Svetla
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| < CUNNAŽ I SVETLA |
The Svetla [ˈsfɛt la] is one of the major rivers of Eretald. It arises in the South Spur of the Kešvare mountains, flowing west till it meets the Meuna, then north through the middle of Eretald. It meets the Eärdur at Erruk. The stretch of river from there to Verduria city is assigned to the Eärdur, though in ancient times this was sometimes considered part of the Svetla.
From its source, it passes through the modern nations of Hežina, Cerei, Svetla, Bažra, Guaya, Ctésifon, Krasnaya, and Verduria. Since Caďinorian times the Svetla has been the most prosperous region of Eretald proper. The river, navigable to Cerei, facilitates both trade and cultural transmission.
To the ancient Cuzeians, the middle stretch of the river was called the Cayenas, which was continued by what we now call the Meuna. The eastern portion of the Svetla was called the Metōre.
Etymology: Caď. Spetela, Ver. Svetla, Bar. Shpetel, Ismaîn Eşpedele; Cuêzi Cayenas / Metōre. The spelling Svetla is an anachronism; sv was the usual spelling of /sf/ in Old Verdurian, but was replaced by sf in Elena’s spelling reform. Svetla was too entrenched to change.
Confederacy of Svetla
| Svetla | |
| Native: | Svetla |
| Verdurian: | Svetla |
| Characteristics | |
| Capital: | Liynnor |
| Government: | Federation |
| Language: | Verdurian |
| Relative prosperity: | 82 |
| Population: | 2.2 million |
| % Pagan: | 96 |
| % Eleďe: | 4 |
| % Endajué: | 0.1 |
| Currency | |
| Gold | ežonde 10 |
| mesuy 5 | |
| Silver | ešenë 1.29 |
| ešenalt 1/4 | |
| Emur | razo 1/16 |
Svetla is also the common name for the Confederacy of Svetla (Cunnaž i Svetla), the strongest and most prosperous state of southern Eretald. It comprises the western third of the upper Svetla, and includes the cities of Ervëon, the capital Liynnor, Čenero, and Aránicer, as well as the holy Lake Como. In imperial times the stretch of the river from Zariaspa to Čenero was known as the province of Banda, best remembered as the birthplace of the emperor Irun.
The region borders the Barbarian Plain, and in the Dark Years it suffered successive barbarian invasions: the Coruo, the Bešbalicu, the Gelyet, the Curiyans, and the Makši. In between invasions, it was ruled by Caďinas, though effective power was in the hands of the local nobles.
It was these who expelled the last wave of barbarians, the Makši, around 2900. The kingdom of Ctésifon under Bura similarly expelled the Curiyans in 2917; Bura pushed his authority as far as Zariaspa a few years later. It was in order to forestall further Ctésifoni incursions that the southern barons formalized their wartime alliance into a confederacy (2921).
The dominant powers were at first the nobles, who were the ones with the soldiers; but as Plain-wide river trade revived with the rise of Verduria, and external military threats receded, the cities became wealthy and powerful. They continually pressed for more integration within the Confederacy: the elimination of internal tariffs; confederal courts for resolving non-local disputes and pursuing criminals; common coinage and weights. The smaller barons went along with these reforms, but the eastern third of the country was ruled by a single lord, the duke of Cerei, who bitterly resisted all such moves. Finally he declared himself independent, and attempted to better his position by attacking the town of Como. He was beaten back in 3081, but Cerei remained independent.
From 3175 to 3284 the confederacy included the duchy of Bažra; it left during a trade war with Verduria, in which each country attempted to restrain the other with tariffs and other trade restrictions. Eventually both sides realized that this was bad for business and backed down.
When Xurno reasserted control over its colony of Xazno on the Xazen river, in 3284, creating a trade route to the south, Svetla prospered even more. It has been receptive to northern innovations from printing to the joint-stock company to the scientific method— though it has shown little interest in Eleďát. Its local Eleďi are Arašei who have lived in the region since the time of the Empire.
Eř
The local dialect of Verdurian, Eř, is distinctive, and features some interesting retentions from Caďinor— e.g. h is pronounced, and medial -il- is pronounced [λ] rather than [j]— as well as innovatons such as the loss of ď (merged with d) and the pronunciation of k as [χ]. It retains many words lost elsewhere (e.g. hun ‘land’) as well as Caďinor’s sentence-final verbs, while borrowing from Xurnese, Caizu, and Eluyet. However, the Eř dialect is not used for writing. For this and for other formal uses, Svetla uses Mažtane, the dialect of Verduria.
Neighbors: Guaya, Ctésifon (to NW), Bažra (to W), Pakšohan (to SW), Cerei (to SE), Lapiri (to E), Vimínia (to NE), Solhai (to N)
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