Aylis family was a clan which founded Loodon and ruled the country for nearly 70 years.
Mother and son, Jani and Vantral managed a cooperative in the beginning of the 20th century SR. The cooperative declared the mouth of the Loodon river to be their property and began to tax anyone who needed access to the water. By 1910 SR several towns have formed around the river and Jani Aylis assumed the role of “chief organizer”.
In 1917 she orchestrated a conquest down the Loodon river, in order to secure the watercourse and claim the whole of it as cooperative's property. The army consisted of several thousand men and was commanded by Jani's son, Vantral. For a long time they encountered only small villages, all of which immediately agreed to submit to the collective. Instead of following the Loodon river proper, as soon as they reached the tributary called Tlax, Vantral led his troops towards the city of Tlax.
Tlax was a powerful city founded and run by a wealthy warlord Done Kandisis, but Kandisis was absent from the city: in a quest to expand, he took most of his army south. This was an unexpected bout of luck for Vantral and his men, who then entered the city, secured it and closed the gates. Vantral proclaimed the Tlax river to be the cooperative's property, due to it being a tributary of Loodon. On these grounds, he claimed, the city of Tlax also belongs to the cooperative. Outnumbered and having little choice, the city's magistrate Rnaul played along. However, he warned Vantral that Done Kandisis leads an extremely powerful and large army and that when Kandisis returns, Vantral's men stand no chance.
Meanwhile, Kandisis suffered an unexpected and decisive defeat at the hands of one of the Teamatian chiefdoms and came back with a weakened army. Greeted by closed gates and a barrage of arrows, Kandisis set up a siege, but faced a problem with morale: the unexpected defeat that brought no riches and now the poorly timed and humiliating loss of Tlax destroyed his troops' trust in his ability to restore his fortunes. Kandisis, known for his arrogance and dismissive attitude, did not seem to think that this was a serious problem and was reported to be looking forward to getting into the city and butchering the loodonians. But as the siege went into its second week, many of his soldiers began to leave, fearing that simply getting Tlax back is unlikely to make them wealthy, and that they might be spending their time searching for better opportunities. By the end of the second week the siege fell apart and Vantral proclaimed himself leader of the whole of Tlax river. He then led a skirmish against the little amount of forces of Kandisis that were still stationed under Tlax and managed to make them flee, killing several dozen people while suffering no casualties.
By this time Jani was already on her way to Tlax, but Vantral, having tasted power, had secretly sent several trusted men to ambush his mother's party. She and her escorts were murdered on their approach to Tlax. This was concealed from the rest of loodonians, and instead Vantral said that this was done by the inhabitants of the town of Nator, a wealthy location at the headwaters of Loodon. Vantral then led his troops towards Nator, but this time was not as lucky and was hit back by Nator's infantry, forcing him to retreat. He then returned to Tlax.
In spite of this embarrassing escapade, Vantral was greeted by the cooperative as a hero, viewed as a leader willing to defend his people against all odds. Although Nator was undefeated, Vantral again proclaimed Loodon to be the sole property of the cooperative and established the Loodon Cooperative, which very quickly became known as simply Loodon.
Paranoid that someone might capture Tlax the same way as he did, Vantral assumed a defense strategy and maintained it throughout the rest of his life: he continued to grow and train his army, but always found ways to postpone or cancel campaigns. Although he often spoke of a campaign to defeat Nator, in reality his own raid on Nator turned out to be the last time he set foot outside of Tlax. Nevertheless, he was continued to be called the Great General for the rest of his life and was said to have enjoyed it.
Tlax grew in wealth and influence and by 1930s became the hub of the region. On the surface, Vantral seemed to be a sensible ruler: he introduced taxes, but made sure they are moderate, his fortified city was considered to be safe and he relied on deals with neighboring regions, as opposed to military action. However, he soon became infamous for his underhanded and frequently outright criminal tactics. For instance, he established a secret squad of assassins who would help him punish his enemies and increase his influence, as well as force merchants to enter into trade deals that they would otherwise not consider. He also frequently intimidated nearby weaker regions by threatening to attack them with his army, and although he never actually followed through, there are several documented cases when he would fake a campaign by spreading rumors and sending several squadrons to a nearby regions, as if preparing for battle. These ruthless, but also quite innovative and bold tactics made Vantral feared and hated in many parts of the region, but it also brought him a certain level of admiration, and many powerful people began seeking his help.
Vantral's reign came to an end in 1936, when his younger brother Tavol, who at the time was the chief of the assassins squad, ordered his murder. Vantral was beheaded in his sleep with an axe.
Tavol was born somewhere in 1915-1920 SR. He became involved with Vantral's shady business from the young age and eventually became the chief of the assassins squad.
It turned out that the assassins had developed something akin to a religious cult, worshiping what they called the Gods of Mercy and considering themselves to be fulfilling the will of said gods. Tavol became a devotee of the cult, but as he was not just a mere assassin, but the brother of the ruler of Tlax, he began to be treated as a seer by other assassins, which gave him the opportunity to shape the cult. When Vantral ordered the murder of a wealthy merchant by the name of Dirdan Miln, it turned out that Tavol was in a relationship with her daughter. He asked Vantral to forgo the killing, but Vantral dismissed Tavol and pressed him to proceed. When Tavol pleaded with him again, Vantral dismissed Tavol from the position of the chief of assassins, assumed the role and went through with the murder of Dirdan himself. Tavol then persuaded the assassins that Vantral went against the will of the Gods of Mercy and they retaliated by murdering Vantral.
Tavol did not immediately assume the position of ruler, as his motivation for killing Vantral was more of a personal nature, but it soon became clear that Vantral's demise was taken by many of Vantral's enemies and underlings as a sign that they no longer owe Tlax anything. This prompted Tavol to take power and begin a series of local raids to establish himself as the ruthless ruler that Vantral had been, and as he was not afraid to use the full force of tlaxian forces, he quickly abandoned the complicated tactics of his deceased older brother and turned to expansion.
In January of 1939 Tavol led a campaign to Nator. After a brief battle outside city walls and then an equally brief siege, Tavol's forces occupied the city and mercilessly butchered all of its inhabitants. This was cruelty unheard of at the time and Tavol returned to Tlax an accomplished and feared warlord. At the same time, he introduced significant changes to the government and made religion the cornerstone of the law, elevating men from his group of assassins to government posts. A Temple of Gods of Mercy began to be built in the summer of 1939 and was still being worked on at the time of Tavol's death.
Immediately after the battle of Nator, Tavol set on a campaign to the east, to the city of Delbar with which Vantral had a lot of dealings.
Delbar was situated on the banks of the Taverda river and ruled by the powerful Overpol clan. They were supported by a superhero warrior, Earmont Overpol, who was the father of the family and had established the clan to begin with. Throughout most of the 20th century SR Earmont dominated his region and was slowly expanding what was known as the Overpol Expanse. Similar to Loodon's approach, Earmont subjugated the population along the banks of Taverda. He had a good relationship with Vantral and considered him an ally, eyeing Tarnaria and the southern Teamatian chiefdoms as targets for his subsequent campaigns.
Known to be invulnerable in combat, in reality Earmont's ability was a closely guarded secret. Vantral was one of the people who knew the secret and confided this information to his secret squad of assassins. Therefore, Tavol knew that Earmont had the ability to teleport to any location and two seconds later return back to his original location. This way he was winning key battles and overthrowing whole clans, by killing their rulers, generals and commanders, and inciting fear. A whole army of spies worked for him, who would enter a city long before the campaign and begin spreading rumors about prophecies, according to which the new age is coming and that it will be marked by sudden deaths of those in power. And as Earmont's army would be approaching, Earmont would sneak into the city with the help of his spies and murder key people.
Earmont would use his ability during battle as well, finding an opportunity to teleport close to a general, a king or a superhero warrior and stab them, undetected in all the action.
As Tavol knew of this devastating ability, he used himself as bait, but had his group of assassins be on the lookout. As the battle for Delbar began, Earmont appeared right behind Tavol and stabbed him, but was in turn fatally wounded by an assassin's sword. Wearing armor under his clothes, Tavol sustained only a minor injury and proceeded to win the battle, albeit suffering significant casualties: Earmont's army was experienced and well trained.
Delbar was considered to be the capital of the Overpol Expanse, and, having entered the city, Tavol proclaimed all of the Expanse to now be Loodon territory, and then proceeded to burn the city to the ground.
He then crossed the Taverda river and approached Dav, which was ruled by Earmont's daughter, Line Overpol. The news had already reached her, but in a surprising move she opened city gates and welcomed Tavol, acknowledging him as the ruler of the land. Several of her generals planed a coup together with her, but she betrayed them at the last minute to Tavol, and they were executed. Tavol became infatuated with Line and they married the same month, with her taking Tavol's last name Aylis.
News about Line's behavior, which was largely considered treacherous, swept the Overpol Expanse and led to most cities submitting to Tavol and the Overpol Expanse ceasing to exist. The fortified city of Noral was the only major city which ignored Tavol's claim to power.
In 1941 Tavol and Line led the campaign to Noral. In spite of heavy losses, they were able to defeat Noral's army, and then executed all of its general and city's governor Tol Treen, who was a close friend to Earmont Overpol. Noral was left in ruins and was rebuilt only a century later.
This turned out to be the last of Tavol's military campaign. He began to view himself as the greatest conqueror in the history of mankind and it is at this time that his personality began to change from an organized and focused leader to an erratic character, overwhelmed by power and wealth. He also began to focus heavily on establishing the religion of Gods of Mercy.
By the mid 1940s SR many of the cities of the former Overpol Expanse became more or less independent and none of them were paying taxes or using Loodon's banner, but neither had Tavol organized any sort of activity to regulate that, instead spending much of his time with Line and traveling between Dav and Tlax, overseeing the construction of the Temple of Gods of Mercy and writing the Scrolls of Gods of Mercy. A theocratic Tlax, ruled by his religious cult, began to be increasingly concerned with Tavol's inaction, however, as his lavish lifestyle and grandiose construction plans began to exert a serious strain on Loodon's treasury, while doing little to refill it.
Line Aylis grew impatient as well, as she seemed to have expected a glorious life full of conquest. Instead, her existence was reduced to week-long feasts and travel between Dav and Tlax. Tavol was also too focused on his religion and began to distance himself from her, frequently leaving to Tlax or Dav without her.
In 1947 SR Aylis had conspired with the tlaxian faction to overtake power, and when one day Tavol came back to Tlax from his usual stay at Dav, Line's guards beheaded Tavol in his sleep, killing him just like he killed his older brother, Vantral. Several of Tavol's older companions from the original group of Vantral's assassins who held positions in the Tlax Chamber have also been murdered, along with their families to prevent the danger of familial revenge.
Having assumed power, Line Aylis immediately set up high taxes for all the cities of the former Overpol Expanse, which she officially named the Overpol Region. She also called off the grandiose construction of the Temple of Gods of Mercy. Many records also suggest that she declared Gods of Mercy to be a false religion. This seems somewhat implausible given how theocratic Loodon had been and that the whole power structure of Tlax was based on the religion of Gods of Mercy, but records of this period are scarce, especially tlaxian records.
This created a conflict with Dav, which was the second pillar of Loodon's power and had developed a strong theocratic government in recent years. It had also quietly accumulated quite a bit of wealth, since its own population was heavily taxed, and although it made the government highly unpopular, the situation was stable due to the strong royal army, which had suppressed several riots in 1943-45 SR, while granting special priviliges to certain parts of the population.
Dav's military commander, General Ynorie Trunt, ruled alongside Potus Aylis, Tavol's cousin. Potus was the religious leader, known informally as Masut, which was a religious title granted to the top cleric of the Gods of Mercy religion. The exact meaning of the word has since been lost, but it is believed to have meant “the bridge to Gods” or “the friend of Gods”. Potus was the most powerful religious figure after Tavol himself.
When Tavol was killed, Potus was expected to travel to Tlax to assume power, but as Line Aylis declared herself to be the Loodon ruler, as well as denouncing the state religion, the situation developed into a fight for power.
Eastern Loodon, which was enjoying a state of relative independence, now saw Line's rule as a threat, especially as she sent messengers, setting up taxes and demanding full submission to her rule. This played into Potus's hand, who began to unite the Overpol Region under his own banner. By the end of the 1940s SR Loodon had officially entered into a civil war, as Ynorie's and Line's forces clashed near the Taverda river.
For the next several years the west and east of Loodon would be fighting a bitter war, while at the same fighting off the growing threat from a number or Teamatian tribes.
Eventually, west Loodon lost the war, with the last battle taking place mid-way between Tlax and Dav, and Ynorie's forces crushing Line's army in a definitive victory.
Line's ultimate fate is unclear, as documents exist that report her being killed in the last battle, as well as being executed by Potus after the battle. The only thing that's clear is that she was dead by the time Potus assumed the role of Loodon's ruler in 1953 SR.
In spite of questionable accomplishments and opportunistic behavior, Line Aylis is a famous historical figure in several countries, including Leykaron, Mantareia, Leykhane and Yammoe.
Completely unknown outside of Loodon during her reign, her rise to fame came posthumously, when royal painters Davi Glorn and Kamilo Haidyl created the first ever recorded panoramic painting, depicting Line Aylis and her army before what would become Line's last battle. A copy of a part of the painting with Line proudly sitting on her horse, her blonde hair fluttering in the wind and eyes fixed on what is probably the opposing army in front of her, became a sensation in Yammoe, then in Gantolia (present day Leykhane). The original painting was called “Eyeing Victory” and was eventually lost, with only a single copy surviving. However, the original copy of the part of the painting did survive and is known as “Line Forte” or simply “Forte”.
Many myths about Line's personality, life and talent as Loodon's leader have been created, although modern historians agree that almost none of them have any basis in fact. Nevertheless, Line Aylis became a symbol of a strong leader who never wavers, even when faced with immesurable odds. Ironically, although a record of her opportunistic behavior is apparent, in the popular account she is depicted as being noble, principled and overwhelmingly loyal.
Line is known for having called off the grandiose construction of the Temple of Gods of Mercy. But many records also suggest that she declared Gods of Mercy to be a false religion. This seems somewhat implausible given how theocratic Loodon had been and that the whole power structure of Tlax was based on the religion of Gods of Mercy, but records of this period are scarce, especially tlaxian records of governance.
Another argument against this is that Dav continued to be deeply religious, yet the east had never used the rhetoric of fighting for the religion. Therefore, even if Line did make some pronouncements about religion, she did not actually go through with any action.