Kharos

Kharos was one of the major powers of central Tairghol before its demise in 518CE.

Kharos occupied the northwest coast of the Inland Sea, reaching as far north as Agrimenta, and bordering the Plainspeople in the west and the Westforest in the east.

## History

Kharos was founded in the town of Pella by Philip in 330BCE, making it among the oldest nation-states in Tairghol. As a mark of his legitimacy, Philip attacked and annexed a small portion of Plainspeople territory. He died shortly afterward, leaving the throne to his son Telamon.

Telamon was the first of the Peace Kings - his father had made him fight in his war of expansion, leading young Telamon to see the horror of war firsthand. The Peace Kings sought to expand peacefully, trying to mend relations with the Plainspeople and opening trade to make Pella prosper further.

In 15CE, the last of the Peace Kings brokered a deal with the Westforest to allow Kharosian citizens to settle in an area of the Westforest ceded to Kharos.

When Phyleus ascended in 40CE, he undid everything the Peace Kings had accomplished. Phyleus built an army and attacked the Plainspeople without warning. His successors continued this tradition, each annexing more land as proof of their legitimacy. Phyleus' successor Myseus the Forgetful (named sarcastically by the populace) ordered the destruction of all records of the Peace Kings, further affirming Kharos' new military directive. Even now, only three of the Peace Kings (Telamon, Sarpedon and Chorasmius) have been identified, for a period of almost three hundred years.

Kharos embarked upon a path of expansion by any possible means, settling uncolonised lands as well as annexing the lands of the Plainspeople. The Westforest was largely left alone as Kharosian society had no need for forests, whereas plains were used as pasture and crop fields.

The western cities of Cycladia and Thermia, founded at the beginning of the 4th Century, bore the brunt of recruitment for Kharos' wars, and as a result became very military-oriented cities. It was around this time that Kharos came into contact with their longtime enemy Reme.

After the Great Gap, there was a palpable change in the Plainspeople. The campaign of Ucalegaon, shortly after the Gap, marked the first defeat Kharos had ever suffered. Ucalegaon's army was utterly crushed and the king himself barely escaped with his life. After this, his successor Stromphaios solidified the western border as it was clear that the Plainspeople were not only more aggressive, but much more powerful as well. This border did not stop the Plainspeople from raiding and razing hamlets around Cycladia and Thermia, leading in turn to these cities resenting Pella for sending no aid.

The city of Agrimenta was founded shortly before as Ucalegaon's expedition, around 410CE, lying on the border of Kharos and Reme. When Reme sent troops to the border at Agrimenta, Kharos reciprocated and the next century was tense as Kharosian and Reman forces vied for supremacy without declaring outright war.

In 497CE the city of Methonia, in the east of Kharos, declared a war of independence with Reme's support. Reman forces kept the bulk of the Kharosian army occupied at Agrimenta while partisan forces occupied much of the east of Kharos. Two years later, Cycladia and Thermia used this situation to their advantage and also attempted secession.

By 502CE Methonia was under its own government and became the country of Marthenia, a client state of Reme. The peace allowed embattled Kharosian forces to relocate to the west, where the rebel cities of Cycladia and Thermia were on the verge of victory. Armies from these cities danced around the more heavily-armoured Kharosian forces, cutting supply lines and fighting a war of attrition. Eventually Kharos signed a peace deal, ceding sovereignty over the two cities. Cycladia and Thermia became the city-states of Cyclos and Thermos respectively.

Thermos did not last long - in 511CE, the Plainspeople razed the city to the ground and massacred any humans they could find. Survivors were relocated to both Kharos and Cyclos. The King of Kharos, Pyleos, declared a state of emergency and formed defensive alliances with Marthenia, Cyclos and even, begrudgingly, Reme. Pyleos brought about change in every corner of Kharos for the sake of defense against the Plainspeople who, once again, had a border on Kharos and were raiding only a dozen leagues from Pella itself.

The reforms that Pyleos brought about became known as the Carusian Transition, as it was around this time that Kharos became known instead as Carusia - a country with a much different personality to Kharos.