History of Atelon
The Founding of the Elirapa
The early history of the founding of the Rapani lands
The Expulsion
The lands north of the Brissa River were forested and unsettled in Shirzal’s time and so were ignored by his invading generals. Wild L’npei bands hunted the area in the time of the Six Kingdoms but the grounds were not rich. Gornarod from Zelakova Working also hunted in these lands for L’npei to support the Khia trade. As a result, by M'Maoulek’s time, only a few Wild L’npei bands ranged the area.
South of the Brissa, the land was more open and had been cleared by the Wanderers. The Great Road came across the Doberai Hills at the eastern end of the Brissa Gap and then made its way to a relatively easy bridging point where the Vari was shallow and slow.
The Wanderers had built a bridge here and had a small commercial settlement. When Shirzal’s generals arrived, they destroyed the settlement and renamed the place Varitamtala. However, they were unable to maintain the bridge across the Vari and eventually it became unusable. The bridge was then replaced with a ferry at the crossing point.
Gens Tripura of the Kingdom of D’mak was assigned the low river country south of the Brissa and west of the Vari, but it did not occupy the upland Doberai Hill country immediately east of the Dro Brissa crossing. Gens Tripura did however, maintain inns all along the Great Road from Brishanor to Varitamtala.
M’Maoulek’s Wars
Under M’Maoulek’s leadership, the Keshdumah conquered the lands east of the Vari River and settled it. For many centuries after, dissident Keshdumah who wished to embrace the Way of E’lani fled to the rolling countryside west of the Vari at the foot of the Styritsa Mountains. There, with help from the Gornarod, they precariously survived.
M’Maoulek’s first campaign across the Vari resulted in the destruction of Gens Tripura and the establishment of a Keshdumah settlement on the west bank of the Vari at the old Great Road crossing. The colony flourished until the L’npei of Kempelani recaptured the lands and destroyed the colony. Many of the Keshdumah survivors fled north across the Brissa to the Elirapa hill country settlements.
The refugees were welcomed by their Rapani kinfolk and sustained by support of the Gornarod of the Zelakova and Moslovar workings. Over time, the priests of E’lani convinced these refugees to forsake the machines that were forbidden and to embrace the Way of E’lani.
As M’Maoulek’s wars continued, the lands in the Styritsa foothills attracted Keshdumah who were dissatisfied with the increasingly machine driven and technological life in M'Maoulek’s Protectorate. The marches of Usak and Artova filled with a hardy population of yeoman farmers and herders. The priests of E’lani introduced the Rapani to the L’npei of western Pundri and brokered an alliance between them and Gens Uk-damakini of the Kempelani kingdom.
Seven times, M'Maoulek sent forces across the Vari River to clear these settlements. Seven times, the settlers burned their homes and crops, slaughtered their livestock and fled to the shelter of the Styritsa foothills. Seven times, M’Maoulek failed to break the will of these fierce and independent people. Their rugged hill forts became known as the E’lanirapa (G-d’s Fortress) and these people, the Rapani. Later, the entire area occupied by the Rapani became known as the Elirapa.
In the climactic campaign, M'Maoulek’s forces fought a L’npei army at Sarama in the Doberai Hills, along the route of the Great Road. M’Maoulek’s forces, although shaken, prevailed and drove the L’npei back to Brishanor where they regrouped. Five days later, the combined Rapani and Gornarod armies under the leadership of Gaberowic of Usak crossed the Brissa River, behind M’Maoulek’s forces and blocked their line of retreat. The L’npei counter-attacked M’Maoulek’s army and shattered it upon the anvil of Gaberowic’s army.
The Great Revolt began soon after. Many Keshdumah, especially those on the frontiers, had found completeness in the Way of E’lani. When they refused to join in the Great Revolt, they were brutally suppressed or expelled. In the north, these families fled to the Elirapa, where they were welcomed. They settled the vacant lowlands east of the foothills and, in time these settlements grew into the marches of Selka, Sivas and Tahir.
M'Maoulek’s Wars ended with the defeat of his army at Brishanor and the subsequent revolt of the United Councilate States. The battles for control of the Brissa Gap are described in detail in the history of Korslik.