The One Hundred Thousand

As a result of The Rending War, millions of people had been displaced by violence and instability throughout south and central Iscarion. The borders of the Five Empires had become fluid as territory was won and then lost, making it difficult for individuals to claim citizenship. This led to large-scale displacements and migrations as some fled violence by invading armies, and others fled their home countries in order to avoid conscription.
In the earlier stages of this mass movement, people sought out the shelter that was meant to be provided by the White Tree City during times of global uncertainty. Arriving in the area, refugees found that food and shelter were in short supply. Instead of being welcomed into The City of the White Tree, they were instead expected to live outside it in a series of settlements built on landfill and the accumulated waste of both previous and the current war. These settlements were collectively known as The Ring Cities, and had themselves been built out as a result of overcrowding in the refugee city below White Tree, known as The City of Heaven.
The Ring Cities were themselves quickly overwhelmed. The Rending War's ecological impact was becoming so devastating that provision of food, water, and shelter became impossible. As the White Tree City Organization itself collapsed, the populations of the Cities, both established and new arrivals, began to move. They were hemmed in from the east and north by the Basati Empire, and by the Turati Empire further southeast.
Messages began to reach High Ashad Isha, who then occupied the Central Tir of Keshwar. The Five Empires descended on the Ring Cities, all of them seeking new conscripts and in some cases, enslaved persons to feed the various war machines with Kata. Seeing an opportunity to acquire a pool of forced kata from the populations of the Ring Cities, the Basati Εmpire especially began scooping up refugees in vast numbers.
Isha's response was to issue a call to all displaced persons, or those at risk of being displaced, and invite them to come to the Central Tir for protection. By this point, the Keshwari government had withdrawn from the Tir, and was occupying areas to the east, west, and south. It lacked the resources to take on The Five Nations holding the Tir against them.
The only difficulty for the many who responded to Isha's call was that between the Ring Cities and the Central Tir was some of the most arid and difficult terrain in Iscarion. The time taken to travel, on foot and with very little resources was contrasted with enslavement by the Basati and the other three empires occupying north, east, and south Iscarion.

Aware of the difficulty of getting through the remote and arid conditions of southern Iscarion, Isha sent her general, Iyarina, who had become a God of Water when she entered The God Machine, to provide guidance and support.
It is also believed that a great deal of unseen support was provided by various nomadic groups, including the Union of Nurish Clans, who helped the refugees get across the several deserts that stood between them and safety.
The group only acquired the name of "One Hundred Thousand" once it passed the Keshwar Gate and entered the key territories of Keshwar itself. By this point, all attention was focused on the refugees, who numbered many more than a hundred thousand by this point, and may even have involved the bulk of the Iscarion and Ameron population able to escape into the Tir.

One Hundred Thousand Migration Map

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Major migration routes through the territories of the Five Empires to The Keshwar Gate, the "Gateway" to the Keshwar Central Territories.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

As with rituals and traditions, over the long course of their journey, languages with previously distinct origins became enmeshed. While Modern Amnari is very much a combination of the languages of the Five Nations, it has many idioms that developed as a result of the long journey undertaken by the Hundred Thousand.

Shared customary codes and values

Members of the Hundred Thousand consituted individuals, families, and groups from a huge range of ethnicities who had previously called extensive territories throughout Iscarion home. In many cases, the journey took years, and over time, traditions from a great many places became mixed, while new ones developed.
Some particular traditions became especially important, and became foundational to the culture that then grew up when the Hundred Thousand settled with the already established members of The Five Nations. The treatment of food, water, and shelter as vital and essential to life, traditions such as Burial in the Dust, which developed as both groups adapted funerary rituals to the hostile environments they encountered between the Ring Cities and the Central Tir.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Over time, the Hundred Thousand became very much absorbed into the new Amnari ethnicity. However, the Arrival of the Hundred Thousand is celebrated at the start of the Ashcanesh each year, as the moment when Amnar considered itself "complete" in terms of its population of Humans.

Common Taboos

The most distinctive taboo for both descendents of the Hundred Thousand and the Five Nations is a hatred of waste, especially water. The experiences of the Long Migration have led to a conscious focus on water preservation that built upon the water worship of Iyarina.

Historical figures

Those Amnari who have a strong historical association with the Hundred Thousand usually prefer to associate with Temple Water, focus their daily rituals and appreciations on Iyarina, who was responsible for ensuring that they were able to reach the Keshwar Gate and cross The Eastern Desert without running out of water.

Related Items

• Pocket poppets

Related Locations

• Rooks and Kings
• Rooks and Kings Ruins
• The Eastern Desert