Erílisle

Map of modern Erílisle

Culture

The relatively small population of Erílisle is divided into clans, in turn divided into families. Family has always been crucial in Drigian culture not just amongst the nobility, but among everyone. Insults to the family honor must be avenged through sanctioned duels. Despite the Gudabrand dynasty’s effort to quell this tradition it has proved to be deeply ingrained in the culture, and all banns issued through the years have been ignored. Today dueling is legal for all classes under strict legal guidelines. The small population and intimate relationship between the nobility and the common folk have made Erílisle’s society more equal than their neighbours. The commoners hold their own gatherings and make local laws amongst themselves, and throughout history tyrannical lords have often been overthrown in successful uprisings. The Gudabrands have realized the importance of a satisfied commonry and ensured their popularity through low taxation and enforcing their rights through royal decrees. Like the Teuton states in the south, Drigian culture has always been one of equality between men and women. Though traditional roles still apply to some extent, the task of managing economy and bookkeeping have been allotted to the wife of the household. In cities this has resulted in a unique tradition of the matriarchal merchant class, where property and wealth is inherited from mother to daughter and where the men are assigned the role of Vardur, meaning ‘guardian.’ In practicality this means providing security for business ventures and guarding the family wealth from pirates and robbers. This is not to say women are excluded from soldiering; an old Drigian tradition of taking vows as a Bardavif, a fighting woman. Traditionally this included a vow of forfeiting all claims to inheritance and never to marry. In modern day this is not mandatory, and mercenary companies are willing to accept all recruits that meet their standards.

Assets

Erilö Economy

Fish and whales have always been the major export of Erílisle. The Erilian fishermen are renowned for their boldness, fishing far out at sea in waters deemed too dangerous by many southern travelers. The fish is then dried on land, losing most of its mass and making it easy to transport. Erilian fish is an appreciated staple of food for burghers in coastal cities around the Imperial Sea. Grain, wool, lumber, weapons and iron are produced on the island but in such meager amounts that it cannot be exported in any big amounts, and at times they have to be imported. The country is poor compared to its neighbours and only the most wealthy burghers and nobles can afford goods like wine, linens and spices. The most imported goods are Vagrömian beer. The vast majority of the people are self sufficient fishermen or peasants, living off the sea and of the land. Compared to Verdina or North Bomania, the percentage of the population living in towns and cities are very low.
Knektr frá Erílö
The modern Erílian mercenaries (Knektr in Erilian) are divided up into companies run independently, usually by a Captain or a Jalmari (helmeted warrior), an Erilian noble in self-imposed exile. Still considered one of the finest infantry units for hire, warring city states or feuding nobility often try to outbid each other to get Erilian mercenaries on their side. In modern times they often utilize pistols and two-handed great swords to break enemy pike formations, making them renowned for being effective shock troops. There are two companies that stand out among the others; the Jomsknektr company led by the stoic captain Erik One-Eye, consisting of hardened Erílian veterans primarily focused on the classic Erílian shock infantry tactics. The second is the Northern Company led by Jalmari Hildr of house Kvarnö. This company is primarily made up of soldiers from both Verdina, Kaitoa and Erílisle, usually with Erílian noblemen as officers.
Locations Dröttningsdal is the capital of Erílisle and the biggest city by far. Though small by the standar of other nations, it is still a relatively modern city with wealthy burghers and skilled artisans. Many buildings in the fashionable Alldris style can be found here (however impractical in the cold climate) and modern palaces with large windows and imperial pillars have replaced old keeps. On the highest point in the city lies the Korpborg, the royal castle and home to the house of Gudabrand. After a devastating fire a generation ago the original keep was completely destroyed, and its replacement has been finished quite recently. Built in the aforementioned southern style, it is a modern castle worthy of an enlightened ruler. Järnberget is a legendary mountain spoken of in Drigian folklore as the mountain where Hildr the Brave, companion of Eríl the Drowned, slew the king of Giants, Gortun. Her magic turned the gigant to stone, and his crumbling body created Järnberget. Over the centuries most of Erílian iron has been mined in Järnberget, giving rise to its name. Much superstition - not always unfounded - have been associated with the mountain, associating it with fairies, dwarves and restless spirits.
Issjö is a lake that has a special role in the old Aegir Religion. Folklore tells of it being directly connected to the great halls of the sea god. In times past sacrifices and rituals were conducted at the sacred temple in what is now Strandbo. In Modern history , the lake was the location of the Battle of Issjö between the armies of king Knud Gudabrand and king Horik Blooddrinker in 435 ADW, paving the way for the unification of Erílisle by king Knud the following year. The battle began as an attempt by king Horik to flank the Gudabrand army by marching across the frozen lake. Knud’s scouts spotted them however, and the armies met on the ice. When Knud personally slew Horik the victory was assured.

A Knektr, present day.

History

Early History

Scholars debate whether the first Drigian culture had its origins in the Drigian Isles in the west or the land of Fynrir in the east, but at the time the Drigians emerge on the world stage both regions share a common language (Drigian, related to the modern Erilian), religion (Aegir Faith, now extinct) and costums.
When Acionian explorers first encountered the Drigian tribes around 5000 BDW they had already established a maritime culture of independent clans and tribes in northern Kaitoa, Drigian Isles, Northern Bomania and Frynir. Ships and sea-faring was of great importance to the Drigians. To them it was not only a practical means of transportation - it was also a way to commune with their god Aegir, god of the sea and of humanity. They buried their dead at sea, held their rituals and sacrifices at sea and no Drigian was considered an adult until they had learned how to sail. The religious importance of the sea initially limited Drigian settlers to the coasts, though ambition and dreams of fertile lands occasionally triggered Drigian conquests inland.
Though they rarely established settlements further south than present day Verdina, accounts from the crumbling Dhesaret empire (present day Mirradhin) speak of raiders from the north in fast, slender ships that match descriptions of Drigian longboats. Many other pre-empire sources speak of these raiders, wild barbarians from the north pillaging coasts and boarding merchant vessels all throughout the seas of the northern parts of the known world. The Drigian chiefs, known to history as the Sea Kings, were known to organize raids regularly since the beginning of recorded history.
The Conquests
It was during the Age of the First Kingdoms that the Sea Kings began their conquests in earnest. In 3132 BDW Acionian scholars heard rumors that a mighty Sea King, Eril the Drowned, united all of the Drigian lands and put an end to the petty rivalry between the clans and tribes. Eril the Drowned earned his name after his ship was lost in a storm. He claims that he and all his crew drowned and sank to the bottom of the sea, all the way down to the halls of Aegir. There they dined with all Drigians who died and drowned before them. The mighty god Aegir then told him that he was displeased with the Drigians for engaging in petty infighting while other empires were being built in foregin lands, growing strong and rich with gold and silver. He told Eril to ascend to the surface once more and subdue the world in his name. He and his comrades were brought back to life and given gills with which to breathe on their journey to the surface. When they at last reached their old tribe after many tribulations in the sea, they brought with them terrible sea beasts in chains, tamed by the Drowned men.
Soon the Aardian tribes of present day Kaitoa felt the wrath of Eril. Not long after the reports of Drigian unification, the Acionian scholars document tales of the terrible conquest in the north. All Aardian boats and ships of the Aardian coast start to disappear. Survivors speak of horrid sea monsters allied with Egil and his armada pulling ships into the deep. Coastal towns are overrun in the night by Drigian warriors and scaled, two-legged creatures - servants of Aegir - that fight alongside them with claws and tentacles. Many towns submit to Egil before they fall to the Drigian onslaught in fear of the warlord Those who refuse to surrender were killed in battle or carried off to the sea as captives, never to be seen again. Rumors of human sacrifices at sea put dread into the hearts of the Aardians. It was only when the Drigian advance reached the Aardian heartland, far from the coast, that it grind to a halt. Among the hills and forests, Eril and his forces were quite literary out of their element and vulnerable to ambushes and skirmishes. The local queen Bryanna rose to the occasion and united the Aardians under one ruler. The war raged for years, legendary heroes on both sides of the conflict rising to fame and legend in stories and folklore. Eventually Eril grew tired of the fruitless conflict and sent Bryanna an offering of peace; a union of both peoples through marriage. Despite antagonism between the two groups after years of war, Bryanna saw the offering as an opportunity to put an end to the conflict and build a bond between her people and the Drigians. Together they ruled the nations as one kingdom, Aardians and Drigians under the same banner. This would be the start of a kinship that would last generations.
Eril continued his campaign against the Werdians in the south (modern day Verdina) and in the northern parts of the continent (modern day Vagröm and North Bomania). He met his end at the hands of a Borceani warlock in the mountainous northern region of Norte Averdion (modern day North Bomania) far away from his beloved ocean. Legends say their mighty sorcery split the mountain apart and struck dead anyone who dared get too close to the raging storm of their duel. He died a hundred and forty years old.
After the death of the legendary Eril the Drowned his impressive kingdom split into several factions. Aardians regained their independence, occasionally threatened by occupations from Drigian warlords. Kings and queens from Erílisle in the west, (named after the legendary conqueror) and Frynir in the east fought bitterly with each other to gain control over all Drigians. None of these would prove as successful as Eril.

Drigian war helm, ca 2000 BDW
The End of the Sea Kings
In the coming centuries, waves of Drigian emigrants would spread across the north. From the coasts of the Werdian Isle to the heartlands of modern Vagröm Drigians settled, integrating themselves among the local populace, having a big influence on the local culture. The Aardian and Drigian tribes in Kaitoa would slowly merge into the early Kaitoans, Drigian martial traditions mixing with Aardian mysticism. The early Kaitoans would in turn influence the Werdian culture in the south through war and shifting alliances, migrations and trade. The Drigian tongue in particular put it’s mark on the western languages, especially Verdinian and Kaitoan. In the east the Drigian settlers quickly integrated with the locals, putting their sea-god aside as they believed him powerless so far from the ocean.
In the 1700s BDW the Frynir noble house of Garthaal unified much of the land formerly conquered by Eril. While never as large in terms of land as the legendary warlord, the Garthaal kings presented a formidable threat to the rulers in the late Age of the First Kingdoms. Their mighty warfleets extorted the Vomani, Borceani and Werdian kingdoms for large amounts of gold and silver to leave their shores in peace. This tribute funded the buildings of temples and palaces in Frynir the likes of which have not been seen in that region before or since. The priesthood, more organised than in the days of Eril, had been conducting human sacrifices to Aegir for centuries in order to summon warm streams from the south to make their land more hospitable and their soil fertile. In the age of the Garthaals the rate of sacrifices tripled, giving Frynir a climate unnaturally warm for the normally arid north. Storytellers tell tales of a paradise where grapevines climbed the walls of palace pillars and the people drank wine and mead in great gardens spanning acres.
In 1444 BDW the days of Frynir came to an end. Emperor Helius I led an expedition to Kaitoa in order to subdue the Kaitoan kings raiding the imperial cities of the Verdinum province. The nations of the north banded together against the imperial threat and the house of Garthaal sent warriors and warrior-priests to aid the Kaitoans. This would be the beginning of a fifty-year campaign of war and bloodshed as the empire slowly conquered the Aardian lands. Despite several victories, the empire always came back in force to rid themselves of the bothersome northerners. Eventually, they conquered the northern part of the Werdian Isle all together. They named their new province Katum, meaning ‘wild’ or ‘stubborn’ in Acionian. This is the origin of the modern word Kaitoa. The house of Garthaal would not yield, however. Their provinces on Werdian Isle lost, they disrupted trade at sea and raided imperial outposts along the coast in defiance against the emperor. The powerful sorcery of the Aegir priesthood denied safe passage for imperial troops at sea, and the Drigians could not match the Imperial army on land. After years of stalemate the imperial hero Eqon forged the legendary weapon Godsbane. It was said that he tricked an old Borceani god to give up its soul and forged it into the blade itself. Then, aided by the knowledge and technology of the Acionian Librarians, he embarked on a journey to the halls of the sea god himself. There he fought the god for seven days and seven nights before dealing a mortal blow to Aegir with the sword, killing him.
As soon as the god died the warm streams from the south ceased, bringing everlasting winter to the cities of Frynir. The gardens froze and the temples were abandoned as refugees fled the harsh weather. Erilisle and the other Drigian islands suffered starvation and emigrations as well, though not as bad as Frynir. Over the course of a single year the two thirds of the Drigians died or emigrated, leaving the rest impoverished and godless. In the coming years many cult of Aegir would arise, heralding a rebirth of the old god. However, the vast majority of Drigians would gradually convert to other faiths as time passed. Aegir was as dead as Frynir and the house of Garthaal, their demise damning the Drigians to a minor role in history.
The Empire never conquered the remnants of the Frynir Kingdom, deeming the islands too barren and arid to be worth the men and resources of another military campaign. As far as the emperor was concerned, the threat in the north had been dealt with.
Today all that remains of the Frynir Drigians are a handful of fishing villages and trade posts along a sparsely populated coast. Further inland the ancient, frozen ruins of old Frynir lie abandoned, a cautionary tale of hubris and decadence. It is not until recently explorers and scholars have begun to explore the ancient ruins, braving the rumors of ancient curses and the vengeful undead sorcerers of old.
During the Age of the Fall and the Dragon Wars
After the fall of the Acionian Empire the Drigian would not experience the resurgence of new kingdoms that many other cultures did. Instead many of the Drigian islands would be annexed by the new Kaitoan Kingdom. There the Drigian language would be abandoned and old costums would be forgotten. Only on Erílisle, home of the legendary hero Eril the Drowned, would the Drigian language and culture continue to exist to some extent. Unable to contend with their neighbours economically or military, the island remained a backwater on the political scene until modern day. But their reputation of breeding fierce warriors remained intact. Life on Erílisle was hard, the soil yielding little grain. Conflicts concerning land ownership were common, and it would take until 436 BDW before the island was united under the house of Gudabrand, whose descendants still rule Erílisle to this day. Their rule put an end to the constant warring and honor killings. As the population grew, so did the problem of overpopulation, resulting in a tradition of the younger siblings in a family (those who stood to inherit little or no land or property) leaving the island to work as mercenaries in foregin armies. This often meant the Kaitoan army. The Kaitoans fought a series of defensive wars and uprisings against Verdinian conquerors - the Drigian mercenaries formed elite infantry units that became renowned for their ferocity. Though they could not compare to the devastating cavalry shock of Verdinian knights, they would often prove superior to Verdinian infantry, tearing their way through the ranks of southern peasant levies and militia.
Throughout the Dragon Wars they would supply troops to Kaitoa throughout the conflict, eventually ending up fighting alongside the Phoenix Uprising against the forces of the Emperor-Patriarch and the church of Avalon. The death of Patriarch and the victory of the Phoenix ensured the independence of Erílisle for some time to come. The renown of their mercenaries grew as demand for professional soldiers increased, but the rest of the nation fell behind its peers more and more as time went on. While other nations colonized the new world, Erílisle - once the home of heroes and legends - remained on the sidelines of history.

Worship

The vast majority of the Erílians are western Etianists and followers of the five gods. A few cultural practices from pre - Etian times have survived, such as the unique Eríling tradition of burying the dead at sea and celebrating the holiday of Idavoll (july 2nd), the day when the Erílians believe the veil between the realm of the gods and the realm of men to be at its thinnest. On this day they gather drink to the gods and engage in promiscuous behaviours otherwise frowned upon. Many unorthodox intoxicants and aphrodisiacs are consumed in these feasts, and as a result many Erílians are born in May. The term May-child is given to these children, who are considered blessed with luck having been conceived under the supervision of the gods. The High Priest of Erílisle (currently Halfast the Old) got their seat in the capital of Drottningsdal. Due to the small size of the country, there is but one temple municipality in Erílisle.
But some Erílians experience a patriotic nostalgia for the old days of old Drigia when they had their own empires and their own gods. Since it became known that the sea god Aegir died, small cults of worshipers have organized with the goal of resurrecting the deity. These cults are of course strictly outlawed and the Erílian temple order stops them out wherever they find them.

Demonym

Erílian