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Fact Box for Zhariah
🕑 Added 2024-04-17 14:00:01 +0000 UTCHere is the fact box for the not at all ironically named People's Republic of Zhariah, the first nation of the so-called Golden Sickle region in the south east of Sammaea, which is one of many regions in Elyden surrounding an inner sea. I'll be making more nations in this area with an eye towards finishing off with a map of the surrounding sea. Zhariah is technically an outlier, but is still classified as part of the Golden Sickle due to their related culture and intertwined histories, so we'll be seeing more of them over the coming months.
Zhariah will be the focus of the next high-res and textless atlas map that will be published next week, exclusively for Acolyte patrons and higher followed by the normal version the week after that.
The Encyclopaedia Elyden is already updated with all the relevant entries related to the region and is history, so you can check it all out there.
Thanks all for your support :)
As always, feel free to point out typos in the comments :)
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ZHARIAH
600 - 1100 RM – Otherborn Territories (Meghraniz Bhookh) coalesce into a singular nation that by c. 1180 had become known as Zhariah.
1107 RM - the champion Skaetah has united dozens of cities of Meghraniz Bhookh together around the inland sea of Isthis.
c. 1170 RM – the name Zhariah is first used and Skaetah expands his territories west.
1179 RM - Skaetah dies, leaving Zhariah in a powerful position and it prospers well beyond the death of its founder.
c. 1300 - 1500 RM - Now a confident unified land, Zhariah expands south across the Strait of Ettella, settling the islands of Sall Ath and assimilating with its people. The islands remain largely uninhabited, with only a single major city, known as Sall, prevailing, where most of the island’s urban population lives. The rest of the islands are rural, dominated by vineyards and great terraced fields that provide food for the state of Zhariah.
1303 RM – unrest caused by the Upheaval of Lethea.
c. 1500 - 2000 RM - the people of Sall Ath are largely forgotten. At times Zhariah plunders from its own territory, taking men as conscripts and workers as needed. This prevents Sall Ath from developing further.
c. 1680 - 1800 RM - a new religion rises in Zhariah centred around the ruling caste, elevating its members far above the common folk, forming a schism between the common people and the nobility. This schism only grows with passing generations and by c. 1800 RM the ruling caste has become akin to living deities, with a disparity forming between the ruling family and other nobles. Details of the religion are expunged from records following the revolution of 3913 RM and it is now only known by the name Zhariahan Faith, though few care to remember even that.
1987 RM - the government of Zhariah becomes a monarchy.
c. 2080 - 2120 RM - dissent brews in the city of Sall. A particularly severe cull (as the mainland sallies onto the islands are now known) has left the islands’ populations devastated. The rulers of Sall have rallied their people to oppose the predations of their rulers in Zhariah and begin fortifying their land to resist further attacks.
2119 RM - a fleet of Zhariahan ships attempt to land on Sall Ath but they are fought off by newly built defences. This puts into motion events that lead to the Sall Athan attack on Zhariah the next year.
c. 2120 RM - Sall Athan armies sail across the Strait of Ettella towards the south east of Zhariah in a long-gestating act of defiance against their oppressors. The attack is disastrous and the far greater power easily counters the oncoming vessels and landing parties.
C. 2120 - 2430 RM - the failed attack on Zhariah changed the status quo of the two lands. Zhariah begins to keep Sall Ath on a far tighter leash, treating its people as little more than subjugated foreigners. Sall is turned into a fortress ruled by loyal governors. All that the people of Sall Ash produce is taken from them with barely any left for themselves, leaving them weak and sick. Where before the people taken from Sall Ath to serve in Zhariahan armies were at least treated well, now they are little more than slaves.
This period reaches its crux in c. 2430 RM when a particularly ruthless king leads a great army against Sall Ath. Sall , a puppet of the monarchy, lets the army into the city, unleashing a night of bloodshed and destruction in which none, not even the governors, are spared. Those who survive are taken to Zhariah as slaves, and the city of Sall is razed. Sall Ath is no more.
2733 – 3913 RM – the rule of the House of Hinol in Zhariah.
2917 - 2939 RM – the House of Hinol fractures when its king dies, leaving two legitimate heirs – twins: his Iaqrasha, and daughter Iaqradenne. Though his son is the true heir, with the line of succession normally passing to a male heir, his sister nevertheless believed that she, being older, deserves the throne.
The kingdom erupts into a civil war that lasts for around twenty five years, ending only with the brother’s defeat in 2939 RM and the coronation of his sister as the queen of Zhariah. His followers are forced to bend the knee to her, though never truly accept her rule.
2941 RM - after two years of humiliation the brother and his followers, including a large personal army, exile themselves, moving west into the Sharook, where they establish the base of Sulamaia before moving farther west, eventually subjugating the nation of Qaralam, where a new sultanate is founded.
The border between Qaralam and Zhariah remained a hotbed of military activity with the two nations rarely at peace for long. This state lasted for centuries until the two eventually reached an accord in 3223 RM, though Zhariahan fundamentalists saw this as a sign of weakness and turned on the House of Hinol. This Fundamentalist group would grow over the next centuries, eventually leading to another war that would see the kingdom fractured, its southern territories slipping away to give rise to the nation of Shezaliah in 3502 RM. The House of Hinol proved resilient, surviving this, but limped onwards for the next centuries until it was overthrown in 3913 by an anti-monarchist movement.
With the monarchy gone (its sole surviving members fleeing far north into the Malani Forest-kingdom of Lonar), Zhariah descended into anarchy and collapsed into separate warring states that were eventually reunited by the warlord Rhozhaden into a new Zhariah that he continues to rule today.
2940 RM – Iaqrashan Sultanate moves west and conquers Qaralam.
3223 RM - Qaralam and Zhariah enter a period of uneasy truce, ending over two centuries of conflict.
3223 - 3496 RM - fundamentalist nationalists in Zhariah see the truce between Zhariah and Qaralam as a sign of weakness. This leads to increased tension in Zhariah.
3343 - c. 3375 RM - following a period of increased unrest, the monarchy abolishes slavery, freeing thousands of people over the next decades. Most of them flee east across the Strait of Ettella, settling on Sall Ath.
c. 3350 - c. 3400 RM - the nation of Saeleh is founded by the descendants of the Zhariahan slave diaspora who settled Sall Ath. Many new settlements are founded on the ruins of old ones, and a new capital is erected just outside the ruins of old Sall. Major fortifications are erected on the western coast to defend against Zhariahan attack, and its people are well-trained, carrying out 5-years of compulsory military service, through which they are granted the right to citizenship. Once their service is up they are given their weapons and armour, which must be kept in good condition for they may be called to duty in times of war. This way Saeleh is prepared for foreign invasion at any time.
3496 - 3502 RM – The worst of the fighting takes place in the south, where the guerrillas are based, and after two years of fighting they have turned the region now known a Shezaliah into a stronghold from which they launch fresh attacks against the north, rapidly claiming territory and cities. Fearful that the fundamentalists are gaining the upper hand the House of Hinol reaches an agreement with them, granting them independence over their territories, leading to the formation of Shezaliah.
3502 - c. 3700 RM - Zhariah, fearful that Shezaliah has not abandoned its desire for retribution against perceived wrongs, fortifies its southern border. No longer needed, most of these forts are now abandoned, and only the two forts of Teiurah and Sevaiah survive to this day.
3843 – 3875 RM – a political war is declared with Simbara. Aside from some acts of espionage and distant guerrilla disruptions, the war is uneventful, leaving the House of Hinol financially and politically weakened, and its people weary of their treatment under the monarchy. The war is ended in 3875 RM to no fanfare, though the seeds of dissent have been sown.
3875 - 3913 RM - The monarchy grows weaker as dissatisfaction amongst the population increases. Whispers of social revolution spread from the capital in Bhal Zhariah, slowly spreading to other cities in Zhariah. By c. 3910 RM riots and workers strikes have become common, with the government forced to take severe measures, enforcing martial laws in many areas in order to combat the unrest. This only serves to rile up the people even more, and civil war erupts in the capital in 3913 RM.
3913 RM – a bloody civil war erupts in Zhariah with those favoured by the Zhariahan Faith targeted. By the winter, most government and religious structures have been overtaken by civilians and the military, and late in the year the palace is eventually taken, ending with the ousting of the House of Hinol. The People’s Republic is founded in the palace. The queen and her closest family are executed, with her extended family and court exiled. Most are pursued and slain before reaching the border, but some manage to escape to the Malani Forest-kingdom of Lonar, where they were accepted as political refugees, eventually rising within its own royal household. All religious structures are toppled and over 2,000 years of texts are burnt by the masses and over a handful of generations the old religion that gave birth to the monarchy is forgotten by most. Some still cling to the old ways in secret but they are few and far between, and live now in hiding.
3913 - 3954 RM - despite their victory, the people of Zhariah cannot settle on a ruler, and the land fractures, though the warlord Rhozhaden, emerges in the south east of the nation, amassing a loyal following. By 3954 RM he has united the entire nation whilst simultaneously defending against Shezallahan attacks.
His obsession with the eradication of the House of Hinol has dominated Rhozhaden’s tenure as ruler of Zhariah, and special forces trained in espionage hunt across Elyden for remnants of the Royal House, particularly those who settled in Malan, who are now political targets.
3982 RM - following years of fruitless requests for the extradition of Princess Marlerie from Lonar, Rhozhaden declares war on Malan, resulting in a great many spies and operatives being sent into the Hendecarchy in the hopes of manipulating its court. The last decades have been characterised by an amassing of troops and training of civilians in the ways of war should they be called upon to fight in the future.
