Bronze Age History of the Second Realm
# Overview
The Bronze Age was a period of societal development in intelligent species where innovations such as the use of bronze in tools and complex magic use were made out of the neolithic period, or Late Stone Age, where magic was more basic and tools were only made of stone.
The neolithic set the stage for the bronze age, seeing the dawn of more sophisticated foraging methods, and the first proto-societies. The groups which would grow to become the largest and most influencial were the nomadic Morellic minikin and sea-faring Aqhoran minikin.
# Early Bronze Age
The Early Bronze Age was triggered by the dawn of agriculture, which was developed by the Sarvarans and Aqhorans in Tseireph. Due to this, many agricultural settlements and farms were founded, such as the initial settlements of Sarvara, Coroth, and Aqhor.
In tandem with the developments in agriculture, magic (the use of alucinara energy) was also developed and innovated. Sorcery became a complex art form that aided the Minikin in breaking through frontiers in food, building, and warfare.
For example, without the capability of pyrokinesis, Minikin were too small and feeble to create Fire unaided. But with the help of magic, the Minikin were capable of cooking their food, boiling water, and baking wheat into bread.
# Middle Bronze Age
In the middle of the bronze age, these powers had grown to a greater size. The city state of Sarvara had grown to be the largest settlement in souther Tseireph, let alone the whole continent, Aqhor had grown into a formidable naval force centred in Aqhor, and Coroth had continued as a pastoral nomadic group, living in urban diasporas alongside other cultures or alone in rural villages.
It was in this period that Sarvara was seeing the beginning of the golden age, a time where Sarvaran civilisation had reached the point that not all people were required to work in farms or temples; accounting gained greater importance, warfare became more refined and efficient, religious idols and pottery reached greater levels of complexity and refinement, and artwork such as decorative textiles, visual art, idols, prose, and poetry began to be created.
The Sarvaran Golden Age set an example in southern Tseireph, and completely transformed the level of achievement in the surrounding cultures. Aqhor was the most affected, sharing in many innovations, although to a lesser extent. Coroth was least affected, sticking to their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle, but still gained importance in middle Bronze Age society for their role in farming and exporting goods.
# Late Bronze Age
The late Bronze Age saw these great civilisations fall; as they grew larger and more ambitious, the door to pathogens and plague was opened. The urban environments, such as in Sarvara or Aqhor, were affected the most dearly, and were devestated, unnable to return to the heights they had reached in the Sarvaran Golden Age.
In this era, the Aqhorans largely migrated back to their homeland in the southwest across the Aqhoran Channel, whereas some stayed behind and moved to the countryside, these became known as the the ‘Oyholiru’ minikin. Most Sarvarans, however, stayed in the urban environments out of pride and died, leaving the capital a ghost town. The rest of the Sarvarans and the Corothic minikin left for the rural Corothic villages.
It was in this time that Coroth saw it’s greatest period of development. Taught by the Sarvaran Refugees, Coroth was able to reach a level comparable to Sarvara at its height by the end of the late Bronze Age. And due to the native fauna of the continental climate, Coroth was able to use its native flora to create medicines that the Sarvarans didn’t have access to. And ultimately, the plague was ended.