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Khabrel

2021-04-23T18:29:30Z

Malkuthe: Created page with "The city of Khabrel, once known as Asamya, in the Madresha Caliphate of the Pāll-tanír is also known as the '''desert crossroads''' due to its unique and privileged..."

The city of Khabrel, once known as Asamya, in the [[Madresha Caliphate]] of the [[Pāll-tanír]] is also known as the '''desert crossroads''' due to its unique and privileged position. Although quite remote, five days away from the city of [[Madras]] and three days away from the next biggest town in the northwestern region, [[Dorost]], it nevertheless thrives as a center of land-based commerce as it straddles the main commercial artery of northwestern [[Madresha Caliphate|Madras]]. Although the seaside village of [[Bailad]] has a functioning port and a thriving fishing-based economy, the small port can't support the volume of its production of other materials such as iron and coal mined from [[Raskent]], one of the mountains along the [[Skywall]] range, and as such relies on the land-based trade routes to sustain it. Similarly, the town of [[Kalica]] at the foot of the [[Tehfrat Crags]] relies on land-based trade routes for its primary product: Hursa meat and leather, as well as its rarer luxury good, Craglion hide. The cities of [[Rasaak]] and [[Isarnis]] are similarly situated, the former sustained by a booming precious stones industry, and the latter being one of the primary agricultural producers of the region due to the [[River Dailla]], which flows from [[Arawi]] and down through Isarnis before sinking into the desert at the [[Desert's Throat]] some twenty five miles due southeast of the town.

== History ==
Immediately following the fall of [[Centhiri (Culture)|Centhiri]] civilization soon after the formation of the [[Krosha]], the Sons of the Desert, society found itself needing to rebuild in the Pāll-tanír and with the loss of the weather-controlling magicks of the [[Centhiri#Highborn|highborn Centhiri]], old bastions of civilization fell to the desert sands, lost for all of time. In the years immediately following, as the [[A'Drekh]] were working to relearn or improve upon the magic that the Centhiri had wielded, towns and cities in the Pāll-tanír that were not completely devastated by the war grew more and more isolated from one another. Caravans between them often had to plot routes months in advance, taking note of oases along the way, which were necessary rest stops for the weary travelers. Old Khabrel was one such rest-stop, little more than a temporary settlement whenever a caravan passed through on the way to one of the bigger settlements in the region.

A fortunate side-effect of the banishing of the highborn Centhiri was that the powerful Arventir that swept through the region regularly were reduced not only in number and frequency, but also in severity, making life in largely unprotected settlements far more viable. Without the Centhiri to rouse them, the storm spirits of the desert returned to their slumber. After a few decades, the A'Drekh cracked the magic and were all too eager to share the knowledge with the other members of the Krosha. However, they were less interested in sharing the means as to them, the extant means were precious cultural artifacts.

Up until this point, Khabrel was not regularly inhabited. But following the first handful of successful expeditions into the Font of Life and the rise of the Mage-Kings under the tutelage of the A'Drekh, places like Khabrel became more viable to settle. Having already been established as a rest stop, Khabrel quickly grew into a small trading town, though the infrastructure was largely basic and mostly intended to facilitate barter between the different merchant groups that came through. It was not until a group of entrepreneurs, most prominent among whom was the man that gave the town its name, [[Khabrel Ar'Afor]] saw its potential and began to invest in the town, later moving in as it grew under their careful guidance.

Khabrel saw then what others failed to see when the village of Dorost was established a few days' ride away from Khabrel. Dorost was never going to work out as a center of trade due to its location, whereas Khabrel lay almost perfectly on a line connecting two established villages, Bailad and Isarnis, as well as two other locations that were beginning to see great interest from both governments and entrepreneurs along the base of the Skywall which would grow into the towns of Rasaak and Kalica. It wasn't until centuries after Khabrel's death that his prediction panned out, although he had died a happy and wealthy man just from the amount of traffic, and the revenue that that traffic brought, passing through his town.

Although, by the time that Khabrel died, the original oasis that had allowed Khabrel's existence had dried up, leaving behind nothing but a dusty bowl. A man of Khabrel's influence and money, however, was not about to let his town fall to ruin at the whim of nature and he commissioned the procurement of a large [[rainstone]] at the same time as he was having the old oasis excavated and turned into a large deep pool that would hold water enough for the burgeoning city.

== Layout ==
Khabrel was a city built in two stages. Old Khabrel, which was a relatively large village, was built primarily around the old oasis. Many old buildings are concentrated in the ring around the dried-up bowl of the old oasis that has since been repurposed into an open reservoir for water from the rainstone. In modern Khabrel, therefore, the eastern side of the city, which contains those old buildings, is the densest section of the city's sprawl. Although the modern city centre is relatively dense as well, the city looks decidedly lopsided in most maps of the area. The majority of the residential infrastructure lies in the east, where the neighbourhoods have easy access to the market square.

The central column of the city is home to most of the administrative services. Law enforcement, judicial courthouses, the garrison, the legislature, the mayor's home, the town hall, the treasury, and other such vital services are all located along a relatively broad strip running from the north of the city, down through the center to the south. The square in front of the town hall, the crossroads square, is the official meeting place of the two roads that cross in Khabrel, the [[Accord Highroad]] and the [[Mountain Road]]. Most travelling merchants set up their stalls in the crossroads square, but those travelling with caravans actually meant for sale at marketplaces go elsewhere in Khabrel for that. The crossroads square is primarily for merchants who do not travel regularly to Khabrel, where they can set up a stand for a minimal fee and then move on as soon as they have had their fill of the city. Regular merchants seek out their most trusted/most loyal patrons in the market square to the east of Khabrel, where they offload their goods and either take payment or take more goods in return before moving on.

The western side of the city primarily sees a lot of agriculture. Many of the small family farms in Khabrel are located in the western sector. There are also a few gardens, both publicly and privately owned, most of which are underground except for the succulents that can survive many of the ferocious sandstorms that rip through the area. Many of the city's services are also located in the western sector. The smith, the woodworker, the carpenter, the seamstress, the cobbler, and others are in this sector.

IldDaryn

2021-04-23T18:28:45Z

Malkuthe: Created page with "The small city of IldDaryn is an important port city along the length of the river IldSera. Due to its proximity to IldMorko, a dense fores..."

The small city of IldDaryn is an important port city along the length of the river [[Rhoy IldSera|IldSera]]. Due to its proximity to [[Uthra IldMorko|IldMorko]], a dense forest the locals call the Murkwood, its economy primarily revolves around the production of Ruthan lumber, which is in high demand both locally and within the member states of the Dominion for its high quality, supple but strong nature, and extreme workability.

Originally, IldDaryn relied on the town of IldMitir, which was established on the opposite bank of the river, for agriculture, as the flatter terrain on the other side of the river and the far less dense woods on that side were more conducive to the creation of farms. However, in Y.D. 30140, a massive undertaking to build a bridge across the breadth of IldSera resulted in both settlements becoming unified. For a time, ferrying over barges of grain and produce to IldDaryn worked, but demand for Ruthan lumber and increased mercantile traffic proved to be problematic over time. Thus, the unification project was spurred.

The Rodeni Mural

2016-12-13T02:13:14Z

Malkuthe: Created page with "The Rodeni Mural is a fragment of a fresco discovered at an archaeological dig by the banks of the Rodë Reýlinë. It is believed to have once been a part of th..."

The Rodeni Mural is a fragment of a fresco discovered at an archaeological dig by the banks of the [[Reýlinë|Rodë Reýlinë]]. It is believed to have once been a part of the wall decorations of the nearby temple ruins, although no one can say for sure where the fragment fits as many of the wall frescoes of the nearby temple site have deteriorated to the point that they are difficult, if not impossible, to discern. The Rodeni Mural itself is only marginally better preserved and many of the colours used to paint it have since faded.

== Di'Kharra ==

"The War." The scene depicted by the Rodeni Mural is called such because even the surviving fragment shows an intensely graphic scene of war. Important to note is that, as is typical of the style of the time, gleaned from pottery and other wall murals dated to the same period, the figures in the paintings have round, featureless faces and heavily stylized bodies. It is therefore impossible to tell based solely on constitution and skin colour—especially because all the characters in the fresco are painted with the same shade of brown—which side of the battle is which. Fortunately, however, the artists of the time had seemingly agreed, either coincidentally or through emulation, that Tretâllë should be depicted with grey clothing while the Aenêvë were dressed in an array of gaudy colours.

The depiction of the Tretalleri weapons in the fresco further anchor it in the post-diaspora period of Tretalleri history, as the vast majority of warriors on the scene wielded hand-and-a-half swords, with only a few handling the gently-curved blades that would later evolve into the ''kensarra,'' the crescent moon blades that became standard issue in the Dominean military. Furthermore, very few of the warriors were mounted, and we know from archaeological digs at later-period sites that Tretâllë would not begin to be depicted primarily on horseback until the [[Kingship of the Bone Trees]] hired the [[Tretallë (Mercenaries)|Bone rider]] mercenary corps.

What is most striking about the mural is the way that it depicts the Aenêvë as cowering in front of the Tretalleri onslaught. The front line holds true, but behind these soldiers with colourful tabards are men huddled near the ground, flinging balls of fire over their shoulders. This indicates that the Tretâllë contemporary to the creation of the mural believed the Aenêvë to be sniveling cowards, in sharp contrast with later depictions of the Elledynnë, seen primarily during the Consolidation and the beginning of the Dominion Era, where they are shown as tall, imposing, and dark-eyed with maniacal greed. It is believed that during the period where the Rodeni Mural is thought to have been constructed, the Aenêvë had been so consumed by infighting that the frequency of raids against Tretalleri lands dropped off sharply. This may have contributed to the general belief at the time that the Aenêvë were no longer a threat.

=== The Figure in White ===
Of all the figures in the battlefield depicted by the fresco, there is one standing off to a corner. Unfortunately, the part of the figure's upper body and the entire face are missing and are probably beyond recovery. What is striking about this figure, however, is the way that it is painted in pure white. This is of note because during the time, pigment so purely white would have been nigh-impossible to get. Tolvaari histories indicate, however, that during this time, their ancestors were trading from the Vaar-akôri region up north to central Termalttë. It is possible that the pigment was obtained through this little-known trade-route, but it is impossible to ascertain.

Nevertheless, the colour of the figure is not the only interesting fact. It is the only apparently-bare figure in the entire fresco. It is impossible to determine its gender as Tretalleri artists of the time did not concern themselves with depicting the gender of the subject of the painting.

The identity of the figure is one of the most hotly contested topics in modern archaeology. Some argue that the figure is a representation of a sort of proto-Stranger that would eventually gather a cult following that would inform the [[Averrë Nenn]], but some contest that the figure is not the Stranger, but instead the Prophetess Llyrileýwa herself and that the scene depicted is one that immediately follows the liberation of the ancestral Tretâllë from their bondage. The scene is too fragmentary to determine for sure which of the two viewpoints is correct, if either, but nevertheless the points are argued over and over again using largely circumstantial evidence.

== The Hidden Painting ==
A Confederation-sanctioned research initiative on the Rodeni Mural recently released a paper on what might be a hidden painting behind the existing fresco. Although the scientists working on the project were able to determine that the layer of plaster that the fresco was painted on was covering something else up, the nature of what the fresco hides is uncertain. Currently, scientists are still working on ways to discern what is behind the fresco amid fears that attempting to peel it off would only cause damage to the priceless mural and the fresco that could be hidden underneath it. Techniques involving new tetrahertz (1012 Hz) lasers are being looked at as a possible non-destructive method to peel back the Rodeni Mural to reveal what is underneath.

Dominion

2016-12-12T22:34:15Z

Malkuthe:

The Dominion is the largest and most successful empire in the history of the world of [[Sekhar]]. Modern scholars have difficulty determining how the Dominion managed to survive for so long when it began as little more than a ramshackle, loosely-allied collection of [[Tretallë|Tretalleri]] city-states with vastly different objectives. Nevertheless, academics agree that without a doubt, [[Cilritanë a'Detvida (Imperator)|Cilritanë a'Detvida]] was one of the best state builders to have ever been born because he forged the loose alliances of the [[Kingship of the Bone Trees]] into an empire that would last the test of time, civil wars, and numerous revolts.

== Geography ==
At the height of its power and influence, the Tretalleri Dominion's hold extended over much of the known world, so it is almost impossible to define the extents of Tretalleri habitation the world over. Instead, it might be more useful to take a look back at the history of the Dominion and examine its earliest extents.

We know from the first historical texts of the Dominion, the bulk of which are from the work of one [[Qerodë a'Morra]], that the Dominion saw its humble beginnings in the Kingship of the Bone Trees, a relatively small but economically prosperous city-states. The name of the capital of this city-state had already passed from living memory by the time that Qerodë wrote his ''De'Altyurrë Liannë'', ''Stories of the Past'', and as such was named ''Di'Fieldë Cselvë'', the Old City.

The Old City was allegedly built upon the banks of ''Di'Rodë Reýlinë'', near the place where its tributary ''D'Rodë Di'Elmirtë'' joins it. Qerodë also noted in his ''Stories'' that the Old City had been built ''just'' bordering the [[Forest of Bones]], ''De'Naborra Tâllë'' and the lands of ''Di'Garrotë'', a largely agrarian city-state that features rather heavily in the early parts of Qerodë's ''Stories''. Numerous archaeological digs have been proposed and attempted in the area, but have thus far failed to uncover any settlements of the kind that Qerodë claims to have been built there.

Another location worth examining is that of [[Ivory City|the Ivory City]], which, after its construction a few centuries prior to the establishment of the Dominion, became the capital of the Kingship of the Bone Trees ''and'' the Dominion that came after it. The northmost part of the city, which includes the [[Ivory City#Imperial Citadel|Imperial Citadel]] and the harbour district, are built alongside the ''rodë Reýlinë''.

Legend states that the original city was built on top of three hills, and although the slight slope of the land upward in the direction the Citadel supports this, attempts at finding the three hills have been for naught. The entire city is elevated relative to the land around it, facilitating drainage of water out of the city after heavy rains. Despite the elevation, however, the swelling of the river is a perennial problem for the riverbank districts.

The elevation evens out further from the city centre. Only the presence of the thick woods around the city serve to deter large enemy armies, forcing them to take the main thoroughfares that are much more easily defensible. The lack of natural defensive geography contributed to the multiple sieges that the Ivory City suffered early on in its history, both from other Tretalleri city-states and from the Elledŷnnë.

One feature of note about the Ivory City is that it is one of the first locations where intelligent creatures undertook environmental modification on a geographic scale. As the influence and wealth of the Dominion grew, the biggest civil engineering project ever attempted was put into action. In the year Y.D. 271, it was completed. Known to the modern day as ''Di'Maidnë Vidë'', the Grand Shield, the Dominion built a gigantic ring of iron deep under the ground that ensured that arcane magic would not work within the city limits.

== History ==
=== Rise of an Empire ===
The Tretalleri Clans enjoyed centuries of relative peace after the fall of the Aeneveri empire as its fragments continued attempting and failing to claw the empire back together from the broken pieces that the Tretâllë had left in their wake. There is archaeological evidence from this time that the Tretalleri Clans were comfortable enough with the peace and able enough to fend off attacks from the ragged remnants of the Aeneveri that large construction projects were undertaken.

Most notable of these projects was a temple to an unnamed god or local deified hero near the fork where ''D'Rodë Di'Elmirtë'' fed into the ''Rodë Reýlinë''. [[The Rodeni Mural|Depictions of Tretalleri warriors]], with dark clothing, and Aeneveri warriors, with colourful clothing, covered the surface of a wall fragment unearthed at the site.

It is worth noting that the peace and prosperity of the period was largely relative. Without a unified cause, the Tretalleri clans had disagreements and spats with one another, and often these boiled over into blood feuds and inter-clan warfare. Furthermore, even though the frequency of Aeneveri raids during the time dropped off sharply, they did not vanish altogether. However, in terms of large-scale race-spanning conflict, nothing of the sort would happen for at least another century.

It was also during this period, the 3rd Century LD (''Leývë Di'Tretallë'', Before the Dominion), that the [[Dominion/Ivory Throne|Ivory Throne]] was unearthed while the foundations for a city-centre were being dug out. The excavators were settlers from a nearby city-state that would later be known as the Kingship of the Bone Trees, though its original name has been lost to history. Again, however, it is worth keeping in mind that much of this knowledge is drawn from oral traditions that were only compiled in a written form centuries after the fact.

Needless to say, the finding of the Ivory Throne ignited ambitions of empire among the leaders of the city-state that discovered it. A city sprang up around the Ivory Throne, which was enshrined beside the city centre and kept under permanent guard. The city was named ''Di'Ifatallë Cselvë'', the Ivory City, at the same time as the leadership of the city-state formally declared its name to be the Kingship of the Bone Trees.

Once the Ivory City was economically established and the move was feasible, the Kingship transferred its capital there. It is believed that for the next handful of centuries, the Kingship would remain relatively small, unable to expand beyond sudden growth spurts that would reverse as soon as the encumbent leadership passed away. Things changed, however, when the man alleged to be the first Imperator of the Dominion, Cilritanë a'Detvida, took power.

Previous rulers of the Kingship of the Bone Trees had sought to expand the kingdom's borders and increase their power and authority. In this regard, the young Imperator Cilritanë was no different. Where he did differ from those that came before him, however, was his dream of uniting the Tretalleri people under a single banner and a single goal—ridding the world of the Aeneveri for good.

Cilritanë, however, knew that he could not accomplish his dream by just expanding his empire. he was, if anything, a consummate politician and recognized that conquest was something that should be approached as a last resort. At this time, the Bone Riders had already been contracted to the Kingship of the Bone Trees for a while, and Cilritanë, seeing the value in having a permanent contingent of skilled cavalrymen, struck a deal to make the Bone Riders an official part of the Kingship's army.

Within a decade, Cilritanë had either subdued—using his superior military—or allied the clans that surrounded his domain. These clans formed the nucleus of his budding empire, and the economic power that they gave Cilritanë was unprecedented. There were challengers to Cilritanë's burgeoning Dominion, but none of them could match his economic strength, nor his burning determination to see his dream to fruition.

=== The Consolidation ===
One of Cilritanë's greatest defeats was at the hands of an unnamed tribe that was particularly bloodthirsty in repelling his military. From the beginning it had been clear that no diplomatic solution could be found, and many of his allies already disliked the clan to begin with. Unfortunately for Cilritanë and his forces, this particular clan was well-placed geographically and after a protracted campaign where he suffered small but significant losses, Cilritanë was forced to pull back and reevaluate his plans.

Fortunately for Cilritanë, the border clans were all but ripe for the picking. He was certain that there would be no need for force in dealing with them and that diplomacy would be the best way, even if the border clans were consummate warriors. Cilritanë was, save for a handful of instances, correct.

One of Cilritanë's early policies, before he turned his ambitions to empire, was that of agrarian reform. His kingdom regularly ran a surplus of food, which he leveraged for bargaining with the border clans. The border clans were regularly under attack from the Aeneveri remnants and as a result, had very little time to devote to proper agriculture, so the promise of aid in the form of food was a welcome one. In order to ensure the strength of the agreement, Cilritanë had also promised to send military aid if ever necessary.

With the border clans successfully allied with him, Cilritanë decided that it was time to take his plans to the next level. The next century was filled with political manoeuvres and military campaigns. In the end, Cilritanë managed to forge together the vast majority of the Tretalleri clans into a single unified front.

There were still a few outliers once Cilritanë declared that the Dominion had been born, but many of these quickly followed suit with the other clans and joined Cilritanë when they saw the relative economic prosperity of his empire. Even more were enticed when Cilritanë declared war against the Aeneveri and marshalled his troops to march on the other half of Di'Termalttë to exact revenge on the Aeneveri.

Needless to say, the campaign did not go as intended. For the most part, the Dominion swept through a large part of Di'Termalttë, burning villages and destroying lives in its wake. Winter put a stop to all of it, however, and many of the Aeneveri had retreated south, where the Dominion could not follow.

Disappointed, but still satisfied with the damage that he had done, Cilritanë led the troops back and spent the rest of his life tending to strengthening the bonds that held the Dominion together.

=== The Dominion Era ===

Tretallë

2016-12-09T18:12:11Z

Malkuthe: /* The Dominion */

{{LoreToStats|Dominion Era|Tretallë}}
{{Infobox tretallë}}

They are the architects, engineers, builders, and heirs to the greatest and most successful empire that the history of the world of [[Sekhar]] remembers. They are known by many names to many people all throughout the years of the long and storied histories of the world of Sekhar. To some, they are jailers, to others liberators, and to many more, their arrival is believed to herald a wave of death and destruction that washes over the land, leaving nothing but those who capitulate in its wake. What hasn't changed over the years is how they view themselves—as the protectors of the world from the corrupt ways of their wayward sister-race the [[Elledŷnnë|Elledynnë]].

Although history remembers them as consummate warmongers, the Tretâllë are anything but. Modern scholarship has come to the conclusion that as accurate as the Tretalleri histories might be, they tend to gloss over the empire's more peaceful conquests which far outnumber their military ones. In truth, for the most part, the Imperators and the Twin Courts avoid war as much as possible as the instability that they cause make integration all the more difficult.

The Tretâllë are also known for their martial lifestyle, their acceptance of individual choice and liberty, but perhaps, most of all, their impeccable ability to control their emotions. The former two are certainly pillars of Tretalleri culture and society, but the latter is entirely the result of a misapprehension of the extreme care with which Tretâllë treat their interactions with individuals of other races. The government's tacit approval of the stereotype certainly did not help the matter.

== Names ==
Because of the widespread influence of the [[Dominion]], many names came to be associated with the Tretâllë. A number of them are considered quite offensive these days but were, generally speaking, descriptive to the people that gave them those names.

One of the names that entered popular usage, particularly because of the huge population that accompanied the integration of this particular culture, is the name [[Tretallë|IstFet]] from the [[Lexicon:IktOrryk|IktOrryk]] of the [[IstEri|Races of Man]]. The name comes from the word ''fetir'', which means death. Originally, the Tretâllë were known as the IstAyna, from ''aynara'', which meant stranger.

Shortly after the [[Conquest Era#IldCarr|massacre at IldCarr]], however, the tone of popular perception of the Tretallë began to shift. Among the kingdoms that had already capitulated or enthusiastically entered the Dominion, the effect was less pronounced as the people were enjoying the stability that Dominion rule brought. Among those that were still in the process of joining, however, bitterness was rampant. The bloodshed at IldCarr served as a reminder that the otherwise-benevolent visitors would not hesitate to resort to violence if they were repelled. By giving the Tretâllë the name IstFet, the Races of Man were not simply calling them the bringers of death, but rather they were calling the Tretâllë a people ''of'' death.

Half the world away in the [[Pāll-tanír]], the Tretâllë were met with a very different tone. To the A'Drekh, they became considered the liberators because they freed those among the [[A'Drekh]] that had been enslaved. Furthermore, their coming had also put an end to the wars that were constantly waged between the A'Drekh and the Arventiri over the Font of Life. For this reason, the [[A'Drekh#Ascendants|A'Drekh Ascendants]] called the Tretâllë ''Kumārë''.

On the other side of that conflict, however, the Arventiri were less than pleased by the Tretalleri occupation of the Pāll-tanír. Not only had the Tretâllë banned warfare and forced them to cooperate with the A'Drekh, they had deprived the Arventiri of their believed gods-given right to take, enslave, and use for their own means the other creatures that lived in the Pāll-tanír. To them, the Tretâllë became Q'ulvyari, the bringers of chains. The oppressors.

To the [[Sylvari]], who, prior to the arrival of the Dominion had only just begun building their civilization, the Tretâllë were a godssend. The Sylvari are nearly as long-lived as the Tretâllë and had had a lot of trouble figuring out how to best set up their lives and communities with that in mind. The arrival of the Tretâllë, who had dealt with this matter already, was hailed as a message from the gods. To the Sylvari, then, the Tretâllë became ''Gamora'' and ''Ganrak'', "Namegiver" and "Lawgiver", respectively.

=== Self-naming ===
The earliest known name for the Tretâllë is ''Syd'Taedë Aedyla'', one given them by the [[Prophetess Llyrileýwa]] in the ancient tongue of [[Lexicon:Aenevelyndë|Aenevelyndë]]. The phrase is believed to mean 'The Pale Ones,' although knowledge of Aenevelyndë was at best fragmentary, even when the Dominion first started keeping meticulous historical records.

Although the name was passed down through oral tradition, the first known genuine written record of the name comes from a clay tablet discovered at an archeological dig by the Rodë Reýlinë, some hundred miles east of Di'Ifatallë Cselvë. It is believed to be a memorial marking for those that passed during the war for the liberation of the ancestors of the Tretâllë, as it recounts the story of the days of the Pale Ones' slavery under the Aenevë.

This finding was corroborated by [[Elloreni Qor'Zavë]], Elloreni the Elder, who was the last of the immortal elves to live among the mortals. Initially he confirmed the findings in a missive to the Grand Rookery, but later on, he expanded upon the lore of the name in his seminal work ''Di'Bremiernë'', which was published a few short decades before he eventually succumbed to ''Di'Wirenë''. It is from this that we know that the name was bequeathed to the ancestors of the Tretâllë by the Prophetess.

Another name that saw widespread use among the early Tretâllë was ''Di'Terredŷnë''. It was believed to have been adopted in opposition to the use of the remnants of the Aeneveri empire's use of ''Di'Elledŷnnë''. The earliest known work to have used the term is a short essay written on a badly-preserved scroll found soon after the founding of the Dominion. The work was entitled "Against the Deceivers," and contained the phrase, translated into modern Tretalleri, ''Sendë qrivë têýna De'nakhë Elledŷnnë te têýna`na Ganë vîttë qrivë îdë De'nakhë Terredynë kirannë vittë enkonë îdë nara s'khatha têýna'', which means "If they give the name of Children of the Stars to themselves, then we will give ourselves the name of Children of the Earth so that we will learn that they are enemies."

The name ''Tretâllë'' did not come about until much later in the history of the Tretalleri people. It at first referred to the group of people who were able to learn how to use the indigenous population of horses for advantage in armed conflict. It is widely believed, even more so with mounting evidence from recent archaeological findings, that the name ''Tretâllë'' was originally borne by a group of notorious bandits who wore the bones of their dead on their bodies so that their arrival would always be heard and feared.

The early history of the name is rather unclear. What evidence survives to the modern age comes not from historians themselves, but from the accounts of men and women who had been alive during [[Dominion Era#The Consolidation|the Consolidation]]. However, what is readily apparent is that the [[Kingship of the Bone Trees]], ''D'Lanakhë Di'Lignetallë'' in seeking to bolster its military might, offered pardons and gold to the Bone Riders in exchange for their services, making them, for a short time, the largest mercenary group on the continent.

No one knows how or why the transition happened, but soon after being hired, the Bone Riders officially became part of the Kingship of the Bone Trees' military, and a significant one at that. As time went on, the name became associated with the Kingship of the Bone Trees, and when the first Imperator, [[Cilritanë a'Detvida (Imperator)|Cilritanë a'Detvida]] established the Dominion, he allowed the name to remain and adopted it officially as the name of his people, thinking it an honour to the Bone Riders who had won for him a great many battles and without whom his dreams of a unified empire for the Tretâllë would have never come to pass.

== Historical Background ==
=== Early Populations ===
It is believed that the early Tretalleri peoples were originally a sub-group of a larger population, particularly an advanced civilization known as the [[Aenevë]] or the Great Elves of the East.

Archaeological digs at suspected sites of Aeneveri cities have revealed surprising evidence with regard to the mythical origins of the Tretâllë. Particularly, pottery and murals from the period show that there was an air of growing political discord at the time, due in large part to the gradual waning of immortality in the Aeneveri population.

At this time, the ancestral Tretâllë were a people with a common ethnic background that lived, most likely, in and around the southernmost region of [[Termalttë|Di'Termalttë]]. Biologists believe that the pale complexion of these ancestral Tretâllë developed as an adaptation to the more temperate climes of the region.

Unfortunately for the ancestral Tretallë, their different appearance made them an easy target for savvy politicians. Although initially the populace largely dismissed the outlandish idea that somehow the ancestral Tretâllë were the cause of the waning immortality, the introduction of and rapid adaptation of the faith of the Triple Goddess turned public perception.

Eventually, the ancestral Tretâllë were singled out and blamed, as a scapegoat, for the public health crisis. Although initially, this meant segregation, growing civil unrest and a series of extremist government leaders saw this original discrimination turn into full-blown slavery. The ancestral Tretâllë were uprooted from their home and set to work in the depths of the Shrouded Peaks as a labour force, mining gold and silver and gems that were vital for the new religion that was sweeping across the Aeneveri empire.

Ultimately, the ancestral Tretâllë were able to break free in an unprecedented slave-revolt thanks to the tireless work of the Prophetess Llyrileýwa. Streaming out from the Shrouded Peaks into the Desolation, the ancestral Tretâllë, in the myths, took two Lengths to rest and settle their elderly and their young, before taking up arms in a war of attrition against the empire that had so wronged them.

Although they were untrained and largely undisciplined, the war turned in the ancestral Tretâllë's favour as the military tactics of the Aeneveri had stagnated due to decades of misuse under relatively prosperous peace, as well as because of a handful of particularly wise military commanders whose knowledge of Aeneveri tactics proved vital to conquering the field.

The ancestral Tretâllë waged a decade-long war of attrition against the Aeneveri until public perception of the government hit rock-bottom and the disillusioned and dissatisfied portions of the populace attempted numerous coups, causing the surprisingly dramatic implosion of the Aeneveri empire.

As a result of their martial victories, the ancestral Tretâllë were able to create for themselves a pocket of Di'Termalttë that they could call their own, even though it was far away from their home in the south. As the last fragments of the Aeneveri empire collapsed under their own weight, the ancestral Tretâllë divided themselves into groups to pursue their own goals, thus creating the first of the ancestral Tretalleri clans. They did this, however, with the understanding that should the Aeneveri or their descendants ever rise to power again, the Tretâllë would unite to beat them back down.

=== The Dominion ===
For a few centuries after the Diaspora, the Tretalleri clans remained largely disparate. That is, until the man that history alleges is the first Imperator of the Dominion, Cilritanë a'Detvida, consolidated the clans into a single unified empire.

The rise of the Dominion, as well as the [[Silvered Realm]] that came soon after it, ushered the world into a new era. This era is marked by three things: slow, methodical technological advancement on the part of the Dominion, rapid expansionism leading to numerous military campaigns abroad, and constant skirmishing and warfare between the Dominion and the Silvered Realm.

Despite the fact that history remembers mostly the conflicts that occurred during the many millennia of uninterrupted Dominion rule, for the most part, the [[Dominion Era]] was largely prosperous. During this time, the Tretâllë began to colonize other continents and islands. The first few were established not far from the mainland, but far enough away that trade was strained for the larger part of the early Dominion Era due to Elledŷnnë raiding along the sea routes used by the Tretâllë.

As the Dominion matured, however, the Dominion gained more and more resources and could afford to regularly patrol the sea corridors used by mercantile vessels. As a result, trade flourished between the mainland and the island colonies. The economic prosperity brought about by the unrestricted trade is evidenced primarily in the Kosë, the heaviest denomination of coin, of the time which was stamped with images of seafaring ships on the reverse side.

The establishment of a protected sea corridor between the mainland and the island colonies also facilitated the Dominion's journey westward, toward the land of the Sylvari. They were accepted quite openly by the peoples of the island chain and were given more than enough room to establish their colonies in the region.

Although there was some friction due to the differing cultures, the two species lived in relative prosperity with one another. It was only a matter of time before the Sylvari, impressed by the amount of food that the handful of established colonies received from the mainland, asked to join the Dominion.

Once the covenant between the two races was established, a second period of flourishing trade dawned on the Tretâllë.

This is a scenario that repeats itself many times through the long and storied history of the Dominion. Only rarely did a people resist the Dominion so much that it was forced to bring to bear its significant military might. Over thirty millennia, though, the occasional conquest added up, giving the Tretâllë a reputation as a warmongering people.

During the Dominion Era, patronage of the arts, while not nearly as extensive as in the Silvered Realm never truly wavered in any significant sort of way. Tretalleri architecture evolved in the mainland over the years and advancements there filtered to the rest of the Dominion's colonies through builders and traders that visited them.

The trade routes also provided a way for the rich cultures with which the Dominion came into contact with to leave a lasting mark on the mainland. The Tretalleri practice of wearing accessories to indicate one's marital status or romantic availabiltiy was adopted from the Sylvari that came to live in the mainland.

The colonisation of these faraway lands also had a profound effect on the Tretalleri language, which slowly inherited some structures and words from the others. The words ''matrë'' and ''patrë'', for mother and father respectively, for example, came from the A'Drekh ''maekhë'' and ''faekhë''.

Tretalleri civilization was in its golden age during the Dominion Era, and by extension, so too were the civilizations of the peoples that had submitted or been forcefully integrated into the Dominion. Although all the cultures of the world retained their individuality, the borders between them slowly began to blur. Aspects of each culture were integrated into Tretalleri culture, just as aspects of Tretalleri culture were adapted by others, and over the years, these disparate fragments formed a single Dominean culture.

== The Tretalleri Peoples ==
=== The Dominean Tretâllë ===
It is difficult to ascribe any sort of nationality or regionality to Di'Tretâllë as the earliest historical records we have date back to well after the formation of the Dominion. Although at the time, there were certainly still some distinctions between groups of Tretâllë who lived in different regions, these are somewhat vague and only mentioned passing by the works of historians such as [[Qerodë a'Morra]].

Based on archaeological and linguistic evidence, however, modern experts have managed to reconstruct a loose categorization of regionalisms within the early Dominion, in addition to those that have been named in the literature.

==== Regional Ethnic Groups ====
{{columns-list|3|
* Di'Garroteni
* Di'Naborreni
* Di'Rodeni
* Di'Averreni
* Di'Elleni
* Di'Fioreni
* Di'Terjeni
* Di'Elmireni
* Di'Khalmireni
* Di'Rivelleni
}}

Now, of course, it is impossible to fully reconstruct the many disparate Tretalleri clans that formed pre-Dominean society. As appealing as the idea might be, much of the archaeological evidence from the period has been built over or destroyed. Even if there were comprehensive records, Qerodë admits in his ''Stories'' that other than in the surviving clan names, there was no way to determine how many there had been in the past. He adds that to complicate matters, the clans were ever-changing, growing, splitting, shrinking, dying, and joining up over the course of years as leaders and priorities changed.

=== The Exiles ===
Di'Khyrêni, the Exiles, are Tretâllë who, over the years, migrated ''[[Di'Lanakhyrë]]'', the [[Exiled Realm]]. These Tretâllë fled the relative safety of the Dominion for the uncertainty of the Exiled realm either because they were ejected from their homeland for serious crimes or treason, or they were simply disillusioned by the policy of conquest and the ideology that pervades it.

History attempts to paint the Tretâllë as a singular people with a single identity and ideological leaning, but this could not be further from the truth. No doubt this was an attempt to promote the strength in unity that the Dominion espouses, but it is no excuse for failing to report on the truth.

There are two primary groupings among the Exiles. There are ''Di'Risseni'', the Peaceful Ones, who are a group of consummate pacifists who refuse even the basic military training that is mandated for all Tretalleri young, and then there are ''Di'Khymaltteni'', the Homeless, who are Dominean Tretalleri exiles who still attempt to emulate life in the Dominion as much as possible. Among the latter are a few descendants of once-prominent Houses who still cling on to the hope of a pardon for their bloodline.

== Languages ==
There is only one official language spoken by the Tretâllë, used in all forms, branches, and institutions of government for a primarily Tretalleri populace and that is [[Lexicon:Elle'lyndë/Tretalleri|D'Lyndë Tretalleri]]. The lingua franca of the Dominion and the later [[Confederation of Sovereign Nations]] is Dominean, which is primarily influenced by Tretalleri, but is also comprised of loan words and borrowed structures from the many other languages spoken by different ethnic groups in the Dominion.

There are numerous regional dialects of Tretalleri, a natural consequence of the wide territory that belongs to the Dominion. The island colonies, for example, speak a form of Tretalleri that is distinct from that spoken by those on the border with the Silvered Realm, and with those that live deeper in, around the Ivory City. There is also a distinction between common Tretalleri, which is what most people speak, and the so-called "High" Tretalleri which is a heavily regulated form of the language spoken primarily by the aristocratic classes and regulated by a government body.

"High" Tretalleri is not as adaptive to change as common Tretalleri and, by extension, Dominean. As a result, it is used mostly for imperial declarations and legislative or academic texts.

== Religion ==
Modern Tretâllë are relatively more religiously diverse than their Dominion Era counterparts in terms of religious belief. Although there are no accurate third-party records, it is widely believed that over 95 percent of Tretâllë in the Dominion Era were [[Averrë Nenn|Avereni]].

In the modern day, however, census results paint an entirely different picture. While the bulk, 70% of the Tretalleri populace still hold to the Avereni religion, a significant amount, 20%, either claim that they have no religion, that they are not particularly religious, or that they are spiritual instead of religious. 9% of Tretâllë have adopted Tolvaari animism or have returned to the Druidic Lore, 1% have converted to the [[Sanctum]] faith, while the rest have taken to believing other religions in numbers too small to be statistically significant in relation to the total population.

Dominion Era/Lady Veýs

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Malkuthe:

An individual most closely related to the collective cultural history of the [[Dominion Era/Tolvaar (Culture)|Tolvaari]] peoples, the Lady Veýs is a legendary figure whose influence reverberates well into the modern day. Often associated with a similar mythical figure in [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Culture)|Tretalleri]] lore, the [[Dominion Era/Prophetess Llyrileýwa|Prophetess Llyrileýwa]], the Lady Veýs influence has grown much since the early days of the Tolvaar and she features relatively commonly in literary and artistic works of the Tretâllë as well. The Lady Veýs is regarded in Tolvaari myth as a salvific and redemptive figure, and as such commands a great amount of respect. Though the Tolvaari people, save for the converts to the [[Dominion Era/Averrë Nenn|Faith of the Nine]], generally do not believe in deities, the Lady Veýs' status in Tolvaari culture and lore has elevated her to a level that is ''very'' close to that of a goddess.

== Tolvaari Myths ==

Dominion Era/Tolvaar (Culture)/Animist Tolvaar

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These Tolvaar comprise the vast majority of the Tolvaar who live in the southern reaches of the Exiled Realm, where the Tolvaari ancestral lands are. Specific beliefs among these Tolvaar are very different from one clan to the next, but common among them is the general idea that the essence of divinity is contained by all things. To the animist Tolvaar, every creature, form of the land, form of the water, or heavenly body, are gods unto themselves. The animist Tolvaar reject the idea of deities, often arguing that to ascribe divinity to metaphysical entities is to deny the innate sacredness of all life, the land and water that give birth to it, and the heavens that provide light and shade that it may thrive.

The animist Tolvaar adhere to practices more associated with the druidism of old, and this is often attributed to the fact that it is the animist Tolvaar who, legend alleges, were the most influenced by the Lady Veýs. Though, as mentioned above, the animist Tolvaar are anything but homogeneous, one of the most prominent traditions among the animist Tolvaari clans is the worship of the moon. Another feature that is present in most, but not all, animist Tolvaari clans is the tradition of ancestor worship, though to use the word 'worship' is to strip the practice of its significance. Animist Tolvaar who practice ancestor worship do not worship in the same sense as Di'Tretâllë worship the Nine, instead, the animist Tolvaar revere their ancestors and believe that by reaching through the veil separating the world of spirits and the living, their ancestors can give them strength and guidance through life.

To the animist Tolvaar, the Lady Veýs is about as close to a goddess as they possess in their faith. She is treated with great reverence because the animist Tolvaar believe that not only did she teach the Tolvaari peoples the way of peace, but also allowed them to reconnect with the land that they had lost their ancient connection to. The animist Tolvaar further believe that come the day when the Tolvaari peoples are once again lost and wandering without purpose, the Lady Veýs will return to reopen their eyes.

Dominion Era/Tolvaar (Culture)/Dominean Tolvaar

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Influenced largely by their proximity to Dominion lands, the Dominean Tolvaar comprise the majority of the Tolvaar that live near the borders of the Exiled Realm and the Tolvaar who live within the Dominion itself. In fact, by the end of the Dominion Era, a number of the older Tolvaari enclaves in the Dominion have become fully integrated, with a number of Tolvaari clans swearing fealty to the Ivory Throne, the most prominent of whom are the Nôrak, or the ''Blue Feather'' Clan.

The Dominean Tolvaar adhere to the Faith of the Nine and though many acknowledge the authority of the Grand Rookery on the matter of the faith, to the Dominean Tolvaar, the Nine, like them, are able to change forms. Many depictions of the Nine in Dominean Tolvaar homesteads and settlements take on the image of Tolvaar, instead of the more elfin features more commonly associated with them. Furthermore, despite the canonical interpretation of the Nine as put forth by the Grand Rookery, Dominean Tolvaar approach some of the Nine with a very different point of view. The Stranger, for example, is regarded by the Tolvaar with a wariness that is absent from the Tretallë. And though naturally more warlike than their brethren who live within the Exiled Realm, the Dominean Tolvaar still see the Rider with a sense of disdain. This is because, despite their closer ties with the most successful military power in the world, the Dominean Tolvaar retain the pacifistic cultural values instilled in the Tolvaari peoples by the Lady Veýs. The fact that the Rider represents the glory of war, the exhilaration of battle, and the revel in felling one's enemies, is diametrically opposed to these values.

One of the most prominent aspects of Dominean Tolvaari beliefs is their approach to the Tretalleri legendary figure, the [[Dominion Era/Prophetess Llyrileýwa|Prophetess Llyrileýwa]]. Though a minority believe that the Prophetess and the Lady Veýs are two distinct individuals who fulfilled the same role for two different peoples, the majority of Dominean Tolvaari are ''convinced'' that the Prophetess and the Lady are one and the same. Though this was not acknowledged by the Grand Rookery at the time, modern-day scholarship, most notably the Grand Rookery itself, counsel that the most likely case is that the Prophetess and the Lady are the same person.

Dominion Era/Tolvaar (Culture)/Secular Tolvaar

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There is very little, in terms of religious belief, to talk about with regard to the secular Tolvaar, for they do not believe themselves subject to neither gods nor spirits. Morality, for the secular Tolvaar, is not defined by gods nor by nature, but instead, by the accountability of one sapient creature to another. Furthermore, the secular Tolvaar believe in the value of evidence and are quick to demand it when confronted with extraordinary claims, which they summarily reject if evidence is not provided.

The story of the Lady Veýs is perhaps the one exception to secular Tolvaari scrutiny. Most secular Tolvaar accept the existence of the Lady Veýs as truth due to the preponderance of documented conversations between the Lady and other respected figures of Tolvaari history. However, during the Dominion Era, there was a small but slowly growing section of the secular Tolvaari population that approach the literature with a new hermeneutics, choosing instead to believe that the Lady Veýs was not a single person, but rather the conglomeration of a number of prominent women throughout Tolvaari history whose work eventually led to where the Tolvaar are now.

Dominion Era/Tolvaar (Culture)

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{{Infobox tolvaar}}
The wolfkin of [[Dominion Era/Locations/Termalttë|Di'Termalttë]], the Tolvaar (singular: ''Tolvar'') are one of the younger races to grace the continent with their presence. Known in [[Lexicon:Elle'lyndë/Tretalleri|Tretalleri]] as Di'Fareni, the Tolvaar of the [[Dominion Era]] thrive in relative prosperity despite of and perhaps ''because of'' the general confinement of their territories to the [[Dominion Era/Locations/Exiled Realm|Exiled Realm]], which lies in between the realms of the [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Culture)|Tretalleri]] [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Government)|Dominion]] and the [[Dominion Era/Elledynnë (Culture)|Elledyn'ni]] [[Dominion Era/Elledynnë (Government)|Silvered Realm]]. It is worth noting, however, that though their ancient heritage places the homeland of their culture and their civilization in the [[Dominion Era/Locations/Vaar-Akôr|Vaar-Akôri]] region to the south of the Exiled Realm, the good relations that the Tolvaar establish with the Dominion allows them to live peacefully by the borders of the Exiled Realm with Dominion lands, and even in a number of small enclaves officially sanctioned by the [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Government)/D'Cilaneti Tivirë Di'Tretallë|Ivory Throne]].

== Religion ==
Even at the onset of the Dominion Era, the religious views of the Tolvaari clans, ''Tora Tolvaari'' in [[Lexicon:Tolvaari|Tolvaari]], varied to such a degree from one region of their territory to the next that it is an exercise in futility to attempt to paint them in broad strokes. However, this is where we begin to see the seeds of the three primary religious groups that come to dominate the Tolvaari population later on in the Dominion Era. Loosely categorized, the Tolvaari ''tora'' fall into one of three grousp: the Animist, the Dominean, and the Secular.

Religion plays an integral role in the history of the Tolvaari peoples and the way that their culture evolves and develops over time. It is therefore necessary to understand the interplay between the three religious groups and their respective populations in order to properly understand the way that the Tolvaar shaped their history. It is nigh-impossible to discuss Tolvaari culture, in general, at length without referring to the three groups.

==== Animist Tolvaar ====
The animist Tolvaari ''tora'' reside primarily in the southern reaches of the Exiled Realm where they are largely isolated from the two encroaching empires of the Dominion and the Silvered Realm. Concentrated primarily around white cliffs of the Vaar-Akôri region, the ancestral lands of the Tolvaar, they are considered far more in tune with their ancient heritage than the other groupings.

Of particular note is the tendency of the animist Tolvaari ''tora'' to adhere more closely to the old ways of the Tolvaari ''tora'' than the others. One of the most prominent manifestations of this adherence to the old ways are the Imalakya, contests of strength both physical and spiritual held on the third full moon of every second year.

The defining characteristic of the animist Tolvaar is their belief in the innate sacredness of all things. That is, the animist Tolvaar believe that divinity resides within each creature, be it plant or animal, all forms of earth, water, and air, and even in the heavenly bodies that shed light through the day and through the night. Furthermore, the animist Tolvaar reject the concept of gods, believing that to ascribe divinity to a single entity is to deny the innate sacredness that is possessed by all things. They consider the concept of gods a license to exploit and abuse the world around them.

==== Dominean Tolvaar ====
The Dominean Tolvaari ''tora'' live in and around the region that forms the border between the Exiled Realm and the Dominion of the Tretâllë. Dominean Tolvaar also comprise the vast majority of the population of Tolvaar who reside in the Tolvaari enclaves within Dominion lands.

They are, by nature, more warlike than their brethren, though not in the sense that they often fall into conflict with one another. Though more willing by far to engage in violence than the other Tolvaari ''tora'', the Dominean Tolvaar do not do so without discretion for they believe that the only wars worth fighting are the ones that are fought out of necessity.

Belief in the [[Dominion Era/Averrë Nenn#The Nine|The Nine]] of the Tretalleri [[Dominion Era/Averrë Nenn|faith]] is what marks the line between the Dominean Tolvaar and the others. Though some, particularly the ''tora'' that reside deeper into the Dominion and which, toward the end of the Dominion Era, have sworn fealty to the Ivory Throne, are adherents to tha canonical faith, the vast majority have adopted the Nine as deities of their own and treat them in a manner quite different from that prescribed by the Grand Rookery.

==== Secular Tolvaar ====
At the onset of the Dominion Era, many of the Tolvaar in the Exiled Realm, particularly in the central and northern regions were still animist, however as the years marched on, what had been a minority slowly began to grow. The Secular Tolvaar now comprise the vast majority of the Tolvaari population, and though there isn't much to be said about their religious beliefs, they are easily one of the most interesting of the three groups.

Of note among the secular Tolvaar is the notion that morality is not something that can be defined or codified in a book. For many of the secular Tolvaar, though there are common-sense rules such as 'murder is bad,' and 'stealing is bad,' the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined solely by the circumstances wherein they occurred. Furthermore, the secular Tolvaar believe that morality does not depend on some respect for innate sacredness or fear of divine intervention, but rather that morality arises from mutual accountability between persons and other persons, the environment, and the larger culture that surrounds them.

The secular Tolvaar are defined by their outright rejection of gods, but unlike the animist Tolvaar, they also reject the notion of innate divinity or any sort of supernatural claim that is not itself accompanied by a preponderance of evidence. Furthermore, the secular Tolvaar believe that the purpose of life is not to, make one's inner divinity blossom, nor have a good death, but rather to pursue truths both personal and cosmic which is compelling for many, including a significant number of individuals in the [[Dominion Era/Di'Maidnë Malkorvë|Grand Rookery]].

=== The Lady Veýs ===
{{main|Dominion Era/Lady Veýs|l1=Lady Veýs}}
Though at the time a largely disparate people, the Tolvaar of the Dominion Era nevertheless shared a number of legends. There is no more prominent figure, perhaps, in this collective cultural mythos, than that of the Lady Veýs who appears in surviving texts as anything from a spiritual guide to a saviour.

However large a portion of the modern Tolvaari population the secular Tolvaar might now comprise, the Lady Veýs remains an important cultural figure to them. There are, no doubt, skeptics who regard the Lady Veýs with suspicion, but they are a tiny minority. One would be almost as hard-pressed to find a Tolvaari doubter of the Lady Veýs in the modern day as in the Dominion Era.

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of the stories of the Lady Veýs as one of the few things the surviving accounts agree upon is that she seemed to come from out of the aether, with no fanfare or celebration. Nevertheless, and this is another point that the fragmentary texts from the earliest period of recorded Tolvaari history agree upon, the Lady Veýs came at a time when the ancient Tolvaari needed intervention the most.

Little survives from the early days of the Dominion Era Tolvaar, but even fewer are the texts that detail the circumstances of the Tolvaar before the arrival of the Lady Veýs. Most, if not all of these sources, are second-hand, recorded centuries after the fact once oral traditions gave way to written traditions. These accounts do, however, agree that before the Lady Veýs arrived, the Tolvaar were facing a crisis.

Of the surviving accounts, twenty-seven in all, there are two primary groupings. The '' "Kesvarkaya" '' and the '' "Keskarniya" '' texts. These two groups are named after their common opening phrases, "Keskevarka," which means '' 'we were lost,' '' and "Kesvekari," which means '' 'we were angry,' '' respectively. The story changes from one account to another, but the most striking difference occurs between these two groupings. The "Kesvarkaya" texts imply that the Tolvaar had lost their way, while the "Keskarniya" texts bemoan the constant, seemingly-endless conflict that plagued the ''tora''.

==== The Lady Redeemer ====
In many respects, the Lady Veýs is the foundational precedent for the "''deus ex machina''" often found in Tolvaari literature. That is, in saving the Tolvaar from their 'dark age,' the Lady Veýs, coming out of nowhere, with no warning or fanfare, solved an insurmountable problem that the Tolvaar would have not otherwise overcome. The comparison is a valid one, touched upon many times by Tolvaari scholars over the years, though hardly the kind of material suited for this work.

Nevertheless, it is from this salvific action that the Lady Veýs takes the first of many mantles that the Tolvaar give her in their collective mythos: that of the Redeemer.

===== The Three Redemptions =====
The aspect of the Redeemer manifests primarily in the form of what the Tolvaar know as the "Three Redemptions" which the Lady Veýs guide the Tolvaari peoples toward.

'''Redemption of the Savages''' — Surviving literature alleges that during the 'dark age,' the Tolvaari peoples were little more than beasts reacting to the world around them instinctively, often lashing out with violence at the smallest provocation. In leading the Tolvaar to their first Redemption, the Lady Veýs taught them the way of peace, and helped them to rebuild the bridges that they had burned between themselves.

'''Redemption of the Lost''' — Although peace lead to many years of prosperity and happiness for the Tolvaari ''tora'', the early Tolvaar, without war, anger, and hatred to lead their hearts, began to feel lost. Some took up arms again and threatened to topple the tenuous peace, but the Lady Veýs came again and taught the Tolvaar the ways of the land and how to care for it. Knowing that the Tolvaar had lost sight of their purpose, the Lady Veýs charged them with their ancient duty to act as the stewards of the land.

'''Redemption of the Nameless''' — Living now with peace and a new purpose as the guardians of the earth itself, the Tolvaar were happy for a time. They dwelt together, ''tora'' that had once been enemies, tied together by a common duty. But their heavy past followed them no matter where they went, and many succumbed to despair, unable to bear the guilt of their ancestors. The Tolvaar feared that deep down they were all feral beasts, each waiting for a moment to snap and tear the peace they had fought so hard for to shreds. Here, the Lady Veýs helped the Tolvaar to embrace their past instead of fear it and find some solace in the fact that despite knowing nothing but violence, they were strong enough to be able to come to peace.

== Values ==
Moreso than most contemporary cultures, the Dominion Era Tolvaar were a very principled people who held their values and the people who adhered to them with high regard. Though history often glosses over the truth, anecdotal accounts from the time state that Tolvaar who exhibited an aversion to the dearly-held values of the culture as a whole were shunned or ostracised. This is likely to do with the Tolvaari fear of regression to their more savage past.

=== Peace ===
Having paid for it with blood, sweat, and tears, the ideal of peace—''kura,'' or ''duma,'' in Tolvaari—is the most dearly held in Tolvaari culture. This is of note, especially among the more warlike Dominean Tolvaari ''tora'' who adhere to the concept of peace despite being more open to warfare as an alternative in times of necessity.

The importance of peace to the Tolvaari peoples has its roots in the aforementioned story of the Lady Veýs, particularly in the act of her 'saving' the Tolvaar from their imminent destruction at their own hands. Though it is difficult to say how much of the original accounts are true and to what extent the alleged loss of identity and constant conflict actually affected the Tolvaar of the time, literature and tradition since then have clearly evolved to highlight the despair and darkness of the time before the Lady Veýs' introduction of the way of peace. As a result, no matter the truths of history, the fact remains that the Tolvaar of the Dominion Era up until the present have held a persistent fear of returning to those times and have been convinced that the pursuit of peace is the only thing that keeps them from reverting to their old savagery.

=== Duty ===
{{main|Dominion Era/Tolvaar (Culture)/Markaya|l1=Markaya}}
''Markaya'' in Tolvaari, is a word used collectively to describe the duties of anything from an individual to the entire Tolvaari people, to oneself, to the family, to the community, to the environment, to the world, and to the cosmos at large.

It is worth noting however, that the most important kind of duty, as far as the Tolvaar are concerned, is the ''tor marka'' (plural: ''tor markaya'') or the duty to one's clan. Living one's life in accordance to one's duties to one's clan is considered the most virtuous way of doing so. Furthermore, the Tolvaar consider one's duty to one's clan to trump all other kinds of duty that an individual might have.

Although Tolvaari ''torkaya,'' or clan leaders in Dominean, assert that the idea of the ''tor marka'' comes from the very close-knit clan structures that were pervasive in the early history of the Tolvaari peoples, there is mounting evidence that suggests that the ''tor marka'' is a construct that has far more archaic roots. Modern sociologists and archaeologists argue that in fact, the idea of the ''tor marka'' stems from the pre-Veýsian era, when the only Tolvaar who would shelter and feed and protect an individual were those that belonged to that Tolvar's clan.

=== Unity ===
''Ode-ana'' in Tolvaari, the unity of the Tolvaari people is something that every Tolvaar is called to pursue. ''Ode-ana'' is the concept of coming together and is the root for many words to do with the concept in Tolvaari such as ''Odan'' (plural: ''Odaan''), one's better half; and ''Odana'' (plural: ''Odanaya''), which means marriage, among others.

At first glance it is somewhat difficult to grasp how the Tolvaar can ever be a unified whole when from the beginning there seem to be significant differences between one clan and the next—not to mention the enormous gulf that separates the three primary religious groups of the Tolvaar. However, it is important to note that ''Ode-ana'' does not mean homogeneity. In fact, the word ''Ode-ana'' explicitly means 'the act or concept of coming together, but not so close together that you cannot be told apart.'

The essence of ''Ode-ana'' is encapsulated in another Tolvaari concept: ''An Tor Dema Tora'' The Clan of Clans. The Clan of Clans is used by the Tolvaar to refer collectively to all sapient creatures, though themselves especially, in much the same way that the Tretâllë might use ''Di'Terredynnë.'' The Clan of Clans is the singular clan that all the Tolvaari clans, all the other peoples of the world, and even the ''Orhakaya,'' those who belong to no clan, belong to.

''An Tor Dema Tora'' is also an ideal—a Tolvaari dream for the future. Though they call themselves the Clan of Clans, the Tolvaar know that the Clan of Clans does not yet exist. It lacks a crucial component, one that ''all'' ''tora'' must have: the ''torka'' or clan chieftain. In this case, the chieftain would be known as ''Oden Torka'' the One Chief, and even unto the modern day, the Tolvaar are convinced that ''Oden Torka'' has not yet manifested in the world.

Dominion Era/Locations/Ifatallë Cselvë

2016-09-27T21:43:56Z

Malkuthe: Created page with "Situated within De'Tallë Naborra, the Forest of Bones, the Ivory City lies at the very heart of the Dominion Era/Tretallë (G..."

Situated within [[Dominion Era/Locations#The Forest of Bones|De'Tallë Naborra]], the Forest of Bones, the Ivory City lies at the very heart of the [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Government)|Dominion]]. It is home to numerous places of great import within the Dominion and all her holdings. It is the residence of the [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Government)/D'Cilaneti Tivirë Di'Tretallë|Imperial Trinity]], and the site of the Imperial Palace within which the [[Dominion Era/Tretallë (Government)#The Ivory Throne|Ivory Throne]] is housed. Though the city's sprawl has grown far beyond the borders of its humble origin, the lush woods that surround the city to the south is testament to its inhabitants' deep respect for the woods that gave them shelter long into the collective past of their culture. Defended to the north by Di'Rodë Reýlinë, the River Reýlinë, and the thick woods to the south, the Ivory City remains one of the most heavily defended cities in the world.

== City districts ==

=== The Ravens' Ward ===

D'Kôrvë Rimeda in Tretalleri, the Ravens' Ward is a small district of the city that houses a large number of institutions dedicated to higher education. That is, education beyond the years mandated by Dominion law. A number of noble Houses call the Ravens' Ward home, particularly those whose reputations have been built around academic prowess. In addition to the homes owned by these Houses, there are homes provided for instructors at the academies in the Ravens' Ward, largely as a matter of convenience so that the teachers would not have to travel too far to get to their work.

The Ravens' Ward is also home to a large portion of the city's artisan population, due to the fact that there are six large studios scattered throughout the district as well as low-cost housing, partly subsidized by city taxes, for senior members of the The Stone and the Shaper, the city's artisan's guild. The majority of these dwellings are little more than places to sleep, however, as the vast majority of artists prefer to spend their time working in one of the studios of the district.

Apart from three medical institutions, two of which are instructional institutions for those looking to enter the medical field, a handful of stores that specialize in supplies for artists, a single general store for necessities, a single precinct manned by a small force of the Ivory Guard, and a scattering of places where one could eat heartily for an affordable price, the Ravens' Ward has surprisingly little in the way of public services. The streets of the Ravens' Ward see very little traffic for large parts of the average day, instead seeing a large throughput of individuals during the mornings, when people are either going deeper into the city for groceries and students are making their way to class, during the lunch break, when the streets are packed with people visiting their favourite places to eat, and at the end of each work day, when students are headed home after a day of learning.