Heimrean (Culture)

The Heimrean people group is a cultural, ethnic, and religious group that originally developed in northeastern Sørligste. They have since dispersed across several continents and have/had presences in Sparwood and Helmia. 
=== Etymology ===
The word Heimr comes from the Heimrean word for home and was used as the name for the region they inhabited. The word would eventually be used to describe the people themselves as Heimreans which roughly translates to "Home people". The word also has a sacred connotation as it is the name of the place where in the Fjaldian faith the gods first met with the Heimrean people.
=== Prehistory ===
The Heimrean ethnic group first came about when they split off from the Valdic people and migrated west to what was at the time a relatively flat plateau. These proto-Heimreans would wander this plateau hunting and gathering which would sustain a meager population. They would have a minor population boom after the domestication of the Heimrean Prickle Berry. This food surplus would allow for temporary settlements to begin to develop but wouldn't allow for anything permanent so the Heimreans remained nomadic. During this period while there were many different groups of Heimreans they were relatively united by culture and there was relative peace. This was the case until a great disaster split the plateau apart into mountain ranges and valleys. In the Fjaldian faith the splitting up of the plateau is blamed on a great fight between the gods while others believe it was an incredibly strong earthquake. Either way this led to the Heimrean people being divided into multiple cultures and dialects. Eventually the Heimreans would even begin large scale fighting amongst different "chiefdoms". This would go on for some time until an era of great peace was established and the cultures and languages of Heimreans were reunified. Fjaldians believe the gods of the intervened to rectify the mistake of splitting them in the first place. The place were the gods first re-unified the Heimreans is known as "The Heimr" and would become a meeting place for the different chiefs of the region. This would establish a new status quo for the Heimreans until the invasion by Frostmarch. The Heimreans didn't want to come under Frostmarch's banner, so they fought back. During times of great crisis all of the chiefs of Heimr are meant to fall under the banner of one Kaiser this was the first time it was actually used though. "Hagor the Mighty" was elected as Kaiser by all the chiefs. A crown was created for him, and he wielded the full might of the Heimrean people. He would fight with Frostmarch for many years and eventually after the Frostmarch forces begin to threaten the holy site at The Heimr he negotiated the Heimrean surrender so the chiefdoms could remain nomadic and continue to self-govern. 
=== Heimrean Decay ===
Under Frostmarch the Heimrean culture would become more and more Valdic over time as trade and the conversion of the upper class began to influence culture. Eventually the whole Heimrean would decay into nothing as Valdic would be adopted by everyone in the region. Some tried to save their language by modernizing it and writing it all down into a compendium, but due to the nomadic nature of the Heimrean people's nomadic lifestyle at the time the compendium would end up being lost after a landslide leveled a Heimrean camp site. Overtime many of the chiefs began to move east to the larger Frostmarcher cities leaving their people behind. During this period the Heimrean culture, faith, and language decayed to the point of being unrecognizable.
=== Founding of Heimr ===
One man who would see this decay and attempt to do something about it was Historian. He believed the way to save the Heimrean people was to unite them all in one city so they were no longer divided even by distance. Historian advocated for the construction of a city on The Heimr. The only problem was that he couldn't get funding to build his city due to the impoverished nature of the Heimreans at the time. Eventually he was able to raise enough funds from the common Heimrean people to build a city but wasn't able to get the approval of Frostmarcher government. So, he attempted to build his settlement in an area he believed was more rural and undeveloped so he traveled to Niedene and founded a city he dubbed Heimr (would later be known as old Heimr). This settlement would be short lived but would be very important due to the people it brought together. Mouskau a Frostmarcher noblemen would eventually track them down and tell them they were squatting on Soleanan land and that if they came back to Frostmarch with him they could build a city in the Heimrean homeland. They would then travel back to Frostmarch and establish the city of Heimr at The Heimr Holy Site. Historian would soon after stepping down as leader and give the position to a man from Old Heimr named Kaiser. Kaiser would then be elected to the position of Kaiser by the Heimrean people. Kaiser would then declare Historian and, another member of Old Heimr, Mounlin Ascheberg co-leaders. Heimr would lead to a revival of the Heimrean culture, population, and religion. Historian would end up disappearing sometime after the city's founding. 
More can be learned about Heimr on the Heimr wiki
=== The Split ===
Kaiser wanted independence from Frostmarch and attempt a popular revolution to achieve this. This revolution would end up failing and leading to his exile. When Kaiser left many Heimreans fallowed him which led to a split in the Heimrean culture. Kaiser's group often known as Kaiserite Heimreans would stop practicing the Fjaldian faith and would begin a practice known as Historieeatic Worship were they worship Historian. Kaiser's band of Heimreans would live a nomadic life traveling from place to place often resting on Islands. The other band of Heimreans would be known as Mountic Heimreans who followed the leadership of Mounlin Ascheberg. Later into Heimrean history the Kaiserite Heimreans would construct a fort near Heimr and conduct raids on the Mounlic Heimreans in Heimr proper. This would begin a long-standing rivalry between the leaders and groups.
=== Fall of Heimr ===
The thing that triggered Kaiser's raids was a looming war between Frostmarch and Lorent that left Heimr in a weakened state. Heimr would be transformed into an industrial city during this period as it became a hub for armor production. In secret though many Heimreans began preparing to flee Frostmarch should they lose. In the end though Heimr would never see wide scale combat as Frostmarch would end selling the city to Mayyophobia to raise funds for the war. When Mayyophobian troops arrived, many welcomed them as liberators and others had already fled. The Mayyophobian troops told the citys people that would either have to leave or be killed. A few brave souls would attempt to fight the soldiers one of them being Hagrid a dissent descendant of Hagor. Those who attempted to fight would either end up fleeing or dying after waging guerrilla campaigns. Those who attempted to flee would meet in Erovald were Apopis and Kakoolie had paid for places where the Heimreans could temporarily live. The Heimreans had no were to go. If they stayed in Erovald they would all die when Lorent began their march. The Heimrean leader at this point, Mounlin Ascheberg, began desperately searching for a place to take his people. He came up dry until his brother Smoggis invited them to live in the city of Gronborg in his nation Steinjärn. Kakoolie, Apopis, and Mounlin would pay for several ships to take the Heimrean people north to the port city of Concordia in Valoore. From there they marched north to Gronborg on foot. This march was very costly and led to many deaths, but when gronborg was reached a new hope was gained.
=== Hofn Heimr ===
Hofn Heimr was quickly established on a cliff side once Gronborg was reached. The Heimrean leadership would become very influential in Steinjarn politics which would allow for the adoption Heimrean customs in the locals on a small scale and the adoption of local customs in the Heimrean people on a small scale. Hofn Heimr would the place were the first religious councils would be held in ages and the state of Fjaldianism would discuss in detail and would lead to its codification into one central scripture. At the same time this was happening many Heimrean people would convert to Cervonism, a religion that gained wide scale popularity in Steinjarn. Hofn Heimr would act as a place for the Heimrean people to rebuild after the fall of Heimr and allow them to put measures in place to prevent further cultural erasure.
=== Religion ===
There are two main religions practiced by the Heimrean people. Fjaldianism and the cult of Historian. This split in religious beliefs is a result of the split in the Heimrean people more widely. There are other religions the Heimrean people practice that aren't mentioned here due to them not having a Heimrean origin like the Cervonist Heimreans.
==== Fjaldianism ====
Read about Fjaldianism in these texts "Fjaldian Faith".
==== Cult of Historian ====
Kaiserite Heimreans are the main members of a religious practice that only worships Historian. They see him as their lord and savior. This practice was established soon after they left Heimr and began their nomadic lifestyle. They often end speeches with a small story about Historian or by praising him. They also build shrines in the memory of Historian or just to worship him. This practice is not known as the Cult of Historian to it fallows and the term "Cult of Historian" is a Mountic creation just to describe the religion as Mountic scholars don't know what its practitioners call it.
=== Cultural Practices and Customs ===
==== Open to All ====
One of the Heimrean's main trait is openness to new people. The symbol on the Heimrean flag is said to mean, "Heimrean by word" in runic Heimrean. Many anthropologists say that this is a dubious claim, and that its impossible to tell what or say that it refers to the godhood. Which represents that for many Heimreans you saying you are Heimrean is enough for them to agree. This is mostly due to the Heimrean Mounlin Roach who led the Heimreans for most of their formative years and heavily proselytizing this position. Mounlin wasn't born into the Heimrean culture, but rather adopted it which is why he subscribed to this position. This has snow balled out into the Pan-Heimrean concept in the modern day Halgean Federation. In the, geographical region of Halge known as, the Heimrean step many have opted to take on the Heimrean moniker merely as a regional distinction. This refers to how the step was once owned by the, posthumously named, "Greater" Heimrean Duchy.
==== Points of Distinction ====
Many Heimreans wish to signal their belonging to the broader group and one of many ways they do this is embracing fashion from Heimr before it was under Frostmarch. One such example of this is the wrist band which is the most commonly used of any of these. These wrist bands are often made of hay and bound together with bronze, iron, or silver. This isn't the case with west Heimreans as they use horse hair wrist bands and this is localized to their noble class. The wrist band was widely popularized on the march from Steinjarn to Valor as wheat was a much rarer commodity at the time and so was used as a status symbol. Once Valor was reached many more people began wearing them and they morphed into being a sign of the common people. Traditionally men have worn the band on their right wrist and woman have worn them on their left, but this has faded with time. 
Category:Lore
Category:Cultures
Category:Religions
Category:Traveler's Era
Category:Valdic