Tec'Tahos

Construction beginning/end

In the years that followed the War of Broken Chains, 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.   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.   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.   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.   Over five years, Tahos and Takanda made plans to construct 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.