Demóshimor

From Almeopedia

Demóshimor is the central human portion of ancient Munkhâsh and modern Dhekhnam. Its capital was Ornâkh, which continues to serve as the center for human administration.

For its early history see the article on Munkhâsh, and for its later history see Dhekhnam; this article concentrates on its period of human rule, from 1667 to 2712.

Rule by others

The Demoshi were ruled by Caďinas for some centuries after the destruction of Munkhâsh, but during the civil war of 1894-1910, the Caďinorians lost control of Demóshimor. The Carhinnoi conquered the country around 2100, and ruled it for nearly three centuries.

Both foreign occupations left their mark. The Caďinorians did not settle Demóshimor as they settled Sarnáe; but they did establish centers of administration in Reťoscais and Demoscil, and cultivated trade and local government. They attempted to promulgate the worship of their own gods, but the Demoshi simply learned to call their gods by different names when their rulers were around.

The Carhinnoi were a good deal more ruthless in imposing a nominal Jippirasti on the country; there was no hiding of gods behind gods when only One could be worshipped. The Carhinnoi made it clear, however, that they held no truck with the notion of human equality; Jippir had given lesser peoples to them as servants.

Independence

The Demoshi had been subject to ktuvoks, but lords over all the other peoples of Munkhâsh, and this memory and Carhinno arrogance kept them from any real acceptance of foreign rule, or of Jippirasti. When the Carhinnoi declined, they managed to assert their independence (2375).

The worship of Gelalh resumed; but his divine or demonic colleagues were mostly forgotten; in theology and even ritual, Demoshi Gelalhát bears many resemblances to the fierce, highly hierarchical Jippirasti of the Carhinnoi.

As early as the Caďinorian occupation the Demoshi experimented with writing; the Carhinnoi scorned the written word, but trade kept the idea alive, and pilgrimages to Lenan brought exposure to the Jippirasti alphabet. In the 2500s, the Demoshi alphabet was brought to its final form by the merchants of Ornâkh. Its most notable feature, borrowed from the Jippirasti script, is having letters for various consonant clusters.

In its three centuries of independence, Demóshimor was by regional standards advanced and prosperous. It continued to trade (using its own ships) with the Caďinorian and Jippirasti lands; it possessed lively cities with market economies. Though it continued to worship the ktuvoks, it never closed its eyes to what could be learned from other human states.

The union

The union with Tyellakh in 2712 was peaceful, though there was some resistance in Ornâkh. The ktuvoks issued their appeal for unity to all of Demóshimor; it found immediate acceptance in the countryside and the smaller cities (Borondo, Kondro, Kilimi, Prênzigo), partly because they already feared simply becoming appendages of Ornâkh. And indeed some of the lords of Ornâkh felt that under their leadership Demóshimor could be a powerful country on its own. Others saw that this was unlikely with the ktuvoks as neighbors. When a force of five hundred ktuvoks staged a "worship procession" across the country, Ornâkh fell into line and accepted the union.

Etymology: Demoshi ‘home of the Demoshi’.