Erdellians

Erdellians are a sentient species of humanoid mammalians. Bipedal and four-limbed, Erdellians are native to the planet of Krett.
Originating from the Diyuz System in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, Erdellians evolved into sentience under Forerunner care in approximately 1,500,000 BCE. They periodically rebelled against Forerunner control, prompting the latter to position several Guardians in ancient Erdellian space. During the Forerunner-Flood War, several thousand ancient Erdellians were evacuated to a Forerunner shield world under the direction of the Librarian, and survived the Flood as well as the activation of the Halo Array.
In the aftermath, the Erdellians slowly reestablished their civilization on their homeworld of Krett, although knowledge of the Forerunners was gradually lost over the eons. By the late 400s CE, the Erdellians had reestablished an interstellar civilization, their technological development accelerated after the first Emperor, Barzea, discovered the Forerunner capital of Maethrillian. By the time of the Human-Covenant War in the early 2500s CE, thanks to their reverse-engineering of Forerunner technology, the Erdellians occupied a position of great power and influence in the Perseus Arm, and had begun to expand into the Orion Arm of the Milky Way.
Throughout their history as an interstellar species, the Erdellians came into contact with other sentient species, and often engaged in open warfare with them. Notable species the Erdellians engaged in conflict with are the Zarids, the Yggolites, the Fawnd, the Exe-Mac, the Reblans, and the constituent species of the Covenant. After the Human-Covenant War, the Erdellian Empire entered into a non-aggression pact with the Unified Earth Government and the Swords of Sanghelios, and had official diplomatic relations with numerous other species.
==Appearance==
Erdellians are mammals, bipedal, and on average are approximately 160-170 centimeters tall and weigh on average around 50-60 kilograms, although there are individuals recorded as being far taller or shorter, and thinner or heavier. They are covered in fur - which can take on a great many colorations based on genetics - have long, pointed triangular snouts, large, triangular ears for hearing, and have small, somewhat beaded eyes, whose irises vary in color, again based on genetics. To Humans, Erdellians look distinctly vulpine (fox-like) in appearance.
==Etymology==
The word "Erdellian" is an English-language transliteration of the endonym of the species. In the Erdellian Standard Imperial Dialect, "Erd" is a term denoting the absence of light in general - darkness. However, as a proper noun, "Erd" refers to the Erdellian deity of the same name, who represents night, shadow, mystery, and the natural satellite of the Erdellian homeworld, the moon also named Erd. "El," the other morpheme comprising "Erdellian," represents, in general parlance, light, or the absence of darkness. As a proper noun, however, "El" particularly refers to divine enlightenment, revelation, and the Erdellian deity of the same name, who represents knowledge, daytime, and Diyuz A, one of the main sequence stars of the Erdellian home star system. Thus, the term "Erdellian" means, translated literally, as "dark-light progeny."
==History==
===Origin===
The Erdellian species originates from the planet of Krett, an earthlike world approximately 10% larger than Earth, varied in climate and capable of supporting life, orbiting a binary star system. They evolved at the apex of Forerunner control of the Milky Way, and were studied for some time by Forerunner biologists before and during the species' rise to sentience. The Forerunners maintained extensive records on the Erdellians that were partially lost in future conflicts, and so information from this period is largely fragmentary. In Erdellian historiography, this period of their history is known as "ancient All-Erdellia" and the Erdellians living during it as "ancient Erdellians." The ancient Erdellians were carefully guided by Forerunner scientists, following the philosophy of the Mantle. With Forerunner assistance, the ancient Erdellians established an interstellar civilization, although they were vassalized and became a client species of the Forerunner Ecumene. During this time, Krett, the Erdellian homeworld, was called "Ardana," a name used by both Forerunners and ancient Erdellians.
===Erdellian-Forerunner conflicts (c. 200,053 BCE-c. 100,000 BCE)===
Over time the ancient Erdellians began to resent Forerunner interference in their affairs. The Erdellians began to foment rebellion against the Forerunners, and in 200,035 BCE, they launched an uprising against their overlords. The Forerunners were taken completely by surprise and initially shocked, but they quickly moved to quell the revolt, with the Forerunner Promethean Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished leading Forerunner forces in the conflict. Bitterness crushed Erdellian resistance and placed a Guardian on Ardana to prevent further rebellions. She then engaged in a campaign of heavy political repression against the Erdellians, indefinitely interning tens of millions of rebels - suspected or otherwise - in prison cities across Ardana, curtailing civil and political freedoms, and dismantling Erdellian self-government.
Bitterness's heavy-handed repression of the Erdellians caused a controversy in the upper levels of Forerunner policymaking, despite changing attitudes at this time away from the tenets of the Mantle of Responsibility. Nevertheless, the very fact that Bitterness elected to engage in such a campaign against the Erdellian populace foreshadowed the future shift in Forerunner society away from the Mantle. Fifty thousand years later, the Forerunners determined that living memory of the rebellion faded amongst their Erdellian vassals, and after several overtures of peace from Erdellian emissaries, the Forerunners removed the Guardian placed on Ardana and allowed the ancient Erdellians to reestablish an interplanetary civilization. Bitterness protested to the removal of the Guardian and the relaxation of anti-Erdellian policies, but she was overruled by the Ecumene Council and ignored.
Around six thousand years after the removal of the Ardana Guardian, in around 144,000 BCE, the ancient Erdellians requested greater autonomy, as well as complete freedom in internal politics. At this time, the ancient Erdellians were now led by Rodrin pur Collun, a popularly-elected leader, who began to openly speak out against Forerunner influence in Erdellian civilization. After repeated requests by the Ecumene Council to cease his anti-Forerunner messages, Rodrin responded by personally journeying to the Forerunner capital where he spoke before the Council and argued in person that the Forerunners were excessively involved in the internal affairs of the Erdellians. Rodrin was denounced by the Council, who arrested and imprisoned him for sedition and disturbing the peace, in an event known as the Rodrinian Incident. This became the catalyst for a second Erdellian rebellion, led by Rodrin's younger brother, Raggar.
Once again, Bitterness-of-the-Vanquish led the Forerunner response. Again, her forces easily destroyed Erdellian resistance, although she suffered heavier losses than the first rebellion, and Raggar pur Collun and several hundred of his followers escaped to ancient Human civilization, where they were granted asylum. All this time, Rodrin continued to vocally support anti-Forerunner uprisings while in prison, both among Erdellians and among the other client species of the Forerunners. While his calls for a galaxy-wide uprising were not heeded, the Ecumene Conucil deemed Rodrin sufficiently dangerous alive to warrant his execution. Thus, he was put to death, in one of the rare occurrences of a publicly-broadcasted execution in Forerunner history.
In the wake of her victory and the Erdellian leadership's evacuation of Ardana, Bitterness led a second campaign of repression against the remaining Erdellian population, which saw the return of the prison cities and the suppression of various liberties. Furthermore, many Erdellians were deported to worlds across the Forerunner Ecumene, far from Ardana, their properties and possessions expropriated by the Forerunners. While the Forerunners kept accurate records of their activities, much of the records from this second Erdellian rebellion were lost in the Forerunner-Flood War. Modern Erdellian historians have made various estimates as to the numbers of ancient Erdellians deported, with the current Imperial government officially tallying the number at between 1 and 10 billion individuals deported. In Erdellian historiography, these ancient Erdellians are known as the "Lost Nations," while those who fled to ancient Humanity are known as "Collunian Erdellians," named after Raggar pur Collun, their leader. Most Collunian Erdellians would be killed fighting alongside the ancient Humans during the Human-Forerunner Wars, and upon the collapse of ancient Humanity, surviving Collunian Erdellians were later subjected to internal deportation in the Ecumene, sharing the fate of the Lost Nations.
After this second rebellion, the remaining Erdellian political and intellectual elite on Ardana came to the conclusion that further armed rebellion against the Forerunners would be counterproductive and ultimately result in the destruction of the Erdellian species as a whole, and opted to preserve as much native ancient Erdellian culture as possible, as well as regain some semblance of autonomy within the Ecumene. To a degree, these new "soft" tactics were successful: some time after 100,000 BCE, ancient Erdellians regained freedom of movement in the Ecumene, and many populations of Lost Nations reunited with Ardana. A degree of political autonomy was delegated to the ancient Erdellians, although the Guardian placed on the Erdellian homeworld was never removed again.
===Forerunner-Flood War (97,745 BCE - 97,445 BCE)===
The initial appearance of the Flood to Forerunner civilization was inconsequential to the ancient Erdellians, but as this "parasite" became a faction that waged war against the Forerunners, the conflict soon involved them. Many ancient Erdellians were concerned at the apparent failure of the Forerunner Warrior-Servants to effectively reverse the Flood's advances, and in the increasing panic and desperation, many planets formerly populated by ancient Erdellians were evacuated, constituting some of the largest population transfers of ancient Erdellians since Bitterness's deportations. On one Forerunner planet, Dyris, the entire community of 4 million ancient Erdellians fled, many filling Forerunner cargo ships to beyond capacity in the evacuations.
Nevertheless, the ancient Erdellians suffered huge losses in both military personnel and civilian populations, with numerous Erdellian-inhabited planets quickly overrun by the Flood. As the conflict progressed, the ancient Erdellian population declined, and by the time the Librarian was afforded the opportunity to shelter several thousand ancient Erdellians in the shield world of Sinj, most ancient Erdellians had been absorbed by the Flood, or committed suicide to avoid such a fate. Indeed, mass suicides were common among several client species of the Forerunners as the Forerunner-Flood War was reaching its conclusion in order to avoid capture and assimilation into the Flood, although the phenomenon was most pervasive among ancient Erdellians.
With the activation of the Halo array by the Forerunners and the extinction of sentient life in the galaxy outside of certain protected areas (such as the shield worlds), the ancient Erdellians were reduced to only a few thousand individuals, harbored on the shield world of Sinj. While most of the survivors came from core ancient Erdellian territory, a handful traced their ancestry to the Lost Nations or to the Collunians. In fact, Shiro pur Collun, a distant descendant of Rodrin pur Collun, had by now assumed a position of leadership among the ancient Erdellians, acting also as their foremost representative. En route to the Erdellian homeworld to return the Erdellians to their planet, Shiro and the Lifeworker known as Joy-Through-Arduous-Work discussed at length the events of the Forerunner-Flood War, the Forerunners' past dominance of the galaxy, and overall Erdellian existence under the Forerunners. Upon returning to Ardana, Shiro and several of his closest companions and advisors jointly denounced the Forerunners, blaming them solely for the eruption of the Foreunner-Flood War. It is not known if Shiro and his associates knew that the Forerunners were indirectly responsible for the Flood - beings which ultimately traced their origin to the Precursors, whom the Forerunners waged war against and almost destroyed - and it is a widely accepted theory among modern Erdellian historians that Shiro and his companions were ignorant of such facts.
Allegedly, as Joy departed, an angry mob of ancient Erdellians attacked the handful of Lifeworkers accompany her, pelting them with rocks, although refrained from directly attacking Joy herself out of respect for saving their species. When Joy pleaded with the mob to cease attacking, they obliged, falling quiet. Shiro also allegedly spoke to Joy before she left Ardana, saying to her "We thank you for saving us, but we turn away from your people for damning us." However, he also adopted her as his own sister, reportedly taking her hand and declaring to the crowd that Joy and her handful of Lifeworkers to be honorary Erdellians. While these incidents are seen by modern Erdellian historians as "plausible yet likely apocryphal," the common Erdellian phrase "turn away" denoting a complete and total contemptuous rejection of something or someone is alleged to trace its origin to Shiro's speech, as is the concept of honorary Erdellianity.
Shiro's and Joy's discussion, titled after its incipit, "On Our Relationship with Your People," as well as Shiro's later denouncement, retroactively named the "Shironite Indictment," would be recorded and rerecorded numerous times by both Shiro, his descendants, and his companions and their descendants, offering perhaps some of the oldest currently extant non-Forerunner written records in the known galaxy. These two documents would also define future Erdellian popular opinion of the Forerunners, with the former almost universally regarding the latter as irresponsible oppressors who almost destroyed the galaxy through extreme hubris and neglect.
=== Archaic Native period (c. 97, 445 BCE-90,000 BCE) ===
Modern Imperial historiographers of Erdellian history have commonly dubbed the period immediately after the departure of the Forerunners from galactic politics as the Archaic Native period, a nomenclature largely adopted by academia outside of the Erdellian Empire.
In the Archaic Native period, the Erdellian species was initially estimated to be roughly 7000 individuals in total, rendering it critically endangered. Women outnumbered men by significant figures due to significant losses, military and otherwise, in the final days of the Forerunner-Flood War: in the initial days, it was estimated that there was 1 Erdellian man for every 10 Erdellian women. Over two-thirds of Erdellians were also estimated to be children between infancy and the age of 18. To quickly rectify this, Shiro and the rest of the leadership encouraged polygamy and adoption. Orphans would soon become adopted by families with numerous mothers, and pregnancies sharply rose. In the immediate years following the departure of the Forerunners, the technical skills of the surviving Erdellians would also become useful: some survivors are known to have been farmers, construction workers, engineers, and mechanics, and their expertise greatly aided in the construction and maintenance of Zond, the first known post-Forerunner Native Erdellian settlement on Krett. Zond's structures are typical of the period: a mixture of highly advanced materials and metallurgy with ad-hoc planning and materials native to Krett (such as the mortar made of concrete from Krett stones).
According to written records and personal diaries, Zond was sustained by a mixture of subsistence farming (many homes had gardens enclosed by small stone walls), animal husbandry, hunting, gathering, fishing, and the use of a single large field for intensive, community-based agriculture, with records and archeological findings noting the cultivation of ush, a type of cereal grain native to Krett. This system of self-sufficiency would be emulated by successive communities.
Over Shiro's lifetime, he is known to have personally founded, or been involved in the creation of, seven communities in total. They are, in chronological order: Zond, Parvo, Mydaria, Ythria, Xandor, Vanador, and Eleuria. Of these, Eleuria was the longest-lived, surviving into the Early Cosmic period under various forms of government before ultimately joining the Erdellian Empire. Eleuria remains a subjective of intensive study for Erdellian political scientists as a curious example of state longevity and flexibility.
Shiro and his people were landed upon the isolated continent of Birin, although through island-hopping across the Sa Sea to the neighboring continent of Adami, the Erdellians quickly managed to recolonize their native homeworld, largely devoid of animal life due to the firing of the Halo arrays. Animals had to be recreated from cloning: while this allowed initial generations of Erdellians to pursue animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing, the cloning vats built from poorly-adapted Forerunner technology soon broke down over the course of roughly 100 years, forcing the early Erdellians to rely more and more on agriculture (and later aquaculture). Eventually, animal populations would rise to numbers suitable for sustainable use, thanks to clones who were designed to be fertile, although this would take thousands of years.
Shiro died of natural causes in 97,202 BCE, after outliving much of his generation and his initial companions. In the decades that followed, Shiro's communities - retroactively dubbed the Shironian Alliance - gradually broke apart into various smaller, independent groupings of settements. Zond, Parvo, and Mydaria joined together in alliance, and eventually became a single community under Zondian control. Ythria and Xandor also allied, but as they were physically distant from Zond, they became a distinct, separate entity, and called themselves the Paria State. Vanador and Eleuria, also distant from the other settlements, became independent as well, although maintained their neutrality.
Over centuries, the Erdellians focused more on survival than knowledge-keeping, as populations of Erdellians increased exponentially yet food production struggled to maintain similar growth. Population growth coupled with acute resources scarcity and lack of arable land led to tensions betwen Zond, Paria State, Vanador and Eleuria. Soon, a war broke out between Zond and Paria State. Often seen in Erdellian popular culture as "the first war," the Zond-Paria Water War erupted in 96,802 BCE, and was fought over control of the Zuhun River, which was a disputed border between the two. As the population of both countries never exceeded 50,000 in this period of time, casualties were relatively light. In the single battle of the war - a skirmish along the western shore of the Zuhun between attacking Paria forces and defending Zondian forces - a total of 82 Erdellians lost their lives: 40 from Paria, 35 from Zond, and 2 from Eleuria, from a large group of travelers curious to see the conflict unfold. They were killed when an errant rocket struck near the group.
While the conflict was small in scale compared to future conflicts, in is time it was seen as a major confrontation that had capacity to quickly escalate out of control into an extinction-level event, especially by Eleuria's leadership. So, the leader of Eleuria, Tigi D'Kut, offered to mediate to end the conflict. For much of 96,801 BCE, D'Kut, Zond's leader Caras Tinn and Paria's leader Sesho Merela, and their companions negotiated and deliberated on ending the war. Eventually, the conflict was settled: both Zond and Paria would have rights of use for the river, although they also had joint responsibility to maintain sustainable use and clean pollution. The war also depleted the munitions of both belligerents: the Zondians fired over a hundred unguided rockets at Parian positions, reducing their stock by a third, while the Parians lost one of three main battle tanks they had available. As a result, both nations agreed to mediate in future conflicts between one another.
The Zond-Paria Water War was a defining moment in the Archaic Native period. It was the only military conflict of the era, but it set a precedent for mutual cooperation, at least between two of the first communities - who were, nevertheless, the largest and most populous communities in the period.
=== First Regressive Period (c. 90,000 BCE- c. 75,000 BCE) ===
At roughly 90,000 BCE, Krett underwent a period of minor glaciation, but the climactic changes were significant enough to affect Erdellian civilization worldwide. Erdellian scientists had predicted this, but a general sense of apathy among the populace led to little preparations. Within 300 years, Krett's average global temperature had dropped by 20 degrees Celsius. Animal and plant life were driven closer to the equator, as were Erdellians. The cooling climate meant that lands suitable for agriculture were becoming increasingly restricted to the tropics, and more northerly latitudes were altogether abandoned. Zond and Paria saw massive emigration as mass evacuations - both organized and spontaneous - gripped both states. Thousands of Erdellians fled south towards Eleuria, which was located in a tropical area, where many perished in the journey due to disease, starvation, or exhaustion. Meanwhile, Vanador in the southern hemisphere had declined in population due to famine, and the various outlying settlements soon clashed with one another over increasingly scarce resources, such as fossil fuels and arable land.
This minor glacial period lasted from approximately 90,000 BCE to around 75,000 BCE. During this time, Zond and Paria disappeared altogether and their territories and settlements covered in a thick glacial sheet. Roughly half of Vanador's territory was covered in glaciers as well, with the remaining territory's climate shifting from temperate woodlands and steppe to tundra and ice fields. The settlements not completely abandoned fought one another in exhaustive conflicts for control of dwindling resources, and Vanador collapsed as a coherent state. Only Eleuria remained relatively unharmed by the climactic change, although the massive influx of refugees created significant crises in the country.
The severe strain on these communities precipitated societal collapse. Recordkeeping was absent during the later parts of this period, as highlighted by a general lack of documentation, and so information is largely conjectural, but it is largely believed that all of the Erdellian settlements suffered substantial population losses, and archaeological evidence of mass graves support a hypothesis.
By about 75,000 BCE, the settlements were reduced to small hamlets. It is believed that the total Erdellian population at this time numbered at around 50,000 individuals. Technology suffered substantial regression, and archaeological finds suggest a level of technology comparable to Late Antiquity by roughly 75,000 BCE, with the absence of electronics, plastics, and the lack of rare earth metals in use by Erdellian communities. Knowledge of writing was preserved, however, indicated by excavated gravestones with personal names and fired clay tablets documenting annual stocks of agricultural products, all written in a dialect known as "Post-Forerunner Erdellian," a language still under significant study.
=== First Global Epoch (c. 60,000 BCE - c. 40,000 BCE) ===
Erdellian civilization gradually recovered by roughly 60,000 BCE as the glacial period subsided. A period of warming followed, and the Erdellian settlements that survived - mainly in Eleuria and Vanador - began establishing themselves into city-states. Controlling the nearby areas, these cities, built with small, simple earthen walls and containing perhaps no more than 20,000 individuals, eventually grew into trading hubs for the hinterlands to sell their produce. As the cities grew and food supplies became more plentiful, bureaucracies were gradually established to properly govern and administer the cities. By around 50,000 BCE, the first evidence of monarchical figures appear in leadership positions, with several personal names of kings recorded in their large burial mounds. As the ice from the glacial period receded, these kings and their cities recolonized abandoned land. One such king, Udu-Kurthat of the city of Karis, is recorded to have settled one thousand individuals in the Malash Valley, formed by glacial erosion. Another, Tranco of Yppol, is recorded to have rediscovered the cities of Zond, although he described them as "ground down into pebbles, where a mighty giant took the stones of the walls and crushed them with her bare hands."
Roughly at around 40,000 BCE, a cooling period commenced on Krett, with global temperatures dropping by five degrees. The subsequent climactic changes, almost entirely undetected by the Erdellians until well into the crisis, led to significant disruptions of harvest for several consecutive years. Famine ensued, resulting in a substantial societal disruption from massive population transfer. Documentation asserts the violent nature of the transfer, with many groups of thousands being confronted by the smaller, more organized armies of the cities, resulting in large battles with significant loss of life on both sides. A notable battle was the Battle of Cala, where King Doro-Sasat of Karis was killed fighting against the Zarko tribes, led by Gundurus. Karis was later sacked by the Zarkos and the kingdom collapsed. Many more cities would be sacked as well, and while their ruins would eventually be rediscovered, many sites would not be reoccupied until the formation of the Empire and some remain preserved as historical sites.
Agricultural production fell, and the cities waged more and more frequent resource wars, as well as having to defend themselves from the migratory groups. Eventually, most of the cities were abandoned, such as Karis and Yppol. A few survived, mainly in Eleuria, chief among them was the city of Mydaria.
=== Mydarian Period (c. 40,000 BCE - c. 20,000 BCE) ===
The Mydarian Period is recognized as a transitional period. Erdellian civilization was reduced largely to Eleuria, with the city of Mydaria in prominence. Eleuria largely escaped the ravages of the late First Global Epoch, and so a preservation of Erdellian culture ensued in the region. Recordkeeping blossomed as historians and scribes left detailed accounts of court life at the palace of the kings of Mydaria, and in Mydarian life in general. In this period, subsistence agriculture was widely practiced, although there were large tracts of land held by the king and used for state purposes, mainly the production of food for surplus. The king would then use these resources to maintain control, largely by serving as the sole redistribution point. While trade was understandably disrupted and morphed into mainly internal markets, manufacturing increased, with new developments in metallurgy, mass production, and logistics. It was during this time that Erdellian civilization began a shift towards reindustrialization.
=== Second Global Epoch (c. 20,000 BCE - c. 10,000 BCE) ===