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The History of Vereva is a lengthy history said to stretch as far back as 197 BCE. Some historians argue that the history stretches 600 years further into the past, as far back as the foundations of such settlements as Alovve pfel Bogriail an or Peiredas, or such nations as Anderjam or Alessajndrjana, which have all become cities or city-states under the Verevian flag. The history of Vereva can be seen as reflected by the nation's flag or its official currency, the Bieszchu.
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Worlds and Eras
Because Verevian history is a lengthy and full one, it is divided into three periods of time, called "worlds," which are in turn divided into smaller fragments of time referred to as "eras." The three worlds, the Ancient, Old, and Modern Almsaundean Worlds, are based upon the used of the nation's Almsaundean language during a period of time. By this fashion, place names, sich as cities, nations and city states, often vary with regard to which world they existed in. Contrarily, eras are marked on the basis of events uhat shaped a certain period of time.
Ancient Almsaundean World
The Ancient Almsaundean World spans from the arrival of Almsaundean-speaking peoples to the southern portion of the Latelen continent circa 950 BCE, to the fall of several genders in the Almsaundean language which brought about the change of the ancient language to the old language circa 850 CE.
Pre-Verevian Era
The Pre-Verevian Era marks the era before the uniting of the Verevian city-states. It spans a period from 950 BCE to 197 CE. The Verevites, alike most southern Latelens, are received to have come from northern territories during the Trail to Kensilla at the beginning of the era. The language of the Verevites, called the Almsaundean language, is said to be one of the first languages brought from to the mostly uninhabited southern portion of the coninent.
Vereva was divided into five different nations at this time.
Pre-Verevian Anderjam
Anderjam was established 130 BCE, six years after the eruption of Vittaschtfaronhal volcano, which made rich previously harsh lands. Farmers and herders from surrounding areas, witnessing the newfound vegetation in the land who sought to manipulate the land and claim unowned territory moved into the Beivucje Valley and other areas encircling the volcano.
Over the first two decades, Anderjam was subject to feuds over territory. These feuds were usually caused by Anderian families which were in dispute over unmarked lands. During this time, many lost their lands to opportunists from neighboring regions who would bide until both sides were enfeebled. In fear that their land would be next, Anderjamite herfers who had been able to maintain ownership of their lands quickly banded together and founded a great army called Pfi Vittaschtfaronhalfaghtekkeri. The Pfi Vittaschtfaronhalfaghtekkeri, a Lindjerblau phrase meaning "the volcano fighters," was the first national armed force in souther Latelen
Land owners generally made the laws governing the territories they owned and it wasn't until 35 BCE, nearly 100 years after the establishment of the country, that a national government was established. Influenced by neighboring Alessajndrjana, with whom they traded most, Anderjam adopted a religious oligarchic government under Fielosheimism. The government was led by the Lwefriej family who established their hometown of Eviesse on the border with Alessajndrjana as the capital. While law was guided under religion in Anderjam, freedom of religion was still lawful.
Pre-Verevian Alessanjdrjana
Pre-Verevian Alessajndrjana, a thelossocracy under a religious oligarchy, was founded in 370 BCE, 130 years after its capital Peiredas. Led by the Gerassec family, practitioners of the Fielosheim faith which would later shape Vereva, Alessajndrjana employed at its peak an armada of 200 warships and 300 trading ships in nearly 100 cities along the coast. The Bogriai Ocean, from two Ancient Almsaundean words meaning "big waters" was named, and said to have been "tamed" by the Alessajndrjans for little more than 400 years.
The 700-year period in which Alessajndrjana governed over the Bogriai Ocean, called the Period of Peiredas, helped establish international trade and relations between Alessajndrjana, (and later Vereva), and many other countries. These countries included many island nations, such as Saaret, Country 27 and Country 25 and nations whose fleets were not as large as theirs, alike Country 11.
Alessajndrjana was influenced into thelossacracism by Fielosheim. Within the belief system, it is stated that those who who are able to conquer earthly problems by use of their own wit become gods in the next life. Obsessed with buoyaancy within wood, they perceived that the larger an armada of ships they could attain, the more they would conquer the ocean, leaving air as the final frontier.
Pre-Verevian Kalbin
The Kalbin nation was the first nation settled in Vereva. Settled perhaps around 500 BCE, it was composed in majority by the Kalbin tribe, who would later traverse further west into modern-day Country 11.
The Kalbin peoples, alike their southern neighbors in Anderjam, were mostly a nation of farmers and herders. While this style of life was made meeker and more timid in Anderjam because of the fertility of the Beivucje Valley, the rolling Enriwelelnhali promised harsher travel through less fertile hills, steep cliffs and high altitude winters. The Kalbin, who held steadfast to "The Old Ways," a more nomadic and tribal lifestyle, found paradise in a far corner of the Beivucje Valley where they spent their winters. Pre-Verevian Kalbin tribes are not said to have done much trading or experienced much interaction with citizens in their neighboring nations. They are noted to have historically remained self-reliant and distant.
Pre-Verevian Pferapf
Established around 400 BCE, Pferapf was ruled by denizens who were heretics against Fielosheim. With the Fielosheimist city Peiredas nearby, Pferapf remained alert at its borders, legions of men guarding them protectively. When Alessajndrjana was founded, Pferapf hired arms from the Rasoran Union, Nithalosia and Adeelie in preemptive defense, though Pferapf never engaged in war with Alessajndrjana which was preoccupied with its transoceanic affairs.
Pre-Verevian Adeelie
Pre-Verevian Adeelie, established in 224 BCE as neutral, ungoverned territory, that functioned as a small region of markets and bazaars, both nomadic and stationary. Peoples from all over continental Latelen voyaged into Adeelie to take advantage of the barters and trades of goods and activities that were illegal or scarce in surrounding areas. The hiring of warhands as single beings or entire militias, and the distribution of arms were commonplace, as were kidnapping, prostitution and murder. Goods that were taxed highly in Alessajndrjana or Anderjam could be purchased at more reasonable prices. Due to its history with illegal activity and its reputation involving aspects of the demimonde, surrounding areas were apprehensible about claiming Adeelie as part of their own territory. Not until 169 CE was Adeelie attacked at an attempt to bring government to the area to establish sales taxes. Country 25 sent in troops to impose their law and were met with unfaltering resolve by the Adeelians, whose region had yet never been under governed rule.
Uniting of Vereva
By 185 CE, Pferapf was pending a war with Country 11 and relations between Alessajndrjana and a few of its trade partners were dwindling, while many Adeelians were in open retaliation with Country 25 which would seek to set taxes on all sales of goods and services in the area to boost its own economy as well as gain mainland territory and resources. Xahl frem Weręwem I, General of the Vittaschtfaronhalfaghtekkeri of Anderjam envisioned that should Country 11 and Country 25 succeed, and should Alessajndrjana fall, Kalbin and Anderjam would fall next, being interlocked by nations they'd had little political relation with. Funded by Anderian Archbishop Okiev Lwefriej XII, he proposed to the surrounding nations, Alessajndrjana, Pferapf, Kalbin, Adeelie, the Rasoran Union, Country 12, Samarkainia, that coming together as a single nation would benefit them in times of war. Alessajndrjana immediately agreed. The Alessajndrjan Archbishop Pfilipej Gerassec XIV was pleased mostly by the idea that a fellow Fielosheimist state wished to unite. Gerassec XIV joined frem Weręwem I and his cause, though his alterior motive was to unite the world under Fielosheim. When word spread that frem Weręwem I was traveling beside the Alessajndrjan Archbishop, the two began to be met with violence and malice at their unity rallies. The violence was especially visible in Adeelie and Pferapf, whereas in other places, the population was a little more indifferent. With international relations growing weaker across every border, frem Weręwem I succeeded in his vision of a group of united nations in 195. Because each nation wanted status as a city-state, free to govern their own people, many international conferences took place before Anderjam, Alessajndrjana, Kalbin, Pferapf and Adeelie would officially unite as Vereva (Weręwekkemwën: Lindjerblau) establishing Anderjam as its capital due to its position in the center in 197.
Early Era
The Early Era, (197-599 CE), marks the first 300 years of Vereva as an official country.
After uniting Vereva, the peoples were led to believe under the powerful religious influences of Gerassec XIV and Lwefriej XII that frem Weręwem I was the Saljente, a man sent from the gods to unite the Rjosdempapwëlos, or People of Mature(Divine) Understanding. A few dismissed their claims as religious propoganda while many others held fast to their words. In 204, in a controversial early spring ceremony closed to the public, General Xahl frem Weręwem I was crowned Saljente of Vereva, a position that was seen as a political and religious figurehead of the time. His coronation marked the commencement of Fielosheim as the national religion. Pferapfians and Adelians, who strongly opposed the establishment of a national doctrine, were overcome with anger and threatened breaking away prematurely from the union. They did not, however, fearing the combined forces of Anderjam's land army and Alessajndrjana's naval fleet would devastate them, still within ongoing feuds with Country 11 and Country 25. The two conflicts would be resolved passively by 213.
The War for the Fields
By 353, a feud had broken out between Alessajndran and Kalbin peoples over the fertile lands at the edge of the Beivucje Valley. The Alessajndrjan peoples, whose population was quickly on the rise had found the uninhabited land in the previous summer. The Kalbin nomads had already claimed this land, unbeknownst to them, but only used it during the winter, to avoid the harsh cold months on the Enriwielelnhalli, where food would be scarce and the highest peaks blanketed with snow. When the Kalbin attested that the land was theirs and had been so for centuries, the Alessajndrjan denied their claim. Frem Weręwem V, Saljente of this age coaxed the two city-states to solve their feud passively, though his words went unheard. A law was long established that feuding city-states solve their own problems, other city-states were barred from intervening. When the Alessajndrjans would not leave from their lands, The Kalbins attacked in the winter of 353 as The War for the Fields (Fimvikkimfılderjir : Lindjerblau). This war lasted 43 years and engendered as many as 16 batttles, some of the bloodiest in Verevian history. Whilethe Alessajndrjan were more technologically advanced and had superior numbers, the Kalbin had more spirited and better trained fighters and took 11 victories. Of the 5 victories won by the Alessajndrjan peoples, the battle most written about in ancient battles is the final battle called the Battle of Jarebun Vak. This battle was one through tactical warfare, stripping the land during the spring, summer and autumn seasons, when the Kalbin would be on their territory, to deplete the enemy resources before they had even arrived in a tactical process now known as "jarebuning." The depletion of their resources was compounded by an unpridictably harsh winter season, where many Kalbin people fell ill with disease and famine. After their defeat, many Kalbin, who were typically proud people, fled their lands in the following spring of 397, traversing into Country 11 in a great retreat of more than 100,000 people known as The Great Migration.
To promote unity after the war, Saljente frem Weręwem V ordered that all city-states change their name to begin with the letter A, which is both the holiest letter, and the symbol of unity and peace in the Fielosheimism religion. Those in the Kalbin region thus renamed their city-state Ajnsjä, while Pferapf shortened its name to Apf. The remainging three, whose names already began with the letter A, made no changes.
Xahl's Law
Citizens in Adeelie, especially unweary or mal-informed travelers and criminals were becoming unruly by 431. While Adeelie remained a libertarian region, other regions operated under their own, often strict set of rules and guidelines. With Adelian libertarianism spilling out into other city-states and teetering on the edge of international borders, the Saljente was adamant to limit its reach, which seemed to effect his citizens in negative ways, setting the bar for crime to rise. When Bilgo Urda, a mercenary from abroad is charged with murdering a political figure on Anderian soil, Saljente frem Weręwem XI orders him ceased and brought to justice publically. Unable to decide a suitable punishment because of their strong ties with the Urda's home country, the mercenary sat in jail for 4 long years. In 435, he decides to let Urda be punished in the way he would under the laws of his own country. His punishment was decapatation by guilltoine followed by the dragging of his headless corpse through the streets by horse-drawn carriage from Alessajndrjana to Adeelie. Frem Weręwem XI liked the idea so much and it made such a statement, that it became written in legislature as Xahl's Law (Xahlslaw : Lindjerblau). This law states that should a person or person(s), foreign or a national citizen commit a crime in a foreign city-state, the person(s) shall be punished in the manner written in the legislature of their city-state or foreign nation of origin. This law was later amended to regularize the punishment for those who commit a crime that is not a crime in their place of origin.
Distribution of Power
By the beginning of the 6th century CE, many Verevians were falling ill with the Kensillan Dragon Flu, or H7N12, a sickness caused by direct contact with a Kensillan Dragon, a small, usually chartreuse-colored tropical lizard and only known carrier of the disease, or by contact or proximity with those infected with the disease. The disease is believed to have first been contracted by fine diners who could afford th delicacy native only to southeast Latelen. When Saljente XIII came down with disease in 510 and succumbed to it in 515, his son Xahl XIV became the youngest Saljente in Verevian history, the distribution of power falling to the previous Saljente's eldest son upon death. At 7, the people fearethe outcome of a child as leader. An opportunist and spokeswoman for women's suffrage, his mother, Lahna Tsuru frem Weręwem, suggested that she hold his responsiblities as Saljente until he reached the age of majority. Many male political figures were outraged by her suggestion, though the Fielosheimist population usurped them, believing her blood to be the purest, chosen wife of all women in Latelen. Holding the position for 8 tumultuous years, and regulating the distribution of power after premature deaths of the Saljente, Lahna became the first female leader of Vereva as well as its only leader in indirect contact with the royal bloodline. Other changes to the distribution of power, such as which royal family member is to rule over a specific city-state were inspired by Lahna's Law which is both ridiculed and praised by political scientists. A common Lindjerblau phrase "(ist n) kuh Lew fir Lahna" or "(there is) no love for Lahna" is used modernly to refer to a person (especially a woman) who uses another person (usually a man) to achieve a selfish goal as a way of expressing distaste and wishing them to fail in their endeavors. This phrase arose from the unproven belief that Lahna poisoned her husband to achieve success as a woman in the Ancient Almsaundean World.
Fielosheim Era
The Fielosheim Era, 600-799 CE, is a short era encompassing a civil war in Alessajndrjana thateventually caused its successtion from the union and its split.
Through the mid 5th and well into the mid 7th centuries (early 440s to late 650s), Alessajndrjana continued to be populated with people relocated from abroad or from other city-states. This was made easiest in Alessajndrjana, which, despite being more densely-populated than other city-states, had more acres of territory unowned by citizens and free to use to whoever claimed it. These lands became a quick getaway to start life anew for those fleeing poverty or authorities search for them to punish them for crimes. While the majority of newfound Alessajndrjans were from abroad, many had relocated from libertarian Adeelie, still free from law and ununified by religion. Alessajndrjana, historically a land of denizens devout in the Fielosheim faith, were becoming populated with peoples of counter-religions and other free spiritualists. With his citizens growing restless, in 661, the Alessajndrjan leader Gerassec XXXI advised national Saljente XVII to rid his territories and regulate inter-city-state travel. The Saljente denied him, explaining that his goal and purpose is to promote unity between all the people of Vereva. Gerassec XXXI went on to plead reason with Saljente XVII who only turned him down each time. Having tried long enough, in 667, Gerassec XXXI imposed sever laws, called the Buener Laws, governing free travel in Alessajndrjana and hired southern Alessajndrjan citizens, called "Buenerwalkekkeri" (Buener travelers), stationed primarily around the city of Buener, to maintain them.
By 670, citizens in the north were in open retaliation with the Buenerwalkekkeri, while other more passive citizens simply moved northeast into Ajnsjä. The Buenerwalkekkeri were no match for the evergrowing populations, and were disbanded in 674. With no support from neighboring city-states or the Saljente himself, Gerassec XXXI grew desperate as his citizens lost patience and faith in him. Decidedly, he hired an architect, Fareg Narupfej, to build a long brick wall through the middle of Alessajndrjana. The wall, called the Divine Baracade (Dowaneffonse : Lindjerblau), was to be 50 feet thick and 30 feet high and span from the Lilibeth River to the Beivucje Valley. Gathering the necessary men and materials for the structure, Narupfej set out to start the wall in 677. The northerners were agreeable with the idea for the first few months until the wall's laborers were ordered to teaar down any structure owned by a northern that laid in the planned path. When the first structure, a family home, fell, northerners retaliated with force and started the first civil war between a single city-state and itself. Under the Unity Clause (Wënotiemlaw), which states that single city-states solve their own civil feuds (lest other city-states be dragged in), Alessajndrjana was granted its independence, splitting as Aless as the southern Fielosheimists and Ajndrjana as the northern people, heretics to Fielosheim. This war came to be know as the Fielosheim War (Fielosheimrjir). (Because of the signifacance of this in Verevian history, many Almsaundean language expressions begin with "rjenvit pfirjen Haus falsse..." meaning "when the first house falls..")
For the first few years of the war, Fielosheimist Aless endured many attacks and terrorist acts on its citizens and wall laborers, incuring few deaths and serious injury due to their superior organization, economy and general welfare. The Divine Baracade was growing quickly, with armed men to guard it at night and a seperate legion during the day. For two years, the Alessans suffered a total of 12 casualties, some work related and not directly caused by Ajndrjan forces. On the second anniversary of the start of the wall, Gerassec XXXI told the citizens to celebrate. He informed is people it wouldn't be long before the wall would be complete and Aless free from heresy. The people celebrated in the streets in a festivity and carnival known today as Fielosheimism Day (Fielosheimptesde), taking place in modern Alesse on the first Monday of March of every year.
With little means of organizing themselves and an economy suffering from Alessan war and embargo, most Ajndrjan citizens had no power but to watch the wall rise and cut them off from Aless. The wall was finally completed in 691 and stands today, barely blemished, as a monument of archictural achievement. By the 700s, most people who played crucial roles in the war were getting on in age and by 710, Alessan and Ajndrjan leaders were already in talks of reopening relations. As relations progressed, the two decided to end their feud, writing the Halsfuet Pact in 714, so named for the famous village where the first house fell. In this pact they they decided keep the wall as a reminder that even the smallest of differences can divide nations.
It would take for 52 more years for the two nations to rejoin the Verevian Union and become city-states. Because the wall caused a massive lag in Alessan-Ajndrjan trade, 17 arches were carved into the walls, given 50-foot high wraught-iron gates in 790.
In 807, moved by the passionate unity of his people, the Saljente took it upon himself to be the first political and religious leader to walk through the Door of Harmony (Harmeniedir) that split Buener. This event is characterized by a political figure, usually the Saljente, walking from Alessan Buener to Ajndrjan Buener. Called First King's Day (Xahlrjensde), it became Vereva's first nationally recognized holiday and takes place the day before Fielosheim Day each year.
Old Almsaundean World
The Old Almsaundean world is characterized by the slow split of the Almsaundean language into the central, eastern and western dialects. It spans the period between 850 and June 7, 1782, when the first Almsaundean language reform, called the Extreme Grammar Reform was directed onto the people by the Saljente. The reform would simplify and regularize the national dialect making it less intelligible with the others. During this time, place names are often referred to using spelling and pronunciation of the Old Almsaundean language.
Era of Despair
The Era of Despair is the first era of the Old Almsaundean World, spanning from 800 to 1199, and is characterized by national catastrophe recurring throughout.
The Tamean Plague
By 824, a little known disease was growing exponentially in the small Anderian town of Tamea. This disease came to be known as the Tamean Plague and some historians consider the start of the Era of Dispair to occur in 889, at the height of the disease. The Tamean Plague was an immune deficiency disease caused by food-borne bacteria. The disease, when active, increases risk of contracting stronger forms of other more common illnesses as well as heart and lung failure and loss or impairment of vision. The disease spread first throughout Tamea and the city-state Anderjam, then through Vereva, indirectly taking the lives of an estimated 2 million people. The disease itself was rarely directly lethal. Alternative illnesses caused by it were often to blame, as well as the Tamean Famine, a famine influenced by the inability of the sick to work during the time. The length of the plague and its quarantine were short-lived, lasting a little more than 80 years, until the introduction of a cure in 907 by a Tamean serf. Many were skeptical of a cure both because the cure had been found where the disease had begun and because its finder was no more than an ordinary farmhand. Due to the skepticism, distribution of the cure began slowly, and 30 years had already passed before the cure was distributed nationwide. The Tamean Famine is said to end with the last known carrier of the plague in 957.
Vittaschtfaronhal Eruption
Pending the next few decades, Vereva was still recovering economically from the lack of work force, especially within the domains of agriculture and horticulture. As it neared the next century, things appeared to be back on track, especially for those in the Beivucje Valley laying about the edge of the Vittaschtfaronhal volcano. On a late fall evening in 997, the volcano largest recorded eruption devastated the many small towns in the valleys of Anderjam. With a population consisting still majorly of rural farmers, aid could not come soon enough for the survivors that following winter. Homes, farms and land destroyed and blanketed in thick ash, many starved to death or died from untended injury.
