Plundering of Zeshema

The Plundering of Zeshema was an extended period of conflict and exploitation by Selkie warbands of the Greater Zeshem Region - what is now Holy Zeshema and the Stolen Coast - that took place between 606 ME and 900 ME.    The early period, from 606 to 690, was simply a period of trade and light settlement. Selkie fleets moved into Zeshem coastal waters as traders, mercenaries, and nomadic fishermen. Conflict was present between the newcomers and the existing coastal population, but wasn't particularly intense. The real start to the Plundering as a colonial effort began with the Nualoa Expedition, a colonial military effort by a selkie admiral by the name of Nualoa who aimed to conquer the Zeshem coastline to better control the magic item trade between Garadel and Samvara. Nualoa relied on divide-and-conquer tactics, slave trading, and dubious "contract" agreements to conquer and exploit the local peoples to build her new kingdom, all while she imported Samvaran elites and craftspeople to help administer this land. Plagues and invasive species undermined already-weak local communities, who were losing large numbers of people to raids, overwork, enslavement, and petty wars. Many communities fled inland, but found that their neighbors were hired as mercenaries or slavers to pursue them.   In 717, the dryad priest and community leader Norinar Ostrozek began rallying religious leaders in opposition to selkie aggression. As he convinced more and more groups to band together, including selkie-armed groups that had acted as mercenaries, he became a serious threat to Nualoa's regime. He was identified as a threat to the Khilaia and hunted down in 720. Some say his location was given by traitors, others say he was easily found due to his own fatalistic disregard for his own life. Cornered and desperate, he launched an attack on the selkie druids besieging his home. While his actions forced the selkies to withdraw their attack to their ships, he was mortally injured. On the brink of death, it is said that the spectre of the Masked One in tragic garb appeared over him- and as he made his Tragic Wish to wipe the selkie fleet away. It is unknown how, but it said that he washed up on the shore alive several days later- slightly different, but more confident. He claimed that the Masked One had offered him a second chance at life and revealed the secrets of the universe to him. His revelations are the backbone of Zesheko and he is seen as a holy prophet of the religion. He died in 745 and while his body was preserved by his disciples, it was desecrated by later selkie fleets (and supposedly pieces of his corpse sit in hidden vaults in the Khilaian Isles). But even after he died, his coalition continued its fierce resistance against the selkie colony. And while the selkies continued their attempts to build a march-state even after Nualoa's death, morale was beginning to dwindle.   Further to the South, in the great plains of Larazel, the influx in trade money had disrupted the status quo. The delicate arrangements and peace between the nomadic peoples there had been shattered, and in 790 a Human nomad named Nilon was able to seize control of the dominant military group of the Dotinek people. Nilon was a mysterious charismatic warrior, who claimed to have been born from the Lunar Pantheon itself (and he did have a fairly good relationship with several Lunar Gods). After a decade of gathering power, he launched an invasion Northward in 803 to seize the selkie march colony for himself- just as a massive wave of selkie reinforcements descended from Samvara. The ensuing three-way war between the Dotinek, the selkies, and the Zeshem was disastrous for all involved. In 810 Nilon was terribly wounded in battle and sought refuge with the Zeshem- bringing Nilon's followers into the fold and beatifying him as a messenger of Alima. His knowledge of the Divine Contact and hoarded incense also gave the Zeshem a new tactical resource, particularly in Theia the Liberator. The combined Dotinek and Zeshem forces burnt the selkie march-colony to the ground, but the war dragged on. In 900 ME, the selkies lost the battle of Avilia - one of the few naval battles lost to non-Selkies in Khilaian history. The stunning defeat and what had become centuries of wasted investment ultimately forced the selkies to totally withdraw from Zeshem- and from the Garadek magical item trade- for a time. Minor expeditions of selkie rogue fleets continued trying to sail through Zeshem waters until the mass pelt-seizure and execution of selkie merchants in 950 sent a firm message to would-be entrepreneurs.