Borea

**Borea** is a large island and the northernmost territory of Equus and a province of the Crystal Empire.

Its capital is the city of Thule.

## Demographics

Its population is primarily made up of Caribou and Ponies.

The city of Thule has the largest Pony population of any settlement while the city of Hammerstone has the largest Caribou population.

### Alcean culture

Borea's native population consisted of Moose. They spoke a language known as Moosu, also known by its exonym Alcean. The Moose population was spread across the region, but the town of Hammerstone was of note as one of the largest settlements.

There are few reliable sources on Alcean culture as it was seldom contacted and it was extinguished in the 6th century. Moosu didn't have a writing system and most information about the language is lost.

It is known that Moose relied on forests for sustenance. They fed on tree bark, tree leaves and, less frequently, pine nuts and seaweed. Because of eating tree bark, Ponies used to refer to them by the slur "tree eaters".

The inner bark of the pine would be ground up into flour and used to make bread while pine needles were used to make infusions and pine resin was used as medicine.

They celebrated a festival every spring when the spruce buds come out where they'd use the buds and maple sap to brew beer. They also fermented maple sap for year round consumption.

Moose would use soft pine branches to make wreaths to decorate their antlers on occasion.

### Nordian contact

The first Ponies to arrive in Borea were Nordians, although no major settlements were constructed due to the extreme climate that made agriculture hard and the lack of exploitable natural resources, which made Borea an unattractive emigration destination.

Nordians made contact with the Moose natives and attempted to trade, but no satisfactory deals were reached and Borea was discarded as a trading destination as well, ending any Nordian explorations in the area.

During this era, Thule was founded as a trading post, but it was abandoned like other Nordian settlements. The term Alcean was created by the Nordians as an exonym for the Moose and their language.

### Crystalline era

When King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire, he laid claim on Borea in an attempt to expand his land in spite of the territory's lack of resources.

The Crystalline expansion into Borea involved forced resettlement of Ponies from other parts of the empire and the clearing of native Moose settlements, dispersing the inhabitants and sometimes killing them if they resisted.

The overtaking of the Moose town of Hammerstone was particularly violent. As a major center of Moose culture, Hammerstone organized a strong resistance and put up a great last stand of native resistance, but it ended in massacre nevertheless.

As Equestria invaded the Crystal Empire, Sombra was pushed further away from the empire's core lands and towards Borea, increasing the Borean settlement effort as more civilians were evacuated away from the approaching frontlines. Abandoned Nordian settlements were repopulated with Thule, the biggest one, receiving the largest influx.

Forests were cleared for timber and food, farms were established wherever possible and amid starvation Moose were hunted for food in spite of them being sapient creatures.

By the time the war ended, very few Moose remained alive and the ones who remained had no source of food as the forests they used to procure food from had been cleared.

### Modern era

When the Crystal Empire was reunified by Equestria and placed under the rule of Princess Cadence, Borea was practically depopulated as the Moose laid extinct and the harsh terrain could only sustain small Pony populations, although Thule still stood as the only town with a significant population.

The Crystal Empire retained an interest in claiming Borea for strategic reasons and for the potential of modern geology finding untapped mineral resources. Caribou from Auroria who were used to survive in extremely cold environments were brought over to help explore the region and update the maps and survey resources.

Borea has received further Caribou immigration since, who have largely settled in Hammerstone, which was practically abandoned as the town's climate was too harsh for most Ponies.

Caribou have studied the culture of the extinct Moose and attempted to revive it, creating what is known as the Neo-Alcean culture. While Thule remains the political capital, Hammerstone has become the cultural capital.