Major Societies

I’ll offer a quick summary of the main societies covered in these stories, in lieu of an actual time line:

Jovo: Over two millennia ago, the Jovan island homeland, far to the north, was attacked by magruks. The Jovo who escaped as refugees to a nearby land were accepted into Narlati society, albeit as servants.

Azza’at: The Azza’at broke from the rest of the Narlati; in a religious dispute between sibling heirs, they followed the ruler’s daughter Aztarazalan (aka Azza). Azza moved her people to the northern tip of the continent of Ka’astrarrl, bringing many Jovan people as their servants and slaves.  They conquered the natives of the region and took them as slaves as well, calling them all Kazatu (hairless ones), regardless of tribal or ethnic affiliation. Azza and her descendants took control of the great untapped mineral wealth of the continent and formed the magnificent and long-lived Azza’at Empire. In later years, the empire suffered from over-reach and numerous religious wars, but it crumbled largely due to the climate changing into desert conditions, leading to drought and starvation.

Ancient Lo’ar / Layor: While the Azza’at were in the north, the southern part of the continent was mostly inhabited by small nomadic tribal groups, sometimes banding together to fight off other humans or non-human groups. The largest and most stable group became the jayanta (kingdom) of Lo’ar (favored of the god), and established the first of the large ancient cities, primarily along the west and southwest coastline. Much later, after the Pyanni Empire failed and the people of this region wrestled back control of their lands, they named the entire region Layor to evoke this history, which had gained even greater glory in the retelling.

Mehdo Yin: North of the cold forested region of Lo’ar was a tall mountain range. Between those mountains and the hot region of the Azza’at was a wide expanse of temperate plains, hills, and sparser forests. The natives here were even more scattered than those further south, and included more non-humans. During the Azza’at Empire and especially as it was failing, many Jovan and Kazatu servants – collectively the Zaro’onal (people of the dirt / people who are cast down) – escaped and migrated south, into this middle region. The Zaro misunderstood one group of locals’ name for themselves, Mehdo Yin (people of the plains), and called the entire region Medowin.

Pyanni / Medowinese: The Zaro (primarily those who were ethnically Jovo) established the Pyann Empire in Medowin.  In time, it rivaled the Azza’at Empire in progress and power. It spread across Medowin and then moved south, over the mountains, to conquer and absorb what was left of Lo’ar and the other city-states and tribes. The Pyanni in the Medowin area called themselves the Tuomonta (we people here) while those in the southern Lo’ar area were called the Suomontha (those people over there). The Pyann empire fell after the War of the Tandonni, a long battle against the magruks from the north, aided by the desertion of many of their Suomonthan colonies. The region was savaged by roving war bands and failed crops for a long Age of Chaos before recovering during the period known as the Restoration. The Tuomonta rebuilt their society as closely to the Pyanni model as they could manage, and called themselves the Medowinese.

Shadowbosk: Early in the Pyann Empire, rumors began circulating that the forest covering a huge portion of the southeast continent was enchanted and impenetrable. Indeed, people who tried to enter either could not, or entered and never returned.  It remained so until the Emergence, which occurred partway through the Restoration.  A large road suddenly appeared and a delegation of humans, gnomes, and Eneas exited the forest and established peaceful relations with their neighbors. Although the forest no longer prevents entry, it remains inadvisable to enter with the wrong intentions.

Tandonni / Pret / Fentoren: After the fall of the Azza’at Empire, the remaining descendants of the Azza’at formed and reformed into various groups, spending most of the following centuries as disorganized rival tribes and small city-states. The first large organized group was the Tandonni, who were decimated by magruks in a long series of Cazata (horse) Wars (which the Pyanni called the War of the Tandonni). The next successful group was the Pret, who barely held back the invasion of Sabiron and her undead army, as they were still fighting off rogue magruks and goblins from the previous wars. More recently, almost all the Pret city-states were united under a powerful if especially capricious new deity, Anandani, who adopted the entire region, renamed it Fentoron, and forbade all divine magic except that of his own clerics.