Zalpula (z ALL pool ah)
the Last Nation
Zalpula was an Elf kingdom in Tinjir between 3400sc and 3900sc. Relatively short-lived as elven nations go, Zalpula's influence to Ethae cannot be understated. In its time the kingdom, at its pinnacle, controlled much of the Farlands. Even in the modern era, three thousand years after it decline, Zalpula still holds sway over the imaginations of many, with its reign at the height of the Heroic Era, there are endless tales and poems potraying heroes of the day.
History
While most historians agree that the states of Zalpula stood largely united from their inception, it wasn't until 3620sc that they truly united as a single body under Kusran as king. The 3620sc date largely ignores this in most history text, omitting that the foundations of what would become that nation began two centuries before as elf ships arrived on the shores of Lhakamed, returning to their homelands after Dragonfall. At some point (estimated to be in the year 3400sc) Toeman'are, led by the Soun'are siblings Akavia and Enzero, returned to the lands that were once heart of the Areian Nations, hoping to rebuild. It had been four hundred years at that point since the fall of the Nations, and only the ash of Karasaanu remained on scorched ground and glassed soil.
The arriving elves found Human settlers dwelling in the river lands between the mountains. Aware of the brutal treatment of elven refugees in Ancient Siduum these humans were quickly conquered and subjugated. This, despite being primarily primitive herders, presumably of the Shrog people from the east, refugees themselves of Shakosha (known as the Drymire to the modern reader) after Dragonfall. Where many cultures of the time were deep into their 'bronze age', the Shrog still used stone tools and were easily dominated by the elven invaders.
The nation of Zalpula was born, ruled by elves, built by humans. The only humans that didn’t fall under the coming elven control were those dwelling on the island Nur Baton (Oberun's Isle to the modern reader). The island people were descendants of refugees from ancient Benet, an advanced race of mankind that once dominated the northern coast of Yaren Juhl. The Benet had stood with the elves when the dragons came, and they had died alongside them in the fires. The civilization fell in Dragonfall along with the Areian Nations. Much of the advanced magic and technology of their ancestors long gone, the people now living as little more than sheep herders on the island. But Enzero and Akavia were old enough to remember the bonds between Areian and Benet. They would leave the people of Nur Baton untouched out of respect.
According to the Akavian Tablet, the lands that would become Zalpula were ruled in its early days by the two siblings. The sister, Akavia, established the western region of Nuna Zalpula in the mountains, while her brother Enzero built up his people in Ron Zalpula in the river lands of the east. Other than their region’s names and leaders, these two growing nations were largely indistinguishable from one other. They held the same laws, faiths and traditions. That however did little to unite the two lands, so strong was the siblings hate of one another. Though their animosity never came to direct conflict, it kept their lands divided. A status quo that would not last, however.
Anthealglas the Ever Hungry first attacked Zalpula in 3533sc. In the assault, Enzero was slain, along with his son Thapon. Despite falling, the two heroes manage to wound the creature and drive off the Dragon. With Enzero dead, along with his heir, Akavia became sole ruler of the region. She hailed Thapon the hero of the people, while giving his father, her brother, no credit. Enzeno became little more than a footnote in the records of the nation he created. The following year, Akavia built her new capitol on the site where her kin fought Anthealglas. Her city of stone was built in the riverlands of the east where she would reign with her council. A symbolic gesture of the uniting of the two Zapula into one, she named her new home Thapoddo, after her heroic fallen nephew.
Akavia reigned over a united Zalpula for nearly a century, until 3620sc, before being succeeded by her son Kusran. Her death is recorded in the Akavian Tablet, how she died is not noted however. An oddity in the era she lived, where tales and bardic traditions exist of the birth, life and death of most heroes of the day. Generations of scholars have long puzzled over this, and sent quests in search of knowledge of this famous elf hero's passing from this world to the next. All to no avail, as if it was erased from history.
Kusran was a very different leader than his mother or uncle before him. On his ascension to Akavia's seat on the council, he declared himself king of Zalpula. His first act as king was to outlaw the slavery of humans that had built Zalpula. The elf king gave equal rights to his human population, enlarging his council to include human representation. Though there was some pushback by the older generation of elves that remember the old ways and evils of humans, few opposed the wisdom of a descendant of Soun. Despite his fondness of the human race, Kusran was a realist about the hearts of mankind, however. He established the Edict of Kusran, stating no elf blood can be spilled by a human, punishable by extermination of the entire family line of that human, in order to remove the stain of evil from the land.
Under King Kusran, Zalpula also expanded its borders. Kusran’s children lead several invasions of the coastal city-states around the Mursil Sea (Tobia's Gulf), spreading Zalpula’s influence across the region. By 3705sc all of Tinjir was under Kusran's crown. Elves from across the known world flocked to Zalpula, seeing it as a rebirth of the Areian Nations. Even Karasaanu seemed to be born again. in Kusran's Forest.
In that year however, Anthealglas awakens from its slumber once more. The dragon reigns destruction across the Thoamaine Peninsula before turning its eyes onto Zalpula. Kusran's Forest burns, many elves die, and Kusran himself is slain before Anthealglas can be brought down. Mari Locnehta, daughter of the king, kills the dragon in single combat, finally bringing an end to the threat of 'the Scourge of Zalpula'. After which Mari is crowned queen and given the title of Locnehta, slayer of dragons.
Zalpula declines after Anthealglas' attack. Weakened, it losses its territories and is continually attacked by those that once bent the knee. In 3850sc the kingdom is attack by the city-state of Hurrian, its army destroyed, and Mari captured before being rescued by Hurrian's rival, Ashur Reshi. After which the Antitta Tablet is signed which allies the two nations through marriage of the royal families. Zalpula's final years are spent as a vassal to Ashur Reshi before both vanish into history in the Black Collapse. It is believed that the Zalpula leves migrated to the Enisle Archipelago during the Collapse.
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