Excellent! Then I'll get started. I've read the Volga timeline on the wiki and already have some ideas. By the way, can someone make a map of Europe just so we have an idea of where everything is?
299 BC-297 BC--In 299 BC, a militant faction of Roz adherents from the city of Sperazanoivakoz takes control of the Council of High Priests in the Lroz League, with their leader, Ulkraz Quer, becoming Headman. Quer immediately takes steps to strengthen his church's power within the League, filling the Council with his personal puppets and training a force of Rozian soldier-fanatics in Sperazanoivakoz. Though the rest of the churches oppose this, their leaders are too well aware of how the Uralskians, Anak Vrasi, and Enedians would react to a civil war in the League to attempt armed opposition. Instead, a plan is hatched by Kraz Zaiqn, leader of the church of Ilku and descendant of the River Republic's founder, to assassinate Quer and the rest of the Council using a trio of Anak Vrasi warriors so as to lay the blame at the northern Confederation's door. Though the plan at first goes well--Quer and most of his henchmen are slaughtered--three weeks later, the newly-crowned High Priest of Sheesha, Iruluqan Ras, reveals Zaiqn's plotting to the members of the new Council in an effort to increase his own power. Most of the members are horrified and several demand Zaiqn's execution; however, when the new leader of the Rozians, Yktraz Oscro--in Sperazanoivakoz to receive his crown--summarily executes the local Ilku priests and many of the god's adherents and marches on Zhushanap in the name of Roz and Ulkraz Quer to "burn out the twisted illness plaguing the All-God", the debate is put aside and the Council prepares for war. In early 298, the first real battle is fought at Plokasurda, a firmly Zussite city which has declared for the council. Oscoe sends his small fleet of flat-bottomed river boats, accompanied by several hundred heavy reindeer-riders, to destroy the threat to his rear. Though the Plokasurdans are hard-pressed by the reindeer-riders, a young smith named Syndryn, wielding a great iron hammer for his weapon, rallies the embattled Zussites in a last, desperate defense of the city's core, and manages to win a Pyrrhic victory against the Rozians. In honor of his actions, Syndryn is named commander of the Zussite forces to be used in the war, despite his inexperience and low social class. Despite this defeat, Oscro takes Zhushanap by spring's end and launches a naval assault on the Tower of the Gods, attempting to bypass the Northern Wall and gain direct access to the Knur River and Nirvaskoar. Though the Rozian troops actually manage to take the Tower for a few days, they are cut off and defeated by a combined host of Sheeshan and Ilkun soldiers in mid-July. In surprising act of mercy, the High Council pardons the vast majority of the soldiers of their crimes, though their leaders are still beheaded and their heads prominently displayed on the Northern Wall. As an early winter sets in over the river and Oscro's forces winter at Zhushanap, Syndryn's meager forces launch hit-and-run attacks all along the river, using the Rozians' own captured fleet. When the spring finally comes, Oscro moves from Zhushanap to capture Plokasurda once and for all. Unfortunately for the Rozians, he is being led directly into a trap by the young Zussite general. While his troops besiege the city, they are assaulted from the back by more than five thousand reindeer-riders who have slipped over the Wall during the winter. Oscro's army is routed and he himself is captured and executed by Syndryn, who earns the nickname 'the Fox' for his crafty victory. Marching on still-defiant Sperazanoivakoz with the full host of Zussa brought up from south of the Wall and under his command, he captures and razes the city to the ground within the month, and orders his men to salt the fields around the city and plow the ruins into the ground, ensuring that no one will ever settle there again.
296 BC--With the war over, but its cause still fresh in the mind of the Lroz, Syndryn marches on the Wall with his army and demands that Kraz Zaiqn be publicly stoned for his ungodly actions and his head mounted on the Wall as a warning to would-be murderers. However, this is merely a ploy to increase his own power. The Council unwittingly plays into his hands by refusing to do such, as Zaiqn remains a High Priest of Sheesha. Using this as a pretext for war, Syndryn bribes the Keepers of the Wall to open the gates for his forces, then marches on Nirvaskoar, with many of the southern generals laying down their arms and joining him. This is partly due to the widespread hatred for Zaiqn, but mostly due to the spreading rumors that Syndryn is an avatar of Zussa itself. With their forces defeated, turned traitor, or very much reduced, the High Priests take what small fleet they have left and flee to the city of Zidat on the site of old Uspo, in which they establish a small, remnant Lroz League (soon known as the Hyrcanian League in honor of their predecessor in the area). Entering into the Seat of the Council, he crowns himself God-Emperor Syndryn I of the Sea of Zhiztur (the Caspian Sea) and the Sea of Vicaz (the Black Sea), asserting that he is an avatar of Zussa, and renames the Seat of the Council to the Palace of Ten Thousand Swords as a reference to the way he seized the nation. Though the High Council is formed again, it now has little actual power and is filled with Syndryn's puppets. The official name of the nation becomes the Grand Empire of the Sea of Zhiztur and the Sea of Vicaz. Syndryn carefully lets it be known by surrounding kings, headmen, and other leaders that this pompous claim to unowned lands will become reality if they should choose to challenge him. Wisely, many of the surrounding nations recognize his claim to the throne and his empire, though the Uralskians remain defiant due to their horror at a powerful Lroz state.
That's all for now. I'll have more later today, probably.
411 BC--The Pujakaz Republic begins to expand east and south along the coast and the Seine, respectively, slowly gobbling up Lroz and native (dunno names) states.
400 BC--On the coast of the Green Sea (Baltic), the Lroz city-state of Yugashvali begins to settle Scandinavia, finding Uralsk tribes already there and proceeding to eliminate them.
398 BC--Yugashvali, a theocratic republic (only priests can vote or run for office), begins absorbing smaller states around it, carving out its own sphere of influence on the Green Sea coast.
380 BC--The Lroz diaspora has finally stablized into several rather large confederations and empires. From west to east: the Pujakaz Republic, stretching from the Seine to the Rhine, the Hogfazh Confederation, taking up much of the Rhineland and Palatinate, Yugashvali, encompassing lands from northern Poland all the way to Denmark, Ipvocaz, holding much of inner Poland and eastern Germany, and the Jakuzian Republic, a fierce, but rather ill-located illiberal republic sandwiched between Yugashvali, Uralskia, and the northernmost Danubian states. All of these states except for Yugashvali have forsaken the traditional Lroz religion and, indeed, most no longer think of themselves as Lroz, instead adopting their home nation as their ethnicity.
366 BC--The Volga Anak Vrasi begin to confederate into a loose coalition of tribes, having been inevitably and powerfully influenced by the still-strong Lroz League in the south.
346 BC--The Lroz League begins a war against various Enedian city-states in western Caucasia, seeking to capture a port on the Black Sea. After a difficult 10-year war, they will finally have their long-wished-for Black Sea port, but at a high cost.
340 BC--The Empire of Uralskia, having grown rich and powerful on the multidinous trade routes which now pass through it, attacks and defeats the Anak Vrasi Confederation, reconquering much of their lost eastern territories.
333 BC--A new religion takes hold of Uralskia, known as Kamphmenahagarm (literally, "Cult of the Goose-God"). Founded by a poor smith, the religion claims that the goose is the mortal incarnation of the creator god, Menahagarm, while the swan is that of his wife, Poisavog. The raising of geese is asserted to be a high art and those who raise geese are claimed to be "of purest nature". The religion gains a massive following very quickly.
320 BC--Goose-raising is restricted to only nobles and kings by law in Uralskia, effectively turning Kamphmenahagarm into a state religion.
299 BC-297 BC--In 299 BC, a militant faction of Roz adherents from the city of Sperazanoivakoz takes control of the Council of High Priests in the Lroz League, with their leader, Ulkraz Quer, becoming Headman. Quer immediately takes steps to strengthen his church's power within the League, filling the Council with his personal puppets and training a force of Rozian soldier-fanatics in Sperazanoivakoz. Though the rest of the churches oppose this, their leaders are too well aware of how the Uralskians, Anak Vrasi, and Enedians would react to a civil war in the League to attempt armed opposition. Instead, a plan is hatched by Kraz Zaiqn, leader of the church of Ilku and descendant of the River Republic's founder, to assassinate Quer and the rest of the Council using a trio of Anak Vrasi warriors so as to lay the blame at the northern Confederation's door. Though the plan at first goes well--Quer and most of his henchmen are slaughtered--three weeks later, the newly-crowned High Priest of Sheesha, Iruluqan Ras, reveals Zaiqn's plotting to the members of the new Council in an effort to increase his own power. Most of the members are horrified and several demand Zaiqn's execution; however, when the new leader of the Rozians, Yktraz Oscro--in Sperazanoivakoz to receive his crown--summarily executes the local Ilku priests and many of the god's adherents and marches on Zhushanap in the name of Roz and Ulkraz Quer to "burn out the twisted illness plaguing the All-God", the debate is put aside and the Council prepares for war. In early 298, the first real battle is fought at Plokasurda, a firmly Zussite city which has declared for the council. Oscoe sends his small fleet of flat-bottomed river boats, accompanied by several hundred heavy reindeer-riders, to destroy the threat to his rear. Though the Plokasurdans are hard-pressed by the reindeer-riders, a young smith named Syndryn, wielding a great iron hammer for his weapon, rallies the embattled Zussites in a last, desperate defense of the city's core, and manages to win a Pyrrhic victory against the Rozians. In honor of his actions, Syndryn is named commander of the Zussite forces to be used in the war, despite his inexperience and low social class. Despite this defeat, Oscro takes Zhushanap by spring's end and launches a naval assault on the Tower of the Gods, attempting to bypass the Northern Wall and gain direct access to the Knur River and Nirvaskoar. Though the Rozian troops actually manage to take the Tower for a few days, they are cut off and defeated by a combined host of Sheeshan and Ilkun soldiers in mid-July. In surprising act of mercy, the High Council pardons the vast majority of the soldiers of their crimes, though their leaders are still beheaded and their heads prominently displayed on the Northern Wall. As an early winter sets in over the river and Oscro's forces winter at Zhushanap, Syndryn's meager forces launch hit-and-run attacks all along the river, using the Rozians' own captured fleet. When the spring finally comes, Oscro moves from Zhushanap to capture Plokasurda once and for all. Unfortunately for the Rozians, he is being led directly into a trap by the young Zussite general. While his troops besiege the city, they are assaulted from the back by more than five thousand reindeer-riders who have slipped over the Wall during the winter. Oscro's army is routed and he himself is captured and executed by Syndryn, who earns the nickname 'the Fox' for his crafty victory. Marching on still-defiant Sperazanoivakoz with the full host of Zussa brought up from south of the Wall and under his command, he captures and razes the city to the ground within the month, and orders his men to salt the fields around the city and plow the ruins into the ground, ensuring that no one will ever settle there again.
296 BC--With the war over, but its cause still fresh in the mind of the Lroz, Syndryn marches on the Wall with his army and demands that Kraz Zaiqn be publicly stoned for his ungodly actions and his head mounted on the Wall as a warning to would-be murderers. However, this is merely a ploy to increase his own power. The Council unwittingly plays into his hands by refusing to do such, as Zaiqn remains a High Priest of Sheesha. Using this as a pretext for war, Syndryn bribes the Keepers of the Wall to open the gates for his forces, then marches on Nirvaskoar, with many of the southern generals laying down their arms and joining him. This is partly due to the widespread hatred for Zaiqn, but mostly due to the spreading rumors that Syndryn is an avatar of Zussa itself. With their forces defeated, turned traitor, or very much reduced, the High Priests take what small fleet they have left and flee to the city of Zidat on the site of old Uspo, in which they establish a small, remnant Lroz League (soon known as the Hyrcanian League in honor of their predecessor in the area). Entering into the Seat of the Council, he crowns himself God-Emperor Syndryn I of the Sea of Zhiztur (the Caspian Sea) and the Sea of Vicaz (the Black Sea), asserting that he is an avatar of Zussa, and renames the Seat of the Council to the Palace of Ten Thousand Swords as a reference to the way he seized the nation. Though the High Council is formed again, it now has little actual power and is filled with Syndryn's puppets. The official name of the nation becomes the Grand Empire of the Sea of Zhiztur and the Sea of Vicaz. Syndryn carefully lets it be known by surrounding kings, headmen, and other leaders that this pompous claim to unowned lands will become reality if they should choose to challenge him. Wisely, many of the surrounding nations recognize his claim to the throne and his empire, though the Uralskians remain defiant due to their horror at a powerful Lroz state.
That's all for now. I'll have more later today, probably.