The Peacemaker, Laman

**Lanam Heta-Azhátisan Munelakara rag Tuertadar**, formally referred to as **The Peacemaker, Lanam** by his contemporaries, was an Guidivarian polymath, ruler, and prolific writer who made numerous contributions to several fields such as political philosophy, ethical philosophy, theology, metaphysics, literature, linguistics, as well as other subjects.

## Background

Lanam was born to his father Azhátisan and mother Esena on 391 Hetvaragmerrasemanistila 17 in Tuertadar. His father was the count of a small territory created in the wake of the collapse of Pashgaudua, a neo-Ravacinian state formed in 273 AB. Azhátisan came to name his state Eshguidivar to honor the Guidivar tribe, of which he was a member. Lanam had four siblings, two sisters, and two brothers. He was the firstborn of his father and mother. His father was considered to be an average to below-average ruler, but a decent and competant father to his children. His family were participating members of The Blue Dawn.

## Personality and philosophy

### Personality

Lanam was often described by his contemporaries as being a selfless, humble and patient person, whose only desire was to improve upon which he was given. He was also said to be very reserved, mechanical person, who was very slow to act upon his emotions, which he often gave little thought or attention to. This, in addition to his willingness to resort to extreme violence to solve his problems, have lead many to label him a sociopath or even a psychopath.

By all accounts, Lanam was a very skilled diplomat, administrator, general, and statesman. His selfless nature often meant his interests were wholly aligned with improving his domain, often to great effect. Many have pointed out his seemingly superb ability in recognizing talent and utilizing it effectively, his court being described as one of the most competent and intellectual in the world at the time.

### Philosophy

#### Personal philosophy

Lanam was universally known to be a deep, contemplative thinker who developed his own series of philosophy. Lanam's beliefs entailed that humans were inherently selfish and untrustworthy, and would cast aside one another to peruse ones own personal ambitions and goals. Because of this, Lanam's beliefs have often been characterized as misanthropic. Lanam was also an avid pacifist, but did not have any moral quarrel about using violence to preserve or achieve peace and prosperity, assuming that the death of a few for the peace of many was a worthy trade. An avid believer in the idea of achieving the outcome with the maximum benefit, so long as it provided a net-positive, regardless of the harm needed to achieve said outcome, his beliefs have also been characterized as being utilitarian in nature.

#### Political philosophy

Lanam had a deep disdain for the political climate of his time. In particular, he had a disdain for the wealthy aristocracy (and later on) the priestly class, who he felt had conspired to develop a system that extracted wealth from society solely to enrich themselves, at the expense of the common masses. An avowed foe of the landed gentry, he sought to minimize their influence by whatever means necessary, and to centralize the state around his will.

## Early life and education

Lanam's early life is relatively unknown, as neither he nor his father documented it much. What is known is that he showed a keen ability for reading and writing from a young age, and fascinated with exploring and understanding natural phenomenon. It is said he had read much of his fathers library by the time he assumed the throne. Lanam received a relatively good education from his tutor, Ashibila, a local scholar and writer.

## Rule

### Early rule

Azhátisan died in 410, and Lanam inherited his county with relative ease, as none of his siblings contested the inheritance. Lanam was notable for making aggressive demands of his neighbors, who often complied to his will. Because of this, he was able to expand his county into a duchy with very little violence.

In the third year of his reign, he married a woman named Naomi, a local bureaucrat which he admired for her skill and competence. His refusal to marry a noble further signified the development of a new system of politics, insisting on building alliances with those who he felt had the most merit rather than on preserving royal traditions, which he disliked.

### Conflict with the Blue Dawn

As his reign progressed, Lanam came to increasingly dislike The Blue Dawn, who felt that they were conspirators in the "wicked system" of war and violence which he hated. In response to this, he attempted to significantly reduce the Blue Dawn's influence in his state, of which most of his citizens were practicing members of. In 414, he ruled that clergymen of all religions could no longer collect taxes on his behalf, and that they must recognize his suzerainty and pay a tax of 15% on all incomes to him.

The Nilo Ama in response sent an ultimatum to undo the legislation, or face further punishment. Lanam personally wrote a letter refusing to change the law, insulting her and The Blue Dawn. This action was deemed completely unacceptable, as the Blue Dawn was not generating a large profit to begin with. He was subsequently kicked out of the Blue Dawn, and the Nilo Ama gave the order to see his realm dismantled for it.

The Nilo Ama prepared a small force to assassinate Lanam and place a more loyal heir on the throne, as well as gaining the support of several vassal states of Lanam, who were disgruntled for a multitude of reasons. She was positioned in a hilly forest not far beyond the borders of Eshguidivarian territory, with her position kept secret, seeking to perform an espionage mission to kill Lanam. Not far from her initial position, she had also raised an army that would, in tandem with the vassals of Eshguidivar rebelling, seek to force Eshguidivar's hand, undoing the legislation and placing whoever they wished upon the throne.

Lanam himself was aware that provoking the Blue Dawn would lead to danger, and had been receiving insider information from a defector, who revealed their current position to him. Lanam gathered an army and attacked on the Nilo Ama's camp, destroying her taskforce and capturing her. He would bring her to his capital and hold her in custody as a hostage for negotiations. In wake of destroying her scheme, he then formulated a treaty with the Domaito of the Blue Dawn called the Treaty of Lupain, which stipulated that:

1. The Nilo Ama was to remain in Eshguidivarian hands, and that Eshguidivar would punish her as they so pleased.
2. The Blue Dawn would be free to appoint a new Nilo Ama, so long as they chose a candidate who would not provoke further war against Eshguidiviar.
3. The Blue Dawn would pay the taxes levied against it.

In return, Eshguidivar would:

1. Pledge not to levy any further taxes or demands of the Blue Dawn.
2. Establish a permanent religious diplomat between the Blue Dawn and Eshguidivar, who would join the court and serve as ambassador.

The treaty was accepted in the summer of 415 AB, and the Nilo Ama was charged with accounts of insurrection and treason. She was found guilty after a brief trial, and sentenced to execution. At the execution of the Nilo Ama, which Lanam personally attended, it was said that the Nilo Ama uttered to him "May death be kinder than man." To which he responded, "I'm sure it will." Rather than using a hired executioner, Lanam employed a local cleric of the Blue Dawn, to execute her via stabbing her in the chest. The execution took place on 415/7/28, which was intentionally set to coincide with a total lunar eclipse.

### The Coalition against Lanam

The death of the Nilo Ama sparked immense outrage across the Dawnist realm. The Fifth Vasigala, who was not beholden to the Treaty of Lupain, was preparing for war. In addition to the death of the Nilo Ama, they also sought to regain the southern territory they had lost decades earlier to the now defunct Pashgaudruans.

In addition, other Dawnist states like Nunnshire entered the coalition against Eshguidivar. In the meantime, Lanam forged alliances

### Peace and administration

After the war had ended in 420 AB, Lanam shifted focus toward integrating and rebuilding the territories he had annexed, now possessing a fairly large state. The first thing he did was divide his state into 22 "retvema" or provinces, each of which was ruled by a governor personally appointed by Lanam himself. Rather than having one centralized army manage the state, he assigned a small yet effective army in each retvema, and let the governors manage them to best effect as they so pleased. This system greatly increased the state capacity of Eshguidivar, allowing the state to more broadly enact its will wherever in the state it desired, as well as leaving its borderlands defended on all sides.

Secondly, he sought to build a class of educated elites to serve (and then) eventually succeed him upon his death. His first action was to construct a school atop Aternari Hill in near Lupain, which he would dedicate to diplomacy, administration, and the sciences. The school, then known as Iscaloragamano, opened in 426 AB, and continued to expand in subsequent years. Not long after, he founded a second school nearby named Iscaloradeyso, which specialized in the military, warfare, and engineering. In between the two schools, he built a road which connected the two to the city of Lupain. At the end of the road, opposite to the city, he constructed a large fortress which overlooked the two schools and the city.

In addition, he sought to bring about major renovations to the mostly disorganized, medieval city of Lupain. There, he built another fortress which housed his court and administration. He also constructed major public works such as bathhouses, sewers, libraries, forums, and other civic spaces. From his initial road connecting Lupain to the two schools, he expanded it to interconnect his capital with more cities, which he also built infrastructure within. It is estimated that, over his lifetime, Lanam oversaw the construction of approximately 55 fortresses, ranging from middling outposts to large, comprehensive structures. Lupain in particular went through a period of significant population growth, and expanded considerably. To address this, Lanam ordered the demolition of many smaller, outdated homes and replaced them with larger apartment complexes updated to the standards of his time. By 440 AB, it is estimated Lupain had a population of around 250,000.

### Personal life

Lanam had only one child with his wife. He named his child, his son, Ashaya. Complications rose upon the birth of his child in 425 AB, as many speculated Ashaya may attempt to seize power upon Lanam's death, disrupting Eshguidivar's transition away from hereditary monarchy. To address this, Lanam

## Writings and contribution to wider culture

### Writings

Later in life, Lanam produced a series called the Lanam Anthology, a series of books detailing his opinions, perspectives, and experiences on various matters concerning his life. Mostly published posthumously; an exhaustive list of his written works are shown below, sorted by the time of their completion.

1. *On Matters of Trade and Commerce*; detailing how rulers should conduct trade and commerce in their realm, most notable for being host to his various, but limited, theories on how economics works.
2. On Matters of Agriculture; detailing on how rules ought to manage their assortments of territory for maximum results, especially concerning agricultural yields.
3. *On Matters of Infrastructure*; detailing Lanam's personal philosophy and experiences in what states should build, how they ought to build them, and why state planning of infrastructure is important.
4. *On matters of Administration*; the final part of his first series, a treatise which intertwines the first three books into a cohesive narrative on how a statesman should administer his or her state, as well as providing new perspectives and anecdotes on a variety of new topics, like religion, warfare, and managing court politics. An overarching theme in the book is how to properly recognize talent and competency, and what specific traits indicate success as a statesman.
5. *Diplomacy*; detailing Lanam's views on how diplomacy ought to be conducted.
6. *Kingdom's Rise*; This is the first of a series of books that deal with the more theoretical and philosophical elements of administration. Kingdom's Rise primarily explains Lanam's theories as to why organized state systems are inevitable, and as to how they benefit the citizenry across all class, religion, and ethnicity.
7. *Causality*; Causality is Lanam's uncompleted attempt of understanding and analyzing common concepts found in Lazhan theology and metaphysics, but through a more scientific method.
8. *Memoirs of Lanam;* The final work of Lanam completed a year before his death, a comprehensive autobiography detailing his thoughts and introspection into his life, detailing his perspectives on various issues which many deemed controversial.

### Influence in the modern era

Lanam's ideas about political philosophy, religion, and secularism were widely pervasive in his era, and still are to this day. In particular, his contributions to utilitarianism and secularism laid the foundation for the governing philosophy of the United Blue Republic and subsequent states. His idea of a united Blue lingua franca, although never achieved in his lifetime, would later be achieved by the UBR, with minimal displacement of native languages; following the model he wished to establish in his own time.

His attempts at interpreting metaphysics from a more scientific perspective, while unsuccessful in his lifetime, would later be taken up by future researches and academics, an on-going endeavor with inconclusive results.

## Death and succession

Lanam was particularly concerned about the future of his state after his demise, and was very serious about his potential successor, as he had written off establishing a hereditary monarchy, seeing it as an unwarranted perversion of the ideal state. He sought to gather several potential successors from the two schools he established, and pick the best one. After several years of contemplation, he chose a man named Ishigaw Sa-Wesnosimaw to succeed him upon his death.

Lanam died in his castle in Lupain on the eighth day of Kvemin, 463, at the age of 72. Following this, Ishigaw succeeded him with little conflict or contention.