A Brief History of Theya

Warlord Era, beginning of written history

"Where humans come from, you ask? Our tribes was living on the surface of Theya since the gods breathed life into them, but at some point we settled down.

That mighty castle what our prince lives in, it was build back in that day. Some other castles, too, though most was destroyed in fighting. Most princes claim to have ancestors from those days, but this is only true for our prince. Learned men have proven the others all lie."

--a princedom village elder

"It was with the establishment of permanent settlements and strongholds that human civilisation on Theya began to take a form that would be recognisable to us today. Our best estimates are that this gradually happened with several tribes between two and three millenia ago.

'his was also the time where the development of larger oar-powered vessels allowed tribes to spread beyond the mainland, to the islands of the Malkyan archipelago and across the strait of Vangar.

As in many princedoms today, military leaders ruled the tribes and engaged in small-scale, largely meaningless wars against one another. The only thing these wars accomplished is to prevent any true progress outside military technology until the arrival of the Askari over a millenium later.

The esteemed reader may notice that this is still pretty much the state of the princedoms, except for the fact that after the fall of the Thearchy the warlords now call themselves princes."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms

Arrival of the Askari, 1217 Years Ago

"Where the Askari come from, you ask? Well, them strange folk appeared suddenly in the lush hills not far from the village. They started building their strange pyramid-city, driving off the good shepards and hunters what lived there. Some will tell you they gave us great knowledge in exchange for our bronze. I tell you this is nonsense; we'd have been better off sending them straight back into whatever hell they came from.

If only we was organized enough to do so back then ... alas, we did not have our prince to lead us, so they spread and drove us good country folks from the hills and mountains they worship in their dark rituals."

--a princedom village elder

"The arrival of the Askari is a peculiar event in ancient history as it is the oldest event we have a fixed date for. This was recovered from the Askari histories obtained by the Thearchy. By our own measurement, the Askari arrived 1217 years ago, though their history fails to specify from where.

When the Askari first emerged, it was in the hostile foothills of the Kyrae mountains far from human civilisation. In fact, it is very likely that there was no contact between our two species for up to a decade. When contact was slowly established, the Askari taught us a great many things in exchange for the secret of bronze working: the idea of codified laws, how to build multi-story stone buildings and many other secrets.

As the Askari spread, they stuck to remote hostile locations - deserts, foothills, mountain plateaus, which avoided large scale conflicts with humans up until Raellya."

--from A history of Theya and its species, a well-known history book the possession of which is punishable by death in most Pharic league cities

Founding of the Raellian Empire, 700 Years Ago

"Raellya, now she was a smart one. A simple fisher, mind you, but she played all the learned folk of her time.

Gathered an army of peasants strong enough to strike back at the Askari, she did. Drove them right from our lands and destroyed their cities, giving back to us what those devils had stolen.

She would have done away with all of them using her army, but she was betrayed by her cursed mages. They bound her with their spells so her spirit could never leave the city of Phar. Then they erased the city from all maps and memory so no one would ever free her.

Her empire still stands, mind you. We simple folk know how to build strong."

--a princedom village elder

"Raellya was clever. She realised that no one tribe had managed to gain the upper hand as any tribe growing too strong would quickly face an alliance of neighbours. So she united in a different way: she led an alliance of warlords against a nearby Askari city. Then all other warlords died on the campaign, leaving her in sole command.

Her gamble paid off - no warlord or tribe allowed Askari armies to cross their land, and so none could come to the defense of the city she besieged. When the city finally fell, the Askari were butchered and all their treasures looted in several days of pillaging. Now immensely popular with the troops and at the head of an experienced, well-paid army, she was able to establish her rule over all the tribes of the region.

So were the Askari repaid for their generous gifts, and the secret of the summoning circles that so long gave power to the Raellian empire came to humans. It is only the finite lifespan of us mortals that put an end to her ambitions."

--from A history of Theya and its species, a well-known history book the possession of which is punishable by death in most Pharic league cities

"It is in her demise that the foolishness of Raellya becomes most apparent. At peace talks with the alliance of warlords that had formed against her, the always-treacherous princes murdered her and her closest advisors while the mages of her empire stood by doing nothing. So the mages became the power behind the Raellian throne for the next centuries, keeping the secret of the summoning circles and the creation of the golems to themselves.

As the golems allowed the exploitation of the large swathes of hostile terrain that form most of the Raellian empire, the mage's power was absolute until the Thearchy destroyed their power base."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms

Raellian expansion and establishment of the Pharic League, roughly 550-510 years ago

"When did legendary Phar found the Pharic League, you ask? Well they've always been around, since the cities was founded. But they was acting in the shadows, they was. Waiting to take things when others was distracted, as they always do.

Well, when Raellya was conquering the princedoms, that was the time. You see the princedoms were stronger, but not united. So those cities, they had been making ships. Magic ships, what can go past any current and tide. Them ships what they still have today.

They used them ships to bring the warlord troops to where Raellya was not. Made her chase them everywhere. Sank her grain ships. So she was forced to return home, and the warlords went to conquer her instead.

But them Phar folks turned again and now helped Raellya, so she and the warlords was forced to make peace. And they was forced to give up the Pharic league cities, and that was when the league was founded.

Mind you, only the cities are free. The people are now ruled by those vampire families, no longer by our glorious prince. Thats what you get for always turning on friends."

--a princedom village elder

"It is unknown how long the ruling families of the Pharic league had been plotting before they made their move. Given that the strange species that forms the core of the ruling families is estimated to live for two to three centuries, it is likely they began at a similar time to when Raellya implemented her scheme.

Opportunity eventually presented itself. During a great time of drought, the Raellians with their golem workforce suffered far less than the warlords, so they resumed the expansion that was checked in Raellyas time. They were successful - without food, most princedoms could not field armies. Nor did they manage to organise a common defense; not surprising given their mutual distrust.

This is when the cities of the Pharic league, led by legendary Phar itself, stepped in. Even back then, they had the ships the league is famous for - worked by the magic of their seclusive ruling species, immune to currents and tide, with no need for oars. They used these first to capture Raellyas grain ships and supply the warlords instead, then to quickly deploy warlord troops to strategic locations.

This turned the tide of the war against the Raellyans, at which point the league cities started helping the empire as well. Finally, as both sides were exhausted from their long war, they declared their independence. Each city was to be ruled by the ship-building family from now on; as it is to this day. Neither the Raellyans nor the warlords were in any position to fight back at that point.

As well-known as the founding and working of the league with its trade ships are today, as mysterious remain the strange species at the core of the ruling families. All we know is that they likely feed of humanity in some way, and that they are capable politicians given the stability of the league cities."

--from A history of Theya and its species, a well-known history book the possession of which is punishable by death in most Pharic league cities

Mercenary wars, 370-250 years ago

"Ah, don't fret about the raid tomorrow. Your uncles great-grandfather's father fought in the mercenary wars, you know? That was fighting like we never see today. The Pharic League had started to add more Raellyan cities, and the empire was not going to take it. So they went at it, but who in Phar can fight? All they can do is take other peoples money for other peoples work. So they came to our princes. Everybody knows we fight best, so it makes sense.

But Raellya was clever, so she went to other princes to also get us best fighters. And those who went brought home great riches. It's how your family got that nice tapestry you like so much.

You know, your uncles great-grandfather fought along with our neighbours. They never did admit he fought better than them, so tomorrow you can show them. And maybe take the other half of the tapestry that they kept."

--a princedom sergeant to a timid fresh recruit

"After its official founding, there were many cities that envied the wealth of the League and their trade power. They could not afford to work against the League for fear of being cut off from shipping, so they tried to join up. But the Pharic league was very strict in its admittance, so the expansion was slow, maybe a city every few decades.

Still, the Raellian empire did not like seeing its trade centres leave, along with the loss in tariffs and taxes that meant. At some point, they decided that further lost cities would hurt more than a war with the league. This turned out to be very wrong.

Initially both sides relied on their own armies and navies, but after decades of intermittent fighting, the manpower reserves ran low first for the League, then for the Raellyans. So they started recruiting mercenaries from the warlord lands, where being slaughtered in petty wars is a national pastime.

This allowed them to keep going for almost another century - with intermittent truces and standoffs - until they were both close to economic collapse. Only then could they finally agree to a lasting truce, one that mostly still stands today.

Legendary Phar was lost at this time - how, we do not really know today, but records of its involvements start to stop between 300 and 270 years ago.

The greatest legacy of the conflict is the effect on the warlord lands, though: The returning veterans brought home many impressions from the superior culture of the League and Raellya. Also, fighting alongside members of other tribes for so long weakened the long-standing rivalries between them.

This is what allowed the faith of the Thearchy to spread so quickly and unite so throughly towards the end of the wars."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms

Rise of the Thearchy, 270 Years Ago

"The Thearchs, they was not all bad, you know. It's just that many of them was from other princedoms. That's just how it was. So they was not as clever as ours was.

They did great things. They finally finished Raellyas work and drove them Askari devils from our hills, burned their cities. They drove them beast-fucker Myriae from our lands so we had peace in our herds again. They built many great buildings. From stone! All from stone! Just like our prince's castle, which is just a little bit wood on top. For decoration.

Yes you had to come to the temple and pray. So what? You have to come to the army and fight today. It's not much different, except maybe more people was dying from the praying.

My gran said that was from sitting still so much. Men are not supposed to sit still, you get weird like them Phar people if you only sit around counting money. That's why we don't have money."

--a princedom village elder

"The rise and rule of the Thearchy was probably the greatest tradegy Theya has suffered. Which, given all the suffering this book is filled with, is saying something.

Even more xenophobic and ignorant than the average tribal warlord - which again is saying something - the Thearchs combined the disregard for life and dignity typical to warlords with the efficient methods of rule they had learned in the mercenary wars. At first, their faith started out rather harmless, centered around humanity's place as the shepherds of nature and the world, and a pantheon of gods tailored to this worldview.

It took them only two decades to unite the lands of the warlords and establish their rule; this was most likely an aftereffect of the long mercenary wars, which weakened traditional tribal ties and rivalries and replaced them with loyalty to the mercenary warband - which many future Thearchs had commanded in their youth.

Also, while the Thearchs ruled as one council and acted as one nation, internally they kept a distinction of separate temple centres which largely followed traditional tribal boundaries, making the transition easy on the tribepeople.

This new harmony did not last long. In an effort to control their unruly subjects, the Thearchs enacted ever stricter laws regulating much of public life, which only served to make their (still mostly tribal) subjects even more uncontent and unruly. But the Thearchs also had powerful divine magic and were able to call on their gods for intervention. There is more than one story of an uprising overcoming the Thearchy's weak regular troops only to be butchered by an army of 'angels' called by the Thearch and his disciples.

So it went for about two centuries, until the Thearchs in their hubris managed to destroy their own power base."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms

"The Dwindling" and the destruction of the Askari empire, 160-120 Years ago

"Once their rule of humanity was established, the Thearchs turned on the other species in their land - most notably the Askari and the Myriae.

The Askari had slowly estranged further and further from humanity after Raellya's raid of one of their cities, strengthening their defenses in case of another attack. The Thearchs declared their strange method of reproduction sacrilegeous and 'stealing from our land', and ordered them to require official permit for any birth ritual conducted - which would now also need to have a Thearchy representative present to ensure all laws were followed. This worked as designed in provoking the Askari as it attacked their most sacred traditions.

The Thearchs had a plan though - they started performing large-scale rituals, many of which interfered with the magic of the Askari. Most of their defenses disabled this way, the Askari cities could not withstand the attacks of the Thearchy's armies and were reduced to rubble one by one. Ir less than five decades, all Askari cities in Thearchy lands were destroyed.

Fearing a repeat of such attacks in the Raellian empire, and with much of their magic not working properly anymore, the Askari abandoned their cities altogether and moved into human settlements - predominantly Pharic and Raellyan cities - where they founded smaller exile communities.

The Thearchs did not stop there, though; they turned on the Myriae next. They declared Myrania's Mark to be a curse they could lift, and persecuted any Myriae that would not submit to their 'treatment'; this lead to great numbers of Myriae moving into Raellyan lands for the first time, while many others fled into the wilderness, abandoning what little civilisation these people have.

The rituals that had originally targeted the Askari proved more effective than intended, though: before long, the summoning circles of the Raellian empire stopped working. No more new golems meant that the industrial base of the empire was about to disappear, plunging them into the biggest crises the empire has suffered to date."

--from A history of Theya and its species, a well-known history book the possession of which is punishable by death in most Pharic league cities

The Raellian Resurgence and the rise of Slave Trade, 130-90 years ago

"Why the slave tax, you ask? Don't ask too loud, or they'll take you next. You see, them lazy Raellyans had relied on their golems for centuries, because they can't do an honest day's work themselves.

But them golems stopped working because them Raellyans became too lazy even to make them proper. What? Because of Thearchy? Bah, don't believe them lies. It's what the Raellyans give as excuse for being lazy.

So no golems meant they was needing someone else to work. And you know who does the best honest work? That's right, us princedom folks. So they wanted us, so they invented that slave tax.

Why our prince would ever pay that, you ask? Did I not tell you not to ask too much? They'll take you next otherwise, then you can ask the Raellyans yourself if they don't cut out your tongue for asking stupid questions."

--a princedom village elder

"The Raellian resurgence is probably the single greatest political achievment in Theyan history; the only rival would be the source of its problem, the unification of the warlord tribes under a single political entity in the Thearchy. But while the second had outside help and would have been impossible without Raellyan cultural achievements, the resurgence was achieved solely from within the empire.

The perverted rituals of the Thearchy had stopped the summoning circles from working. While this did not occur overnight, but rather over a few years, it still took the ruling elite of Raellya, the mages, completely by surprise. Suddenly, the golem workforce, the industrial basis of the empire, could no longer be replenished. Without golems to work the hostile lands, production started to plummet - first for everyday goods, then for the luxuries of the mages themselves.

With the economic downturn came unrest, and without the funds or means of productions provided by the golem-powered industry, the empire looked very much like it would succumb to civil war and unrest - in fact, the armies of the Thearchy were already poised to strike at such an opportunity.

In stepped the noble houses of modern Raellya. They offered the Thearchs to take their many political prisoners off their hands, and put them to work as slaves. While requiring more maintenance and being considerably less resistent to hostile conditions than the golems, slaves can be tasked with more complex commands and require less oversight to ensure they do not malfunction. This basis of cheap slave labour brought much-needed income, and the more complex tasks they could achieve allowed for technological progress - the foremost of which was the manufacture of cold iron, a secret maintained by the noble houses to this day.

This avoided war with the Thearchs, which preferred the profit of slave trade and having a convenient method of getting rid of undesirables, and the Pharic league, which quickly acquired a transport monopoly for the slaves and has always preferred trade to war.

The mages, of course, even without their summoning circles, did not relinquish power willingly. They and their disciples still put up a fight, and for the small scale battles that ensued in the courts and mansions of Raellya, cold iron proved the turning factor in breaking their magic power.

So the noble houses came to rule, and they still do today."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms

The fall of the Thearchy and the emergence of the princedoms, 50 Years ago

"Why we got rid of the Thearchs, you ask? Well, you see, they was making to many damn rules. Go there at this time, pray here, eat only that, buy only there. That is not for us princedom folks, that is for Raellyans what don't work and so have time to follow rules all day.

So we found us our princes, gods bless them, and with them we killed them Thearchs. Just like that. The Raellyans and Pharic had tried for centuries, but of course they failed, because us was fighting for the Thearchs then and everyone knows we princedom folks fight best."

--a princedom village elder

"The Thearchy, in its hubris, provided the instruments of its own fall. As mentioned, for two centuries they survived all revolts by relying on heavenly hordes and their divine powers.

What they considered their greatest achievement, the rituals that broke the Askari and would have destroyed the Raellyan empire if not for the ingenuity of its noble houses, came back to bite the in the end.

For you see, it was not only the Askari rituals and the summoning circles that stopped working. When the rabble next rose up in the Thearchy a few decades later, they found that they could no longer rely on their heavenly hordes - no single 'angel' would come to their aid.

The tribes, of course, quickly noticed this, and turned their usual butchering on the Thearchs. The leaders of the revolutions quickly named themselves princes, and build their castles on the ruins of the temple cities of the Thearchs.

But make no mistake - in all but name, the tribes have simply returned to their primitive warlord era, with its endless meaningless internal wars."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms

The Slaver wars, 23-14 years ago

"The successors of the Thearchy, the princedoms, were keen to reverse their most unpopular decision: the shipping of sentenced criminals as slaves to Raellya. They attacked the Pharic slave ships, and soon Pharic citizens in general.

However, they soon discovered that they no longer held the edge in combat, even in their own lands. While the princedom tribal warriors are still the savage fighters they were five centuries ago, discipline and technology has not stood still in Raellya, so when the empire intervened to secure its slave supply, the princedoms could not organize sufficiently strong local resistance. After the two most prominent resisting princedoms were destroyed and more or less their entire population enslaved, resistance died down for a while.

It looked as if they might forever be at the mercy of the Pharic league and Raellya, if not for monstrous treason of some Pharic Askari. Denied their own ideas due to the strict regulations on research in the Pharic League, they went to the princedoms - the spiritual successors of their destroyers! - and gave them the plans for larger sailing vessels. The claim that these vessels were invented in the princedoms themselves is ridiculous. Those barbarians never invented anything other than new methods to hit people with a stick.

These vessels proved a match for the Pharic League ships, and the fact that there was no single site of construction - with the princedoms being such a large, poorly mapped and unorganised region - prevented the League from targeting their source. In five years of sea battles, they seriously reduced the Pharic League naval power, to a point where the League considered withdrawing from the war - which would prevent the Raellyans from executing their concerted strikes against centers of resistance.

So a truce was formed, in which the princedoms themselves would take over the slave trade, but at a reduced rate and higher prices - mostly satisfying the Raellians, but cutting the Pharic League out of the profits. Princedoms unwilling to sign quickly found themselves invaded by their peers, which did not want to resume the war."

--from The true History of Theya, a well-known history book currently banned in several princedoms