A History of Alethkar: Common knowledge
In the days before The Recreance, humanity was cast into Roshar by the Voidbringers. For years, the people of Roshar would be plagued by Desolations, where the Voidbringers would attack the humanity in an attempt at total extinction. With each desolation, The Knights Radiant would appear to protect humanity, and recruit others to their cause, granting them great power. This came to an end with the Last Desolation, which ended in 0 EOS after the Knights Radiant betrayed humanity and abandoned Roshar. This would become known as The Recreance.
Very little is known about the time between 0 and 200 EOS due to the Hierocracy (see below for details), however 200 EOS is very important for Alethi lore, as it the time where the Sunmaker united Alethkar. This information survived through the Hierocracy, because it was information well known by the common people, thus legend and cultural awareness of The Sunmaker kept this history alive. The Sunmaker, named Torran Alethin, was the first king to unite Alethkar under one monarchs rule, and his family would rule Allethkar for 200 years until the Hierocracy began their take over of Roshar. In the years between 200 and 400, a number of discoveries were made which survived the Hierocracy. The first is the discovery of soulcasting in 300 EOS. Unless you're an ardent, little is known about the true nature of soulcasting, even by most light eyes, it is known that soulcasters are able to create substances from other substances (the most common being turning rock into wheat) which is very useful to prevent famine (though food made from soulcasting has a bland, false taste). The other discovery is the discovery of fabriels in 325 EOS. Fabriels are special devices that absorbed the light given off from Highstorms (called stormlight) and do a specific tasks (the most common is a fabriel being used for heating).
Around 390-385 EOS, The Vorin church began a campaign of destabilizing governments around Roshar. In 400 EOS, The Vorin Church was able to shatter united Alethkar, and toppled the rulers of Jah Keved, Veden, Kharbranth, and Herdaz. This would begin the rule of the Hierocracy, the control of Roshar by the Vorin church where ardents and their army began conquering territory, and strictly regulating culture, history, and thought in Roshar. As mentioned above, this affected the written record of Roshar, as the church destroyed all written texts that didn't agree with the Hierocracy or paint the Vorin Church in a positive light.
However, in 405 EOS, The deposed High Lords of Alethkar initiated the War of Loss, in which they attacked the Vorin church and the Hierocracy, assassinating as many top leaders as possible, while using guerrilla tactics to weaken the Vorin army. From there, the High Lords united their armies and fought a string of battles for 5 years against the church, ending in the Hierocracy's surrender, and the execution of its leaders. This lead to a change in the Vorin church, forbidding military training and armament of ardents, save those who are part of the Knights of the Ardentia, who are directly controlled by lords & high lords instead of the church.
After the Alethi defeated the Vorin church, they attempted to lay claim to the entire continent of Roshar. However, In short succession Jah Keved and Herdaz quickly separated from Alethkar to form their own independent states. Although it took much more time, Veden also declared independence from Alethkar after a lengthy (and costly) war in 500 EOS.
After that, the mainland of Roshar began a time of silence. Throughout the intervening years, Alethkar's history is marked by almost constant internal wars between High Lord territories, and within their own houses. Battles were fought, land was disputed over, but otherwise life remained more or less the same. Each Territory was separate from the other, but they still considered themselves one whole Alethkar.
In 1157 EOS, Gavilar Kholin (the once High Lord of Kholin) began a campaign to once again fully unite Alethkar under his rule as king. Claiming to be a descendant of the Sunmaker, he used both diplomacy as well as military to convince High Lords to submit to his rule. However, in 1167 EOS, as Gavilar was close to achieving his ultimate goal, he was assassinated by the Assassin in White. This was a huge tragedy for the people of House Kholin's territory, as Gavilar was well known as a good man and just leader. This has lead to the current year.
Very little is known about the time between 0 and 200 EOS due to the Hierocracy (see below for details), however 200 EOS is very important for Alethi lore, as it the time where the Sunmaker united Alethkar. This information survived through the Hierocracy, because it was information well known by the common people, thus legend and cultural awareness of The Sunmaker kept this history alive. The Sunmaker, named Torran Alethin, was the first king to unite Alethkar under one monarchs rule, and his family would rule Allethkar for 200 years until the Hierocracy began their take over of Roshar. In the years between 200 and 400, a number of discoveries were made which survived the Hierocracy. The first is the discovery of soulcasting in 300 EOS. Unless you're an ardent, little is known about the true nature of soulcasting, even by most light eyes, it is known that soulcasters are able to create substances from other substances (the most common being turning rock into wheat) which is very useful to prevent famine (though food made from soulcasting has a bland, false taste). The other discovery is the discovery of fabriels in 325 EOS. Fabriels are special devices that absorbed the light given off from Highstorms (called stormlight) and do a specific tasks (the most common is a fabriel being used for heating).
Around 390-385 EOS, The Vorin church began a campaign of destabilizing governments around Roshar. In 400 EOS, The Vorin Church was able to shatter united Alethkar, and toppled the rulers of Jah Keved, Veden, Kharbranth, and Herdaz. This would begin the rule of the Hierocracy, the control of Roshar by the Vorin church where ardents and their army began conquering territory, and strictly regulating culture, history, and thought in Roshar. As mentioned above, this affected the written record of Roshar, as the church destroyed all written texts that didn't agree with the Hierocracy or paint the Vorin Church in a positive light.
However, in 405 EOS, The deposed High Lords of Alethkar initiated the War of Loss, in which they attacked the Vorin church and the Hierocracy, assassinating as many top leaders as possible, while using guerrilla tactics to weaken the Vorin army. From there, the High Lords united their armies and fought a string of battles for 5 years against the church, ending in the Hierocracy's surrender, and the execution of its leaders. This lead to a change in the Vorin church, forbidding military training and armament of ardents, save those who are part of the Knights of the Ardentia, who are directly controlled by lords & high lords instead of the church.
After the Alethi defeated the Vorin church, they attempted to lay claim to the entire continent of Roshar. However, In short succession Jah Keved and Herdaz quickly separated from Alethkar to form their own independent states. Although it took much more time, Veden also declared independence from Alethkar after a lengthy (and costly) war in 500 EOS.
After that, the mainland of Roshar began a time of silence. Throughout the intervening years, Alethkar's history is marked by almost constant internal wars between High Lord territories, and within their own houses. Battles were fought, land was disputed over, but otherwise life remained more or less the same. Each Territory was separate from the other, but they still considered themselves one whole Alethkar.
In 1157 EOS, Gavilar Kholin (the once High Lord of Kholin) began a campaign to once again fully unite Alethkar under his rule as king. Claiming to be a descendant of the Sunmaker, he used both diplomacy as well as military to convince High Lords to submit to his rule. However, in 1167 EOS, as Gavilar was close to achieving his ultimate goal, he was assassinated by the Assassin in White. This was a huge tragedy for the people of House Kholin's territory, as Gavilar was well known as a good man and just leader. This has lead to the current year.
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