Kargon: Lore

Kargonan History

Kargonan History

----The Hujjaran Era----

Ancient Kargon

The Hujjaran Era refers to the time before the reign of Queen Kargonah.  Ancient Kargon is the age generally described as pre-Hujjar, of which next to nothing is known.

There is a myth that life began when the first group of men and women settled the middle of Kargon.  At that time there was no word to describe the landmass that was settled; it was simply objectively referred to as "this land," and was continually called this for hundreds of years.  When the group had depleted all the resources of the region, they needed to migrate elsewhere.  Legend has it that they could not agree on which direction to voyage.  One half wanted to go west, the other half wanted to go east.  Since they could not agree, the group split and went their separate ways; each confident in the good fortune to be found in their chosen direction.  These respective groups are the ancestors of what later became the western and eastern realms.

Despite the common cultural identity, early Kargon was littered with many hundreds of factions, each with their own customs and languages.  In the west, the factions were known as tribes, which were smaller but far more numerous than their eastern counterparts.  In the east, the factions were known as clans, which were larger and often more structurally defined than their western counterparts.

There was still no word for the entirety of the land.  A person speaking about the continent either spoke of it in terms of who owned the land, "what you're seeking is in this tribe's land," "that clan's land has the resources," or spoke of it in the context of their geographical orientation, "she was from the west" and "he's from the east."  The language barrier did much to keep the sides from finding common ground.  Whenever a smaller faction would start absorbing another, the factions surrounding the invader would attack the invaders, thereby keeping everyone else in check.  No faction was strong enough to overcome this very odd defense mechanism that nearly every group took part in Kargon, resulting in few absorptions, until Hujjar.

Western Realm

The western realm is mountainous in some parts, flat in others, but always barren and harsh.  There were not many deserts, save in the southwestern region, but the sun burned brightest in the western realm.  It rained less, and there were fewer bodies of water.   Food was usually obtained through hunting animals; of which there were many.  Survival and strength became the two most important aspects of life.  Male and female were, on average, viewed as equals.  This was borne out of necessity, as the harsh conditions in the west forced everyone, whether male or female, to contribute to the tribe's survival however they could.  Males and females had interchangeable roles, and females who could not do everything a male could do were either exiled or died because of their inability to endure.  As a result, the culture of the west became rough; its people's customs hardened like the environment they inhabited.  Everyone in a tribe knew how to fight.  The population in the west was and still is the highest.  While the general sense of the west was collective survival, warriors were very individualistic, decorating themselves with whatever trophies or ornaments they deemed necessary.  These adornments usually told the story of the warrior's life and accomplishments.  Many of Hujjar's warriors literally branded parts of their body to distinguish themselves further; the face was a popular option.

When the history of the western kingdom is spoken of, you do not get far until King Hujjar is brought up.  There is no record from which tribe Hujjar came, only that he was from the southwest region and came to dominate the western tribes.  Hujjar was barbaric.  He annihilated, pillaged, raped, murdered, and massacred his way into absolute power.  To overcome the Kargon-wide defense mechanism, Hujjar used the mechanism itself to rally multiple tribes against one another based on a false perception of another tribe trying to expand.  Hujjar would often send his troops, disguised as another faction, in to a third tribe's territory to pillage whatever they could find.  The result was that the destruction of the tribe Hujjar had framed.  Hujjar then quietly took over the region.  He did this for a period of time, consolidating almost a quarter of the western region before anyone suspected he was behind it all.  By the time Hujjar was found out, he had stockpiled enough resources and weapons to withstand the unorganized defense mechanism that inevitably arose.  Hujjar was extremely proficient in battle, and this skill was attributed as the reason for many of his victories.  The eastern realm was still full of warring clans, with no clear leader or spokesmen.  To prevent the east from entering the fray, Hujjar constructed a wall that separated the west and the east as his army swept from the southwest to the northwest region.  This wall contained all sorts of lethal countermeasures to dissuade any attacking army.