No other Deveran nation had been blessed with abundant resources to the same extent that was true of the Azgaril. In their native land, fast flowing, clear rivers teeming with fish tumbled restlessly through great swaths of tall grass prairie. Vast forests blanketed the hills and high mountains surrounding their territory. Their protected, deep water port excelled above all others in size, encouraging commerce with other nations to the extent that the Azgar began projecting their linguistic, diplomatic and economic reach far beyond the ancient fortress that had long been their home.

Success in trade made Southern Vulgate, the native language of the Azgaril, Devera’s de facto Common Tongue. Further, their ideas of government by representation influenced even their enemies, and though they eventually abandoned true democracy for the stability of a corporate oligarchy, every Republic on Devera’s single continent owes its origin to the principles set out in Azgaril’s founding documents--an ancient collection of laws known simply as "The Charter."

Central to the cultural mind set prevalent among the Azgar was the precept that moral purity leads to prosperity and success. Therefore, they considered affluence evidence that the complex and democratic interaction among their many gods constituted favor and blessing. All their moral values developed along these lines, until the Azgar began believing that their society alone promoted virtue, goodness and equity. Human liberty, the birthright of all Azgaril, could not be extended to other peoples whose social orders did not match the principles outlined in "The Charter."

Therefore, as the centries passed Azgar religion began espousing the idea that national destiny lay in conquest. The Azgaril earnestly desired to impose their views on surrounding nations, thinking that by exacting their morally superior form of government upon the enslaved masses, they were emancipating men and women yet to be born from the shackled subservience of other human systems. Any child born after such conquest was considered an Azgar citizen, despite his or her culture of origin, and as a citizen, qualified for every right granted to  native Azgaril. All others remained worthy of servitude, without hope for redress or compensation.

For centuries, the democratic ideals of Azgaril society spread, like their language, across the continent. As their institutions became progressively more militant, the Azgaril adopted a view extending their moral and cultural dominance to resource acquisition. As their economy expanded, so did their need for fuel and raw materials. Since economic growth was seen as an indicator of divine blessing, they denuded their forests for fuel and carved huge pits into the ground in an insatiable quest for mineral wealth. Once their own supplies lay exhausted, they turned their attention to the surrounding nations, whose resources could be expropriated and shipped overland by train, or on water by barge, to the huge industrial complexes that developed along the three major river systems in their native region.

To project power and defend their conquests, the Azgaril built massive, privately-owned armed forces whose allegiances belonged to influential businessmen. Warlords sought commissions from these powerful corporate monopolies to justify and preserve their existence, then subsequently utilized their acquired military might to subdue threats to the Azgaril "national interest"; in essence, any resource-rich region whose people resisted foreign colonization. This drive for conquest expanded borders, preserved the national lifestyle from crumbling under its excessive resource consumption, and unparalleled success reinforced the notion among individual Azgar that their gods condoned such policies.

The rise of corporate power considerably influenced Azgaril governance. Republican ideals remained enshrined in The Charter, but the documents lost their authority over time. In actual practice, free and fair elections were gradually displaced by a political system that rewarded wealthy citizens who could raise enough money to buy power. Although the emperor slowly lost the administrative control characteristic of his position in early Azgar history, his position soon overshadowed the role played by gods in the Azgaril pantheon. He became the chosen representative of all deities, (though he was elected by the Azgar Senate) and shrewd emperors enhanced their standing by backing policies of certain corporations who were, by virtue of their wealth and the power of their armies, more likely to succeed than their rivals.

Thus, the democratic ideals upon which Azgaril society had been founded faded into history. They became a nation of armies, every one of which named itself to glorify the state, even though their existence depended upon powerful, corporate sponsorship. Under the pretense of freedom, they embraced conquest, and in doing so, inspired both dread and loathing among neighboring nations.

Imagery:

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Liberation Pass, overlooking the Saradon Desert

Guardian Plateau, south of Illithia
 

Badlands northeast of Marioch

Coastline at Dark Crescent Bay
View toward the south

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