[b]Country Name:[/b] Kingdom of Fenia [b]Government type:[/b] Absolute Monarchy. Feudal system also in place. [b]Ruler:[/b] High King Tadag Barann [b]Location:[/b] [hider=I have the balls, oZode.][img=http://i.imgur.com/W01q4Fq.png][/hider] [b]Capital City:[/b] Dartraga [b]Major towns:[/b] Beale, Abhinn. [b]Population:[/b] 250,000 approx. [b]Religion:[/b] Druidism. A worship of various spirits of the different elements, creatures and things. Gods can be created and destroyed in an instant if the druids wish it to be. They hold complete sway over the religion and meet at the end of every season to decide on stuff. They are well known for being shirtless, wearing animal-skin eye and nose masks, leaving everything below the mouth open and wearing simple loinclothes. [b]Language:[/b] Fenian [b]Species:[/b] Human [b]Army[/b]: 4,000. Mostly lightly armoured warriors and longbowmen. [b]Navy:[/b] 5 galleys. [b]History[/b]: The Fenians arrived in the region over two thousand years ago from the far west. The people were spread across the southern part of the region (they called and still call it Tircoill), all divided by bitter clans and religions. They shared a language and a similar culture - just not a leader. These semi-nomadic clanns eventually realised that a settle life was more productive than a nomadic one and escaped the confines of the decidious forests that covered the region. The clans who settled near lakes, rivers and the ocean became the most successful. In order to make room for their growing population, the ancient forests that had previously gone untouched, were chopped back, the timber used for housing, heat and tools. In these early days, villages would often go on cattle raids, in which a group of men of a village would raid another and steal as much as they could. These early warriors were simple villagers, usually armed with sticks or hunting bows. They were led by Chiefs, practiced animal husbandry and usually had stone or rarely, bronze weapons. The village of Dartraga was settled 800 years ago, in a bay of the ocean. It proved to be an ideal location. Fish provided food all year around, the dense forests kept the people warm in their wooden huts and the sea protected their backs from attack. A particually clever and tactical young lad, who's name is lost to history but is now referred to as 'The Taois', began launching raids on neighbouring villages with the local men, robbing them of cattle and for the first time in Fenian history, razing villages to the ground and bringing slaves back to Dartraga. These slaves were given a choice - join Dartraga as a citizen or have a life of servitude to the Taois. Legend says all but one joined the village as craftsmen, ship builders and druids. The one who stayed in servitude turned out to be a particually pius man who claimed to see visions of the future and became a close friend and advisor to the Taois. He predicted the Taois would become a great king and leader, with many descendants and a kingdom that would last eternity. The Taois seemed to like this idea and with the support of the townsmen, overthrew the Chief of Dartraga and proclaimed himself king. King of the Fenians. He conquered the coast in a single season with little resistance, from the Lake of Samain in the north to the Lake of Geimhredh in the south. A motley crew of up to 100 warriors armed with hoes and hunting bows made up his primitive army. Anyone who refused to join the village were taken into slavery and bartered around the quickly growing village. Several villages agreed to join his kingdom but refused the offer to join his village. These villages paid a tribute of 3 cattle a year and a wagon-full of grain every year to the Taois, who used the surplus food to grow more food or even have it back to the villages as rewards for staying loyal. The Taois's advisor soon began having fits and claiming that the spirits of nature were whispering their congratulations to the Taois. 'They' requested a goat be sacrificed to them and the Taois would see wealth beyond his wildest dreams. A goat was quickly selected and sacrificed. It was skinned, the bones burned but the pelt kept. The Advisor took to wearing the dead goat skin around his shoulders and head as a kind of cloak. The tradition of Druids wearing animal sins has persisted to this day. Despite the promises of the Advisor and his small group of followers, the Taois's luck soon ran out. While out on a campaign for his small kingdom in the western wildlands, at the age of just 40, the Taois was killed. His causes of death are unknown. It is known that he was buried in a large passage tomb, which currently lays under the Druid's Temple in Dartraga. His eldest son, a man of 100 seasons(25), took the 'throne' to this primitive kingdom. He was proclaimed 'The Eldest' by the people of his kingdom. With the help of the Advisor and the local warrior-farmers, he took large swathes of land in vengeance of the Taois. In a campaign lasting seasons, he took all the lands to the west of Dartraga, land south of Lake of Geimhreadh and unsuccessfully tried an attack north of the Lake of Samain, which ended in the deaths of many warriors and the retreat of his warriors to the south. The kingdom was divided amongst his sons and faithful warriors. He himself headed back to Dartraga, where he ruled for many years. The Advisor died not much longer after that and was buried beside his former master, the Taois. The Order of Druids made up of his followers was set up at his death. Druidism has been the religious norm for years now. And so the Kingdom of Fenia stayed for the next 500 years. Undisturbed and slowly growing through clever diplomacy and war with the neighbouring clans. The clans were organising themselves into duchy's or small kingdoms by this time. None paralleled the Kingdom of Fenia, which at this point covered most of the southern part of the region. The sons of The Eldest became lords of their lands and all sweared fealty to the King or High King, as he coming to be known. However, 300 years ago, things changed. A family from a border lordship declared that they had no cattle to tribute to the king and not enough grain to feed their citzens, let alone pay tribute. They declared independence from the Kingdom of Fenia and became a small principality. The king at the time, an older man by the name of Athair, did nothing, as he was weary of war. This led to angry uprising from his distantly related vassals, who viewed him as being too weak and soft for leadership. The Druids also took a disliking to King Athair and he was desposed of in a 'hunting accident' almost a week later. His more popular and warlike son, Foyne, became the new King and he dragged the small army of professional soldiers on an unsuccessful campaign to regain the former members of the Kingdom. The Kingdom has, to this day, never regained the land lost in Tircoill and the current borders have more or less stayed the same for the past 300 years. King Foyne is not known for his war but for his sweeping reforms.A currency was introduced, the Pund, made up of small squares of bronze. A town was set up on the abandoned island of Tira, where veins of copper were discovered and subsequently mined for making bronze . The town of Dartraga became famed for it's long bows, which if shot correctly, can penetrate the thickest of iron armour. The arrows are iron pointed and as iron is in short supply, they are considered almost precious. Copper mines on the low hills of Tircoill are still pumping out copper for bronze, so bronze is largely used. In recent years, the Ternopolesians have caused much paranoia in the Kingdom of Fenia, along with the isloated principalities and clans that lay outside the kingdoms borders. The Fenians have given up on taking the region and have began showing interest in the ocean. Galleys have been built to trade and go to war with foreign lands but at the moment, the maps largely lay blank. Rumours fly that the Druids are becoming more powerful and wish to replace the king with one of their own, completely destroying this aging kingdom. It seems to some that this kingdom could be blown over by a gust of wind but these are an ancient people, who are ready for war. [b]Famous kings:[/b] - The Taois - The Eldest - High King Athair - High King Foyne - High King Tadag Barann [b]Pic:[/b] [hider=Dia Duit][IMG]http://www.military-history.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Celtic-warrior.jpg [/IMG] [/hider]