Xamichia

Xamichia (more commonly known as the Old Sammichian Empire) was an empire concentrated in the northwestern Shire, and is one of the first known civilizations in the Shire. While Sammichians lived on the continent of Thrennex for many years prior to Xamichia, it remains as one of the first examples of an entity that achieved all of the characteristics of a civilization.

While Sammichian presence on Thrennex can be dated as far back as 7,800 PRY, the oldest evidence of Xamichia suggests that the empire first rose around 2,350 PRY, established by ancient Sammichians speaking a less-refined and early variant of Thrennexian. Originally starting out as a small city-state centered around Sarrimus (which evolved into Ceriumuse), it is known for its revolutionary irrigation system which channeled sewage and waste into the Sea of Aten surrounding the continent, along with developing a complex crop cycle that took advantage of the changing seasons and allowed the Sammichians to cultivate at the height of summer and plant new crops appropriately as the soil returned to permafrost as winter returned. This also enhances the resilience of Xamichia, which was able to survive and develop in such a cold and unfriendly climate.

Between 2,350 and 2,000 PRY, Xamichia began expanding its territory across Thrennex, settling new towns and villages, such as Perna, Nedes, and Teket, and built up Sarrimus into a great and well-defended capital. It was also at this time that the centralized government transitioned from a crude and undeveloped chain of chieftains into the imperial rule that characterized Xamichia for centuries. Not soon after came the spread of the Xamichine Pantheon, the first Sammichian religion and one of the oldest pagan religions known, which was slowly replaced by the Orthodox Sammichian Trinity. As society and order became more prominent elements in Xamichia, mercantilism and trading did as well. Social classes were also formed; as some families grew incredibly wealthy, they chose to only mingle with those of similar status, creating an elitist and feudal society.

By 1,000 PRY, Xamichia had a well-established government, a monarchy ruled by an Emperor and the Imperial Family, along with the Sammichian Imperial Chancellory in later years. In 852 PRY, Xamichia made its first encounter with the Human race; a ship of Human explorers from the city of Melaedes stumbled upon Sarrimus while mapping the Sea of Aten. The ship was surrounded and its crew imprisoned. Eventually, the Humans were sold by the government as exotic slaves for noble families. As it turns out, one of the crew members was Prince Callem of Melaedes; King Menestes sent a fleet of ships to recover his son, and they too found Sarrimus. Again, most Humans were captured and sold into slavery. One ship managed to escape, however, and Xamichia entered a war with Melaedes that resulted in the entire city being plundered and razed to the ground by Sammichian forces.

After realizing the potential and strength of its military, Xamichia began annexing lands outside of Thrennex, hording land and becoming rivals with the burgeoning Lilladonian Empire in the east. At this point, Xamichia had become well-informed of a good portion of the Shire's geography and other major powers within it. Utilizing the skills of some of the most talented cartographers and strategists of the ancient world, Xamichia conquered and annexed nearby domains successfully for many years, climaxing in the Mandatux Imperatia, a highly-aggressive takeover across the northern Shire, even branching far into the Central Shire at one point, and into the Demmatrodine Region to conquer Fulfwotz. However, during this period, the interior of the empire was slowly deteriorating, as costly campaigns drained the economy and severe elitism crippled the social stability of Xamichia. It was also this era that the Sammichian slave trade reached its height, becoming the largest slave trade ever seen in Shire history. It was common for locals of claimed lands to be sold into slavery after being deemed either inferior or being subject to hostile occupation. There is a reason why many called Xamichia the Domain of Slavers. Xamichia was in very poor shape after Empress Flux moved the Sammichian capital to Fulfwotz around 70 PRY, ending the Mandatux Imperatia, and leading to the collapse of Ceriumuse. Xamichia was dissolved and broken up into dozens of kingdoms in 58 PRY after the Great Epiphany.

Xamichia was unique in the sense that the recording of history and the art of writing was practiced abundantly; it was commonplace to have several court historians on hand, which allow modern-day historians and researchers a much more detailed look into the history of Xamichia than other civilizations at the time. A sophisticated form of writing was adopted by the Sammichian people very early in their recorded history, translated into English and other modern languages through the use of the Aggripedean Slabs.

Etymology

While the exact origins of the name Xamichia are unknown, it is very clear how Sammichian evolved from Xamichine, used to denote things of relation to Xamichia. Many legends provide a convenient explanation, claiming that Xamichia was first created by King Xamtet of Chia, although it's been recorded that King Xenophon of Pernaeus was the first ruler of Xamichia.

Another theory is what Xamichia translates to in Thrennexian; The prefix Xam- means mighty or powerful, while the suffix -ich pertains to blood and status. -ia is commonly used to denote an area of land under sovereign rule; therefore, Xamichia could be interpreted as Land of Mighty Blood.

History

Due to the very age of Xamichia, much of its early history is unknown; however, it is known to be the product of numerous vekaxa caravans merging throughout Thrennex as the Sammichian race developed and evolved to have a sense of society. Ancient scriptures and tomes describe a grouping of vekaxa on the western coast of Thrennex, each one ruled by a different chieftain. Feuding between the vekaxa was frequent and commonplace; such vekaxa only remained together as to better defend themselves from the eastern Barbaric Tribes and hostile Thrennexian wildlife. The chieftain of the vekaxa Pernaeus, Xenophon, sought an end to the unrest, and accomplished this by uniting all the vekaxa under one banner. According to many accounts, this unification was not peaceful in any sense and resulted in the vekaxa of Nessica, Kallides, Mantavas, and Fetellia were razed for attempting to secede. This new city state was called Sarrimus (known as Ceriumuse in the English language). The vekaxa were renovated into permanent dwellings, and using survivors from the vekaxa who tried to secede as slaves, the precursor to the Great Citadel of Ceriumuse was constructed. It is estimated that at this point, there were roughly 4,000 inhabitants. This unification is one of, if not the first known civilizations to form in the Shire. This is believed to have occurred around 2,400 PRY.

Xenophon continued to rule Ceriumuse, and styled himself King. He was considered to be a kind and benevolent ruler, however many archaeological remnants contradict this; the remains of over 970 individual people have been discovered in ancient catacombs beneath the old citadel, many showing signs of being maimed, tortured, and being malnourished. Despite his style of rule being questionable, Sarrimus experienced a period of innovation under King Xenophon, creating irrigation systems that emptied into the Sea of Aten and forming the Thrennexian calendar based off of the menstrual cycles of Sammichian women which proved to be the basis for Sammichian crop cycles and agriculture. Xenophon was murdered around 2,330 PRY by his jealous brother Anaxitoras, who was mortally wounded as well in the struggle to kill his brother. Left without an heir, many vied for position of the ruler of Xamichia, resulting in the takeover of the kingdom by Aggripedes of Impe, establishing the Impe Dynasty as one of the Shire's first royal families.

Impe Dynasty

King Aggripedes proved to be an intelligent and well-rounded ruler; it is believed that he shifted Sammichian focus from glory and warring towards the arts, based on the large collections of fine vases and sculptures discovered from this era. Aggripedes also oversaw the construction of the basis of the Great Citadel at Priscillus, more commonly known as the Citadel of Ceriumuse. The methods of masonry used to construct the citadel was then used by Sammichian stonemasons to construct homes and public buildings. Slabs discovered inside of the citadel dated to Aggripedes's rule indicate that he may have refined the Thrennexian language, which was fragmented into different dialects when prehistoric Sammichians divided into vekaxa caravans. These slabs helped decipher and understand the ancient Thrennexian language, and were named the Aggripedean Slabs. King Aggripedes oversaw the expansion of Sarrimus, until his death in 2,289 PRY. He was succeeded by his son, Aggripedes II, who died only two years into his undocumented, ergo, uneventful reign. Rule was passed to his sister, Pomanene.

Queen Pomanene

Queen Pomanene assumed rule in 2,287 PRY, and along with being the earliest known female ruler in the Shire, she is the first in Xamichia's history to set her sights on establishing Xamichia as an empire instead of a sole city-state localized around Sarrimus. In 2,280 PRY, Xenophon's Harbor was constructed along the coastline of Sarrimus where an primitive naval fleet was based; it was not utilized for trade, as the Sammichians had yet to encounter anyone of non-Sammichian descent and had not explored beyond Thrennex. Queen Pomanene's fleet explored the Sea of Aten, but no other civilizations were found; the Sammichians were relatively isolated. According to historians living at the time, people were angry at the queen for wasting valuable resources to build an ultimately useless navy. Such indiscretion prompted city-wide riots of the lower classes, many of whom were starving or homeless. The exact events of this riot are still unclear, but many historians speculate that Queen Pomanene was somehow killed (with others claiming she committed suicide, a claim just as valid) and rule was passed hastily to her infant son, Cassiux.

King Cassiux

Beloved by Xamichia, King Cassiux was believed to have been a popular king during his time, although few documented details of his rule suggest that he was not thoroughly involved in the affairs of his kingdom. He was described as having an affinity for music, a claim supported by a prototype lute discovered in the ruins of the Citadel, engraved with his name, written as KΛΣΣIVX. Many courtesans describe him as having been charming and classically beautiful, yet apathetic and uninterested in his own rule. Despite this, Sarrimus experienced a stable and peaceful period under Cassiux. He died in 2,199 PRY from what modern historians speculate to have been pneumonia. His rule was passed to Adones, leading to the establishment of the Adones Lineage.

Adones Lineage

The Adones Lineage was a line of kings beginning with Adones the First, son of Cassiux, and ending with Adones VI, the last king to carry the name of Adones.

• Adones I - Adones I ruled from 2,199 to 2,173 PRY, and earned the modern-day nickname of Father of Empires. He expanded Xamichia to a size unseen and unpredicted by anyone, spanning nearly half of Thrennex (albeit a small continent) and established several villages as well, changing the status of Sarrimus from city-state to capital, and rendering it now unexchangeable with the term Xamichia. Some historians speculate that his massive achievements in advancing Xamichia was due in part to an effort to compensate for his father's lackluster and uneventful rule, and to restore competence and esteem to the Impe name, which he presumably succeeded in doing so. Upon his death in 2,173 PRY. he was entombed beneath the Citadel. His remains were exhumed and studied by scientists in 2006, and he was found to have stood at 6'6", and believed to have died from a form of tetanus.

• Adones II - Adones II succeeded his father and ruled as King from 2,173 to 2,149 PRY. He was commonly known as King Adones the Pious, as he did for religion what his father did for power. He brought the Sammichian Pantheon into mainstream culture, and constructed the Great Xamichine Temple of Imos, the Sammichian 'god of gods'. While the Sammichian Pantheon became more popular within the higher social classes, it took the lower class and peasantry a longer time to adjust to and accept the Pantheon. The Pantheon was then allegedly enforced as the state religion, an arguably unpopular move which heralded the decline of the rule of Adones II. Believing royal authority to be weakening, many hypothesize that the Impe family formulated the death of Adones II in order to allow Adones III to ascend to the throne. Adones II was believed to have been poisoned, and many claim that he died while in prayer to the Pantheon.

• Adones III - Unlike Adones II, Adones III sought to continue what his grandfather started; several other Thrennexian settlements were annexed and more land was claimed by Xamichia. Adones III was in power from 2,149 to 2,092 PRY. According to one account, Adones III was a skilled warrior and put his battlefield knowledge to good use by reforming the army of Xamichia around 2,130 PRY, diversifying its duties, such as adding an expeditionary legion. Unlike his father, Adones III showed little interest in advancing the Sammichian Pantheon, and even deconstructed the Great Xamichine Temple of Imos to build a different temple dedicated to Appox, the Sammichian god of war. Some claim this 'angered' Imos, and this led to the death of Adones III. It is unclear how he actually died.

• Adones IV - Adones IV is hailed as the king who refined Xamichia's system of currency; up until his reign, it is unknown what currency was used and how, but records indicate that under his rule, small wooden chips with their value carved into them were distributed by the ruling body. It is unknown what backed this currency and gave it value, but it was revolutionary as it stabilized the nation's primitive economy. He ruled from 2092 to 2066 PRY. Some historians claim that Adones IV was killed in a great fire. He was succeeded by his son, Adones V.

• Adones V - A rather insignificant king, modern historians mark his coronation as the beginning of the declination of the Adones lineage. Adones V ruled from 2066 to 2029 PRY. Based on evidence recovered from the time at which he ruled, it can be concluded that he mainly rode on the coattails of his predecessors, not concerning himself with any reformation of Xamichia's many still-flawed and rudimentary systems. Deemed ineffective, Sammichian historians recorded unrest in Sarrimus and desire for a stronger leader. His title was inherited by his son, Adones VI, the last king to carry that name.

Adones VI - Ruling from 2029 to 1980 PRY, Adones VI was believed to have been a bad ruler, as many court historians describe him as being a glutton and passive in the affairs of his kingdom. At this point, records suggest there was some sort of famine damaging crop yield, and much of Sarrimus starved while Adones VI feasted three times a day. Evidence also indicates he had a number of concubines reaching into the double-digits, and the list changed often; he would usually have them executed after a period of time. He was considered an embarrassment to the Impe Dynasty, and rule was passed to his infant daughter after his death since he had no sons.

Queen Hemisca

On the throne from 1980 to 1899 PRY, Queen Hemisca ruled for almost her entire life and was the Impe who held rule for the longest amount of time. Her longevity in power was attributed to her devotion to the common people, historians say, and some even claim that she deconstructed the primitive naval fleet her predecessor, Queen Pomanene, wasted resources on, and used the materials to provide shelter to the poor. As well as being one of the few Sammichian humanitarians, she expanded upon the laws drafted by her ancestor, King Aggripedes, adding a revolutionary clause that forbid the use of slavery within Xamichia and proclaimed any enslaved person free. Unfortunately, many speculate this is what led to her death; the previous theory was that she died of old age, since 81 years old was significantly above the estimated life expectancy of roughly 50 years old for a (albeit middle-class) Sammichian at the time, but recently discovered court records explicitly mention her being murdered. It is very possible that a vengeful slave owner could have arranged the assassination of the Queen, since many court historians detailed the amount of unrest in Xamichia between freed slaves and former slave owners.