Ur-Taen

### Climate

4 seasons60 F Peaks0 F LowsWet and windy in the steppe, mildy warmer but more humid with less wind in the valley

### Natural resources

Dragon MetalsRegular MetalsBambooHerd Animals

## Economy

### Economic issues

Wealth inequality is highMost of economy is war-time oriented, peace-times causes struggles

## Science

### Tech Level

Military tech is only behind the EmpireOther tech is generally behind

## Military

### Conscription

Decided by dueling at age 18, if lose, then forced for 4 years

### Notable extras

Training for individual strength and focus on formation disruption

### Strengths

Each soldier is trained to be able to fight multiple opponents at once, primary focus on sundering enemy formations means that more strategized armies tend to struggle

## History

#### The Fae Courts (4000 BFNE-2000 BFNE)

The first presences in Ur-Taen, much like most of Anagrian, were the angels and the demons. They settled the land, and in secrets and shadows, had offspring. This offspring, often cast off and hidden away, was changed by the energy of Auron, shifted into a new form of creature: the Fae. The Fae covered much of Auron, but many settled within the deep bamboo forests of the now Khulsan Khöndii, favoring the forests as opposed to the wide open plains, with a similar phenomena found in Helianen, Rael, and Generath. (Remind me to write a proper article about Auron Fae Courts)

The Fae of Ur-Taen split much into the same Seelie and Unseelie courts of the rest of Auron, and much like the other courts, participated in the Torri rituals that stripped the Unseelie of their sentience and banished them to the now Tian.

#### The Dragon Empire (2000 BFNE-100 BFNE)

As all of Auron, Ur-Taen did not escape the reaches of the Dragon Empire, becoming a major part of the Empire for three seperate reasons: Firstly, the wide open but infertile plains allowed the Emperor to use Ur-Taen as a training grounds for his troops, with Ur-Taen rapidly becoming the military headquarters of the Empire. The main bulk of the army of the Emperor resided here alongside their armories. Further down towards the now Khulsan Khöndii, the Emperor struck a pact with the Fae there to acquire part of the magic of the Torri rituals, one of three that allowed the Fae to retain their lands in exchange for unlocking greater power for the Emperor.

The other reason for the success of the Empire within Ur-Taen belongs to the now Luu Aral, what was a luxurious spa resort island past the northern mountains of the steppe. Warmed by magics and enchanted to grow ever tranquil, historical records show the island was so heavily favored by the Emperor it was often referred to as the Second Solium. Upon the island exists ruins of a grand palace that is claimed to have been a grand party hall for the primes.

The final reason for the Empire's long-term presence is that Ur-Taen is where they created the second Dragon-made race: the Centaur peoples. Created by the Emperor to serve as pastorial herders, the Centaurs found success on the Ur-Taenese plains, where their herding prowress allowed them to easily control vast herds of the local herbivores for the feeding of the dragons. The Centaurs did eventually move down into the lands south of Ur-Taen such as Rael, but for much of the era, Ur-Taen was heavily known as the land of the centaurs due to their massive presence in the land.

Following the fall of the Dragon Empire, the draconic military presence in Ur-Taen collapsed and fled to Djeradthey, a retreat motivated heavily by a sudden increase in Centauren aggression as the centaurs laid full claim to the steppe. The centaurs did however respect the lands of the Fae within Khulsan Khöndii and shared a strong partnership with them.

#### The Centauren Clan-lands (100 BFNE-205 AFNE)

During the three-hundred year period between the fall of the Empire and the colonization by Taen, the Centaurs flourished. They quickly became wide-spread over the steppe, forming familial clans numbering in the upper 50s. These clans would be cooperative with others, with most specializing in a specific task or craft, building on generational knowledge and concentrating their skillsets. Four main clans arose out of this short period in time, which became the dominant leaders of the land.

These clans were Clan He'Faio'ian, Clan He'Naq'Lop, Clan He'Kie'Rop, and Clan He'Fae'Ian. Both Clan He'Faio'Ian and Clan He'Fae'Ian were of import to the culture of the Centaurs due to their heavy focus on maintaining communication with the Faion Kingdom's survivors and the Fae respectively, placing them on the western front and the eastern coast respectively. Clan He'Naq'Lop and Clan He'Kie'Rop became of importance due to an incredible skill in a field not commonly praciticed by the other clans: Magic and metallurgy respectively. Due to the highly specialized and unique nature of the four clans, they grew in magnitude at staggering speeds and began to fold other clans into themselves. The four clans did cooperate heavily as tradition, but they did not combine into each other due to historical differences and a wish to remain independent due to historical issues from the era of the dragon empire.

#### The Tianese Colonization (201 AFNE-320 AFNE)

In the now settled and well-established Tian in 201 AFNE, the current King Tszu Mno had acquired two twin sons, a matter which greatly complicated the hereditary structures of the kingship at the time. To settle this, Tszu Mno looked at distant uncivilized lands, and his gaze settled upon that of Ur-Taen, considering the land to only be ruled by ungoverned "tribes". Tszu Mno rallied his forces and landed within the Khulsan Khöndii in 205 AFNE. Originally, the Fae of the valley took well to the new-comers, but upon hearing that his people were being involved in manners of the Fae, those twisted creatures like Kemono of his homeland, the King decreed that they must be banished or purged as they are dangerous.

The war over Khulsan Khöndii was brutal and violent but aggressively short, lasting from 210 AFNE to 227 AFNE. While the magics of the Fae were mighty, they were not expecting the sudden assault of Samurai and Ninja. The Ninja in particular executed the most Fae on the Kage no ha no yoru, the first night of war when the ninja leapt upon the Fae villages and those within the towns in a violent and rapid genocide. Following this, the Fae began to fight back, but the sudden loss of numbers eventually led to them retreating into the Dald Khumuus, hunted by ninja and samurai.

The Tianese people rapidly swallowed up the land of the Khulsan Khöndii when the Tszu Mno died in 233 AFNE. To prevent a succession war, the twin brothers split the landmass. Hase Mno took the kingship of Tian, while Umeda Mno took over Ur-Taen. Umeda Mno was a product of his father, and began to push hard into the Centauren lands by 236 AFNE, but unlike the Fae, the Centaurs were expecting this act of aggression and defended their land violently. However, Umeda managed to secure the foothold at Ekhni Alkham, and began to wage a dirty war against the Centaurs, incorporating plagues, bushfires, and other such barbaric practices to decimate the Centauren populations. These actions were heavily frowned upon the Tianese and by Hase Mno as unbefitting true warriors, becoming the foundation of the cultural split between the two nations. The conflict was drawn out, pronounced, and barbaric, but by 320 AFNE, Umeda declared himself as King of Ur-Taen and created the Kingdom of Ur-Taen.

#### The Kingdom of Ur-Taen (320 AFNE- 603 AFNE)

The kingdom of Ur-Taen, while a seperate entity from the Kingdom of Tian, did still cooperate heavily with Tian. The major factors of this cooperation were two-fold. Firstly, Ur-Taen suffered heavily from a lack of large metal access and workable wood access, with the northern mountains being lacking in terms of metal deposits and the wood that naturally grows on the now Sramari peninsula being of a hard to work-with quality at the time. Tian, on the otherhand, lacked access to highly-arable land that they could farm upon and as such had to rely on the importing of food, but was quite rich in metals and pine woods. A secondary resource that gained great popularity amongst the rich of Tian is the bamboo that grew within the Khulsan Khöndii, a plant that was not exceptionally great at maintaining heat but was quickly turned into a show of wealth by the gifting of bamboo to Hase Mno by Umeda Mno in 340 AFNE. As such, a great trade relationship blossomed heavily between Tian and Ur-Taen.

The kingdom of Ur-Taen was the progenitor of many traditions that exist within the modern Khanate of Ur-Taen, mainly started by the Kings. King Umeda Mno, continuing his stance during the war, established a written doctrine in 334 AFNE of any form of victory is victory, irrelevant of the dishonor of the methods, creating the all ends justify the means mentality of modern Ur-Taen. King Higa Mno, following the death of his father from cancer, performed a Mörgöl across the country, in which he traveled through every city in the country by foot across 350 AFNE-370 AFNE. This journey popularized him with the people of Ur-Taen as well as creating the tradition of original Mörgöl for the common folk, which involved traveling across the country upon coming of age to visit the major centers. This did lead to the creation of a very robust public transit system across the country, an action that further reinforced Higa Mno's popularity across the common folk. Another tradition started by Higa Mno is that of the tradition to carry a sword at all times, following Higa's single-handed defeat of a group of assassins that had come after him in 390 AFNE during a parade, which prompted the king to begin to carry a katana always, and was emulated by the nobility and the common folk.

The reign of Higa Mno from 347 AFNE to 470 AFNE was considered the high point of the Kingdom of Ur-Taen, as his popularity with the common folk and the nobility were at extreme highs, and under his rulership, Ur-Taen became a proper nation. A robust public transport network was not the only advancement led by Higa. Taking inspiration from the Helianen governmental style of splitting the rulership amongst minor lords and ladies, Higa Mno nominated well-respected individuals amongst the cities to the rank of Ezen (Lord), giving them power of the surrounding lands, a practice not common within Tian as it violated the noble-blood code that Tian had held firmly onto. This was further expounded by Higa's institution of the Ezenii Zarlig, literally Lord's Decree, in which the lords could challenge a decision made by the King in the case of far over-reach. Higa also expanded trade with Auronese countries: The newly founded Dragon Caller's Guild of Eventrey recieved ample food and laborers in exchange for metals and Helianen recieved bamboo, fish, and meats in exchange for hard woods, forming an early pre-cursor to the PETUH Concordant of the modern day due to the already stable economy of Ur-Taen due to it's age.

Higa Mno died in 470 AFNE to poor health, and the kingship passed down to Domoto Mno, who ruled from 470 AFNE to 532 AFNE. Domoto's reign was largely unremarkable, with the only event of note being the beginning of the Ur-Taenese Dainistic movement in 500 AFNE, which Domoto allowed but was stopped by the Ezenii Zarlig, with the Ezen believing it would weaken the faith in the Zenkami of Tian.

Domoto Mno was assassinated in 532 AFNE, and the kingship passed down to Taragai Mno, who ruled from 532 AFNE to 603 AFNE. Taragai Mno was a brutish man, who rested upon the successes of his grandfather. His rule was characterized by three things: Firstly, Taragai's institution of reopenign the active hostilities towards the fae of Ur-Taen that was cooled down during Higa's reign. Secondly, a degradation in relations with allied nations, especially that of Tian. This occurred in 500 AFNE, when Taragai canceled an entire month's worth of food trade to Tian to host a feast in celebration of a successful raid upon the Fae. As this was shortly after the Tianese Enlightment Movement of 490 AFNE, Tian had begun to practice worship of their local Fae, and as such this action stirred immense tensions and led to the cutting of trade between Ur-Taen and Tian. Thirdly, Taragai's dismissal of the Ezenii Zarlig. In 582 AFNE, the Ezenii Zarlig called for the ending of the hostilities and for Taragai to apologize to the Tianese Noble Council.

Taragai refused this, and challenge any of the Ezen to defeat him and prove him wrong. While at first this was taken as an outrage, Ezen began to challenge him, with no success. Taragai was a powerful warrior of his own accord, and first he had spared the Ezen, but as more challenged him, he began to kill them. This led to massive opposition, and in 603 AFNE, Taragai's castle was besieged by a large faction of Ezen and common folk known as the Khanate, led by one Orbei Khan, the widowed wife of an Ezen that had been slain by Taragai in 590 AFNE. Orbei Khan had traveled Ur-Taen, gathering disgruntled Ezen and their citizenry to rise up against Taragai Mno. After a long and drawn out siege, Taragai was slain and the Kingdom dissolved.

#### The Ezenate of Ur-Taen (603 AFNE-656 AFNE)

To replace the Kingdom of Ur-Taen, the Ezenate was founded. Originally led by Orbei Khan, the Khanate was focused on being ruled by the Ezens with Orbei Khan being the political figurehead to represent the collective Ezens on the world stage. Overall, nearly every country collective refused to recognize the Ezenate due to the overthrowing of Taragai, but with some shrewd manipulations by the Ezens, recognition and the re-opening of trade routes did come around 630 AFNE.

The Ezenate was a short period in Ur-Taen's history, but many current Ur-Taenese residents remember it quite fondly. This was primarily due to the lack of a concrete and centralized authority, which allowed each city to function effectively independently, rarely beholden to the will of the greater whole. While this may seem functional in theory and in the short-term, economical trends of Ur-Taen at this time showed a rapidly approaching collapse of both food stocks and currency, with cooperation being rare and fleeting. During this time, Dainism spread rapidly across the nation and became the single unifing bond.

In 645 AFNE, Orbei Khan was assassinated. The Ezens, by this time, had noticed the issues due to not having a centralized government and begun a lengthy voting process over who would be the next leader. Unfortunately, the voting was a complete disaster, with many Ezens voting for themselves and the winner only getting 30 total votes out the 333 total Ezens. The Ezenate descended very rapidly into dissarray, with Ezens declaring themselves the next leader and sporadic wars breaking out. The next 11 years following turned Ur-Taen into a chaotic, famine stricken battlefield of warring cities.

#### The Khanate of Ur-Taen (656 AFNE-Present)

By 656 AFNE, out of the 333 starting Ezens, only 32 remained. These 32 had conquered their way across their neighboring cities and had carved Ur-Taen into 32 different states, all weakened and in dissarray. To end the wars, the 32 met within Nakhia to discuss terms of peace, and allow them to rule each of their 32 nations alone. Unfortunately, they were unable to cooperate. Within 2 hours of deliberations opening, a brawl broke out within the council hall of Nakhia. Within an hour, 24 of the Ezens were dead. The remaining 8 had managed to escape the council hall and avoided the bloodshed. Out of desperation, the ten Ezens retreated to the nearby süm of Dain to recooperate. While there, they prayed, and asked for advice from Dain. While it is unknown if Dain responded, when the Ezens emerged from the süm, they had agreed to the single way of resolving the conflicts.

The Ezens agreed to create the Ezenii temtseen (lord's tournament), in which the Ezen would fight in 1v1 duels to establish who would rule the land of Ur-Taen. The Ezenii Temtseen was hosted in Nakhai in the year 657 AFNE, with resounding success for the first two rounds of duels. The last two Ezen standing were Kepek Chimbay and Guntomar Tokah, but unfortunately Guntomar Tokah died of a serpent's bite while horse riding shortly before their duel. To ensure that Dain and the people, who at this time had fully bought onto the Ezenii Temtseen as an end to the strife, challenged a lowly foot servant from Guntomar's army, one by the name of Ukhuna. Ukhuna, through an accidental kicked rock and the sting of a bee, defeated Kepek Chimbay and through the magical pact created by the Ezen, was granted the leadership of the Ezenate. To validate her claim, she took the last name Khan, in honor of Orbei Khan, and founded the Khanate of Ur-Taen.

Unfortunately for Ukhuna, the now Khan Temtseen was within effect. Anyone could challenge for her position, and very rapidly many did. In the year 657 AFNE, there were 461 Khans. In 658, there were 203 Khans. By 659, there were only 5. Finally, the first Khan to hold his position for a year straight was Tokerumur Khan, who survived until 663 AFNE. He was succeeded by Bortei Khan, who survived for over a decade.

During his reign, Bortei Khan instituted the Irgenii Temtseen (citizenship tournament) alongside the Khiliin Darga (bordermasters) to allow people to fight to become part of the citizenry of Ur-Taen. He also re-instituted the Ezen class to help with managing the land and the Ezenii Temtseen to allow that position to be only held by the strongest. He was slain 680 AFNE by Baavgai Khan.

Baavgai Khan ruled until 720 AFNE, and during his reign re-vitalized lost trade connections with Helianen. He also assisted with the founding of the Third Dragon Caller's Guild through the donation of laborers, opened trade relations with Pollentia, Corinthia, Rael, and the Talus Empire, all of which had had their trade agreements with Ur-Taen crumble during the Ezenate and Khanate transition. In 710 AFNE Baavgai Khan also brought Ur-Taen into the PETUH concordant as it's fourth member after it's joint-founding by Pollentia and Eventrey, primarily with the goal of securing the economy of Ur-Taen as a full Auronese power. He was defeated by the current Khan, Alsom.

Alsom Khan is the current Khan of Ur-Taen. A former resident of Khulsan Khöndii, Alsom Khan re-opened hostilities against the fae of Ur-Taen almost immediately upon taking the throne. This greatly strained relations with Tian as well as with other members of the PETUH Concordant, but the military strength of Ur-Taen was too large for any effect to be had. The rapid and increased militarization under Alsom Khan in preperation of a grand war within the Dald Khumuus allowed Ur-Taen to survive the Twilight War without being absolutely decimated, however losses were still amongst one of the highest in non-Amunist countries.

During the Void Incursion of Generath, Alsom Khan refused to bring in refugees into Ur-Taen due to concerns over the void-touched magics they were carrying and refused to assist the PETUH Concordant with their failed attempt at defeating the Void due to believing it to be a waste of manpower. Shortly after, he was proven correct during the Tenuemic Invasion, in which losses in Ur-Taen were some of the lowest in Auron due to having a high military presence ready. Ur-Taen reclaimed much of it's lost favor within the Concordant during this time with Alsom shipping troops to assist with the battles within other Concordant lands as well as within the war within Tenuem itself. The banners of Ur-Taen were one of the most populous during the battle at the Devourer's Throne.

On a less-war hungry note, in 750 AFNE Alsom Khan accepted Dainism as the state religion of Ur-Taen and expanded the Ur-Taenese infrastructure, greatly. This was aided by the discovering of long-forgotten veins of metals within the Chuluun Khana from the dragon empire eras. Under Alsom, the trade-structure of Ur-Taen flipped rapidly, with food becoming a major import as the population outgrew what the farmers of Khulsan Khöndii could grow and metal becoming a leading export. This allowed a massive re-opening of trade with various other nations. Following the assassination of the previous Tianese Mieshu, Alsom re-opened the bond between Tian and Ur-Taen as the now-Mieshu Rin Sakur supported the fae persecution due to her own increased hunting of the Kemono.

Shortly after the end of the Tenuemic Invasion, Alsom Khan sold off the lower lands of Ur-Taen, those that had been mainly relegated to those that had failed to fully integrate into Ur-Taenese society, to several cooperative druid rings, forming the druidic nation of Sramar. Outside of money, Alsom also received guarantees of two things: 1) the claim to the Generathi land that will be purged by the Sramari druids. and 2) the Druids assistance in supporting Alsom's military might. While these guarantees have been heavily frowned upon by many druidic circles, the might of Sramar has been a large boon for Ur-Taen.

The current political landscape of Ur-Taen is fairly stable, as Alsom Khan is the strongest Khan to have ever taken the throne and keeps an extremely firm grip upon the Ezen. The sheer military might of the Khanate is a major component in this, as Ur-Taen's military composes 40% of the entire military of the Concordant combined, with a large focus on horse-riders and infantry. While the actions of Ur-Taen are morally dubious at best, the benefit brought by Ur-Taen to the Concordant is far too high to boot them out.

Currently, the main focus of Alsom Khan and the nation behind him is that of the exploitation of the newly acquired metal resource within their mountains, the purification of Generath to acquire new lands, and the purging of the Fae-folk hidden within the Dald Khumuus. With the advances of mining technology brought by the acquisition of crystalline alongside the aid of druidic earth magics, the first of those has been met with great success, jump-starting a rapid metallurgical industry within Ur-Taen. The other two goals have been far less easily accessed, with the purification of Generath being a far more intensive process than expected and the Fae being far harder to defeat and root out now that they have fully hidden within the mountains.

## Religion and Culture

Ur-Taen follows Dainism, a splinter of Amunism in which Amun takes the persona of Dain, a god of war, conquest, and strength. This religion favors those that take what they want and has led to the more violent and aggressive culture of Ur-Taen. Ur-Taen has a heavy gladiatorial and arena culture, with duels and challenges of martial and magical arts being the go-to solution for any affronts and also a way to rise up through the societal ranks. Another major facet of their culture, and one that has been heavily influenced and shaped by the presence of Solarionism within the country is the concept of the Mörgöl (pilgrimage), in which one travels across the entire nation challenging a person from each town they come across. This practice is most commonly found amongst those that live on the Steppe instead of those in the bamboo valley.

Ur-Taen's borders are open, but you cannot settle or challenge anyone/anywhere within the land without being recognized as a citizen. This is usually done by challenging the individual the holds the position of Khiliin Darga, of which there is usually one in nearly every city acting as a liason to the military. If you defeat the Khiliin Darga, then you are granted the ability to become a citizen.

## Government

The government of Ur-Taen is a militaristic dictatorship, where the military also known as the Tsereg is the government. The leader of Ur-Taen is the Khan, currently Alsom Khan. The position of Khan is not hereditary but instead can be challenged and fought for by any citizen of Ur-Taen. This has led to the position of Khan being an extremely competitive one but also had led to the Khan to being one of the most skilled martial fighters in the entire world.

## Locations

### Khulsan Khöndii

* Ur-Taenese for Bamboo Valley, a lush and wet bamboo forest covered in farms and rivers. Bamboo is one of Ur-Taens top exports as it is basically the only country where the plants grew naturally
* Nakhia- Ur-Taenese for Sprouted, as the first settlers landed during the bamboo's sprouting period and quickly adopted it into their architecture, a movement that was so pervasive that it made its way back to Tian, but it held up poorly in the cold so bamboo became a symbol of luxury for the rich, as they could afford to build their home out of it and heat it with different ways. This led to Nakhia, the main exporter of bamboo, becoming a wealthy trading city and eventually becoming the political capital of Ur-Taen, with the Khan residing here.
* Tszu Mnogiin Bulan- aka the Bay of Tszu Mno, is populated by domesticated sea serpents by the royalty of Nakhia that are often used for military matters as well, able to shatter any invading navies with brutal ease.

### Khavtgai

* Ur-Taenese for Flat, the steppe of the Khavtgai is where about 65% of the population lives. It is dotted in lakes and small rolling hills, upon which one can see for miles. This land used to be roamed by centaurs before the coming of Tszu Mno, but the centauren herds have not returned.
* Ekhnii Alkham- "The First Step", the largest military base in Ur-Taen it was originally built as an outpost to stage the defeat of the centaurs by Umeda Mno, in which he used a variety of brushfires and plague warfare to force them out of the steppes and they have never returned. It now serves as a military base as well as a checkpoint between the steppes and Khulsan Khondii.
* Töv- "center", when the first travelers began to map the Steppes they traveled along the northern mountain range, and overtime, the mid-way point where people tended to give up and settle became the city of Töv, the largest population center in the Steppes.
* Khuuchin Bashur- "Old Bashur's", formerly a gambling and whore house ran by a defintely not dragon in disguise by the name of Bashur, over the years it has become an expansive resort visited by many extremely rich folk and staffed by a lot of underpayed locals. Gatlakh- "pass", a port town that serves as one of the only ways to enter the steppes without going through Ekhnii and without attempting to climb the cliffs. This has given it a reputation for smuggling and other criminal activity.
* Oit Nuur-"Forest Lake", a pine forest randomly surrounds one of the lakes in the steppes, which has given that city that was built there great success as it has become one of the few sources of wood within the steppes. The real reason for this forest's survival is due to thanks by the fey that were sheltered by the city during Tszu Mno's genocide.
* The North Place- Solarionism is shockingly common amongst the Ur-Taen, primarily due to the prevalence of caravans and migration in their culture and their wide open skies. The North Place is a gathering place for them, and is often also visited by the Raelian Caraveneers.

### Chuluun Khana

* The northern mountain range of Ur-Taen, known as Stonewall for its near impenetrability. Crossing through is dangerous due to the rain, slick rocks, and hostile creatures that reside within.
* Dald Khumuus- "Hidden Folk", old king Tszu Mno was exceptionally racist, which was quite unfortunate for the natives of Ur-Taen. The fey that used to live within Khulsan Khondii were attacked without mercy by his soldiers and forced back into the Karsts. To limit knowledge of this tragedy, he banned discussion on it under penalty of death. However folk legends speak of the hidden folk in the Karsts.
* Luu Aral- "Dragon Island", a former luxury resort during the dragon empire, it has since become disused and grown over but is often visited by dragons, archeologists, and Bashur, who claims it's peaches is where his unnatural longevity comes from. This has not been proven true.

## Economy

Ur-Taen has close trade relationships with many nations, but especially Tian due to their historical and cultural bonds.

### Imports

Ur-Taens main import is grain and other food crops, primarily for the people of the Khavtgai as the citizens of Khulsan Khöndii grow enough to feed themselves. A secondary import is textiles and cloth as the soil of both Khulsan Khöndii and the Khavtgai are not suitable for such plants.

### Exports

Ur-Taens main export is bamboo and metals that are pulled from Chuluun Khana. A secondary export is livestock, as herding is easy on the Khavtgai.