The Hall of Songs – Beleiś’aki

Two individuals stand in the massive dome-like structure that represents the changes to Hasiŕ culture in the last couple of centuries. Around them, the architecture allows for the songs of the salaiaŕkiś to pleasantly echo throughout the temple.

The temple itself is filled with as much greenery as possible with a rivulet traversing the centre of the temple. Tiny streams of light from the morning sun shine down past small openings in the ceiling, casting a low light into the temple.

The individuals consist of a woman, dressed in ceremonial Hasiŕ armour, and a man, wearing a plain tunic, with darker skin and bearing the mannerisms of the Ban’so from Uśtalai. The woman carries herself with an aura of power and authority, but even she finds herself smaller in the awe-inspiring weight of the songs of the ancestors. The man, in the meanwhile, stands behind her, awaiting her next set of orders.

"Tikis, you have been an adviser for Kaiś-ke Olśkuan in the time of my grand-mother and my mother. What do you make of all this?”

“Do you speak of the Song, Ilti’raretan, or something else?”

“I do not think you would know, but they are currently singing the Song of my mother – one of the greatest leaders of the Olśkuan. Ultimately however, she was overshadowed by the accomplishments of the Seloniŕ, the Lasiŕos or even the Kiteiborsi and their blood-silver... Tikis, the Olśkuan were once the chorus of the Hasiŕ – the Song that tied our peoples through blood – yet, even the strongest of blood-oaths fades from one age to another.”

Tikis wears a face of confusion, but asks another question.

“Ilti’raretan, you cannot possible think- “

The leader of the Olśkuan raises a hand, back still turned to her advisor.

“Did you think me so inept that I would fail to notice the whispers? That Anaŕinos of the Seloniŕ now proclaims himself Agini of Taŕtesos? That Akerśani of the Lasiŕos seeks to take up the mantle of her ancestor – the Unbreakable – and rule over the mountains like an Agini of the First Canticle?”

She pauses, slowly turning to face the rapidly paling Tikis behind her.

“That you were an agent of the Kiteiborsi set loose to ruin the future of the Olśkuan?”

“Ilti’raretan, I can explain! The- “

Tikis is once again abruptly interrupted as hands clamp down on his shoulders. Two armoured warriors that force the Ban’so to his knees before the Ilti’raretan.

“No longer will I, Beleśena of the Olśkuan, watch my people be turned into the wood for the braziers of conquest of other Clans. Tikis – you will be judged for your crimes against the Olśkuan, to have misguided the Ilti’raretan for close to three generations and spying for our foes. You will be given no funeral pyre, for you deserve none.”

She nods once to the warriors. “Take this pest away.”

The two guards nod back and start dragging the ex-adviser to the Ilti’raretan out of the Hall of Songs. The man in question barely resisting and almost resigning to his fate. The squeals of the Ban’so slowly fade from earshot, leaving Beleśena to her thoughts as the song of the Olśkuan comes to a close.

For modern historians, most consider the proclamation of the 'Kingdom' of Taŕtesos to have truly kick-started the Fraternal War. In his capital of Leguśeaki - the biggest Hasiŕ city at the time - Anaŕinos Seloniŕ legitimised his position as ruler of the Tabaiŕen Valley and its northern-most mountain range. Claiming the title of Agini [Warrior-King], Anaŕinos issued a loud statement that the Pact of Beleiskeŕ was well and truly gone. The formation of Taŕtesos was quickly followed by a military campaign to the north in order to pacify foreign tribes.

The Fraternal War itself is in essence a set of wars between the major Clans of the Hasiŕ that plagued the southern Hasiŕean peninsula. It also solidified political and cultural differences within the Hasiŕ, having previously been somewhat of a loose but united political entity. In the mountains of the Lasiŕua Chain, the Lasiŕos also took the opportunity to proclaim their Kingdom of Elibeŕi under Agini Akerśani, fulfilling the long-lasting ambition of the people of the mountains to truly differentiate themselves from the other Hasiŕ clans.

By the end of the 1400 BCE, Taŕtesos and Elibeŕi were the only two Kingdoms that had formally been created. The Olśkuan and the Lakuilteŕa remained relatively silent, but would greatly strengthen the defences of their coastal cities, with towering walls and large ships protecting the docks. The Kiteiborsi in the meanwhile, curiously chose not to proclaim their own Kingdom, despite easily having the financial and political influence to do so.

By 1400 BCE - the Hasiŕ would be thoroughly split, with no sign of unification for another couple of centuries.

- Ilti’raretan - Chieftain

- Agini - Warrior-King/King

- Uśtalai - African Continent

- Salaiaŕkiś - Songstresses

- Tabaiŕen Valley - Guadalquivir Valley

- Leguśeaki - IRL Sevilla

- Lasiŕua Chain - Baetic Chain