The history of Toloska begins with the formation of the Toloskan state by the Horselord Taskony on the Bishar Plains, and ended on those same plains with the death of Mattias Bresigau, who's heir now rules in neighboring Jenka. It is a history of violence, religion, and people, both great and small. The country has been ruled by barbarian lords, pious native princes, foreign-born tyrants, and finally, laid low by heretical horsemen.
Table of Contents
Taskony the Toloskan
The fourth son of Zaltas the Horselord, he led the Toloskan people out of the Unknowable East to settle in the Bishar Plains. The Hechos de los Toloskans mentions his mother was the daughter of Fajsh, the local Vorish military commander at the time of the Toloskan settlement. I do not put much stock in the works of such heretics.
It is known that in 157, he lead raids into Voria, laying waste to La Varra and Leon, until Julio II Santos Cruz bought him off. Hardly the actions one would expect of the “greatest” of Voria’s emperors, but it was effective.
Two years later his expansion of Toloskan territory west was met by the forces of Ottokar I Bartha, the truly great Koronn of Taratha at the town of Kond. Taskony’s invasion into Taratha came at an inopportune time for the great Koronn, as most of his forces were tied up in the northeast putting down the savage Polashi tribes.
With limited forces, Ottokar turned back Taskony’s tide of wild horsemen, but was unable to crush him, weakened as he was by the traitorous Polashi. He was forced to recognize Taskony as the Koronn of the Toloskan tribes, even going so far as to marry the daughter of his cousin, Gyula Friuvar to Taskony’s eldest son Geza. Ottokar also facilitated the marriage of his youngest son Mihaly to Adelajda, daughter of the future Koronn of Oldaska, Jan I Semkiw. While this seems foolish to the uneducated, the canny fox that was Ottokar knew that by tying the Taskony clan to his allies, he effectively neutralized a potentially dangerous enemy.
In 163, Patriarch Jose XII, at the urging of the wise Ottokar, acknowledged the Toloskan crown and even ordained the first Orthodox missionary to the Toloskans, bishop Zoltan of Alcorva. It is said that though Taskony never converted, he supported the mission financially, and was buried beneath the Church of St. Berengar in La Varra. Truly an honor for a heretic such as he, but mother church is ever the generous soul.