#volium

[volium-gabyzillas]

Among the new things that the Kallūri had to investigate was a weird piece of wood that a stranger brought. On it was grabbed some unknown characters that took the interest of the local elders. When asked, the stranger responded that he was a chief from a village in Hang that was forced to flee because of an internal conflict. On the piece of wood was written the code of laws of his country and he explained to them how to read it. When they realized the importance of this new information, they reported it to the main council in Athpur. The council decided this new invention was extremely useful. They created a group that began creating an alphabet inspired by the Hangian one and the council used their influence to spread the new words to the whole of Kaluria. The new alphabet spread like wildfire and in a few years, everyone was using it to grave new ideas, write some laws and trade.

[volium-gabyzillas]

Quickly, a new system began to grow in Kaluria. In each village, some craftsmen and elders began to group and decided to govern the village. Those groups, beginning around 220, discussed and judged the new ideas and were called Kallūri. Durai encouraged them and decided that each Kallūri was to send a delegate to Athpur to represent it’s village in the main council. This system proved very successful and the Kalurian mindset began to change. Those councils gave the name to the countries and everyone in the population was now focussed on science and improving their lives.

[volium-gabyzillas]

In the east of Hang, in 178, a council of tribes leaders was gathering. Taking place at the camp of  the Athpur tribe, they were assembled by the young and ambitious chief named Durai to discuss the matter of this new crop that came from the west called rice. He proposed to those tribes to settle down and start cultivating this crop, as it will bring them a lot of riches. He told them of his adventure into the west, the trade, the power and influence. He convinced them to unite the tribe into a council that will decide together external affairs but will leave internal affairs to the tribe. The first embryo of Kaluria was born. It’s been 37 years since the foundation and this endeavour has proven very fruitful. The now pretty old Durai is a powerful man and Athpur, the city that he settled, rapidly became a hub of trade in the region. Word began to travel all through the continent of how rich Kaluria has become.

[volium-gabyzillas]

It’s been 15 years since Hang died and his son, Daxing, did not betray his father’s wish. Like his predecessor, he kept on conquering villages, considerably expanding the kingdom’s border. Daxing also began having diplomatic relations with the tribes of Tsayan, horse riders of the southern steppes. Those people lived a nomadic life, occasionally trading with Hang at the south of the kingdom.

[volium-gabyzillas]

30 years is all it took for Hang and his band to conquer most of the surrounding territories. Using his new writing to make sure the conquered villages stayed under his control, the new kingdom now centralized around Hang became a huge prosperous country. To move more quickly through the territory, the Hangian army built dirt roads to get from one village to another, and under a strict rule, the kingdom became very powerful.

[volium-gabyzillas]

Year 150, in the Tanyang river valley. The small village of Zhang was one of the first in the region to cultivate rice, a very convenient crop, which attracted the attention of a band of nearby bandits. This group, led by a certain Hang, captured the village and decided to take a small amount of rice from every farmer. But more and more people came to the village in search of food and Hang offered some if they joined his band. They began to organize, with more and more peasants joining the group and the rice allowed them to prosper.

But soon enough, the rice began to lack as the number of bandits grew. So Hang decided to invade the neighboring village to grow more crops. The year after, he did the same, again and again. The band now controlled dozens of villages and the leader became rich. From his base of operation in Zhang, he controlled all the smaller bands that controlled the food. So, to make sure everything stays in his control, he thought of some rules.

But the far away villages didn’t manage to enforce those rules, as the messenger forgot about them on the way. This led to a rebelling band chief that decided to start his own group. When Hang heard of this treason, he took his army and marched on the village, razed it and killed the leader. He decided that to make sure no one would rebel against him, he would erect a stone in each village where his man would sculpt some simplistic drawing into them describing the laws. This was the first instance of writing…

[volium-gabyzillas]

Now in the year 30, Marad became terrified of the idea of losing his power. To protect what he claimed he built, he decided to restrict the freedom of the people living in the town and to recruit a militia. This angered the population and tension began to grow. Marad even suspected his own son, Nagar, of plotting against him. Larsa, who was pregnant, was destroyed by the situation, adding to the burden of carrying a child.

In the year 31, Marad went to see the Oracle of the town to seek answers to his questions. The Oracle revealed to him that Bor will fall because of his own blood. This convinced the now King that his son was a traitor and went to search for him with his militia. This forced the prince to hide amongst the commoners to flee his fathers wrath, but Marad did not stop. He ordered the militia to search every house, every room and to kill everyone who stood in their way.

This triggered a reaction among the population who began arming themselves with tools and staff. A battle broke out in the street, a terrible brawl where many lives were lost and in the chaos, a fire broke out. The city began to burn and the fire consume houses, soldiers and slaves without discrimination. Nagar decided to go back to the royal house to take his mother with him so that they could escape the city. But as he arrived, Larsa was in labour, and couldn’t possibly move.

When the baby was born, the only word she could say was “Amal”, the name of the new girl, before she passed away for dramatic reasons. Ironically, this was when Marad arrived in the house. So Nagar gave the baby to a trusty servant so they could escape. But the King was now sure that his son killed his wife, and in his anger, attacked him.

But Nagar did not fight. The spear went cleanly through his chest, killing him instantly. In his death, he smiled, as he knew there is still hope. The city of Hathara has fallen, and Bor with it. The tribes were separated again, the exchanges were stopped, and the first civilization on earth was in ruin.

[volium-gabyzillas]

20 years later, the town was booming. More and more people were comming to the first city in the world and Marad and Larsa Tarbisu, the leader of the city, took notice of this growth. They decided to further develop the town building big farms and small clay wall to protect it. This allowed the couple to become very rich and grow their influence.