The History of Marraketh

The Ancients, the earliest known people in the land known as Marraketh are believed to have come from the Great Desert. It is believed that they chose to seperate from other tribes, including the tribe now known as the country of Chi-Lin on a small disagreement which would carry great ramifications for Marraketh. The Ancients disagreed with the other tribes on the issue of mind over matter. The Ancients decided that they would not concentrate on making tools like the other tribes, but would instead concentrate on being able to manipulate and create with their minds. The Ancients also concentrated on setting up a great city and a fair form of representation. Their city was known as Rhye, and their area known as the Rhye Republic. The constitution of the Rhye Republic, a document which survives to this very day, declares that all men between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five carried the right to a voice in the Great Hall of Rhye.

A second tribe in the area came from the Great Sea. They were known as the Dwani. The Dwani were seafaring people, who had already created great boats and had explored most of the coastline of the Great Sea. The Dwani were intelligent people who let their females rule, for they were the wisest of the tribe. This land was known on early maps at the Kyrill Empire because the first and greatest Empress was a domineering woman named Kyrill Hrdek.

Things were not all peaceful between the Rhye Republic and the Kyrill Empire. There would oftentimes be skirmishes on the borders between the land. But one day, a young man by the name of Tyrone Grehnich came up with a plan to merge the Kyrill Empire and the Rhye Republic into one group who could stand united against the power of the tribe of Chi-Lin, which was trying their hardest to find an easy way over the mountains to conquer the land of Marraketh. He rose the idea of a merger in the Great Hall and proposed that all citizens, whether they be young or old, male or female, be allowed to have a say in front of the Great Hall, led by a king or queen. The right to property and titles would pass not to the oldest boy or the oldest girl, but to the oldest child.

The Great Hall of Rhye thought this was a wonderful idea and sent Tyrone to the Kyrill Empire to explain his idea. While Tyrone was in Kyrill, he fell in love with the Empress's daughter and proposed to her. She willingly accepted, and with her acceptance came the merging of the Kyrill Empire and the Rhye Republic into one land - the Kingdom of Marraketh. The name Grehnich would be passed down through all royal names, and it was declared in the kingdom that the person whog ains a title shall have his name passed along until such time as the lineage dies. This took care of another problem, although the royal family has often been referred to as the House of Grehnich-Hrdek in honor of both sides of the agreement.

Along with this merger came rules of social etiquette. The people descended from the Ancients and the people descended from the Dwani each had special powers and abilities that were latent to their respective tribes. For example, the Ancients had mastered the art of teleporting and could teleport anywhere with ease. The Dwani had mastered the art of feeling and understanding deeply the power of mind, and could speak to one another as easily in their heads as they could out loud. They had also developed the ability to see without seeing and hear without hearing. With all these confusing powers, something had to be done. In the interest of peace and harmony, it was decided that all latent "magikal" abilities would be suppressed in a long and far-reaching document known as the Marrakethian Code of Ethics and Etiquette.

A year soon after the formation of Marraketh, the hills became parched without the storms that brought the life-giving water. The Marrakethians feared they had displeased the gods, and church attendance was at an all-time high. Soon after this, another race known as the Trenbals took over most of Marraketh's trade routes. Marraketh, in order to gain those trade routes back, sent soldiers out on the high seas after the Trenbals. A ship of sailors, coming home, were trapped in a freak storm just outside of the Dewpoint Harbor Lighthouse and were sunk. This news demoralized the families at home, and the members of the Great Hall were almost outspoken on giving up on the sea and letting the Trenbals have the trade routes. As this argument was taking place in the Great Hall, an earthquake shook the bottom of the sea, and a great tsunami started on its way towards Marraketh. Within hours, it had destroyed the coastal towns of Dewpoint and Sage's Harbor, and flooded all the way inland to Marsanyew. Rhye was luckily high enough to avoid the damage, but almost a third of the country was either destroyed or ruined by the great tsunami. This spooked the Marrakethians who were left into never going out onto or into the sea again. Neither Dewpoint nor Sage's Harbor were ever rebuilt. Hence the area once known as the Kyrill Empire is now almost a wateland. The darkness of the period following this lasted for almost two hundred years...

Towards the end of this time of chaos and disaster, a sage of the kingdom named Marken Yuvall made the first contact with the Chi-Linians in a long time. He was surprised to discover that the tribe that the Ancients had split away from so long ago, for being so backwards, had now surpassed his dear Marraketh in terms of civilization. He tried to find out exactly what had made the difference, and to his surprise discovered that it was the Marrakethian Code of Ethics and Etiquette. He brought his point in front of the King and the Great Hall to repeal the Code, but was denied his request and put in prison. While in prison, he renounced his loyalty and citizenship to the Kingdom of Marraketh, declared himself a citizen of Chi-Lin, and disappeared. He soon returned, created an army of dissatisfied Marrakethians, and led them in revolt against the King and the Great Hall.

The revolt lasted only a few days, and it ended in the King creating two groups. One was known as the Marrakethian Exchange (devoted to keeping good relations with the Chi-Lin Empire) and one was known as the Marrakethian Remote Frontier Guard (MRFG). The MRFG was devoted to upholding the ideals of the Marrakethian Code of Ethics and Etiquette. They were an elite force, trained in both the mental and physical capabilities of an average Marrakethian not bound by the code. Gaining acceptance into the MRFG was a very difficult task, and people trained for years to be able to join. As for Marken Yuvall, he was banished to the land of Chi-Lin, and nobody knows what happened to him.

The kingdom lived in peace for many years following this. It was rumored sometimes that Marken Yuvall had returned to bring Marraketh back to the glory days of the ancients. However, the Captain of the MRFG, a man by the name of Mikje Mrythen, kept law and order running safely in Marraketh. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the rumors that Marken had tricked him, and he also couldn't help the fact that he didn't age very quickly. Due to some freak mutation, Mikje aged very slowly, and hence was able to serve six kings in his long lifetime. This made him the subject of rumors and lies that he had made a deal with Marken to live forever, in return for letting Marken come back and restore the rule of the Ancients. To top it off, the Chi-Lin Empire could not figure out if and when Marken had died, letting the rumors live.

It became the age of prodigies. The abilities the Ancients had once dreamed that every citizen in the Rhye Republic would be able to manifest were starting to come about. One of the most important prodigies in terms of history was a man named Tyrene Katze. Tyrene was born to an ordinary family from Rhye. They didn't hold any titles, but could proudly trace their ancestery back to the Ancients. Tyrene Katze was enrolled in the University of Rhye at the age of ten and probably would have lived a fruitless life in academia if it had not been for Warhm Grehnich, the crown prince of Marraketh. warhm saw the greatness inherent in Tyrene and offered him a royal position - that of court philosopher. This job would eventually lead to Tyrene gaining possession of an object that nobody expected to exist - a dimension-hopping medallion. Tyrene spent a few days working on the math and became the only person in Marraketh who knew how to create them.

Meanwhile, another prodigy, Horetia Mrythen, the granddaughter of Mikje, was becoming famous in her own right. She had published a striking book of poetry at the age of ten and was probably the most famous novelist in Marraketh. She met Tyrene at a ball to celebrate the acceptance of the newest MRFG members (Tyrene included). She was introduced to Tyrene by her grandfather, and they soon fell in love and were married.

During this time, strange troops started appearing in the northwest corner of Marraketh. The regular Marrakethian troops would not fight these strange troops, as they felt they could not, and any general who would have ordered them to do so would have had mass mutiny on his hands. Meanwhile, a strange purple thing appeared in Rhye. As Rhye was the biggest city and government seat of Marraketh, the influence of this purple demon spread far and near. At the same time, a man named Sid Harldcast was appointed as King Warhm's chief of staff, and set about isolating him from the rest of his advisors. It all culminated one night with the unknown troops appearing in Rhye and storming the King's palace. Tyrene managed to get away, but was soon yanked back into his dimension and made into a slave for the Master. Sid became the rulre of Marraketh when the Master could not be in attendance.

Who will save Marraketh? Who will release the country from the curse which is the Master? We know not. I write this history of Marraketh in exile in the land of Chi-Lin, where I escaped when the Master arrived. I write this history with a heavy heart. They are all dead in spirit and mind, which is worse than physical death. Marraketh, I hope there may be somebody to save you.

Rene Ewerte, of the city of Rhye, of Marraketh
Given to the keepers of the records in Chi-Lin to give back to Marraketh when liberated.