NationStates Jolt Archive

[OOC: This is an IC guide, so its somewhat patchy. I'll add to it every now and then. :)]

And in the beginning of the land that is the great and green land that is Ma-tek the wonderous, there were only animals.

And then, the Elves came; they came from lands far known not, although they <break> linked <break> to that great land.

They built Ma-Nenya, the First-City, and they felt it was great; they loved the city for its trees, and its greenery. And all were happy.

And then, just hundreds of years after its founding, from the East, a great terror arose; Men, in their hundreds, attacked fair Ma-Nenya, and destroyed much of its gathered wealth. The Men took the lands, and the trees, and the buildings; they took the children, and the Ladies, and the Elven men were all killed save one hundred; the Hundred Who Escaped.

Their tale is not known; but they were to return, to Ma-Nenya, in the Latter Years of the First Kingdom.

Over the years, the foul blood of the Men mixed with that of the Elves, and the Stars were displeased. They bade the Men/Elves to choose; and the parts of them that were the foul Men did not want to choose - and the parts that were Elven wanted to remain Elven.

So they did not choose to choose; they took that third option, and were Gifted for their choice. And the Bloodlines were created; the Four Great Houses of the Bloodlines, under the flags of the Two Tribes were born.

The First Tribe, the Imperial Tribe, composed of the ux-Rihad's and the Rihads.

And the Second Tribe, the Non-Imperial Tribe - the Commoners, of many names and peoples.

(Modern Inserted Notation: The First Bloodline - that of the ux-Rihad's - is preserved fastidiously, through age-old selection techniques to breed the new rulers of the Empire. The parents - although not married - are careful to remain great friends, and carefully bring the Bloodline children up themselves, /with/ their respective partners, as a four-parent unit. This extra support is needed for the more gifted and highly strung First Bloodline line - who are the Eternal rulers of our great Empire.)

~ Excerpted from 'The Path To The Dawn - An Incomplete History of The Empire' (Chapter 1 - 'The Beginning Is Born', A Mostly Original Document From The First Kingdom)


At first, they remained still in Ma-Nenya - even the Men had become enchanted with it, as soon as their eyes had lain upon it in sober times, outside of battle - content to live in their own lands, and not intrude on others.

But repeated attacks by the Northerners changed that. Quickly, a Royal Army was built... And then the War of the First Kingdom began.

The four-hundred-year War of conquest was won by our brave and fierce warriors, whom swept through the lands now known as Ax-turath and Ma-tek over four hundred years; they nibbled and chewed and attacked and withdrew, and annexed and allied and eventually built the First Kingdom - Ma-tek.

Soon after, the Second Kingdom was born - Ax-turath.

The Two Kingdoms eventually then became the Two Fiefdoms, with Ma-Nenya becoming the First Kingdom - and the First City.

~ Excerpted from 'The Path to The Dawn - An Incomplete History of The Empire' - Chapter 57 ('A Summary of The First and Only Aggressive War of Conquest by The Empire')

The young man sobbed as he struggled against the tide, his thoughts only of the family he had certainly lost. Dead... all dead. Things had gone so very, very bad... Just like always, as the poem went.

Just like always
Under the sun
The burning light
Seems never done
Its searing heat
May have you beat
But worse things
Can always come

Always, always he had found that poem his favourite. Everyone has their likes, and dislikes... ones that never ever change.

He had always thought this to be the case, until the glorious /Sea Owl/ had been sunk by... by... the treachorous scum calling themselves 'Ma-tek Commonwealth'.

Cowards. Cowards, all of them. Not even the guts - the gall! - to attack while /he/, the Emperor, was there. No! Kill his extended family... everyone... while he was gone.

And then, to... to use the fleet.

His fleet.

He would... he would...

* * *

The Emperor-who-was-no-longer sighed as he lay, washed up on the beach. Time had passed, somehow - he knew not how long, but he knew his mind was now set. And his set mind never changed course. It was both his strength, and his only flaw.

He would let them. He would give them power; hand it over with not a bang; nor a whimper; but with silence. The would think him dead, and all his line dead. Perhaps others had survived... Had been protected by loyalists... There must have been loyalists, surely?

The Bloodline, for now, would pass... but in the future; in the future, the Dawn would Rise on the First Empire once again.

/Yes/, he thought.

~ Official ending of 'An Emperor Who Is No More', the tale of the last Emperor of the First Empire, which fell, betrayed by his uncle of House Rihad

(Historical Footnote: The First Empire (originally named the Empire of the Eternal Stars) lasted a thousand years, with virtually no crime and not a single revolution or uprising, due a tight and well-ordered (and basically socialist) regime, involving massive citizen participation in government (although there was no voting until the reformation of the Empire) via 'citizenry service', which involves devoting a number of years to political service (much like military service, which the Empire also has). The war started when the Emperor accused his uncle of sleeping with Jira Xenar, a famed prostitute from a neighbouring kingdom, whom the Emperor had long coveted but had long been prohibited from seeing - by his wife, the Queen, naturally - the argument extended outwards, rippling through the Empire. The scandal blew the secrecy off the top of the Imperial House, revealing it to be rotten at the core. A rebellion quickly gained weight due to strong military support, and the Empire fell within hours, replaced with the Ma-tek Commonwealth. Twenty years later, the Second Kingdom, Ax-turath, rebelled, and sacked the Ma-tek capital of Ma-Nenya. The new capital of Ma-tek was the old second capital of the empire, Tek. And the new capital of Ax-turath became Turath. Ma-Nenya became a neutral-zone between the two - which served the remaining Imperial House members perfectly. They hid there, and survived the interceding hundred years of massive technological progress in the two nations - who competed against each other - and eventually re-emerged (despite influencing things quite capably throughout from hiding) to re-found the Empire during the recent abortive Ma-tek - Ax-turath Civil War.)

The young man sobbed as he struggled against the tide, his thoughts only of the family he had certainly lost. Dead... all dead. Just like always, as the poem went.

Just like always
Under the sun
The burning light
Seems never done
Its searing heat
May have you beat
But worse things
Can always come

Always, always he had found that poem his favourite. Everyone has their likes, and dislikes... ones that never ever change.

He had always thought this to be the case, until the glorious /Sea Owl/ had been sunk by... by... the treachorous scum calling themselves 'Ma-tek Commonwealth'.

Cowards. Cowards, all of them. Not even the guts - the gall! - to attack while /he/, the Emperor, was there. No! Kill his extended family... everyone... while he was gone.

And then, to... to use the fleet.

His fleet.

He would... he would...

* * *

{The young 'Emperor' struggled inwards, into the nation which once had been his own. The nation which, today, rejected him. Left him to die. Nobody had even observed his passage - it would seem that the new Empire, or whatever title the new power had given the throne, was not even interested in his existance anymore.

To one who has had servants come running at his every beck and call, he found this somewhat disturbing.

But time passed. He survived. And thoughts of revenge, slowly, grew stronger. He would strike back at their hearts... and bring down a terrible vengeance upon them all. All of them. Not just the leaders... but every single man, woman, and child who had a link to the revolt.

He smiled grimly, happily. /Yes/.

That would...

...please him. Beyond all measure.

So, driven by his raging desire for revenge against the people he had proclaimed his eternal love for just three years earlier in the Imperial Oath, he drove onwards, towards the capital, Ma-Nenya.

Once there... he did not know what would come to pass. But certainly...

It would be the beginning of the RISE.}

~ Unofficial (meaning: True) excerpt of the end of the First Empire, and the beginning of the Second - the version taught to the current generation of Imperial children

[OOC: More to come!]

[placeholder for new post; additions + revisions to previous posts in this thread coming soon.]

[OOC: Change of heart. Things have changed too much since this rather early thread - it reads like it's an early thread, anyway. I haven't looked at the date. Anyway, for continuity purposes (as lots here doesn't actually make sense), just act like this thread never existed at all. Mmkay? Thanks.]