Dekàlas

Empire of the Ten City-States

Borders of the Late Dekàli Empire

Borders of the Late Dekàli Empire

Almost 2000 years ago, an archipelago inhabited by a primitive Yrūn people set out to conquer the Known World, as it was known to them. The further they sailed, the larger the world became, but they remained undeterred and eventually were able to carve a sizable slice from its center. Though the Dekàli Empire fell far short of ruling the world, before the thalassocracy fell it maintained footholds on three continents and changed the Western World forever. This is the history of Dekàlas, Land of the Ten City-States.

Government

The Empire of Dekàlas was ruled by a High Crown, elected by three Councils: Anðus, Ildûn, and Lanàdus. Each of the High Councils represented a supporting pillar of the Empire, respectively: soldiers, wizards, and priests.

  • Council of Anðus. Established 207 HK. Chamber of representatives from each Dekàli army. There could never be more members than were seated on the Council of Lanàdus. Each member had one-half vote. Members were given a full vote on matters of war.
  • Council of Ildûn. Established 207 HK. Chamber of representatives from each Dekàli circle. There could never be more members than were seated on the Council of Lanàdus. Each member had one-half vote. Members were given a full vote on matters of magic.
  • Council of Lanàdus. Established 1 HK. Chamber of representatives from each Dekàli cult. Each member had one vote.

While only the High Crown could pass laws, orders, and judgements for the Empire, the Councils could veto the King’s orders with sufficient support. Council votes were only valid if cast at Kryr Trèmendūm; a councillor that could not attend within the set time, could not vote. The High Crown was not similarly restricted. The Councils had three days to act upon any law, order, or judgement handed-down by the High Crown. If the High Crown ruling was made outside Kryr Trèmendūm, the Councils had five days to respond.

History

Rise of the Lanátyr

In order to appreciate the accomplishments of the Old Empire, it is important to understand the origins of the Dekàlan people. The inhabitants of the Thundering Isles were called the Lanátyr (i.e., People of Lanas). For centuries they traded throughout the Sea of Dekàlas with the help of detailed maps and swift ships. As time progressed, some Lanátyr traders found swifter reward in piracy. Unlike others that sailed the Sea of Dekàlas, the Lanátyr were expert navigators and able to traverse the deep sea rather than sailing along the coasts. This made piracy very easy as their ships could strike and disappear into the open sea without fear of long pursuit. News of these tactics spread swiftly through the ports of Tassèrus and Teréðor until not even the honest Lanátyr traders were welcome in distant ports. Piracy had been lucrative when combined with honest trading, but it was not enough to support the kingdom.

In 115 AR, King Garrd was killed by assassins while journeying to the Shrine of Vargal to seek counsel on questions that plagued him (e.g., his struggling nation, the Erygre). It is recorded that the plot against him was well-known, and that his guards drew no swords to protect him. Vigorous trade had fattened the kingdom, and its inhabitants lived well beyond the means which the island could support alone. There was also worry that the recent execution of visiting priests would bring further suffering to the kingdom. There had been a building discontent with the king and his murder was no surprise.

The Lanas-Anū Gyð War

The vacuum of rule was soon filled with the ascension of Anðùs Terrud, an unpopular figure who had captained a fleet of pirate ships along the shores of Teréðor. Pirates were rightfully blamed for the current troubles of the Lanátyr and so his brazen claim to the Crown was met with some surprise and resistance. An orator of some skill, King Terrud was able to garner support from the Lanátyr army with promises of untold riches to the west (i.e., Anū Gyð). In the tradition of Lanátyr kings before him, he made the journey to the Shrine of Vargal, but unlike those before him that had made the journey alone, he was escorted by soldiers. The Eðir (i.e., Seer) of Lanas offered each new king a prophecy and warning that they might use to guide them during their reign. Unfamiliar with the details of kingship, King Terrud only listened to the first half of Eðir’s soft-spoken message, “The might of your children will be feared in all lands…”. Hearing this King Anðus turned to his soldiers and announced that the campaign against Anū Gyð had received the blessing of the Eðir. As the soldiers cheered the seer finished her prophecy, warning “…but if you plant this seed, your children will never know an end to war.”

Within a month’s time, every island resource was diverted to the war effort. By the Summer of 114 AR, eighty Lanátyr warships sailed the length of the archipelago and landed on the eastern rim of the Sea of Pæð. The Lanátyr army disembarked and swiftly razed two towns before beginning construction of Kry Anðus on the Teréðori mainland. From this stronghold, the Lanátyr would be able to support a long siege of Anū Gyð. Meanwhile, King Anðus commenced with doing what he knew best, piracy. For the next year the Lanátyr fleet maintained a naval blockade of Pagaryth, resupplying themselves and their army along a series of stations established from Kry Anðus to Lanas.

In the Spring of 113 AR, the army’s food was running short and the surrounding fields and granaries had been depleted. There were reports that the island was in worse condition, for there were few men remaining to work the fields and fishing boats. Something needed to happen soon. The commander of Kry Anðus ordered the army westward. As the army moved from town to town, they were careful to salvage food and supplies, the excess of which were carried to the coast and loaded onto ships. When the Anū Gyð became aware of the army’s tenuous logistics they began to burn their own fields and towns as they retreated from the incoming army. The barren countryside slowed the advancing the forces, but they did not stop. In response to the Anū Gyðscorched earth strategy the Lanátyr navy set to attacking coastal villages and towns. By the time the army reached Pagaryth, their numbers had dwindled to half; those too weak to continue were left behind with the injured and the ill. The City of Pagarythwas built on an island between two branches of a divided river, and was prepared for siege. King Anðus left the siege to his commanders as he moved up and down the coast, claiming one town after the next.

By the next summer, the lands of the Anū Gyð were under the control of King Anðus, and shipments of food and spoils were being shipped back to Lanas. In the kingdom’s center, the City of Pagaryth remained independent, isolated from all help by the encircling Lanátyr army. In the Winter of 112 AR, King Anðus turned his attentions toward the capital city. His army had been prevented from entering the city due to strange magics in the surrounding waters. Any attempt to cross the river would cause the waters to burn with golden flame. Following a series of inquisitions conducted in surrounding towns it was learned that the city was built upon a massive network of natural caverns that extended well outside the limits of Pagaryth. The caves were not only used for transport but also contained farms and shelters where the city’s populace could hide during attacks. After a number of excavations, an entrance was created one league from the city. Reserve companies filed into the caverns and made their way underground toward the city.

In the Spring of 111 AR, the Battle of Pagaryth was fought underground. As dangerous as the burning river seemed to the encamped army, the traps and forbiddances within the Caverns of Anū Gyð were worse. Hundreds were slaughtered within the white stone tunnels before the army encountered the first inhabitants. This was the end game for King Anðus; he knew that his success depended upon winning this battle. As the tunnels filled with noxious vapors and the bodies of the first, second, and third ranks, the King ordered more soldiers into the caverns, choking the tunnels with the dead and dying. When finally a passage was secured (and all its traps triggered) the army rushed forward over the bodies of those that had cleared the way. Within the inner caverns they found families crowded inside clay huts, subterranean lakes stocked with all manner of fish, magically illuminated chambers where crops and fungi could grow, and a small Circle of magicians who offered little resistance. What the Lanátyr did not find was an army. Except for the onion-like layers of magical wards and traps, the people of Anū Gyð were undefended.

Climbing the cavern stairs into the daylight, King Anðus proclaimed victory over the Anū Gyð. The cheer and banging of shields that arose from the caverns could be heard beneath the feet of the soldiers camped along the river’s edge. As promised, the soldiers of King Anðus were allowed two days of pillaging within the City of Pagaryth. The King’s guard secured the palace of Queen Talùaða I and the Temple of Pæð.

The Golden Dragul

Following the Fall of Pagaryth in 111 AR, members of the Erygre Sect were hunted, corralled, and executed throughout the conquered lands. When King Anðus returned to his home, victorious after years at war, he brought with him the most learned scholars, magicians, and priests of Anū Gyð. Despite calls for the murder of these heretics, King Anðus employed them to create a Grand Design which would augment his budding Empire and ensure the success of all his people. This group was the firstCouncil of Lanàdus (though it would be another hundred years before the name was used) and in the next two years they laid the groundwork for an Empire greater than King Anðus could have dreamed. The key to the Council’s success was the introduction of the Anū Gyð magicians with the Oracle of Lanas. In 109 AR, the Council produced the Pact of the Dragul to King Anðus. This was a scroll of great power that would eternally bind the Empire to the Spirit of Lanas (i.e., Lanádrynágdralyth). The King read the scroll and agreed to its words. To initiate the contract he opened his veins upon the parchment and to the horror of all, the life was drawn from him. So died King Anðus I, father of the Dekàli Empire.

Upon seeing his father die, Prince Hanðar assumed that the Anū Gyð priests upon the Council had fashioned the scroll to kill the King. Crossing the hall, Prince Hanðar drew a sword and stabbed the captive Queen Talùatha I of Anū Gyð through the heart. As the Prince turned upon the Council, an inhuman voice filled the chamber, staying the Prince’s sword. The Oracle of Lanas exclaimed that it was the voice of the mother spirit and all listened to her words. The voice explained that the death of King Anðus was necessary, but that the Pact was incomplete. It explained that in order for the Pact to be sealed, the people of Lanas must adopt a patron God that could offer them the spiritual strength required for their destiny. Prince Hanðar protested, exclaiming that it was an elaborate ruse designed to reverse his father’s victory over the Anū Gyð. When the ancient Oracle stepped forward to assure the Prince that there was no trickery, the Prince killed the Seer as well. With the Oracle dead, the voice was silenced. While the Prince spoke to those gathered, trying to rally supporters for his theory, the Council whispered among themselves. Finally, the High Shaman stepped forward and announced “By the Pact of Lanádrynágdralyth, signed by the Blood of Anðus I, this Council elects Prince Gaðar, Second of Anðus, to be King Gaðar I, Ruler of the Lands of the First King”. Incensed, Prince Hanðar raised his sword against the High Shaman, but as he did so, every person in the chamber stood in judgment and cast the Prince from the keep. The High Shaman then removed the Crown of Lanas (i.e., the Burning Crown) from the dead king and placed it upon the head of a younger son.

Following the death of the Oracle of Lanas, the Council was in a quandary. They no longer had a means by which to speak with the spirit Lanas, and the mysteries of her “Seeing” were lost with her death. According to the Pact only two people were permitted the honor of speaking with Lanas, an Oracle and the King. The Council presented this fact to King Gaðar who agreed to interact with the spirit until a new Oracle could be found. The Council then explained to the King that Lanas was not a spirit at all, but rather an ancient Dragul that lived within the volcano Tor Trèmendūm. After much discussion, the King agreed to a meeting and prepared for his journey into the mountain.

King Gaðar entered the mountain and did not return for ten days. When he exited his kingdoms were in an uproar. News of the nature of Lanas had spread throughout the lands. Shrines to Lanas and other spirits were defiled and broken as people rejected the idea of Dragul worship. The King was escorted back to his keep where he addressed his Court and Council. First, he addressed the Council and gave them instructions on how to “elect” a Dragulspeaker. Second, he reiterated that the Dragul was not to be worshiped, and reminded them of the command to adopt a God. Third, he forbid further mention of the Dragul beyond the Golden Dragul standard that he presented. Fourth, he told those assembled of a God that would be suitable to the goals of the kingdom. Fifth, he outlined a plan to steal it.

To Steal a God

In the Fall of 107 AR, twenty warships rowing under the cover of night, moved quietly through the waters of the Shundur Udn. Not one of the hundreds of soldiers onboard knew what awaited them as the shores closed in with their towering trees and the calls of strange and unknowable beasts. When morning rose at their backs, they were well into the mainland; the fires of the villages and towns they had passed were leagues behind. Still the cockswains drummed, the oarsmen rowed, and the boats slipped deeper and deeper into the jungles of the Shar. Somewhere ahead of them lay the Land of the Burning God, he who would lead their people to greatness if only they could return him to their island home. In the foremost galley sat King Gaðar, crowned son of Anðus I. He alone knew what must be done and knew that he alone could carry the Burning God back to Lanas.

When the ships neared their destination groans and sighs poured from the galleys. Talk among the soldiers had led most to believe that the natives of the Land would be primitive and the task simple for such seasoned warriors. Rising from the southern shore were stone walls higher than the masts of their ships. The ships diverted toward the forested shore where the soldiers disembarked into the jungle. Before morning, scouts reported that the walled city was the focus of many roads and that numerous caravans were camped outside, waiting for the gates to open. There was a dock gate and a land gate, but otherwise the walls were intact. King Gaðar waited for the day to pass before sending his army forward. Once the land gate was closed for the night, his soldiers sought out caravans arriving from distant places. One by one the caravans were overrun and their clothes and wagons taken. When morning returned and the gates were reopened, the caravans moved into the City of Ebora.

At the center of the city rose a high temple. Atop the giant pyramid stood a pavilion of brightly colored tapestries, erected to give shade to a lounging woman dressed in gossamer and the feathers of exotic birds. The woman looked down upon the city and the marketplace which surrounded the temple on all sides. King Gaðar knew she was not a priestess, but rather an avatar of Abbaran the Burning God. He positioned his men at the base of each staircase while he alone climbed the temple to confront the woman. When the guards reacted to his ascent, the soldiers threw aside their disguises revealing armor and swords. As battle waged in the marketplace below, King Gaðar reached the temple’s top and drew the crystal sword given to him by Lanádrynágdralyth. The terrified woman stood from her chair. When she spoke, the voice was not hers “Welcome Gaðar, son of Anðus, I have waited many centuries for you”. King Gaðar stabbed the sword into the woman and both of their screams could be heard across the city. All fighting below the temple stopped as the King erupted into unearthly flame. The tapestries around them burned to cinder and the flowers fell into perfect ashen shadows. When Gaðar could no longer feel the flames on his skin, he returned down the temple stairs. At their base both crowds and soldiers moved aside for the burning king. He stopped only briefly to take note of the awe and horror in every face. He stared at his hands and the blinding flame that sheathed his crystal sword. He could feel the terrible weight of limitless power bearing down upon him, swelling within every cell of his being, and erupting from every pore. His every thought was scattered like birds in a storm amid a torrent of indecipherable images, sounds, and sensations. Turning toward the river, he stumbled through the city and out through the dock gate. There he stood upon the river’s edge until his ships could retrieve him and his soldiers. The people of Ebora withdrew and did nothing to stop them.

The galleys returned along the Shundur Udn, with King Gaðar standing on the prow burning like a beacon to all along the dark shores of the Shar. Now and again boats drew near to better see the spectacle, but upon seeing the burning king they quickly turned away. Those upon the ship of King Gaðar noticed that the flames were slowly blackening the king’s skin. When they reached the Sea of Pæð his body was unrecognizable beneath the golden flames. They worried that they might not reach home in time and so doubled their efforts. When they reached the eastern reaches of Anū Gyð his flesh was mostly burned away. Upon reaching the shores of Lanas, the king’s blackened skeleton stepped from the galley and presented the sword to the awaiting Council. Laying the sword atop the shore side altar, the king collapsed into ash, his crown ringing upon the stones. Here then is how the the Lanátyr stole the god Irāyn from the heart of the Shar.

The Discidium

Following the Second Acèntyra-Dekàli War, the Empire was forcibly divided. With the Portals destroyed, communication between the states was reduced to Early Empire levels. Prolonged occupation by Eylfāe and Acèntyri forces further impaired the states’ ability to recover. Some historians have suggested that the Occupations did more damage to the Empire than the war itself. Treasuries were loaded onto ships and sent to Vulmùra. In places were occupation was problematic, infrastructure was destroyed and towns burned. Refugees roamed the Fertile and North Coasts, founding numerous smaller kingdoms.

Events

Nomenclature: Dekàlas Dekàlic: Dekàlas (place), Dekàli (pertaining to), Dekàlyn (resident), Dekàlyr (people), Dekàlic (language)