Shefýddhaqhui

Flag of Shefýddhaqhui

Location of Shefýddhaqhui on Myarolan (in orange)

**Shefýdh** (/ʃəˈfɜːð/, Dah. /ʂəiˈfɨð/, NW [ˈsfuð], BA [ˈʂfɯw]), officially the **Confederation of** **Shefýddhaqhui** (/ʃəˈfɜːðəˌhʉː/, Dah. /ʂəiˌfɨððəˈχʉu/, NW [ˌsfuððəˈχy], BA [ˌʂfɯvvəˈxyː]), is a country situated on the southern coast of Myarolan. The official language is Dahtashé and the country is primarily populated by the Tagdashé (Dah. /təɢdəˈʂæə/, NW [təttəˈɕɛ]), aka Tagzemboo (Dah. /təɢzɪmˈboː/, BA [təŋzm̩ˈmo]) people.

Shefýdh is located along the coastline of the Quzemboo desert and the people there have always had close ties with the sea. Many of the modern constituent states began as merchant cities, conducting trade across the continent and overseas. The eastern part of the country has much more rainfall and has always been the food basket of the country.

## History

The Tagdashé people descend from the Ta-Rai, who originally inhabited lands to the northwest, specifically the Taquu branch who constituted the final wave of emigrations as well as those who stayed in the original homeland. Many Taquu people migrated east across the desert, but some settled down in small fishing villages or at oases, eventually forming the Desert Taquu culture.

These early inhabitants often struggled to survive, but conflict was scarce as people were spread out over large distances. The development of advanced sailing techniques allowed for much faster transport as well improved fishing yields, and the Desert Taquu culture began to flourish. As sailing technologies began to advance further, the Desert Taquu came into contact with other nearby cultures and used their central position and maritime prowess to dominate the trade routes across southern Myarolan.

Fishing towns began to develop into trade hubs as trade became the primary economic activity for many towns across the region. The growth of towns and cities with limited local food resources caused increasing interest in more fertile lands, with trading posts in the tropical eastern peninsula becoming permanent settlements.

Competing economic interests began to cause frictions among the different cities, leading to a period of wars between cities as well as alliances. These alliances developed into competing trade leagues, and finally into unification of the entire coastline under a single banner, the Taquu Trade League (Shefýddhaqhui; Old Dah. *Tsrai-pfýdh-dhaqqhuu 'League-trade-Taquu'*). The ethnonym Tagdashé (Dah. *Tagqdashjeo*) literally means "league people".

## Geography

Shefýdh is primarily located in the Quzemboo desert, but also includes a small portion of tropical climate in the far east. There is one island located off the east coast.

## Government and Politics

The nation of Shefýdh is a confederation of 8 states located along the Quzemboo.  Each of these constituents each maintain a high degree of independence. The national executive body is the League Council (*Chinahshỹỹ aDashjeo*), comprised of the heads of each of the 8 states as well as 8 special representatives of these heads of state. The national head of state is the League Chairperson, a role which is rotated yearly among the 8 cities' heads of state. There are no nationally elected representatives.

The 8 states are each run differently, with 1 democratic republic, 2 constitutional monarchies, 2 semi-constitutional monarchies and 3 states run by a council of local ruling families.

There is no national capital. League Council meetings rotate between each of the 8 cities, with the yearly General Meeting hosted in the city of the current League Chairperson. The more frequent Representative Meetings, only attended by the special representatives and not the heads of state themselves, are held in a small town on the border of the states of Qöimfördhu and Häftefoo in the centre of the nation - this town was purpose-built to house the government, with the original plan to host General Meetings as well but the isolated location of the town made it hard to attract enough residents to provide the services and infrastructure for that. As it stands, 90% of the residents of the town are directly or indirectly employed by the government. Some government institutions made the shift to the town, but many are still based in other cities. The national courts are based around the nation, while government departments are primarily situated in one of the two main metropolitan areas, with a small number (e.g. Department of Science and Education) in Häftefoo.

### Flag

The flag of Shefýdh consists of 3 stripes separated by black lines, with black stars lining the central stripe.  Blue represents the sea, white represents the built environment, orange represents the desert, while the black represents the people and the nation as the link between these.  The 8 stars reference the 8 city-states which make up nation.

### States

Each state within the confederation is named after it's main city.

The states of Thigvaz, Anarfäne, Atahheira and Qöimfördhu make up the 4 **Western** states, while Häftefoo, Foaw, Cyihto and Ysänskaddhû make up the 4 **Eastern** states.

The cities of Thigvaz and Anarfäne, along with a number of satellite towns and towns in between them, are considered to be part of the **Northwest Conurbation**, with around 4.5 million people living within the metropolitan area (out of 5.6 million in both states) - although the overall density of this metropolitan area is fairly low.

The cities of Foaw and Cyihto, along with a number of satellite towns and towns running the length of the bay, form the **Foaw-Cyihto (Bay Area) Conurbation**, with a population of around 6.5 million (out of 7.7 million in both states).

## Culture

The Tagdashé have a deep cultural connection to the desert and to the sea, with many cultural practices revolving around these two areas.

The native cuisine consists primarily of seafood and waterfowl combined with spices from the eastern rainforest, or imported from abroad; the primary staple is wheat - also imported, but able to be kept fresh for long periods of time.  Vegetables were historically considered delicacies, though modern advances in refrigeration technology have allowed the common people access to them as well.  There are a few fruits able to be grown in the desert, but most come from the eastern rainforest.

While animist practices were common amongst the Tagdashé historically, these have mostly been forgotten by the modern people, or relegated to the realm of superstition, though some practices were preserved through rituals as part of festivities.

The Heracana (Dah. *Heshaicen* or *Herácana*) religion spread across the nation primarily through contact and trade, becoming the dominant religion of a number of cities and having historically been very influential.  In modern times, the nation is officially secular and most citizens are not very religious.

### Minorities

There is a large Raiñáxi (Dah. *Tañgjaiçi*) population in the state of Thigvaz outside of the capital, and to a lesser extent in Anarfäne. These are people culturally linked to the Doñáxi, the nation bordering Thigvaz to the north, and the two cultures have historically lived side by side with each influencing the other. In modern times, there is also a sizeable Doñáxi (Dah. *taDuñäxe*) expatriate population in the city of Thigvaz (and in the Northwest metro area as a whole), as a business centre and major port of the area, and the Dekúúxu language is commonly spoken as a second langauge by Tagdashé living in the Northwest states.