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<h3>2620 — The resurgence of Xurno</h3>
The <b>Xurnese</b> can be said to have invented the concept of nationalism on Almea. In times past one would have resisted an invader in the name of the rightful dynasty, or on behalf of the true gods, or to regain lost freedoms; but there was no particular shame attached to the fact that the invaders were foreigners. The Xurnese state, based in Curau on the middle Xengi, appeals instead to the solidarity of the Axunaic peoples.
<p>In combination with its peasant levies and well-fortified cities, it was a resounding success. The <i>nyei</i> Miudis (2560-2592) presided over the conquest of the Xengi delta, Niormen, and Rajjay; his nephew Isaoric (2592-2620) extended the realm to Jeor, Bolon, and Tanel. The only Xurnese-speaking area which remained unliberated is Gotanel.
<p>Administration, religion, and high literature in the new state made use of the archaic Axunašin of a milennium ago. Already, however, popular tales, romances, and the lyrics of songs were being written in the vernacular; Xurno was the first major Ereláean state where this is true.
<p>The first Endajué masters, living amid the decline of Axunai, scorned war and warriors; one early Master, Bodeusirc, was eviscerated by a warrior when he refused to accept him as a disciple. In the 2200s, the masters Pwes and Nekangri developed the <i>Jueši endi</i>, the <b><a href="Javascript:parent.updir('endajue.htm#empire');">Ways of War</a></b>, teaching strategy and tactics, disciplines for mind and body, and an ethical code. The Ways sought to impart <i>xal</i> ‘spirit’, a state of alert vigor, the perfect balance of toughness, fairness, and inner calm. The <i>xaleza</i> was the knight or samurai of Xurnese culture: as precise and brutal on the battlefield as he was gentle at court, and just to civilians.
<p>The Xurnese expansion pushed the Gelyet almost entirely out of Xurno. The Gelyet in the east would have had to fight through hostile Xurnese or Sainor to rejoin their brethren; instead they spilled into <b>Čeiy</b>, a land which had escaped the depradations of the barbarians so far, and thus provided rich pickings.
<p>As a result of the wars with the Xurnese, the Sainor were, for the moment, without any central authority.
<h4>In the east</h4>
<p>In 2578 the <b>Ejiji Tej</b> successfully concluded a long war against the Tokruji. The prince of Lenan, hard-pressed by the Sainor, offered an alliance, but the Ejiji <i>atej</i>, Evebe, refused; he instructed his son Nitab that this was a sign of weakness and that he should conquer Lenan instead. Nitab succeeded in 2584, dutifully declared war, and died in the first five minutes of battle. A cease-fire was declared while the Ejiji fought out the succession.
<p><b>Dhekhnam</b> conquered Visecra around 2550, the first fruits of the ktuvok-Tyellakhi alliance. Demóshinor was also expanding, at
the expense of the Carhinnoi.
<h4>Čisra and Gurdago</h4>
<p>The <b>Čisran Empire</b> was at its height. Its theoretical purpose was still the liberation of Skouras, and this project was actually begun in 2591, under the emperor Anastor, and achieved its first significant success with the capture of Dusilim in 2601. A problem, however, soon become apparent: there were no longer any Skourenes in Skouras to liberate. No doubt the racial composition of the people was largely Littoral; but they now spoke Tžuro, and worshipped Jippir, and lived off the land rather than the sea, and saw the ‘Skourenes’ as alien and somewhat grubby invaders.
<p>It was easier and more rewarding, then, to expand the empire to the West. Jecuor (or Ḍidbur as the Čisrans called it) was taken from Gurdago in 2607— with no great difficulty, the Gurdagor were hard rulers, even over descendants of Gurdagor— and the southern coast of the Mnau peninsula was occupied in 2608-2612.
<h4>Eretald</h4>
<p>In the north, hard campaigning on the part of the <b>Caďinorians</b> reclaimed the upper Svetla and Eärdur for the Empire. The new conquests were administered directly by the military, rather than by the nobles, whose financial and military responsibilities to the Emperor were long ago reduced to trivialities. However, the Caďinorians could not prevent the incursion of Gelyet fleeing the rise of Xurno into the upper Serea, nor the Somoyi conquest of Šerian province.
<p>The independence of Ismahi and Sereor made Caďinorian suzerainty over <b><a href="Javascript:parent.al('%C3%89renat');">Érenat</a></b> (named for the Eren river) largely theoretical. The Emperor named it a “sovereign loyal province” and washed his hands of it. The Kebreni, sensing a power vacuum, occupied the coast opposite Kebri (2590).
<p>As the fortunes of the Gelyet plummeted, <b>Sarnáe</b>, the Monkhayu, and the Coruo regained their independence. The latter we now divide into <b>Curiyans</b> (who live along the Meuna, under heavy Caďinorian influence) and <b>Caizurans</b> (in the Ctelm mountains, and true only to their own traditions).
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