Tögsgölgüi Ord
The Tögsgölgüi Ord is one of the most infamous nations in the entire world. Having been destroyed twice by violent wars, yet always picking back up the pieces, they are a fierce and proud nation defined by their Teltar royal house and their neverending appetite for conquest. Although barely held back in the past, the Tögsgölgüi Ord's rulership has all-but recovered from recent wars and will soon be ready to unleash a torrent of invasions upon their many rivals. Taking their name from the region of Tögsgöldyu, the Tögsgölgüi Ord is in control of the entirety of this region as well as parts of the Tötsöl Ikhal, Arzuudyu, and Khoitaldyu regions, and dipping into the Bakatyeong, Berīt Narūm, and Hálendhara regions via vassal states. The Ord is mostly populated by Centaurs, but it does have a sizable minority of humans and orcs, mostly living in slave states and used as fodder in combat, as well as Telrai, who hold a special place in the state. There are also a small amount of trolls remaining in areas conquered by the Ord, but they are subject to oppression, slavery, and outright extermination as they are considered subhuman.
Structure
The Ordians have a unique hierarchy of titles within their realm, often defined by Tanugiin Jün traditions. As the state is defined as a federation of tribes, there is no legally allowed secession, yet the tribes retain a number of privileges and rights. These tribes are placed into a strength and prestige-based hierarchy, which can and does change over time. Non-centaur tribe, such as those of the orcs and humans, are seen as lesser than any centaur tribe de jure, but in de facto terms may command significantly more power due to their autonomy and auxiliary nature. The Telrai are not considered within this hierarchy, and have a special set of privileges dating back to the early 1700s. In terms of autonomy, they are nominally all direct slaves of the Khan, but their real position varies depending on location, job, and gender.
History
=The history of the Tögsgölgüi Ord stretches back a mere 366 years, though its story begins in 1591 with the birth of Chlazar Ordolon. This date is critical because Ordolon was the first reported Teltar within the realm. Since the Telari originate from the long-since destroyed continent of Salazuir while the Centaurs originate from the steppe of Ærellion, the two races had never made contact until the Telrai began colonizing along the coast of Tögsgöldyu, particularly the [tbd] peninsula. There, they came into conflict with the local centaur tribes, who weren't interested in trade with what they saw as interlopers into their lands, leading to violence. Since the Telrai weren't interested in offensive conquests, though later events have confirmed that the races are compatible in both directions, it is perhaps unsurprising that Ordolon was born of a male centaur and female telrai. Chlazar Ordolon, who is known as [tbd] in Telrai, never knew his father, and resolved to vent his fury at this fact by conquering the cenataurs and forcing them to submit to a bastard-born half-breed. By the age of 22, he had taken control of one of the nearby Aghurik tribes after killing their chieftain. He then went on a warpath, conquering the remaining Aghurik tribes by 1634. He then declared the formation of the Tögsgölgüi Ord.
Ordolon then decided to broaded his conquests. Whereas before he had largely ignored the remaining human tribes of the region, even as he passed through their lands to conquer more Aghurik, he now decided to consolidate the realm. His conquests, though not intended to be genocidal (in theory) resulted in the beginning of the end for the humans of the plains and led to the final migrations of the Taltas into the west. There are no Taltas remaining in Tögsgöldyu today as a result of this conquest. Chlazar Ordolon spent his remaining years consoldiating the realm and reinforcing clan ties via marriage ties of his (by then) large family, before he finally died in the winter of 1683. Ordolon's children were largely split between Teltar and regular centaur, as he has only taken centaurs for wives, but by chance his eldest was also a Teltar.
Unlike Ordolon, his son, Mönke, had little to no attachment to the coastal Telrai, seeing them as not family but rather a resource. Raised in the harsh environemnt of the steppe and with only centaur tutors (since Ordolon didn't really care to raise him, he was too busy fighting) he was a warlike and traditionalist centaur. Thus, he decided to conquer the coastal Telrai settlements. By 1703, this was done, but Mönke's plans were not finished. Although the centaurs were a largely nomadic peoples, they had on occasion built fortified settlements to project power. Mönke desired to construct a great fortified settlement in the shadow of the Balöndör mountains which would be protected against centaur assaults. However, due to the presence of trolls within their foothills, he moved the location slightly west. This ensured that there were very few directions centaurs could come from to assault the city without moving through the hills, which could themselves be fortified in the future once the trolls were dealt with, but that it wasn't close enough to these hills to be vulnerable to trollish raids. Mönke combined his plans for the Telrai and his plans for a great capital into the city of Harmaash, founded 1705. He seized the "best" Telrai and forced them to move to the capital, where he established several codes and laws surrounding the Telrai. His goals were to ensure that all Teltars would be Ordolon and that all Ordolon would be Telrai, a goal that would later prove quite achievable, though not before great strife.
Though Mönke died in 1708, before the city was completed, his son Yalren would continue overseeing the construction and rule from the city for nearly his entire reign. Only 1/8th Telrai, Yalren was somewhat of a Teltar, though not really. He had four arms, but two of them were weak and couldn't do more than simple tasks, though he portrayed himself as powerful to the nation whenever possible. Yalren was just as comitted to ensuring the future of the Ord was through Teltar rulers, since he believed that only the obvious superiority of the Teltars had kept the tribes from rebelling. Thus, he decided to only take Telrai as concubines, a policy his father had wanted but didn't have the Telrai to actually commit to. However, he had children from his previous concubines taken before his father's conquests. As none of them were Teltars, he disinherited the lot, passing new laws to mandate a Teltar on the throne. Yalren, oblivious to the strife this would cause, ignored his earlier lot of children entirely up to his death in 1731.
Yalren's son Holenun, a full-blooded Teltar, would ascend to the throne uncontested in Harmaash. However, in the countrside things were different, as the eldest son of Yalren, Valeron the Disinherited, would claim the throne as his birthright, despite not being Teltar. The families of the Yalren's centaur wives supported this effort to claim the throne, as they felt disrespected by him putting aside their daughters and ignoring his older children. On the other hand, many smaller clans sided with Yalren, hoping to use this opportunity to advance their stature. In the end, these smaller tribes were proven correct, but not before much violence. The civil war between Holenun and Valeron lasted for 14 years, and the very fabric of the Ord fell apart during it, as the land each claimant actually controlled continued to shrink as various tribes renunced allegiance. Many felt the Tögsgölgüi Ord was dead in the water, but in the end Valeron's coalition dissolved entirely while Holenun retained the loyalty of the tribeless first generation of Telrai eunuch soldiers. Defeated, the remaining supporters of the now slain Valeron fled to Arzuudyu where they later established their own khanate. Still, by the end of the war, the "Tögsgölgüi Ord" was really just a collection of tribes, with the only places actually being held by the loyalists Harmaash and its surroundings.
Naturally, it would take time to reclaim the disloyal tribes, which was a time of great strife for the Ord. Holenun's reign saw the expansion of Telari soldiers, Orcish irregulars, and the reduction of many tribal rights, bringing the Ordian state into a more centralized aparatus which easily rolled over the various tribes. This extreme expansionism worried many on their borders, especially the Divinity of Ashēryku to the south. Border conflicts began and soon erupted into fullscale war which lasted from 1780-1799. A great coalition of Ashēryku and its many tributaries all opposed the Ord, which was unable to gain victory and was pushed back to the hills. Only the bankruptcy of Ashēryku saved the Ord from total defeat, which allowed them to turn east and fight against a coalition of centaur nations which had also opposed their expansion and now took the opportunity to ally with rebels.
Though damaged, the Ord survived to fight another day, though they would have to wait nearly 50 years in recovery. A large part of this was the Great Death of Ærellion, which began in Ashēryku and soon spread north. Although not as devastating as in Ashēryku, where nearly 50% of the population was wiped out, almost a third of the Ord's population would die from this disease. It would be particularly troublesome as it had a tendency to linger in tribal populations and then spread when those tribes contacted others. Thus, the Tögsgölgüi Ord would not attempt another offensive war until 1848. Instead of challenging the south, they marched east, attacking the Wanyun of Syeoban. Despite early victories, this proved a mistake as the Ordians did not realize that the ruling dynasty of Syeoban had ties with the Ursumar to the south. Though Ashēryku had since been replaced by the Divinity of Bēlqūašdu, the Ursumar did not forget the damage caused by the centaurs and eargely marched north, routing the Ord and sacking Harmaash. Though the war lasted 7 years, in reality the final few were just the futile attempts of Bēlqūašdu to establish permanent control of the steppe.
For the next 50 years, the Tögsgölgüi Ord was just another tribe. Most of the population of Harmaash was gone, their vassals were completely independent (and the orcs were migrating out of the steppe), and none other tribes cared to unite under their banner. Still, the ruling Teltars persisted, though for a time their capital was moved into the formerly trollish hills as Harmaash was too vulnerable to raids. During this period, their controlled lands were bounded by the river just to the north of the hills and the drylands to the south, with their lands only stretching 50 miles west from the hills. Several unremarkable rulers could do little to fix this situation, especially with their old foes from the north being the closest thing to a suzerain the region had. This all changed once Bataar came to the throne. A driven centaur, he sought to reclaim the former glory of the Ord, and he reconquered most of the Ord's old lands by 1904, aside from the rebellious subjects and their rivals to the north. By 1913, these subjects were once again conquered and their rivals to the north lay shattered. This Third Rise of the Tögsgölgüi Ord has been likened to the original conquests of Chlazar, and some began believing Bataar to be Chlazar reincarnated. Still, Bataar was not immortal, and he died in 1951. His son had big shoes to fill, and decided to make a bold gambit and strike at Bēlqūašdu, believing correctly that because the borders with Syeoban were not threatened they would not intervene. This war, lasting from 1958-1974, was only a partial success, as Bēlqūašdu held the line and only fell back behind the hills by the time the Ord was too exhasted by war to take advantage. Their orcish slave states revolted once more, necessitating their armies to turn back and reassert control, thus allowing Bēlqūašdu to survive. Still, Bēlqūašdu itself began to crumble from the strain of the war, and so the war, while Pyrrhic, was technically a victory for the Ord. Still, the failure to achieve total victory over Bēlqūašdu, the orcish revolts, and the events leading to the formation of the Great Maw, have shook the confidence of the Ord's ruler, who now spends his days worried for his life. Once he dies, his son is likely to attempt a new conquest, as the Ord is certainly ready to. And there are so many old rivals just begging to be invaded...
Ordolon then decided to broaded his conquests. Whereas before he had largely ignored the remaining human tribes of the region, even as he passed through their lands to conquer more Aghurik, he now decided to consolidate the realm. His conquests, though not intended to be genocidal (in theory) resulted in the beginning of the end for the humans of the plains and led to the final migrations of the Taltas into the west. There are no Taltas remaining in Tögsgöldyu today as a result of this conquest. Chlazar Ordolon spent his remaining years consoldiating the realm and reinforcing clan ties via marriage ties of his (by then) large family, before he finally died in the winter of 1683. Ordolon's children were largely split between Teltar and regular centaur, as he has only taken centaurs for wives, but by chance his eldest was also a Teltar.
Unlike Ordolon, his son, Mönke, had little to no attachment to the coastal Telrai, seeing them as not family but rather a resource. Raised in the harsh environemnt of the steppe and with only centaur tutors (since Ordolon didn't really care to raise him, he was too busy fighting) he was a warlike and traditionalist centaur. Thus, he decided to conquer the coastal Telrai settlements. By 1703, this was done, but Mönke's plans were not finished. Although the centaurs were a largely nomadic peoples, they had on occasion built fortified settlements to project power. Mönke desired to construct a great fortified settlement in the shadow of the Balöndör mountains which would be protected against centaur assaults. However, due to the presence of trolls within their foothills, he moved the location slightly west. This ensured that there were very few directions centaurs could come from to assault the city without moving through the hills, which could themselves be fortified in the future once the trolls were dealt with, but that it wasn't close enough to these hills to be vulnerable to trollish raids. Mönke combined his plans for the Telrai and his plans for a great capital into the city of Harmaash, founded 1705. He seized the "best" Telrai and forced them to move to the capital, where he established several codes and laws surrounding the Telrai. His goals were to ensure that all Teltars would be Ordolon and that all Ordolon would be Telrai, a goal that would later prove quite achievable, though not before great strife.
Though Mönke died in 1708, before the city was completed, his son Yalren would continue overseeing the construction and rule from the city for nearly his entire reign. Only 1/8th Telrai, Yalren was somewhat of a Teltar, though not really. He had four arms, but two of them were weak and couldn't do more than simple tasks, though he portrayed himself as powerful to the nation whenever possible. Yalren was just as comitted to ensuring the future of the Ord was through Teltar rulers, since he believed that only the obvious superiority of the Teltars had kept the tribes from rebelling. Thus, he decided to only take Telrai as concubines, a policy his father had wanted but didn't have the Telrai to actually commit to. However, he had children from his previous concubines taken before his father's conquests. As none of them were Teltars, he disinherited the lot, passing new laws to mandate a Teltar on the throne. Yalren, oblivious to the strife this would cause, ignored his earlier lot of children entirely up to his death in 1731.
Yalren's son Holenun, a full-blooded Teltar, would ascend to the throne uncontested in Harmaash. However, in the countrside things were different, as the eldest son of Yalren, Valeron the Disinherited, would claim the throne as his birthright, despite not being Teltar. The families of the Yalren's centaur wives supported this effort to claim the throne, as they felt disrespected by him putting aside their daughters and ignoring his older children. On the other hand, many smaller clans sided with Yalren, hoping to use this opportunity to advance their stature. In the end, these smaller tribes were proven correct, but not before much violence. The civil war between Holenun and Valeron lasted for 14 years, and the very fabric of the Ord fell apart during it, as the land each claimant actually controlled continued to shrink as various tribes renunced allegiance. Many felt the Tögsgölgüi Ord was dead in the water, but in the end Valeron's coalition dissolved entirely while Holenun retained the loyalty of the tribeless first generation of Telrai eunuch soldiers. Defeated, the remaining supporters of the now slain Valeron fled to Arzuudyu where they later established their own khanate. Still, by the end of the war, the "Tögsgölgüi Ord" was really just a collection of tribes, with the only places actually being held by the loyalists Harmaash and its surroundings.
Naturally, it would take time to reclaim the disloyal tribes, which was a time of great strife for the Ord. Holenun's reign saw the expansion of Telari soldiers, Orcish irregulars, and the reduction of many tribal rights, bringing the Ordian state into a more centralized aparatus which easily rolled over the various tribes. This extreme expansionism worried many on their borders, especially the Divinity of Ashēryku to the south. Border conflicts began and soon erupted into fullscale war which lasted from 1780-1799. A great coalition of Ashēryku and its many tributaries all opposed the Ord, which was unable to gain victory and was pushed back to the hills. Only the bankruptcy of Ashēryku saved the Ord from total defeat, which allowed them to turn east and fight against a coalition of centaur nations which had also opposed their expansion and now took the opportunity to ally with rebels.
Though damaged, the Ord survived to fight another day, though they would have to wait nearly 50 years in recovery. A large part of this was the Great Death of Ærellion, which began in Ashēryku and soon spread north. Although not as devastating as in Ashēryku, where nearly 50% of the population was wiped out, almost a third of the Ord's population would die from this disease. It would be particularly troublesome as it had a tendency to linger in tribal populations and then spread when those tribes contacted others. Thus, the Tögsgölgüi Ord would not attempt another offensive war until 1848. Instead of challenging the south, they marched east, attacking the Wanyun of Syeoban. Despite early victories, this proved a mistake as the Ordians did not realize that the ruling dynasty of Syeoban had ties with the Ursumar to the south. Though Ashēryku had since been replaced by the Divinity of Bēlqūašdu, the Ursumar did not forget the damage caused by the centaurs and eargely marched north, routing the Ord and sacking Harmaash. Though the war lasted 7 years, in reality the final few were just the futile attempts of Bēlqūašdu to establish permanent control of the steppe.
For the next 50 years, the Tögsgölgüi Ord was just another tribe. Most of the population of Harmaash was gone, their vassals were completely independent (and the orcs were migrating out of the steppe), and none other tribes cared to unite under their banner. Still, the ruling Teltars persisted, though for a time their capital was moved into the formerly trollish hills as Harmaash was too vulnerable to raids. During this period, their controlled lands were bounded by the river just to the north of the hills and the drylands to the south, with their lands only stretching 50 miles west from the hills. Several unremarkable rulers could do little to fix this situation, especially with their old foes from the north being the closest thing to a suzerain the region had. This all changed once Bataar came to the throne. A driven centaur, he sought to reclaim the former glory of the Ord, and he reconquered most of the Ord's old lands by 1904, aside from the rebellious subjects and their rivals to the north. By 1913, these subjects were once again conquered and their rivals to the north lay shattered. This Third Rise of the Tögsgölgüi Ord has been likened to the original conquests of Chlazar, and some began believing Bataar to be Chlazar reincarnated. Still, Bataar was not immortal, and he died in 1951. His son had big shoes to fill, and decided to make a bold gambit and strike at Bēlqūašdu, believing correctly that because the borders with Syeoban were not threatened they would not intervene. This war, lasting from 1958-1974, was only a partial success, as Bēlqūašdu held the line and only fell back behind the hills by the time the Ord was too exhasted by war to take advantage. Their orcish slave states revolted once more, necessitating their armies to turn back and reassert control, thus allowing Bēlqūašdu to survive. Still, Bēlqūašdu itself began to crumble from the strain of the war, and so the war, while Pyrrhic, was technically a victory for the Ord. Still, the failure to achieve total victory over Bēlqūašdu, the orcish revolts, and the events leading to the formation of the Great Maw, have shook the confidence of the Ord's ruler, who now spends his days worried for his life. Once he dies, his son is likely to attempt a new conquest, as the Ord is certainly ready to. And there are so many old rivals just begging to be invaded...
Founding Date
1634
Alternative Names
Teltar Empire, Great Horde
Demonym
Ordian
Leader Title
Subsidiary Organizations
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
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