Sunny Dreamer -- We write to taste life twice...

Project: One Unparalleled Red Rose, Section 5

Tuesday, November 20-Saturday, November 24, 2007

Feeling--

tired
Reading-- Eragon by Christopher Paolini
I'm grateful for-- God's presence
Listening to-- my Christmas Mix

Facts and History of Kemcarren, Part 3:
A Bit About Ancient Kemcarren

Naturally, Kemcarren today is vastly different than it was in the Ancient Times, or even in its Middle Age. Mostly because of the marriage of its human culture to that of the Raercorr's. In the Ancient Times, Kemcarren was a nation made up loosely of various city-states governed by powerful chieftains who answered to a liege lord or high king. There was one main culture and religion overall, but each city-state had its own variation or sub-culture. (Like the Greeks or Hellenes. They loosely had the same basic beliefs and culture, but each city-state was individualistic as well. Some deities were more important than others, depending on where you were.)

Their pantheons of deities were fewer than those of the Greeks and Romans, who had three per say, in addition to a slew of demi-gods and heroes. The Kemcarrens had two pantheons, one main one and one for the lesser gods of life, earth and water. There were no nymphs, dryads, naiads, etc. The main pantheon consisted of:

The second pantheon consisted of:

Kemcarren's heroes and heroines were and are considered great, but unlike Greek heroes, they weren't deemed a step below the gods. They were not demi-gods either. They were mortals who did extraordinary things within the human realm of possibility.
Dartha's name is one the people of Ancient Kemcarren did not dare utter very often, for fear if they said it aloud he'd come for them before their time. (They were a superstitious lot.) They also believed just before their passing, Dartha, or Death, would come to them in dreams foretelling their deaths.
There was no "Underworld," where all the dead go. There was/is Paradise and the Dark Realm, or Hell. And the souls were judged by Justün, the god of Justice and Law and Oceia, the goddess of Mercy and Temperance, according to their deeds, thoughts and intentions of their hearts. Justün carried scales in his left hand with which to weigh their hearts and a scroll in his right that listed all the deeds and thoughts, whether good or bad, of a person. Oceia was a skilled speaker. If a person was not outright evil, but had made mistakes or wrong choices she would speak up for them. She carried a mirror that revealed the true appearance or state of a person's soul and a pitcher of water from which she would "wash" their sins away. Once their judgement was over, Vairdan (the god of Paradise) himself, or a ferryman who served him, or Machiah (the god of the Dark Realm), would come for the soul to take it to its last and duly earned destination.
Aelanna was the Spinner of Life; Ashke was the Dispenser of Lots or Destiny; Ardis was the Cutter, who decided when it was the end of a person's life.
Only five of the main deities--Aerieus, Mun-Dæark, Rhianon, Süliel and Quinevere--had temples erected and dedicated to them. The rest had cathedrals or shrines dedicated to them. Some had more than one temple built in their honor; however, during the Great War, several of the temples were destroyed, so that now all that remains of them are ruins. Only three ancient temples remain intact. One is Aerieus', another is Mun-Dæark's, and the third one belongs to Rhianon.
Each main deity and some minor ones had priests/priestesses and high priests/priestesses who took care of the temples or cathedrals and performed rites and ceremonies on behalf of the ancients. In the case of Zyrn, the Forest god, his cathedral was nature-made, naturally open, in the Forés-av-Mysticke, or "Forest of Mysteries"--which is now known as Eythertlarn Forest.
Most of the gods, as seen below, are related to one another. There are two exceptions whose origins are unknown. They are Shürtas and Sebhue. It is said Shürtas came out of the Alastrine Mists one day, climbed Mount Ragnorrn in the Laurentiza Mountains and sought entrance to Stelanar, home of the Kemcarren gods. They readily recognized him as a god, but naturally felt it odd that he'd shown up out of the blue, crashing a party they were having and requesting entrance to Stelanar. Aerieus asked why he'd come, and why they should allow him among their ranks. He demanded Shürtas prove himself worthy to be a god of the Kemcarren people. Shürtas did so by showing how much easier it was to communicate with the mortals in dreams. He proved it by sending a dream to Aerieus' high priest, who lived in the city that bears the god's name. He showed Aerieus the portal that opens to a mortal's mind whenever they're asleep. He encouraged the King of the gods to step through and tell the priest whatever he wanted the man to do. The divine king did and was very pleased to see the mortal do as he'd commanded when the man woke up. And that the high priest thanked him for the clear instructions before going about his day. From that day on Shürtas was welcomed into Stelanar.
Gweneira was riding through the Forés-av-Mysticke in her pristine white sleigh one day--pulled by two polar bears, one female, the other male--when she heard the pitiful wail of a babe. She stopped and searched the area and soon saw a baby boy under a massive ancient fir tree. She saw that he was god immediately. He was loosely wrapped in rich red swaddling; she looked around to see if anyone was nearby, that perhaps that whoever had left him had changed his or her mind about abandoning him. But no, no one was there, so she picked him up, carried him back to her sleigh, soothing him. Settling him securely and comfortably on her lap, Gweneira took him home with her, to her castle of ice and snow. She nursed him back to health--for he'd been weak and near blue with cold--and made sure he was warm. She gave him the name of Sebhue, which means in Ancient Kemcarren "strong in adversity." When he was six-months-old, she took young Sebhue to her sister, Mun-Dæark, queen of the gods, and asked her to stand up with Gweneira when she presented her new "son" to them. Mun-Dæark promised to do so, and together they pled for the boy's induction into Stelanar. Gweneira asked that perhaps Sebhue could be messenger and scribe for the gods. And so it was. Sebhue grew up in Gweneira's cold, glittering and pristine domain, later becoming the messenger and scribe for the Stelanariens. This was before her marriage to Tanuvel, the god of Fire and Heat.
Spring came to Kemcarren when Tanuvel and Gweneira came together evet year.

The Stelanariens are actually faeries from beyond the Alastrine Mists.

Kemcarren in the Ancient Times was only roughly half the size it is today. If one looks at maps from that long-ago time, one will see only the western half of what is today's nation. Its capital, Padjuwan-av-Coronai, has always been the seat of authority and the place where every ruler, whether high king or queen, archduque or duchezza, or king or queen, or regent king, has been crowned since the first high king's coronation. His name was Lyjorran I, of Za'Carren.

Twelve city-states made up Ancient Kemcarren, not including the capital city. With the exception of three, which fell either in the Great War or in an earlier foreign invasion, Kemcarren's original city-states still stand. Some have grown as progress has advanced across Za'atkara and the rest of Covano. Others, more toward the center of the country, have chosen--purposely--to remain smaller in size. They are:

Marta-Gray
Üaveer
Vairdan-ar-Y'Couwm
Zannoir
Blackmoor
Edonia
Gallatia
Kilgare
Evancard
Abergelle
Gasbar
Aerieus

The cities that fell are: Evancard, Abergelle and Gallatia.

As Kemcarren is a landlocked country the people then, as now, are pretty self-sufficient. Though they enjoy and rely on trade with the countries bordering their nation as well. They buy or barter with other merchants for things they cannot make or grow themselves, like silk, rice, cotton, fish, exotic fruits, rum, sugarcane, molasses and certain spices. Their exports are wool, grain, beef, dairy products, precious metals and gems.

In addition to Padjuwan-av-Coronai, some city-states, like Vairdan-ar-Y'Couwm, Gallatia, Kilgare and Aerieus, were cultural centers. The people there were scholars, artists, musicians, historians, writers...more so than in the other city-states, which were more agricultural or mining-centered.

Aerieus was naturally the religious center, where most of the sacred texts or scrolls were kept, with the songs, prayers and poems on them in the Great Kemcarren Library. It (Aerieus) is also where the sacred oral traditions are still told and kept alive even after writing has become mainstream.

On one of their silver coins, called a dêbat, the current ruler's profile is etched in relief on the head's side. On the tail's side is the story of Marjorak, the nation's greatest hero. A dêbat is worth approximately $20. There are 13 different types of dêbats: each depicting a different, progressive scene from Marjorak's tale.

Kemcarren's people in the Ancient Times were--and are still, to a good degree-- agricultural; they grew acorn potas, blue, yellow, red and long potas (types of potatoes), grains like wild oats and wild wheat, barley, buckwheat, rye and wild rice. They also raised farm animals. And in the northern hills, which are now called the Hills of Magoray--after the legendary heroine who was born in the hills and later became one of the last, great high queens of Ancient Kemcarren, and after Magoray the Gentle, one of the Illustrious Sisters--they mined silver. The people also mined opals, garnets, sapphires and a stone unique to Kemcarren, called the Infinity Ruby. It is so named not only for its deep red color, but also because of the design naturally formed in its heart or center. It is the never-ending symbol the Kemcarrens put on their flags to mean infinity. It is a stone of such brilliance and fire that its sparkles never fade or go dim with time. It is the stone a couple gives to each other when they are serious about committing to one another and wishes to show their oath publicly.

The Kemcarrens, even though they had a war god, were mostly a peaceful people. They had no gripes or grudges to bear against their neighbors to the north, west or south. It was only with the Dûrecarrens to the east that they had trouble. Those people were war-like and very contentious, and wanted to expand their borders. And since the high and rugged Serpentine Mountains backed them to the east, providing a daunting enough barrier, the Dûrecarrens naturally took the easiest solution for expansion: west. But it was not so easy. No, though the Kemcarrens were more easy-going and peaceful, they weren't slouches when it came to defending themselves. Each city-state had its own army, in addition to the Royal Army, led by the high king or high queen of the moment. Plus, as they were on good terms with their other neighbors, Kemcarren's high king or high queen could call on them, particularly those to the north and south, for help if they were so needed. So the Dûrecarrens were mostly Grade-A nuisances. There were many skirmishes over the years, as the Kemcarrens pushed them back across the border, and two or three wars in between. (You would think the Dûrecarrens would have wised up and tried to go either north or south...or even east, at least trying to persevere in crossing the inhospitable mountain range, but no. The kings of Dûrecarren had become obsessed with absorbing Kemcarren into their nation and bringing its people under their tyrannical rule. Some would be slaves and its resources would belong to Dûrecarren's kings.)

Finally, after the third war, the current high king, Venhue the Great, had had enough. He married his eldest son, Robért, to the Dûrecarren king's oldest granddaughter, Mathilda. It was not a happy union; each party entered it unwillingly, though the two kings had reached an accord that met with both their satisfactions. The warring would end; under the rule of the children the two countries would meld as one...thus expanding Dûrecarren's western border as its kings had wanted. Each country would gain rights and access to the other's resources. Kemcarren's allies would become Dûrecarren's. However, if wily ole Casbain did anything to violate the treaty, all bets were off and Venhue would call on all his allies, and together the combined armies would annihilate Dûrecarren. The hard part would be in meshing the peoples and the differing cultures. And getting an heir from the newly wedded couple. Robért and Mathilda could barely tolerate each other as it was. He thought she was a barbarian, vain, temperamental and cruel. Not only that, she hated men. She even tried to murder him when he slept. It failed, of course. Robért used that as a reason to annul the month-old marriage, taking advantage of his newly freed status to marry the woman he truly wanted a month later: the Princess Adelina, Mathilda's younger sister. (Mathilda was sent back home with the decree to never cross the border onto original Kemcarren land again. Once home she was imprisoned in her grandfather's dungeon for the rest of her days.)

********I may have lost the NaBloPoMo challenge by not actually having a post up for people to see, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on one. This one has taken me five days to complete. Obviously, for it is long, with a lot of information--or, should I say...imagination? Anyways, I've wanted to get another section of my poem's background notes done and up to show I am still plugging away with this project. So, if I did truly lose the challenge, it's ok. I thought I was still adhering to the challenge, but...at least this is up now...

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