Urshapt
Urshapt (WRʃPT) is a broad region stretching south from Anshar down to the coast of the Kegasic Sea and to the borders of Kegas. To its west lies Mavorenia, the greatest kingdom of Occident, and to its east lies the Zhangpa Plateau, and more influentially the Phoenix Empire. In the south it is largely desert, merging with that of Kegas, while in the north fertile floodplains are more common. The people of this region are broadly called Urshaptim (WRʃPTM).
History
Urshapt has been part of numerous realms since the dawn of history, of which only a few have been native-born. Because of this, and its geographical proximity, to its local cultures is added a mix of eatern, western, Kegasic, and even Varshalshken influences. Some of the greatest empires of the olden days existed here; initially it was part of the domain of the lamians, but over time they were largely conquered and enslaved, along with Kegas, by Nefrekar. Nefrekar also brought large numbers of dwarven slaves up from the depths of the Upper Dark, and bought catfolk slaves from their brethren in Ishtakar . These catfolk were then bred into more humanoid forms. Eventually, the slave-races rose up in rebellion, shattering the empire and driving what few remained through their planar gates.
From the ashes of Nefrekar arose new kingdoms in Urshapt and Kegas, although in Kegas these were for the most part not so much new kingdoms as restorations of pre-existing states, particularly Mitsrayim (Mt͡sRYM), which is still ruled by its ophidian pharaohs to this day. While other kingdoms (notably those of the catfolk and some human states) did spring up as well, most did not last, crushed one by one by the serpentine coils of Mitsrayim until it had wrapped itself tightly around the peninsula, and many of the races brought into the fold this way were reduced to the status of slavery.
In Urshapt, the dwarves established numerous city-states alongside the humans that had already inhabited the region. The first and greatest of these cities was great-walled Urush (WRʃ. sometimes also written Uresh or Ursh in transcription), founded on the banks of the Marzabe river, whose walls gleamed like copper in the sun. So influential and powerful was Uresh, that the entire region is named after it; Urshapt means "Land of Urush" in both dwarven and goblin, and Urshaptim is "people of the land of Ursh". Urush, however, was brought low by unknown forces, and Urshapt descended into barbarity, from which the city-state of Narshur (NRʃR) arose, bringing order with fire, sword, and pike. However, their armies and rulers were ruthless, committing atrocities on a massive scale to maintain their rule through fear. Those who surrendered immediately were spared, but those who resisted even slightly had their cities reduced to rubble, and their people to bones. So horrid did the crimes of the Narshurim become that Ladach (LDχ), the chief diety of the dwarves, cursed them with an appearance befitting their souls; their skin reddened, their beards all but fell out, and their forms grew taller and were twisted into bestial mockeries of what they once were. Thus were the hobgoblins, first of all goblinkind, born.
The Narshurim, disgusted with themselves and their gods, sought out new creatures to worship, and found them in the Old Gods, to whom blood and bone were offered daily in the great Ziggurat of Narshur. The Narshurad Dominion extended further south, conquering most of Mitsrayim, but one day a great horde swept south.
The first place to fall was Val Mesek, a frontier province, and claiming it as their new homeland they renamed it Anshar. These were the Anshari, and they were lead by the prophetess Ferangaz, charged by Ahrumazd with driving the worship of unwholesome things from Urshapt. Her banners burned with radiant light, melting the eyes of her foes, and beneath them rode warriors whose will was strong enough to overcome death, whose maces and lances inflicted horrible burning wounds. They had no siege weapons, and so the Narshurim thought themselves safe within their walls, but Ferangaz lead her army in droning chants, the speed and volume increasing with each repetition. With each cycle, the walls became hotter and hotter. By the third, they glowed red-hot. By the fifth, they melted completely into a tidal wave of lava that rolled inwards onto the cities they guarded. Those who supported Narshur, and any buildings dedicated to unwholesome beings, were incinerated instantly, but the molten tide veered harmlessly around those who were untainted or who repented; all they felt from it was merely the heat of a summer's day.
Fortunately for the surviving dwarves and hobgoblins, the Ferangazid Anshari were far from strict rulers. They demanded law and order, but were generally willing to allow their subjects to continue their own traditions and customs so long as they served the will of the Shahanshah. The Ferangazids brought peace and prosperity to Urshapt through wise rule Through the Ferangazids they became part of a wide-flung network of satrapies extending across the Zhangpa plateau and Varshalshka and into the steppes beyond.
Eventually the Ferangazids fell to the Remarans, Urshapt being one of the first places to be lost. The Urshaptim in this period were systematically oppressed by the Remarans, and many fled as soon as the Remaran Empire began to weaken the peoples of Urshapt broke away.
Back during the rein of Narshur, many Urshaptim fled the advancing armies, fleeing through the lands of Kegas before finally making their way to a large archipelago to the south. There, they founded the city of Hadasht (HDʃT) atop the ruins of an older Danor-Hai settlement. Hadasht was one of the first republics in the world, with a system of representative government through a political body known as the Council of Five Hundred and Four. Over time, Hadasht would grow to become one of the greatest civilizations of the south, with a near-stranglehold on trade in the Kegasic Sea and a colonial empire that included most of the lands south of the swamps of Lethe, the Ridgeback Isles, and some parts of the southern Qikuoan subcontinent.
Unlike the rest of the Urshaptim, Hadasht never fell under the rule of the Anshari, although a god similar to Ahrumazd named Val Hemno (VAL HMN "Lord of the Inferno") was introduced during their height. It was instead involved heavily with Remara, even from the earliest days of that settlement; its merchants, mercenaries, and sacred warriors had long fought valiantly against the Danor-Hai remnants in the region, and saw the swamp-villages in Lethe as potential local allies in their war against aboleth-worship.
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