Eshér

**Eshér** is a region in Nesaria known for being the homeland of the Eshérian Elves. Eshér holds almost all of the Elvish population of Nesaria - approximately 70% - with the remainder largely being spread across Dongris and Ascaria. Eshér is also known for its unusual geography, as the majority of the region is taken up by the largely uninhabitable Eshérian Marsh - which is not actually a marsh, but rather a brackish swamp.

Although Eshér is both geographically and numerically smaller than its cousin nation of Saveria, many historians have argued that Eshér has had much greater influence on the course of world history, by beginning Nesaria's conversion to Elvic civilisation and generally being instrumental in Nesaria's economic and technological development, as well as its rise to power as military hegemon and eventually supreme ruler of Inecuria.

Though outsiders often see them as merely one part of Nesaria, Eshérians tend to be very proud of their heritage, and regard themselves as Eshérians first and Nesarians second. They are often frustrated at their image as being subjects of the humans of Ascaria, instead regarding themselves as equal partners and allies.

In addition to their obvious ethnic distinction from the surrounding humans, Eshérians also retain many of their own cultural traditions as well as their own language. The Eshérian language is mostly mutually intelligible with Nesarian - especially the Lowerlander dialects - but not entirely, since Eshérian vocabulary is purely Elvic whereas Nesarian contains many Elvicised native words.

## Name

The exact etymology of Eshér remains unclear. The name was one that the Eshérians brought with them during their migration into Nesaria; they already called themselves *Eshérai*, and the very earliest extant names for Eshér actually refer to the land as "New Eshér" (*Delu Eshér*), before the "new" eventually fell out of use.

Some linguists have proposed that Eshér is cognate with the Saverian word *ashei*, which refers to woodland with many flowers on the ground. It may also be cognate with the Eshérian word for woodland or a light forest, which is *essa*. However, there is no agreed-upon reconstruction for a precursor word in Old Elvic, and many linguists have argued that although there is likely a link between *ashei* and *essa*, they are not necessarily cognate with Eshér just because they sound similar.

A more clear lingusitic connection can be drawn between Yaliva, the capital city of Eshér, and Elifana, the most prominent island of Saveria. Although not direct cognates, both names are thought to be corruptions of the same name of "Elf home".

## History

### Kingdom of Eshér

Elves arrived in Nesaria during the Eshérian Invasion, first appearing in Cafania before migrating their way into the marsh, ultimately settling their cities on its northern edge. There are no written records of this event, so the reasons why the Eshérians moved away from the fertile lands of Cafania into the salty waters of Eshér is unclear. However, most historians have speculated that some sort of conflict between Elves and the native humans took place - based on limited evidence of ancient Elvish skeletons which were clearly killed very violently - and so the Elves sought out the least-populated region of Nesaria, which was the marsh and the lands immediately surrounding it.

The Eshérians quickly realised that the poor fertility of their farmland would not support their numbers for long, so they established trade links with neighbouring realms and established two roads going through the marsh. They soon swelled their coffers by demanding tolls for passage through the marsh, as many traders made use of the new connection between Dongris and Cortath. Eshér's greatest source of wealth, however, was its produce. The long lives of Elves combined with their sharp eyes and quick thinking often leads to them becoming master craftsmen, and Eshérian crafted goods of all kinds - such as weapons, armour, tools, jewellery and woodwork - soon became highly sought after. The Eshérians also quickly realised how to extract salt from the waters of the swamp, and to this day the region remains Nesaria's main source of salt.

Though the burgeoning kingdom of Eshér rapidly established a powerful presence, its territorial expansion soon became utterly stagnant. Though Eshér would gain influence over much of the Lowerlands, it would gain no land at all for its entire independent existence after the initial settlement. Most historians see this as a symptom of the extremely divisive political situation that Eshér fell into not long after its settlement, with the land divided between a few very powerful noble houses. Though this division of land was a useful strategy for settling the new lands, it soon became Eshér's greatest weakness, as these noble dynasties constantly squabbled over petty matters.

Whenever the topic of expansion was brought into discussion, so too was the topic of who would own the new land. The ruling Ascelion dynasty eventually gave up all territorial ambitions completely, as every attempt to garner support for an expedition always came to nothing when the nobles all refused to entertain the idea of any one dynasty gaining more land for itself. This situation would explode into violence in the Eshérian War of Succession from 978-980 INC (522-520 BC), when the Ascelion line failed and the noble houses sought to fill the vacuum themselves. The Elosaria dynasty would emerge victorious with Queen Calia at their head, who proceeded to completely purge the other noble dynasties. All those with a part in the war were put to death for treason, and most of the survivors were sent to live as monastics or priests. Calia replaced them with her own loyalists, splitting up the domains into small pieces so that no noble dynasty could ever challenge the Crown again.

Calia won the war in no small part thanks to the assistance of King Faltas I of Ascaria. Faltas needed Eshér to be united and strong again so that it could serve as an ally in the ongoing Mortian War, potentially turning the tide when at this point Ascaria had been completely incapable of making significant gains. His official reason for intervening on the side of Calia was that the Elosaria dynasty was the most powerful - having seized control of Yaliva after the failure of the Ascelion dynasty, they commanded the greatest wealth and military might - and that Calia was the best candidate to become Queen. However, most historians - and even many contemporaries - believe the true reason to be that Faltas fell in love with Calia upon first sight, and sought to win her favour.

Calia's eventual marriage to Faltas was the beginning of the end for Eshérian independence. Their Half-Elf child Serona inherited both crowns, effectively making Eshér a vassal state of Ascaria. The influential noble Magosan Fidalion attempted to seize the crown upon the accession of King Faltas II, but this attempt at independence was short-lived. Faltas threatened to Magosan's face to burn Yaliva to the ground, plunder Eshér and then abandon its people to the whims of the Orcs if he refused to submit to the "lawful authority" of Ascaria. Fearing the consequences of rejecting Ascaria, and furious at unpopular taxes and conscription laws, the people of Yaliva protested against Magosan, and he was eventually assassinated. Whether Magosan was killed by his own rebellious people or by an Ascarian assassin shall likely forever remain unknown.

### Imperial Rule

Eshér continued to exist as a subject of the rulers in Ascaria, from the reign of Faltas and his ill-fated heirs, through the Republic of Nesaria and into the Nesarian Empire. Despite nominally being a vassal, however, Eshér always occupied special significance as a result of its power and how it came under the rule of Ascaria, and it was granted autonomy not given to the other regions of Nesaria. King Faltas II's threats of brutality are considered an exception to the rule; Ascarians and Eshérians generally thought of each other as equal allies united for common purpose rather than as master and servant, and this perception continues to the modern day.

Though Eshér's economic significance within Nesaria would rapidly become eclipsed by Ascaria, it always retained immense influence. Eshér often led the way in technological development in Nesaria, making breakthroughs in engineering, architecture, smithing, mathematics and military matters that were a significant factor in Nesaria's rise to dominance. Many of the inventors who began the industrial revolution in Nesaria were of Eshérian birth.

Eshérian soldiers would also prove to be extremely valuable - not just for the awesome power of their magic, but also because of their skill. Just as the long lives of Elves allows them to become master craftsmen, so too does it allow them to become master warriors. Eshér was famed for its longbowmen in the pre-gunpowder era, and after such soldiers were made obsolete they soon added gunnery to their military traditions. Eshérians became famous as some of the greatest crafters and users of artillery in the world; their superior experience and knowledge made them able to consistently craft durable and powerful guns, and their quick Elvish minds made them able to hone in shots much faster than their human counterparts. During the Civil War, Eshérians also became famous as riflemen, but they were still first and foremost known as gunners.