The Tale of the Classical Hattians
by James MishlerTo find out more about the Hattian peoples, we must search back through the mists of time to the year 1000 BC. At this point in time the Nithian Empire had reached its maximum extent; it had explored most of the Known World and conquered or settled any parts the Pharaoh deemed worthy; it had explored the ancient ruins of Blackmoor half a world away, bringing back many unusual artifacts, mystic and arcane; and it had traversed the universe and multiverse, and found an allied people, the Alphatians, and assisted them in their migration to the sparsely populated sub-continent now known as Alphatia. At this time the Pharaoh determined that the southern continent, Davania, was a worthy place for a Nithian Colonial Kingdom. Thus, thousands of Nithians and tens of thousands of Antalian, Dunael and Traldar slaves were transported to the southern continent where they built a kingdom from the jungle and plain, to the north and east of the newly-formed Traldar City States founded by the peoples of King Milen.
For generations the slave tribes laboured under the lash of the Nithian overlords, ever tempted by the freedom offered by the Milenian City States to the south and west. By 900 BC, rot had begun to settle in to the Nithian society, and the Milenians were beginning a golden age in their own lands. With Milenian assistance, the Antalians, Dunael and Traldar slaves were able to overthrow their oppressors (it had also helped that the Southern Kingdoms of the Nithian Empire were not in the good graces of the current Pharaoh; a dissident dynasty had formed and began to make overtures to the Nithian Nobility; this was foreshadowing for the Nithian Civil War, and the first fruits of the efforts of Thanatos in his plan to bring the Nithian Empire low). The slave tribes formed their own nations as the much-truncated Southern Kingdoms brooded in their loss.
Three Great Tribes were formed from the slave peoples. The greatest tribe was the Thyatians, formed of Antalian and Traldar groups; they lived on the north-eastern coast, to the north and east of the Milenians (from an in what is now the modern Manacapuru Tribal Lands and along the coast to modern Raven Scarp); inland to the west dwelt the Kerendans, a tribe formed mostly of Antalian and Dunael peoples; and to the south and west, between the Thyatians, Kerendans and the Milenians (centred on the now-broken lands south of the Hills of Desolation), lay the lands of the Hattians, a near "pure" tribe of Antalians. Many other Lesser Tribes were also created, living amongst the Great Tribes; they were mostly individual clans of Dunael peoples, as they were of a very independent mind set. The four Nithian Colonial Kingdoms still existed, but they were small and no longer powerful enough to control the Great Tribes.
The next hundred years saw the growth of the Milenian City States and the consolidation of the three Great Tribes socially, politically and culturally. In 800 BC the upstart Nithian Colonial Kingdoms of Davania were utterly destroyed in the first battles of the Nithian Civil War (the local Nithian populace, which had taken to worshipping Set by 850 BC, would eventually evolve into the modern Manacapuru Tribe). The Milenians moved into the power vacuum; their influence was felt among the Great Tribes, as they became more urban, though only the Hattians would found their own city state.
Built upon the site of the largest village in Hattian territory, the City State of Hattios quickly came to dominate the Hattian clans. Founded by the Brother-Kings Hattias and Hattar, the City State of Hattios was in actuality one large military camp, physically based on the Milenian Citadel, socially based on the Milenian military structure (ie, the Classical Hattians were the "Spartans" of the Milenian City State Era). For nearly the entire period of its history, the City State and Kingdom of Hattios would be ruled by Two Kings, who would also be the head of the Hattian faith, which venerated the Patron of War and Destruction, Ares, the Son of Death (AKA Orcus, at this time still only a Temporal level Immortal, and still beholden to Thanatos; the corruption of the Hattians is a long-term plot of Thanatos).
The Thyatians, meanwhile, had become expert sea-rovers and reavers (which was the real reason why the Milenian City States and the subsequent Milenian Empire of the surface never had a naval presence; though the enmity of Protius, earned by King Milen and his people during their migration, was also a factor). Thyatian mercenary reavers often fought on all sides of the Nithian Civil War; one large group of such was granted lands on Brun by the Pharaoh in 753 BC. The land granted to the reavers was equivalent to the modern duchies of Thyatis and Lucinius. The City of Thyatis was founded on the ruins of the Traldar city of Mesonias (which had been founded on the ancient Nithian city of Ptahrnak, which in turn had been founded on the ruins of the ancient Taymor city of Shadar-Ghan). The Thyatians of the northern continent were effectively a client-state of the Nithian Empire, much in the same manner as were several Traldar cities and states further to the west and on the Isle of Dawn (the city of Trikelios on the Isle of Dawn still maintains many Traldar traditions, as do many peoples of the Alatian Isles).
Meanwhile, on Davania, the Milenian City States had begun a series of three great wars, called the Metropolitan Wars; the city states fought over trade routes, religion, wealth and pure power. Warfare continued intermittently from 760 BC through 460 BC, though there are three points that are identified as "Wars"; the first was centred on the year 730 BC, and is known as the First Metropolitan War. The major aggressor of this war, as in the other wars, was the City State of Hattios, which firmly consolidated its grip on the Hattian clans and intruded into Milenian territories, setting off a chain reaction of battles and raids.
The forces of Hattios again played a pivotal role in the Second Metropolitan war, which began in 680 BC. The Hattians crushed several smaller north-eastern Milenian city states and encroached into Thyatian territories (which heralded the beginning of the Thyatian migration en masse), a policy they would continue for the next 40 years. Also during this phase of the wars, the City State of Milenos, to the south and west, consolidated its grip on its neighbouring city states and barbarian tribes. The years 662 through 637 BC saw the greatest migration to Brun on the part of the Thyatians; by 637 BC, the power of the Thyatians on Davania had been shattered, with the Hattians and the local tribes filling the vacuum.
Also during this era, the Milenian City States saw a weakening of the old Dynastic Monarchies and the emergence of the power of the Oligarchic Families. The continual wars, battles and raids weakened the power of the monarch at home, as he became more concerned with raiding his neighbours than with keeping his city working. Beginning in 600 BC, many of the city states overthrew their regents in favour of a citizens council, or Senate, made up of the most powerful families and their representatives. The Hattians thoroughly opposed the new Oligarchic City States, and allied themselves with the reaver bands which formed around the more active deposed monarchs (many of the modern Free Companies of mercenaries now active on Davania trace their beginnings to this "Royal Heritage").
The Third Metropolitan War of 560 through 545 BC was the major thrust of the Hattians against the Oligarchic City States; during this time they also encroached into Kerendan territory (the Kerendans had taken up much of the Thyatians coastal territory; though they were excellent seafarers, they never attained the reputation that the Thyatians had; Vanya, now Patron Immortal of the Thyatian Empire, was born in a small Kerendan village in 560 BC). Though the Hattians had some early successes against the Oligarchic City States, they were soon brought to a stalemate, then later to a holding action against the other cities; to compensate for the loss of revenues from raids on the other city states, the Hattians stepped up their raids on the Kerendans.
From 554 through 530 BC, the Kerendans migrated en masse to the northern continent, to the forested plains found west of their cousins, the Thyatians. The Kerendans of Brun absorbed the native Traldar population (from the decimated Traldar Kingdom of Karameisios, which had declared it's independence from the Nithian Empire only to be utterly destroyed, though the latter- day Dukes of Karameikos claimed descent from the royal line).
On Davania, the Hattians had moved in on the abandoned Kerendan territories and now dominated the north-eastern section of the continent (from the hills bordering the Meghala Kimata Plains in the south to the Sea of Dread in the north; and from the mysterious Kingdom of Emerond in the west to the river bordering the Manacapuru and Bogdashkan tribes in the east). The Hattians dominated the remaining tribes (ancestors of the modern Hinterlanders and the Manacapuru) as well as several Milenian city states. Their concept of "racial purity", however, had kept their forces overextended, as they would only hire Free Companies descended from Royal Lines; this meant that their forces were drawn thin over their territories, and their purse was always lean, as the Free Companies did not come cheap.
By 510 BC, Hattios was the only remaining Dynastic City State; almost all the other Oligarchic City States formed an alliance lead by the City State of Milenos, with the express purpose of destruction of the Hattian Threat. The Final War of the Nithian Civil War intervened, however, and the Immortals spent many long weeks during 500 BC eliminating the very memory of Nithia from the face of Mystara as well as from peoples minds.
Also in the year 500 BC, the Cult of the Grey Lady first made an appearance in the City State of Hattios, and her worship quickly spread among the disaffected in Hattios (which included many junior members of the military and lower classes; even the young King Hattias himself became a member after an extremely strong vision of the destruction of Hattios). On the sly, King Hattias began to prepare for the worst, and inspired by his vision, he had a secret fleet built on the shores of the Sea of Dread.
The power vacuum left by the Nithians was a boon not only to the Alphatians, but also to the Adakkians, a martial people to the south and west of the Milenians. With the threat of Nithian intervention no longer hanging over their heads (let alone even the memory of such), the Adakkians threw a huge army in the direction of the Milenian City States in order to extend their sphere of influence. Unfortunately for the Adakkians, the allied Milenian City States were far more united than Adakkian intelligence had been lead to believe.
In 490 BC the forces of the City State of Milenos and her allies destroyed the Adakkian army at the Battle of Meghalia Flats; the Tyrant of Milenos ("Tyrant" being the title of the elected leader of a city state), Androsar, lead the Milenian City States in their victory, and he was the force behind the formal creation of the Milenian League. The League then turned its forces toward the destruction of the City State of Hattios, and in 480 BC, the City State of Hattios was razed after 10 years of vicious war; Androsar himself (then 40 years old) slew King Hattar on the steps of the Hattian Royal Palace. The power of the Hattians destroyed, and the city itself razed, King Hattias lead his remaining peoples (mostly followers of the Grey Lady) to the shore of the Sea of Dread, where they took ship to the north, to settle on the continent of Brun...
Thus ends the tale of the Classical
Hattians in their ancient Kingdom of Old Hattias...