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This is not so much a story as an archive of information; an example of the world building I do when creating stories. It is intended as reference for anyone who would like more insight into the history of Urokon and its people, as well as a useful tool if anyone decided they'd really like to use the Kyyreni or Urokon in their own stories (hey, it might happen one day!). I apologise if it comes across as dry and unexciting, but I feel this sort of thing is good practice for any budding author. Build your world first, and the stories will follow. It's much easier to construct events when the world is already there because you can simply ask and answer suitable questions; what does a person's religion say they should do in this situation? What about their cultural upbringing? How do those things shape their morals and ethics? Having this stuff to hand is more valuable than you might realise, so give it a try sometime.

Kyyreni Religion

Origins The dominant faith within the Dawn Kingdom of Urokon is the Kalkarian Cult, and its close relative the Vorholian Cult. Both are polytheistic religions (although the former is increasingly monotheistic in scope) and both can trace their lineage back to antiquity. Indeed, they have become so prevalent within Kyyreni society that approximately 80% of all religious orders can be considered a part of, or an offshoot from one of these two faiths.

The core of the Vorholian Cult lies in the ancient Kadecanni, the "people of iron." The Kadecanni were a loose confederation of tribes on the western edge of the Dawn, surviving primarily through trade with the Night Tribes or their more prosperous Dawn cousins. They rose to power, and earned their name, through the exploitation of natural, easily accessed iron ores, the largest stockpiles being within the township of Tzag'ros (now known as Tzajii). The Kadecanni developed knowledge of metallurgy, including the production of primitive steels, and inevitably this knowledge led to the production of weapons and armour. By the time the Kadecanni began empire building their veneration of Ior'kadec, the God of Iron, had risen considerably. For a time they worshiped him exclusively, but as their empire grew they began to absorb local cultures, and so placed Ior'kadec at the top of their pantheon as the greatest of the Gods, and the only one who acted benevolently among the Kyyreni.

The next major evolution in the Vorholian Cult came from the northern peoples, who venerated the Old Gods; elemental spirits of Stone, Sun, Moon, Water and Wood. These Elementals were re-purposed, taking on forms more acceptable to the Kadecanni, and served primarily to restore a polytheistic pantheon to their faith. In time, Tzag'ros was sacked by an alliance of Dawn and Night tribes, and in the years that followed the Kadecanni were driven further and further north. Here, the nation of Oraahnaj was founded as the northern tribes betrayed and destroyed the remnants of the Kadecanni empire. Despite supposedly loathing the "southern" traditions and customs of the vanquished, the first leaders of Oraahnaj adopted the Kadecanni religion almost unchanged, bar for a few names less emphasis on the Iron God, whom they called "Jol'hol". This is believed to be an amalgamation of two words; "Jolus" meaning "firm", and "shol", meaning "moon". Although the names would evolve further over time, this religion would become the core of the Vorholian Cult, and exists in various forms to the present day.

Kalkar The Dawn Tribes responsible for the destruction of the southern Kadecanni lands primarily practiced ancestor worship, and despite their best efforts to wipe out the worship of what they saw as false spirits, Ior'kadec was worshiped in secret by survivors of the cultural purge. He survived in folklore and secret societies, though details became wildly inconsistent with the lack of an official priesthood. The origin of Kalkar is debated, but many point to him being based upon Kolhyyr, the tribal king who sacked Tzag'ros. Deified by his people even before his death, Kolhyyr was claimed to be the greatest king who ever lived, creating an empire unmatched in all the known world (untrue; Kolhyyr's domain was smaller than that of Oraahnaj to the north by a considerable margin, and indeed smaller than the Kadecanni empire he succeeded). His son, Kolhor, continued to expand what became known as the Great Central Empire, and a long succession of very similarly named kings followed; Kolhor was succeeded by Kolhyyr II, then Kaldar, Kolhor II, Kolhor III, Kolhor IV, Bahal, and finally Kaldar II.

The end of the Great Central Empire, which lasted approximately two centuries, saw its domain split into three smaller kingdoms. The first was the Kingdom of Niir, named for its first king. He established the city-state of Niirgol, but lost almost all other holdings. The second Kingdom formed in the south, which served to bring the Empire's culture to the tribes around what is now the Yverien Sea, but accomplished little else. The Third Kingdom would ultimately divide itself into the tribes of the Rosii, Jadend, Etjellor and the city-state of Tzajii. All of these kingdoms worshiped Kolhor as a God-King; a reincarnating divine leader. When all three of his supposed successors died, their dreams of empire unfulfilled, the ancestor worship died with them. Kolhor remained, however, in the guise of a Warrior King; a ruler of a great empire in the afterlife.

Over the next few hundred years of relative peace, trade and commerce between the various nations of the Dawn helped the mixing of religious and cultural ideas. Indeed, many peoples to the east and west alike sought to use this to their advantage, citing shared Gods and belief systems as a reason to unite against the clearly different, and thus easily persecuted Daysider and Nightsider cultures. In this period, the successors to the Great Central Empire began to worship Kolhor above all others, and some nations became monotheistic as the Kadecanni had.

The Gods Return The resurrection of polytheism within the Central Faith stems from the Yvereni. It is not known what religious system these people adhered to, but it seems to be a mix of nature worship and veneration of ancestors, perhaps due to influence from the successor empire of the south. The Yvereni lived on the Yverien Sea, to which they gave their name, and were both skilled traders and fearful pirates. As the Tzajii and Central Tribes united for a war with Oraahnaj, and Niirgol rallied the Warlord States for war with the Daysiders, the Yvereni focused on trade and commerce. By launching swift and brutal wars of their own, the Yvereni gained total control over trade between the nations south of the Yverien, who were rich in silver and other exotic materials, and the northern nations, whose coffers were being drained by their expansionist campaigns. Yvereni tariffs were high, and it wasn't long before Niirgol attempted, and failed, to free itself from taxation by force. Tzajii and its neighbours, however, chose another route. Their merchants appealed to the local priests, claiming that the high tariffs prevented them from offering tithe to the shrines. By converting to the local forms of worship, the traders found a way to increase profits. This in turn led to standardization of the religious practices among the Yverien peoples, as well as their leaders implementing taxes on the priesthood. Thus, the local Gods of the Yverien were carried north and south, and in return the northern beliefs came to Yverien.

Emergence of the Modern Faith At the formation of the First Dawn Kingdom, the belief system of Tzajii would not be too unfamiliar to a modern Urokoni citizen. The Tzajii worshiped Kalkar, the Great King, who took the souls of the honoured dead into his domain to await the coming of a great war. There were also other Gods, including Jorrol, the God of Metal and Medicine, who taught the Kyyreni the secrets of metallurgy and took those who died of sickness to be 'reforged' and sent back into the world. Depending on the specific localisation there potentially hundreds of Gods, yet these two stood high above all others; Kalkar, born of the legend of a great Emperor, and Jorrol, who had survived in hiding only to finally find acceptance again through Yverien traditions.

When the Rosii Chieftains secured the throne of Tzajii for themselves and began the lineage of the Dawn Kings of Tzajii, one of their most important acts was to codify and formalise the beliefs of their people. They shared the God Kalkar with their new people, and Jorrol became divided into Vorhol, the Forge God, and Jonar, the Goddess of Healing. From there, where the armies marched the priesthood followed, embracing and re-purposing local belief systems. To aid them, the High Priests of Tzajii commissioned a series of "scrolls", the originals of which were supposedly made of purest iron and handed to them by Vorhol himself; a true account of ancient times and proof of the divinity of the Gods, and the Tzajiian people.

The Tzajii, the Rosii and the other "children of iron" were all divine, the scrolls claimed. They were supposedly born with souls, a gift from Vorhol, that granted them divine mandate to act as they wished, and freedom from control. Their souls prevented Gods from acting against them, and so rather than having to appease the Gods for fear of reprisal, it was the Gods that had to show favour to the people; to bestow gifts upon them, such as Kalkar's knowledge of War, Jonar's protection from sickness or Risik's blessings, to gain their support in the world beyond and thus empower themselves further.

This religious revelation swept like wildfire through the newly formed Dawn Kingdom and beyond. The "proof" of the religion lay in the hands of the Tzajiian generals, who brought victory after victory, and with fortuitous timings of unrelated events. In the south, Yvenik's King surrendered to Tzajii without a fight, becoming a Prince-Regent and, at the order of his new master, established absolute control of the Yverien within eight years, and the surrounding lands within twenty. The Warlord States sought to unite against the Dawn Kingdom, but were crushed at the Battle of Four Rivers and capitulated. Niirgol held out for thirty years, until the city was ultimately besieged and its people starved into surrender. Where the Dawn Kingdom crushed its does, Oraahnaj, clinging to the old faith, was beset by famines, plagues and civil war. The Emperor of Oraahnaj brokered an alliance before the Dawn marched upon his lands, and adopted the Dawn's religion as the official faith of Oraahnaj, though the older, local variations of the Vorholian Cult persisted and were never replaced.

Kalkar ascendant The Kalkarian Cult became distinct from the Vorholian Cult relatively recently. Following the Interregnum Wars, where the leaders of Niirgol and Rhosus competed for the title of Dawn King, worship of Kalkar steadily increased across the Kingdom. While Kalkar had always been venerated by warriors, and there were no shortage of those, Vorhol had always been seen as the most senior and important of Gods. However, during this time the specifics of Kalkar's doctrine changed. He went from being a warrior deity to a more general, benevolent one. Kalkar no-longer exclusively took the souls of those fallen in battle. Instead, he would accept anyone whose life had been lived with honour. This new version of Kalkar was said to be gathering his chosen people in preparation for the end of days, where Demons would ravage the world once more. Kalkar's soldiers would fight and slay the Demons, and to the rest would fall the task of rebuilding society. Thus, Kalkar now had a place for all; from the mightiest general to the most humble farmer.

The Scrolls of Vorhol Once, before the coming of the Demon, Urokon was a land of plenty. All its lands provided a rich bounty, the summers warm and winters mild. Watched over by the Gods, the world was content. Yet from afar, jealous eyes looked down upon the world. From beyond the veil the Demons came, envious of the Gods and their glories. They came to defile and destroy, and for their arrogance they were driven back by the Gods. Yet they did not surrender easily, and so the Demon Kings themselves joined the war. They alone could match the Gods, and they used their dark magicks to set in motion a plan to slay all life. They froze the sun in the sky, setting its heat upon the land and burning it to desert. The Gods responded in kind; Kendas, God of Shadows, veiled what he could of the world in darkness, and Meikhr, God of Ice and Winter Winds, did blow and vent his fury from Kendas' realm to cool the deserts and bring back life to the world. Yet it was the Forge God, Vorhol, who truly turned the tide. He reached into the heart of the world and drew forth the purest iron and placed it into his forge. As he worked the metal he cut his palms and bled into the red-hot iron, infusing it with his holy power. Thus were the Kyyreni born, and the Gods embraced us as their chosen warriors. Yet no sooner had Vorhol's work been done did he regret his labours. He saw the armies of the Kyyreni march forth, winning victory upon victory, and feared what would become of the world. He knew the Gods would not sacrifice this new power, and when their common foe was vanquished they would turn upon each other. Thus did Vorhol begin anew to enrich his children further, empowering them beyond the means of any to control. When at last his work was done he commanded the Gods to recall their armies so he might refine his creations.

The Afterlife Both the Vorholian and Kalkarian cults agree that Kalkar acts as the first port of call for the dead. He is seen as a guardian, protecting souls from malevolent spirits in the world beyond, but this duty prevents him from gathering the dead directly. To this end he created the Shepherd; a man with a bare skull for a head and dressed in ancient herder's clothing. This image of the Shepherd is still widely used as a symbol of doctors and medicine; before diseases and bacteria were understood, it was believed that sickness was caused by spirits or dark magic. Thus, doctors worse masks depicting Kyyreni skulls, believing the spirits would confuse them for the Shepherd and flee the patient. This also explains why most Kyyreni cultures do not consider skulls or skeletal imagery as morbid or threatening. When the dead stand before Kalkar he judges them to decide if they are worthy of joining him (remembering, of course, that the exact nature of "worthy" varies from one source to another). Those who are accepted may enter the Silver Fields; a place of immortality where people are free of hunger, pain, sickness or death. They feast and drink and copulate, preparing themselves for a time when they shall return to fight the Great War once more and rid the world again of the Demon.

The Dawn Kingdom

Throughout history there have been several Dawn Kingdoms, though in many respects they can all be seen as a single nation rising and falling. The original Dawn Kingdom was formed by the Tzajiian Kings, and was the largest Empire the world had known, spanning an area of over twelve hundred miles north to south (approximately the width of the United States at its narrowest point) almost seven hundred miles east to west, placing its borders firmly in both the "Day" and "Night" sides of Urokon. It was bordered by Oraahnaj to the north, various Day Tribes to the east, the Red Steppes to the south and the Great Night Ocean to the west. It was made up of a staggering sixty one nations, but by the time of its dissolution that number had fallen to just eighteen.

The greatest impact the Dawn Kingdom had on Urokon was that of standardisation. As well as uniting most of the Dawnsiders under a common religion, the First Dawn also succeeded in uniting them under a common language (a runic script called "Ruljicyyt" still used today), bringing writing to parts of the world that had previously relied on oral history, bringing education, engineering, medicine, culture and military tactics, to name a few, to countless peoples. Overall, the First Dawn successfully enriched the lives of a great many people and extended the average lifespan by between five and twenty years, depending on sources.

Sadly, what the First Dawn is most remembered fore is its collapse. This resulted in one of the bloodiest ages in Urokon's history and reshaped the course of civilization. This was known as the War of Five Empires.

The Five Empires At its height, Tzajii had established within its vast domain three great city-states that functioned as central nodes of power. These were Tzajii itself, home of the King and the Royal Line; Yvenik, ruled by the Prince Regent who was originally the eldest son of the King, but was bypassed for succession due to his role in controlling the south (this would prove important later), and Niirgol, which surrendered to Tzajii on the condition that it retained its own royal line. Oraahnaj remained an autonomous nation, but was allied to the Dawn Kingdom and, due to internal political strife, relied quite heavily on the alliance to survive. The final two key players in the events were the Empire of the Day, a misleadingly named confederation of Day Tribes who united in the face of a common enemy, and the Night Tribes, who did likewise.

The fall of the Kingdom occurred when Niirgol, having lost valuable, fertile farmlands to the Daysider confederation, petitioned the Tzajiian Kings for military aid. Tzajii responded by raising an army of approximately thirty thousand men and marched east. On route they called upon additional forces, gaining an additional thirty thousand from Oraahnaj, approximately eight thousand from the central tribes, five thousand from Yvenik and the surrounding territories, and raising just two thousand from Niirgol, whose armies were largely spent (these figures are tabulated from records kept in the Yvenik Central Library, which is, if not the most accurate, at least the most internally consistent source of records from this time period). The great army clashed with the Daysiders, though at great cost. The armies of the Dawn favoured fighting in close formation, comparable to Classical shield-walls or Greek Phalanx, and made little use of missile troops or cavalry. By contrast, their Daysider foes sought to fight from mounts and made good use of projectile weapons. This made their victories Pyrrhic, yet the King was determined to end the threat of the Day one and for all. They marched east into the Desolation, losing countless men to the blistering heat. The Oraahnaj companies in particular reportedly suffered from lack of water, with over half their number dying of thirst before the main clash. When the King's army finally brought the Daysiders to battle, the result was a massacre. Unaccustomed to the heat and unfamiliar with their enemy's tactics, barely twenty five thousand Dawnsiders stood to face a force of ten thousand Daysiders. In the battle the King was slain and his army routed, leaving at least ten thousand men dead or captured in their wake. At the same time, the Night Tribes took the opportunity to assault the city of Tzajii. The descriptions of the city's sacking are often brutal, depicting a city in flames, with women and children being raped and murdered by marauding barbarians. Indeed, most accounts go into rather perverse levels of detail on the subject, but historical accounts suggest that the local populace, which itself was quite mixed culturally, may have simply rejected the royal family in favour of the Night Tribes. What all sources agree on is that the city gates were opened from the inside three days into the siege, granting the Night Tribes a swift and decisive victory. The Royal family was executed, and thus the Night Tribes inadvertently set into motion a series of world changing events.

Having claimed the throne, the Night Tribes claimed rule over the entire Dawn Kingdom. In response, the King of Niirgol immediately claimed the throne for himself and began raising troops to subjugate rival warlords surrounding his domain. Although initially reluctant to pick a side, the Prince Regent of Yvenik named himself King and declared war on Niirgol. Finally, the Empire of Oraahnaj, seeing weakness in the south, decided to try and claim the Dawn Kingdom for itself. Within a few short years, the Dawn was embroiled in a long and bloody war.

Exactly how long the war lasted changes depend on which source you consult, but the "Yvenik Record" is the most often employed, which considers the war to officially begin when Yvenik makes a claim to the throne (thus creating a legally valid challenge) and ending with Yvenik's surrender to Niirgol (resolving said challenge). This period lasted for a little over thirty years, though the war arguably lasted centuries if you track every single related conflict to conclusion.

A summary of the war's key events is given here, in approximate chronological order. The dating system "PT" refers to "Post-Tzajii", with Year Zero marking the fall of the city to the Nightsiders.

• 0-4PT: Following the fall of Tzajii and the loss of the King, Niirgol begins military campaigns to annex the feudal nations surrounding their territory. This brings them into direct conflict with Yvenik, who have defensive alliances with the states on their northeastern border. T'rol achieves a string of victories that forces Niirgol's troops back within their own lands, sparking off prolonged fighting between the two nations. Despite setbacks in the south, Niirgol secures most of the eastern Dawn Kingdom.
• 2-3PT: A grand army of two hundred thousand men is dispatched from Oraahnaj into the southern lands. Led by the Prince of Oraahnaj, the army threatens to march on Tzajii. The Night Tribes offer territory in exchange for peace, and the army moves on. Multiple tribes are conquered and their troops bolster the army. By the time the Prince reaches Jadend, just north of Sul, a second Imperial Grand Army arrives to bolster their numbers. Despite commanding the largest single force in recorded history, the Prince is killed and his army routed at Sul Valley by the Yvenik army. Uprisings all through the occupied territory inflict heavy casualties, and Oraahnaj is unable to march south so boldly again.
• 5-6PT: A Daysider alliance breaks through the weakened eastern borders of Oraahnaj. They loot and pillage their way southwest before finally falling upon Tzajii. The Daysiders believe that taking the city will break the morale of the Dawn, perhaps unaware of the extent of political unrest that has gripped the region. The Daysiders encircle the city in the autumn and dig in for a winter siege. None survive to see the spring.
• 3-12PT: Yvenik begins a series of campaigns to pacify the south. The first expedition, led by T'rol, is a great success and allows the city to exact greater taxes and tithes from its vassal states. However, the garrisons left in the south are insufficient, and warlords of the Red Steppes sacked several key ports. Although Yvenik maintained naval supremacy on the Yverien, they were forced into numerous bitter wars for control of the precious silver mines and other vital income sources. Around 10PT Night Tribes established themselves on the western Yverien and became notorious for their acts of piracy, further hurting Yvenik's efforts to maintain military and financial control of the sea.
• 14PT: The Emperor of Oraahnaj successfully unifies the Northern Warlords, establishing control over the region. For a few brief years, Oraahnaj knows peace.
• 15PT: Tzajii officially declares itself a Republic, and for the first time in the war the nation goes on the offensive. The northern Rosii tribes are conquered, but the growing power of Yvenik in the south and Oraahnaj in the north forces the Tzajiians to halt their advance and consolidate.
• 17-21PT: Oraahnaj begins its second campaign south. Tzajii is besieged, but once again the harsh winters break the attackers. A confederation of central tribes successfully repulses the numerically superior Oraahnaj armies, though some lands are lost to the invaders.
• 23-28PT: A third southern campaign begins, focusing primarily on the Nightsiders. The armies of Oraahnaj lay siege to Tzajii three times in a five year period, but the city proves unassailable.
• 28-33PT: Repeated failures in the south spark a bloody civil war within Oraahnaj. Much of their eastern territory is lost to the Day Tribes during this time.
• 30-31PT: T'rol begins a campaign east, subjugating the jungle tribes before marching into the Desolation and confronting the Daysider Nomads in open battle.
• 31PT: The King of Niirgol dispatches an army east to pacify the Day. The army is massacred, and the waste of troops allows Yvenik forces to make headway in the Central Dawn.
• 32PT: Yvenik surrenders to Niirgol. T'rol learns of this and turns his army back toward Niirgol, but is killed while attempting to conquer the city.
• 33-36PT: Yvenik loses control of the Yverien and the city itself is blockaded. The war to re-assert control of the sea leaves the city with precious few soldiers to defend their northern and eastern borders, and they are forced to abandon the gains made in recent years.
• 32-44PT: With Yvenik now under its control, Niirgol consolidates most of the central Dawn under its banner. Tzajiian forces ally with the Rosii and face a Niirgol-Eutros-Valdan alliance, but are defeated. Battles between the two alliances are few and far between as both sides struggle to rebuild themselves. Eventually, following the reclamation of the South by Yvenik, Niirgol begins a determined march on Tzajii and, in 44PT, lays siege to the city. Tzajii surrenders to prevent the alliance sacking the city.
• 45PT onwards: With most of the Dawn Kingdom now under Niirgol control, the New King is crowned in Tzajii. He makes Niirgol his capital, and immediately begins a long war against Oraahnaj.

T'rol Although every side had their heroes and villains, it is T'rol who has been the most well recalled. Born a peasant in a valley nation, T'rol was an officer in a mercenary company by his twelfth year. He fought against the Daysiders and witnessed the fall of the Tzajiian King, and subsequently sided with Yvenik when his homeland was invaded and conquered by Niirgol forces. T'rol won a string of rapid victories that earned him the respect of Yvenik's nobility, but it was Sul Valley where his legend was forged. For two years, Oraahnaj forces had been marching south, ravaging the land and amassing a truly staggering force. Their goal was to reach Yvenik and conquer the city, thus bringing the south under their rule, and with it much of the Dawn Kingdom. T'rol was able to amass and army of between 40,000 and 70,000 men, while the forces arrayed against him numbered somewhere between half a million and one million men. T'rol brought this vast army to battle at Sul Valley and lured the Imperial Grand Army into a masterfully executed trap. In the wake of the battle, T'rol absorbed a considerable number of troops from the vanquished foe, as well as indentured troops who turned on their oppressors. He returned to Yvenik with a larger army than when he marched out, and was forged in legend. For the remainder of his life T'rol traveled the length and breadth of the Yvenik territories, facing down adversaries and proving his skills as a general. Although he was never defeated, his records repeatedly lament the lack of skill and vision within the Nobility, and it is clear that T'rol felt increasingly frustrated at being unable to wage war as he saw fit. Finally, in his twilight years T'rol raised the last, great army of Yvenik and marched east into the Day. The force he took was radically different from that which had sallied forth thirty years before, and superior tactics and weaponry saw the Daysiders driven back. However, a courier brought word that Yvenik had surrendered to Niirgol, and in a fit of rage T'rol turned his army toward the city. He was brought to battle within sight of Niirgol's walls, and although outnumbered the core of his army punched through the Niirgol line and engaged the King and his men. A depleted force from Yvenik joined the battle, attacking T'rol's army from the side and routing it from the field. Unable, or perhaps unwilling to flee, T'rol was surrounded and slain along with his men, but not before slaying the Niirgol king and several senior officers. In the aftermath of the war, T'rol was demonised. His House was disbanded, his heraldry struck, and only his youngest son, who betrayed him and sided with the Yvenik forces was spared execution. However, less than a century later T'rol was reinstated as a hero of Yvenik, though he had already been immortalised in legend by other peoples, those of Oraahnaj in particular.

The Articles Following the Five Empires War, several senior individuals within Niirgol put forward a proposition to radically reform the social order so as "to ensure that the ambitions of noble men shall not again place our Kingdom, its people and its materials under such distress and threat of annihilation." The work was conducted by the ruling classes, religious leaders and even philosophers, and increasingly incorporated suggestions and amendments from neighbouring nations. The first draft of the work, known as "The Articles" took eight years to compile, and had guidelines on everything from war to inheritance law to how to settle matters of personal honour.

Among the most important changes the Articles put forward was a radical reworking of the Noble Houses. Originally, the Houses were built around a single (male) bloodline, with the title passing from father to son. Only royalty could raise a man to noble status, although this was not universal; the only sure way to become nobility was to be the son of a noble. Under the new system, nobility became an almost tangible thing - a title that could be passed to anyone the previous title holder deemed worthy to succeed him. Other members of the House were able to contest succession, creating a self-policing system where only the most worthy individuals would claim titles. Perhaps the most remarkable revelation was the importance given to women. According to the Articles, women could develop and inherit bloodlines of their own, and women were given vastly increased importance in society. This is likely due to the severe depletion of the male population in war, and thus women were required to perform previously "male" roles, such as commerce, trade, education, religious study and so forth, leaving more males available for military service.

While it is often claimed the Articles established during this period have survived to the modern day, in practice there have been numerous, radial reworkings of the system. Included within these changes are the introduction of "Common" Houses; the Articles of War, which produced formal rules on how large scale conflicts were to be conducted; and the Articles of Challenge (established approximately five hundred years after the original Articles) that are intended to replace conventional warfare altogether.