Curious Tale Saturdays: A Little Bit About the Eastern Middemesne
This week’s installment has a secret purpose: to set up next week’s installment! To keep that one under control, I’ve moved some bits ahead and given them a home here.
The Great Ban
If you remember only one thing about the Middemesne, remember this: The Panathar Empire will never allow the Middemesne to be anything other than divided and weak. For the entire recorded history of Panathar-nearly twelve thousand years-it has inflamed the preexisting sociocultural and political tensions among the peoples of the Middemesne, using every means from bribery to assassination to outright invasion, and as a consequence the Middemesne has always existed as many small nations, never one great dominion. Indeed, the very name of the region-meaning “Middle Demesne (of the World)”-is strangely ownerless.
This phenomenon of Imperial containment and inflammation is known inside the Middemesne as The Great Ban of Panathar or The Great Ban of the Empire, often simply called The Ban or The Great Ban. This concept provides a way for Middemesners to express that their potential is permanently stunted by the Empire.
One of the most conspicuous effects of the Ban is that virtually nowhere in the Middemesne are you likely to find a sovereign monarchy. Instead most countries exist as aristocracies, with weak central leadership coming from (in most cases) the leader of the strongest or best-supported noble house. These ruling nobles are typically careful not to give the appearance of putting on the airs of a monarch, and so, to borrow from the English lexicon, it’s more accurate to say that the countries of the Middemesne are ruled by the likes of “barons” and “counts,” or, in the cases of a few bold individuals who like to defy death, “marquises” and “dukes.”
Essential to the permanent instability of the Middemesne is the endless aristocratic feuding. The balance of power changes frequently because of endless small-scale conflict within and between countries. Not only do the noble houses have their ups and downs, but national boundaries themselves are almost as fluid as water, changing in some places literally by the season, on the fortunes of specific plots, attempts, and battles. Consequently, nationalism as we know it is uncommon in the Middemesne. Language, religion, shared interests, and local loyalties provide for cultural unity instead, insofar as it exists.
In the big picture, the inevitable result of all of this petty strife is a perpetual stalemate. And whenever somebody does manage to break through and secure noteworthy power, the Empire is always ready to crush them without mercy.
The Eastern Middemesne
Historically, the Eastern Middemesne has been a little more stable than the Middemesne as a whole, as distinguished by its comparatively larger and older countries. This owes to a variety of factors, the three most important of which are the region’s economic importance to the Guild of Pabol, its greater geographical insulation from the disruptive influences of the Empire, and its lack of “failed” cultures that make some of the other parts of the Middemesne so especially volatile.
Logic dictates that any long-lived, comparatively stable country in the Middemesne could only have achieved such success by doing so without becoming a threat to the Empire. This can hardly be said to have resulted from a coherent, inter-generational prudence on the part of the peoples of the Eastern Middemesne. Instead, one of the trademarks of biological evolution is that natural selection allows for species to flourish even if they’re not the fastest ones out of the gate. Indeed, explosive growth is often compensated for by rapid containment and collapse. In contrast, old-growth species thrive on a slower and more durable existence. A similar phenomenon exists in sociology, where successful societies-oftentimes without explicitly realizing what they’re doing-achieve sustainability by avoiding the behaviors that would cause them to become too big. This is apparently what transpired in the Eastern Middemesne: social selection-without agency, but successful all the same.
And, so, the customs and ruling practices among the nations of the Eastern Middemesne have developed traits of stability without strength or size as would alarm Panathar.
Some of the nations of the Eastern Middemesne include Nonalek, the Hesilan, Ictier, and Creqmer.
The Road to Gala
For all intents and purposes, there are three viable roads to the Galan capital of Sele: one from Davoranj, one from the Empire, and one-the hardest of the three-from the Eastern Middemesne.
This third road isn’t even a road as such, more a trail really, and it crosses the treacherous Howl Riada mountain range-which is a natural barrier that as far as most people are concerned may as well be the edge of the world, since there’s virtually nothing important beyond it. Most maps don’t even record the road; those that do usually name it “Pilgrim’s Road,” because it has traditionally led to the Village of Sourros-better known to us as Ieik. While Sourros-worship isn’t common in Relance outside of the Empire, it isn’t rare either, and some people do make the pilgrimage to Ieik. When they do, this is usually the road they take.
Or at least it was. With the founding of the Galan capital of Sele, the easternmost leg of the road was diverted northward, to Sele instead of Ieik. Thereafter, unwitting pilgrims were turned back while still in the Howl Riada, unless the Galan sentries deemed them worthy to proceed and learn the secret of Gala.
As far as Gala’s own purposes are concerned, prior to After The Hero this road was the most desirable of three for reaching the rest of Relance. For one thing, the road’s obscurity was actually an advantage due to Gala’s desire to remain hidden. For another, Davoranj and the Empire had always been much more vigilant realms, whereas the nations of the Middemesne were far more porous and easy to sneak around in. Thus, the majority of Gala’s traffic into the wider world of Relance occurred through the Eastern Middemesne.
That had the effect of increasing this region’s significance to Gala’s recruiting efforts. Simply by virtue of being the closest populated region to Gala on the most desirable of the three roads to Gala, the Eastern Middemesne saw a lot of recruitment. From the point of view of the Middemesners, it took the form of strange visitors who would arrive shrouded in mystery and often depart with a larger party than what they arrived with. However, due to Gala’s diligence, (presumably) nobody in the Middemesne ever even noticed this trend as a single phenomenon.
To go along with the Eastern Middemesne’s greater stability, it is also commensurately gloomier in many respects. People are less happy here, and to go along with its greater stability this region’s social injustices are that much more entrenched. This too was a boon to Galan recruitment, because the few bright sparks who arose here were often quite eager to leave and be far away from it.
Next Week: Creqmer Tower
You may have noticed the name “Creqmer Tower” mentioned in a recent installment of The Great Galavar. Next week you’re going to learn more about it.
The Great Ban
If you remember only one thing about the Middemesne, remember this: The Panathar Empire will never allow the Middemesne to be anything other than divided and weak. For the entire recorded history of Panathar-nearly twelve thousand years-it has inflamed the preexisting sociocultural and political tensions among the peoples of the Middemesne, using every means from bribery to assassination to outright invasion, and as a consequence the Middemesne has always existed as many small nations, never one great dominion. Indeed, the very name of the region-meaning “Middle Demesne (of the World)”-is strangely ownerless.
This phenomenon of Imperial containment and inflammation is known inside the Middemesne as The Great Ban of Panathar or The Great Ban of the Empire, often simply called The Ban or The Great Ban. This concept provides a way for Middemesners to express that their potential is permanently stunted by the Empire.
One of the most conspicuous effects of the Ban is that virtually nowhere in the Middemesne are you likely to find a sovereign monarchy. Instead most countries exist as aristocracies, with weak central leadership coming from (in most cases) the leader of the strongest or best-supported noble house. These ruling nobles are typically careful not to give the appearance of putting on the airs of a monarch, and so, to borrow from the English lexicon, it’s more accurate to say that the countries of the Middemesne are ruled by the likes of “barons” and “counts,” or, in the cases of a few bold individuals who like to defy death, “marquises” and “dukes.”
Essential to the permanent instability of the Middemesne is the endless aristocratic feuding. The balance of power changes frequently because of endless small-scale conflict within and between countries. Not only do the noble houses have their ups and downs, but national boundaries themselves are almost as fluid as water, changing in some places literally by the season, on the fortunes of specific plots, attempts, and battles. Consequently, nationalism as we know it is uncommon in the Middemesne. Language, religion, shared interests, and local loyalties provide for cultural unity instead, insofar as it exists.
In the big picture, the inevitable result of all of this petty strife is a perpetual stalemate. And whenever somebody does manage to break through and secure noteworthy power, the Empire is always ready to crush them without mercy.
The Eastern Middemesne
Historically, the Eastern Middemesne has been a little more stable than the Middemesne as a whole, as distinguished by its comparatively larger and older countries. This owes to a variety of factors, the three most important of which are the region’s economic importance to the Guild of Pabol, its greater geographical insulation from the disruptive influences of the Empire, and its lack of “failed” cultures that make some of the other parts of the Middemesne so especially volatile.
Logic dictates that any long-lived, comparatively stable country in the Middemesne could only have achieved such success by doing so without becoming a threat to the Empire. This can hardly be said to have resulted from a coherent, inter-generational prudence on the part of the peoples of the Eastern Middemesne. Instead, one of the trademarks of biological evolution is that natural selection allows for species to flourish even if they’re not the fastest ones out of the gate. Indeed, explosive growth is often compensated for by rapid containment and collapse. In contrast, old-growth species thrive on a slower and more durable existence. A similar phenomenon exists in sociology, where successful societies-oftentimes without explicitly realizing what they’re doing-achieve sustainability by avoiding the behaviors that would cause them to become too big. This is apparently what transpired in the Eastern Middemesne: social selection-without agency, but successful all the same.
And, so, the customs and ruling practices among the nations of the Eastern Middemesne have developed traits of stability without strength or size as would alarm Panathar.
Some of the nations of the Eastern Middemesne include Nonalek, the Hesilan, Ictier, and Creqmer.
The Road to Gala
For all intents and purposes, there are three viable roads to the Galan capital of Sele: one from Davoranj, one from the Empire, and one-the hardest of the three-from the Eastern Middemesne.
This third road isn’t even a road as such, more a trail really, and it crosses the treacherous Howl Riada mountain range-which is a natural barrier that as far as most people are concerned may as well be the edge of the world, since there’s virtually nothing important beyond it. Most maps don’t even record the road; those that do usually name it “Pilgrim’s Road,” because it has traditionally led to the Village of Sourros-better known to us as Ieik. While Sourros-worship isn’t common in Relance outside of the Empire, it isn’t rare either, and some people do make the pilgrimage to Ieik. When they do, this is usually the road they take.
Or at least it was. With the founding of the Galan capital of Sele, the easternmost leg of the road was diverted northward, to Sele instead of Ieik. Thereafter, unwitting pilgrims were turned back while still in the Howl Riada, unless the Galan sentries deemed them worthy to proceed and learn the secret of Gala.
As far as Gala’s own purposes are concerned, prior to After The Hero this road was the most desirable of three for reaching the rest of Relance. For one thing, the road’s obscurity was actually an advantage due to Gala’s desire to remain hidden. For another, Davoranj and the Empire had always been much more vigilant realms, whereas the nations of the Middemesne were far more porous and easy to sneak around in. Thus, the majority of Gala’s traffic into the wider world of Relance occurred through the Eastern Middemesne.
That had the effect of increasing this region’s significance to Gala’s recruiting efforts. Simply by virtue of being the closest populated region to Gala on the most desirable of the three roads to Gala, the Eastern Middemesne saw a lot of recruitment. From the point of view of the Middemesners, it took the form of strange visitors who would arrive shrouded in mystery and often depart with a larger party than what they arrived with. However, due to Gala’s diligence, (presumably) nobody in the Middemesne ever even noticed this trend as a single phenomenon.
To go along with the Eastern Middemesne’s greater stability, it is also commensurately gloomier in many respects. People are less happy here, and to go along with its greater stability this region’s social injustices are that much more entrenched. This too was a boon to Galan recruitment, because the few bright sparks who arose here were often quite eager to leave and be far away from it.
Next Week: Creqmer Tower
You may have noticed the name “Creqmer Tower” mentioned in a recent installment of The Great Galavar. Next week you’re going to learn more about it.