Ahkin (ah-kin)

Before the Desert Kings, before the Kami Dynasty, before even Enotis or the Vidian Kingdom, there was the Edylen Despotate, ruled by the Ahkin Vernilyu, he was the man who mastered fire and weaponized it to extreme measures. He started from where the capital of the Edylen Federation would reside hundreds of years later, and expanded at a rapid pace with his warhorse, along with 10,000 men. By the end of the 5400s BC, he had already conquered every tribe and mini-confederation within the continent, and by the 5350s, he had conquered almost the whole world, only stopping at the great rivers which divide what would become the Yumi Warlord State from the Kami Dynasty. Before he could mount a sea invasion, he was...

Struck by lightning, engulfed in flame, pelted by stone, drowning in water, beamed by the brighest light, his body becoming a void, the man was killed by everything and nothing at the same time. All that happened afterward was a massive beam of light and then... nothing. Void for a minute until everything returend to normal.

— Vangeu Oea - 5295 BCE

Needless to say, Ahkin Vernilyu died a horrific death, with his body being disintegrated into oblivion. Yet the title would be forgotten for a short time, as the men who attempted to emulate him merely did not have enough strength or intelligence to unite the continent or even their own region successfully. Years turned to decades and decades turned to centuries, the title seemingly unachievable by many.

Until around 4500 BC, when Ahkin Jaeli rose to power, in the exact same spot as Ahkin Vernilyu. He united his home region and went forth to conquer the neighboring regions, yet instead of eternal conquest without ever truly integrating them, he created a federation rather than a despotate, integrating them to the point of unity but no further. This is what allows Ahkin Jaeli to maintain his grip on power over his entire lifespan: unity as a shared people. So instead of conquer and scout, he added a third step: Integrate. Conquer. Scout. This was the cycle up until he reached the bay, where he met the Cernai people, about 50,000 strong, who controlled only a small area around the bay. An easy target, nothing too difficult for the Elite Vanguard.

The Battle of Cernaius Alentius is possibly the worst defeat in all of Edylen history, losing over 40 thousand men to an army of 5 thousand that was poorly equipped, and were even forced to retreat. Ahkin Jaeli knew he could potentially destroy them with a bigger army, but there were no armies within a 400-mile radius that could support the Vanguard, and even still, this was the VANGUARD, which HE led personally. So he was forced to retreat, avoiding nearby conquered tribes in fear they'd join the Cernai and ambush them. Marching for months on little food and water, he had only one option: Turn back and fight.

When fighting a war, you have two options: Either fight, or run. There is no in-between, no compromise, there are only 2 decisions. Either fight till you have to run or run until you have to fight again. And I will choose to fight.

— Ahkin Jaeli - 4393 BC

He and his army marched for a week until meeting an army made up of tribes, a coalition, with the tribe of Cernaius Alentius at the helm. About 60,000 strong, with the vanguard whittled down to a total of 5,000 men, both Ahkin Jaelin and Chieftain Brayden staring each other down until the other left. Ahkin Jaelin had the high ground and about 100 archers, but the Chieftain had sheer numbers, enough to overrun them all. Ahkin Jaelin made the first warcall, a universal symbol that they weren't backing down, and charged, giving up the upper ground in favor of his remnants of cavalry. Chieftain Brayden made the second warcall, and charged right back at him. The battle raged for 19 hours, but the damage had been done. The Coalition lost 30,000 men, while the entire Vanguard and Ahkin Jaelin all died, with Jaelin being struck by a bolt of lightning.

Once the messengers reached his son, Jaelin I, he was informed of the news regarding his father and the battle. He did not care, only knew what he had to do. So at the age of 15, in the year 4390 BC, he took the title of Ahkin, found a suitable warhorse for himself, and ordered his generals to retreat up to the great river past the bay.

As of 2695, the war that Ahkin Jaelin started has been raging for thousands of years, one side winning for a brief time, then the other side winning for a brief time, and repeat for thousands of years. It has been a never-ending game of tug-of-war, with no clear victor in sight.

To the Cernai, the Ahkin are their mortal rivals, something to destroy and scrub off the face of the planet. Especially since it was only one Ahkin ago that started the forever war.

As for the rest of the cultures of the world, they generally don't care. An Ahkin might as well just be a king, and a king might as well just be an Ahkin.