[The Ministry of Culture] The Complete History of Valiant Isle, Chapter 3, Part 1

Chapter 3: The Regal Lathos Dynasty and the Age of Power

"…The Heir, though he has come, must be hidden within our ranks, for this is a time that will bring strife within the Mesaica due to the traitorous spies of wicked Galbrethi. It shall be divinely assured that the Begai will sink to shadow. But it is very much likely that they will take our hope and peace with them to their stony grave, for this is an age not bereft of great and terrible deeds, an Age of Power that will test the Sons of Kon. Though the water of the present is bitter, our final landfall will find us in the Land of Hope, the future…"

-Daev Mendis II, The Volumes of the Blue Order

General Mendis ruled over the land for nineteen years, as a steward in place of the Royal Line. During that time he oversaw several great projects of building and social reform in the demilitarized period. The foreign enemies of the Konai had been effectively defeated and the military was no longer so vital. Yet Mendis, being a general and understanding the need for a standing army and navy, kept the armed forces about 80% of their wartime strength, but cutting the treasury budget for military projects in half. He writes:

"It is not enough to expect our men to defeat any force in the world by just sitting and doing nothing. The very essence of military readiness and defense is the practice it takes to prepare for the unseen battle and the unknown hostility that lurks across the sea. Therefore, let it be decreed that the men of war apply themselves to great tasks of building and learning, searching for more ways to increase their renown in Deanda."

This policy of innovation became very popular in a short time, not only with the military, but also with the general population of about 615,000 citizens. In reflection of this, a flood of devices and contraptions were developed and invented during Mendis' reign that increased the efficiency of the Konai life. The population in turn continued to increase. It would reach a relative peak in around 870 B.C. of about 700,000 people.

Mendis' rule was cut short when the Mesaica decided that Mendis did not have the royal authority or permission of the people to rule. This move was most decidedly political, by a Royal Senate that coveted the power of the Daevini. Mendis agreed to abdicate the throne and subject the nation to the rule of the council, which promised to choose an able and willing monarch, a promise that took thirty-three years to fulfill. During this time Mendis was still a strong figure in the Konai political realm, accepted into the Mesaica for his outstanding work as a national leader. Secretly though, Mendis had also joined the Blue Order, a legendary group that had pledged itself to the preservation of the Royal Family and its line.

Mendis, along with the other Blue Order sages, believed that most of the work in the Mesaica was being directed by a secret conspiracy. It was in fact discovered to be true by Konai anthropologists in the 1800s. Viscount Begas III of Galbrethi in the Mesaica had bribed and bought nearly a third of the Royal Senate into his power as explained in the Black Manuscript of the Galbrethi Shadow Lords. This book, discovered in the late 1700s laid to rest many of the questions before anthropologists about Galbrethi, a land which many Konai histories sparingly mention, save in passing and with very much negative bias.

So Mendis and the Blue Order had realized that the House of Begas had gripped the assembly in a hostile hold. In light of this, the lost heir of the Yangi line was hidden from the Mesaica, doomed to only have his descendents come upon the throne. Upon one of the outgoing trade ships, the boy and his mother, Isana III, were sent to a haven made for them in the south of Gaul, later known as Spain. There, the line would survive until its return in nearly a thousand years.

Begas' plan was to end the kingdom by making the Mesaica in charge indefinitely, and then to disrupt and terrorize the members into his submission and eventually declare him the king of Deanda.

The Blue Order was able to foil the plan of Begas II by organizing votes against the Begas bloc. Wessex the Younger, Daevma of Memranda, who became the appointed regent, had no idea of all the intricate secrets behind the opposing secret societies, one of the reasons he had been unintentionally chosen as the Regent. The Blue Order had backed Mendis, while Begas II naturally pushed for himself. The two blocs were tied, and the tie vote fell to Daev Tagas of Jakanda, who voted for neither of the two major candidates but chose Wessex, who had shown a great capacity for fair and good judgment.

Both parties, the Blue Order, and the House of Begas, sent representatives to Wessex when he went to his bedchamber to rest. First to speak to him was Traga Madar, the Keeper of Xenoz-Ramba and member of the Blue Order. Madar only warned Wessex of a dangerous man that may visit him later in the night and that he would ask Wessex, or threaten him, to choose Begas II's grandson as the first king of the new line. Then Madar left out the palace window and joined the Blue Sages at the Cavern Cathedral. Then, Vidquathi, the Chief of Arms for the Galbrethi court came to Wessex with a wave edged dagger at his side and spoke harsh words of retribution and pain if Wessex did not choose the House of Begas as the new dynasty. Vidquathi then left the room out the door and stuck the dagger upon Wessex's door with a note in rude characters, saying:

"In six years the power of the hand of Begas will destroy you if you have not named the House of Begas the successor… Six years…"

These nightly visits happened annually for five years in a row as Wessex readied Deanda for transition back to royal rule. Of his highest candidates for the throne were Lathos, the grandson of Mendis, and Begas III, the grandson of Begas. Both displayed the strength and will to rule the land, but Lathos displayed the qualities of grace that Begas did not, the qualities that Wessex had searched for.

Thus on the last nightly visit, Traga Madar once more visited Wessex and asked him what his decision was, for it would be announced the following morning. Wessex, knowing from where Madar had come from, told him that Lathos would be king. But Vidquari, standing outside, broke down the door and charged Wessex to kill him.

Madar threw himself against the sword of Vidquari to save Wessex and caught jagged blade among his bones. With his main sword stuck, Vidquari charged Wessex with his naked hands and took hold of the Regent in a choke hold. The Regent was being suffocated but took hold of a nearby gemstone upon his desk and crushed Vidquari's hand with it. Vidquari took a wavy bladed dagger with his other hand and held it high over his head to make for a deathblow to Wessex, but the Regent took the Chief's other sword blade from his own sheath and ran his heart through with it.

Thus the plans of Begas II were foiled and this was the last he heard upon his deathbed in Galbrethi before dawn arrived. In darkness his plans died, and he died with them. A disgruntled House of Begas began to plot against the new Royal Line in Xenoz.

[The Ministry of Culture] The Complete History of Valiant Isle, Chapter 2, Part 2

When Yangi III died in 1397 B.C., there was a peculiar problem. He had left two daughters, and no sons. The Priesthood of the Spheres around the island consulted their divining methods and proclaimed after two days that a lady would take the throne, Yangi's eldest daughter Analia, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Hathsas and Analia the Angel. Two weeks after her father's death she took the crown and represented the first Brotherhood combined monarchy in Valiant history, with traces from all brothers save Begri in her blood. Unlike tradition of the past, she did not choose a spouse to accompany her to Xenoz. This led to a virtual pell-mell parade of suitors to the Royal Palace of Xenoz, not surprisingly known as the Endless Parade.

The story of Analia's life and love is contained in the Myth of Penda-Hanji, or the Myth of the Golden Heart. In it, Analia refuses all suitors, even those of the Darkling Princes who offered vast quantities of power and wealth. Every single man seemed unsuitable for her, and because of this she took a minor leave of absence and fled into the countryside, in the province of Jaksi, the farming land. One night upon a hill by the southern shore she sat alone watching the stars in silence.

A young man in a boat landed upon the shore in a short time. Analia hid in fear that some new suitor had come to assail her with gold or pearls, but in reality, it was a young Hathsan adolescent who recently left his small island home off of the western coast in search of adventure. He had never even heard of Analia and, in his uninformed youth, did not know of the growing power of the Konai monarchy and civilization. He was tired and decided to bed upon the beach sand that night, so he bundled himself in the fur clothing he had brought along. During the night, Analia snuck into the boat to find out who this mysterious (and apparently uninterested) boy was. But upon waking only minutes later, the boy, whose name was Hanji, or "heart" in Konai, readied his boat for sailing, with the Queen inside.

Hours after he began sailing, Analia came to the top deck. The story is a familiar one after that, a version of a love story that many cultures have. Without knowing who she was, Hanji fell in love with her and Analia with him. When they arrived a week later through storm and danger by the corsairs of Galbrethi to Royal Harbor, Analia stepped into Xenoz with her chosen king. They married that day, Analia and Hanji being re-coroneted together, and they lived happily for many years with a small family of two sons and one daughter.

When Analia I died in 1340 B.C., the rule of Valiant would have fallen to Hanji the Great-Hearted, but he relinquished the scepter to his eldest son Thorasso II and built a ship bound for Atlantis and the home of his mysterious Varadonai ancestry along with his youngest son who wished to accompany him.

Thorasso II reigned from 1340 B.C. to 1282 B.C. beginning when he was 12 years old. Through his youth, some of the nobility was chosen to guide and direct his actions upon the throne. The Regency had thus been unofficially established. When he was 23, Thorasso II in the prudence of his mind and appreciation for the guidance afforded to him, created the Mesaica, or the Royal Senate, or Assembly of Nobles. This body represented a very small step into the democratic process of the Konai, and consequently the National Republic of Columbia. Thorasso II left the throne at age 60 to his eldest child, Isana, out of two girls and two boys.

Queen Isana I reigned from 1282 to 1236. While military prowess in the show-off sea parades against the Darklings still claimed a generous amount of the treasury, Isana I poured enormous effort into promoting the arts and the culture of the Konai Civilization. Konai language was minutely refined, new forms of artwork began, and the queen herself expertly developed Konai Calligraphy, a form of characterization that is all but forgotten today: few people exist that can still perform the art satisfactorily. This is what earned Isana I the epithet "Daughter of Joy." She died in 1237 B.C. but had passed the kingdom to her youngest son, Teytin III.

Above tradition, Isana I had made Teytin III the next monarch of Valiant. By now, the monarch could choose their successor regardless of whether they were the eldest, what gender they were, and very soon, whether they were their children or not. Teytin III was a mystery to the monarchy puzzle.

Anthropologists had to ask themselves, what made this young man so special that he was chosen over his older siblings, in opposition to tradition? The answer: he apparently had prophetic powers that set him apart from the other royal children.

In several of his literary works, known as the Books of the Prophet King, Teytin III explores the situation of the Ro-Wain and the future of the Konai civilization. Here is an excerpt from the Fifth Book, one of the most important in Konai culture:

"It is difficult for those upon this earth to understand the ways of De. No one has seen the great drawing board of Him who gives motion to all things, and yea, had one the bravery to witness such present glory, he would still die. The minds of the Naiya (humankind) have not the strength to contemplate infinite light and splendor.

"Thus, De will send his sign, the sign of Hathalin (water and speech). This mysterious world shall be thrust into the knowledge of the Living Tree, though that which moves and works within the will of De shall be marshaled in esoteric existence, hidden across the world.

"In a time when the Naiya cry out from oppression by the Cruel Ones, those in shackles will rise up and claim the scepter from those who so greedily held it against them. Peace and mercy in the land shall be theirs to dispense. Prosperity will smile upon the Konai and their friends.

"In time of contention, one will come with the blood of fantastic warriors and kings and angels in his blood. His reign shall be blissful, but cut short by the anger and rage of one great villain who had desired the throne from the beginning. He shall die, saving his line that he will never see. But that line itself will see no ending while this Deanda endures, even to the final ends of creation.

"Eight hundreds of anniversaries of death and deceit and gloom shall pass over this land as the wicked family shall seize themselves in treachery, but in the end of that time, the son of the endless line shall emerge to reclaim the rightful throne of his fathers. In time, this line shall be shrouded from the sight of the world, but will re-emerge ever stronger in times of need. The line of kings, from the very beginning, shall not be broken, only hidden, until dire need draws the Golden Crowned from their repose to action and salvation. Such is the way of the unknown road before our people, but the sails shall light our way…"

This entire passage prophetically encapsulates a majority of Columbian history in quite a specific way. Teytin III's most major accomplishment was the discovery of the Cathedral Caverns near the edge of the central mountain range. Underneath the largest plain just east of the central mountains is one of the largest caverns in the world.

The entire volume of this cave is still unknown due to the fact that all the passageways have not yet been explored. It appears that the spider-web-like tunnel system radiating from the central Cathedral touches nearly every edge of the island.

It was kept a royal secret until 1657 AD during the Second War of Vengeance. Many royal orders, such as the Esoteric Marshals and the Knights Valiant used the caverns as their main area of transportation and a base of operations.

In 1197 B.C., Queen Natalia I, Teytin's only daughter among three other boys, succeeded Teytin III. While only ruling for eight years, Natalia I was able to make the Konai a virtual south Atlantic superpower. No attacks by the increasingly hostile Darklings made it within 100 miles of Valiant, and the trade power of the Konai increased five-fold. She died from a medical condition in 1189 B.C. and her younger brother, Yangi IV, took the throne at Xenoz.

For seventy years, Yangi IV ruled Valiant with a strong administration. Trade became the lifeblood of the Konai, mining and logging increased, and the island became a virtual fortress against foreign attack. But even with all this advancement, the cultural aspect of the Konai began to fade. From Galbrethi and the Kingdom of the Gara-Zami, several envoys were finally allowed to participate in the Mesaica. This move was partly political, to assure that Galbrethi would not add more stress to the defense of Valiant Isle, but also reconciliatory: it had been 450 years since the death of Begri and the visible end of treachery in the brotherhood, and the Konai began to allow the Begai back into the fold. This would later prove to be a dangerous and unhappy decision.

By the end of Yangi IV's reign, about half a million people bowed their heads to the Scepter in Xenoz, and under no great constraint. The government had begun to establish social programs to support the vast population that it ruled. One of the most notable events of this period was the short time of the Galbrethi Witches, a horde of wicked magical women who terrorized the southern part of the island. According to mythical tradition, these were the descendents of Begri's mistresses and were back to complete his unjust revenge upon the rest of the Konai race. In a myth known as the Ulgar-Jarday, "A History of Magic", the epic battles between Solu, a Xenozian High Priest, and the Witches of Galbrethi are recorded. During Yangi IV's reign, references to magic and miraculous events became common, but whether they are true or embellished is unknown and much criticized by skeptics. Eventually, the Galbrethi Witches were either defeated by Solu's Blue Order of wizard-priests or chased into hiding. Several times later the witches appear in the mythology, but only in intervals of hundreds of years.

In 1119 B.C. after the death of Yangi IV, Queen Analia II took up the crown and began to mobilize military forces against the increasingly strong attacks by the Darkling fleets. It was rumored that information from the Mesaica proceedings had been leaked to the enemy, and it was no secret that the only thing that had changed was the introduction of the Begai representatives.

Therefore, the Mesaica began to destabilize as factions began to coalesce and suspicion grew. Analia II was in no position to exercise tight control on the nobles after being bedridden because of the birth of her single child, Yangi V. After 48 years of rule, Analia II died due to medical complications, leaving her only child of eight years to rule the island.

In light of his age, Yangi V was given a regent to look after the kingdom until he could rule with knowledge and power. The foremost noble in the Mesaica, Wessex the Elder of the line of Memraar, was given the task of raising little Yangi for twelve years until his coming of age. Darkling attacks continued to intensify, and the kingdom began to slightly deteriorate under corruption in the Mesaica during the regency, but in 1059 B.C. after his coronation, Yangi V took a vital hold of the Mesaica and reformed several portions of the government, jump starting the Konai Kingdom into effective action. After taking his queen, Isana III, and taking a brief honeymoon, Yangi V became the first monarch to leave the island since the creation of the realm upon a mission of war against the Darkling nation. The year was 1022 B.C.

With a fleet rumored to rival the Greeks' at Troy, Yangi V took to the ocean to end the attacks once and for all and prove Konai supremacy over the South Atlantic. At the Battle of the Equinox (it was fought on the equator on the equinox), the Darkling forces were routed and the majority of their war fleet was sunk. But in the battle, Yangi was struck down and killed by an arrow that was not from the other fleet. Common tradition holds that a Begai archer had finally fulfilled the vengeful wrath of Begri against the brotherhood.

Thus the fleet arrived home victorious but in great mourning, for their victory had been turned to great defeat and the king had been struck down. There was no current heir to the throne, and Queen Isana III refused to take the throne. Yangi V was aware of Isana's unwillingness to take up the administration of the kingdom, and before he breathed his last, in the presence of the witnesses around him, passed the temporary rule onto a young General Mendis who had served as a counselor to the king. Thus the line of kings had finally come to the end of its first ruling dynasty and the end of the Age of Peace.