Baatar

## **History**

Baatar is located in the Southernmost region of Drazzan, and was initially by a group of nomadic settlers who migrated from Reichland to Orbis during the Migration Age. The City is Drazzans only standing city, with the rest of the region being populated by nomadic villages that would often change locations as the people moved around. Baatar is also the only Drazzanian City in all of Nara that was walled, as all other Drazzanian cities possessed no walls, or were not of Drazzanian origin and were captured with walls. The city was located nearly 60 miles away from the Eastern Ocean.

## **Capital of The Five Conquerors 1200 A.T.F-1492 A.T.F**

Baatar had first gained prominence in 1200 A.T.F when the city became one of the first official permanent seats of power within a united Drazzanian Empire. Although Drazzan had ruled the neighboring tribes as an Empire centuries prior, the Conquest of Titus put an end to the Drazzanian Empire known as "The Palax Empire". Thus for several centuries the city of Baatar was Romikkanized, the center of the city possessed traditional Romikkan Marble Roads, and the nobles and administrators lived in Romikkan Style Houses called "Domuses" within the interior of the city. The rest of the city still remained Drazzanian in fashion, with the smaller yurts being made up of the middle class and peasants, and the largest yurts closest to the Romikkan Houses being inhabited by the Drazzanian Nobles. Romikkanization quickly ended during the Crisis of the Tenth Century, with the only remains of the Romikkans being large Estate Palace that was built in the center of the city, which was later repurposed as the "Khans Hall".

The fall of the Romikkan Empire opened up a large power vacuum, and during this time Drazzan attempted to regain their empire of centuries old. During this time (from the 10th Century to the 13th Century) the Drazzanians had to contend with the Forces of Sargoth, The Barbarian Emperor Quintius Barbacanous, and The Emperor of Teratime Julius Konstantinos. After weathering the countless power players during this power vacuum, Drazzan had retained its independence. After proving both resistant and skilled in maneuvering its way throughout the Dark Ages, the Palax Empire would come under the rule of a series of five warlords known as "The Five Conquerors". During this era of Drazzanian Dominance, the Palax Empire would conqueror much of Central and Southern Orbis, and would expand into Cha and Reichland using both the Great Land Bridge and their impressive navy that they had acquired, thanks in part due to purchasing the ships from Teratime.

Baatar would become a hub of trade and commerce during this time of Drazzanian Hegemony. The cities population would increase by nearly three times its initial population, and the city became a huge exported in slaves, spices, horses, and Drazzanian Culture itself. Due to the city being the only established Drazzanian City, it was immediately chosen to become the permanent capital of The Palax Empire. And the city itself became a base for Drazzanian Colonization of Nara, creating colony cities like Nova Baatar in Reichland. Later this resulted in creating an entirely new ethnic people, known as the Yuraks, who were created from native Romikkans and Drazzanians intermarrying and mixing cultures.

## **Fall of The Palax Empire 1492 A.T.F-1650 A.T.F**

The Palax Empire ruled as the undisputed power in Orbis for nearly three centuries until its power began to wain in early 1492 A.T.F. The Third Apocalypse had just recently concluded which had devastated much of the Palax Empires military forces, to worsen the situation the Khanates and Khangates that had been established by the Palax Empire had either ceased contact with the main administrative body, or rebelled during the Palax Empires fight against the forces of Sargoth. The Palax Empire slowly succumbed to infighting and stagnation, with the final blow being a series of Crusades launched by the Patriarch to retake the mainland of Orbis from the Palax Empire, with hopes of re-establishing a pro-Titus Kingdoms and States.

The growing pressure from the Patriarch, Infighting, and lack of bureaucratic cohesion caused the last main vestiges of the Palax Empire to crumble by 1650 A.T.F. During these turbulent times the city of Baatar experienced massive economic devastation and the cities population was cut in half. With the larger network of the empires extensive trade routes no longer functioning, the city itself experienced a series of famines and catastrophic outbreaks of disease. De-population further increased with mass emigration from the city back to nomadic villages, as those living in the city held more allegiance to their tribe than the city itself. By 1650 the city itself only possessed a population of nearly 30,000 inhabitants, which was still large for most cities at the time, but was a former shadow of the once large metropolis that could even rival the Romikkan megacities of old.

## **War For Orbis and Kelmujin Eastmoore 1650 A.T.F-1760 A.T.F**

By 1650 the Palax Empire had been reunited and reformed by the Eastmoore Family, this family was a powerful Northern Clan who swept down from the North and unified the tribes. Under the Eastmoore Clans rules, the City was rebuilt. And as a show of strength, the Eastmoore family in 1677 A.T.F personally financed the construction of a wall. The wall stood nearly 50 feet tall and was 30 feet wide. The Wall featured a stone foundation and was made of reinforced wood as the frame, with Romikkan style cement poured inside the frame mixed in with rammed earth, and the top and sides of the wall having light brown bricks. This wall, although influenced by other cultures, was the first major wall created for a settlement by the Drazzanians.

Furthermore by the Eastmoore family was able to reopen trade routes connecting the city to Freeport and Teratime. The Eastmoore family accomplished this, by rebuilding the roads leading to the coast and patrolling the vigorously to prevent bandit attacks. By 1735 A.T.F, Kelmujin Eastmoore had inherited the throne from his father as "The Great Khan of The Palax Empire". Kelmujin continued improving the cities state by hosting grand celebrations, and holding huge festivals for the other Chieftains and Khans of the other tribes to come and spectate. Thanks to the Eastmoore efforts, Baatar had regained its status as an economic powerhouse, so much so that the entire Eastern Side of the city became a bustling marketplace, with tents and yurts lined all across the road leading to the Eastern Gates full of exotic goods, slaves, and trinkets. With little improvement left to do Kelmujin had begun a campaign to re-expand the Palax Empire. Kelumjin would also seek the good faith of foreign lords, and offered his capital as a staging point for the Third Crusade into Nova. The members of the Third Crusade into Nova agreed and on November the 23rd 1742 A.T.F they rallied at Baatar, and by November the 23rd 1742 A.T.F they had departed. Upon their return on May the 4th 1744 A.T.F the Crusaders showed a great gratitude towards the Drazzanians. One lord paying Kelmujin with some of the loot aquired on the Crusade, this lords name was Karkos. Someone the Drazzanians would later ally with.

For a short time Kelmujin was driven by the nostalgia of the Five Conquerors, and restoring the Palax Empire. He was quickly humbled when he came to realize many of the contending armies were decades ahead of the Drazzanians in technology, and fielded armies five times the size of those the Palax Empire possessed. In hopes to avoid Drazzan being subjugated, early into the year of 1753 A.T.F Kelmujin allied himself with a Norkish Warlord named Karkos, where he and Karkos's General, Ryan Dust, would campaign together and become close friends. Bataar continued to flourish and became Kelmujins main source of recruitment for his campaigns with Karkos. Eventually at the end of the war Kelmujin realized that the centuries worth of conflicts, subjugation, and infighting had severely depopulated Drazzan. Upon realizing this he knew that the days of the Five Great Conquerors was over, and agreed to join the Dominion of Orbis alongside his friends Ryan Dust, and Karkos.

Upon joining the Dominion of Orbis, Baatar became a province which was represented by their Councilman Kelmujin Eastmoore, who also ruled the province as a Governor. With the nearly limitless power as a governor not much changed for the citizens of Baatar, except for where their tax money went too. Kelmujin would continue to rule as a governor from the Khan's Palace, and the city continued to grow, with the East Gate Market eventually becoming the main attraction of the city itself.

## **The Wesley War and Power House of The East 1760 U.O-1764 U.O**

During the outbreak of the Wesley War, Kelmujin Eastmoore was still a Councilman within the Dominion of Orbis and Governor of Drazzan. Kelmujin initially sided with Karkos, and even supplied him with horses when Karkos mobilized an army of decommissioned knights for a campaign in the North. Kelmujin Eastmoore quickly abandoned Karkos, and joined Ryan Dust supporting him and his intentions for Orbis after learning of Karkos's plans to declare himself Emperor. After Karkos was defeated Kelmujin Eastmoore, and Baatar rejoined The Dominion of Orbis. Unlike the Northern, Central, and Southern Cities of Orbis, Baatar was spared of any fighting during the conflict.

## **Notable Locations**

**The Walls of Eastmoore**

In 1677 A.T.F the Eastmoore family personally financed the construction of a wall around the city of Drazzan. The wall stood nearly 50 feet tall and was 30 feet wide. The Wall featured a stone foundation and was made of reinforced wood as the frame, with Romikkan style cement poured inside the frame mixed in with rammed earth, and the top and sides of the wall having light brown bricks. This wall, although influenced by other cultures, was the first major wall created for a settlement by the Drazzanians. The Wall itself had several sections for artillery placements in the event of a siege, and had several archer towers built into it as well with around 12 being present on each side of the wall. The wall itself formed a disjoined oval formation around the city, and the wall encompassed the Khan's Palace, and a majority of the Middle Class and Nobleman's Yurts. However the wall did not encompass the large series of smaller yurts and tents within the outskirts' of the city. And quickly slums around the Western and Southern portion of the walls began to form.

**The Khan's Palace**

The Khan's Palace was a large building of Romikkan Origin. The building was a large Estate Palace that was built in the center of the city, it had five large columns and the building was three stories high. Unlike typical Romikkan Designs the building had large roof that was similar in shape to that of a huge yurt, but instead was adorned in gold and marble. The Building was one of the few pieces of Romikkan Architecture that survived in the city following the Crisis of The Tenth Century. And the building eventually became the "Khan's Palace", being repurposed over the years. The inside of the building was remodeled and soon decorated with Drazzanian fur rugs, war trophies, exotic weapons on the walls, and lavish pillows and ceremonial chairs along with a fire pit in the center of the palace.

**The East Gate Market**

By the 1740s A.T.F the Eastern Side of the city became a bustling marketplace, with tents and yurts lined all across the road leading to the Eastern Gates full of exotic goods, slaves, and trinkets. 1/3 of the market was inside of the Eastern Portion of the city while the remaining half was outside of the walls. This Marketplace soon became the main attraction of the city, becoming a hub for trade and barter.

## **Demographic Makeup**

The Majority of the city was made up of Drazzanians who mainly followed the Way of The Sky Khan, with small pockets of Drazzanians following the Church of Titus. The Drazzanians make up nearly 98% of the cities population, while the 2% are typically merchant families or merchant company employees. Although all throughout history many have visited Baatar, due to its extremely harsh climates the Drazzanians are the only ones who thrive within these conditions.

## **Geography and Architectural Design**

The city is located in the Southernmost Region of Drazzan, the areas geography is mostly flat steppe lands, unlike other regions of Drazzan. The Southernmost region is known for having small pockets of hills and light vegetation in the fertile valleys that lay under these hills. The city is situation directly in the flat land of the steppe near a series of hills that lead towards the Southern Ocean. During the summer the land is arid and dry, and during the winter the lands experience freezing and sometimes frost build up. The city's architectural design is nothing of note, the outskirts of the city are populated with the smallest yurts and basic tents. Later during the city's lifespan these smaller yurts and tents would be positioned outside of the walls. The inner city held the larger yurts and even some buildings made of the tan clay that could be collected from clay deposits from the hills. These clay buildings were a rarity and sparsely dotted in-between the medium to large scale yurts. The city's design was not carefully laid out and although the city's natural formation resembled that of a disjoined oval, the city did possess a crude dirt road network that winded all throughout the streets. In the center of the city laid the "Khans Palace" which stood as the last remaining remnants of Romikkan Architecture during the Romikkan Occupation of Drazzan.

## **Government**

The City of Baatar spent much of its existence ruled by the Palax Empire, and for a few centuries under the Romikkan Empire. During this reign the city went from being administered by a Romikkan Governor, to the Great Khan of the Palax Empire Himself. The city's day to day politics was handled by a series of administrators usually appointed by the Great Khan who handled the trade, laws, and infrastructure of the city. The City would eventually come under the jurisdiction of The Dominion of Orbis which was a Constitutional Oligarchy. Under the Dominion of Orbis, Baatar was administered by a Governor who appointed their respective underlings to take on the day to day task.