Yularan History

The island of Yulara is found within the Sea of Petals, in the continent of Syltor. It is known for the civilisations of the Sand Republic, The Kingdom of Lennox, the Dominion of Ostia and the Kingdom of Valle, along with the Republic of Halge and its holdings.

Yularan history is defined by warring communities and frequent societal collapse due to both internal and external factors. The nature of the region as having large swathes of desert dividing the North from the South led to many numerous and isolated cultures emerging over time. Most dates are defined by a unique dating system of Before Dragoonid Collapse (BDC) and After Dragoonid Collapse (ADC), due to inconsistencies in unifying a date system with the rest of the Syltoren continent as a result of isolationism and historical record disruptions.

Raft-Culture Era (~25,000-40,000 BDC)
The Raft Culture Era is named after the Raft Peoples, immigrant tribes of unknown origins who marked the first humans to occupy the isle of Yulara. The exact timeframe of their arrival has been difficult to determine, due to numerous difficulties in obtaining any form of physical records of their existence or culture.

Historians first discovered evidence for the Raft Peoples' existence from excavations of extremely primitive boats in southern river valleys in Yulara. The presence of rich delta soils allowed for a good preservation of a sole rare specimen of a boat, which was little more than assortments of twigs and branches held together with reeds and twine. Due to the unlikely nature of such a vessel being seaworthy, it is theorised that these peoples arrived via nearby land either in modern-day Andorn or along land bridges from elsewhere. The latter theory holds the most prominence among academia due to a lack of finds of Raft settlements along the southwesternmost point of Yulara, in the Riverrun Region.

The Raft Civilisation were likely hunter-gatherers, thriving on endurance-based hunting accross the savannah and coastal desert regions for subsistence. Finds of pointed wooden spears in and around the Riverrun, Heliodusion and Ib regions suggest that these early settlers utilised burning the ends of their spears to create a hardened point. The skins of killed animals were used as clothes, with the pelts of antelope being particularly prized.

Beyond this, little is known of this period in Yularan History due to a lack of permanent structures enabling an effective preservation of specimens. The discovery of Raft Culture specimens has largely been through sheer luck, as some are found well-preserved in river-delta mud, but in areas farther from a river, preservation seems unlikely due to both exposure to the elements and the Fall of the Dragoonid civilisation some 25,000 years later. Prior to these discoveries, the basis for Raft Peoples' existence lay largely in the form of educated guesswork, a migratory seaborn people being the likely explanation for a genesis of human presence on Yulara.

Usage of stone tools occurred not too far before the following period after the Raft Peoples Era, and was the starting premise for the Dawn of Agriculture on Yulara.

Dawn of Agriculture (~12,500 BDC)
Some 12,500 years before the Fall of the Dragoonids, Yularan communities developed stone tools and primitive agriculture through cultivation of grain and small berry shrubs. A consistency of a food supply developed, leading to a nuceleation of communities together in arable areas arround river valleys such as the Epipria, Brhakus, Thura, Akh and Katoum rivers.

Society gradually began to form during this era. Grain was gathered and collected by farming families into single granaries and storehouses, allowing for these farmers to hold immense sway in their local communities. It is believed that society operated on a basic bartering system, where the different members of the community traded between eachother in order to acquire food and water. The farming families distributed grain in the form of primitive currency to labourers accross the local community, as evidenced by excavations in Ib and Heliodusion revealing skeletons of labourers buried outside clay structures with the bodies exhibiting structural stress on the bone structure from toiling. Those inside larger clay structures had less obvious structural defects suggesting a lesser degree of work.

Housing began to spring up in a more refined manner, with mud and clay from riverbanks being used to sculpt basic dwellings. In many cases however, wooden huts assorted from fallen logs and foliage were used in absentia of their clay counterparts due to an estimated lenghty construction time. From finds within these communities it is estimated that the average diet consisted of a primitive bread, fish, berries and wild game.

Over subsequent millennia, pottery and carpentry began devlopment apace, with jars and containers occupying households to store freshwater and grain. An early evidence of writing was found enscribed upon shards of potterry, likely with a sharpened stone. The wrtiting resembled a sort of cuneiform. It is likley that most pottery was created from hardening of clay in the harsh Yularan sunshine.

This primitive writing system enabled basic communication of the earliest forms of religious belief found on Yulara; a form of animism and elemental worship that called for burnt offerrings to bring rains and sooner river floods.

Rise of the Grain Pharaohs (~3,000 BDC)
The dominant agricultural families of these agrarian societies would gradually consolidate vast swathes of power and influence within their communities. Tablets record offerrings of fish, pots, and whittled totems being offered to the eldest male of these families, which became the basis of the Grain Pharaoh titles that would exist for the following ten thousand years.

In the early days, Grain Pharoahs enforced their hold over the local supplies of grain by the creation of what Syltoren archeologists reffer to as "Grainsmen", a collective of enforcers drawn up of relatives and the occasional lucky outsider. Through these Grainsmen, the Grain Pharaohs could control the who gained access to the wheatfields and stockpiles within communinites. Most excavated settlements in the Yularan Ib, Riverrun and Heliodusion regions have been found to contain primitive granary structures where dried-clay records contained references to how much grain each Grainsman was allotted.

In cases of famine, it was not unheard of for desperate thieves to be exiled out into the desert north of the river valleys, a sentence considered to be effective death for the exile. Unbeknownst to these burgeoning Pharaohs, those that did survive these trials by fire would form small, roving nomadic communities, living oftentimes from the sustenance of stray desert mice and cacti juices. Malnutrition was commonplace for these scavengers, but soon, from desperation, raids would be conducted on the southern villages, for the sake of survival.

Dawn of Masonry (2,900-2,800 BDC)
The new pressures of sponatneous raids meant that the complacency of the Grain Pharaohs over their local communities was shaken. The men of the deserts and indeed the Grain Pharaohs themselves largely used stone tools for most purposes, and so the Pharaohs sought ways of innovation to keep abreast of attacks.

This innovation took the form of basic stonemasonry, as far as records tell. The name for this period is derived from the beginning of more coherent (yet exceedingly scarce) records, as all earlier documents have had much of their original content eroded due to the crumbling nature of sun-baked clay tablets. Excavations find that large slabs of stone were carved to create interlocking studs and indents in order to create basic battlements and larger-scale structures. In addittion, rare finds have shown the beginning of Pharaoh laws and doctrines, as recorded in a find known as the "Bhrakkus Steele".

"The catch of the River shall be worth an [untranslated] of grain. A mason's day's work shall be worth ten ears for craft of each Work. A fieldman shall recieve a part of the day's Yield in proportion to his toil."

-The intelligible sections of the Bhrakkus Steele.

Bronze Age (2800 BDC)
The Yularan Bronze Age was marked by sudden appearances of bronze tools in various excavations across different aspects of life. Bronze sickles, spears and even small daggers have been discovered indicating that the metal alloy was implemented in most aspects of society. Due to scarcity of written records during these very early years in Yularan civilisation, it is difficult to say how far Grain Pharaoh societies had advanced following the Dawn of Masonry period, but material excavations reveal very basic furnace constructs likely used in the smelting of bronze.

Jewelery of fish, and fertility amulets have also been discovered around river deltas and coastlines from this period too, indicating a continual social emphasis on nature and reproduction. Village structures retained their primitive stone or mud thatching styles, with little indication of further advances in masonry in a sophisticated sense.

Warring Villages Period (2800-2600 BDC)
Due to the greater prevalence of new, more effective bronze weaponry, more villages under their Pharaohs sought to subjugate their neighbours in the pursuit of food, livestock, wealth (bronze) and women. This lead to a rise in violent, extensive skirmishes often resulting in eradication of entire villages. In some cases, closer neighbours banded together in confederations under a dominant and effective Pharaoh, leading to the early calcification of basic Pharaoh dynasties. In many cases, one Pharaoh would massacre another, leading to forceful absorbtion of their village(s).

It must be noted that the modern Rathniri understanding of a Pharaoh and this proto-yularan Grain Pharaoh dynasty vary dramatically, with the latter being, to all intents and purposes, a glorified chieftan, rallying tribal diaspora together for mutual benefit against other similarly advanced and agressive groups. These banded villages bartered among eachother almost exclusively as opposed to the slightly more liberal prior eras, and shared similar methods of weapon construction. This has been determined through excavations revealing commonalities in engravings on spear shafts across small regions in Yulara amongst other similarities.

Eventually, so many villages banded together under different Grain Pharaohs that the Warring Villages Period came to an end, as tribal conflicts had become too damaging and exhaustive to different communities that a sustained raid on villages became more trouble than it was worth.

Nyphmut Dynasty (~2500-2377 BDC)
The Nyphmut Dynasty formed in southwest Yulara along the Ib and Bhrakus rivers circa 2500 BDC. Exact timings are nearly impossible to determine due to Warring Villages Period texts being few and far between, however, inscriptions reveal the earliest identified ruler to be known as Nyphmut, from whom the dynasty derives its name. Nyphmut united approximately 30-40 villages under him, the dynasty lasting a further ~170 years following his passing.

Nyphmut was succeeded by his eldest, Nyphmut II, creating a tradition of patrilinial succession that would endure throughout the Nyphmut Dynasty until its collapse. The Nyphmut lines of succession are as follows:

Nyphmut I (~2500-2470 BDC).
Exact dates unknown. Dates attributed to reign asscention and succession, due to lack of documentation of birth years.

Nyphmut II (~2470-2433 BDC)
Known for decreeing patrilinial succession upon ascention. Ruled for 37 years, before dying of a watersnake bite. Ordered a greater emphasis on the stockpiling of grain and perishables into granaries, leading to granaries becoming more commonplace across the dynasty rather than household storehouses.

Nyphmut III (2433-2396 BDC)
Faced a brief succession struggle with his sister Nephme who challenged Nyphmut to single combat during the proceedings of the funeral entombment of their father, as recorded in True Dynasty Period historian Syphos' Tales of the Old Kingdoms. Nyphmut III reportedly won through use of a dagger that fell from his father's funeral robes as the fight unfolded. This was seen as his father's spirit bestowing a blessing upon Nyphmut to rule the throne, though not before Nephme succumbed to her wounds, dying at the feet of her father.

Nephme is reportedly buried with Nymphut II, and Nyphmut III lived a long life before passing from ill-health.

Tymun I (2396-2377 BDC)
Tymun I ascended to rule the Nyphmut Dynasty's territories at a notably young age, being rumoured as no older than 14. Tymun was resultantly inexperienced, and through rumours of his father's blessing in ruling, he too believed himself to be granted the same right over his kingdoms. Tymun I is documented as often abusing his authority, calling for stonings of labourers on whim, and often arbitrarily hoarding grain harvest for personal use. Multiple small revolts occurred under Tymun's watch, being swiftly and violently supressed.

One night, Tymun awoke to an impaled asp being staked above the threshold of his complex, mere feet from his personal chambers. As a result, Tymun gradually changed his approach to rule, becoming more benevolent and caring toward his subjects. This proccess became part of Yularan folklore within the Ibean region, known as the "3 Phases of Tymun", where the passage of the sun was likened to Tymun's rule. Dawn being naiive and gradually harshening until Noon, before softening until Sunset.

Tymun died with no successor. There are multiple debated reasons for this, some arguing infertility, others either a fraternisation with male consorts or simple asexuality, however due to a lack of documentation of the personal life of Tymun it is unlikely no conclusion will ever be reached.

Kephmesht Dynasty (2377-2213 BDC)
The Kephmesht Dynasty took over Nyphmut Dynasty territory after their collapse. Kephmesht I was a close confidant of Tymun I in his latter years, often resposible for imposition of Pharoah's tithes on barter and what little intra-village trading occurred during this period. Kephmesht ascended at the general acquiescence of much of the former Nyphmut Dynasty's court, though not without small-scale rebellions, which never fully abated until midway through the reign of his successor. Retphiri I. Line of succession is as follows:

Retphiri I (2352-2303 BDC)
Retphiri I inherited the disarray of his father's kingdom upon his death, which meant much of his early rule was dedicated to the supression of said revolts. These revolts occurred for various reasons: some were in dispute of the Kephmesht succession, arguing instead for liberty under a local leader, others over the Pharaoh's tithe, which became particularly controvesial in times of intense drought or poor fishing seasons. Retphiri responded by reforming the Grainsmen (at this period a semi-symbolic position) into a coherent military enforcement group, which was continually rallied in times of revolt. Eventually these revolts receded, but public sentiment never truly recovered.

Upon Rethpiri's death, Syphos' Tales of the Old Kingdom recounts many from particularly remote villages affected by grainsmen travelling for the sole purpose of defiling the tomb with worm and snake carcasses, the latter having became a symbol of the mistreatment by Pharaohs of their subjects since Tymun I.

Retphiri II/Karakosht I (2303-2365 BDC)
Initially ascending under the name of Retphiri, due to the unpopularity of his father Retphiri adopted the new name Karakosht, an amalgamation of Karakh (an old Kephmesht word for scorpion) and Oshtiris (a healing salve derived from aloe and an assortment of river herbs). This was specifically chosen to evoke a sense of Karakosht healing his subjects of the "scorpion sting" of his father's rule. The ruse eventually worked, with Karakosht reducing the size of the Pharaoh's tithe, and the Grainsmen adopting a change of role from enforcement of Pharaoh hegemony to a general protective militia in times of strife. Karakosht enjoyed a time of relative prosperity for his kingdom, with no known records of famine.

Kephmesht II (2365-2313 BDC)
Kephmesht II ascended following Karakosht, ruling effectively and prosperously until combinations of raids from men of the desert, famines and even river flooding resulted in the overturning of his kingdom, and indeed the Kephmesht Dynasty. The resultant period of instability in Ib and the wider Yularan subcontinent at large became known as the Red Sands period, so-called for tales of the Khaset and Abaton deserts being so rife with slaughter the sand was stained with blood.

Accounts exist arguing the last day of Kephmesht II's reign was marked by a solar eclipse, seen as a signal from the ancestors of the soil that Yulara had sinned against them.

Ba'ahtuuros Dynasty (~2500-2263 BDC)
Far less well documented, the Ba'ahtuuros Dynasty existed in the southeast along the Heliodusion, Taran'bak and southernmost Khaset regions of Yulara, forming a kingdom defined by violent supression and brutalism. Much of the succession of the Ba'ahtuuros is shrowded in mystery, as unlike the Nyphmut and Kephmesht Dynasties, the Ba'ahtuuros relied on oral histories to tell of royal successions. Thus dates are almost impossible to apply effectively until their collapse in 2263 BDC, as-documented by court accounts of Kephmesht II recounting word-of-mouth tales. The line of succession is as follows, with no dates being applied:

Ba'ahtuuros I
Ba'ahtuuros I was a warlord Grain Pharaoh controlling a village in the Khaset deset. These Khaseti tribesmen survived off of sandworms and small grubs, deriving nourishment from cacti and this poor diet. Ba'ahtuuros made his name through violent raids on his southern neighbours, whom had long benefited from the more fertile southern peninsula of Yulara, often slaughtering and stealing cattle, which was considered the greatest commodity among the Khaseti due to the livestock's capacity for consistent nourishment. Eventually Ba'ahtuuros grew bolder, and began entirely conquering neighbouring villages rather than raiding them, forming the Ba'ahtuuros Dynasty.

Botuuros I
The next recounted tale is of Botuuros I who is supposed to have ruled at least half a century after Ba'ahtuuros' passing. Botuuros is famed for leading a warband into the desert into a persuit of a living bronze cow, returning empty-handed and with a handful of his original men. Botuuros is often invoked as an example of overconfidence in the face of nature amongst the older Khaseti in modern Yulara.

Lyphtuuros I
Lyphtuuros I is noted as the last leader of the Ba'ahtuuros Dynasty as-documented by the Kephmesht, known for having been routed by roving desert raiders, collapsing his Dynasty. Khaseti legends tell he fled north to what would become modern-day Zar'Roc, where his small cavern dwelling (which had also long prior been a place of other smaller tribes) was considered to be the site that would one day rear the Dragoonids, and their city of Khoponeos.

Other Notables (~2500-2200 BDC)
Minor Grain Pharaohs controlling small settlements and remote areas of Yulara did exist, though not on a similar scale as the aforementioned dynasties. These were often small coastal Pharaohs who existed in a similar state to the Warring Villages Period.

Roving nomads in Abaton and Khaset grew only stronger with time, as the harsh environment of this desert region of Yulara led to it being the natural place of exile for the discontent of Pharaohs and differring dynasties. The result was this area becoming a hotbed of violence, thievery and tribal roving, as nomads fought not only amongst themselves, but bitterly against those who had cast them and their ancestors out. These would become the Desert Raiders that longafter would plague the northern and southern river delta Yularan civilisations, and would prove catastrophic to established dynasties during periods of natural disasters such as the Red Sands Period.

Red Sands Period (~2280-1986) BDC
The Red Sands Period was an approximately 300-year long era of upheaval and natural disasters. It is unclear where a singular origin began, though the year 2280 BDC is currently the agreed-upon start date amongst scholars following the recordings of the Ba'ahtuuros era Steele of the Aggrieved Shepherds, a tablet found in one of the villages of the then-collapsed Kephmesht Dynasty. The Steele depicts a widespread crop blight, along with an unusually early locust spawning season that resulted in a massive devastation of crop yields. Resultant famines were unbelievably destructive to both wider Yularan civilisation and culture, leading to another sparse coverage of this period. Resultantly, the Red Sands Period can be distilled into several core issues that plagued Yulara, rather than a single chronology.

Natural disasters
Migrations of sand worms with poisonous adaptation were common among Khaset and Abaton desert regions. Sand worms seldom grew larger than a grub, or insect-larvae size, with rare and almost mytholigical exceptions occasionally documented. However, newer strains of sand worm propagated that secreted a mild but effective neurotoxin that induced paralysis upon consumption. This neurotoxin often was left on uneaten remnants of afflicted crops that sand worms had eaten, and on food reserves that said worms had breached. As a result, many communities dwindled from both starvation and poisoning. Over time, afflicted regions developed a tolerance for this neurotoxin, however not for many centuries afterward.

Encroaching desertification too proved an issue. Frequent hot summers and dry winters and spring seasons created dry conditions for forest fires and denitrification of soil on the outskirts of desert regions, expanding Yulara's central desert belt by an estimated 34% by current geologists. This too created an exacerbated effect on famines that were commonplace during the Period, driving violent and agressive migrations of displaced villagers and farming communities. The Desert Raider population further increased due to this migration and resultant paranoia in refugee cities, as surviving Grain Pharaohs exiled increasing numbers of their subjects to retain control.

Famines, as outlined, were exceedingly detrimental to overall wellbeing of the early Yularan civilisations during this period. However, as grain failed, more turned to fishing in increasing numbers as a stopgap, dwindling fish stocks. This created ecological disruption that led to a deoxygenation of certain areas of Yularan coastline, as predator numbers fell, inedible herbivore fish numbers rose, and plant life died resulting in massive die-off of aquatic biodiversity that only recovered as climate cycles stabilised and famine occurences started to decrease. It is estimated that many of the current Yularan aquatic ecosystem originates from migratory life from the colder south of the Bardonian coastline, or from remigratory species that had fled their habitats during this period. In any case, biodiversity never truly recoved in the same way since.

Civil Unrest
Unrest following this ecological disaster leads to collapse of multiple Grain Pharaoh dynasties. Notable among these is the Ba'ahtuuros Dynasty, which oral histories relay as falling due to much of their conquered farmland sufferring desertification. It is from this period that the earliest versions of the modern Yularan folktale of Darakon and the Iron Snake emerge, with Darakon claimed to be the warrior who overthrew the Ba'ahtuuros Dynasty.

In any case, dwindling food supplies led to Pharaohs becoming increasingly cruel. Mass graves have been discovered, alongside defaced and destroyed complexes belonging to former Grain Pharaohs, indicative of the turbulence within Yularan society as Pharaohs sought to control their subjects ever further, and their subjects rebelled.

Nomads to Desert Raiders
Nomads and exiles increase in numbers, organise and conduct raids more frequently on Grain Pharaoh villages and territories. These renegades exiled by their former leaders and villages grew tougher, with those who survived the ever-harsher desert climates banding together and participating in relentless and vicious forays into the north and south, fuelling their existence with the spoils of their conquest. Prior to the Red Sands Period, these exiles were mostly roving nomads, with the Desert Raider archetype being limited to select groups of particularly desperate desert-dwellers. However, as their numbers grew and the desert conditions worsened, nearly all of these roving nomad ethnic groups adopted a militant Desert Raider lifestyle for their own survival.

It is from these new Desert Raiders that the Red Sands Period derives its name. Bloody skirmishes were increasingly common, with many villages abandoned and rebuilt in cyclical patterns as their inhabitants were either butchered or routed and then gradually returned over decades, only for another roving band of Raiders to repeat the process. In some villages in particular, Lennox archeologists have coined a name for the mineral "ba'osteos", roughly translating to "death-bone rock", being a combination of sandstone and bone fragments that appear to be merged into different structures constructed during this era. The find implies that so many corpses were present from raid-ravaged communities, they were often buried into the setting walls.

Militarism begins
Gradually, organised armies and militias begin forming properly in response to the Raider threat as more communities band together in the pursuit of collective saftey from raids. Faced with a literal life-or-death scenario technological advancement increases as communities attempt to find effective methods of defence. Prototypes of chariots appear, and basic plate metal armour is implemented with more uniformity, with prior bronze plate armour being reserved for only the favoured Pharaoh's men. Cultural backwardness is still prevalent due to emphasis on communal defense, however. Trade did remain non-existent, so many grain pharaohs raid eachother like desert raiders, which further exacerbated militaristic development.

Exsanguination of the Desert and the recovery (1986-1645)
Defeat of nomads, slow societal recovery and development of new agricultural techniques. River travel now far more common with basic canoes and barges.

True Dynasties (1645-1200 BDC)
Differentiation between kings/kingdoms and tribal leadership realities of old Grain Pharaoh dynasties. State calcification and writing systems develop in a more sophisticated manner. Intricate resurgences in art and technology. Mythological conjecture begins here. Argued that Darakon walked the earth during this period or even earlier.

Scourings of the Desert (Desert Raider killings) begin.

Contact with the mainland (~1200 BDC)
Yularans make basic trades with proto Ryzani peoples and Niedenese. Not substantive until Dragoonid Kingdom arises.

Grain Pharaohs in decay (1168-1159 BDC)
Opression rises as Grain Pharaohs become complacent. Iron Age begins in earnest and exploitation rises. Grain Pharaohs style themselves in divine image, but famines strike again, leading to unrest. Wars made to consolidate kingdoms under one Pharaoh with little success. Desert Raiders grow in number but are not as effective

Magic arrives on Yulara (1159-1037 BDC)
Enchantments and mysticism introduced and lead to massive inquality in day to day life. Grain Pharoahs create priest class of Duatim to control supply of teachings on mysticism. Opression ramps up, some practitioners seal themselves in subterrenean communities which would later become tomb cities like Zar'Roc and Dragoonios. Some groups of these are argued to be where the Dragoonids stemmed from.

The Dragoonids Rise (1037-996) BDC
Extensive military campaign by Dragoonids out of tomb-city called Khoponeos. Eventually overturns all Yularan Grain dynasties and unites them all under Dragoonid Kingdom. Later a proto-republic (councilor government with military representatives at local level).