Weekly Flag Challenge: Discussion & Entries
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If I'm not too late:
Francis I manages to establish the Duchy of Brittany as separate from the Crown of France...
Francis I manages to establish the Duchy of Brittany as separate from the Crown of France...
I didn't vote for 'Bora Bora' but next weekend I'm going to the travel agents to book a couple of weeks there. 
FLAG CHALLENGE 80
By some stroke of fate the area known to us as Doggerland (green on the map) remained above sea level.
Design a flag for a nation which formed or included part or all of this area as at 1st January 1901.
Closing time for entries = 6th November, 12 midnight GMT
Voting to end at 13th November, 12 midnight GMT.
[Hope I've done this correctly!]
Posting this here too as we're getting too discussionary in the Challenge Thread.
I've got a few ideas. Hopefully the challenge isn't too open ended and the ASBishness should produce some stonking butterflies (and perhaps zombie moths
) to play withPosting this here too as we're getting too discussionary in the Challenge Thread.
I've got a few ideas. Hopefully the challenge isn't too open ended and the ASBishness should produce some stonking butterflies (and perhaps zombie moths
LETS CRY HAVOK AND LET SLIP THE BATS OF SPACE!!!
Doggerland
Doggerland is nation what gain its independence in late 19th century before that it was occupied by British empire and Kingdom of Sweden-Norway it also has large Dutch community. Doggerland does not own any colonies and islands. The flag has colors of British empire (blue,white and red), Kingdom of Sweden-Norway (blue,yellow,white and red) and The Netherlands (orange). Doggerland it self does not have any personal colors but many people use green because Doggerland is also knowed as of it green grass what is greener then in most of Europe.
Doggerland is nation what gain its independence in late 19th century before that it was occupied by British empire and Kingdom of Sweden-Norway it also has large Dutch community. Doggerland does not own any colonies and islands. The flag has colors of British empire (blue,white and red), Kingdom of Sweden-Norway (blue,yellow,white and red) and The Netherlands (orange). Doggerland it self does not have any personal colors but many people use green because Doggerland is also knowed as of it green grass what is greener then in most of Europe.
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Dorozhand
Banned
Flag of the People's Republic of Doggerland
Doggerland (I will use this name because I cannot think of a good in-universe name) is a low-lying, very fertile flat plain with a system of large rivers (including an extended Rhine with a large delta) that flood periodically. This produced a city-dwelling farming culture out of the Celts in the area that developed alongside ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. A system of city-states along the rivers (but inland from the delta swamplands) formed the cultural nucleus of the northern European region, and was a vibrant and advanced civilization by the time of the Mycenaean Greek and Minoan cultures.
The city states warred with one another for dominance since time immemorial, until a great king emerged and united them all under his leadership. His dynasty would last 400 years and would oversee the creation of a massive empire in northern Europe including OTL Ireland, Britain, southern Norway and Sweden, France, Germany, Poland to the Vistula River, south to the Po River and OTL Austria, Hungary, and Czhechoslovakia. By the foundation of Rome, the Doggerland Empire was the premier and unrivalled power in Europe.
However, the Empire began to weaken after a series of inept, inbred rulers, and rebellions (including that from its vassal, the city-state of Rome). It collapsed into many squabbling pieces, with a successor dynasty ruling a rump state in Doggerland itself, and Rome grabbed up large parts of northern Italy in the process. Rome continued to be ruled by kings, and its culture had been influenced strongly by Doggerland culture (who played a similar but much greater role in Rome’s early development to TTL’s Etruscans).
Alexander still exists here and he still does his thing in Persia, but while he is doing so Rome, using Doggerland military tactics involving Gallowglass-like swordsmen and mobile horse archers (adopted after Doggerland campaigns in Scythia) grabs up the Greek cities in southern Italy after a series of successful campaigns. This brings them into contact with the Carthaginians, and the Romans, growing along the western Mediterranean basin, fight a series of wars against them which, after initial success, eventually end in disaster when Hannibal (far away enough from Doggerland to still exist) attacks across the alps. He defeats the Romans in battle after battle and, with Fabian tactics butterflied away, Mago manges to land in Italy and together they take Rome. Hannibal returns to Carthage venerated like a god, and is declared Emperor. He fights a short civil war against the oligarchy, and afterwards dissolves the institution.
The Carthaginian Empire expands across the Mediterranean, absorbing the warring Doggerland successor states in Gaul, and expanding northwards to conquer Doggerland itself, overthrowing the last Doggerland Emperor in 70 BC. Carthaginian armies then overwhelm Ptolmaic Egypt and Judea, and expand southwards into Africa to conquer the Senegal and Gambia basins. Carthaginian navigators round the tip of Africa and make it to India in 10 BC, and the Empire grows fabulously rich off of the Indian trade. The Greek city-states are all conquered by Macedon around this time.
The Cathaginian Empire, having adopted many of the Roman tactics in the wars against them, attack Macedon. The antiquated Macedonian phalanxes are no match for the mobile Carthaginians, and Macedonia is destroyed in the first century AD.
Meanwhile, the death of Jesus leads to a major Judean revolt, which is crushed by the Carthaginians. The new religion of Christianity begins to take form and spreads across the empire. It is not persecuted like in OTL, and eventually just merges with Carthaginian paganism. The Carthaginian Empire begins a long decline, and is finally destroyed by the eastern barbarian invasions. The rise of Islam is much more limited than OTL, and its influence remains largely regional. The Huns, Vandals, and Avars establish successor states across Europe, including one in Doggerland.
The culture of this state is a fusion of Doggerland, Carthaginian, and Hunnish. It grows alongside many kingdoms in post-Carthage Europe, ravaged by wars and starvation, and driven backward technologically. It has a solid national identity which sets it apart from feudal kingdoms in the rest of the continent, and recovers more quickly. Its religion is a fusion of Christian, Carthaginian pagan, and old Doggerland pagan elements. It soon rises to dominance, and, under a new dynasty of Emperors (the people of Doggerland always kept their old history alive), they conquered Britain and Ireland (Ireland had never been conquered by Carthage), and parts of OTL France and Germany.
Adopting and advancing upon the rich and advanced Carthaginian naval tradition, Doggerland sailors arrived in the Americas by 900 AD and established colonies in OTL Greenland, Labrador, Maine, and Massachusetts. It was the Senegal successor state, however that landed in Mexico and discovered the rich Toltec civilization in 1030 AD.
European diseases ravaged the native population, but a large expedition sent to conquer Tula met with disaster as the combined forces of the Toltec and other local states defeated the Senegal forces, who, unlike OTL Spanish, met unified resistance and did not possess gunpowder. Senegal would try to send another army, but it would meet the same fate. The Toltec gradually assimilated other cities into their direct rule as they feared further attacks. Senegal did manage to establish colonies in OTL Hispaniola and Cuba, and the Carthaginian successor state of Hispania colonized Brazil and the OTL Carolinas.
The stories of the Toltec and their cities reached Doggerland and Hispania. Hispania tried and failed to conquer the Toltecs, and even when Doggerland traders attempted to deal peacefully with them, the Toltecs refused to talk.
Later, however, Doggerland and Senegal were involved in a long war over their colonies, and Doggerland again attempted contact with the Toltec, and convinced them that they were enemies of the Senegalese. Toltec forces fought alongside Doggerland forces in the campaigns in Cuba and Hispaniola. Doggerland and the Toltec Empire signed a treaty of alliance in 1095 and maintained a mutual respect and amicable trade partnership, exchanging ideas and spiritual practices. The South American peoples were similarly treated by Doggerland, and this attitude was followed by Hispania.
It was out of this time that a new era bloomed in Europe and Africa. A golden age of creativity in art and the sciences exploded out of the cultural powder keg of Carthaginian, Doggerland, Hunnish, Indian, African, and Toltec interactions. The city states surrounding old Carthage flowered with culture but remained disunited. The legacy of ancient Greece and pre-imperial Carthage was rediscovered and a new movement towards democracy was born. Hispania would become Europe’s first republic in 1185 after revolution toppled the decaying oligarchy that was present. Senegal followed in 1190, and then Greece and the Roman successor state (Italy), and their cultures blossomed. All of them gave their colonies independence but kept trade ties.
Doggerland was a more difficult nut to crack, and traditionalist elements strongly resisted Republicanism. However, in 1205, civil war broke out when the Emperor was assassinated without a successor by a radical republican. Germania (which, ITTL remained Celtic and was never Germanized) and Gaul broke away and became their own republics. The rebels in Doggerland finally overwhelmed reactionary resistance in 1215, and the Doggerland republic was born. However, in the east, another threat loomed high.
The Mongols swept across Asia and destroyed many states in Eastern Europe. They then invaded the German successor state. They conquered Egypt and the Carthaginian successor states, and appeared poised to erupt into Western Europe. They were however, turned back when the great Khan died, and all the states in North Africa resumed their independence and internal struggles. The Golden Horde retained control of the east, however, and mixed with the local pagan Slavs to create a harsh and repressive, but productive and powerful Empire in OTL Russia, which expanded to the Pacific and conquered OTL Finland and Sweden.
In response to the close-call of the Mongol threat, the states of Western Europe formed a alliance of mutual economic cooperation in 1245, and signed a treaty of military cooperation in the case of foreign invasion.
Out of the struggle with the Mongols came the Chinese Yuan Dynasty, and the west’s exposure to gunpowder. It was an early adoption of gunpowder that allowed an ambitious Carthaginian general to unite all the states in Tunisia and found The Republic of Carthage in 1320.
The states in North America, meanwhile, grew and prospered along with those in Europe, and contacts fueled a rich cultural exchange. The Toltec became a republic in 1330, and all of the old colonies followed suit. Merchant Capitalism never really took form outside of the East Indian and Chinese trade.
Things continued relatively unaltered, save for regional wars and occasional scientific development, until 1600, when the Empire of the Golden Horde invaded Western Europe with massive, mobile, gunpowder cavalry armies. They conquered Germany, Gaul, Italy and Greece before invading and conquering Doggerland. The armies and governments of the old states had become ossified and outdated, scientific development had slowed, and democracy had become replaced by the very feudal oligarchy that it sought to replace. The states squabbled amongst each other and ignored the outside world.
The rule of the Golden Horde lasted 200 years, and featured brutal oppression and forced servitude of the farmers, and the dismantling of all the old institutions. Rebels finally cast off its yoke by revolting using the same technology that the Golden Horde used to subdue them, and armed with a new ideology.
This ideology had taken form from the enlightenment and democracy of earlier centuries combining with various elements of Eastern thought, and the writings of new rebel philosophers. It was a vision of a united world, without nationalism or war, ruled by the peasants that worked the land, rather than the landlords that oppressed them. They blamed the internecine struggles of the old states, and the backwardness and nearsightedness of their outlook for Europe’s destruction. They would rise up against the overlord and remake the economy so that it could provide for all.
The new idea spread amongst the new rebel states quickly, and they adopted the new economic plan in their societies. The combination of the lack of capitalistic tradition in Europe, the relative camaraderie of the various states compared to OTL, and the popular hatred of class stratification, dictatorship, and war after the Mongol oppression, allowed the new system to work well in providing for the sustenance of all, while not suffocating innovation as its equivalent did IOTL. Industry grew for the purpose of providing for the common wealth, and art and science flourished.
By 1900, Doggerland was part of a new society in Europe. Computers have been invented to make industry and agriculture more productive, and space travel is currently being worked on.
It has good relations with the Toltec Union (Covering all of OTL Mexico and the American Southwest, and south past panama and along the pacific coast in the Andes), the Republic of the Great River (OTL Amazon, a multiethnic state based around the Amazon River and having jurisdiction over most of OTL Brazil) and the Gitche Gumee Federation (A republic stretching from the Atlantic and OTL Canada to the Pacific Ocean, whose culture is blended from European and Native elements), in the Americas; The Chetanid Empire (which ruled almost all of India), and the Chu Dynasty of China (The Jurchen invasions never occurred due to subtle differences in post-Yuan Mongol History, and Li Zicheng’s Shun Dynasty ruled China until 1840, when a factory worker revolt led by intellectuals against the old Confucian stagnation and isolation of the Shun erupted into civil war, and the Chu Dynasty was declared as a constitutional monarchy and the country rapidly industrialized).
The Flag of the People’s Republic of Doggerland as of 1901 is the old Tetracolour of the Pre-Golden Horde Republic: Yellow for the Sun, black for the night sky, grey for the nimbus stormclouds that bring rain (The cult of a rain god became very popular in ancient Doggerland and elements of his worship continue to today and seeped into the national identity), and blue for the ocean (Doggerland has a rich seafaring tradition) with stripes on either side of Crimson and Purple, the colours of the this world’s “Socialist” movement (Crimson for the blood of man, and Purple for the ideals of man). The flag has a long fly of 1:2.5 that lets the colours flow together rather than contrict and get too busy.
Doggerland (I will use this name because I cannot think of a good in-universe name) is a low-lying, very fertile flat plain with a system of large rivers (including an extended Rhine with a large delta) that flood periodically. This produced a city-dwelling farming culture out of the Celts in the area that developed alongside ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. A system of city-states along the rivers (but inland from the delta swamplands) formed the cultural nucleus of the northern European region, and was a vibrant and advanced civilization by the time of the Mycenaean Greek and Minoan cultures.
The city states warred with one another for dominance since time immemorial, until a great king emerged and united them all under his leadership. His dynasty would last 400 years and would oversee the creation of a massive empire in northern Europe including OTL Ireland, Britain, southern Norway and Sweden, France, Germany, Poland to the Vistula River, south to the Po River and OTL Austria, Hungary, and Czhechoslovakia. By the foundation of Rome, the Doggerland Empire was the premier and unrivalled power in Europe.
However, the Empire began to weaken after a series of inept, inbred rulers, and rebellions (including that from its vassal, the city-state of Rome). It collapsed into many squabbling pieces, with a successor dynasty ruling a rump state in Doggerland itself, and Rome grabbed up large parts of northern Italy in the process. Rome continued to be ruled by kings, and its culture had been influenced strongly by Doggerland culture (who played a similar but much greater role in Rome’s early development to TTL’s Etruscans).
Alexander still exists here and he still does his thing in Persia, but while he is doing so Rome, using Doggerland military tactics involving Gallowglass-like swordsmen and mobile horse archers (adopted after Doggerland campaigns in Scythia) grabs up the Greek cities in southern Italy after a series of successful campaigns. This brings them into contact with the Carthaginians, and the Romans, growing along the western Mediterranean basin, fight a series of wars against them which, after initial success, eventually end in disaster when Hannibal (far away enough from Doggerland to still exist) attacks across the alps. He defeats the Romans in battle after battle and, with Fabian tactics butterflied away, Mago manges to land in Italy and together they take Rome. Hannibal returns to Carthage venerated like a god, and is declared Emperor. He fights a short civil war against the oligarchy, and afterwards dissolves the institution.
The Carthaginian Empire expands across the Mediterranean, absorbing the warring Doggerland successor states in Gaul, and expanding northwards to conquer Doggerland itself, overthrowing the last Doggerland Emperor in 70 BC. Carthaginian armies then overwhelm Ptolmaic Egypt and Judea, and expand southwards into Africa to conquer the Senegal and Gambia basins. Carthaginian navigators round the tip of Africa and make it to India in 10 BC, and the Empire grows fabulously rich off of the Indian trade. The Greek city-states are all conquered by Macedon around this time.
The Cathaginian Empire, having adopted many of the Roman tactics in the wars against them, attack Macedon. The antiquated Macedonian phalanxes are no match for the mobile Carthaginians, and Macedonia is destroyed in the first century AD.
Meanwhile, the death of Jesus leads to a major Judean revolt, which is crushed by the Carthaginians. The new religion of Christianity begins to take form and spreads across the empire. It is not persecuted like in OTL, and eventually just merges with Carthaginian paganism. The Carthaginian Empire begins a long decline, and is finally destroyed by the eastern barbarian invasions. The rise of Islam is much more limited than OTL, and its influence remains largely regional. The Huns, Vandals, and Avars establish successor states across Europe, including one in Doggerland.
The culture of this state is a fusion of Doggerland, Carthaginian, and Hunnish. It grows alongside many kingdoms in post-Carthage Europe, ravaged by wars and starvation, and driven backward technologically. It has a solid national identity which sets it apart from feudal kingdoms in the rest of the continent, and recovers more quickly. Its religion is a fusion of Christian, Carthaginian pagan, and old Doggerland pagan elements. It soon rises to dominance, and, under a new dynasty of Emperors (the people of Doggerland always kept their old history alive), they conquered Britain and Ireland (Ireland had never been conquered by Carthage), and parts of OTL France and Germany.
Adopting and advancing upon the rich and advanced Carthaginian naval tradition, Doggerland sailors arrived in the Americas by 900 AD and established colonies in OTL Greenland, Labrador, Maine, and Massachusetts. It was the Senegal successor state, however that landed in Mexico and discovered the rich Toltec civilization in 1030 AD.
European diseases ravaged the native population, but a large expedition sent to conquer Tula met with disaster as the combined forces of the Toltec and other local states defeated the Senegal forces, who, unlike OTL Spanish, met unified resistance and did not possess gunpowder. Senegal would try to send another army, but it would meet the same fate. The Toltec gradually assimilated other cities into their direct rule as they feared further attacks. Senegal did manage to establish colonies in OTL Hispaniola and Cuba, and the Carthaginian successor state of Hispania colonized Brazil and the OTL Carolinas.
The stories of the Toltec and their cities reached Doggerland and Hispania. Hispania tried and failed to conquer the Toltecs, and even when Doggerland traders attempted to deal peacefully with them, the Toltecs refused to talk.
Later, however, Doggerland and Senegal were involved in a long war over their colonies, and Doggerland again attempted contact with the Toltec, and convinced them that they were enemies of the Senegalese. Toltec forces fought alongside Doggerland forces in the campaigns in Cuba and Hispaniola. Doggerland and the Toltec Empire signed a treaty of alliance in 1095 and maintained a mutual respect and amicable trade partnership, exchanging ideas and spiritual practices. The South American peoples were similarly treated by Doggerland, and this attitude was followed by Hispania.
It was out of this time that a new era bloomed in Europe and Africa. A golden age of creativity in art and the sciences exploded out of the cultural powder keg of Carthaginian, Doggerland, Hunnish, Indian, African, and Toltec interactions. The city states surrounding old Carthage flowered with culture but remained disunited. The legacy of ancient Greece and pre-imperial Carthage was rediscovered and a new movement towards democracy was born. Hispania would become Europe’s first republic in 1185 after revolution toppled the decaying oligarchy that was present. Senegal followed in 1190, and then Greece and the Roman successor state (Italy), and their cultures blossomed. All of them gave their colonies independence but kept trade ties.
Doggerland was a more difficult nut to crack, and traditionalist elements strongly resisted Republicanism. However, in 1205, civil war broke out when the Emperor was assassinated without a successor by a radical republican. Germania (which, ITTL remained Celtic and was never Germanized) and Gaul broke away and became their own republics. The rebels in Doggerland finally overwhelmed reactionary resistance in 1215, and the Doggerland republic was born. However, in the east, another threat loomed high.
The Mongols swept across Asia and destroyed many states in Eastern Europe. They then invaded the German successor state. They conquered Egypt and the Carthaginian successor states, and appeared poised to erupt into Western Europe. They were however, turned back when the great Khan died, and all the states in North Africa resumed their independence and internal struggles. The Golden Horde retained control of the east, however, and mixed with the local pagan Slavs to create a harsh and repressive, but productive and powerful Empire in OTL Russia, which expanded to the Pacific and conquered OTL Finland and Sweden.
In response to the close-call of the Mongol threat, the states of Western Europe formed a alliance of mutual economic cooperation in 1245, and signed a treaty of military cooperation in the case of foreign invasion.
Out of the struggle with the Mongols came the Chinese Yuan Dynasty, and the west’s exposure to gunpowder. It was an early adoption of gunpowder that allowed an ambitious Carthaginian general to unite all the states in Tunisia and found The Republic of Carthage in 1320.
The states in North America, meanwhile, grew and prospered along with those in Europe, and contacts fueled a rich cultural exchange. The Toltec became a republic in 1330, and all of the old colonies followed suit. Merchant Capitalism never really took form outside of the East Indian and Chinese trade.
Things continued relatively unaltered, save for regional wars and occasional scientific development, until 1600, when the Empire of the Golden Horde invaded Western Europe with massive, mobile, gunpowder cavalry armies. They conquered Germany, Gaul, Italy and Greece before invading and conquering Doggerland. The armies and governments of the old states had become ossified and outdated, scientific development had slowed, and democracy had become replaced by the very feudal oligarchy that it sought to replace. The states squabbled amongst each other and ignored the outside world.
The rule of the Golden Horde lasted 200 years, and featured brutal oppression and forced servitude of the farmers, and the dismantling of all the old institutions. Rebels finally cast off its yoke by revolting using the same technology that the Golden Horde used to subdue them, and armed with a new ideology.
This ideology had taken form from the enlightenment and democracy of earlier centuries combining with various elements of Eastern thought, and the writings of new rebel philosophers. It was a vision of a united world, without nationalism or war, ruled by the peasants that worked the land, rather than the landlords that oppressed them. They blamed the internecine struggles of the old states, and the backwardness and nearsightedness of their outlook for Europe’s destruction. They would rise up against the overlord and remake the economy so that it could provide for all.
The new idea spread amongst the new rebel states quickly, and they adopted the new economic plan in their societies. The combination of the lack of capitalistic tradition in Europe, the relative camaraderie of the various states compared to OTL, and the popular hatred of class stratification, dictatorship, and war after the Mongol oppression, allowed the new system to work well in providing for the sustenance of all, while not suffocating innovation as its equivalent did IOTL. Industry grew for the purpose of providing for the common wealth, and art and science flourished.
By 1900, Doggerland was part of a new society in Europe. Computers have been invented to make industry and agriculture more productive, and space travel is currently being worked on.
It has good relations with the Toltec Union (Covering all of OTL Mexico and the American Southwest, and south past panama and along the pacific coast in the Andes), the Republic of the Great River (OTL Amazon, a multiethnic state based around the Amazon River and having jurisdiction over most of OTL Brazil) and the Gitche Gumee Federation (A republic stretching from the Atlantic and OTL Canada to the Pacific Ocean, whose culture is blended from European and Native elements), in the Americas; The Chetanid Empire (which ruled almost all of India), and the Chu Dynasty of China (The Jurchen invasions never occurred due to subtle differences in post-Yuan Mongol History, and Li Zicheng’s Shun Dynasty ruled China until 1840, when a factory worker revolt led by intellectuals against the old Confucian stagnation and isolation of the Shun erupted into civil war, and the Chu Dynasty was declared as a constitutional monarchy and the country rapidly industrialized).
The Flag of the People’s Republic of Doggerland as of 1901 is the old Tetracolour of the Pre-Golden Horde Republic: Yellow for the Sun, black for the night sky, grey for the nimbus stormclouds that bring rain (The cult of a rain god became very popular in ancient Doggerland and elements of his worship continue to today and seeped into the national identity), and blue for the ocean (Doggerland has a rich seafaring tradition) with stripes on either side of Crimson and Purple, the colours of the this world’s “Socialist” movement (Crimson for the blood of man, and Purple for the ideals of man). The flag has a long fly of 1:2.5 that lets the colours flow together rather than contrict and get too busy.
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Here's mine for the Ingman Imperium/Union
(huge swathe of text and backup flags to follow at some point)
EDIT1: The Compleat Flaggery
EDIT2: The Compleat Text
A Brief History of the Ingman Union
Tradition holds that the northeast coast of what is now called the Inguinnian Peninsula [1] to be the ancestral home of the Ingman, or West Germanic, tribes; though recent archaeological finds across the Scandinavian Sea indicate that Firsenland rather than Ingerstrand may have been settled earlier.
By the 700s the peninsula was home to 3 kingdoms – Westingland, Ingerstrand, Mercerrice – sometimes united under a single overlord or King of the Ingwines.
Edred II of Mercerrice was the first Ingwin King to be salvationised by the Francoman missionary Saint Carlobert who later became Christ of Rheims.
Osbert the Hardy spread Salvationism to the Mering Kingdoms when he established his “Overrike [overkingdom] of the Ingwines [2], the Merings [3], and the Albanings [4]”.
The Norse Conquest shattered his imperium though it was to some extent reunited under his great-grandson (albeit via his daughter Edith with Eric II of Tronde) Eric Magnusson, Overking of the North: King of Tronde, King of the Dallanders, King of the Cimmer Dene, King of the Sweer Dene, King of the Ingwines, King of the Mering Isles.
With the collapse of the Northern Imperium into civil war between the Dane and the Norse claimants to the elected throne, most of the Ingman states became independent Kingdoms or Commonwealths but remained disunited.
It took the rise of Renascent Salvationism (protesting the Authority of the ArchChristal Throne) and emergent Nationalism to enable the unification of the Ingman states. Crown Prince Robert of Westingland took advantage of the War of Alban Succession to claim the crowns of Berwicc and Linden [5]. His charisma won over the other Ingwine realms and brought the genius of General Isengard to his side. Together they established the Ingman Imperium over Westingland, Ingerstrand, the Mercer Freerike, Berwicc, Linden, and West Firsenland.
Following the Great War the Imperium expanded to include The Mering Isles, East Firsenland (reunited with the West), and the former Alban colonies of New Dublin and the Iscariote Islands. It also federalised into the Ingman Union: each Royal House could now field candidates for the Imperial Throne; the Imperial Electorate was widened to include the Provincial Parliaments; the Parliaments of each Union Province gained greater autonomy; and the Imperial Council [6] retained only authority over common trade , defence, and foreign policy.
[1] The Peninsula was named Belgica by the Romans and came under the administration of the Sulla Imperator of Albion. Belgica lives in the name of the Bellowmarsh region
[2] The continental Ingmen – Westingland, Ingerstrand, and Mercerrice
[3] The Ingmen across the Sea – Firsenland, the Orkneys, and the Isle Kingdoms
[4] The Ingmen of Albion – Berwicc and Linden
[5] The claim was through the female line and allowable by Ingman law but the Alban Sullarchs followed male line only primogeniture which they used to claim the kingdoms
[6] The Imperial Council consists of the Overking (or more usually his/her appointed Speaker), the Provincial Lord Stewards and their Vice Stewards (or representatives theoreof), and other delegates invited by Imperial Decree
(huge swathe of text and backup flags to follow at some point
)EDIT1: The Compleat Flaggery
EDIT2: The Compleat Text
A Brief History of the Ingman Union
Tradition holds that the northeast coast of what is now called the Inguinnian Peninsula [1] to be the ancestral home of the Ingman, or West Germanic, tribes; though recent archaeological finds across the Scandinavian Sea indicate that Firsenland rather than Ingerstrand may have been settled earlier.
By the 700s the peninsula was home to 3 kingdoms – Westingland, Ingerstrand, Mercerrice – sometimes united under a single overlord or King of the Ingwines.
Edred II of Mercerrice was the first Ingwin King to be salvationised by the Francoman missionary Saint Carlobert who later became Christ of Rheims.
Osbert the Hardy spread Salvationism to the Mering Kingdoms when he established his “Overrike [overkingdom] of the Ingwines [2], the Merings [3], and the Albanings [4]”.
The Norse Conquest shattered his imperium though it was to some extent reunited under his great-grandson (albeit via his daughter Edith with Eric II of Tronde) Eric Magnusson, Overking of the North: King of Tronde, King of the Dallanders, King of the Cimmer Dene, King of the Sweer Dene, King of the Ingwines, King of the Mering Isles.
With the collapse of the Northern Imperium into civil war between the Dane and the Norse claimants to the elected throne, most of the Ingman states became independent Kingdoms or Commonwealths but remained disunited.
It took the rise of Renascent Salvationism (protesting the Authority of the ArchChristal Throne) and emergent Nationalism to enable the unification of the Ingman states. Crown Prince Robert of Westingland took advantage of the War of Alban Succession to claim the crowns of Berwicc and Linden [5]. His charisma won over the other Ingwine realms and brought the genius of General Isengard to his side. Together they established the Ingman Imperium over Westingland, Ingerstrand, the Mercer Freerike, Berwicc, Linden, and West Firsenland.
Following the Great War the Imperium expanded to include The Mering Isles, East Firsenland (reunited with the West), and the former Alban colonies of New Dublin and the Iscariote Islands. It also federalised into the Ingman Union: each Royal House could now field candidates for the Imperial Throne; the Imperial Electorate was widened to include the Provincial Parliaments; the Parliaments of each Union Province gained greater autonomy; and the Imperial Council [6] retained only authority over common trade , defence, and foreign policy.
[1] The Peninsula was named Belgica by the Romans and came under the administration of the Sulla Imperator of Albion. Belgica lives in the name of the Bellowmarsh region
[2] The continental Ingmen – Westingland, Ingerstrand, and Mercerrice
[3] The Ingmen across the Sea – Firsenland, the Orkneys, and the Isle Kingdoms
[4] The Ingmen of Albion – Berwicc and Linden
[5] The claim was through the female line and allowable by Ingman law but the Alban Sullarchs followed male line only primogeniture which they used to claim the kingdoms
[6] The Imperial Council consists of the Overking (or more usually his/her appointed Speaker), the Provincial Lord Stewards and their Vice Stewards (or representatives theoreof), and other delegates invited by Imperial Decree
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The continued existence of fertile Doggerland led to the survival of Celtic nations and tribes in that area and also in the areas we know as Ireland, Great Britain, Belgium and northern France. At the dawn of the 20th Century, the mightiest of the Celtic Nations was the Brythonic Republic (encompassing in OTL terms Wales, England, Doggerland, Belgium and the Channel coast of France.
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The oldest surviving country in the Doggerland/Britain area, Rulextia has existed since the withdrawal of the Imperial Lagadian forces following the invasion of Egypt in 1208 PE (OTL = 903 CE)
Replacing the traditional simple all-mauve banner, the flag of the QUEENDOM OF RULEXTIA was adopted in 2120 PE (OTL = 1815 CE) and remained current at 1st January 2206 PE (OTL = 1901 CE)
(Hope there's no obejection to me pinching and altering the map!)
Replacing the traditional simple all-mauve banner, the flag of the QUEENDOM OF RULEXTIA was adopted in 2120 PE (OTL = 1815 CE) and remained current at 1st January 2206 PE (OTL = 1901 CE)
(Hope there's no obejection to me pinching and altering the map!)
Here’s my design for the flag of Vestland which in 1901 occupied some 80% of the “Doggerland” landmass. Formerly a part of the Danish Union, the republic of Vestland achieved self-rule in 1848 and full independence on January 1, 1901.
Flag of the Imperial Province of Raghland, Capital of the 3rd Bolgian Empire:
Seal Runes read: "Rhagar of Bolgar ; Wolf King of (the) Nordlands"
The Bow and Arrow with 4 stars: "Symbol given to represent Rhagar; the bow and arrow represent both his legendary triumph against Hedroston of the Algii (where Rhagar won the City of Bolgar) and the past strength of Bolgian bowmen, combined with the 4 stars, representing the other cities of the ancient pentapolis of the region ( Viseri, Caserum, Thamis and Rinis, with Bolgar as the arrowhead) which Rhagar conquered to form the Kingdom of Raghland (or the first Bolgian Empire)"
Seal Runes read: "Rhagar of Bolgar ; Wolf King of (the) Nordlands"
The Bow and Arrow with 4 stars: "Symbol given to represent Rhagar; the bow and arrow represent both his legendary triumph against Hedroston of the Algii (where Rhagar won the City of Bolgar) and the past strength of Bolgian bowmen, combined with the 4 stars, representing the other cities of the ancient pentapolis of the region ( Viseri, Caserum, Thamis and Rinis, with Bolgar as the arrowhead) which Rhagar conquered to form the Kingdom of Raghland (or the first Bolgian Empire)"
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ENTRY FROM PETIKE
Petike asked me to post this one as he’s had problems – he sent it to me yesterday but I’ve only just checked my messages as I’ve been following a certain little local election between Mr O and Mr R.
The flag of the Kuertasi Dhakladoro Mavehortewetu ("Holy Dhaklada Commonwealth")
Nowadays, the inhabitants of the Holy Dhaklada Commonwealth call the peninsula Nuthekrofívotracu. The „Great Northern Horn“[1]. This peninsula is a part of the subcontinent Toulaňérši kvatupaler („Land of the Misshapen Hand“)[2]. From times immemorial, it was the site of many a story of success, bounty and advancement, as well as those of strife, bloodshed and drama. When the great glaciers receded many millenia ago, it first seemed that the giant low-lying peninsula would be engulfed by the merciless waves, its sparsely-forested grasslands and bogs never seeing the light of the sun ever again. But, by some stroke of luck (or perhaps magic), what might have occured in most of the myriad worlds of the multiverse, did not occur in this one... Suffice to say, things changed.
The names of the first permanent settlers of Nuthekrofívotracu are unknown, burried in the distant abyss of the past. Yet, from what they left behind, we know that they were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived in tents made from the hides and bones of the large beasts that roamed the vast grasslands and northernly steppes of the peninsula. They came and went, following the great herds as many before them.
Probably 7000 years ago, the peninsula was already settled by several broad tribal groups, some sharing a common (if distant) origin. The ones in the south and central regions of the peninsula kept their hunter lifestyle unchanged for a long time, while the tribes who settled the coasts gradually turned to fishing and hunting seals and developing simple boats. About 5000 years ago, the sealers and fishermen took up more active sailing along the coasts, exploring new territories, hunting grounds and trade routes. They eventually crossed The Throat [FONT="][3][/FONT] , meeting people from the western peninsula of the subcontinent, forging new bonds, exchanging goods and ideas.
A few centuries later, agriculture arrived, slowly spreading from the southwest. The idea of raising livestock and taiming wild animals from the roaming herds came first. Nomadic herder-hunter-fishermen were the norm for a certain amount of time, but people soon began to feed themselves with the seeds of a peculiar new grass, one that was brought here from distant southern lands, many hundreds or even thousands of days of travel away. As the centuries passed, the crop became one of the main sources of nourishment on the subcontinent, gradually bolstered by other new crop imports as well. While the windswept plains and low hills were not always ideal for agriculture and hunting and fishing never truly diminished, growing plants and raising livestock was here to stay. Communities grew bigger, and with them, the size and complexity of settlements, tools, ships and social hierarchies grew as well. Unfortunately, the strain of the hunters on the grassy plains - once teeming with herds of wildlife - followed these trends too.
Men eventually came to dominate the society of emerging early civilizations, though some matriarchal holdovers survived. Tribes eventually became small nations. And they were not homogenous by any stretch of the imagination, not in language nor in ethnicity - particularly in the southern parts of the peninsula, where the traffic of nomadic nations travelling across the continent was alive and well. Misunderstandings (linguistic as well as semantic) disputes and skirmishes between the tribes became increasingly common. From fights and arguments over the best hunting grounds, fisheries and pastures, to polemics or even insults of the other side. The pressure grew, until one day, the first war in this part of the world broke out. And with the coming centuries, wars would only multiply in the windswept grasslands of
Nuthekrofívotracu. The conflicts were not without their upsides : They encouraged breakthroughs in weaponry, leading to a greater emphasis on mettalurgy and the importing of ores, metal tools and metal weapons. Tribal alliances morphed into the earliest territorial states of the peninsula and skilled and powerful chieftains became the first warlords and rulers.
Roughly 2400 years ago, another milestone in Nuthekrofívotracu history had occured : The birth of the first local empire, one that encompassed the entire peninsula. A man rose from humble fishing origins and became a wealthy sailor and naval merchant in one of the major trading ports of The Throat - the mighty city state of Trafebyv [4]. Many of the city's wealthiest feared his rising influence and daring reformist ideas on how to rule. A group of conspirators rose up and, with the help of sympathizers, expelled the dangerous rival from the city state. The disillusioned man sailed north, searching for a new home in one of the other polities. He was willing to start from cratch, but deep inside him also burned a desire for retribution on those that wronged him... He finally decided to settle down among the sealers, fishers and hunters of the northernmost coast of the peninsula. These were the Dask tribes. Men and women of humble origins and lowly culture, but hard-working, determined and intelligent. Just like him. Here, he would not only make a name for himself and eventually climb up the social ladder of the Dasks, but start making moves towards something unprecedented in the peninsula's history. Alliances of early peninsular nations were quite common before, but never on the scale of this man's fervent dream. A dream that would not be fully realized in his lifetime, but one that would come to fruition a few generations down the line.
During the rule of the exiled man's successor, the might of the alliance grew steadily via diplomacy, conquest and missionary activities. The simple religion of the sealers became a complex ideology and pantheon, supported by a well-developed missionary and priestly class loyal to the alliance's leader. Once half of the peninsula was conquered and everything was starting to come into its place, the ruler's subordinate chieftains agreed to become his vassals and unite their territories into one. Though referencing the Dask, the newborn empire came with a fresh, universalist name : Dhaklada (roughly "The Unity of the Peoples"). And its hunger for conquest and growth didn't end there. It took a few more decades and centuries, but eventually, the southernmost parts of the peninsula were assimilated into Dhaklada, including the humiliated remnants of Trafebyv. Dhaklada endured the following centuries, changing its form many times, being witness to eras of decline and renewal, but most importantly, being a regional power and a force to be reconned with on the seas and costs of these outskirts of the main continent. But, as with everything in life and history, not even the Dhakladic Empire could stand the test of time indefinitely.
Roughly 1600 years ago, the empire was at the height of its power, but that power was slowly dwindling. The state was becoming more corrupt and incompetent with each passing year. While the decline was slow and gradual, its effects were hard to dismiss. After the empire lost two defensive wars in close succession, it was reduced to one third of its original size, consisting of only the northernmost tip of the peninsula, its birthplace. As if that was enough, several years of harsh weather disrupted the local sea trade and caused - in conjunction with exhausted soils - one failed crop harvest after another. Famines struck the citizens of the once well-fed empire. Indeed, from all this bad luck, one would assume that the empire had fallen out of favour with the gods. Could these be their retalliations ?
Such worsening conditions brought opportunities for those who wanted to reap the seeds of change. Many did so. But one figure brought the criticism of the shrinking empire's failings to a whole new level, forever chaning the history of this region and many parts of the main continent as well. He was an enigmatic preacher who started wandering the land, including the many lavish cities and towns of the proud, yet increasingly decadent empire.
This prophet preached that the world was now beggining to near its end, for the natural order of things has gone astray. The overhunting of deer, seals and other large, once plentiful beasts (saigas, wisents, aurochs, etc.) had led to their increasing scarcity and near-disappearance, despite the fact that these creatures were still considered important foodstuffs, as well as living religious icons of the Dhakladic stare church. "Indeed", fulminated the prophet in his public lectures, "it is the sign of the decadence of our times and of the ever recurring error of our ways. For I tell you : The Imperial Cult is but a fraud, a mockery of the true ways of our Lords. I know this, for I had experienced revelations of the true nature of the relationship between them, us, the land, the sea and the sky. While many of the old teachings carry truth deep inside, we have been worshipping some false gods, impostors of the true ones. The sun god and the moon goddess are real, as well as their servants - the Sunstag and Sundoe, carriers of the life-giving Sun and guardians of the grass and groves, the Bull and Cow of the Moon Seal, bringers of the cold peace of the Moon and the stars at night. Both the Sunstag and the Seal Couple have revealed themselves to me and served as the mouthpiece of the Spouses of Light. They have talked with me and reassured me that they are real and they are benevolent, loving us, their children. But beware, for the Windmaster and Wavemaster are not what they seem ! While they do provide mischievous tests of our courage and resolve, they don't do so out of a willingness to better us, as the Church preaches. No. They do so out of sheer hate and malice, making life harder for us, mocking the true love that the Spouses of Light and their guardians display towards us. They curse our land and many other lands with winds, storms, cold, frost, impudent waves and all around bad weather. They are not to be trusted. They implant us with many vices, including the unsung sin of not living in harmony with the world given to us by the Holy Spouses. Not valuing the precious gifts of the Spouses, encouraging us to overhunt the plains and groves, overuse the soil, overfish the coasts and seas. The signs of the coming end are a warning to us all. And, thankfully, only a warning. We can still repent for our sins and turn back to the true path - the Four-fold Path of the Sun and Warmth, Moon and Stars, the Sea and the Coast and the Plain and the Grove. The Path of the Lord, Lady, the Stag and the Seal. To repent, we must return to modesty and repay the Lord, Lady, Stag and Seal for their kind gifts, without which we would not live to see another day. One thing the Lady and Lord ask of us is to restore the numbers of deer, wrinklesnouts [5], aurochs, wisents and...". And so he rambled on wherever he went, slowly gaining faithful, determined converts who started defying imperial power. While the prophet and the growing ranks of his followers were persecuted by the empire, his ideology eventually won and began a new chapter in the history of the Nuthekrofívotracu peninsula's civilization. After a rather chaotic interregnum of a century and a half, Dhaklada was renewed. Not as the empire of old, but it did restore some of its former expansiveness and glory. But the differences end there.
The new Dhaklada was a theocratic state with elements of a noble's republic - jointly ruled by a council made up of local nobility, the elected high priesthood and the members of the holy orders. The de iure (but not de facto) head of state is the weak figurehead emperor (a role renewed in the fiftieth year of the new calendar started with the founding of the Commonwealth [6]). The HDC is rather decentralized, but due to its small size and the small number of its overseas colonies, it remains united and stable, with political upheavals being rare in its long and rather illustrious history. The emperor being a reliable (if powerless) national symbol also helped.
One thing that sets the Commonwealth apart from its predecessor is the active spreading of its religious teaching around the world. This in turn has led to the founding of a surprisingly high number of colonies worldwide, including ones in the North Greatsea [7] or even as far away as New Nuthekrofívotracu [8], an archipelago near the southern tip of the Farwestlands [9].
1450 years after its founding, the Holy Dhaklada Commonwealth still stands strong - though some might argue that its greatest days are long gone. While its seemingly endemic and limited local religion had succesfully made converts all around the world (especially in countries with a cold climate) and its conservation of animals species is unprecedented, it has failed to react effectively to the industrial revolution of the past few decades. The bias of its scholars towards biological sciences is apparent as ever in these rapidly changing times Ones where the hunger for heavy industry, mass production and technological advances makes research of living organisms and medicine into a form of crippling overspecialization. Yes, medical knowledge and research in the HDC are the most advanced in the entire world - but the ruling class is starting to realize that they had seriously fallen behind in other sciences and advancements.
A war is brewing with the recently rebelled colonies in the Farwestlands, now independent for nearly three decades. A war unlike any before it, be it a war fought with stone axes or the latest percussion musket. Industrial production and innovation in machinery and military equipment are fast becoming one of the most desired elements of all national economies. [FONT="][10] [/FONT]
Will the tired and increasingly breathless Commonwealth enact the much needed reforms and march forward to the future with new vigour ? Its prospects seem grim. But only time will tell...
[1] – known as Doggerland in an alternate universe far, far away...
[2] – the subcontinent consists of a fusion of Doggerland and what we would recognise as Great Britain and the coast of the Low Countries and northern France
[3] – the long narrow bay formed between OTL Britain and surviving Doggerland, effectively splitting the European northwestern subcontinent into two halves
[4]– this fictional city lies nearly at the very dead end of The Throat, near the landbridge that connects OTL Britain with Doggerland and the rest of Europe
[5] - saiga antelopes
[6] - roughly 451 AD; the HDC is currently celebrating the 1450th year of its calendar
[7] - the North Atlantic; most of the colonies there are soem of the local islands and archipelagos, including Iceland and the Faroe Islands
[8] - the Falklands
[9] – the Americas
[10] – the current (1st January 1901) tech level in the most advanced countries of this world is roughly on the level of the 1840s-1850s
Petike asked me to post this one as he’s had problems – he sent it to me yesterday but I’ve only just checked my messages as I’ve been following a certain little local election between Mr O and Mr R.
The flag of the Kuertasi Dhakladoro Mavehortewetu ("Holy Dhaklada Commonwealth")
Nowadays, the inhabitants of the Holy Dhaklada Commonwealth call the peninsula Nuthekrofívotracu. The „Great Northern Horn“[1]. This peninsula is a part of the subcontinent Toulaňérši kvatupaler („Land of the Misshapen Hand“)[2]. From times immemorial, it was the site of many a story of success, bounty and advancement, as well as those of strife, bloodshed and drama. When the great glaciers receded many millenia ago, it first seemed that the giant low-lying peninsula would be engulfed by the merciless waves, its sparsely-forested grasslands and bogs never seeing the light of the sun ever again. But, by some stroke of luck (or perhaps magic), what might have occured in most of the myriad worlds of the multiverse, did not occur in this one... Suffice to say, things changed.
The names of the first permanent settlers of Nuthekrofívotracu are unknown, burried in the distant abyss of the past. Yet, from what they left behind, we know that they were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived in tents made from the hides and bones of the large beasts that roamed the vast grasslands and northernly steppes of the peninsula. They came and went, following the great herds as many before them.
Probably 7000 years ago, the peninsula was already settled by several broad tribal groups, some sharing a common (if distant) origin. The ones in the south and central regions of the peninsula kept their hunter lifestyle unchanged for a long time, while the tribes who settled the coasts gradually turned to fishing and hunting seals and developing simple boats. About 5000 years ago, the sealers and fishermen took up more active sailing along the coasts, exploring new territories, hunting grounds and trade routes. They eventually crossed The Throat [FONT="][3][/FONT] , meeting people from the western peninsula of the subcontinent, forging new bonds, exchanging goods and ideas.
A few centuries later, agriculture arrived, slowly spreading from the southwest. The idea of raising livestock and taiming wild animals from the roaming herds came first. Nomadic herder-hunter-fishermen were the norm for a certain amount of time, but people soon began to feed themselves with the seeds of a peculiar new grass, one that was brought here from distant southern lands, many hundreds or even thousands of days of travel away. As the centuries passed, the crop became one of the main sources of nourishment on the subcontinent, gradually bolstered by other new crop imports as well. While the windswept plains and low hills were not always ideal for agriculture and hunting and fishing never truly diminished, growing plants and raising livestock was here to stay. Communities grew bigger, and with them, the size and complexity of settlements, tools, ships and social hierarchies grew as well. Unfortunately, the strain of the hunters on the grassy plains - once teeming with herds of wildlife - followed these trends too.
Men eventually came to dominate the society of emerging early civilizations, though some matriarchal holdovers survived. Tribes eventually became small nations. And they were not homogenous by any stretch of the imagination, not in language nor in ethnicity - particularly in the southern parts of the peninsula, where the traffic of nomadic nations travelling across the continent was alive and well. Misunderstandings (linguistic as well as semantic) disputes and skirmishes between the tribes became increasingly common. From fights and arguments over the best hunting grounds, fisheries and pastures, to polemics or even insults of the other side. The pressure grew, until one day, the first war in this part of the world broke out. And with the coming centuries, wars would only multiply in the windswept grasslands of
Nuthekrofívotracu. The conflicts were not without their upsides : They encouraged breakthroughs in weaponry, leading to a greater emphasis on mettalurgy and the importing of ores, metal tools and metal weapons. Tribal alliances morphed into the earliest territorial states of the peninsula and skilled and powerful chieftains became the first warlords and rulers.
Roughly 2400 years ago, another milestone in Nuthekrofívotracu history had occured : The birth of the first local empire, one that encompassed the entire peninsula. A man rose from humble fishing origins and became a wealthy sailor and naval merchant in one of the major trading ports of The Throat - the mighty city state of Trafebyv [4]. Many of the city's wealthiest feared his rising influence and daring reformist ideas on how to rule. A group of conspirators rose up and, with the help of sympathizers, expelled the dangerous rival from the city state. The disillusioned man sailed north, searching for a new home in one of the other polities. He was willing to start from cratch, but deep inside him also burned a desire for retribution on those that wronged him... He finally decided to settle down among the sealers, fishers and hunters of the northernmost coast of the peninsula. These were the Dask tribes. Men and women of humble origins and lowly culture, but hard-working, determined and intelligent. Just like him. Here, he would not only make a name for himself and eventually climb up the social ladder of the Dasks, but start making moves towards something unprecedented in the peninsula's history. Alliances of early peninsular nations were quite common before, but never on the scale of this man's fervent dream. A dream that would not be fully realized in his lifetime, but one that would come to fruition a few generations down the line.
During the rule of the exiled man's successor, the might of the alliance grew steadily via diplomacy, conquest and missionary activities. The simple religion of the sealers became a complex ideology and pantheon, supported by a well-developed missionary and priestly class loyal to the alliance's leader. Once half of the peninsula was conquered and everything was starting to come into its place, the ruler's subordinate chieftains agreed to become his vassals and unite their territories into one. Though referencing the Dask, the newborn empire came with a fresh, universalist name : Dhaklada (roughly "The Unity of the Peoples"). And its hunger for conquest and growth didn't end there. It took a few more decades and centuries, but eventually, the southernmost parts of the peninsula were assimilated into Dhaklada, including the humiliated remnants of Trafebyv. Dhaklada endured the following centuries, changing its form many times, being witness to eras of decline and renewal, but most importantly, being a regional power and a force to be reconned with on the seas and costs of these outskirts of the main continent. But, as with everything in life and history, not even the Dhakladic Empire could stand the test of time indefinitely.
Roughly 1600 years ago, the empire was at the height of its power, but that power was slowly dwindling. The state was becoming more corrupt and incompetent with each passing year. While the decline was slow and gradual, its effects were hard to dismiss. After the empire lost two defensive wars in close succession, it was reduced to one third of its original size, consisting of only the northernmost tip of the peninsula, its birthplace. As if that was enough, several years of harsh weather disrupted the local sea trade and caused - in conjunction with exhausted soils - one failed crop harvest after another. Famines struck the citizens of the once well-fed empire. Indeed, from all this bad luck, one would assume that the empire had fallen out of favour with the gods. Could these be their retalliations ?
Such worsening conditions brought opportunities for those who wanted to reap the seeds of change. Many did so. But one figure brought the criticism of the shrinking empire's failings to a whole new level, forever chaning the history of this region and many parts of the main continent as well. He was an enigmatic preacher who started wandering the land, including the many lavish cities and towns of the proud, yet increasingly decadent empire.
This prophet preached that the world was now beggining to near its end, for the natural order of things has gone astray. The overhunting of deer, seals and other large, once plentiful beasts (saigas, wisents, aurochs, etc.) had led to their increasing scarcity and near-disappearance, despite the fact that these creatures were still considered important foodstuffs, as well as living religious icons of the Dhakladic stare church. "Indeed", fulminated the prophet in his public lectures, "it is the sign of the decadence of our times and of the ever recurring error of our ways. For I tell you : The Imperial Cult is but a fraud, a mockery of the true ways of our Lords. I know this, for I had experienced revelations of the true nature of the relationship between them, us, the land, the sea and the sky. While many of the old teachings carry truth deep inside, we have been worshipping some false gods, impostors of the true ones. The sun god and the moon goddess are real, as well as their servants - the Sunstag and Sundoe, carriers of the life-giving Sun and guardians of the grass and groves, the Bull and Cow of the Moon Seal, bringers of the cold peace of the Moon and the stars at night. Both the Sunstag and the Seal Couple have revealed themselves to me and served as the mouthpiece of the Spouses of Light. They have talked with me and reassured me that they are real and they are benevolent, loving us, their children. But beware, for the Windmaster and Wavemaster are not what they seem ! While they do provide mischievous tests of our courage and resolve, they don't do so out of a willingness to better us, as the Church preaches. No. They do so out of sheer hate and malice, making life harder for us, mocking the true love that the Spouses of Light and their guardians display towards us. They curse our land and many other lands with winds, storms, cold, frost, impudent waves and all around bad weather. They are not to be trusted. They implant us with many vices, including the unsung sin of not living in harmony with the world given to us by the Holy Spouses. Not valuing the precious gifts of the Spouses, encouraging us to overhunt the plains and groves, overuse the soil, overfish the coasts and seas. The signs of the coming end are a warning to us all. And, thankfully, only a warning. We can still repent for our sins and turn back to the true path - the Four-fold Path of the Sun and Warmth, Moon and Stars, the Sea and the Coast and the Plain and the Grove. The Path of the Lord, Lady, the Stag and the Seal. To repent, we must return to modesty and repay the Lord, Lady, Stag and Seal for their kind gifts, without which we would not live to see another day. One thing the Lady and Lord ask of us is to restore the numbers of deer, wrinklesnouts [5], aurochs, wisents and...". And so he rambled on wherever he went, slowly gaining faithful, determined converts who started defying imperial power. While the prophet and the growing ranks of his followers were persecuted by the empire, his ideology eventually won and began a new chapter in the history of the Nuthekrofívotracu peninsula's civilization. After a rather chaotic interregnum of a century and a half, Dhaklada was renewed. Not as the empire of old, but it did restore some of its former expansiveness and glory. But the differences end there.
The new Dhaklada was a theocratic state with elements of a noble's republic - jointly ruled by a council made up of local nobility, the elected high priesthood and the members of the holy orders. The de iure (but not de facto) head of state is the weak figurehead emperor (a role renewed in the fiftieth year of the new calendar started with the founding of the Commonwealth [6]). The HDC is rather decentralized, but due to its small size and the small number of its overseas colonies, it remains united and stable, with political upheavals being rare in its long and rather illustrious history. The emperor being a reliable (if powerless) national symbol also helped.
One thing that sets the Commonwealth apart from its predecessor is the active spreading of its religious teaching around the world. This in turn has led to the founding of a surprisingly high number of colonies worldwide, including ones in the North Greatsea [7] or even as far away as New Nuthekrofívotracu [8], an archipelago near the southern tip of the Farwestlands [9].
1450 years after its founding, the Holy Dhaklada Commonwealth still stands strong - though some might argue that its greatest days are long gone. While its seemingly endemic and limited local religion had succesfully made converts all around the world (especially in countries with a cold climate) and its conservation of animals species is unprecedented, it has failed to react effectively to the industrial revolution of the past few decades. The bias of its scholars towards biological sciences is apparent as ever in these rapidly changing times Ones where the hunger for heavy industry, mass production and technological advances makes research of living organisms and medicine into a form of crippling overspecialization. Yes, medical knowledge and research in the HDC are the most advanced in the entire world - but the ruling class is starting to realize that they had seriously fallen behind in other sciences and advancements.
A war is brewing with the recently rebelled colonies in the Farwestlands, now independent for nearly three decades. A war unlike any before it, be it a war fought with stone axes or the latest percussion musket. Industrial production and innovation in machinery and military equipment are fast becoming one of the most desired elements of all national economies. [FONT="][10] [/FONT]
Will the tired and increasingly breathless Commonwealth enact the much needed reforms and march forward to the future with new vigour ? Its prospects seem grim. But only time will tell...
[1] – known as Doggerland in an alternate universe far, far away...
[2] – the subcontinent consists of a fusion of Doggerland and what we would recognise as Great Britain and the coast of the Low Countries and northern France
[3] – the long narrow bay formed between OTL Britain and surviving Doggerland, effectively splitting the European northwestern subcontinent into two halves
[4]– this fictional city lies nearly at the very dead end of The Throat, near the landbridge that connects OTL Britain with Doggerland and the rest of Europe
[5] - saiga antelopes
[6] - roughly 451 AD; the HDC is currently celebrating the 1450th year of its calendar
[7] - the North Atlantic; most of the colonies there are soem of the local islands and archipelagos, including Iceland and the Faroe Islands
[8] - the Falklands
[9] – the Americas
[10] – the current (1st January 1901) tech level in the most advanced countries of this world is roughly on the level of the 1840s-1850s
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