Semid Empire
Shahzadeh Semiyyânâm
Nation Intro
The Semid Empire is a unified state, the third unified nation made up of lands inhabited by the Semiyya, also known as the “Silver Elves” in other languages; collectively called Semistan. The Semids are a powerful steam empire, established only 300 years ago in the Wars of Unification. With a history deeply intertwined with legend, and empires rising and falling time after time in Semistan, anything is possible in this part of the world.
Geography
(Choose a color and draw your borders on the map. Also you get the freedom to describe the environment and geography of your nation here, within reasonable limits. You can even talk about the important zones or places within your borders.)
History
The History of the Semiyya goes back to their earliest ancestors, the ones that they call the Pakiyya, or the Pure Ones. History of the Silver Elves has traditionally been divided into 5 Eras, The Awakening, the Wandering Era, the Heroic Age, The Warring Times, and the Age of Steam.
The Awakening
“In those distant years, when the earth and sky were one; In those long past nights, when the stars were first lit, we found ourselves with purpose, life gifted to us, breath pushed into our lungs, as our souls intertwined with the clay of the world, and light was born within” - Beginning words of the Shahansha’ar (The Song of Kings)
According the Semiyya legends, the Pakiyya were created by the god Hvar in a place called Apas. A giant inland sea, Apas and the Pakiyya were said to be in existence before the Earth and Heavens were split apart, and thus, the land was a place where night and day did not exist separate from each other, where time did not flow like we know it. Hvar lived alongside his creation, nurturing them and preparing them for the world that he was planning to create. Hvar, once he was sure that his creation could survive in a hostile universe, bid them farewell and separated the universe into two, leaving the Pakiyya to go out and colonize the world.
Past their legendary origins, the first verifiable accounts of the existence of the Pakiyya comes from the dried remains of a small inland sea, since gone from climate changes. The Pakiyya would branch off from this area, and migrate in all directions around the dying sea, filling out the borders of what would become Semistan. It is thought that their ancestors, proto-elves, migrated to this inland sea from another area, and began to radiate outwards, interbreedng with the local peoples, orcish tribes, to create a very divergant group of elves in terms of their social order, behavior, and even their appearance to an extent.
The Wandering Era
The Wandering Era consists of the nomadic years of the Pakiyya, as they went about their time diverging from their urheimat outwards. Starting out largely as a singular, pastoral nomadic people, the Pakiyya slowly began to diverge amongst themselves, and form new clans, tribes and identities. The separation of the Ancestral Elves is considered by most historians to be the end of the Pakiyya, and the creation of the Semiyya. For the most part, this era is largely unimportant, save for its ending. In this time, the Semiyya began to develop methods of agriculture, and settled down into sedentary lifestyles, and devloped urban lifestyles. Of the most important events was the rise of a man who called himself Srîraoxshan, and was born of the tribe Arxa. Sriraoxshan claimed to be a prophet sent from Hvar, and was gifted the Legendary Sword of Mitra from the Sun God himself, and told to go out and unify the people under one ruler. In the Twilight years of the Wandering Era, Sriraoxshan and his followers went out and conquered all the tribes and city states of Semistan, uniting them in the religion of Hvar, under the legendary Yasna Empire. The Yasna Empire would last for 2000 years, until its collapse at the hands of a massive change in the local climate to that of a hotter one, that killed much of the dense forests that blanketed the mountains of Semistan, and withered away much of the grassland. Said to be the result of a corrupt king, the massive change in environment lead to the end of the First Empire, and marked a transition to a new era
The Heroic Age and the Warring States Era
“Truly, this is no land for the good; only men without virtue could stand a chance to live in our times” - from the Shahnasha’ar
The Heroic Age is a semi-legendary time, described in a variety of contemporary writings, and often romanticized and written about in later times. In this time, Semistan once again found itself in a multitude of states, and with the advent of writing, advanced mmetallurgy and the growing influence of organized religion, the nation was seeing a great deal of war and conflict. Many of the great wars of Semiyya history were fought in this time, detailed in the epic history of the Shahnasha’ar. By far the longest period in Semid history, Empires rose and fell in this time, but the most important was the Silver Kingdom, a massive nation that started as the bronze age kingdom of Sem, and would go on to control most of the Semiyya inhabited areas. Sem would be so influential, that it would lend its name to the very people who lived there. Sem saw the development of iron, feudalism, machinery, philosophy and provided easy access of new ideas and developments. Sem would exist for 2000 years before falling apart, slowly degrading over time.
With the fall of Sem came another period of unrest, but also another era of great culture, as many works of literature and art came about in this time. Most notably, the creation and composition of the Shahansha’ar, to document the history of the Semiyya. In this time, many a nation had held say over others, and arms races were common between nations of Semistan for power. Soon, however, the nation would become one again, but not until the transition from the age of horses and swords had given way to the time of gunpowder and steam, when machines came to dominate, a period of many centuries since the fall of Sem, Semistan was reunited once again. Under the Semid Empire, the nation has seen growth into a powerful nation powered by steam.
Society
The SemiyyaThe people of the Semid Empire are the Semiyya, also known as the Silver Elves, named after the golden age kingdom of their past, the Kingdom of Sem, Sem meaning Silver in their language.
The Semiyya are the known for having a kind of bronzish complection, however their hair ranges from dark black to blond. Silver Elves are taller than humans, standing about 6'2" for females and 6'9" for males on average.
The origins of the Semiyya are shrouded in legend. While most belive in the story of Hvar's awakening, modern reseach suggests that the arrived with proto-Elvish stock that migrated into the area of Semistan and may have gained distinctness though interbreeding with indigenous orcish peoples. Though, the Semiyya are not half-elf/half-orc hybrids, but rather elves with an orcish heritage. This has often been seen as a reason for their violent history and tendency for infighting.
Culture:
The culture of the Semid Empire sees ancient influences from the Heroic Age mixed in with modern ideas.
Economy/Industry
(What is your economy like? What do you mine, produce, trade? How developed is your nation in terms of technology? Anything unique you invented or even make?)
Military
(Unsurprisingly you must also talk about your military. How militarized are you? What is your army like in general? What kind of equipment you use? Any special units or machines worth mentioning? I think you already know how this goes.)
