Ala Mhigo Lore
Following the unification of Gyr Abania's tribal peoples, Ala Mhigo went on to become one of Eorzea's foremost military powers. Their lancer legions were famed nearly world-wide. Recent lore has also divulged that the Ala Mhigans had Griffin-mounted cavalry. Also during this time period, Ala Mhigo's king assimilated the religious Order of the Fists of Rhalgr into the city-state, granting them immense political and religious power within the nation.

Griffin Wrote:Fantastical winged beasts native to the unscalable peaks of Abalathia's Spine, griffins actually have a long history of serving as mounts. Indeed, before the city-state's fall, the Ala Mhigan army maintained a regiment of griffin-back soldiers who would harry opposing forces.

Rise of the Fists of Rhalgr

Erik Wrote:The monks and the Fist of Rhalgr are interesting in the same way as any other organized relgion - a sad, pathetic, and humorous way. The brothers and sisters of the monkhood are those souls training in the service of Rhalgr, god of destruction among the Twelve. The Fist of Rhalgr is their order.

This barbaric cult traces its origins back several centuries to Ala Mhigo. The Fist teaches those foolish enough to listen that through rigorous training of the mind and body, and with constant invigoration and refinement, one can approach the sublimity of Rhalgr Himself. Such is their power of concentration that they are able to master the aether within their bodies and channel it in a manner that grants them immense destructive power. The monkhood insists on calling this internal essence "spiritual energy" or "life force" - but trust me when I say it is nothing other than aether.

Endowed with this brutish, unthinking gift for hitting things very hard, the entire cult has evolved into a sort of clergy with martial proclivities. This was no doubt a result of their main temple being located in Gyr Abania - a region plagued by warfare where knowing how to protect oneself is essential.

As the years passed, however, what began as a simple group of religious fanatics fighting to protect themselves grew into an ambitious organization of religious fanatics taking part in the region's power struggles. Those in power in Ala Mhigo grew wary of these war priests who proclaimed all their fights to be fought in the name of a god, and who employed deadly force without the slightest hesitation. And so, rather than make enemies of the monks, they decided instead to use them to their benefit.

Through affiliation with the Ala Mhigan royal family, the Fist of Rhalgr was incorporated into the nation's standing army. This not only granted the monks a great deal of power, but furnished them with all of the rights accorded protectors of the citizenry. And their political influence was still growing...

Timeline

The Waning of the Sixth Sun Wrote:Tides of War - (Year 1000~1300)
For the next several hundred years, the city-states exhibit steady progress as they grow and gain power. When they seek to expand their claim on surrounding lands, however, new complications arise. Territorial feuds between neighbors lead to heightened tensions in the outlands. As bloody battles break out across the realm, the balance of power begins to shift. Rivers run with blood while coin flows from the hands of the ambitious into the pockets of mercenaries and sellswords. The warring tribes of Gyr Abania are at long last brought together by the Highlander Hyur, and join to form the city-state of Ala Mhigo.

Calm Before the Storm - (Year 1300~1500)
Weary of fighting, the people seek to mend bonds that had grown torn and frayed over the centuries. Aggressive tactics are abandoned for diplomacy, and inner city-state commerce is restored. As technology and culture are shared, the nations experience prosperity unseen since the Fifth Astral Era. The city-states of Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, Ul'dah, Ishgard, Ala Mhigo, and Sharlayan have matured, and now become the focal points of Eorzean civilization. Peace, for once, finally prevailed in the land.

However, the opening of these doors eventually lead to the closing of others. Fearing their livelihood will be lost or altered by the influx of new people and ideas, independent craftsmen and warriors alike begin banding together to preserve their trades. They form guilds not only to safeguard their knowledge, but to provide themselves with the wherewithal to form business partnerships which will help assure their financial stability.

Unfortunately, where man treads, peace is never long to last. In an attempt to expand their influence into the Black Shroud, Ala Mhigo exploits the realm's illusion of security and launches a series of large-scale campaigns into Tinolqa which will eventually lead into the onset of the Autumn War.

A New Threat - (Year 1500~1560)
What little magicks the Gridanians have perfected in the generations since their departure from Gelmorra are no match for the sheer martial might of the Ala Mhigan forces, and it appears the sylvan city-state will quickly fall to her invaders. However, in a move most unexpected, the city-states of Ishgard, Ul'dah, and Limsa Lominsa dispatch their armies to Gridania's aid, and just as quickly as the Autumn War began, so it was resolved. Borders are set and treaties are signed. City-states would remain independent, but the rise of one would not be tolerated. And once again peace settled over the realm.

Outside Aldenard, the flames of conquest were only beginning to rise. To the north, on the continent of Ilsabard, the Republic of Garlemald begins overwhelming nearby nations with their iron war machines, seizing their land and consuming their cultures. In the year 1552, the leader of the republic, Solus zos Galvus, declares Garlemald an empire and appoints himself emperor. The new imperial army, now swelling with the might of countless assimilated nations, methodically subjugates the eastern continent of Othard and the remaining lands of Ilsabard, welcoming those nations willing to bow to imperial rule, while erasing those which refuse the Garlean standard.

With two of the three great continents now under its control, the Garlean Empire sets its sights on Aldenard, and in the year 1557, sends the XIVth legion to conquer Ala Mhigo in the first step to bring Eorzea's people under imperial rule. The Garlean Empire renames the conquered city-state and the surrounding lands of Gyr Abania to the Ala Mhigan Territory.

Fall of the Fists of Rhalgr

Erik Wrote:I confess I find great joy in studying the demise of a religion - and even greater joy in recounting it!

The power of the Fist of Rhalgr grew unchecked in Ala Mhigo, and it was eventually named the state religion. After this, its influence over political, economic, and cultural spheres of life became even more considerable. Needless to say, this did not sit well with one and all. Among them was the last and most ugsome of Ala Mhigan royalty, the King of Ruin - Theodoric. The rise of the Fist meant a potential rival for power, and he would not suffer the monkhood to encroach on his prerogatives.

To counter their claims of religious righteousness, he simply conjured his own out of thin aether, proclaiming that the throne was his by divine right, given him by the word of Nymeia Herself - wife to Rhalgr. He then banned worship and likenesses of Rhalgr and all other gods, and demanded that the prayers and praises of Ala Mhigo be given to Nymeia and Her alone. In doing so, he sought to establish his own absolute, uncontested rule.

Naturally, the Fist and other worshipers of Rhalgr throughout the nation rose in protest, precisely as Theodoric had known they would. He used the uprisings as a pretext to imprison several high-ranking monks, whom he then tortured until they confessed their order's plans to topple his rule. In 1552 of the Sixth Astral Era, Theodoric led a vast army to the site of the monkhood's main temple and surrounded it. Monks, novices, and devotees, including the elders; refugees seeking shelter after the fires of war had turned their homes to ash; servants and peasants hired to do no more than till the fields - none were left alive. The monks fought heroically, but were hopelessly outnumbered. With the massacre of that day, nearly all of the monkhood perished.

The elders, the keepers of the tradition and its knowledge, resided within the temple grounds. It was thought that all versed in the ways of the chakra were lost... But then what of this Widargelt? Just who is he? Perhaps the end of the Fist was not the end of the monks, after all.

And the Fall of Ala Mhigo

Erik Wrote:As I likely explained if you have ever bothered to ask me about monks and the Fist of Rhalgr, the King of Ruin, Theodoric, was a ruthless despot and tyrant. It should come as no surprise, then, that he was the last king of Ala Mhigo. But the tale of his rise and fall is the stuff we historians live for!

Theodoric's lust for power was such that nothing less than absolute rule would appease him. To counter the political influence of the Fist of Rhalgr, he proclaimed his kingship to be the product of divine will - ordained by Nymeia Herself. What followed was a crusade which sought to exterminate the monks entirely. Yet it was the truly depraved acts of barbarism to come that would shake Ala Mhigan society to its very core. This ensuing era of terror was what earned Theodoric the title "King of Ruin."

After the massacre at the Fist's main temple, religious opposition to Theodoric nearly disappeared altogether. He then began purges of the Ala Mhigan royalty, seeing any and all potential pretenders to his throne dead and buried - regardless of house, loyalties, or standing. Beheadings were commonplae, carried out daily. Before long, it looked as though Theodoric would have no heads left to take. But he then turned his wrath upon any soul with a claim to the throne, no matter how remote. After that, it was to be the empowered nobles and wealthy merchants.

Fearing for their lives, they professed their innocence to the queen, pleading for her to stay her maniacal husband's hand. She attempted words to assuage his lust for power turned lust for blood, but he was deaf to her appeals. Finding no recourse, she conspired with a group of nobles to murder Theodoric. Yet before the regicide could take place, one among them betrayed their plot and for their treason, the king saw them all less a head.

This only served to compound Theodoric's paranoia and insanity. Distrustful of all, his purges now became little more than random executions, claiming lives of noble and beggar and all in between. It is not difficult to imagine what transpired next. The palace became a despicable gathering of sycophants and backstabbers, and the commonfolk scarce left their homes. Seeking heads on which to lay blame for worsening conditions, Theodoric turned the axe upon his most loyal followers. When the oppression became too much to ear, the people revolted and stormed the palace. The royal guard (Corpse Brigade) cast aside their vows and allowed the Ala Mhigans to pass.

A noble revolt? For the best, no? False! It was the absence of leadership and solidarity in the wake of this chaos that prompted Garlemald to attack! In the end, Theodoric was lucid enough to judge suicide preferable to death at the hands of an angry mob. He ended his own life, and with it, his reign of ruin and his own bloodline. Or so it was thought at the time! But Theodred, a nephew to the king, was hidden by his mother in a remote temple of the Fist of Rhalgr which had survived the purges, and thus he escaped his uncle's fury.

(I skipped the lore on The Autumn War, lemme know if you'd like to know more about that.)

This leads nicely into the next bit:

Garlean Assimilation

The Waning of the Sixth Sun Wrote:To the north, on the continent of Ilsabard, the Republic of Garlemald begins overwhelming nearby nations with their iron war machines, seizing their land and consuming their cultures. In the year 1552, the leader of the republic, Solus zos Galvus, declares Garlemald an empire and appoints himself emperor. The new imperial army, now swelling with the might of countless assimilated nations, methodically subjugates the eastern continent of Othard and the remaining lands of Ilsabard, welcoming those nations willing to bow to imperial rule, while erasing those which refuse the Garlean standard.

On Garlean Hierarchy Volume 1 Wrote:The rise of the Garlean Empire in the Year 1522 of the Sixth Astral Era led to significant changes in the structure of the Garlean society. This is most evident in the adoption of titles which serve to indicate an individual's place within the social hierarchy. The following information was compiled with the aid of informants within the empire and has yet to be verified:

Royalty
Zos - The emperor
Yae - Member of the royal family in line of succession
Wir - Member of the royal family with no claim to the throne.

Military
Van - Legatus (Commands a Legion)
Tol - Tribunus laticlavius or Tribunus militum (Commands a Cohor)
Sas - Tribunus angusticlavius or Praefectus castrorum (Commands Castrums)
Rem - Primus pilus or Pilus prior (Commands a Manipulus)
Quo - Primi ordines or Centurion (Commands a Centuriae)
Pyr - Optio, Tesserarius, or Decurion (???)
Oen - Duplicarius or Legionarius (Footsoldier?)

Specialists
Nan - Chief engineer or engineer
Mal - Primus medicus or senior magitek technician
Lux - Chief medicus or magitek technician
Kir - Senior medicus or senior technician
Jen - Medicus or technician

On Garlean Hierarchy Volume 2 Wrote:Public Officials
Iyl - Dictator or Princeps senatus
Het - Consul, Praetor, Tribunus plebis, Aedilis, or Quaestor
Goe - Censor
Fae - Unknown
Eir - Unknown
Dus - Lictor

This hierarchy extends to the general populace as well, though it is far less complex. The majority of citizens bear the "Ban" title, and there is a smaller group which appears to be comprised of respected artisans who have adopted the "Cen" title.

The "Aan" title is bestowed upon the peoples of annexed territories and indicates that they lack even the most basic rights afforded to a citizen. However, many Garleans view this as an opportunity rather than a condemnation, as citizenship may be granted to those who have demonstrated exceptional skills, as well as those who have contributed twenty or more years of military service.