Darros

**Darros** is a large country at the northern part of the continent of Darros.

The kingdom of Pogimmel lies to the south.

## Geography

* Velskograd
	+ Also known as Hiranyanagara, or Kirangar.
	+ Currently known as Zoltopravja, the "city of honourable gold".
* Zoldeja
* Virdinei River/Dnisoronii River
* Perengrad
	+ A sanctuary dedicated to Perun. Its monument is two large crossed axes.
* Bay of Wolves/Lupoineri
* Dubrogora
	+ An enclave at the northwestern corner of the country where men cultivate themselves and their talents to honour Perun.
* Golden Mountains
	+ A mountain range along the western frontier of Darros, known for its near-endless gold deposits. It is the source for around sixty percent of all gold on Jerde.
* Mount Bogotri
	+ A large rocky hill located to the south. It received its name for its grooves resembling a bearded face.
* Mount Triglav
	+ The holiest mountain in Darros, located at the western border. Named for its forked peak of three summits, representing the cosmic deity Triglav.
* Novy Smolensk
	+ A city of gold, rebuilt from the squalour of its Red Darroskei days.
* Vladipravsk
* Svargorod
	+ A magnificent temple-city dedicated to Svarog.
* Rukigrad
	+ The city that was known for being the first to fall to the Zetrosian regime. Now a Zlotosii-majority town where most of the people speak in Russian.
	+ Renamed "Rukigrad" (the city of hands) for the frequent cases of vandalism by supporters of the Zetrosian rulers. The hand, a derisive symbol for Terrans, later became a traditional symbol of the Zlotosii people, descendants of Zetrosian Russians.
	+ Nowadays, contrary to popular belief, most Zlotosii are no longer the unruly vandals they are commonly-depicted in pop culture. They do instead have walls built for them to draw murals, which replaced imperial propaganda graffiti. It is sometimes still mockingly called "Ruzekigrud".
* Mrina - river at the centre north of Darros
* Mrinskava - ancient capital of Darros

## History

This land was settled during the First Age by a people that migrated from present-day Baesorja. It was known in ancient times for its plentiful gold.

In the Second Age, its tribes were influenced by the richer Kingdom of Oruz, the first proper civilisation in the continent.

### Zoltokrugism

During the Third Age, Emperor Vladimaer I Sventoslav unified the eastern cities and established his own religion, Zoltakrug. He named his kingdom "Darroso", meaning "the radiant gift of the Gods".

Zoltrokrugism was later corrupted by evil kings and leaders, who turned it from a celebration of beauty and art, into an instrument of absolute power. Denied from the wisdom of the Gods, everyone suffered, even up to the wicked rulers who devoured their subjects' wealth.

In ancient times, the Pogimmellians of the south were ruled by a wicked king from Darros, who demanded a yearly tribute of women as sacrifices to Jarilo. The people revolted and saved their daughters, sisters, and mothers from that evil king. Some Pogimmellians claimed that Jarilo himself and his daughter Vesnovka were the ones who drove the Pogimmellians to fight back, as the two gods were disgusted by such reckless murder done in their name.

In defiance to the Darroskei clergy condemning them as heretics, the Pogimmellians made up their own myths to mock them. They claimed and cursed that all the women murdered as sacrifices to Jarilo will be raised as goddesses by Vesnovka herself, not absorbed into her.

Later legends also claimed that the same goddesses unleashed natural disasters upon Darros, until every priest and warrior who shed the blood of a single human as a sacrifice was thrown into the Underworld. The goddesses were willed by Vesnovka to be reincarnated as humans again, to live the lives that they were denied for ages. One of those women was Veselja the Beautiful, a sacrificial victim raised as a river goddess. When she died of old age, the spirits in a forest left in mourning, so the trees died with her.

### Later history

The western edges of Darros were attacked by a plague of vampires, the same monsters that ruined what will become the westerly nation of Sevraeja.

At some time in the Fifth Age, the Darroskei adopted a more militaristic philosophy.

During the Seventh Age, the cities of Velskograd and Zoldeja thrived along the Virdinei River. These cities were known in legend as "the cities of gold". Like other Slavic nations, they also learned to use gunpowder weaponry from the Sevraejans of the west, who invented such devices.

During the Eighth Age after the Aspuruk Invasion, the city of Perengrad thrived along the northern shores of the Bay of Wolves.

Darros was one of the members of the Ecumene, an alliance of civilisations that retained and applied the Aspuruks' advanced technology.

During the Sixteenth Age, Darros was ruled under an Emperor and a priesthood, the Volkhov Council of Perun. Discontent against its widespread poverty and harsh laws led to an army of communist militants overthrowing the government and establishing Red Ardesch. It waged three wars: firstly to defeat the Volkhov revolts, secondly to punish the rebellion of Gronnia for killing its Chairman, and thirdly to send armies to impose communist laws to its neighbours. Red Ardesch, another pseudo-communist regime to the west, sought Red Darros as its role model until its Chairwoman denounced it for its "deviancy".

Red Darros, the communist regime on the land, reigned for eighty-one years. Although it managed to push its people out of poverty, its society was very militarised and harsh, seeking to eliminate religion and direct its people to impose its views to the whole world. Angered and bereaved by the bombings of Red Ardesch, the other peoples of Darros formed a new government, the Slavonian Brotherhood, to reunify and liberate the continent.

By sabotaging the movements of Red Darros with their superior technology, the Slavonians were able to defeat the Red Darroskei and establish a federation to rebuild Darros. The Slavonian Brotherhood was supported by the island nations to the south. They were members of Red Darros' empire who rebelled against their communist rulers to achieve independence: the Slavonians accepted them as their allies to thank for helping them defeat the communist government. However, due to attacks and massacres by the clone armies of the fascist empire of Pure Lotharesch, the Slavonians fortified the western coasts of their continent. They entered into an alliance with the empire of Zarijana to the west, and the Zarijanians agreed not to send Mazdajasni missionaries to Darros.

### Seeds of Darkness (and Light)

Darros became one of the founding territories of the First and Second Red Fronts, tearing down what was left of the Slavonian Brotherhood. It also attracted many Terrans to its fold, who became part of its population. The neighbours' dislike of the Darroskei for their arrogant attitude and harbouring the Terrans fuelled later attempts by Darros to wage wars of revenge.

During the Sarmelonid Era, Darros and its neighbours were invaded by the Sarmelonid Vozonid Empire. The Vozonids brought thousands of prisoners eastward to Vozolaz, but the prisoners revolted and formed their own kingdoms. They included the mountainous realms of Nevkreno, Sevestrana, and Ashostrana; and the islanders of Bujan.

### The Cursed Land

After Bujan was founded, some emperors of Darros wanted to annex Bujan and its neighbours into their domains, but many of their forces were defeated. Many Darroskei cursed the Bujanids as a nation of illegitimate criminals, spawned out of wedlock that should be enslaved to Darros, and the Bujanids kept rejecting and mocking every act done out of hatred. Darros became one of the most bitter enemies of Bujan. Some Bujanids were of Darroskei origin, and feeling shame for whatever their country did, publicly denounced Darros as they swore to Perun.

Angered by the Bujanski denouncing Darros, the Darroskei Empire cursed the Bujanski Slavs as "pirates" and "traitors". Darros later waged a fullscale war against the neighbouring Slavic nations, to create an empire to rival bygone Vozolaz. Instead, the Bujanski declared war on Darros, intervening several days after the invasion began. Their reasons were to make use of the plentiful Sarmelonid technology left behind by the former occupiers, and to avoid being hated as "orcs" after seeing how foreign Darroskei were hated everywhere else.

Out of nowhere, portals appeared in the sky, and Bujanid fleets appeared to bombard the Darroskei armies before returning home. Although the other Slavs were surprised by the sudden intervention of the Bujanids, they gladly accepted the supplies given to the defenders. Together, the Bujanids marched alongside the other Slavs' militaries, until they built a great wall to isolate Darros. For helping the other Slavic nations avenge the massacres by Darroskei troops, the Bujanids were welcomed into the global community. Pitying that some Darroskei were hated only because of their Darroskei blood, they offered the Darroskei foreigners to come to Bujan. Only several hundreds accepted, while the rest angrily cursed Bujan for "betraying the Motherland".

Bujan's support for Darros' historical enemies, and its humble education from Rukania, made it the greatest foe to Darros. At one time, a later emperor sent a fleet to invade Bujan, but was defeated. With the end of his mighty fleet, that emperor and his regime were overthrown. The new rulers sought to end the isolation of Darros by seeking peace with Bujan and the other Slavs, but Bujan was the last to reopen relations with the hated land, after the other Slavs were able to see that the Darroskei had truly renounced their imperialist tradition.

At one later era before the Green Years, the Darroskei were at war with a United Slavic Federation. While Darros committed and denied cruel acts to destroy the Federation's peoples for another time, Darroskei tourists and immigrants supported the warmongers and behaved in a selfish manner. The Bujanski, among the peoples targeted and hated by the Darroskei, created many precepts to avoid becoming like that Darroskei empire.

Darros was one of the various countries across the world that were ruined by the Ontemazei Bombardment, alongside Rukania, Bujan, Irajon, and all of Vozolaz. As in everywhere else in the world, the only survivors of the toxin storms were those who hid in Burrow-cities.

### Zetrosian rule

In 650 BT, Darros was taken over by a Terran majority, who made Darros into the Empire of Greater Rus. They once attempted to invade Bujan to annex it into its empire, and it had militants who waged war against the Bujanski government. Due to this, the letters Q, V, and Z are considered suspicious within Bujanski society when shown in large letters.

The Empire of Greater Rus thrived for only 400 years. In its early years, the Rusinoi Terrans established a puppet regime in honour of the Emperor of Zetrosia, until the defeat of the Rusinoi fleets and their Zavtranian puppets led to a coup. What vast wealth and advanced technology the Rusinoi brought to Jerde were undone by the ensuing succession crisis: it was the very reason why the Zavtranians wanted to dominate Zvesta, but the war against the Terrans closed every chance of the Zvestarids willingly allowing any other power to rule them.

In 608-603 BT, Darros was torn between nativists in the southeast, pro-Zetrosian loyalists to their Emperor in the west, and the new emperor of his Zlotosian Revolution in the east. The nativists were very angry that they were now displaced by the Rusinoi Terrans, who took advantage of their kindness to overwhelm their people until the Rusinoi were too many to be expelled.

The Emperor of Zlotos prevailed, so any loyalist who did not flee to the portals or other lands were killed on sight. The surviving nativists who were captured were given their own territories, but had less rights than the new Terran majority. They were able to quickly rebuild their renowned, ruined infrastructure, but very slowly due to the loss of so much resources.

Within six decades since the establishment of the Rusinoi Empire, the colonies successfully revolted and took away forty percent of its wealth. The Rusinoi Empire became strong enough to cross the portals back to Zetrosia to take over the imperial government, resulting in what appeared to be a dual interdimensional monarchy. With the end of the dual monarchy in 473 BT, much of the Zlotosians left the country as they followed their new emperors, allowing the now-plentiful Darroskei to take back the east and south.

At around 450 BT, a nativist revolution ended the Terran monarchy. Although the native Darroskei were treated rather fairly, they hated being forced to Terranise their own culture and being subjected to mockery and bullying over the Zlotosii's arrogant attitude. Knowing that the Zlotosii and other empires in their world were notorious for their whataboutism and complaints, and being fed up of such an annoying attitude, the native Darroskei treated the Zlotosii more fairly in later times, hoping to prevent the Terrans from sparking another outrage mob and yet another invasion. Many Zlotosii were given a referendum whether to stay or return to their now-pacified homeworld to rebuild it. Only forty-percent of the Zlotosii remained while the rest just left.

### Modern Darros

Because of its past rulers' and peoples' attempts to dominate Bujan simply for its Slavic origins, the Bujanski hate and despise Darros and Darroskei people. Virtually no diplomatic relations were allowed by Bujan towards Darros, no matter how many Darroskei seek relations with the island kingdom, as they were forever branded as warmongers for their hypocritical deceit and conspiracy theories. However, Darroskei who renounced their background to serve Bujan were ordered to work for their new home as "penance" before they can be forgiven and treated with any respect.

Yet even during the Wannaenid conquest of Bujan, the Darroskei still refuse to accept the Wannaenids' offers, forever cursing them for their Terran armies. This led to occasional fights between loyalist and Wannaenid Terrans in the jungles, and the reappearance of the dreaded Z-banners to threaten Terrans who continued to serve Darros instead of returning to their empires.

King Dostagir, liberator of modern Bujan, arranged a meeting with the President of Darros, allowing him to send any Tyrskan prisoner who hated his country to be exiled in Darros for life. With this supported by the people of Bujan, it was perhaps the only known diplomatic relation with the otherwise-forbidden country.

## Government

Modern Darros is a federal republic, an uneasy union made of the native Darroskei Slavs and the Terran Zlotosii.

## Military

Darros has one of the strongest militaries on Jerde.

## Society

### The Curse of Darros

Ancient Darros was notorious for its widespread practice of deceit. For the sake of victory, arrogance and slander were considered acceptable so long as it led to victory or advantage. Promises and agreements were broken so Darroskei would earn the greater shares, hidden beneath their extragant displays of devotion. This led to corruption, instability, war, autocracy, and abuse, almost like a never-ending cycle of ruin; and the other Slavic nations being more disciplined to avoid the fate of Darros.

Occasionally there were brighter eras when the Darroskei were more sensible to allow reforms, but power-hungry leaders and their followers seized power and encouraged this dreadful cycle. Their insistence in seeking power through this cycle led to even more ruin.

Such was the "Curse of Darros", ironic for a land known as "the radiant gift". It was believed to be sentenced by Lord Perun himself in Heaven as a punishment should Darros' people try to become an oppressive society again for the sake of power. Many times, the Darroskei forgot Perun's warnings and still insisted on an obsession with power.

Those fools paid with their lives for their descent into deceit and murder, sparing a portion who refused or opposed such vile acts against Heaven. These virtuous survivors became the remnant, aware that they might be cursed should they refuse to resist their obsession.

Being the black sheep of the Slavs of the continent, the modern Darroskei are torn in a greater dilemma. Can they restore their honour and allow their neighbours to help them, or seek to dominate and kill them in eternal paranoia?

Most, thankfully, know why they are disliked by many of the other Slavs, as they are seen as arrogant tyrants and brutes who waste their ancient heritage. They quietly try to make amends by seeking to rebuild the continent after the ruin unleashed by the Terrans and Thralondians.

A few still hunger for a new Darroskei Empire, continuing the tragic fault from the Fifth Age. Many of them were exiles from Bujan, who are afterwards shamed by the other Terran Darroskei for their association with hubris and ruin.

## Demographics

### Native Darroskei

The Darroskei were among the oldest inhabitants of this northerly country, being 60 percent of all people on the continent.

They practice a formalised, regal culture influenced by the Oruzii of the south, and later developments by classical artists. From the Fifth Age onwards, Darroskei became more militarised, seeking to become a great empire.

Darroskei culture loves gold, velvet, choirs, and precious minerals, which are plentiful in Darros.

### Zlotosii people

Around 40 percent of Darros' people are of Terran origin, having settled in the country from portals as they were evacuated from a civil war in their homeworlds.

Many of them had converted to the state religion of Darros, until almost none of them kept their monotheist faith.

Disappointed by the erratic behaviour of the Emperor of Zetros, many Zlotosii no longer referred themselves as Russians, but agreed to be Slavs (as the leaders of their culture) like the rest of the continent. They became the Zlotosii people, known for their proud and arrogant attitude.

In Darros, the Zlotosii Terrans were stereotyped as erratic, unstable whiners who will use any insult directed against them as a reason to become very hostile. Even during the days of the Zlotosii Empire this attitude gradually subsided as the Zlotosii tried to get along with the angry locals, eventually tolerating their culture. But the stereotype continued to persist long after the Darroskei were tolerated, so some Zlotosii tried to apologise for their past attitude in order to be seen as more trustworthy.

In the olden days of Zetrosian rule, Zlotosii people used to draw Z marks and pro-Terran slogans on temples, holy sites, and monuments, mocking the natives and glorifying their empire. Among their slogans include the usual Z-praises and slogans like "8 for eternity", "Hail Zetrosia", or "We act in peace!"

In response, Darroskei used to call Zlotosii people as "scribblers" for their vandalism. Many Zlotosii had their own hands cut off or smashed with hammers for every incident of vandalism. Empty walls were build on Zlotosii districts for the residents to draw any slogan they want - later on, imperial and militarist propaganda gave way to more pretty murals as they became less militaristic, but the Darroskei sometimes vandalised the murals to curse them for their ancestors' vandalism. Knowing that they are being stereotyped as "unruly vandals", some Zlotosii instead turned to art instead of graffiti. They even used the hand as a symbol of their minority culture.

## Languages

### Darroskei glossary

* boirestmo - idol, manifestation
* boiro - god, deity
* dar - realm, continent; gift
	+ Interestingly, it also means "gift", so writers played around by claiming that "the land is a gift of the Gods".
* dobro - good, pleasant; welcome
* -estmo - -ness
* -ets - doer
* -ije - -ness (greater or more collective)
* krog, kro - wheel
* ljats - year
* mje - we
* mjer - great, a continent
	+ archaic Darroskei: mѣrъ
* nevilas - new year
	+ (novi + let)
* ošmo - eight
* pravja - honourable, glorious, righteous
* rēž - king (archaic)
	+ h₃reǵ > rěž - artificial reconstruction during the 3rd Age, based on surviving records from the Great Crossing)
* rūvdo - tiger, the roarer
* slava - glory, hello
* slavja - glory, honour
* sled - road
* slovije - language
* surom - temple
	+ from \*khorom, \*skhorom, the same root as "khram" in other languages
* -tǐ - (present verb)
	+ -sǐ in casual speech
* ve, me - you all
* Velskaprekhod - the Great Crossing, Nordgard, the northern polar continent or extension of Palkyras.
	+ Velskaprokhskij, the common language of the ancestors of the Slavonians and Tuksharans, is regarded as a classical and religious language in Darros, somewhat like Avestan and Sanskrit. It is also the earliest surviving attested language of their races.
* vjaskyj - high
* vjaslokh - high priest
* vlastǐ - power; (archaic, classical) a king
* vlastjets - king
* vlokh - a priest
	+ from \*volkhvo
* volsnotǐ - to babble, to mutter
* zloto - gold

#### Another list

* Osimets - an "Eightist", a Terran (named for using the number 8 as one of their symbols).

### Zlotosii

See also: Russian glossary

Zlotosii (Jezeik Zlotosii) is a descendant of the Russian language.

### Zlotosii glossary

* dabro - good (considered archaic)
* -jestvo, -jesto - -ness
* gzje - where
* jezeik - language
* khoršo - good, excellent
* khram, krom - temple
* lis - year
	+ replaced "kot", "god"
* osim - eight
* pasletnje - recently
* rok - study, learning
* ruk - hand
* slova - glory
* vi - you all
* volkhob, volkhom - priest
	+ Reflecting Darroskei usage: originally in Russian, the word "volkhov" meant "sorcerer".
* zloto - gold

## Religion

### Zoltakrug (Darroskei Rodnovery)

Darros' own variant of Rodnovery, or the Slavic religion, is known as Zoltakrug (Golden Wheel) or Sventokrugism. It venerates eight (formerly six) gods, venerated in lavish, towering temples with golden roofs. There may be a degree of Hindu influence in Sventokrugism.

This religion was founded by Emperor Vladimaer I Sventoslav during the Third Age.

* Perun, Beruno - god of thunder, patron of the emperor. Every emperor is regarded as a son of Perun.
* Mokosh, Mauksa - queen of heaven, lady of the rainbow and storms.
* Svarog, Samroi - lord of wisdom, the sun, and the forge
* Dazhbog, Daisvo - prince of the sun
* Stribog, Sreibejo - Lord of the Wind and Wealth
* Khors, Khuros - Sun Lord, god of farmers and agriculture.
* Simagil, Simargl; Simarla - Beast of the Stars
* Jarilo, Jara - Lord of the Forest, the Green King

Svarog and Jarilo are popular among the people. After a rare tornado tore into the royal palace and blew the emperor out of his room to the sea (hilariously making him the only unfortunate victim). After that, he consulted the High Volkhov, who received a message from Jarilo to include him among the Royal Patrons.

Velskaprokhskij, the Language of the Great Crossing, is regarded as a holy language in Darroskei religion.

In ancient times, human sacrifice continued later, after other nations abandoned the practice. This may have caused Darros to become a militaristic society, as killing people to "feed the Gods" was an effective method to frighten the kings' subjects into total, fanatical obedience.

## Trivia

* Darros is influenced by ancient Slavic art, Kislev from Warhammer, and the fantastical paintings of the Russian artist Vsevolod Borisovich Ivanov.
	+ The name "Darros" was supposed to be derived from "dar" (a made up word) and "ros" (-os as in "Randros", not "Rossija", influenced by "Westeros").
	+ However, in July 2022, the author noticed that the "Dar" part, which meant "continent" or "big land" in Darroskei, resembles the Russian word "дар" (dar), which means "a gift".
	+ On August 2023, the author realised that Darros' name can also be interpreted as "Dal'njaja Rus'" (Дальняя Русь), meaning "the far Rus". It was originally "Dalerus" before evolving into "Darros".
* Later Darros was based on Russian nationalism during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
	+ His idea was about two people of the same race and different backgrounds in the same country - former descendants of conquerors and keyboard warriors, having to deal with the legacy of their ancestors' misdeeds as stereotypes and abuse; and the same people as descendants of another mighty empire.
	+ "Zlotosia" or "Zeltosia" was from the Russian word for "gold": "zoloto".
	+ The Zlotosii were inspired by Russian nationalists. The incidents that stereotyped them as vandals were based on several incidents where Russian hooligans used to draw Z graffiti in Moldavia, Estonia, and Ireland.
	+ The aggressive and arrogant attitude from the same nationalists also inspired the ancient Darroskei being more militaristic, and their modern descendants' dilemma in continuing their warlike attitude or seeking to redeem themselves to their neighbours.
	+ The author also added that the Bujanski Slavs were descended partly from Darroskei. Even King Koschei, the founding of their nation, was himself an ethnic Darroskei. But they refused to associate themselves with Darros because they were disgusted by their homeland's social attitudes and obsession with power.
* Velskaprokhskij, or Velskeprodic was based on Indo-European roots and Sanskrit, adapted into Proto-Slavic phonology.
	+ For example: \*h₃reǵ > rěž, "king" (archaic)

## See also

* Bujan
* Nevkreno
* Sevestrana