Post by Lord Newbury on Dec 13, 2017 10:38:30 GMT
The House of Shimon-Zanuchazzar
The History of the Shimoni People
The Shimon-Zanuchazzar dynasty is an ancient house of Tlem offshoots, that held a dominant position in the history of Trevast in the ancient times before the coming of Arturas. Modern scholars have referred to their Kingdom in various ways - the ancient Kingdom known as the ‘Kingdom of Zanu-Shimon’ in the homelands of the modern day Tlem people, with the latter Kingdom of Razem formed when the Dynasty migrated to the mainland currently split across the Nations of Luska and Aladez. Following their banishment from the North, the Kingdom of Mazlek was established in what is now known as the Ettinlands, before its purging and subjugation by the Izhen Dynasty.
For several centuries the House of Shimon-Zanuchazzar fell under the Izhen Dynasty, forming around the Academy of Herodim (an academy which still stands today) wherein they developed Hedazzim a collection of theological and philosophical practices built on the traditions of their people. This philosophy is one the house follows to this day - and was seen as undermining the Ruling Class, whilst also being very popular within the poorer areas of the Cities. A series of laws were rapidly passed forbidding the teachings of Hadazzim, which taught around three basic principles - equal justice before the law, monotheism (which included that the gods would never walk on earth, and thus their word could only be known to Priests), predestination and the use of sacrifice to understand the will of god. The final straw, however, was the belief in a ‘Theocratic Gerontocracy’, which preached that only the religious elders could be trusted to rule - not a monarch.
This new practice, when spread widely, became absurdly popular within the lower orders of society, who took solace in the double-truths the seers told them, as well as the perceived equality afforded them by the judicial system that priests taught. Enclaves about the city formed around the temples, and soon the ruling classes had to take action. Commanding that the Temples could not meet and pray outside - and had to do so under a roof, which was against the teachings of the priests, a series of riots took place, leading to the merciless decimation of the priests, and the burning of the great temple and the academy itself.
The House was promptly deposed, and subjected to harsh laws - whilst their people enslaved, and likewise treated to the same set of laws as their elders. It is said that around this time, the House contemplated conversion to the dominant Arturian Faith - a rumour that is vehemently denied by the current rulers. Instead, the House petitioned the Monarchy for the ‘right of migration’ and move further south to the modern day capital of the Ettinlands wherein they would be permitted to teach amongst their own kind, who would be released from slavery and forced to migrate as well.
As history went on, the House has stood the test of time, even to this very day..
Origins - c. 2000 BC
Official records kept by the House and other Scholars show that the House of Shimon-Zanuchazzar was originally a tribal fiefdom within the Tlem people on the Hrotil in modern day Routaille. Serving as one of the many tribal chieftains in the region, the ancestral lands of the House can be traced back to having been close to the coastline - and thus after many generations, the House began to find themselves wishing/needing to push over the seas, and explore pastures new.
During this time, although estimates as to the exact date vary, the tribe that would form the modern day House of Shimon-Zanuchazzar built a fleet of boats and travelled across the sea, some heading west and some east. Those who headed toward the lands of the Boterim have long since been lost to historic record, whilst those who arrived on Trevast are known to have established a settlement there. According to the official family history ‘The Records of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar’ -
“And they saw there a great abundance of land, unsettled by civil folk and untouched by the plough or the axe. Kuen Geonim Pumbetia Tam var Gam havar Shion Shimon-Zanuchazzar, did look over the land and declare upon the Mount Razem, that a Kingdom of that name would be formed - a land for his people, for all time. Matriarch Sura Ubel Naz vet Mazul havet Marhiyal Shimon-Zanuchazzar did plant her stave, and about did instruct the foundations of the first settlement to be built.”
It was at this time, that the City of Razem is understood to have been constructed, in the traditional manner of the Tlem at first - around a series of tents and huts, formed around a central building which would one day become the First Great Academy of Razem in which the Elders of the Tribe would live. During this time, the House and Great Academy was said to have brought a written a codified language - based on the Tlem Alphabet - over to the mainland, it is known as the first great revolution of Shimoni thanks to its lasting effect on the culture and people of the world.
Thanks to the efforts of the Tribe, the Settlement grew and grew with the lands around it growing rich in food stuff and even basic gold-panning in the rivers, the people of the settlement being seen as wise beyond their years, thanks to the teachings of the Elders of the Temple. Farming was revolutionised through crop sharing, thanks to the Elders understanding of the movement of the sun and stars giving them the ‘ability’ to foresee the seasons, and soon a basic legal system was also laid down.
It would come to be known as the Kingdom of Razem, a place which grew into great wealth and opulence, under the Shamon Dynasty of the Shimoni people, who soon wedded into the Tribe of the Zanuchazzar thus forming the modern naming convention of the House. With a justice of law, which spawned many of the great philosophers and teachers of the era, and great walls ringing their City, the Kingdom flourished.
However, this legal system began to see the noble privilege of the local tribes eroded, and a great host was mustered to take down the City and its temple, marching on the Razem - pillaging and burning it the ground, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar fell to the invaders, and found themselves exiled from their first Kingdom.
The Great Migration - 1200 BC
Gathering in a great convoy, lead by the Kuen Abran Gam Tam var Zuz havar Goneric Shimon-Zanuchazzar the people of Shimon-Zanuchazzar began what is now known as the Great Migration - and widely viewed by historians as the ‘single greatest feat of human endeavor for a thousand years’, which saw tens of thousands of Shimon-Zanuchazzari and their subjects walking across the vast lands now known as the Badlands. Beset by tribes of barbarians, the Khanates from across the mountains, and many others, it is said that less than 30% of the Migrants managed to make it south, and the event itself is the subject of hundreds of epic poems and sagas - which have inflated the drama of the Migration greatly (to such an extent that there exist sagas saying that the Kuen Abran slew a dragon on the fourth week of the march).
What is known, or at least widely accepted, is that the Shimon-Zanuchazzar Migration coincided with the first recorded eruption of the Mountain of Fate, seen as a sign by many of the migrants, due to the ash cloud blanketing their former Kingdom in the North. Many Shimon-Zanuchazzar scholars have taken this as a sign that their migration was ‘predestined by the divine’ to enable them to escape the volcanic fury, whilst others see the eruption as the wrath of their god being visited on the north.
Imbued with a new purpose to reestablish their homeland in the South, they eventually came to the lands of the Ettin now known in the modern age as the Ettinlands occupied by the House Izhen. Establishing there the Kingdom of Mazlek in a similar style as they had in the north. Initially, the Kingdom had permission to operate as a Client State of the Izhen, however, this soon changed when the Izhen began to see the Shimon-Zanuchazzar as more interested in a theological and scientific study that in the teachings of warfare. Tithes began to be demanded, and ever shrewd, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar asked for permission to build a great library in return.
The Golden Age of Mazlek - c 1000 BC
Permission was granted for the construction of the First Academy of Mazlek which soon rose to become one of the center points for theological and social learning in the Izhen lands, ushering in a Golden Age for the Shimon-Zanuchazzar which saw them rising in prominence as favored holders of office in the royal court. Such new status however, was to prove their downfall - with many members of the House and Cadet Houses, being of the learned minority in the Kingdoms began to expand on their theological teachings. It was during this time that the Hadazzim scrolls were written, which would go on to form the basis of the modern faith they Shimon-Zanuchazzar now follow.
Teaching that ‘Nobility Stems from the learnings of the Divine’ - and thus promoting a ‘Theocratic Gerontocracy’ that they already held, but within the wider community, as well as the principle of ‘Equal Justice under Law’ in addition to the concept that ‘All Lives are Predestined’ (including the lives of the Monarch), they began to see a vast increase in popularity within the lesser classes, but at the cost of popularity in the upper class.
Seeing the teachings of Hadazzim as subversive, members of the Nobility attempted to encourage the Shimon-Zanuchazzar back north, to great success - leading to a sect of the House to head back north, by boat, and found the Second Academy of Razem on the location of the first. However, this was - despite having been the plan by may nobles - not as well perceived by the Monarch, who saw it as an affront, not only to teach such things in her lands, but also to spread them to her Northern Allies.
The Sacking of the Academies - 800 BC
Harsh laws began to be imposed, further limiting when the faith of Hadazzim could be preached, leading to rising anger around the Academy of Mazluk and Razem in both states. As the final straw, it was decreed that the Hadazzum priests had to not only conduct their services indoors (and thus out of the sight of god) but also had to ensure the Elders could be approached, by anyone, during such a service - even when at prayer.
In modern times, these laws are viewed as a deliberate attempt to incite anger and uprising; and they had the desired effect if this was the case. In vast numbers the Shimon-Zanuchazzari people rose up in the Kingdoms, and a spate of riots erupted across Izhen and around the Razem Academy in the north.
However, as it all to often the way, a superior army will outdo a rabble of peasants, and within weeks both temples had been burned, and the Shimon-Zanuchazzari people placed into the yoke of slavery, their elders exiled, the House itself forced to live in little more than squalor south of the Izhen lands, in what is now known as the City of Tuman. by the Shimoni.
Forgiveness - 300 BC
In what Shimon-Zanuchazzari scholars call “A moving and noble act.” the incumbent Patriarch and High Priest of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar, Kuen Imbram Gam Tazi var Zuz havar Apostol Shimon-Zanuchazzar headed to the Palace of the incumbent Izhen Monarchy, walking through the City in nothing but a simple black robe, his face veiled and covered - his two sons whipping him and reciting the names of those families subjected to slavery in the past 500 years. Much of this account is expected to have been embellished with the ages however, and upon seeing the Monarch, he is said to have fallen to his knees, and begged that his people be set free.
In hotly debated records, it is said that the Izhen Monarchy was “so moved by his pleads, that they wept and decreed the release of the the chosen people.” - the truth is far different, the Kuen instead offering to rewrite the holy books to include within them then Izhen Monarchs ‘divine write to rule’. To this day, and with the liberalisation of the faith laws allowing it, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar maintain that, in the eyes of Artis, the Izhen ‘probably have a divine right to rule’ - and have never once said that their god would agree with that assessment.
Hostages in the Palace - 300 BC
In light of the Monarchs change of heart, the Kuen was required to surrender the oldest sons of each living Grand Priest - as soon as they had their fifth birthday, wherein they would be sent to live with the Royals, until the occasion of their Fathers passing. This tradition lead to around a century of royal servants being from the Shimoni people, until an astute Kuen passed a new law - stating that only those with Grandchildren could occupy the rank of Kuen, thus ending the practice.
Slowly the practice of paying for the Shimoni Servants became commonplace, thus leading to the prevalence of Shimoni tutors and stewards in the modern Nobility of the Ettinlands.
Judges to the People - 200 BC
Thanks to their continued exposure to the Nobility of the Izhen, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar people began to see their influence grow, and soon - thanks to their work on a community law system, they found themselves serving as judges across the Kingdom of the Izhen Dynasty. At the time, this was seen as a remarkable turn in their fortunes, however in the centuries to come it would be this role that saw them subjected to yet another great upheaval in their society.
Before the coming and Arturas however, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar spent some fifty years laying down the foundations for a wide-spread legal code, known as the “Code of Razum” which has since been adapted by several nations - revolving around the concept of being sentenced by a man of the law, yet judged by one's own peers - with the basic ‘precepts of punishment’ being shown in a public place, so one could see what awaited them should they commit a crime.
This is known as a the second great revolution of Shimoni and has served as the basis of civic and central law ever since. Such a revolution was it, that the Shimon-Zanuchazzar were granted the right to move to land otherwise seen as inhospitable, taking lands to the north and east of the modern day Kingdom of the Ettinlands, and there refounding the Kingdom of Mazlek, and the new Kingdom of Zanur - both of which would go to forge great dynasties and Kingdoms, before falling some centuries later in the great purges.
Birth of Arturas - 30 BC
Known by another name ‘The Coming of the False One’ in the faith of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar, the Birth of Arturas was to mark a complete change in the destiny of their people - and was also to mark one of the most shameful lows in the history of Trevastine Civilisation.
With the Construction of the Third Temple of Razem which saw elements of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar heading north, via the sea rather than the back across the Badlands and to the Kingdom of Razem - now long since lost to the tribes of the north. It was in doing this that the first rumours of a man who claimed to the chosen of Artis had been spotted. Word travelled fast, and soon reached the ears of the Kuen - who publicly denounced Arturas as a heathen and false prophet.
The name of this Kuen has long since been forgotten and stricken from the history of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar - as following the denouncement, nearly 80% of the Shimoni across Trevast were killed in a spate of horrific purges which left untold scores dead, the temples sacked and burned for the third time in their history.
The Great Purge - 70 AC
Rarely spoken of in the day to day affairs of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar, the Great Purge was the ‘Retribution’ of the Artisian Faith against the people who had spoken out against their Emperor. Beginning in the so-called Holy City of Mazluk, at that time the most populous seat of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar, upon which - according to legends -
“….did see great pains,
Flames did lick the walls,
Blood did run the streets,
And all about was death”
Not much is known about the total extent of the purges, only that is lead to an almost complete collapse of the Shimoni, and their marginalisation for several centuries to come. Following the purges, or perhaps during (it is presently unclear) the Shimon-Zanuchazzari people took to the sea, and fled to the ‘four corners of the map’ in an attempt to ensure that their people would survive.
The Third Great Migration - 350 AC
Splitting into some eight different groups, who headed across the sea and up the coast to the northern Kingdoms, and even across the great sea, and south - over land, further into the Kingdoms there. Of those who headed to far north, they found themselves required to make new settlements - often rapidly developing in slums and ghettos outside major settlements. Those who headed over the great sea, perished in slavery or worse still - whilst those who headed south, managed to seek shelter over the desert, and thus found themselves spared from further injustice.
Subjugation of new laws - 500-1000 AC
For nearon half a century, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar lived in relative obscurity, doing their best to follow the holy books, yet also to avoid attracting the ire of their masters in nations. In some cases, they found themselves under the yoke of discrimination laws - as was the case in Izhen Lands. Various cases tell of laws stating the sorts of clothes they could and could not wear, the cut of their hair, design of their homes, types of food they could eat - and in extreme cases, who they could be seen talking to.
Yet still, they managed to pull through this harsh time; and indeed, in the year 999 AC, a man rose from within their ranks who was emboldened by the struggles of his people. Kuen Imaz Gam Obreth var Sahzim havar Tubud Shimon-Zanuchazzar was his name, and he rose to the rank of Kuen younger than any other man before him - having sired a great multitude of children, sons who stood at his side, some ten in number and spread his teachings to all the Shimon-Zanuchazzar people.
His words focused on ensuring that his people who have a place above mere commoners in the future, and his decree saw that the Academies would be rebuilt - not in material terms, but in philosophical ones - and it was decreed that the Shimon-Zanuchazzar would once again focus on the traditions of education and scholarship as of in the olden days.
Tlem-Shimoni Riots - 1500 AC
The first of a great may Tlem-Shimoni clashes however, would soon form another landmark in the history of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar. Within the Ghetto founded back in the ancestral heartlands of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar - back before they made the move to Trevasts Mainland, tensions began to rise between the Shimoni - who did not follow the faith of Artis, and their ancestors the Tlem, who did.
This was to bubble over on the anniversary of the Birth of Arturas, when the local Tlem held a feast in the sight of the Shimon temple and academy in the area. Furious, at what they saw as a deliberate slight against them, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar Kuen and Elders took to the streets, demanding justice for this insult.
Such calls went unheeded by the local authorities, and so the Shimon-Zanuchazzar took matters into their own hands, and a month of rioting began, which grew more and more violent, until by the end of the year - it showed no sign of abating. Finally, after two solid years of conflict, the rioting came to and end when the Kuen himself was lynched outside the temple by the Tlem, bringing an end to years of conlict.
Rebuilding the Great Temple - 1730 AC - Current
Following some few centuries in the fringes of history, the Shimoni people would get their chance to step forwards into the light once more with the liberalisation of faith laws in the Kingdom of the Izhen Dynasty. A license was issued allowing the Shimon-Zanuchazzar to rebuild their temples, and even to construct one in the Ettinlands Capitol itself, leading to the construction of the modern day temple of Tuman Tabar.
It was to be rebuilt in just under thirty-years, and would serve to be one of the largest buildings of its kind, surrounded by dozens of small homes and markets in the heart of the Shimoni District of the town. With such a great undertaking to their name, the Shimoni migrated back to their homelands in vast numbers - soon becoming a considerable ethnic group within the Ettinlands once again.
Elders soon began to be employed as Scribes, Seers and Vizers by the Nobility of the House of Izhen, and some dared to whisper that a Golden Age of the Shimon could soon be returning...
Traditions and Culture
Like many peoples, who can trace their lineage back so far, the Shimon-Zanuchazzar have entrenched traditions that they find it hard to break out of. Firstly, the role of different genders is very split - with women holding the reigns of power over the family, marriages and the house itself. Younger women are expected to work, until they have children, and then when they have grandchildren they are expected to dedicate their time to matchmaking for the family.
Men are expected to work until marriage, and from then on to dedicate themselves to the sciences, law and holy books. Upon having grandchildren, men are expected to live in the local academy and temple, in utter secrecy and isolation from women. Here they are expected to teach younger men, in the center of town.
Titles Claimed and Held
Kuen of Razem - Held - Serving as the Office of the High Priest of the Academy of Razem, these office is held by the Shimon-Zanuchazzar, yet does not have an official seat due to the City itself having been lost to the ages.
Kuen of Mazlek - Held - The Office of the High Priest of the Temple of Mazlek, this temple can be found in the City currently occupying the land of Mazlek, and is the second most important seat of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar in the world.
Kuen of Tuman Tabar - Held - The largest Academy, constructed in the heart of the Ettinlands in the City of the same name. It has been stated to be the most important temple, as it was the first to be built following the burning and sacking of all the others.
King of Mazlek - Lost - Part of the ‘United Kingdom of Shimon’ the Kingdom of Mazlek lies, according to ancient scripture, north of the Ettinlands, with parts of the northmost Ettin territories within its borders.
King of Razem - Lost - Far north, now made up of elements of Luska, the Northern Barons and the Aladez Heptarchy, with some parts of modern day Rjillund (it really depends who one asks).
King of Zaunur - Lost - Located to the east of the Ettinlands, making up some of the Kingdoms there today, and even elements of Alendron, this title is also lost to the ages.
King of Zanu Shimon - Lost - It is not known, although debated strongly, as to where this Kingdom is.
Current Seat & Locations
Known as the ‘Grand Academy of Tuman Tabar’ and housing at its heart the ‘Great Temple of Razem’, the seat of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar is located in the Ettinlands City of Tuman Tabar, and is a semi-free state within the City, residing in the Shimoni Quarter. This is the main population center of the Shimon-Zanuchazzar as well, with tens of thousands of them to be found here.
There exist communities of the Shimon across the Ettinlands and other Southern Kingdoms, with Northern Trevastine Kingdoms holding small communities as well such as the Shimon Quarter in Carenna and Routaille - located on the Honey Islands. Insofar as Landed Kingdoms, Shimon-Zanuchazzar does not currently hold a Landed Kingdom to call its own - although they do claim the Kingdoms around their temples - albeit as silently as possible.
