History

The history of Sai Don is often described using three time periods:

## Time of Tumult

Religious
texts from long ago claim that a Time of Tumult existed at the beginning of
things in which monsters ruled the ocean and those who lived on land would not
sail the seas. Few individuals lived on islands at this time and those that did
were the indigenous peoples or the offspring of unfortunates whose ships
capsized or were torn apart. Life in these times was meager and food was hard
to come by causing substantial infighting. The monsters reveled in this chaos
and received bounties from the superstitious land-dwellers who had forsaken
their absent gods in favor of appeasing the horrors before them. And while the
mortals may have turned their backs on the gods, the gods had yet to abandon
their wards.

The texts
decree that Seven Sages rode out of the Tumult towards Rich Reef. The sages
taught the inhabitants of the Rich Reef how to gather food without endangering
themselves. The people rejoiced in their salvation and built temples of
teaching to propagate the Sage's lessons. After several years the Sages decided
that their education could only go so far while the monsters still roiled in
the tumult. The Sages requested that the god Heim the Worker build a ship
capable of sailing the Sai Don seas unmolested by the monsters. Using this ship
the Sages sailed back out into the Tumult in an act of divine sacrifice. For it
is said that the following night the ocean roared and lightning bolts flew from
the sky and the monsters were pulled in the direction the Sages left. The
creatures writhed under the waves like eels in a barrel but could not escape
the ineludible grasp of the Sages' magic. With the monsters gone Sai Don woke
to a new dawn and a new ocean.

The
reclamation of Sai Don is recorded by the first historians of the Seven Sages
University on Rayska. During this period it is said that life grew and expanded
across Sai Don. City states were established and travelers from the Far Lands
ventured out towards the islands. Few conflicts occurred between new settlers
and the natives of Sai Don as there was plenty of land for each settlement to
be established separate from the others. It was also at this time that trade
between the isles became established.

It was not long before these same advisers came to the
consensus that they could rule better than the king and orchestrated a series
of events that would sow dissent among the king's subjects. The advisors
subsequently had the king, unknowingly, sign an executive order splitting the
throne among his advisors. The outraged king, when he discovered the
subterfuge, was unable to find support among his former allies and fled into
exile. All the while, the new owners of Rayska implementing orders that would forever
fix Rayska's position as the economic hub of Sai Don

### Oberdonian Secession

Sometime after the Tumult ended the fascist nation of Dunclaw
in the Far Lands tried to lay their claim to Sai Don. They mobilized an armada
of ships that settled in the frozen wastes of what would later become known as
Oberdon. However, as the settlement was being established a secession occurred.
Many of the Dragonborn masters sent to oversee the settlement grew distasteful
of the barren landscape and sought passage back to their home. Left with a
skeleton crew the remaining masters succumbed to a coup orchestrated between
the "softskin" servants, lizardfolk allies,  and some of the native tribes people who were
being evicted from their territory.

The Dunclaw masters eventually sent out a second armada to
reclaim the territory but suffered massive losses in the frigid waters en route
to the nation. When they arrived they discovered that through winter their
former servants had fortified their encampment and the Dunclaw forces were
unable to maintain their siege. The remainder of the Dunclaw fleet fled south
to Rayska where they either defected into the Rayskan elite or returned home in
disgrace.

## The Wars of Sai Don

After the
reclamation came a time of war in which several battles plagued Sai Don's seas.

The new
nations began to expand as they cemented their place as powerhouses in the new
Sai Don. Several of the native populations were forced to emigrate or join into
the growing populations. Trade increased substantially as the need for goods
increased. Similarly the number of ships that sailed the seas boomed.

### The War of the New Islands

The first great conflict occurred in the Oberdonian
territories. The newly established
Oberdonian state sought to liberate the barbaric hordes that lived in
the island states surrounding their frozen nation. Sai Don's first war occurred
as Oberdonian naval ships, outfitted with stolen Dunclaw armaments and weapons
sailed the frozen reaches. Destroying pirate and barbarian encampments and
unifying the scattered populations under one banner. Many of the island nations
that joined the Oberdonians did so willingly and are still well-protected by
the Oberdonian navy to this day.

### The Treaties

As the Oberdonians sailed south during the first claim their
navy eventually became thinly spread. The new Rayskan nation agreed to a treaty
with the Oberdonians ensuring that the Rich Reef region would not engage in the
war with the Oberdonians on the conditions that the assault was stopped and
that no harm would come to Rayskan ships.

### The War of the Old Islands

Some time after the treaties were signed Oberdon had managed
to recover from its earlier war and sought to unify the remainder of Sai Don.
They left Rayska in peace in accordance with their treaty, however, the
military nation was unprepared for the opposition they faced from the old
islands: those being the nations of Creser and Vulcuud.

The Creserans raged guerilla warfare against the Oberdonian
ships and when one of the many island states was captured the pirates would
hide out in one of Creser's many caves until the Oberdonians were forced to
leave. Ultimately the Oberdonian fleet had greater success further in its
expedition as it laid siege to many islands in Vulcuudian territory. This
strong advance was eventually thwarted however when the Oberdonians led an
assault on Vulcuud itself. The volcano for which the main island is named
erupted destroying much of the Oberdonian fleet while the Vulcuudian's survived
deep within a pocket of the earth.

Almost simultaneously a dwarven armada had managed to make
its way towards the Oberdonian capital undetected. The Oberdonian navy was
forced to surrender and return to their home defeated. With the aide of the
Rayskans, the Vulcuudians drafted an agreement that allowed Oberdon to remain a
nation and retain the territories it had established before the first war. In
exchange Oberdon would teach The Established Decree, a set of tenants by which
Oberdonians would live, and would assist in the construction and maintenance of
a set of watch towers on the Oberdonian frontier that would alert the rest of
Sai Don to any future attacks.

### Rise/Fall of Creser

After the Second war Creser had a brief period of tremendous
growth. Almost overnight the various pirate captains established a unified Creser that would work towards both increased infrastructure and trade. For a
period this growth was unmatched and challenged Rayska as a cultural hub and
potential tourist destination. Then just as quickly Creser fell into ruin.
While some settlements remain, the majority of the archipelago has fallen back
to its ways of crime and piracy.