Ovatra

Ovatra (Ovate-ra) is a fairly large nation north of Sai-Ren and west of Britt and Kishlem. It is widely regarded as a barbaric and savage race. Ovatra was originally a part of Sai-Ren until 8649A.S. when they gained independence. Ovatra has been at war with Kishlem, Britt, Muluyuza and almost exculsively with Sai-Ren since 8650A.S. Ovatra was the only nation to reject The Declaration Of Peace.

Petition for Independence
After Britt gained independence from Sai-Ren in 8109A.S. talks of Ovate indepedence began between the regions from Monazeyo to the border of Kishlem and down what is now known as Mid Sai-Ren. After roughly one hundred years, the nobles and politicians from modern-day Ovatra sent an official petition to Sai-Ren (8200A.S.). Sai-Ren called a meeting with the Torién Council, bringing in representatives from Sai-Ren, Monazeyo, Britt and Kishlem to discuss the issue. The petition was rejected due to Sai-Ren needing the land and manpower. Also the threat it may cause could be catastrophic. The people of Ovate-Sai-Ren continued to present petitions to the Torién Council and Sai-Renian government for 300 years (until 8500A.S.).

The Ovate Rebellion
In the time that the petitions for Ovatra's independence were being sent, the Sai-Renian soldiers posted there were increasingly becoming more rebellious and undisciplined. They began disregarding protocol and taking part in 'distasteful' activities such as fighting and drinking and making love. When Sai-Renian scouting soldiers were sent to check on the warriors posted in Ovatra, on many occasions, the posted soldiers would attack and kill the scouts. The posted soldiers were surely beginning to agree with the Ovate independence idea. They began letting the civilians create their own laws and punishments and rituals. These included human sacrifices, torture and supporting violence in law

On the first day of 8500A.S. a collection of Sai-Renian soldiers who called themselves 'The Warriors Of Ovatra' launched an attack on all those loyal to Sai-Ren. This triggered a large mob of people to follow the Warriors Of Ovatra into a large, bloody, ongoing rebellion. Cities were plundered and taken over by Ovate enthusiasts. Small towns were burned to the ground. There are many reports of looting and rape. 10,000 people died in the first week of the rebellion. Two days after Sai-Ren had heard any reliable information on the rebellion, a force of 40,000 Sai-Renian soldiers were sent to neutralize the threat. They were met with fierce fighting and passionate hate from both fighters and civilians alike. Sai-Ren was able to push the rebellious forces back to what is now known as North Sai-Ren. By 8537A.S. the Ovate warriors had set up a military and were unmovable.

The Ovate Invasion
Fighting continued on but both the Ovate and Sai-Renian forces were gridlocked and did not cover any land for almost 10 years. Ovatra was still officially recognized as Sai-Renian land. In late 8648A.S. Ovate chiefs and warlords decided that their armies would attack Monazeyo so that Sai-Ren would distance themselves from Ovatra and they would finally have their independence. Monazeyo was also a close ally of Sai-Ren and so they were seen as the enemy anyway despite Monazeyo not taking any part in defusing the Ovate Rebellion.

In early 8649, an army of 120,000 Ovate warriors marched onto Monese land. In order to create such a large force, many fighters were taken from the Sai-Renian front. On the first day of the invasion, the Ovate soldiers pilaged farmlands and killed many civilians. The Monese government reacted quickly and on the same night, the Ovate force was met by a small army of 5,000 Monese soldiers. The Monese soldiers met fierce fighting but held out until dawn. At around midday the next day, the Monese force was annihilated. All 5,000 soldiers were killed but the Ovate force suffered 9,000 casualties at the hands of the Monese.

The Ovate army continued to move through Monazeyo. The Monese government explicitly explained to Sai-Ren that these were still Sai-Renian men and that if they did not want a war then they would have to pull the Ovate troops or neutralize the threat. In return, Sai-Ren asured Monazeyo that they did not want anything to do with the Ovate Invasion. Monazeyo did not accept this excuse. They set up a line of defense with 500,000 Monese soldiers. All were hand-picked as the best trained and most experienced fighters. One month later, after the Ovate army had done with it's newly gained land and slaves, they began to continue moving North only to meet the Monese force.

They were met with continuous volleys of Monese arrows. It is said that the sun was blocked out by the raining arrows. The Ovate warriors had little or no armour and many were killed. Still, they were fearless and charged with a wild warcry and intense fury. The Monese soldiers sent their spearmen to the front lines and put their swordmen directly behind them. When the two forces met, the skilled Monese soldiers skewered the Ovate soldiers frontmen. Immediately, the Monese swordmen emerged from behind the spearmen and attacked with a bloody talent. Still, the Ovate fighters charged and died.

Four hours into the battle, Monese cavalry charged in from the right side of the Ovate warriors and killed many. After the horsemen had gotten through the Ovate army from right to left, the entire Monese army fell back except for the Kikajo who stayed to protect the retreat. Once the army was out of range, the Monese archers fired another round of volleys once again. While all of the Ovate army was taking cover, the Monese cavalry rode in again to finish off the rest of the fighters. There were only 759 Ovate warriors who did give in and became prisoners. The rest were killed because they fought to the death. No Monese soldiers died in the battle.

After two months of captivity, the captured Ovate soldiers were released back into Ovatra. Immediately, the warriors turned back, malnourished and dehydrated, to finish their lives fighting. These fighters were killed within a week. Monazeyo warned Sai-Ren that if they are still being attacked by Ovatra by 8650A.S. then they will declare a state of war on Sa-Ren. Ovatra continued small raids and attempted taking Monese land for almost a year.

Ovatra gains Independence
On the last day of 8649A.S. Sai-Ren declared Ovatra an independant country to avoid war with Monazeyo. Boundries were set and many celebrations occured in Ovatra. Many of these celebrations included barbaric traditions such as killing, torturing and burning.

The Ovate War
The next day, the first day of 8650A.S. Ovatra declared a state of war on Sai-Ren. The Ovate Invasion on the Monese continued for a few years, until 8653A.S. In 8653, the Monese military launched a massive attack on Ovatra with 240,000 of their best soldiers marching into the new country. Within three days, the Monese army had captured over half of Ovatra's land. Ovatra begged for mercy on the fourth day. They had had to take all of their warriors from the Sai-Renian front and move them to fight against the oncoming Monese force. Sai-Ren was free to invade. Monazeyo agreed to leave Ovatra as quickly as they had come and to give the Ovates all of their land back, but only if the Ovate nation would cease their continuous attacks on Monazeyo. Ovatra agreed to the terms. Within three days, Monazeyo had left all Ovate lands. Ovatra was then able to deploy every single one of their warriors to the Sai-Renian front. With the exception of a few war clans, all fighters were sent South to the conflict.

This lead to The Battle of the Reserve (A.K.A. The Nine Day Fight) where 49,000 Ovate warriors charged the Sai-Renian force of 3,000. After a day of fighting, Sai-Ren sent 73,000 soldiers to the fight. The soldiers reached the battle that night. A glorious battle errupted and continued for seven days. At the end of the fight, Sai-Ren emerged victorious but only 50 soldiers remained. These heavy casualties plus the casualties lost during the Monese retaliation left Ovatra virtually defenseless. Ovatra declared that they still were at war with Sai-Ren and would be for at least an uninterrupted 8650 years. (The same amount of time that Ovate men and women were 'oppressed'.) No more Ovate attacks occured for 64 years. Although, there were a few minor raids that took place. The Ovate War still exists today and is a very large issue for Sai-Ren.

Politics
Ovatra has no effective government but does have a nation's council who are occasionally called upon to discuss matters that will impact the whole country itsef. These discussions have been known to turn violent very regularly and a lot of decisions made are often disregarded by opposing nobles or councilmen. The nation's council is made up of the kings and chieftans of various major tribes or clans. The Head of the nation's council is very rarely opposed and is respected and enforced by all although he rarely takes part in matters unless they are of most importance. The nation's council is mostly in charge of foreign relations and necessary laws and war. The protocol for foreign relations for Ovatra is to kill any messengers or politicians from anywhere apart from Monazeyo. On occasion, this is not the case but instead the Ovate 'government' sends the negotiating nation messages in other ways such as sending the messenger back without a tongue or other body parts.

Law
There is no code of law that exists overruling Ovatra. Instead, laws rely on the clan that owns the land you are on. Some tribes find certain behaviours acceptable while others find it punishable by death. The only law that all the clans follow is that blasphemy to the Ovate gods is punishable by death. Some clans have a judge and trial. Some clan's judges are the law enforcement. Many clans don't have law enforcement. Some clans don't have laws (apart from the laws on blasphemy).