Tahosian Dynasty
The Tahosian Dynasty is known by many names: The Kingdom that Never Dies, The Empire of Gold, and The First Human Empire. None of these monikers are without some degree of merit.
Founded by the legendary mortal warrior, Tahos, who later ascended to become one of the Living Gods, the Tahosian Dynasty is the and oldest and longest-lasting human empire in the world, predating even the founding of Nidea and Nioba. It is the largest empire in the far west, and controls the entirety of Tansia. Its immaculate capital, Tec'Tahos, was founded atop the ruins of Garheim, the old capital of the Ak'teshi empire.
The Tahosian warrior caste sits above the peasantry, acting as the arms of the Emperor or Empress, the might of the Golden Table, and protectors of the working caste. They are the city guard, the law enforcement, and, when necessary, the foot soldiers of war. It is not uncommon for individuals to move between the working caste and warrior caste, but skills with a spear or the wisdom to wield ancient Magics are prized among tahosian warriors and are often the preferred combat style.
Among the warrior castes, there is no room for weakness. Strength, dexterity, ferocity, stamina, strategy, power: these are the traits by which success is measured. At adolescence, tahosian youths not chosen to be priests or scholars must prove their strength to the council, the emperor, and the Living Gods themselves. Any display of physical power, dextrous skill, or strategic wit will do. Tournaments and competitions are held as children come of age, and adolescents prepare for their trials with years of training, communion with the spirits, and tattooing sigils of power onto their skin.
Beast Taming. A common rite is to travel to some of the beast-ruled jungles near the capital to steal or subdue a wild creature. It is from this rite that the dynasty gains its reputation for taming the most ferocious scaled beasts on the continent. Including, but not limited to, raptors, tyrannosaurs, sauropods, tri-horns, ankylosaurs, and, according to history, the legendary titanosaurs. All the beasts that haul the dynasty's goods, plow their fields, carry their armies, and fight their wars are born and bred by tahosian beastmasters.
woman in exchange for votes. At some points in the Dynasty's life, the interests of each voter were such that they seldom rallied around a strong candidate, for they may find another of their rivals far more "generous" in their "gifts", which sometimes resulted in the weakening of the Golden Throne. Even when the Golden Throne has been transferred to an heir by majority vote thanks to the previous Emperor or Empress' influence, voters were quick to remind the newly elected ruler to renew the promises made by their predecessor.
When an Emperor or Empress is chosen by the Golden Table, an avatar of Takanda or Tahos is consulted, depending on whether an Empress or Emperor was chosen. The Ritual of Crowning takes place soon after, where the spirit of Tahos or Takanda manifests through these living avatars to judge in person whether or not the candidate is honest and noble of character to rule. If either spirit finds the candidate lacking, then the Golden Table must cast another vote. Other spirits, such as Banzala, have been known to manifest to crown past emperors or empresses in his name. In some cases, the entire pantheon of the living gods has been known to vote among themselves for a worthy candidate.
When a candidate is found worthy, they are granted an artifact to prove their right to rule. An emperor chosen by Tahos is given the Mantle of Chotl'Mirr, an empress chosen by Takanda is granted the Staff of Beasts, a ruler chosen by Banzala dons the Mask of the Ferryman, a ruler selected by the estute Quetzali is gifted the Crown of Sages, and an empress chosen by the tempremental Xalaxos is offered the Cloak of Extinction.
Today, empowered by the great spirits of Tahos himself to act as his voice, Great King T'chan rules the Dynasty with a firm, but fair hand, and his lineage has ruled for nearly two centuries.
As the wilderness across Tansia claimed enormous ruined temples, fortresses, and outposts, the liberated human slaves built their homes atop them and re-sculpted oversized stone structures to accommodate their smaller statures. They also settled within Garheim, the ancient walled capital city of the once-great Ak'teshi empire, now a shadow of its former self, where the famous walls that once protected the citadel were now nothing but rubble.
Life was not easy. While the many vicious beasts of Tansia avoided the giants during their rule, these smaller settlers were easily hunted. Humanity was disorganized, fearful, and disunited, and they were mercilessly pursued by the ancient, savage tribes of the saurask who sought to reclaim the territories they lost to the Ak'teshi long ago. Many disparate human tribes gathered noble warriors to battle the saurask, whose numbers were bolstered by their monstrous bests of war, such as raptors and tyrannosauruses. To the saurask, this was not a conquest of reclamation, it was a slaughter, and tribe by tribe, humanity was fed to the jaws of their war-beasts.
Tahos spent years perfecting the art of beast taming, gaining the affection of a young druid apprentice named Takanda. She examined the techniques of the saurask and together they learned their command words. She spread the profession of beast mastery to the rest of the human tribes throughout Tansia and taught them how to bond with the creatures of the land. Through these creatures, they could build great wonders as the giants once did. Dozens of dinosaurs and massive beasts from the jungle were trained and domesticated; tri-horns and stegosaurs hauled forth building materials for masons, plesiosaurs became living ferries across rivers and canals, and parasaurs bellowed to sound alarms.
Tahos was a leader unmatched who taught the tribes to defend themselves and forge weapons of war. His mastery of combat was unparalleled, and he spread his doctrine of superior tactics. Stood united, humanity could fend off the bloodthirsty saurask and their beasts. Spearmen practiced line formations, shield-masters formed phalanxes on command, and their weapons and armor gleamed with sharpened steel.
He rode atop Chotl'Mirr with the combined forces of humanity and Takdanda's saurian beasts at his back. The long campaign against the bloodthirsty saurask that Tahos waged was called the Saurask Wars, and the united human tribes gained massive amounts of territory over the next decade as they tore victory piece by piece from the teeth of the scaled menace.
Tahos and his armies met the saurask on what would one day be the A'latl Grasslands and fell upon them like a tide. The force of the assault stopped the saurask's advance and pushed it back. Tahos' raptor-riders descended upon the saurask's flanks, and fear overcame them as they broke ranks and fled. Their leader, Warchief Sorsok, rallied his forces atop his vicious tyrannosaur and made a counter-attack. He and his barbarians came face to face with Tahos and his warriors.
Tahos and Sorsok entered into single combat. Astride Chotl'Mirr, Tahos ascended the back of the tremendous beast and ripped the war chief from his mount, but at the dire cost of Chotl'Mirr's life. Cleaver clashed with claw, and after nearly an hour of fighting, enraged at the death of his loyal companion, Tahos killed Sorsok by shredding his neck with his metal claws. The death of their leader broke the saurask's armies and they ran back to the Ak'tuin's Back Mountains. The slaughter that followed at the mountain pass was terrible to behold, and they fled back into the Iotian Rainforest beyond. The loss of life was so great that they were never able to raise an army of similar magnitude again for at least a thousand years.
The emerging Kingdom of Zicotl spanned the entirety of the Tansin Plains. Under the watchful reign of druid-Queen Takanda, she brought good weather and regular harvests which lead to a booming population to the rest of the Dynasty. The desert Kingdom of K'jatar ruled over the golden sands to the west, trading overseas with merchants and wealthy barons. They constructed grand fleets of golden ships and trained some of the most powerful sorcerers and shamans in Tansia. This kingdom was the most prosperous of all, for beneath the K'latl Barrens lay a tremendous wealth of gold and silver ore. The many fortresses hidden within the Tansin Wilds became united under the Kingdom of Ban'zol. Its center of power was a great golden temple city of subterranean catacombs built to the northeast of the Tansin Wild, which would one day become the Mausoleum of Kings. The kingdom was famous for its soothsayers and spiritualists. At the heart of the Tahhosian Dynasty, bordered on all sides by tamed jungles lay Tec'Tahos, the empire's center of trade, commerce, and culture.
Tahos, the Spirit of Kings. Fifty years after ascending the throne, Tahos announced his abdication to the kings and elders of the Golden Table. He placed the mantle of Chotl'Mirr on the table, picked up his spear, and departed the Dynasty, walking into the jungles never to be heard from again. He left in a manner some compared to a fearsome warrior god. His peers grieved, and Takanda fell into deep sorrow. As the legends go, with a resounding cheer of "All hail Tahos, the Spirit of Kings!" he took his place as the first god-king of the Dynasty and the first god in an emerging pantheon.
Vauldis, the Deceiver and Xalaxos' Betrayal. The Reign of A'latl was marked by strife and conflict. Queen Xalaxos and her kingdom in the northeast grew dissatisfied with A'latl's rule. In secret, the devious Vauldis, became her eyes and ears for A'latl's council. Whispering by her side, he reasoned that her kingdom's shamans and magic enabled the construction of Tac'Tahos. Without the extensive trading networks her kingdom built, the Dynasty would be nothing. It was she who should have been chosen to rule.
Piece by piece, Vauldis wove distrust between the kingdoms. He nursed darkness in Xalaxos' heart and warned A'latl of that same growing darkness. He advised Al'atl on matters of magic to combat Xalaxos and introduced the Emperor to soul magic; Necromancy. With time, Al'atl was able to summon ancestral spirits for council and reunion, resurrect the dead, and perform great feats of blood magic. He used his powers to reunite couples after tragic losses and healed otherwise fatal wounds. However, this would all come at a price. Be it the temporary lending of a soul, or the bargaining of something else valuable, Al'atl was always true and honest to his word.
Ancestor Worship & the Sacredness of Death. Al'atl's practices were embraced as a widespread staple of Tahosian culture. Death was not something to fear, merely the beginning of a new journey. Under the reign of Emperor Al'atl, ancestor worship became widespread and Tahosians revered their elders both in life and in death. Ancestor's Eve became a staple holiday of the Dynasty, and in return for monuments built in his image, Al'atl would travel the lands to bring back the souls of past for one night a year.
Takanda voiced concerns over his descent into necromancy. Al'atl reasoned that without death, life has no room to grow and flourish. Death was part of the natural cycle. Takanda saw this reasoning and reluctantly agreed. Together, they were said to be manifestations of life and death itself, and their union grew closer.
However, in the shadows, Vauldis played Al'atl like a puppet. While Al'atl consulted with the spirits of his ancestors in private, Vauldis manipulated them. Through the spirits, Vauldis told him that Xalaxos planned the downfall of Tec'Tahos, and to march on K'jatar and put an end to Xalaxos' plot. Takanda urged for peace and she attempted to talk sense to her sister. She indeed planned to wipe out Tec'Tahos, and though she was inspired to do so by Vauldis' silver tongue, she never divulged such revelations. The devious shaman taught the Queen how to excel and empower her magic with cataclysmic potential through sacrificial blood rituals. This, he said, would protect her from Al'atl's dark magic. Her subjects worshipped her as a herald of destructive forces. During an argument between the two Queens, Xalaxos struck Takanda with a ball of flame, wounding her.
The Tahosian Civil War. When Takanda returned wounded, the enraged Al'atl raised the bones of a skeletal raptor and gathered a throng of Takandan beasts and Tahosian warriors astride his new undead companion. He marched upon the dunes of K'jatar and demanded Xalaxos' surrender, but his forces were ambushed by Xalaxos' sorceresses which decimated his ranks and forced him to flee. The presence of his army in her kingdom was the justification Xalaxos needed for civil war. The kingdom of K'jatar rallied under the banner of Xalaxos, initiating a siege upon the capital of Tec'Tahos and the rest of the Dynasty's holds. She used her destructive magic to open fissures and chasms, wrack the skies with storms, and made the ground quake so that her armies could march unopposed.
The warfare between the two factions destroyed many temple cities, including Takanda's city of Zicotl and even Xalaxos' city of K'jatar. The forces of Emperor Al'atl pushed the Queen's warrior shamans to the north-western fringes of Tansia. During the final battle atop the peak of a volcanic mountain, in a fit of rage and spite, Xalaxos unleashed a cataclysmic spell that destroyed her body, most of her forces, and many of Al'atls' armies, creating the jagged wastes known as Xalaxos' Teeth. Al'atl was spared the destruction, rising from the dead infused with necromantic magic. Xalaxos was defeated, but the victory was bittersweet.
To Al'atl, a debt was owed to those who died for his war, and the destructive energies that lingered blinded the souls of the dead. Al'atl eschewed the temptation of the corrupting 
magic of necromancy; instead of raising them to finish off Xalaxos' fleeing host, he guided the lost souls of the battlefield through the Gate of Mortality, a feat not even Vauldis anticipated. That day, surviving soldiers of the Dynasty described him as a godly shepherd.
Soon after, Vauldis was revealed by Takanda as the mastermind behind the near-collapse of the Dynasty and was sentenced to be executed by Al'atl himself for treason. The dark shaman fled Tansia and sailed to Kalkaross, never to be heard from again until the Sinking of Sekkar & Vauldis Rises to Lichdom centuries later.
Long Live Banzala, the Ferryman. It dawned upon Al'atl that he and Xalaxos had been manipulated by Vauldis' treachery. Al'atl posthumously pardoned Xalaxos and abdicated his throne. Much like Tahos before him, he wandered into the heart of the Tansin Wilds, disappearing forever. Some say he lived out the remainder of his days in the Tansin swampland at the jungle's heart. After his disappearance, a great Necropolis was built in the center of the swamp, and many tahosians began to send the dead in longboards down the Great Tansian River in hopes that Al'atl might guide their souls to the afterlife. In death, Al'atl was given a new name to match his deific status: 'Banzala', after his kingdom of Ban'zol.
Xalaxos also gained a following after her death. Cults that worshipped her like a deity constructed the Horns of Xalaxos at the spot of her final demise, a tall, spired temple hundreds of feet tall rising up from the searing heat of a great lake of lava.
There are many rumors regarding the fate of both Al'atl and Xalaxos, but some accounts tell of his appearance at the pinnacle of the Horns of Xalaxos, reconciling with a fiery-haired woman who resembled Xalaxos in life. Xalaxos and Banzala joined Tahos in a new pantheon of gods.
With Vauldis' treason fresh in her mind, she scrutinized every King, Queen, and elder at the Golden Table. Disloyalty was shirked in her regal presence, and a collective effort was organized to pick up the pieces left in the wake of the war. Takanda ensured that Temples were repaired, crops blossomed, and the monsoon seasons came and went. The people of the Dynasty were happy as an emerging golden age of prosperity reigned for centuries.
Omens from the South. Eventually, new peoples emerged from the south from across the Ak'tuin's Back Mountains to join the empire. These were not the Saurask. These were refugees; races of beast men who fled a growing saurask aggression across Iotia.
The tribes of the feline Sharr people, who competed with the saurask for food and territory in the Iotian Rainforest, were forced from their homelands or risk slaughter. They pleaded for aid from the Dynasty and, in her mercy, Takanda allowed them to live among them as citizens of the empire.
The Summoning of a God. Their High Chieften, Tamori, told Takanda of a gathering host of saurask tribes from across Iotia. Their shamans and druids practiced profane, savage magic and dark rituals. Tamori told of how the night skies lit up with auroras of sickly green magic, while the saurask's high priests gathered in hidden places near temples built as a geometric network across the jungle. They aimed to tear the Astral Filament asunder, all under the guidance of an ancient, green dragoness known as Verdavang, the Verdant Blight. Under her direction, the saurask secretly aimed to bring their god through the veil from the Savage Fen and into the Materium. This god was neither immortal nor divine. It was a horrific creature of myth and legend, and its name struck fear into Takanda's heart: "Taurask".
To Slumber a God. With these dire warnings, Takanda tasked her greatest sorcerer and scholar, Quetzali, with researching the nature of Taurask and the Savage Fen. Quetzali poured over ancient scrolls and texts thought to be fiction. He studied the leylines, the stars, and poured over rituals that would let him peer beyond the veil until he uncovered the realm's secrets. Taurask was a titanic creature capable of immeasurable destruction. It was a creature with an impenetrable hide, scythed claws as large as temples, and it dwarfed even the largest temples of Tec'Tahos.
As soon as this new revelation reached Takanda, she also received word that a horde of united saurask tribes far larger than that encountered during the Saurask Wars marched upon the mountain pass with their god. In desperation, she and the war-priests of the dynasty prayed to the spirits of Tahos and Banzala, her former husbands in life, to grant them strength for the coming battle. No response came.
Since no help came, Quetzali conferred with the other high priests of the empire and labored day and night to create a powerful spell that would bend reality to his whim. With but a simple word, he could wish Taurask back into its shackles behind the veil, but to send it back would require power equal to that which brought it into the world, and no such power existed beyond that which was given to the saurask by Verdavang. A series of temples and towers were secured across the Dynasty, and a geometric web of anchoring stones was established. If Quetzali could neither banish Taurask back through the veil nor kill it, then it would be put to sleep forever.
The Battle of Ak'tuin's Pass. The ritual began on the eve of battle as Quetzali watched over the battlefield. A massive army of tahosian warriors, raptor riders, pterosaur flyers, siege tyrannosaurs, and war stegosaurs awaited the immense hordes of saurask at the mountain pass, but no such force arrived. Hours went by and still, nothing came. It wasn't until a great earthquake erupted behind them from the side of the mountain that they realized they'd been flanked. Standing nearly three-hundred feet tall, after burrowing through the mountains, was the terrifying visage of Taurask in the flesh. Thousands of marauding saurask spilled forth from the massive tunnel from around its feet like a sea of scales and gnashing teeth. Worse still, joining the fray from the mountains overhead was the ancient green dragoness, Verdavang. The entire tahosian army had been out-maneuvered
The battle turned into a slaughter. While the Dynasty had the skill and tactics to weather the fighting, the Saurask had the numbers and unstoppable power of Taurask and Verdavang. Nothing could pierce Taurask's hide, and no pterosaur rider could match Verdavang in the air as her burbling gas filled the battlefield. Clouds of lightning summoned by Takanda's druids decimated the saurask's ranks, but Verdavang was quick to choke them with toxic fumes. The tide quickly turned in the favor of the saurask and their newly summoned god.
As Quetzali looked upon the battlefield, the convergence of magical power across Tansia lit up the skies in great, blue auroras. It was then that Takanda summoned the power of Earth herself, and a tremendous, titanic figure broke away from the mountains.
With the quaking of rock and the rumbling of land-slides, Takanda strode atop the shoulder of a tremendous golem of earth, vines, and stone. She descended upon Taurask with earthquakes of immense, brutal fists that caused Taurask's chitinous armor to dent and shatter. Taurask impaled the golem with his horns and slashed at rock. The battle between both titans was a spectacle to behold as the tahosian forces rallied behind Takanda, meeting the saurask head-on. The battle lasted for hours, but the combined might of Verdavang and Taurask was too much for Takanda, and the tide turned in their favor once more.
The Return of the Gods and the Slumbering of Taurask. Suddenly, magical power erupted through the sky as Quetzali was engulfed in the ritual energies of one thousand shamans that surged into his body from across Tansia. He spoke the spell's incantations, and the veil to the spirit world was split open. Three beings of light stepped onto the battlefield. Tahos, Xalaxos, and Banzala, once thought lost, appeared as gods over man, woman, and beast. The worship and praise they'd received over the centuries transformed them into powerful divine spirits. Quetzali was also changed. In the convergence of magic, his body was sundered, but his spirit was left behind, now divine in power. A great winged serpent unfurled through the skies in the shape of a snaking aurora.
As the winged serpent spirit of Quetzali uttered the second incantation, the four spirits summoned their combined power and placed a powerful curse upon Taurask.
Taurask fell as the titanic creature was put to sleep forever.
Together, the four living gods reigned supreme over the saurask, and the tahosian armies rallied behind their gods just as the saurask once did. Banzala, the Ferryman, raised the souls of the fallen to avenge their deaths. Tahos, the Spirit of Kings, lead his loyal champions to meet the saurask on the front lines, while the Tyrant-Queen, Xalaxos the Scorned, rallied her cultists and opened fissures and chasms to swallow up saurask sorcerers, and Quetzali summoned storms of raw magical power from the skies to strike at Verdavang. Takanda, the Queen of Beasts, stood by the gods and summoned scaled creatures of the jungles to devour, trample, and tear at the saurask's war-beasts while her titanic golem battled Verdavang, swatting the ancient dragoness from the air.
Victory had been assured, and the saurask fled back through the tunnel in the mountains their god had burrowed, battered, bloodied, and demoralized, while Verdavang fled to the 
Tansin Wilds.
This event in the Dynasty's history would forever be remembered by two names: the Battle of the Five Gods, and the Reign and Ascension of Takanda, and the Slumbering of Taurask. Most prominently, it would be remembered as the day the Living Gods returned to the world. While they faded from the battlefield that day, their presence remains with their people in avatar form; chosen champions of the Living Gods and conduits for their physical manifestations and power.
Temples of Titan's Rest. In the following years, five great temples were constructed around the slumbering body of Taurask to ensure the enchantment upon the titanic creature be upheld for generations to come. A great golden gate was built within Ak'tuin's Pass, and the great tunnel that the god-creature had bored through the mountain was collapsed. Forevermore this place would be known as Titan's Rest.
Soon after, Verdavang's lair was discovered within the Tansin Wilds. There she was confronted by Takanda, and as punishment for her plots against the Dynasty, Takanda turned the ancient green dragoness to stone.
Takanda saw to the resettlement of the Sharr people within the Dynasty, and established a home for them in the northern K'banni Steppes. There, they called the jungles home, naming them after their High Chieften. The Tamori Wilds became home to the arboreal community of Tarmir where the Sharr founded a new existance for themselves as part of the Tahosian Dynasty, and their people spread far and wide throughout Tansia.
Content that the Dynasty was able to look after itself, Takanda abdicated the throne. Like her husbands before her, took her staff and walked into the jungles surrounding the temple. In the years that followed, the jungle blossomed into a safe haven of rare wildlife and flora and the surrounding lands became the fertile and bountiful Garden of the Goddess. The former kingdom of Zicotl was reborn as the Temple of Takanda replaced Zicotl as its capital. Takanda eventually joined the pantheon of the Living Gods, becoming its fifth and final divine spirit.
A Society of Tradition
The dynasty has faced and weathered many threats since its founding, and for the past two thousand years, tahosian society has remained an unchanging hierarchy. Its establishments and varied cultures venerate tradition fiercely, for it is these traditions that have enabled the nation to endure for as long as it has. Though this hierarchy has been molded and adapted with the centuries to suit the needs of its people when most needed, the Dynasty's loose caste system has always formed its basis.Societal Castes from a Young Age
Hardworking farmers, fishers, and craftsmen form a working caste; the foundation, and lifeblood of the dynasty. Groups of Tahosian tribal leaders, elders, and shamans advise them what to harvest when to plant, and how to venerate their ancestors. They oversee the day-to-day lives of the average citizen with a lightly guiding hand, conducting marriage ceremonies, teaching the young, and organizing funeral rites. The dynasty is a majority warrior culture, and it is from its warrior caste which this stems from. The warrior caste finds its roots in the first tribal armies that joined Tahos' side and stood against the saurask many centuries ago.The Golden Throne, and the Golden Table
Dictating most aspects of tahosian society down to the very last detail are the scholars of the priesthood. Masters of magic and communing with the Living Gods, these respected tutors of knowledge stand upon centuries worth of accumulated knowledge. Among them as advisors are the avatars of the Living Gods, and the most renowned of these avatars have a seat on the Golden Table. These avatars advise the King or Queen and ensure his every command is carried out. The table is consulted before every battle or major decision. From the golden throne, lording over all of the Dynasty rests the Emperor or Empress. The Dynasty is an elective monarchy, and a ruler is chosen by a council of elders, shamans, Kings, and Queens of the most powerful provinces in the empire. This council is called the Golden Table, and is headed by the Emperor or Empress. It is through this system that, for the most part, civil war has been avoided throughout the Dynasty's long history. The system is not without its faults. Ambitious Kings, Queens, and elders that wish to become Emperor have been known to give away privileges, titles, and power to any man orSpirit-Magic over Mechanics
Due to its fierce adherence to tradition, the Dynasty eschews much of the dwarven technology that their Silver Kingdom neighbors to the east in Meyland export in favor of divine magic, which is often sourced from their patron deities, the Living Gods. Followers of the Living Gods wield magic of incredible power, backed by countless centuries of accumulated knowledge. Skilled weavers of these magics can traverse between planes, summon the spirits of long-dead ancestors and even entomb willing and valiant souls within golems and sentries so they may do battle alongside their descendants or continue to watch over institutions they once did in life. It is this reverence for the spirits that heavily contributes to the dynasty's culture of ancestor worship, and it is why many who revere the Living Gods place Banzala above all others. Followers of Quetzali in particular are quick learners, and have mastered the arts of the arcane and record-keeping. The war-priests of Tahos serve as powerful offensive spellcasters that bolster the ranks of the dynasty's armies. Shamans and druids of Takanda often serve the dynasty as healers and elders who gift the nation's rural communities with bountiful harvests. The dangerous and destructive shaman cults of Xalaxos are rare, and despite being justifiably mistrusted by the Dynasty's people, they have proven their place as powerful allies when the Dynasty itself is threatened.History of the Dynasty
In the distant past, as the Ak'teshi Empire drew its last breath after the War of Broken Chains, the giants were too few in number to organize resistance against the combined forces of Cairn's rebellion and Kusatta's undead hordes. Many were slain, and many more fled the Empire's territories, abandoning the crumbling empire. In the years that followed, Cairn and the rest of the Mortal Heroes migrated east to the lands that would one day become Meyland, while Kusatta was exiled to the far south-eastern reaches of the world. Many more stayed behind and picked up the pieces of a ruined civilization.Tahos and Takanda
During these trying times, a young tribal warrior named Tahos rose to prominence. Deep within the jungles around the ruins of Garheim, during a losing battle against a raiding party of saurask raptor-riders, the young warrior wrestled a wild jaguar into submission and then rode it into battle against the riders. He decimated their ranks and sent them fleeing into the jungle. A legendary bond between him and the jaguar was forged, and it heeded his every word. That day Tahos named his jaguar 'Chotl'Mirr' ('Bloodied Claw' in the local human tongue), and showed his peers that Tansia could be mastered; the beasts that once hunted them could be tamed.Tec'Tahos, the Walled City
Over five years, Tahos and Takanda directed the construction of a fortified city that could ward off attacks from the saurask. Eventually, thanks to the aid of gargantuan beasts of burden, well-trained discipline, and elemental magic once imparted to them long ago by Arator, a great fortress-city took shape upon the ruins of Garheim. Its walls were rebuilt, and while they paled to those of Garheim's during its prime, they were magnificent nonetheless, keeping the human populace safe from the marauding saurask tribes and their beasts. In honor of Tahos, the city was named Tec'Tahos ("Tahos' Bastion" in the local human tongue). The walled city of Tec'Tahos centralized power around humanity's united tribes and enabled them to project power outward.
The Saurask Wars
With the respect of every tribe shining upon him, Tahos summoned many of the great tribal elders to a great area that would one day be the Throne of Tahos and laid his case before them. He told them of the gathering saurask army in the Tansin Wilds; a looming danger that threatened their extinction. Tahos implored the tribes not to meet the saurask as they had in the past; standing apart from each other. That would only lead to their defeat and deaths. With Takanda stood by his side, Tahos called on the tribes to unite, calling it the crucible of a new nation. Tahos was chosen by the council to lead the tribes' combined armies, and Tahos' final shout of "To war!" was answered with a cheer so loud that it was heard over the mountains.Founding of a Dynasty
With the monumental victory of Ak'tuin's Pass under their belts, Tahos and Takanda werre renowned throughout the lands of Tansia as perhaps the greatest heroes to have ever graced the annals of the human tribes. All that remained was to be formally coronated. At the peak of a great temple constructed in his honor, in full view of the council of tribal chiefs, Tahos knelt before them and pledged his service to the safeguarding of Tansia. The tribal elders placed the hide of Chotl'Mirr upon Tahos' head; a mantle and artifact that would forever unite the two. Despite knowing her future path as an archdruid with a life span far greater than his, Takanda took Tahos as her husband. Both were declared the first Emperor and Empress of a new Tahosian Dynasty. Tahos' first decree was to abolish the status of 'chief' and introduce the station of 'King'. In practice, this decree reinforced the subordination of the tribal chieftains to the Emperor, but in truth, it left the powers of the former chieftains intact so they might govern their own peoples. No single man could or should govern a domain as vast as the Dynasty. Anyone who sought to rule would do so through the aid and support of their brother and sister Kings and Queens, who retained the power to remove the Emperor, as well as their heir, from power if it became obvious that the incumbent was unworthy of command. Tahos' second decree was to declare Tec'Tahos as the capital of the new Dynasty and that this council of Kings, Queens, and elders were to become the Golden Table. Kingdoms of the Dynasty. The years of Tahos' reign were a time of peace and great internal growth for the Dynasty. Tahos decreed the restoration of a number of great temple ruins that once belonged to the ancient Ak'teshi. The masons and builders of the Dynasty transformed these temples into the capitals of emerging and prosperous tribal kingdoms loyal to the greater empire.The Reign of Emperor A'latl
The gathered kings and elders were faced with a crisis: Tahos had never produced an heir nor left a will, and Takanda refused the throne; the kingdom of Zicotl needed her watchful presence. Never had anyone considered succession. Several elders, as well as Shaman-King A'latl of Ban'zol, and Xalaxos, sorcerer-queen of K'jatar and younger sister to Takanda, claimed the throne, some on the basis of skill in war or politics, while others claimed secret promises from Tahos that they were his heir. The arguments grew and the threat of civil war loomed large until a vote was suggested. Determined to avoid civil war, A'latl, Takanda, and the elders agreed and retired to deliberate, much to Xalaxos' chagrin. After three days passed amidst promises, threats, and a great many exchanges of gold, A'latl was announced as the new Emperor, and Takanda reluctantly took his hand as her new husband. A council of advisors was chosen by the new Emperor. One such advisor to A'latl was a shaman by the name of Vauldis, and Takanda felt a growing suspicion towards him while the tense relationship between A'latl and Takanda eventually warmed into friendship and then love.The Reign of Empress Takanda
In the wake of the destruction wrought by the Tahosian Civil War, Takanda was left no choice but to take up the mantle of Empress. Despite her training as a powerful druid, the responsibilities of managing an empire were alien to her and weighed heavily upon her shoulders. She was a healer and guardian of the jungles first and an Empress second, but for the betterment of the Dynasty, she would set an example.
The Battle of Ak'tuin's Pass. The ritual began on the eve of battle as Quetzali watched over the battlefield. A massive army of tahosian warriors, raptor riders, pterosaur flyers, siege tyrannosaurs, and war stegosaurs awaited the immense hordes of saurask at the mountain pass, but no such force arrived. Hours went by and still, nothing came. It wasn't until a great earthquake erupted behind them from the side of the mountain that they realized they'd been flanked. Standing nearly three-hundred feet tall, after burrowing through the mountains, was the terrifying visage of Taurask in the flesh. Thousands of marauding saurask spilled forth from the massive tunnel from around its feet like a sea of scales and gnashing teeth. Worse still, joining the fray from the mountains overhead was the ancient green dragoness, Verdavang. The entire tahosian army had been out-maneuvered
End of an Era
As the Dynasty recovered from the events of the battle, Takanda oversaw an era of peaceful prosperity in her later years. The pantheon of the Living Gods became sacred within Tahosian society. Temples and shrines to their worship graced every city and town. Priests of Banzala communed with the great spirit in person and saw to funeral rites, while priests of Tahos trained soldiers and oversaw the coronations of Emperors. A great Library of Quetzali was built above the southern cliffs of the Ak'tuin Gulf where mages and archivists studied and learned. Together, they formed the Shaman's Mantle to honor Quetzali, the great winged serpent. The temperamental cults of Xalaxos revered the scorned Queen in secret as she awaited the Dynasty's next plea for aid as they moved their Kingdom's capital to Raptor Isle, building the temple-city of Chichil at the base of the island's dormant volcano. Takanda waded her titan into a fertile basin near the Tansin Planes where its body has rested ever since. It was eventually reformed into a temple monument dedicated to her reign.The Tahosian Dynasty has since enjoyed an unparalleled period of growth and plenty, and many generations of Emperors and Empresses have taken the Golden Throne in the centuries since Takanda abdicated it, though recent centuries have seen the empire's growth slow to a crawl. The great spirit of Banzala senses that something has disturbed the balance of life and death, and the Dynasty has stagnated because of it.
"Dynasty Forever, Gods Eternal!"
Maps
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Map of Tansia
Founding Date
C. -3,400
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Alternative Names
The Kingdom that Never Dies, The Empire of Gold, The First Human Empire
Predecessor Organization
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Tahosian
Leader
Leader Title
Government System
Monarchy, Elective
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
Like most places in the world, the Tahosian Dynasty uses the standard gold standard currency system. Coins are typically square-shaped and depict visages of the Living Gods.
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Comments