Zentirovan

During the Age of Empires the Zentirovans (commonly called Zentis) were the terrors of towns and villages along the coastline of Miran and Aquanius. Their raiding ships would sail in small packs and set ashore at night. The warriors would kill any that resist and haul off wine, wealth, and women. They were the masters of the sea and when hard-pressed by the warships of other lands they would retreat to the Tarakian Islands they called home. The shallow reefs made it dangerous to sail in those shielded seas.

That was changed by a series of volcanic eruptions that destroyed their largest cities and forced the Zentis flee to the smaller islands. Massive starvation and several years of higher that average rainfall resulted in widespread disease. Nearly 90% of the Zentis were wiped out before the rise of the Sea Lords. Zentirovan was rebuilt and once again Zenti raiders prowl the coastal waters looking for fat merchantmen.

• Temporal: 895 AE - Present

  • City-State Period: 895 - 1200 AE
  • God-Kings: 1200 - 1690 AE
  • Shattering: 1690 - 1918 AE
  • Four Sea Lords: 1918 AE - 383 AH
  • Nation-State Period: 383 - Present
• Entymology: Zentirovans, Zentis, Zents
• Population:

There are over 18,000 islands in the Tarakian chain; although less than 6,000 of them are actually inhabitable. By 893 AE the people on the six largest islands were large enough and prosperous enough to be more than just simple tribes. These people called themselves Zentirovans after the name of their Fire God that lived in the many volcanoes.

While the Zentirovans often warred and raided each other territories they build larger longships that could survive the trip to the coastal waters of the nearby continents and raid the towns along the coastline. Their homeland was rich in rock, gemstones, and timber, but severely lacking in the heavier metals needed to fashion brass and bronze.

Each of the city-states grew rich in wealthy trading among themselves as well as controlling all trade for the smaller cities whose merchants wished to leave the Serpente Sea. The shoag of Sithara closed the Dengal Strait to human ships, the only way out was to pass by the Tarakian Islands. The Zents extracted a toll from the merchants as well as acting as paid mercenaries to sink competing ships.

In the year 1200 the Escarian volcano erupted sending a large cloud into the air and destroyed nearly all life on the island. The most unusual thing about the eruption was the lightning that crackled through the fiery cloud. This announced the arrival of the God-Kings. Four (4) men and five (5) women arrived in the cities with the power to control the Fire Gods that lived in the volcanoes. The Zentis had seen magic before, but the power of their magicians paled in comparison to these newcomers.

What started out as a cult soon grew until the nine (9) newcomers were raised as the God-Kings in 1218 AE. By 1232 they had swept aside the rich and powerful, placing themselves ahead of all others. The God-Kings were not content to simply rule over the people, but went on raids with the sailors to the small villages and towns along the sea. They used their power to masks the ships, blow down walls, and drop lightning upon a town's defenders.

It is believed that the same God-Kings that had attempted to wake the Fire Elemental were the same God-Kings that first arrived four-hundred (400) years earlier. The God-Kings were always the same and with their voluminous robes and carved masks it was impossible to say otherwise. Their attitudes were not the same. From humble beginnings prostrated before the Fire Gods, they soon sought to supplant the gods and put themselves on high.

Awakening the Fire God was the height of their hubris and resulted in the eruption of nearly a score of volcanoes in islands. In a single day every city was utterly destroyed and the people who could not flee fast enough killed. By some unknown power some of the people killed were turned into statues of obsidian perfectly carved int their likeness.

From 1690 - 1918 AE the islands were all but inhabitable. The ash cloud descended upon the land and choked out the vegetation, which in turn killed the animals. A very small number of Zents survived on scores of different islands, some barely large enough to support a single family. In all likelihood they would have simply ceased to exist as a people except for the coming of the Sea Lords.

In 1918 AE five (5) large sailing vessels with brilliant blue sails arrived at the island chain. Commanding each of these vessels were two humans (one male and one female) capable of commanding the wind and wave. The men referred to themselves a a Stormbringer, while the women called themselves Wavedancers.