The History of Al'asa
Long ago, just after the cataclysm that destroyed most of the land, the nomadic people of Al'asa continued life much as they had previously. A life in the desert was already a hard life, with few resources at hand. Besides limiting the space and reducing water even further, the nomads' lives continued to rotate around their immediate family, or "tent," and trading for scarce goods they needed with other tents they would meet. It was not long before tents banded together in groups called "ishams," for both protection and shared resources. In time, the ishams became so large that they began to quarrel between each other over resources, most especially the three oases in the Al'asa island chain. Only one isham, the Awajid isham, stayed out of the fighting, refusing to take a side, and they stayed firm in their belief that the water should be shared equally by all. As the factions tired of fighting and sought to make peace, they all agreed the only isham that could be trusted to distribute the water was the Awajid isham. The Awajid isham prospered because of this and became highly successful traders not only in water but many other markets. The sands were peaceful and prosperous for many years.
Eventually, however, there arose an isham leader called Hazin al'Shar who sought to conquer the other ishams, by force if necessary. This struggle became known as the War of the Sands. A few ishams joined Hazin's side but most banded together against it, none more ardently than the Awajid isham. After a long struggle, a group of skilled fighters managed to secretly penetrate Hazin's defenses, snuck into his tent and killed him. Without their charismatic leader, the remaining ishams laid down their arms. Among the fighters who had killed Hazin, was a young member of the Awajid isham named 'Jamah al'Awajid.
'Jamah was afraid something similar would happen again, and so sought a way to avoid it. His decision was to unite the ishams into one whole, a community of ishams, where all would be equal. He leveraged his military heroism and the wealth of the Awajid isham to pull many under his umbrella. By conciliation, cajoling and not a little coercion he brought the remaining ishams together and forged one whole from the masses. In time, he also set down principles of how to act towards others in society, known as the Communal Code. Over the years, 'Jamah would become universally beloved and lovingly referred to as "the Uniter." For many long years, the sands again knew only peace and prosperity.
On his deathbed, the Uniter designated his youngest son Akitab his heir and Sheikh, but several top military leaders had other designs. Akitab was scholarly, unathletic and had never been tested in battle, so some of the military leaders felt he would be too weak and ineffective to be a proper leader, while others simply wanted to grab power for themselves.
At first the "war" was a cold one, fought on distant fronts in subtle ways, but it eventually began to escalate when the military secretly joined with the Amari Trade Federation, a group of successful foreign traders and mercenaries banded together for profit. The military employed them in false flag military attacks against Al'asa. Citing the attacks, the military declared a state of emergency and assumed power with direct military control. Years later the Sheikh and a group of loyalists exposed the military's plot, which caused the military to split between loyalists to the Sheikh or the military's Generals; open warfare began. The military attacked historical and cultural institutions to change and control the narrative of the people's history, to erase the charisma of the Uniter and his cult of personality. The Loyalists, outnumbered, fought a guerrilla war that took a large toll on the civilian population during strikes or retaliations by the military.
The military continued to use the Amari Trade Federation as mercenaries, except without any pretense of false flag operations. The Amari treated the Al'asai civilians with disrespect and often went out of their way to humiliate them, and as such the people came to strongly dislike and distrust any foreigners in their ports, regardless of affiliation. Once the military had consolidated their hold over a majority of the islands, General Torvin declared himself the First Emperor of the Al'asai Empire. The newly crowned Emperor ordered the Amari mercenaries to join his Imperial Army or leave. To the Empire's surprise, they refused. The Empire lost the power to control the Amari and they became a third, independent group fighting for control of Al'asa.
As the Imperial Army closed in on the loyalists, orders were given by the Emperor to assassinate the members of the Sheikh's family so that there could be no claim to authority or succession. As the Sheikh's support crumbled and his family died around him, he went mad, and ordered his pilots to bomb the surfaces of the islands until there was nothing left but dust. Most pilots refused and left his side, only the fanatical remained. With less fighters he could not carry out his previous plan, so the Sheikh ordered his loyalists to sneak into Imperial territory and poison the two oases controlled by the Emperor, leaving only his own unspoiled. His orders were carried out and the Emperor, generals, and top leadership were all killed within the following week, along with much of the population. The military that remained launched an aggressive campaign to take the last oasis, still under the Sheikh's control, which destroyed much of the remaining landscape. As the military closed in on him, and realizing he would be caught and killed, the Sheikh set off a large bomb, destroying the Sheikh and much of the remaining military with him.
With the Sheikh and all of the military gone, the survivors huddled around the last surviving oasis and slowly began to rebuild their devastated world. This first group of survivors are referred to as the Founders. In those difficult early first years, the survivors had to place the group's needs above the individual's out of necessity. The founders stressed these principals continuously, and also began to advocate for a giant wall to protect the land from foreigners. They worked tirelessly to build what would become the Motherland, but in humbleness refused to have their names recorded in history.
The Amari that managed to escape regrouped themselves in a chain of small islets between the Al'asa island chain and the Amari island chain, raiding both settlements as the Amari pirate clan.
tl;dr version:
Al'asa Timeline:
Cataclysm - yr 0
People regroup into family structures known as "tents" ~ by yr 25
People regroup into nomadic, tribal structures known as "ishams" ~ by yr 45
The Oasis Skirmishes - yr 83
The War of the Sands - yrs 96-98
The Community of Ishams is formed by the Uniter - yr 101
The Communal Code is formalized and written down by the Uniter - yr 104
The Uniter Dies, Son ascends throne - yr 166
Amari Trade Federation attacks begin, secretly funded by Al'asai Generals - yr 169
Military declares State of Emergency and takes control with soldiers - yr 170
Military plot exposed/Split between Military and Loyalists, Military begins attacking Historical and Cultural institutions, start of the open Al'asai Civil War - yr 178
General Torvin declares himself First Emperor of the Al'asai Empire, Amari Trade Federation severs ties with military, but stays in the war - yr 187
Military begins assassination campaign of the Shiekh's family - yr 196
The Al'asai Civil War ends when the Mad Sheikh poisons the oases and destroys himself and remaining military - yr 198
Survivors Recover - yrs 198-201
The Foundation (Founders rebuild) - yrs 201-229
First Wall Complete - yr 226
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