Čimthuz Oveřina III: The Common Years: view article

Settling Down and Setting Up
The first year following the Raising of Tiranak was primarily spent roaming the mortal lands in search of a permanent settlement. The fleet of ships eventually found river that cut into the middle of the continent, and this is where many ships diverged. Most of those carrying the esodfalum decided to continue north in search of their ancient settlements from before the Night War that they knew were rumored to be in the northeast corner. Some esodfalum decided to settle at the mouth of the river; eventually these groups would gradually move north and settle the coastal regions of both Oveřin and Erkalja.

The ships that carried the humans and esodotizum followed the river inland until they rounded a bend and found themselves at the southern end of a giant lake. On the western shore was a forest - the same ancient forest that the esodotizum used to inhabit. In the far distance an unbroken chain of incomprehensibly large mountains rose as a backdrop, their peaks covered in snow. The esodotizum decided to continue sailing into the forest, which they named Telsun Amsent, The Protected Forest. This name comes from the mountain range that encompasses it, the Ljřetum Amsent, The Protected Mountains, so called for their role during the Night War. The Lilac Elves expanded throughout the forest for a number of years and decided to build a secretive capital city at the base of the Ljřetum Amsent on the edge of the forest. This spot was chosen due to the massive monument to Tar Sighepusam that towered over from the mountain above and the visible ruins of an ancient, pre-Night War city that they assumed came from their ancestors. The esodotizum refuse to tell other groups their name for the city, so humans simply call it Zol Dhumygham, the city of secrets.

Humans decided to start their settlement on the land across the lake from the Telsun Amsent, right where the river bent into the larger body of water. There was a very small number of esodotizum who also settled in that area. Over the initial years, small groups of humans slowly spread out over the vast plains to the southeast of their new city and founded new settlements.

In 30 G.O., a diplomatic party of humans travelled west into the forest on a mission to establish a trade agreement with the esodotizum. Their elven counterparts rejected formal interactions between the budding societies, and instead allowed humans from Zol Oveřin to collect resources from the eastern edge of the forest, provided they did not disturb the elven communities within and that they did not delve too deeply into the woods. Thus, humans began hunting and obtaining lumber.

In the same year, humans began traveling to the mountains in order to begin mining to build more stable buildings and also to use as trade items with the esodfalum on the shores in exchange for fish and wheat from the fields. Multiple mining sites were set up in the northern and southern ends of the mountain range, and roads were constructed that connected these sites back to Zol Oveřin.

About a year after the mines had been established, humans who worked in or traveled to those sites were found dead and pale with all their blood removed from their bodies. The citizens of Zol Oveřin were unsettled, but over the next few years they found and discovered multiple more sites in the Ljřetum Amsent. In all of these sites, humans were found mysteriously dead after a few months. Thus, while the elves continued to refer to the range as the Guarded Mountains, the humans developed a new title: Fyčorum Amfaz, the Cursed Rocks. Over time these deaths became mythologized and there were rumors of a long-forgotten people who had stayed under the mountains after the Night War and had gone millennia without seeing sunlight, and thus when they came across strange peoples in the mountains, they murdered them and drank their blood. These were simply tales, though, as no creature or bastardized human was ever seen in the flesh.

In 40 G.O. the Council of Oveřin was officially established as the governing body of the settlement of Oveřin. Five members were elected on a rotating basis: each year a new member would be elected as one member's five year term expired, thus guaranteeing that 4/5ths of the council had worked together at least one full year. This was done to ensure continuity of policy. The members were elected by the community elders, a group of the oldest citizens of Oveřin who were revered for their spiritual wisdom. All policy, however, came from the Council.

Recognizing that they couldn't survive by trading lumber and meat forever, the first Council action was to send an exploratory party up north to a different mountain range in hopes of establishing more permanent mines that resulted in less death. A new city under the direct control of Zol Oveřin was established on the southern shore of the Great Northern Sea (Telodh Thěňa), and this new outpost gave humans a more direct connection to the distant mountain range, called Ljřetěpum or "Little Mountains." The outpost would eventually come to have the name Hezug Apama, "Twin of the West" given that it was directly across the water from the future city that belonged to Erkalja, Hezug Remsosa.

With the new mines set up, Zol Oveřin began producing weapons and started converting their town into a more stable city of stone and metal. By 100 G.O. all major buildings such as the government hall had been constructed out of thick blocks of stone, and precious metals had been used in the construction of four temples, one each for Tar Ilam, Tar Avispusam, Tar Sighepusam, and Tar Žespusam. The roads throughout the city were paved with whitewashed stones and aqueducts were built to carry water from the river into the center city square. In 106 G.O., the Council of Oveřin ordered the building of a wall that would completely encompass the city. Eight watchtowers were posted around the four gates that sat at each of the cardinal directions. The wall and watchtowers were completed in 134 G.O.

Between 182-184 an alliance of humans and esodfalum who lived on the eastern shore of the continent fought a small war of skirmishes with the esodtelum who were attacking fishing boats and disrupting the local fishing economy. Eventually, the superior weapons of the humans prevailed and the esodtelum were pushed back into deeper waters. A group of humans and esodfalum took advantage of the now safer shorelines and established a new city, Zol Remsos, right on the water's edge, due east of Zol Oveřin. Over time it grew into one of the primary ports for ships traveling between Oveřin and Erkalja, and it had deep connections with Zol Oveřin and Zol Dhumygham, particularly with trade.

The Hubris of Gihorus
Meanwhile in Erkalja: Following the Raising of Tiranak, a group of esodfalum sailed to the northeast corner of the continent and settled in the ruins of an ancient fishing village at the tip of a long, thin peninsula directly across the sea from Zol Remsos. The settlement grew into the capital of the entire Erkalja region: Zol Erkalja. While smaller in scope and population than Zol Oveřin, the power of the Erkalja capital would intermittently wax and wane as well as ally itself with and against Zol Oveřin.

In 203, an esodfale teenager named Gihorus (born in 184 G.O.) seized power and declared himself king of the esodfalum in Erkalja. He held lofty ambitions of returning to the glory of the Ghěrešum Tarkaizul by convincing the Tarum to allow them reentry into Tiranak. His first order of business was, in 205, to send a delegation to the king of the esodtelum to formalize an alliance and allow safe passage of esodfalum across the seas. With a small bribe, the sea elf king accepted. In 207, Gihorus sent a delegation bearing riches and raw materials and books as a peace offering to Zol Remsos, asking to form a trade alliance. The city, viewing itself as an independent entity made up of a large number of esodfalum, agreed readily. They began immediately trading wheat and cotton, among other goods, with the city in Erkalja. Finally, in 208, Giphorus attempted to formalize an agreement with both Zol Oveřin and Zol Dhumygham, but these final two power centers rejected his offers; the former feared this new king, while the latter preferred isolation from the outside world. These rejections frustrated him, as he was wanting for resources that could only be found in the mountains controlled by the esodotizum and humans.

In 209, Zol Oveřin sent a military governor, Butus, to Zol Remsos in a move to bring the city under its administrative control and quash any budding political relationship between the eastern city and Zol Erkalja. They argued that the city was founded by people from Oveřin, and thus it had always been just an outpost, rather than its own political entity. The inhabitants disagreed and, since many had never been a part of Zol Oveřin, were indignant at the sudden loss of autonomy. A group of people were sent in secret to treat with Gihorus and ask for help.

Under the pretext of helping a trade partner fend off an imperialistic coup from Zol Oveřin, Gihorus raised an army and set out for Zol Remsos in 210. As he approached, the citizens of Zol Remsos revolted and managed to chase Butus out of the city, who then fled to Zol Oveřin to inform the Council of the invasion. The Council requested military assistance from the esodotizum, but they refused, stating their pacifist intentions to only attack if they are attacked first. The remainder of the year was spent converting the fleet of ships used to sail from Tiranak into warships.

In 211, the ships sailed down the river towards Zol Remsos as a land army marched at the same time. Gihorus' superior skill at sea warfare easily crushed the nascent Oveřin navy. Butus, upon arriving by land to Zol Remsos, saw his destroyed ships and sent back to Zol Oveřin to send more ships. In the meantime, he began a siege of the city from land, but the city was not completely cut off due to its water access and connection to Zol Erkalja. When the new fleet arrived in early 212, they stayed back and acted primarily as a supply line for the land troops. However, Gihorus sent a ship full of troops far to the south, who then disembarked and looped around to come up from behind. They obliterated the supply line that was keeping the siege alive and Butus fled back to Zol Oveřin with whoever wasn't killed or captured. Zol Remsos was officially under complete control of Gihorus.

In 213 Gihorus attacked and sacked Zol Oveřin, deposing the Council. He left a military commander in charge of the city and headed towards the Telsun Amsent to take over Zol Dhumygham, still bitter over their rejection of his overtures for alliance. They were able to repel him with a magical barrier they placed around the entrance to the forest. Sensing imminent attack, the esodotizum reluctantly prepared for war, and at the end of the year they marched to Zol Oveřin where they managed to expel the military command. From this, a formal alliance between the esodotizum and humans was forged for the first time.

Gihorus, with help from the esodtelum and citizens of Zol Remsos, made an effort to retake Zol Oveřin. Failing to infiltrate by force, his army simply set fire to the city and much of Zol Oveřin burned to the ground. Its citizens fled and were welcomed in the Telsun Amsent as refugees. Gihorus had any of the remaining Council members rounded up and executed. Having personally set up camp in the scorched remains of Zol Oveřin, Gihorus decided to forgo more plans to invade the esodotizum and instead began preparations to sail to Tiranak, which took the entire calendar year of 214.

He incorporated a hundred ships with a delegation of his own men as well as gifts of gold and sacrifices of livestock. He set off in late 215 and sailed south for about a month. Upon reaching the mythical Floating Isles, the first mortal to lay eyes upon them in over two centuries, he raised his arms and prayed to Tar Ilam to give them safe passage. Without hearing a response, he ordered his ships to continue forth. As they crossed the magical barrier, the water began to churn and a giant whirlpool formed and dragged the entire fleet to the bottom of the sea.

News spread slowly, but when no news came back from Gihorus, he was presumed dead. Most of his army had been on his fleet, and as such Zol Oveřin was retaken by the humans without much resistance. Many esodfalum fled Zol Remsos and went to Zol Erkalja, and Zol Remsos was placed under strict control of The Council. Zol Erkalja was permanently disarmed and required to submit future kings for approval by Zol Oveřin, thus making them a client state in all but name. They were also required to pay for all reconstruction. Displaced citizens from Zol Oveřin either chose to return to the burnt remains of their former home or traveled in the countryside to set up new villages. They all continued to submit administratively to the Council, however. The esodotizum formalized their pact with the humans, and retreated back into their forest. By 220, the major buildings of Zol Oveřin had been rebuilt or repaired, and minor repairs continued over the next decade or so.

Extending Across the Continent and the Rise of Kalneus
In 250 G.O., some esodotizum began drifting south and founding new villages and cities in the as-of-yet unexplored southern plateaus and plains. In the center of a large peninsula they established an enormous castle they dedicated to the pursuit and maintenance of knowledge, particularly the magical arts. They specifically built this fortress far from Zol Oveřin to maintain it secret, for although they were in an alliance with Zol Oveřin, they did not fully trust the Council. A secret tunnel was thus constructed through Ljřetum Amsent that connected what would eventually be named Zol Šesa, the city of knowledge, with Zol Dhumygham. The main castle was completed in 268 G.O.

The second half of the third century and beginning years of the fourth century found humans from Zol Oveřin continuing to expand their territory in all directions. Zol Azei (City in the Middle) was found in the center of the large central plain exactly halfway between Zol Remsos and Zol Oveřin to better keep an eye on the shoreline city. A new settlement was founded on the shore of the Telodh Thěňa across from Hezug Apama, and it was named Hezug Remsosa. The king in Zol Erkalja decided to attempt to flex his perceived political independence and requested formal borders be drawn up between Oveřin and Erkalja, demanding that Hezug Remsosa be administrated by Erkalja while its twin be run by Oveřin. The Council approved this separation in 324 G.O., simultaneously naming the large island between the two cities "Hezugěm Šy Zigjuět", or "The Island Between Twins." This was a demilitarized no man's land with a road for trade and communication, but no permanent settlements.

In 350, a human named Kalneus was elected to the Council of Oveřin. Around the same time, a mass migration of esodotizum began towards the southern city they had built, Zol Šesa. Kalneus learned of the movement from scouts, and the information worried him. He soon learned of the existence of the school on the southern peninsula. His panic grew when the esodfalum began to settle around the northern edges of the Telodh Thěňa, uncomfortably close to the Ljřetěpum that housed the mines used by Oveřin. In his panic, he addressed the other council members in 353, worried that the elves were surrounding Oveřin in a bid to attack and take over the city. The council does not share his concern. They suggest sending a delegation to the king of the esodotizum, Ostharys (born in 233, reigning since 319), to discuss his intentions, to which Kalneus reluctantly agrees.

The elven king describes his people's need for their own sanctuary for learning, far from the reaches of human influence, which has grown in Zol Dhumygham since the alliance was formed between the two powerful cities. Kalneus is not satisfied and begins to fortify Zol Azei and secretly builds a military fortification on the northern edge of the southern bay, directly across from the southern peninsula that houses Zol Šesa.

Ostharys is furious with the posturing and demands the troops be withdrawn, but Calneus states it was to build a new city and establish legitimate and efficient trade routes between Zol Oveřin and the Zol Šesa. The Council of Oveřin sends a letter to Kalneus, recalling him and expelling him from the Council for brazen war mongering without their consent. At the same time, a diplomat was sent to King Ostharys from Zol Oveřin to distance the Council from the rogue member's actions. The elven king received the diplomat warmly.

Believing he was acting in the best interests of his city, Kalneus decided to dig his heels in and began preparations to invade the southern peninsula and reverse the elven encroachment around Oveřin lands. Since the elves still thought their new city to be relatively secret, there were no serious fortifications, and Kalneus swept through it easily. Learning of this attack, Zol Oveřin dispatched a new army under another council member, Hyren. She met up with Ostharys and their unified army marched on to the southern peninsula in 354.

When they arrived, it was completely empty except for the esodotizum that had already lived there. Kalneus had taken the city as bait to distract the other armies he knew were coming for him, and while they marched to confront him he snuck back and captured a massively under-fortified Zol Oveřin as a rebel general. Kalneus took full control of the city as a dictator and executed the remaining council members. The combined forces of Hyren and Ostharys turned around and made straight for Zol Oveřin. Despite being in a walled, fortified city that was well supplied, Kalneus fell to their superior numbers easily. In the last days of 354, King Ostharys and Councilwoman Hyren marched into Zol Oveřin and immediately executed Kalneus for treason.

In a surprise move, King Ostharys announced that he and his troops would be staying a while and overlooking the day-to-day operations of Oveřin. The council would not be reinstated and Oveřin would instead be ruled by the purple elves. This punishment for their duplicitous attack on an elven city was Ostharys' way of keeping an eye on the war-hungry humans, and would in time become the new norm. Thus, on the final day of 354, the reign of King Ostharys I, the first King of Oveřin, began.

[top]Years 355-729: The Rule of the Elven Kings

For her support during the campaign, Hyren was appointed as the human ambassador to the king and offered a permanent place on Ostharys' council. The new elven king spent his first year solidifying his rule in the various cities around Oveřin, most of which capitulated early and accepted the elven king. Zol Remsos was the only city to offer up any real resistance, but Ostharys' army of purple elves put down the revolt quite handily and subsequently placed his most trusted advisor as governor of the city.

The continent was split up into multiple provinces centered around the primary cities. The governors that ruled these provinces reported directly to the king. The capital of the kingdom was originally meant to be Zol Dhumygham, but eventually Ostharys decided to remain in Zol Oveřin given its central location. Envoys were sent to Erkalja to establish a peaceful relationship between the new government and the esodfalum who controlled the northern lands, to which they agreed. The kingdom now spread from the northwest lake all the way to the southern peninsula, and from the western forest to Zol Remsos on the eastern shore. The islands off the coast were not controlled by anyone, and the northern forest and all lands east of it were part of Erkalja.

The human population throughout Oveřin mostly saw the takeover as deceptive and illegitimate, and rules were put in place to prevent any problems from arising. They were allowed to be soldiers in the army, but could never achieve officer positions. They were banned form holding public office unless specifically appointed by the king. As a result, most humans did indeed join the military, while many took over trade positions within cities and others migrated to farms and mines in the countryside and mountains.

The first part of his reign lasted from 355-400 and was peaceful. The second phase of his reign, from 401-425, saw many of the humans who had been alive to witness the ascent of Ostharys die, and with it went the underlying bitterness associated with elven rule from the human population. Minor rebellions from pockets of human resistance had been common in the first part of his reign, but now became much scarcer. His final phase lasted from 426-473 and saw the initiation of many infrastructure projects to better connect the far reaches of the kingdom with sturdy, paved roads and an elaborate aqueduct system that allowed more and more people to settle in remote areas. This also gave the human populations a much-needed boost in employment opportunities and the economy of Oveřin boomed.

In 473, after ten years of isolation in Zol Dhumygham, King Ostharys died at the age of 250 after being in power a total of 150 years, 118 of which included Oveřin. His son, Sakuň, ascended to the throne at the age of 84.

In 474, a group of humans who burned with hatred towards their elven lords saw the ascension of Sakuň as their only opportunity to reassert human dominance over the continent. The assassination attempt took place during a parade that takes place each year at the celebration of Tar Ilam. A man on a rooftop shot an arrow at the kings chariot as he passed by. There had been, however, a magical barrier placed around the monarch for his protection. This barrier incinerated the arrow as it passed through and immediately killed the person who fired it. The whole city was placed on lockdown and a massive inquisition used magical torture to uncover all persons implicated in the plot, who were then publicly executed. The assassination attempt led to a paranoid streak in Sakuň, who then became a vicious tyrant with extreme anti-human sentiments.

Between 474-480, King Sakuň issued many decrees aimed at limiting the influence and rights of humans in the kingdom. He banished them from living or working within the capital walls, forcing them to relocate elsewhere. This loss of a lot of skilled labor had negative economic repercussions later on. They were completely banned from serving in the army, and this limited the scope of the army. During these first years, King Sakuň arbitrarily sent killing squads to human settlements, especially if the settlement population had grown too big for his liking, and entire villages were burned to the ground. Initially this violent decree only applied to the capital province, but in 480 he ordered these random slaughters to become common practice in all provinces. All governors quietly disobeyed, however, given either high human populations that made it impractical, or low numbers which made the order irrelevant.

During the next four years, 480-484, the genocidal destruction of human settlements and increased paranoia of the king led to an attempted expulsion of all humans from Oveřin, and Sakuň tried to force them all into Erkalja. The esodfalum who governed there refused to accept that high a number of refugees and settled them on Hezugěm Šy Zigjuět, the northern island that served as a buffer zone between the two empires.

King Sakuň, viewing their settlement on the island as still too close for comfort, marched north with a small host of esodotizum to force Erkalja to accept the humans. Hezug Remsosa was fortified by the Erkalja government as a result. Caught between two armies, the humans who had been herded onto the island built a small fleet of boats and sailed to Zol Remsos to beg the city for asylum. The governor came from the esodfalum and was both native to the city and sympathetic to the human suffering. He was able to convince the head esodotizum in the city, Ferilus, to support the humans. Those who remained on Hezugěm Šy Zigjuět in the north were captured by Sakuň and unceremoniously murdered. Most humans, however, had been able to make it to Zol Remsos before that happened.

Sakuň marched back to Zol Oveřin, believing all to be settled. In 485 the governor of Zol Remsos invited the king to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Zol Remsos. At the main feast, the governor and Ferilus conspired to poison the king and rid Oveřin of his genocidal madness, and it worked. Sakuň laid dead at the age of 95, only 11 short (and violent) years after ascending to the throne. The small group of guards who travelled with the king for his protection were vastly outnumbered by the city garrison loyal to Ferilus, and they surrendered. Ferilus was hailed as king, and he travelled immediately to Zol Oveřin where the people and administrative officials welcomed him with open arms.

His first act as king was to reverse all discriminatory policies and decrees against humans, with the notable exception that they were still forbidden from entering the army. He did, however, give them low-level administrative positions in his court and brought back the old post of human ambassador to the king, once held by Hyren under Ostharys. This was the first time in 130 years that humans would be able to climb up the ladder of public office of their own accord without explicit appointment by the king.

Ferilus' reign was long and mostly prosperous. A brief bout of plague ravaged the kingdom from 549-551 which decimated the population and caused him to eliminate the ban on humans serving in the army in order to have enough people to defend the kingdom. Schools began to pop up in major cities devoted to healing, metal work, and war which were attended by esodfalum and humans alike. Esodotizum still preferred the school on the southern peninsula to practice and enhance their magic. Ferilus eventually directed the resources of the monarchy towards educational development, and chartered a number of universities throughout the kingdom that combined the schools of healing, war, and magic. The greatest, most prestigious of these universities remained Zol Šesa in the south, but that university was still exclusively open to esodotizum. If humans or esodfalum wanted to study at a university, it had to be a smaller one in another city.

Ferilus I ruled for 138 years from 485 until 623 and died at the age of 330, which was old even for an esodum. Upon his death, his daughter, Porset, ruled for 35 years.

From 624-659 the first Queen of Oveřin reigned. In that time, a bloody war between Oveřin and the esodtelum for access to the islands between Zol Remsos and Erkalja to the north saw Oveřin victorious and the esodtelum move to the shores around the eastern coast of Erkalja since they got on better with the esodfalum. Within a decade of the initial battles, however, the esodtelum launched a counterattack, having allied themselves with the human King Tevav from Erkalja.

The esodfalum and their Erkalja allies began to beseige Zol Remsos directly. Queen Porset led the relief army herself, but was cut down in battle. Her two children, a son named Ferilus II and a daughter named Lakisy took it upon themselves to rule jointly, and they managed to defeat Erkalja and the esodtelum together.

The joint rule of Ferilus II and Lakisy lasted 70 years from 659-729. They continued their grandfather's anti-discriminatory approach and lifted the ban on humans becoming officers in the army. Within a century, the army would become an almost exclusively human entity of the kingdom as the esodotizum began to retreat more into their universities and back into the guarded forest and away from busy urban centers.

A scandal rocked the royal family when Ferilus II decided to marry a human, and in 702 the first reported half elf, half human, Vyrus, was born. Afraid she might kill the child to prevent him from ruling in the future, Ferilus II attempted to hide Vyrus from his sister. She eventually found out, though, and near the end of their reign she refused to consider Vyrus for the throne, putting forth her own son's name as the only acceptable option.

The final years of their relationship were quite strained due to this sensitive issue, and eventually Lakisy decreed that no elf of "impure blood" could ever rule in Oveřin. Ignoring Ferilus' pleas to give the boys join rule of the kingdom, Lakisy eventually had her brother assassinated while simultaneously abdicating in favor of her own son, Garets.

Vyrus, who had grown quite popular with the humans of the kingdom, immediately denounced his aunt and council and whipped the mostly human army into a murderous frenzy over his father's murder. The army the stormed the palace, captured Lakisy and Garets, and proclaimed Vyrus the head of a new political and administrative order. There was to be equality amongst esodum and humans in this new Oveřin empire, and Vyrus would serve as their emperor.

[top]Years 729-965: The Rise of the Mixed-Blood Monarchs

His first act as emperor was to order that Lakisy and Garets be executed for the assassination of his father. He then initiated a vicious purge of the royal court to eliminate any threats to his new order. Many esodotizum fled Zol Oveřin back to the guarded forest, fearing this new "evil halfbreed" king would purge all of them as well, even though he never even considered it.

Except a few minor pockets of resistance, the elves eventually came to peace with the new emperor and slowly reintegrated themselves into Zol Oveřin and the empire at large. Vyrus appointed humans and elves to high administrative positions. His most impactful decree was the development of a senate to begin to heal the centuries of mistrust and violence between esodotizum and humans.

This body consisted in 100 esodum, elected exclusively by the elven electorate, and 100 humans, voted for by the humans of the empire. Voting for senators was restricted monetarily; ten gold pieces ("tethum") were required to vote in elections. This eliminated rural farmers and poor folk from participating in government. The only exception to the tax was the army. In order to run for office, you had to have held either a military post or a government position (at any level) to qualify. The senate was charged with two primary tasks:

It acted as the municipal government of Zol Oveřin and surrounding province region, eliminating the separate governorship for the capital.
All empire-wide legislation was brought up in the senate. If the 200 member group passed a law, the king had to sign off on it for it to fall into effect.

Vyrus set the precedent of never unilaterally legislating, preferring instead to submit his proposals to the senate as a formality and having them pass his laws. This gave the external appearance of placing more power in the assembly of the people, which gained him much adoration and praise. In reality, however, senators who opposed royal submissions found themselves mysteriously missing from the ballot in the next election, or suddenly overcome with a severe illness that forced them to retire from public life.

In 780, Vyrus was assassinated by a fringe group hellbent on returning the Oveřin throne to exclusive esodum rule. The public, who had grown to love Vyrus very much, turned on the assassins, and drove them out of the city to be captured and executed by the army some weeks later. The senate gave its blessing to Myr, the daughter of Vyrus, to ascend to the throne as empress.

Myr reigned from 780-858 over rocky, violent times. A vicious civil war erupted soon after her ascension that saw three distinct groups break away from Oveřin and attempt to assert their autonomy. The lands north of Zol Oveřin claimed independence from all other authorty in Esya and placed their capital in Herzug Apama. A second breakaway esodotizum nation formed around Zol Dhumygham and Zol Šesa. The center of the continent that covered Zol Oveřin, Zol Remsos, and Zol Azei formed the group that was still loyal to Empress Myr. The empire wasn't fully reunified for almost thirty years. The northern faction fell first, and a slash-and-burn approach to fighting the rebellious esodotizum forced them to surrender a few years later. After the rebuilding of the destroyed infrastructure throughout the empire, Myr opened up Zol Šesa to all people, esodum and human alike.

In 858 Myr died without an heir apparent and no living relatives. She died of a sudden illness (poisoning was never fully ruled out). This initiated the year of the Six Emperors, with the governor or leading military official in each of the main cities of the empire (Zol Remsos, Herzug Apama, Zol Dhumygham, Zol Šesa, and Zol Azei) declaring themselves the new emperor. The governors of Herzug Apama and Zol Dhumygham both attempted to lay siege to Zol Oveřin and the resulting clash killed both pretenders. The governor of Zol Šesa renounced his claim to the throne after news of this failed siege reached him. The governor of Zol Remsos defeated the governor from Zol Azei in battle on the way to Zol Oveřin. When he reached the capital, he was unable to break the defenses since his army was exhausted from Azei. He soon surrendered to a member of the senate, Povuž, to whom the senate had bestowed emergency dictator powers in light of the crisis. Povuž then became the new emperor with the backing of the senate.

Povuž ruled until 900 and oversaw relative peace in the empire after many years of chaos and strife. He was esodotizum but friendly towards all his subjects. He greatly reduced the scope of the military and increased the power of the main university at Zol Šesa. The heads of the different schools within the university became powerful, trusted advisors during his reign.

Upon his death, Povuž hand selected his successor, a human named Besiň. There were salacious rumors throughout the empire that Besiň was actually Povuž's gay lover, but his ascension was accepted peacefully. He spent his 65 year reign continuing the policies of the previous emperor, increasingly empowering the school at Zol Šesa and implementing economic reform that brought prosperity to many. Oveřin was at peace.

[top]Years 965-1030: Destabilization and the Rise of the Dictator

Besiň continued the (short) tradition of handpicking his successor, and chose a little-known senator named Lybis, who was half esod and half human. He ruled the empire for ten years before he was ousted in a military coup brought on by a massive famine and plague the tore through the entire continent, destorying crops and killing thousands and thousands of people. Lybis spent the last year of his reign bankrupting the empire in order to pay for grain shipments from Erkalja. When the famine and plague also hit Erkalja, the grain shipments stopped. Lybis was left without any money and without a means to feed his starving and dying people. Riots were common.

Then, in 977, a pureblood esodotiz who was the commander of the only esod legion in the military rose to power. He appealed to religion, stating that the tarum were finally punishing Oveřin for letting someone other than a pureblood esod rule. He promised the people salvation from the hell that plagued them if they accepted him as their ruler. His name was Neřsum.

During his 40 year reign of terror, Neřsum set the army on the sick, poor, and dispossessed. He developed specialized squads of esodotizum to roam the country and burn entire villages to the ground if even one person seemed sick. They slaughtered en masse anyone who lived in the streets of the cities. Through the carnage, it was primarily human settlements and groups that were hit the hardest since they were viewed as the cause of the plague and famine.

The King in Erkalja attempted to assassinate Neřsum upon hearing of his indiscriminate slaughter, but the attempt failed. The population of Oveřin was not strong enough to go to all out war with Erkalja for the attempt, so instead Neřsum completely closed off all borders and isolated the empire from the outside world. By 1005 the worst effects of the plague and famine had subsided and the population had been cut down by 30%, not including the consequences of Neršum's murder squads.

In 1013, desperate to increase revenue, Neřsum pulled out his governor from Zol Šesa and claimed the empire had more pressing matters to see to than the frivolous pursuit of knowledge. The leaders of the university were executed and the inhabitants were told to fend for themselves. Neřsum then redrew the maps to make the empire smaller, arguing that it didn't make sense to be so dispersed in such trying times. As he left Zol Šesa, Neřsum destroyed the secret path that connected the city to Zol Dhumygham to prevent travel through the mountain range.

In 1017, one of the many assassination plots against the dictator succeeded and the army managed to wrestle control of the empire away from the bloodthirsty tyrant. The transition period away from the dictatorship of Neřsum lasted until 1030 and involved a council of generals to run the empire until the situation stabilized. The killing squads were disbanded and the main leaders of the administration were executed for war crimes. The army was then spread out around the empire, guarding mostly the newly-reopened northern border with Erkalja and the main cities. A trade agreement was set up with and eventually agreed to by Erkalja. The council of generals established tax breaks and incentives (such as increased grain allotments) to people who had large families in an attempt to begin rebuilding the population of Oveřin. The empire slowly began to recover.

[top]Years 1030-1450: Restoration of the Monarchy

The final act of the council came in 1030 when they restored the monarchy and established extreme reforms regarding the governance of the empire. Their goal was to limit the power of the executive from tearing the country apart as it had so often done in the past. To that end, the following rules were established:

The emperor (or empress) must never come from the military class. Only those presently in the senate who have spent a minimum of 5 years on the civil side of public service are qualified to be labelled as successors.
The only exception to this rule is if a ruler chooses to bequeath the throne to a legitimate blood heir. However, if a ruler chooses this option, the new monarch must be ratified by a majority of the senate.
In the case of a sudden imperial death, the senate will vote on the new ruler.
With the exception of blood heirs who have been ratified by the senate, each successive monarch must not be of the same race as their predecessor, unless one of them is a mix. Any exception to this rule must be ratified by the senate. This specific step came about to diminish the tension between humans and esodum that had caused the majority of the problems in the past. It was expected that a fair and frequent alternation between the ruling race would normalize relations between the two, and for the most part it was effective.
The senate could, at any time, vote to remove the ruling monarch from power. This did, however, require an almost-impossible-to-achieve unanimous decision - it only happened once since the rule was instated.
The senate as set up by Vyrus had been eliminated by Neřsum. The council therefore not only reinstated the senate, but increased its membership to 500. Money was no longer required for voting, but the populace could only vote for senators from their own race. The post-dictatorship incarnation of the senate was much more powerful and monarchs found themselves limited in what they could do. Later monarchs of this era, though, began to use intimidation and force to bully the senate into doing what they wanted, and the newfound power of the senate slowly dwindled over time.

The newly reformed senate voted in the first monarch of the new era in 1030. They chose Drytz, the general who had overthrown Neřsum. The vote was unanimous. His first act was to reopen Zol Šesa and reintegrate it into the empire fully. He approved an elite security force of esodotizum who guarded the school, theoretically preventing future rebellious generals from taking out their anger on the school. Under the new Senate-Monarchy, the school thrived and established itself into a stable place of research and development of minds. With time, almost every youth from Oveřin travelled to Zol Šesa after local studied to attend a three year university program and further their knowledge.

The remaining years of Drytz's life and reign were peaceful and effective. He died in 1050 and the citizens of Zol Oveřin erected a giant statue of his likeness in the city center. They then worshipped him as an incarnation of Tar Avispus who had come to Oveřin to save them from destruction. At the unveiling ceremony for the statue, however, an old prophet warned that Tar Avispus would indeed walk these lands one day, but it had not happened yet. Furthermore, he warned, once it did happen there would be terror and destruction throughout the land. For this display of heresy, the prophet was hanged.

From 1050-1200, various monarchs ruled over a consistently peaceful empire in what is called the Iřu Ilam Oveřina or Great Oveřin Peace. Between 1200 and 1350, a series of rulers began to ignore the senate and impose their will. There was a brief senatorial rebellion in 1343 that saw the ruling leader deposed and beheaded for a more pro-senate candidate.

In 1362 a group of nomadic warriors who had long ago drifted very far north of Erkalja came down and waged a war that caused the burning of most of the northern forest and the rushed migration of many terrified Erkalja citizens. The refugee crisis led to a huge population influx in Oveřin. The leader at the time initially kept them on the island between twins, but the large population and the extreme outcry forced him to let them resettle throughout Oveřin. Many went into the guarded forest, while most established themselves throughout the cities of the empire. Zol Šesa began to improve its botany school and there was a large influx of esodfalum into the school (since most Erkalja citizens were esodfalum).

In 1397, the current emperor of Oveřin came to power. His name was Yerutz, and he was the last monarch of Oveřin before the Rise of the Tyrant.

[top]Map

Comments

[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 07-May-20 13:48 [Deactivated User]

What did u use to make the map?