The Legend of Immigration

The Fall of the Christian Bishopric-Kingdom of Desierto

Long ago...

An ancient kingdom once existed in the southern parts of Central Ishtar, known for its rich history.Throughout history, kings have kept their laws, treaties, congratulatory letters from foreign diplomats, and poems celebrating family birthdays in their libraries.It was located across the way from the throne room inside the castle, where they have lived for generations.By pure chance, the current ruling family was the House of Alexios Komninos.Their ancestry dates back to King Alexios Kominos I, a powerful warrior king who famously defeated Pergrande and Bellum's attempt to conquer the east.On his deathbed, Alexios passed the throne to his son, Alexios II, after thirty years of ruling as a strong leader.The Bishop of the Desiertan Catholic Church crowned Prince Alexios the new King of Desierto following the funeral.

The new king proved to be just as a warrior as his father. He destroyed another attempt at conquering the eastern territories by Pergrande and Bellum, then demanded reparations in exchange for a treaty. So, the payment was agreed to be one trillion Ishtarian dollars per week. Paranoid of being cheated if the payment was in cash, he added a clause to the treaty that demanded the payment in gold. Pergrande and Bellum protested and lobbied for mercy, but Alexios II was stubborn. He threatened war if they did not agree to his final demand. To show he was serious, he posted his mercenaries on the border with Bellum, ready to invade and pillage to their heart's content with his go-ahead. So, in Bellum, a scramble for gold ensued where King Augustus of the Julio-Claudian dynasty ordered his royal miners to search the mountains for it. Ten thousand Tonnes of gold bars were found, but his royal accountants said it wasn't enough to pay his debt. So, he passed a law that granted power to his secret police where they were allowed to make indiscriminate arrests and then executions if anyone resisted his order. Churches in the capital city of Mediolanum were ransacked of their golden relics by his secret police. Priests who dared excommunicate him were executed indiscriminately by the noose. So, they eventually sent another ten thousand Tonnes of gold relics plus an extra fifty thousand Tonnes of gold bars from the mines by rail. It was still not enough, unfortunately and the deadline was fast approaching. Soon the ambassador from Desierto arrived to ask for the payment but Augustus stalled for time by boasting about his ancestors and their fame. He even held philosophical debates in Latin, Bellum's official language. But the ambassador grew impatient. He sent a letter saying Augustus refused to pay which angered King Alexios. He ordered his mercenaries to attack, then news reached King Augustus of raids along the border by masked wizards.

He tried to arrest them, but they disappeared before his secret police arrived. Eventually things were so bad that he was forced to sue for peace once again. His cousin-in-law, King Tiberius X of Pergrande, was busy quelling a rebellion in the east to come to his aid. So, Augustus was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty, promising land along the border. Triumphant, King Alexios gave it to Lord Peter Tzimiskes, a trustworthy nobleman who fought in the wars against Bellum and Pergrande as a fief. In thanks, the nobleman unsheathed his sword then stabbed it in the ground and knelt before the King. This is accepted as a gesture of respect by a vassal to his or her lord/lady in feudal Desierto. Thus, the House of Alexios Kominos continued its reign and ruled over Desierto for another 500 years, after Alexios II died. His descendants continued to lead the country to an unprecedented age of economic, political, and social prosperity. Unfortunately, while Desiertans were proud of being among the greatest countries in history, they were so overconfident that the ports were left undefended. The country would be turned upside down by a new threat ten times more powerful than Bellum and Pergrande combined.

In a continent far away,

Down by the south pole, there was a supercontinent made of one powerful country and several small kingdoms surrounding it. This continent was Asia, home to the Empire of Saudi Arabia. It was almost as powerful as Ishtar's rival in Alakitasia, the Empire of Alvarez in military strength by land and sea. The official language spoken in Arabia was Arabic, but Elamite, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Ottoman Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Persian, Tajik, Sanskrit, Hindi, Assyrian, and Hittite were recognized as minority languages by the state. The Emperor of Arabia was called the Emir, because of a tradition of military service that was expected of the prince before he was accepted by his father as heir to the throne. The Empire of Arabia had been dominating the continent for four hundred and seventy years and had prospered under their rule. They had established a strong military presence in the regions they had conquered, and now they had chosen to expand their borders even further. With their vast army and navy, they had attacked a neighboring khanate to the west, with the intent to conquer and expand their empire even further. The campaign was a victory on their part and the continent was firmly under their control. At this point, the sitting emperor was a man named Osman the Magnificent, the eldest nephew of the late Suleiman the Magnificent. He shared his uncle's dreams of expanding his country's borders as far as he could, but there was no land to conquer. His ancestors had slowly taken over all of Asia. But then one of his viziers recommended attacking Ishtar. He was confused at first, because the two countries had never interacted with each other. But the vizier was firm, so the Emperor was persuaded. His company of army regulars called the Janissaries were ordered to raid the Islands of Caelum. It would serve as a wake-up call to the leaders of Ishtar. After they obeyed his command and set sail, the Emperor summoned his vizier to a private meeting. He was confronted as to why he was so hellbent on taking over Ishtar and the Vizier told the Emperor his story that goes like this.

He was born the son of an indentured servant of an Ishtarian noblewoman. His grandparents on his dad's side of the family sent his dad to first work for her then eventually marry her, because they were very ambitious. Frankly, ten times more ambitious than the other nobles at Emperor Suleiman's court. The newlyweds had him after 3 years of being happily married, for they loved each other so. His wife frequently sent him letters expressing her and their newborn son's love and wishinghim a safe return when he travelled abroad on business trips. Happy, the father wrote back explaining when he'd be back and expecting presents when he did. This went on throughout the Vizier's childhood, until after his dad left on another trip. A letter reached his mother from the captain of her husband's ship, saying he was attacked while leaving for home by robbers, but managed to get to the safety of the ship. Unfortunately, a cannon was fired at the ship, and it left a big hole on the side. The ship sank with him inside and the letter ended with her condolences because he drowned. All that was left was his coat that the captain personally dried off at home, before mailing it to her. The Vizier's mother was inconsolable when he was told the sad news, after coming home from college for the holidays. After the funeral, the Vizier told Emperor Osman that he was abused by his mother simply because he inherited his father's charisma and short temper, so he ran away and dropped out of college at the same time. On a ship heading for his father's ancestral homeland, the Vizier promised to avenge his dead father and the rest was history.

Osman was moved by the sad story, and so vowed to avenge his friend's father. He sent a letter to the Captain of the Janissaries, Ahmed ibn Saladin Bey, ordering him to sack the mainland after the Islands were pacified for conquest. As soon as they were firmly under Osman's control, the Janissaries sailed to Minstrel on mainland Ishtar. From the coast, they marched inland pillaging villages in their path. Several million Minstrelian citizens were killed in the raids, until they crossed the border. In Desierto, they did the exact same thing as in Minstrel, until they reached the capital city of Constantinople. The garrison responsible for its defense put up a valiant fight, but it was futile. They were overwhelmed by the rage the Janissaries put into breaking through the walls. Inside the city, they pillaged, raped, and slew their way to the Kommenian castle. In the end, the city burned down, and everyone was dead including the King of Desierto and his entire family. Central Ishtar was now an enclave under the Empire of Arabia's control, except for Midi who wisely gave themselves up.

The territory they controlled spread eastward to include Bellum and Pergrande, after their respective kings were killed in war. Soon, the rest of Ishtar was conquered until the entire continent was an enclave of Arabia. After Ishtar was conquered, the Empire of Arabia turned its attention to the Alvarez Empire, which was located to the west of Ishtar. With the Janissaries leading the way, they began a campaign of conquest, beginning with the coastal regions of the empire. As they pushed inland, they took more and more territory until they reached the capital city of Vistarion Town. Here, they encountered stiff resistance from the Alvarez garrison, but eventually they broke through and pillaged the city. From there, they continued to take more territory step by step, until finally they had conquered the entire empire, then the entire continent of Alakitasia. Seventy billion dollars' worth of damage was recorded after the war, but Osman did not care. He only forced his new subjects to cover the cost themselves. All the kingdoms in Ishtar eventually went bankrupt and they could no longer pay for the damages that his raids caused. The Kings made plans to launch a devastating counterraid of Arabia, but the cartographers were not sure where it was. They never heard of such a land, so the invasion failed before it even started. But the consequences were grave.

Osman was livid when his Viziers told him of a rumor that Ishtar was gearing up for a counteroffensive against him, so he dispatched his elite assassins to kill each head of state in Ishtar. From Fiore to Pergrande and from Seven to Sin and Enca, they were all assassinated without mercy. To make sure that Osman's foul mood remained, they dragged their bodies all over the capitals of each country to Ishtar. The carcass of King Komninos II's twenty-ninth great-grandson was dragged all over Constantinople, while the King of Fiore's body was given the same treatment in Crocus. And so, everyone in Arabia lived happily ever after, satisfied that vengeance was served. But Ishtar and Alakitasia continued to suffer from economic, social, and political oppression by Osman and his descendants.

The end.