Tapiria

Tapiria is a country on the South Western Peninsula. It's located to the southwest of the nation of Rudsaȼen. Tapirian belongs to the Grasslandish Language Group (a part of the Southern Family), and is most closely related to Durandažek.

## History

Much of the Tapirian history before migrating to the peninsula is a mystery, as Tapirians lacked any form of writing. There is some archaeological evidence to support that the ancestors of Tapirians and Durátšæm originated in the grasslands of the eastern continent, before gradually getting displaced by various other emerging cultures. Tapirians migrated far west until they reached the southern peninsula, where they currently reside.

#### Age of Tribes

Tapirian tribes are very fragmented, and most tribes share very little in common amongst themselves. Really, the only thing that ties them all together is the same language. Most tribes live near the shore, and live by fishing, but some tribes live further inland, making a living in the forests hunting saiga antelopes and grazers.

Tapirians mainly believe in animism and totemism, however, there is no widespread beliefs, meaning that every religion is more or less independent from the rest of the tribes. One of the only traits that's shared amongst the various tribes is the creation myth, which usually states that the world used to be dark and lifeless, but Gods and spirits discovered fire, and managed to create the Sun, bringing the light to the world. Eventually everything came from the Earth, including humanity. The Gods gifted humanity the gift of fire. This also explains why most Tapirian cultures either cremate or bury their dead, as they believe that this is the way of honoring the gift of the gods.

#### Age of Expansion

##### *Cultural Revolution*

The various nomadic tribes soon realized they weren't alone on the peninsula, and that the general area was populated by many cultures. In order to survive, Tapirians had to adopt some Peninsular customs, and started interacting with their neighbors a lot more frequently. A simple education system was created which allowed Tapirians to learn more efficiently. Interaction with their neighbors has proven itself to be useful as they gained access to various forms of technology they could have never dreamed of.

However due to backlash from this Tapiria underwent a cultural revolution, simultaneously returning to their own ways, while synchronizing the various religious systems and creating a new unified Tapirian identity. Their newly formed religion and identity played heavily on their totemism and they formed religious noble houses around them. This also lead to a mass burning of carts during the most violent era of the revolution.

Each totem was equal parts noble house, guild and spiritual protector with labour and land divided up between them.

***The Tapir** -* A totem of protection for the whole of the Tapirian people.

***The Rat King*** - Associated with trade, interactions and cities this totem was a strong one in the urban areas. Its noble house was one of the strongest and often represented Tapiria in international relations.

***The Saiga** -* Associated with the forest, bountiful food and in-land environments its noble house was strongest in the Tapirian countryside. Its noble house was a comparatively weaker one that dealt with a lot of niche labour roles.

***The Plough*** - Associated with farmland and food production and its noble house was mostly passive in politics, wielding the power it hasits control over food supplies towards whatever seemed to provided the most long term stability for Tapira.

***The Crustacean Whale (aka The Shell)*** - Associated with fishing and the sea, most coast-dwellers followed this totem the strongest. Its form varied between the northern and southern coasts of Tapiria, the north following the shell (perhaps due to Plo Tbrov influence) and the south following the more traditional Crustacean Whale totem. The noble house has both as its totem and claims domain over both equally.

***The Hand** -* Associated with work and labour this totem was most prevailant in the northern regions near Plo Tbrov territory and it's noble house had many familial connections with Plo Tbrov who saw it as a trustworthy house that shared many of it's ideals. Many of the other houses considered the Hand to be a little untrustworthy and entangled in foreign affais for its own good. Due to Plo Tbrov favouritism The House of The Hand also gained control over the Tapirian armies and The Hand totem became synonymous with violence also.

The House of The Rat King declared regency over Tapiria. This was de-facto accepted for many years until the regent died and infighting consumed the House of The Rat King with a succession of short-lived and bickering regents each vying for power.

##### *Vassalhood under Plo Tbrov*

The regency of Tapiria collapsed, leaving a power vacuum. Fearing infighting The House of The Hand (the Tapirian noble house aligned with Plo Tbrov) appealed to Plo Tbrov to intervene. They did so and established a system by which the noble houses would each govern different provinces of Tapirian land, while a gerontocratic council made up of Plo Tbrov representatives and older members of the houses would govern. Tapiria was considered an independent vassal of Plo Tbrov and the agreement was one of non-exploitation and joint rulership, with Plo Tbrov managing Tapirian affairs should the houses not manage to come to agreement or action.

Tapirian vassalhood lasted many years and the nations jointly focused on building a joint army for collective protection and conquest. But eventually the Tapirian houses petitioned to leave Plo Tbrov vassalhood and join the growing HCC federation. Plo Tbrov agreed on the provision that Tapiria lend their armies for a wide ranging set of assaults against multiple nations that Plo Tbrov wished to conquer.

##### *Vassalhood under HCC*

Tapiria joined the HCC as a powerful though undirected nation. Due to their regency collapse and disparate nature during vassalisation - they joined as a strong collection of lands rather than a full autonomous nation in its own right. As such Ràl Atsèl was given administrative powers over Tapiria. They contributed a large military force as well as a lot of technology to the ever expanding alliance.

## Language

Tapirian is closely related to Durandažek, and thus shares many traits with that language. Some of the notable features about Tapirian include:

* CCVCC syllable structure
* SVO
* Only consonant clusters allowed are non-approximants followed by approximants.
* Nasals, fricatives and plosives can be in the coda
* /r/ and /n/ are syllabic consonants.
* Backness vowel harmony (/ɑ/ /u/ /o/ back, /y/ /æ/ /ø/ front, /i/ /e/ neutral)
* Sibilant coronal consonant harmony (/s/ /ts/ vs. /ʃ/ /tʃ/
* No articles

Consonants /m n p t k q ts tʃ f s ʃ x w r/

Vowels /ɑ o u y æ i e ø/