Artilon

Artilon, formally known as the Kingdom of Artilon, is a small nation in the north east of the world of Abexilas.

Precursor Dark Age
It is unknown when the first of the Artilites appeared, however Artilite legend holds that the first Artilites walked out from the imposing Red Rock Volcano on the island of Artila as if forged by the world itself. The bright, warm coloured eyes of the Artilites stem from this legend. The oranges, reds and yellows as bright as the mantle the are said to be born from.

At an unknown time, an empire-like civilization dubbed by the Artilites as 'The Precursors' invaded tribal Artilite lands and began to conquer the immediate area. The Artilites put up little to no resistance against the sheer manpower and organization of this technologically superior civilization. Instead, the Artilites surrendered and became influenced by their overlords who governed fairly, letting them keep their autonomy in exchange for their vassal ship.

There are little remains of this period in the form of physical artifacts, no hand written texts or art. All that remains is oral tales and a few large Precursor structures. The tales speak of The Precursors as conquerors and heavily religious, practicing leader worship where their ruler would be viewed as a living god. Practices such as blood-funerals swept into Artilite culture through these overlords and began a long period of mass mysticism which still lives in Artilite culture today. There were also hopeful fantastical tales of mystical figures who would come and free the Artilites of their overlords and who would protect them forever more.

After an unknown period of rule, The Precursors empire spontaneously collapsed. It was so sudden that a societal vacuum was created and plunged the Artilites into a dark age and a chaotic period followed. This is the most likely time where any physical artifacts that may have existed, were destroyed or lost to time.

Post-Comet Period
Roughly 1000 years after the fall of The Precursors, the lands of Abexilas witnessed a mass migration of peoples from other parts of the world, which the many Abexilas natives would later know as Rathnir and Eldham, due to a comet impact that destroyed both. Many of these peoples settled across Abexilas and either merged with the other Abexilas natives or rebuilt their foreign nations in a new land. Artilon was no exception to this.

Valrean Arrival
It is important to note how the Valreans got to Artilon. Valreach was a empire in Eldham, which had a three-way war in dispute of leadership of the nation and the gifting of land without imperial consultation. Valreach at the time was led by Karl Aulian, who died in the war. Just before the comets arrival, Avery Astyla and a select few Valreans boarded an airship and escaped Valreach, for wherever the winds would take them.

After some time, the Valrean escapees crashed into the island of Artila, the Artilite homeland. The Valrean and Artilite relations were cautious at first and led to small conflicts, but the Valreans showed that through their organization and technological superiority that they were here to stay and that the Artilites would benefit from their settlement there. Rather than continually, fight an ambitious Artilite, Lancelot Valcour I, leader of a prominent Artilite clan reaches out to the Valreans and works on an agreement with Avery Astyla. This agreement helped him take control over the Artilite lands and he is proclaimed King.

The Valreans brought with them their own culture by which the Artilites benefited greatly from. More advanced weapon smithing, new forms of architecture which the Artilites had never seen and societal structures to organize their masses. Under the joint reign of Lancelot I and Avery Astyla, the Artilites formed a fedual hierachy with strong government at its center, comprised of both Valreans and Artilites. This marked the official end of the Precursor Dark Age aswell as the instability and tribalism that came with it. The Valrean arrival was the catalyst for the formation of the Kingdom of Artilon.