not only did Ectique harbor the king and his family, with a Mezezi, but the beginnings of Ethain-Ethernian relationship had been founded by Jason's and Mezezi's and the two dynastic lines considered each other kin. This drove a rift between the two country's as the Ethernians refused to recognize the new leadership of Etha. Furthermore, in their goal to completely eradicate the old royal power, the new Ethain government had cracked down on remaining nobility. This referred not only to the minor nobles that were the last remnants of the once great duchies, but also to the autonomous kings. Not only did the nobility and royalty of Aroenda get massacred, as they had, as they always had, supported the king, but the Ethernian dynasty of Lorunda came under attack. This clearly violated the old agreement made between Glerigh and Isora, even if the Lorundan's were now technically part of the kingdom and had joined willingly. Ectique, however, had little hope of stopping the Ethains. The Ethains' relations with Asomia was less stressed by the turn of events, but a rift certainly grew there, too. The Asomian emperors had come to accept the Ethain kings as their equals and allies in the west. Etha responded to these rifts by isolating themselves from the outside world. The violent and oppressive dictatorship of the governors was eventually overthrown and a more peaceful government was established. a three pronged government was created, dividing the executive, legislative, and judicial branches from one another in an attempt to balance power in the state. Democratic representation was also allowed to surface throughout the country, letting the populace select their own administrators who would then assign their own representatives to the central government. It is largely from this period that modern Etha draws its government's structure.
I really like the level of detail particularly the multiple empires that rise and fall in the various Epocs. My question however is related to the length\presentation of the article. It's kind of a wall of text and I was wondering if you had considered making this a timeline? Since you already have most of the years present it would be a fairly easy conversion and easier to find specific components of the history. I really love the level of detail but 30 pages and 14000+ words is a lot to even attempt to read in one contiguous chunk.
Lol, thanks. Yeah, I do have a timeline for the world at large, which I have put some of these events on to help me keep track of dates. Making a separate timeline for just this country would seem redundant to me. As for its Wall-iness, I tried to divide it up into manageable sections to avoid that. Are they still too big, or is it just because of how much text, do you think?
The sections are definitely appreciated. As I think about it adding in some header tags for section headers like "The New Kings" might go a long way to breaking it up visually. They are in the same font and size so even a slight color or font change might work wonders.