History:
The history of Tilea is shrouded in myth and legend.
Raconteurs tell tales of lost cities and the rise and fall
of a glorious civilisation, millennia before the time of Sigmar
in the north.
The Age of Myths (Circa -2500 to -1500 IC)
The very first tribes to enter the lands of the Old World
came from the south nearly five thousand years ago, forced
northwards by more powerful tribes that sought to enslave
them. Imperial scholars sometimes refer to these first huntergatherer
tribes as the Barrow people or Belthani, although
Tileans more often refer to them as Tylosians.
One ancient legend of this region is recounted in the epic
Tilean poem known as the Thirteen Tolls of the Bells, based
on an earlier Dwarf work known as Doom of Kazvar. This
poem recalls a lost Tilean city where men hired Dwarf masons
to create a great temple to Tylos, the patron god of the city.
In both version of the poem, the legend of Tylos does not
end well. A stranger who came to aid in the building of the
temple brought curses from his strange god. During one night
of thunder and madness, the great temple bell tolled thirteen
times, whereupon the loathsome Skaven rose from their caverns
and took the city.
The Archaic Age and the First Remen Empire
(Circa -1499 to -1 IC)
After the Elves departed from the Old World in -1500 IC,
the first Human empire in the Old World emerged. Founded
by a tribe who took the name Remans after their greatest
leader, the first Reman village would be built among the ruins
of the abandoned Elven colony upon which the modern city of
Remas stands today.
The Tilean tribes at this time were mainly shepherds who
grazed their flocks near small towns around the ruins of Elven
settlements. Despite their pastoral habits, the Remans were
at heart a warrior tribe, depicted in art and poem as naked,
muscular and bearded. The aggressive Remans expanded
their influence until all the tribes of the land known as Tylia
owed allegiance to the chieftains of their village. The Reman
chieftains eventually declared themselves Kings of Kings and
forced the neighbouring tribes to pay them tributes of women
and slaves. Judging by artwork and relics found in the most
ancient Reman tombs, the worship of Solkan began around
this time among the kings of ancient Remas.
Some historians believe the ascension of Solkan’s cult
forced those tribes worshipping Tylos and Myrmidia to flee
the Remans into the Mountains. The refugees are believed to
have sought shelter in the east, across the Apuccini Mountains
in the region known today as the Border Princes. Scholars are
not certain whether these fleeing tribes drew the attention of
the powerful Nehekharan Empire in the south. Nevertheless,
the Priest-Kings of Nehekharan did notice the empire from
which they fled. Hungry for power and slaves to build their
splendid palatial tombs, the Nehekharans quickly launched an
invasion to conquer the Remans.
Popular Tilean epic poems describe waves of dark-skinned
warriors crossing the ocean from far Zandri in the south and
across the eastern mountains. Invading Nehekharans clashed
with the Remans in a series of bloody conflicts. Although the
savage Remans were superior fighters, the limitless armies of
Priest-King Amenemhetum the Great eventually overcame
them with sheer weight of numbers, and by the year -1200 IC
when Alcadizaar the Conqueror took up the mantle of Priest-
King, all of Tilea had been under the yolk of the Nehekharan
Empire for several years.
Despite being subjects of the Nehekharan Empire, the
subjugated Tilean tribes still traded with their conquerors
quite freely, and even journeyed to Nehekhara for education
and opportunity. Tilean scholars often claim that the ancient
Khyprian Road running the length of Khemri is of archaic Tilean
construction. Early Tileans also traded with the barbaric
tribes north of the Black Mountains by way of mountain passes
and the River of Echoes. Evidence shows that the subjugated
Remans led raiding expeditions to sate the Nehekharan
Empire’s demands for slaves. These slaving raids brought the
Remans to the distant lands now comprising Estalia, where
they captured foreign villagers for their Nehekharan overlords
in place of pure-blooded Reman warriors.
All things must end, however, and in -1151 IC when the
dead began to rise across the entire known world, the Nehekharan
Empire and its Tilean vassals were doomed.
The Dead Arise
Far to the east, the Great Necromancer had broken the
chains of death. His great ritual awoke the dead of Khemri to
serve him, and then he turned upon the Skaven who had once
aided him. When the Skaven attempted to stop the Great Necromancer,
a great magical duel was fought across hundreds
of miles. The fallout from this cataclysmic sorcery lingers in
parts of Tilea to this day.
The Nehekharan Empire collapsed and Tilea was devastated.
Hordes of Orcs to the south and east that had long been
kept in check soon overran Khemri, before pillaging Border
Princes settlements and marching into Tilea itself. Tilea’s
eastern inhabitants scattered, some hiding in the mountains
and others sailing far away in their primitive ships. Tilean
refugees sailed as far away as Araby and settled the islands
around Estalia.
All the while, the dead rose from the ancient battlefields and
cemeteries of Tilea. Every major settlement fell to the Undead,
who in the first weeks pressed ever northward. Heading toward
the darkness of the Blighted Marshes before finally losing
impetus, the walking dead began to linger along roadsides
and in the smoking ruins left behind by the Orcs. Even today,
the Zombie Marshes covering the northernmost region of Tilea
crawl with animated dead that are a legacy of this time.
With the Reman Empire shattered, the next few hundred
years saw the lands of Tilea turn to wilderness. Vagabonds
controlled the roads and passes. The abandoned cities became
home to shepherds, brigands or worse, all of whom were
shunned by decent folk. This was a dark time with much fighting
between small settlements, some of which was secretly
orchestrated by the scheming Skaven. Much of the Remans’
knowledge, including great works of art and literature were
lost, destroyed or stolen.
Dominion of the Southern League
As the Undead presence diminished over the next three centuries,
several petty kingdoms were able to emerge. However,
constant infighting between these fledgling kingdoms meant
that no single king was able to attain power over the others.
Slowly, newer settlements began to develop, forming leagues
and alliances amongst themselves. The Southern League led
by the mountain fortress of Marossa extended its powers over
much of the Tilean peninsula. Northern villages were trapped
between the armies of the Southern League and the tribes
migrating south from the lands of the future Empire.
Displaced followers of the tribal gods began to establish
shrines and temples in the new settlements springing up
around Tilea. Priests traveled the land preaching the word of
deities such as Morr, Verena and Shallya; old religions that
had been preserved over the long years since the collapse of
the Reman Empire. Chief among the faithful were the priests
of Myrmidia, who moved down from their mountain exile to
tell of the ancient past and of the Eagle goddess.
A new noble class emerged over time and true kingdoms
began to form. Some of these nobles
claimed to be descendants of the Reman
kings, backing up their allegations with Reman
artefacts recovered from ancient ruins. The
Southern League became ever more decadent
over time.
Marossa consolidated its power by forming a union with the nearby town of Teal, where hundreds of
slaves captured from surrounding lands toiled their lives away carving
legions of exquisite statues from bedrock. Faced with the cruelty
and malice of the powerful Southern League and raiding parties from the warlike northerners, Tilea's people
adopted a culture of discontent and brutality. Eventually, a leader
emerged who could unite the fragmented villages against their more powerful foes.
Myrmidia Reborn
The woman who would become First Queen of Tilea was
named Macaria Medina according to the records of ancient
temples. Historical texts place Medina’s rise to power somewhere
between -15 to 50 IC, however the precise date is
uncertain, causing many arguments between various Tilean
factions to this day. Conflicting accounts of Myrmidia’s ascension
have also created friction with branches of the cult in
Estalia, where Myrmidia is revered above all other gods.
The most common stories indicate that a young Medina was
sold by her family into an arranged marriage with a prince of
Marrossa. Estalian priests claim Medina was a slave originally
born in their lands, and some even claim her marriage
occurred in Estalia. Legends say that Medina was abused by
her contemptible husband. So brutal was Medina’s husband
that the otherwise peaceful girl one day took his spear during
a beating, and in an act of self-defence, she thrust the weapon
deep into his gut.
According to scriptures, Medina then fled from her husband’s
family to the northern countryside and became a bandit.
As a charismatic young woman dedicated to righting the
wrongs of the world, she quickly drew people to her banner.
Soon Medina led of a small but successful troop of bandits,
which she committed to aiding the poor citizens of Tilea.
Medina’s freedom fighters repulsed attacks from the mountain
passes of the north and stemmed the tide of northern barbarians
causing havoc among them.
Within a few years, Medina had risen from being a bandit
chief to becoming the most powerful leader in the lands. She
was elected ruler of several northern towns and commanded
an army that dwarfed any other in the north. In the first of Medina’s
twelve great battles, she destroyed a massive army from
Marossa that was positioned to destroy her and restore the
Southern League’s dominance. Medina then fought another
four great battles on Tilean soil and in the process united the
disparate city-states into one empire.
Lord of the Pies' Reman Empire units
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to explain.
+rep
Originally Posted by Toho
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