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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6361 Posts

Posted - 25 Mar 2014 : 09:06:42

Well i'm veering towards the character of modern chessenta being influenced somewhat by Gilgeam in the distant past.

So following the orcgate wars (between -1076 and -734 DR) we have a period where Gilgeam is part of the Babylonian pantheon in Chessenta.

Gilgeam is by this time horribly evil and so sets about eliminating the other gods.

This fractures Chessenta into warring city states and factions as each god and his primary city distrust the others and try to unite Chessenta under their banner. So we have the beginning of the feuds that begin to this day.

Also the mention of wrestling in the Old Empires about Chessenta is probably a link back to Gilgeam who is famous for his wrestling of legendary beasts.

I'm thinking that Gilgeam won the battle and united Chessenta behind his banner (eliminating the previous pantheon ruler who i think is listed as Anu in Deities and Demigods).

I'm kind of veering towards him using Entropy to eliminate a number of godly rivals (after all it does have the name God Swallower but we have no instances of it actually being used to eliminate a god).

So perhaps Entropy was much smaller in the distant past (about the size of a pea) and Gilgeam tricked his first victim into eating it.

It grew to the size of a large pearl and Gilgeam had it woven into a fabric which he gave to another rival thereby eliminating that.

Each time these deities perished Gilgeam was close at hand and poised to take over their churches and steal their followers, thereby increasing his power until he becomes leader of the Chessentan pantheon by -734 DR.

Once Enlil leaves and Gilgeam becomes head of the Untheric pantheon i think its safe to assumed Gilgeam largely ignores Chessenta and considers it a vassal state but in reality Chessenta begins to operate independently eventually abandoning the old gods in favour of other pantheons.

The first mention of Chessenta in the history is -100 to 250 DR when Chessentans begin to colonise the Wizards Reach.

Then again in 75 DR when plague wracks Chessenta, the Vilhon Reach, and the Shaar (no mention of Unther or Mulhorand curiously).

So i'm thinking that Chessenta begins to operate independently from -734 DR to around 77 DR when Unther again reasserts control due to Chessenta's plague wracked population.

Now there is the big question about the orcs. Orcs make up a significant proportion of Chessentan society. So what type of orcs are they. I think without doubt they have to be grey orcs given their proximity to the Old Empires. However the question remains as to how they arrived in Chessenta.

I know they are plentiful in Thay and areas north of there. However i havent found many mentions of orcs in Unther or Mulhorand. I can envisage the orcs being confined to Thay because it is easily sealed thanks to geography (large looking rivers border the Sunrise Mountains in the south).

So did the Chessentans take some orcs as slaves. Their society is kinder to slaves now and they value achievements and skill more than Unther and Mulhorand so they might respect the orcs strength.

From Chessenta the orcs can have spread to the Vilhon Reach.

The question is when did they take the orcs as slaves. Would they have done so in the aftermath of the orcgate wars, or is it more likely they did it when they were conquering the Wizard's Reach (and no longer had Gilgeam's tyranny influencing their society which might make them kinder as a people/nation).

sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11808 Posts

Posted - 25 Mar 2014 : 11:44:46

quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Well i'm veering towards the character of modern chessenta being influenced somewhat by Gilgeam in the distant past.

So following the orcgate wars (between -1076 and -734 DR) we have a period where Gilgeam is part of the Babylonian pantheon in Chessenta.

Gilgeam is by this time horribly evil and so sets about eliminating the other gods.

This fractures Chessenta into warring city states and factions as each god and his primary city distrust the others and try to unite Chessenta under their banner. So we have the beginning of the feuds that begin to this day.

Also the mention of wrestling in the Old Empires about Chessenta is probably a link back to Gilgeam who is famous for his wrestling of legendary beasts.

I'm thinking that Gilgeam won the battle and united Chessenta behind his banner (eliminating the previous pantheon ruler who i think is listed as Anu in Deities and Demigods).

I'm kind of veering towards him using Entropy to eliminate a number of godly rivals (after all it does have the name God Swallower but we have no instances of it actually being used to eliminate a god).

So perhaps Entropy was much smaller in the distant past (about the size of a pea) and Gilgeam tricked his first victim into eating it.

It grew to the size of a large pearl and Gilgeam had it woven into a fabric which he gave to another rival thereby eliminating that.

Each time these deities perished Gilgeam was close at hand and poised to take over their churches and steal their followers, thereby increasing his power until he becomes leader of the Chessentan pantheon by -734 DR.

Once Enlil leaves and Gilgeam becomes head of the Untheric pantheon i think its safe to assumed Gilgeam largely ignores Chessenta and considers it a vassal state but in reality Chessenta begins to operate independently eventually abandoning the old gods in favour of other pantheons.

The first mention of Chessenta in the history is -100 to 250 DR when Chessentans begin to colonise the Wizards Reach.

Then again in 75 DR when plague wracks Chessenta, the Vilhon Reach, and the Shaar (no mention of Unther or Mulhorand curiously).

So i'm thinking that Chessenta begins to operate independently from -734 DR to around 77 DR when Unther again reasserts control due to Chessenta's plague wracked population.

Now there is the big question about the orcs. Orcs make up a significant proportion of Chessentan society. So what type of orcs are they. I think without doubt they have to be grey orcs given their proximity to the Old Empires. However the question remains as to how they arrived in Chessenta.

I know they are plentiful in Thay and areas north of there. However i havent found many mentions of orcs in Unther or Mulhorand. I can envisage the orcs being confined to Thay because it is easily sealed thanks to geography (large looking rivers border the Sunrise Mountains in the south).

So did the Chessentans take some orcs as slaves. Their society is kinder to slaves now and they value achievements and skill more than Unther and Mulhorand so they might respect the orcs strength.

From Chessenta the orcs can have spread to the Vilhon Reach.

The question is when did they take the orcs as slaves. Would they have done so in the aftermath of the orcgate wars, or is it more likely they did it when they were conquering the Wizard's Reach (and no longer had Gilgeam's tyranny influencing their society which might make them kinder as a people/nation).

I'd be real hesitant to place Gilgeam as the tyrant over Chessenta (note, I say Tyrant, because he wasn't always a tyrant... he went mad over the centuries and after the orcgate wars and was more benevolent originally). I could see Gilgeam in Chessenta as something like a god of strength. I wouldn't mind putting other Babylonian deities into Chessenta (i.e. Ishtar, Girru, Nergal, Ramman), but I also wouldn't make it specifically a Babylonian pantheon. For instance, as you say, wrestling is popular... but Lathander is seen as its chief proponent. I'd stick some members of the Jhaamdath pantheon in amongst the others. For instance, possibly Anachtyr and Valigan Thirdborn, as well as possibly some "knowledge" deities from said pantheon.

I agree with Krash that eliminating some of the Greek flavor from Chessenta would make it more palatable.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6361 Posts

Posted - 25 Mar 2014 : 12:48:09

I probably didnt mention Gilgeam would essentially start off as nothing more than a minor god, but by -734 DR he is the ruler of Chessenta and then the ruler of Unther.

I even have found a place for him to have ruled from. In the Adder swamp is a ruined Untheric city (according to probably a 4e backdrop for Chessenta), but it makes sense for most of the Untheric places to be abandoned just as Gilgeam and his pantheon abandoned Chessenta.

The Old Empires details that Chessenta is a mix of Mulan, Turami, Rashemi, and Amnian peoples (as well as half orc) so it makes sense to assume the pantheon mixes with others as these people arrive.

Of course pantheonic borders are meant to be fixed and you cannot simply turn up in another pantheon if another god already exists without battling it out.

So as the Babylonian gods of Chessenta die (Orcgate Wars) or leave for Unther, then new gods arrive to cater for the beliefs of the people already there.

Turami makes the most sense to be the first to arrive. They were driven from Unther and Chessenta after their formation (-1771 DR) and went west to the Vilhon Reach region where one presumes they formed part of Jhaamdath.

There might have been small migrations back and forth with a few hundred or thousand individuals every year but as of -255 (Fall of Jhaamdath) it makes sense for a large number of Turami to return to their native homelands and bring with them the gods of Jhaamdath.

Around this time the worship of the dark gods may also have arrived in Chessenta (they were around in -357 DR its not unexpected they succeeded in ascended in 100 years). So maybe thats how Bane gets a church in Mourktar.

By this time i figure Gilgeam has completely abandoned any pretence of ruling over Chessenta, he probably doesnt spare it a single thought, merely generates taxes from it. Likewise most of the Babylonian gods have moved to Unther with Gilgeam.

This abandonment probably led to the current attitude that Chessenta has with regards to religion - it simply isnt as important who someone worships when compared to where someone is from.

So new gods arrive and the Chessentans dont really care all that much.

The Rashemi arrive a short time later between -100 DR and 250DR when Chessenta is settling the Wizard's Reach and searching the Narfell and Raumathar ruins of the Unapproachable east for artefacts (old empires stated adventurers were heavily taxed for doing just that by Gilgeam and they resented it).

Im going to go with Chessenta becoming part of the Faerunian pantheon sometime between -250 DR and 108 DR when Ramman finally left.

As for Amn, since that country was only established around 460 DR then their addition to the population is likely through trade, and they may have brought Waukeen with them (if she wasnt there already).

By the time Tchazzar arrives on the scene in 929 DR it is likely that the gods of Chessenta resembles what it does today.

Regarding culture. The contest held before the Time of Trouble to choose a successor to King Therise is likely a remnant of a national event that Gilgeam probably sponsored/created/enforced sometime in the past of Chessenta. It can then have continued evolving into an overall athletics event that is found today.

I reckon the culture of Chessenta should be deliberately different from Unther as the people of Chessenta rejected all things Gilgeam related just as he and the Babylonian pantheon abandoned them. So they probably embraced whatever culture the Turami from Jhaamdath had, except for the wrestling and martial skills that were no doubt ingrained in the people by this time.

Maybe Bane encouraged the rivalry between the city states and exascerbated the feuds they had to the point of open warfare (which is still ongoing today). Of course Bane is evicted from the Vilhon Reach and likely Chessenta as well (except for Mourktar) around the fall of Myth Drannor (700's DR) for the evils he perpetuated there (according to code of the Harpers anyway).

Maybe the period following 108 DR is like a gigantic god sponsored playground for tyrants. Bane had his guys in Mourktar, Lathander probably had a few hero kings worshipping him. Tchazzar the dragon was involved in Cimbar.

Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6361 Posts

Posted - 25 Mar 2014 : 16:03:45

Noted some ideas about various ages in Chessenta, just a rough outline at the moment.

First Chessentan Empire (-1771 DR to -1069 DR)
The first empire of Chessenta was founded by the manifestations of the Babylonian pantheon around the bay of Chessenta. What it�s original name was no one but the gods know, however since Gilgeam rewrote the histories of Unther and Chessenta many times to show him in a better light it has been named Chessenta after the first Grand Viceroy Iphram Chess.
In truth Iphram Chess was administrator of Adanu and ambassador to Unther, but when Gigleam became god-king of Unther he changed the written histories so that Chessenta was always part of Unther.
The society of ancient Chessenta paralleled that of Unther and the two societies were almost indistinguishable apart from the worship of different gods.

Second Chessentan Empire (-1069 DR to -734 DR)
While not strictly a separate empire it does mark a significant shift in the life of the empire of Chessenta. With the death of Marduk, Nergal, and Girru almost half the gods of Chessenta are dead. Only Gilgeam, Ishtar, Anu, Anshar and Ramman remain as openly worshipped gods. Tiamat (called Dahak in Chessenta) and Druaga; a monstrous multi-armed creature that stalks the land slaying any it finds; hide in the shadows attracting worship from the disaffected and the criminals of Chessenta.
Gilgeam is also now irrevocably evil and begins hatching a plan to eliminate the other gods so that he may rule as king of Chessenta.
Problems begin to strike Chessenta as gods from nearby pantheons cause trouble in the lands of Chessenta. Orcs also begin to become commonplace in Chessenta as few were brought as slaves from the Orcgate Wars and escaped into the wilds. Within 100 years they are a plague on the lands around.
Gilgeam sets out to make a name for himself as prior to this he was merely a minor deity of Strength. He personally hunts down and wrestles the creature Druaga on the slopes of Mount Thulbane and to mark this event the people of Chessenta establish an annual wrestling match in honour of his victory.
Using an ancient artefact from the ruins of Imaskar, Gilgeam covertly slays Anshar after tricking the deity into swallowing the pea size sphere that would later be known as Entropy. Entropy quickly consumes Anshar from the inside, beating any attempts to save him.
Gilgeam volunteers to take over the reins from Anshar and is allowed by Anu in recognition of his defeat of Druaga.
Gilgeam arranges the assassination of Anu by having him supposedly bitten by a serpent on the ankle while crossing the Adder River. In truth Anu stepped on Entropy and the sphere lodged itself inside the god consuming another god from the inside out.
Leaderless the Babylonian gods looked to Gilgeam to guide them.
In Unther, the Untheric pantheon were also suffering setbacks and noted a significant loss of power and influence after the Orcgate Wars. Gilgeam as leader of the gods of Chessenta approached Enlil and proposed the two pantheons merge to strengthen themselves against the resurgent Mulhorand.

Third Chessentan Empire (-734 DR to 108 DR)
This age marks the union of Unther and Chessenta and begins with betrayal.
In the meeting between Gilgeam and Enlil on the shores of Aglarond; neutral territory for both, Gilgeam ambushes the father of Unther and imprisons him deep in the Bymmal Trench beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars using Imaskari magic.
He then announces to the Sumerian pantheon of Unther that Enlil embraced him as a son and declared his intention to unite the pantheons under Gilgeam. Unable to contact Enlil and with Gilgeam now answering the prayers of Enlil the Sumerian gods had little choice but to accept.
The gods Gilgeam and Ishtar move to Unthalass and the Untheric pantheon. Ramman remains in Chessenta as one of the few remaining Babylonian gods due to his portfolio conflicting with Assuran in Unther.
Gilgeam now claimed sovereignty of both Unther and Chessenta, although in truth he cared little for Chessenta and what he viewed as it�s failed people. He desired the power and wealth of Unther and lived only in decadent Unthalass feasting on life�s pleasures.
Gradually Gilgeam drove away the other Sumerian deities; Ki and Nin-Hursag, and he continually raised taxes and imposed harsh laws on his subjects.
In Unther his rule was absolute and could not be questioned, but in far off Chessenta people began to resent Gilgeam and the Babylonian gods for the harshness of his rule.
Ramman slowly watched as other gods encroached in Chessenta, weakening his power and attracting worshippers from his church. Following the fall of Jhaamdath in -255 DR, the ancient Turami natives of Chessenta returned en-masse and brought with them the worship of the Faerunian gods including dark gods such as Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal.
Chessenta soon became a place of warring cities and endless feuds as the cities of Chessenta chose a more local loyalty than any notion of the country of Chessenta.
Ramman was bolstered by the constant feuding but recognised that this was short lived as the population of Chessenta would undoubtedly decline in such endless conflict.
So in 108 DR he marched into Unther to do battle with Assuran.

Fourth Chessentan Empire (108 DR to 700 DR)
The god Ramman attempts to join the Untheric pantheon from Chessenta. Assuran and Ramman do battle, and in a 6 month long conflict the two gods bring violent storms to the Inner Sea. This conflict causes the Great Flood of the River Alamber as well as drowns the city Adanu on the shore of the Bay of Chessenta and creates the Adder Swamp
At this time the original gods of Chessenta are all gone, left behind are various deities from the Faerunian pantheon such as Azuth, Bane, Myrkul, Bhaal, Lathander, and Hoar.
The Turami people now make up a significant proportion of the population of Chessenta, and in the Mulan backlash against the Babylonian gods they have rejected their ancient culture in favour of the simpler ways of the Turami.
Pottery, stonework, and woodwork are popular in this society, as are the skills of warfare and athletics (a throwback to ancient Chessentan sports sponsored by Gilgeam).
Rashemi people began to move from the Wizard�s Reach to Chessenta towards the end of the third empire seeking to escape the rule of Eltab in Rashemen. They bring with them the mercenary tradition (from the Raumathar society) and further reinforce skill at arms and athletics.
Chessenta in this age strongly resembles modern Chessenta with warring city states battling one another over perceived slights, a desire to expand their reach or just amass wealth. Much of which was down to the Dark Three; Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, who manipulated the rulers of the city states to further their own power.

Fifth Chessentan Empire (700 DR to 1129 DR
Sometime around 700 DR a great war leader named Tchazzar arose in Chessenta in the city of Cimbar. As general he was a tactical genius as well as being unbeatable in personal combat, and he massacred armies arrayed against him that were many times his number. Slowly but inexorably he gradually united the warring cities of Chessenta behind his flag and placed the blame of Chessenta�s wars squarely on the shoulders of the dark gods whose faithful were exiled from Chessenta and travelled north.
By 1018 DR Tchazzar ascends to godhood and as happened so many times in Chessenta�s history his interest in Chessenta wanes and petty squabbles begin to resurface among the city states, barely 200 years after his ascension and Chessenta fell apart.

As i said its only a rough first draft.

I tried to link the wrestling and emphasis on martial skill to their previous culture and rashemi migrants (which i figure must correspond to the conquering of the Wizards Reach as that is around the time of Eltab's rule in Rashemen).

As for actual culture, i tried to make them non roman by stating they had an interest in pottery, woodwork, and stonework from the Turami natives that returned with the fall of Jhaamdath, and since they hate Unther and the gods they embraced their ways. However they can then develop this stonework and woodwork and architectural interest over the years into the buildings that just happen to look greek/roman (pure coincidence)

I know there are several holes in the rough history but at least its a start, anyone got any ideas?

Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6361 Posts

Posted - 27 Mar 2014 : 11:28:18

Moved musings about Chessenta to its own thread in Running the Realms since its all noncanon

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