Koxor

Koxor (or Kokhor), officially the Democratic Kingdom of Koxor (/kəˈhɔː(r)/; Koxori: Akhájeka o Zarilyr Koxór [əˈχɑjɪkə ɔ ˈzɑɾɪɫər̥ kʰɔˈχor̥]) is a nation located in the region of Alapet on the continent of Larania in Alcris, with some overseas territory in Korasha. It borders Ghazva, the Eriya Republic and Down Unian to the west and the Aunic Ocean to the east. It covers an area of 3,356,784 km2 (1,296,062 sq mi), making it the largest country in Larania and the third-largest in the world. Koxor is ruled by a unitary government under a semi-constitutional monarchy headed by King Hamezu IX. The main cultural and economic hub is centred around the Ankhulen river valley, where the capital Hamezurakhel is located, along with other major urban areas including Jezarin, Karej and Timyran.

Inhabited by Alapetek peoples for over 10,000 years, Koxor has been conquered by many different empires throughout its history. First united by the Tugrites from the 16th century BCE, the region gained independence when the empire fell at the end of the 3rd century CE. It was subsequently united under the hegemony of the Kingdom of Lakena over the following 700 years. Koxor, and Alapet as a whole, was subjugated by the Eriya in the early 1200s, whose rule formed the basis for modern law across the entire region.

Etymology
The name Koxor comes from the Ghazvan name for the country, in turn from the endonym Kokhor. This name originally referred to the ethno-linguistic group who spoke the Koxori language, a meaning which is preserved today in the difference between the words Koxoriek (referring to the nation's people) and Koxori (referring to its language). It was first applied to a geographic area during the Koxoriek War of Independence (1491–1497) against the Eriya Empire, primarily by the rebellion's leaders to inspire a sense of unity in the various armies loyal to them. This usage originates, via Old Koxori kŏkhôw- and Proto-Koxoric *kòkʰóɣ-, ultimately from Proto-Southern Alapetek *koħ-, *koħkoh- "(native) people", and is thus cognate with Ghazvan gùxkò "native".

History
Main article: History of Koxor

The first evidence of human habitation in Koxor dates to around 11,000 BCE. The Kareleir cave in modern Itekha County contains a series of hand-paintings done by these Neolithic inhabitants of the Ankhulen valley. Written records are non-existent until c. 2500 BCE, with the earliest inscriptions written in the Proto-Khorensin script. By this time, the speakers of the Southern Alapetic languages had become distinct from those of the Northern languages, as is clear from the now-extinct language of these inscriptions. Most of the small city-states that inhabited Alapet at this time were only along the eastern coast, away from the steppe nomads to the east. Because of the infertility of the coast of the region, the cities relied mainly on internal trade to build wealth. One of the cities, Khore, along the Ankhulen river, began to dominate the area in the early 2nd millennium BCE, organising its traditional faith into the first aspects of the Khorensi religion.

Khore reached its height under the reign of Ohyul III (c. 1884 – c. 1850 BCE) and Ikam (c. 1847 – c. 1822 BCE). These two rulers greatly expanded Khoren influence, uniting the cities of the Ankhulen Valley and the surrounding coastlines. After the 1800s BCE, the Khoren kingdom began a gradual decline that would end in c. 1714 BCE when the city was finally sacked and destroyed by a people known as the Ipeduk. This presumed nomadic tribe apparently set up a kingdom that lasted a few decades before its own collapse. The Koxoriek coast returned to the control of separate city-states. Many of these cities attempted to gain dominance in the region and unite it against the repeated raids by tribes from the Alapetek steppe; these included Mironek, Atanula and Itekes, the latter of which had managed to unite most of the Ankhulen valley by the end of the 17th century BCE.

This hegemony was not to last, however: in the early part of the following century, a group of nomadic peoples from the steppe, known to the locals as the Tugrites, invaded the valley. They captured Itekes in 1588 BCE, declaring their own empire. Unlike the Ipeduk a century earlier, this new state was stable enough to avoid collapse, and over the next few centuries would develop into one of the most prosperous empires in Alapet's history. The Tugrites initiated trade with the rest of the southern Laranian coast, opening up the markets of Ankhulenia to the wider world. Alapetek raw materials were exported as far as Paravantir and Avanor. The region entered a golden age of peace and prosperity that would last for over 500 years.

By the mid-11th century BCE, successive weak kings had caused Tugrite control to falter. When King Kulipne III (r. c. 1043 – c. 1030 BCE) died, a civil war split the empire between his four sons. A confederation of Ghazvan tribes under a leader probably called Tseghan took advantage of this instability and invaded, burning the Tugrite capital to the ground and taking control of the empire in c. 1025 BCE. During this time, the Imeniska, the second book of the Khorensi holy text, was written, the beginning of which describes a century of oppression of Khorensi worshippers by the invaders. The historical reliability of this is disputed: in reality, Tseghan probably died around 30 years after the conquest, and his kingdom crumbled soon after. The Imeniska also describes a figure called Deketi who drove out the Ghazvans and allowed the Khorensi and their prophet Imen to live in peace. Though Deketi probably existed, it is more likely that the invaders left of their own accord once their king had died.

With the departure of the steppe raiders, the Middle Period of Tugrite history began. A king named in the Tugrite sources as Duket, who may have been the same person as, or a basis for, the character of Deketi, ruled in the early 900s BCE. In a sort of retaliation, he embarked on a series of campaigns into the steppe to subjugate the tribes there.