History of Bexar

6,000 to 3,000 YEARS AGO: RISE OF THE NAVORI
Archaeological evidence proves that man first appeared in the area now known as Bexar about four thousand years ago. Not much is know about the early peoples but what is known is that several Amerindian civilizations formed during this time. The most notable of these were the Navori, which has left giant stone and adobe cities built into cliffs all over Bexar as well as other areas of the continent. The Navori Empire lasted well over two thousand years and was one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world. The Navori built great monuments and temples to their gods, constructed cities that rival those built by the Egyptians, Greeks and Mayans. Almost all of Indigo history appears to be intact written on the walls of the Great Naktari Temple located deep within the mangrove swamps of the Tulumbova Basin in Bexar. Unfortunately the Navori Cuneiform has not yet been fully translated by archaeologists and therefore only a fraction of the history is known at this time. What is known is that the Navori travelled all over the Atlantic from as far north as the coast of Greenland to as far south as Cape Horn. The Indigo are known to have traded with the Mayans, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Sumerians and Minoans but maintained one of the most isolated civilizations on earth. Overseas traders were limited to only three Navori seaports and were restricted from even leaving the port areas on pain of death. It is due to this that very little is known to this day about ancient Navori society.

3,000 to 548 YEARS AGO: DECLINE AND DARK AGES
It is not yet known what caused the decline and eventual fall of Navori empire but what is known is that at the time of the last entries on the walls of the Naktari Temple hint at religious disputes and famine being widespread throughout the empire. Eventually the Navori people broke down into numerous tribes. While there were brief periods when numerous tribes banded together in loose confederations, for the most part the Navori again approached the organization that they had achieved under the old empire and the days of glory were over.

1452 to 1527 Common Era: FRENCH EXPOLORATION AND EXPLOITATION
In 1452 French explorer Francois Ramone became the first European to discover the lands of the Navori. As more and more explorers arrived in the area it was inevitable that their sponsors and home nations would soon become involved. Both Spain and France fought a series of large naval battles in this area and eventually the Christian Church became involved at Pope Clement the VII’s insistence. In 1527 the Treaty of Kincaid was signed giving France control of the northern parts of the Americas including the Navori lands, while Spain was given the south on the condition that missionaries would be supported and allowed access to convert the native peoples of the continent.

1528 to 1589 CE: PLAGUE, OPPRESSION AND EXTINCTION
With the arrival of Christian missionaries the Navori people were driven to the edge of extinction and beyond. Along with Christianity, the missionaries brought with them European diseases and within a few short years, plague and disease were raging throughout most of the Navori lands. After nearly 20 years the outbreak of disease had subsided and the Spanish missionaries returned in force to convert the remaining natives to Christianity. The Navori proved to be unwilling to give up their ancestral gods and after nearly thirty years of failed effort the missionaries called to Rome for help.

In 1577 Archbishop Francois Etienne de la Rose arrived on the shores of the Province of Bexar, as the area was now called with a group of faithful and troops recruited by the church for his protection at Port Louis. Moving inland he ordered his missionaries to move out among the various tribes of the Navori and bring their chieftains to a feast and meeting with him at Viscounte. At the feast Archbishop de la Rose spoke at length and eloquently to the tribal elders and chiefs, in an attempt to get them to coerce their tribesman into converting to Christianity. Despite his best efforts some of the chiefs refused telling him that they would not forsake their gods and beliefs. With that Archbishop de la Rose calmly and with typical Christian brutality ordered his troops to slaughter those unarmed Navori who refused.

The Navori tribesmen of those murdered chiefs were of course outraged by this turn of events and attacked Rosas forces. In a pitched battle the natives were decimated by Rosas forces who were armed with modern weapons. For the next dozen years the Archbishop and his army travelled throughout Bexar tracking down different Navori tribes and attempting to convert them by force. Almost every remaining Navori City was razed and many of the old temples were desecrated or destroyed by the invaders. Eventually the remaining tribes were forced to retreat deep within the Tulumbova Basin. Once in the dark mangrove swamps of the Tulumbova the advantage shifted towards the Navori who were able to strike almost at will. It was on July 17th 1589 in an ambush that Archbishop Francois Etienne de la Rose was killed, when a Navori warrior slipped up behind him and cut his throat. After the battle, de la Rose’s remaining troops withdrew to Port Louis with the remains of the Archbishop and returned him in honour to Rome. He was later Sainted by Pope Sixtus the V and to this day still rests in a tomb near the Vatican, a hero of the church.

The Christian Church never again made an organized attempt to convert the Navori tribes to Christianity, and the French were more interested in exploiting the Indigo’s resources, than mounting armed expeditions into the Tulumbova basin. However those tribes that did convert found themselves being fully integrated into the colony. Over the generations to come, intermarriage between Europeans and the Navori, though frowned upon by the Church, created a mestizo population that remains significant today. As for those who did not convert, the damage done to their people and their culture was irreparable in many ways. It was generations before the pure Navori left the swamps that were once the cradle of a mighty empire.

1590 to 1788 CE: THE FRENCH DOMINION
France spent the next century settling and bringing European civilization to Bexar. During this time trade ships plied the waters around the continent bringing back riches and goods to Europe. While the French were pleased with their new holdings the Spanish were growing increasingly discontented with the French presence on the continent. With much arable land and mineral resources Bexar had much interest a resource starved Spain. In 1714 Spain moved troops into Bexar and claimed it as a colony, breaking the treaty of Kincaid starting the Spanish-Portuguese War. In the early years, Spain with many conflicts around the world was at a distinct disadvantage. France never made any attempt to remove Spanish troops from the Navori lands but instead flooded the sea around the continent with privateers. It was not long before no ship was safe from attack unless it flew French colours.

It was in 1756 that the tide began to turn as Spain, with newly signed peace treaties with Portugal and England, turned it’s full attention to the Americas. In the early years the Spanish concentrated their attention on hunting down the pirates that infested the waters around the continent. With the Piracy problem rapidly on the wane, Spanish warships then began concentrating on French shipping, prompting a long series of savage naval conflicts though out the South Atlantic. In the fall of 1788, France, exhausted from the long conflict signed a treaty of peace with the Spanish and withdrew from the Navori lands, never to return.

1789 TO 1873 CE: THE SPANISH VICEROYALTY OF NUEVA ESPANIA
Spain’s period of dominance proved to be a short one and full of strife. Many of the Dons that were sent to administer the different territories of the Viceroyalty of Nueva Espania, including the Province of Bexar, were more consumed with their own rivalries then they were with governing their holdings. This period was filled with conflict and strife as neighbouring states and provinces were often raided or invaded by each other. By the mid 1800’s the citizens who were the ones who suffered most from this constant conflict began to become restive and eventually a new conflict broke out on first one and then all of the territories of Nueva Espania. In Bexar, this centred on the Anglo-Irish settlers who were enticed into the under populated Province with cheap land grants, aand were now fed up with repressive taxation. While Spain attempted to retain control of its Viceroyalty it was hampered by its feuding Dons, who could not, or would not stop feuding among themselves long enough to put down a revolution that was going on all around them. By Spring of 1873 the last of the Spanish Dons and their troops were forced out of their own holdings in Neuva Espania and each territory more or less began to control it’s own destiny.

1871 TO 1888 CE: THE GRAND KINGDOM OF BEXAR
In 1871 Marshal Edward Gordon, who had been leading the revolutionary effort against Spain declared himself King Edward the I, Lord of Bexar. King Edward’s proclamation immediately sparked protest from many of his supporters and he soon found himself embroiled in a civil war. Edward spent the first four years of his reign consolidating his power and destroying his rivals. In 1875 victorious at last Edward and his supporters camped at the outskirts of a small town called Ciudad del Rey. One morning Edward looked around him and impressed with the natural beauty of the area, decided to make it his capital. Edward spent the rest of his reign building his capital into his seat of power and to this day Ciudad del Rey is still viewed as the cultural and political centre of Bexar. On August 1st 1888 King Edward was riding in an open carriage on his way to a hunting trip when an assassin hidden in a grove of trees shot him to death.

1888 TO 1908 CE: CORVENA, RENDAR AND LYONESSE STRIVE FOR DOMINANCE
Within days of the death of King Edward, his sons John and Stephen began moving against each other. John, Edwards’s oldest son claimed power as eldest heir. Stephen however had built an extensive power base in the Corvena province, contested that claim. During the first two years of the conflict both brothers moved to consolidate power and allies. Both attempted to pull Rendar, which at the point had remained neutral and independent, into their camps. On December 15th 1890 Stephen struck first crossing the borders of Corvena at a dozen different points and striking deep into that province. At first slow to respond, John’s forces were steadily pushed back until they had come within 50 kilometers of the Lyonesse border. Reinforcements rushed to the front from Ciudad del Rey soon stiffened the resistance and then began to steadily push the invaders back. Within a few short years John had regained almost all of his lost territory and in some cases had pushed into territory claimed by Stephen.

In 1896 the two agreed to a tentative peace and tried to work out their differences by negotiation. It was at this point that the Governor of Rendar, the elected leader of that province offered to chair the negotiations in order to bring about a fair resolution to the matter. Finally in 1901 both Juan and Stefano frustrated with lack of a resolution agreed to come to Elizabethtown and allow Leo Flores to chair their negotiations. Upon arrival however, both John and Stephen exhorted Flores privately to swear loyalty to them and assist one against the other. Flores rebuffed all offers and pushed ahead with the negotiations and for three long years attempted to work out a peace agreement between the two. Finally after another series of clashes along the border between the two, Flores grew impatient and ejected both from Rendaran territory on January 17th 1907. Days later after a nearly unanimous vote of support in the Rendaran Chamber of Commons, Leo Flores contacted both Prince John and Prince Stephen and asked for their unconditional surrenders to him.

After receiving the predictable scathing response from both John and Stephen, Leo Flores began using naval vessels to start raiding up and down the coasts of Lyonesse. Stung repeatedly both John and Stephen forgot their own differences and moved against Rendar, which was just what Flores had counted on. Rendaran forces met Prince Stephen first at Loma Vieja Pass in the Aerie Spine Mountains. Using the terrain to their advantage they ambushed Stephen’s forces and decimated them, killing Prince Stephen in the process. After this battle, Rendaran forces moved across the province in a series of forced marches to be in place to meet Prince John at the Rio Caliente pass. Unlike with Prince Stephen, Rendaran forces were not able to meet John’s forces on the terrain of their own choosing and were forced to attack him head on as he emerged from the pass. The Rendarans were again victorious after a three-day long battle in which both sides suffered horrendous casualties. In the end Prince John suffered the same fate as his brother Stefano and Rendar had emerged Supreme.

1908 TO 1912 CE: THE RENDARAN PROTECTORATES ERA
After the deaths of Prince John and Prince Stephen, Rendar was the only province left in Bexar that had a functioning government. Rendar troops soon moved into the other provinces and set up provisional governments. In 1909 after being re-elected as Governor of Rendar by a landslide, Leo Flores, in a radio speech to the entire population of Bexar, declared that it was time for the entire country to be united under one flag. Opening up a constitutional convention in which representatives from the entire nation were invited he worked tirelessly until March 15th, 1912 when the Bexaran constitutional convention ratified and placed into law the first Bexaran Constitution and bringing into existence the Republic of Bexar.

1912 TO 1927 CE: RISE OF THE REPUBLIC, RETURN OF THE NAVORI
On August 1st, 1912 Leo Flores was elected as the Republic of Bexar’s first President. Flores worked hard in the early years to rebuild the damage caused by years of wars. Flores was also able to foster economic development and industries were soon coming into Bexar from overseas. Flores retired from office and public life at the end of his term on August 1st, 1918 and spent the rest of his life in his native province of Rendar. He died on March 3rd 1925, in his sleep at his home in Elizabethtown and the entire nation mourned his loss for a period of six weeks. On June 14th 1925, in one of the most climactic moments in Bexaran history, a group of Navori Tribesmen stepped out of the thick jungles of the Tulumbova basin. The carried with them a lost child carried on a litter and delivered her at the gates of the settlement of New Hope. Stunned by the return of a people long thought to be extinct, the Mayor of New Hope made them welcome and sent a message to Bexar City with the news.

1927 TO 1953 CE: REINTEGRATION, IMMIGRATION
The New Hope Settlement rapidly expanded into a city as an avalanche of scientists and archaeologists from around the world moved swarmed to the Tulumbova Basin. The people of the New Hope voted to change its name to Huyulamba, which in Navori meant gateway. To this day Huyulamba is still considered the gateway to the swamps of the Tulumbova. In the early years the Navori showed an almost child like curiosity about the wonders of modern civilization. Some few of the Navori left their homes and went to study and learn about the world beyond their swamps but the majority preferred to remain within the mangroves living as their ancestors had for generations. While the Navori were learning about the world around them, the Bexarans were learning about the native people’s of Bexar and about there own heritage.

Not all went well however, as upon learning of the discovery of the natives, missionaries from around the world and within Bexar also swarmed to the Tulumbova Basin to bring Christianity to the natives. They were rebuffed firmly and in some cases violently. The Navori had kept the stories alive of there near extinction nearly 400 years previously and wanted nothing to do with the Christians or their religion. It took nearly two years or negotiation and a treaty between the Government of Bexar and the combined tribes of the Navori, making it illegal to approach any person of Navori descent with the intention of trying to affect conversion to another religion. Religious zealots from within Bexar and around the world exploded in protest over this perceived violation of their “rights.” The Bexaran government weathered the storm of protest and after several more ugly incidents in which missionaries were involved, the protests subsided and Bexaran society has been immeasurably enriched by Navori participation.

The period of 1927 to 1932 was also a period of great political instability, marked by a series of weak, short-lived governments. Finally a rebellion broke out against President Harold Vandenberg in 1932 in Santa Lupe, and the rebels marched toward Bexar City. The commander of the Army, General Francisco Santana was ordered to subdue the rebellion, but when the mutineers arrived at the capital on February 26, they encountered no resistance. Rebel leader Raul Estella was proclaimed as acting-president when Vandenberg resigned. Santana then became the nominee of the newly formed Federalist Party in the 1932 presidential election. He won on May 16, officially registering 95 percent of the vote — an implausibly high total that could have been obtained only by means of massive fraud. A judge actually declared the election fraudulent, but was forced to flee. On August 16, the then 38-year-old general took office and immediately assumed dictatorial powers.

During the next eight years Bexar saw an explosion of industrial growth as vast deposits of marble and uranium were discovered. Due to Bexar’s unusual geology most of its raw materials can only be found hundreds of feet into the earth’s crust. Deep shafts were sunk into the earth to dig out the resources, which fuelled an explosion of industry within Bexar. Due to the massive growth, imports and exports increased dramatically and standards of living reached unprecedented heights. Trouble however, was around the corner.

The Santana regime was marked by brutal oppression, corruption and a cult of personality to rival that of Stalin. Nationalistic, fiercely anti-Communist and deeply religious, Santana suppressed the trade union movement and banned all political parties including the Federalist Party, however when approached by the German nazi and Italian fascist governments in 1935, he utterly rejected their attempts to forge a political alliance. While he was able to secure his position internally, Santana was also painfully aware of how weak and unprepared his military was should any of his neighbours decided to take action against him.

Santana promoted an open door policy on immigration, which came up trumps with the arrival of the first German refugees in 1937. The Germans had elected to leave Germany rather than live under the Nazi regime that was now entrenched in that country. The majority of these immigrants were professional soldiers, and Santana, keen to use this fact to his advantage, made a deal with the German leaders. In return for land holdings in the fertile farmlands, the Germans would become part of the Army and train it to become a force to be reckoned with.

The Germans took to their task with all the professionalism that you would expect, and over the years that followed the Bexaran Army became one of the best trained and equipped in the Americas. However, Santana did not trust the Germans, and the Germans knew it. To alleviate Santana’s suspicions, the Germans stopped speaking German. They began to integrate into the native Anglo-Irish & Spanish population by intermarriage, and adopted anglicised names.

1953 TO 1969 CE: DECLINE AND REVOLUTION
While on the surface the Bexaran industrial revolution was a great boon to society. However, many problems lay under the surface. Due to the swift build up of industry, corporations were able to attain fabulous amounts of wealth and political power, in a relatively short period of time. By the time Santana recognized the growing power of the industrial complex and tried to take measures against excess, it was to late.

The first attempts at putting controls on industry were an attempt by Santana to enact anti-trust laws. In a massive campaign the corporate giants took to the streets rallying their workers against the new laws claiming that they would stifle corporate creativity and success. Due to Corporate panic tactics and pressure placed on the economy, Santana was forced to back down. Then in 1961, General Francisco Santana was assassinated. It was rumoured that the assassination was organised and funded by certain corporate entities but no eveidence to support the claims was ever found.

In June of 1962 in an election fraught with allegations of electoral tampering and corruption, Alexander Harold Lloyd, a corporate backed candidate, was elected President of the Republic. Freed from what remaining restraint they had the Corporate Industrial Complex forced out all remaining overseas business and destroyed the few remaining small companies that were still trying to compete. As a result of the lacking competition the quality of Bexaran products went down and their prices went up. The average Bexaran began turning to import products rather than purchasing those built in Bexar.

In 1965 with profits rapidly dwindling and inflation on the rise President Lloyd issued an executive order freezing the importation of goods to Bexar. At that time Bexar’s main trading partners ended all trade agreements with Bexar as well. While the impact of ending trade with its main trading partners hurt those nations to a degree the impact on the already fragile Bexar economy was devastating. Bexaran diplomats were withdrawn from those nations under protest and diplomatic relations were suspended.

On March 9th 1969, A Bexaran Army Colonel by the name of Manual Estavez Rodriguez began forming a cadre of disaffected troops and disillusioned citizens. Moving throughout the countryside and from city to city the colonel promised a utopian society under communism, and taking advantage of a beaten people launched an assault on republic forces on July 21st 1969. Within weeks Rodriguez had marched into Ciudad del Rey and captured the government.

After a six-week trial President Lloyd, the members of the Legislature and the owners and stockholders of every corporate interest in Bexar were found guilty of war crimes and corruption and executed. Over three thousand people stood before the firing squads of the new Communist government.

1969 TO 1998 CE: THE PEOPLES SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF BEXAR
The years of communist oppression in Bexar were not well recorded by that government but what is known is that it was one of the most oppressive times in Bexaran history, worse even than the Santana years. Concentration and re-education camps were a norm and brutal executions and government crackdowns kept a terrified populace under control. Very early on Rodriguez established treaties with China, Cuba and the Soviet Union, trading raw materials for arms and equipment. While building up an impressively large military, Bexar was rapidly digressing in areas such as education, health, agriculture, industry; and personal freedoms became a thing of the past. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 and the failure of the Communist/Socialist philosophy all over the world, Rodriguez’s Bexar found herself in dire straights. Embargoed by the rest of the world due to human rights violations, with the Soviet Union collapsing, China turning to interests elsewhere and Cuba barely able to provide for her own needs, Bexar was rapidly on the verge of total social collapse. With four nation wide crackdowns in less then five years due to rioting over lack of food, medicine and power, Bexar was on the verge of civil war. However salvation was at hand, and it would come from an unexpected direction.

1998CE: REVOLUTION, COUP D’ETAT AND THE STRATOCRACY
After nearly thirty years on communist misrule, the Peoples Socialist Republic of Bexar exploded into violence and revolution on June 12th, 1998 with a food riot in the capital, Bexar City. Citizens angry over severe poverty, high unemployment as well as shortages in power, medication and even fresh water took to the city streets in protest. By the 14th, under siege in the Bexaran capitol building, then known as Casa del Revolution, Bexaran dictator General Manual Estavez Rodriguez ordered his army into action.

With shocking brutality Communist Red Guards put down the riot in a massacre in which the dead numbered over 1600 people. Reports of communist troops firing machine guns into unarmed crowds of panicked civilians were common, and eyewitnesses even reported a platoon of T-72 main battle tanks destroying vehicles trying to flee from the city. By the end of that day, the Red Guard was in complete control of the city. General Rodriguez warned the Bexaran people on national T.V. that, "further civil disobedience would not be tolerated and the Bexaran Peoples Communist Party could and would put an end to the current crises using any means necessary."

While the general's brutal actions may have seemed to help him keep his grip firm on power, many things were going on behind the scenes. The regular Bexaran People’s Army had until now, always adopted a policy of non-interference in politics. Their job was to defend Bexar, whatever the political ideology of the government at the time. However, officers of Anglo-Irish and German descent were now occupying every command position in the Army, and led by the Chief of the General Staff, General Thomas Jefferson Davis, they felt that the time had come where they could stand back no longer. The suffering of the people had to end. There was a plan that had lain dormant since the Santana days. The plan designed to counter an attempted coup d’etat by protecting the government district in the capital and key points in every city throughout Bexar, was quickly redrafted and disseminated to every command. On the night of the 12th of July, they struck. With complete surprise regular army units seized the barracks of the Red Guards and disarmed them. At the same time all key buildings were occupied, and units conducted dawn raids arresting every member of the Communist government and party. On the 13th, the people of Bexar awoke to announcements on the T.V. and radio stations, informing them that the Communist regime was over and that the Army had taken over as “caretakers” until such time as democracy can be restored. The people were told that reprisals would not be tolerated, and were promised that justice would be served on the guilty. For the next few months a series of Military Tribunals sat in judgement on the Rodriguez regime. Those convicted of lesser crimes were given prison sentences, those judged to be guilty of more serious crimes were stripped of their assets, and deported with their families, never to return. But those convicted of the most serious and heinous crimes, including Rodriguez himself, ended their days in front of the firing squad. This period of military rule, known as the Stratocracy, proved to be the most stable in Bexaran history. Whilst authoritarian in nature, the people were allowed a great deal of freedom. The economy regained its strength and the population showed no signs of wanting to return to democracy.

2005CE: THE RETURN TO DEMOCRACY, LSR, NORDREICH
In 2005, the “caretaker” military regime announced the reinstitution of the 1912 Constitution, and free democratic elections. Foreign observers were invited to oversee the elections to ensure that electoral fraud could not take place. The recently retired General Thomas Jefferson Davis was elected to the Presidency as a candidate of the newly restored Federalist Party, with an overwhelming majority. The Spring of 2008 saw an influx of refugees fleeing the destruction of the Norden Verein, a European political union, by the Continuum and its allies. This included the former Prime Minister and Head of State of Freistaat Preussen, a member state of NoV, Hermann von Salza. A year later, in January 2009, Bexar joined the Lone Star Republic alliance, and President Davis appointed another former Chief of the General Staff, William Burnet Travis as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the LSR. In April, following a short illness, President Davis died suddenly.

Ambassador Travis was recalled to Bexar City and in May, accepted the Federalist Party nomination for the Presidency, and on 15th of May was duly elected. The same day the LSR merged with Nordreich, an alliance with many former NoV nations as members. For this reason President Travis appointed Hermann von Salza as Permanent Representative to Nordreich’s Volksrepublik.

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