Baz: Caverns to Capital

by Midnight

The history of Baz is almost as long as the history of Dinotopia.

The butte that is now Baz was originally simply a network of tunnels and caverns that ran through the entire edifice. There are passages that were rubble-filled (probably waste from the construction of the acropolis-like city) and have since been cleared by excavators during archeological digs. They provide some circumstantial evidence that Baz is the earliest human-inhabited region of Dinotopia.

On some of the walls unearthed were crude drawings, etchings and carvings that may show that a small group of humans came to the Island before what is normally thought and were afraid of the dinosaurs that they saw. They hid in the caves coming out only to hunt or forage. We're not sure if they died out, were wiped out or were integrated into Pellendrine society later on.

The butte and caves were then abandoned for a period until Advocator (Emperor) Arghsum, the founder of the 2nd Pellendrine Dynasty. As a monument to his greatness (and, incidentally, to keep proto-Poseidon raiders from the Rainy Basin away from the fertile Northern Plains' trade routes) he decided to once again make use of the caves for defensive purposes. His city of Baz was a simple construction that merely carved out intricate designs over the mouths of the caves and placed barricades (large doors) to keep enemies out. These were really quite extraordinary and were the first demonstration of Pellendrine architecture that would come to dominate the entire western half of the island (the classical Sauropolis was built later, after the arrival of a Roman colonization expedition bound for India that washed up here, but that is another matter).

It was not until the 3rd Dynasty under Adv. Gravis that Baz' full potential was realized. It was under him that the Indian-Tibetan architectural style (called pseudo-Pellendrine or Poseidon because it was only used at Baz and was later exported to Poseidos) was used to create the Baz that is still standing, 3,200 years later.

The later Advocators from the 4th, 5th and 6th Dynasties enlarged the city farther into the butte. Advocatora Alypia moved the capital of the Empire to Baz in the 5th Dynasty. It was under her rule that Baz reached it's apex. It was the center of the culture on the Island and on Earth. It was what Waterfall City and Alexandria, Egypt would become later. The first great library was in Baz. As was the first public assembly. In fact, it was during the Pellendrine Interregnum (between the 7th and 8th Dynasties) that Baz was finally brought low.

A Republic was instituted under the reign of Adv. Phostus. It was modeled much like that of ancient Rome's. However this Republic was unable to fully meet the needs of the people and was unable to stop the less powerful Poseidos from taking the eastern Northern Plains from them. The Republic was dissolved in mass riots that swept through the city. Somewhere, a fire got out of control and burned through the city. About one-third of the library was saved; the rest was lost.

Pellendrine fell into chaos and a new Advocator was appointed and the new capital was erected in Pooktook and the Advocators continued to rule until the Great Fall where all empires fell and the modern Dinotopian Culture took their place.

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