Historical Entity, in History
Xeamian Empire
Also known as The Xeamian · Xeamian Kingdom
The Xeamian Empire was one of the two great empires of Canaan during the Age of Peace, occupying the south and centre of the continent and dominating the territories of the Mediata Savannah. It was the political and cultural predecessor of the Arakcadian Congress, and many of the founding values of Arakcadia — freedom, self-thinking, knowledge, civic openness — descend directly from Xeamian ideals. The empire was destroyed in the Xeamian-Zawma Conflict (459–463 AP), which also ended the northern Zawma Empire, leaving both great powers in ruins and opening the New Age of Canaanese history.
The Xeamian Empire's geographic position in the south and centre of Canaan, where the open sea and plains provided both resources and room for expansion, made it a naturally outward-facing and ambitious power. Its ideological character — built on the legacy of the liberation from the overlords of the Millenia of Darkness — set it in long-term cultural opposition to the more conservative, monarchy-oriented Zawma Empire to the north.
Origins
The Xeamian Empire grew during the Age of Peace (0 AP onward), in the period that followed the end of the Millenia of Darkness and the overthrow of its overlords. The liberation of Canaan from those overlords had been accomplished by a group of unexpected adventurers who then gave way to various successors with different visions for how society should be rebuilt. The Xeamian Empire crystallised around a set of ideals that drew directly from the experience of liberation: freedom and self-thinking — the belief that the restrictions of the pre-Darkness era, when an absolute king ruled, and the horrors of the Darkness itself, when overlords fed on the life-force of others, should never be permitted to return.
In the south and centre of Canaan, where open plains and sea routes provided room for growth, the Xeamian Empire expanded rapidly and became one of the two most powerful political entities on the continent.
Character and values
The Xeamian Empire was founded on the ideals of freedom and self-thinking, ideals that had survived from the rebellion that ended the Millenia of Darkness. The empire represented a rejection of the hierarchical, guarded conservatism of its northern counterpart the Zawma Empire, choosing instead to embrace new ways of thinking, civic openness, and the expansion of what was possible for the peoples of Canaan.
This ideological character meant that the Xeamian Empire and the Zawma Empire were, from their earliest days, in implicit tension. Their eventual conflict was as much ideological as it was territorial.
Downfall
As both empires grew during the Age of Peace, unrest accumulated along their borders. Small conflicts began in 456 AP, and by 458 AP, trade had broken down between the two powers, with impossible tariffs imposed on Xeamian goods. In 459 AP, a small group of extremists from the Xeamian side attacked an official Zawma ship, sparking the full regional conflict that became the Xeamian-Zawma Conflict. The war lasted from 459 to 463 AP, and both empires destroyed themselves in the process, leaving only scattered villages that had broken off or rebelled.
Legacy
The Arakcadian Congress is the principal inheritor of Xeamian political culture and geography. Arakcadia itself was first settled in 2 AP and formally founded as a civic polity in 264 AP, during the height of the Age of Peace. Its founding values — education, peace, meritocracy, freedom, self-thinking — directly reflect the Xeamian heritage.
The ruins of the Xeamian Empire are visible around Arakcadia and in the eastern areas of the Mediata Savannah, physical reminders of the empire's former scale. Arakcadian civic and scholarly institutions maintain awareness of Xeamian history, though the extent and accuracy of historical record preservation is a matter of some institutional sensitivity.
One tradition holds that the name Arakcadia itself is of Xeamian origin, from Arak-Kadia, "harbour of return", though most linguists now prefer a Mediatan derivation.