The Black Years (838 AE to 903 AE)

The Black Emperors

Camacar the Black, commonly known as the Black Emperor, was one such believer in the Golden Empire. So zealous was he in these ideas that he embraced the wicked beliefs of the infamous Yellow Cult, seeing in their teachings symbolism tying them to the mythic and prehistoric empire. Believing the religion of the Yellow Cult to be one in the same with the religion of the Golden Empire, Camacar began to refer to the old empire, not as the Golden, but Yellow Empire, and proclaimed his Sunarian Empire, as its second incarnation. In these efforts to rebuild the ancient empire, Camacar ultimately failed, though, as his cruelty, arrogance, zealotry and malignancy brought about a widespread uprising that saw to the end of his Second Yellow Empire.

Formation and Rise

Expansion and/or Reform

Hegemony and/or Stagnation

Collapse

Author's Notes

The Pophosian Dynasty: Remembered today as ruthless tyrants, the Pophosians originally appeared in the imperial scrolls sometime in the early Third Intermediate Period as desert bandits. Rising in power in the sands west of the Sun River, Pophos I, the founder of the dynasty, remains rather mysterious to this day. His origin, is largely forgotten, or was simply never known to begin with, but what is recorded, is horrific to say the least. Rise of Pophos: Renowned for his brutality, Pophos, proved one of the most ruthless warlords of the Third Intermediate, sacking numerous cities in both Upper and Lower Sunar. The worst of his crimes, however, would come through his invasion of Nebtka in 1978 FD. Viewing the Nebtkanites as cowards, and inferior to the Sunarians, countless massacres would be carried out in the coming years, with thousands more being put to death for no other reason then their homeland. Most, however, would be enslaved, and brought in chains, back to Sunar, with many dying on the march home, through the scorched Nebtkan highlands. Of those who survived, a life time of hard labor awaited. Sold to ships passing up and down the Sun River, this system of slavery, would become widespread during the Third Intermediate, in no small part, due to men like Pohpos. In any case, his role in the slave trade brought Pohpos directly into conflict with Kame I, when he began his blockade of the river. Unable to actually combat him though, Pohpos, would be one of the first desert bandits to bend the knee to Kame after his conquest of the Sun Delta. Over the next few years, Pophos would advance far in the imperial military, quickly achieving the rank of general for military actions in both Upper Sunar, and Nebtka, where his brutal reputation only grew. Under Kame II, Pophos' power continued to grow, thanks to the Emperor's refusal to rule. Bribing, and threatening his way to the highest echelons of the empire's armies by 19 SD, Pophos finally laid the ground work for his upcoming coup, by framing his opponents in the army of corruption, before having them arrested and executed on Kame's order. In reality, the Emperor had never ordered such a purge of corrupt officers, but faced with a powerful underling in Pophos, he refused to punish the upstart, and eventually paid for it with his life. Only a few months later, Kame II would fall ill, of what many suspect today may have been a poisoning concocted by Pophos himself. Whether this is true, remains forever, a mystery lost to time, but what is known is that within a matter of days Pophos led troops loyal to him, into the imperial palace, and put most of the court to the sword, including much of the Kametite dynasty. What occurred in the next few days is lost to history, but three days after entering the imperial palace, Pophos emerged the new emperor, with Kame never being seen again. As days turned to months, it gradually became obvious, Kame and the Kametites were gone, and in their place a new order was being formed, one bleaker, than any yet to befall the Empire. Reign of the Three Pophosians: Taking power in his late sixties, Pophos was not long for the world when he became emperor, but despite the short reign he was destined to have, he made sure it was one that would be remembered. Of the few who survived his slaughter of the imperial court, a manhunt would be carried out, with dozens of former Kametite loyalists being rooted out and murdered. They would not be alone for long though, and soon after, a major purge of the military would occur, solidifying the Emperor's control over the armies. These, purges would quickly expand into the wider imperial bureaucracy, with governors, administrators and eventually even tax collectors being put to death in mock trials, accusing them of corruption. With his political enemies gone, Pophos' reign of terror had only begun, and within a matter of weeks, a genocide of foreigners had begun within Sunar's borders. There was little warning of such a catastrophe coming, as no one could have predicted Pophos' bold seizure of power, and few among the Sunarian people were openly against the various non Sunarian people who made up the Empire. For this reason, most of Pophos' victims had little warning of their demise coming, their world falling apart in only a few short weeks, as merchants, scribes and even soldiers, found themselves dragged off into slavery. These "death slaves" as they are chronicled, were in most cases, used for trivial and clearly purposeless tasks; such as shoveling sand, far out in the desert, with little to no water. Part of the reason a man like Pophos was able to make his dream a reality, however, was the fear he struck through his purges. Unwilling to risk their own lives for their neighbors and overlords, most Sunarians were spared Pophos' wrath, so long as they obeyed. The army followed as well, in some cases out of loyalty, but in general, primarily out of fear. The legend of Pophos' early purges against military rivals, had stuck with the men, and after his grand purge in 20 SD, barely anyone willing to challenge him remained in the Empire's armies. Within two years of his seizure of power, Pophos the Usurper would die of old age in the imperial palace, passing control of his blood stained empire, over to his son Lamak, who would prove an even worse ruler than his father. Raised from a young age on blood and cruelty, Lamak fell further than Pophos ever was thanks solely to his madness. Celebrating his father's death, with a mass slaughter of two thousand random Sunarians, claiming halfheartedly it was to accompany his father into the next life, Lamak proved himself right away a mad man. His reign would be another short one though, lasting only a few years, before in 25 SD he was found dead in his bed, officially drowning on his own bile. In his place, the the regents of the empire, summoned home Pophos' nephew Camacar. Suffering from debilitating migraines his entire childhood, he had left several years earlier, in search of a cure, and not been heard of since. This was in all likelihood an attempt by the regents, to seize power, as none had any idea where he was, or if he were even still alive, but it would backfire horrifically for all of them when about a month later, he returned to the Empire from across Belezine Bay. Claiming the Empire as his own, the Camacar who returned was a very different man then the one who had left. Where before he had been frail and sickly, he was now strong and healthy, but none the less, his mother recognized her son in the man that had com home, and so in early 26 SD, Camacar became the third Pophosian to rule as emperor, and would prove to be the worst. Crediting his good health, to a strange new deity he had found in the far north, Camacar spoke of an ancient city in the mountains, ruled by a shrouded, yellow god. Beginning to worship this strange being, it was not long before Camacar dawned a robe of yellow himself, and began to attract strange priests out of the north to conduct deranged rituals with no clear purpose. Like all Pophosians though, Camacar's cruelty would show itself swift and brutally. Taking the regents who had summoned him home into chains, he gave no reason for their arrest, before having them tortured and mutilated into horrific offerings to his wicked god, hallmarking an era of darkness and horror upon Sunar. Under his rule, the Empire would rapidly begin to close inward, as trade and prosperity became irrelevant in the face of survival. Famine, plague, and worse would all strike the Empire during these years, as swarms of strange insects appeared as if out of nowhere to devastate crops in Upper and Lower Sunar. Garnering the name wasp flies, the small creatures did not limit their hunger to crops though, attacking people as well with their powerful, and excruciating sting. Camacar would make no effort to prevent the suffering of his people in all these disasters, and instead proved an even worse one himself. Millions would disappear during his 35 year reign, never to be heard from again, and a death cult would begin to form with Camacar at its head. Rumors of strange sounds, and screams echoing out of the otherwise silent hallways of the imperial palace, filled those who lived in the neighborhoods surrounding it with dread, and sights of antlered priests prowling Sunas' streets at night gave rise to horrifying murders and disappearances that would never be solved. Furthermore, thousands of Sunarians would begin to report devastating headaches and deranged dreams caused by an ever present thrum, emanating out from the palace, and beginning the day Camacar became emperor. Keeping to himself, Camacar would very rarely venture out of the imperial palace during his over three decade reign, instead, soldiers terrified of him, would keep order during the black years he ruled, alongside the exotic northern cultists who flocked to Sunas. The Fall of Camacar: Sunar would not be the only land struck by the famine and pestilence of the wasp flies. Lands as far afield as Zanzilore and Mershemit would report the vast swarms darting across their crops and villages. Furthermore, by about 50 SD, it seems Camacar's cult had begun to expand into distant lands, with reports of yellow robed men in antlers, setting up small, putrid shrines outside distant cities like Cutai, and Kamet among dozens of others. The formation of these shrines, would in every case lead to a mass of disappearances, and grizzly murders, that would reach its crescendo as that same thrum from Sunas, began to emanate with no clear source. Sickness and plague, would always follow and overtime, these foreign realms began to grow tired with Camacar and his cultists. Organizing at the island city of Kamos in 58 SD, representatives of over a dozen peoples and lands, gathered to discuss the issue, and came to the conclusion that Camacar had to be brought to heel, if the black years of his reign were to at last end. Backing a surviving Kametite family member, by the name of Sapharc, these foreign states, coalesced into a vast army numbering nearly seventy thousand, and began their invasion of Sunar the following year. Entering out of Nebtka into Lower Sunar, Sapharc and his allies, met no resistance from the cities of the Sun Delta, who's horrified magistrates and governors wanted no part in opposing Camacar, but neither wanted to support him. Given free reign right up to the walls of Sunas, the city would fall after a lengthy year long siege, in which coalition forces would enter the blackened streets of the city, and storm the imperial palace under the constant attack of fanatical antler and horn wearing cultists and swarms of carnivorous wasp flies. Finding Camacar dead upon the imperial throne, his wrists slit and a crown of antlers upon his head, the Pophosian dynasty would end then and there as Sapharc took power, in the dark, bloodstained halls of the imperial palace.