Hesgarigani
Hesgarigani, from Mirselec Hesgari "to raid", is a historical term used to refer to several kingdoms, populated by the Mirsel and based mostly on Masalne, from the first to fifth centuries DN, most noted and notorious for their raids on shipping and coastal cities all along modern day Osonde and even Norugatne. Besides being raiders, however, they were also proficient traders and explorers who founded several kingdoms along the coasts of areas they had captured.
The historical impact of the Hesgerigani on its surrounding lands, as well as towards the development of kingdoms in modern day Risevne, is both varied and deep; the long-range raids, and later trading expeditions, brought back much continental culture that influenced the later scripts of the Mirselec language, while the age itself became the topic of countless sagas and epics. Ironically, as the formerly advanced empires in Osonde and Norugatne collapsed and fell into ruin, the artifacts and lessons taken by the barbaric raiders began a cultural flowering back in Masalne.
Background
First Raids
The first documented raids made by the Hesgerigani are known from records kept by the collapsing empire of the Igusonkla, in modern day Kavena, and date back to the late first century DN. The brief record simply states that late in summer this year (generally agreed to be around 88 DN) light boats from across the ocean of the east attacked and burned several towns, followed by a list of nearly 20 towns. The fact that they all came under raids at around the same time, and also that most of the towns were around the mouth and lower valley of the Agronus river (with some towns up to 30 km upriver), indicated that far from being isolated incidents the raiding seems to have been organised.
Deep raids and long expeditions
By 110 DN the spectre of the raiders from Masalne was well known throughout the region, and in the years between 115 and 150 DN some of the most daring raids were attempted, mostly successful. The walled city of Bodaigor, near modern-day Gorgha in Kavena and nearly 550 km up the Matru river, was attacked around 122 DN by an army of Hesgerigani numbering "in their thousands"; the raiders apparently bribed a servant to open the gates of the city and carried out a night attack, killing hundreds and looting the city's southern port quarter.
Just two years later an even larger prize was taken, in the poorly fortified city of Prinama, which had been bypassed by the Hesgerigani during the 122 raid; records say that nearly 3,000 men and women were taken as slaves, and that three palaces were set aflame, and all their treasures robbed... the palaces burned for a month.
