Rezonians

The Rezonians were one of the first empires. They are also said to be the strongest empire ever. They lasted for 7000 years.

Origin
Originally the Beasts ruled Cretacia. They were very cruel and very strong. They would enslave thousands of Dinosaurs and other non-Beasts. Then, one day a slave named Sertian refused to work and started a rebellion. Arsulfak, the Beast king, soon crushed Sertian's rebellion. Sertian fled to the Hills of Rezonia and lived there in hiding. Soon, other Dinosaurs who were tired of Beast rule joined him.

Several decades after Sertian's death, these groups soon formed a kingdom in the mountains. They named themselves the Rezonians, since they came from the Rezonia mountains. Their king was Sertian's great-great-great-grandson. His name was Feantil. The Beast king, Aertiak the strong, declared war on him. After 70 years of fighting, Feantil's grandson Seartuil defeated Aertiak and killed him. The once mighty Beast empire was destroyed.

30 years later, Seartuil's son Searkalt defeated the last independent kingdom and became the first Rezonian king to rule the whole of Cretacia. He had established a mighty empire that would rule the world for 7000 years.

The Rezonians' secret to success
The Rezonians ruled for 7000 years and defeated every rebellion they faced. What made them so powerful?

The secret was.....the Knights of Fire! These were a group of extremely powerful Fireyes Masters. At the height of their power, the Rezonians had 50,000 Knights of Fire.

Sertian the valiant
He was the ancestor of the Rezonian kings. As a slave he had led a rebellion against the Beasts, but it was crushed by Arsulfak, the Beast king.He then fled to the Rezonia mountains with what was left of his rebellion.Slowly other Dinosaurs who had suffered at the hands of the Beasts joined him.

Feantil
He was the First king of Rezonia. He sent a message to the Beast king Aertiak, suggesting that the Beasts take half of the earth and the Rezonians take the other half. The Beasts had been ruling for a long time and had defeated all those who rebelled against them. Aertiak thought that the Beast army was invincible and he refused. He demanded that the Rezonians give all their wealth, lands and weapons to the Beasts, two in every three of the Rezonian soldiers should be killed, and Feantul's entire family should allow themselves to be arrested. Feantil refused and the Beasts fought a war with them. This war is famous as the 70 years war.

When Feantil refused, Aertiak sent an army of 20,000 Beasts and 30,000 dinosaurs to attack Feantil. Feantil had only 10,000 soldiers. He retreated into a high mountain fort which was then besieged by the Beasts. The Beasts, however were not used to the cold and the lack of air in high altitudes like these. So they were forced to retreat to the foot of the mountains and send the Dinosaurs up to besiege them. These Dinosaurs lived in these areas so they had no difficulty in fighting a battle at the top of the mountains. When they reached the top, however, Feantil made a speech to them about how cruel the Beasts were and how if they joined him they would get a better life(the Beasts ill-treated the non-Beasts in their army). All the dinosaurs joined Feantil and he easily defeated the Beasts at the bottom.

Feantil spent the next few years building an empire and conquering more lands. Finally, 14 years after the war started, Aertiak marched forth with an army of 500,000 Beasts(no dinosaurs)to stop Feantil's conquering spree. Feantil mustered all the soldiers he could(250,000)and met Aertiak in battle. Feantil fought well and was winning the battle when Aertiak marched in with a group of Artiacels. These Artiacels were invincible and Feantil lost the war. He fought Aertiak in a hand to hand combat but lost. Aertiak injured him badly and Feantil was forced to retreat. Then Feantil's brother Feartak then attacked the invading Beast army(now they had only 150,000 fighters)with an army of 60,000 soldiers. Again, he was winning when Aertiak came forth with the Artiacels. Again, they lost. But after this battle, Aertiak had only 20,000 Beasts left and had to postpone his planned invasion.

After one more year, Feantil recovered from his wounds and went forth with an army to conquer again. When he was fighting the governer of the first fort he attacked, he suddenly felt a great pain in the place where Aertiak had injured him, and he collapsed. The conquest was called off and Feantil was brought back to his home. He died there at the age of 50.

Feartul
He was the son of Feantil. When Feantil died, Feartul was only 12 years old. Aertiak knew that Feartul was too young to fight him, so he attacked. With the help of Feartak, Feartul built the fort of Rezoniar in just one and a half months and his soldiers stayed there during the Beast invasion. To many people, it seemed like the fort hade been made by magic(it seemed impossible to build a strong fort in just one and a half months)so they called it Minas Mantul, the tower of magic.

During the building of the fort, Feartul also gave orders for his men to gether all the food they could from the surrounding areas and destroy whatever food they could not take. He also told them to break all the ponds and other water sources they could find. These orders seemed pointless to many people(and they were being given by a 12 year old boy)so Feartul faced many rebellions. He personally led his forces out and fought the rebels. The most serious rebellion of all came when his generals mutinied and surrounded the palace with their men. They also killed Feartak. Feartul then addressed the soldiers and gave them a great speech about why they must stay united and how the generals were not united(This was true. Several of the generals had been planning to kill the other generals, so Feartul revealed to all the generals about how each of them planned to betray the other and then locked all of them up in one room. They killed each other. Feartul showed the soldiers this to persuade them that it was better that they side with him,not the generals). He spoke so well that when one of the generals came out and commanded his soldiers to kill Feartul, they killed him instead. Feartul never suffered a rebellion again.

Aertiak was unable to take Minas Mantul and decided to starve the Rezonians out. But there was lots of food and less soldiers inside the city. Outside however there was no food or water(Feartul's commands to destroy all the food they couldn't take now proved useful). Aertiak's send raiding parties to burn villages to the ground and take whatever food they could from there. This made the Beasts very unpopular with the people in those area. Feartul sent some of his men to tell the villagers that they could have revenge if they joined the Rezonian army. They then took the villagers to a secret valley where they were trained and geiven weapons. 400,000 villagers were trained like this.Then, early one morning 5 months after the siege had begun, all 400,000 soldiers(and the 150,000soldiers inside the fort)attacked the Beasts. The weak, starving Beasts were unable to hold off the Rezonians and retreated.

Seartuil the Mighty
He was the son of Feartul. 70 years after Feantil had declared war on Aertiak, Seartuil met Aertiak on the battlefield for the deciding battle of the entire war. Seartuil's army fought bravely and were winning when Aertiak arrived on the battlefield leading a regiment of 200 Artiacels. Seartuil's soldiers were unable to face the onslaught and started retreating. Then Seartuil fought Aertiak personally. None of Seartuil's weapons were able to have any impact on the skin of the ancient Artiacel. Aertiak was unable to break Seartuil's armour, so he lifted Seartuil and threw him on the ground. Seartuil's weapons and armour flew of him. Aertiak ran forward to kill him. In desperation, Seartuil snatched a bow and arrow which were lying next to him and fired at Aertiak. The arrow flew into Aertiak's only weakspot; his eye. Aertiak collapsed on the ground and died. Because of this feat, Seartuil is known as Seartuil the mighty.

Seartuil's army went on to win the battle. It was the end of the Beast empire and the rise of the Rezonian empire.

After the death of Aertiak, the Beast empire split into several smaller kingdoms. Seartuil started conquering them, and soon, the remaining kingdoms had to give up. However, the kingdom around Erenath, the ancient Beast capital, still held out against the invaders.

Searkalt
He was the son of Seartuil.

30 years after the death of Aertiak(and 100 years after Feantil declared war on the Beasts)he defeated the last Beast kingdom(apart from Erenath, which was thought to be ruined) and became the first Rezonian emperor of the whole of Cretacia. For around 4000 years, there was no problem with the Beasts.

Seftil
He was the son of Searkalt and the first king to face the Mandrakes. During his twelfth year as king, he met their ambassador,who gave him the famous Message of Mendraz:

"We, the Council of Mendraz, send a messgae to Seftil of the Dinosaurs. We demand that Seftil gives us our due payment. Alike to your fathers, we have suffered at the hands of the Beasts. We have sought revenge, but unlike you, never got the chance. While you crushed the Beasts, we have desired to help, but the Beasts slew our first king,the likes of who we may never see again. The time for weakness is over. We bare now a strong people and we would have you treat us as such. Therefore, we demand that you give us three-fourths of the enemy forts you conquered. We also need some gold. Do this,and we are sure our races can co-exist as befits our strengths"

Seftil was taken aback. He refused to pay the gold and demanded that the Mandrakes be more reasonable.He suggested that he give the Mandrakes a piece of land half the size of the Mandrake forest to allow them space to grow and build up their nation.Once they became strong,he suggested,he might allow them some more land.That,he finished,would be a fair agreement,given the relative strengths of their kingdoms.Seftil thought the patronizing tone of his message would be a fair return to the demeaning message they had sent him.

The Mandrakes sent him the following reply:"There can be no compromise.We are the greater race and we will reap the benefits of our status.You may be resting on the laurels of your victory over the beasts,but understand that your victory would not have been posiible had the majority of the beasts' attention have beenon us.As such,you owe us for everything you have conquered,and we are only asking for our due payment.Do not let your arrogance blind you.The beasts made the mistake of thinking they could beat us and  they payed for it with ruin.If you care for your race,do not make the same mistake."

This reply infuriated Seftil.He resented the superior tone of the Mandrakes and their seemingly groundless suggestion that all his family's victories were due to them.He found it ridiculous that a race whho were,by their own admiittance,beaten down not so many years ago,could rise to become powerful so soon,powerful enough to challeenge the might of the Rezonian empire.With this in mind,he sent them the following message:

"Do not get above yourselves.We were the ones who fought the beasts with the last breath of our bodies.We were the ones who spilt our blood for freedom over the past century.We were the ones who finally defeated the beasts,razed Erenath and ended the evil rule of the Great Emperor.You lot did nothing butt cower in your forests.It is you who owes us forr your freedom.All our forts,all our land,all our wealth has been earned through hard fighting.What right do you have to any of this?I will keep all my forts and not give you an inch of laand or a speck of gold.Be thankful that I do not seize your lands,as is my right as successsor to the Great Emperor of Cretacia.Be thankful that I do not ask you for tribute."

This,he thought,would teach the Mandrakes humility.Just in case,he also sent four battalions of his army,which he thought would be more than enough to handle the Mandrakes,to the borders of Mandrake forest,to defend against a possible Mandrake assault.

A week later,the Mandrakes struck.Rather than waging war,however,they struck in a mnore subtle manner.That night,a mysterious assasin sneacked into Seftil's palace and killed him.None of his guards saw the assassin,but Seftil's corpse was found the following morning in his bed,without a mark of any kind.On thee floor,however,a mysterious mark was left.Certain sections of the wooden planking had sprouted  leaves,forming a wierd green insignia on the floor.No one knew what it was,but some obsservant people noticed that the same insignia had been branded on the letterheads of the two messages they had receiveed from the mandrakes.

Semfil and Semrak
They were the sons of Seftil.In his youth,Semrak,the younger of the two,excelled in the fighting arts and was soon made a general in the army.Semfil was not inclined towards fighting,but made an excellent administrator and diplomat.

At the age of twenty-one,Semrak was placed in command of the army sent to the border with the Mandrakes.He was eager at seeing his first fight  and  made preparations all along the border,creating entrenched positions to help hold off the Mandrakes and sent regular scouting missions to warn of their approach.Seftil remained back in Minas Mantul and was there wheen his father was assasinated.Sensing that his succession may cause trouble,he called Semrak back to help him quell any dissidents.It was fortunate that he did so,for the army at the Mandrake border was destroyed soon after Semrak returned.Not a single soldier survived to tell the tale,and Semrak was left clueless as to how such a large and well-prepared army was quelled overnight.

The succession went smoothly as no lord dared to rebel against Semfil as long as he had Semrak by his side.Problems arose after that,however.The lords whose lands lay at the border of Mandrake forest grew afraid of a Mandrake assault and appealed to the king for help.Semrak too joined them in requesting that an army be sent to quell the Mandrakes.But after the disappearence of the border army,rumours had spread about the unearthly powers of the Mandrakes and most people feared to face them.Semfil,too,was afraid that if he went against the wishes of the Mandrakes,he would face the same fate as his father.Therefore,depite Semrak's protests,he decided to try to come to an agreement with the Mandrakes.

He sent them a messenger offering them as much land as was required to house their populace,which he estimated at the rough area again of Mandrake forest,and golod enough to meet their needs.This treaty,he sadi,would be open to re-negociation in the futeure if the needs of the Mandrakes grew.This deal caused great protests in the lands he had offered to give away,and even a few rebellins,which Semrak put down.However,the messenger who went to Mandrake forest never returned.Semfil tried again,with the same result.However,this time,the Mandrakes sent back a reply,in the form of an arrow fired over the border,stating that no mere dinosaur would be allowed to behold the wonders of Mandrake forest.This "Ban of Mendraz"lasted for ever since,no dinosaur who entered the forest ever coming back out.

This grounded Semfil,who now had no means by which to communicate with the Mandrakes,the ambassador who hius father had contacted having left before the assasination.Semfil then decided that to placate the Mandrakes,regular shipments of gold would be left outside Mandrake forest.The shipments always disappeared,assumably taken by the Mandrakes,but the forest had gone quiet and nobody ever heard anything from the Mandrakes.

Semrak vociferously protested this new move to pay tribute to the people who had killed their father ,demeaned their dynasty and destroyed a part of their army.Semfil payed no heed to him,and finally,Semrak was driven to action.He travelled west and,gathering the armies of all the lords on the Madrake border,decided to march on Mandrake forest.Several lords lent him their support and he attacked Mandrake forest with a large army.Reaching the border,he seized the latest shipment of gold and sent it back to Minas Mantul with a note saying that the Rezonians would beg no more-the next shipment to cross the border would be coming in the opposite direction.He entered the forest to battle the Mandrakes-and was never heard of again.

Back at Mantul,Semfil's only reaction was to double the amount of gold in the shipment and send it to the border as an apology for the invasion.

Saervin
He was the grandson of Semfil.He decided once more that the time of placating the Mandrakes would come to an end.In the third year of his reign,he ceased paying the regular tributes started by his grandfather.To provoke the Mandrakes further,he sent them an insulting message declaring that the Rezonians were no slaves and that it was the Mandrakes who ought to pay the tributes.

The messenger,as usual,never returned,but two years passed and the Mandrakes made no move against Saervin.The border,which Saervin had had highly militarized and fortified in preparation,remained as quiet as it had always had .Saervin waited on,puzzled at the lack of reaction from the Mandrakes.More than a century had passed since the Message of Mendraz,but they hadn't made any move to claim the land they had demanded.

Finally,Saervin decided that if war was to come,he would have to start it.The Knights of Fire had been set up during his father's reign,so he launched several Fireyes raids on Mandrake forest,burning large swaths of it to the ground.He sent a message,by arrow,to the Mandrakes stating that he was only seeking payback for the two Rezonian armies destroyed during his grandfather's time.This time,the Mandrakes reacted.They sent a message(the first since the death of Seftil)to Saervin stating that unless the raids were stopped,the Mandrakes would wreak terrible vengeance on the Rezonians.Minas Mantul,they said,would "burn like a sea of fire".

Delighted at getting a reply,Saervin told the messenger that the raids would continue until the Mandrakes agreed  to acknowledge Rezonian Supremacy.The messenger merely said"We were too kind to Seftil"and left.Saervin followed his statement up with the largest Fireyes raid up till then,with 400 Fireyes stricking simultaneously all across the forest.The very next day,a Mandrake army issued from the forest,stricking at the nearby fortifications.The Mandrake War had begun.