Casai

### **Geography**

The region features striking terrain such as icy pillars, red sand dunes, and towering rock spires. A river runs from Athrah down the middle of the region before draining into the bay between Casai and Merijool.

Regions that border Casai include:

* Mount Ebonfire

* The Ebony Veldt

* Merijool

#### **Notable Locations**

* The village of Athrah
* The Avsohmic Vault

### **In the Lore**

*The Casai Peninsula, not unlike Merijool, was once a very different place. With the Frostfang Catastrophe, the hot desert morphed into a land of striking contrast; red sand topped with snow and pillars of ice. The Casain are fierce warriors with a great pride for their homeland. At the advent of the Third Avihm, they were forced to migrate East due to the threat of invasion by Maelihs. Despite many returning to the area after being recaptured from Mael by Insohm much later in the Third Avihm, the Casain people remain mostly scattered.*

### **History**

#### **Tribal Period**

In the early days after the end of the deity war, Casai was inhabited by Casian tribes, a group which was an offshoot of the Ebonhi tribes of South Casai and the Ebony Veldt. They interacted regularly with the tribes around them, mostly the Ebonhi but occasionally Merians (tribes of Merijool) and the Tharhans (tribes of modern day Tharxax and Ebony Veldt). They were relatively peaceful (especially at the tip of Casai) compared to other tribal societies at the time. Most of the tribes gathered around the central river valley (modern day Athrah River), where the perfect conditions for farming existed. The Casian society ended up as the most advanced group at the time, other than the city-states of the Central Plains.

#### **Athrah’s Conquests**

In Av2 1189, the City of Athrah was founded on the north shore of Lake Athrah. The city was created by a great warrior from the Zarha tribe of South Casai, Athrah Zarha. Athrah’s kingdom grew, and by using trade embargoes he pressured all of Casai to unite under him. In Av2 1255, The Casian Empire was formed.

#### **The Early Casain Empire**

Although all the tribal societies of Casai joined the empire, there were groups of barbarians that remained in North Casai. While attempting to subdue them, Athrah Zarha was killed in battle. One way or another these lands were secured, and by Av2 1445, Casai was ready for its first major fight.

#### **The Zephyr War and Colonialism**

In Av2 1445, The Casian Empire fought with West Merijool over control of the plains between the two peninsulas. This conflict was known as the Zephyr War. Despite Casai’s status as one of the most advanced societies at the time, West Merijool still handed them a disastrous defeat. They cemented control of the plains, leaving Casai to look elsewhere for fertile farmland. The only place in their vicinity not claimed by other powers was the Golden Sands (modern day Anyr’Nogur), its lush coastline, and a valley in between the desert and Mount Ebonfire.  Casai took advantage of the opportunity, founding a colony there in around Av2 1460.  The center of this colony was likely Sal’Iloh, a spiritual city founded by Casai on the central plateau of the Golden Sands. The colonists adapted to their situation, and became a fishing society along the lush shoreline, today known as Anyr’Okahp.  Various other coastal cities were founded by Casai in this time.

#### **The Casain Golden Age**

During this period, Casai grew economically and militarily, becoming a dominant power in the realm. They worked on strengthening their borders, and traded with distant nations including the Chosen Kingdom and Ancehl. With this newfound power came a greed for more power. Casai saw an opportunity in the wealth-filled Ebonfire region. However, this region was already controlled by the Tharhan Empire, which had put a lot of resources into its retention. Despite this, Casai declared war on the Tharhans in Av2 1472.

#### **The Ebonfire War**

Casai was at a serious disadvantage in this conflict. Transporting troops to Ebonfire was a near impossible task, and even if it was achieved the Tharhans had military camps set up in highly defensible positions. Casai would never gain anything except worthless territory in the western part of the region.  Casai also took a different approach to the war: attacking the Tharhan-controlled western wall, Maehrn’Vhos.  This attempt to breach the Tharhan heartlands was also fruitless, and between these campaigns Casai lost a devastating amount of troops, resources, and power. With their economy and military in ruins, a great decline began within the empire.

#### **Decline**

With so many problems in the Empire, the government had to shift its focus mostly onto the people on the peninsula itself. The people in the Golden Sands colony became disconnected, and in Av2 1534, they fought a civil war against the Casian homeland. They succeeded, and formed the Golden Kingdom.  Over time, the Avsohmic Empire grew in power, eventually landing at the doorstep of Casai after Merijool’s integration.  The circumstances of Casai’s integration is not known, but it is likely that they willingly joined Avsohm to save their declining society, similar to how their southern neighbor, the Tharhan Empire, did.

#### **Under Avsohm**

Under Avsohm, Casai prospered economically. A large teleportation pier was built in Athrah, allowing traders from across the realm to reach the city. The Frostfang Catastrophe of Av2 1646 turned the hot desert of Casai into a cold desert, with red sand topped by ice. The Central Valley remained relatively warm, however. Not much anti-Avsohmic sentiment was known to be created by the disaster, unlike in neighboring Merijool.  In Av2 1724, a vault was built on an island, Ortethi’s Rest, off Casai’s west coast.  Forbidden Avsohmic knowledge was stored in this vault, which could only be accessed by high ranking Avsohmic officials and high ranking officials from the three Avsohmic partner corporations.  This time of prosperity would come to a crashing halt in Av2 1820, when Avsohm fell.

#### **The Great Casain Migration**

Although resistance fighters held back for a while, by Av3 21 their stronghold at Caer Adacia fell, and the first of the Dune Wars ended. Maelihs’ army was making a rapid advance toward Casai, and in response local leaders ordered a full evacuation of the peninsula, which had already begun with the fall of Avsohm. Most, if not all people left Casai, spreading out over all of Drehmal (most ended up in Akhlo’Rohma or the Spearhead Forest). The peninsula would not be repopulated for several centuries.

#### **Repopulation**

Not much is known about Casai after this time period, however it is known that at some point in the Third Avhim after Av3 655 and before Av3 847 the West was reconquered by the Order of Insohm. At that point, a large number of Casains moved back to their homeland. Despite this, many remained in the East, leaving multiple cities in Casai such as Zarha permanently abandoned.

#### **Modern Day**

Today, Casai is a shell of the magnificent empire it once was. It is poor compared to other regions and is missing many former inhabitants. Athrah’s teleportation pier lies defunct, and Casai doesn’t get much trade. Despite this, they seem to be rebuilding the society they once had. Most importantly they remain united and proud - a tradition that dates all they way back to Athrah Zarha.

1. ↑  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DTHkp2cgMyqNtAEpwHSMpE9\_vZ1xycq-GQltz9kNBh0/edit
2. ↑  Origins of the Casain (book)
3. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
4. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
5. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
6. ↑  "and the Casai colonization didn't begin til 1460" -Keeko100 8/25/20
7. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
8. ↑  Evidence of ruins along the shoreline
9. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
10. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
11. ↑  Tale of Maerhn'Vhos (book)
12. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
13. ↑  The Casain Empire (book)
14. ↑  "and Casai/Merijool were both in Avsohm" -Keeko100 08/10/2020
15. ↑  "Tharhan did definitely join willingly as they were struggling to expand and satisfy their population's needs, so control wasn't reaaally necessary" -Keeko100 8/27/2020
16. ↑  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DTHkp2cgMyqNtAEpwHSMpE9\_vZ1xycq-GQltz9kNBh0/edit
17. ↑  The White Vault (book)
18. ↑  Av2 1724 - Creation of the Vaults (book)