Dekavur - History

Last update: 2 April 2007

The history of Dekavur according to the Dekavurians starts when several thousand sea-borne settlers landed on the coast near what is now Valdaborga, an event marking year 1 in the Dekavurian calendar. This account describes the principal events between then and the time just before the book starts; you may need to refer to the Maps.

1-293: The beginning

The most significant event prior to the Dekavurian landings is the downfall of the Rachovian Empire, the dominant power in Sunovia for several decades, in -36. The Empire was split in two by barbarian invaders who over the next forty years roamed more or less at will, even fighting their way over the Hyaston Hóryasta to an important Liotan city on the shores of Lake Hanna; after a decisive battle in 6 they routed the main force of the Liotan army and razed the city to the ground. (The Dekavurian city of Hannalorra was later built on the ruins, an act still regarded as an affront by the more nationalistic Liotans.) Further battles weakened the rather grandly-named Liotan Empire to the point that in 67 it broke up into autonomous locally-oriented pieces. At about the same time, the Kimbarin in areas which are now parts of the eastern provinces (Reshke, Etche, Nöshtre, Marko) sensed their chance and invaded the fertile alluvial lands around the delta of the river Kisha (now part of the province of Kishruva). These Kimbarin were thus the first inhabitants of the area to meet the Dekavurians.

During the next few centuries, these four groups - barbarians, Liotans, Kimbarin, and Dekavurians - all fought each other in various combinations, sometimes joined by various other peoples who happened to be in the area. A decisive point in the wars took place in the winter of 143, when the Kimbarin staged a surprise night-time raid on a Dekavurian encampment at a location near the modern-day city of Augita, after which the Dekavurians allied with the Liotans as sworn enemies of the Kimbarin. Over the next century and a half, the Dekavurians steadily grew into a society which lived on a near-constant war footing, and many popular Dekavurian legends can be traced to events around this time.

The barbarians were finally expelled from Dekavur in 293 - not by the Dekavurians, who were preoccupied with the Kimbarin, but by the Liotans, whose predisposition to guerilla warfare was well-suited to the terrain in the south-west. Shortly afterwards an army of Mossians ambushed the remaining barbarians and chased them out of Sunovia for good.

293-644: Settlement and feudal anarchy

For all their success in recovering their land, the Liotans had suffered greatly from the wars; by 300 their population, estimated at four million before the barbarian invasions, had dropped to less than one million, living in isolated pockets which were often unaware of each other. The Dekavurians, however, had been breeding rapidly, often having families from which six or more children survived; by 370 they had not only settled the lower Devri, but also spread westwards up the river as far as Hannasief and northwards into the highlands in what is now the province of Mashkla. The more adventurous Dekavurians ventured into the less habitable north of the region; many returned southwards after the first few, bitterly cold, winters, but those who stayed were rewarded with the discovery of mines of precious stones and metal ores in the mountains near what soon became known as Gemmasieva, "the Sea of Jewels". The wealthy kingdom of Cotora, after which the province was later named, took root in this area as a result.

The Dekavurians had not lost their taste for war, and Dekavur at this time consisted of a patchwork of independent kingdoms which were grouped in ever-changing alliances, often fighting between themselves. During one particularly bloody period known to history as the War of the Great Game (328-363), no less than forty-five kings died in various ways, the most regrettable being the unfortunate Hlothrika who, on his way to a duel with his great rival Redabalda, was thrown off his horse and landed on top of a surprised and very angry snake, which promptly bit him; he died from the poison without being able to fight. Redabalda's reaction is not recorded, but he is believed to have been less than happy.

A significant date in Dekavurian history is 13 Hebemeid 559, when the heir to the throne of the kingdom of Sanquet married the daughter of the neighbouring kingdom of Nobruste. The ruler of Nobruste abdicated the following year, formally uniting these two remnants of the old Mossian patchwork; the enlarged kingdom began to mount raids on the north of Dekavur, attracted by the wealth of Cotora and taking advantage of the weakness caused by the constant internecine feuding between the Dekavurian kingdoms. By 579 they had overrun most of the north - the land which now constitutes the provinces of Dima and Cotora - and were threatening the gates of Hanna Ruve, forcing some of the hitherto antagonistic Dekavurian kingdoms to join forces in defence. Eventually, at a tumultuous battle near Hwilyen [White Hill] in 563, the invaders were defeated and forced to withdraw.

The raids resumed in 594 at the start of what history remembers as the Fifty Year War. Initially the Dekavurians had the advantage, defeating one of the largest Sanquet armies in 607 and annexing large amounts of territory - the first instance in history of Dekavurians controlling land outside of Dekavur itself. The tide turned in 623 when the newly acquired land was lost again, and the remaining Sanquet armies invaded Dima soon afterwards; they overran much of northern and western Dekavur by 636, eliminated Cotora in 637, and conquered much of the south by 644. The Kimbarin, sensing their chance, annexed much of what is now Valdaborga province, leaving the Mashkla highlands as the only part of Dekavur under Dekavurian rule.

644-815: Loss of independence

Many Liotans were displaced westwards as a consequence of the Fifty Year War; their dialects developed into the West Liotic languages.

For the most part, Sanquet rule over Dekavur was remote and relatively benign, and made much easier by the lack of coordinated resistance; individual areas frequently rebelled, but little of lasting consequence was achieved. The Sanquet sporadically battled with the Kimbarin in the lower Devri, wresting Valdaborga and some land to the east from them in 672, and driving them east of the Kica river in 681. It was not until 750, when two successive rulers rather rashly attempted to proscribe some of the more popular Dekavurian religious sects, that Sanquet rule began to unravel; the first ruler was assassinated in 765 (famously, he was pushed out of a window in the council chamber of his fortress near modern-day Sciezza) and the second - the only female ruler who formally held supreme power in Dekavur - was forced to abdicate in 793. Her successor attempted to patch things up, but the damage had been done.

The beginnings of the revolt were inauspicious: four warlords allied together in 798 and defeated a Sanquet army, but the victors squabbled over the spoils aftwerwards; one of them is reported to have said to his erstwhile allies, on being refused a stretch of valuable agricultural land, that "I expect to receive more from the Bringer of Death". Some sources apocryphally add that he then promptly committed suicide; in actual fact, he was murdered soon afterwards.

By 804 the young Oduargen, both a gifted warrior and a master negotiator, had put together a force strong enough to win battles and cohesive enough not to fall apart afterwards. He used a combination of diplomacy and brute force, in one celebrated case chasing (on foot) a reluctant warlord for ten miles across southern Dima before threatening to drown him in Hannasief unless he gave his pledge. Starting in Valdaborga itself, his army sacked the Sanquet strongholds in the south and centre before destroying the main Sanquet army in the celebrated Battle at Haitha Silaines [Heath of Silence] in 813. Two years later, after another decisive battle, Oduargen demanded, and got, Dekavur's full independence back from the now-demoralised Sanquet. On 23 harbameid 815 he was proclaimed the first Vaidza, effectively High King, of all Dekavur.

Oduargen's dynasty

From here on, time is divided up into the regnal periods of the Vaidzas. Personal names are given in their modern forms, with cognate names from related languages in [square brackets] in the interest of onomastics.

Oduargen Evren [Edward "the Great"] born 778; ruled 815-826

Oduargen is regarded as the Father of Dekavur, not just for winning its independence and persuading several previously hostile entities to combine into a single political unit, but also for the vigour and clarity of vision with which he carried out both this daunting task and the subsequent reorganisation. The most lasting results of his efforts are the political hierarchy (see politics for details), which survives in somewhat modified but still recognisable form to this day, and the relocation of the Vaidza's residence to Valdaborga.

His reign also saw, in 819, the first effective union of Dekavur with the Liotan south-west, beginning with the marriage of his sister Frieldesso to Valduran, the brother of the then principal Astarien chieftan; however, the cultural and linguistic differences were sufficiently strong that the Liotans subsequently attempted many times to secede. Slightly less succesful were his attempts to incorporate all of the then Dekavurian areas into his creation; the exceptions, which included the powerful Enwy and Lauricta families, were allowed to remain independent as long as they also remained peaceful.

Odrigan [Eadric, Eric] born 802; ruled 826-833

Oduargen's elder son was a renowned hunter who never married. He disappeared while riding to the forest in Kabra to hunt boar; no trace of him or his horse was ever found. It is indeed a baffling mystery, mused one historian.

Odbritan [Eadberht] born 806; ruled 833-846

Oduargen's younger son. In his time the number of provinces was fixed at nine: Valdaborga, Mashkla, Dezdre, Lerin, Galena, Licadala, Dima, Cotora, and Esgaidon. Onomasts will notice that the Germanic practice of reusing elements of dithematic names within the same family fell out of use around this time.

Gauran Liotiskan ["the Liotan"] born 810; ruled 846-872

The second son of Valduran and Frieldesso (the first son was stillborn) became the first "Liotan Vaidza", i.e. the first Vaidza not of demonstrably pure Dekavurian blood. His accession was controversial because of this, but he tried and largely succeeded to allay any suspicions by treating Dekavurians and Liotans equally and without apparent preference.

Upheaval and plague

Kaldurthan "the Wary" (born 849; ruled 872-936)

Oduargen's great-nephew, the grandson of Oduargen's younger brother Odfrithen [Eadfrith], nicknamed (in Genistien) "Shining Gold" on account of his hair. Within days of becoming Vaidza he began to display the considerable paranoia with which he earned his epithet: his first official actions were to carve a new province out of south-western Dima, build a new city in the mountains on its northern boundary, name both city and province after himself, and move his entire court there as soon as possible. This location was chosen, so the story goes, because Kaldurthan reasoned that any foreign power wanting to attack the Vaidza's residence would have to fight through half of Dekavur to get there.

For now forgotten reasons it was felt necessary to keep the number of provinces at nine, and so the large southern province of Galena was broken up and its lands reallocated to Lerin and Licadala. This reorganisation displeased the Liotan population, who made increasingly threatening noises and eventually revolted in 933, persuading the by then increasingly frail Kaldurthan to let them secede. The court didn't like the new arrangement either; in particular, much of the new province was wild and remote, and the new city was cold and windy compared to the warmer and more agreeable Valdaborga. There wasn't much they could do about it, however, since Kaldurthan outlived them all, including his son Albaitan [Albert] (877-931). He died in 936 aged 87, the longest-lived Vaidza in history, and the one with the longest rule.

Frithrigan Hampluijan [Frederick "the Hapless"] born 903; ruled 936-937

Kaldurthan was succeeded by Albaitan's eldest son, who immediately moved the court back to Valdaborga, but by then everyone had become used to the new province, and it was allowed to stay. His short rule - a mere 275 days - was marked by two major misfortunes, the first of which was the loss of further land to the Liotans, who had taken advantage of Kaldurthan's frailty to wrest a deal from him shortly before his death. The second was the arrival of plague from the east, which wiped out up to half the population in the areas around Valdaborga and up the densely-populated lower Devri. Among the casualties were Frithrigan himself and all his family.

Arminath I (born 926; ruled 937-975)

The nearest surviving relative of Frithrika was the son of his youngest sister Ludelde [Clotilde]. By law, until Arminath's twentieth birthday in 946, he was Vaidza in name only, and rule was carried out by regents.

One curious result of the plague was the founding, in 939, of the town of Stenheme [Stanham, Steinheim] in the bleak and rocky parts of north-west Norxusto. The founders were warned in advance of the plague and were determined to escape its effects; they settled in this apparently strange location when they discovered diamond mines in the nearby hills and, by a policy of releasing a tiny number of diamonds each year, quickly became rich enough to import all their needs. This is something which they are still able to do.

Herstenath (born 954; ruled 975-991)

Arminath's only child. His rule was marked by frequent skirmishes with the Kimbarin to the east, who had been quicker than the Dekavurians in repopulating the lands after the plague.

Sigavrith [Siegfried] born 977; ruled 991-1033

Both of Herstenath's sons died before reaching ten years old; the nearest heir was the fourteen-year-old son of Herstenath's elder sister Sungibel [Synniva, a Dekavurian name with a Liotan ending]. Again, effective rule was carried out by regents until his majority in 997.

The year 1000 was marked by the largest recorded internal movement of Dekavurians, in terms both of its length (well over a thousand miles) and of the number of people (ultimately several thousand). It was begun by one Ullashkan, the leader of a religious sect from the hills of eastern Dezdre, who travelled to Valdaborga with one eye on the calendar and a message made up largely of apocalyptic prophecies. After causing much unrest and disruption, Ullashkan's real intentions were revealed when he was discovered to have been making advances to several noblewomen including the Vaidza's wife. He and his followers were promptly, and forcibly, expelled from Valdaborga.

Not to be deterred, Ullashkan - allegedly inspired by a dream the night after he discovered the hallucinatory properties of a certain type of herb called klümerishke - declared that he would head for the as yet unsettled remote north-west of Esgaidon. The journey took three years, during which half of the original followers either died or deserted, but the numbers were more than replenished with converts picked up along the way. The psychologically addictive properties of klümerishke, meanwhile, had caused Ullashkan to become increasingly reclusive and unstable; eventually, after he ordered a stop for the night on the shores of a lake, the principal priests decided that they had had enough of his embarrassing antics and smothered him in his bed, dumping his body unceremoniously into the water. Exhausted from the march and facing a hard winter, the people stayed by the lake, founding the town of Berguema [Burgham, Bergheim].

The Golden Age

Arminath Roud ["the Red"] born 1004; ruled 1033-1070

Sigavrith's elder son became one of the great figures of Dekavurian history.

The Kimbarin - actually descendants of the original inhabitants of eastern Dekavur, although the Dekavurians called them by the same name - invaded again in 1044, overrunning much of south-east Dekavur including Valdaborga province, although the city itself remained inviolate. It was nine years before they were decisively defeated and finally broken as a force in eastern Sunovia, and as part of the victory settlement they were forced to give up what became the kweldas gavis (Eastern Provinces) of Reshke, Etche, Marko, Nöshtre, Kishruva, and Hellichen. Arminath's rule, up to now unexceptional, subsequently took on near-mythical qualities as a result.

Arminath further increased his reputation by marrying his eldest daughter Sunharel to Kailidzan of Galena, a union which led to the reincorporation in 1053 of the Liotan-speaking areas into Dekavur. By now, the population of Dekavur had recovered since the plague and was increasing more rapidly than before, and another political reorganisation became necessary to accomodate the new land and inhabitants. Nine new provinces - a revived but smaller Galena, and the new Athuncia, Chastu, Chila, Gadhasto, Galviga, Kabra, Norhusto, and Zöche - were created by subdividing the southern provinces of Lerin, Lishdala, Dezdri, and Valdaborga; and two more were added shortly afterwards, bringing the total to the present-day twenty-six: Hanna, carved out of the densely-populated southern part of Dima on the north shores of Hannasief, and the island Teiskre, to placate the descendants of the Laurishta family who lived there. The provinces are described in more detail in the geography page.

These events traditionally mark the beginning of Dekavur's Golden Age during which the country's prosperity and population increased to new levels. Not uncoincidentally, so it is still believed, the climate also improved slightly, and harvests were especially bountiful; the wines of the era are remembered with particular fondness, art and learning flourished, and many of Dekavur's universities were founded around this time.

Athlasten Vorgaden ["the Forgotten"] born 1023, ruled 1070

Arminath's older son. Not always listed as a proper Vaidza, he ruled for eleven days before abdicating to join an obscure religious sect.

Albinan (born 1028, ruled 1070-1083)

Athlasten's younger brother. Nothing of note happened during his reign.

Sigavrith Zhünggits ["the Younger"] born 1046, ruled 1083-1105

The son of Athlasten sister Madrigel; neither Athlasten nor Albinan had any sons. During his rule Dekavur inherited a large slice of the former Sanquet lands to the north.

Oduargen Salvan ["the Dark"] born 1067, ruled 1105-1116

Sigavrith's son and fourth child, auspiciously named although nothing especially remarkable happened during his reign.

Decadence and civil war

Gauran Aiteran ["the Glutton"] born 1075; ruled 1116-1134

The younger son of Sigavrith's sister Mergibel; his brother Denickren set out on ship from Tur Kurpen in 1104 and never returned.

The accession of this much-detested Vaidza marks the end of the Golden Age; he is chiefly remembered for raising taxes on the poor to punitive levels and spending the revenue on a new palace on the outskirts of Valdaborga to replace the older one. His extravagant feasts, which sometimes lasted for several days, are legendary, as are his habits of forcing guests to eat until they were sick. Less well-remembered is his often-stated intention to "put a bit of fun into the succession" by - allegedly inspired by Ullashkan - attempting to father bastards on as many of the wives and mistresses of the Thünos as he could. Only Elsaveta of Cotora, who at 45 was well past childbearing age, was left alone.

By the time of his death in 1134, Gauran had become so fat that he was unable to move himself from his bed to his feasting chair and back again, and to this day "Gauran's carrier" is a Dekavurian by-word for any particularly unpleasant punishment or public duty.

Abran (born 1092; ruled 1134)

Gauran's only legitimate son was conceived out of wedlock when his mother Aidizel was only fifteen, but was born after she married Gauran (in Dekavurian law this legitimises a bastard child). Abran was so alarmed by Gauran's libidinous activities that, fearing for his life, he went into hiding in Cotora until Gauran's death. He only lasted nine days as Vaidza; an intruder slipped past the palace guards and assassinated him in his bed on the last day of aitsameid 1134. He left two sons, Astrenath and Arminath.

Astrenath (born 1116, ruled 1134-1142)

Abran's two sons belonged to different religious sects, resulting in a hostility which frequently boiled over into open conflict. The most notorious incident occurred in 1141 during a meeting about trade concessions, when Astrenath was finalising the details of a lucrative deal with the country of Aner Biznek to the south; Arminath, believing that his income from other trade routes would be greatly reduced, stormed into the room and hauled Astrenath out of his chair. Astrenath fell to the stone floor and was knocked unconscious; although he recovered soon afterwards, he was never the same again, and was murdered in Augita the next spring.

Arminath Blaudroud ["the Crimson"] born 1119, ruled 1142-1146

Arminath, on becoming Vaidza, declared that he would "Let the bad blood of the country"; he earned his epithet by instigating four years of bloodthirsty religiously-motivated terror with Astrenath's murder. The terror reached a peak in 1145 with the massacre of the remaining members of Astrenath's sect. Much to everyone's relief, Arminath was drowned in his bath by his mistress Brishkanel.

Civil war (1146-1157)

Although Arminath and Astrenath had managed nine daughters between them, neither had managed to produce any sons, and the "fun" which Gauran had hoped for duly surfaced in the form of several rival claims to the throne from Gauran's bastards and their descendants. These competing claims were further exacerbated by religious differences which resulted in the murder of Arminath's legal successor, the unfortunate Heldrik, in full public view minutes before taking his oath.

The resulting civil war saw Dekavur effectively divided into four parts: the south-east and east, including Mashkla; the centre, north, and north-west; the south; and the Liotan areas, which seceded again in 1149; the northern Sanquet fief was lost the following year. Rival candidates from each area fought it out; the longest-lived was, ironically, another Kaldurthan from Lishdala, who was Vaidza of the north from 1147-1154.

The era of Arshoddath

Zengrichen of Marko (born 1123; ruled 1157-1170)

Exhausted after years of war, the four rival factions eventually accepted this provincial governor from Galena, who was unrelated to any of the many descendants of Gauran and had been scrupulously neutral in his governance. All too aware of the causes of the preceding years of chaos, his first act was to sign new and unambiguous rules for succession into law.

The year 1163 is notable for the appointment of Arshoddath the Blue, born in Chastu, as Royal Wizard. The appointment was highly controversial among other Wizards as well as in the Court; despite his obvious talent, Arshoddath was only 35, which for a Wizard was (and still is) considered to be young and inexperienced. However, he proved his worth by healing Zengrichen's son Kloidzan and the heir presumptive of a disease similar to bubonic plague, and allayed everyone's fears by proving to be a source of wisdom and good advice worthy of much respect. He is principally remembered as the foremost authority on Magic, a distinction he earned by writing hundreds of books from which prospective Wizards still learn today.

Kloidzan [Claudius] born 1148; ruled 1170-1213

Zengrichen's son, remembered mainly for attempting (in 1175) to reconquer the Sanquet lands lost in 1148 and failing. He had eight sons, all of whom were were great sailors and expanded Dekavur's horizons across the sea to the south.

Abran Saigler ["Sailor"] born 1172; ruled 1213-1234

Kloidzan's oldest son. His first voyage was in 1202, and his last in 1229.

Kloidzan Zhüngg ["the Young"] born 1181; ruled 1234-1258

Kloidzan's third son earned his epithet by appearing not to age past forty, although nobody knew why; the most popular rumour gave the credit to mysterious quasi-Magical workings by the inhabitants of the lands he visited during his voyages.

Zallurdan (born 1231; ruled 1258-1269)

Abran's son. Unlike his predecessors, he was no sailor; during his one and only voyage he was so ill from seasickness that he vowed never to set foot on another ship ever again.

Crisis, recovery, and unease

The years of nine Vaidzas (1269-1271)

What was widely hoped to be turning into Dekavur's second Golden Age was tragically cut short in 1269, when Arcoddath, demonstrating his latest illusion, triggered a Magical accident which in the laconic words of the official report "destroyed all matter within 250 metres of the centre of his body". Apart from the loss of the greatest Wizard who ever lived, who had reached the very respectable age of 141, this would have been less serious had the ailing Zallurdan and his only child (a son called Astrenath) not been in the audience. In the ensuing recriminations, the practice of Magic was made punishable by death, and most remaining Wizards were hunted down and executed. The few - estimated as numbering fewer than twenty - that remained went into hiding.

Despite Zenerichen's efforts to settle the rules of succession, a succession of pretenders, few with any proper claim to being Vaidza, ruled for between 2 days and 5 months before variously being deposed, being murdered, or abdicating in shame.

Hüshklen (born 1249; ruled 1271-1276)

After much searching, the rumoured bastard son of Astrenath and Klodzan's eldest granddaughter Airenel was uncovered in remotest Kabra. He agreed to become Vaidza with considerable reluctance, and his rule saw a return to sanity after the preceding years of chaos, but despite considerable effort he was unable to eradicate the emnity which lingered between parts of Dekavur.

Thudrigan [Theodric] born 1230; ruled 1276-1285

The elder of Airenel's two brothers. In his later years he became increasingly unwell, and following the advice of his court he abdicated in 1285, dying the next year.

Gufrithan [Gottfried] born 1233; ruled 1285-1286

Thudrikan named his younger brother as his successor, cutting his unstable and unpopular son Heiden out of the succession. Heiden was greatly resentful, and his more fanatical supporters unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate two of Gufrithan's six sons in retribution. With the help of a renegade Wizard called Hergilen, they were luckier with Gufrithan himself; he cut his ankle on a sharp table leg decoration and bled to death. The paint on the decoration had been mixed with a few drops of a powerful anti-coagulant which Hergilen had painstakingly created from rare ingredients, but this was never discovered.

Hashalen (born 1250; ruled 1286-1308)

Gufrithan's eldest son holds the distinction of having survived thirteen assassination attempts, the most of any Vaidza. His rule was marked by a renewal of hostilities with the Kimbarin, who raided eastern Dekavur in 1289 and abducted some highborn women from Markoborga, among them Kurdesa, the wife of the Thünn of that province. A nervous Hashalen began transferring his defensive forces to the eastern provinces in anticipation of further attacks, which eventually materialised in 1307 with simultaneous attacks on Markoborga and Eske; the invaders were finally defeated in 1308. Shortly after midsummer, Hacalen was found dead on a Royal cruiser bound for Tur Galenan; there were symptoms of murder, but nothing was proved.

Sündülen (born 1273; ruled 1308-)

The then Raik of Tullerin, Hashalen's elder son, became Vaidza having himself survived assassination attempts in 1302 and 1305; his place as Raik was filled by none other than Heiden, whose supporters had successfully rigged the election. Hergilen had recently made some discoveries in the field of Seeing Magics and planned to use these to help Heiden become Vaidza; as another part of this plan, a number of prominent people were assassinated over the next few years, the most notable being Kalvina, the beautiful and very popular wife of the Thünn of Lerin province.

The last major event before the start of the book took place in late 1311, when a large force of Kimbarin, augmented by a small number of renegade Dekavurians and mercenaries from the countries to the north, attacked eastern Ivrinya (the country where Ivrien is spoken), immediately to the west of Dekavur. This attack was part of Heiden and Hergilen's plan; the invaders were under orders to ensure that no refugees escaped to warn the Dekavurians. They failed, but for the consequences you'll have to wait for the book.