A history of Nárthel

A nation in the northern Sammaea, divided from Llachatul by a narrow strip of water that until 3757 RM was known as the Strait of Nárthel. Nárthel, alongside its physical neighbour Lyridia, serves as a division between the Inner sea to the west and the Dark Sea to the east, and the silting of the Strait of Nárthel brought to an end millennia of traffic between the two seas.

The nation was founded in the year -403 RM as a confederacy between the states of Tamesis, Nicath and Enesh, which in -589 RM emerged as separate states from a divisive political uprising that left the nation of Amnath, that had dominated the region since c. -1150 RM, sundered into nine disparate states. Named after its chief proponent, the merchant-prince Nárthel, whose family had ruled Nicath since -542 RM, the joining of Tamesis, Nicath and Enesh followed a century of industry and building; the old Amnathi road-network was restored from decay in the decades following the old nations’s schism. Nicath and Enesh controlled the north-east of the coast around the Strait of Nárthel, their coastal cities thriving in the trade that was steadily increasing as foreign nations and realms grew into maturity. In the west, Tamesis controlled much of the Shadow coast, where contact with the city-state of Scythea was maintained in the south (founded by Svathi migrants; ancestors of the Amnathi people), though the ninth Amnathi state, Shanath controlled the western entry into Nárthel, and it grew powerful, its borders edging east and south into Nárthel, which led in -328 RM to the signing of the Treaty of the Strait, which standardised the levies on traffic and trade through the Strait, strengthening trade between Nárthel, Shanath and Amnath, relieving tensions.

The signing of the Nártheli alliance in -403 RM meant that the confederacy required a capital; which became the city of Nicath. Most trade-routes and well-travelled roads lead to the city, and it grew prosperous, its meritocratic republic handling events of state with calculation and wisdom, the Nártheli household appointing an individual to act as arbitrator between the republicans. The rapid rise of the nation and the growth of towns into cities and the appearance of new settlements, mostly around the coast and the rivers Uefirat, lower Nahum and Marrat (now Dahak), necessitated the introduction of regional centres to distribute leadership, from which small assemblies of the people could gather their demands and requests for the seasonal meeting of the republic in Nicath. Two cities were chosen for the role of regional centre; Tamesis in the west in -311 RM, and Enesh in the east in -309 RM, the old capital of their respective states already well-established, capable of dealing with the growth in population and increase in trade. The nation enjoyed a time of prosperity leading up to the turn of the millennium, with regular trade maintained with the rising nations around it; the Pelasgosi and Korachani city-states to the west, Lyridia to the north, the Sycthian states and Saostana in the south, and the burgeoning Nathi kingdom in the east, though by c. -200 RM, it would fragment as a result of the Lion Heresies, temporarily leaving Nárthel as the main power in the region. By c. -100 RM Nárthel had districts in many major cities around the Sea of Shadows and the Dark Sea, from which it began to dominate trade. Corruption in the city-state of Shanath and its fiefs led, by -174 RM to its dissolution, with Nártheli troops assimilating cities south of the Nártheli Strait by c. -150 RM, with the city of Timur bringing much needed industry to Nárthel’s economy through its iron mines.

This period of influence was not to last, however, as the rapid rise to power of the Korachani city-states between c. -100 – 0 RM and their dominance of trade in the Inner Sea would cause a decline in trade along the Shadow Sea. It was only the decline of Scythea’s influence following the Apostate Wars that had consumed its people over the last deades that allowed Nárthel to grow, its borders moving slowly south. The rapid rise of Venath in the east c. -50 – 100 RM caused tension along its borders with Nárthel, with a slow loss of land to it. Nárthel’s friendship with Lyradea fragmented, with the dissolution of the Treaty of the Strait bringing chaos to trade agreements in -58 RM. Bringing further disorder to the region was the slow growth in power of the city of Tamesis and its environs, whose people’s assembly had begun enacting laws that, in the absence of the Treaty of the Strait, favoured itself above other Nártheli states. By -43 RM its over-confidence could no-longer be ignored by Nicath, and its people’s assembly was dissolved amid much conflict and the clash of forces. This resulted in the relocation of the western leadership to the city of Kliros, which had already become an agricultural centre.

The Golden Age of Nárthel had come and gone, barely noticed, and by the dawn of the first Millennium RM it was being pressured along all borders. Its embassies in foreign cities suffered and mercantile colonies based in those cities floundered, succumbing to the influence of local unions, which had by then solidified, leaving Nárthel a failing nation. Venath’s growing confidence allowed it to annex much of its eastern borders, leaving Nárthel weakened (its military forces, which had never been great) concentrated in the east. The rise of the Archpotentate Malichar to power and the foundation of the Korachani empire in 1 RM brought with it a destabilisation of the Inner Sea, and it rapidly conquered nearby nations, leaving it an uncontested power, rivalling the strength of Venath.

The presence of its navy in Nártheli waters increased over the decades of the 1st century RM, repeatedly ignoring past treaties and agreements, flaunting their strength. Leadership in Nicath floundered, and in 76 RM the republic was replaced by a militorcracy which moved to Kliros (the city having by then become its largest and most heavily-defended) and began fortifying coastal areas and raising troops. In 81 RM, Korachan began its offensive, with the blockade of Nárthel beginning, imperial troops landing on its western shores even as ships bombarded cities along the Nártheli Strait. Tamesis was the first city to fall in late 83 RM, with other cities rapidly falling; following which the augurs of Lyradea withdrew their support of Nárthel. Kliros offered what resistance it could, though, beset by the might of Korachan in the west and the opportunistic Venath in the east, it fell finally in mid-84 RM, making Nárthel the 6th nation conquered by the Korachani empire. By then a third of its territories had been annexed by Venath; the rest quickly flooded by imperial patricians who gained control of its major institutions and industries, bringing with them wealth and trade.

Nárthel’s economy and industry prospered under Korachan, though its native people did not. Those of strong Svathi blood were persecuted, with most becoming slaves to its voracious agricultural domination of the land. Those that could fled north, where they settled the wildernesses of southern Lyradea and Tamar, where they became known as troglodytes, a weak caste of people that in the following centuries would become staunch followers of the Augurs, regressing to little more than slaves in their new home. 

The eastern borders of Nárthel, falling now somewhere along the central Uefir Highlands, became a deserted place, battered by a long war that stretched along the Venathi border which shifted continuously. This period saw the destruction of Enesh, which fell following a lengthy siege, which ended in 92 RM. This, coupled with the Cataclysm of Khamid in 101 RM left eastern Nárthel in ruins. Its borders expanding further west, the Venathi empire grew further in power, defeating most of Sarastro in 114 RM, a victory which was closely followed by the near total assimilation of Naareth in 121 RM. Its territories larger than those of Korachan, Venath concentrated once more on the west, fully attacking Nárthel in 127 RM. After a brutal 5-year war, what remained of Korachani Nárthel fell to Venath, which at the time was in its prime, led by the charismatic King Labaisingh the Strong, whose ultimate goal was to unite Venath and Char Mâthi, as they had once been under the Nathi kingdom. Patricians and members of the imperial church were exiled west, their institutions and edifices demolished.

Though it was strong, the leadership of its king just, Venath was just emerging from two decades of disorder following a massive cataclysm in Khamid in 101 RM. This great natural disaster disrupted trade across the Inner Sea, destroying many coastal cities, flooding entire lowland regions (such as Tamar). Venath was only just managing to survive, its envoys and diplomats painting a successful veneer of opulence, military might and unity that other nations believed. In truth, Venath was struggling, its armies over-extended, Labaisingh’s passion of reuniting Char Mâthi with Venath blinding him to the truth of matters; that his empire was little more than a dream that would die with him. His obsession only served to launch wave after wave of troops against Char Mâthi, after consecutive diplomatic attempts failed, leading to the collapse of Venath’s economy.

Its Nártheli territories, though treated justly, especially when compared with their previous Korachani overlords, suffered for the inevitable collapse of the Venathi empire, which fomented uprisings in its larger cities c. 130 RM. This, coupled with an outbreak of plague along the Nártheli Strait in 163 RM, left what remained of its commerce in shambles. The death of Labaisingh in battle against Char Mâthi in 151 RM left its capital in Teira in chaos, various factions vying for control. Korachan was quick to take advantage of the situation, sending its troops into Nárthel from Lyridia Dhai, quickly reclaiming its lost territories and moving its borders as far east as Halolan by 158 RM, where the region was heavily fortified against counter-attacks. Though there was little need for worry, as Venath was left crippled, its borders rapidly diminishing as conquered cities reclaimed their independence; leaving its empire shattered by c. 200 RM, under the leadership of the Strangler Queen Hetepheres, who handed over Venath to Korachan in 361 RM. In 382 RM Nárthel, following recent events, moved south against the city-state of Scythea, conquering it and instating its own leadership, ending centuries of predation on shipping across the Shadow Sea.

Korachan was unopposed in the eastern lands, with only Parthis in the south-west standing in its way of full domination of the Inner Sea, though that threat too was negated in 473 RM with Parthis falling under full imperial control. This left Korachan the sole empire of Elyden at the time, its nations circumventing the Inner Sea, controlling trade, religion, military; all aspects of life. Nárthel was little more than an afterthought to this great empire. Many of its cities had fallen to plague centuries earlier and most of them had never been repopulated. Its once-fertile lands had been cultivated to barrenness by the Korachani empire and by c. 1000 RM were reduced to little more than a desert known as the Lybic Sands. The revolts that dominated its last years under Venathi control had left the central cities of Kliros and Nicath unstable, their populations opposing the influx of Korachani patricians that had returned there following its reintegration within the empire and the decision was made to move the capital east, on the ruins of an older settlement called Nulah. The region became the focus of massed construction during the next century, which saw its full completion in 504 RM. This time saw an even greater influx of Korachani immigrants and patrician families, which based their industries and businesses in the city. To many, it became known as little Korachan and became a hub of Korachani culture, religion and traditions, which slowly filtered to the other cities in Nárthel, leading to a stabilisation of sorts. The city was later named Mulciber.

As racial memory of the time of Nártheli freedom passed, the people became accustomed to imperial traditions. The child-slave culture that was prevalent in most Llachatulian nations never reached Nárthel, though work conditions were nevertheless harsh, with many slaving in the manufactories that appeared in Mulciber and, following the establishment of its rule, in the existing cities of Tamesis, Nicath (which became known as Nicaea following an imperial culling of dissenters in 903 RM) and the newly-funded cities of Kairor (1032 RM) and Dacia (1193 RM). Natural resources were exploited, with the Illian forests of the south-east largely deforested by c. 2500 RM, the region surviving as little more than scrubland; and the Uefir highlands, which were mined and quarried for their mineral wealth.

By c. 2950 RM many such resources had been deemed spent for the purposes of large-scale extraction, with the massed selling of state-owned mines and quarries to private interests, notably magnates and patricians, who continued the operations, albeit on a far smaller scale. This period signalled a marked diminishing of Nártheli culture, with many settlements (particularly boomtowns that had originated around now-spent resources) abandoned in favour of the larger completely imperialised cities which themselves had shrunk since their heyday around c. 1400 RM. Much of the west and north-east had by then become barren regions of little value, and they were abandoned to the Domnitors in 2950 RM, leaving about 2/5ths of Nárthel empty, save for their caretaking presence. The exception to this was the north west of Nárthel, which by then had become the Inner Seas main producer of opiates,and was likely the only reason that Korachan maintained its presence there.

In 3061 RM the Archpotentate Malichar gifted the east of Nárthel to Queen Hetepheres of Venthir and had the capital moved from Mulciber to Dacia. What remained of the Svathi population, which by that point had become segregated as the lower-classes, forming the bulk of manufactory workers and manual labourers, were jobless, starving. The Domnitors gave them the choice of working the poppy fields or moving to the abandoned regions under the control of the Interreges, which they were allowed to work for an annual tithe.

The land, for what it was worth, stabilised after this time, though there remained a minority who were vocal in their opposition of the way Malichar and Hetepheres had treated their land. Amid growing dissent a large part of the populace rallied under the leadership of the Pariah-patrician Bahadur, bringing conflict to the capital in Nekir. The dissidents were overpowered and over the course of eleven years, ending in 3463 RM, they were either executed or exiled. Those exiled would populate the forgotten Venthiri island of Lathos Cha, making it their own

The sundering of the Korachani empire in 3705 RM and the silting of the Strait of Nárthel brought much chaos to the region, which had always been on the threshold of two different worlds (though located on the Sammean continent its character had always been more like that of the northern nations). Lyridia’s increasing aggressiveness led to its foricibly annexing much of northern Nárthel, leading to the capture of he capital of Dacia in 3712 RM. The Sarastroan empire chose the chaos and tumult of this time to apply pressure to its borders with Nárthel, and by 3810 RM the entire border had become a contested region with firefights and battles not uncommon. Hostilities died down by 3862 RM, with little change to the design border. Cities destroyed or evacuated due to the war with Sarastro were slowly repopulated, with Haegorn becoming a major power in the area. By that time Dacia had broken away from Lyridia, but claimed the lands surrounding it as its own, becoming the capital of an independent nation in 3738 RM.

Following the dissolution of the High-empire of Korachan, lands previously under the vassalage of the High-empire were freed, though the cities of Nekor and Nachan, amongst other smaller settlements, remained under the yoke of the Korachani empire until 2 RMe.  With Sarastroan rule weakening, this led to a liberation of much of what remained of Nárthel, and in 15 RMe it was officially abandoned, save for its poppy fields, and declared a dead land with little in the way of natural or mortal resources. 

The abandonment was only an official gesture of what had been the case for over a decade, and by 17 RMe Nárthel had already fallen under the control of disparate and successive tyrants by the time, who by 17 RMe, had coalesced into 3 separate regions; Nekor in the west, Nicaea in the centre and the risen city of Allos (built on the ruins of Alloa) in the east; which together with the domain of Tahmal, became known together as the Patrician Dependency.