Hlenderia: Difference between revisions

Archaeological evidence indicates that Hayaneste was settled at least four thousand years ago, but the first written records describing the Mūni, Kwari, and Vrotri peoples dates to the 6th century BCE. These ethnic groups would unite in the face of foreign threats, but would also often fight among themselves over farming and grazing rights, religious differences, or trade disputes. The modern state of Hlenderia was formed in the late 17th century, when tribal leaders from the three ethnic groups of the area united following settlement attempts by [[Auravas]], [[Ethalria]], and others. This first constitution of Hlenderia established political traditions that remain to this day, including its elective monarchy and legislature constructed and apportioned along ethnic lines.

==Etymology==

The name "Hlenderia" is a Staynish derivation of the native term "Hlendertu", meaning "three people". The term was invented at the time of unification in the 17th century; before this, there was no single name for the land or the people inhabiting it, and the Vrotri, Kwari, and Mūni peoples merely conceived of themselves as three separate groups inhabiting the same space. When [[Ethalria]] began visiting and mapping the area, they named the island Hayaneste. This name is usually avoided by native Hlenderians, who consider it a colonialist term, but it remains the common term for the island in the Staynish language.

Other names used at various times for Hlenderia are "Chemara", meaning "Chem's Land", referring to the creator deity of the native [[Hlenderian religion]], "Nagertū", meaning "People's Island", and "Āra-sire", meaning "Great Forest".

===Pre-contact Hlenderia===

The [[Vrotrim]], [[Kwarim]], and [[Mūnim]] are the three peoples indigenous to Hlenderia and are considered a distinct [[Gondwana|Gondwanan]] branch of humanity. Early migration to Hayaneste began 40,000 to 50,000 years ago and the island was widely inhabited by 35,000 years ago. A rock shelter named Balmassalū, located on the northwestern coast near the border with [[Joralesia]], is recognized as the oldest evidence of human habitation on Hayaneste and has been dated to be at least 42,000 years old. The oldest surviving human remains are skull fragments found preserved in an ice cave in southeastern Hlenderia; these date back 25,000 years. The [[wikipedia:bog body|bog body]] named "Erva", a corpse of a Kwari woman found in peatland outside Hamrith on the eastern coast, is an important archeological artifact dated back to 8000 BCE.

Hlenderian culture resembling that which is practiced today began to emerge in the mid-Bronze Age, though it is believed that the [[Hlenderian religion|native religion]] preserves more ancient oral traditions in some form. By 4,000 years ago, the Vrotrim and Kwarim had developed complex urban and agricultural societies as a result of widespread Gondwanan trade networks. The Mūnim, native to the central and southeastern portions of Hayaneste, practiced a mixture of pastoral nomadism and temporary settlements with subsistence agriculture.

Developed trade networks allowed the three Hlenderian peoples to receive foreign technological advances to some degree, though the island lagged behind the more developed nations on Aurora and elsewhere until modernity. Iron working, water mills, irrigation, and even medieval advancements made their way to Hlenderia, either through trade, intermarriage with foreign visitors, or the occasional violent conflict with interlopers.

The three groups inhabiting Hayaneste also would fight among themselves over grazing rights, religious differences, or affronts in the island's strict [[Wikipedia:Honour#Social_context|culture of honor]]. An informal code governed many of these internecine conflicts, regulating the use of revenge and feuds to solve problems. This code, known as "la-Dinu", was first written down in the 6th century BCE and remains the earliest record naming each of Hlenderia's three peoples.

===Auroran exploration and colonization===

The first Auroran sighting of Hayaneste is attributed to [[Ethalria|Ethalrian]] explorer Waltraud Vogel, who sighted land in the northwest of the island in 1499 and eventually landed in what is now Ewising, [[Joralesia]] later that year. Early encounters between the Auroran colonists and the Vrotrim and Kwarim living in northwest Hayaneste were often violent, with both groups often putting aside their ancient differences to coordinate on raids of Ethalrian settlements. These conflicts, driven by the scarcity of arable land in the cold environment of Hlenderia, led to resentment on both sides and acts of revenge undertaken by Ethalrian settlers.

Early Ethalrian settlements were eventually combined into a colony hugging the northwestern coast of Hayaneste called Tornaland. This colony, integral to the Ethalrian trading network in southern Gondwana, had fluid borders in its early years, but by the mid 17th century these were fixed aside from occasional cross-border raids by Vrotri and Kwari parties. The rising power of Ethalrian settlers, and their ability to intercept and destroy raiding parties, would be part of the impetus for the the Kwarim, Vrotrim, and Mūnim to unite under one leader in the late 17th century.

===Formation of the Commonwealth===

From the mid-17th century, chiefs and sages of the Kwari, Vrotri, and Mūni people, exposed to new foreign ideas of nationalism, began to articulate desires for a union or federation of the three peoples to resist further Auroran colonization and improve Hlenderian society. This movement would gain traction among the common people, especially in the north of Hayaneste where foreign interference was most obvious and most resented. A 1687 meeting involving the chiefs of each people, located in the large central city of [[Pelachis]] would eventually be dubbed the [[Unification of the Three Peoples]], though this historiography is today seen as informed by Hlenderian nationalist myth as much as reality. At this meeting, little was agreed upon beyond a general desire by the attendees to see Hlenderians combine their military forces, secure the northwestern border, and prevent the expansion of Tornaland.

Further meetings in 1689, 1690, and 1692 would eventually lead to the promulgation of Hlenderia's first [[Constitution of Hlenderia|Constitution]]. This founding document would unite the Mūnim, Kwarim, and Vrotrim in one nation named "Hlenderia" and provided for an elective monarchy, based on the models common across the island where chiefs and clan leaders were elected for lifelong terms. Furthermore, this monarch would command the combined military forces of Hlenderia. A legislative branch called the [[Grand Council of Hlenderia|Grand Council]], containing reserved and elected seats apportioned by population, was also established. Detractors accused this new legislature of imitating foreign parliamentarianism, but it survived this early criticism and remains a coequal branch of government to this day.