Älemsi Negdel: Difference between revisions
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=== Ancient History ===
The island of Älemsi is believed to have first been settled by human hunter-gatherer groups from Novaris some 3.3 million years ago. Many of these early tribes survived as subsistence nomads in the vast interior steppes, while others eventually established sedentary settlements based on fishing and limited agriculture along the coastlines. These groups were fiercely independent of each other, and where sheer distance and harsh wilderness could not separate them, wars over herds and grazing lands were a common affair. For much of Älemsi history the sole unifying factor was in the form of their shamanic religious traditions. A rudimentary priesthood played an important role in the early governance of and diplomacy between tribes, aided by the fact that it was commonly held anathema to harm or hinder such figures. At the center of these early religious traditions was the Line of Yul, which ruled over the first fixed settlements on the island which served as neutral grounds and early centers of urban services for those travelling the wilds. Though the actual origins of the Yul and of Älemsi shamanism as a whole extend to beyond the first written histories on the island, the dynasty served as the primary religious figures on the island, and were at least nominally owed a measure of obeisance from the various Älemsi polities.
=== The Khagan Period ===
As much as the Yul might have embodied a sense of common civilization on Älemsi, it would not be them who brought true unity to the island. That role fell to the nomadic horselords of the islands' central steppes. Once as factitious as any other group, they would be brought together under Khagan Menggetu Sartak in the 13th century, and would soon afterwards rise to dominate their neighbors through the use of their powerful cavalry. During this period, the Ay People of western Älemsi would flee their coastal villages to the newly formed Duchy of Tynam in order to escape the predations of Sartak's Kapan tribe. The Ay remain the sole Älemsi tribe to reside outside of Älemsi Negdel, and remain in northern Tynam to the present day.
When the armies of the Khagan finally reached the city of Amrakh Gazarv, Sartak simply offered his respects to the reigning Yul of the time. Thus, by ruling through the Yul, the Khagan effectively legitimized his control of Älemsi, and became the island's first true conqueror. The unity of Älemsi and the power of the Khagans waxed and waned over the centuries, but the central authority that had been built was never truly be undone.. While the true power lay with the title of Khagan and changed hands across individuals and tribes on several occasions, the tradition of ruling through the Yul would become a matter of tradition.
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