Tea House Tales: The Good Old Days
Lize's Royal Tea House, Suzuhara
"You can't be serious, Marco." said Friedrich Bayer "That makes as much sense as the city of Bielefeld existing!"
"Guys, you have to believe me! Our history was dedicated by these events!" puffs his cigar "It's how the old gods aligned our stars in the past for our great times now." said Marco di Ambrosio empathetically.
"Marco... I hate to burst your bubble but... that goes against all Imperial Records from that period and even some that I managed to get from Antiocheia, and Theikopolis." said a timid man known simply as the "Scholar". His name was Georgios Attikos, a Syndeoneian now living in the Empire.
Spitting out his tea, Marco retorts "Whaddya mean there Georgio? I have seen the Matiyotl accounts with me own bloody eyes! You cannot tell me that those tales are hogwash when they make so much sense?" Slams his fist of the table "I have greater reason to believe that those official accounts are lying to us all about the true nature of our past!"
"Settle down, Marco." remarked Friedrich coldly "Scholar, tell us what those accounts actually said and where you found them. I may find it hard to believe Marco, especially since he is relying on esoteric knowledge from the Cannibals, but his point stands firm. The official accounts could not be telling us the entire truth."
"Very well, Fritz." remarked Georgios with some degree of passion. He loved to talk about these sorts of things. Taking a sip of tea and settling it down, he brings out from his satchel old books and maps from the past that he had transcribed by hand and redraw on the table. "Gentleman, I have spent the past 2 years working on these and I am proud to show you, my research and findings. I would rather you not take my own words, but those from the past to decide for yourself."
Both Friederich and Marco pick up some books, Friedrich from the Tsukinode Empire and Marco from Indeia, since he knew the languages of the Syndeoneians and the "Lost Kingdom". Both men looked into these books with great fascination. Friedrich's book was an old account from around the turn of the VTE era from an old clerk in Ichikara detailing events at the frontier.
"Scholar, forgive me if I am lost, but where is the proof that you have in this? I do not recognize the names of many of these nations." asked Friedrich
"Oh, Fritz. Let me see" he takes the book "Ah yes, this is an interesting account from Prince Yokohito himself, the nations he is describing are former nations and vassals of the Empire." Pulls out his own hand-crafted map. You see, the Empire made a habit early on of spreading our religion to the locals of the south and the west." Points at the Western nation labeled as "Seiyo Hito no Oukoku" (Literally Kingdom of the Westerners). This Kingdom is what the locals in that region called the Pelangi Kingdom, which is a direct ancestor of what we know today as the Kingdom of Dilupakan. Many of the records from this Kingdom have been lost during its collapse but other records prove that this is the same nation. Such as this one" he brings out another book from 700 VTE, which talks about the the fall of the Pelangi Kingdom and the rise of many other Kingdoms. It talks about how the former people of Pelangi are part of a new Kingdom, Dilupakan.
"Huh, but what of this one? You can't reasonably expect me, a proud Pomeranian, to believe our lands were ruled by two states when our founding myth that has been proven correct says our lands were uncivilized?" said Friedrich with passion
"You would be correct; the map is not an accurate representation in this area of everything that was going on. There were no doubt other states that failed to arise in the records I have but might be found in your own or deeper in the Imperial Archive." points to the south. "This one is obvious; it is the High Kingdom of Mujigae taking over from the Kingdom of Goryeo. I am sure you got that one, as we all know this rather well." pointing towards the center, around where Syrenia is now "However, this Kingdom here is unique. Before Syrenia, indeed, just before it was founded was a Kingdom called "Indo Oukoku" by the Empire but is known properly as "Indradhanush ka Samrajya." It was a former Imperial vassal that collapsed just before the other tribals of the region were civilized by your peoples. I am sure you are familiar with Noor as being one of the Titans in your faith, well in this Kingdom, she was a divinity herself and worshiped. Unfortunately, around 200 VTE, this Kingdom was utterly destroyed by a combination of natural disasters, barbarian invasions and corruption. Most of its cities were leveled by the Syrenians over the years, but we still had their records in Atalanta, and they were saved from the city being razed under the orders of Pomerlane himself. I do not currently have access to the Syrenian Archive in Laodice, but I aim to visit it soon and finally right more on this lost Kingdom. One last thing, the borders you see are what the Empire claimed to be under the rule of these Kingdoms in the south and center aren't entirely true, as you might expect. We do know that your people were natives to these regions long before your national myth, they are mentioned in Imperial account as a vicious warlike people that caused issues along what we know today as the Pomeranian Gulf." Pointing at the map again "However, you might be wondering what nation this is. As I am sure you translated, it says Barbarian Kingdom. This was the effective way of Yokohito admiting he had no control over these people and to avoid embarrassment simply labeled them this. Tsukijin are quite the proud people, and to admit that would go against their pride. But I do know that in the present Empire of Ninisani that there were tribals that paid tribute to the Empire during this period."
Friedrich is rather convinced, the map he was given also shows vast areas of the worlds not represented at all. There is no Indeia, for example on this map nor map of the Western reaches of the Ailivian Empire. "I cannot give you good information on the lands of the far west and north at this time, Fritz. Unfortunately, but I think my point about the entire supposed hyperwar, the scattering of nations and such should be disproved by this."
"I have good reason to believe this, I assume you plan on doing more research in Laodice soon?" remarks Friedrich
"Yes, that is my next objective actually."
Across from them Marco is clearly feeling defeated and perplexed. What he had read and saw went against everything he had been told. The tale that he was told was not one of a hyperwar but a great invasion from the north that destroyed Kingdoms and Empires. The descriptions of these people were accurate as well. He didn't know the names of some of the Kingdoms and states that were destroyed, he didn't, for he saw the names of nations and people that were recorded in history arising. And most crucially, these invasions happened around the time of the Hyperwar and that one of the writers described in detail the lost deities of these regions, names he had heard before.
He finally remarks "I am sorry, Georgio. I am not throwing out the ideas of the Matiyotl entirely but the evidence you have provided me have swayed much against their teaching greatly. It just doesn't make sense when I see how the locals mapped the area and even said "World Map" on it. There was even confusion about the Northern end of Indeia itself. More research is needed, but I increasingly believe the truth has been told."