Kos

> "From courage is born honor; from honor flows strength; from strength comes victory" - *The Canticle of Kos*
>
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Kos was a conquering kingdom that created a large empire centuries before the days of the Atlantis Empire. The modern descendants of Kos are the civilized Atlanteans and the barbarians of Scythria.

In the days of the Kos Empire, Luxor was the Old Moon-Capital and Caero was the Old Sun-Capital, whereas Rokos was the main capital city. The road linking Luxor and Caero was more than seven hundred years old, predating Tezla’s Empire by a good three hundred years. Atlantis’ Imperial government maintained the roadway now, but the trees lining each side of the ancient roadway were the gift of centuries.

Even in the days of the Kosian empire, the order of Oracles of Rokos existed, serving as neutral prophets guiding humanity on a path to a better future.

In the modern days of the Land, the adventuring company Children of Kos seeks to preserve the ways of the barbaric empire.

## History

### Age of Battle

In -455 Tz: The Kos tribe emerges in Prieska. A strong human warrior tribe called the Kos dominates all of their Prieskan neighbors. Led by fearless Warrior-Priests, thousands of conquest-driven Kos warriors enslave the other human tribes, believing it is their destiny to conquer all of humanity.

In -238 Tz: Priest-King Ormanep is crowned in Luxor. After more than a century and a half of warfare, the Kos establish total rule over the western half of the Land. The Warrior-Priests institute a complex system of tribute and fealty that promotes those who display great strength and courage in battle. The first Priest-King, Ormanep, rules from the city of Luxor. The only large population in the Land not under Kosian control is the Delphana, safe on their southern island.

In -237 Tz: The Kosian civil war is fought. A second Priest-King, Khomen-hotep, rises to power in the eastern city of Caero, Ormanep raises armies to crush his rival in Luxor. After a summer of bloody civil war, with tens of thousands of Kos warriors killed, the Oracles of Rokos ultimately prophesy that two Priest-Kings are to rule over the Kos together - Khomen-hotep from the sun-seat of Caero in the east, and Ormanep from the moon-seat of Luxor to the west. Knowing that the consequence of deviating from prophecy is to be struck down by the gods, both Priest-Kings agree and divide their lands into two roughly equal parts.

In -223 Tz: The Ormanep Palace at Luxor is completed. Ormanep’s capital buildings are completed, with their great spires of black stone and unscalable, 100-foot-high walls. By the end of this year, Ormanep has sired more than 100 children through his expansive harem, all of whom are considered potential heirs of the Empire.

-221 Tz: The first of the pyramids at Caero are completed. In a massive quarry along the Roa Vizorr, armies of human slaves spend their lives digging out blocks of stone for pyramid monuments, sun-throne temples and capital buildings for Khomen-hotep and his royal family. Relations between Ormanep and Khomen-hotep are strained but holding.

-212 Tz: The Needle at Rokos is completed. A 300-foot-high tower of black stone is completed in the heart of Rokos, and the Priest-King’s Oracles take up residence within. With the completion of the Needle, Oracles assume a predominant place in Kos society, becoming the advisors for Ormanep, Khomen-hotep and all of the Kosian Priest-Kings to come.

The Kosian Empire have ventured into the Blasted Lands at least once during the time of the Priest-Kings, as evident by the Kosian Shieldtome, discovered within the Blasted Lands. This ancient tome allowed the Priest-Kings to survive a dozen of battles unscathed.

### Age of Princes

From -200 Tz to 0 Tz, The Age of Princes takes place. By this time, human civilization is growing rapidly. Cities abound throughout the western half of the Land, and the Kos dominate everything from Scythria to the western banks of the Roa Galtor.

In-175 Tz, Tezla’s birth is predicted. The Oracles of Rokos foresee the date and birthplace of a Delphane man who will one day conquer all of Kos with more powerful magic than has ever before been seen, who will master the twin arts of life and death, and who will ultimately attain the powers of a god. At the height of his power, the wizard will rule all humanity from a floating city in the sky. Upon hearing this prophecy, the aging Priest-King Temanor immediately begins to make plans to subjugate the Delphana, to ensure that the Oracles’ prophecy will never come to pass.

In -172 Tz: Kos invades Delphane. Traversing the Dhokonios Strait on giant rafts, the Kos bring war to the peaceful people of Delphane. The Kos, who outnumber the human wizards by more than 500 to 1, force the wizards to complete surrender within a season. The Priest-King Temanor is eventually welcomed into the capital city, where he is openly stunned by the comforts the Delphanes enjoy: magically heated baths, enchanted kitchens and spirit servants.

In -169 Tz: Priest-King Temanor returns to Rokos. Changed by his three years on Delphane, Temanor introduces their comfortable way of life to the brutal Kosians. Tempted by these creature comforts, the Kos eagerly adopt Delphane innovations, magics and philosophies. The Kos soon become dependent on Delphane magic, and an elite merchant class emerges to provide the peoples of Rokos and Caero with magical goods and services. Within the next few years, Delphane influence on the Kos people begins to erode the warlike principles on which the barbarian empire was founded.

In -162 Tz, Civil war erupts among the Kos. In the early spring, after a series of Warlords decided they wanted their own chance to rule the world, the Kosian Empire is torn apart from within. Territories that will one day become Prieska, Khamsin and the northern territories secede. Temanor is beheaded by his rivals, and his royal line is ritually sacrificed one after the other in a day-long ceremony. Temanor’s body is spirited out of the city by his faithful Draconum wizard, and interred in the depths of the Black Pyramid. By the end of the year, the western Kosian Empire has shattered into a hundred warring states.

In -162 Tz, The Orcs sack Caero. A huge Orc Raider horde led by Kzar Natan attacks Caero, breaks its defenses and puts the entire Kosian ruling family to the sword. In the middle of looting the city, an Orc eagle god appears in a vision to the kzar. Badly shaken by the omen from his god, Natan orders the Orcs to leave the city and never return. By the end of the year, the rest of the eastern Kosian Empire shatters into twenty warring states as well.

In -161 Tz, Caero is rebuilt. Delphana wizards, with the support of the few remaining members of the Kosian noble class, take control of the ruined city of Caero. Wanting to preserve the Caeronn culture, the nobles take Caeronn names, marry their children into the surviving Caeronn lines and ultimately reshape the city from within. Within a year, Caero declares itself a neutral merchant state, frees its slaves, and declares the era of the Kos at an end. Over the next three generations, the successful breeding of Delphane mages with Caeronn nobility results in a rash of Caeronn children able to wield powerful magics. The act of “freeing” Caero ultimately solidifies a pocket of Delphane control along the Roa Vizorr and guarantees the Delphanes an inland ally with substantial economic and military resources.

In -140 Tz, Delphane rises to power. Many leaders from the warring states now send their sons and daughters to Delphane or Caero so that their offspring can learn about the world from “civilized” teachers. Over the next 140 years, Delphane magic, law and philosophy spread like wildfire throughout the human-controlled lands, eradicating the last vestiges of barbaric Kosian society.

## Culture

Kos had it's own language, from which many words transferred to the language of the Atlanteans, such as "utem", meaning "lesser warrior" and "amotep", meaning "specialist".

1. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-2.0-Card-Set-Adventuring-Companies.pdf
2. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-2.0-Card-Set-Adventuring-Companies.pdf
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-Lore-The-Ages-Longer-History-of-The-Land-From-the-Third-Bookshelf-in-Old-Scrying-Chamber.pdf
4. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-2.0-Card-Set-Relics.pdf