Tílthoría

This article is adapted from the entry for Tílthoría in The Sâryan Encyclopedia, Cárshǒhl University Press, 22nd edition (716).

Tílthoría is a large island situated to the southeast of Vèkya, only a few days’ sail south of Quemar, making it arguably the most remote location known in the Hlorasan sphere. It has a temperate climate and overall rugged terrain, though it has several large swathes of arable land under cultivation. While not known much internationally, due to its remoteness and lack of interesting resources aside from wood, it can claim distinctiveness in its smiths’ preference for pattern-welded blades (producing a distinctive ripple- or woodgrain-like effect), Sáharían epic, and Shêlan being the first state in the region to remove gender preference in the royal inheritance (Sáharía was not far behind, and actually had a female ruler first).
Plagued by perennial warfare between its two states for the five centuries before the Fall of Sáharía, and little less in the years following, it did eventually reach a peaceful state that wasn’t simply a waiting game between the two sides. They had just enough time to partially heal over their old rifts to form a strong alliance during the “Age of Expansion”, and use diplomacy/politics to survive as an independent state throughout the colonizing period of the major Vèkyan states.

Geography

Tílthoría is defined by its mountain and hill ranges. One mountain range (usually called the Central or Dividing Mountains in the speaker's language), runs north-south through the general centre of the islands, though its peaks are mostly in the centre and south, with the northern sections becoming wooded highlands, then rolling hills to the seaside cliffs. The hills north of the Central Mountains stretch further west and east than them, forming the regions of Ároca and Bismatne.
The hills of Ároca are the more gentle of the two regions, however both the gentle and rugged hills associated with the central mountains stretch further west into Sáharía than their eastern counterparts do into Shêlan. The Árocar Hills end at the bay of Thúroshó and the mouth of the Círneia River, the largest in Tílthoría, which is the collecting point of the drainage basin of most of inland Sáharían/western Tílthoría. The Círneia's floodplain and its adjacent lowlands form the region of Géirnial. In the south, the hills descending from the Central Mountains continue along the coast without any major river cutting them in two; there is, however, a divide between the largely forested half of Sílcavón in the southeast and the bare moorlands of Sílvashó in the southwest. These rugged, treeless highlands continue on northwards, becoming the highlands of Ároásh after a narrow point, all the way to Tílthoría's north coast, where they narrow in on the bay of Thúroshó, opposite the western end of the Árocar Hills.
The Bismatne Hills connect to the Givlê Hills, which form the northern tail of the Turnash Mountains in southeastern Shêlan. The Turnash Mountains descend steeply into the sea to the east and south, but the change in elevation is more gradual to the west, creating the rugged hills of the Silfet Forest. The northern spur of these hills (usually called the Shêtama Hills, after the city on their western end) is now treeless, and stretches to the Thêret Delta and the Tarunta Bay. The Thêret, the largest river in Shêlan/eastern Tílthoría, lies in the fertile plain of Maldi, where it collects the waters draining east from the Central Mountains, south from the Bismatne Hills, and west from the Givlê Hills.
North of Turnash lies the Nalkes River and the narrow Bay of Tilerka, as well as the broader lowland region of Limkad a little further northwards. Northwest of Limkad lie the Surnat Fens and the Thirkashga Bay that it drains into. West of Surnat, north of the Bismatne Hills, is another small lowland area, separated from the basin of the fens by a low rise rather than any real range of hills, generally considered part of Bismatne, though it has also been incorporated into Surnat instead for administrative/political purposes. Northwest and north of Surnat lie the forests of Kameth and Verdush, the only large area of forest left on flat land. North of the Kameth Forest, beyond the Bay of Petshila, is the Gurthên Peninsula, which features high rugged moorland like Ároásh and Sílvashó.

Localized Phenomena

Tílthoría is part of an active tectonic zone, though the precise nature of it and its neighbour Quemar is not yet understood. Possibly they were once part of the coast of Vèkya, split off from the main landmass by back-arc spreading related to the subduction of an oceanic plate under the continental one. This would be consistent with the large amount of sedimentary rock on the north side of Tílthoría, opposite the supposed subduction zone south/southeast of the islands, but Tílthoría and Quemar don’t seem to form an island arc as might be expected.
Due to this, the region is prone to earthquakes. It has a couple of active volcanoes in the southern and central mountain ranges, and more dormant ones, which may prove to still be active—the eruption history of the region's volcanoes is poorly understood outside the last couple centuries. The coasts of Tílthoría have also been known to experience the odd tsunami, though thankfully they're very rare.

History

Prehistory (to c. -613)

Tílthoría's history is not without mystery—it was first settled thousands of years ago, presumably by the same group of humans who first reached Quemar. At any rate, the first Tílthoríans left the remains of stone structures (dubbed cairns by the Sáharíans, without much evidence) in the wooded hills in the centre, north, and southeast of the island, and presumably left similar traces in the lowlands which have since been hidden by the silts of the rivers. Springs—again predominantly in the highland areas—were also said to have held the remnants of the first settlers, in the form of metal objects, mostly of bronze, and pottery sherds. The source of the metal is puzzling, since Quemar in that period has no evidence of metallic artifacts besides meteoric iron, but Tílthoría had several deposits of native copper, so its population had a ready source of copper, if not tin (Tílthoría has only a few small tin deposits, and the ore would require smelting). It is unknown whether there really were bronze artifacts, since those deposits were thoroughly buried under later ones, as the Célibrían settlers of Tílthoría—probably correctly—interpreted the remains as offerings to the gods of the land, and followed suit in offering small valuable objects to the springs. Either those early bronzes were imported from mainland Vèkya in the murky centuries before clear historical records began in the area (and the interchange then collapsed for some reason; also somehow no imports were left in Quemar, despite that being where the currents would take most Vèkyan ships), or the first Tílthoríans independently discovered/invented bronze (without Quemar also acquiring the technology, despite their close proximity), or the objects were actually copper. It’s the sort of puzzle either solved by some chance discovery, or doomed to wait centuries more as a mystery.
The fate of the first Tílthoríans is likewise a riddle for the ages; by the time the Célibríans arrived on Tílthoría's shores, all that was left of them were the crumbling shells of stone structures and glittering fragments in the springs. The Quemar were well aware of Tílthoría's existence (their name for it was Hròdza), and while there are no contemporary records detailing what Quemari tradition held about the inhabitants of Hròdza before many years had passed and Célibrían theories had time to mix with it, there does seem to have been a belief that the land turned against its inhabitants (perhaps explaining why apparently no Quemari tried to resettle the land, despite it being far more fertile and level than their own). By the Late Sáharían period it was commonly believed by the contemporary inhabitants of Tílthoría that their predecessors had been wiped out by a plague, with any survivors migrating to Quemar. While this is a possibility, there is no particular evidence for it, and modern scholars have forwarded numerous theories for the disappearance of the first Tílthorían civilization. Perhaps the slumbering volcanoes in the south awoke at the same time as a cold period or severe, widespread flooding. Perhaps conflict and famine conspired to deliver the population a blow from which they could not recover. Perhaps Tílthoría was severely deforested by its thriving civilization (there is some evidence for this), and the associated environmental degradation made them vulnerable to the aforementioned natural disasters.
In any case, Tílthoría was uninhabited, unless by the odd group of wayward Quemari, for several centuries, until the ships of the expanding polity Célibría stumbled across it.

As a Célibrían Principality and Unified Kingdom (c. -613 to -506)

It is unclear precisely when the Célibríans reached Tílthoría, but it was presumably several years before it was declared a principality in -613, as there were already some Célibríans settled there. The action gave Tílthoría a special place in the nascent Célibrían Empire, but it didn't last long. Célibría's intention in establishing the principality was to man a stronghold far from its strengthening enemy, Hloras, and to ensure the survival of its royal dynasty. However, as they sent one prince with mostly members of the scribal class or lower, the resulting branch probably wasn't as noble as the royal family had anticipated—perhaps they didn't realize just how perilous their situation was. Hlorasan forces crossed the Kalarin Straits in -612, and the invasion occupied all of Célibría's attention and might. By the spring of -609, Célibría's four greatest generals, including the crown prince, were dead, and the king disappeared from the indefensible last city in mainland Célibría. It was said on southeastern Ghisaran Islands that he intended to sail for Tílthoría. If so, he never arrived.
By the time news that Célibría was on its last legs had arrived in Tílthoría, it was out of date—the Célibrían royal who claimed the crown in the king's absence had formally surrendered, and the nearer islands under Célibría's dominion had also capitulated or been conquered. The Principality of Célibría was uncomfortably independent, and after a decade of clinging to its old name, began to call itself the Kingdom of Tílthoría.
Though this period was a time of great importance in Célibrían/Tílthorían society, there are few concrete events that can be related. The small initial population probably helped unify the people at first, but there were tensions with the Quemari when the Célibríans attempted (semi-successfully) to convince some to join them on Tílthoría; and when their population had reached a more reassuring size (likely still only in the thousands), there are hints in the records of separatism, though again the tenuous situation seems to have kept large-scale conflict from arising.
Originally, it seems that the head of the largest family (which could cultivate the most land/graze the most livestock) in each community held the role of village leader (similar to the cáreithílvon in Sáharía a couple centuries later). In order to tackle the issue of separatism, the third king of Tílthoría, beginning in -552, ennobled the former scribal class and installed them as lords over groups of villages. This strengthened an existing loyalty, and the new nobles proved more willing to listen to the central authority. The primary factor in the plan which allowed it to work was the reliance on both the scribal class and royalty's religious roles in Célibrían society—the new Tílthoríans had left their divinities behind (aside from the sea goddess Shála, but she couldn't help with most of their concerns), and by this time religious uncertainty was running high. This seems to have been before the remnants of the first Tílthoríans had been discovered (the settlers likely choosing to remain in the lowlands and travel the distances between by sea when rivers weren't available), and the scribal class used their remaining authority to encourage faith in the king as the closest thing they had to a god. That the diminutive kingdom's military was closely controlled by the new nobles and king (partly through strategic placement far from the soldiers' home villages and extensive privileges) was likely another contributing factor.
Naturally, it was by no means a perfect solution, and there were at least two instances of communities murdering their lord and attempting to refuse further contact with the government in the -540s, however the return of news from the outside world pushed the Tílthoríans back together in the -520s. The Hlorasan Empire had begun to emulate Célibría in looking overseas for new territories in the -540s, partly in pursuit of the rumour of a continuing Célibrían state, and the -520s had brought them to Quemar, which was declared a province of the Empire in -522. After a few years to entrench themselves on Quemar, a few cursory raids, and some more years of waiting and gathering resources, a Hlorasan army made landfall on the south shore of the Bay of Petshila in the spring of -514. The areas of Gurthên and northern and western Surnat were soon overcome, and after a detour westwards to assert control over the valleys in northernmost Bismatne (at the time, the only part of that region of Tílthoría with a substantial population), the Hlorasan army began pushing southwards.
The records of that war are scarce, and almost all are very secondary sources. It was certainly a long, drawn-out process, and could be said to have continued for centuries, depending how long one judges a cessation of hostilities takes to become peace. However in Sáharían historiography the first invasion is said to have ended in -506. The Tílthoríans in the west of the country had managed to keep the Hlorasans on the far side of the mountains and wooded hills in central Tílthoría, with the benefit of rugged shores hindering an attack by sea. The east was not so lucky, and aside from a few resolute communities in the mountain valleys of Turnash, fell into Hlorasan control. The benchmark that the Sáharíans placed at this juncture was the acceptance of this. The king, Édhrun, declared Tílthoría broken (or dead, though later key historians preferred the former for ideological reasons), and renamed his portion of the island Sáharía—the "Free Land". The eastern half was termed Fúsharía ("Enslaved Land") by the Sáharíans, and Shêlan by its conquerors.
Thus was Tílthoría divided.

Sáharía and Hlorasan Shêlan (-506 to c. -255)

The remnant state and new province settled down to a state of low-level, endless warfare, mostly by conducting raids against each other's territory through the forests of Ároca and Bismatne, though the Hlorasans also made the odd naval assault on Sáharía's developing ports. These were never large battles—neither side had much more than a few thousand soldiers, and between illnesses, other duties, and distribution (especially in Shêlan), no more than a few hundred would be available for a given battle. The early kings of Sáharía, and likewise the first governors of Shêlan, were primarily war leaders, spending much of their time near the nebulous border and often fighting in person.
There are few detailed records from this period, the greatest source being the Sáharían traditional epics. These contained the defining story of each king, and so a few details about their early kings survived into later periods when they were written down into histories. So we know that in the -460s Sáharíans felt secure enough for a minor civil war when the usurper Éonún died in -464 (in battle, like many early kings), between a potential new king and Éonún's predecessor, Galnún (who was victorious in -462). There was another internal conflict after King Fónun's death in -426, with the ensuing strife lasting until Líshun's ascension in -423.
Shêlan has no comparable source (only a couple letters sent by a governor to the Hlorasan emperor have survived), however archaeology provides some evidence for broader events. While the material culture of average Shêlanians (or Fúsharíans, as they were called by the Sáharíans at the time) remained quite similar to Tílthorían pottery/metalwork/etc. for several decades, it did eventually begin to adopt Hlorasan motifs, helped by a rapid shift likely connected to the -469 policy change of accepting Célibrían Shêlanians into the Hlorasan army on Tílthoría. Still, it would only be in the mid -300s onward that the division between Hlorasans and Fúsharíans began to break down.
The increased activity in the inner and highland regions of Tílthoría allowed for the rediscovery of the first Tílthoríans' traces. These seized upon the imaginations of the Sáharíans, who took them as proof there were some kind of supernatural entities present (later Sáharían thought postulated that the ghosts of the last Tílthoríans had gone without human contact for so long that they had become sundered from humanity and transformed into spirits—an intermediate form between ghosts and gods), and provided the second basis for Sáharían religious beliefs. A similar belief system, either wholly or partly developed from Hlorasan beliefs, provided the foundation for Shêlanian religion, which was dominated by minor nature deities.
As Shêlan developed as a remote province in an expanding empire, and as a mixed society with a slowly merging Hlorasan overclass and Fúsharían underclass (though the governor remained a Hlorasan born overseas, for now), Sáharía also underwent changes. It too experienced a continued gradual population increase, and underwent societal shifts associated with the growth and normalization of the state of the land. The first clear signs of this shift's effect on the kingship (the best documented facet of Sáharían society), came during the reign of Líshun's nephew, Dhóshun. Though a formidable warrior in his youth (as to be expected from the Warrior Kings of the Early Sáharían period), Dhóshun lived long enough to step away from the front lines (before him, only Galnún had survived into his fifties, and Galnún, possibly due to losing the crown for five years, retained a very active role until his death). Dhóshun's successor, Náhenun, after spending the first years of his reign fighting in the traditional fashion, likewise adopted a behind-the-lines guiding approach, and while this became an accepted role for the king and generals, it remained common for a king, especially a youthful one, to fight in battle.
By that time (c. -370s onwards), the focus of the Sáharían-Hlorasan War began shifting towards the sea. Náhenun began the building of warships to intercept Hlorasan vessels before they made landfall on Sáharían shores, and his successor Ánun used Sáharía's nascent navy to add another theatre to the war, going so far as to attack Hlorasan vessels journeying between Shêlan and Quemar or the mainland. The Hlorasans, still dissuaded from expending too many resources against Sáharía (given the risky sea voyage and lack of reward), responded by increasing their naval presence, launching an escalation which prevented a swift return to the prior status quo. While Ánun had not intended to shift the focus away from the border wars, that was what happened, and this switch to waging war on the south and north coasts had an unforeseen consequence.
When Ánun died, his two sons were in opposite ends of the country, and both declared himself king. While they lived, this does not seem to have posed any problems to the unity of Sáharía—they simply divided Sáharía into two taxation regions, and focussed on fighting the enemy. From Ánun's death in -362 (also marking the transition from the Warrior Kings to the Ship Kings), past the northern king's death in -349 and his son's ascension to the northern throne, Sáharía remained at peace. When the southern king died and was succeeded by his son (-347), however, at a time when Hlorasan pressure was low, the new southern king declared his cousin a rebel, announced that he would not be able to focus on the war against the Hlorasans until he had said cousin's head on a pike, and launched a war against the northern kingdom, cementing that Sáharía was a state divided (marking the end of the Early Sáharían period and beginning of the Middle Sáharían one).
Although the south was able to take control of much of Géirnial and inland Ároca, Ároásh and the northern capital Thúroshó remained independent. The North and South continued their conflict, though they consistently abandoned fighting each other when the governor in Shêlan attempted to take advantage of Sáharía's disunity. The North lost ground again in the -310s and 00s, but it persisted, despite lacking a fully legitimate dynasty by that point (they were descended from the Sáharían royal family matrilineally, which failed to fulfill Édhrun's Law) and Sáharíans having quite the complex about their kings and hereditary.
However, a major change to the status quo was on the horizon. By the -260s and 50s the Hlorasan Empire was showing cracks. Shêlan had been receiving less and less material support from the mainland, relying increasingly on its own resources and population to carry on the war against Sáharía, and this together with the melding of the Hlorasan and Fúsharían populations, the appointment of several Shêlan-born governors starting in the -340s (including ones of partial Fúsharían ancestry in the -320s), began pulling Shêlan away from the Empire. Lack of concern about Shêlan led Hloras to appoint several governors due to blood relationships with the last one in the -270s, and when a governor died in -257, his son began styling himself the governor and took possession of the governor's seal, with the agreement of most of the Shêlanian military, but without the authorization of the Hlorasan government. Lacking the resources and inclinations to reassert control over the Shêlanian governorship, which was still sending reports and taxes, Hloras let Shêlan and its self-appointed governor be.
With Shêlan preoccupied with its somewhat risky move, southern Sáharía finally brought down its northern counterpart. Though this occurred in the tail end of Sílnun's reign, the campaign was led by his heir Suthéun, who gained de facto control over South Sáharía's military when the elderly Sílnun retired from the field in -258. Suthéun captured Thúroshó in either -256 or -255, however the northern kingdom survived in the moorlands of Ároásh until -253, when Suthéun wiped out everyone descended from the North's royal family (probably a few hundred people), a move considered somewhat controversial even in the South. Despite the dissatisfaction with Suthéun in the northern regions (folk tales describing Suthéun as more deadly to northerners than any Shêlanian were told for centuries afterwards), Sáharía was unified in the face of renewed attack from Shêlan, as the new governor sought to assuage any fears the Hlorasan government might have of his actions.

Sáharía and Independent Shêlan (c. -255 to 0)

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Vúlnoría and Independent Shêlan (0 to 217)

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The Tílthorían Alliance (217 to 462)

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Rǒzorya (462 to Present)

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Alternative Name(s)

Tiltheri, Hròdza, Tirzüri

Type

Island

Included Locations

• Béana
• Cárshaló
• The Vúlsithórn
• Thúroshó

Related Myths

• Gólta, or Sáharían Sirens

Etymology and Variants:
Tílthoría is the Sáharían form of the Middle Célibrían name for the island, meaning "New Land". The Shêlanian name, Tiltheri is that language's development from the same source, an intermediate form of which was borrowed into Hlorasan as Tirzüri. The Quemari version of this slightly different: Tirzeri.
The origin of the native Quemari name, Hròdza, is unknown. In Hlorasan this becomes Ròdzò, while in Shêlanian it is usually turned into Redze (sometimes spelt Redse), though some writers attempted to retain the voiceless r by adding an s or "dead h" to the beginning of the word. Writing the word with its Quemari spelling also resulted in the oft-disparaged variant Hledze. The Quemari name is used even less often in Sáharían, but when it is, it's usually represented as Rótesó (in the Thúroshór dialect, Ródza).
Later, Sáharíans and Shêlanians began to prefer the Quemari name to the Célibrían-derived one, due to political/colonialist issues. In the Vúlnorían language, Hròdza was combined with the Sáharían suffix ría/place to arrive at a new form of the name: Rodzorya (later Rǒzorya).