I think it was conceptually interesting but really needed more space to flesh out character and concepts without exhausting the reader's brain.  I do think it nailed the feeling of 'reading a history book' though! Would make for good lore pages in a pre-existing setting.

I found this difficult to follow with an overwhelming number of concepts, names, cultural ideas, and historical and political divisions being introduced very rapidly. Compounding the issue, the shifts between different perspectives (3rd-person omniscient to historical account to history text) were too abrupt and too frequent.

There's a time and a place to introduce a fully fleshed-out and unique culture in its entirety, and a 1000-word short story is neither the time nor the place. I would suggest that a piece of this length stick to a single perspective - or, at most, two - and as much as possible use old words to describe new concepts.

That said, I think the culture you've created here is an interesting one, and in a novella or full-length novel which has the time and wordcount to pace its introductions to that culture and its history, I'd love to explore it. There are some great turns of phrase in the piece as well. I really liked "enjoying the silence of absent artillery".

This is both original and a joy to read. It seems almost like its intended to set-up a larger story. Did you intend to use this as a starting off point for a series of stories?

as destiny commands.

I really enjoyed this one - both the originality of it and the way it's organized. My only complaint is that your story feels like it really wants more space, and it just doesn't get that with the 1000-word/one-page limit here.