The Faun Confederation
The Faun are a people in tune with nature. Their songs guiding the woods where they make their home into the shapes that they need to survive. In previous ages, their Ironwood and Steelwood trees provided them with tools, arms, and armor that allowed them to retain their independence. Hopefully, they might continue to do so in the coming years.
-An excerpt from 'The Faun: Guardians of the Argentum Timberlands'', by AC Tellerim
Structure
The Faun territories are ruled over a tribal council, known as the Hierarchs, made up of over 50 tribes of varying sizes.
Each tribe has it's own tradition, though they are most commonly directed by a chieftain. The process for selecting a chief is different for each tribe, sometimes being the most accomplished warrior, the oldest living member, or even sometimes an inherited position.
Culture
While every tribe can have wildly different cultures, their closeness to nature is universal among their people. Each tribe respects and reveres nature in it's own way, be it through hunting, growing, or simple spiritualism. Even the term "Faun" is rooted within the culture of the many tribes of the Confederation.
Assets
- Steelwood and Ironwood groves, that are relatively inexhaustible
- Many villages locations are unconfirmed, or totally unknown
- Many of the creatures of the forest are under the thrall of the Faun
- 134,000 unconfirmed fighters, with 450,000 fighters thought possible
- 300 known Ents, 7 Ancient Ents (only what has been confirmed)
- Nature spirits are known to aid the Faun for their own reasons, so their numbers are unknown.
History
The dense forests of the Argentum Timberlands have turned the Faun into one of the greatest Irregular military forces in the world. Their ability to stealth in, cut some throats, and disappear into the surrounding woodlands was the greatest boon they had in keeping their land, theirs. Things change, however.
The Faun are a people born of beings born of nature. Spirits, not gods in the academic sense, but beings of natural magic aglomerating together into things that would resemble a god to the casual observer, that maintained the brutal laws of the nature that created them. 'god' devoured 'god', an ever circular transfer of Grace from one being to another, distilling down with each passage through a spectral maw. Finally, what might be considered actual godhood was achieved between a handful of beings. While their circle of Grace brought them into being, it could not sustain them and so they did what every other pantheon does. It created followers. The Gods of the Argentum woods gathered, wondering what form their people would take. They argued and argued unable to determine the traits they should be given. They nearly turned on each other when finally, Tonara the Doe, strode into the clearing. Her grace cowed the raging voices, and they all turned to listen. None of them said anything as she approached a nearby Ironwood tree and with her antlers of light, carved a set of figures unlike any in the clearing. Two legs like the birds. With fur like the mammals. and antlers, like their creator.
The Faun's first experience after birth was to look into the eyes of their gods. Their second experience was to see them vanish into the woods around them. They did not give chase, for they were born with the knowledge that their survival was within their own hands. To this end, the Faun split to different sections of the forest and pursued survival their own way. Some hunted, some fished the streams or gathered fruits and herbs. But no matter what they thought best, they all learned to traverse their home without ever being seen. A skill that would come in hand when the Avalonians came.
A few expeditions at a time, once every few years, would vanish into the Timberlands without a trace. So many that the area became known as the Black Woods to outsiders. Tired of being denied the bounty that the Argentum Timberlands represented, Avalon organized a massive expedition. The largest any country had yet to send into the Timberlands. An entire detachment of Bristlebacks accompanied by a squadron of mages marched straight to the heart of the Timberlands. And found nobody.
No trace of their former expeditions, or anything that would have made them vanish like they had. Just a sense of being followed, as recorded in several soldiers' journals. They continued their search, past what had to be the halfway point and still nothing. Finally, some contact other than the critters of the forest. In the form of musket fire.
Instead of finding the people we now know live in the Timberlands, the Avalonians found their old enemy, the Tuatha of Tir Na Nog. Records indicate that both sides were actually there for the same reason and assumed the other was responsible. Even if they knew the truth, they would probably have come to blows anyways.
Caught off guard, the Avalonian's were mauled pretty badly, with many of their officers being killed or injured. Rallying together, they sent riders out of the forest to inform them of what had happened, while they set out to pin the enemy in place. It was a week before they started to wonder where their reinforcements were. Then two. Then three, before the pickets heard the jangle of horse-tack and the thunder of boots. They had expected another detachment, maybe two, but it seemed that a whole field army was marching into their camp. The commanding officer of the newly deployed Avalonian army had one order, crush the Tuathan forces, and secure the forest for the crown. That's when the arrows started flying. The Faun revealed themselves under a hail of arrows that seemed to only find officers and the generals staff. By the time the Avalonia's returned fire, their attackers had vanished. Now, all three players in the war of the Black Woods were known to each other and out for each others blood.
We'll summarize from there. A 20-year war ensued, ending in a draw between the two powers. Normally, the woods would have been divvied up between the combatants for a war well fought. In this case, both sides lacked the strength to defend what would have been theirs from the Faun. Records indicate that two out of ten soldiers in either army were killed in battle. One out of ten from disease. Three made it back home unscathed. The final four were killed by Faun skirmishers.
Since, the Faun have been highly protective of their forests, with outside countries and private businesses being completely stonewalled whenever they attempt to expand into the Argentum Timberlands. The few that have been accepted into the woods, know that they are watched constantly from where they can't see.
The Argentum Timberlands have been an enigma to the outside world for a long time, and the Faun have done everything in their power to keep it that way. Only a handful of villages have a confirmed location on any map and a few of those are theorized to be able to move at a moment's notice. Their magics and traditions are closely guarded, and their true fighting capabilities are obscured from outside eyes. Any tactician would tell you it's a fool's errand to march into those woods, but that won't stop some would-be Tamas Asharm from trying it.
Demography and Population
Only Faun are considered to be a part of the tribes, except in a few very rare cases. Outsiders can be adopted into a tribe if they prove themselves trustworthy and to be a friend, but these cases are so few and far between that the Territories can be considered 100% Faun.
That is, however, baring the workers of the different industries that have barely managed to worm their way into the region from the census.
Territories
Their borders are the Argentum Timberlands and no further. They have never expressed any desire to expand beyond the edges of their forest, though a few rabble-rousers have attempted to broach the subject of searching out their enemies and eliminating them.
Military
Every faun tribe member, while not necessarily trained for combat, is trained to defend themselves. A needed part of living in the wilds of the Timberlands. That means that every tribe member can, hypothetically, be called upon to defend the tribe. A boon in times of war, but it makes the 'rules of war' that most nations in the modern era follow somewhat muddy.
Religion
Several missionaries, from many religions, have attempted to establish themselves in the Timberlands. Attempting to use the Wildspirit's inherently hands-off approach to gather followers from those that might wish for a warmer connection to divinity. It has worked, in varying degrees, with missions having been built in several places. Often with the local tribes blessing.
Education
What would be considered a classical education is viewed as a totally pointless endeavor, as survival takes enough effort without trying to learn facts that don't apply to the grand scheme of things. They won't, however, object to a learned member of their species contributing their knowledge in things like architecture, agriculture, or animal husbandry. They are loath to waste a resource that could help them in the long run.
Infrastructure
None worth mentioning. While roads have been 'built' to places like Deer Creek, they are nothing more than dirt roads. Shockingly, only a single telegraph wire comes from the outside to the city.
Mythology & Lore
As stated before, the Wildspirits formed out of a mirroring of the circle of life (or the transfer of energy if you ask a particularly dower individual) Many nature spirits massed together, creating what were essentially godlings. A miracle in theology; these godlings were, however, wild and possessed the same instincts as the creatures of the forest that didn't have a shred of divinity. Over time, the Grace that had been synthesized was refined as it passed between creatures. One creature would consume another, and suddenly find itself more capable of critical thought than a moment before. Then it would consume another and find a sense of self within. Then it would be eaten, and its predator would find itself with all that and more.
It may have taken millennia, but these godlings would 'evolve', in a sense, into the next stage. Full-blown godhood. They developed names and customs. The power to warp reality at their whim. and their own sections of the Godrealm, much to the confusion of other deities. While the benefits of such a transformation were great, the cost was weighty. They now could no longer sustain themselves through hunting and foraging as they once had. Instinctual, they knew that they needed followers. Unable, or unwilling, to try and recruit from the cults over other Pantheons, they set about making their own. The form these followers would take was a point of contention for a long time, nearly ending in open conflict between the Wildspirits, until Tonara the Doe settled the conflict by simply creating the Faun without consulting the other gods. A risky move, to be sure in such a volatile environment, but the grace by which she presented her creation cowed any reprisal. The Wildspirits had what they needed, believers, and that would have to be enough.
Founding Date
Unknown
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Training Level
Trained
Government System
Tribalism
Power Structure
Federation
Economic System
Barter system
Currency
None. The Faun are known to accept almost any currency, though they have a preference for the Iron Republic's 'Notes'.
Legislative Body
The Hierarchs decide on the general rules for Faun society, though their decisions tend to effect how the different tribes interact, as opposed to how the tribes operate internally. Those internal functions are left up to the ruling body of each individual tribe.
Judicial Body
The individual leaders of the Faun tribes are often left to interpret rulings as they see fit, and a generally accepted 'law' is eventually worked out over time. it may not be codified anywhere, but it becomes ingrained in tradition and observed with a great deal of reverence.
Official State Religion
Deities
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
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