Ægyian

The Ægyians are a storied culture with a long history, mainly living along the Ægyian river system between the two deserts. Ægyians all trace their origin back to the kingdoms of WeskꜤaget and KeꜤaget, which unified to form ÆꜤaget (Ægyia in the common tongue) sometime in early history. However, WeskꜤaget and KeꜤaget were known to be ruled by the Second Cycle and therefore the First Cycle must have existed sometime before this, possibly as far back as 3800 BC. The First Cycle was considered godlike and mythological due to their unfication of the petty Ægyian kingdom of the pre-dynastic times, but they also existed before a standardized runic writing system was developed and therefore written sources are non-existant, with only primitive pictographs*. Although the reason for the fall of the first dynasty is unclear, some suggest that the First Cycle may have simply split the state in two, starting a "second" dynastic period, which was later misinterpreted as a distinct second dynasty that reunified the state as the third cycle or dynasty. This timeline would mean the First Dynasty actually ruled for up to 800 years, corresponding to a starting date between 3800 and 3500 BC and an end date between 3100 to 3000 BC. They would have been an unusually long-ruling dynasty if true, covering three whole cycles (the average dynasty ruled for just one cycle), which supports the god-king hypothesis, despite the title not applying to other known Cycles.

Nontheless, even discounting the First Cycle, ÆꜤaget is known to be the oldest enduring human state. This puts humans as the fourth modern race to develop writing and therefore verifiable history, after the Elves, Dwarves, and Telrai desired. WeskꜤaget and KeꜤaget unified sometime around 3500 BC, but ÆꜤaget would be united and disunted many times as dynastic cycles continued for thousands of years. There are at least 40 documented Ægyian cycles, with many being periods of chaos and others periods of peace. However, the ÆꜤaget dynastic system eventually crumbled as political strife and renewed competition from other emerging civilizations challenged their long-held dominance. Ægyians have long been divided into numerous kingdoms and city-states, so the culture is rather fragmented. Nonetheless, the Ægyians all worshipped the same gods, with only minor variants between nations (until recently). Ægyians are usually somewhat darker-skinned, though not quite as much as the Ifyrialn cultures. They have very dark and expressive eyes and the same dark hair that most of the cultures in the region share.

During the period of the Holy Successorship Empire, many of the Ægyians were conquered and subsequently converted to the Illahic faith. Following the collapse of the Empire, the Ægyian lands served as the basis of power for the Fatim family, who would later restore the Holy Succesorship Empire under their banner. As the core of Fatimi power, the Ægyians were some of the safest and most stable places in that religious state. Therefore in the modern period, most Ægyian Illahi are Al'fatimi.

Of course, despite the populated coastal regions converting the Al'fatim en masse (especially the mercantile elite), deeper inland the spread never penetrated quite as far, nor was it as pervasive. For example, in the great city of TBD, located at the confluence of the tbd and tbd rivers, only the rich elite follow Illahi, with the masses clinging to their native religion, Hōsuyan. Past tbd, there is only a very minor trace of Illahic traditions, as these regions were never conquered by the Al'salaan, even during the Fatimi Successorship. Hōsuyan is dominant here, and the rulers of these river kingdoms consider themselves the only true Ægyians, hoping to eventually wipe out the Illahi and reclaim Ægyia as it was before its fragmentation. Also of note are the various coastal and island city-states, many of whom also remain Hōsuyan religious traditions due to the inability of the Holy Successorships to ever assert their authority there.

Despite their general cultural unity, there are a few different subcultures of Ægyian. These are the Weskgyian, Kegyian, Wajugyian, and Shedugyian. The Weskgyian live in lower Ægyia (ancient WeskꜤaget), which is generally seen as ending around the split in the tbd river. Upstream of this, the Kegyian are the majority, while in the city of tbd at the confluence of these two rivers a mix of the two groups can be found. The only major difference between these two groups is that the Weskgyian have been more influenced by Al'salaanic traditions, even those who haven't converted. Besides this issue of faith, the Weskgyian elite are generally a bit wealthier due to their control of the fertile delta regions, while the Kegyian are more equal in wealth but overall poorer, with a much weaker mercantile class. In contrast, the Wajugyian have a very powerful mercantile class, while having less influence of nobility. This is because they have been divided into city states since the fall of the last united ÆꜤaget. They differ slightly from the other two because they have a little bit of Ynipshar blood, since the early Ynipshar colonized the islands at around the same time as the Ægyians first did. These Wajugyian live near-exclusively on the islands, and while mainland cities may have some population they are far from a majority there, being mostly merchants. Finally, the Shedugyian are the Ægyians who fled Al'salaanic conquests and settled in the city-states of the Solar Elves. There, they form a secondary population group besides the elves themselves, and are tightly integrated. Though their numbers are small, they are an important link between the two, especially as Hōsuyan influence led to the schism of the Solar Elven religion of Anuism.

If one counts the theorized "First Dynasty" then the list of Ægyian cycles/dynasties is as follows

• First Cycle (3800-3500 or 3500-3400 BC): A theorized state ruled by the First Dynasty which unified WeskꜤaget and KeꜤaget as well as the Ægir river system, though not all the way down the Xaz. Sources on this period are extremely sparse and it is unclear if they were forged later on to give lergitimacy.
• Second Cycle (3500-3400 or 3400-3300 BC): A cycle dominated by two rival states (WeskꜤaget and KeꜤaget) ruled by the First Dynasty. Alternatively, it could be a pre-unificantion period cycle where WeskꜤaget and KeꜤaget were unrelated nations.
• Third Cycle(3400-3100 or 3300-3000 BC): The first properly documented unification into ÆꜤaget by the First Dynasty, and a period of stability as well as the codification of ancient laws as well as the writing system of the Ægyian language.
• Fourth Cycle: An obscure period in which the First Dynasty collapsed into chaos and was replaced by the Second Dynasty. Due to their writing system being recently developed as well as the chaos, it is throught that there were very few who had the time or money to create records.
• Fifth Cycle: A short period in which the powerful Second Dynasty established forts near the Copper High Desert, possibly as trading posts or as a way to assert military control over the valley. Despite the strength of the second dynasty, their reign was nowhere near as long as the first. However, this represents the first time Ægyia engaged with outside nations.
• Sixth Cycle: A chaotic period where ÆꜤaget was once more divided into two, though nominally under the same state. The central government of the Second Dynasty reigned in WeskꜤaget, while a cadet dynasty ruled in the south, leading to dynastic infighting and decline.
• Seventh Cycle: A well-documented period under which the previously nomadic Third Dynasty assumed control (there are disputes over whether they might have been of Iajephic or if they were merely a tribe of the last few Ægyian nomads). This dynasty greatly strengthened the state by dividing it into new provinces and establishing an iteritant court in order to manage them. However, this system would later decline as nobles carved out their own domains, leaving the court constantly under threat of whichever province they were currently settled in.
• Eighth Cycle: A period of chaos in which the Third-Sixth dynasties all competed for control of the state. The provincial dynasties competed for control over the provinces while the third bounced around throughout the period in the few remaining loyal territories. During the end of the Eighth Cycle, the various provincial dynasties were overtaken by a new dynasty, the Seventh, who emerged from nowhere on the basis of magical strength.
• Ninth Cycle: A period of stability and construction in which the Ægyians began imitating ancestral Proto-Human Ægyian tombs; they were soon perfected. The seventh dynasty was particularly interested in the wards around these ancient structures, but it would be the construction that ended up lasting, with efforts to understand the wards having failed. The seventh dynasty, thanks to their strong magical heritage, believed to be especially divinely favored, and a time where trade flourished.
• Tenth Cycle: This was the first peaceful cycle to be preceded by one that was also peaceful, leading to religious and cultural development as well as increased exploitation of mines. After the seventh dynasty lost the throne due to a curse from entering an uncleared ancient pyramid, the Eighth dynasty would take the throne.
• Eleventh Cycle: A cycle initated when the last ruler of the Eighth Dynasty died without a male heir, this was solved by marriage to a prominent noble-priestly family. Notable for the increased control brought over the state by the priestly caste and aristocracy.
• Twelfth Cycle: A period of rapid decline and collapse of the state due to entrenched nobility and clergy resisting royal bureacracy, dominated by two warring clans (the Tenth and Eleventh dynasties), both of which gained control over the state for short periods during this cycle, while the rest was chaos and civil war.
• Thirteenth Cycle: A short period of peace ushered in after the Ninth Dynasty eliminated their rivals, however the state was still unstable and nobles held almost all the power. The Eleventh Dynasty may actually be related to the Ninth Dynasty but this is unclear due to a lack of clear records. Either way, it is known that most of their rulers died of assassination or in battle.
• Fourteenth Cycle: A brutal period in which the powerful governors-turned Twelfth Dynasty attempted to undo decades of royal power shrinking (which they helped usher in) as well as purge their many rivals from the nation. Later rulers from this dynasty may have been exceedingly week or ineffective, but less brutal. Several regions gained de facto or even de jure indpendence, and many recieved refugees fleeing the violent policies of the Twelfth Dynasty.
• Fifteenth Cycle: A violent period in which the Twelfth Dynasty was overthrown by provincial rivals, who declared the Thirteenth Dynasty, but were overthrown by their own provincial rivals after just a few generations, who formed the Fourteenth Dynasty.
• Sixteenth Cycle: A period in which the Fourteenth Dynasty extended their rule over and properly unified ÆꜤaget for the first time since the Ninth Dynasty. Trade was reestablished during this period.
• Seventeenth Cycle: A peaceful period beginning when a powerful priest usurped the ruling Fourteenth Dynasty after 'omens of fortune'. These omens are believed to be why the state structure remained together after the coup as they may have been seen as a divine blessing. A period of religious and liturgical growth that only ended due to a succession of quick deaths rendering the Fifteenth dynasty heirless. During this period, a new capital was built near the unification of the Ægir into one river and bureacracy was overhauled.
• Eighteenth Cycle: A period in which the young Sixteenth Dynasty failed to secure the state and saw foreign invasion establish the Seventeenth Dynasty. However, the Sixteenth Dynasty would survive to control the majority of the state's inland provinces, while the Seventeenth controlled the wealthy delta and northern coast.
• Ninteenth Cycle: Yet another cycle of chaos, this one the longest yet, in which the Eighteenth Dynasty (also foreign nomads) moved into the collapsing Seventeeth Dynasty with little record of conflict. This would be followed up by wars to conquer the rump Sixteenth Dynasty, which were successful. The Ninteenth Dynasty, who seem to have rebelled from the Sixteenth during this time, would later be conquered and forced to pay tribute to the Eighteenth, leading to the confusing theological and temporal situation in which a royal government claiming authority over the whole of ÆꜤaget paid tribute to another. The Nineteenth Dynasty would later be replaced by the Twentieth Dynasty which was also based in the south, but which seems to have been more militarily powerful than the Nineteenth and thus did not pay tribute. It is believed this dynasty had partial Iajephic ancestry, and had strong support from these nomads, which suggests the Eighteenth Dynasty may have driven them out of the north to secure the land for their own people.
• Twentieth Cycle: A cycle in which the Twentieth Dynasty reasserted control over the whole of ÆꜤaget and expelled the Eighteenth Dynasty, then ushered in a period of expansionism which saw ÆꜤaget expand to their modern borders in the south as well as conquer the Sumoqua River region and establish dominance over the desert regions.
• Twenty-First Cycle: A cycle in which the state weakened greatly, due to religious and political strife. The Twentieth Dynasty was unfortunately cut short after extensive incest and bouts of insanity led to rulers in both poor physical and mental health, and eventually leading to infertility. The last years of the dynasty saw it on life support, as the line of succession failed, with foreign states led by proto-Sholi, Qabalic (proto-Orentesh), and/or proto-Al'salaan rising to challenge it. Clerical power also rose during this time, leading to a decline in inherant authority of the divine right of kings.
• Twenty-Second Cycle: A cycle in which militaristic rulers of the Twenty-First dynasty defeated ÆꜤaget's foes to the north, expanding the state to new heights. During this period, Ægyians began settling the islands en masse thanks to broad population growth in the imperial center. The Twenty-First dynasty would expand ÆꜤaget's powers on sea as well, leaning on the Ynipshar, who became part of the state during this cycle. Thanks to their personal prestige and military record, the dynasty was extremely stable and immune to priestly influence until its final few rulers, who lost favor.
• Twenty-Third Cycle: A brief period of chaos in which a civil war occured due to disputed succession under the Twenty-First Dynasty. The priestly caste would reassert their authority here, thus leading to the establishment of the Twenty-Second Dynasty. ÆꜤaget would see their authority over the north weakened and garrisons lessened, leaving the state open for foreign attacks.
• Twenty-Fourth Cycle: A period in which the Twenty-Second Dynasty ruled. Emboldened by recent the civil war, coalition of foreign rivals conquered ÆꜤaget's isolated northern holdings and invaded ÆꜤaget's heartland, but were fought off. Despite this excellent victory, the dynasty was severely weakened and the state continued as a shadow of its former self during this period. This cycle is also notable for the settlement of nomads in and around the river system.
• Twenty-Fifth Cycle: The twenty-fourth cycle ended with the final ruler's ministers taking the throne from the faded dynasty after this death. The leader of this coup would establish the Twenty-Third dynasty, but his power was pitiful and priests controlled most of the land outside the delta. However, later dynastic members would show more authority. Unfortunately the dynasty would end after the last ruler died without heirs.
• Twenty-Sixth Cycle: A brief intermediary period in which there was no dynastic rule, as the priestly class claimed control of the state.
• Twenty-Seventh Cycle: A period in which a militaristic clan of former Al'Salaan nomads who had settled during the Twenty-Fourth Cycle took control of the state, marrying into the priestly caste and establishing a powerful religious and miliatistic duopoly on power. They would form the Twenty-Fourth Dynasty.
• Twenty-Eighth Cycle: A period in which the Twenty-Fourth Dynasty lost control over the delta region to native Ægyians who formed the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty and were then conquered by the Ægyicized Iajephic populations from the south, who formed the Twenty-Sixth. The Twenty-Sixth dynasty conquered the northern dynasty shortly after these events.
• Twenty-Ninth Cycle: A period of war and chaos in which the Solar Elves conquered ÆꜤaget, installing a new Twenty-Seventh dynasty as their puppets. The Twenty-Sixth dynasty continued to exist during this time in the east, but was ineffectual.
• Thirtieth Cycle: A period in which the Solar Elves consolidated their rule of ÆꜤaget and established peace for some years under the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty.
• Thirty-First Cycle (256-399 SC): A cycle in which the Solar Elven rulers were overthrown by different Solar Elves who took a hardline approach. The Twenty-Sixth Dynasty attempted to assert their independence but were conquered. Solar Elves were then crowned as the Twenty-Seventh dynasty as they took direct control over ÆꜤaget.
• Thirty-Second Cycle (399-406 SC): A period of renewed independence for ÆꜤaget. Ruled by the generally forgotten Twenty-Eighth Dynasty, which had exactly one ruler.
• Thirty-Third Cycle (406-431 SC): A period of civil war in which multiple factions fought for control of ÆꜤaget, including the Twenty-Ninth Dynasty and Thirtieth Dynasty.
• Thirty-Fourth Cycle (431-466 SC): A period in which the Thirtieth Dynasty consolidated their rule for a short period.
• Thirty-Fifth Cycle (466-474 SC): A period which saw the Thirtieth Dynasty overthrown by the Thirty-First, because at this point the state structure was almost completely dissolved. It was ended shorty by a renewed elven invasion.
• Thirty-Sixth Cycle (474-519 SC): ÆꜤaget would be reconquered by the elves and the Twenty-Seventh dynasty reinstated. This was a dark age for the nation as elven control was far greater this time than previously.
• Thirty-Seventh Cycle (519-606 SC): A period of abject chaos, as elven control over ÆꜤaget failed during their civil war. Saw the rise of no less than eight claimants, all of whom failed to secure the state. During this cycle, the state structure disintegrated into city-states
• Thirty-Eighth Cycle (606-804 SC): A period in which a new dynasty emerged, who were half-elven. This Twenty-Eighth dynasty reunificed ÆꜤaget and ruled for a number of years, though they were not always the strongest or most stable.
• Thirty-Ninth Cycle (804-1112 SC): A period in which the Twenty-Eighth dynasty slowly fell apart and broke up into various minor kingdoms and city-states.
• Fortieth Cycle (1112-1247): The Al'salaanic Jafarid Empire of the Holy Successor conquered lower ÆꜤaget, abolished the dynasties, and began converting the people.
• Fourty-First Cycle (1247-1431): A period of disunity following the collapse of the Jafarids, during which Al'Salaanic and native rulers competed for control, but ultimately failed to unite the region under one, or even two, governments.
• Fourty-Second Cycle (1431-1863): A period in which the Fatimi Empire of the Holy Successor unified the region once more under Al'Salaanic control (aside from the far south).
• Fourty-Third Cycle (1831-2000): The current age, one of barbarism, disunity, and violence.

*To be clear, the runic alphabet here is hieroglyphs, their proto-form is what is referred to as pictographs