3220 - Gurdago and the Cuoli at their height
Perhaps the First and Second Empires had been more glorious, but the Third Empire of Gurdago was nothing to be disdained-- an empire over near-savages, close to home, and far from any serious rivals, surely had staying power. Out of reach of the warm currents that make Gurdago hospitable, Luduyn was certainly cold and uncomfortable, but it had plenty of resources (wood, furs, Mgunikpe slaves, minerals and gems from the elcari), and it was hungry for manufactured goods.
The Gurdagor made some effort to civilize the natives, instructing them in their language and religion, and allowing them to serve in the army and help conquer their cousins; their best students were named as their chiefs. It was something of an embarrassment when the Sha garrison in Lufào rebelled and occupied the town, but it would be short enough work to put them down.
Division into warring states has alway seemed lamentable to the Axunaic peoples; it was inevitable, then, that the Revaudo and Nyexi (royalist) halves of Xurno would attempt to conquer each other. In the civil war that began in 3087, the Revaudo state had twice the population of its rival, and its troops were still motivated by revolutionary fervor; by 3097 it had utterly defeated the royalists, and was reorganizing the conquered territories along Revaudo lines.
The politics of the postwar period were dominated by the Prose Wars, which focussed on whether writing in prose could be considered an art form (and thus whether writers could be admitted to the ruling class). There were any number of strikes, riots, manifestos, and insurrections before the question was decided in the affirmative (but narrowly; `journalistic' writers were excluded from the new Salon).
The Xurnese reconquest of Bolon (by 3160) and the Cuoli advances against the Losainor highlight the eclipse of the barbarians. The military balance of power has definitively shifted from the nomads to the agricultural states. The most noticeable factor is the large standing armies maintained by the settled states, better trained and more reliable than the feudal levies of the Dark Years. These in turn were made possible by stronger governments and a resurgence in trade, and a reawakening of the spirit of innovation. Once war began to depend on economic strength and advances in weaponry (the Xurnese and Cuolese had better armor, better crossbows, and explosives), the nomads were at a distinct disadvantage.
The civilized states lost no time testing these advances out on each other. Cuoli had the advantage in its early struggles with Xurno, first picking off Bozan (3120) and later the upper Xengi (3180). Having broken the power of the Losainor and humbled the Sevisre, Cuoli seems to have graduated from a minor to a major power.
In Eretald, after the renaissance of Caleon and his successors, it is a darkening time. In Verduria, the general Bodhomor Kushdhey usurped the sash in 3128, losing it only three years later to another warlord. Caloton, Duke of Pelym, restored order in 3142; but the sash was usurped again in 3198 by the wizard Utu, and under his tyranny Verduria became a dark and unhappy land. During one or the other time of troubles much of the gains of Caleon and Zhevuran were lost.
More alarming, Dhekhnam pushed the Caizurans across the Ctelm mountains (3120; many of them subsequently poured into southeastern Eretald), reconquered Sarnáe, and occupied Mishicama (3160-72). The Dhekhnami have also learned the value of exploiting dynastic strife; they supported rebellions in southern Barakhún and eastern Ismahi, and the resulting independent states, Azgami and Mútkün, are now Dhekhnami client states-- bases for espionage and further subversion. Both have also formally recognized the worship of Gelalh.
The only bright spots are in the northern littoral, most notably the Directorate of Érenat, where prosper not generals and wizards, but artists, merchants, and farmers. The invention of printing, by Adriano Bodhmorey (3184), has made Érenat the cultural center of the Cadhinorian lands.
Kebri reclaimed the Strait Islands in 3140. Busy with warlords and wizards, Verduria was neglecting the maritime trade that had created its wealth; Kebri moved quickly to take up the
slack. It was the first of the northern powers (Jeor and Gurdago had pioneered the technique in the south long ago) to discover the rewards of exclusive trading rights; by 3200 it was leaving troops in the Little Kingdoms and Moreo Ashcai to help enforce its monopolies.
The Kebreni have brought such novelties as coffee, cane sugar, and vanilla from the Nanese lands to Eretald, as well as turned Nanese kim (rice) from an exotic oddity to a staple. Their traders are also pioneers in shipbuilding and in accounting-- modern bookkeeping in Eretald still follows Kebreni methods (and uses Kebreni technical terms).
Ambekh I brought Barakhún to its height, conquering the desert plateau of Rhânor, and occupying the straggling Somoyi towns of the upper Lernukh (by 3140). Dissident nobles repudiated his grandson Albekh in 3182, forming the state of Mútkün.
Beshbalic occupied the eastern shore of Lake Bérunor in 3150.
The Eluyet and Makshi established a joint chieftancy in 3184; the first, Makshi anaraz took an Eluyet wife and named advisors from both tribes. In the old days, such unions were the run-up to invasions of Eretald; the present union is defensive in nature. Farther west, the Obenzayet have defeated the Kachanöt, and this has triggered a general shuffle of the Methelyi southward.
Dusila and Pafliopagimi were united by a dynastic union in 3162, forming the kingdom of Skouras (Tzhuro Shura); ten years later the new state conquered Ichili, and reduced the territory of the Disainor. (In compensation, the Disainor are attempting to extend their empire to the southern Qaraus.)
This is the first time in more than seven centuries that the Tzhuro of Skouras have been united. But though it is still Jippirasti, it is not a tej of old. The foreign occupation shattered the old ways, and catalyzed a drive for reform. New arts of war were needed, and so be it if they must be learned from unbelievers or former enemies. Economic and social reform followed. The country is governed by a Senate on the model of Cheiy, and there is no atej at all, only an azhrang (Trustee) of the Senate.
In the Littoral, the Das Echendi collapsed, in the wake of another, unsuccessful war with Lutay (3149-3154). The Namal and Chisra went their own way; after a period of chaos, most of the remaining territory of the League was organized into the new state of Barmund. In a similar fashion, most of the Gelihur peninsula has united under the leadership of the city of Gelimai.
In the northern Ediri mountains appeared the new state of Belshai (3212). This mountainous area is an ethnic mishmash-- Tzhuro, Lenani, Cuoli, Sevisre, Sainor-- and the Belshayin are the first to discover how such a region can be more than an appendage to some neighboring empire: it is organized into cantons, each largely autonomous, but united for purposes of defense and trade. The new idea is already under attack: Cuoli launched an operation against it in 3220.