AGE OF TRIBULATION:

THE GREAT MIGRATION PERIOD

Pt.1

Dear Brother Manaxis,

since our last correspondence, I've went on a journey to gather as much information about the period during the reign of Recas and his right hand, St. Sabileus. Since there is a lot to cover, I will first introduce you to the basic geopolitical context of the time. For our reference point, we shall use the empire at the time, since it's more familiar to us.

THE MIRAN EMPIRE

A Sabilean Infantry of the time of Recas

The Mirian empire was de jure unified under Recas and the senate, who ruled from Mir, a city located at the middle of the Ixilo peninsula. However, de facto the empire was already fractured between the northern and southern themes. This was due to the fact that Thrixianity had already grown exponentially among the populous since the olostolic era, especially in the south. In the north, the ekiznikian religions still had influence over parts of society, including the emperor and the other ruling classes.
St. Sabileus was a young and loyal general from an aristocratic origin, who was tasked with defending the southern borders beyond the Hollon strait, near the Efere dessert. Although a mighty warrior, he was more known for his deception tactics and preference to psychological warfare. Probably because of this, he was exalted by Recas to the rank of governor and was given control over the southern themes unofficially to deal with the growing influence of the Faith. As a newly appointed governor, his first job was to learn in great detail about his enemy and if he has any weaknesses that he could exploit. His eventual secret conversion was influenced by many encounters he had with laymen and clergy, but, in short, Sabileus was ultimately convinced by the monk St. Morcos to abandon his ekiznikian belief and to embrace Thrixos. After that, he indirectly supported the Church using third parties and he managed to establish a secret network of merchants, politicians and generals loyal to him.
There are evidence, in the form of unsigned letters, that Recas and the senate did know of a potential betrayal, but, due to a fear of causing a civil war, could do little about it. Conveniently for them, perhaps too conveniently, chaos was coming from the far southeastern planes...

THE MORG'AR KHAGANATE

A Raider from the Uvur tribe

The Morg'Ar khaganate was ruled by the great khagan Shor, who was responsible for unifying all morg tribes and defeating another great empire, the Tai'gan. What motivated Shor to expand north is a vision from the great shaman, who saw a threat greater than the Tai'gan, who was located "up in the skies".
The morgs had a very animistic world view. Their spiritual order of shamans believed that their magical powers derive from the spirits around the natural world. Thus, they had arranged a system of ritualistic sacrifices to please different spirits in different situations. They also believed that totems, if done "properly", could hold a part of the essences of a spirit. The craftsmanship surrounding totems unintentionally made the morgs into excellent wood workers, a skill which was inherited by their descendants, who build beautiful churches these days.
The expansion resulted into the displacement of many nomadic tribes, causing them to gradually move north and to eventually cause trouble to the empire. Not all tribes were forcefully displaced. Some, like the ones from the mighty Ovchor people and the cunning Finka people, joined the khaganate voluntarily in exchange for territory and resources.
There was one collection of tribes that gave the most resistance, known as the Kurdur confederacy, which was located near the southeastern borders of the empire....

#AGE OF TRIBULATION:
##THE GREAT MIGRATION PERIOD

Pt.1

Dear Brother Manaxis,

since our last correspondence, I've went on a journey to gather as much information about the period during the reign of Recas and his right hand, St. Sabileus. Since there is a lot to cover, I will first introduce you to the basic geopolitical context of the time. For our reference point, we shall use the empire at the time, since it's more familiar to us.

###THE MIRAN EMPIRE

A Sabilean Infantry of the time of Recas

The Mirian empire was de jure unified under Recas and the senate, who ruled from Mir, a city located at the middle of the Ixilo peninsula. However, de facto the empire was already fractured between the northern and southern themes. This was due to the fact that Thrixianity had already grown exponentially among the populous since the olostolic era, especially in the south. In the north, the ekiznikian religions still had influence over parts of society, including the emperor and the other ruling classes.
St. Sabileus was a young and loyal general from an aristocratic origin, who was tasked with defending the southern borders beyond the Hollon strait, near the Efere dessert. Although a mighty warrior, he was more known for his deception tactics and preference to psychological warfare. Probably because of this, he was exalted by Recas to the rank of governor and was given control over the southern themes unofficially to deal with the growing influence of the Faith. As a newly appointed governor, his first job was to learn in great detail about his enemy and if he has any weaknesses that he could exploit. His eventual secret conversion was influenced by many encounters he had with laymen and clergy, but, in short, Sabileus was ultimately convinced by the monk St. Morcos to abandon his ekiznikian belief and to embrace Thrixos. After that, he indirectly supported the Church using third parties and he managed to establish a secret network of merchants, politicians and generals loyal to him.
There are evidence, in the form of unsigned letters, that Recas and the senate did know of a potential betrayal, but, due to a fear of causing a civil war, could do little about it. Conveniently for them, perhaps too conveniently, chaos was coming from the far southeastern planes...

###THE MORG'AR KHAGANATE

A Raider from the Uvur tribe

The Morg'Ar khaganate was ruled by the great khagan Shor, who was responsible for unifying all morg tribes and defeating another great empire, the Tai'gan. What motivated Shor to expand north is a vision from the great shaman, who saw a threat greater than the Tai'gan, who was located "up in the skies".
The morgs had a very animistic world view. Their spiritual order of shamans believed that their magical powers derive from the spirits around the natural world. Thus, they had arranged a system of ritualistic sacrifices to please different spirits in different situations. They also believed that totems, if done "properly", could hold a part of the essences of a spirit. The craftsmanship surrounding totems unintentionally made the morgs into excellent wood workers, a skill which was inherited by their descendants, who build beautiful churches these days.
The expansion resulted into the displacement of many nomadic tribes, causing them to gradually move north and to eventually cause trouble to the empire. Not all tribes were forcefully displaced. Some, like the ones from the mighty Ovchor people and the cunning Finka people, joined the khaganate voluntarily in exchange for territory and resources.
There was one collection of tribes that gave the most resistance, known as the Kurdur confederacy, which was located near the southeastern borders of the empire....