Érenat
From Almeopedia
| Érenat | |
| Native: | Érenat |
| Verdurian: | Érenat |
| Characteristics | |
| Capital: | Avéla |
| Government: | Parliamentary |
| Language: | Verdurian, Avéle dialect |
| Relative prosperity: | 93 |
| Population: | 1.9 million |
| % Pagan: | 15 |
| % Eleďe: | 82 |
| % Irreanism: | 3 |
| Currency | |
| Gold | sutam 12 |
| ořula 4 | |
| Silver | glavo .9 |
| cürnu 1/3 | |
| Emur | alati 1/12 |
| ÉRENAT > |
Érenat [ˈɛ rɛ nat] is a nation on the Mišicama littoral, opposite Kebri, and worryingly close to Dhekhnam. The national language is Verdurian, and it has its own Avéle dialect, which resembles Ismaîn in some of its features.
Neighbors: Dhekhnam (to SE), Azgami (to SW), Kebri (across strait to NW)
Contents |
Ancient times
It was settled in ancient times by the Meťaiun, though for centuries its only notable city was Gorbo, on the river of the same name, now the western border of Érenat. Gorbo was never conquered by the Munkhâshi, though the rest of Érenat was (458). In the 700s, Davrio helped push the Munkhâshi back to the Eren; the new territory was dominated by Kamno on the north coast. In the 900s, a further push reached the mouth of the Shkónoro; this was led by the vigorous new city of Awoilas, the later Avéla. (The Meťaiun kingship was elective, which meant that the ‘capital’ was where the strongest baron happened to live. Since the strongest barons were those on the front lines, the center of power continually moved east.)
By the time Caďinas had pushed the Munkhâshi across the Ctelm mountains, Awoilas had liberated the lower Shkónoro, and even imposed its kingship over Davrio. Awoilas pushed on— indeed, past the ancestral Meťaiun lands and into Eynleyni territory. By 1500 it had reached the Dagêsh range— not far from the western marshes of the ktuvoks; Caďinas had penetrated almost as far, just to the south.
In 1590 the Munkhâshi concentrated all their effort on Awoilas, and in five short years it was all over, and the Munkhâshi took on Leziunea and the Monkhayu. Most humiliatingly, all this effort was not even aimed at the Meťaiun, but as an enormous pincer movement aimed at Caďinas. The Munkhâshi hoped to take advantage of the civil war between Ervëa and his uncle Sevurias. When this abruptly ended (1625), the Munkhâshi invaded, but they had obviously mistimed their move. Caďinas united under the new empire and struck back. Ervëa started by liberating Awoilas, then dealt with the Munkhâshi in the Plain, then moved east, finally joining up with the Tžuro leader Attafei to entirely defeat both Munkhâshi and its controlling ktuvoks (1650).
For the next milennium, the region was a loyal province (now called Aveilas) of the Caďinorian Empire. Aveilas was one of the great cities of the empire; the second-largest town in the province was Claiies Oscais (modern Clašai). Unlike Kebri, the region was effectively Caďinorized in language and religion, though remote valleys continued to speak Meťaiun throughout classical times. (The most populated area, then as now, was the Eren valley— Erenát— and it was natural enough to apply this name to the whole region.)
The Dark Years
During the Dark Years, Ctesifon’s power grew ever more remote; increasingly it concentrated on fighting barbarians, leaving the provinces to govern themselves. Urban life declined as trade shriveled up; entire cities simply disappeared. In the 2400s Sarnáe was lost; in the 2500s Ismahi and Sereor asserted their independence; Aveilas considered itself loyal but was effectively cut off from what remained of Caďinas. The Emperor declared it a “sovereign loyal province”, which only meant that he could leave it colored yellow on his maps.
The Kebreni, out of reach of any barbarians, was strong and safe enough to afford an expansive foreign policy. Seeing nothing to stop it, it occupied the northwestern coast of Érenat (2590). Over the next century it occupied more and more of the seacoast— it still had only a small army, and focussed its attention on areas its ships could easily reinforce. In 2730 it occupied Avéla, completing its occupation of the coast and blockading the interior. It had occupied the whole country within a generation.
Unexpected salvation
In 2780 a ship arrived in Avéla harbor bearing strange cargo: a trading expedition from the world of Oikumene— the Earth. The Elenicoi were Greek Christians who had left Arsinoe, Egypt, in AD 325. They were soon convinced that their appearance was divine intervention— the Miracle of the Translation— intended by God to convert an entire new world to Christ.
Almost immediately their leader, Μιχαήλ— nativized as Mihel— found that a certain minority listened to his preaching with particular interest. He took them at first to be Jews, but found that they were called Arašei, after Araš, the Adam of this world. They in turn explained that they already knew God, and had been waiting for centuries for a prophet like Mihel to defeat the pagans and bring the people to God.
Mihel did not immediately accept this— what Fathers had written of these Cuzeians, these iliu, these Arašei; were Eīledan, Iáinos, Ulōne names of God, or traps invented by the Devil? Not all the Arašei were immediately won over either; if this Ίησούς or Iesu was relevant at all, was he really Eleď, or only his prophet, or something in between— perhaps an avatar like the Sojourner? However, both sides recognized the attraction of an alliance. According to the Book of Mihel, an iliu named Beldobre visited Mihel and led him to agreement.
The Elenicoi and Arašei spread out across Érenat with their new message. The latter perhaps overemphasized the theme of earthly liberation, which alarmed the authorities. A famous boďpila match between the Elenicoi and a Kebreni team in 2788 electrified the people of Avéla— indeed, led to a riot that wasn’t put down for two days. The Kebreni outlawed the new faith and Arašát to boot.
This was ground the Arašei had never mastered, but the Elenicoi knew well. They counselled against overt resistance, and meanwhile built a disciplined underground organization that spanned the province. Twice the Kebreni lifted the ban on these innocuous souls, revealing a stronger church each time. The Elenicoi were endlessly inventive at means to annoy the Kebreni short of outright rebellion: letters, graffitti, peaceful protests, pranks, miracles, tax strikes. Hotheads sometimes beat up an isolated Kebreni linna; and who could be blamed if the pagans, inspired by these antics, rose up in revolt? Mihel, decided the Kebreni, and had him executed in 2820.
They only created a martyr. Avéla rioted, and was never really pacified. A Kebreni army could always march down the street, but any smaller group was lucky to make it back home in one piece. By 2840 the Kebreni soldiers had had enough; they mutinied. Kebri still had no intention of leaving Érenat, but they brought the troops home— and stationed new ones elsewhere in the province— but Avéla was free, run by a hastily assembled committee of Elenicoi (under Mihel's successor Ezecio) and local merchants, nobles, and even a few pagan priests.
The Kebreni were still too strong to challenge directly; but the old methods of annoyance and obstruction were continued. Kebri tried blockading the port, but the Elenicoi were by now expert at slipping in and out of the city, and even arranged for supply shipments from Mišicama. In the 2880s they felt strong enough to support a rebellion in the Eren valley; this led to a long and brutal war, but the valley was free by 2900. By 2950 they had liberated the rest of the country, except for a strip of coast in the northwest that the Kebreni didn't let go until 3021.
The Elenicoi had won; but they had also disappeared. Most of them married Érenati women, but the physical unions were as barren as the spiritual union was successful. They adopted children, who called themselves Elenicoi and remained important in Érenati politics for centuries.
Modern times
Avéla was ruled by the Elenicoi, and Ezecio was acclaimed as dalu (king), as was his successor Sostén (2831). But Sostén was already in his eighties, and died three years later. His successor in the church was Ezecio’s adoptive son Petro, but he was not as well accepted, and was only accorded the title sažuro (governor). He was succeeded by another church leader, Lino, but when the Eren was liberated the governorship was given to the successful Arašei general Celošo.
The new faith was still minoritarian, strongly so outside Avéla. Power, and the governorship, was therefore balanced between the Elenicoi, the urban burghers, the army, and the country notables. In 2944 this was formalized as the Este Kal (Grand Assembly), which picked— and reined in— the governor. In 2970 the burghers started electing their members, making the Este Kal the first (partly) elected legislature in the north. (The Verdurian Biyetora was still entirely appointed.)
During the 2900s the new faith spread to other Arašei communities, and attracted converts especially along the littoral and in Verduria. In 2987 the Council of Avéla brought official union between the Arašei and Elenicoi, under the name already common in Érenat, Eleďe. Over the next centuries the religion continued to spread; Érenat is the only majority-Eleďe nation besides Benécia and Hroth.
Both the religious upheaval and the revolt against Kebri created a certain revolutionary, anti-traditional atmosphere. It was the first republic in the northern lands, the first to declare full religious freedom (2925), and the first to eliminate the legal status of the nobility (3045). The native aristocracy was of minor importance anyway; the large estates were all Kebreni.
The invention of printing, by Adriano Boďmorey (3184), democratized culture and made Érenat one of the leading nations of Eretald in both technology and culture. The founding of the Scholars’ Circle of Avéla in 3205 almost immediately created a strong rival to the University of Verduria. In recent years Érenat has fully participated in the north's scientific and industrial revolutions.
In 3140 Kebri provoked a short war with Érenat and reclaimed the Strait Islands.
Érenat found itself on the front line with Dhekhnam when the Dhekhnamis conquered Sarnáe and Misicama (3160-72). At about the same time Azgami was induced to rebel against Ismahi, creating a hostile state on the west as well. This led to an alliance with Verduria, cemented during the latter's wars with Kebri (3266-84). The Verdurians were allowed to build a major naval base on Melloin Island, near Avéla. In 3297 Érenat and Verduria fought a short war to stop Dhekhnami incursions, advancing almost to the Shkónoro. In 3350, however, the Dhekhnami pushed Érenat back, occupying the Sfaic valley.
Today, Érenat tries to maintain good relations with Dhekhnam, extending to trade, although unlike the former Sarnaean nations of Mišicama and Irscondro, who had pursued a vain policy of appeasement, it is under no illusions about Dhekhnam's ambitions in the area. Therefore, it maintains a strong alliance with Verduria, which recognizes it as the frontline of any Dhekhnami incursion into Eretald, and maintains a strong military of its own. It has also had a rapprochement with its old enemy and master Kebri, which ironically enough is now its only friendly neighbor.
Etymology: Caď. Erenantos, from the Eren river. Keb. Ernaituḣ, Dhekhnami Erinant.
