NEWRP STUFF

History of Mistanne

The continent of Mistanne begun recording it's history, three thousand years prior to the current day. The events prior to that time are clouded in mystery, and the only thing that can be made of it are various theories.

Recorded history begins with the Xoac people in the southern jungles (at the time) and the Soma facilities. Both developed writing at some point, and records survive from about three thousand years ago, for both.

The Xoac people were brave explorers, and lovers of storytelling. The earliest recorded cases of Speaking are indeed, among the Xoac. The Xoac were also early users of Alchemy, and they built hollow stone statues, called Ocamalac ('Stone People') which are believed to have served the same purpose as the modern Defender Spirits: to house and channel the power of an Idea.

They expanded, from the jungle to the south, upwards unto central Mistanne. Traces of them are found in what is now Pictan, several Ocamalac being found in the area, inscribed with various writings. The word for 'Ishmelem' is also, in fact, in Xoac, although it's meaning has not yet been deciphered.

Unfortunately, the Xoac had neglected the possibility that they would have to wage war. Coming from the southeast, the Terac people, of common ancestry and relatively similar language, made first contact with the Xoac. The Terac were less cultured, but instead possessed a more hostile disposition and their Ocamalac were built out of harder minerals and sometime metal too. The Terac incursions cost the Xoac a great deal.

It only got worse when the Terac begun adapting the advanced Xoac culture and ideas, they became better at organization, and begun developing new technologies, better weapons and Ocamalac to battle with. After fifty years of conflict, the Xoac were entirely assimilated, and the Terac had moved from their old landings, to the cities of the Xoac. The assimilation is questioned, however, as while those originating from Terac came to rule the lands of the Xoac at first, almost the entirety of Terac culture was replaced by that of the Xoac: the Terac even begun calling themselves 'Xoac' which means 'the people', in their language.

The Terac built a large city, Terahua, which managed to withstand the test of time. Terahua was large for it's time, and it's walls and structures live to this day, having been built around the Pillar of Light. The center of Kandhrak, and eventually Artemia, still exists in this place.

At the same time, in the north, a strange group of people living in the Soma monasteries, begun spreading their teachings in the northern settlements, identifying at the time as 'Vaana'. A word which simply means 'Those of Vaan'. (Vaanan mythology says that a legendary king descended from beyond the Northern Ranges, and taught the people of the north how to speak in the Primordial Language. The people of Soma then brought with them the way to write it, the arts of healing and mechanics (Alchemy and doll-making, or at least their primitive forms).

Thus, cities based on Ink Arts and Speaking, rose. The warriors of Vaana used potions, and painted stories of old on their bodies, stories inherited from ages before writing was made available, before heading south. The early Vaana people were merciless raiders, who made contact with the Terac, and the Terac found themselves utterly outmatched, by the sheer versatility the arts of the Vaana offered them.

They were forced to hole up in Terahua, and for a long time, the Vaana dwelt all the way to the borders of the southern jungle. Of course, they became unified eventually, forming the Vanaan kingdom that expanded over a large horizontal belt, in the center of Mistanne. The Vanaan empire sought to cover the entirety of the continent's center, given that they saw the south as posing no threat, and the north appeared to already be in their grasp. However, this is where a third culture reared it's head.

Ancient and venerable, articulate and intellectual, the early Orimman were thought off as divine beings by the Vaana, astonished at their architectural talent. Not just that, but the mastery of Oriate having built certain weapons of it, and their cities walls being impenetrable to the Vaana, it was easy to become afraid. The Orimman were however peaceful and sought to keep to their own matters. Centuries were spent in a tentative state of stability, with raids being only limited to small settlements. Eventually the Terac rebuilt and begun reconquering their territory.

This brought peace to an end. Seeking vengeance against the foreigners that had kept them in the dark for so long, the Terac assaulted Vanaan border settlements and for a while seemed to be pressing forward. However, before a counterattack from the Vanaan kingdoms could even be initiated, the Terac found themselves caught in an internal strugle, against the Kandh people. A faction of disputed origin, the Kandh existed within the territories of Terac, in peace for about a century and in the moment the Terac begun pooling resources towards a war with the Vaana, the Kandh saw it fit to attack.

They had an entirely different culture from the Terac, and in  fact were both more warlike and disciplined than the Terac. In a way it was rather funny that the Terac were destroyed by a more military civilization that they allowed upon their territory: much like what they did with the Xoac.

The Kandh people progressed fast, and with the Vaana eventually mounting their counter-offensive, they were free to overtake the capital. Terahua fell overnight, and the Kandh people, with their leader Arkun rose to power. Arkun proclaimed himself Hegemon of the South and rebranded the land of Terac as Kandhac originally, a name that eventually shifted to Kandhak and then Kandhrak, more in line with the Kandh language (although their people too became known as 'Kandhrak' with time). The Kandh absorbed and rebranded the Terac culture as well, mixing in Vaanan ideas and with it to create a behemoth for ideas.

Arkun was a very clever man and he made sure to spread ideas of Kandhrak supremacy all over his own territory, and even injected them as far as the borders of Orimman. As Arkun passed away, and the second Arkun arose and then a third, Kandhrak became practically impossible to invade.

The ambition of the Kandhrak rulers grew, and soon they begun expanding further north. The Vaana had to concede a few settlements, and eventually the first cities. Their kingdom was ruined and the Vaana had to retreat north, reforming the new Vaanan Kingdoms there, who were left on their own by the Kandhrak: the territory was not fertile enough to justify a full force invasion and the Vanaan were more likely to collapse upon themselves due to the massive clash of the culture of the central Vanaan and the more numerous, traditionalist, but on average weaker Vanaan cities of the north, as well as the typical infighting that had  plagued Vaana for so long.

The third Arkun died and he was largely celebrated, but the fourth one would take on a new name: Khor-Arkun (The Greater Arkun), and he came in with a great ambition: to topple Orimman and take the secrets of making Oriate. The campaign was merciless, as the forces of Kandhrak fell over the great Orimman cities, centered around Mount Organnat (Or Arthe-Alomin, in Orimman). Khud-Menem was the first to fall and to demonstrate their resolve, the Kandhrak razed it to the ground,leaving nothing but the walls of Oriate behind.

However, even so they found that the walls would not bend to them, and the secret of mastering Oriate was not theirs to have so easily. Khor-Arkun died achieving only a small victory in the grand scheme of things, yet for it he was praised greatly. The campaign continued with the second Khor-Arkun, who was not so fortunate. The Vaana were now lead by a great general, Bor of the Fields. Bor made multiple incursions in the former central Vanaan territory, and disabled many roads, settlements and supply lines for the war-effort in Orimman.

Given that getting to Orimman from the south was impossible and thus Kandhrak had to supply their war effort through the center of the continent, Bor's action was absolutely crippling: so massive in fact that he was the only foreigner to ever get a statue of him within Orimman, cast in Oriate as well.

Thus, the second Khor-Arkun died and accomplished little in his war effort. Kandhrak was beginning to feel the pressure of having to maintain such a force at such distance, not to mention internal politics becoming more and more complex with time, as ideas evolved.The next ruler would seem to have quite a bit to live up to. Arkun the Slitherer rose to the call however, a man who was often called a 'serpent' by his enemies and for good reason.

He immediately pulled back the forces invading Orimman and begun diplomatic arrangements. Soon enough Orimman opened up and that is how Kandhrak culture was too injected inside Orimman. After years of indoctrination and strengthening of presence, the Siltherer had barely any problem waging war once more and having large factions inside Orimman join his side. It took months to overwhelm even the greatest cities and at the end, Orimman pledged their greatest secret to Kandhrak.

It would appear that Kandhrak was now indestructible, and the Vanaa were about to be shattered soon as well, with their incursions not escaping the Siltherer's sight. This was when things went haywire. The great twelve-fold Parallel in the center of Kandhrak's capital, Artemia, released a great burst of energy one day. Oneironauts had warned of it, as had certain Speakers who felt their voice tremble in the days before.

The Performers too felt it, and it turned out to be real. Overnight, Kandhrak and a large part of Vaana were shattered as the parallels overflowed. Was it a stray, destructive idea of the end of civilization? A fearsome end that was in the works for so long, the work of a cult?

A dark age ensued, that lasted for one hundred years. Raiders, pirates, muggers, war lords, murderers, thieves, all sorts of scum arose and ravaged the continent of Mistanne for so long, small kingdoms, cities rising in the meantime, maintaining some degree of power but falling after a while.

It was not until the rediscovery of the arts, a simultaneous effort amidst the entirety of the continent that brought this age to an end. Cities rose again, stable now, and the development of the arts became the center of society, rather than military expansion as in the past. An age of growth, progress and peace would ensue, however one does not know how long it'd last.