The Kazhan Years
There are two main eras in the world of Tyrian Fellhawk: The Kazhan Years (The Years of Upheaval) and the Post Kazhan Epoch, according to the ancient Book of Tribes. The Kazhan Years were called the years of Upheaval because of the chaos and bloodshed that occurred.
In a tiny village east of the Jotun Peaks, in the Unknown Lands, Abir Kazhan was born to a savage hunter and tribal leader. Four years after his birth, his mother and older brother were killed in an attack by a neighboring tribe. In the years that followed, his father would leave him for months at a time on hunting and war exhibitions. The child, would live alone in their tent, teaching himself to hunt, fish and defend himself. In Abir’s thirteenth year, his father left on a final trip and never returned.)
As Abir grew older he became a vicious fighter and a wise tribal voice. After a dispute over his portion of a particularly large hunting expedition, he settled the question in a vicious way by killing all other hunters. When he returned to his village, he portioned out the remaining food for the villagers, challenged any of the vanquished hunters’ families to duels and effectively placed himself as the sole village ruler.
Thus began one of the most brutal political ascents in history, and the beginning of what we call the Kazhan Epoch.
Abir solidified his rule by conquering all of his neighboring villages and at the young age of twenty years, had ruled over a small kingdom that stretched from the foothills of the Unknown Lands mountain range to the edge of the Bandelarian Desert. His life would be engulfed with war and expansion, earning him dual titles of Kazhan, The First and Kazhan, The Conqueror.
In his twilight years, five years before his death, he settled far west, just north of the Kyggian Desert and staked his flag in a bountiful stretch of land between three ports. There he claimed as his capitol.
His son, Akin, The Father, was tasked with joining the lands in between the Kazhan Capitol with the land near Arabythia. It took nearly all of Akin’s sixty years to make it happen, but at his death, the Kazhan Dynasty ruled a third of the land from East to West, leaving the western coast and much of the north still unconquered. Akin was named ‘The Father’ for his love of his people and his gentle rule. Despite his kindness towards his own people, he was every bit as ruthless towards the yet to be conquered.
Akin had three sons, the oldest of which, Cemal, The Romantic, led the kingdom for a good fifty years. Expansion was not his priority so much as love, drink and food. He took a rumored fifty wives and had hundreds of off-spring. Akin, lost many sons in battle, and even more land to wars and uprisings.
Then came Khairi Kazhan, not a son, but a nephew, offspring of Akin’s son, Khorz. He had the anger and wisdom of his grandfather, Abir. He fought many of Cemal’s sons on his way to the throne, but once there, he was determined to bring back the honor of his grandfather. Khairi quickly regained the territory lost by his uncle, Cemal. He had his armies push northward into the Great River Forest and around the Serpent’s Grave Desert. He overtook Fulldalr, which became his northern stronghold.
In his later years, Khairi settled into a life of peace and held his territory firmly, while giving back to his people. He became known as Khairi Kazhan, The Good. As his health began to fail him, he bequeathed his throne to his nephew, Ezhairi Farz, the first non-Kazhan blood relative to rule. He implored him to unite the kingdom with a highway, and thus began the planning stages of The Road of Fathers.
On the map of the Kazhan Empire, in the upper right hand corner are the four death masks of the original Kazan kings: Abir, Akin, Cemal and Khairi
