Barsa

The Sea Gate in the capital

The **Land of Barsa** is one of the eldest inhabited regions in the known world. One of the cradles of civilization, it has used to be a home for many different nations and tribes. While the diversity can serve as a fuel for cultural development, unfortunately it is often a reason of endless fights between its inhabitants.

## Geography

Barsa is bordered from the Nilfgaardian Empire via the Ardawanne Mountains and from Hannu via narrow region which connects the two halves of the Sea of the Hourglass during high tide. In the west, Barsa touches Ofir through a strait and a set of islands.

Most of the land is occupied by a desert, though some regions are fertile.

## Locations

### Mainland

* Agga
* Atab
* Gudeä
* Marad
* Mesha
* Omri
* Qasmuna
* Yenoäm
* Zerzura

### Islands

* Mekan Island
	+ Darn Mekan
* Varuta islands

## Culture

    Local customs demand that all girls guard their virginity until they wed.

TBA

## History

### Earliest history and the Bars

It is hard to pinpoint the original inhabitants of the region. Studying the ruins can without a doubt indicate dwarven, gnomish and elven presence, but the exact dates of their construction remain lost in the history. Extensive archeological excavations performed by Nilfgaardian scholars have found hieroglyphs depicting green-bearded dwarves cultivating the land, which according to prof. Schliemann might support the hypothesis of poleviks' homeland being located in the area.

Some time after the Conjunction, a group of humans known as the Bars settled here and claimed the land as their gods-given heritage.

### Aen Nilfe occupation

Around the 1st century after the Resurrection, or the 3rd after the Conjunction, the land was conquered by Aen Nilfe, the Black Seidhe. Most of the Bars retreated to Hannu.

The situation changed in the early 3rd century AR. While Aen Nilfe slowly moved either back north or south to Ofir and Zangvebar, the Bars grew powerful in Hannu, and the Hannuan Firaun-Caliph encouraged their leaders to push the elves back. When the Bars-Hann army crossed the border however, a tragedy occured – the civilian families following them drowned in the narrow sea when the low tide unexpectedly ended. Driven by grief, the Bars slaughtered all the elven men, taking their women and children as slaves. And so the elven occupation ended.

### Ofieri occupation and the Barsamen

In the 9th century a federation of Ofieri tribes, aided by Zangvebari pirates and Hann mercenaries, conquered Barsa. After several bloody uprisings and changes of the occupying powers, many of the Bars escaped north, where they settled in the relatively uninhabited area they called Ruach. The population left in Barsa, consisting of some Bars citizens, Ofieri tribes, elven slaves and Hann immigrants, eventually mixed, and by the 12th century became known as the "Barsamen". They eventually became independent from Ofir and found their own kingdoms called "taifas".

### Return of the Bars

In 1130s, the Kingdom of Daerlan invaded Ruach and began a program of expulsion and enslavement its Bars inhabitants. Afraid of the rising power of Daerlan, the Republic of Nilfgaard ensigned an *Imperator* to crush the menacing kingdom. After the victory, Nilfgaardian Senate decided that the Bars deserve their homeland back – and prepared an invasion.

In the late 1140s Nilfgaardian troops helped the Bars to reclaim a bunch of land and enforce their rule. The reasons of the Republic were however not only noble, but concerned trivial matters as well: better control in the Land of Barsa meant better opportunities for Nilfgaardian bussinesses.

### Contemporary situation

Barsa is divided between Nilfgaard-backed lands of the Bars and Ofir/Hannu-backed Barsamen. While most of people would prefer peaceful life, from time to time conflicts take place, with victims and foes at both sides.

## Notes

* The article is free to edit. While the Barsa is meant to be based on Sumerian, Israelite, Assyrian, Babylonian and other ancient cultures, you can easily notice that the contemporary conflict is maybe *too much* based on the real life problems of Israel, Palestine and the wider Near East due to my interest in this region. While it is an interesting setting, I'd be pleased to see some other influences in the contemporary situation than just aforementioned – and I beg the editors not to moralize nor make it pro/anti-Israel/Palestine pamphlet.