Jarnishmen

The Jarnishmen are the inhabitants of the Jarnish peninsula, west of the region of Yethisia. They are one of a select few groups to maintain their own autonomy, free from direct imperial rule, in return for exclusive access to their professional mercenary companies. The Jarnish are famous for their military professionalism and prowess, as well as their wily merchants. The largest Jarnish settlements are Jirna, Genid and Waktorsten. The name Jarnishmen derives from the Greatwood name for the province: Jarnland, which itself likely originates from the city of Jirna.
The Jarnish first arrived at some point in the 12th century BIF. Their exact origin is the subject of great debate, but it is generally held that they were made up of a number of groups of dwarves and humans who fled from the Naidhalaean Magocracies, seeking refuge on the peninsula. The area had previously been left unsettled, due to pervading belief that the region was cursed, which likely came about due to the regular wailing that can be heard in the region around the Jarnish mountains. These early Jarnish groups developed a reputation for barbaric brutality, and their warrior culture. Customs such as death-bouts, castration and annual raiding were commonplace on the peninsula.
The ancient Jarnish were also renowned pioneers and explorers. The citizens of Genid were the first to discover the gnomes of Nek Tharad, and established the first form of the Gnomish Luxury Trades; while, the townsmen of Waktorsten established a new trade route into the Sufi-Nazadi Kingdoms, giving them access to rare suferian artwork and spices. The dangers of this desert route further inflated the fighting reputation of the Jarnish peoples.
The argumentative nature of the Jarnish peoples caused them to be a divided group. As a result, the Greatwood Empire was able to easily conquer the peninsula in 901 BIF, taking each of the Jarnish settlements one by one, as the Jarnish would not turn to their neighbours for aid. The Empire continued to foster competition between the Jarnish, in order to stop the Jarnish from forming a united front against them, which allowed them to focus their efforts on conquest of the Sufi-Nazadi Kingdoms, and Grok Makar, uniting the ancient kingdoms of Maniq and Naidhalaea for the first time in history.
After the collapse of the Greatwood Empire, in 897 BIF, the Jarnish peninsula once more fractured into many different townsteads, which were then conquered once more, by the Jarnish chieftain Ygra, the Unifier. Ygra had served in the Greatwood Empire's army, and established a reputation as a brilliant leader. She returned to her hometown of Jirna, and set about gathering the Jarnish states under her rule. Ygra was known to employ duels in order to convince other Jarnish groups to follow her rule, single-handedly defeating every other Jarnish leader in bouts of strength and skill. After uniting the peninsula, Ygra gathered her armies and marched into the Yethis Desert, conquering the city of Iferi and seizing the Crown of Flowers for herself, allowing her to stake her claim on the lands of the Yethis. Ygra's rule proved short-lived - in 881 BIF, she was slain in a duel with another chieftain, Janic, who took the crown for himself. Just a year later, Janic himself died in the Zaiki Miracle, and the Empire lost its holdings in Yethisia.
After the Empire's collapse, the Jarnishmen dissolved once more into their previous squabbles. Local chieftains once more took power in the different townsteads, and the peninsula seemed poised to break out into civil war, as each chieftain sought to claim the title of Emperor. This conflict was avoided through the intervention of the Jarnish Assembly of Traders, a group of merchants who had been given power by Ygra. The assembly was able to take command on the peninsula, mostly due to their own hiring of Jarnish warriors - the Assembly had grown rich over the years by trading in Gnomish Luxury goods, as well as suferian artwork. The Assembly defeated the other Jarnish chieftains, and established the Jarnish republic, an oligarchy that has continued to maintain power in the region to this day.
Over the course of many centuries, the Jarnish republic grew richer and richer, eventually growing to become one of the foremost trading powers in Aelderin. Their exclusive access to the Sufi-Nazadi Kingdoms, who eventually re-opened their markets, as well as to the gnomes of Nek Tharad, allowed them to monopolise many of the most profitable trade routes. In the 8th century BIF, the first state-sanctioned Jarnish Mercenary company was founded, and contracted out to fight in the wars between the Greatwood Successor States. The Jarnish reputation began to shift, from barbarians to well-disciplined soldiers, worth multiple ordinary infantrymen.
The Puldermen are one of the more famous of the Jarnish mercenary companies, as a result of their crucial role in serving the first Nara Tokker Emperor, Peleus in his early campaigns in the Heartlands. On his deathbed, Peleus decreed that the Jarnishmen would never fear the armies of the Empire of Nara Tok, an agreement which has remained in place ever since. In the 4th century IF, this agreement was somewhat modified - the Jarnish would remain free of imperial rule, but only if they agreed to never accept contracts with the Empire's enemies. The Jarnish have been employed on many occasions by the Empire, when its own Redcloaks have proven insufficient for the task, notably during the retaking of Minera at the end of Abahk Stuz. They also saw large amounts of employment during Thaerseimai, under feuding northern courts.
The citizens of Yngar and Sarin can also claim a connection to the Jarnishmen, as their forefathers were once colonists from the Jarnish Empire. The Yngarians maintained their ancestors barbarism and brutality for many centuries, which culmintated in the reign of Maknor Wildfyr. The Jarnish and the Yngarians have had little contact between the Empire's collapse and the annexation of the Yngarians into the Empire of Nara Tok.