The Earliest Illatians - From Waning Plain to Passion's Flame

[Ibn Khaldun 7729]

THE EARLIEST ILLATIANS
FROM WANING PLAIN TO PASSION’S FLAME

 

 

 

Corralled Spirits on the Diminishing Plain

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

Spoiler

 

 

 

The year 1257 marked the ascension of the Black Dragon to the throne of Oren, that oldest of kingdoms organized by Men; the kingdom that would be made greatest by Horen's stratagems in defeating & consolidating all other kingdoms & polities such as Salvus, Seventis, the Teutonic Order, & others during the era of Asulon. Emperor Horen V assayed the mettle of all of Mankind, choosing which to forge together into one sceptre and which to leave in the slag-heap. He intended his imperial demesne to encompass & include the Heartlanders, the Highlanders, & that people of the periphery - the Farfolk.

 

Of all the Farfolk, the people who lived furthest from the burgeoning imperial civilization were the Subudai. A nomadic people who warred & resided on the northern borders of the old Kingdom of Seventis, they rode from end to endless end of the great arid plains that rolled out before the stone walls and hillocks where the Empire eventually drew its borders. These nomads lived carefree and without feudal obligation; they raised livestock in stampeding herds, caroused boisterously among themselves, and made merry warpaths & incursions into neighboring settlements & countrysides including that of old Alras, Seventis, & the Volsung.

 

This libertine freedom they enjoyed would not last for long after the ascension of Horen V. The Subudain nomads, making up a tribal confederacy, enjoyed war when they merely had small polities to molest & maraud; they became reticent when they saw great forts with banners of black crosses & white roses fencing in where they could ride on the borders of their plains. Defensive battlements cast wide nooses around the necks of the Subudai, their plains began to roll up like a scroll with less and less land to live & ride upon. Agents of the Empire sought out individual tribes' leaders in hopes of winning them over, placing the noose snug against the neck of these Farfolk.

 

 

Portrait of Charlenoyre | Sharlaz Noyan

c. 1275 Imperial

Images: Joseph Feely, Batmagnai Tuvsaikhan via ArtStation

 

 

One tribal chieftain who heeded the agents of Horen's Empire was Sharlaz Noyan, also known as 'Charagai' disparagingly by his Subudai counterparts - the nickname translating to 'molting [skin]'. He accepted an agreement rendered by the Empire where the tribe of Sharlaz would migrate & settle among the Auvergnians. In the lands of the Auvergnians, the tribe of Sharlaz encountered Southerons who he arranged marriages with.

 

Sharlaz Noyan, who would become known as Charlenoyre - a bastardization of his Subudain name in the Auvergnian language, spent the remainder of his life as a patriarch of his Southeron-Subudain family attending to the education of his children & their children as well as the assimilation of his Subudain counterparts into the rich culture of the Auvergnians. By the time the descendants would traverse to Anthos, a distinct culture emerged whereby the Subudain equestrian tradition & love for merchantry became intertwined with the Auvergnian passion for the arts & fervor of faith; promoted by a Southeron-Subudain man known as Illo the Elder.

 

The blossom of the Illatian rose began when Mankind entered the Fringe. Illo the Elder and his progeny forged the Illatian culture through the promotion of a minor house known as House Visconti during Emperor Peter Chivay's reign of the Holy Orenian Empire.

 

 

Spoiler

This will be a series of historical content posts rewriting and improving the lore of the earliest Illatians, a group that first emerged from lore and in-game roleplay that Draeris & I started (along with players such as Narthok, patu97, cometking123, Splitchris, Treshure, Kahzo, Goldrim, Thatpyrodude, & others) when I played briefly in the Fringe. This lore is more of a connective piece from which players can choose to attach additional lore to or leave as a beautiful facade on the many-hands-have-touched in-game history. Cheers & enjoy!