Himara Empire

The Himara Empire was a sprawling Empire located in the east of Atheryin. At its height, a period lasting some 80 years, the empire controlled the entire Himara Peninsula, including the islands off its coast, including Hithfaerthel and Faarjin, the Fissure and Dún, the desert states of Nachkun and Kalta, and portions of Celadon. The Himara Empire also occupied parts of Kvurian, Nokana, and Thyros. The Empire was formed out of the Himara clans of the south-eastern peninsula.
==Government==
The Himara Empire was ruled by the Thiudgarda, a supreme monarch or warlord elected from amongst the Himaðiun. The Thiudgarda had supreme authority over the Himara, and was typically well versed in both governence and the art of warfare. The Thiudgarda was mandated to always be located in the capital of his Empire, but in practice the Warlords got around this by mandating that wherever they were was the capital. Upon the death of the Thiudgarda, all Himaðiun were recalled to his burial site to debate and elect a new Thiudgarda from amongst themselves. Typically the Himaðiun with the largest amount of riders sworn to him would win the election.
The Himaðiun were the Horselords, the generals and commanders of the Himara people. In earlier, pre-unification times, the Himaðiun were those elected as the leader of each clan, but after the unification, the Himaðiun were appointed directly by the Thiudgarda, and were typically his brothers or sons.
Any Himara male could challenge a Himaðiun for his or her position. The Himaðiun was required to act on these challenges with a trial to prove which of the contenders was the better Himara. Firstly, the claimants would ride for twenty four hours in a straight line, accompanied by a judge. Then they would both be required to shoot a bird out of the sky, whilst on horseback, and finally, they would joust. Whoever won 2/3 of these challenges would become a Himaðiun If this proved inconclusive, they would fight to the death.
==Military==
The Himara military is made up of every male over the age of 15 who owns a horse. Called a horde by military historians, the Himara had no command structure beyond the Thiudgarda and Himaðiun, however almost everyone listened to orders directed by them without question. The Himara were naturally gifted horse-archers, and in employing these abilities in battle, they decimated and dominated the armies of Atheryin. 
The Himara also proved to be gifted in siege warfare, though they had never seen a city until they left their steppes, they conquered them with surprising ease.
Later in the Empire, the hordes were split into smaller armies, more useful for attacking multiple targets.
==History==
For thousands of years, the Himara clans peacefully farmed their plains, having seperated from the Arano of Hithfaerthel in the Kudes Era. Because of the poor soil quality in this area, the Himara lived a nomadic lifestyle, with clans moving from area to area, setting up their homesteads wherever they went. For this reason, the horse became vitally important to the Himara lifestyle. To supplement their farming and gathering, the Himara became adept with bows, and hunted on horseback for most meats.
Occasionally conflict would erupt between clans. Though these conflicts were often quick and bloodless, they left a lasting impact on Himara culture. For the purpose of war, the Himara clan would elect the person they felt to be the greatest rider amongst them as a Himaðiun, to lead their clan in battle. Very rarely, multiple clans would band together to elect the same person as Himaðiun, and this multi-glan general later became known as a Thiudgarda. When elected, the Thiudgarda could nominate the two warriors who had recieved the runner up position in both clans to act as Himaðiun for their clan, serving under him.
Typically a Thiudgarda was only elected in times of great external or internal strife, such as a union against an agressive clan, or in the face of an invasion from one of the kingdoms of the peninsula. However, in the year 107 of the Brave Era, various clans began to unite around Himaðiun Cuyler, a charismatic and brilliant general from the western steppe. Cuyler became Himaðiun in the year Brave 100, having defeated his clan's Himaðiun in both the riding and archery portions of his challenge. Cuyler became Thiudgarda by right of challenge too, defeating the Himaðiun of a rival clan in archery and jousting. However, in response to Cuyler's agressive ways, several northern clans banded together to elect a rival Thudgarda, who is simply known as the Northern Thiudgarda. This alliance was defeated by Cuyler in Brave 108, and the following year the last of the clans elected him as their Himaðiun.
Though urged by many Himara to content himself with the steppe, Cuyler believed that the only way to ensure the survival of the Himara state was conquest. In Brave 114, he launched an attack on the Arano kingdoms of the north, and conquered the first of them with such speed that no message was sent to the rest. The arano of the north attempted to defend against the Himara with traditional tactics, but were decimated by the Himara horse archers. By Brave 115, the largest city of the Arano, known as Jahwulþ, had fallen. Though messages had been sent to the Dunaan requesting aid, the city states believed the Himara to be a minor threat at best, and when no further word came of them by Brave 117, they assumed the horsemen had been contained. In reality, the Himara were embroiled in a war with the Admáen, though the conquest was nowhere near as swift as that of the Arano, as the elves had used the three years to prepare for warfare. The Admáen inflicted a few minor defeats on the Himara, but by Brave 127, the everlasting city of AmazaRayë Zaron had been sieged and possibly sacked, and the majority of the ruling class of the Admáen had been put to the sword.
After a few years of rest, the Himara again moved on to the Dún, here the horde split in two, with one riding through The Fissure and into Tóbh, and the other led by The Thiudgarda assaulting the Rón. Within six months, the southern province of the Dún had fallen to the Himara, and the Thiudgarda proceeded to conquer all provinces up to Tóbh, which was made the capital when he arrived. The remaining Dunaan states appealed to the Leoth for assistance, and several city states sent knights and footsoldiers to Jún. The Himara assaulted the province later, and although the Leoth knights proved instrumental in turning the tide of at least one battle, the cumbersome knights proved ineffective against the Horde.
Cuyler quickly turned his attention to the Ohkorra states, invading Nachkun in 141 Brave and quickly conquering it the next year, however the deser enviroment proved deadly to the warlord's Dunaan horse, which collapsed whilst riding to Sildag, Cuyler survived the fall, but the horse's weight crushed his ankle. Though Cuyler had brought the Himara to a prominance never seen before, he was abandoned in the desert by his followers, for the Himara cannot follow someone who cannot ride. The Himaðiun retired to Sildag for six months of debate, to elect a new Thiudgarda. In Brave 142 the Himaþiun Eirling, Cuyler's brother in law, was elected as the new Thiudgarda. After consolidating his power, Eirling split the horde in two, both riding to opposite ends of Celadon, and swiftly conquering on their way. By now the Himara controlled the majority of Atheryin, and Nokana and Thyros realised it was time to act. The Thyrids attempted to launch an invasion of Celadon, but their boats were destroyed by a hurricane. In Brave 149, The Himara under Eirling rode down the spine of the Eýn mountains, covering the ground in a matter of months, and rode through the pass in the mountains and into Thyressia, taking the Thyrids by surprise. They swiftly conquered Tohrá, meeting little to no resistance, an
Category:Regions, Countries