Post by WildlingKing on Jan 22, 2019 23:42:04 GMT
History of Midvas
This is a summarization of the history of Midvas, in which I’ve tried to include all the major developments that have led to the world you will see in Tales of Midvas. Reading this is not necessary to understand the stories, and much of the information presented here will no doubt be brought up within the stories as well. However, aside from helping you to understand what came before the world presented in the stories, perhaps reading this could give you ideas for character submission.
In this guide I use a dating system based around the Fall of Kyrian civilization. BFK stands for Before the Fall of Kyria, and AFK for After the Fall of Kyria. However, it should be noted that this is a system rarely used in-universe, and I have simply chosen to use it here for convenience sake.
Lost Age
The times before the Age of Collapse and the Gazyran Hegemony are known as the Lost Age, which is usually considered as everything before 150 BFK. It was a time when bronze and ancient empires ruled the world. These ancient empires included Gazyra, Kyria, Harkia, Abara and Mysara. Gazyra was a rich empire originally formed from three separate kingdoms, which first united under the rule of the High Kings of Gazyra during the 27th century BFK, and was later ruled by the glorious God-Kings from the 21st century BFK onwards. Kyria was a maritime empire dominating the Silver Sea with their mighty fleet, ruled by the Sea Emperors from 20th century BFK onwards. Harkia was a militaristic empire forged with bloody wars during the 17th century BFK, and ruled with an iron fist by the Red Kings. Abara was a kingdom born from a confederation of tribes defending their homeland against violent incursions by the Harkians during the 16th century BFK, which grew to be the center of culture and understanding in the ancient world. Mysara was an expansionist empire that at its height reached from Asania to Latara, born from a tribe of warriors known as the Mysar conquering their civilized and quarrelsome neighbors Sataria and Terethia during the 13th century BFK.
The Lost Age is now often looked back to as a stable and prosperous time, where these five great civilizations existed in harmony with each other. That is of course a gross oversimplification, since it is clear from the writings that remain of those times that the relations between and within these empires were often anything but harmonious. Harkia waged numerous bloody wars against Gazyra, Abara and even Kyria, Gazyra had its times of chaos and division, and the Mysaran empire broke into infighting several times, sometimes for almost a whole century.
Gazyran Hegemony
The Lost Age is considered to have ended in 146 BFK, when the Gazyran God-King Rahar Bloodspear conquered Harkia after waging war against them for nearly a decade. After that Rahar set his eyes on Abara, enticed especially by the enchanted Mirror of Truth held by the Brotherhood of Light in their temple at Nereja, said to have been the perfect tool of clairvoyance. By 141 BFK Rahar Bloodspear took the capital of Abara, but to his disappointment he found the temple of the brotherhood abandoned and the mirror missing. He was then told that the sorcerers of the Brotherhood of Light had foreseen his conquest, and to prevent the mirror from falling into his hands they had broken it, shared the shards amongst themselves and went their separate ways. The pieces of the broken mirror became known as Shards of Truth, which remain spread across the world to this day.
Regardless of the mirror, Rahar Bloodspear had with his wars of conquests forged Gazyra into a massive empire without compare in the world. However, the decline of the Gazyran hegemony would begin as soon as Rahar the Bloodspear died in 134 BFK. His heir, God-King Rahar II, spent his whole reign from 134 to 110 BFK putting down rebellions in Abara and Harkia. God-King Ufar, successor of Rahar II, was ambushed and assassinated on a road between Harkia and Abara in 105 BFK, his heir Prince Rahar being only nine years old. Rahar III and his mother were assassinated by their enemies in court shortly after he was coronated, which started a civil war in Gazyra. Following this, the Gazyran authority over Abara and Harkia ended, and with it the Gazyran Hegemony.
Age of Collapse
The Age of Collapse was a time of widespread chaos and violence in the ancient empires, caused by internal turmoil, a new threat in form of the seafaring Hykyran warlords, as well as natural disasters, resulting in the fall of many great civilizations. However, it was also a time of change, with iron weaponry starting to replace bronze everywhere.
With the dead of God-King Rahar III, Gazyra was divided between several feuding city-states and pretender kings. This was worsened by times of famine caused by crop failures, lost trade routes and destructive Hykyran raids. However, it was the Kyrians that suffered the most from the hostilities of the Hykyran warlords. In 55 BFK the Kyrian fleet suffered a crippling defeat against the Hykyrans, and in 28 BFK thousands of Kyrians migrated towards west with Prince Hardaos, abandoning the falling empire to establish a new one in the Isperan peninsula. Those who remained on the island of Kyrea continued to suffer under Hykyran raids, and a natural disaster in the form of a massive tidal wave in 0 BFK destroyed what remained of the once great civilization. Just few decades later several Herian warlords, who had already conquered Lakyria from the Kyrians and Hykyrans that lingered there, sailed to raid Kyrea. Some of them decided to settle on the island, establishing the Herian city-states of Kyrea.
Harkia and Abara, left weakened by their time under Gazyran rule, also suffered greatly from the Hykyran raids and invasions. Many of their cities were sacked, and large parts of their lands fell under the rule of Hykyran warlords for decades.
The Herian kingdom of Mydan at first benefitted from the chaos, conquering the weakened Kyrian colonies on their coasts, but later they would also be targeted by massive Hykyran raids themselves. On top of that, more and more Herian tribes begun to migrate north from the peninsula of Herianos. This weakened the Mydanian kings’ authority over their lands, until finally around 60 AFK they were overthrown, and the Kingdom of Mydan was split into city-states.
The Great Sorcerer Wars of Mysara, lasting from 76 to 103 AFK, is generally seen as the last crisis of the Age of Collapse. Details of this war are sparse, but what is known is that armies led by powerful sorcerers ravaged the land, feuding for the control of the empire. The result of the war was the fall of the Mysaran Empire, leaving it divided into small city-states and petty kingdoms.
The Dark Age
The Dark Age was the era following the Age of Collapse, where the empires of old had fallen and new ones were yet to form to fill the power vacuum. It was an age of migrations, petty kings and warlords, with many great cities and palaces of the past being abandoned and left to ruins. Because literacy decreased heavily during the Age of Collapse there is generally less knowledge about the Dark Ages, most of it being derived from folklore. Because of this lack of knowledge many myths and legends from this time have persisted, which is why it is also known as the Age of Heroes.
Around 100 AFK a Herian warlord known as Henros violently united most of the Valley of Gatia under his rule, becoming the first King of Gatia. In the following century the successors of Henros went on to conquer Pantia and Lakyria. King Henros was deified by the Gatians as a descendant of the god Heber, and it was prophesized that some day his line would rule over every Herian. And so since the Dark Age it has been the objective of the Gatian kings to realize this prophecy and expand their rule over all of the Herian world.
Following the forming of the Kingdom of Gatia, many of the local Herian tribes migrated north, running from what they saw as a tyrannical regime. Some settled on the land bridge of Hermia, governed by the city-state of Orenae. Some headed to Kopeia, driving out the local Celian tribes and establishing several city-states along the river Kopei. Some Herian tribes pushed even further north, conquering land from Ragian tribes and establishing the Kingdom of Noria.
The migration of the Ete tribe is considered the last of these Herian migrations. The Ete were a tribe inhabited in southern Hermia, near the headwaters of the river Orei. Around 200 AFK, King Henros III of Gatia marched his armies to conquer these lands. During his campaign he enslaved thousands of the Ete, and sent tens of thousands of them on the run. Some of them settled on the lands of Orenae, some headed to the Kopeian city-states, but most made their way to the recently reformed Kingdom of Mydan. They were at first accepted to these lands by the Mydan king, but only months later he betrayed them and ambushed their fledgling settlement, pushing those who survived the attack to escape further to east. There they found a lawless land, inhabited by Sele tribes, remnants of Kyrian colonies, and small Hykyran warbands. At first the Ete settled in Cosi, a city that had been built by Kyrians but was now mostly inhabited by the Sele. The Sele allowed the Ete to live on their lands, but they were considered second-class citizens. However, among the Ete there was an oracle named Elen, who proclaimed that the tribe should continue their journey further, for she had seen a glorious future for those that would follow her. Many of the Ete remained in Cosi, but thousands did indeed follow Elen, and after weeks of traveling they found an abandoned Kyrian temple sitting atop a hill near the sea. They entered the temple and found a tomb full of treasures under it. The oracle was made a queen, and the city of Elenis was built around the temple. Just a few decades later the Elenians conquered Cosi, and the land became known as Eteia.
Across the seas, a new power was rising in Barvia during the Dark Age. A king named Arash the Great, who reigned from 132 to 160 AFK, was the first Barvian ruler to unite all the Barvian tribes under single crown. He also went on to conquer Susidia and Kasadia, and his successor, King Jahandar, conquered Aradia, Parava and Asania. And so, by 200 AFK the Kingdom of Barvia had grown to be perhaps the strongest empire of its time. Gazyra had a new dynasty of God-Kings, but their authority didn’t reach nearly as far as that of the God-Kings of the Lost Age. Abara was split into two kingdoms, and Harkia was a lawless land ruled by warlords. Mysaran empire had reformed after the Great Sorcerer Wars, but its rule was unstable, with many city-states like Satar and Palar outright denying the emperor’s authority over them.
Hykyran raiders were still fairly common during the Dark Age, but for the most part Hykyrans had either settled on new lands or returned to their homes in Great Hykyr with their newfound wealth. One such Hykyran warlord was a man named Hynnas, who had raided everywhere from Balaria to Sindonia throughout his youth, and then returned to his homeland at the age of 40. However, he was not satisfied with peacefully settling down with his wealth, instead trying to forcefully unite all of Hykyr under his rule. He managed to conquer the northern half of the island by 180 AFK, but the city-states of southern Hykyr made a coalition against him, which he wasn’t able to defeat. King Hynnas died in 192 AFK, but a kingdom named after him lived on, conquering much of the Senian Coastlands during the 3rd century AFK.
In Ispera, the Kyrian colony established by Prince Hardaos integrated with the local culture and became known as the Kingdom of Hardaga. During the 2nd and 3rd century AFK Hardaga conquered Sydega and Masaga.
Age of Tyrants
The 4th century AFK, as well as the first few decades of the 5th are known as the Age of Tyrants. However, this is a term mostly used by Herians, whereas elsewhere this time period is considered either as the end of the Dark Age or the beginning of the Barvian Hegemony. In general, it was a time of development in warfare, politics and culture, with literacy on the increase once again.
In the Herian world, this time is remembered for its militant regimes led by tyrants who had risen to power with private armies. City-states were often at war with each other, fighting for land and resources, with very little cooperation between them. By far the most powerful of all the Herian states at this time was the Kingdom of Gatia, which fought several wars against the Crenean city-states throughout the 4th century AFK, finally conquering the region in 396 AFK. The Age of Tyrants is considered to have ended to the Eteian Revolution, which lasted from 411 to 428 AFK, establishing democracy to the Eteian city-states. These city-states included Elenis, Cosi, Geasa and Selis, and together they formed the Eteian League.
Meanwhile across the seas, the Barvian Empire kept expanding by conquering Malania and the Mysaran Empire in a series of wars lasting from 350 to 377 AFK. These wars were started by King Arash II and finished by his son King Sahzad II, who also went on to conquer Vyndia, Mereva and Osdia before the end of the 4th century AFK. His son and heir, Arash III, had a much less successful reign. He attempted to conquer Zattaria, but his invading armies suffered a crushing defeat against a coalition of Zattaran horselords in 408 AFK, which was followed by decades of destructive Zattaran raids on Aradia. Since then no Barvian king has attempted to conquer Zattara.
During the early 5th century the many Volcian tribes united under one king, as a result of increasing trade and influence from the Barvian Empire. Morcian tribes also soon submitted themselves under the rule of the Volcian king, in exchange for protection against the Zattaran raids.
Kingdom of Hynnas kept expanding during the 4th century AFK, continuously raiding and waging war against Herians on Niatia, eventually securing a large portion of the region under their rule. Across the Isperan Sea, Hardaga kept expanding as well, conquering Central Ispera, Basarga and Esyga during the 4th century AFK. They also bolstered both their merchant and military fleets, establishing several colonies to Mavora Isles and Foinea during the early 5th century.
In Esera a new kingdom was born in 365 AFK from an alliance between three large tribes that had waged war against each other for decades. The city of Lupia was made the capital, and one king was chosen from each tribe. The Kingdom of Lupia went on to conquer Trucia in the early 5th century.
Barvian Hegemony
The Barvian Hegemony is agreed to have begun at the latest in 482 AFK, when King Sereka the Wise conquered Abara. Sereka raised to the throne of Barvia in 458 AFK, during a time of brewing internal conflict, the authority of his line having been questioned ever since the blundered conquest of Zattara. During his early reign Sereka worked hard to win the trust of his vassals, handing out gifts and powerful positions to those he feared to harbor ill feelings towards him, and rewarding loyalty whenever he could. He also put down a small rebellion in Asania, and personally pardoned the surviving leaders of this rebellion. This served to stabilize his rule somewhat, but he feared that it wouldn’t be enough to secure the future of his line, a new conquest would be required for that. Abara at the time was spread between two kingdoms, one having its capital in Nereja and the other in Mesda. Knowing that an unprovoked invasion might serve to unite these two kingdoms against him, Sereka took a different approach. He sent his ambassadors to meet King Efraim in Mesda, giving him a tempting offer. If King Efraim would swear his allegiance to King Sereka, he would make him the only King of Abara. Efraim agreed, and together they crushed the Nerejan king in a war that lasted no longer than a few months. To this day, Abara remains the only province in Barvian Empire that has its own king.
King Sereka died of old age in 489 AFK, and was succeeded by his eldest son, King Syreda the Strong. Syreda didn’t have the cunning of his father, but he was a charismatic leader with a military mind, set to continue the expansion of the Barvian Empire. Before the end of the 5th century he conquered Harkia, which had been divided into half-a-dozen petty kingdoms. From there he marched south to Achia, conquering it in 500 AFK. After that King Syreda returned to the capital of Perylon back in Barvia, spending time with his family and attending to the needs of his noble vassals. However, when news of a civil war in Gazyra reached him in 508 AFK, King Syreda’s will to conquer was reignited. He marched a great army to Gazyra, conquering it in a war that lasted from 508 to 514 AFK. At the end of the war the nine High Priests of Gazyra made held a ceremony to crown him as the God-King of Gazyra. King Syreda’s successor King Sereka II conquered Macaria in 531 AFK, and his successor King Hesharan I conquered the Balarian kingdoms in a series of war lasting from 555 to 563 AFK.
Meanwhile in the Herian world, the Eteian League waged a war against the Kingdom of Mydan, lasting from 453 to 468 AFK. Eteian League won the war, removing the monarchy from Mydan and replacing it with democratic city-states, which joined the Eteian League. Before the end of the 5th century, Alaca, Olaca, Serica, Delaca and Esdes also joined the Eteian League. During the early 6th century AFK the Eteian League vastly expanded their trade with Fynia, Sadacia, Irnia, Sindonia and Lekeia.
Kingdom of Gatia waged an inconclusive war against Orenae from 437 to 444 AFK. They also had to put down several revolts in Crenea and Lakyria throughout the 5th century AFK. The city-states of Kyrea, Ekera and Idia formed an economic coalition in 457 AFK, which came to be known as the Silver League. The Kopeian League was formed by the Herian city-states along the river Kopei in 466 AFK, and a couple years later the Herian city-states of Niatia joined it. Kingdom of Noria conquers more land from the Ragians in a war lasting from 471 to 475 AFK, and the conquered region comes to be known as Noragia.
Kingdom of Lupia conquered Ligum during the late 5th century, and waged a war against the Kingdom of Hynnas for Vycia in the early 6th century. However, Hynnas won the war and holds Vycia to this day. Towards the end of the 6th century Kingdom of Lupia turned its attention towards west, conquering Layda and Illes, as well as expanding their trade with the Hardagan Empire. Hardaga kept expanding throughout the 5th and 6th century, conquering Lydiga and Renega.
Recent history
In 609 AFK, the Barvian King Hesharan II attempted to conquer Fynia, in what is now called the First Fynian War. However, the fleet of the Eteian League rushed to defend their ally, driving the Barvian forces from Fynia during 610 AFK. In response to this King Hesharan II sent his fleet to Eteia, his intention to sack Elenis, the capital of the Eteian League. However, the Eteian fleet sailed to face them in a massive naval battle on the straits of Alaca, where King Hesharan’s fleet was crushed. Following this, the Fynian city-states joined the Eteian League.
A little over decade after this in 622 AFK, King Timonos IV of Gatia surprisingly marched with a large army to Hermia, starting what would come to be known as the Great Herian War. King Timonos had grown concerned about the growing power of the Eteian League, deducing that if his bloodline were to ever rule over all Herians as had been prophesized he would have to act now. The ruling council of Orenae begrudgingly bent their knee to King Timonos, and from there he pushed on to Mydan, occupying most of it before the end of the year. In response the Eteian League sent its great fleet to raid Gatia, Pantia and Lakyria, forcing King Timonos to surrender his holdings in Mydan and march back to Gatia. This kind of back and forth went on for a decade, until in 632 AFK the new Barvian King Hesharan III took advantage of the chaos in the Herian world and conquered Fynia in the Second Fynian War. Concerned by this, the leaders of the Eteian League started to push more and more for peace negotiations with the Kingdom of Gatia. However, King Timonos was too stubborn to give up on his ambition, continuing the war until he died in battle during 635 AFK. His successor, King Nikolaos II, proved more willing to negotiate than his father, and peace was established in the Council of Orenae in 636 AFK.
Fifteen years after this in 651 AFK, Prince Artaman, the third son of King Hesharan III, marched with a great army around the Northern Sea, allying himself with a Ragian king and conquering the Kingdom of Noria. From there Artaman and his great army pushed to Serea, taking it with ease. However, as he tried to push on to Mydan, he was faced with an army of allied Eteians and Gatians on the Pass of Pyrhyi. The battle raged on from dusk to dawn, King Nikolaos II fell in the fighting, but ultimately Prince Artaman’s army was defeated and forced to retreat to winter in Noria. From there they have sent raiding and foraging bands to Kopeia and Celicia throughout the winter, and it is rumored that come the spring of 652 AFK Prince Artaman plans to march his great army to Kopeia. Formally the alliance between Eteia and Gatia stands, but many say that King Nikolaos’ heir King Herondas is less eager to cooperate with the Eteian League than his father was, having ambitions resembling those of his grandfather.
Meanwhile across the seas, a rebellion against the Barvian rule is brewing in Gazyra, and King Hesharan III has sent his second son, Prince Ardakan to deal with it. The king himself rules from Satar, which he has made the new capital of the empire. He has not yet officially designated his heir, and his advisor and first son Prince Syreda grows impatient.