The Kingdom of Nassai and the River, land of the Ten Isles, the rightful staff of t'Ekäran, 1731-1769

The End of the Conquest

The flame of the great conquest of Vivajgon I died as quickly as it started.

Vivajgon the Great, many called him, the Brave King, the Conqueror - but his rule lasted no more than one sun-turn and his conquest was never truly done. The first true King's army had sailed the Nassaine straits in the year 1728, dated from the revelations of the prophet Önderajve, and by the end of the year, t'Agrin and Mjagin, the cities of brass and rice, had fallen, as well as the villages that stood between them.

Vivajgon I had brought the Akövirith men of the south together with the northern forestmen of Nassai, who still prayed to their ancient gods with heads of birds and songs of salvation. He had won their hearts, their respect and their ear. He had convinced them to march together, to make their Isle the bearer of the imperial staff.

But not two years after his first battle, a sweating sickness took Vivajgon I as he conquered the hill of Gardabeth in Mjatödari.

Akövir's Conclave

It was the year of the prophet 1730 when the priests of all the conquered and united villages, towns and great cities convened to decide who should succeed Vivajgon I, just as it had been done during the ancient dynasties.

After a moon of debates, the priests chose Vivajgon's nephew Apajri to be the next Idir - the first true Idir of the new kingdom.

Vivajgon's half sister's son, Apajri was not known for his military valour, but his claim was stong and his faith was evident: many in the conclave admired his temperament and his wit, and approved of his piety. He had treaded the path to become a priest himself, until his youngest brother had died and Vivajgon I himself had requested his Royal Priest to release him of his vows.

Apajri was given the royal staff in Mjatödari, where the emperors of old had kept their seat and held the whole of t'Ekäran. He took the name of Vivajgon, second to bear the name, the younger, bearer of the naröthir öndassi, the painted flag, and his rule was lenghty and prosperous.

The Ovrasistir King

Vivajgon II, however, was no emperor and certainly no conqueror. Despite the symbology behind his choice of name and of the royal insigna that had been his uncle's war trophies, Vivajgon the young was temperate and content and called a halt to the realm's expansion.

He began his rule at the age of 21, in 1731, having spent a year clensing, praying and meditating.

From the first few months of his govern, it was quickly understood that he was not a forceful man but a quiet one, one who would always listen to those under him before making his judgement and declaring his will - and that did not sit well with the northern warriors.

The Igrinit of the Northern city of Thisorin, donkeylords and commanders of a great number of fighting men, had been instrumental in securing Vivajgon I's dominance over the delta of the Great River Ök. The first King's friendship with Igrin Athir, the most powerful of these donkeylords, had helped cement their alliance, but as a young new king was chosen, with no battle experience and little interest for conquest, the northern lords grew more and more restless.

During the entirety of his rule, the Idir travelled between the court of ti Fedrin, the official capital, the heart of Nassai, and that of ti Mjatödari, that had once been the capital of t'Ekäran. The King was initially torn between the ideologies of the two factions that populated those courts: the Nassaines, counselled expansion and religious integration while the Mainlanders in Mjatödari advised peaceful relations and trade with the other Pjamoradi cities, but preached a tougher approach to religious diversity. More often than not, the young Idir gave his ear to the latter factions, much to the Northernmen's displeasure.

Soon into his reign, the young Vivajgon received his moniker: the Idir of the Ovrasistir. The Ovrasistirit were young men of the urban elite, who were unmarried and had just completed their religious studies. Men just like these had flocked to Idir Vivajgon's court soon after the end of the war, hoping to influence him, and many had succeded, entering his inner circle.

Few of them would have felt like Ovrasistir was an insult, but the Northern lords certainly meant it that way: their young king had no intention in lending his ears to unbelievers, outsiders and the valorous fighters that had won his uncle's fights.

The first rebellion came merely 5 years from the start of Vivajgon II's rule.

The Northern and Western Campaing

The donkeylords rebelled at the first chance, and after declaring their independence from the young king's rule, they attacked the southern cities of Nassai with skirmishes and raids that were contained to the best of the king's ability. Mustering men to contain the threat was not easy as most of the trained army that the empire had employed during the war were northernmen, allied with the cause - losing their support was Vivajgon II's first misstep.

The young Idir, however, was not without guile. To counter the ongoing threat of northern attacks, and the erosion of the authority of his rule, he embraced the friendship of his sychophantic group of Ovrastir giving them powerful positions and roles within his reign in exchange for an army of his own.

Those favours were repaid in full, and fighting men from the deltalands soon crossed the Nassaine Straits and stationed in Fedrin, where they took a defensive approach - the young king was no warrior, but he knew better than to attack the Northmen in the forests they called home. Vivajgon II's first military campaing was as succesful - if not more - than his uncle's had been.

He initally repelled the donkeylords' attacks and, when their numbers were diminished he brought them back into the fold, forcing them to swear loyalty and curbing the privileges they had held during his uncle's brief reign. There was only one way to please them, however, a political move that would put words of favouritism behind him.

The Northern Marriage and the Western Campaign

Idir Vivajgon II, in 1739 finally took a wife. Having always considered himself a man of the faith, before being a King, he had decided to avoid a strategic marriage, leaving it to his brothers, nephews and cousins to continue their family line. The times, however, seemed to call for it.

The King married Ninjari, the first Nassadi Queen, a woman of northern descent. She was the goodsister of Igrin Althir, and the widow of a key commander of the Northern forces. The former rebels were pleased of the match.

Even after the rebellions, however, the Nassaines were still hungry for conquest and the pacific king reluctantly agreed. Ongoing war and a less-than-bountiful harvest had caused a decrease in the newborn kingdom's resources and buying dastathri from the Pjamöradi was expensive when it came to equipping an army.

The next campain would be in the west, conquering up the Föndeksith river, where Föndegin lay, the city of Tin where the prophet had once spent his exile.

Both the war-thirsty donkeylords, the pious priests and the pragmatic Ovrastirit were pleased by such conquest, and the city - with the tin mines that came with it - were quickly brought into the fold.

This second wave of conquest was aided by the new great daggers that the Nassaine army had begun emplying, the Tathajgrin - literally "handy blade". Sixty centimetres long, those swords brought new military techniques, tactics and possibilities to the conquering army, and once the new source of tin was secured, more of these new weapons started to be produced by the royal forges.

Spears would still make the bulk of the Idir's fighting men, but bronze tathajgrit were the weapon of choice for generals and high ranking warriors.

Coming soon: The innovations of Vivajgon II's reign / peace, prosperity and death