Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 11, 2023 16:12:40 GMT
The oldest known cities of the realms around the Gulf are Cyrmium and Zidonis, in the southwestern area called Ascaan, and for this reason the peoples of the Gulf are sometimes called Ascaanites - though few people other than scholars use this term, and most just identify themselves as natives of this or that city. Cyrmium and Zidonis are located only ten miles apart, but have been bitter rivals for at least five hundred years.
Arising out of this southwestern region, settler from Cyrmium, Zidonis, and other southwestern coastal cities set out around the Gulf, establishing trading ports and colonies all across the region. Their model was one of thalassocratic, monarchic city-states. Although their colonies maintained close cultural and social ties to their parent cities, they were typically too distant for effective political control to be maintained, so they became largely independent.
Cyrmium and Zidonis remained the feuding, preeminent cities of the region until about three hundred years ago, when, in the space of less than a year, both cities were shockingly conquered by the fierce warriors of Tirkouane, an island city founded by Ascaanite exiles and notorious as a haunt of piracy and slavery. Over the next century the Tirkomen spread their empire around almost the entire Gulf, forcing the various city-states and colonies to pay them tribute.
About two hundred years ago, the former Cyrmian colony of Mythrium rose in revolt against the Tirkomen. Blaming their former incompetent monarchs for their conquest at Tirkoman hands in the first place, the Mythrians instituted a republic led by two annually elected Sufets. One of the first Sufets, Yirakh the Wise, persuaded the nearby city of Astarthis to also rebel against the Tirkomen, and these two cities formed an alliance called the League. The forces of the League dealt the Tirkomen a surprising defeat, then formed a tentative peace, curtailing further Tirkoman conquests.
Over the next century, many other tributary cities also rebelled, eventually leading to the downfall of the Tirkoman empire and their kings. Most (though not all) of these cities formed republics along similar lines to Mythrium, though some monarchies remained, most notably in the southwest. Mythrium has generally been regarded as the greatest city of the Gulf ever since, with the largest population, its historical prestige as the leaders of the revolt against the Tirkomen, and its favourable position at the mouth of the river Mythis and its roughly central location between all the different regions of the Gulf, the lands of the dragon lords to the west, and the successor states of the old Varthian and Olberman empires in the east.
Although many independent city-states remain, in the aftermath of the Tirkoman conquests some cities have thought it wise to form large alliances, of which the prototype is the League (now called the Mythrian League, a term used by basically everyone except the citizens of Astarthis.) These alliances bring together city-states into a loose confederation. Each full city will have its own internal policies, but are bound together in pacts of defence, with the leading city having ultimate authority over decisions around diplomacy and war.
There are four great alliances in the region, along with some smaller ones and some large independent city-states such as Zidonis and Cyrmium. The four alliances are the Mythrian League (in the east/southeast), the Salabian Dominion (in the east/northeast), the Kingdom of Utica (in the west), and the League of Olpa Magna (in the northeast).
Generally speaking, the lands in the northern parts of the Gulf are more sparsely populated than those in the south. The cities in the further northern regions were less likely to have been conquered by the Tirkomen (though some were, and some Tirkoman colonies were also founded), and they are generally more independent. There is also more activity among nonhuman creatures in the northern regions.
The primary monstrous inhabitants around the Gulf are the small, sly dog-men and the fierce hyena-men, who inhabit many rough mountainous and hilly regions, along with the ancient, shapeshifting selkies of the deep seas.
The primary culture of the region is Ascaanite, since most cities were old colonies founded by Cyrmium and Zidonis (or offshoots of these cities such as Mythrium and Tirkouane), but there are some other ethnic groups. The largest of these are the Atticalans, who live in the high mountains in the north on either side of the Mouth of Atticis, where the Gulf spills out into the sea. In the ancient past, perhaps a thousand years ago, the Atticalans made a deal known as the Pact with the selkies, agreeing to leave the coastal lands around the Gulf for the selkies in exchange for settling the northern river valleys. The Pact has long since been broken, but that it ever existed at all makes many Ascaanites treat the Atticalans with distrust and disdain. The Atticalans argue that without the Pact, the selkies would have destroyed all human civilisation around the Gulf.
Although the Atticalans are of a different culture to the Ascaanites, they are still an urban people and their pantheon closely matches that of the Ascaanites, though under different names (naming Ba'al as Zeus, Astarte as Aphrodite, and Yamm as Poseidon, for example.) They are therefore regarded as a fellow civilised people. The same cannot be said of the nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples of the frontier regions around the Gulf, such as the Serrite Hillmen in the hills near the Mythrian League. There is a long history of warfare between the Mythrians and the Serrites predating even the Tirkoman conquests.
Arising out of this southwestern region, settler from Cyrmium, Zidonis, and other southwestern coastal cities set out around the Gulf, establishing trading ports and colonies all across the region. Their model was one of thalassocratic, monarchic city-states. Although their colonies maintained close cultural and social ties to their parent cities, they were typically too distant for effective political control to be maintained, so they became largely independent.
Cyrmium and Zidonis remained the feuding, preeminent cities of the region until about three hundred years ago, when, in the space of less than a year, both cities were shockingly conquered by the fierce warriors of Tirkouane, an island city founded by Ascaanite exiles and notorious as a haunt of piracy and slavery. Over the next century the Tirkomen spread their empire around almost the entire Gulf, forcing the various city-states and colonies to pay them tribute.
About two hundred years ago, the former Cyrmian colony of Mythrium rose in revolt against the Tirkomen. Blaming their former incompetent monarchs for their conquest at Tirkoman hands in the first place, the Mythrians instituted a republic led by two annually elected Sufets. One of the first Sufets, Yirakh the Wise, persuaded the nearby city of Astarthis to also rebel against the Tirkomen, and these two cities formed an alliance called the League. The forces of the League dealt the Tirkomen a surprising defeat, then formed a tentative peace, curtailing further Tirkoman conquests.
Over the next century, many other tributary cities also rebelled, eventually leading to the downfall of the Tirkoman empire and their kings. Most (though not all) of these cities formed republics along similar lines to Mythrium, though some monarchies remained, most notably in the southwest. Mythrium has generally been regarded as the greatest city of the Gulf ever since, with the largest population, its historical prestige as the leaders of the revolt against the Tirkomen, and its favourable position at the mouth of the river Mythis and its roughly central location between all the different regions of the Gulf, the lands of the dragon lords to the west, and the successor states of the old Varthian and Olberman empires in the east.
Although many independent city-states remain, in the aftermath of the Tirkoman conquests some cities have thought it wise to form large alliances, of which the prototype is the League (now called the Mythrian League, a term used by basically everyone except the citizens of Astarthis.) These alliances bring together city-states into a loose confederation. Each full city will have its own internal policies, but are bound together in pacts of defence, with the leading city having ultimate authority over decisions around diplomacy and war.
There are four great alliances in the region, along with some smaller ones and some large independent city-states such as Zidonis and Cyrmium. The four alliances are the Mythrian League (in the east/southeast), the Salabian Dominion (in the east/northeast), the Kingdom of Utica (in the west), and the League of Olpa Magna (in the northeast).
Generally speaking, the lands in the northern parts of the Gulf are more sparsely populated than those in the south. The cities in the further northern regions were less likely to have been conquered by the Tirkomen (though some were, and some Tirkoman colonies were also founded), and they are generally more independent. There is also more activity among nonhuman creatures in the northern regions.
The primary monstrous inhabitants around the Gulf are the small, sly dog-men and the fierce hyena-men, who inhabit many rough mountainous and hilly regions, along with the ancient, shapeshifting selkies of the deep seas.
The primary culture of the region is Ascaanite, since most cities were old colonies founded by Cyrmium and Zidonis (or offshoots of these cities such as Mythrium and Tirkouane), but there are some other ethnic groups. The largest of these are the Atticalans, who live in the high mountains in the north on either side of the Mouth of Atticis, where the Gulf spills out into the sea. In the ancient past, perhaps a thousand years ago, the Atticalans made a deal known as the Pact with the selkies, agreeing to leave the coastal lands around the Gulf for the selkies in exchange for settling the northern river valleys. The Pact has long since been broken, but that it ever existed at all makes many Ascaanites treat the Atticalans with distrust and disdain. The Atticalans argue that without the Pact, the selkies would have destroyed all human civilisation around the Gulf.
Although the Atticalans are of a different culture to the Ascaanites, they are still an urban people and their pantheon closely matches that of the Ascaanites, though under different names (naming Ba'al as Zeus, Astarte as Aphrodite, and Yamm as Poseidon, for example.) They are therefore regarded as a fellow civilised people. The same cannot be said of the nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples of the frontier regions around the Gulf, such as the Serrite Hillmen in the hills near the Mythrian League. There is a long history of warfare between the Mythrians and the Serrites predating even the Tirkoman conquests.