Minotaurs of Minaea
by Giulio CarolettiHistory 1/Rise and Fall
1'699 BC: Minotaurs led by Minoides, fleeing the enduk kingdom in the Arm of the Immortals, finally reach the Teslan Coast. They build a city, Erech, in one of the areas abandoned by the Teslans after a raid. Ruins of several villages warn them of the presence of other intelligent beings, but they are too tired after the long time spent travelling, and they settle down. They build the city of Erech.
1'697 BC: After two years, minotaurs of Erech get in touch with the Teslan city of Ekimmu. Trade begins between the two populations.
1'649 BC: A league formed by Minotaurs (from Erech) and Teslans (from Ekimmu) defeat the greatest Jennite attack of the last century. Three thousand allied troops repel nearly five thousand Jennites. The attack was caused mainly by a long period of drought in the Jennite plains; nevertheless, the attack was repulsed.
1'623 BC: Minoides leaves Erech, appointing his son Atreides as the new King of Minotaurs. Minoides tells the minotaurs that he has been called by Poseidon, their Patron Immortal, to perform some quests for him as part of the expiation for his past crimes. In fact he has begun the Path to Immortality.
1'589 BC: Atreides dies. His daughter Pallas becomes Queen.
1'577 BC: Town of Sinbay founded by minotaurs, following the orders of Queen Pallas. Erech reaches 5'000 inhabitants. Sinbay hosts about 500 other minotaurs. Minotaurs extend their control over this part of Minaea. They are cow-farmers, and several farms and villages dot the area between the two cities. Their total population is about 8'000 units.
1'555 BC: Queen Pallas dies. Her son Agesilaon becomes King.
1'511 BC: Agesilaon dies of old age. Rumours that he was poisoned by his son Minoides spread unrest among the population. Minoides seizes the throne as Minoides II, but is forced to write the kingdom's laws. The laws are written down and ratified by a group of minotaurs from the most important families.
1'509 BC: Town of Qyrta founded by Sinbayan minotaurs.
They are led by a dissident minotaur named Achlon, that fiercely opposes the Minoides dynasty that rules all over the minotaurs. They are considered outcasts of the minotaur society. Kingdom of Minotaurs renamed Minoidean Kingdom.
1'488 - 1'483 BC: First War of Tears. Minoideans minotaurs, loyal to faction fight against the Achlonites, claiming that they have settled on Minoidean lands. Half the minotaur population dies in these battles. Mercenaries from Ekimmu are employed by both factions, while the government of Ekimmu doesn't involve itself in the war.
1'477 BC: Minoides II dies mysteriously in his sleep.
His eldest daughter Iphygenia becomes Queen.
1'469 BC: Queen Iphygenia sends messengers to the Qyrtans, asking them to open diplomatic ties, offering to recognise their State in hope to work for the benefit of the minotaur race. A group of aggressive minotaurs that oppose these ideas are exiled by the Queen. About eight hundred minotaurs leave westwards.
1'468 BC: Diplomatic ties opened between the City State of Qyrta and the Minoidean Kingdom.
Minoidean population about 8'000 units (5'800 living in Erech, 1'800 in Sinbay), Qyrta about 2'500.
1'462 BC: Queen Iphygenia is killed by her husband Archon, that is sentenced to death and executed. In fact, Archon was innocent, because the responsible of the death was her son Minoides III, new Minoidean King. Town of Deianira founded.
1'460 BC: The sphinx prophetess Amatricia reaches the city of Erech. She settles down with the approval of the King, that soon makes her his favourite counsellor.
1'459 BC: A plague hits the minotaurs all over Erech.
Minotaurs of other cities are not hit. The prophetess Amatricia reveals that it is a punishment sent by Poseidon and Minoides, that has become an Immortal, to punish his descendants. Minoides III is enraged and have Amatricia executed.
Minoides III is killed by a four meters tall flaming minotaur that has appeared out of the air immediately after her death. The minotaur then disappears. A group of thirty sphinxes enter the city on the following night, killing randomly and destroying buildings with magic. They return the day after, telling the minotaurs that they must exile all living members of the Minoidean family in order to end the Plague. The minotaurs, frightened, begin to worship Minoides as an Immortal and refuse to choose a new king, turning the government type into a Republic (in fact, an oligarchy).
1'450 BC: Gold and iron mines found in the territories north of Qyrta. Qyrta start heavy commerce with Teslans of surrounding cities, especially Erech.
1'446 BC: The aristocratic rulers of the Republic of Erech declare war to Qyrta, claiming that the past agreements signed by Queen Iphygenia with the town rulers were to be considered not valid. In fact, economic motives are behind this decision.
1'446 - 1'441 BC: Second War of Tears. Republic of Erech (formerly Minoidean Kingdom) against City State of Qyrta. The Qyrtans win thanks to the help of the Company of the Falanx (mercenaries from Erech) and their sphinx allies, opposed to the Erechians since Amatricia's death.
1'428 - 1'399 BC: Astartius, High Priest of Minoides, is chosen as King. Republic of Erech turns into Kingdom of Erech. While the priests hope to give a theocratic direction to the government, Astartius surprisingly founds a dynasty and firmly divide his duties as High Priest from those of King. He abdicates in favour of his son Iacynthon in 1'399 BC, but retains his High Priest title until 1'394, when he dies.
1'391 BC: Priests of Minoides accuse King Iacynthon of being a tyrant and depose him. Kingdom of Erech becomes a Theocracy, ruled by the High Priest of Minoides.
1'367 BC: Theocracy of Erech turns its name into Minoidean Theocracy. Government changes: there will be four High Theocrats, all equal in rank, and no more a single High Priests.
1'364 - 1'361 BC: The High Theocrats declare war to the City State of Qyrta.
Third War of Tears. The Minoideans win with the help of the city state of Erech, frightened by the Qyrtan rise in power in the region. Most of the Qyrtan riches and lands are assigned to the Theocracy and to Erech.
1'359 - 1'357 BC: Disappointed with his High Theocrats, Minoides stops to give them spells, although this will be kept secret for two years to the common population. Without spells, the mortality among minotaurs increases.
1'356 BC: Minoides sends a new plague, that spreads among the population, to uncover the Theocrats' gamble. Theocrats are deposed by a new leader, a faithful cleric of Minoides named Albaran. He becomes the new King of the Minoideans.
The Kingdom has a population of 12'000, 7'000 living in Erech and 2'000 in Sinbay.
1'354 BC: Albaran offers a new peace treaty to the Qyrtans: the Minoideans will return them the land they took from them in 1'361 BC. The Qyrtans accept.
1'349 BC: A group of military officers depose Albaran.
Albaran and nearly two thousand minotaurs flee Erech and the Kingdom and settle down in Sinbay, where they declare independence.
1'349 - 1'340 BC: Fourth War of Tears: Erech vs Sinbay & Qyrta. At the end of the war, nearly 40% of the population has died. Erech's population is reduced to 4'000, Sinbay is a mass of burning ashes. Sinbay is rebuilt by the Erechians. Qyrta is again dispossessed of its land, although it retains its independence.
Albaran new King of Qyrta. Cults of Minoides and Poseidon officially cancelled from Erech, the minotaur leaders turn to the worship of a barbaric divinity named Gylgarid, imported from mercenaries of the East that were employed for the war. Although most of the population secretly worships Minoides, the official religion in Erech is that of Gylgarid.
1'338 BC: Albaran allies himself again with the northern sphinxes.
1'331 BC: A mercenary company from the Jennite Lands in the north reaches Qyrta. They offer their help to the population against the hated Minoideans, in change of the right to settle down in Qyrta. Albaran promptly agrees, and fails to understand that the company, named the Green Spear, is in fact a company of mercenary human fighters and avengers devoted to Jammudaru.
1'330 BC: Albaran dies, poisoned by members of the Green Spear. Being of old age, nobody suspects anything. The Green Spear begins to corrupt members of the Qyrtan government.
1'327 BC: The Green Spear is in control of Qyrta.
1'330 - 1'220 BC: During these years, Qyrta changes for the worse. Many minotaurs leave the city, but, faced by hostile minotaurs in the south, they are forced to move westwards until they reach the sea, and thence they move on towards Brun. Those who remain are turned to the worship of Jammudaru. Meanwhile, the military hierarchy of Erech continues to rule the Minoidean Kingdom. A century of oppression and dictators lower the minotaur culture, and most knowledge of their past is lost. Minoides doesn't intervene to halt this, because he feels that it is exactly what the minotaurs asked for with their impious way of living. He renounces to the Quest for Immortality, telling Protius that he has been unable to forge a nation in the way he wanted to. Protius appreciates his honesty and turns him into an Exalted being, Minoides, also known by sages as the Beast King of Minotaurs. Protius tells Minoides that, if the minotaurs will return to his worship, he will provide his priests with spells. Minoides, in turn, swears never to intervene directly again in his race's affairs.
1'218 BC: A group of minotaur dissidents from Qyrta and Sinbay manage to throw down the Erechian corrupted government. They create a Republic and give religious freedom to the population. Minoides is again revered openly, although adventurers and military officers remain mostly worshippers of Gylgarid.
1'215 BC: Republic of Erech tries to open diplomatic ties with the Qyrtans. It turns out to be almost impossible.
1'214 BC: Qyrtans raid and destroy an Erechian city.
The government of Qyrta refuses to acknowledge any involvement in the matter.
1'213-1'204 BC: Fifth War of Tears.
A great war erupts between the minotaurs of Erech and Sinbay on one side, and of Qyrta on the other. At the end of the war, the victorious Erechian troops destroy the enemy cities and villages, and follows the fleeing minotaurs upwards to the mountains, where they crush nearly all of them, even the civilians. The few remaining minotaurs hide in the mountains, continuing to worship Jammudaru.
A northern stronghold is built to watch out for possible attacks from the northern minotaurs. It is called Thakruon ("Tear").
1'204-1'100 BC: The minotaurs that are sheltering in the northern mountain suffers hardship and goblinoid attacks. Unable to deal with the situation, the minotaurs hastily revert to a brutish state, becoming increasingly violent under the leadership of the brutal clergy of Jammudaru. In the following centuries they will become dull savages far different from their southern cousins, for whom they will still conceive an enormous hatred. These minotaur raiding bands become another of the humanoid threats that periodically harass the Tarystian coast, and then Minaea even to our days.