The Early History
Arvea was settled by humans before the arrival of the architects, who hunted and foraged in isolation until the arrival of sailing
Dryad and human immigrants in the mid-divine era. These dryads and humans brought outside ideas of agriculture, and were welcomed and integrated into the Arvean bands. And again, Arvea went silent from the rest of the world for centuries. They had the occasional visitor: the strong currents and gentle winds would inevitably bring in whalers, fishers, and merchants from Samvara, Desmia, and Lothay. Some brought boons- crops, livestock, ideas. Others brought disease. But rarely was this trade consistent or planned.
Merchants began confidently and consistently sailing the routes to and from Arvea in the 200s ME. This consistent trade brought metallurgy, druidism, and new ideas of religion and statecraft. They heralded a new age of more intense agriculture, more aggressive social hierarchy, new traded luxuries, and magical priesthoods. This wasn't an overnight process of course. It often involved
Halikvar and
Ishkibite missionaries that aided princes in adopting legal codes, writing systems, and administrative models. The Ishkibites invested more in helping these fledgling kingdoms than the Halikvar- for the Ishkibites, the Arveans were a middle ground to acquire Druidism, while the Desmians and Arveans had little to offer that the Samvarans wanted.
The Middle History
The Halikvar eventually sent their own missionary blitz in the 600s and 700s. Arvea's population had skyrocketed under these new kingdoms and had become an eager market for Halikvari healing potions and luxury goods, and the continued production of treasure-coinage in
Asalay was extremely useful for the Samvarans. But the Halikvari missionaries were uncompromising in their proselytism and began stirring violence and discord. The Lunar Gods began to intervene, dividing the island into militarized factions. Arvea seemed doomed to religious violence and factionalism like so many regions before and after it.
But Arvea unified instead. A clever explorer and sometimes-criminal from the less-developed Southern half of the island arose and managed to seize control of kingdom after kingdom. Her name was Azitara, and she was an expert at navigating both Lunar politics and material politics. Not only was Azitara able to unite the kingdoms, but she spread their rule over the South. And, to boot, she brought together the dueling faiths of Ishkibism and Halikvar underneath her: she claimed to be impossibly descended from both Ishkibal and Lily of Red. She created the Arvean Temple of Ishkibism, which combined elements of Halikvar and Ishkibism with her as the supreme prophet-empress.
From 930 ME to 1490 ME, Arvea was united under the Arvean Temple and Empire. But it was under siege for much of that time: In 1200 ME, a massive Halikvar invasion arrived in Arvea seeking to carve out a home base from which to invade
Izekra. Samvaran invaders would arrive and either sack or occupy ports around the Arvean coast, or raid the coastline for supplies or galley slaves. These invaders plagued Arvea for centuries- from 1200 to 1490, when they were able to conspire with a conspiracy of Arvean military officers to overthrow the empire. The Empire collapsed not long after, as the officers fought amongst themselves for control.
The Situation
But Arvea is full of places to hide, and its interior is hard to control. And many imperial candidates were able to escape into that interior to begin their own legacies. Prophecies abound that, one day, one of them will reunite the island and renew the glorious Empire of Arvea- and many have tried. The coastline may have Halikvari elites and foreign support, but the populace is largely Arvean Ishkibite. And attempts to restore the old order pop up every century or so like clockwork, usually seizing a corner of the island for a few centuries before
Lily of Red directs another intervention to extinguish it.
The last such attempt was almost successful: the restored Arvean empire of 1870 was able to secure most of the Southern island before a Lurelayan expedition took half of it and tried to extinguish it. But part of that attempt remains sovereign- a beacon of hope across the island. And slowly, Arvean Ishkibite tribes and states across the island have begun to stitch themselves together into a grand alliance. Revolt is brewing. The Halikvar elites are fleeing. Now is the time of Gods.
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