Rashareka

Rashareka
Capital	Ne-Ta
Ruler	House Silakara
Government	Theocratic monarchy
Demonym	Rasharekan
Adjective	Rasharekan
Languages	Sea-Speak; Gnomish; Hikunza; Taruhmite Dwarven; others
Religions	Beating Heart; Ta-Lasau-Kori; animism

Rashareka (pronounced rah-sha-REH-kah) was an empire that once spanned much of the Wounds, at its height controlling all or part of five archipelagoes. It met an abrupt end in Y9266^* when the first demonic invasions struck the Old Twins, the Rasharekan core, a sudden calamity that brought the nation to an almost immediate end.

Geography

Though centered on the Old Twins, with most of its population on the two islands, Rashareka directly or indirectly ruled much of the Wounds. By the early tenth millennium it encompassed the Old Twins, the Protectors, and Ha-Rase-Metu, and even as far afield as Varameno and parts of the Wisps.

History

Early history

Rashareka's early history is clouded and unclear, largely intentionally so. The Silakara dynasty went to such lengths to create a cult around themselves, manufacturing and manipulating stories and legends, that all that remains is a collection of oral histories that are remarkably and unusually disparate, often agreeing on very few details. As such it can be said there are many histories of the empire, each tribe and community they influenced possessing their own. Yet narrators and scholars commonly group these into two - the history as recounted by the dynasty itself, and the rather more vague history reassembled from the scant few similarities collected from others.

The history as told by the Silakara family begins in the early ninth millennium with the first of the dynasty, Silakara-Vuriwai, a humble fisherman living in a coastal village on the Old Twins. Every day after catching enough to feed his family he would make the trek up the nearest volcano, where he would then rest until after the sun went down, watching the lava flows emerge from the earth. This tradition he maintained for decades out of a respect and devotion to the volcano, the deific Beating Heart of the island. He never missed a single day on the mountain even as the volcano grew more active over the years, spewing forth molten rock closer and closer to where Vuriwai sat, then to either side of him - even still, he never wavered, hiking the same route to the same place day after day. Finally in Y8265^* the day came when the pressure within the Heart could be restrained by the skin of the world no longer and the lava came forth explosively, sweeping down the slopes of the volcano towards the sea. The devastation was widespread and immediate as whole villages were swallowed - all nearby except for the one in which Vuriwai resided, where the lava flows seemed to bend away as if sparing it. The people were quick to realize the source of their salvation. Vuriwai was elevated to the role of their leader as the survivors elsewhere on the Old Twins flocked to him. Now known as Silakara-Vuriwai-Ne-Ta, the dynasty he established quickly set about rebuilding the islands, all in devotion to the Beating Heart.

Many of the general details of the Silakara's story are corroborated by the oral histories of others, but they do not entirely agree. Certainly there was a major eruption on the Old Twins in the first few centuries of the ninth millennium, yet it was not as devastating as the official histories of Rashareka would suggest, as the lava flows only covered the western-most parts of the southern island, around where the city of Kana-Bere would later grow. Neither did the Silakara only rise to prominence after the eruption, for there are stories of seaborne raiders calling themselves by that name who struck the island of the Golden Hook in the Wisps at least two centuries prior. No longer clouded by the mask of the royal cult, most now agree the Silakara took advantage of the instability following the eruption to seize local power and from there consolidate their rule of the Old Twins.

Expansion

Regardless of which story of the early years is to be believed, after about Y8500^* all agree as to the history of Rashareka. By the middle of the ninth millennium the Old Twins were once more greatly prosperous, their bountiful natural resources used to build wealthy and beautiful cities and villages. With the home islands secured, the dynasty looked across the seas, sending forth their warships and religious champions alike in a wave of conquests that would soon bring the Protectors and Ha-Rase-Metu under their control. By Y8800^* they stretched as far east as Varameno and as far south as the Ghosts, ruling through spiritual devotion backed by the bladed club.

The Old Twins became one of the cultural hearts of the Wounds during this period, the site of its largest cities that brought travelers, traders, and pilgrims from as far away as Phersu and the Chain.

Demon invasion and downfall

The prosperity of Rashareka dramatically and immediately collapsed when the first planar tears opened on the Old Twins in Y9266^*, first on the north island but soon quickly spreading to the south as well. Demons poured forth, sweeping through the cities and landscapes alike, ravenously devouring all they found. The survivors fled in whatever sea-going vessels they had, heading in whatever direction was fastest as Rashareka disintegrated. The demons continued to rampage for months before the planar tears, and the demons themselves, suddenly disappeared. After some initial wary expeditions reported no remaining threats some intrepid explorers began to cross the Old Twins in search of the source of the tears, yet they were themselves attacked again six months after the initial invasion as the portals re-opened and the demons returned. This began the cycle that continues to the present day; the tears open and the demons arrive on the Old Twins on the 175th day of the year, spread out in search of life to consume, then disappear once more without a trace after precisely 168 days.

The Silareka are believed to have entirely perished in the first demonic incursion - none are known to have survived.

Centuries after the initial invasions, the descendants of those who fled the Old Twins can be found across the Wounds. The largely gnomish and human populations once under Rasharekan control have assimilated into the Keleta-Ru and Fanakara, some joining existing tribes and peoples and others forming their own. On archipelagoes other than the Old Twins this was a remarkably rapid shift, as ultimately loyalties always lay far more with the Beating Heart than with the empire itself, and even by the time of the imperial collapse many had already begun to shift away from its central royal cult.

Demographics

The population of Rashareka included humans, gnomes, dwarves, and elves above the waves, and locathah below.

Culture

Religion

As the Silakara monarchs claimed both divine guidance and blessing from the Beating Heart, blood-touched as they were, this religion was central to life in Rashareka. Accompanied by their temple-minders, the kings and queens would make regular pilgrimages to the active volcanoes of the Old Twins, where they gave offerings to the Heart and entreated it to favor their rule. Many of their fellow faithful across the Wounds took to such journeys as well, whether to the Old Twins or to islands more local to them. In grand ceremonies on the second new moon of the dry season, on the anniversary of the eruption that rewarded Silakara-Vuriwai-Ne-Ta's faith, the Silakara brought together devotees of the Beating Heart from far and wide, from everywhere within their territories and many places farther afield still, where they would glean the Beating Heart's thoughts towards how they should govern for the next year.

While the Beating Heart was the official faith of Rashareka, others thrived under its rule as well, though often in organized forms only away from the prying eyes of Rasharekan loyalists. Followers of Ta-Lasau-Kori were widespread, as were beliefs involving ancestor worship and animistic practices.

Society

In the later decades of Rashareka, the monarchs sponsored efforts to put down in writing for the first time many of the oral histories and stories of the Wounds. Many now credit this with directly leading to the empire's collapse. By committing to writing what was previously left spoken, it is believed that they removed many of the protective barriers inherent in the oral storytelling of the Wounds, granting the subjects of such narratives power over those who wrote down their deeds.

Languages

The peoples of Rashareka spoke Sea-Speak, Gnomish, Taruhmite Dwarven, Hikunza, and other languages.

Seafaring

The kite ships that are used around the Wounds today were first developed by Rasharekan inventors for the purpose of rapidly ferrying their temple-minders between far-away islands. Their designs have since been adopted and improved upon by various other peoples.

Government

Rashareka was an monarchy under the rule of the Silakara dynasty. The monarchs, aided by their temple-minders, enjoyed effectively absolute authority, at least within the villages, towns, and cities of the Old Twins, the Protectors, and Ha-Rase-Metu. Their influence on the many nomadic peoples who voyaged through their seas and landed on their islands was always more religious than political, and in their most far-flung territories on the Wisps and Varameno they relied on local tributaries and vassals to keep control.

Housed within the palaces of Ne-Ta, the members of the Silakara dynasty enjoyed immense wealth, everything their islands could offer. While relations within the dynasty were generally amicable, the death of the previous monarch always led to a rapid but often violent period of factionalism as each prospective ruler gathered their allies and attempted to seize power for themselves. Yet those who survived, even if rivals for a time, were always pardoned and welcomed back into the palaces once the dust settled.

On the local level, the political and religious life of Rasharekan cities was led directly by the temple-minders, trusted agents of the monarch, who were themselves often of the Silakara family. In smaller towns and villages it was generally more typical for the king or queen to have little real sway, as these instead were ruled by whatever traditional manner to which their inhabitants held - even as the empire expanded across the seas it was unable, and rarely attempted, to fully subsume the various Fanakara and Keleta-Ru tribes, tolerating their customary ways as long as they remained religiously devoted.