Dunmoriga

Topographical map of Dunmoriga

**Dunmoriga** is a country in Edelenn noted for its distinctive terrain and for being home to a loose confederation of clans known to brawl among themselves until threatened by an outside force. In times of danger the clans often unite long enough to take care of the threat, then return to their former ways. The country boasts several distinct geographic regions that divide the country along neat and invisible lines. Inhabitants of the various regions tend to look with amused disdain on those who live in other parts of the country.

Dunmoriga was originally settled in the waning days of the Age of Harmony, then seems to have gone through a period of intense population decline during the Sundering.

## Fast Facts

*Demonym:*Dunmorigan

*Population:*320,000,000 (ca. /year/ AoD)

*Motto:*Text

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*Capital:*Aberandun, though Caer Beinn is considered regional capital in the north

*Languages:*Atáill (in the Táilte) and Morigan Common

*Religion:*Clan-specific lesser deities and demigods, /god of nature/ (to the north and east and Sea of Grass), /god of forests/ (in the southern forested areas), various water gods and goddesses (spread throughout), secretive druidic practices (spread throughout)

*Government:*Constitutional monarchy, though some government has been delegated to regional authorities

*Currency:*Text

## **History**

Dunmoriga is a country that almost never was. To understand its origins, we must first look to its northern neighbor, Trand.

In /time/, Trand had just signed the Declaration of Intent in its revolutionary bid to declare nationhood and to claim land, thus putting an end to the fluid movement of peoples over vast areas. As part of this shift in thinking, Estvann I, emperor of Trand, sent his well-trained armies south along the coast, looking to claim as much territory as possible. The settlements affected by this incursion sent word to Moriga, frantically appealing for aid. Moriga was happy to oblige, sensing an opportunity to expand its own nebulous borders, and it hastened to provide aid.

Their haste was too great, however. Though numerous, Moriga's armies were nowhere near a match for those of Trand. After about a year of scattered fighting and crushing losses in what became known as the Blood Harvest, Moriga realized it could not sustain the pace or intensity of an ongoing conflict. It was during an emergency meeting of military leaders that one Enardil, a captain in the army, suggested subversion, and that Moriga send a handful of reliable agents into Trand to stir up the nomadic barbarians that dwelt in Trand's steppes. With such a threat brewing within its own borders, Trand would be too distracted by the danger at its heart to continue the war. The merits of the plan were evident, and it was soon put into effect.

The result was the Winter of the Wolves, in which the Morigan agents' words found ready listeners in barbarian tribes that had been oppressed and spurned for hundreds of years. After just two months of barbarian activity, Estvann I was forced to recall his armies and focus inward.

This left a large vacuum in the coastal area west of Moriga. Sensing an opportunity and emboldened by the request for aid from those who lived there, it followed Trand's example and claimed nationhood, as well as all the land it had reclaimed. Moriga was assuredly less than circumspect in this action because it sliced a large piece out of land that had traditionally been settled by Rahajmanath to the south, but by this point had armies large and battle-hardened enough that resistance was limited.

After some years of uneasy rule on both sides of the new Trand-Moriga border, it became evident that the land was too large and sparsely populated for a single government to rule as one entity, so in /time/ a Morigan council met to discuss what might happen next. In the ruling that proceeded from the Candlelight Court, it was decided that the massive country could split and be ruled by two separate governments. Dunmoriga (meaning *fortress of Moriga*, for its projected role as a first line of defense against Trand) was thus formed.

## **Military Forces**

Dunmoriga's standing military is composed primarily of professional soldiers from the lower-lying lands, although some do make their way into full-time service from the Táilte.

## **Geography**

The country's features may be divided into four major areas:

* the Táilte, the central, craggy highland area that accounts for much of Dunmoriga's center
* the Downs, a relatively narrow band of flat, fertile land that bounds the Táilte to the north and east
* the Crannmórán, a belt of heavily forested land just south of the Táilte
* the Sea of Grass, an extensive grassland in the country's southern extreme

## **Culture**

Include food, religion, contributions to arts/sciences, languages, ethnicity, etc.