[Veltzeh]: 39.PlanetSide: Tzhagane.Chapter 4: History

     The accurate history of the Tzhagane reaches up to 6000 years into the past, when almost all of the organized tzhaganes were still living near to the edge. Before that they were known to have moved somewhat around at the edges without doing much.
     They had lived a nomadic life; some had settled down in valleys where some fertile land was found. As the size of any community was determined by the size and fertility of the valley, no community could ever grow big enough to fulfill any other purposes than keeping alive the tzhaganes who lived in it. If the amount of people grew to uncontrollable amounts, the land was overcultivated and destroyed, eventually destroying the whole community. Some people heard horror stories of such cases, then believed them or not and tried to evade such a catastrophe in their own way. Every attempt to grow a community too big ended disastrously. Eventually all tzhaganes knew that, accepting it. Some people always wandered around, some stayed in valleys or founded small enough communities in the mountains. Most of the wanderers that left the areas they originated from never came back and never were found. One of the discouraging factors was the issue of predators. There were very few predators at the edge of the world, and even those that could kill a tzhagane easily did not prefer their taste, leaving them alone. The tzhaganes, often living in only very few numbers, did not disturb the menu of their superior predators. Nearer to the center of the world the predators were much more efficient and terrifying, and could even fly, unlike the ones at the edge. That and the fact that no one knew what there would be to be achieved in the center were the primary reasons why the tzhaganes did not bother to leave the edges. Thus were things 6000 years ago.
     During the next two millennia the tzhaganes had discovered rudimentary science and technology. Most of their research was done in curiosity more often than due to need. The only achievements of science they needed were in the lines of architecture for their homes, machines for cultivation and harvest and small devices to help with the chores of everyday life. Everything else they studied out of curiosity, and everything that could not be used for the three things mentioned were forgotten or only used to do further research in the hunger of knowledge. Eventually, a group of brave tzhaganes dared to venture to the center, properly equipped and ready to face the predators. It took several decades a century, two centuries, but eventually they managed in creating a successful community. They eventually found other tzhagane communities settled in safe valleys near the center. They had no use to conquer these communities, as, if left alone, they simply continued their life in the valley, not particularly caring what was going on elsewhere. Some did not even know if there was an "elsewhere" in the first place.
     Nevertheless, the movement of big groups of tzhaganes to the center allowed the establishment of great systems and institutes. The tzhaganes protected their fragile buildings with force fields and assured their survival by being fast and cunning, making their predators lose interest in hunting down a small, fast piece of meat that did not taste good nor was very filling. The fittest survived and it was fine for the tzhaganes.
     That kind of lifestyle had gone on for millennia, with an occasional revolution and an attempt to create something extraordinary. However, the majority of people never really caught them. They might have played along for a decade or two, but eventually they always realized that peace and quiet was the way to be. Everyone created or decided about eir own excitement, entertainment and pain and everyone knew that. There had only ever been four major movements that had tried to change the world as the tzhaganes knew it. The first one, the literal movement of the people from the edge to the center had succeeded, the other three had not. Soon after it was clear that the center of the world was the place to be and the network of communities had grown too large to control, the Institute of Jurisdiction was founded to maintain a sense of common law and language – over a thousand years after the first successful explorers had settled in the center. Much later, when it became necessary, the Food Supply Institute was founded as a subdivision of the Institute of Jurisdiction to control the fair distribution of food to all tzhagane communities that knew of the Institute of Jurisdiction. After the Food Supply Institute, the Educational Institute was founded to assure fair education to the people. And finally, the Medical Institute was founded to assure fair health care and scientific studying. After that every issue that became a problem has been assigned to one of the existing Institutes.
     The second great movement, the first that failed, was the conquering of the whole world. A large group of tzhaganes wanted to explore and conquer the whole world and make every tzhagane community aware of the Institute of Jurisdiction. However, the group was too small. They traveled far, kept their contacts to the Institute of Jurisdiction and told every ignorant valley community about it, but eventually, nothing happened. The group eventually settled in a valley and built a working community far away from any other communities, but like the ancient magnificent dreams of creating an all-knowing omnipotent empire, the community crushed under its own size. There were and still are very vast undiscovered, unknown areas around the world where the tzhaganes could go, but do not because they have no need to do that. Of course someone always leaves and eventually a new community might be founded, but when there is no need for more, they do not go further. Some of the most curious ones have gone around the world; most have never come back, those who have never had anything of particular interest to show or tell. It is a foreign land that will be inhabited when the need arises. It is a mystery of other communities that will join the wide commonality of the Four Institutes when and if they so desire.
     The third great movement had been the invention of a universal religion. Most of the people went for it, others were converted and those who did not agree were tortured and killed. Unnecessary moral codes were created, people were hunted because they did not believe. Even then, eventually everyone realized that it did no good to believe in something trivial and make a big issue about it. It never changed how much food they got, it never made the predators go away. The only thing it did cause was the bitter anger of the tzhaganes who had seen the corruption of a false ideal from the beginning. Thus faded the religion and the superficial moral codes and unwritten rules of behaviour went forgotten.
     The fourth failed movement was the invention of weapons. Even the ancient tzhaganes had weapons: axes, saws, shovels, gardening tools. Near the edge they were used to either scare and drive away predators and creatures that loomed over their food crops, or to kill off the odd harmful tzhagane. The predators never posed such a threat that the tzhaganes would have wanted to wipe them out completely. Even as they moved nearer to the center, they noticed they still had the advantage of speed. And before anyone thought that killing off all of their predators might be a good idea, the idea of food chains and ecological balance was found. Soon enough everyone knew that hunting down and killing an entire species just because they were a threat to the tzhaganes would likely upset the whole ecosystem. In addition, it was admittedly easier to run away and be cautious than to sit down and think how in the world it would be possible to eliminate an entire species. Most of the predators were also very intelligent, some of them even having a language the tzhaganes nearly understood and some ideas of abstract thought. Thus it did not help to kill the predators, as revenge was unavoidably imminent. However, as the technology advanced, some tzhaganes noticed how effective some devices would be against their predators. The weapons were promised to guard everyone from every enemy tzhagane could think of and the people stopped caring about the ecosystem. Soon effective firearms were being manufactured and every tzhagane was promised to get one. The dealing of the firearms began first from the center and never spread from there. When the people got their hands on the weapons, surely many of the predators were killed and the death rate went down. Then became the conflicts between people, and since they now had a very simple and effective solution within an arm's reach, they did not bother to take it to the Institute of Jurisdiction but solved their problems by killing each other. Soon the murder rate grew absolutely ridiculous. When approximately half of the people around the center were dead, the remaining tzhaganes refused the firearms and disassembled them. Of course, a few of the weapons were hidden or kept just for the sake of it, but over a few centuries the usage of the firearms went down so much that eventually the few firearms that had not been disassembled were considered some sort decoration or ancient museum artifacts.
     The history of the Tzhagane had not been filled with wars and conflicts, but times of peace and revolutions of discoveries. Most of the tzhaganes hoped those times would continue, some hoped for a change, some just hoped for anything to happen. But as they saying went, everyone created or decided about eir own excitement, entertainment and pain and everyone knew that.

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© by V. E. "Veltzeh" Lehkonen