The Resettlement Council
After the Kuzaarik Confederation fell in on itself and the Long Way was instituted, The Kuzaarik culture was depressed and the people were set into a siege mentality. Every day was a struggle for survival, and a single misstep could cause the survivors of their society’s decline to become extinct.
Or so the PDC would have them all believe. In a sense, of course, it was true. If the thermal vents underneath Vinyabah Gohrahd began to cool, or if the Urdaggar could pull themselves together for any amount of time to attack the city, the Kuzaarik would vanish from the face of Faelon.
Of course, Kuzaarik are a resilient people, and even in collapse, a formidable foe. While most went to Vinyabah Gohrahd, many spread into the wide world. There are Kuzaarik in many places, especially Varkraal, where refugees from the Confederation’s fall found a home after the collapse, especially those from the eastern half of the Confederation, including Emerald Bluff, Woodspire, and Frostreach.
A generation after the Long Way was instituted, the people had begun to settle into a new pattern. There was much hardship, and the change in culture was palpable. The older generations began to squirm under the lack of freedom, the increase in daily oversight, and the regular governmental overstep, especially by the PDC, which had been declared the cultural police by the Long Way.
The younger generation, born just before or right after the calamity, slid into the Long Way out of necessity, for they knew nothing else. Though they grew up on the stories of glory, beauty, and freedom wrought by the ways of the old Kuzaarik Confederation, they had known only their present situation.
Organizations like the Greybeards, who had opposed the Long Way when it was instituted, were still active in the generations after things settled down, and though not as violent as they had been, their sentiment was still felt throughout Vinyabah Gohrahd.
The Second King of that age, Gehryahl Turzor, was sympathetic to the plight of those that yearned for better days, for he did as well. Gehryahl had been King of Gosk Tahktrin - Creator’s Throne - that beautiful city set above the clouds atop three of the northern mountain’s highest peaks.
High King Turzor, later known as Turzor tahy Zoohod - Turzor the Dreamer - outlined and decreed a new Council that would report only to him: Tahy Kashtnyvah Kargahs - The Resettlement Council.
The Resettlement Council would have among its members a specially selected representative of each of the lost cities, so far as was possible. These Councilors would oversee the recruitment, training, and deployment of men and women who were dedicated to exploring the length and breadth of the old Confederation, reporting back on its condition, and keeping the area safe for exploration and future resettlement.
When the time came, these intrepid explorers and fighters, called Kahzkyt - Those who make an opening - would be the vanguard of a force that would reclaim the lost cities and lands of the Kuzaarik.
Most interestingly, King Turzor gave the responsibility of this new Council to the Priesthood. The Priesthood of the Kuzaarik had mostly fallen by the wayside since the institution of the Long Way. The Kuzaarik had always been Ga’al worshippers but the open expression of religion had been repressed by the Long Way, making way for a more pragmatic and physical embodiment of the Kuzaarik spirit that could be channeled into the hard work that would be needed for the survival of their people.
Religious expression had been relegated to a private matter, and though the Kuzaarik people kept their faith in the Gosk - the Ga’al - the open and corporate expression of their faith had nearly died out.
No doubt King Turzor had memories of the people of Creator’s Throne raising their voices to Ghrymp - The Lamp - as one throughout the city each morning to welcome the sun, the physical representation of their patron Gosk. It is also thought that he believed the focus and connection his people felt to their Gosk and each other was a strength that the Kuzaarik people would need if they were ever to reclaim their lost territories.
The PDC claimed that creating the Resettlement Council under the Priesthood was simply a way to keep the PDC out of it, which was probably also true. Turzor was never fond of the PDC, though he did see them as a necessary evil, a feeling he believed that all PDC should also hold and keep in mind as they discharged their duties.
Giving the Resettlement Council to the Priesthood also kept the politics of the Visk Kargahs, The High Council, out of Resettlement matters, though this move did make the position of High Priest a political seat, which was an inadvertent side effect of his actions.
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