Names, everything subject to revision.The History of Today
They say history falls into cycles. Virtually any one can see that. But the question is, which cycles? For history has no mind of its own; we created history, not the other way around. So it seems that we live in the paradigms we create; that in its own twisted way, the present creates the past.
Certainly history has been influenced by the many wars and squabbles of the time we live in. Certainly we are aware of its vast reach. Yet many of us do not see the context, the full picture, as it were. For perhaps history creates the past, but for there to be a present, there needed to be, at some point, a point before the present. And so that is what history is; an attempt to give meaning to that point, a philosophy of the inexortable march of time. History is (with all due respect to my good friend, Ghadisha Polama) the one true god, the one creation of man which returned the favor.
Pre-History
Fakpallischlee is the name of our homeworld, from space a dim-blue planetoid dotted with specks of land, a beautiful but tiny ball of mud, and until two thousand fikhal ago, our only home. Its beautiful, iridescenet face hides a land that has been cursed with farallish of near-perpetual warfare; Fakpallischlee comes from the Rach fakopal, or "sorrow", and we, the NaFakpalli are the "Children of Sorrow".
It was not always so. Our planet, though small, had the blessing of being a land of plenty. Its numerous large islands provided for the needs of its people. The countryside was dotted with pleasent mountains, containing hidden forests full of wonders. And in them lived wonderous animals, intelligent and vocal.
Then came the dark ages. The Lovash'kalluci were the first advanced civilization on our planet. They were an intelligent and hardy race, whose schalfa were far ahead of any other people. They were also an ambitious and bloodthirsty people prone to such depraved acts as cannibalism of their enemies. Unlike the other civilizations on Fakpallischlee, the Lovash'kalluci were reared in a hostile environment. They endured great hardships simply to stay alive. Though they survived, their paranoia continued unabated. They continued their acts of ritual cannibalism of their enemies. And, since in their despotic religion, they were the only beings with souls, they counted all others as their enemies.
The Lovash'kalluci War was the first large-scale conflict our planet faced - and, since our planet was so tiny, it quickly spread to every corner. The Lovash'kalluci in their tall, fearsome warships stormed aboard islands, slaughtering and pillaging, gathering up the survivors either to slavery or sacrifice to their Sun God, Falgong. They should have known better than that. They should have known that such acts of fadhov can only bring about wernaghu - divine retribution.
Divine retribution did come, ironically from within their own ranks, a member of the valishxa - literally, "wizard of fire", a sort of scientist-priest. It seems odd to modern minds that such brilliance and such savagry could be combined in one people, in particular that such a technologically advanced people could hold such base religious beliefs. But it was, in fact their religious beliefs that brought about the Lovash'kalluci advances. Their legend goes that, many years ago, the NaFal (the Lovash'kalluci name for themselves, literally "Children of the Sun") lived in chaos and unspeakable depravity, barely surviving and living in squalid conditions. Then, from the sun, as the legend goes, appeared a Prophet, Naludfalgong. This prophet united the fractitious and depleted Lovash'kalluci into one clan, the Lovash'kalluci. He organized their society, and instilled in it a nashufalkalxan, or will to live. He told them that their god, Falgong, wished nothing more than for them to live and rise victorious over the environment, their enemies, and themselves. He realized that for them to succeed, they required massive advances in technology and science, and founded the valishxa. The valishxa had two purposes - to advance the technological well-being of the Lovash'kalluci in the name of Falgong, and to offer their inventions up to Him. In the mind of Naludfalgong, anything was justified in the name of scientific progress and the god Falgong.
Naludfalgong's reforms worked - worked so well, in fact, that we do not even know his original name, only the title bestowed upon him by a grateful Lovash'kalluci people. We do not know where the acts of ritual cannibalism that are so much a part of the Lovash'kalluci mythos came from - there is nothing in the scriptures of Naludfalgong about it. Most probably it was an element of pre-Naludfalgong Lovash'kalluci culture that was retained for political reasons. Whatever the case, it quickly became one of the focal points of valishxa ceremony - at the bi-zalo Ceremony of Falgong, head valishxa were required to ritually devour the hearts, liver and brains of unfortunate heretics and lawbreakers. (In most other respects, Lovash'kalluci culture was actually fairly open and liberal - but heresy against Falgong and the teachings of his prophet were always frowned upon severely). Perhaps due to this, Lovash'kalluci-era Lovash'kalluci had a remarkably low rate of crime - having your flesh devoured is a good incentive to stay on the straight and narrow.
The Lovash'kalluci Wars
On Day 14, Month of Klachna, Year 33 of the reign of High Valishxa Hxilphonto, the Lovash'kalluci began a series of wars that would shake the tiny planet of Fakpallischlee to its core. The feudal duchies and baronies of the planet were insignificant compared to the might of the Lovash'kalluci-era Lovash'kalluci. Though they had no lack of courage, the warriors of the tiny continents dotting the planet fell again and again to the fanatacism, numerical superiority, and early firearms of the Lovash'kalluci. Within ten years the armies of the Valishxa had conquered, occupied or otherwise subdued fully a third of the planet's land and all the major landmasses.
Ironically, it was the rapidity of the Lovash'kalluci conquests that would bring about its demise less than a generation later. For although the Lovash'kalluci nation was large, the planet of Fakpallischlee was much, much larger. So as even though their losses during the War of Acquisition were relatively light, as their armies of war became armies of occupation, they were put at a serious numerical disadvantage, and it was doubtful as to whether they could maintain a hold of their newly occupied territories, even with their vaunted technological superiority.
As a result, the Lovash'kalluci resorted to terror tactics. Any sign of rebellion was put down swiftly and brutally. When a newly subdued province protested over the grain quotas it was being asked to fill, their capital town was razed. Actual open rebellion met with even bloodier retribution.
As if such atrocities were not enough, another injustice was commited. Although the andsa make up the vast majority of the Fakpallischlee population, there is one other sentient race native to the planet. The Jaryivaska (Lafedrix for "winged beast") are a large species of winged reptiles who developed independently of the rest of the Fakpallischlee ecosystem, on the continent of Drixcanni. When the earliest andsa explorers landed on Drixcanni, Padimwa traders in their massive double-hulled wensci canoes, they discovered a primitive population of Jaryivaska who had developed a stone age culture, wielding primitive spears and hunting with spears and their razor-sharp talons. Although they were far more advanced than the Jaryivaska, it seems the Padimwa took a liking to the bird-like species, and when the first Lovash'kalluci scouts arrived on Drixcanni the two races had formed a unified culture, even adopting a form of the Jaryivaska's hissing, grunting speech. The Lovash'kalluci, who (it must be remembered) were already extremely xenophobic towards other members of their own species were horrified to discover an entirely alien race living alongside other andsa. The Lovash'kalluci were harsh to the conquered andsa, but they were even more brutal to the Jaryivaska. Permitting them not even the dignity of a sacrificial death, the Lovash'kalluci treated the Jaryivaska as common animals, fit only for slaughter and (most horrifying to the Lafedrix andsa) food.
Appalled by the fate of their Jaryivaska brothers, it was the Lafedrix andsa who first rose in open revolt against the High Valishxa. Early success against the Lovash'kalluci were nullified when the Lovash'kalluci brought in heavy artillery from the mainland. While their halberdiers kept the Lafedrix at bay, the cannons systematically demolished, through incendiary bombardment, the rebel villages. When the surviving Lafedrix rebels fled into the vast forests of the continent, the Lovash'kalluci retaliated by setting fire to the forest
It was here that fate intervened in the Lafedrix struggle - or rather, an "agent of fate", the Lovash'kalluci undergovernor of Drixcanni, Valishxa Mazaid. There is no evidence to support that Mazaid's motives stemmed from any sort of inherent sympathy to the rebels; rather, he seems to have desired to set up a personal domain in the mountains of Drixcanni, and saw the Lafedrix rebels as a means to that end. Mazaid must also have realized that were he to rebel against the Lovash'kalluci inner cabal, his troops would revolt against him; loyalty to the High Valishxa and to the LaFal state outweighed all else. To that end, he met secretly with the rebel leadership, supplying them with weapons and training them in their use. Although even modernly equipped the rebels were still vastly inferior to the Lovash'kalluci regulars, they had an advantage the Lovash'kalluci did not: a highly placed agent.
On Day 11, Month of Varald, Year 59 of the reign of High Valishxa Hxilphonto, the Lovash'kalluci 12th Legion, the largest army on the continant of Drixcanni, marched into the Yavazshikal Forest on the slopes of the Galkoar mountains to eliminate the last rebel garrison, unaware they were walking straight into a trap. Four hundred rebel archers lay hidden in crevaces overlooking the path. As the Lovash'kalluci advance column passed under, the rebels opened fire. To their credit the Lovash'kalluci scouts realized the situation fairly quickly - but not quickly enough, and they were decimated. Uneasy about the disappearance of his scouts, and conscious about his relative inferiority in close-quarters battle, the Lovash'kalluci general wisely decided to withdrawl - too late, it turned out. Incendiary bombs from rebel cannon fell upon the surprised Lovash'kalluci army, forcing them into the nearest clearing - the mountain pass. As the Lovash'kalluci retreated into the open, Lafedrix archers opened fire on the panicked formations. It was then that the Lovash'kalluci commander realized what had done in his advance scouts - Jaryivaska warriors swooped down from the skies, while Lafedrix musketeers fired from them. While the Lovash'kalluci had fought Jaryivaska-mounted archers before, they were unprepared for the weight of fire that firearms endowed . With the enemy trapped between a rock and a hard place, the Lafedrix commander executed the coup de grace. Rebel pikemen, many of them veteran knights, charged down from the mountain into the valley. Lovash'kalluci soldiers catching a breather after the cessation of musket fire suddenly found themselves facing swarms of angry, oppressed rebels far more skilled in close-quarters combat than they. They were slaughtered almost to a man.
With the defeat of the Lovash'kalluci 12th Legion, and the additional firearms captured after the battle, the Lafedrix had gained the upper hand. With the Lovash'kalluci leadership still in shock over the loss of the 12th Legion, the rebels marched onward, liberating town after town and swelling their ranks considerably. Meanwhile, unaccustomed to defeat, the Lovash'kalluci generals spent more time pointing fingers than forming a coherent strategy. The climax was at the Battle of Jane, where ten thousand battle-hardened, spirited rebel troops faced two thousand green, demoralized Lovash'kalluci. It was the most one-sided campaign of the entire war. Governor Jalciesabo was killed in the final fighting, and Undergovernor Mazaid surrendered. Naturally, he was allowed to stay on as Interim Governor, aware that if he even gave the appearance of returning to the Lovash'kalluci tyranny his Lafedrix army would cheerfully slaughter him without a second thought.
The Fall of the Lovash'kalluci
It would take fifty more years before the Lafedrix could build up an industrial base to support the liberation of the continents. When they did, the result was the Second Lovash'kalluci War, the bloodiest conflict in Fakpallischlee history up to that point. The Lafedrix had the advantage of air cavalry, but the Lovash'kalluci had spent the better part of a century fortifying their base and had no intension of surrendering. High Valishxa Hxilphonto died and was replaced with an even more fanatical successor, Kivcotswoxocti. And, far from discouraging the draconian policies of the Lovash'kalluci, the Drixcanni War actually accelerated it. With the loss of one continent to the insurgents, the Lovash'kalluci could take no chances.
Inevitably though, the Lovash'kalluci's brutality and violation of all known concepts of decency turned the entire world against it. The insurrection started in the Duchy of Bakvaryi on the continent of Ederad, when Grand Baron Veladiyk's secret militia attacked a Lovash'kalluci weapons depot in hopes of sparking a continent-wide revolution. He sorely misjudged Lovash'kalluci resolve. A mere month later, an enormous Lovash'kalluci army arrived, smashing the Duchy into oblivion and selling its inhabitants into slavery. Grand Baron Veladiyk managed to escape to Drixcanni, where he pleaded with Lafedrix leaders to intervene. Reluctantly, they agreed. On 4 Mazaid 49 Basokc Skitrasalyu (After Liberation), the Drixcanni Vakikal (Navy) swept into action, landing troops on the shores of Ederad. The landing was not unopposed, and the Lafedrix suffered enormous casualties, but pressed onward. Nor were the subsequent advances uncontested. At one battle both Lafedrix and Lovash'kalluci exhausted their massive ammunition stores, at which points the two sides drew swords and ensued in a close-quarters, old-fashioned melee.
Inevitably, though, the Lovash'kalluci were pushed back, as they were simply overextended and unable to continue occupation even if the Second Lovash'kalluci War had not started. The Lafedrix also held one trump: the Jaryivaska air cavalry. There was nothing at all like them in the Lovash'kalluci army, and in an age before anti-air guns, their defense was limited. In desperation the Lovash'kalluci even resorted to an ancient weapon: the crossbow, fitted with rapid-fire bolts as a desperate defense against the Jaryivaska hordes.
In all probability, though, nothing could have stopped the Lafedrix advance. Island continent after island continent fell before them, and with each defeat the Lovash'kalluci grew more and more despondent. High Valishxa Kivcotswoxocti died mysteriously and was replaced. His successor died shortly after in similar circumastances, and was replaced with a third leader, who also died.
Finally, with the entire planet mobilized against them, their army decimated, their economy in shambles, the High Valishxa met secretly with the leader of the Lafedrix, Archduke Moylizawapka. After ten years of total war, neither side desired or was capable of continuing. So, despite the pleas of the long-suffering continental nobles, the war ended with an informal cease-fire. Territory-wise, both sides were exactly the same. But the Lovash'kalluci would never again reach their former domination. They were a broken, demoriaized, and with recent breakthroughs in science by Drixcanni, a backwards people. Though Lovash'kalluci would exist in name for another two hundred years, their power would steadily diminish. Eventually, the once-fanatical Lovash'kalluci people staged a coup d'tat, deposing the last High Valishxa and allying with, of all people, their formerly most hated enemy, the Lafedrix.
"The Quiet Period"
The advances in science made by the Lovash'kalluci Wars catapulted Fakpallischlee from an early Iron Age economy to an Industrial Age one in less than a century, and simutaniously achieved a measure of unity from the fractitious nation-states. There was even talk, for a time, of forming a one-world nation to discourage the Lovash'kalluci from ever rising again, but this was vetoed by the independently-minded duchies and baronies. Indeed, in little over a century the steadfast allies of the Lovash'kalluci Wars would become, if not bitter enemies, then paranoid neighbors, glancing nervously over their shoulders, sword in hand.
Nothing lasts forever, of course, but the peace lasted much shorter than it ought to. It started when Drixcanni began bullying the Duchy of Bakvaryi for land concessions as a token of gratitude for the Lovash'kalluci war. Bakvaryi politely but firmly refused, and Drixcanni accused it of being ungrateful and threatened to impose sanctions. When the other nations sided with Bakvaryi, Drixcanni issued an apology, but the incident strained relations between Drixcanni and the other nations, and cast doubts on the stability of the Lafedrix leadership.
The other nations were right to be wary. Drixcanni had, since the end of the Lovash'kalluci War, the most powerful military, the strongest economy, and the most advanced technology. Its enormous skyscrapers, railroads and airships were the envy of every nation on the planet. It also was the most densely populated nation on the planet. Four hundred million adhas and one hundred million Jaryivaska were packed into three hundred square najekob (442 square kilometers). Vast improvements in health had the double effect of making living space a valuable commodity. Although Lafedrix scientists worked desperately to find solutions, including farsighted designs for floating arcologies on the ocean, it was clear that without an answer within the next hundred years the tiny nation of Drixcanni would be hopelessly overcrowded.
Drixcanni's dilemma was not unique. Almost all of the Fakpallischlee nations except for Lovash'kalluci suffered the same dilema, albeit on a smaller scale. The truth was, Fakpallischlee was and is a tiny planet, and one fast reaching its maximal sustainable population. To compound things, in BS171 Drixcanni detonated its first nuclear bomb. Though there was no war in the forseeable future, the implications were clear: for the first time, the NaFakpalli had the capability to detonate their first nuclear weapon.
Tensions were high. Resourcers were low. Militaries were ready. It seemed that any moment now, Fakpallischlee would erupt in cataclysmic war. All nations (again, with the exception of Lovash'kalluci) had drastically upgraded their weaponry, and they didn't need combat experience to know they were far, far deadlier than anything used before. Nobody wanted war. Memories of the horror of the Lovash'kalluci War were still fresh. Everyone was ready to do virtually anything to stave it off. Yet it seemed inevitable.
Then, in BS183, the people of Fakpallischlee awoke to beeping noises coming from outer space ...
