Mayua

This article is about the ancient city on Semeria. For the duchy of the same name, see Duchy of Mayua.

Arches alongside the Oracle's Road

Mayua was an ancient settlement in central Semeria, Isles of Velar. The capital of the Duchy of Mayua, it was best-known as the home of the Mayuan Oracle and the site of the election of the Semerian kings. It thus enjoyed the patronage of its own rulers and rulers across the archipelago. As a centre of both commerce and pilgrimage, Mayua was a wealthy city with the most lavish architecture in the Isles of Velar.

Built under the summit of Mai Visilaz, Mayua was regarded as nigh-unconquerable, and this reputation deterred attack for centuries. Mayua was nevertheless besieged and ravaged by Szantir I, King of Parthenope, in 812/3, after which it was largely abandoned.

Rise

Mayua was founded c. 800 BC as the stronghold of a powerful local dynasty. Although their name does not survive, the name Mai-uya appears in the 7th-century BC poem Sermtenykon ("the Road of Fire"). The poem's protagonist, Uren the Walker, visits Mai-uya "to receive instruction," and it is believed this is an early reference to the Mayua Oracle.

At an altitude of 1,168 metres (3,832 ft), the town was not naturally on any major trade routes. Its early economy was largely pastoral, and it is thought that raids on other towns provided the greater part of its income.

Mayua gradually attained greater wealth and fame, and its oracle became the most prestigious in the archipelago. The Duchy of Mayua enjoyed substantial power and influence and controlled one of the larger territories on Semeria.

Oracle

19th-century painting of the Mayuan Oracle

The Mayuan Oracle was known as Minara, translated as "one who speaks." No personal name is known for any Oracle or member of the oracular cult: it seems that personal names were abandoned upon induction. Although it is generally believed that all the Mayuan Oracles were women, a number of early Hyseran sources refer to the oracle as "a young boy," the veracity of which claim is subject to ongoing debate. Other Velaran oracles, though not all of them, were male on occasion, but the great majority of ancient and medieval sources say that Mayua's Oracle was only female.

Minara was a priestess of Visil, the chief Velaran god of the sky; the town of Mayua is named for the mountain, Mai Visilaz, Visil's Mount. The cult of Visil maintained a temple on his mountain, overlooking Mayua itself.

The Mayuan Oracle was known possibly as early as the 7th century BC and was regularly consulted by 362 BC, when the King of Tavlar dedicated a stele in Mayua as thanks for a favourable prophecy. Minara became the preferred oracle of the Semerian nobility, almost to the exclusion of other oracles on the island, and rulers from across the archipelago were frequent petitioners; at least one Hyseran emperor is known to have visited Mayua to petition the Oracle.

In the second and third centuries AD, as the kingship of Semeria evolved into an elective one, it became customary to seek the Mayuan Oracle's advice before holding the election. This developed further so that by 400 AD the elections were taking place in Mayua itself. The king-elect would then present himself to Minara in private and she would pronounce on his fitness to rule.

Fall

Mayua inevitably became embroiled in the power struggle between Szantir I of Parthenope, who claimed to rule a Kingdom of the Isles of Velar, and the Semerian kings. In 812, on the death of Nilzha of Borsem, an election was convened in Mayua at which Szantir sought to claim the kingship. The Semerian dukes granted him a vote as duke of Tumil but refused to allow a Napocian and Christian to contest the kingship. Szantir nevertheless presented himself to Minara, who turned him away with one word: "Out." The dukes elected Likanton of Txir as their overlord instead.

That same year, Szantir returned to exact his vengeance. He besieged the city, driving away an army of Likanton's which sought to defend the Oracle, and ultimately Mayua was betrayed by a citizen whose son had been taken prisoner. The temple was razed, its treasury ransacked and much of the town burned. Minara herself, and possibly the entire Visilan cult, were believed to have escaped, but it spelled the end of Mayua's importance.

Legacy

Engraving of Likanton of Txir

It is believed that pagan worship continued at Mayua for some time after the temple's destruction. Certainly the city was not abandoned, despite the claims of Parthenopean writers. A commemorative engraving depicting Likanton of Txir has been found which cannot predate his election in 812 and was most likely not carved in the months between then and the destruction of the temple.

The 18th-century, 88-gun warship Mayua (sunk at Kalodin, 1769) was named for Mayua.