Orteñi People

the Orteñi Banner, recreated from recovered tapestries.

The first coherent people of Avalonia were the Orteñi. This name was given not to a general geographical group of people, but rather a distinct cultural group. The Orteñi occupied land in the north of modern-day Bordenia and were very similar in culture to the people that came after them, rather than before. The architecture from their time is incredible, looking like some modern buildings in the north that still stand today. Their architecture Incorporated the thick grass that surrounded their settlements, making roofs and walls out of intricately weaved thatch coated with clay from the outside. A decent heating system was also implemented in these buildings, using fired clay tubes to spread hot air through the structure after being generated by fire. These heating systems were extremely effective against the cold winters of northern Bordenia.

## Architecture

An impressive aspect of Orteñi architecture was their use of art in the home. Besides the figures still used by the Orteñi, wall art was also common. Early forms of tapestry were by far the most common forms of art. Tapestries were made by dyeing tall grass strands in mixtures of pigment and boiling water, then letting the pigment soaked grass dry in the sun. Once the grass was dry, it was dipped in water one again to avoid becoming brittle, then torn into thin strands using tools made of stone. These strands were then woven together to form the intricate tapestries seen in museums across the country.

While orteñi people were not known for being aggressive, they did partake in war. The most famous instance of an Orteñi war, the war between them and the ancient Turtagaui people, was fought around 1,000 BC. Being less developed, the Turtagaui people swiftly lost. Orteñis had some astoundingly advanced weaponry for the time. Only some of the technologies found are crude longswords made of rock, shields, helmets made from iron (impractical, yet technologically advanced), and canons. The canons would have never worked, but the ability to conceptualize something as complex as a cannon is impressive nonetheless. The war was waged in the southern area of the people's territory, close to Strobanskya today. The Turtagaui warriors were trained to use projectiles such as small rocks and sharpened chunks of Flint, to ensure ranged damage in the event of a retreat. The Orteñi countered these with their shields. Turtagaui warriors were woefully unprepared and lost their footing rapidly. The boundary set by this war would be kept in place until the fall of the orteñi, being urbanized even beyond the agreed-upon border by settlers eager to move South.

## Culture

### Currency

The orteñi systems of writing and currency were connected very tightly. The currency came first in the form of copper wires. These wires were produced in long coils around 1.5 meters in length. They were wound around wooden sticks for easier transport, and payment was provided by winding a portion of the coil tightly around the end of the stick, and yanking the end until the needed amount snapped off. An average transaction would consist of the goods being requested, the price is agreed upon, the needed amount of wire being snapped off, and the transaction's completion, where the remaining wire was wound back around the coil. Copper was chosen for its ductility and relatively easy to find nature. However, the longevity of the currency was a problem. Having a currency that showed such wear opened the doors for an individual to be judged by the appearance of his coil. A damaged and strained toil indicated a person was hoarding wealth and left him free to berate. A person carrying not a coil, but a pouch filled with scraps of copper wire was seen as a beggar, taking whatever donations were hastily clipped off of other citizen's coils.

### Language and Writing

As stated before, the written language developed alongside currency. First, written words were used solely to record transactions but slowly came into widespread use with more of the society becoming literate at the peak of the orteñi empire (500 BC). The writing was mainly pictorial in the beginning, with simple symbols showing nouns and verbs. As the language advanced, writing became less pictorial. Intricate drawings became abstract line formations for ease of use. In the end, writing moved from a series of drawings that indicated simple actions to a fully functional tool that was robust and easy to use. Later on, when Spanish was introduced by eastern Avalonians, this language would morph into the regional dialect of Bordenian Spanish, or "Bórden".

## Fall of the Orteñi Empire

No great empire can last forever, and Orteñi is no exception. In 330 AD, they experienced a war that would bring them to their breaking point. The Turtagaui people along with the people of Terranorte invaded from both sides. Terranorte’s soldiers were far more advanced than Turtagau’s and quickly brought destruction to the northern half of the empire. Several major cities fell in the process, causing the Orteñi front line to be moved as far back as Strobanskya, which was at the time their biggest city. The Turtagaui warriors were largely taken care of, although the southern front soon came to a stalemate. By a year in, both sides were blindly throwing troops at each other, and the fight became a war of attrition. The war went on for nearly 4 years like this until the Turtagaui and the Orteñi people came to an agreement. The land would be given south of the current Orteñi border in exchange for a peace deal. The land given extended down to the southern bay of what is now Langosta, more specifically the South Plains borough.  With the war back down to only one front, Orteñi had the manpower to push through. The people of Terranorte and the Orteñi made peace in the Winter of 346, with the borders being set at the edge of Strobanskya. The war was over, but the result for Orteñi was not the best. Their territory had been reduced by enough to make them essentially a city-state, now only owning land eastward from current day Langosta bay. The strain put on the territory by war and other internal struggles was great. The territory could never completely rebuild society on what little land they had left. Around 370 AD, the small territory of Orteñi was absorbed by Lluevland. Native Orteñi were confined to the area previously occupied by their country, and the once-great Avalonian Empire finally fell.