Taiga

## Map

**Taiga**, officially the **Archduchy of Taiga**, is a Heartlandic nation located in northern Interra. It is home to the Taigans, an ethnic group of humans who are culturally distant from their brethren and are known for their hardiness. Taiga is bordered by the Elven Kingdom's Serene Coast in the north, Greymount in the east, Eben in the south, and Greengrove across the Great Northern River in the west.

## History

### Pre-Revelation Age

#### Fairy settlement

The land that constitutes Taiga today was first settled by fairies who arrived from Faenesia c. 2595 years ago. Many ruins dot eastern Rulgur and Fjallberg in northern Taiga. Life was simple, consisting of small agricultural villages populated by tribes that were made up of the same extended family, where no heirarchy or social order existed.

First contact with humanity had far-reaching effects on primitive fairy society. Humans introduced the concept of both war and hierarchy to the fairies, who until then stuck to the culture of egalitarianism that the climate of Faenesia necessitated. Winter famines and encroaching humans propelled migration into the small fairy village of Tarhewmyn in southeast Rulgur to become the largest fairy city in Interra. The city would give birth to the ancient Twyth civilization, a society made up of the mixed offspring of humans and fairies.

#### Twythians

The Twythians, the first elves, spread across northern Interra slowly through a series of brutally violent raids between c. 1525 PRA to c. 1330 PRA on human and fairy villages that resulted in the complete genocide of the Interran fairies and the ethnic cleansing of the human population from northern Interra. The Twythians lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle; Raindawn and Warmlight saw the brunt of the raiding while during the months of Treedusk and Snowfall saw the Twythians retreat back to Tarhewmyn. The raids caused widespread fear, and saw almost all of the ancient Heartlandic tribes of the north spread back to the southern reaches of the continent, where they found themselves unwelcome by the southern humans.

Raiding became less and less common as humans began to leave northern Interra, resulting in the Twythians to live a more sedentary lifestyle on formerly human lands. In 1206 PRA, the Twythians controlled portions of modern-day, Greengrove, the Serene Coast, Greymount, Taiga and Eben, as well as Freecloud Isle, Thalassia Island, Kadiores Island, and Krino Island.

#### Birth of the Taigan identity

Mistreatment at the hands of the southern humans caused various Heartlandic tribes to move back northward and war with the Twythians, who after a century of having no neighbors, were unprepared for the onslaught of the vengeful humans. On the 72nd of Treedusk, 1189 PRA, the Hjärte tribe, led by their new chieftain Stiko Hjärte and his three sons Toale, Björn, and Horfur launched a three pronged invasion of Mavmari Bay. The village of Stikonun was established as a beachhead, and the invasion transformed into the full-blown War for the Taiga, which they won at the cost of the death of Horfur and the annihilation of his army. The Chiefdoms of Horfurberg and Fjallberg were founded and given to Toale and Björn respectively. Stiko held ultimate power in both chiefdoms and crowned himself the Senior Chief of the Taiga, ruling from Stikonun.

In 1186 PRA, Björn broke free from his father's rule and became the most powerful man in Fjallberg. After the short Fjallberg-Horfurberg War that resulted in his father's execution at his own hands, Björn began the March to the Great River on the 76th of Treedusk, four days after the 3rd anniversary of the initial invasion. By the 21st of Snowfall, Björn and the Taigans successfully made it to the shore of the Great Northern River, cutting the Twythians from their brethren in the north. Björn's victory helped facilitate the Twythian Genocide.

Björn founded the holds of Grädenshold, Midhold, Norriver, Rulgur, Södur, and Svarhold and proclaimed himself the King of the Taiga and the lands under his domain to be the United Kingdom of Taiga on the 77th of Snowfall, 1186 PRA. The first capital of Taiga was the city of Fjallgrun. It remained the capital for the remainder of Björn's reign until it was moved back to Stikonun shortly after his death.

#### The Council of Presbyters

During the rule of Mart Hjärte in 1093 PRA, the Court Wizard of Riverhald, Aki Hirdmenn suspended his aging using unknown magic, achieving immortality. To prove this to the King, he experimented on two groups of dragonflies, one under his spell and one not. Within a month, the unaffected dragonflies were all dead, whereas all the dragonflies under the spell were still alive. Thorir's creation of an "immortality spell" quickly spread all across Interra and attracted mages from the entire continent to the city of Thyskurba. Thorir refused to share his secret with non-Taigan mages, and only revealed it to the other seven Court Wizards of Taiga. The 8 Court Wizards referred to themselves as the Council of Presbyters.

The Council gained a cult following that their detractors derogatorily referred to as the Dragonfly Cult, named after Thorir's experiment. The cult believed that the court wizards had ascended to godhood by removing their "shackles of mortality". The council capitalized on this and promised that servitude to them would grant immortality as well. Mart Hjärte and the royal family feared that the Council was becoming far too powerful and attempted to have them removed from their posts, backfiring and resulting in the Dragonfly Revolt, spelling the end of House Hjärte.

Rule by the Council was at first just, however, the mages became tyrannical after claiming that had successfully pushed past immortality and into invincibility. Fear of the Council and its cult led to Taiga becoming diplomatically and economically isolated from their neighbors, plunging them into crushing poverty. The famous Chyrosi twin explorers -- Adeletés and Adelitís Staxídi visited Taiga in 690 PRA at the height of the Council's rule and infamously wrote "the nature of the atrocities committed by the so-called Council of Presbyters are so brutal that this nation does not have any parallel in the known world." It was estimated that 40% of the Taigan population were personal slaves to the 8 members of the Council. Extra-judicial executions and land and property theft was a common practice by priests and soldiers of the Dragonfly Cult.

#### Styr's Rebellion and the founding of the Archduchy of Taiga

In 455 PRA, after 638 years of unopposed rule, the Council of Presbyters faced a major slave rebellion when a slave, Styr, murdered Brynjar in his sleep on the 91st of Treedusk. The news of the death of an "invincible" member of the Council of Presbyters sent shockwaves not only to the Taigan cities but throughout Interra. In the following 9 days, huge mobs of slaves turned on their masters as they hunted down the Council, their families, and their supporters. The Kingdom of Eben took notice of the turmoil in Taiga and used it as a justification to capture Thyskurba and kill Thorir on the 2nd of Snowfall. Two days later, known as "Bloody Soliday" occurred when Agnar, Aki, Adalsteinn, Hilmar, and Snorri were all killed on the same day, though at the cost of the lives of a huge number of the slave rebels. In particular, the cities of Svarhim and Eythiba were destroyed, as Hilmar used powerful magic to blow up Svarhim with him in it, and the Ebenians sacked Eythiba and murdered Adalsteinn and fought the slave rebels. The lone survivor of the Council, Einar, was killed on the 8th of Snowfall as slave rebels from all over Taiga descended upon the cultural capital of Taiga, Stikonun, and destroyed it along with anybody who lived there.

Following the end of the rebellion, King Klais of Eben traveled to Horfurberg and founded the city of Klaisberg atop the ruins of Stikonun, and proclaimed it the capital of the newly created Archduchy of Taiga. Klais handpicked 6 loyal Taigans and named them the Dukes of Fjallberg, Horfurberg, Midhold, Norriver, Rulgur, and Svarhold respectively. In his final act, he proclaimed himself the Archduke of Taiga, making Taiga a puppet state of Eben, allowing Ebenian merchants and migrants to settle Taiga but not vice-versa. The dukes of each hold would be granted a high level of autonomy but were still ultimately answerable to the Archduke. The quality of life in Taiga improved dramatically under King Klais and for the first time in over 600 years diplomatic and economic ties were restored to the rest of Interra.

### Revelation Age

#### Great Interran War

Taiga was one of the major participants of the Great Interran War on the side of the Brotherhood. Though diametrically opposed to the Broran Kalm's policies and their staunch belief of Elven supremacy, King Jona of Eben sided with Virwoldam in hopes of crushing the Kingdom of Greenwood, Eben's primary rival in the Heartlands. As the Archduke of Taiga, Jona included Taiga in the Eronil-von Unter Pact that saw Virwoldam, Eben, and Taiga militarily unite following Greenwood's refusal to hand over the deposed Queen Reimine. The Taigan Army was placed under the control of Linus Kullmenn, a Taigan who was the commander of the guard in Vorberg and was heavily funded. The underdeveloped Taigan Navy also saw some funding with renovations to the existing ports in Helgod and Klaisberg, as well as the construction of a new one, Fort Tarhewmyn in 12 RA.

Following the failure at the Battle of Greenwood, the Brotherhood reorganized its forces and aimed for Pluie instead, using the Taigan Army as the primary invasion force with the Ebenian Army as their occupation force. Due to Onegomar’s express wishes against having human soldiers “spill elven blood on elven land”, the Taigans were never deployed to Greengrove or the Serene Coast, dragging out the insurgency longer than needed and preventing the bulk of the Broran Kalm’s army from joining their allies in the Heartlands.

The Taigans tore through most of Pluie within three weeks and began the year long siege of Pluie’s capital, Villeparmi. Half of the Taigan Army were then replaced with the Ebenian Army and shifted their focus on Greenwood, where they conquered much of the west before being stalled by the Greenwoodians and Tai loyalists, slowly pushing closer to Greenwood Citadel with only half their army. Following the Fall of Pluie on the 25th of Warmlight, 13 RA, Thalassia joined the Committee on the 71st of Warmlight and thus entered the war, beginning the counteroffensive with the financial support and military aid of the Empire of Gorukai.

Though the Broran Kalm had finally arrived to the Heartlandic theatre, the small and exhausted Taigan Army was unable to hold off the rejuvenated Greenwoodian Army and the fresh Thalassian Army, causing the Brotherhood to be pushed back into Greenwoodian Hills, the far western region of Greenwood. The combined armies of the Brotherhood retreated to mostly defensive positions as to not lose Pluie. Meanwhile naval battles in Heart Lake intensified with the arrival of the powerful Thalassian Navy.

The Brotherhood remained in a mostly defensive position for the remainder of the war. By Snowfall of 13 RA, around 3/4s of the Taigan Army and 4/5s of the Ebenian Army was moved from Pluie to Eben to defend it from the expected invasion. The Taigans and Ebenians that remained in Pluie were merged together under the command of Piélin Treére, a Pluian general who sided with the Brotherhood following the collapse of the kingdom, reorganized as Piélin's Army. The invasion of Eben began on the 37th of Raindawn, 14 RA and at the time was the largest invasion force in history, with the Taigan Army on the frontlines to take the brunt of the attack. The success of the invasion led to the Ebenian Campaign, which spanned over the next three years. The Taigans once again proved themselves to be formidable warriors as they had done in Pluie.

Following Eben's collapse, King Jona fled to Klaisberg and took over Taiga and removed Linus from his post as the High General. Feeling betrayed, Linus turned himself over to the Committee in hopes of amnesty, but was arrested and jailed in Greenwood Citadel for the remainder of the war. With Linus gone and the Taigan Army and Navy severely crippled from the Ebenian Campaign, the Broran Kalm felt that Taiga was hopeless and broke the Eronil-von Unter Pact on the 55th of Warmlight, 17 RA, ending the Brotherhood as an alliance, and pulling all their troops from Pluie and Taiga and retreating back to Virwoldam and the Serene Coast for a final stand. On the 63rd of Warmlight, the invasions of Taiga and Pluie began which resulted in Pluie being re-occupied in just two days and Taiga being re-occupied by the Committee in 8 days, ending Taiga's involvement in the war. The Committee would go on to liberate the Serene Coast from Broran Kalm occupation and a 26 day long naval blockade and bombardment of Virwoldam ended with their surrender on the 5th of Treedusk, 17 RA.

The Great Interran War is viewed postively in Taiga depite the overwhelming casualities suffered by the Taigans and the destruction wrought on the nation during the Invasion of Taiga towards the end of the war. In particular, the Taigan Army's actions performance during the war are a source of national pride among the Taigans, despite their brutality and wanton killing of Pluian civilians. Additionally, General Linus is considered a national hero, with a 46 foot colossal statue of him alongside Styr and Björn Hjärte in the city of Styr that dominates the skyline being erected after his execution. Taiga suffered the heaviest military casualties during the war, but relatively few civilian casualties.

#### HRPC invasion of Taiga

In 22 RA, five years following the conclusion of the Great Interran War, Taiga was invaded by a coalition of Heartlands Regional Peace Committee member states and the Elven Kingdom. Taiga had been the only Heartlandic nation to not join the HRPC due to Archduke Jona von Unter still ruling the nation after being deposed following the Ebenian Campaign. An elite unit of the Royal Elven Army, Telussheid Warriors were dispatched at Queen Reimine's behest to aid in the invasion and to locate Mennor Kvalsal or any of his allies, whom the Elven Kingdom still had a bounty on. The occupation was meant to only last for a short time until Jona's replacement was found, but a political crisis arose as to who the successor for Archduke would be. The new King of Eben, Warz von Antirum and the Duke of Horfurberg, Fitta Tikmenn, proposed that King Warz assume the title of Archduke, in continuation of tradition, while the remaining Dukes all wanted Taiga to become totally independent from Eben. The crisis was solved after both parties agreed to allow King Warz assume the title of Archduke on the condition that any decree made the Archduke must be first agreed upon by all the Dukes of Taiga.

## Government, Economy, and Demographics

Taiga is a confederation of largely autonomous duchies who all swear fealty to the King of Eben, who holds the title of Archduke of Taiga. Though technically apart of the Kingdom of Eben, Taiga has often been treated as a seperate nation by Eben and other the nations in Interra. The six Dukes of Taiga hold considerable power within their holds and are seen as the true rulers of their territories while the Archduke serves as mostly a figurehead. Despite this, there have been times throughout history where the Archduke took a more direct role in Taiga, which often occured during times of war involving Eben.