Zennonaize Confederacy
In the high grass of the Malpighien Steppes, the Zennonaize have taken advantage of the vast space to raise huge herds of cattle and some of the finest horses in Tarien. With the exception of a few larger cities, most Zennon settlements reflect that openness. Even their government - a loose agreement among lords to follow a single leader reflects their free spirits.
Structure
Each landed family has a vested interest in politics. They maintain small, private units of cavalry to enforce their will, collect taxes, and protect the land. The each of these landed families is actually a Clan that owns a state. They are considered the absolute rulers of their states, except when directly ordered by the Dono. The Dono is a hereditary position belonging to one of the various state lords. While always part of the Delante Clan for the past six centuries, the Dono's line has not taken a straight path from father to son. Lineages have changed through revolution and even an election due to the lack of an heir. The Dono is responsible for matters of state, such as protecting the Confederation as a whole, and improving the well being of the landed lords as a group. His only power lies in the loyalty of his young soldiers the officers who swear him their lives. He has in the past deployed soldiers to quell squabbles between states, but generally assumes a laissez-faire attitude toward internal turmoil. The Dono maintains Fort Tarick, and provides protection for sanctioned caravans through Trai'dietch Pass.
Landed lords still dabble in politics. They play off each other, pitting one family against another. These politics generally remain petty, especially when compared to the bloody Family politics of the Elynthi. Actual violence rarely occurs, except for the period preceding the election of a Dono, where many lords vie for the favor of the electorate. Clans see the position as one of prestige and influence, despite the office’s limited powers. Historically, civil war is a rarity.
Culture
Zennonaize culture is divided between landowners and serfs. Landowners live in luxury and comfort with complete control in their states. Their customs are often frivolous and overindulgent in nature. Frequent banquets and tournaments of horsemanship are grand affairs with each Lord trying to outdo his counterparts. These festivals can last for days, and generally involve much debauchery.
Serf life is hard. They live in perpetual poverty, however their culture deep in tradition and myth. Storytelling around the fire is a nightly custom in which peasants exchange words of wisdom and show off their wit. These contests can get very heated, and to an outside observer could seem insulting, however the Zennonaize know it is all in good fun. Both classes hold those that invent these in high regard, as they are the keepers of history as there is little knowledge of the written language. Many of these stories have been recorded in other languages. Editor's note: see Janus Forsbar's ] The Horsemen's Tales.
History
Humans first arrived in the Malpighien Steppes in 1,872 BC after leaving the Island of Eldoria. By 1760 BC, these pilgrims, mostly second and third born sons, had spread out to the Zennon Sea. They had wanted a vast land where they could own property and build lives for their families. Several generations after their arrival, however, primogeniture tendencies reasserted themselves second born sons had to range even further to find land to claim as their own. Illegitimate children and families, who lost everything to marauding monsters or drought, formed the basis for what is now the serf class. By pledging their lives to a wealthy lord, they guaranteed the safety of their families in exchange for their eternal slavery. By 1,700 BC, all land in the Malpighien Steppes belonged to a handful of about one hundred powerful lords. They vied for power, both through political marriages and armed conflict. In warfare, the Zennonaize, as they had begun to call themselves, practiced tactics not seen beyond the Steppes. Lightly armored cavalry, armed with short bows, light lances, and swords, dominated warfare. Lighting attacks left villages decimated before serfs had time to react.
By 584 BC, the wars between lords had reached a critical state. Crop yields had reached a historic low, and the population had very few young men left. Eventually, the various warlords agreed to meet at the estate of Jontick Reagon to discuss possible resolutions. The lords met for over a year but reached no agreement. A new round of fighting broke out and hopes for peace seemed lost until The battles continued until Warlord Hethral Darin executed a brilliant military maneuver, and accepted the surrender the four rival lords. They pledged their lives to Darin. With their support, Darin's soldiers conquered fifteen other fiefdoms in an matter of months, when, in order to avoid having Darin become an omnipotent tyrant, the lords agreed to meet again.
The lords agree to name Darin the Dono, who ruled the various fiefdoms to maintain the peace. The individual fiefdoms still ruled their own estates, but the Dono accepted responsibility for a unified army, settled disputes between lords, assisted individual estates in times of disaster. The position of Dono became hereditary in 558 BC when Hethral Darin died and his son, Frent Darin, assumed the title.
In 237 BC, the land around Dono Hethral Darin IXX's estate had become so populated, that he walled the most populated section and made it a permanent trading post and the seat of the royal court. He named the new city Wargun , but died before its walls were completed.
In 18 BC, Ryukyu Fleet-Foot, the bastard son of the Alku Clan uses his military influence and wrests control of the family from his older brother with it , the right to be lord of the estate, by now shortened to simply states. He immediately declared war on the neighboring states. The Dono called out his army, but the Alku state was so far away from Wargun, that by the time the Dono's army arrived, he had conquered twelve states and gathered a huge army of his own. By 12 AC he had conquered all of the Malpighien Steppes, except for Wargun. He began to build the city of Zennon, and named it the capital of the Confederate States of Zennonaize, proclaiming himself as Dono. With no other choice but to accept, Dono Frent Darin XXV abdicated his crown and swore fealty to Ryukyu.
Dono Ryukyu initiated a policy of expansion and interior growth. He increased taxes and established a construction commission. He had the city of West Harbor built in 25 AC, but his plans for a highway system ended when he died of food poisoning in 34 AC. His daughter, Adretta Alku became the first woman to accept the title of Dono. She immediately shot down plans for the highway, and concentrated instead on international trade. She built Fort Tarick at the base of the Trai'dietch Pass and sent the first caravan through. They never returned.
In 47 AC a great earthquake struck the Confederacy, leveling the Alku clan's new estate in Zennon. The Dono's army was forced to leave exploration in the southeast behind in order to rebuild the city. Its nearly a hundreds year before substantial a population returned to the southeast. Originally merely a winter grazing ground for sheep and stopover for the traders that eventually did come come through Trai'dietch Pass, Drei-Kopf was settled in 134 AC. The caravan trade continued to build slowly here until, gradually supplanting the herds as the primary source of income for the region. By the fourth century foreign caravan guards began to out number locals. They organized into a formal Guild in Dar'Reth and the region continues to be the gateway from the Confederacy to the Inner Seas to this day.
The Alku dynasty lasted far shorter than the Darin one. In 154 AC Dono Mandara Alku died childless. By a majority vote, Tonu Delante, a captain in the Alku clan's personal guard, is named Dono.
General Zantak, the highest ranking officer in the Dono's army, led four battalions of cavalry on a rebellious raid of the southern Steppes in 224 AC. Disgruntled with corruption of Zennonaize politics, the General and his 4,000 mounted men terrorized military installations along the plains. Using hit and run tactics, the General won many victories and seriously depleted the Dono's personal herds. As Zantak distributed his bounty among the poor serfs, and demanded land reform, he became a peasant hero. By 226 AC , the Dono had placed a reward 100,000 gold coins and an estate to any who could bring him the renegade general's ears. The General eluded the Dono's army for five more years, until a Zennon scout, named Kelkantin, located Zantak's camp. He led 20,000 soldiers to the camp and slaughtered the rebellious army, defeating Zantak himself in single combat. Kelkantin was granted a state the extreme south of the Confederacy, and used his new wealth to build the city of Gartcha in 235 AC.
Like many other nations, the Confederacy was dragged into the Great War, joining the fray later than most after clever diplomacy by Olaf Samsonsonsonsonsonsonsonson and Traipse cornered the Dono in supporting Eldorian and Soulmeliti forces. While horsemen from the Steppes participated in dozens of battles, their most famous engagements were likely at Tentor'kirsh, where thousands died in arcane fires and at the liberation of Dalencroft, where to this day a Zennon soldier - active or retired - rarely buys his or her own drink today. Mounting losses and a lack of magical firepower caused the Confederacy to withdrawal from the conflict early, returning to its semi-isolationist ways.
The anti-arcane hysteria from the early seventh century spread into the Confederacy, igniting long dormant feelings of fear and hatred for magi of all sorts. In the southern city of Gartcha, Count Mandaran Khankari took advantage of the hysteria to organize a coup, declaring the city's independence from the Confederacy and allying with Eldoria to maintain its status as a fledgling state. Repeated attempts by lords looking to curry favor with the Dono have been made to retake the city, but its high walls and the lack of a Zennon naval blockade have doomed every siege.
Zennon soon joined in the mass public burnings with great fervor as hundreds of magi, their sympathizers, and people suspect of ill works by jealous neighbors were put to the torch. Once the flames began to burn, they died slowly. Wargun, in fact, has the dubious distinction of holding the last mass burning and the practice of burning suspected magi alive continues to this day.
Demography and Population
The population of the Confederacy is almost exclusively Human. Lords own all of the land, generally in vast estates and serfs work the earth, tend the herds, and generally live to serve. Dharja ranch hands, with their shared love of horses, are perhaps the most common non-human race to be found in the Confederacy, and even they are extremely rare. Within the larger cities one might find an expatriate Khadra or Soulmeliti, generally plying their trade as a master craftsman. Nerrid visit their neighbors frequently, though few find the Confederacy interesting enough to make their permanent residence.
Torin Delante at the Head of the Zennonaize Cavalry
Territories
The various states of the Confederacy are located on the Malpighien Steppes in northwestern Tarien. These steppes are mostly flat, elevated tracks of fertile land perfect for grazing. Agriculturally advanced areas have been developed into large plantations, owned by the lords and usually run by relatives. More untamed areas contain tall grasses with a scattering of small trees. Both domesticated and wild herds of grazing animals inhabit the southeastern portion of the steppes. Several large rivers run through steppes, and divert easily for irrigation. Herds generally congregate along these waterways. The waterways also provide means of transporting large amounts of products throughout the region.
Frequent large thunderstorms blow across the steppes. Tornadoes are a rarity, but do occur. Skies are open and distant, changing from light blue to black in an instant. Winds are often strong and biting in winter, but cool and refreshing in summer. Temperatures are moderate, especially along the coast. Closer to the mountains, temperatures can range greatly.
The Zennon Sea borders on the north and is extremely rough year round. The gulf of Gartcha, a warmer yet still rough body of water, is located to the south. The Wartin Gulf reaches into the northern steppes near Wargun. It is freezing and difficult to navigate.
Military
The Zennonaize Cavalry, with its divisions of horsemen provided as units from individual lords, has long innovated the art of mounted combat. They invented the lance nearly two millennia ago and have forgotten more tactics around its use than Eldorian knights have ever learned. More recently, they have added the horseman's flail to their repertoire, increasing their prowess in close quarters.
They have not neglected their sleek warhorses in their innovation. Since they first identified differences among horses from different regions, each possessing its own admirable characteristics, the Zennonaize have been improving their stock through selective breeding programs. The result has become sleek and powerful, fast and cunning, and most famously stubborn.
While the Cavalry dominates the Steppes, the Confederacy has little presence at sea. Wargun and Zennon maintain a few patrol vessels, but as the Great North Sea freezes for much of the year, they have never been drawn naturally to sea. In the south the Gulf of Gartcha sports some fishing vessels bearing its flag but the Imperial Navy has kept the waters free of anything resembling a military vessel other than its own.
Religion
The Zennonaize worship a wide array of deities that represent various aspects of pantheon. While these gods often go by different names than they do in other parts of Tarien, their aspects, codes, and even most rituals mirror the more commonly held Eldorian pantheon. Many scholars have expounded many theories about why these gods have shown themselves with different names in the Steppes but most believe it to be simply whimsy. Whatever the case, the use of alternate names has begun to fade in the southern part of the Confederacy where contact between the Inner Seas and the Zennonaize is more prevalent. In the former Zennonaize city of Gartcha, now a close ally of Eldoria and home its 12th Legion, the more common names have supplanted the traditional ones all together.
Sarakin holds a special place in the hearts of herdsmen, with her influence over winds that sweep across the grasslands and her love of a good, fireside tail. Doria, of course, remains popular with ranchers and farmers. The Church of Pencit also has many worshipers in the land, with the large, Temple of Destiny sitting directly opposite of the Dono's Estate in Zennon. More than a few rumors about the priesthoods undue influence on the politics of the Confederacy have drifted across the Steppes.Foreign Relations
The Confederacy has no policies against foreigners and few relations with other nation-states. Their distance form the core of human culture in the Inner Seas - one cannot easily sail to Zennon - has isolated them from much of the political squabbling that one finds in other human states. They do of course, have formal relations with a number of states, including treaties for trade with the Empire of Eldoria, the Kingdom of Galencia, and Principality of Grennig. These are, however, merely official positions - the lack of any military threat either to or from the Confederacy making them gestures rather than critical policies.
Their positions with the two closest human neighbors, the Citystates of Gartcha and Yaty represent the closest thing to Zennonaize diplomacy. With Gartcha, the policy is simple. The Dono has never recognized the city's independence and every few years a lord will send several thousand cavalry south to lay in a hopeless siege. With Yaty, the relationship is even more practical. Officially Yaty has been declared a "close friend" of the Dono.Yatian merchants are welcome throughout the Confederacy and the sole legal market for Zennon horses and wool.
Agriculture & Industry
The Confederacy is truly an agrarian culture with the wealth of its lords built on the backs of its serfs. The farmlands of Mapighien Steppes produce wheat, barley, clover and corn in abundance in vast fields owned by local lords. Further out from their estates are broader pastures that support vast herds of cattle and, most importantly, horses. A lord's wealth is measured by the size of his herds. While horse theft or endangering a lord's herd is quick way to earn a trip to the gallows, it is not unknown for one lord to user underhanded means to gain an advantage over another lord though his livestock.
Trade & Transport
Most Zennonaize use the barter system, although exchanges in precious metals do occur among the landed class. Some trade exists with both the Nerrid Alliance and with the Citystate of Yaty, through Trai'dietch Pass. These exchanges involve Eldorian weapons and tools for Zennonaize dyes, fabrics, and horses.
Traded between landed lords is common. Most commonly, they will trade the use of their most valuable horses to further breeding programs. These services cost up to 1,000 gold. Most lords do not trade for foodstuffs, except for commodities of the sea or rare artisan works. Metal commands a higher price in Zennonaize, and much equipment is cloth or wooden. More urban areas do have large markets where free artisans trade their finished goods for food and other essentials.
Landed lords own everything on their property: the land, the tools, and the serfs. A serf may work to purchase items for their households, but they still belong to the lord. Serfs must give their lords a certain quota of whatever goods they produce, and may survive, and possibly increase their lord’s belongings with the rest.
"Over the ridge they came, bathed in the red light of dawn an fleeing from orange flames of the burning trees. The soot had covered infiltrated everything, leaving even the pales coats of their noble mounts stained black. Counting them took note of their numbers - less than half had returned. But it was more the haunted looks in the eyes of both soldier and steed than the number lost that struck me. Despite Soulmeliti claims to the contrary, this was not an army riding from victory."
The Wyntyne River, CentralZennonaize
Maps
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Zennonaize Confederacy
The Soldier's Horse
"And then the horse reared back, hurling him thirty feet onto the stony ground." A few of the soldiers winced and rubbed their backs in empathetic pain. After a few notes from his lute, Rayad cleared his throat. "Santak leapt to his feet, unshaken and unharmed. Calmly, he strutted back to the horse, swearing in a soothing monotone. He raised his hand sharply to silence the jeers of his men. The horse shot his fiery eyes at Santak for a moment, and then sauntered away. Santak maintained his slow approach, not gaining any distance on the wild stallion until it paused at a stream to drink. Slowing, he reached his arm out to touch the horse, which sidestepped the gesture without interrupting his drink. Santak followed and step by step, they edged along the riverbank."
Several soldiers laughed, caressing their own horses' manes. The wind kicked across the plain, drowning out the musical interlude. "Finally, the stallion had drank his full. He lifted his great coal head up and stared, eye to eye with the General. They locked their gazes for many days, each unwilling to yield and break off the contest. Santak's brave guerillas ignored the contest after a few hours passed. They feasted, they practiced, and even defeated a legion of the Dono's best cavalry.
"When they returned, Santak and the great stallion still glared at each other. The soldiers made camp and dreamed away the night. In the morning, they awoke to find their General lying on the riverbank, his face buried in the mud. The stallion took a step back, and with his front hoof, gently pushed Santak into the water. The stabbing cold of his sudden predicament shocked Santak into consciousness. He knelt in the shallow water, babbling to himself. 'Why? Why? Why does this great stallion follow me day and night, watching me with the fire in his eyes, tempting me with his graceful galloping and still, not letting me ride?' The horse snorted, backed away from the water's edge, and said, 'You never asked if you could ride.'"
Founding Date
572 BC
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Zennonaize
Leader
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Market economy
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Species
Related Plots
Magic in the Zennonaize Confederacy
The residents of the Malpighien Steppes were amongst the most fervent of the witch hunters and wizard burners during the Mage Wars and among the last to allow hysteria to fade. In fact, Wargun holds the dishonor of holding the last mass public burning of magi. That's not to say that magi aren't captured, convicted, and executed today in the Confederacy. Its not even to say that all who are burned are guilty of their crimes. Just as in the dark days of the public burnings, there are surely innocents killed either in error or spite. Some suspected witches even make it before a magistrate before their demise. it is only to say that the massive sweeps of the past when scores of suspected mystics were scooped up no longer occur. Whether this is because the public demands personal attention to every suspected magi, or if the public feels that their actions in the past century have purged the land of most capably of wielding sorcery, it is difficult to say.
Whispers of Secession
In the southeast corner of the Confederacy, the estates of the lord are smaller. In the treelined coasts fo the Gulf of Gartcha, their herds are sheep and goats as often as cattle and horses. Incomes from fishing the warm, sheltered waters of the Gulf match those from small farms where a variety of vegetables outnumber the wheat and corn found on the grassland. Even more gold can be had acting as middlemen in the lucrative horse trade, using their proximity to Trai’dietch Pass, their familiarity with the customs of the Inner Seas, and their innate knowledge of horseflesh to earn a bit of coin with every passing caravan.
Indeed, looking to their independent neighbors – Gartcha and Yaty – many of these landed lords can see the futures of Drei-Kopf and Dar'Reth. None speak of these possibilities within earshot of anyone form the north – lord or serf – for the Dono’s wrath would be swift and violent. Still, there are those in the younger generation that speak passionately about the cause when deep in their cups and merchants who swear the bandits hiding in the foothills of the mountains are better armed, better groomed, and better trained they have any right to be.
Gates of the Tariif Estate, Parietz
He laughed as I cut the horse out from underneath him. Drawing his saber with a flourish, I saw the mania in his eyes. It was over and Zantak knew it. He grinned as I ran him through.