Editing Continuity/Gharu'ndim History (section)

== Timeline of To Be A Shadow ==
The text ''To Be A Shadow'' lays out a rough timeline of events that occur after the founding on Gharu'n. Although it doesn't use many exact figures, we can estimate some of the timespans of the events.
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Gharu'n was a young nation while Yasif traveled to the other nations of Ispar. It is safe to assume that Yasif did not begin to travel to other nations immediately after the founding of Gharu'n. The passage of 6 months to 1 year seems reasonable.
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The text explicitly states that Yasif traveled to Aluvia, Viamont, Roulea, and Silvera. It also says that one by one he won the respect of all the neighboring rulers, except for Milantos. Let us assume that the only remaining neighboring nation is Sho, since the Souia-Vey do not seem to have a single ruling government or ruler. Later in the text, it states that the mission to Milantos was expected to take 4 months. Since Milantos is one of Gharu'n's closest neighbors, we can assume that the missions to Aluvia, Silvera, and Sho took ''at least'' 4 months each, and increasing that estimate to 6 months to account for extra travel time is not unreasonable. Additionally, we can probably assume that Yasif returned to Gharu'n between each of these trips, and did not set out immediately to the next country. So an additional 6 months between each mission is reasonable. Lastly, the text states that Yasif stayed in Viamont half a year longer than what was proper.
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With all of that in mind, our timeline is looking something like this: 0.5 - 1 years pass after Gharu'n is founded before Yasif's missions begin. The missions to Aluvia, Silvera, and Sho, including times spent back in Gharu'n afterwards, each take 1 year. The mission to Roulea is explicitly stated to have taken a year, and an additional 6 months back in Gharu'n could also be added, for a total of 1.5 years. The mission to Viamont also could have taken 1.5 years. So, when all is tallied up, the timespan from Gharu'n being founded to Yasif making peace with all but Milantos could be approximately 6.5 to 7 years.
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Milantos repeatedly refuses Yasif’s requests. This continues for seasons until King Aprad dies, and King Laszko comes to power. Yasif travels to Milantos. His mission was expected to last 4 months. Mansur, the author of the text, is 14 at this time. 
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This part gets a little murky. First, the word ''seasons'' is used. Seasons could mean winter/spring/summer/fall (0.25 years), or it could mean wet/dry seasons (0.5 years), or it could mean a whole year. It is not clear from the text which it is. However, given that Gharu’n is a desert nation that probably does not have four distinct seasons, and also that requests and responses would take considerable time to travel to other nations, the 0.25 year figure seems slightly less likely.
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Next, the number of requests that were sent to Milantos is unclear. It says the polite '''refusals''' gave way to hostility and threats. That means there were at least 2 polite refusals. It also means there was as least 1 unfriendly refusal. It is stated that this did not stop Yasif and he continued to send requests every season. This means at least 2 more requests were sent.
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So at a minimum, 5 requests had to have been sent. If we assume that a season is 0.5 to 1 year, this puts the time passed at a minimum of 2.5 to 5 years. It seems likely though that, based on the wording of the text, more than 5 requests had been sent. Doubling the requests to 10 does not seem unreasonable. That puts the time passed to 5 to 10 years.
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We don't know when Yasif started to send requests to Milantos - did he send them a request and, when rejected, instead travel to another nation? Or did he not begin to send requests until Milantos was the last country remaining to visit? It isn't clear either way. But what we do know is a significant amount of time passed between Yasif making peace with the last neighbor and his request being accepted by Milantos. For now, all we can do is stick with our figure of 5 to 10 years.
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The next set of events are pretty clearly laid out in the text. Yasif travels to Milantos. six months pass and there is no word from yasif. Two years after Yasif left, the malik’s messages become pleas. Still no word as to why Yasif had been captured. Soon, people begin to disappear from the palace. Mansur is 16 at this time. Zharalim train for 3 years. Of the 50 that started, 36 remain. Of those 36, the 12 best were chosen. Mansur is 19 at this time. The malik is not yet 40 at this time. Yasif is returned prior to the Zharalim’s rescue mission.
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And lastly, the text states that even years later, Yasif still has nightmares of his time in Milantos.