Aryiure's History

[Detomah]

0 - 2958 TS, Aryiure's unrecorded history

The time of Legends
Most of the Aryiure cultures believe that a great worldwide disaster occurred over 3000 years ago and was known as "The Great Sundering". This event is also found in the oral histories and tales of cultures outside of the island.

Some believe this event destroyed the world, known as "Adelon" (named from remnant documents) and from its remains, "Adellion", which means Adelon re-born, took form. Others believe that the event known as the Sundering, was what shaped the world out of the void and that there was nothing that came before it. Many tales and myths speak of plains rising into mountains, mountains falling into oceans, and death, destruction, fire, and flames from the sky. Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and every other form of misery conceived by man have been described as part of the Sundering. All cultures agree that the Sundering caused only a select few to survive. Few records exist of the early survivors, but their ancestors still inhabit the lands today.

All that is known of the period following the Great Sundering has been passed down through the generations in the form of epic poems, songs and tales and make up the oral history of the cultures. Writing was unknown to the inhabitants of Aryiure at this time but the tales are vivid and exciting. They tell of the cultures, which evolved their own distinct beliefs and customs throughout the centuries within the varied regions of the island.

One story believed to be one of the oldest known today comes from the Drulon culture and tells of ancestors to the Drulons, who explored an up until then, uninhabited swamp. There, an ancient temple was discovered and in the ruins of this temple, the city of Waerrn was founded.

A few similar stories and songs tell of how leaders emerged to form more or less stable communities in many parts of Aryiure. The most notable of these were Surric of the Sakoians who united the peoples of the desert and founded Sakril, Llecilia of the Dalmites who united the forest-dwellers, and Gizzran the Taran, a respected war-lord among those that lived in the mountains to the west.

In addition to tales, songs and outdrawn lays, there are also a few prophecies that have survived the test of time. In particular, three main prophets appeared in the lands, Alkshem, Bakwere, and Ulinore. Two of the three, Alkshem and Ulinore, rose in fame because they predicted rosy futures for the island. Bakwere was not as accepted for his words were harsh. As the fame of the prophets grew, many claimed to be prophets themselves, sent by all manners of deities.

As, the prophecies began spreading across Aryiure, and the different gods, beliefs and forms of worship become indoctrinated into the various cultures, affecting their day to day activities.

This religious uprising brings "prophetic advisors" to each corner of Aryiure and although at first, the leaders resented their presence, the prophets have great influence over the people. Prophets rose by the thousands, some calling themselves the "Speakers", in that they claim to be spokesmen for the "otherworld" and what is to come. Eventually rulers became more open to the prophets, as they use flattery, praise, and promises of glory to gain influence over leaders.

An example of the religious fervour apparent at this time has been immortalised in a famous Taran legend. According to the story, hundreds of Tarans threw themselves into the gap of Mount Vrol, claiming the prophecies had foretold this to be. Unfortunately, their deaths appear to be unnoticed by the gods since they had no apparent affect on the future.

One of the prophecies attributed to the shunned prophet, Bakwere, foretold of a great quake, which would occur in the Ocean of Storms. Even as the Ocean of Storms literally tore open and swallowed Sakoian ships, many of the nations were too proud to give the great prophet credit for his prophecy. Sakoian songs tell of how the wooden boats were crushed like dried leaves. Sailing at sea became an almost forgotten practice in Aryiure as the chaotic storms lasted for several centuries. Even after the storms mysteriously calmed, a giant whirlpool was rumoured to still exist. This whirlpool, known to seafaring cultures in Aryiure and abroad as Caebrylla, or "Mouth of the Gods" has always been spoken of with great fear. Most recently by Aethan sailors who experienced the dark pull of its currents while exploring south of Aryiure.

After the great quake, hundreds more Tarans leapt into Mount Vrol to prevent Vrol from anger. Vrol was pleased with the sacrifice and granted the Tarans a bountiful harvest; three times their normal yield.

Another important prophecy foretold among the Dalmites predicted that within 200 years, the world would fall into a colossal battle due to the arrival of a New Kingdom. The prophecy later became known as, "The Prophecy of the Nine Kings" because it foretold of Nine Kings who would arise to bring destruction to Aryiure. While similar prophecies had been heard all over Aryiure many at the time were startled by its strange details.

If the rise of the prophets was sudden their fall was even more spectacular. Many of the later tales and songs focused on the prophets and their downfall. In these tales, competing prophets urged rulers to make war upon each other, in hopes of gaining more power and prestige from the spoils. After several fierce, bloody, unresolved battles, the rulers noted the destruction to their lands, the loss of their people, the failure of the prophecies, and a growing dissent between the prophets in their nations.

As a result prophets were stripped of their titles and thrown from their homes. Many highly placed prophets were executed in their sleep. The remaining prophets responded by rallying the people against their leaders, ranting of corruption and ambivalence toward the problems of the people. Eventually rulers outlawed all prophecy, and offered gold for the prophets, dead or alive. Prophets loyal to the predictions of Alkshem and Ulinore united under the banner of "The True Sight" and encouraged rebels from the kingdoms to join them in the mountains. Prophets who did not escape were deemed unworthy and eventually hunted down and murdered by authorities.

As the rulers banded together to destroy the Prophets of True Sight, Bakwere mysteriously reappeared, centuries after his supposed death. But his words of warning were drowned in the roar of the mobs and, mistaken for one of the rebels, he was murdered. Thus, the one accurate prophet was slain.

People living along the coast tell tales of strange boats carrying tall men from the north whom come to plunder the villages. These men spoke a strange language and brought great destruction to the coastal areas. They also captured many people, taking them away as prisoners on their large vessels. Several years later, the strange boats reappeared in greater numbers, plundering and pillaging all settlements near the coastline of Aryiure. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people die defending their lives and villages, instilling a fear of these northern savages that in some areas still exist today. A third, much smaller attack, occurred during a later period after a violent storm, but Aryiurans had united and were prepared this time. They were successful in fighting off the strangers, and even captured some of their ships. The strange men, who called themselves Rhallyns, seemed to gain respect for the peoples of Aryiure after their defeat. Ballads and laments, which tell of the great sacrifice of the clans who fought the Rhallyns and their years of recovery, are common in seafaring towns.

Many decades later, strange ships were again seen on the horizon, but these were carrying a new people to the island. Unlike the earlier ships, which were filled with warriors only, these ships carried women, children, livestock and a new people to the island. Their ways differed substantially from the people of Aryiure and they claimed to have migrated from the continent of Ellkana, inhabited by ancestors of the Merussans. They had come searching for freedom, as a corrupt ruler had taken control of their land. Led by a man called Salan, they became known as the Salanians to the other peoples of Aryiure.

After arriving on the island, the Salanians claimed a vast part of the grasslands of the island held by the native Aryiurans, as their own. They allied with one of the native tribes, eventually occupying the fertile plains of the east. A massive walled city was constructed, and it survives to this day as Salandorf.

Through diplomacy, or if that failed, through force and superior knowledge, the Salan settlers managed to remove any hostile native clans from the surrounding land. This caused "Sala" to grow quickly.

Having united many of the isolated tribes of Aryiure, a number of Salanians left the plains to venture into the swamps where they exchanged diplomats and religious emissaries with the Drulons. However, tensions arose between the two cultures when Salanian missionaries proclaim the sacred writings at Waerrn to be false and a heresy to their religion.

As the missionaries, villages around the borders of the swamp began converting to the Adelonic religion, which is practised by the Salanians, the angered Drulon leader, Suva-Tovari Ytthic sent military backed inquisitors into border villages to root out the corruption of beliefs. The villages of Semby and Ferrig were destroyed and several dozen people executed after a small rebellion that ensued.

Eventually, several villages outside the swamp declared independence from Drul and gained the military backing of Sala to protect them. After several years of failed negotiations with the Salanians, Suva-Tovari Gadri II declared a War of Purification. The war was short and brutal, resulting in several more burned villages and towns, including one in Sala. Any Salanians were both captured and put to death by the Drulons, only a few managed to escape and flee from the lands surrounding the great swamp. Gadri erected fortified outposts along the Drulon kingdom’s borders and decreed that all Salanians were to be killed on site.

This signalled the start of fifty years of fighting, which spread across Aryiure. The time of the Dalmite prophecy of the Nine Kings had been reached. Sala was the prophesised New Kingdom, and a threat to the continued existence of the other cultures.

With each kingdom at the height of its power and religious fanaticism on the rise due to a rebirth of interest in the old prophecies, most peoples believed it was time to show the other nations that theirs was the true religion. Only when their god had defeated all other gods would the prophecies of the other cultures be revealed as sham and heresy. Drulons fought with Salanians, Salanians fought with Dalmites, Dalmites fought with Tarans and Tarans fought with Sakoians and Salanians. Soon the cultures were all engaged in a brutal war of attrition. Other, smaller cultures and independent clans, that existed before this time were exterminated during the contest of these larger forces.

Thousands were killed as the war was fought on the continent, razing nearly every city to the ground. In the end, it proved nothing. The gods had abandoned all during their time of need. The prophecy, which had promised them the riches of the world, brought only a land littered with thousands of the slain, the maimed and savage bitter memories. After the war, many of the new prophets were hunted down and slain throughout the lands of Aryiure. A few escaped and went into hiding. This period later became known as the Time of Slaying.

Amazingly, in the carnage that remained, a manuscript, supposedly written by Bakwere was found. It contained entries for all the events that had come to pass. The final entry stated, "And so those who had prophesised of power and riches were slain, and their blood was not mourned by men. Their own self-deceptions had killed them, as their false title, "prophet", was their death sentence."

The Remembered Era

2958 - 3200 TS, Aryiure's written history
The Remembered Era

2958 TS
Many kingdoms turn to science believing that science will separate them and advance them above their rivals. The War of the Nine King's helped the knowledge that the Salanians brought with them from abroad spread all over Aryiure. This included such skills and technology as literacy and metallurgy. A Salanian historian, Jonril, combines the ancient Merussan history and Ellkanan history with the oral history of various Aryiure tribes and Bakwere's manuscript to recreate a history of the island. While much of the oral history did not contain dates and it varied greatly between the cultures, an interpretation of history, which is still accepted today, was formed.

In order to prevent another war, a neutral city was founded where all the people of Aryiure would be welcome. Erected on the site of some of the bloodiest battles, the city Caeril prospers, the neutral area surrounding it comes to be known as the Bloodlands.

2959 - 2981 TS
Trade between the cultures begins to evolve as they rebuild all that was destroyed in the War. Sakoians, Salanians and Tarans in particular develop good trade relations, while the Dalmites and Drulons isolate themselves within their perspective environments.

2963 TS
A final document proclaiming the peace after the war of the Nine Kings is agreed upon and the borders of each Kingdom are settled.

3096 TS
Salanian traders begin to open up relations with the small Dalmite settlements in the north. Although trade between the two nations is still limited to local areas, the increase in the flow of products through the forests profoundly affects the way of life for the northern Dalmites. They are suddenly exposed to the outside world.

3096 - 3112 TS
Due to disbelief and what they see as growing corruption within Sala, a group of Salanians, calling themselves Tars, break away from following the beliefs of Adell. Instead they choose to follow the Taran god known as Vrol. Fleeing Sala, they settle in western lands in the area controlled by clan Belath. In honour of their believed heritage, they lose their Salanian identity, calling themselves Tarans. But they are only partly welcomed by other Taran clans and still maintain friendly relations with Sala. Clan Belath grows stronger, due to the new influx of people.

3112 TS
Conre Aiolen joins the High Council and helps rule over the Salanian people. He takes his place in the great city of Salandorf and helps to open relations between Salanians and Dalmites.

3121 TS
Conre Aiolen and Ela Aiolen have a son. He is named Rentholne Aiolen and is designated as the successor for Conre and carries on the family name of Aiolen.

3154 TS
A tragedy in Caeril involving Salanian guards, a band of Dalmites and delegates from various Taran clans results in the loss of several lives. As a result, relations between Sala and Taran clans deteriorate further. Even clan Belath ends their former openness towards Sala.

3169 TS
Conre Aiolen and his wife Ela Aiolen are brutally murdered. Various quarters of Salandorf immediately became uneasy. Rentholne manages to stomp out the beginnings of a rebellion, earning him immense favour with the populace and the High Council.

3169 TS
Rentholne Aiolen is voted into position in High Council of Salandorf. During this same year, his wife Ylirae Aiolen gives birth to a son. He is named Mahatar.

3172 TS
Pirates from the South attack and raid Sakoian coastal areas, capturing many as slaves.

3174 TS
Rentholne Aiolen and Ylirae Aiolen have another son and he is named Rahkzan.

3174 TS
A larger force of pirates attack and raid many coastal areas of Aryiure. They take more slaves but some manage to escape and tell stories about the Kingdom of Aetha, an archipelago of islands far to the Southeast of Aryiure.

3175 TS
Aethans establish colony on an island, which starts a limited amount of trading with the various cultures of Aryiure.

3186 TS
The Surric of Sakoia dies without an heir and a search for a new heir begins.

3189 TS
In the great Tournament of Edohein's Blade, Mahatar bests his brother Rahkzan. This ousts Rahkzan's chances of becoming a man of power on the High Council of Salandorf. Rahkzan vows revenge and departs under the cover of dawn. He flees to the Taran lands and finds refuge in the city of Adokon.

Also this year, at the age of 18, Aelen becomes the new Teila of the Dalmites.

3189 - 3196 TS
Inspired by his new friends in Adokon, Rahkzan journeys across Taran lands claiming to be the son of Vrol and manages to unite almost all of the Taran lands under one banner, renaming the lands Tariana. Those that choose to follow him call themselves Tarians and start to prepare for a war against Sala. In Sala these events are looked upon with great sadness, but Salanians have no choice but to start preparing for a great conflict.

3194 TS
Strange coloured lights are seen in a series of successive nights. Most of Adellion is able to see these northern lights. For some, they say it was a shimmering portal in the night sky, as if the gods opened the stars to look out. Others see it as a sign of forthcoming prosperity. Other rumours circulating are that the northerners are experimenting with something that changes the weather. The people of Aryiure are amazed at this event and it later becomes known as the Time of Lights.

In the swamps of Drulon, Tovari Nalor ascends to the sun throne and takes the mantle of Suva.

3196 TS
Rahkzan and his western armies march through the Dalmite forests and penetrate them, slaughtering anything that is in their way. They hope to be able to attack the city of Salandorf at its weakest point, but the Dalmites slow their path through the forest so much that the Salanians are able to prepare for their coming. A bloody battle is fought, but the Salanians are victorious and route Rahkzan back to his lands in the west. Thousands of lives are lost and only a few of the warriors that fought remain to tell the tale of the horrors seen. This battle is later known as "The Battle of Crimson Field". Before the main battle, the populace of the Bloodlands town of Ackair near Sala's boarder fought with Sala against the Tarians, but the town was completely destroyed by the Tarian forces whose path crossed through there more than once. Ackair is still in ruins and without inhabitants.

Though the Tarians lost the battle, high self-esteem along with their motivation to crush Sala makes them likely to initiate further conflicts. Rentholne Aiolen is among those that fell in the battle and Mahatar Aiolen was wounded.

3197 TS
The Sakoians find a new Surric after a long search.

More Aethans arrive in their island colony and one known as Yankris Paedlo emerges as something of a leader.

Dalmites and Salanians sign a treaty known as the Dalmite Accords, due to the eminent threat from the West.

3197 - 3199 TS
The battle left Sala’s government in disarray. Mahatar revived to an extent and during 3198 TS and early 3199 TS, he managed the business of government, but then the hot weather of Greawin became too much for him. Despite all his physicians' efforts, he died within a few days. His last act was a message of love to his estranged brother. Leadership of the High Council passed to Sir Malcym Crydee, Mahatar’s Minister of Trade.

The Sakoians finally find a new Surric to lead them.

3199 TS
Storms start to form around Caebrylla. Many fear that they will become as severe and treacherous as the century-long storms regaled in old tales. The rumours that the northerners were experimenting with the weather during the Time of Lights now reappear, stronger than ever.

The Sakoians discover the Surric is a fraud and a new Surric is placed on the throne.

3200 TS
Present day.