Dion

Dion was an ancient Samorite city located in central Samor near the modern day town of Serpa. Archeological digs reveal that the settlement was already quite prosperous by the rough beginning of the Vei period, and the settlement would become one of the most important cities in Samor during the beginning of the Yute period, as the city inherited the Samorite Lordship from Vei after a war between the two cities.

## Pre-Vei period

Much like other Samorite cities, Dion didn't begin its life as a permanently settled town, but as a string of seasonal settlements along the banks of the Chenakasy river. Little remains of these early settlements of Dion, however, with the oldest remains being found matching in date to much later encampments of cities like Vei or Vaurisi, suggesting that settlements around Dion only starting to pop up at the end of the Pre-Veiian period.

## Vei period

Despite only being settled towards the tail end of the Pre-Vei period, the city showed remarkable growth during the mid to early Vei period. This can be attributed to the advent of the invention of dykes and floodwalls, which allowed the settlement to be much safer from floods while at the same time regulating floodwater for the crops.

During the mid of the Vei period, most, if not all major or semi significant settlements in Samor would be destroyed unexplainably, with Dion being one of them. Although the theories numerous, most scholars and archeologists come to the consensus that all cities were looted by a people only known as the *Hy-Faka* (Forest people/people of the forest), although none really know why and how the raids were both so destructive and synchronised, happening within a very short timespan. Nonetheless, even tough the city of Dion wasn't hit as hard as others, it was still ravaged, with many of the people living in the city fleeing to primarily Vei.

The city would however start to regain its population, and the city would show signs of a prospering community. The city grew to even have a city wall around 2.8 meters in height and a temple district called the *Tarovigiat* (Temple of Tarovik) near the main marketplace.

During the later parts of the Vei period, the city would start to vie for power against the nearby city of Vei, which at that point was the most powerful city in all of Samor and the holder of the Lordship of Samor. The chief of Dion, *Uta-Pagâeti* (Servant of the fields) would see to that Dion would become the most powerful, and he started to assemble an army to capture the city of Vei. The Dionian war tablet, written as a contemporary account of the war by the scribe of the chief, *Ammorati,* explains that after a steady increase of prosperity in Dion, *Uta-Pagâeti* saw it necessary to increase the might and glory of Dion even further:

"*Uta-Pagâeti* saw upon his domain in a light of prosperity, as not a day went by were the markets are still filled during the eve and were new goods didn't enter by the wagon full through the gates of the city during the morning and afternoon, and the ever so ambitious chief that he was decided to further the prosperity, so that every man, woman & child; official, freeman & slave would live in greater prosperity and prestige than before."

*Uta-Pagâeti* managed to defeat the Veiians and he looted the city of Vei, bringing many of its valuables back to Dion. Following this defeat, *Uta-Pagâeti* was crowned as the Lord of Samor, and the Samor Lordship transfered to Dion.

## Yute period

As the new lord of Samor, Dion entered a new sort of Golden age, as trade that once used to go to Vei now went to Dion. This meant that Dion became the biggest trading hub in the region. Paired with the fact that Samor witnessed multiple years of great crop yield (according to several sources from the time) meant that the population of Dion grew very rapidly. By the end of the Yute period, the city was home to around 40,000 inhabitants, which is a drastic increase from the hypothesised 3000 in the beginning of it. That means that the city limits were expanded several times, with great public works. One of the notable of the great public works was that of the *Tarovigiat.* Although the *Tarovigiat* Already existed before, during the Dionian golden age it got greatly expanded, and a new temple of *Tarovik* was erected in the centre of the complex.