Minorca

The Holy Empire of Minorca, or simply Minorca, was a country located near the Antarctic of Micras, southwest of Eura and off the eastern coast of Pacary. Minorca was originally a far-reaching empire that spread across several continents, reaching as far as Apollonia and Keltia. The monarchy eventually became bloated and the empire itself over-extended. This led to the communist revolution that spawned the Republic of Baracao. The Baracaoans eventually subjugated the empire but were unable to fully extinguish the imperial Dei Barbone bloodline. The empire resurfaced for a short period but was overrun by Athlonians from Natopia before it could support itself.

History

The history of Minorca was chronicled in an ancient tome entitled Holy Empire. The full text of this document is below:

Chapter I ~ Of The Whale Men

In the earliest days of Micras, when the world was still young and primitive, the two islands of Minorca were one and mostly covered by the great glaciers of ice and snow. The great archaeologist Salvador Santos, in his chronologies of neolithic life on Minorca, pointed out the lines of rock where for ages untold the great glaciers ended and the small strip of coastline lay open before the sea, contrasting between blue and white in its splendour under that ancient sun. The only thing breaking that long skyline of oblique white was the tips of the great Valentina Mountains, of whose grey upper slopes poked through the ice, revealing the great crags that Minorcans would later find and use during the first revolutions. It was on these shores that the first primitive inhabitants set foot on Minorca. These people were not the original people of Micras. Indeed, they had descended from the core of early Micran civilisation at the Apollonian core, near present-day Shireroth.

These first people's spread slowly across Micras, establishing other core groups that would surface later. The Babkhans, of whom roamed the barren deserts of the continent Eura and tamed the giant sandworms of Zsharra. The Treesians, who built a great empire spanning the globe from their small island and the many-spired city of Failte. And of course the many other empires that rose and fell across Micras over the many years. The exact origins of the Minorcans is unsure, but many guess them to be of Treesian stock, possibly from the Skerries. The first peoples to arrive on the island were primitive sailors. Using catamarans made of logs, these sailors plied the waters between the Skerries and Minorca. It was because of these great distances that small ports and enclaves of safe harbour were established in locations that would become known as the Islas de Libertad, Citadel Ruso, Los Colorados and others. These were the first peoples to set foot on the shores of Minorca.

During the early ages of Micras, Minorca's two islands were one. But the great glacier called Tyrsjokul covered most of the island, leaving only the fringe open to settlement. The waters around Minorca were what truely attracted the first settlers. Rich in cod, tuna, shrimp and whales, early Minorca was nearly entirely a seafaring community. As populations grew, the people of Minorca began to form the beginnings of civilisation by establishing loose tribes. The predominant tribe, which would later give its name to the island, was the Or'k„, the Whale People. So named were they because of the whaling they used to do and their worship of the pagan whale god, Ka'mu. The Or'k„, trading in valuable whale oil, began to dominate the other tribes on the island. And their merchant sailors, travelling far and wide, began to be known as the Men of Or'k„, or Menorkans. This would later be Latinised by Saint Severus during the conversion to Christianity, becoming the modern name of Minorca.

The Or'k„ns were also centralised and smart, establishing their first settlement near the island of Navarino off the northern coast. The location was a small harbour now known as Suegao. The village harbour was a semi-circle, extending inland some several miles while a great high reef curved out round the edge. The reef broke the heavy ocean waves, thus keeping the harbour calm and protected. Likewise for the village situated not far past the beach. The Or'k„n villagers would anchor their catamarans to large boulders, which they had carefully attached ropes to at low tide. The ropes were fixed with floats, thus any catamaran coming into the harbour could easily collect one and fix it to their vessel for safekeeping. Suegao grew quickly due to its centralised location among the tribes and settlements along the Minorcan coast. Archaeologists recognise it as the first true city to be established on the island. Within a few short decades the city had gone from a few people to a few thousand, making the Or'k„ns the most powerful of the coastal tribes.

As Suegao grew, so did the civilisation of the early Or'k„ns. A tribal society had been established, an early predecessor to the monarchy, in which the Chieftan ruled over his people benevolently. At this time, some ten centuries ago, the first recorded Or'k„n Chieftan rose to the throne. His name was Fyda Gonyu, the Red Dragon of Suegao. Fyda was a swarthy cavalryman, the best of the Or'k„n horsemen that rode the coast in defense of Menorka. He was a swarthy young man when he assumed the title of Chieftan at age twenty-two. At this time, the Or'k„ns still bore a strong resemblance to the Skerrians from which they had descended - stout stature, fair faces of Caucasian features and colouration. Fyda received the name of Red Dragon due to his firey red hair, which matched his equally blazing spirit, and for his heroics in several preceeding battles over neighbouring tribes. It was Fyda who would take Suegao and turn it into a fortress city, and reform the Or'k„n military into a fighting force.

The Or'k„n capital had grown to some six or seven thousand inhabitants by the time Fyda was twenty-five. Suegao, which was primitive Or'k„n for 'Sea Breeze' was, however, still the primitive and quaint fishing and merchant city the Chieftan's forefathers had kept it. But Fyda was a revolutionary thinker, and a military man at heart. His thoughts went to the military and he made constant efforts to convince the Tribal Council to support building stronger defenses. But they, still merchants, disagreed. It was not until neighbouring tribes, jealous of the Or'k„ns success, made several threats, did Fyda secure council approval to defend Menorka - at any cost. Fyda took great liberty with that and increased the size of the military tenfold. He also built fortifications for Suegao, the first such defenses for the Or'k„ns. Around the harbour, atop its great protecting reef, Fyda built a great wall of wood and stone. Along this a dozen turrets measuring some hundred feet in breadth were positioned along the wall. Atop these, Or'k„n archers stood to rain death down upon the foes of Suegao.

Now Chief Fyda was not a man to take threats lightly. But neither was he a man to take rash actions. A cold and cool tactician, he had learned much in the battles of his youth and took to establishing a strong defense before he attempted any offensive. It was not Fyda's firey spirit that would ignite the fires though. Indeed, it was Chief Gorgorath of the Western Tribes who, in his jealousy of the Or'k„ns, launched a war against them. In the initial battles, the Or'k„ns were slaughtered. Caught off-guard by the soldiers they once traded with, the Westerners pushed to the gates of Suegao. In the meantime however, Fyda had prepared his forces for battle within the protection of his fortified city. Western forces marched unassumingly up to the walls of Suegao, attempting to overrun the city. Instead, death rained down upon them in the form of arrows fired by Or'k„n archers. As the Westerners reeled under this new assault, Fyda's cavalry issued forth from within the city and utterly decimated them. Thus the Western Tribes were crushed and Gorgoroth was exiled to the northern isles.

With the west dominated, Fyda wasted no time establishing his power over the east as well. Seeing the defeat of the Western Tribes to the Or'k„ns, the Eastmen accepted Fyda's offer of becomming vassals when he made it. Thus the island of Menorka was for the first time united and Or'k„n civilisation began to expand outward. Fyda died within a few years following his victories, succeeding further only in totally subjugating the remnants of the west into Or'k„n lands. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Karyl (pronounced Karl), who lacked the burning spirit of his father and focused instead on developing Menorkan civilisation and trade. Karyl was a merchant like the forefathers of Or'k„n government, and he built his administration around that aspect. The military already defeated all their enemies, and the three groups had fully amalgamated into Or'k„n society. So in lieu, he began the construction of many trading posts for the vast merchant fleet to rest at, building small forts on Eura, Pacaria, Caput and on many of Micras' other continents.

Among the outposts established, a number would be maintained well into the present. This includes Los Colorados, the mountain island which was assailed by the Babkhans two centuries ago. East Caput, which was wrested from the Free Republicans and became the largest colony next to the Islas de Libertad. And of course the northern isles, settled earlier than Menorka, but remained somewhat obscure for may centuries. These islands would become known as Barac„o and even later in time as the Islas de Libertad. Karyl maintained his father's vigilance against enemiesof the state, and kept the aging Gorgoroth and his family in exile in Barac„o. At the same time he established further outposts, settled the Menorkan coast and strengthened inter-Or'k„n governance. This would be a policy that, although at the time discouraged by expansionists, would soon be praised. For lurking against the backdrop of the pristine settlements along the coast sat Tyrsjokul, the Towering Ice. Ever a reminder to the precarious position which the Or'k„ns held on the island.

Chapter II ~ The Breaking of Menorka

For another century the Or'k„ns had become an established civilisation centered at Sueg„o. Spanning Micras in their ships, which had now advanced to longships of formidable size and durability, they traded with the then-primitive civilisations in Apollonia, Automatica and with the early camel riders of Babkha. The coast of Menorka was bustling despite the rugged climate. Sueg„o had grown into a large city, having expanded beyond the confines of Fyda's Wall to include a vast suburbs stretching several miles around the harbour. Other cities also appeared along the coast, most established around the remnants of the vassalised tribes the Or'k„ns now controlled. In the west was Wessen, adopting the name given to them by the Or'k„ns as the Western Tribes, the city thrived as a recreational centre. Wessen also held the first ampitheatre on Menorka and became one of the major contributors to Or'k„n entertainment arts and literature. In the east, where the tribes had become vassals, more distinct cities developed. Including the eastern capital of Ontyr, which had a Greco-Roman classical style to it.

Ontyr was a community associated mostly with pacifists, thus incorporating into Or'k„n society as vassals rather easily. Sueg„o provided ready administration and military protection, while the Ontyrrians continued their idyllic pastoral lifestyles farming, fishing and studying the arts. Indeed, the Ontyrrians began to provide such a great deal of artistic works to the Or'k„ns that the two became intermingled as a single group within a mere few decades. The city's Greco-Roman culture began to influence the Or'k„ns and their pagan ways. But the influence also worked vice-versa, and Ontyr became more liberal and accepting of the other cultures on Menorka. Trade with the Apollonians, Babkhans and other cultures also influenced the developing Or'k„ns. Indeed, this was the age of classical Menorka which, had it survived, may have come to be the dominant power on Micras. Arts and science flourished and Or'k„n traders dominated the waves like Grecians and Venetians of Earth.

During this age that is known as classical Menorka, the Or'k„ns began the use of triremes and longships. Those great galleys of bronze armour and long oars which were feared throughout the world. But the Or'k„ns were not conquerors. These great ships remained to defend their island realm and various trader enclaves. Foreigners knew not to fear these tanned sailors, but to respect them and treat them as men of good honour. The Or'k„n fleet had now grown immense. The government had progressed into a crude monarchy and under Fyda's descendant, King Enri, thousands of ships plied the waters between the Menorkan mainland, Barac„o, La Plata and the other outposts. There was a constant flow of ships laden with goods always coming and going from the many ports. The three cities of Menorka grew rich and prosperous like ancient Athens and Alexandria. Were it not for the great glacier covering most of the island, Menorka would have been wholey inhabited by the Or'k„ns and their kin.

It was in the tenth year of King Enri's reign that the first signs of impending doom became imminent. Very little recorded material is available from this time or even that of preceeding Or'k„n history. For most of the literature resided in great libraries of the three cities; Wessen, Sueg„o and Ontyr. What material has been recovered was mostly from Barac„o, written by the people who had settled there and through stories told by refugees of the breaking. As was said, signs became visible during the tenth anniversary of King Enri's rule that troubles were stirring within the island of Menorka. Spring had come and with it an abnormal amount of flooding. Most Or'k„ns considered this simply to be related to the early time at which the spring had arrived. But it was not long before warmer weather began to be reported throughout the kingdom. Even the tropics in Barac„o were abnormally warm. Many began to fear some great wrong had occurred to bring the wrath of the gods down upon them in full fury.

As a consequence of the warm weather, there were equally harsh storms which wracked the coasts of Menorka, Barac„o and the enclaves. The ramparts of the cities, built from great blocks of grey stone, were now being used to defend the city against nature rather than any human enemy. The ships of the great Or'k„n fleet were torn from their mooring and dashed to pieces on the great granite piers the Or'k„ns had worked so hard to build. Their white sails torn asunder and drenched by the torrential rains. The people watched sadly as their banners sank slowly beneath the waves of Sueg„o harbor. Many ships and their crews who were still in the deep waters forsook the Three Cities, instead sailing for the safer lands in the enclaves or outside of Or'k„n lands altogether, such as Apollonia, which was still thriving. People on Menorka living in the more remote settlements began to forsake even their homes, fleeing to the villages en masse. A great panic ensued, and all throughout the island chaos reigned.

King Enri's chief consul, Count Niklas Gao, a short man with a deep voice and long black hair which he kept in a tightly knotted pony-tail, led a great deal of the rural refugees to Wessen. Gao was a man of Xiatic and Or'k„n stock. He had come from the western settlements along the coast of Almagoras, where he had been both native and leader. The Almagorans were a small group of people at the time. Numbering only a few thousand which were scattered over the coast in small fishing villages. The coming of the floods and storms had destroyed most of their settlements, and Gao led the remnants of his people northeast to Wessen in hopes of finding refuge there. The journey was a long and harsh road. For in this age the roads leading beyond the Three Cities were little more than trails worn smooth by the traversing people and horses. And in the great storms that had come, they were now strewn with debris and mud. Yet Gao pushed the Almagorans forward to Wessen, knowing full well that if they halted, death would be upon them.

But there was little to console his people when they arrived in the great western city. The outer banks had collapsed and the city's harbour was being gradually destroyed by the massive waves as the impacted upon the weakening stone. A great host of the city's people had deserted it. Some headed for Sueg„o and sought refuge in the capital. Others had fled Menorka entirely, sailing off in the last ships and heading for safe lands beyond the reach of the raging torrent. They were stranded here, in this city of once golden renaissance, now but a hollow shell of its former self. It is said that when the seas consumed Wessen, it took with it the greatest treasures the Western Tribes had ever assembled, forever reducing those people to a mere fragment of history. But for the Almagorans, all was not done with and Gao refused to accept defeat so easily. So they pushed onward to Sueg„o. Behind them they left Wessen. And as they marched on the horizon to Sueg„o, they watched the towers of Wessen crumble as it was swallowed forever by the sea.

The journey east was slightly more favourable to the Almagorans than their march to Wessen had been. And Niklas was relieved to see the formidable ramparts of Sueg„o still standing strong against the violent ocean when they arrived in the Or'k„n capitol. But it could clearly be seen that the harbour had not been spared by the wrath of the gods. What remained of the great jetty and shipyards had been torn asunder, remnants of which lay strewn about the beach. Niklas Gao found King Enri holed up within the city's interior, working with the few thousand men that had decided to stay. They were attempting to fortify the interior walls, to help hold back some of the great waters that were rushing into and ultimately destroying the city. Great lengths of iron and wood had been hastily hammered into place against the granite in the hopes they would hold the blocks in place. Enri readily accepted Gao's aid and welcome him into the city, saying "Blessed be the gods that sent you in our time of need. For we are all that remains on Menorka."

Chapter III ~ Tears of the Fall

The meeting of Niklas Gao and King Enri was a blessing few believed to be mere coincidence. Indeed, to this day the Minorcans hold the 'Otro de Julio' as a revered holiday in rememberance of the two men joining forces. As it came to pass, Sueg„o was continually besieged by the roiling waves. The sky churned with black clouds and bolts of lightning crashed down splitting tree and rock alike. Gao and Enri continued to fight nature's wrath by fortifying the city as best they could. Enri had hoped to keep Sueg„o standing as the last bastion on Menorka, biding time until the storm had weathered itself and people could return. But alas fate had different plans for them. For just as they believed to be safe within its garrisoned walls, the ground began to tremble. First quite unnoticably, as if it were just a mere rumble of thunder. But then more violently so that both men knew something was seriously wrong. It was Enri this time who quickly assembled a team of horsemen and led them on a reconaissance expedition south, where it seemed that the clouds grew darker and the Earth shook even more.

Enri brought with him an escort of some two-hundred cavalry. A large amount, but then none knew what lay ahead of them in the south, nor what could be causing the dread shaking beneath their feet. The skies were black, filled with clouds and storm. And behind them the city of Sueg„o stood in the distance as lightning struck her walls, silhouetting the fading outlines of the tall towers. They travelled directly south, for ahead it seemed that the cause of their problems lay somewhere within the centre of Menorka. Beyond the coastal hills where the forests turned to tundra, they entered upon the icy wastes of the great glacier. A vast plateau of ice and snow that was only broken by the Valentina Mountains, of which only the great peaks poked through the thick glacier. But even here the earth shook violently and the ice cracked in places, leaving deep chasms the men had to ride their horses around, lest they fall into unknown abysses. But ever south they pushed, and ever colder it grew, towards the centre of the island and the Valentina Mountains.

They had moved perhaps twenty miles inward atop the glacier when Enri had noticed that the land ahead was not white, but rather black. The ground still shook, ever more violently, and cracks were becoming so wide that a man could see straight down into the earth. For here the ice was miles thick, and none had heretofor believed that land existed beneath it. Or that such a mass of frozen snow could accumulate. And upon them now fell not just snow, but as one rider noted, snow mixed with a dark soot the colour of pitch. Something here was seriously amiss. It was as if a great fire had been burned, or was still burning, somewhere on the island. A fire great enough to set the entire sky filled with soot while the rain and lighting continued unabashed. Yet no light stood out in the darkness, and they could barely see the outline of the Valentina's ahead of them. So they continued forward, across the cracking ice and through the blinding soot and snow. The cold had grown bitter, but they had brought enough furs to keep them and their horses warm. So the journey continued.

Thus they trod, through ice and snow, rain and sleet, soot and storm, towards the centre of Menorka. No man had yet travelled these unspoiled lands, and despite the danger sourrounding them, they were nonetheless awed by sights yet unseen through human eyes. Polar bears, scared by the trembling earth, fled in groups before them. Giant dunes of powdery snow and towering glaciers of ice stood beside them as they cautiously moved towards the Valentinas. It was only as they began to move into the more mountainous region, where the soaring mountains rose up through the ice and raised their granite heights above the frozen landscape. Here the earth became more unstable and more violent. Cracks yawned open in greater breadth than they could imagine. Some were so large that they could'nt find ways around and had to backtrack. Even worse was that the continual shaking was causing more cracks to appear around them. But they trod forward ever more, for the source of this violence had yet to be discovered. And ahead lay the tallest of peaks among the Valentina's, the Jokulltor, or the Mountain of Ice.

The path ahead became more rough, filled with broken rocks and precarious cliffs that they had to traverse on horseback. Enri was forced to leave half his men behind at one point, establishing a sort of base camp in a small enclosure of rock where the men lit a fire and rested. There they had also left their horses, unable to bring them along the slopes and small outcroppings any further. Thus with a mere hundred men they wound their way about the rocks strewn around them, clinging to the cliff face as the earth continued its trembling. But even a hundred men was too many, and at point point several stumbled. This nearly causing a chain reaction as all the men began to slip on the ice. Well nigh on a dozen men fell to their deaths in that moment. The rest thanked the gods that they had been spared, and prayed for the souls of the lost to find their way to whatever good world lay beyond the veil of death. Ahead, after travelling nearly ten miles in this manner, frostbitten and numb from the cold, having lost nearly twenty more of his men, Enri happened upon a great crag or granite, split like a piece of wood under an axe, which he managed to lead his men through.

This crack shot upward nearly a hundred feet, and downward into unfathomed depths. While the breadth of the rock was merely seventy feet or so, being more like some giant wall than a mountain. Beyond the crack one could vaguely see the outline of the great mountain Jokulltor, towering so high they could not see the top just yet. So they ambled through the crack, holding onto small precipices and balancing from side to side. Enri had gone first and was balancing upon the jagged rocks when he squeezed through the opposite side. He nearly lost his balance when he crawled through the other side and beheld the full glory of Jokulltor. For in one instant it was revealed the cause to all the problems besetting Menorka. Yet at the same time it spelled her doom. For there before him stood the great mountain of ice and snow. But on its granite slopes there was neither ice nor snow. For this had been melted by the ash and soot now sifting down from the clouds above. Up now he looked, towards the sky and the topmost part of the mountain. But now there was no great peak. Instead, the top of Jokulltor had been destroyed completely, and from its gaping maw spewed lava. For Jokulltor was a great volcano, and her fury had been unleashed upon Menorka.

Enri stood agape at the sight before him. The crack in the rock had led them through to a small valley which sourrounded the base of Jokulltor. The great mountain stretched up from this lowland far into the sky. But where once long ago the great pointed peaks could be seen from afar, the mountain was now sheared off at a level roughly two-thirds up. And from this point a gaping hole had been left, which went down into the core of the earth and into the firey pits of hell itself. And from this hole the mountain billowed forth immense clouds of soot, which as was now obvious, were mixing with the great storms and causing the black snow. Judging by the immense cracks which were streaming down the mountainside filled with lava, it was apparent this was also the cause of the quaking earth. Emerging on the other side of the cliff, they were able to view the full breadth of the valley below them. Indeed, only now was the full scale of destruction visible. For below them the valley had ben broken into deep ravines and cracks that could swallow a city. This was no mere volcanic eruption. Something deeper was happening here.

Spread out before them, the valley yawned around the base of Jokulltor, spreading out a great distance of miles. Perhaps a hundred, perhaps more. Where lava streaked down the sides of the mountain, partially obscured by the blackened snow, smoke and ash, it just as quickly disappeared at the base into the deep cracks cut by the quaking. Peering over the precarious sides of the ledge which they stood upon, Enri and his men could see straight down into the pits of the inferno. Ravines and cracks, appearing and disappearing in the great quaking eruption, were splitting the earth down to her molten centre. The quaking seemed to be emanating from the volcano itself, as if some great fire god was hammering iron in its core. Both the men and Enri were unsure what to make of the situation. Was it the work of the gods? Had the wrath of hell been unleashed upon them for some unknown transgression? None could say. But they all asked a more pertinent question; would it continue? The answer to that seemed to be forthcoming. For no sooner had they begun to speak about such questions, the sides of Jokulltor began to collapse inward.

The great mountain, slowly destroyed from the inside out by the great earthen fires, had given all she could and was now in the throes of final death. Great crags the length of a hundred horses collapsed inward onto the molten centre of lava, while others of equal or greater size slid down the sides into the pits below, blocking out all other sounds with a deafening roar. Slowly but surely the mountain began to sink as the ravines around it split open ever further, leaving in their wake an ocean of molten rock. The cracks were now spreading out in a vast web ever faster, tearing out chunks of mountainside and ripping into the landscape beyond. Enri knew from this that the destruction would not end with the fall of Jokulltor. Indeed, they would have to leave Menorka. And in a hurry if they wished to survive. With the land falling apart around them, Enri assembled his men and pushed them back through the crack in the rock wall to the other side. Moving faster than they had ever done before, or for that matter was even safe given the cliffs they clung to. They reached the opposite side in time to glimpse the last peaks of Jokulltor sink into the molten mire.

Back at the base camp, Enri briefed his men on what had befallen them at Jokulltor. He also quickly explained the perceived fate of Menorka. Some great work, greater than anything they could comprehend, was churning deep below them and tearing this land apart. Their home was no longer safe. Behind them the Valentina mountains were breaking apart and the choas within the valley would soon spread to the rest of the island. So quickly mounting their horses, they took flight back to Sueg„o. Without rest and without food, except for brief stops to allow the horses to drink, they made their way across the blackened landscape to the last city of the Or'k„ns. The flight was even more dangerous than before, as the great cracks and ravines spread out ever wider and streams of lava came pouring out of the earth. All about them the ice hissed angrily as the volcanic heat melted it. Lands which had lain obscured for millenia under the ice were now being exposed. But they braved the dangers and took many risks, losing many men. But the message was delived to Sueg„o by King Enri, accompanied by only sixty of the two-hundred men he had brought with him.

Enri arrived in the city to find Niklas Gao still working feverently on the orders he had given him. Struggling against the elements for the nearly two months they had been gone, he had fortified the city as best as could be expected. As fate would have it, a brief bit of luck had shone upon them in the task of saving what few ships remained in the harbour. Through sheer might of men and horses combined, they had dragged a good dozen vessels out of the harbour, some intact, most damaged, and within the protected walls of the city. But none had been repaired. Indeed, Gao had just begun to strip parts off them to reinforce the city against the torrent outside. Enri rushed to stop him, and quickly informed him of the situation. Work was immediately redirected to repairing the vessels. Menorka would have to be evacuated. Women and children began to pack supplies and the few mementos they could spare, while the men worked diligently to repair the small fleet. Reversing the scene in a sense, they began to strip the iron plates from the city walls and fasten it to the hulls of the ships. For these vessels would have to be strong enough to carry them through the storm onto safer lands.

For a week they braved the onslaught of the earthquakes and unrelenting storms. Flooding had also become problematic, as the glacier was melted by the volcanic eruptions which lit up the distant horizon. The whole week they had laboured endlessly. The ships had been towed to where the city walls met the ocean, and there placed in drydocks. In that location the innards of the city had been brought. Food, medecine, supplies, and building materials in the form of wood, bronze and iron. Iron plate was used to reinforce the hulls and masts of the ships, while bronze was placed on the bows as shields against whatever debris might lay in the water. In the end, twelve ships were repaired and outfitted for the long journey ahead. But there was no time to reminisce, for the fires of destruction ever drew closer. Women and children were the first onto the ships, wrapping up below deck and keeping safe. Meanwhile the men set loose the top bricks of the nearby city wall before toppling it entirely, leaving open before them the raging ocean. Quickly then Enri and Niklas led the teams of men and horses as they pulled the great vessels into the foaming water. Some died in this great feat, but many were those who lived thanks to their efforts.

Struggling at last to get men and as many horses as they could save aboard the ships, they were off into the great seas. Now this ocean, called the Sea of Eura, spread out east and west, touching their old colonies and as far north as the Akawan exiles. The smaller colonies could not support them, nor was it sure if they had even survived or not. But the Akawo would have surely survived, for the north was far away and situated in a tropical land. Behind them the remnants of Sueg„o wavered in the quaking earth. Further past the city, the flames of destruction were now sweeping down the slopes of forests. The great glacier, Tyrsjokull, had been utterly destroyed now, leaving only a flooding torrent of mud and debris washing down upon the shores. Amid all this the earth continued to crack and buckle while geysers of lava shot into the air and rivers of the molten rock streaked red lines in the landscape. So tearfully the put out their oars, and giving a last look to their dying homeland, they set sail for the north. North to those they had sent away. The Akawo. With the simple hopes of reconciling with their brethen and perhaps finding salvation therein.

Chapter IV ~ The Akawo

It can be said that the northern exiles of the Or'k„ns can harken their true birth only when the island of Menorka was broken and its people scattered across Micras. Gorgorath, the exiled Chieftan of the Western Tribes, had taken his family and a number of loyal followers with him to the northern isles. Of his tribe, the Akawo, only a few hundred remained after the wars, and of these all went with him into exile. At the time, Barac„o was known only as the northern isles, and was simply a trading post between Or'k„n merchants and the other nearby continents. When Gorgorath landed on the shores of Banderas, nothing but stark jungle greeted him and his brethren. Using their swords like machetes and axes they cleared a small spot of land along a stretch of shoreline that looked protected. The tropics here being a far cry from the previous home in boreal Wessen. They called the island Libris, the Liberty Island, which was the largest island in the chain. Bandur Ras became the name of their settlement, which means the Jungle Veil. It was at Bandur Ras that Gorgorath's men gave him the name Al-Rekao, The Survivor.

In their exile the Akawoans changed the face of Libris. While the Or'k„ns plied the oceans, the Akawoans forged their way inland, while steadily building up a shoreline civilisation across Libris. Bandur Ras grew from a small encampment into a bustling seaport. Within the harbour Al-Rekao had chosen, they had built great piers and cut back the wave-worn soil to build a strong city set back against those docks. The tropical climate proved welcoming to their fishing lifestyle and they established a strong trade route between Libris and the other nearby islands, such as Lyrica and the Skerries. They even traded with the Lac Glaceians and Apollonians. Indeed, life was good for the Akawoans and they continued to grow, even going so far as to begin trading with the Or'k„ns again. Although for the most part they remained fairly isolated from their southern relatives, so that the Or'k„ns referred to them as the Bari Akawo, which means Northern Akawo in the old language. Or'k„n use of this name was more widespread than even the Akawo could imagine, so that even they began to call themselves the Bari Akawo.

The Bari Akawo grew quickly in Bandur Ras, and Libris was soon so filled that they began to settle on other islands of the area, which became known as the Libris Chanis, or Liberty Archipelago. But unlike the Or'k„ns, the Bari Akawoans didn't found numerous colonies, and instead remained tightly knit among the archipelago. Nonetheless, they continued to trade and expand their influence over the region for many generations. As time would have it, the name of the Bari Akawo was eventually shortened into a single local word; Barakawo. This name seemed to catch on much better than the longer form and was soon in widespread use. Indeed, the Barakawoans soon gained a reputation under the adopted name as strong fighters and vehement patriots. Unlike the Or'k„ns who had remained a people with deep roots in the aristocracy of the empire, the Barakawoans kept their anti-government idealisms and formed one of the earliest forms of democratic government on Micras. Al-Rekao, in the last years of his life, formed the Sin na Kyne, or Seat of Time, a great building not unlike the parthenon which in time became the Barakawoan legislature.

Al-Rekao, noted for his great leadership and the settling of Libris, which was no minor task in itself, left an equally able progeny to rule after his death. The Sin na Kyne, situated centrally upon a hilltop in Bandur Ras, became a forum for debate in the fledgling republic. By this point the Barakawoans had become numerous enough and so far disassociated with Menorka that they had effectively formed a seperate nation and identity. Although language and religion remained the same, they had redefined themselves as a distinct people. The first to succeed Al-Rekao was his daughter, Ana-Rekao, or Princess Ana, as Rekao soon became the family surname. Ana favoured a stronger executive, and was less lenient in allowing dissent as her father had been. She spent much of her time as leader consolidating the strength of the government and effectively assuring the continued reign of the Rekao family. By the time she died at the age of seventy-one, her son, Prince Yunis, ascended to the leadership with little opposition and the full blessings of the Sin na Kyne.

Now it came to pass that the Rekao's reigned for seven generations more, hearing little news from their Menorkan cousins to the south. For the Barakawoans seldom sailed south, if ever, and usually traded with the enclaves or with the north, where they could sell their wares for better money. And what Menorkan sailors did come to Libris' ports didn't speak much of what went on in the south. Although the old quarrels diminished somewhat, there remained enough heat to rekindle disputes now and again that would break off relations between the two for years at a time. So it was no surprise that the events that befell Menorka did not make their way to the Barakawo when in the reign of Prince Kun, Princess Ana's great-grandson, the great fleet assembled by King Enri and the now-promoted Captain Niklas Gao, made landfall on the southern shores of Libris. Near the Barakawoan village of Nikusa, the great Menorkan fleet beached their ships as noble and peasent alike jumped onto the sands and kissed the ground, thanking the gods that they were alive and had been spared from their wrath. But the gods were not all the Menorkans had to fear, for this was the land of the exiled Akawo, and a blood bitterness still ran deep within the veins of both sides.

King Enri, now well into his eighties, joined by his two eldest sons, Kori and Lurin, brought with him from the destruction of Menorka, and his youngest son, Vigor, born upon the seas in-between, met the Barakawoans at Nikusa and learned whereupon they had landed. Accompanying this Menorkan delegation, Captain Gao and his only son, Santee, negotiated a truce with the villagers. Enri bid the Barakawo to allow his people to rest at the beaches and resupply from the plentiful tropical fruits which abounded around them. In the meantime, the nobles would assemble a team and head to Bandur Ras, the Barakawoan capital, to meet with Prince Kun and relate what had befallen them. To this the villagers agreed, and Enri went back to the beach and unloaded horses which had been bred at sea and fed seaweed for nigh on a decade or small amounts of grass from the islets they had happened upon by chance, to gain fresh water and food. Here Enri joined Gao, and the two taking there children, the last remaining aristocracy of Menorka, a few cavalrymen for protection, they assembled on horses and rode off in the direction of Bandur Ras, which had been described to them by the villagers of Nikusa.

The Menorkans were surprised by how well the exiles had fared, and indeed how much they had populated and developed this otherwise remote outpost. Roads of roughly hewn stone led through the jungles from one village to the next, and plantations of exotic foods were glimpsed here and there, maintained it was discovered by the government. A portent of things to come many centuries from now. In five days time the assembly had crossed Libris and come to the harbour upon which Bandur Ras had risen up from its tiny origins. The sight of such a majestic city in the midsts of this jungle were a bittersweet reminder to the glorious cities of Menorka which they had watched go down in flames and storm. The courts of the Sin na Kyne and of Prince Kun Al-Rekao were as glorious as the city itself. But Kun was a humble man before his people, and was ever among them, indistinguishable from the throngs of the peasentry except for his cap, which was adorned with the monarchy's arms. Prince Kun, aware of his guests coming, welcomed them and seated them upon the chairs of the Sin na Kyne. It was that day in which, for the first time in nearly two-hundred years, the nobles of the Or'k„n and Akawo tribes met face to face.

King Enri, humbling himself before the grace of Prince Kun, bowed unto him and spoke of all that had befallen them and their people. Prince Kun, a generous man who had inherited the compassion all the Al-Rekao's had shown throughout the years, took pity on the Menorkans and bid they stay on Libris, repair their ships and settle here. But the old animosities were still buried deep, and Kun said that he would grant all of this, even the shores upon which they landed as their own new lands, under the single condition that they become the subjects of the Barakawo. Neither King Enri nor Captain Gao would suffer this humiliation. And although grateful for the compassion and generosity shown them, told Kun that they would only stay so long as to repair their fleet, gather supplies, and then find a new home to call their own. It was then that Prince Kun related a story of his own. For it seemed that in this time the Barakawoans had expanded beyond the confines of their islands northward, into the Skerries and beyond to the shores of the great northern continent. Here they had been fighting a war of liberation and, in a failing campaign, attempting to establish a colony.

So it came to pass that King Enri and Captain Gao returned to the fleet, repaired their ships and took enough supplies for yet another journey. As Kun had related it, the Barakawoans in the north had all but abandoned the concept of establishing a mainland colony. Instead, they had retreated south, back to the Skerries and only recently abandoning the settlements. Indeed, they were still evacuating the last remaining settlers. It was here that enri and Gao said they would establish their own settlement. A place outside of the bounds of the Barakawoans, where they could regroup and rebuild. They called this place Caput, a slang term for defeat. The gods had indeed defeated the Menorkans, and so they called this place thus. But they had not broken their will or military skill none. Indeed, the cavalrymen of the fleet were eager to battle and ride their horses across the land once again. And so the fleet departed from the beaches near Nikusa and headed north. Sailing for several months, stopping along the shores of Lyrica and the Cyberian islands, they finally reached the great northern continent. Here, the last settlers were leaving for Libris as the Menorkans made their way east of the abandonded encampment and declared it their own. Thus was the land of East Caput established.

In the midsts of this, Prince Kun recalled his settlers back to Bandur Ras and began seeking alternative means to grow. The Menorkans, reduced to but a fragment of their former selves, had all but abandoned their old empire. And so it was Prince Kun who set sail with his own fleet and army. To the old enclaves - Citadel Ruso, Los Palmas, and so forth he went and re-established control over the lands. The conquered had become the conquerors. But the Barakawoans dared not set foot on Menorka. For they feared the wrath of the gods, and forsook the island, viewing the billowing smoke and ruin from afar on the ocean. Fast ships with good supplies got Prince Kun to within a few leagues of Menorka in half the time it had taken Enri to sail north, but none dared go any further. In the span of a decade, Kun had sailed south, reconquered the enclaves, and sailed back north to Bandur Ras. He lived just long enough to do this and hold the next session of the Sin na Kyne, where he named his eldest son, Dirk, successor. Then Prince Kun died, having secured for the Barakawoans a grand empire and a new legacy for his people.

King Dirk Al-Rekao assumed the title of King, unlike his father who wished to always remain in a lower role than that which he held. He was neither an ambitious leader nor expansionistic like his father. Thus it was that the Barakawoans consolidated their power over their holdings. They expanded their trade with the Menorkans of East Caput and informed them not of what had befallen their old lands in the enclaves. While civil war raged across Apollonia, the Barakawoans kept to themselves in their islands. As the fierce horsemen of Babkha expanded their grip over the continent of Eura, the Barakawoans kept to themselves in their islands. Indeed, as much of the world churned about them, the Barakawoans kept to themselves. Prince Kun had been a rarity among great leaders, and none like him would be seen again for many centuries to come. In this time, the Barakawoans changed the face of Libris Isles. Miles of jungle were stripped away and vast cities of stone and metal raised up out of the earth to towering heights of beauty and elegance. No more were the northern exiles a mere colony. They had become a nation and people unto their own right.

Chapter V ~ Victory in Defeat

The Menorkans who had decided to settle east of the Barakawo colony of Caput managed to secure only a toehold on the mainland before King Enri died. Not in battle, as many assumed he would do, being nearly ninety and still fighting on horseback, but by succumbing to a greater enemy - death itself. Old age had finally won its long battle against the King, and Gao, now himself an old man in his seventies, oversaw the proceedings as a great pyre scattered Enri's ashes to the four winds. Enri's eldest son, Prince Kori, was the obvious choice to succeed his father. He, however, had poor administration skills and stepped aside in favour of Prince Lurin. Vigor was, of course, still too young at this point, and far too enamoured in friendship to Gao and the military. Thus Prince Lurin became King Lurin, and the first Menorkan monarch to be crowned in exile. But although Lurin was a capable administrator, he lacked the military skill Vigor and Enri had. So it was that Lurin governed his people and saw to the settlement of East Caput while Vigor and Gao led the horsemen in battle against the local natives.

Now the Barakawoans had called the region Caput because that, or a related version of it, had been the name the natives had given it. The people inhabiting this region were a mixture of Lyrican, Interlander and Karnalian. The shore regions were mostly inhabited with the fair-skinned Interlander peoples. Beyond that though, towards the inner lakes and mountains, the people became decidedly Xiatic, with darker-skinned mongoloid people traversing the steppes on horseback. To these people the Menorkans shared a somewhat similar heritage, for Prince Kun had Xiatic blood in him. In any case, the Barakawoans decided to use the name Caput, which in their dialect meant "the end", or more literally in this case meaning "the ends of the earth", as that had been as far as the Barakawoans had ever travelled, and the mountains beyond were believed to have been inhabited by the gods. For the Menorkans however, this came to have a different meaning. For them, Caput symbolised the end of the great empire they had once held. Indeed, although they had survived and established themselves in this place, the victory was a bittersweet reminder to the loss of their homeland.

East Caput never expanded far beyond the small islands which ringed the great river nearby. It was here, in this tiny archipelago, that the Menorkans were able to rest and regroup after years at sea. During this time Prince Lurin did an admirable job of building up the strength of the tiny islands. And the Menorkans who had fled with the fleet soon established for themselves a number of villages, utilising their vessels to keep in contact and trade with oneanother. East Caput flourished, trading with the primitive peoples to the east that would one day become the great Atteran empire. To the west they traded with the tribes of Lyrica. But to the north they sparred with the tribes of Karnali. Ever since the Menorkans had invaded the islands, they had continued the fight that the Barakawoans had begun. This fighting continued for many years, well into the middle age of Prince Vigor. Eaches languages were uninterpretable to the other, and thus their fierce horsemen continued to battle on the plains of the Friesmark. Although they were more or less confined to small raids than actual battles, and it was accepted as a way of life for these refugees.

It was when Prince Vigor was thirty-nine, now looking more and more like his father, Prince Kun, that the pitched battles finally ceased. For nearly two decades now, both sides had been in constant conflict, with small skirmishes along East Caput's borders. Vigor had been and remained throughout his life a man of military mindset. Prided on by Captain Gao until he died wen Vigor was thirty-one, Vigor loved the cavalry and was always to be found on horseback among the other soldiers. King Lurin was hardly a man of great intelligence, and he left all military matters to Vigor. So it was little surprise that the conflict between the Karnali tribes and the Menorkans lasted for so long without question or attempt at arbitration. It was not until a foreign scholar from distant lands came upon the land and made the first known written attempts at bridging and translating Karnalian to Menorkan and vice-versa, that the first attempts at peace were made. This scholar, whose name was Elekos Nimrothos, did not live to see his works bear fruit. He would, however, be known throughout history as one of the great proponents of language study, forever changing the way Menorkans looked at foreigners.

Nimrothos' book, Languages of the Horsemen, translated in a somewhat fragmented form the language of Karnali. And for the first time, the people of Menorka began to understand what the raiders were saying and writing. Prince Vigor, by happenstance, also became a student in the effort to learn the language of his enemies. He believed this would be a tactical advantage over them, and lead to a final crushing victory which would bring the longtime conflict to an end. Quite the contrary occurred however. Vigor learned the language and indeed saw that the Karnali tribes had been attacking for years because they thought they were Barakawoan, not Menorkan. In fact, they had pursued their attacks and raids out of fear that the Barakawoans who had orignally invaded Caput, would spread and conquer the entire region. They had no idea that there had been a switch in authority to a new people. Nor that the Menorkans had no desire to continue the conflict begun by their cousins or expand their lands further into the Friesmark. It was then that a grand realisation came across the Menorkans - peace had always been possible, simply the lack of understanding oneanother had prevented it this long.

It was upon this realisation that a change came in Prince Vigor. His ire went from the Karnali tribes to that of the Barakawoans, who had never informed them of their initial war of conquest. Indeed, their understanding was that East Caput had been a peaceful colony under siege, which had been deemed no longer worthy of maintaining. The now-aged Nimrothos, along with Prince Vigor, brokered a truce with the Karnali tribes, allowing the Menorkans to peacefully settle the small peninsula and the outlying islands nearby. The monumental document, signed by Nimrothos, Prince Vigor and Chief Bhaihandra, became reknowed as one of the first written treaties in the world - The Friesmark Pact. Thus for a short while at least, the Menorkans enjoyed a period of peace. During this time East Caput grew prosperous, while trade with the Karnali tribes of West Caput smoothed into a steady flow of wares. The Barakawoans became aware of this change in status as the reports of a cease-fire filtered back to Bandur Ras. This was not a welcome change, for the Barakawoans still feared the Menorkans as former masters, so they once again began to formulate a plot to bring hardships the Whale People.

After Dirk died several years later, his son Yulius took the throne. Much more vindictive towards the Menorkans than his father, Yulius began to develop a series of elaborate plots to destroy them. The tribes of Karnali could be incited by vast amounts of gold. So with ships laden in wealth, Yulius paid their price and the Karnali soon started warring against the Menorkans in Caput again. But they were factionalised, and not all agreed to be bought off, so that some of the Karnali came to the Menorkans and told them of Yulius' treachery. Chief Bhaihandra was among those who remained loyal to the Menorkans, even at the cost of civil war erupting amongst his own people. But this was an era when Karnali was little more than a land of vast mountains, interspersed with small villages of horsemen. A place where traffic was commonly seen in the form of nomads or caravans. Civil war in a land such as this amounted to little more than these enclaves isolating themselves from oneanother.

Chapter VI ~ New Beginnings

Part II - The Age of Minorca

Chapter VII ~ The Return

Chapter VIII ~ The Barbarian King

Chapter IX ~ The Coming of the Saints

Chapter X ~ The Dragon and the Cross

Chapter XI ~ The First Holy Empire