[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/0gkhJW3.png[/img]

[b]400 - 500 A.E, the Age of Expansion[/b][/center]

Yaka did not earn her epithet for some time into her rule. She was a very traditional Potentate in some ways. Her love for war and for glory certainly were saurian virtues. Indeed, these traditional values outshone her practice of Mazari martial philosophy. This became clear early on in her career, for the disruption of trade with Ashkar and stories from the isles to the south proved the Ashkari were swept up in some sort of great war.

There was some contention over what course of action to take concerning Ashkar's rebellion. The three great warrior philosophies were used as arguments for three different options. The first appealed to Mazarism and stated that weakness should be exploited and that Ashkar should be attacked, forcing it to either adapt or capitulate to the superior skill of Zaqiri warriors. The Ilist minority believed that Zaqir should intervene on behalf of one side or the other and use the opportunity to help the Ashkari see the one true faith. But the course of action Yaka chose was that suggested by the Samaksists: she had Zaqir do nothing. After all, whichever side that won the war would prove to be the superior culture, so it was war with that victorious culture which was desirable. Yaka believed that war would come soon.

But the opportunity to wage that war never did come. Yaka's agents informed her that Ashkar was far too weak after the end of the war finally came. There would be no glory in waging war against Ashkar. The Zaqiri people began referring to the once mighty realm as the Shattered Kingdom, and they wistfully remembered the days when Zaqir and Ashkar would raid and war with one another.

So it was that Yaka would not invade Ashkar. She busied herself preparing to wage a rather different war, setting her eyes on the empire to the west: Scalethein. She doubted the fight would be difficult - after all, what threat could dwarves and kobolds pose? - but nevertheless knew the Zaqiri people were desperate for a good fight. Still, Mazari philosophy demanded that the threat be proper gauged and that Zaqir prepare to face the unknown in battle. Preparations to fight Scalethein began in 430 A.E.

Zaqir's borders expanded in the meantime. Asqari began settling more villages and towns to the east of their city of Asqar. Saurian and human settlers began pushing northward, too, especially around the lakes north of Ilitscium and along the coastline of the Pearly Sea. Caraq was established in 425 A.E, though it would not grow into a city until 471 A.E.

New vessels were prepared for the coming war as well. Though not as large as Ashkar's warships, these vessels were designed to be able to carry ballistae as well as raiders. Those ballistae would be used to bombard fortifications. While they could sink vessels, it was well known by Zaqir that Scalethein had no real fleet.

When it finally came time to declare war, the practical Mazari faction pushed for Yaka to launch the attack as a surprise. However, while Yaka practiced Mazari principles on the battlefield, she was otherwise a traditionalist and believed that enemies should be given an opportunity to present a worthy defense. So, as befit tradition, Yaka sent a delegation in 438 A.E. to the Scalethein Empire, informing them that Zaqir would attack in two years time unless Scalethein proclaimed its allegiance to Zaqir. As usual, Zaqir's demands were denied, giving the Dominion cause to carry out the war.

True to her word, Yaka waited two years to let her enemies prepare. But she had to deal with the Mazari faction who she knew would be important in the war. To satiate them, Yaka relinquished command of the war effort to the Mazari leader in the Circle, a woman named Warleader Kairena. Also known as "The Ravenous" (for her penchant of finishing her opponents off with a throat-ripping bite), Kairena was eager to demonstrate the superiority of Mazarism over both Samaksism and Ilism. She drafted a two-pronged plan of attack: Zaqir's main forces would take and hold the territory the kobolds called Far Home while a second, smaller force moved in from the south and wrought havoc upon the enemy's lands. This, she surmised, would force the Scalethein Empire to split its attention, and then Zaqir could either smash through the weaker side to reinforce the stronger or use its fast-moving fleet to merge the two armies while the Scalethein Legions scrambled to keep up.

With the plan of attack decided upon, Zaqir launched the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein in 440 A.E. The war lasted until the middle of 441 A.E. and would prove to be one of the bloodiest conflicts Zaqir had ever participated in. Zaqir sent 30,000 warriors into the fray, and over the course of the war the Scalethein Empire would pit 70,000 of their own forces against the invaders. Without delving into the particulars of the war, it is best summarized as the happiest defeat Zaqir ever suffered. Both sides took magnificent losses, and Zaqiri warriors ran rampant through the southern portion of the Empire before both armies were finally forced to retreat to their ships. Both Potenate Yaka and Warleader Kairena died in battle, leaving a power vacuum that required a brief series of skirmishes in the capital to determine who the next Potentate would be. Young Flara Twinspears became Potentate.

Two delegations were sent to Scalethein in 442 A.E: one to Scale Home and one to Uthein, each bringing with them over a dozen chests of treasure in honor of the efforts of each nation. The Uthein delegation returned with a force of a hundred-and-one dwarves, their leader destined to become the famous Bloodaxe the Wall Breaker[sup]1[/sup].

The Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein saw the death of a majority of Zaqir's armed forces, including some of its leaders and most elite warriors. However, its end saw a wave of new military ideas flooding into the warrior nation as the survivors recognized some of the techniques used by the Scalethein Legions as valid means of waging war. It also created much conversation between Zaqir's warrior philosophies, and the Mazarists fine-tuned their strategies.

There were also many Mazari critics of Yaka's choices before the war's start. Never again, they argued, should the element of surprise be surrendered for the sake of tradition. After all, other nations would not conduct themselves the same way; why should the greatest warriors of the world be bound by tradition? But Samaksists argued back, claiming that it was exactly [i]because[/i] saurians made the perfect warriors that such honesty of intent was necessary. If they did not give their enemies a chance to prepare, what nation in the world could present any real challenge to the full might of Zaqir's armies? Was not the hunt for challenging opponents the purpose of war, that Zaqiri warriors might perfect their style by fighting those challenges? Mazarists argued that it was imperfect to pursue war as Yaka did, and Ilists made it clear that the [i]true[/i] purpose of war was to prove one's worthiness before God / the Divine.

The saurian fleet was relatively untouched by the war, but it became clear that the other nations and empires of the world were becoming increasingly capable of fending off raiders and even destroying ships. So, plans were drafted to create ships whose role in war was solely to bombard the shore. The ballista, long vaunted weapon of Zaqir, now worked alongside catapults designed to hurl not a single large boulder but several smaller stones that could be covered in tar and pitch. Moreover, sailors were drilled in better techniques for putting out fires.

Potentate Flara was not a long-lived ruler, though these advancements all began during her reign. She began drafting plans for a second Zaqiri attack on Scalethein, but she never did get to see those plans see fruition. She was assassinated in 455 A.E, and the civil wars that resulted from this lasted until 456 A.E. Eventually, a human woman named Akari the Thunderer became Potentate.

Akari was a traditionalist through and through, her family having a proud history of fighting for Zaqir dating back to before the first century. She was eager to expand Zaqir's borders, but she believed that Ashkar was not yet ready to fight. A veteran of the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein, she also viewed the Scalethein Empire as an unworthy opponent despite Zaqir's loss. Her reasoning was thus:

[quote=Akari the Thunderer]Who can claim that a people whose armies only win by sheer numbers can be worthy foes? Pit one Zaqiri warrior of average fare against five dwarves and kobolds, and you will find invariably that it is the Zaqiri warrior who wins. They are little people with little stomach for war.[/quote]

While her perception of the kobolds would never change, Akari would later become impressed by the heroic feats of the dwarven warrior, Bloodaxe. In fact, she became so impressed by him that when she finally found a battle worth fighting in 463 A.E, she personally invited the warrior to lead his own fleet of ships in the coming war with the people of Jandoo.

Formerly called the Burning Isles[sup]2[/sup] after the infamously active volcano on the main isle, the Jandoo Isles were known to have valuable deposits of iron, silver, and gold. They were also covered with hot jungles, much like the peninsula Zaqir called home, making the climate perfect for saurian colonial efforts.

However, colonists discovered in early 462 A.E. that there were, in fact, other saurians living on the Burning Isles already. These people called themselves the Jandoo, and they were feral in comparison to the saurians of Zaqir. They were smaller, their women standing at roughly the height of a human male, and universally had chameleon-like skin. They were slighter of build, too, so the first colonists thought they would be weak opponents. They were not. Employing snares, traps, and ambush tactics, these smaller saurians lured their more physically daunting cousins to their demise. They even possessed the ability to spit their bodily acids into a ball, harden it, and throw the projectiles with staff-slings to burst on enemies and burn through flesh and armor. It was not long before a call for reinforcements was sent home to Zaqir.

The war with the Jandoo lasted from the beginning of 463 A.E. to 467 A.E. In the end, the superior training and numbers of Zaqiri overcame the guerilla tactics used by the Jandoo. They were subjugated and forced to submit to Zaqiri rule, but not before they slew Potentate Akari in 466 A.E. Akari was quickly replaced by Potentate Vana the Inferno, a saurian known for setting her weapons on fire during the Jandoo War.

Meanwhile, the Ilists became more powerful, especially in the wake of the power vacuum left by the death of many leaders in the wars with both Scalethein and Jandoo. They grew from an easily ignored minority to a force with adherents equal in number to the Mazarists and Samaksists. This was partly because some believed Zaqir was losing favor with the Divine, evidenced in its defeat at the hands of Scalethein and its difficulty in subjugating the Jandoo. This perspective was not discouraged by Yossodite preachers.

Vana proved to be a highly efficient (if somewhat mad) ruler and pursued advances that to give Zaqir an edge in war. Most important of these advances was the production of steel. Experiments with iron finally paid off as the process to remove the impurities of iron and make it stronger resulted in the production of steel beginning in 473 A.E. Though saurians discovered this process independently, it was discovered first by Uthein in 465 A.E. It would not be until 495 A.E. that steel would receive the enthusiasm it deserved and be mass produced in Zaqir.

Potentate Vana herself died in the Almurzani in 480 A.E, accidentally setting herself ablaze and killing her opponent at the same time. Her death was followed by an unprecedentedly long series of battles to claim the throne of Zaqir, longer than previous moments in history, with proponents of the three warrior philosophies each fiercely fighting each other in several Zaqiri cities. Indeed, Caraq and Sasham made bids for independence and had to be quickly brought back under control in this interim period.

Tereza the Stonecleaver finally managed to take control of the throne of Potentate in 489 A.E. She is famous for having split an assassin and the marble statue she was backed up against in twain with a single stroke of her blade. She fought over numerous more assassins and would-be Potentates and had half the Circle executed for being traitorous or ineffectual.

Tereza still rules Zaqir to this day. Her rule has thus far been fair and has seen the expansion of Zaqir's military. But her rule has also borne witness to several smaller insurrections in the more rural regions of Zaqiri territory, and while the army is at full strength, she has been unable to set into motion any sort of invasion or war. There has been peace in our nation for the last three years, however. It seems the rebellions may finally be at an end.

Such is a thorough history of the saurian people of Zaqir. Having reflected on the deeds of our ancestors, we may now look to the future, toward the conquests and bloodbaths to come. As our ancestors before us, we now must look to foreign shores and raise the sail and the banner of the bloody sword tearing through the field of green. Just as the Conqueror's Canal cuts through the land, so too must we cut through the empires of the world and bend them to our will, making their people all the stronger and better for it.

Glorious is our Dominion. Glorious is Zaqir.

[hr]

1. Formerly known as Senator Arnak Florin, Bloodaxe earned the respect of Zaqir for fighting valiantly in the face of certain death. He not only held his own but slew Potenate Yaka and Warleader Kairena, striking down the former with his gauntlets and the latter with an axe. When the saurian delegation arrived in Uthein, the ambassador had this to say of his prowess:

[quote=Ambassador Safina]It is well to show valor in victory, but it is better still to show valor in defeat. To fight on despite certainty of death is the mark of a true warrior. It would have been a disgrace to slay an artist as yourself, Senator, after such a bold display.[/quote]

2. The Burning Isles are still sometimes referred to by this name. The volcano in the eastern isle has small eruptions several times each hour, causing a steady stream of lava to flow in rivers around the isle. This island is particularly rich in valuable metals.

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[center][h2][u]Major Events of Zaqir - 5th Century[/u][/h2][/center]

[b]Cultural:[/b] 

The wars with Scalethein and Jandoo have brought a number of changes to Zaqir, intrinsically changing the dialogue on how war ought to be pursued. Traditionalist Samaksists butt heads with both Mazarists and Ilists, the three philosophies having almost equal representation in Zaqiri society and politics. An air of tension and discontent grows thicker in Zaqir by the year.

[b]Technological:[/b] 

The Zaqiri military has begun to adapt some tactics and methods of Scalethein's Legions, though these are relatively conservative advances. Zaqir's navy has also begun to construct vessels designed solely for the purpose of bombarding shores and coastal cities, the better to prepare for an invasion of a foreign nation. Steelmaking also has begun to be used to produce higher quality weapons and armor. However, Zaqir's army still favors an individualistic fighting style; the shield wall and the massed charge are still mainstays of Zaqiri warfare, and there are still many warriors who discard the shield in favor of two-handed weapons.

[b]Military:[/b] 

Two major wars were fought this century. The first is known as the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein and took place between 440-441 A.E, resulting in a Zaqiri defeat but with massive losses on both sides of the conflict. The second war was the Jandoo War which lasted from 463-467 A.E.

[b]Government Changes:[/b]

Potentate Yaka died in 441 A.E. during the Zaqiri Invasion of Scalethein. She was replaced by Potentate Flara Twinspears, who in turn was assassinated in 455 A.E. Potentate Akari the Thunderer then died in 466 A.E. during the Jandoo War. She was quickly replaced by Vana the Inferno who then died in 480 by self-immolation while competing in the Almurzani. The series of civil wars that followed were a difficult time for Zaqir and lasted until 489 A.E. when Tereza the Stonecleaver became Potentate and executed half the Circle. She remains Potentate to this day.

[b]Territorial Expansion:[/b]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/VwsoAqq.png[/img]