Atsiq

Atsiq

Demonym	Atsiq
Countries	9 (list of countries)
Languages	Osveraali languages Jáhkarrá Amakane
Internet TLD	.ats
Largest cities	Usuva Ngaaf Uso Nga Kxe Qaelarne Aratiin Thaneqh Balaxajej Öxeșlezü Jaege

Atsiq (from Imperial Osveraali Aṭiq /ɐt͡sɪq/) is the smallest continent of Sahar, located in the northern Asura Ocean halfway between Alpa and Miraria. It is the only continent inhabited predominantly by nonhumans; more than ninety percent of the natives are dalar.

History

The first dalar arrived on Atsiq about 12,000 years ago from Alpa and made their way towards the south coast over the next millennia, establishing the first permanent settlements only during the last few centuries BC. They developed an economy based on rice farming, with few domesticated animals and little seaworthy watercraft, and fragmented into innumerable petty chiefdoms ruled by matriarchs that engaged in almost continuous warfare. Migrations along the main rivers established several population centres in South and West Atsiq, the largest and most powerful of which were Usuva, Thaneqh, Qaelarne, Nga Kxe (Shyoria), Aragre and Leopaurkar. The Lyladnese Islands were settled around 400 AD and soon became largely disconnected from mainland affairs.

Improvements in food production led to a steady population rise followed by the pursuit of increasingly expansionist policies by the local rulers, and by 800 a complex web of alliances had sprung up among the city-states, often cemented through marriages. In 803, a Cananganamese expedition under ??? landed near Nga Kxe, marking the first contact with the outside world and initiating an era of foreign influence that would last for centuries. Cananganamese trading posts brought many hitherto unknown technologies to Atsiq, most importantly the knowledge of building oceangoing vessels and writing. The Cananganamese pursued their own agendas in the power struggles between the largest city states, and by 1000 they had come to be a permanent factor in Atsiq politics.

In 1101, tensions between Nga Kxe and Usuva, the two largest political entities, escalated to what would later be termed the War for Thaneqh, the most destructive conflict on Atsiq to date. An alliance of Usuva and Qaelarne, determined to expand its influence into the southeast, attacked and seized the wealthy city of Thaneqh in the influence sphere of the court of Nga Kxe. Supported by Cananganamese troops, the Shyorians managed to recapture Thaneqh, only to lose it again when the Western Alliance was reinforced by the Lyladnese navy. Over the next year, Thaneqh changed hands several times more until both parties agreed to sign a peace deal in the Treaty of Cepaisa. Sealed with a political marriage of the Usuvan princess Spardalon of house Osvera with the eldest son of the Shyorian queen, it would usher in almost a century of peace for most of South Atsiq, as well as bind the royal houses of Usuva and Shyoria together.

Shyorian nobles, dissatisfied with the growing influence of Usuva, rebelled against the union in 1190 under the Duke of Dlaxa. This uprising had the support of Cananganam, which had seen its influence wane with the rise of a strong power set to unify most of civilised Atsiq. The rebellion quickly engulfed all of Shyoria, with most of the nobility including the Shyorian side of the royal family backing it. Despite this, Usuvan troops decisively defeated the insurgents in the Battle of Urdae in 1191. The Usuvan queen, Avarin I, seized this opportunity to transform the Usuvan-Shyorian personal union into a unified state, moving the capital to Usuva permanently and styling herself Empress of both courts. This marked the birth of the Osveraali Empire, which would dominate Atsiq politics until the late nineteenth century.

See also: List of rulers of the Osveraali Empire

List of states

See: List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Atsiq