Norte-Muldox

Flag of Norte-Muldox

**Norte-Muldox**, also known as **the Great Northern Kingdom** and sometimes as **Onor**, is a Dwarf-majority nation that encompasses the entire Onor Peninsula in Ditarre. It consists almost solely of Onor Dwarves, although several minorites are present. Its capital is the city of Onor. It is bordered by the Usybork Republic, and shares maritime borders with Nokina and the Republic of Keghotogh.

The country was founded as Norte-Mul, and after the Dwarven Genocide and the Iloisa Conquest, became known as Norte-Muldox. The current government of the country has existed almost uninterrupted (with the exception of a few months under Immortal Empire Rule) for over 2,600 years, making Norte-Muldox the oldest state on the planet.

## History

### Kingdoms of Onor and Mul, c. 400 BT-400 AT

After the end of the Infinite War, two separate groups of Dwarves settled on opposite ends of the Onor Peninsula. These two groups developed into the Mul (roughly meaning "kingdom" or "sovereign people" in their language) and Onor (meaning "coastal people" in their language) ethnic groups. When they left the island of Noral, the Dwarves abandoned their worship of the deity of the same name and devoted themselves to scientific study, and became known for their knowledge of the natural world and created many technological and social advances; the Onor in particular developed the atheistic philisophy of Ratialis.

The first Dwarf Tulkon was Kedur. Kedur dealt with the First Demon Invasion and was killed while fighting them in Ydelhias. Kedur's confirmation as the Tulkon brought Tulkonism to the Peninsula, but it would not yet take root here as it did in other countries; it was practiced by small coastal minorities, as well as by Dwarves living on the Lune Islands to the west of the Peninsula.

### Norte-Mul, 400 AT-448 AT

The Onor and Mul groups got along well for the most part. An ethnic conflict between the two nearly developed into a full-blown war, but Tulkon Kytoya was able to prevent it in around 400 AT. The two groups founded Norte-Mul, meaning "Kingdom of the North." During this time, the capital was Mulox.

In 448 AT, the Tulkon was Rum, a young Mul Dwarf. The neighboring nation of the Ilois Empire decided to expand, but the Emperor Grytu knew that the support of the Tulkon was necessary to effectively take over the world. Rum had publicly disavowed the Ilois Empire, so Grytu planned for a genocide so that Rum would reincarnate as a Human in Iloisa territory. Grytu's forces overwhelmed the Dwarves, completely wiping out the Mul and confining the remaining population to the east of the country, on the Onor Reservation. Estimates put the death toll at around 80% of the Dwarf population. According to different accounts, Rum was the final victim of the genocide.

### Onor Reservation, 448 AT-471 AT

After the genocide, the Peninsula became part of the Iloisa Empire, and the surviving Dwarves were moved to The Reservation, a small area in the ruins of the city of Onor. The Dwarves did not have any rights under the Empire, and their former lands were taken over by Iloisa colonists and military personnel.

In 471 AT, Rum's successor, Ytinise, defected from the Iloisa Empire and started a revolution against them. She founded the First Usybork Republic, which cut the peninsular colonies off from their parent nation. The Dwarves, led by the hero Balgro, decided to rebel. They were supported by Ytinise and fought against the colonists, expelling them from the area. Ytinise conquered all remnants of the Iloisa Empire, and helped the Dwarves retake their former territory. They rebuilt the nation, which they renamed Norte-Muldox: "Great Kingdom of the North," as its people had been tempered and strengthened by their oppression. Onor became the capital.

### Norte-Muldox, 471 AT-

For several centuries after the end of the Iloisa Conquest, the Tulkons had the job of protecting the still-recovering Dwarf population. Tulkon Bodor, born in 639 AT, was the first Dwarf Tulkon since Rum's death and his confirmation was widely celebrated.

The country was affected by the Epi'hu Wars, when Tulkon Epi'hu became a bloodthirsty conqueror. The country was able to defend itself from the rogue Tulkon.

By 1047 AT, Norte-Muldox had become more authoritarian and oppressive; its leaders were incredibly paranoid after years of persecution. Hanmalo neglected his duties in his early years, believing that his past life had made his job easy. His attitude changed after the government of Norte-Muldox passed several sets of laws that severely limited movement outside the country, as well as criminalizing sedition and any other form of criticism against the government, sparking a brief civil war. Hanmalo fought back to protect his people and eventually brokered a temporary armistice to discuss solutions with the Dwarven King and Queen. However, the rulers seized the opportunity to ambush Hanmalo, who died after a lengthy skirmish in Onor. The war ended not long after the battle, when the opposition was able to rally behind Hanmalo's memory and force the government's hand, deposing the King and Queen and replacing them with a new dynasty of monarchs.

In 1152 AT, many of the world's other nations became incredibly militaristic and eventually fell into conflict, which would become the 40-Year War. Norte-Muldox did not participate in the first part of the war, known as the Global War, but rogue groups of Dwarves did join the fight. During the Second Invasion of the Demons, Norte-Muldox battled the invaders. The war ended in 1192 AT, after Tulkon Yaaamemon unleashed a great burst of energy that resulted in the near-extinction of the Demons, the formation of the continent of Däegarden, and the temporary end of the Tulkon Cycle.

By 1300 AT, during the Era Without a Tulkon, many Dwarves became more religious and founded the religion of Prophetism, based on Tulkonist beliefs. Norte-Muldox still had their policy of state atheism in place, so the government helped create a colony in the center of the newly formed Däegarden for these Prophetists. The colony grew into the nation and ethnic group of Nodal, which was later granted independence from Norte-Muldox. In 1506 AT, the Era Without a Tulkon ended when Tulkon Epodora was born in Nodal.

In the 1650s, Norte-Muldox supported Tulkon Zoktopo's rebellion against the Orcanth government. Around this time, the nation repealed their state atheism policy.

During the lifetime of Tulkon O'Raenore, the Kingdom of Usybork tried to take over Norte-Muldox again, but they were stopped, leading to the Kingdom's fragmentation.

In 1815, Gal Adodume, an Onor Dwarf, became the Tulkon. He was a direct descendant of Balgro, the Dwarf who led the reconquest of the Onor Peninsula. Gal Adodume became friends with King Amorim, an immortal who would train the next few incarnations of the Tulkon. In 1935, Amorim travelled to the Honsin IHS to train Tulkon Oranolu, triggering a diplomatic incident that led to Usybork, an explicitly anti-Tulkon nation, declaring war on both Honsin and Norte-Muldox. The war ended in Usybork's defeat.

In 2393, Amorim adopted Osnerime, an orphan who was revealed to be the Tulkon. Seeking to gain access to Norte-Muldox’s vast mineral wealth, the Keghotogh Ascendancy invaded the country in 2421, resulting in the death of Osnerime's adoptive grandmother Amara. At Amorim’s behest, Osnerime did not join the fighting; he was a young Tulkon who did not need to enter a war. Osnerime did not participate in Amorim’s retaliatory strike in the Ascendancy, where he perished. Osnerime, in his grief, made his way to the Ascendancy and forced their surrender by attacking the Ascendant Palace. He later realized that he was acting out of rage rather than true justice, and negotiated a peace treaty that was mutually beneficial to both countries, while also punishing Keghtogh for starting the war. He spent many years mending the relationship between the two, as well. Norte-Muldox received an influx of immigrants during this time, primarily from Gadedet and Ynofora, but Amorim’s successor and brother, Amokore, treated them very poorly, much to Osnerime’s chagrin. Osnerime, disgusted by his xenophobic behavior (and his mistreatment of his own constituents), arrested him for abuse of power, removing him from office.

In 2880 AT, Orcanth King Zetopa declared the formation of the Orcanth Empire, which included Nodal. It was during this time that Von Hamobora, who at this point was unaware of her status as the Tulkon, fled with her family to Norte-Muldox. In 2896 AT, the Empire of Orcanth became the Immortal Empire, starting the Immortal War. Norte-Muldox joined the Free Alliance and fought against the Empire, and was one of the nations that carried out the Siege of Usybork. In 2905, the nation was bombed by the Empire during a ceasefire and temporarily became part of its territory. It was liberated when Von Hamobora, now aware of her status, killed Zetopa, causing the Empire to crumble. Von Hamobora would later become the queen of the country, succeeding her friend Gan Anor. The Onor-Ynofora Codes were signed and ratified in Onor.

Norte-Muldox was somewhat impacted by Colitzl in 3034, but not to the same extent that it affected the Human countries.

## Culture

### Ethnicity

In its early history, the land that is now Norte-Muldox was home to the Mul and Onor Dwarves. The Mul outnumbered the Onor (about a 7:3 ratio) until the Dwarven Genocide, which resulted in a great reduction of both populations. The few surviving Mul were absorbed into the Onor population, which came to dominate the Onor Peninsula not long after the end of the Iloisa Conquest. Modern-day Norte-Muldox is inhabited mainly by Onor with a few ethnic minorities, such as Uzyb, Nokin, Gardenian, and Ynoforan, but the most notable minorities are the Nodal and Metzi.

Nodal Dwarves trace their origins to southern Norte-Muldox, and have developed into a separate unique culture; however, some back migration has taken place, especially during the age of the Empire of Orcanth/Immortal Empire, during which Nodal was annexed and numerous refugees fled the country. This migration has also resulted in a number of Dwarves of partial Elven and/or Orc descent (such as the Nolino People) residing in Norte-Muldox.

The Metzi, an isolated Human ethnic group, are native to the Metzi Archipelago in Crescent Bay. Thousands of years under Uzeb rule have resulted in significant damage to their culture. During the age of the Empire of Orcanth, Metzi fearing further cultural suppression fled to the western coast of Nodal, where a community persists to this day.

### Religion

Prior to their settlement in the Onor Peninsula, the early Dwarves worshipped the god Noral, a member of the E'Ash pantheon. They abandoned worship of this deity almost as soon as they settled the area and quickly turned to science and technological progress, creating the philosophy of Ratialis. Beginning in 60 AT, when Tulkonism was founded by Tulkon Darrokh, coastal populations throughout the country began turning to the new religion. After the Dwarven Genocide, many of the remaining Dwarves largely abandoned Ratialis and converted to Tulkonism.

In 1047 AT, Norte-Muldox began pursuing a policy of state atheism, returning to their secular roots. Much of the country's religious population either continued to practice in secret or left the country to neighboring Usybork and Orcanth. A new religious movement called Prophetism became popular in the east and gained thousands of adherents. Rather than change their policy, the government supported a mass exodus of the Prophetists to the Ilem Desert in central Däegarden, forming the nation of Nodal, which later declared its independence. Several centuries after Nodal's separation from Norte-Muldox, the nation repealed its policy and Tulkonists returned to the country.