Anjuin

Anjuin is an archipelago to the far east of Panguilla, the two main islands are the westernmost El-Azer and the Easternmost Azram, the current inhabitants of the islands are the suitably named Anjuin people or simply the Anjuins. The demographic make up of the archipelago is quite simple with the vast majority of the population being Anjuins but with a sizeable minority of Xhosis. Politically, Anjuin has remained famously neutral (save for a few incidents) and has as such become the trading hub of the world, it's stalwart neutrality has allowed merchants to travel, trade and speak freely hence the reason for its economic success.

## History

Upon the fall of High King Huw's kingdom and the spontaneous eruption of the largest known conflict in Panguillan history the Anjuin people fled across the ocean to the set of islands known now as Anjuin (previously undiscovered). According to legend when the Anjuin people arrived on the island it was inhabited by a docile ogre population who seemed to be totally unaware of the conflict on Panguilla. The Ogres were quickly subdued and exterminated.

The Anjuin people settled the islands, at first as hunter gatherers living a nomadic lifestyle but soon they began to coalesce around the bountiful oases which dot Anjuin. The towns grew and grew however there is a limited amount of water one can drink from a well or an Oases. Towns were restricted to populations numbering no more than one or two thousand this changed with the foundation of the city of Jopal. Jopal is the first known city to utilise aqueducts, underground waterways and a whole other host of other water based movement systems to supply the inhabitants of its city. The town was originally a fishing village but thanks to the works of the almost mystic Kadir the wise the village was transformed into a bustling city of commerce. Kadir anticipated the growth of Anjuin and believed that extensive engineering projects would have to be carried out in order to achieve prosperity on a scale never seen before, Kadir built dams, aqueducts and dug trenches in order to see agriculture flourish without the bottleneck which was water. Kadir was successful and the harvests reaped from then on produced tenfold what it used to however as he aged he was no longer able to direct such projects and so he entrusted his students to follow through on his blueprints and construct these great works. Kadir died before he could witness the completion of his mega project, however his dream was partially fulfilled. The cities of Sebeul and Rum had fully completed water systems however they pale in comparison to that of Jopal's. Unfortunately the knowledge was lost, the wonders which are the towering aqueducts can never again be recreated only maintained through oral tradition.

Thanks to the works of Kadir the cities of Rum, Sebeul and most importantly Jopal boomed and a golden age was experienced like no other, although a fractured people in many different Emirates, Sheikdoms and Kingdoms it was none the less a golden age. Trade flourished as merchants sold their goods in the bazaars of Sebeul bay all the way to the cobbled plazas of Jopal. Merchant guilds began to form as trade flowed in, merchants banded together into huge monopolies which began to dominate the marketplace; blacksmiths, carpenters, shipbuilders, mercenaries it was hard to find a profession not under the umbrella of a merchant guild and soon it was even hard to find a vendor not belonging to one of these groups. Eventually these guilds took in so much money that in Jopal there was an attempted coup by mercenaries thought to be belonging to the Al-Saffar Merchant Guild. Fortunately after the Al-Saffar rebellion was put down merchant guilds took to lobbying and influencing noblemen and politicians rather than trying to seize power outright. This was the last major conflict on Anjuin for roughly 130 years, and in those 130 years Anjuin flourished even more so than before as outside contact with Panguillan states such as Kymuria brought in even more lucrative trade agreements. Gold filled up merchant's coffers and also coincidentally lined the pocket of almost every noblemen, it was during this time that some of the most richest merchants and kings known in history lived. King Mumbi of Rum for instance accumulated so much wealth that in his lifespan he had himself built 17 palaces, one of the biggest navies ever and even sponsered conquest and colonisation of Xhosi held Azam.

### Al-Danbarr rule

Almost 120 years later on the north east peninsula of El-Azer some 25 leagues north from Jopal there was the tranquil and uneventful Kingdom of Waraq, it was not unique, it was averagely prosperous and even had large deposits of silver inland. It didn't have the Plazas of Jopal or the Bazaars of Sebeul it was quite modestly the Waraq Kingdom. Unfortunately for its rulers it was also the birthplace of the Al-Danbarr dynasty. The Al-Danbarr dynasty had 'humble' beginnings, they were nomadic tribe leaders who just about qualified for the title of noblemen. The leader of the household at that time was Deshik Al-Danbarr, an ambitious character who dreamt of ruling the Waraq Kingdom. And that is exactly what he did, the Waraq Kingdom was run by the paranoid Haamid, he had employed many a mercenary company in order to defend himself from usurpers and dissenters. Haamid had long been a despised ruler, he had an almost crippling stutter and was thought therefore to be made of evil hands. Haamid went days without seeing people, he remained as isolated as humanely possible, seeking solace in the comfort of his most wonderful fortress which overlooked the city of Hosmun. Deshik had rather easily bribed one of said mercenary guilds to turn traitor and let the city gates fly open upon the arrival of his 'army', Deshik had no more than 700 nomadic horsemen under his command, however after the mercenary guild had left the gates open, Deshik stormed the city in broad daylight so that the garrison could see the 1000's of cavalrymen descending on the city, when in fact Deshik had simply ordered his herders to make a large dust cloud behind him from all of their cattle. The loyal mercenary guilds were left confused, and as the first few hundred nomads rode up through the gates, along the cobbled paths and towards the main citadel unimpeded the mercenaries turned coat. Haamid was at the time petting his cat when he was suddenly approached and slaughtered by his own guards.

Deshik Al-Danbarr was declared sultan the same day, marking the start of Al-Danbarr rule over Anjuin land. Deshik would go on to capture much of the surrounding land including Jopal itself using cunning, sly and some may say insidious tactics. This scheming and plotting was brought to an end when King Mumbi III (also known as Mumbi the incompotent) gathered together a large coalition of forces to bring an end to the nuisance which was Deshik. Mumbi III had the support from the Emirate of Sebeul, five merchant guilds, two mercenary guilds and of course his own holding, the Emirate of Rum. Deshik had a core of mainly Anjuin irregulars drafted from predominately inland tribes, he also had two Waraq mercenary guilds loyal since the fall of Hosmun and a substantial number of Xhosis as well. Mumbi III was admittedly outnumbered but what he lacked in numbers he more than made up for in the quality of his soldiers. His forces were for a start actually trained in warfare (a rarity in Deshik's army) and probably were the best equipped army Anjuin had ever seen in its history up to that point due to the sheer investment flowing in from the merchant guilds seeking to make tidy profit out of the upcoming conflict. Mumbi III's strategy was simplistic at best, the plan was to march on Jopal and use his superior firepower to overwhelm the defences, then Mumbi III's well equipped troops would storm the streets where numbers played less of a role. The flaw in Mumbi III's plan was that it entirely revolved around the siege and eventual capture Jopal, Mumbi III's force was then met completely off guard in open field where it was overwhelmed by Deshik's numerically superior force at the battle of Farik Hill. Mumbi III (along with many other significant leaders) died in the ensuing battle.

The coalition forces disintegrated and retreated back to their respective cities and towns. Deshik's tribesmen, who had rather surprisingly taken the field, had worked themselves up into such a frenzy that for the next month and a half an orgy of pillaging, massacring and looting occurred until it eventually was declared a rebellion and had to be put down by a mercenary guild. Upon hearing the outcome of Farik Hill all of Anjuin submitted itself to the Al-Danbarr dynasty save for the Emirate of Rum which refused to capitulate until the marauding tribesmen were brought back into line.