The Oan Isles: Difference between revisions

===First Arrival===

Records of the first instance of sapient habitation point to the first arrival of human beings to have been between 1380 BCE to 1560 BCE. The ancestors of modern Polynesians were remarkably advanced for their time. They possessed large vessels that were able to traverse large distances across the sea. They possessed incredible knowledge of plants, animals, marine life, geography, navigation and astronomy. Although most of their settlements were wiped out by sea waves, earthquakes, landslides, floods and volcanic eruptions, some ruins from this era have survived.

The first known polity was the Confederation of the West Pacific Tribes, a loose coalition of seafaring peoples whose Council met at least once a year to discuss and decide on matters affecting the whole of the West Pacific peoples. There is evidence that they reached as far as Gondwana and Aurora. They are also known to have practiced several polytheistic, animist and ancestral worship related religions. Some ancient texts from this era survive, such as the Teakerakau stone tablet on which a message was inscribed for future traveller’s which warned them of the dangers of the place which today comprises the Oan Isles, specifically natural disasters. This has led anthropologists to believe that this ancient civilization possessed early warning and detection technology. Despite their largely peaceful disposition, this period was filled with wars between rival tribes.

===Great Scattering===

The Wars of the Red Kelp arose in 670 when a Taheka princess drowned in the waters of the Whareha tribe where the water was abundant in red kelp. Her death was not only suspicious, but was regarded as a portent of future hardship. Believing that the Whareha had brought ruin on the West Pacific Tribes, the Taheka called on their alliance to destroy the Whareha. The war was unique in that it was the first recorded use of battering rams in naval warfare. But it was more notable for the string of smaller conflicts that arose. The continued period of war and mistrust led to an event known as the Great Scattering. This was when the West Pacific Tribes fled the Oan Isles and sought a peaceful life on other islands. The tribes which remained survived while those that left mostly died or were assimilated into other cultures.

===Pan-Polynesian Age===

This gave rise to the teachings of Hongaongaiwi, an ancient wise man who taught that the West Pacific Island nations were divinely meant to live together. This set the first stone in the foundation of the Pan-Polynesian identity that led to the unification of the Oan Isles in 1000 CE. His teachings gave rise to a society that valued collective advancement and tribal harmony. Although there were many challenges from rogue tribes, pirates and natural disasters, the first written laws emerged from this period to guide humans to do better and live peacefully. In light of this, the concept of West Pacific Human tribes being part of the greater Polynesian civilization arose.