Varhoŋïð
The Varhoŋïð, or Varonith, refers to the settlers of the Amoŋot Desert from 25032 AYM to around 24533 AYM, making it one of the original 8 tribes in the Heta-Alsewarzar. Its territory was bordered by Lrhúuŋðarr to the northeast, Varhoŋïð-Khalúš to the east, and eventually Nekara to the northwest. The tribe never had a central government, and the towns and cities inside the tribe enacted their own rules. Throughout this chaos, multiple bands of gangs and other illicit factions gained tremendous power within the area, leading to frequent skirmishes and conflicts, eventually culminating in the Varonian Civil War of 24538-24533 AYM.
The Varhonïðian settlements can be separated into two groups, called the Hýyó-Hayïd and Hýyo-Wýðúr. These are named after the first two Yarpalïŋ-Ýmïlýrhonid, the Hayïdic Expedition and Wýðúric Expedition, which makred the first major ventures into the southern and northern areas of the Amoŋot Desert, respectively. In the south, rough weather conditions necessitated a format of living that relied heavily on cooperation between cities, which evolved into the Maðúšýï, a powerful raiding group. In the north, a region sheltered by the various mountain ranges in the Blýfónic Valley, each city was able to fend for themselves, so they became disconnected from each other and founded a multitude of city-states that lasted until the Varonian Civil War.
Because of the general isolation from each other, Varhoŋïð was one of the weaker tribes of the Heta-Alsewarzar, and the tribe as a whole never progressed much technologically or culturally; instead, little pockets of rich tradition formed in each town, each one unique in many ways. The tribe was the first to officially dissolve, which it did in the Varonian Civil War, birthing Tiamthur and Ardunioz; Nekara, another tribe formed from Varhoŋian citizens, was created before Varhoŋïð's official collapse.
Nonetheless, Varhonïð is by far the most documented member of the Heta-Alsewarzar, as its history lies in the confluence of so many governmental bodies, groups, and families. Its first settlements are addressed by the reports of Yarpalïŋ-Ýmïlýrhonid, which are categorized as part of the Gaðërïŋ-Hýša, the supreme body of literature regarding the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, and the genealogy of the Ýlëntuk Family, the primary populace regarding the tribe of Varonith-Callauz, are documented in the family's Žötó-Ïdhatón. Most, of not all, of the Öšdúu, the city states, have a designated collection of writings, and the Maðúšýï and Ðú-Üdarr have census data regarding such information like raiding details and casualties.
Etymology
Being more so a collection of city-states more than a single coherent tribe, the Varhoŋïð name was rarely used in its time. Rather, geographical terms like the Amoŋot Desert were used to refer to this collection and the various subsections within them. The Varhoŋïð name was thus conceived by its successor tribes like Nekara, Ardunioz, and Tiamthur, who needed a way to differentiate the previous geopolitical situation from the geographical location in which it was in effect. This was addressed by the leaders of the Ardunioz Tribe, who, after devising the basic structure of what was to be Ariduro, created the word Varhoŋïð around 24530 AYM. This was a combination of words from the various familial languages that made up Ïwë-Ïrhïd, the original language of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. More specifically, is a combination of the Tómošekkian word 'Var', which describes time, and the Ýlëntukkian adjective 'Hoŋ', which describes mutual separation, and, to a lesser extent, anarchy. The suffix 'ïð' is a linkage between the two halves. Thus, the name Varhoŋïð refers to a period of separation, matching the lack of central leadership in the Desert at the time.
Over the years, however, this came to refer less to a time period but to the geographic location of the Desert, where this mutual separation was the strongest. This was due, at least in part, to the conquest of the northern and eastern sections of the Blýfónic Valley, whose geopolitical history did not match those of the Desert.
Culture
The culture of Varhoŋïð was exceptionally diverse throughout its lifespan, owing to the isolation that was present between the cities. Yet even right after the establishment of the Declaration of 25032 AYM, which permitted the departure of Ibrovinid from Elironid, Varhoŋïð was the epicenter of numerous cultural experimentation, as people left for a wide variety of reasons. For those leaving because of a dislike of Elironid, they experimented with artistic styles that mimicked the desert landscape and rock formations that existed in the Blivonic Valley. Likewise, those that had left on neutral or favorable terms pursued styles more similar to the polygonal structure of Elironid.
At the start, these two differing styles were randomly dispersed, as there was no knowledge about the geography of the Blivonic Valley. However, with the advent of the Wilderness Map in 25026 AYM, which was quickly copied and spread throughout Varhoŋïð, those distancing themselves from Elironid migrated to areas like the Arbin Watershed and the Ýhasin Mountain Range, while those who favored the Elironid moved closer, some even living in the Volain Forest. Thus, a gradient of unique cultures emerged, becoming more distinct from that of the Ïlýrhonidian Tribe as they grew farther away.
History
Origins
The early history of the Varhoŋïð Tribe is concurrent with that of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. This is due to the fact that the Amoŋot Desert was the first region explored and settled by emigrants from the Ïlýrhonid Tribe via the Yarpalïŋ-Ýmïlýrhonid. Four of the five Yarpalïŋó-Ýmïlýrhonid were excursions into the Desert, which, aside from serving as the death knoll for the Kavamïŋ-Ïlýrhonid, showed the Amoŋot Desert, and only the Amoŋot Desert, as a habitable place. This explains the hesitation behind the eventually settlement of the next region, the Ðýmóš Plains, which eventually happened 8-9 years after the first excursions into the Desert. By that time, six cities were already founded in the Desert, and that number would double by 25000 AYM.
Regarding the founding of cities, this was primarily caused by the first two Yarpalïŋó-Ýmïlýrhonid, the Hayïdic and Wýðúric Expeditions, in 25032 and 25027 AYM. These two expeditions represented the first major ventures into the southern and northern regions of the Desert, respectively, by way of the two known passages into the Desert.
The southern region was explored first, by the Hayïdic Expedition in 25032 AYM, in what served as the very first major expedition out of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. By exiting via a hole in the Ïlýrhonidian walls, it was also the first of only two expeditions to traverse the passage between the southern coast and the Nuzowli Mountain Range. The three cities it planted, Óm-hayïd, Tý-hayïd, and Yuževhït, were thus the first recorded cities outside of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. Despite this, they grew extremely slowly due to the controversy surrounding the Hayïdic Expedition, whose high casualties curbed the development of new expeditions until the Wýðúric Expedition 5 years later.
This Wýðúric Expedition was the first traversing of the Desert by way of sailing upstream the Kairn River System. This led the expedition members to the northern half of the Amoŋot Desert, where they established the city of Güðün; the markers used to track their location, called Wëbëlup-Wýðúr, were also the basis for a number of other cities including Vërðïm, Lómóhüd, and Óvarhën, and the success of the Wýðúric Expedition led to such a large influx of emigrants that these cities were formed even before the start of the Šókhekic and Alëhadic Expeditions 4 years after the end of the Wýðúric Expedition.
Thus, the Amoŋot Desert was socially and culturally divided in two; the northern half, the Hýyo-Wýðúr, being largely shielded from coastal winds and tides by the Ýhasin Mountain Range, developed a personality that was independent, as each city could sustain itself via mining for rocks, but the southern half, which was exposed to the coast via the gap between the Nuzowli Mountain Range and Arbin Watershed, had to rely on each other for resources due to unstable ground, erosion, and high winds that rendered mining dangerous. This latter sentiment was corroborated by the actions of the Šókhekic Expedition, whose roads between the cities cemented relations between them. However, the roads in the northern half were quickly abandoned.
Even in the formation of cities, the concept of the Púlö-Ïlýrhonid, or Ïlýrhonidian Question, is shown to have a large effect on the cultures of the various cities. Aside from the Varonith-Callauz Tribe, there was a general trend in which cities farther from the Ïlýrhonidian Tribe would move towards a cultural identity separate from it, most likely due to the fact that immigrants who left the Ïlýrhonid Tribe on bad terms would be much more willing to avoid any such influence from it in the future. Of course, each city-state would form their own culture, but these individualized cultures would have their roots in the cultures initially determined by these initial immigrants. Thus, these such factors like geographic placement, public opinion, political jurisdiction and leadership, et cetera, were the foundations for what would become a highly diversified cultural landscape.
Arrival of the Varhoŋïð-Khalúš
In 25020 AYM, the Ýlëntuk Family left the Ïlýrhonid Tribe by way of sailing upstream the Kairn River. This was the result of years of the tribe-encompassing distrust and disappointment regarding the Ïlýrhonid government and their handling of the events in the Ýmor-Šapariž period. Being the family closest to the Nuzowli Mountain Range, their land suffered from rockslides and avalanches, and, to them, the fact that the government could not help them invalidated their authority.
Their initial settlement outside of the Ïlýrhonid Tribe was at the fork of the Kairn River System, where records indicate a heated debate began. Likely due to the fact that they could sustain themselves far better than the Ïlýrhonid Tribe could, the anti-Ïlýrhonidian sentiment overflowed to the point where a large portion of the family called for a full-scale war to avenge what was deemed to be a betrayal or deception regarding the Family's safety. Others, however, were hesitant to go against the Ïlýrhonid Tribe this early, and these two differing opinions birthed the tribes of Varhoŋïð-Khalúš and Kairn, respectively. As tensions mounted between the two factions, the Kairnians, led by Ažütšý, launched a series of attacks against the Khalúšians, driving them from their dwellings and into the Amoŋot Desert, where they took over the cities immediately bordering the Volain Forest, most notably Óm-hayïd and Güðün, and evicted those not loyal to their cause.
In response, the last Yarpalïŋ-Ýmïlýrhonid was launched, the Úrïsic Expedition, which attempted to raise up and take advantage of support in the Amoŋot Desert, whose military strength would be used to surround the Khalúšians on all fronts. Although successful in the Hýyó-Hayïd, producing the Maðúšýï, the reluctance to diverge from the self-dependent way of life, compounded by the indifference towards the takeover of Güðün, rendered the Hýyo-Wýðúr the only such avenue that the Khalúšians could use for additional resources and manpower. This, like the efforts of the Úrïsic Expedition, would not gain them much, and as such, the initial offensives made by the Khalúšians during this time were plagued by a lack of manpower and by the threat of raids by the Maðúšýï.
Ýmor-Maðúšýï
Main Article: Ýmor-Maðúšýï
The Ýmor-Maðúšýï refers to the time period from 25019 to 24910 AYM, in which the Maðúšýï's influence on the entire desert kept the geopolitical situation in a standstill. This was done chiefly through the group's raiding power, which was twofold; diverse, widespread raids across the Hýyo-Wýðúr kept the city-states separate and self-contained, while sporadic, unpredictable strikes at Khalúšian cities left their military strung out and unable to respond. Under the jurisdiction of Ökkúš, who ruled from 25001 to 24954 AYM, the raiding group reportedly took anywhere from 20 to 40,000 tonnes of material in a little over 1000 raids, a feat made possible through a massive military restructuring, efficient management and movement of troops, feint and decoy traps, and more.
Despite this, the Maðúšýï took extreme care never to take over a city, but only to 'scalp' it, as the military structure was so dependent on city placement and troop movement within these cities that the government had no desire to acquire new cities. Instead, each raid would last a little over three hours, in which time resistant groups would be quashed and storehouses vacated, instilling a fear not of being killed, but having to rely on other cities beyond their current 'self-sustaining' city for basic needs. This serious importance placed on city pride and city self-dependency, although present since the cities' founding, reached its zenith in the Ýmor-Maðúšýï, when the Maðúšýï's influence was also at its peak.
This time period also saw the First Varhoŋïan War, the first major conflict contained wholly within the Amoŋot Desert. This was primarily the result of an overstep by the Maðúšýï, in which they attempted to secure the border city of Ožërhýŋ, one of the largest producers of rock, as an economic partner. Realizing the potential of such an acquisition, the city-states of Güðün, Lómóhüd, Vërðïm, and Kal-Haðü, together called the Varonian Trade Coalition, joined forces and defeated the Maðúšýï, thus representing the first major defeat of the raiding clan. Furthermore, this conflict greatly increased trade between the cities and helped to incorporate Ožërhýŋ into the Hýyo-Wýðúr through this trade network.
Maðúšian Civil War
Main Article: Maðúšian Civil War
The Maðúšian Civil War was a major schism of the Maðúšýï which broke off a significant portion of the Maðúšian manpower into what was called the Ðú-Üdarr, whose region formed a narrow horizontal strip between the Hýyo-Wýðúr and the Maðúšýï. This schism came about because of the repercussions concerning events like the First Varhoŋïan War, which not only precipitated a greater bond between the cities of the Hýyó-Wýðúr but also instilled heavy costs on the Maðúšýï themselves. By 24910 AYM, this transition had essentially rendered the Maðúšýï unable to extract sufficient resources from their raids. In an act of desperation, a section of the Maðúšian army argued in favor of a new combat strategy, in which the target city would be rushed into and utterly destroyed before reinforcements could arrive from other cities. This would have the effect of greatly decreasing the power of the Hýyó-Wýðúr, and thus return the Maðúšýï to the dominant position in the Desert. This was rejected by Ažohr, who was a fervent admirer of Ökkúš and wanted to continue the present strategy of targeting the resources first and foremost. His belief relied chiefly on the assumption that the weakened city would recover and be able to 'refill' their supply. Fearing the demise of the Maðúšýï, the Ðú-Üdarr broke off from the army in 20 Anta-Eimarae, 24910 AYM, leading to the beginnings of the civil war.
Throughout the civil war, the Ðú-Üdarr's strategy was twofold; this was an opportunity to break away from the jurisdiction of the Maðúšýï but also an opportunity to prove the superiority of their tactics, which they used to great effect throughout the war. In contrast, the Maðúšýï were concerned with the mere subjugation of the Ðú-Üdarr, as they still represented a large and essential portion of the Maðúšýï's force. However, both sides needed a swift victory, as the amount of resources consumed by the war would further worsen the present situation for either side.
Led by Zïývurhn, the Ðú-Üdarr collectively left their various cities and met up in a section of wilderness northwest of the city of Varand. Perhaps the largest battle was the first, which took place at Varand itself. After a lengthy struggle, the Ðú-Üdarr, who had been wandering throughout the wilderness, were able to force the defenders out of the city and establish a secure base of operations there. From then on, a series of city-hopping strategies were used, in which a small force, numbering anywhere from 200 to 1,500 members, would be sent out from a Ðú-Üdarr-held city in order to conduct a destructive raid, targeting manpower and infrastructure of all sorts, while a secondary Üdarrian force would come in shortly afterwards to collect resources, like food and weapons. This was the beginning of what was to become the Tžý-Üdarr, or military strategy, of Ðú-Üdarr.
With barely any significant resistance, the cities of Tý-hayïd, Yuževhït, and Mönamat were overrun and devastated, and, with no other such towns to flee to, Ažohr and the most loyal members of the Maðúšian government were holed up in a small town called Ŋhúpkýrög. There, the Ðú-Üdarr and the Maðúšýï signed the Treaty of Ŋhúpkýrög, where the cities of Varand and Tý-Hayïd were given to the Ðú-Üdarr as part of a narrow horizontal strip of land, and the Maðúšýï were to retain all other cities formerly in their territory. Chiefly, however, this released the Ðú-Üdarr from their control, and allowed them to pursue their plans regarding the Hýyó-Wýðúr and Varhoŋïð-Khalúš with an assured lack of interference from the Maðúšýï.
Ýmor-Yarmurïŋ
Main Article: Ýmor-Yarmurïŋ
The Ýmor-Yarmurïŋ, formerly known as the Ýmor-Üdarr, refers to the time period between 24910 and 24720 AYM, when the Ðú-Üdarr was split into Rottol and Sachelu following the Second Varonian War. It is noted for being the period in which the Ðú-Üdarr was at its most powerful; under Ïŋmŋöl and his successor Úiabgha, they used and perfected the strategy they first used in the Maðúšian Civil War, the Tžý-Üdarr, to a ruthless degree. Despite fierce Wýðúrian resistance, they were able to weaken and eventually subjugate the city of Ožërhýŋ in 24891 AYM. With the rock monopoly of its city now under their control, the Ðú-Üdarr were now able to conduct raids much more frequently, as they were now able to support themselves to a profound extent. Among their targets were the Varhoŋïð-Khalúš, the 'traditional' enemy of the Maðúšýï and by extension the Ðú-Üdarr. Through a series of maneuvers in what is often deemed the Second Ýlëntukian War, or Khalúš-Üdarr War, Varhoŋïð-Khalúš was split into Viderent and Lienorak by a combined force from both tribes.
In response to the increased aggression from the Ðú-Üdarr, the Hýyó-Wýðúr formed a temporarily coalition. This is typically cited as being the second of the two Varonian Trade Coalitions, as it was very temporarily, only existing in the year 24891 AYM, before fracturing into the new tribes of Erkanal and Sangus. However, the fact that it was a defining moment that created two new tribes rather than return to the status quo has led many historians to deem this the Wýðúric Tribe. This Coalition was marred by conflicting opinions, especially regarding future decisions dealing with the Öšdúu that had traditionally dominated the scene, however weakened they may have been. This infighting was one of the contribution factors that led to the Ðú-Üdarr's victory over Ožërhýŋ, and marks the last major stand of the Šïpašan-Öšdúu, or Öšdúic Movement, that is, the public sentiment in favor of the individualized city-states, before the formation of the tribes of Erkanal and Sangus and the slow coagulation of regional authorities within each such tribe. By the start of the Varonian Civil War, this coagulation had finished, and each such tribe was operating as a single uncontested authority.
However, the most impactful event was the transformation of the Maðúšýï into the economically-focused tribe of Tiamthur
Thus, the Ýmor-Yarmurïŋ was the time period responsible for creating the geopolitical landscape present at the time of the Varonian Civil War; this includes the geographical delineation, if not geopolitical emergence, of 5 of the 8 tribes participating in the civil war; Erkanal and Sangus were formed from the commotion of the Conquest of Ožërhýŋ and the Second Varonian Trade Coalition,
Varhoŋïð
25032 - 24538 AYM
Government: No Central Government, but under the jurisdiction of a city-state (Öšdúu) in the north or the Maðúšýï (or later the Tauhudarb) in the south
Notable City-States:
- Öšdúu-Vërðïm
- Öšdúu-Lómóhüd
- Öšdúu-Haðü
- Öšdúu-Ožërhýŋ
- Öšdúu-Güðün
Historical Eras:
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