Origins
The
Aparnovosi, despite being geographically
Southwythian, can trace their stock back to numerous migration-era peoples, including
Proto-Wythians,
Ulnosti,
Alessans, and
Arnt Batini. The earliest Aparnovosi inhabited what would become the
city-state of Aparnovos deep within the Pre-Imperial era, settling the southernmost regions of the Southwythian peninsula including Lake Steresina and the Isle of Menawel. The area's location, situated between
Santa Alessa, the rest of the Wythian Subcontinent,
Sijmen Sur, and
Arnt Batin made it a stopping point for numerous waves of migration, constantly introducing it to new cultures and genetic stock. Even after the process of state formation, this trend never fully ceased thanks to the rise of the city-state of Aparnovos as a nexus of trade and seafaring activity, as well as the perennial warfare and shifting alliances in Southwythe. As such, a wide variety of complexions, skin tones, facial features, and hair colours exist in Aparnovosi populations, especially those in cosmopolitan areas such as the city of Aparnovos itself.
The impetus for the earliest agriculture and social organization among the Aparnovosi, which eventually would lead to state formation, was closely tied with the migratory patterns of the area. As wave after wave of mannish migrations passed through the area, the resources which sustained a hunter-gatherer lifestyle began to dwindle. The megafauna which roamed the wild moors and mountain foothills were hunted to extinction for food along the journey as well as skin and sinews for use in boats. As such, the populations which were either left behind or elected to stay in the area after each migratory wave were forced to exploit their environment and consolidate foodstuffs in new ways. Agriculture and harvesting of marine resources took hold in the coastal dells and vales, while pastoralism emerged in the moors.
Trade and Settlement
Maritime trade not only significantly affected Aparnovosi populations in their homeland, but also their dispersion abroad. Sea travel predates Aparnovosi writing systems, as evidenced by the waves of seaborne migrations through the area. Moreover, Aparnovosi hagiographies and religious texts adapted from the oral record tell of monks and other religious figures undertaking pilgrimages at sea, likely in skin-boats, canoes, and rafts. One such vessel, a skin-boat attributed to the earliest monastic travels of the
Lostekedes, was suspended in the throne room of Aparnovos' palace after being discovered preserved in a peat bog in the surrounding countryside.
While religion would continue to facilitate seafaring activity around Aparnovos for millennia, politics and economics would exponentially increase the impetus for maritime expansion. Southwythe as a whole took shape as a patchwork of competing city-states from a very early point, whose boundaries and relations were often shaped by localized ethnicities and cultures originating from waves of migration and geographical separation by the region's mountainous and rugged terrain. With their backs to the sea and lacking the naturally defensible terrain of city-states such as
Erithstone, the Aparnovosi soon realized that their position was more suited to trade, and if possible, neutrality. This combination could cast them as a lucrative partner in the ever-shifting alliances of Southwythe, and a valuable player in the local economy whose suffering would be harmful to all if it were disrupted. By mastering sea travel, Aparnovos could also use the threat of coastal raiding to deter adversaries from interfering with their commerce. After centuries of riding out the struggles in Southwythe, an outward-looking mindset became self-perpetuating as shipbuilding technology and navigational techniques progressed, leading to the inception of the extremely lucrative trade between Aparnovos, Sijmen Sur, Santa Alessa, and Arnt Batin: seeking trade and connections abroad had become simply far more rewarding than meddling in the affairs of neighbouring states.
State Formation and Goverment
Early in the city’s history, the infighting of great families and guilds, combined with the few limitations on their power led to disunity and, not infrequently, factional violence. This forced the city's Princes to develop a robust civil bureaucracy to keep the guilds within the bounds of the law, while harnessing their economic and social influence. It was only after this long and often difficult process that the city’s governance acquired its reputation of efficiency.
The Aparnovosi Diaspora
The demographics of the Aparnovosi underwent a drastic upheaval following the
Fall of Aparnovos, with significant loss and migration following the city's destruction. While the western countryside was mostly abandoned with the evacuations preceding that cataclysm, Aparnovosi holdings in the eastern end of the Southwythian peninsular, particularly surrounding the agriculturally productive Lake Steresina, are still home to a subjugated but discontented population under the Kingdom of Southwythe. In the city of Aparnovos itself, there remains a comparatively small population of original inhabitants lucky enough to survive the sack but not so fortunate as to have found passage to safety. There, they have been reduced to poverty and have few legal rights.
Continuity of Aparnovosi institutions, as well as a significant portion of the surviving population, exists in the successor states of Torelledir and Fossowbria, founded by refugees from the Fall of Aparnovos in 408 and based in the islands and coastlines west of Santa Alessa. Torelledir was founded by a concerted effort on the part of Kanlagion, the Prince-in-exile, and contains a higher population of surviving government officials, clergy, and nobility as well as skilled architects, shipwrights, navigators, and other professionals and is thus firmly established with a functioning system of rule. Fossowbria, while slightly more populous, was settled in more sporatic waves as further survivors trickled in from both the fall of the city and the abandonment of untenable possessions abroad, such as isolated colonies or dalghennas unable to sustain themselves independently. While Kanlagion has made the unification of the two kingdoms a priority, the comparatively unruly governance of Fossowbria (combined with its growing ties to Santa Alessa) has so far frustrated this goal, and the prince-in-exile has decisively ruled out resorting to violence against fellow Aparnovosi.
Further abroad, each Dalghenna since the fall of Aparnovos has been faced with a dilemma unique to its location and relationship with local polities. Those Dalghennas which were on friendly terms with the communities in which they were established, such as in
Westwythe, Santa Alessa,
Ulnost, and
Sevnónicha were generally able to endure as small but commercially important communities entrenched within the local economy. Many were in possession of Aparnovosi-built ships, trained navigators and shipwrights, and scholars whose skills were in sharper demand than ever after the fall of the city, and thus were able to position themselves as valuable assets for local rulership. In these cases, the dalghennas could survive as nodes for the Aparnovosi diaspora, attracting refugees, wealth, and cultural tradition. In some instances, however, the favour shown to Aparnovosi for government, commercial, and scholarly positions by nearby rulers attracted the competition and jealousy of the local elite, resulting in strife and sometimes outright violence; as such, some dalghennas faced with such circumstances became increasingly insular, adding to suspicion. One of the most daunting diplomatic tasks for Kanlagion and the Kingdom of Torelledir has been to attempt to smooth over these hostilites and ensure that a network of Aparnovosi settlements can cooperate, support each other, and escape such threats.
The inhabitants of some Dalghennas encountered a far more positive reception following the Fall of Aparnovos. The
Pavöto Dalghenna, the primary Aparnovosi port of call in Sevnónicha, has been integrated into local
Sevnóni society and local government far beyond the normal capacity after a dramatic series of events. Following the evacuation of Aparnovos, the remains of Erithstone's fleet pursued a flotilla of survivors until the latter were safely welcomed into Pavöto. Undaunted, the ships from Erithstone blockaded the harbour and demanded the Aparnovosi to be handed over by the local Sevnóni authorities. Stalling for time, the Pristarul (an office-holder tasked with running a dalghenna, akin to a governor), Dupheleris Kelestiv, requested that the decision be left to
King Ilya of Sevnónicha, to whom word was promptly sent. As the first sovereign since Sevnónicha's independence from the Empire, King Ilya was determined to prevent the politics of his realm be dictated by outsiders, especially those whom had already proved so destructive to one of Sevnónicha's most valuable trade partners.
In the resulting battle, which proved to be a decisive setback in the nw Kingdom of Southwythe's ability to project power abroad, a combined fleet of Sevnóni and Aparnovosi ships were able to break through the blockade and scatter the remnants of Erithstone's fleet. As a show of gratitude, many Aparnovosi offered their services to King Ilya directly, whether as soldiers and sailors or merchants and shipwrights, and Pavöto to this day remains one of the liveliest ports in the North.
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