First Sign
300 years ago The Quesan launched an expedition bent on colonizing the land of Kusanagi, in 1500 BC. Their arrival was met with plains and mountain ranges shortly past the coastline.
Their arrival was smooth, small villages were erected near the coastline, ones made from clay and stone. Most of them were harvested from the surrounding areas but some that were brought along for the trip.
Complications arose a few years into the colonization as reported attacks started coming in from the areas surrounding them. Fierce horned creatures tearing whole gathering parties apart, leaving little behind as evidence. The few from the parties that had made it back wished to never go out again.
Plans to expand further into the land were made despite the attacks. Groups trained in combat were sent out to see and slay the creatures that attacked their gathering parties. Months of killing and expanding would spark the first large battle against the creatures, Demons as they dubbed them.
The Demon War
Years of bloodshed would unfold as the Demons clashed against those of Quesan. Countless perished in the war on both sides. The tides of battle were in favor of the Quesan, but it was nowhere near a decisive victory for them. It was grueling and costly through its many year duration, but in the end, it allowed them to claim more territory and resources.
Those that made it back were called heroes of the war against the Demons. Given untold riches and power within the hierarchy that existed within Quesan. Two individuals, a male warrior named Keikain Shinsaku who wielded a spear and a female warrior named Oka Reiko who wielded a Katana would be hailed as absolute legends, gods of the battlefield in some eyes. Their skill and heroics on the battlefield put them above all the rest.
The two warriors would later be hailed as the ruling bodies of Quesan during their lives, creating a family of noble warriors and rulers for the foreseeable future.
Expansion Beyond the Mountains
Many years would pass since the war against the Demons had ended and plans for further expansion would begin. Scouting parties accompanied by soldier escorts would be sent out past the mountains to see what lay beyond. Months would pass in between trips and information would come back slow about the rest of the land.
A word about the vast prairies and small deserts that littered them would reach the ears of those back at the main settlements and villages. Shortly after the good news had arrived more groups would be sent through the mountains. All carrying materials with the goal of providing able bodies and resources for the other side.
The goal was more expansion. Larger and more advanced villages compared to the ones on the other side of the mountain range. Castles for the noble, larger aqueducts with fresher water, Larger plots for agriculture. The materials found in mines on the other side made armor and weapons all the better.
The Demonic creatures still posed a threat, attacking groups quite commonly still. Their threat was far lessened by the advances over the years. The first large settlement was finished at 1570 BC. Marking a hundred years since the colonization.
The Beasts in the Woods
Progress had gone smooth for quite a few years after the building began past the mountains. The Demons were held off well, crops flourished, lives were good. Reports would come in once more by gathering parties and those that lived close to the first. They detailed foxes with multiple tails that seemed to prowl, watching. They were only seen at night though. When it got close to Dawn they'd run off back into the woods.
The reports were not given much notice at first but as they continued to come in for months, investigations would be launched. Patrols sent into the forest. Reports would be sent back from the patrols speaking of natives in the area. Normal people it seemed, the only oddity is that tracks of the foxes littered their grounds and the paths up to them.
The populace and leadership were curious about it all. More and more investigations would be sent out, interactions with the villages. Trade for goods, knowledge and the like were handed back and forth. One piece of knowledge would give insight into beastmen, revealing that those they thought were humans had the ability to transform into the foxes they had seen before during nightfall, but only at nightfall.
Trade relations with the Foxeras as they called themselves would continue for years.
Integration of the Beastmen
Relations with the Foxera only seemed to improve. Safe trade routes established and even interminglings between the people of Quesan and the Foxera. Years had passed since trading began and evolved. Life had gotten even better of Quesan since the trades started. It allowed them to learn more about the lands, it's dangers. They had gained much from the relations.
Such relations would lead to them extending an offer to integrate the natives into the lands of Quesan, such an offer also extended the offer of protection by the forces of Quesan as well as acceptance into the lands of Quesan as a whole. Full integration into the vastly growing empire of Quesan.
The natives had taken some time to accept such an offer, months at the very least but in the end, they did accept it. Joining the ever-growing territories of Quesan. Growing their populace and growing their strengths.
The Passing of the Two Heroes
Keikain Shinsaku and Oka Reiko. The two heroes of the Demon war and appointed leaders of Quesan for many a year had finally passed. A great time of mourning for the entire empire as many funerals and feasts were held for the two across the territories. Months of mourning would take place after the funerals were over.
Two generations had transpired since their rule, the next likely ruler was their grandchild. Hatano Shinsaku. Like his parents, he was a prodigy at the arts of combat, diplomacy, and leadership. All the things he got education for and expected to carry out.
The Second Expansion
As his first order of business Hatano would move efforts towards more expansion. Efforts to gather materials were at a rise. Building and expanding now a priority. They needed more territory, more leverage over the land. This was not without complications, many complications.
Reports would begin to come in about shady groups of people scouting the outskirts of the land as well as boast landing on the shores of the north. Efforts were still focused on the building but all were ordered to keep on guard. It seemed that the ruler was wary of these suspicious parties that were cropping up. A worry that would reveal itself valid in the coming years.
Progress
A few years had passed after expanding into new territories had begun. Smaller cities and towns were coming along well. Already accepting more people and families into them as well as the Foxera. The population had grown and with it so did the territory and housing. A much-needed thing for any growing empire. Especially one that was flourishing as well as Quesan.
They would come across no unusual problems for years. Nothing out of the ordinary at least. Demons attacking here and there and the warriors fending them off. They would continue for many years with the building, not stopping for much.
Aside from the small skirmishes that would happen with others that didn't seem keen on their inhabitants of the island. Phuiderans as they would come to be known as.
A Looming Threat.
30 years would pass or so as the Quesan. The building was still occurring as they reached the later years of the 1832 BC's. A little over 200 hundred years had passed since the Quesan's colonization of the land. Their expansion was almost finished, though they would hit a snag as they neared completion.
Ruins littered a part of the land farther than the eye could seem. Demons would litter the place, amongst many other creatures. Dragons and Yokai were included in that mix. They perhaps had pushed too far, on the very edge of the ruins. They could build no further and it would seem that Demon activity would increase as they had arrived.
A dark time now to be sure. Constant fighting on the very edge of the eastern part of the Quesan territories. Attacks from the Phuideran people had all but ceased, rational judgment would pain this to be a cause of that. The ruins did stretch further than the eye could see after all.
They were in a rough time for the foreseeable future when it came to this front.
A New Dawn
Many years of fighting continued to plague the eastern front of Quesan. Warriors that fought had come and gone and a new generation was on the rise. Fresh new warriors were coming out of the woodworks as well as new blood replacing those of the higher-ups. Who the new blood was specifically was anyone's guess.
Things were beginning to stir around the Eastern Front and in the Mountains. Rumors would spread about humanoid looking creatures, but with horns and all red skin. The general populace compared them to the Demons that used to prowl about and rumors began to spread in relation to those on the eastern front becoming involved in with Demons Time would tell if these things were good or bad.