Historiography
From Almeopedia
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Eretald
The Caďinorian cultures have always been fascinated by history, partly because they were proud of the rise of Caďinas, but also due to the Count of Years: since the Cuzeians always had a canonical record of their complete history, the Caďinorians wanted to have the same. Many have tried, but of course not all have been well received.
Ancient works
The early histories are usually highly jingoistic and highly credulous. The best ancient overviews are from the late classical period, when a more discriminating attitude prevailed, and sources from all across the empire could be consulted. The best of these are the Plesčura Caďinasei (‘History of Caďinas’) of Telueronos (Telörn), written c. 1550, which covers the rise of Caďinas, and Peleion of Scormai's two massive works, Rocá Venceei Almee (‘Epic of the Conquest of the World’, c. 2230, covering Ervëa and his successors) and Rocá Elorië Lebëi er Bomëi (‘Epic of the New and Old Empires’, c. 2250, covering the Civil Wars, the Red Cabal, and the restoration under Irun; there's an extract from Peleion on the Caďinor examples page).
There are also of course excellent ancient studies of particular periods; one of the best is So onemu belgoë Ervëei ‘The account of the wars of Ervëa’, by the Soldier of Cterano (so falek Žranei); the author was one of Ervëa's officers, with an excellent grasp of strategy and a keen interest in the affairs of both his own realm and those of its allies and enemies.
Modern times
Modern works are legion. Žésifo prefers a local boy, Sördom Hozëney, and his six-volume Plesčura naurondisë ('Universal History', 3210), which despite its title covers only Eretald, but fairly thoroughly. It has a rather anti-Verdurian bias; the northerners therefore prefer Orest Cintanilo's Rocá Caďina ('Caďinorian Epic', 3070), which covers the entire ancient empire, ending with a gushing account of the new Verdurian triumphs. In this century the University of Verduria has been producing an enormous Plesčura Caďinasei Šriftanáei; they do one volume every five years and they've only got to 1900 or so.
The best one-volume history of Verduria is Acuyo Uselen's Plesčura Verdúrë (3355); also of note is Šm Ihano Debere's account of the rise of the Eleďe dynasty (3270), the admiral Petro Erakilo's memoirs of the Kebreni wars (3294), and Aďguriš Cont Ulian's history of the Abolineron dynasty (3410). Mëranac 1e, the first Abolineron King, produced an eight-volume history of Verduria which is a favorite of conservative pagans.
Xengiman
Axunai
A primary source on ancient Xengiman is one of the Mešaic scriptures, Gumiei jouvei 'The Wars of Men', whose earliest versions date to the 400s. Naturally it is highly mythologized, but it contains much information that is available nowhere else.
During the imperial era, the Kurun Mi monastery in Weinex was charged with writing the imperial chronicles (Soumiei Šebarešui). The chronicles were written for the benefit of gods, not men; unlike most Axunašin literature, therefore, they were utterly honest, and free of obsequiousness toward the powerful. They are invaluable as history, and highly entertaining as well.
Skouras
Ancient Skouras is sometimes dismissed as being more interested in mythologized epics than in true history. However, it produced several notable historians:
- Kuḷiŋsok of Imuṭeli, whose work explaining the defeat of his city in the Quadrilateral War was so brutally honest that he was put in prison. He helped establish the principle that honest historiography was the expression of true patriotism.
- Bauḍudraḍ of Iṭili, who as a side project in her masterwork, a comparison of governmental systems, provided histories of each type.
- Nreşasok of Guṭḷeli, who used her diplomatic contacts to produce an informed history of the wars with Meŋeland under its genius general Eŋŋuḷoşum.
Categories: Eretald | Skouras | Xengiman | Culture
