Neo-Thaska Domäne

Tecoli

Tonatiu Plains

The *Mihqueh Dominion* is one of the younger nations of the World, but also one of the technological advanced of it as well. It was founded by former Thaska Slaves of the Eternal Empire, after fleeing from their masters to their ancestral home in the south. The Dominion invented both early steam engines as well as gunpowder, making it the birthplace of the Industrialisation.

## History

### The Age of the Father

Not much is known from the early history of the T'ashk Tribes, as most of their knowledge was preserved from mouth to mouth, not written down. But the lived mostly on southern Dormus, during the first two Eras. They called this part *Xolal* and liked unchallenged and threatened there, worshipping several Feral Gods and a main deity, called the Father-God.

Details about this Father-God are vague, but some presume him to be some sort of counterpart to the Mother-Goddess of the T'wica Tribes, strengthening the theory, of both Races being related to each other in some way, despite the large distant between one another.

### Tyranny of the Empire

In the Third Era, the lives of the T'ashk changed drastically. From the north of Dormus came the Valar, armed with steel weapons and potent Magic to conquer the southern Tribes. They used the superiority of their Legiones and the power of their second God Emperor to crush the T'ask under their boots. They marched through the jungles of *Xolal*, burning them down to force the Tribals out of hiding. Despite the valiant effort of the T'ashk warriors and hunters, who used subtlety and their knowledge of the land to regularly ambush Legionnaires, the Tribes eventually fell to the Eternal Empire.

Most T'ashk who survived the campaign were rounded up and brought north, beyond the Limes Mountains to work for the Valar as a new slave race. Only some Tribes managed to hide away in the deepest corners of Xolal's wilderness, now living in the shadows of the Empire's newest province.

The enslaved T'ashk served as workers, their pride and culture slowly being broken under years under the heel of the valarian masters. The proud hunter's and powerful warrior's souls were broken under endless work and torture. They became known as the *Thaskarii*, or simply Thaska, not even knowing the meaning of this name anymore. Some even managed to rise in the imperial society, gaining their freedom as imperial citizens or even joining the very Legiones, that conquered their ancestors once.

When the Eternal Empire started its conquest of Vona at the beginning of the Fourth Era, some Thaska Legionnaires also were present during that time. When the southern Crusaders came to liberate Vona from imperial rule, they not only targeted valarian citizens, who migrated to the new province over the years, but also Thaska slaves, that were brought from overseas.

When the Crusaders besieged the Empire's Capital around 4:184, they not only freed Vona and defeated the Empire, but also humiliated the God Emperor by forcing him to kneel to the foreign victors. While the Valar lamented this loss, the spark of hope was reignited within many Thaska slaves. They were shown that their masters were not invincible and could be defeated. Even after the Crusade left Dormus in victory, the ideal of the Crusaders stayed within the minds of many Thaska slaves.

### Return of the Children

Around 4:186, The first cases of Thaska slaves fleeing to the south were recorded. Many tried to meet their kind in *Xolal*, they heard stories about as children. Among the first escapees was a slave of the name Izel Achcauteus. She invested much of her time helping others escape before her own breakout. Reaching out to the T'ashk, she gathered many of the ex-slaves around her and formed a guerrilla fighting force, disturbing imperial movement in the province and learning about the ancient heritage of her people from the T'ashk, who welcomed their lost brethren with open arms.

Despite initial wins, the group never achieved their end goal of a free *Xolal* and liberated Thaska. More and more of the group started to lust for revenge, instead of liberation. Two factions were created, with similar goals but different methods: While the first under Izel tried to keep fighting from the shadows with the path finding abilities of the T'ashk, the other sought to utterly obliterate the Legiones with sheer power. They used their experience in the workshops of the Valar to invent new types of weapons, disregarding the T'ashk’s appeal to nature and the balance of things. When Izel died in 4:204, the naturalist group lost their hold over the rebels, giving the progressives free range of movement.

In the year 4:280, the rebels returned after years of silence and diminished ambushes on imperial forces. Leaving the traditionalist T'ashk with their shamanistic ways and Feral Gods behind, the Thaska rebels created a new type of weapon in form of the Firearm. This allowed even the simplest of soldiers to 'conjure' a deadly fire blast, putting a Valar Magi to shame and easily shattering a Legionnaires armour. With this, the Thaska started a great offensive against the Legiones, who were overwhelmed by the destructive power of gunpowder. With an arsenal of firearms, bombs and even bombardes, they torn down the fortifications of the Empire, only stopping at the Limes Mountains. The Empire used its Magic to enforce the walls of their bulwarks and hold the Thaska at bay. Leaving the war efforts there for now, the Thaska now had reconquered their homeland after years is enslavement and founded the *Mihqueh Dominion* in the year 4:350, under military leadership that grew over the Liberation War.

The T'ashk, that refused to give into the new way of life the Directive created for their kin, were given permission to settle on the island of Tecoli, as the mainland was reworked to support the growing economy of the Dominion and its war machine. A lot of land was torn down to create workshops, fortifications, and farmland, as the new Thaska started to form a new culture, born out of their old ways, imperial influence, and the newfound fascism, that lead them to victory.

But the Dominion is also split, deep inside. Like the rebels once, the Dominion is separated into those, who seek to further their development and the possible conquest of more land, to create their own Empire, and those, who seek to return to their roots in a more moderate manner, as a recent truce with the Empire and trade agreements with the Human Nations to their east, gave the Dominion an Age of Peace and Prosperity. Instead of furthering their war machines, they seek to put the eagerness of their people to more civic developments, while honouring their ancestors and the primitive ways of the T'ashk

## Culture

The Thaska of the Dominion are rather reclusive and worked for the longest time alone, aside the Known World. But recent changes made the nation more relevant than ever, despite its youth. Trade with other nations overseas is slowly starting, with trust only building slowly though.

Most Thaska a disciplined and are focused on the betterment of their nation. The isolationist approach of the *Dominion* makes it difficult for many to acclimate to foreign countries and cultures. Matter of fact, most Thaska outside the *Dominion* are either slaves that escaped east generations ago, merchants on business of the Directive, or Agents of the same, furthering the shadowy goals of the Directive.

Despite their trained discipline, many Thaska also harbour impulsive behaviour, often related to outbursts of rage and a berserk-like state. The hot-blooded giants can then often hold back their emotions, developing abnormal strength in the process, while losing themselves to their rage, even if for a moment.

The denial of their own ancient culture lets many Thaska seek for new ways of life. The *Dominion* normally takes a more atheistic approach, seeing the state as the highest judge instead of any Gods. Despite that, some religions find their way into *Dominion* society, filling the void left behind when they gave up on their past. Such cults are normally frowned upon by the Directive.

Despite losing much of their heritage over the Eras, due do slavery and own doing, some original t'ashkan things remain even within the more modern Thaska. The depiction of animals in cloths, art and architecture is ever present. Fashion is inspired by the T'ashk and the Empire. And Thaska still love to test their strength against each other, with the traditional and ceremonial pit fights becoming a more entertainment focused sport among the Dominion, next to shooting contests, other athletic competitions and of course hunting local wildlife for sports.

## Groups

* Thaska
* T'ashk

## Politics

The *Dominion* is a nation born out of war. They are led by the highest-ranking military head, the Directive, as they know no other government than it. This Directive, true to its name, directs the lands inner and out politics, although it itself has a rather flat hierarchy, not adhering to one leader. Instead, the different generals and officials meet regularly to discuss certain topics or appoint personal to lead projects or agendas. Failure inside the Directive is often punished by loss of rank or execution by the collective’s decision.

Children inside the Dominion must leave their parents after a certain age, going to one of the many Academies, run by the state. In a test, their initial abilities and mental capacities are evaluated, so they may follow a career path, dictated by the state. To these Academies count the *Military Academy*, the *Crafts Academy*, and the *Engineering Academy*. Additionally, there is also a special Academy for all citizen born with magical abilities, and a secret Academy, where Directives Agents are trained, after a person shows special promises. What these criteria are, that lead one to become one of the feared Agents of the Directive, is intentionally left unknown. If you are chosen to join the *Secret Academy*, you will simply disappear, to become another faceless Agent of the Directive's will. The only people who are sometimes spared the face of an Academy, are the children of high-ranking Directive Board Members, who sent their child overseas for studies or assign them to a certain Academy for example to a military tradition alive inside the family

Towards the rest of the Known World, the Dominion seemed rather cold for the longest time. They kept their secret blueprints of their firearms hidden for a long time, until a major theft during the Fifth Era by Frayden spies forced the Directive to act. At the beginning, they did not want the rest of the World to own their own rifles and bombards, but to counter the financial and power gain of the theft, they exchanged some of their knowledge with the government of the Ærles, as the naval nation was the only one to support the early thaskan rebels with weapons and supplies. Together with the High Crown of the United Hansalands, they Ærlians began the production of their own firearms, to counter the monopoly a frayden Weaponsmith hoped for. Today, these new weapons are on the rise in most of the Known World, with the Dominion still holding the most advanced and experimental weapons to this day. Only the ingenuity of Frayden Engineers rivals that of the Thaskians.

## Regions

### Iyolo Jungle

   The south of *Xolal* is still covered in dense jungle, in which once the Thaska Rebels hid, while fighting with Legiones forces. Today, some part was cleared to create space for forges and workshops of the *Dominion*. During that process, the capital of Cualtzin was created as the centre of the military efforts of the government. Despite that blemish, the heart of the jungle is still strong and home to many dangerous predators, like the giant, feathered Coatls.

### Limes Mountains

The Limes Mountains separates the *Mihqueh Dominion* from the Eternal Empire with a short, but rugged and step mountain range, giving it the name of the 'Wall' from the valkarian Language. In the few walk able passages in the Limes, there is little to find besides sharp rocks and the insectoid Shirv Swarms, that burrow inside the sites of the Mountains. The only real pass through the Limes is the breach, once build into the bedrock by the Legiones, during their conquest of *Xolal* during the Third Era. Today, it is a bulwark against *Dominion* forces, to prevent them of directly invading the Heartlands of the Empire.

### Tecoli

The large island east from the xolalian mainland is the last refuge of the indigenous T'ashk Tribes. The Directive of the new Thaska use the wild land of *Tecoli* as a sort of reservation for their ostracized kin. Despite cultural differences, the Thaska do not wish to harm to already diminished T'ashk, at least giving them their own land to live their lives in their ancient and primitive way. Tecoli is often haunted by seismic activities in relation with the volcano Natli Tlaneci. Despite that, the land is also rich in minerals, which is why some more progressive groups in the Directive seek to lift the pact with the T'ashk to mine the island. The north of Tecoli is a wide an empty area called the Ashlands, were most of the emission of the *Natli* lands. The south on the other hand is a lush and untamed jungle, in which the T'ashk Tribes live. The only Dominion outpost are found on the west coast.

### Tonatiu Plains

The region of northern *Xolal*, bordering at the Limes Mountains, are open foothills were most of the Directives farmlands are located. Especially the eastern coast benefits from the ashen rain, coming from the Natli Tlaneci on the Tecoli Island. In the Plains west, mostly cattle and livestock are held. Along the Mountain range, Shirv Swarms borrow their nests out of the rock, with some of them actually being "domesticated" by the Thaska. The nectar extracted from their burrows as a delicacy on Dormus.

## People/Organisations

* Chief-Engineer Tlaloc
* The Directive
* General Namacuix
* Izel Achcauhtli
* Nelli Stamm