Arcaea/Library/History/The Complete History of the Far East

Prologue

When I put quill to parchment to begin this work, I do so in the expectation and hope that this is a work which shall be continued long after I am gone.

I am Martin of House Octavius, Viscount of Mraulaxon and Archbishop of Niel, first among equals of Sartan's representatives in the Far East. But I do not write as a Sartanian or an Arcaean but as a historian. It is my hope to compile, for the first time, a complete history of the Far East from the very beginning of recorded history to the present day.

I also hope that, when I am no longer to work on this history, it will be taken up by others who will write new volumes as required so that this might continue to be an accurate account of the events which have taken place upon this continent.

There have been many histories of the Far East in the past but all have been limited in scope, focusing either on particular wars, particular realms or particular eras. I am under no illusions as to the scope of the task which lies before me to compile all of these into one work and to fill in the gaps. Nevertheless, I am optimistic for my cousin, Selene Octavius, High Priest of Sartan before me, lived through the years where the least was written about the history of the Far East and knows many others who witnessed events before her time. Therefore, it is my sincere hope that, by tapping into this first hand knowledge, it will be possible to produce a complete history of the Far East.

May Sartan bless my endeavour and may it endure long after my passing.

Volume I

The First Age

Only fragments of history from the centuries long First Age of the Far East survive to this day and almost all the fragments concern the history of the north of the continent rather than the south. In particular, the most complete history of this period can be found in the archives of the city of Ossaet where a long extinct order of monks had recorded their oral history.

The North

The history as recorded by the monks (although they divide it into two ages while modern historians treat it as one) begins with a small group of travelling monks settling among the marshes of the Osaido peninsula and founding the Monastery of Ossaet which would later become the city which stands today.

At some point after Ossaet grew into a city, it came under the rule of a realm named Brevnea centred on Topenah and ruled by it's first monarch, King Julius I (implying at least one successor of the same name).

Around five hundred years (according to the monks) after this event, a twenty one year old warlord from the stronghold of Nocaneb united the city states of Remtom, Akanos, Niel and Lasop under his rule, marking the beginning of Arcaea and causing him to earn the only name which history remembers him by - that of the Patriarch of Arcaea.

Over the course of twelve years the Patriarch expanded his empire eastwards to the ocean, absorbing the lands in his path and then, four years later, ending a conflict names the War of the Woods of Ruikai by annexing the city of Nahad.

Around the same time, the city of Ossaet was conquered by a people called the Hadet who appear to have emerged from the rplains of the Far East resulting in the scattering of the monks of Ossai. The Hadet in turn were defeated by an unknown army, possibly Arcaean, which took their city of Sasrhas and forced the remaining Hadet to retreat to the Osai peninsula from whence they conducted border raids on the city state of Ozrat which owed allegiance to Brevnea but joined Arcaea in exchange for the Patriarch's protection.

The Dark Isle, known to the monks as Ridania, was the next area added to the Arcaean Empire twenty five years after its founding, with the native islanders fleeing into hiding. Two years later, Brevnea was peacefully absorbed into Arcaea in exchange for protection against the Hadet still living in the Osai peninsula. The Patriarch then immediately began a war to conquer the peninsular but suffered an unspecified betrayal which prompted the islanders of the Dark Isle to emerge from hiding calling themselves the Drow and starting what the monks called the Second Drow War against Arcaea. It was this war which would lead to the collapse of the Patriarch's empire thanks to the intervention of House Relak whose family archives I was able to access after many trials and tribulations.

Just prior to the Second Drow War the two brothers named Serko and Gregor Relak arrived in Arcaea, the pair of them skilled in politics, intrigue and assassination and sent to the Far East by their family on the East Continent shortly after contact was first made between the Far East and the lands to the west.

Serko and Gregor took the opportunity of the war with the Drow to join the army led by the Patriarch to the Dark Isle and there, in the middle of a battle, killed him before taking the advantage of the confusion to reach the Patriarch's only son and heir, a young boy, who they also murdered, allowing the younger brother, Serko, to disguise himself (including, by some unknown means, altering his face) as the murdered boy.

Gregor then returned home while Serko then took the throne of the Arcaean Empire and, for unknown reasons, deliberately allowed it to implode, with the result that the realm would collapse a mere forty two years after the Patriarch founded it, beginning with the secession of the Duke of Colasan to form the realm of Lasanar. It is this event which, more than any other, can be taken to mark the end of the First Age of the Far East.

The South

While the Arcaean Empire experienced its rapid rise and fall, another empire ruled over the south of the Far East. Just as Arcaea was centred on the shining city of Remtom in the heart of the north, the Svunnetland Empire was centred on the mighty city of Masahakon in the heart of the south. Frustratingly, there are no surviving records whatsoever which provide an account of the origins of the Svunnetland Empire but there are some historians writing after the time who claim that Svunnetland was even younger than Arcaea.

Whether this is true or not, what is certain is that the end of the Svunnetland Empire came at the same time as the end of the Arcaean Empire and has its origins in the decision of the ruler of Svunnetland at the time, King Einar, to move the capital from Masahakon to the mountain fortress of Iposez.

This not only caused significant unrest amongst the peasants of Svunnetland but also placed the royal court so far away from the south of the realm that the king's control over his realm waned rapidly. This in turn was exacerbated by bitter infighting amongst the nobles of Svunnetland's senate.

The situation prompted the Duke of Masahakon, Himo Musou, and the Duke of Hatdhes, Senoske Himoura, to agree between themselves to secede from Svunnetland in frustration with the failure of the king to help them quell unrest among discontented peasants.

(To be completed)