[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/0gkhJW3.png[/img] [b]200 - 300 A.E, the Age of Glory[/b][/center] The third century after the Empire's fall was seen as an age of glory by the Zaqiri of the time. A great many battles were fought with Ashkar in this century, but in this era the Scalethein and soun'yei were also discovered and raided, and the Games of Valor began. The century began with war, this time initiated by Ashkar. An Ashkarian fleet set sail for Zaqir in the spring of 205 A.E., and it was only thanks to the outgoing raiding fleets that word of this invasion force reached Zaqir. Izani the Brave, then Potentate of the Zaqiri Dominion, recalled as many ships as she could to bolster the defense of the city. While some did return and there were warriors still around, those warriors were outnumbered by the Ashkari. Militia had to be drummed up, their ranks formed from both male and female citizens largely equipped with slings and spears. The First Siege of Zaqir was a fierce one. Many warriors on both sides fell, though Ashkar's soldiers took the greater loss. Ashkarian vessels were sunk with bolts from Zaqir's ballistae, and the city's walls past the port proved a tough barrier to penetrate. The Ashkari fought bravely, but in the end were beaten back out of the city. They fled to their ships. But Zaqir suffered in that war as well. Izani died defending the city from the King of Ashkar, Iyannaabu, and the city itself was damaged from the attack. The ports fared the worst, and part of the Zaqiri fleet was lost. The market district saw some fighting, too, but the temple district and the main housing districts suffered much more than the market did. Saurians and humans alike were cut down rather than taken captive, no regard given to whether the Zaqiri citizen was a woman or a man. Still, most of Zaqir was untouched. As most of the great raiders were already out of the city, a new Potentate, Benna the Bonesnapper, was able to rise to power. She and many of the other Zaqiri warriors were very impressed with the bravery of the Ashkari army. When spring arrived, she was quick to send a ship to Ashkar carrying a messenger and several chests of rings, jewels, swords, daggers, and helmets. When asked for an explanation, the messenger answered thusly: [quote=Umari the Messenger]Bravery and ferocity are the loftiest of virtues. Your people showed both, and so they deserve praise. Take this treasure, and may we fight a hundred battles more and paint the seas red. Such carnage makes us strong.[/quote] Benna would not reign long in Zaqir. She was killed in single combat by one of Buzi's daughters, Kana, in 212 A.E. Before Kana could earn her own epithet, she too was killed, and in 214 A.E. an old but cunning saurian raider named Tatika took the throne. Tatika never claimed an epithet for herself in life, believing she did not need one, but historians call her "Tatika the Undying" both because of her ability to survive terrible wounds and because of how old she lived to be: 143 years old at the time of her death in 265 A.E. Tatika's first great victory came in 234 A.E. during the Second Siege of Zaqir. Ashkar once again tried to invade, but this time suffered a truly crippling defeat. Zaqir's fleets led by Tatika proved far too much for Ashkar to handle, and those Ashkari who survived the slaughter were enslaved. No chests of swords or silver were sent to Ashkar this time. The battle was unsatisfactory. In an interesting turn of events, enough edimmu were enslaved that a whole community sprung up when they were freed from bondage. These edimmu moved into the northern portion of Zaqiri territory and married human women. The race born of this, the Asqari, stayed as a part of Zaqir, and though their edimmu blood was certainly diluted by that of human blood, they proved distinct from others both culturally and physically. They lived mostly in villages in the third century, though some did move back to the city of Zaqir generations later. This glorious victory gave the people great confidence in Tatika's rule, and the Potentate channeled that enthusiasm into rebuilding the fleet and also into working on the massive canal jutting out toward the Pearly Sea. The city itself saw a great deal of beautification efforts and its walls were strengthened once again. Yet another war with Ashkar broke out in 250 A.E. when concerned Ilitsciumi nobles appealed to Zaqir for help. They believed that nations around them were expanding at a frightening pace, and they hoped to receive some sort of protection from Zaqir against these outside threats. Tatika, being the sly woman she was, discussed the matter at length with Ilitscium's diplomats and convinced them to consider joining the Zaqiri Dominion. Word of this reached Ashkar, and King Akaku of Ashkar decided to put an end to Zaqir's bid to control Ilitscium. The resulting war was a long and bloody one. The two nations' fleets clashed, and it seemed Zaqir had the advantage, but once the battle went to land the war became stagnant. Ilitscium stayed neutral in all the fighting, its leaders having decided to side with whoever looked likely to be the victor. Then, in the year of 251 A.E., Ashkar and Zaqir started a battle outside Ilitscium, but it quickly spilled into the city, and countless regulii died in the ensuing bloodbath. Ashkar gained the upper hand and arguably won the battle, but all those involved in the conflict suffered terrible losses. It is said that Tatika was struck with a dozen arrows in the battle and even was impaled through the chest by a long spear, but somehow she survived. While some regulii tried to eke out a living near their city after this, many decided to ply their ancient trades abroad. Regulii caravans were initially welcomed in Zaqir at first, but enough incidents happened between them and the populace that the love between saurians and regulii suffered. The regulii still blamed the saurians for the destruction of Ilitscium, too, and our ancestors blamed the regulii for not siding with them in the conflict. A coup was attempted against Tatika in 253 A.E. It ultimately failed, and a thousand saurians died in the brief civil war, but Tatika held no grudge against her dissenters. Instead, she invited them to feast with her in honor of their courage. Good relations were had between the Potentate and the Circle for the rest of her rule. 255 A.E. saw a marvelous discovery: the murderous bonegnaw beasts, the strange creatures of myth who came from the sea to devour weak little saurians, were discovered to be the very same meek fish folk whom explorers of the past had enslaved. When a small raiding fleet decided to go much farther than usual in hunt of extra treasure, they found a great many soun'yei. Deciding that fish-people could be caught the same was as ordinary fish, the adventurers attacked, using large, barbed nets to kidnap hundreds of soun'yei. The soun'yei proved to be useful to our people. They were able to go diving for pearls, crabs, and clams, which was a good thing, though they could not stay on land. But they also were surprisingly able to have children with saurians, legless though they were, and from the union of soun'yei and saurian were born a strange lot of half-breeds that were part fish and part saurian. These we call the saupesci, a combination of the word "saurian" and our ancient word for "fish." Some soun'yei and saupesci left when released from their bonds, but others decided to stay in or near Zaqir. More explorers went out north in 265 A.E, but their tale was marked with less success. They had discovered a civilization of humans and had decided to raid their villages, the result being very profitable. When they tried docking with a port city for trade and resupply, however, the Zaqiri vessels were attacked, most of them sunk and their warriors captured. Zaqir never learned the fate of those warriors, but the sole surviving vessel returned to Zaqir with this news, and jubilation was had. A potential great enemy had been discovered. Tatika the Undying finally succumbed to old age at 265 A.E, just before she could decide how to deal with the foreigners in the north, but she was quickly replaced by the saurian named Mazi the Wise. Mazi was not a great warrior, nor was she particularly war-mongering, but she could claim to be a descendant of Buzi the Butcher (one of Zaqir's favorite Potentates) and was incredibly intelligent. Later in life, when Apiashal had the opportunity to speak with her in person, Mazi explained how it was she was able to maintain control over Zaqir: [quote=Mazi the Wise]It is strength which wins the respect of Zaqiri, and strength I have in droves: not that of body, but that of will and the mind. So long as we prosper, I will remain Potentate, and we will prosper so long as I remain Potentate. If someone challenges me, I choose to fight them with my retinue, and I take great care to make myself loved.[/quote] And she knew very well how to make herself loved. Mazi set into motion plans to win over the people of Zaqir before they could turn against her, and just before the year of 270 A.E. she sent two ships back to the humans in the north to negotiate with them. Her diplomats brought with them several chests of customary gifts: silver, swords, daggers, rings, and helmets. Then they invited the foreigners to send warriors with them to participate in a contest of martial combat that would take place in the Ring of Valor. Surprisingly, these foreigners accepted, and so it was that the First Zaqiri Games of Valor, also called the Almurzani[sup]1[/sup] were set into motion. All raiding was ceased in the year 270. Warriors from Ashkar, Yossod, Zaqir, Sasham, and even some regulii wanderers and humans from distant villages participated in these games. The stakes were high, but so were the risks: great wealth and prestige could be won for one's self and one's nation, but so could the contestants lose their lives in the Almurzani. The contest was not a fight to the death - one needed only for one's opponent to surrender - but the wounds suffered were grievous, and many of the participants chose to keep fighting until they died. The contest took place over 28 days in the summer of 270 A.E. Warriors, traders and sightseers from all over the known world came to Zaqir to witness the bloody experience. Mazi had arranged it so and spread word of the event so that it would draw foreigners from all over to come to Zaqir, and she'd prepared the market for such an event. Profits were made, though certainly some of the foreign merchants made good trade as well. But the greatest thing was the contest itself, and in the end only two contestants remained: an Ayel from Yossod and a middle-aged saurian champion named Ikara. The duel between the Ayel and Ikara has been the subject of many songs, poems, and paintings. To choose one of these would undermine the historical and cultural value of this moment. It was a long fight, seeming to be in the favor of both parties at different times in the battle. When the Ayel removed one of Ikara's arms with a sweep of her sword, the battle was thought to be over, but Ikara kept fighting, and the two dealt killing blows to each other at the same time: the Ayel's head was sliced from her body, and Ikara's heart was impaled with his sword. The Games were a complete success. Roaring approval of the final conflict was felt throughout Zaqiri society; foreigners and citizens alike were enthralled by the spectacle of blood; and the Yossodites, the great warriors from the north, were proven to be equals of Zaqir in battle. So great was the success that Mazi declared the games would be held every ten years, and that the city would ever be open to traveling warriors wishing to prove their worth in the Ring of Valor. Mazi cleverly devised for more contests of different sorts to be held alongside the main event of the Almurzani as well: group combat, combat in pairs, wrestling, and archery all eventually became additional sports practiced in the Almurzani, allowing different sorts of warriors to compete and more nations to have a chance of earning prestige and a prize. This, she thought, would please foreign nations. Zaqiri raiders discovered a new civilization along the western half of the Red Shores in 275 A.E. There were little reptiles working alongside small, stocky humans. The former were called "kobolds" and the latter "dwarves," this discovered when the raiders captured dozens of these villagers along with as much plunder as could be had. They were brought back to Zaqir and enslaved. This was how Zaqir finally met the Scalethein Empire, and at the time, the Zaqiri raiders were not impressed. Mazi's reign saw a great deal of change brought about in other ways. While trade was prospering and foreigners were coming more frequently to Zaqir, the industries of agriculture, fishing, woodcutting, and quarrying were all stagnating. Mazi sought to change that. They simply were not producing enough, and Mazi had solutions for each. Plantations were created, huge fields in which only a single crop was grown each year, their owners rewarded with chests of wealth. More vessels were fashioned specifically with the purpose of catching fish and diving for pearls, their owners still expected to train their sailors in the ways of war. Forests were replanted, that each might be cut again in the future. Finally, the quarries were outfitted with equipment similar to that which was used in the construction of the great canal: pulleys and levers, more carts, and wooden cranes for lifting heavy loads. More change came about when the Ashkari philosopher, Apiashal, was exiled to Zaqir in 283 A.E, bringing with him a treasure trove of knowledge. Along with that knowledge he brought the traditions of philosophy, and this proved to be the most influential of the things he brought. Zaqiri warriors established their own schools of philosophy, their own "academies." However, these were academies of martial combat and martial philosophy, not science. The first great schools of martial thought were Samaksism and Mazarism, both of which promoted very different approaches to combat. Samaksism, the school of martial excellence, was started by a traditionalist saurian named Kairen. She preached that simply being better than your opponent at fighting was the key to victory. According to Samaksism, perfection of one's body can be achieved, as can the honing of one's martial prowess, and achieving such perfection could unite a warrior with the Divine. To the Samaki, combat was an expression of one's very self, an art as much as a profession, and the chaos of war exemplified the wild nature of the universe. Only through perfection and the self and devotion to the Divine could order be made from the chaos. In contrast, Mazarism was a rather practical school established by one of Mazi's proteges. This protege, a human woman named Caeris, believed that finesse and strength required knowledge to apply properly. Indeed, the manipulation of knowledge was a key component of combat, whether it be personal combat or battle on a grand scale, she said. Her belief is summarized in one of her speeches to her pupils: [quote=Caeris, Founder of the Mazari]All great victories are founded on one side knowing everything and the other knowing nothing. When facing a foe, one must ever be perceptive of their strengths and weaknesses and how to exploit them. One must also know the terrain, and further still must know one's self. Then one must disguise their weaknesses and make a display of being invincibile, of leaving the enemy only guessing how it is they can be beaten. One must deny the enemy any chance of knowing they are under attack until it is too late. It is in this way that the meek can defeat the strong, and the strong can conquer the world.[/quote] Thus, Mazari martial philosophy taught its adherents how to gather information on their opponents, how to trick one's enemies, and how to use tactics and the terrain to their advantage. It was quickly discovered that while Samaksi were often better duelists, students of Mazarism were better in raids, battles, and as leaders in times of war. Still, most people favored Samaksism over Mazarism because Samaksism was much more traditional. One Mazari saurian distinguished herself in several raids and so was made Mazi's right-hand woman in 287 A.E. She wasted no time in proving herself worthy of that position, and quickly established the Signal Corps. The Signal Corps was a specially-trained warrior sect whose purpose was to make the passage of information within an army or fleet much easier. Using fire, warhorns, drums, and specific shield-banging patterns, the Signal Corps could pass information from ship to ship or from unit to unit with relative ease. Thus, while the saurian army still fought as warriors rather than soldiers on land, the Signal Corps allowed that army to function as a coordinated whole rather than as several disjointed bodies of warriors. Mazi did something almost unheard of among Potentates: when she grew older and felt that the Council was beginning to turn on her, she actually stepped down from her position. While the Council fought another bloody civil war to determine who would be the next Potentate, Mazi retired in 293 A.E. to a small estate outside of Zaqir. It's said that she was friends with the Ashkari philosopher Apiashal, though there are no documents to back up this claim save a sparse couple of letters on politics. Normalcy was achieved in Zaqir once more in 295 A.E. After several Potentates had been deposed, one solidified her position by taking several of the Council's families captive. Her name was Srathi. [hr] 1. Almurzani is derived from the words "Glory" and "Death" and was coined by Potentate Mazi. Its connotation implies that such a death is a good death. [hr] [center][h2][u]Major Events of Zaqir - 3rd Century[/u][/h2][/center] [b]Cultural:[/b] The Almurzani, otherwise known as the Games of Valor, begin in the year 270 A.E. They are decennial events taking place every ten years, attracting visitors from all over the world to compete in the events, to hawk wares in the market, and to watch the games at hand. These games and the saurians' performance in them become a symbol of cultural pride for Zaqir. Knowledge from Ashkar spreads throughout Zaqir, and knowledge from Zaqir spreads throughout Ashkar. Technological and cultural exchange is had. The first two martial philosophies and their academies are created: Samaksism, the school of martial excellence, and Mazarism, the school of tactics and deception. Samaksism is the more prominent of the two schools, but Mazarism proves to be the more influential on the military. The city of Zaqir was greatly advanced in this century, the damage from the First Siege of Zaqir necessitating a rebuilding effort in the docks district. Zaqir grew to be a more beautiful and prestigious city, as well as a more populous one as well. [b]Technological:[/b] In general, Zaqiri society is becoming more and more like that of an iron-based society rather than bronze-based. Experiments with what iron can do and be have been conducted, but it is mostly the abundance of iron and how much easier it is to find one ore than two which has made it so popular. Wooden cranes are used more commonly in the building of new structures, especially those which are grand works (walls, the great canal, temples). Plantations have been established, crops are being rotated, and forests are being replanted, all for the sake of industry and commerce. Knowledge from Ashkar spreads throughout Zaqir, and knowledge from Zaqir spreads throughout Ashkar. Technological and cultural exchange is had. [b]Military:[/b] Raids continued throughout the third century in their usual fashion. However, there was a break in the raids in the year of 270 and every ten years thereafter due to the Almurzani. Ashkar attempted to invade the city of Zaqir in both 205 and 234 A.E. Both times the Ashkari invaders were repelled. Another war with Ashkar took place in 250 A.E. when Zaqir attempted to diplomatically annex Ilitscium. It was a stalemate overall, but Zaqir suffered worse casualties and the city of Ilitscium was destroyed. The soun'yei were attacked by saurian raiders in 255 A.E. More Zaqiri vessels went north in 265 A.E. and raided the Yossodite people. They were forced to flee the north after a defeat at the hands of the Yossodites. The Scalethein Empire is discovered to have reached the shoreline in 275 A.E. They are raided. The Signal Corps is established near the end of the century, changing how warfare is conducted by Zaqir forever. The rise of the martial philosophies and the general spirit of competition born from the Games of Valor begins to improve the fighting ability of saurians as a whole. The veterans of the wars with Ashkar begin teaching younger saurians valuable lessons of warfare. [b]Government Changes:[/b] The position of Potentate persisted. Izani the Brave died in the First Siege of Zaqir in 205 A.E. and was replaced by Benna the Bonesnapper. Benna was killed by Kena, one of Buzi's daughters, and Kena in turn was killed in 214 A.E. and replaced by Tatika the Undying. Tatika reigned until 265 A.E. and was replaced by Mazi the Wise. Mazi became the first Potentate in over three centuries to willingly abdicate the position of Potentate. A period of strife followed, but Srathi became Potentate in 295 A.E. [b]Territorial Expansion:[/b] Zaqir's state of constant raiding and warfare actually kept it from expanding its borders too much. No significant gains were made.