In a time before, they lived in peace, prosperity and unity. The five countries on the peninsula were once one, Retherae. Retherae was the largest of all the countries in the world, before they came. They were the men of Pone, from across the Alypsian Sea. They were harsh, guttural, and without knowing they would, they broke the country of Retherae with their culture.

For with them, they brought slavery.

Men in chains, women pulled on ropes and children in crates, were brought by the Pone. The people of Retherae were too horrified to say anything, and so they let them come to their docks, and infiltrate their towns hoping it was only a passing phase and that the Pone would soon leave. But alas, the Pone found the geography of Retherae much to their liking, and in pretense of sailing back, sent only a letter that brought ship upon ship of soldiers to the great Retherae. The battle had begun.

Blood was shed, and it seemed neither side could gain advantage. For as long as it took the Pone to send for more men, it took Retherae to bring men from across the vast country. The harsh Pone were expert fighters, deadly and merciless in battle. The Retherae were equal in number, but couldn�t match the skill and speed of the foreigner�s.

Every great country must have its fall, and on the eve of the final battle, the queen of Retherae, Queen Saeni, decided she could not bear to see her country in such turmoil. She made an agreement with the general of the Pone that they would leave, if they could leave in peace, otherwise, they would fight to the last man, burning the country to ash as they did so.

The general had no reason but to agree and he watched the retreating men, laughing at their humility. But the Queen was sly, and before she reached the edge of her country, far before she reached the edge, she stopped. She stopped within a deep wood, and to a tree, she tied a pale blue cloak. This wood and the land beyond was hers. The men of Retherae were timeless; they would learn anew, and rebuild their country within the mountains and woods.

They built a fort just beyond the wood, and the Queen sent out her best yeomen into the woods. There they were to stay and their sons after them, to protect her border, and help those who came north to escape the Pone.

Back within the broken country of Retherae, years passed and others who hadn�t escaped with the queen grew restless and uneasy with the Pone. The Pone brought in more men and they built cities, and families. The founded a monarchy and named their capital, Akuvar.

The Pone were known to settle, and only once in many years would a Pone grow restless. This in fact is how the Pone came to be in Retherae. But to have two restless Pone�s in the same century was rare, and the man named Indae was not one to be expected to grow restless. Indae owned a great plantation farm at the southernmost point of the country taken by the Pone. He looked to the west and saw cities and people. He looked to the west, and saw naught but uncharted land, great plains, and he thought, why not?

He took men, and conquered the unknown land, burning the earlier Retheraen city that had been there and rebuilding his own capital. He sent a courtier back to the General of the Pone, claiming the land his, and claiming, that he was a king. He had his country, his slaves would defend it and he wasn�t afraid. The General�s answer was not what he had expected.

The General of Pone replied that Indae could have his land and his people, but if he ever tried to take of the Country of the Pone, they would quell him in less than a day. The General replied that Indae would have to trade with the Pone if they wished to survive the year while plants were still young. There were no other countries close, and Indae had no choice but to agree. He had his country, his people. The General of the Pone had a new trade source, and in years to come, an equal partner in slave trade, and always the advantage through numbers.

And so the country of Astani was established, its northern border reaching the country of Saeni, its western border with the Country of the Pone.

A century passed between the time Pone had intervened on the great country of Retherae, whose great influence in the world was slowly fading into the gray. The Queen had long since passed away, and in her place, her grandson now reined King of Saeni.

Her grandson was bitter about their past and the fallen glory of Retherae, and his want to avenge his country soon grew in the hearts of his people. Within the first five years of his reign, he attacked the Country of the Pone.

The war again waged for years upon years in stalemate, until each general grew short of resources, and tired of heart. Finally, after more than fifty years of war, all that was left between the two countries was enough burnt land to form a completely new country. One man, by the name of Lord Ahnedo had this in mind. He gathered a group of followers, from the Country of the Pone, Saeni, Astani, and a country to the east by the name of Istean, and claimed the burnt land for his own.

Neither Saeni, nor the Pone knew what to do; they had naught enough people to attack this man, or to reclaim their land. So by luck, Lord Ahnedo became king. He made a pact with the countries of Saeni and the Pone. He would be the buffer between. The Pone was not to attack him, or he would come back with Saeni at his back, free men willing to fight for their freedom. Saeni would not attack, or he would return with the Astani and the Pone at his back. The two country�s only stipulations were that the king must have an advisor, and after a short quarrel, it was agreed the current mage in power would do so.

King Ahnedo agreed; mages were known to be extremely knowledgeable, learning everything they knew from the previous mage, before he or she would retreat into solitude to live out their days. They could prolong their lives long enough for the next mage to come to power before dying. It was rare to have more than two prominent mages alive at once.

King Ahnedo named his country Minorith, and through skill and politics, it stayed stable, becoming a trade monopoly between the north and south, and the east and west. He did not budge at the Pone�s requests to become a slave country, or Saeni�s requests to fight the Pone.

Soon, another hundred years had passed, and the countries lived in peace again. However, under the surface, the Pone, whose country became known as Tapone, always burned to take over, Minorith stayed firm, Saeni soon grew distant, involved more within their far borders, and Tapone soon settled back down within their borders at the lack of response from them.

Copyright:
LaurenBlewett

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws