The History of Kyriabor

From its founding until its destruction by the Sky Golems

Elantra
Vegas Civil War
The Destruction of Kyriabor

Kyriabor was born of the civil war of old Vegas, when the Kykes and Supers broke the country apart and local states seceded from the Vegas union and claimed neutrality. Founded by the Kyke faction in 398vS (LY 1756), Kyriabor was a progressive land, aided by the University of Elantra’s technological advances and magical studies. It had a republican form of government, with Speakers from every province representing their people in the Senate. Kyriabor's growth was hampered only by Kzinti hostility, Kenku mischief, and its distance from other major nations.
Bounded by the sea and the Alaan Mountain range, Kyriabor was a country of diverse geographical areas. The north coast is rocky, with cliffs and inlets buffeted by the storms of the Solar Sea. Beyond the Carhill Mesas (the Tablelands) to the south of Elantra is the most fertile farmland in Jaastenland, stretching for hundreds of miles through dells and broad river valleys. The eastern forests are thick and lush, and were logged carefully under the guidance of the Earth Mother priesthood. The foothills of the Alaan range were home to the so-called “wild” Kzinti and are rich with mineral wealth. The rivers and streams of the northern spike of the Alaan drain into the red dirt of the Wittiard plains. The great lakes of Drachenmeer and Aatanago provided food, livelihood and transportation for the citizens of the heartland of Kyriabor.

ELANTRA

Until the discovery of Castle Rock’s unusual magical energy in LY 2040, and the foundation of the University of Elantra in LY 2065, Elantra was a medium-sized port city trading in refined metal goods and sundry crafts. With new techniques, Elantra’s foundries produced high quality steel and variant alloys, including aluminum and mithral steel. A strong work ethic of quality over quantity prevailed, although the increasing prosperity of the younger generation may have grown to eventually threaten this traditional value. The capital of Kyriabor was moved to the burgeoning city for five years (LY 2106-2111), but returned to Aelizon for reasons of tradition and political convenience.
The heat-stones of the wizards eliminated the need for coal-fired furnaces, so Elantra was free from industrial smog. Cold-stones allowed economical frigid food storage even in the hottest weather. Other technological and magical advances seemed to come every year, and the populace relished the change in convenience, wealth and status.
The University of Elantra was a center of scholarship and research for all of Jaastenland. At the time, its magical and scientific laboratories were second only to the Royal Academy in Kenobi for size, fame, and success. Unlike the Landers Academy system, there was no general membership to the University of Elantra. Those wishing to study there were required to be accepted by the Dean of a college for entry into a student or visiting faculty status. This was most often determined by ability and potential. Lengthy examinations were common, even for the most basic of courses. Degrees of knowledge granted by the University of Elantra are still recognized the world over.
In addition to the University of Elantra, the city was home to the Kyriabor War College. The War College was an institution that produced one hundred highly competent military officers each year. Most of those training there were veteran warriors, but some were the famed Battle Mages. These wizards were specialists in the Art as it can be used in conflict. They specialized in battle spells and could even cast their magic while wearing full suits of plate armor. These fine mages commanded high prices among the armies of Jaastenland. The traditions of the Kyriabor War College live on in the University of Voyreem and the Lebensbrüke War College.

VEGAS CIVIL WAR

The Kingdom of Vegas was originally founded by colonists from Saltwave and fugitives from the Kzinti Patriarchies. After the Fyrmont Abdication in 238vS (von Stadt dating, from the founding of Katraal in LY 1596), the kingdom was embroiled in a contest for the throne that lasted four years. Five years into the reign of King Harold, the monarchy was overthrown by the bloodless Bankers’ Revolution. Elizabeth Cato was elected the first Premier of Vegas in 248vS (LY 1606).
Vegas of the period before the civil war was a conservative country extending its reach to its colonies and allies across the sea and on the continent. Its military complex was efficient, but more given to pomp and parade than to battle, since the Kzinti had been fighting at home for the past thirty years. Magical study was rare, and the province of the landed and merchant middle classes, for whom education was easily attainable and of high quality. Indeed, there was a suspicion of any magic that didn’t come from either the priesthood of the Earth Mother, which is the state religion, or from the politically reliable Katraal Theosophical Society.
The two primary factions in the civil war were the Supers, the conservative ruling party in the Congress, and the Kykes, an upstart party of progressive nature. From about 372vS (LY 1730) the Super majority attempted to form a foreign trade union with the colonies and other foreign powers. Their policy granted many concessions, aid and support to these overseas governments, and supported them with high taxation at home. In 375vS, these policies sparked demonstrations from a groundswell movement of the lower middle classes, sympathetic to the Kykes and demanding wider access to education and health care.
Premier Garth Algosonn ordered the demonstrations ceased and imposed martial law as the Plenary Act was passed by the Super majority in the Congress. The Plenary Act granted special tax relief to trade and craft houses that cooperated with the trade union and placed the tax burden on un- and semiskilled tradesmen, while reducing support for education for those less able to pay for it (i.e., those people hit with the tax).
In reaction to the Plenary Act, a slap in the face of the Kykes, the lower and lower middle classes revolted, with help from sympathizers sprinkled throughout the social strata, and were violently put down by the military. The factions became armed camps, each advocating the overthrow of the other. They concentrated where they were politically strongest, the Supers in the capital and along the west coast and the Kykes throughout the farmland of the interior and the rocky north. Several areas seceded directly, and the Super government was unable to prevent the fracturing of the nation.
The foreign trade union collapsed as the Kzinti attacked the member nations and colonies. Within two weeks, each of the former human nations had been destroyed and enslaved by the Kzinti armies. At home, the battles between Supers and Kykes were too inconclusive, and the Kzinti threat too dangerous, to allow the luxury of the factions "knife-fighting" each other to death in military conflict. The factions withdrew to their own lands and consolidated their power under a de facto cease fire and attended to their own affairs.
Several years later, the Super government of Vegas attempted to overthrow, by subversion and military adventure, the Kyke government of what was then called the Republic of Free Vegas, but failed miserably. The Kyke military had concentrated on techniques borrowed from the Elven Isles and had become fierce and capable wilderness warriors with very flexible lines of supply. The defeat was the last straw for the citizens of Vegas, and they ousted the Premier and most of the Congress in special elections. The Republic of Free Vegas resolved to distance itself further from its past and adopted the name of Kyriabor in honor of its great prairie.
Twenty years passed before Vegas reopened contact with Kyriabor, and it took many more years before relations were normalized. The government of Vegas was overthrown again in (663vS/LY 2022), and changed into a monarchy. The land was renamed The Grand Dominion of Smeisserand. Until the War of Falling Stars, the two nations were wary trade partners and rivals in different ways—Kyriabor concentrated on education, art and magic while Smeisserand continued to develop international trade and a strong standing army. Both were wealthy nations, and benefited from commerce with each other and the Four Kingdoms.

THE DESTRUCTION OF KYRIABOR

The three political parties within Kyriabor made for a stable government that did not easily pass any action that was not of obvious benefit to a majority of the citizens. This also made the government slow to respond to threats and changes that were not planned out and agreed upon in advance. After the formation of the Kraanicher racial supremacy organization, the Brotherhood of Thought, in LY 2105 the Kraanicher senators began to work more closely toward a goal of greater power.
Kraanichers generally had the wealth, power, and influence to place senators of their choosing in office. They coordinated this to a much greater degree in the early twenty-second century than they had before. As a result, there were 64 Kraanicher senators in office in LY 2143. It was later revealed that 37 of them were full members of the Brotherhood of Thought. The Brotherhood sought political influence that would allow it to legally strip away the traditional freedoms of the Kyriaborean citizens. Through psionic and economic influence, they largely succeeded. By LY 2142, they were ready to act.
The Brotherhood of Thought had close ties to the Kraanichers' Church of Pure Flame and through the Church inoculated a significant number of Kraanichers against a certain poison gas they had devised. The half-elven separatist movement that was naturally gaining members was manipulated to rash action that turned public opinion against it. Then, the poison gas was used on the Kyriaborean senate while in session. Non-Kraanichers succumbed to the gas, losing their ability to reason coherently. Kraanicher senators remained largely unaffected, thanks to their "naturally hardy and resistant constitutions." The three party leaders were manipulated into asking the Kraanicher senators to take over for the duration of the emergency. The half-elven movement was blamed and vilified while the Brotherhood took swift action to bring key individuals and organizations under its control.
The Brotherhood might very well have succeeded in winning total control of Kyriabor if it was not for the arrival of the mechanical Sky Golems from beyond the stars. The Sky Golems had scouted Saltwave in prior years and had come to harvest the planet. Early on the morning of 28 Heat, LY 2143, three huge rocks struck Elantra, Kantraal, and Aelizon from orbit at unthinkable speeds, instantly vaporizing the cities and all inhabitants. The Sky Golems followed up with strikes on secondary hardened targets, such as many of the Brotherhood of Thought enclaves, and then landed thousands of robotic constructs to conquer and strip the world of life and resources. The Red Plague also changed many people and creatures into other forms, further increasing the chaos.
Refugees from the devastation of the Kyriaborean cities struggled for months to find food and shelter. Even though the War of Falling Stars was quite short, the changes it wrought upon the landscape and economy of Kyriabor were too great to overcome and the country collapsed into isolated city states and dozens of barbarian tribes. In LY 2146, the nation of Lebensbruke annexes the Vargas territory. Other portions of Kyriabor remained in anarchy or coalesced into smaller independent nations over the next two decades. The Kyriaborean Plains remain today, but the nation of Kyriabor is likely gone forever.

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