Pre-Unification Nesaria

The history of Nesaria prior to its unification under the Republic of Nesaria - and later the Nesarian Empire - is known academically as the Pre-Unification Period, but is more popularly known as the Shattered Period, the Age of Strife or the Age of War. It has long drawn interest from historians across the world for the intense interstate conflict that plagued the period, rising to a devastating crescendo in the Mortian War.

Historians are generally in agreement that the Pre-Unification period began with the Annihilation (0 INC, 1500 BC); given the near-total lack of historical evidence for Nesaria during the Age of Titans, attempting to classify it in *any* sense is largely considered impossible. However, the end date is somewhat more contentious. The majority of historians put the end date at 1031 INC, the end date of the Mortian War. Although Nesaria was not actually completely unified by this point, the conclusion of the Mortian War firmly established Ascarian supremacy over the country and made it a question of *when* rather than *if* the Ascarians would bring all the land of Nesaria under their control - though this project would ultimately be completed by the Republic of Nesaria, not the Kingdom of Ascaria.

A notable minority of historians contend that the Pre-Unification period ended in 1577 INC, with the conclusion of the War of Succession; this school of thought argues that both the Republican War and War of Succession had qualities of being "unification wars", even though they were technically civil wars. The Republican War brought some nationalist elements to bear, particularly when it came to the Mortani Orcs, who rallied behind Emperor Mathados IV as he promised them the restoration of their liberties. The War of Succession in particular is argued to be a unification war, as the Aberren dynasty rapidly shifted their goals from taking the throne to shattering the Empire and declaring independence, and their defeat effectively put a permanent end to Nesarian regional nationalism.

However, given that the Pre-Unification period is typically taken to mean the period of interstate conflict within Nesaria, this article will only discuss Nesaria up to 1031 - the end of the Mortian War.

## Great Powers

Whilst each region of Nesaria typically had its own local dominant power, there were three states of pre-unification Nesaria that stood out as uniquely powerful and influential, which are generally termed the Great Powers or Major Powers. The Kingdom of Ascaria, Kingdom of Eshér and Chiefdom of Mortana came to be completely militarily supreme and gained far-reaching influence across the entire country, and their struggles defined the future of Nesaria as a whole.

Though Ascaria was the eventual victor, this fate was far from certain, as Mortana is generally considered to have always been on roughly equal footing with their rival up until their final total defeat in the Mortian War. Many historians - and contemporary writers - have considered Eshér to have possessed far greater potential strength than the other two great powers, but they were continuously paralysed by their own domestic politics, and by the time their bloody civil war solved the issue, they had already been eclipsed and were tied to Ascaria through marriage.

### Eshér

Though undoubtedly standing out from the crowd as one of the "big three", the Elvish Kingdom of Eshér ultimately achieved far less than either Ascaria or Mortana. It was unable to avoid being eclipsed by the other two, and unable to prevent itself from being integrated into the Kingdom of Ascaria in the wake of the Mortian War. Contemporary sources frequently suggested that Eshér was in a position to dominate the entire country, and they were frequently puzzled as to why Eshér took no action at all to resist the domination of other great powers.

The general academic consensus is that Eshér's inaction was almost entirely due to its domestic political situation and the absolutely crippling divisions that were left in the wake of poor decisions taken at the kingdom's foundation. It was, most certainly, not because Eshér lacked the capability to enforce its will over Nesaria; indeed, the modern consensus is that Eshér likely possessed military potential far in excess of any other great power even at the heights of the Mortian War; some historians have gone as far as to say that the uniquely Elvish advantages of magic combined with compounded experience and wisdom due to long lifespans could have made Eshér equal to (or greater than) the rest of Nesaria combined. Historians often point to the Eshérian War of Succession as evidence of Eshérian military prowess, when the warring Eshérian factions unleashed spectacular violence upon one another that shocked onlookers from other nations; as one contemporary historian put it, "few expected the graceful Elven folk to wield such brutality without hesitation or remorse".

Eshér's military strength, as well as the impressive wealth it generated due to Elvish craftsmanship and the fact that the Eshérian Marsh was (and still remains) Nesaria's only large-scale source of salt, went entirely to waste due to the constant squabbles between Eshér's aristocratic families. When the Kingdom of Eshér was first founded, the land was divided roughly equally between the noble houses of the Eshérians; it was hoped that the equality between the dynasties would promote a sense of brotherhood and co-operation. This was, as history would show, a gross miscalculation that would bring division and stagnation to Eshér for centuries.

Rather than creating a sense of brotherhood, the equality between noble dynasties only made them more divided. Without the clear establishment of greater and lesser dynasties - in other words, without a clear sense of those who lead and those who follow - the noble dynasties saw every other dynasty not a a brother, but as a *competitor*. Each dynasty was locked in a constant struggle to maintain their own relevancy, using every means available to them - including, in some cases, assassination - to maximise their own gains and to either minimise or destroy the gains of their competitors. Additionally, since each individual dynasty was typically only somewhat weaker than the royal Ascelion dynasty, the crown was very limited in its ability to enforce its will over the nobles; seemingly the only thing the nobles ever agreed on was resisting royal interference in their disputes and the growth of royal power.

Eshér's attempts at territorial expansion were few in number and limited in scope, and were always plagued by the question of who would acquire the newly acquired land. Each noble dynasty, of course, wanted the land for themselves and wanted to deny that land to their rivals. This problem was mostly avoided by simply creating new noble dynasties, but this was not a true solution; it did not satisfy any of the noble dynasties, and merely added more competitors to the pool. The crown appears to have given up on territorial expansion completely as a result of the internal conflict, seemingly realising that any gains the state could make from expansion would not outweigh the increased unrest.

Eshér was dramatically - and extremely violently - reformed in the wake of the Eshérian War of Succession, when many noble dynasties were exterminated in their entirety and land was redistributed according to a model that gave far less power to individual dynasties and dramatically empowered the crown compared to the other nobles. However, historians generally regard this as coming far too late; by the war's end in 980 INC, Ascaria and Mortana had essentially divided the rest of Nesaria between them, leaving little room for Eshér to assert its own influence - particularly given that Eshér had been drained of both money and manpower in the process of fighting itself, and *especially* given that the new royal Elosaria dynasty became indebted to Ascaria due to their intervention in the War of Succession, and the ruling Queen Calia married King Faltas I.

Eshér eventually became united with Ascaria by way of personal union, when Queen Calia I inherited the throne of Ascaria from her husband, and their daughter Serona became queen of both Ascaria and Eshér. It is at this point that the history of Eshér as an independent state largely ends, though the country would rise again to significance within the Nesarian Empire.

## Minor Powers

Though lesser than the Great Powers, the four so-called Minor Powers were powerful and highly relevant in their own right, able to dominate their local region and - for the most part - resist foreign incursions. They became extremely important in the Mortian War (aside from Savelia, which was extinct by that time), as the Ascarians and Mortanis constantly struggled to try and convince the minor powers to join their side and remain there - sometimes through force of arms.

### Savelia

The Kingdom of Savelia is generally considered to have been responsible for bringing Elvic culture into Merilia; it was the first major Elvic power in the region, and may have been the first Elvic state in Merilia full stop. At its height, Savelia controlled the entirety of the River Meril, remaining a dominant power in the Lowerlands until its decline began in the 800s INC. The kingdom underwent a complete collapse in the 880s; famine, foreign invasion, nationalist revolts, administrative incompetence and numerous diplomatic missteps left Savelia bankrupted, alienated and unable to enforce any kind of authority, even within the capital of Valores. Eventually, in 887, the kingdom was overthrown and shattered, with the Coparis dynasty establishing the new realm of Valoria in the old capital.

In the popular imagination, Savelia is generally only known for the fact that it fell; in particular, it is mostly only known for its fall producing two substantially more famous states, Arthoryk and Cosria. However, historians will be quick to point out the lasting legacy that Savelia had upon the Lowerlands; not only did it dramatically shift the geopolitical situation by greatly empowering the Elvic presence, but the powerful phalanxes of Savelia would be replicated across the neighbouring region, substantially changing the way that Lowerlander states waged war, both native and Elvic. It is often argued that the phalanxes of Savelia provided the inspiration for the later pike squares of Mortana, which would completely dominate the Lowerlands and inflict many defeats upon the Ascarians before rapid manoeuvre tactics were developed in Ascaria to defeat them.

### Arthoryk

Arthoryk was the shortest-lived great power on this list, but many would argue that its brief lifespan only renders its achievements all the more impressive; it was undoubtedly the most powerful of the "little three", expanding more quickly than either Cortath or Savelia and achieving more military and diplomatic success, all while being uncommonly well-administrated and equalling the architectural and artistic splendour of the other great powers. Arthoryk came to rule nearly all of the modern Duchy of Merilia, but it remains disputed whether or not Arthoryk's borders have any relation to the future borders of Merilia.

Though Arthoryk came into existence as an independent state in the midst of the collapse of Savelia, in the popular imagination its history really starts with one man; King Arthsen Arthigg, the Bear of Arthoryk. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers of pre-unification Nesaria, Arthsen quickly gained a reputation as a brilliant commander, a mighty warrior and a reasonable ruler. With an Elvic queen at his side, Arthoryk developed a unique syncretic culture that combined native and Elvic customs and traditions. Arthsen himself would eventually convert to Elveta, but unlike almost every other Elvic state, took no measures to try and enforce his religion upon the native pagans. Arthoryk also combined Elvic and native ways when it came to warfare; Arthsen was highly successful at combining Savelian phalanx tactics with native traditions of cavalry and skirmishers, creating a more flexible and versatile force than his peers.

The key claim to fame of Arthoryk and of Arthsen personally was the defeat of the Elvic kingdom of Cosria, ruled by Queen Elisa Escarion, the peerless beauty of Cosria. The origin of their rivalry was merely political, but it was Arthsen himself who revealed the true nature of Queen Elisa as a Succubus; he became known as "Demonslayer" after killing Elisa by his own hand, winning him great respect across Nesaria.

As the Mortian War rapidly expanded in scope during the 950s, Mortana sought the lands of Arthoryk. It was thought within Mortana that the territory controlled by Arthoryk was too strategically important for Arthoryk to merely become an ally, it had to be owned by Mortana directly; and King Arthsen had clear Ascarian sympathies anyway, making an alliance very unlikely. Chief Werak Drakelan opposed the conquest of Arthoryk - he was adamant that making Arthoryk an ally was better for Mortana's reputation, as conquering it would contradict the image Mortana was trying to promote of resisting foreign tyranny - but he was powerless to override the decision of the *Kuatenga*. Chief Werak also had personal reasons for opposing the war; he had great respect for Arthsen and the two were likely friends, as they had met several times before under peaceful circumstances.

Chief Werak's solution was one that likely only would have worked on Arthsen; he challenged Arthsen to a duel for the fate of Arthoryk, swearing an oath that there would be no plundering or taking of slaves and that Arthsen's family would be protected. Arthsen agreed to the duel, though the reasons why remain debated upon; some historians believe it was because Arthsen thought he could not win an open war against Mortana, whereas others believe it was because he preferred to risk his own life than the lives of his subjects.

Arthoryk was cut down in one strike - literally - when Arthsen lost the duel, suffering the first blood. He did not continue the duel to the death, conceding defeat when Werak's blade found its way into his leg, and in doing so he conceded Arthoryk. Though the *Kuatenga* was frustrated with the decision, Chief Werak allowed Arthsen to remain the ruler of his own lands, and generally left the state apparatus of Arthoryk intact; as such, Arthoryk continued to survive in part, even if it had lost its sovereignty. Arthoryk would only be truly destroyed with Ascarian victory in the Mortian War, when the land was reorganised under the Duchy of Merilia.

## Slavery

The conflict over slavery had always been present to some degree in Nesaria ever since the Eshérian Invasion first brought Elvic civilisation to the country, but the conflict did not take the forefront of Nesarian politics until the rise of the Kingdom of Ascaria, which strongly championed the anti-slavery cause.