jan 1, 600 BC - The Shamar Swear Fealy to Bashaira and Become the Arsala Dul
Description:
When the Long Night descended upon the Existence, many beings perished bereft of the Lumen’s light and nourishment. In the far reach of Ár, most of the realm’s plant-life slowly began to die as did many of herbivores that lived off such. The realm’s ecosystem suffered a great imbalance which affected everyone and everything; carnivores lost their predominant food sources and were forced to adapt or die, leading to massive migrations and extinctions which in turn affected those species that fed off both the land and its creatures. Few of Ár’s peoples survived; The Vourenkinn greatest in number, but not too far behind them were the First Men.
Amid the nomadic tribes of the middle lands which survived in the near dark was one by the name of Shamar.
Bellicose in its origin, it thrived during the early age of mankind, taking the food from all those who got in their way. When packs and proto-tribes began to roam away from the Desert’s Maw, however, they began to run into troubles finding target to ransack. They chose to leave for the vast unknown themselves after a fashion, but their situation did not stabilize until they began to move away from the warlike tendencies and towards the nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle which all other thriving packs were adopting. In time, they became a mostly peaceful people, but none of its members came into adulthood without knowing at length of their forefathers’ greatness and ferocity. For millennia, the Shamar harbored hope that one day they too would attain glory to rival that of their ancestors, but the chance for this never manifested as the First Men moved into a more civilized age.
The hardiness and pride of their members helped them weather the changes taking place around them as the realm was plunged into darkness, but as the centuries dragged along without the light of the Lumen even they came to stand at the brink of destruction.
In the throes of desperation was when Bashaira, a being far older than humanity, presented itself to the Shamar tribesmen and offered them salvation.
A Scaled One born of Hafnver’s Flame, the dragon named Eraphil at birth came to the Shamar people not to end them but to offer a choice: To serve or to die. The great creature spoke the First Men’s tongue when making his claim, explaining that only now did it deem the times trying enough to bring the matter to their attention, and that only by way of unity could mankind thrive instead of succumbing to the dark. It said to have watched the Tribe for a long time and that it believed no other paltry band of man equaled the Shamar in might. If unity was to be achieved some would have to enforce it, and the Scaled One believed that it was the Shamar Tribe’s right to claim their long-sought glory doing so.
The bargain, thus, was simple. On their own, they would have no chance to bring the tribes of man to heel, but with Eraphil’s guidance their victory was assured. In exchanged for such, the Scaled One would have their devotion and they would help it further its goals.
Desperate and glory-hungry as they were, the Shamar accepted Eraphil’s terms and bestowed upon him the new name of ‘Bashaira’ (The One Above), to distinguish the dragon standing from their own. From that day on, the First Men would forever be known as the ‘Arsala Dul’ (The Exalted Kin).
So the ancient Scaled One began to teach the men the knowledge of the gods themselves, accelerating the tribe’s development a thousand-fold. Soon, whereas other tribes defender themselves with stone tools, the Arsala Dul conquered them with iron-wrought arms and great, heavy armors. Their language flourished as well as their understanding of the world grew, and eventually things unknown to most such as the latent sorcery of most men began to be developed and perfected by way of bringing together those few minds that knew of those topics.
In parallel to this growth, a cult began to develop around the figure of Bashaira, worshiping it as mankind’s sole savior and patron. It was this cult in future cycles that spearheaded the ascension of Bashaira into godhood.
In as little as fifty cycles, the Arsala Dul had attained near complete control of Ár’s middle lands and their peoples.
Added to timeline:
Universal Timeline of the Existence
Date:
