-1150 to 1210 AS-

Two hundred years after the Cavale military actions in the eastern plains, banditry continued to be a major problem along the overland trade route between the Southern Cavale lands and Ionia. Routinely, gold and other precious ores from the Altin Tepelir, as well as prized agricultural goods such as sweet gem berry wine, were exported to Ionia along the path through the eastern plains. Sometimes, traders would hire men from various Southern Cavale villages to protect their caravans, but most could hardly afford the asking prices. This was exacerbated by the tendency of even men meant to protect the trade caravans covertly stealing valuable goods from them. As a result of these risks, most traders had no recourse but to pray that the bands of roving highwaymen in the eastern plains wouldn't kill them and steal all the contents of their caravans.

The risk was particularly exacerbated in dry years, when stolen agricultural goods from the farms of the eastern plains could not sustain the bandits' livelihoods. At these times, most traders knew better than to even bother with the caravans, but rampant piracy in the waters between Ionia and the Southern Cavale also nulled the otherwise-quicker travel by boat as an option. 1150 AS was one such dry year, when the rampant presence of highwaymen in the eastern plains prevented the import of valuable agricultural goods from Ionia. The result was an outbreak of famine among many of the poverty-stricken subsistence farmers throughout the Southern Cavale lands.

One day, the Great Chief Blauble Abla, the recently-chosen 37th of the Southern Cavale, finally hit upon a solution to the problem. This solution would also put the great number of unemployed farmers throughout Cavale to work. A great walled road, to be called the Buyuk Duvarli Yol, would protect trade caravans from bandits while also easing the issues of transportation that plagued the previous route, composed as it was of natural ground cover. Evenly spaced stops along the way would be staffed by soldiers and provide services and accommodation for the many traders. Of course, this would be a monumental undertaking, requiring at least a few decades and likely millions of man-hours to complete. Additionally, funding for the project was a whole other conundrum; the Great Chief soon realized that the number of coins in circulation would need to exponentially increase to pay for the whole project.

The road's construction formally initiated later that year, with the young chief herself formally laying the great road's first stone just outside of Guneyorman. Some of the many obstacles that would befall the project in the years to come included torrential wet-season rains, famines resulting from drought eliminating the physical capabilities of the road's workers, theft of coins and supplies, funding scares, encounters with the bandits of the eastern plains, and occasional outbreaks of disease among the workers. Fifty years later, a now senior-aged Blauble Abla received the honor of laying the last ceremonial stone at the road's last stop, right on the border of Ionia. Monuments in every stop along the road marked its progress and honored the Great Chief's many administrative feats. A decade later, the Great Chief peacefully passed away in her bed, having ensured her eternal legacy. The Southern Cavale nation had entered its 'altin cag' or golden age due to the Great Chief's many accomplishments, most of all the construction of the Buyuk Duvarli Yol. The nation would continue to thrive for centuries to come off of the free and open trade of valuable goods allowed by the great Buyuk Duvarli Yol.

(Credits: USPNova for the idea and Narlus for the Great Chief's name.)