Ancient Alzirgos

The Land of Ishada

The city-state of Alzirgos is known to many as the home of ancient ideas and culture, but its roots are more obscure, due to how thoroughly Alzirgos has been brought into the modern age, welcoming people from all over the world. It appears more like a Human or Elven city, when in truth it was built for Goblins and Halflings. That was Ancient Alzirgos, before even the Helft Empire.
While it is known now as Ancient Alzirgos, it was known at the time as Ishada or Ishallas, after the great Goddess of Fertility who was their chief deity, Ishtar. The residents of Ishada called themselves Ishenes, for they saw themselves all as offspring of Ishtar and the fertility she bestowed upon them.

Ishtar by Jarhed

The Ancient Cities of Ishada

Ishada was made up of many city-states back in the day, not just the city of Alzirgos, though Alzirgos was a prosperous center. The cities of Ancient Alzirgos included, between the two peninsulas and surrounding islands that it dominated:

• Alzirgos- The prosperous center of democracy and trade in Ancient Ishada, and the only extant settlement of Ishada.


• Retrypes- Across the Ethereal Bay from Alzirgos, where Vitroveil now stands. The great rival of Alzirgos, a warrior culture inspired by Bortan that would eventually be wiped out.


• Solonia- Between the two peninsulas, on the land at the heart of the Ethereal Bay, where the modern Colvers is, Solonia was a place of diplomacy where all Ishenes would meet for festivals and games.


• Epetros- A mighty city famed for its walls, though not even a single stone of them remain.


• Tryria- Once a massive hub of trade, the center of early Ishene culture, Tryria was fought over constantly until, finally, the land was no longer fit for civilization. Its ruins are all that remain of the once great city.


• Aelogi- One of the many cities upon the nearby small islands off the coast of the peninsulas, Aelogi has beautiful beaches and the ruins of a once massive palace and temple to Izanagi, or as they knew him, Kaunos.

These cities were, for the most part, split between Goblins and Halflings, with the rare city that had a split population. Goblins resided more often on the lands around the city of Retrypes on the south peninsula, and Halflings on the northern peninsula around Alzirgos. Eventually, that would switch around, through years and years of war and emigration.

History of Ishada

The exact specifics of what led the Goblins and Halflings to the land around the Alzirgan peninsula are uncertain. Much of their earliest history is obscure and muddied by time, making even the specific founding date of these cities very unclear.
It is not right to say they were a nation in those days. There was no unified government, but there was a common culture. They shared a faith, a language, and an identity as Ishene. They would go to war with each other, but at times they were called together by outside forces, when they went to war against the Dwarves, Draconians of Bortan, or Southern Nereids.
Ishada fell due to the influence of both internal and external forces. The growing influence of the Helft Empire of Halflings on the south and west of Elone, and the more independent Goblin states on the northern coast began exerting pressure on Ishada, and eventually conquered the lands around it. Only Alzirgos stood strong, though it allied itself with the Goblins, who had become the majority population of the city.
While no concrete date can be said for when Ishada truly fell, as it splintered apart over a long period of time, its final city was conquered in -147. It is believed to have existed for at least a thousand years, for even the Elves and Dwarves that were present for its fall considered it to be ancient.

Ishenic Culture

Democracy

Democracy is a system with its origins in the city-state of Alzirgos. Many associate it with all of Ishada, but it was only Alzirgos that adopted the style of governing for any long period of time, with Epetros having attempted it once, and some smaller towns using the system for brief periods as well.
Any male citizen of Alzirgos had a say in the goings-on of Alzirgan government, as part of the assembly. 1-3 times a month, they would gather, discuss issues, and vote on policies and other government decisions.

Labdacus by Jarhed

It is said that the Goddess of Alzirgos, Ishtar, asked often for women to be included in democracy, but she was constantly met with the words of a Goblin philosopher, which became etched into the system itself:

"Goddess, why would we need the voice of any other woman when yours speaks to us from the Heavens above?"

— Labdacus

It is in response and opposition to the male-centric idea of Alzirgan democracy that two systems were then created: the Goblin matriarchy that spawned in most other Goblin settlements after Alzirgos, and the new government of Alzirgos, featuring one male and one female leader to balance out the role of gender in ruling the city-state.
The latter was also influenced by another Ishene governmental system, that of Retrypes (see below).

Ishenic Philosophy

The job of philosopher is one that was well known in Alzirgos, with their philosophies shaping much of Alzirgan, and occasionally all of Ishene, society.
The most famous philosopher is Labdacus, who wrote many dialogues and books on philosophy that are still taught across the world, even if his ideas are wildly outdated and archaic in a modern context. On the other hand, there was his rival, Rhode, the only female philosopher of Alzirgos whose writings still exist. Her thoughts, at least what was preserved, align moreso with modern philosophical thought, and she is seen as ahead of her time. Still, even Rhode has some writings that remind readers that she came from a long gone age with different beliefs and culture.
Labdacus is the central figure most people think of when they think of philosophers, as his writings are what everyone studies to understand the very basics of philosophy. This does not mean there is little to gain from what he wrote, or that they are basic, but simply that they have become the foundation for philosophy.

Theater

Alzirgos was where most of the best known Ishene playwrights were from, but many of the plays were actually performed in Solonia in a theater atop a mountain. These plays would be done during a festival to Ninatta, known in Ishada as Doto, performed by a small group of soldiers wearing masks.
The playwrights became very famous, specifically a trio of tragedians known as Kalesius, Aristos, and Polykleitos. Their work is still admired today, and performed regularly around the world in every language. Kalesius was promoted to a high ranking military position thanks to the sound logic of his plays that provoked a thorough discussion afterwards, while Polykleitos was exiled after one of his plays and forced to seek refuge in Zephys.
Alzirgan theater was a place of discussion. The plays would be watched by an audience who would then debate whatever questions the play posed. A good discussion afterwards was a sign of a well-done play.

Retrypian Soldier by Jarhed

Military

The militaries of Ishada were renowned throughout the world. They were not perfect, and were not even particularly all very mighty, but they still were the stuff of legend due to their tight formations and, particularly, the strongest city-state likely to ever exist: Retrypes.
Retrypes had famed warriors, coining the term Hoplites for their soldiers, trained since birth to fight and die for Retrypes. They are some of the most famed warriors in history, and none have ever been able to replicate the conditions and training that made the forces of Retrypes so formidable.
It is said that in their age, they fought any army to a standstill at their worst and a victory at their peak, but would never retreat.
The most famous story is when they took on the Elven Guard, defending the Ethereal Bay from the greatest military in the world with only 111 Retrypian soldiers. All died in the skirmish, but they held off the Elves, sending them retreating back to Camor, at which point it is said they never returned to the land of Ishada for battle ever again.
It is notable that, in its earliest days, when Ishada only fought against itself, their wars were not determined by large armies. Instead, the highest classes of citizens armed themselves and fought in open fields to determine the outcome of battles, as they were the only ones capable of affording the metal required for weapons and armor. Only when they gained access to more metal and more wealth did armies become commonplace in Ishada.

Retrypian Monarchy

Speaking of Retrypes, its government was strikingly different than the rest of Ishada, and is worth commenting on. It was ruled by two monarchs, a King and a Queen, yet unlike in other nations, they were not joined by marriage (unless they wished to be, which was the case only three times).
This was usually a hereditary position, but when there was not a suitable child from the past pair to take the throne (or in the cases where they marry) a new one was chosen from the highest ranking warriors.
They led the armies in battle, as well as major religious ceremonies in Retrypes.
But their power was limited by a council of 28 elders that regulated what the monarchs could and could not do. These elders were elected for life, and were the central democratic component of Retrypes, which otherwise detested Alzirgan democracy.
At least for a time. Towards the end of its existence, Retrypes included a small governing body of elected officials who could only serve one term, and only served for one year. They held the most legislative power, more than the Kings or the elders, but were the first casualties when the city was destroyed.

Slavery

In Ishada, slavery differed from city-state to city-state. In Alzirgos and city-states in its sphere of influence, chattel slavery was most common, where foreign workers were enslaved to individuals/households and stripped of all personal rights. Conversely, in Retrypes, the slaves were owned by the state, serving the needs of the city rather than individuals.
The practice of slavery grew more common in Halfling controlled cities, which led into the Helft Empire's enforcement of slavery as a natural institution in the world, something that it continued through the Stallbourne Court of Mercy and, later, the World Court.
The Goblins, on the other hand, abolished slavery in most of their settlements, seeing it as barbaric. Some Goblin nations still practice it, notably the Ocultos Goblins in the Mines of the Slime, but Alzirgan Goblins gave up on the practice long ago.
Slaves in Ishada were mostly people conquered or defeated in wars, foreign citizens that entered Ishada, or debtors that had no way to repay what they owed.
The conditions were awful, and notably it was also meant to be humiliating, as most slaves were larger than the Goblins or Halflings they served. Thus, they would feel great dishonor and, eventually (in most cases), submit to subjugation so as not to return to normal life knowing how greatly they were humiliated. Otherwise, they were beaten, forced to do hard labor, and overall treated like they were not even people.

Goblin and Halfling Populations

Ishada was made up of two major populations: Halflings and Goblins. However, it was very rare for a city to have a majority population of both. Instead, a city-state was dominated by one or the other, and then there would be a minority lower-class, often slave, population of the other.
This does not mean it is easy to split the cities between the two. At different points in history, each species controlled a different set of cities, and through wars, politics, and other means, the cities switched hands constantly as the ages passed.

Unified Culture

In truth, it must be said that this is all generalizing the Ishene people more than they would ever want, for they did not truly consider themselves one people. They shared a geographical region, and a basic cultural and religious foundation, but few of them ever considered themselves Ishene. They were Alzirgan, Retrypian, Solonian, Tryrese, Aelogish, Epetran.
The only time Ishene culture really united was in war, sport, or theater, but even then they would be divided by point of origin. The term of Ishada and Ishene is, then, a categorization used retroactively. In the days of Ishada, Ishada meant little more than the region they resided in, and even now that part of Elone still goes by that name. That is all that remains of these once great city-states, for they have all fallen. All but one.