Tha Githae

Tha Githae (originally named Theh Cehithah) is a culturally important ruin near the summit of Mount Zoufei in the Ializa region. It was settled in 801 BNE and was, at the time of its destruction, the oldest continuously inhabited site on Opelyx. It was initially settled as a religious center for the Shreeto-speaking Chai people and later took on administrative roles, becoming the center of governance for a confereracy of Chai tribal groups in the 5th century BNE. The city was led by a council of elders who led religious ceremonies in the city's historic temples. Extensive excavation of the cave system and of an outcropping outisde the caves led to construction of a considerable city of stone structures and caves. Beginning in the third century NE, the elders entered into a series of treaty agreements with the Ialini-speaking Kingdom of Brioovushlia and the later Kingdom of Ializa, though which the Chai defended the headwaters of the Meroureida and several key passes to the north and the Peburi (as the people of Ializa are known) provided the Chai with tributes and sacrifices for their religious ceremony. Chai territory was invaded in a surprise attack by Imaria in 887 NE and Tha Githae was sacked and massacred before Ializa could send reinforcements. The ruins remain partially intact and the city's temples and altars are still used for religious ceremonies today.

## Etymology

The original name of city derived from old-Shreeto *theh* (cave) and *cehithah* (burrow).

## Geography

Tha Githae is located at the base of a steep slope to the north-north-east of the summit of Mt. Zoufei, 1200 m from the summit laterally and 1760 m below the summit vertically. The entrance to the natural cave is at an elevation of 4267 m, making Tha Githae one of the highest-elevation settlements in the history of Opelyx. Beyond the entrance to the cave was an outcropping which was later excavated to produce a flat, open air town outside the cave complex.

## History

The Shreeto-speaking Chai peoples were natives of the high mountain region around Mt. Zoufei and considered the peak to be a holy site. They believed that the summit, which was believed to be unreachable by man, was the route between the earth and the heavens. They frequently visited the area for religious ceremonies and pilgrimages. Several caves on the slopes of the mountain were known and of these, Tha Githae was the highest and largest. in 802 BNE, Chai priests established a permanent presence in the cave, digging a well inside the cave and constructing living quarters near older altars.

Tha Githae's prominence as a religious site gave it influence over the otherwise disunited Chai tribes and the priests of Tha Githae established themselves as de facto leaders of an informal Chai confederacy during the 5th century BNE. They cemented their role in 455 BNE when they settled a succession dispute among the Veheepa tribe, one of the largest tribes, by forcing both claimants to abdicate and enter exile as punishment for bringing war to their tribe. This tale became a popular folktale in the region and various versions of it are still told in Ializa today. It is also remembered by the modern Ialini idiom *Virae ccoukirei riae cciatia* (lit. "send both to exile") used to decry leaders who engage in in-fighting.

Over centuries, Tha Githae expanded by further excavation of the cave system and through the leveling and excavation of a nearby bluff to form an open-air community. The city was also adorned with substantial statuary, depicting gods and animals in massive scale around the open-air community and the slopes above the cave. The external structures and statues, like the caves structures, were all carved from pre-existing solid granite, so that the entire community was one contiguous stone piece. This is still considered an architectural and engineering marvel today and modern scholars have little understanding of how such elaborate stone excavation was performed with such precision or what was done with the massive quantities of excavated rock. Of particular mystery are the light shafts which illuminate the caves. These shafts are extremely straight, too narrow to pass through, and point precisely at various points of astronomical significance, such as the position of the sun and stars on key calendar days. The origin of the shafts is sufficiently mysterious that even credible academics have hypothesized that they may have been created through sorcery.

The deepest channels of the cave traveled up steeply and in the general direction of the summit. According to legend, one passage terminated at a point exactly 999 *phroo* (809 meters) below the highest point of the peak, and there was a large chamber with a number of altars and ancient relics at the terminus of this passage. If such a chamber ever existed its location is not currently known.

The elders of Tha Githae wished to avoid war with the growing Ialini speaking kingdoms in the valleys below them and they entered treaty agreements with them. The first such treaty was formed in 308 NE between Tha Githae and the Kingdom of Brioovushlia. This initially treaty recognized Brioovushliani control of the Meroureida Valley below Zuli Falls and Chai control of the valley above. Later treaties provided for mutual defense and for payments of tribute and sacrifice to be provided to the elders of Tha Githae. Under these arrangements, Tha Githae provided a buffer state between Ializa and the growing Imariani empire to the north and defended a number of passes into the Ializa region.

The Peburi people were generally harsh in their treatment of the native peoples of the region but they respected the civility and cultural advancement of the Chai and viewed them as roughly equals. The Peburi adopted a number of Chai gods and legends as their own and considered Chai clothing and jewelry to be fashionable. Peburi encroachment into Chai lands and culture nonetheless occurred as the relatively small and mountainous Chai territory was sparsely populated and reliant on trade with the Peburi for most forms of basic goods. By the 5th century NE, most Chai peoples outside of Tha Githae spoke Ialini as a first language and followed a syncretic Peburi/Chai faith similar to other Ialini speaking people's. Interbreeding was also common and the Chai ethnic identity was largely isolated to the city of Tha Githae itself as well.

Tha Githae retained its unique cultural, linguistic, religious, and ethnic character, however, and continued to dominate the political and religious life of the regions it governed by treaty. It continued to grow in size, wealth, and influence and by the time of its destruction it had its highest ever population of 44,000 and its engineers and generals had built seemingly impregnable defenses along the Zuruve Ridge, which defined the boundary between Imariani and Tha Githae territory.

In 887 NE, Imaria launched surprise attack at the heart of Tha Githae territory, ignoring the major travel routes and assaulting Tha Githae itself. The force managed to slip past the ridge undetected through a previously unknown passage and reached the city in force. The city's defenses were formidable but the invaders, seemingly with inside knowledge, were able to circumvent these as well. The city was massacred and its temples and caves were raided for relics, fossils, and artifacts. It is not known what became of the many well-known Tha Githae relics, as they did not subsequently return to Imaria.

Pebrui forces arrived to reinforce the region too late to save Tha Githae. Once the city had fallen, the remainder of its territories were demoralized and the Zuruve Ridge defenses collapsed even with Peburi reinforcements. Imaria occupied the region for a decade but were eventually driven back beyond Zuruve ridge in 898 NE.

Tha Githae was largely intact, structurally, but not resettled. The remotely located city had little strategic value and few resources. Rumors abounded that the city was haunted and cursed and that monsters stalked the caves. The site nonetheless retained religious significance and numerous rituals were performed annually by priests visiting the city's many mostly intact temples. The surface city has occasionally been used as a residence by refugees, travelers, and hermits, but only intermittently. The primary administration center of the Chai region, now known as Chei in Ialini, moved to the minor Chai city of Zookeiboo, which was located along the major travel route into the Meroureida Valley.

The Chei region was again occupied by Imaria along with other Ializa territories in 1340 NE. They then passed into a breakaway Imariani/Peburi kingdom known as the Kingdom of Loushiraziae in 1550 NE. After the defeat of and surrender of Loushiraziae in 1777, a group of ethnically Imariani nobles occupied the norther Chei region and briefly repopulated Tha Githae as a fortress. They appealed to Imaria for assistance but did not receive any and were pushed out of the region by Peburi Ializa forces over the following years. Tha Githae was abandoned once more in 1779. The region passed back into Imariani hands in 2365 NE, and is currently under Imariani administration.

Much of the ancient structure of Tha Githae remains intact. External features such as the statues show significant signs of weathering and some of the structures in the external town have collapsed but many of the external structures and internal cave tunnels remain intact and passable. Few travel to the city aside from a handful of priests who still perform annual rituals in the city, mostly performed to local gods who are believed to reside in the cave.