Massela

Massela is a country lying on the Masselanian plateau, south to the Os'Orol and east to the jungles of Ehlhoc

Geography
Massela lies on the Masselanian Plateau south of the Os'Orol Mountains and east to Ehlhoc. Although it is situated on the equator the climate is dry and semi-arid due to the altitude. The people of Massela mostly concentrate in the river valley in the north and around the Akkusine Lake in the south, where they live off aggriculture. In the dry steppes in the rest of the country the people are mostly pastoralists.

Prehistory
The ancestors of the Masselanian people arrived in the Highlands between 8000 and 5000 years BM. These people came from the western land of Ehlhoc. The Masselanians are Ehlhoc people and their language is its own branch within the Ehlhoc language family. The Masselanians are culturally very different from other Ehlhoc peoples due to the isolation in the highlands.

It is disputed whether the masselanian highlands were unpopulated before the Masselanian arrived, although if they were already populated these people hardly left any remains to speak of.

Around 5000 before Marana, first Kingdoms emerged around the Akkusine Lake. Later also in the Bogtan lands in the north. The plains in the middle of the plateau were long sparsely populated so that two population centres emerged, that often rivaled each other during many periods of the masselanian history.

During this early period of Massela the region was basically isolated from the rest of the world and developed on its own. The first forms of writings in Masselanian are developed around 2500 BM. This first Old-Masselanian writing was a logografic system that was almost exclusively used by priests

The origins of the faith of Tekshubism also probably originated around this time when a powerful priest caste arose in Akûsha and spread to all Massela.

The First Empire
Around 800 BM the Kingdom of Akka and Akkûsha began to expand and conquer its neighbors. In this time the legendary hero Áreecha Wiela from the city of Umsha arose to become the first Emperor of Massela. He started his career by leading a rebellion against the Akkusine. In 752 BM an alliance was formed between the Kingdoms of Umsha, Gûnkaar and Sassamut against the Akkusine.

In 746 BM the forces of Áreecha Wiela conquered Akka and Áreecha crowned himself King of all Southern Massela, uniting the Kingdoms of Akka, Sassamut, Gûnkaar, Umsha, Minûsha and Álatû. In the next ten years he launched a campaign against the Kingdoms of Bogta and Wielánde untill in 736 BM he became the First Emperor of Massela.

During the rise of Garienen in the sixth century BM Massela made first intensive contact with the rest of the world again. Great Garienen tried twice to invade Massela and failed twice miserably. In 499 BM after two futile attempts at conquest the Great Garienen signed a treaty with Massela. After this peace the two began an alliance and started a deep cultural exchange.

One very successful product of this cultural exchange was the new Masselanian writing system. After having studied in Garienen itself, the masselanian scholar Emeesh' Katien invented the Masselanian writing system. This new writing system was much easier to learn and helped to break the monopoly priests had on education. Soon literacy rose immensely among Masselanians.

Another import from Garienen was a drastic change in the martial culture of the country. The Masselanian culture became much more warlike and took over many aspects of the Garienish military.

During the end of Garienen in 179 BM the Masselanians sent troops to help their allies. They did successfully defeat the Ulentian rebells, but in the end could not save Garienen from the united forces of Arin and Mentasillis.

After the fall of Garienen, Massela reentered its isolation as they had little love for the bickering states that took the place of Garienen. In 200 AM the First Empire eventually broke down after a series of peasant rebellions and growing tension between Akka and Bogta

The Second Empire and the Confederation
The second Empire was the most shortlived of all three. It began in 503 AM with a campaign by the King of Sassamut Ielan Ûrateem'. He married the daughter of the King of Akkûsha and then set out to conquer the northern Kingdoms. Already his conquest was very illfated. He managed to conquer the whole of the central plains and advanced till Wielánde. Here his conquest stopped and developed into a stalemate that lasted fifteen years.

Just in 520 the King of Bogta surrendered with the condition that Ielan had to marry into the Bogani dynasty. For his ambition he forsake his first wife, which deeply angered the Lord of Akkûsha and lead to another rebellion in the south.

It took another three years with the help of the Bogani to put down the Akkusine rebellion. Finally in 523 Ielan Ûrateem' became Emperor of all Massela. To his unfortune he was already assassinated in 531. Ilean left two heirs, one son age 21 from his first wife and a six year old daughter from his second. Both were promptly crowned Emperor and Empress, after Ielan's death, which sparked a civil war between Bogta and Akkûsha.

After six years of war both sides agreed to an treaty to transform the Empire in to a Confederation of seven Kingdoms. Each of the seven Kingdoms should have autonomy and vote on who will be Emperor. These seven Kingdoms were Akkûsha, Bogta, Sassamut, Minûsha, Umsha, Álatû and Wielánde. After stepping down Ielan Akkûsh Ûrateem' was reelected as Emperor in 538. The Confederation theorethically lasted untill 785 when it was replaced by the Third Empire, but Confederation had already lost its power at that point. Emperors were still elected from all seven Kingdoms, but the power of the Emperor was essentially limited to the capital they were residing in. Rivalries between the different Kingdoms had already eroded the authority of the Confederation.

The Third Empire
By 785 the authority of the Confederation and the Emperor was all but gone. In 783 the last Emperor Zhiemech' Wieláni was elected. In 785 Ateema Bogani began his campaign to restore the authority of the Emperor. First he conquered Wielánde and proclaimed himself Emperor. He used a very aggressive strategy and marched directly on Akke and conquered it in spring 786.

Impressed by his swift advance and often very cruel approach many smaller Kingdoms saw themself forced to surrender. The last Kingdom to surrender was Álatû, which hold out untill 794 by barricading the mountain passes leading to its capital.

As of 795 Ateema Bogani was Emperor of all Massela and already headed to his next goal. He wanted to make Massela a world power agains and end its isolation once and for all.

Quickly he established good relation with the Ulentian Kingdom of Okoshak and in 806 the colony of Shewan was founded. Ateema Bogani died in 818 at the age of 58.

In the following decades the Masselanians established more coastal colonies. The cities of Reessa, Shachu, Tawee, Kshûmien and Kánûnja were all founded in this time. By the year 1000 AM the Third Empire had established itself as a sea power with much potential and made Massela known in the world again.

The Three States Period
The Third Empire came to an end in 1380 due to a short war of succession. Emperor Gielen Bogani died and left no male heirs and only one daughter. High General Kareen Massier sized the situation and married his son to the Emperor's daughter and proclaimed him new Emperor. The former Emperor's cousin Ûtkeen Bogani objected to this and proclaimed himself also Emperor. He assembled a small force and tried to size the imperial throne for himself. High General Kareen Massier still had most of the military behind him and overpowered Ûtkeen, who had to flee into exile. Ûtkeen however managed to steal the imperial throne from the palace.

Ûtkeen fled to Akka were he founded the Akksula Dynasty. General Kareen was unable to reconquer Akka and so the war quickly developed into a stalemate that lasted for the next centuries.

In this conflict the coastal cities felt abandoned and decided to become independent. The six cities formed the Shewanese Union and began to become one of the first colonial powers of the world. They started to colonise the Ihalenesian Islands and in 1402 started a war against the Krosaoan Empire, which they won. The Krosaoan Empire became in the following years a puppet of the Shewanese and paid its tribute in thousands of slaves, who the Shewanese sold to the Ulentians and Garienians.

The ulentian cities of Daulara and Sleta became shared trade ports and functioned as centers of slave trade. At the beginning of the 17th century this accumulation of slaves and the growing instability of the Krosaoan Empire has made the region ripe for rebellion.

Tekshubism
Tekshubism is how the dominant faith among Masselanians is called. A Tekshu is a sort of spirit or spiritual energy that is in certain objects. It is basically a form of animism that developed in an urban society.

It is believed that objects that were precious to someone in live carry a part of their soul or spiritual energy. That is a Tekshu. When someone dies, possession that they took a liking to in life are enshrined by their family. A Tekshu can be basically anything that has an inportance to someone. Marriage gifts are among the most common Tekshu. Burning a Tekshu is a very powerful sacrifice because of the importance of it and therefor seen as a personal sacrifice that might garantue someone the favor of the gods.

There are also many temples that collect Tekshu from people and keep them there to preserve them. Most of the traditional priests are women. There are many categories of Tekshu. The most important are Royal Tekshu, which are possession of Kings and Emperors. Human bones are also seen Tekshu.

In the Shewanese Union Tekshubism is almost non-existent anymore. Most people have converted to the Moleian religion of Marism that preaches of just one God.

Marism
Marism is a monotheistic religion originating from the highlands of Arin. The faith spread in Massela since the fall of the Third Empire onwards and the weakening of the old elites. Most prominent is Marism in the Shewanese Union, but also in Massela-proper have many converted to the faith of One God.

Slavery
A form of slavery was practised in Massela since before the First Empire. This slavery was much different than slavery in other parts of the world. The masselanian word for slave Zhûm'sie is more akin to servant or disciple. People were only allowed to sell themselves and it was forbidden to trade a slave. Also no one was born a slave and no one could sell themselves for longer than ten years. Women were not allowed to be sold under the age of 20 and married women and men were generally not allowed to sell themself. A slave was also considered a Tekshu of their owners and so it was their spiritual duty to care for their wellbeing.

Most slaves were either young boys of poorer families and poor adults who were sold or sold themself in hope for a better life to richer families.

This perception changed drastically during the Shewanese Union. It began with the conquest of the Empire of Krosao. The Krosaoans lived in caste society in which feudal lord ruled over enslaved peasants. After the Shewanese won the war against the Krosaoans they paid their tribute in slaves. Many slaves of that time were resettled on Shewanese land, but also many were resold to the neighboring Ulentians and Garienians.

With the weakening of traditional masselanian society and the rising influence of Ulentian merchants and Krosaoan slavers their attitude changed. They passed laws that still forbid to sell slaves on Shewanese lands, but allowed it on the colonies and the shared ports of Daulara and Sleta.

Language
"Chaneen t' massela kadikie galû eelie Galûtán t' massela" "The people of Massela speak the masselanian tongue"

The Masselanian language is part of the Ehlhoc Language family, but for long was tought of as an isolate due to its great differences to other Ehlhoc languages, which are partly caused by the isolation of Massela. The Masselanian language has a mostly isolating typology (Exception are auxillary verbs which are conjugated). Masselanian is written in the syllabic Masselanian writing system invented by Emeesh' Katien.