Kingdom of Azoz (Origo Mundi Map Game)

Kingdom of Azoz, alternatively called the City of Azoz or unofficially Empire of Azoz, is a unitary feudal monarchy located on the continent of Asmera between the Bangui Sea and the Gabatria Sea. Its culture has evolved considerably over the centuries, with inhabitants of the region going back to the neolithic era. Traditionally, it is considered the city we know of today was founded around 116 BR, but other theories postulate the civilization going back a few centuries earlier. Today, the kingdom remains the dominant political force on the continent.

Prehistory
The region where Azoz how stands is argued to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world, although this falls under some dispute. Certain paleolithic artifacts suggest nomadic settlements along with the same Prot-Messalian migration period at the very end of the Ice Age. These hunter-gatherers focused mainly on fresh-water fishing and hunting of the Asmeran Bison. After the bison went extinct around 5,000 BR, the Proto-Mesallian culture split into settled neolithic civilizations, including the Transashe culture in modern-day Azoz. This is the beginning of the first urbanized center in the region, although without any written language it is hard to verify is this was one and the same as the later instances of the city. The Transashe culture benefited greatly from the fertile river valley, where corn and tomatos were first domesticated along with cows and sheep.

The Transashe culture is typically divided into three eras, before evolving into the Bronze Age Samarran Culture around 2200 BR. The Bronze Age saw an explosion of new developments, creating the first centrally-organized government, writing, and the wheel. Not much is known about the history of the Samarran culture, but it is speculated that they were a vast, centralized empire with its religious center located at the site of modern Azoz, originally called the city of Non. The Library of Azoz, which may originally date back to the Bronze Age, might have been a vast storehouse of knowledge used by scholars for many centuries after this point, before its destruction in the Ebony Era.

Archaeology of Non indicates it had a complex system of religious rites, establishing the first temples to the pagan "Azouri" religion and a royal cemetery deep in the catacombs of Mount Azoz. The Non culture was responsible for some of the most impressive architectural feats of the Bronze Age, including the Pyramids of Ishbak and the underground facilities carved into Mount Azoz. It is these feats of engineering that gives rise to the theory Samarra had a vast pool of human resources at its disposal. The Samarran culture began its decay around the beginning of the first millennium BR, which is largely believed to be caused by lack of agriculture as a result of a changing climate. by 500 BR, most of the cities in that culture had been completely abandoned, and in some cases returned completely to hunter-gatherers.

Early History
Our main sources of knowledge of early history of the city comes from archaeology of the region, tracing rapid iron age development in the last 500 years of the first millennium BR. Outside of that archaeology sources become much more nebulous, due to the destruction of the Library of Azoz that lost most history of this period. Instead, references to the early history of Azoz come from historical anecdotes and romance fiction written several hundred years after the events took place. The earliest confirmed reference to Azoz on the inner walls of the Old City have been dated around the year 116 BR, but the last reference to the city of Non is dated around 440 BR. It's usually assumed that there was some gap in time between the two events, after which new settlers came in the abandoned city to rebuild the inner walls. However, others have speculated a more continuous in-habitation, such that Azoz was founded immediately after Non.

Early Azoz suffered quite a bit from frequent plagues and barbarian invasions, usually the nomadic Transashe culture that split off from the earlier Bronze Age civilization. It was for this reason the city required a strong defense, building up thick walls and armaments of chariots and iron-age weapons. The development of this military technology in the late 2nd century BR gave Azoz a distinct advantage over the nomadic people around them, allowing rapid growth to seize control of the Ashe river valley. Alumite important commodity mined out of Mount Azoz to be traded on the Ashe river system, but this was costly for city citizens due to conditions in the mines. As a result of this, slavery became an important facet of Azoz culture, and much of early traditional epics emphasize the innate inferiority of barbarian captives.

The advent of centrally-organized government also saw the rise of an absolute monarchy, although information of individual rulers at this time are only pieced together from later romance. The first rulers of Azoz are known to be absolute monarchs, although as urbanization increased more city-states were delegated to a complex feudal system. The royal residence was re-purposed from the old cemetery in Mount Azoz, meant originally as a fortress against barbarians. With absolute control over individual lives, the earliest kings practiced rituals of a "rite of the first night", which was discontinued after the advent of Ulm. The High Priesthood of the Azouri religion persisted as well, with their own level of control over politics in the city.

Historical Rulers
Azoz is typically listed as the oldest ruler, from whom the kingdom bears his name, most notable for building the walls of the city. Roshtam Old is the first ruler mentioned in the Foundation Saga, whose death probably dates to 75 BR. He is ultimately known as the original patriarch for all subsequent nobility for every city-state in the kingdom.

Jamshid his son is the main hero of the early epics, personifying the expansion of civilization to overcome the barbarity of the wild. The legend of the Rape of Hanida at that time was probably the oldest propaganda in support of the slave culture, which was reversed by later Ulm tradition where Jamshid is depicted as the arch villain. As urbanization rapidly expanded at this time, each of the new city-states branched off from Azoz adopted names of each of the immediate sons of Rostam, and each adopted their own foundation myth associated with it. Jamshid disappeared around 58 BR when he journeyed to the western edge of the Bangui Sea, generally believed to have been around the Uriel Islands.

Zohhak, the next ruler becomes the diametric opposite, meant to represent the ultiamte tyrant or despicable king to offset from the stories of Jamshid. However, as the oldest versions of the foundation saga end with Jamshid's disappearance, many historians speculate if the negative depiction of Zohhak was actually an invention of Ulm tradition, rather than an original myth. Even still, Zohhak led some of the most ambitious campaigns of the time against the nearby culture of Frasnoq to the south, which ultimately led to his death in the Frasnoq-Azoz War of 37-34 BR. The next series of rulers are largely unknown, not having any special myths associated with them, and are more utilized to fill a gap of time between the birth and ministry of Nelrim.

Life of Nelrim
The corpus of scripture collectively known as the Book of Ulm is some of the only surviving literature prior to the Ebony Era, and therefore comprises the most reliable historical text for this period. Nelrim the Prophet was born towards the end of the Frasnoq war in 34 BR. Many anecdotes in the Book of Ulm describe prophesies of his nativity, including the Cow of Teman, which has since become one of the iconic symbols of the nation. Nelrim began making prophesies in the name of the "True God" when he was twelve years old, around 22 BR. However, his public ministry did not begin until 4 BR, when he was a full adult.

Details of Nelrim's life and ministry are the focus of the "Hagiography" of Nelrim in the Book of Ulm, as well as several apocryphal biographies made by Apocist and Enulmist sects. During his public ministry from 4 BR-1 AR, Nelrim challenged the establish religious authorities, and presented a doctrine that offered equality of life and personal peace. The High Priest of Azoz pressured the King to have Nelrim arrested and ultimately executed, scattering the original Seven Apostles as well. The king may not have been completely innocent in this action, however, as Nelrim's popularity posed a significant threat to the established government of the realm.

Nelrim's resurrection, the culmination and centerpiece of the Book of Ulm, splits the calendar of Azoz between BR (before the rising) and AR (after the rising). Nelrim's resurrection sparked the popular slave revolt that completely toppled the monarchy of the city, known as the Azoz Civil War. The end of this war led to an interregnum from 2-9 AR, during which time a new order of the kingdom was established by the Ulmian apostles. Traditionally, it is considered that Nelrim himself led the nation during this time in his post-resurrection state, before ascending into heaven in 9 AR. However, most historians attribute de-facto control at this time to Ramu, the "chief" of the Apostles and first Holy Patra of Azoz.

First Ulmian Rulers
Taulat, or alternatively spelled Thalut I, was the first ruler of the new Ulmian dynasty anointed by the Holy Patra, and with it came many monumental changes to the kingdom. The temples of pagan gods were replaced with Basilicas, and all previous laws on pagan rituals were completely reversed. Slavery, based on race and not economic status, was completely outlawed at this time and more efforts were made for equal treatment of citizens. These events also propelled further expansion, primarily caused by many citizens of Azoz migrating south into lands of Frasnoq and Asturias. Furthermore, emancipation of the slaves created a far larger pool of manpower for warfare, which further gave a leading edge.

Propogation of the religion abroad helped greatly facilitate more international trade, expanding influence of Azoz into politics of Mesallian city-states as well as in Xuenoi and Niani. Political marriages ensured a close connection between the dynasties of Azoz, Frasnoq and Tuartha which became especially important as these nations were subsequently united. King Jair "the lionhart", considered the father of Nathon, may be the first ruler of Azoz explicitly mentioned in contemporary history, provided we accept "Commander Yari" attested in the Chronicle of Parius in the as one and the same as this ruler.

In reaction to various Apocist sects in other nations, the the Holy Patra officially codified the canon of scripture in 62 AR, ending with the Apocalypse of Prackyob. However, from a histographic perspective this puts subsequent history of Azoz back in murky waters, without any reliable historical text outside of the romantic fiction surrounding the Pentangle of Perea.

Nathonian cycle of literature, or the "Matter of Azoz" forms the basis of classical literature that became most popular during the Chatna Empire, and as such the actions of King Nathon reflect everything idealized about the later imperial era. After King Jair died in the First Mesallian War in 87 AR, the kingdom's rising feudal nobility was starting to cause problems for stability of the nation. Nathon was alegedly chosen as ruler by a sword that fell out of heaven, which only he could lift. After he began to reign in 89 AR, Nathon established a confederacy of powerful warriors, both within and outside of Azoz, to meet at his personal palace of Perea, alternatively known as the Pentangle of Perea. The strongest and most famous of these warriors was Cassander of Leviea, who became the eponymous ancestor of the Cassanderan Dynasty.

The only event during Nathon's reign that is confirmed in archaeology is the conquest of Frasnoq, which is also one of the most enigmatic. Artifacts indicate that Frasnoq came under domination from Azoz starting roughly around 150 AR. The traditional chronology of Nathon's reign, however, indicates that the Fall of Perea took place in the year 131 AR, almost twenty years too early. Various attempts continue to be made to rectify this discrepancy in the chronology, with respect to subsequent attested rulers of the Cassanderan Dynasty.

Ebony Era
It's generally considered that the era of the Pentangle of Perea was merely a patch on the inevitable disintegration of the Kingdom that was already going on after the First Mesallian War. By the middle of the second century AR, Azoz was thrown into a dark age or "Ebony Era" marked by political decentralization and social chaos. Feudal nobles over each individual city was able to raise its own military, often times rivaling or surpassing the military of the King. Consequently, lack of communication in the initial chaos allowed each city-state to adopt its own unique culture and philosophy, still loosely connected by the common religion of Ulm.

The Great Library of Azoz was destroyed sometime around 170 AR, which means consistently-reliable history only goes back to this point. The chaos prompted many people to immigrate out from the cities, causing rapid expansion from farming settlements to flow out from the core. the Uriel Islands were colonized as a result, as well as a smaller colony at the river Fotashe. The coastal cities of Langui and Saraita developed more naval than land military, which competed to dominate trade across the Bangui Sea. The destruction of the library is largely blamed on the brief civil war between 167-170 AR, fought between the different sons of Cassius I. The two branches of dynasties from Cassius I would contiue feuding with each other largely until the younger branch died out around 195 AR.

Ishbak and their vassal cities were more frequently cause of inter-city warfare, and fostered some of the most rapid development in military technology. Gerrier of Ishbak at the end of this era was responsible for the first professional military in history. As Ishbak's military was off at war, the city government would assume control over each soldier's farms directly. Medan, on the other hand, was responsible for financing the intellectual group of "Nine Sages", including some of the most famous philosophers in western history. Draco was first responsible for applying logic to prove the existence of God. Gandai (also called Gandes) followed up from this by establishing the first textbook on geometry and logic, known as The Elements, published in 193 AR''. ''Saragythorp was known as a masterful engineer, and invented the catapult around the beginning of the third century AR. Finally, Anthrax was known as the "Father of Cosmology", and developed the first theories on the shape of the world and the universe.

Imperial Era
As the feudal system over Azoz came to an end, the subsequent history of the Kingdom served not as a completely independent state, but merely the core kingdom of the larger Chatna Dynasty that spanned a far larger region. Chatnaguri, the founder of the dynasty, started out as leader of the cavalry for King Nicomedie of Azoz. After seizing control in a coup in 211 AR, Chatna set about on his campaign to reunite the empire under a far more centralized government. Chatna first exerted his power to subjugate the city of Ishbak, which in spite of being outmatched militarily he managed to overcome by sheer chance. With the resources of both Ishbak and Teman at his disposal, the subsequent war of Azoz reunification came to completion in 220 AR.

Chatna restructured the government of Azoz to be more centrally organized back to the capital. As most of the nobility existed with autonomous military, contrary to the imperial edicts, Chatna used this as an excuse to systematically depose each of the feudal nobles and replace them with appointed governors or "satraps". The constituent city-states then became provincial districts, directly controlled by the central monarchy. Chatna also worked to unify the culture of Azoz under a single Ulm Orhodoxy, viciously persecuting the alternate religion of Drokksidites in Frasnoq. This led to a number of revolts in his reign from the region, most notably the Moon Bear Revolt in 229 AR.

As the Chatna Empire grew under Thalut II, the monarch remained largely absent from local affairs in the capital. As such, de-facto control over the Kingdom fell under domination of the Holy Patra Rainer, who established a more systematic bureaucracy to lead the nation in the king's absence. The Council of Senior Scholars, or the Senate, was originally staffed entirely by prominent clergy, before being opened to a larger enfranchisement.