Some say that
Denayi had been once been a part of the ancient Ka�Tash Empire, and that
its Circle did not so much invent as re-discover the techniques of that
uniquely ancient heritage. Others argue that Denayi encountered Worlds of
Ka�Tashi influence only later, after it had independently developed its
own Pylon.
However it occurred, Denayi made contact with Ka�Tashi successor
kingdoms, and adopted Ka�Tash as its language of sorcery and religion.
It destroyed or intermarried with the Circles it found, acquiring their
wisdom, and rose to a prominent place in the Known Worlds. Eventually, an
Uukaptai Daughterhouse pledged itself to the Denayi Circle, adding a final
level of cultural influence from the vanished Ka�Tashi.
In these heydays the Republic waxed strong, becoming potent and
terrible, but eventually the Denayi fell into a long war with their rivals
and neighbors, the Zegazer. They lost much of their knowledge in that
destructive contest. They sealed or forgot their Gates to the rest of
the Known Worlds, and descended into anarchy and civil war. Eventually,
Denayi lost even its contact with Zegazer, and waned so far that its own
Core Worlds rebelled and threw off the Uukaptai.
Then Denayi found a savior. Lucius Denayi rediscovered the lost arts of
the Uukaptai and the Gates. A brilliant general, he re-conquered the
rebellious provinces. During this, the Lucian Renaissance, the Denayi
Circle rediscovered or recreated a Gate to Zegazer. The quiescent war
resumed, and Denayi almost fell to their enemy, but Lucius orchestrated a
series of brilliant campaigns, and settled a peace with the Zegazer.
Jealous rivals murdered Lucius in 4793 Y.P. Legend has it that he had
lost faith in the Denayi Circle and became so obsessed with the fate of
souls in the Pylon that he had attempted to betray his country to the
enemy. The Zegazaer attacked Denayi again in 4841 Y.P, but the Denayi Circle,
led by Alexus Lord Corigaunt (d. 5021 Y.P.), the pupil of Lucius�
cousin, Gislebertus Denayi, repulsed them. Gislebertus himself perished in
the war (some say at his student�s own hand), but Corigaunt finished
what Lucius had begun, returning Denayi to its place among the Known
Worlds. His rise marked the end of the neo-Denayi clan�s dominance over
the Circle.
Corigaunt�s philosophical writings heavily influenced the Denayi
Republic from that time forth. His brilliant Precepts of Ruthlessness takes
the form of a dialogue between himself and Lucius and Gislebertus, in
which he refutes both the excessive mercy of what he terms "Lucian
Humanism" and "Gilbertine Brutality." The Precepts
(in its publicly available version) recognizes the inherent brutality of
the Soul Tax and the rule of the Circle, but argues that they are
necessary to the survival of any society in the face of its rivals. Good
rulers should minimize the ill-effects of the destructive methods they
must employ, but it is folly to attempt to attempt to do away with these
tools entirely. Under the Precepts of Ruthlessness, the Denayi
Circle has become less blatantly predatory than its neighbors, but its
effect has been as often to suppress the efforts of reformers as to
dissuade the corrupt. Dissident rumor persists that the Inner Circle
retains an un-edited copy of the Precepts, along with Alexius�
autobiography; what positions these works supposedly advocate, and why
they are kept secret varies greatly with the teller.