A call for help

A simple call for aid can be scary in some cases, and might not be the first option to go with - but here, the risk was worth it.

The Freelands used to be a part of Ywaryn, and had been for many decades, but the people there had always felt more like their own, and they weren't content with being under Ywaran rule.

The folk of the Freelands are a secluded bunch, surrounded by countless mountains and mountain ranges on all sides, passage to and from the area is hard and erratic. Snowfalls, landslides, rocks fall off the mountainsides and wild animals, the area is for many a wild and unfriendly place.

In constant disagreements with the rest of Ywaryn, periods of tension rose up and dwindled down during the years, but it came to a turning point around 50 years ago, when the people of Freelands declared themselves independent.
Of course this wasn't something the government of Ywaryn thought fair, and a fight for power began. Small battles and protests in the larger cities in Freeland began, and people were hurt. And this went on for a couple of years until it was deemed unnecessary to waste lives on this matter. Ywaryn forces were removed from the area.
Even though the forces had left, the Freelands was never officially recognized as an independent country, and Ywaryn kept trying to rule over the area, their materials, and their trades - reluctantly the people did as they were told but slowly they build their own government and own system, still pushing for independence.

Details

Letter from who to who?

The people of Freelands wrote a letter to Ywaryn.

Date

Written in 4703 - 39 years ago.

This was 11 years after they first declared themselves independent.

Why is this important?

Receiving a letter of this kind from a state in your country that wants to be independent was a surprise to the Ywaryn government. But this was still the people of their lands, if they wanted to be called Ywarans or Freelanders, they had to help them.
And so it happened, that Ywaryn finally recognized the area as an independent state, and it later became their own country - but the letter was what made them take the first step in the right direction.

The letter and its importance

In 4714, 11 years after they initially decided to declare themselves an independent state, the Freelands was hit by a major natural disaster, as three large earthquakes hit them within the same week killing thousands of people and destroying entire towns.
The events were so devastating and affecting almost the entire valley land Freelands, they were now in desperate need of help as their people were dying underneath rocks, and broken houses. They were aware of the potential consequences of them asking for help in Ywaryn, as they could make unkind demands in return for their help, but they needed to take that risk to make sure to save as many people as possible.
But to their surprise, the Ywaryn help forces were sent on their way as quickly as word arrived without any demands.
The first time ever, that Ywaryn recognized them as their own. And it was this that started the debate anew, and a voting was held in all of the major cities of Ywaryn and the Freelands a year after the dissarter had struck.
A major vote to see if the people of Ywaryn felt that the Freelands could finally be "Free"lands. The votes came in, and indeed, with a clear majority thinking it was time for the free folk to have their own country.